Spotted in Malta - SellMalta.com

Just came across another new online space - sellmalta.com. The website is an online directory of buyers and sellers in property.

Recap 2009 - May

These past 4 months have seen me slowing down on my blabs about what's happening in the local media scene so the below is the first of many recaps which I hope will help me regain momentum. I will start off by drawing the top 10 developments i can recap on. They are not exclusive and the list is highly subjective on my memory...so feel free to add more to it if you wish. I will make the list available on my facebook and twitter just in case people want add more:

#1: Re-Branding:
Some websites which have got a facelift during the past months: xfmmalta.com, maltastar.com, maltamedia.com, iralosco.com, kiwilicous.com

#2: New social sites on the block:
Blog.com.mt, Youall.com.mt and a mini social site at mep2009.eu!

#3: New bloggers:
Most of the MEP Candidates, some EP election ambassadors, lifestyle bloggers on timesofmalta, maltastar and fmlifestyle.com

#4: Hello Twitter
Twitter is slowly slowly getting into the social identity of many Maltese. We're still unsure of how to best use it and some of us still ponder on the difference between the facebook status and twitter. However, twitter is more confined and that's great.

#5: Moving online
Exotique.com.mt launched its online shop, Yellowpages now advertises the website alongside 'the book' in all its radio ads.,

#6: Print struggles but online offers some hope
I believe the stylish ME magazine is no more a print one but an online design web at medesignmag.com. FM is on the other hand still going strong and relaunched itself online sometime in 2008.

#7: New in print:
Some new names include Pjazza and Phasebook. The most popular distribution channel seems to be The Times, with anyone opting for the ad-funded free distribution model. Does anyone subscribe the magazine anymore?!

#8: Radio and Digital
Malta is still experiencing the introduction of DAB. We just got one of these DAB radios at home and it does offer a much wider range of radio content. I wonder how this will impact advertising on the local channels, when the foreign ones capture a share of the listening time. In the meantime, Capital 88.7 is no more and has now become 5FM. The station is currently testing transmission and slowly gaining listenership.

#9: In TV, Calypso Radio has rebranded th U-TV to Calypso Music TV. Other channels which were concieved recently are Favourite TV and Family TV.

#10: In conclusion, the summer sun is hinting at the fixed media that time's up and very soon we will be spending our free time at the beach. The mobile media, both traditional (print) and leading edge (mobile) will accompany us. We will get to know about breaking news through TimesSMS and entertain ourselves with the flashy magazine we get with the papers on Sunday. Logical recommendation for the fixed media brands...mobilize you brand now!

Blackberry Storm hits the track

Not only did the storm land in Malta but have a look at what it did on the track :)



Get one now: http://www.vodafone.com.mt/page/services_business_mobilemail_bb.html

There's too much media...so aggregate!

Aggregate, aggregate, aggregate. If the consumer is now the producer, do not try to compete or join in the discussion, simply aggregate the twits, posts, comments or any blab and let the normal mortal beings online be at the centre of the buzz.

I have just come across tinker.com, another aggregation tool for brands. Tinker allows anyone to get all the twits related to a particular topic or brand. Tinker even allows brands to embed the twittering stream on their brand site. In essence, stop blabbing about your brand, go out, see what your customers are saying about this and paste it on your site.

Tinker is not the first buzz aggregator there is. My favourite is twistori.com which again is based on the twitter social network.

All this aggregation precedes my article on The Times Technology Sunday supplement which is to be published at the end of May...but more about this later on this month!

Vodafone Malta seeks an innovation champion through i-MashUP

This month Vodafone launched the i-Mashup competition for the developer community where participants are being urged to be as innovative as possible in designing and developing a mobile application until September 1, 2009.

The winners will receive top cash prizes with the opportunity of also winning an additional star prize. First placed winner will get €2500, second place will get €1000 and third place will get €500.

Mobile applications are small software applications that are installed on mobile handsets or accessed online via mobile handset browsers that interact with online services or platforms.

Entries will be assessed on usability, innovation and value to users.

The i-Mashup competition is open to anyone over 18 years of age. Participants must register as developers for the i-Mashup competition by sending an email toimashup.mt@vodafone.com. Entries, which need to be written in English, must be given a descriptive name (ex: Weather Application). There are no limitations on the number of applications one can submit for this competition.

What we think?
This is probably the first mobile application initiative on the island, so welcome in innovation!

More info: click here

Revisiting Charlie’s Chocolate Factory in 2.0

The below BLAB is today being featured in Technology Sunday, a supplement in the Sunday Times of Malta.

When Willy Wonka decided to reveal his secret chocolate recipes he hid a limited number of tickets in chocolate bars. Charlie was lucky enough to find one of the five golden tickets and could then experience what it’s like to get inside a real chocolate factory. At that time, Charlie Bucket had no Facebook profile and the genius behind the Wonka Chocolate Empire could at best have dreamt of the world-wide (Wonka) web.

It only took an ex-NASA Space Shuttle entrepreneur and the brain behind the full range of Wired content brands to revisit Wonka’s business ideas and open the door to an amazing chocolate venture they called Tcho. Technology and chocolate drive Louis Rosetto and Timothy Childs to pursue Tcho. Both of them have vast experience in a multitude of projects. In 1993 Rosetto co-founded Wired Magazine and became its first editor. Wired Books, Wired TV and a list of digital ventures including HotBot.com followed. Childs on the other hand worked at NASA Space Shuttle, launched Cabaret Chocolates and has been involved in a number of community building projects such as Web3D RoundUp.

Tcho involves chocolate enthusiasts and customers in the making of its chocolate products. Tcho Beta precedes any Tcho chocolate products. Limited batches of chocolate are packaged in simple brown paper bags and made available to customers who want to be part of Tcho’s continuous flavour developments. Varieties of the chocolate beta are constantly produced with new versions emerging as often as every 36 hours. The beta products are made available online or at the Tcho factory store. Following a lengthy beta process, the end product is launched, this time with proper branded packaging and bigger mass runs.

The Tcho community aspect does not stop here. Tcho makes its ‘secret’ recipe available on its website for the community to try out. Recently Tcho founders even commissioned an iPhone application which will enable users of the device to monitor the Tcho labs wherever they are.

With the founders’ technological background and love for chocolate it comes as no surprise that the Tcho project follows a similar product development process found in an IT company. However what really stands out in the Tcho business plan is not the technical expertise of the founding team but the strong community engagement enabled by but not limited to web 2.0 tools such as blogs and online social networks.

2.0 is a vague concept for many of us. There are many brands, even locally, which have their own Facebook page or blog but one basic rule must lie at the heart of any strategy: 2.0 may sound geeky, technical and complex but in truth it is as simple as putting communities at the centre. The latter is not really optional.

When brands forget to put the community at the centre of their digital strategy, the community, enabled by the web and the social networks which reside on it, jumps into the brand’s driving seat. Cadbury conceived Wispa back in 1981. The first trial was a massive success selling 10,000 bars. Consequently, in 1983 Wispa was launched on a larger scale and grew more popular then ever. Wispa’s success story seemed to have come to an end in 2003 when Cadbury decided to stop producing the popular chocolate bar following a slowdown in sales.

However, the community thought otherwise. More than 5000 fans joined an online group on Bebo and campaigned for a Wispa comeback. Not only did the group manage to trigger buzz online but some of the fans even went as far as going up on stage during Iggy Pop’s performance at Glastonbury Festival. On stage they held a big banner which read ‘Bring back Wispa’. Cadbury, which had probably invested in serious market research before pulling the plug on the product, reconsidered its decision and committed to a 23 million run, saying it was the first time it had resumed production of a product because of online pressure.

So let’s revisit Willy Wonka’s business case in 2.0 mode: For a start Willy Wonka would not keep his chocolate making recipe a secret; on the contrary he would instead put that at the test of Wonka’s loyal customer base. Wonka would be wise enough to know that Facebook is much more than a tool which connects people, that there’s more to blogging than a modern version of a personal diary echoing in the absence of readers, and that Twitter does not only tell you what your neighbour has been up to lately. Charlie Bucket, an ordinary customer who is loyal to the Wonka brand would probably run the ilovewonka.com blog which would also be present on Facebook. Wonka fans would join the group and invite their friends. Instead of limiting the factory tour to 5 lucky chocolate enthusiasts, the Wonka empire would have a virtual tour of the factory or a live webcam of its daily operations. Willy Wonka would not have to run the golden ticket promotion because he would head hunt Charlie as the next CEO. And, lastly, you could be the next Charlie Bucket running the Wonka Chocolate Empire.

One may not know everything about Web 2.0 and how it can help drive a successful strategy but, before opening up to innovative applications and web services, one should understand that 2.0 is first and foremost an extremely social concept.

Amazing brain twitting project!

Reported on CNN, scientists have developed a way to post messages on Twitter using electrical impulses generated by thought.