Filmaps is rapidly creating a crowd-powered database of filming locations around the world. Users can search by location or film title to bring up a Google Map that features location photos from Panoramio and videos from YouTube. Since its launch in January this year 998 films have been mapped in 2363 locations. Filmaps adds social elements through Facebook and Twitter connections, as well as embeddable location widgets.

We've seen maps used for everything from virtual jogging to erotic spending statistics. As described by our sister-site trendwatching.com, "geography is about everything that is (literally) close to consumers, and it's a universally familiar method of organizing, finding and tracking relevant information on objects, events and people."

There are hints on the website that Barcelona-based Filmaps may have plans to offer film location tours, which would make sense. Its members are already mapping out the routes, and the site would be a perfect marketing tool. What other niches could you map your way into?

Website: www.filmaps.com
Contact: www.filmaps.com/contact.php

Spotted by: Leticia Pérez Prieto

Earlier this year we covered YokmoK, the Spanish travel company that invites its clients to help create new trips. Now, taking a page from TasteCasting's play book—by which restaurants give bloggers free food in exchange for social-media exposure—YokmoK is now offering popular bloggers free trips.

Owners of popular blogs—which YokmoK defines as those with 10,000 or more incoming links—relating to travel, adventure or adrenaline sports are invited to apply for free travel on one of YokmoK's upcoming trips. They need only submit their name, the URL of their blog, which trip they're interested in and a few sentences about themselves in order to be considered. Then, when YokmoK finds itself with an unused slot on a trip, it lets qualified bloggers know—in general, at least two to three weeks before the schedule date of departure. If the blogger is available to participate, YokmoK will pay for all services included in the price for the corresponding trip. In exchange, the blogger is expected to share their experience of the trip, including at least four entries before the trip starts, one entry per day during the trip, and another four entries after the trip ends; each entry must include at least one direct link to YokmoK's website.

Free expeditions are certainly a bigger investment for YokmoK than free meals are for TasteCasting's clients. On the other hand, can any advertising dollar achieve the targeted exposure of multiple posts on a highly relevant and popular blog site? We don't think so, either. A model to emulate for your own company's promotional purposes! (Related: Job contest lets bloggers become pilots — Blogger helps connect consumers and brands — Job contest spotlights Great Barrier Reef Islands.)

Website: www.yokmok.com/bloggers-travel-free.html
Contact: info@yokmok.com

Spotted by: Raul Vigas

Finding a convenient, healthy snack can be difficult in workplaces and schools where fruit trees are long gone and the best on offer now comes from a vending machine stuffed with junk food. Back in 2007 we picked out YoNaturals, a company that responded by supplying vending machines filled with organic produce. Now a Barcelona company—Lof (short for 'Lo Fresco')—has brought a similar service to market in Spain. Sidestepping the debate over whether organic food is all it's cracked up to be, Lof's emphasis is on solid nutritional value. Their machines, which are supplied, installed and maintained for free, sell nuts, prepared fruit, ready meals and Spanish speciality, gazpacho soup.

Novel uses of vending machines are a staple of the Springwise diet—we've dispensed reports on vending machines for everything from bathing suits to hot pizzas. By using them to promote healthy eating, Lof has latched on to two key trends: convenience and organic foods, with a model that creates social value as well as profits.

Website: www.lofresco.es
Contact: info@lofresco.es

Spotted by: Joandó Reverter

We've already seen a banking service, a wedding boutique and a travel website aimed at gay consumers; now there are wine brands targeting gays as well.

Spanish UO! Wines is a line of three wines created with homosexual men in mind, and its descriptions, packaging and website imagery were all tailored accordingly. UO! Ánima Blanca, for example, is a Sauvignon Blanc and Verdejo blend featuring earth tones and "wisps of flowers and fruit – the perfect accompaniment to a gathering of friends on a hot day, whether the heat comes from within or without." Antinoo, meanwhile, is a Monastrell that's "young and mature, fruity, elegant, smooth….Mediterranean.... When you try it, shut your eyes and imagine that you are licking rivulets of syrup from his body," the company advises. Rounding out the line is Oscura Lágrima, a Shiraz and Merlot blend that's "dark, dense and turbulent."

Underscoring the connection it sees between wine and sexual orientation, UO! explains: "Right from the time you see the wine in the display case, we want to insure that the bottle speaks about more than its delicious contents; that it has to do with you; that you are offering whoever you are with something more than a simple glass of wine."

It's certainly true that gay consumers represent a potentially lucrative segment, and apparently UO! is not the first wine brand to set its sights on reaping some of those pink profits—another like-minded competitor, also from Spain, is Mundo Gay. Though it's not clear if UO! makes or blends its wines or simply packages them, it's actively seeking distributors; one to get in on early...? (Related: Heineken's brew for women.)

Website: www.uowines.com
Contact: quierouo@uowines.com

Citywide bike schemes are popping up all over the world, as we've noted on several occasions already, touting myriad benefits for the environment, urban congestion and human health. As is so often the case when equipment is shared, however, hygiene concerns inevitably follow—particularly during winter months and events such as the current swine flu pandemic. Enter Cyclean, a handlebar cover designed to protect bike users from germs.

Developed by Spanish PersonalBox with Barcelona's Bicing bike scheme in mind, Cyclean covers are hygienic, adjustable and waterproof sheaths that are available in versions tailored both for street bicycles and for the indoor variety used in gyms. Using the bright-red, condomlike covers, bicyclists can avoid contact with all the dirt, dust, pollution, viruses, water, sweat and other potential unsavouries that might be lurking on a shared bike's handlebar grips. Launched in December, Cyclean covers are recyclable and photodegradable, PersonalBox says. They are available online and through retail bike shops in Barcelona and Madrid; pricing is EUR 5 for either a bag of 18 pairs for street bikes or 12 pairs for indoor bicycles. A video on Vimeo demonstrates Cyclean in action.

Of course, whether the world needs yet another disposable item on the streets is far from clear, as TreeHugger points out—particularly when a pair of washable gloves could presumably do just as well. Their safety, meanwhile, would seem to depend on a good, tight fit—something PersonalBox has no doubt already ensured. Nevertheless, consumers will ultimately decide whether disposable handlebar covers offer enough advantages to be compelling—if they do, could make a nice feeder business for gyms and bike sharing programs around the world. One to watch!

Website: www.cyclean.es
Contact: info@cyclean.es

Spotted by: Daniel Rodriguez

We've written fairly extensively about city bike schemes already, and Barcelona's two-year-old Bicing is a shining example. Now, bringing the service into the iPhone era, Bicing recently launched a mobile application that consumers can use to get location-based information about bicycle and parking availability.

Residents of Barcelona use Bicing by applying for a personal card and then using that card to rent and pay for use of one of the service's 6,000 bicycles. Bicycles can be picked up from and returned to any of 400 stations throughout the city. With the new iBicing application—downloadable from Apple's iTunes Store for EUR 0.79—consumers can now see in advance the best place to find or bring back a bicycle. All they need do is send an SMS to "7010" for information about the availability of bikes and parking slots at the stations nearest them. iBicing taps the iPhone's GPS capabilities to pinpoint a user's location and select which stations would be most convenient, but users can also search for information about others. Google Maps with interactive navigation can be displayed as well.

Bike sharing schemes are already laudable for so many reasons, most notably their benefits for the environment and urban congestion. Making such services more convenient for consumers through maps and the increasingly ubiquitous iPhone is the obvious next step toward realizing those benefits more fully. This is "mapmania" at work, as our sister site would say, and it's one to emulate in bicycle-sharing cities around the globe! (Related: Zipcar's iPhone app will find and unlock cars — Free coffee for iPhone users at Swedish 7-Eleven.)

Website: www.bicing.com
Contact: info@bicing.com

Spotted by: Daniel Rodriguez

Giving is the new taking, as our sister site likes to say. And while we've covered several examples of the growing importance of generosity as a societal and business mindset, we hadn't yet come across anything from the tech sector. But now we've found not just one but two such examples, courtesy of Adobe and Telefónica.

Adobe launched a program earlier this month whereby it is giving its Flex Builder 3 Professional software free of charge to developers who have been hit by current economic conditions and are out of work. To participate in the program, unemployed developers must attest that the software will be used only for personal use and skill-building—not for any production or commercial purposes. In exchange, they get a free copy of Flex Builder 3's Professional version, which is normally priced at USD 699.

Spanish telecom provider Telefónica, meanwhile, announced last month that it would begin offering discounts of up to 50 percent on unemployed customers' fixed and mobile phone service. The offer applies also to customers who are self-employed, and the maximum limit is EUR 20 per month per invoice. Participants must have had a Telefónica account for at least 6 months; to apply, they need only submit an application form, available on the company's website.

Whether it's helping fire victims find a place to stay, giving "worthy workers" a break or helping the unemployed get back on their feet, there are countless opportunities every day for brands to display their generous side. Think giving, think helping, think showing appreciation for others who do, and you just may win the hearts and minds of the burgeoning ranks of Generation G!

Website: freeriatools.adobe.com/learnflex — www.telefonica.es/on/io/es/teayudamos/home.html

It's no longer unusual for smart companies to involve their customers in the design of new products—that, after all, is how many of the benefits of crowdsourcing are realized. One we hadn't seen until recently, however, was a travel company that not only solicits past customers' input when it plans new trips, it actually invites them to come along and help refine them before it offers the trips to the public at large.

Based in Madrid, YokmoK is an adventure travel company that leads expeditions of varying lengths, types and difficulty levels in Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Morocco and Nepal. Always planning new trips, the company has now begun actively involving past clients in their creation. Specifically, once the research has been completed for a planned new trip, YokmoK conducts what it calls an exploration trip with past customers to try it out collectively. As they travel, YokmoK's leaders and participants all take an active role in discussing possible itineraries, daily schedules and ways to make the trip more interesting, refining it as a group to create the best possible experience. In exchange for their effort and flexibility during the unpredictable bumps along the way, participants are offered a reduced price. The resulting trip itinerary, meanwhile, is what gets offered to the public the following year. YokmoK aims to conduct one exploration trip every 12 to 18 months; the next one, planned for this month, will explore the Swedish Lapland with a 7-day snowshoe trek through the wild terrain of the Kungsleden trail.

YokmoK's exploration trips program is part of its "ambassador" system, through which it also gives repeat customers a 5 percent discount for each new customer they recruit. So, in addition to giving YokmoK early insight into new offerings and a better chance of success, the trips also serve as an extra perk for its ambassadors, offering them a few status stories and an exclusive experience. What incentives can your brand offer to keep customers spreading the word and coming back for more...? (Related: Consumers get paid for input on new products — Hotel perks for Mercedes drivers.)

Website: www.yokmok.com/exploratory-trips.html
Contact: yokmok.aventuras@gmail.com

Spotted by: Raul Vigas

From urban bike-sharing schemes to cargo bikes for business deliveries, there's no doubt bicycle use is on the rise. As with cars, however, parking bikes safely remains a persistent challenge. That's where the Biceberg comes in, providing a protected and secure place for urban bicyclists to leave their bikes.

Invented by Spanish ma-SISTEMAS, the Biceberg is a fully automated underground bike park that can securely hold 23, 46, 69 or 92 bikes—depending on its size—along with accessories like helmets and backpacks. The device works much like an oversized ATM as it collects bikes from, and then returns them back to, street level. Users of the Biceberg are equipped with a microchip card and PIN that they use to gain entry to the device any time they want to drop off or retrieve their bike. Upon entering their information, the Biceberg's bicycle-sized garage door opens to deliver or accept the bicycle into the park—either way, the process takes about 30 seconds, the company says. A video on the Biceberg site demonstrates the device in action. While bikes are stored there, the Biceberg even offers a 100% guarantee against robbery.

Several Bicebergs are already installed in Spain—in Zaragoza, Huesca, Blanes, Vitoria and Barcelona—and the company hopes to begin its expansion into the rest of Europe soon. One to help bring to the bike paths, byways and crowded sidewalks near you...?

Website: www.biceberg.es
Contact: ma-s@biceberg.es

Spotted by: Copenhagenize via Raymond Kollau

All restaurant tables are not created equal, as seasoned diners well know. One of the first we've seen to recognize that fact explicitly, however, is Wagaboo, which now lets consumers reserve a specific table online.

Prospective visitors to Wagaboo's restaurants in Madrid and Barcelona (another is coming soon to Lisbon) simply enter into Wagaboo's online form the restaurant, date and time they're interested in, along with their smoking preferences and the number of people in their party. They can then view a seating map of the appropriate section (smoking or non) of the restaurant they've chosen. Wagaboo automatically suggests a table based on the number in the party, indicating its selection with a red dot. Patrons are free to choose another from those still available, however, with free ones indicated in green. After making their selection, consumers then confirm their reservation with their name and contact details.

Whereas restaurant table assignment typically depends on a combination of availability at the moment, staff workloads and restaurant discretion—with the best tables often given to the best customers—Wagaboo's system democratizes and adds new transparency to the process. What happens when a party's reservation comes to an end isn't entirely clear, but one can't help wondering about the implications for patrons who like to linger. It's a system that won't work for every type of establishment, but in difficult economic times, it could be an extra method of attracting customers, and rising to the expectations that other industries have created—in this case, airlines, theatres and other events venues. (Related: Table snagging service.)

Website: www.wagaboo.es
Contact: contact@wagaboo.com

Spotted by: Leticia Pérez Prieto

We've featured several companies that appeal to a growing appreciation of the benefits of napping, from a New York sleep salon to napping cocoons at airports. So we were intrigued by news that a hotel in Barcelona--the Hilton Diagonal Mar--has set aside 40 of its 433 rooms this summer for anyone who'd like to take a siesta. For EUR 75, customers get a barbecue lunch and a guest room from 1-5 PM, plus access to the hotel's gym and rooftop pool.

According to an article in Het Parool, luxury hotels in Catalonia are battling low occupancy rates, mainly due to a record construction boom that created more rooms than visitors can fill. Moreover, the Diagonal Mar is located in Barcelona's financial district and relies on a steady stream of business travellers, which slows down in summer. The hotel's napping angle should help recoup some of its fixed costs. And it's definitely a more creative approach to boosting occupancy than simply slashing room rates. One to sleep on ;-)

Website: diagonalmarbarcelona.hilton.com
Contact: res.diagonalmar@hilton.com

Spotted by: Het Parool, via RK

With same-sex marriage now legal in countries like Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada and South Africa, and many more countries accepting civil unions, domestic partnerships or registered partnerships, a whole new bridal industry is springing up to cater to the demands and wishes of gay and lesbian couples.

Spotted in Barcelona: BY, Europe’s first wedding shop for gay men. The venture was conceived as "an image atelier for fashion conscious individuals in search of alternatives to the conventional groom and ceremony suits." Suits are tailor-made in Spanish workshops and priced from EUR 1,500–6,000. For an extra personal touch, they can be lined with fabric printed with a couple’s monogram, a photograph or a poem. Designers working for the boutique include Delgado Buil, Ion Fix, Juanjo Oliva, Locking Shocking and Helena Rohner. Besides clothes, BY also sells wedding rings and other accessories.

Smart concept to start up in cities with large gay communities, wherever same-sex marriage is legal. And don’t forget lesbian nuptials! For more examples of companies working to reap ‘pink profits’ check out our sister site trendwatching.com’s latest briefing.

Website: www.bybcn.es

Note: BY no longer seems to be active. If you know what happened to the company, please leave a comment or email us at info@springwise.com. Thanks! And we still like the concept :-)

Spotted by: Anna Codina

A few months ago, we featured pop-up nightclubs in Australia, which were part of a marketing effort by Southern Comfort. Australian clubbers aren't the only ones being treated to transitory clubs—in Barcelona and Lisbon, Kubik recently opened its temporary doors.

Designed by Berlin-based urban design agency ModulorBeat and light artist Andreas Barthelmes, Kubik is built from stacked, reused water tanks. Lighting in each cube is controlled separately, which makes for a spectacular backdrop that pulses to a DJ's beats. Kubik operated a temporary club in Berlin last year and has now (wisely) relocated to warmer climes. Kubik Barcelona is located in two separate locations in the Parc del Fòrum: one venue is illuminated in green, the other in magenta. It won't come as a surprise that Kubik Barcelona is sponsored by three beverage companies: Estrella Galicia (beer) Strongbow Gold (apple cider) and Burn (energy drink). Kubik's 275 illuminated cubes house a bar and lounge from Sunday through Wednesday, and a club from Friday through Saturday.

Kubik Lisbon was one of the venues for the first Portuguese Creamfields event, an outpost of the major UK dance festival, with Bacardi featuring as main sponsor. Both Kubiks will close at the end of summer. One to dance the night away in if you're interested in experiencing well-executed temporary architecture, or if you're looking for inspiration on where next to take the transient trend of pop-up.

Website: www.kubikbarcelona.com — www.kubiklisboa.com
Contact: info@kubikbarcelona.com — info@kubiklisboa.com

Spotted by: Petz Scholtus

Pop-up retail created plenty of buzz over the past few years, but seems to be over its peak. So, what's up next? How about pop-up hotels and resorts? Two recent spottings from the travel and tourism industry:

On land, there's Spanish Hotel Movil, a large truck trailer that can be dragged to any location and turned into a two level hotel within 30 minutes. After its 11 rooms are unfolded, the hotel on wheels can sleep up to forty people, making it roomy enough for wedding parties, family reunions or luxury camping trips with a large group of friends. Hotel Movil isn't short on luxury: every room has a bathroom, plasma screen TV, DVD, internet access and more. Depending on the trailer's configuration, a bar and movie screening room can also be included. Price for a weekend is EUR 7,000. Alternatively, you can buy a hotel of your own for EUR 400,000.

Secondly, touted as "the next frontier of the sexy jet-setter life," Nikki Beach at Sea aims to be the world's first floating resort, and will move from party to party across the globe. The concept is being developed by Nikki Beach Hotels and the Kloster cruise family, targeting Nikki Beach's young and hip South Beach clientele. The USD 498 million floating hotel and party boat will set sail in 2009, starting off in St Barth’s for New Years, then on to Rio for a week of carnival, followed by the Winter Music Festival in Miami and the Cannes Film Festival.

While a floating resort isn't a venture you can start up overnight, pop-up hotels could carve their own niche for exclusive, ‘any time, any place’ travel experiences. And there should be plenty of opportunities for the events industry, too. One to watch!

Website: www.hotelmovil.com and www.nikkibeachatsea.com
Contact: hotelmovil@hotelmovil.com and www.nikkibeach.com/main/contact.asp

Spotted by: Joandó Reverter and Donal Cahalane

The newest addition to the niche restaurant scene is the dessert bar. Room 4 Dessert (New York), Espai Sucre (Barcelona) and our most recent spotting, ChikaLicious, limit their menus to creative concoctions that satisfy even the most ardent sweet tooth.

A tiny 20-seat eatery in New York, founded by husband and wife team Don and Chika Tillman, ChikaLicious offers a 3-course menu for USD 12, consisting of a sweet amuse, the customer's choice of main course dessert, and petit fours to top it off. The menu features dishes such as Honey Parfait in Blackberry Soup with Tarragon and Lace Crisp, and the signature Fromage Blanc Island Cheese Cake (described as 'heaven on a plate' by a customer on the restaurant's TurnHere video).

The owners explain: "The idea behind an all dessert restaurant was something that we'd been thinking of for quite a while. Here in New York City, if you want a really fine dessert that's taken seriously, you have to go to one of those fine restaurants. We wanted to create a place that would allow you to go have noodles across the street and then come here for a very nominal price to have a wonderfully treated dessert."

A fun idea that lets adults live out their childhood fantasy of skipping dinner and going straight to dessert. The dessert bar is also a welcome addition to regular restaurants that work with tight seating schedules and rush customers from appetizers to cheque. Less need to hurry through dessert if it can be enjoyed at leisure elsewhere. A delicious opportunity if there every was one!

Website: http://www.chikalicious.com
Contact: info@chikalicious.com

From Down Under, a cool candy retail trend is sweetly spreading: earlier, Springwise reported on Sweet and Sticky and Suga Candy Kitchen in Sydney and Melbourne. Now, add Brisbane to the list with Cane & Able, while the Australian founders of Papabubble have set up shop in Amsterdam, Tokyo and Barcelona, taking the concept across the globe.

Papabubble's sales rose 25 percent last year to EUR 512,000, returning a profit of EUR 135,000 (USD 160,000 / GBP 91,000) (source: EasyJet Inflight Magazine). No wonder the company is planning to open shop in London and Paris in 2006. As they say, "no matter how bad the economy is, people will always buy candy."

Opportunities

The candy store craze shows that making money from good concepts can be done from just about anywhere on the planet, which makes it so important to spot these concepts on time. Which of course is exactly what Springwise aims to deliver every month. As for the candy stores 21st century style; hundreds of cities remain game. Get going.

Invented in Italy (where else), cone shaped pizzas -- think pizza slice meets ice cream cone -- are the latest fast food craze. Kono Pizza offers the convenience of eating on the move without making a mess. The EUR 1.50 cones are filled with the desired toppings, then cooked in a special oven in only three minutes. Kono currently runs 5 restaurants in Italy (Rome, Milan, Verona, Udine, Salerno), and is actively looking for franchisees.

It has already sold the concept to entrepreneurs in Spain (Madrid), Germany (Kassel), Kuwait and Indonesia (Jakarta), and has apparently also installed its first oven in Harrods, London. That leaves another 185 or so fast-food obsessed nations hungry for the next hot thing in snacking and obesity.