Friendster's Comeback? and Cute Marketing Thoughts for the Weekend

Happy Friday... Some thoughts to take you into the weekend. You know, 'can't take the Assignment Editor out of the boy...' -- see if you can follow the random train of thought:

I’ve been told that there are strange things afoot in From the land of ET+12, (aka Asia).

Yesterday, I attended a panel with the Strategic Web Insights Group, hosted by Dan Mooney and Devin Brown. It was my second meeting, and I’ve met some very interesting people there before. Sat next to Marshall Sponder, who I’ve been running into for about the past six months here and there. Anyway, the discussion was about Presenting KPIs to Management, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

First, from the Foreign Desk... Facebook is still growing -- in Asia

From a couple guys by way of NBC Universal (Digital Research Director Blandon Casenave, and someone I didn’t know) , I learned that in Asia, the most popular online social community is Friendster, believe it or not.

A little background: according to Venturebeat, in the current international land-grab among leading social networks (N.B.: have you staked your claim on your @Handle yet on Twitter? Bought your name’s URL?), the almighty Facebook is overtaking MySpace (my old employer, NewsCorp) as the largest social network in the world.

That’s old news now to anyone in the know. Here’s the rub though: remember ol’ Friendster, which the grownups were digging Pre-FB, and then completely bailed on when FB came around?

Well, in Asia, Friendster continues to lead Facebook and everyone else by at least a two to one margin. Like increase its base nearly double from 23 million monthly active users in April of 2007, to 40 million users this past April 2008 (old numbers – anyone have any more current?), according to comScore. And it appears to trending still upwards On top of that, the Friendster people point out that comScore doesn’t account for users who access the site through internet cafes, which is a much larger user trend than in the US. And get this: comScore March ’08 data says that Friendster users spend an average of 229 minutes on the site per month, the highest of any social network. If anyone has any more recent data on this, to prove/disprove the trend, we can get all Mythbustery on it. If I have the time, I’ll dig a bit.

Google's New Online Ad Campaign for Chrome

Also, from that geographical area, apparently there’s a ‘battle for search engine supremacy” in Japan, between Yahoo and Google. On one of the fronts, Google is introducing its Chrome browser into the Land of the Rising Sun. From boingboing, this cleverly-crafted stop-motion video advertisement was put together by the Google Japan team. It shows the company’s strategic vision of using the Japanese cute factor (or kawaii, like “Hello Kitty”) to successfully enter their browser into a market currently dominated by Yahoo. Feels evocative of something you’d see on the newly-launched Electric Company, in its first iteration.

And it’s cuter on this side of the pond too…

From the New York Times: I Lego NY

Iconic elements of New York City rendered in Lego. Brilliant. Utilizing everyone’s familiarity with Lego pieces, not only their strengths of being able to put them together, but the limitations that go along with their modular architecture. It’s Pop Art, using found objects and the viewers imagination to complete.

L33T Techy Grandma Video

Found this yesterday... I have a feeling it'll go viral, unintentionally(?).



What is it? It's a church-produced (allegedly? seems legit...) ad featuring a tech-jargon-dropping grandma. Strangely enough, a lot of what she's talking about makes no technical sense. However, it's a great concept for how-to videos, since, if 'grandma' can understand it, so could 'anyone'.

BTW, "l33t" is hacker-speak for "leet" or "elite", which is a status term that us old-skool geeks used to use when we were working BBS and rockin' 14.4K baud modems.

Enjoy!

Look at me! I'm Web 2.0! Wheeeeeee!

Well, I'm being very Web 2.0 today... Wheeee!

It's pouring outside, I recorded it, and posted it on YouTube:

YouTube: Part I

More of that sorta stuff.... With pedestrians!

You Tube: Part II

And then it went viral (hehe :P ) when the blogosphere picked it up... Ryan Tate's Tumblr

Gossip Girls

Just wanted to share this oldie but goodie with y'all...

He Also Eats More Than They Do

PR girl #1: I love your outfit today!
PR girl #2: You know, I was walking down the street, and this homeless man in a box told me that "Purple is the color of royalty."
PR girl #1: Don't joke about that. I could be joining him, if my apartment doesn't come through.
PR girl #2: At least he lives in Manhattan.

--Office, 53rd & Broadway


Overheard by: Roger Resnicoff

Overheard in New York

Spike TV Unlocks the Secret to the Sith

Really the key to the reason the Empire came to power... That and Jar-Jar Binks.


Image courtesy of Slashfilm








"A guy can only be called "Annie" so many times before he snaps..."

Ever Been Rickrolled?

I have a colleague (actually a few) who is obsessed with Rickrolling.

Never heard of it? Guess you're not as geeky as you thought. :)

To Rickroll is to intentionally misdirect someone to a video of Never Gonna Give You Up from 80s pop icon Rick Astley.

Tease them with a link to a supercool video or site, perhaps disguising a YouTube link with TinyURL. Your victim is served with Rick Astley doin' his blue-eyed soul thing in your face. Ha.

Anyway, the Rickster heard about it, and shared his thoughts...

Wired

And yes, I own the album above. What's it to you?

Do People REALLY Need A Reason?

Seriously... Seriously?

I don't want to dis my peeps out there who don't have this as an option at the moment, but do people really need to get some other benefit/excuse to compel them to get it on?

You let me know if you need me to learn ya some... Show you how it's done.

Top 10 Reasons To Have Sex Tonight

CBS News

Rabble Rabble

Did you know that the creation of the Happy Meal was in response to the Iranian Hostage Crisis?


The Colbert Report

Big Bad Bill is Sweet William Now

As you may already know, Bill Gates spoke last night as his 'final' (?) CES keynote speech... You may not have seen the introduction video.

Yes, it's totally scripted, and derivative and kinda predictable, but I was totally LMAO, for the funny bits and the fact that this dude has SO MUCH INFLUENCE, that all these A-Listers kicked in to do a bit part in the video. Damn!

Plus... Bill Gates has a sense of HUMOR! Love how the MSFT techies 'allow' him to take the credit for things... Like Microsoft Bob.

via Gizmodo

Video via MSN

.... And, they're back, Dingbats!

Yeah, I know I'm late to the game on this, but some of the late night talkers (Dave, Conan, Jay) went back on the air last week... Colbert and Stewart back tonight.

Didn't catch Jay sans WGA, but saw Dave (not bad, good Top 10 List), and Conan was excellent. Haven't watched him in awhile, but he was in TOP form on his return night. People seem to forget that he wrote for the Simpsons for years, and was an SNL writer too.

This video clip was pretty outstanding... Dig Big Red singing the Beastie's Sabotage as Edith Bunker from All In the Family. Awesome.

(if I had some time on my hands, I'd PhotoShop something cool like Edith as Conan or a Beastie, but I don't have any time on my hands)

YouTube,

via Gawker

My Obsession: Yo Gabba Gabba!

Okay, not sure if this counts yet, but it finally occurred to me that I should set the TiVo to record Yo Gabba Gabba! It's the show that features this awesome video.

I've also decided that I might need this:


It could be so yummy, so yummy.

LIVEBLOGGING: American Gladiators (Hour 1)

After a 20-year absence, American Gladiators has returned to the airwaves. I used to love watching it on Saturday mornings as a kid... Let's see how this one goes...

9pm: Opening montage and 'history' of the American Gladiators. Nice to see a sense of history.

9:01 pm: Hosted by the Hulkster and Laila Ali! Funny how Hulk Hogan and his compatriots of the day (Iron Sheik, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Junkyard Dog ("Grab Them Cakes!") "Rowdy" Roddy Piper) used to bodyslam in the same timeframe during the Saturday mornings of my youth.

9:04 pm: Chick contestants introduced with short piece on their lives. First sob story of series achieved by divorcee avec kids contestant competing against Life Coach.

9:06: POWERBALL (Chicks)! Divorcee Avec Kids sob story is down about 40 secs in, and eliminated in the Powerball event after injury.

9:10: Familiarity grabs my attention as I scan through commercials with the TiVo... Hold on... Quick replay. KNIGHT RIDER promo with the voice of K.I.T.T. by G.O.B. from Arrested Development (is he always going to play acronymical characters?). That's freakin' HUGE. Now, I'm always open to a good remake (Charlie's Angels, Fugitive, Brady Bunch Movie)... Hope it doesn't suck like Bionic Woman. NBC? Can you hear me? Can you create something new? Or can you bring back The Greatest American Hero? Realize I'm thinking this while watching American Gladiators, and decide to move on.

(UPDATE: It's here!)

9:11p Tattooed pro skateboarder DAD Chad and Little Italian NY Firefighter introduced.

9:14 Little NY Firefighter dude freakin' RULES at Powerball! Watch them moves... Scrappy! Kicks Skater Dad's ass, 12-2.

9:16p Rehab Doc replaces Divorcee, gets whupped in JOUST.

9:18p Life Coach survives JOUST but doesn't get the knockdown. A Walk's as good as a Hit, I suppose.

9:23 HANG TOUGH. Firefighter is slick and spry, and Gladiator Militia doesn't even make contact.

9:24p Militia is eliminated because of injury (they don't make Gladiators like they used to, apparently... Nitro NEVER missed an event, yo.).

9:25p The Wolf, a Wolverine knockoff, is introduced to replace Militia against Skater Dad Chad. SKD talks smack.

9:25p Wolfman ensnares him, and into the drink they go. Crowd sings along to "Hey Hey, Goodbye"... This is looking more and more like Running Man.

9:27p EARTHQUAKE. Rehab Doc against Gladiator Fury on a swinging disc of Lucite, kinda like the spiky platform in Flash Gordon. RD survives by contrition.

9:32p Life Coach makes a strong move against Fury, but overshoots, and dumps off the platform.

9:33p HIT AND RUN Scrappy Firefighter makes obligatory 'back in the 'hood of the LES NYC' event allegory, to adoring fans. Once again sails through.

9:35p Skate Dad Chad tries his luck, and makes some anti-establishment comment about why he will be triumphant. Dumps into the water 30 secs in. Oops.

9:38p Both chicks in the PYRAMID. Rehab takes a fall from the top, and then Life Coach follows. Rehab makes a scramble for the top, but doesn't make it. Rehab wins the event with 5 pts, and taking the lead in the competition.

9:44p WNBC WxGuy says we'll be 'flirting with 60' this week... Sweet.

9:45p Scrappy McFirefighter busts his ass, gets a lucky break, and takes the PYRAMID. He leads in the competition, 37-2. Oh snap! Get ready for THE ELIMINATOR!

9:47p Over a wall, 20 foot underwater/under fire swim, rope cargo net climb, barrel roll, windy-up thing, balance beam, pyramid, zip line, travelator (both contestants are barely making it through the course). Rehab is making a comeback! Life Coach can't get up, and she passes her for the win at the breakthrough wall! So much for mind over matter, Life Coachy.

9:51p Hulkster declares Rehab the Winner of this round, and a spot in the Final Eight. Cut to commercial. Hope they run another Knight Rider promo. :)

9:56p Dudes in the ELIMINATOR. This one's a bit more evenly matched, as Skater Dad Chad seems better at obstacle courses than against the Gladiators. Scrappy McFirefighter struggles, but takes the win to get his place in the Eight. NYC! NYC! Woo hooo!!

For my Jewish Bruthas and Sistahs...

Well, it's Christmas Eve (I think -- I always get confused with Christmas Day and Eve and crap-- I know, ridiculous...), so here's one for the Jews... Perhaps some inspiration for this evening's activities... To quote Adam Sandler:

"There's a lot of Christmas songs out there, but not too many about Hanukkah, so I wrote a song for all those nice little Jewish kids who don't get to hear any Hanukkah songs-- here we go..."