Stella Artois' Le Bar Guide App - A Great Idea That Fell Short

This is definitely not a new mobile app, but I was a little slow to discover it. The Stella Artois Le Bar Guide app helps beer/Stella Artois lovers find and discover places to drink. It pulls in Google Maps to search nearest bars serving Stella Artois to your location in an Augmented Reality. The whole idea is quite fantastic and could turn into a frequently used app for pub crawlers, but it is currently rated 2.3 stars in the app store and has yet seen success.

Let's start off with some cool things it does:

A little too tipsy to find a bar...
So, you had a few drinks, but you planned on bar hopping, so let's keep that going. Where is the next bar? Oh, here you go. On a map, in real life, and on a list. You really can't miss it.

I know you said that way, but which way is it?
In case the alcohol is doing funny things in your system, if you point your camera down to the floor, arrows will appear on your screen to guide you way to your next bar.

I need to go home, someone help me. Please?

One drink too many, and you completely forgot to appoint a designated driver at the beginning of the night. Here's your sober friend. The app lists cab numbers and calls it when you click on it. You can still say your address correctly right?







I'm in the cab and am ready to put down some drunk comments...
Forget drunk texting, here's a place to comment on the specific location you went to, and see what others have said.







It also does a little bit of Yelp.
On this "Rate it" tab, you can rate the bar by it's menu, dance, clientele and service.







Sounds pretty awesome, so what's wrong with it?

Firstly, no one knows about it.
Well that could be quite the problem. I could create the world's greatest app that does your laundry and homework, but not tell anyone about it. Not really sure if I really need to elaborate on this.

Use Google Maps, but all of it.
It pulls in Google Map locations and images, but it only shows you 10 locations within your state. There should really be at least 10 locations within my block when I'm in the city. If you look closely, the nearest bar locations to you is about 2.5 miles away. Half a mile is really far away when you have a few drinks, let alone 2.5.

Why can't I share?
I would choose to believe that this app was created for social reasons, but none of it is connected to any social networking platforms.


Here are some opportunities that would make this app awesome:

Pull in the Google Maps.
This app could be really cool if it pulled in all the locations that served Stella Artois, instead of a selected few. The description in the app store says that it currently only has a few of the brand's favorite bars but will be building to full coverage in 2010. It's been two years and there are barely 10 bars listed in Boston. This makes the app quite unhelpful.

Create conversation
If the point was to have people use the app and talk on it, it would make a whole lot more sense if it pulled in the foursquare tips, Yelp tips, and Twitter conversation surrounding each location.

I'm drunk, don't make me press so many buttons.
While you're at it, why not connect to foursquare, Facebook, twitter, and Instagram so that

1. It checks you in on Facebook and Foursquare.

2. Allows you tweet a half templated text like "I'm sipping on my @StellaArtois at XXX..."

3. Lets you upload pictures on/from Instagram (although this could be dangerous since drunk photos can be .... you know, drunk.)


The 3D augmented reality and the whole idea is fantastic, but would it hurts me to see that it didn't take off because it only went half way.

Viggle for Couch Potatoes - Initial Pros and Cons

Hooray! Here comes the first ever television loyalty program on social for all you couch potatoes out there.

What is it?

It is a social app that allows you to check-in to your favorite television shows to receive points for gift cards to CVS, Burger King, Starbucks, Banana Republic and many more.

What can you do on it?
-Check-in to shows (obviously).
-Watch short trailers or ads for points.
-Keep up-to-date and post on Facebook and Twitter about the show in real time.
-"Like" shows.
-Set reminders/alarms for when your shows are aired.
-Keep track of your check-in and rewards history.
-Invite your friends to Viggle for 200 points.
-Look up more info on shows listed via IMDB, Wiki, iTunes, Amazon, Bing, and Facebook.

How does it work?

It works like Shazam, it "listens" to part of the show to identify which show you're watching.

Here are my initial thoughts of the app:

Pros

1. Users are awarded for something they already love to do. 

This is like if I got paid for sleeping my normal hours. TV-lovers are now rewarded with food, clothing, music and more just by doing their things, and perhaps encouraged to be a little more social.

2. Yes, do remind me when my shows are AND give me free stuff. 

So Viggle will be my alarm clock for shows and give me things too... can't complain.

3. Yay! I'm not the only Castle fan out there admiring how pretty Becket is! 

The "Latest Chatter" feature pulls up a real-time feed from Facebook and Twitter on the chatter about your show. It allows you to post real-time to share/complain/admire with fellow TV-ers during your show.

Cons

1. Wait, how many hours do I have to watch for a coffee? 

So let's say a $5 gift card for Starbucks is 7,500 points (as currently listed on Viggle), and one check-in is around 100 points... if my Asian math does not fail me, that equates to 75 check-ins. That's about 19 shows per week for a month, less than 3 shows a day... I don'w know about you, but that's a lot of TV watching.

2. Oh dear god my muffin top is not going away. 

Not judging all the TV-watchers, but I eat when I watch TV... this increased in TV viewing doesn't seem very healthy for me. Just think what happened when Facebook was born and how many hours people spend Facebooking.

3. EVERYONE SHUSH, I'm trying to check-in. 

For those of you who use Shazam, you'd understand my frustration. Since it requires "listening," if the parts of the show aren't properly recorded (of which I assume you could be with friends, cooking, or drying your hair,) you can't check-in! "Sorry, no match" is one of the most irritating messages.

4. Why don't I have Viggle friends =[.

Yes it allows me to read/post on Facebook and Twitter, but what if I just want to see what my friends watched/ are watching? Or if I wanted to recommend shows to my friends? Foursquare lets me have friends, can I have friends on Viggle please?

EDIT:
5. I can't invite my friends.
So one of my friends asked me to invite him so I can get the 200+ points. It turns out I can only invite by email, and ONLY emails that are existing in my iPhone address book. Inserting a new email address is not possible.

What can brands do with this?

• Well ad exposure of course. When you check-in, a full-iPhone-page spread of advertising pops-up.
• Learn more about what their audience like to watch, then join TV campaigns with social ones!
• Encourage conversation DURING shows!
• Contests! Woot! Imagine Coca Cola running a contest for users to find product placement within an episode for prizes!

So there goes my initial thoughts of Viggle. In general, I think it's a pretty cool idea. The app has only been launched for less than 2 weeks. I will come back to this when it is in full throttle!

What are some of your thoughts on this? Do comment or tweet at me @Mayzyap :).

How Bad is Shisha for you? [Most Recent Figures]

I usually don't put personal posts here. But here's an interesting one (also, it's super interesting how I found it on Facebook Guardian read!)

 

Here's the gist of the article findings: 

The volume of smoke inhaled in an hour-long shisha session is estimated to be the equivalent of smoking between 100 and 200 cigarettes.  

The estimated findings show that, on average, a smoker will inhale 1/2 a litre of smoke per cigarette, while a shisha smoker can take in anything from just under 1/6 of a litre to 1 litre of smoke per inhale.

- World Health Organization 

Studies led by independent researchers at the Royal University of Saudi Arabia have shown that shisha smoke is 30 times less concentrated in chemicals than cigarette smoke. 

While about 5,000 chemicals have been identified so far in cigarette smoke, chemists and pharmacologists from Saudi Arabia only found 142 chemicals in shish smoke.
- Dr Kamal Chaouachi, a tobacco expert who teaches at Paris IX University

Here's the full article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/22/shisha-smoking-how-bad-is-it


Further reading [A Journal of Public Health Article 2009]:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/58352477706011t0/


Also, someone needs to make an info graphic version of this. :).


Thanks Kevin for the info on this!

How to Prepare Yourself to be a #Social #Strategist from #College

As Social Media is a rising platform for marketing, it is also an increasingly popular career path for many graduating students, but what does it take to become a social strategist and how can you prepare early?

Information from an interesting infographic by Valtier Creative:

http://mashable.com/2011/09/24/social-media-career/

Here are some things to look out for as you begin/ finish up your college career:

1. What major should I be?

- 46% of Social Strategists hold a Communication and 40% hold Marketing degrees.

- 58% of existing Social Strategists say that what makes them successful is that they are multi-disciplinary and can wear many hats. i.e. it could be a good idea for a Liberal Arts education.

Take your pick.

2. Be familiar with your numbers, and argue it with a story

- One of the most important aspect in becoming a good social strategist is the skill in measuring and reporting ROI (as well as producing them of course.) 

What to do in college:

So some great courses to take if they aren't already in your requirement list, are statistics, introduction to business management, etc. They will also help you get used to very basic but useful tools like excel.

Other courses such as Logic and Reasoning (philosophy), or creative writing will help you make better reports + proposals!

3. Work on your leadership and social skills

- To be a social strategist, you must be able to manage a team, work with agencies, external/internal stakeholders, as well as be able to teach others via workshops and training. 

What to do in college:

Get some experience via student groups, or start your own business while you're in college! (Or take classes like Organizational Behavior, or intro to public relations/corporate relations!)

40

Implications of The #Facebook #Subscribe Button - Pros and Cons

Since the launch of Google+ and it's success in recruiting users, Facebook has been adding new features frantically - the new photo viewing options, video chatting, new navigation bars, and most recently, the subscription button.

This new feature allows users to subscribe to updates, including photos, statuses and more, from people they aren't already Facebook Friends with. This may not seem like a big deal yet, but it opens a door to endless potentials for brands, celebrities and thought leaders for better broadcasting. Of course, on the flip side, with potential comes a great deal of risk.

Here are a few aspects I jotted down briefly:

 
Pros:

1. Facebook and Twitter just had a baby.

Facebooks, Google+, and Twitter are all unique in their own user interfaces and purposes. Twitter can be considered mass broadcasting through microblogging where anyone can tweet with or read other users' tweets, given that they're not private. Google+ is a more general interface that focuses more on user sectoring, and Facebook, the friend connector, allowing friends to catch up, learn more about, and maintain relations with one another without physically hanging out. 

However, this subscription button changes all that. Allowing users to follow others' updates without friending incorporates Twitter's broadcasting aspect, creating a TON of opportunities for celebrities, brands and others to broadcast their messages to a larger audience.

2. Better classifications of your friends and invisible stalking.

No more limited profiles, or friend requests. That's right. You no longer have to be friends with someone to stalk them if they enabled the subscription button. Also, you don't necessarily have to friend people you just met in order to see what they're up to until you hang out with them more.

With subscription, you can now classify your friends/ non-friends into lists so your updates are all categorized. You don't have to see updates of farmville or restaurant city any more. Just like twitter, you can categorize your news outlets, fashion tips, non-profit events, anything you wish so they are better organized. There are options to hide photo updates, video updates, and more from lists to make your feed more personalized.

Cons:

1. It just murdered the two-way connect flow

Facebook is unique in that it encourages a two-way communication. It's about friends and connection. The subscription button just threw all that out the window. It's true that Twitter itself focuses on engagement even though it's a free-for-all type of conversation, but the word "Facebook Friends" just got degraded.

2. New metrics needed

With public subscriptions, the measuring system just got complicated. Facebook Insights will have to come up with better metrics to measure subscriber activities.

3. Back to the Privacy Issue

I am sure most of everyone is social media savvy by now, but there are of course people who are still a little lost trying to catch up with all the tools bombarded their way. For people who want to use Facebook personally, the subscribe button may cause issues, as it allows non-friends to read your updates.

Changing its mission statement.

Just from first impressions, it seems to me that the subscription button is definitely a good move in terms of helping brands and celebrities work their marketing strategies. However, if Facebook were to follow its original 2008 mission of " “Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.” Then the subscription button is way out of its boundaries. Its new mission statement however, became “Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” This for me makes Facebook a lot more business and revenue oriented, and a little negligent of user interests.

What are your opinions on the new Facebook Subscribe button?

What you might also be interested in:

Facebook Subscribe Button: What It Means for Each Type of User

What Facebook's new Subscribe button means to brands and businesses 

The Complete Guide To Facebook’s Subscribe Button