Good (Branded) Ideas
Good internet ideas from brands make me very happy (since it’s a sadly rare occurrence). With that said, here are two recent ideas I’ve run across over the last few weeks:
- Warp20: Super simple idea from Warp Records. To celebrate their 20th anniversary they are letting fans vote on the top 10 Warp tracks to be compiled into a special album that will be printed complete with liner notes full of messages and memories. Getting people invested in the product you make before you make it is a strategy that has served Threadless well. (Via Iain)
- Dell Swarm: Again, a simple but elegant idea, this time from Dell. Basically it allows you to create a swarm around a specific product, allowing you to buy it at a bulk discount. Pretty simple, Dell gets you to promote their products for them and in exchange you get the thing you want for less money. It’s a win-win. (Via Zeus Jones)
Other good recent examples?
Hi, I'm 
Dell Swarm is a great idea…we do the same for promotional products. The challenge is buyers feel they’re better off waiting for the price to drop. I’d be interested in how they are going to drive adoption…looks like the previous swarms had 1 or 2 buyers each.
Neat on warp records – their stuff is great.
Warp seems like muxtape, but you get to wait 6 months before you can listen to it. I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t they just use data sitting around, like user behavior, search traffic, sales, etc to rank their artists/songs?
iPhone app from Miller Lite is latest thing that’s caught my eye: it gives you a choice of draft, bottle or can. You choose which one, then the number you want, and it displays a giant flashing “3 Miller Lites Please” along with a picture of a bottle. Idea is to hold it up in a crowded bar to get the bartender’s attention. Bartender at the hotel bar thought it was great – I can see it being of real value to the demo that spends much time in crowded bars- could definitely see using it if back when I was part of said demo.
It’s called “Beer Time” and here’s the url: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=311142178&mt=8
Great ideas !
Let the customers make the brand !