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QR CODESIs there any future in interactive barcodes? According to Mobio Identify Systems, QR scanning growth exceeded 1200% in the last half of 2010.

CREATING DEMAND FOR TECHNOLOGYThe iPhone 5 being delayed, Spotify hitting the states and

1. Choose one key product from range to put launch in the year

2. Seed product to key influencers one month prior to launch for ‘testing’ but make them sign NDA’s

3. Set Embargo 24 hours prior to official launch

4. Launch with ‘Steve Jobs’ moment

5. Launch with key influences and create visual demand with queues

iPad

Spotify

1. Open up to UK audience by invite only

2. Launch paid for service with no ads

3. Open to everyone with 3 tier payment options

4. Launch in US with invite only to the three tier payment option

5. Partner with huge brands like Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Motorola, Reebok, Sonos and The Daily.

iPhone 5:Worth the wait or a publicity stunt?

• Apple employees and tech journalists leaked the launch date as September 2011 months ago

•It has now been flagged as October 2011

•Apple has not confirmed or denied this

•Recent survey found 1/3 of all Americans will buy the new iPhone regardless of what it looks like or how it works

•Apple is expected to unveil the yet unseen iPhone 5 prototype at the Fall Media Conference (early September)

•Is this a stunt or just the Apple rumour mill powered by hungry iPhone devotees?

Google+ hits 25 million users‘Fastest growing social network in the world’ - comScore

•Google+ hit 25 million users using invitation-only model for expansion between late June and early August

•Facebook reached 25 million users in three years, while Twitter took just 30 months

•Google+ is currently growing at 1 million users per day

•Do these figures surprise you or has the social media landscape changed so rapidly that it is now expected?

•Do you think their model works?

SOCIAL ETHICSIs it all getting a little out of hand?

The Facebook Baby

• New profile option now allows expectant parents to share baby news on Facebook in more detail than ever

•‘Expected Child’ can now be found in the friends and family section

•The update can include a picture (ultrasound), name and due date of the unborn child

•Early glitch allowed practical jokers to insert their friends names

•Is there such a thing as too much information on Facebook?

•What next?

Augmented Reality:Too much?

•New app will allow anyone in New York with an iPhone to recreate the Twin Towers in the city’s skyline

•The app will be free to download once $25K is raised to build it by early September, 2011

•Designer Brian August hopes it brings New Yorkers and visitors together and reminds them of life before 9/11

How does it work?

•The app will be broken down into 3 steps: Orient, Augment, Comment.

•Once properly oriented, augmented reality kicks in and renders their silhouette - in a pencil-like outline during the day and in shimmering light at night.

•Each photo submission appears as a pin on the map. Scroll over any pin, click, and read that story.

•August hopes to extend this project to Phase 2: a series of physical art installations at 110 locations around the NY where you could once see the Towers

Facebook Face Recognition

• Launched in the US, Facebook launched facial recognition software across its platform

• Designed to make the tagging process easier, Facebook will scan photos and suggest who to tag

• The launch went un-announced and users have to ‘opt-out’

IN OTHER NEWSMusic maketh the campaign

The Ship Song Project

•Ambitious new project by the Sydney Opera House and creative powerhouse Three Drunk Monkeys

•Shot in secret, it took 9 months to create, produce and edit

•Became viral overnight

•Coverage in major national, trade and online media

•Youtube channel features behind-the-scenes, interviews , photo gallery and documentary

•Objectives were to renew local interest in the Opera House and grow tourist visitors

•Is music key to a successful campaign?