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Gyms use it, broadband providers use it, DVD rental schemes use it, subways use it... Now it's time for taxis to adopt a flat-rate charge. Swiss start-up Taxmobil is planning to offer unlimited taxi use for a EUR 48 monthly fee. Customers will be able to buy a Taxmobil card online or from sales points around the city, and can call for a car to pick them up at whatever time they choose, travelling to any destination in the city. If two strangers are travelling in the same direction, Taxmobil may combine their journeys. The key to Taxmobil's strategy is the fact that it doesn't own the cars it uses. Instead, it buys the time of idle taxis that are already out and about, creating a service that's affordable and convenient for customers, and could decrease congestion and parking problems if city dwellers trade in their cars for a Taxmobil card. Böblingen in Southern Germany is likely to be the first town offering the service, starting early 2009, with other towns across Europe to follow. Travel is only permitted within a city, although members will be able to catch a taxi in other participating cities, too. As well as expanding the service’s reach, Taxmobil will soon be extending its package options by complementing its standard EUR 48 subscription with cards for businesses and families. Discounts and member benefits will be made possible with the cards in future, too. While public transport and bicycles are usually pitched as the green alternative to car ownership, there's something to be said for adding affordable taxis to the mix, offering people the option of individual door-to-door transport around the clock. How the system will work on rainy days, and whether EUR 48/month will leave any room for a profit, remains to be seen. One to watch! Website: www.taxmobil.ch Spotted by: Susanna Haynie
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As magazines struggle to reinvent themselves for the new media landscape, alternative business models being experimented with include digital, personalized and mix-and-match subscription formats, as we've noted before. Now, focusing on independent magazines, a new service offers a curated subscription that delivers a sampling of the best indie magazine issues throughout the year. Just launched last week, UK-based Stack aims to bring together the best independent English-language magazines from around the world and deliver them direct to readers. Subscribers begin by choosing whether they want six, eight or 12 issues delivered to them each year. Pricing is GBP 3 per issue in the UK—elsewhere, prices vary. Choosing from among those produced by its current roster of seven independent magazines—including Arthur, Plan B and Electric Sheep—Stack then selects the best issues to send readers on the schedule they've requested. Readers can ask Stack to leave out a particular magazine if they already subscribe to it; they can also suggest new magazines to add to the list. Stack keeps its subscription costs low by selling advertising inserts, it says, and it guarantees the quality of what it sends. The site explains: "Each delivery of Stack is a surprise so there’s no way of knowing what will come next. However, every magazine delivered by Stack comes with a guarantee that it represents the very best of independent magazine publishing, targeted at young, intelligent readers who appreciate an alternative to the mainstream." Offering a blend of curated consumption and try-before-you-buy capabilities for the world's many budget-squeezed trysumers, Stack may just have the approach it takes to help indie magazines survive. In magazines and beyond, time for independents to unite! (Related: Magazine republishes best of other fashion mags — Online community promotes indie bookstores.) Website: www.stackmagazines.com
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As we like to say, everything can upgraded, and everything can be personalized. And safety helmets are no exception. French brand Les Ateliers Ruby already sold bespoke helmets, and now also offers their high-end service online. Using the Ruby Costume A-La-Carte configurator, customers can choose from ten graphic decorations, 26 colours and three types of paint finish. Only one helmet type is currently available but another will be added later this month and two more models will appear by spring 2009. Prices are EUR 657 for a plain paint job or EUR 710 for a custom paint job. For those who feel the configurator isn’t enough for their personalization needs, the direct input of Les Ateliers Ruby is given as part of its offline Made-to-Measure service. Customers can make an appointment to receive expert advice on their envisaged design. Fortunately for worried parents and spouses, the emphasis on style hasn’t sidelined safety: Les Ateliers Ruby ensures helmets meet national safety standards for both US and European customers, with Japanese requirements being met next. Car sales continue to drop, but as reported by CNN Money, “scooter sales were up 66% in the first half of 2008 compared to a year ago, while motorcycle sales overall only ticked up 0.5%.” Time to start catering to the new scooter set? (Related: Stylish helmets for urban cyclists.) Website: www.boutiqueruby.com Spotted by: Tristan Daeschner
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Consumers have become increasingly mobile and nomadic, so it's no surprise that brands are doing the same, as witnessed by the continued popularity of pop-up retail. Helping companies get out and about whilst maintaining their brand image is bboxx—a compact and quick to construct mobile kiosk. Bboxx's design is based around a cylinder that retailers can tailor to their own needs by adding a roof terrace, a second storey, different types of stairs, all-over artwork and underfloor heating. These customised designs can then be purchased or rented for any length of time ranging from a single day to twelve months. Since the company began two years ago in Berlin, bboxxes have popped up in prominent locations in Berlin, as well as Frankfurt, Munich, London and Switzerland. This year, the concept won the M-Berlin marketing award. The company's website brings a refreshing accessibility and transparency to B2B selling: retailers can design their own bboxx in minutes, selecting features, uploading artwork and choosing indoor or outdoor environments to get a sense of how it might look in the real world. As features are added or removed, the appearance of the box changes and the rental or purchase price is altered accordingly. The most basic boxx costs EUR 14,000 to purchase, or EUR 116 per day for a two-week rental. One of the most glamorous options, including a roof terrace, all-over print, lighting and heating costs EUR 34,000 to purchase or a total of EUR 6,000 to rent for two weeks. An option to explore for your next pop-up outing, perhaps? Website: www.bboxx.de Spotted by: Susanna Haynie
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Loyalty programs have been around for years—as evidenced by the mass of cards weighing down many consumers' wallets—but the difficulty of keeping track of them all can mean that consumers often don't reap the rewards they're entitled to. Enter Perkler, an Australian site that just entered beta for the sole purpose of helping consumers get what they deserve. Perkler is an online community "for perks and people who love them," giving shoppers a central place online to manage all of their loyalty and rewards programs. Users begin by registering and setting up a virtual wallet to track all their cards. With a database of more than 500 programs and 150,000 rewards, Perkler brings the information about all of those cards together so shoppers can search all of them at once, even linking to specific retail locations so they know where to get each perk they're interested in. Community features let people share their thoughts and rate programs, making it easier also for users to find new programs they'd like to join. The site is free for consumers; rather, its business model depends on partnering with the owners of loyalty programs, offering aggregated data on customer behaviour, better targeting, a platform for advertising, and more touch-points for consumer interaction. Perkler plans to launch in the US and UK in early 2009; iPhone and Blackberry applications currently in development, meanwhile, will give users the ability to search for perks by geographic location. This is the era of perkonomics, as our sister site trendwatching.com would say. Consumers appreciate more than ever the convenience, status and plain old savings loyalty perks can afford, while brands get a way to differentiate themselves and show empathy during tough economic times. Facilitate the benefits on both sides, and you turn a win-win into a win-win-win! (Related: A lesson in loyalty marketing — Helping travellers reclaim taxes on flights not taken.) Website: www.perkler.com
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No sooner did we cover Offbeat Guides, with its professionally printed and personalized guidebooks for travellers, than one of our spotters alerted us to a similar offering out of Austria: Tripwolf, which offers free, customized travel guides in PDF format. Like Offbeat Guides, Tripwolf combines professional editorial content with user-generated content from some 13,000 globetrotters worldwide. The ad-supported site focuses primarily on Europe and is backed by MairDumont, Europe’s largest publisher of travel guides (including the Baedeker, Dumont and Marco Polo brands), which has put all of its high-quality content—covering more than 250,000 destinations and points of interest—online for free. Tripwolf also aggregates third-party content from sites like Wikipedia, Flickr and YouTube, and hotel price comparisons are powered by HotelsCombined.com. Community features include user-generated photos, travel blogs, ratings and advice as well as Facebook integration, with iPhone features and the ability to book flights or hotels coming soon. Once users have compiled all the information they need, they can build and print a personalized, free 10-to-20-page travel guide in PDF format to take along on their trips. Vienna-based Tripwolf was launched this summer with sites in German and English; a Spanish-language version is due next year. As purse strings continue to tighten, it seems likely travellers will research trips ever more carefully to make sure their hard-earned travel dollars, euros and pesos don't get misspent, making sites like Tripwolf and Offbeat Guides increasingly useful. Tripwolf's next step? Team up with Blurb or Cafepress to offer consumers the option of bound books, too. A nicely bound travel guide in the hand is worth two in PDF... or something like that! ;-) Website: www.tripwolf.com
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We've seen cone-shaped pizzas, super-fast pizzas, pizza vending machines and pizzas on antique wheels, but it wasn't until recently that we discovered balloon-enabled pizza picnics. Yes, that's right—Parisian restaurant Pink Flamingo Pizza allows customers to order their pizzas for delivery to the picnic spot of their choice through the help of a distinctive pink balloon. Pink Flamingo, which has two locations—one in Canal St. Martin, and a new one in Marais—is already well-known in the city for its original and creative pizza varieties. "The Bjork," for example, features smoked salmon; "The Ghandi" is topped with spinach saag and Baba Ganoush; and "The Almodovar" offers a paella theme. Even more charming, however, is that patrons of the restaurant can order their pizza for delivery to a picnic spot such as the banks of the nearby Seine. Upon ordering, they simply tell the restaurant where they plan to dine and are given a pink helium balloon to take with them. Pink Flamingo's delivery staff—who travel by foot or bicycle—then spot the customer thanks to the eye-catching balloon. Prices for Pink Flamingo's pizzas, whether delivered or eaten onsite, begin at EUR 10.50. For all those who thought there was nothing new under the sun in the world of pizza delivery—innovation strikes again! One to emulate in picnic-friendly cities around the globe. (Related: Beach barbecue on call.) Website: www.pinkflamingopizza.com
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Now that anyone can set up their own online store, there’s a certain prestige to having an offline presence. The Beehive Co-op offers craftspeople and designers a retail solution that’s more substantial than a Sunday market without the daunting prospect of leasing an entire store. Members rent a portion of Beehive’s store in exchange for a monthly fee and at least four hours of staffing assistance. This keeps overhead low and puts customers and designers in direct contact, boosting the sense of community and giving the designers valuable first-hand feedback on their products. There’s an ethical draw, too: Beehive’s focus on fostering local design means products have a smaller carbon footprint, and money earned stays in the community. We’ve spotted similar concepts in the past, including inQbox, Endossa and Yokozuna. What’s interesting about Beehive is how they plan to grow the model. With stores now open in Atlanta, New York and Cincinnati, the concept is about to expand as franchising opportunities were recently made available to entrepreneurs in other American cities. From shelfspace for minipreneurs to a branded chain of local co-ops—one to watch! Website: www.beehiveco-op.com Spotted by: Monique Halley
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It's no longer uncommon for churches to offer services online or via streaming video, but a UK church has now begun using voice-to-text technology to convert its live services into text for near-simultaneous delivery via email. Using technology by SpinVox, St. Christopher’s Church in Hinchley Wood, Surrey, just gave what SpinVox says was the world's first voice-to-text service this past Sunday. Rev. John Kronenberg led the service celebrating the beginning of Advent, and as he spoke to the congregation seated in the church, his words were automatically converted by SpinVox and sent directly to subscribers’ in-boxes in a matter of moments. Some 100 members of St. Christopher’s church received the sermon by email on Sunday, and the next such service will take place on Dec. 21. SpinVox is offering its technology to the parish as a free trial; it's also free to anyone wishing to use it to update a blog or social network by phone, the company says. Content available anytime, anywhere, and in every format—simply put, that's the real goal here. Make it happen, and you may just get your own "heavenly" rewards! ;-) (Related: Voice to text dictation from any cell phone.) Website: www.spinvox.com Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann
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Marrying strangers in Second Life, throwing sheep on Facebook, living as an orc in World of Warcraft... The digital world can make reality feel rather disappointing at times. Here to bring some of the magic of cyberspace into people's physical lives is Mir:ror, a web-connected dish that gives weird and wonderful new functions to the objects placed on it. Users plug the Mir:ror into their computer using the USB connection and affix the supplied RFID tags to the objects of their choice. They then program the objects using an online interface, causing the action of their choice to occur when the object is placed on the Mir:ror. The choices are practically limitless, with examples including paper files being used to open digital documents on the computer, coffee mugs telling Facebook friends that a user is online, and presents triggering songs and e-cards. Mir:ror was developed by Violet, the same French company that created the internet-enabled Nabaztag rabbit. Available from stockists throughout Europe and in the US, a pack that includes one Mir:ror, three of its colourful 'Ztamp' RFID tags and two singing and dancing mini-rabbits can be purchased for GBP 36. 12 extra Ztamps can be bought for GBP 16. Other brands can learn a lot from Violet's innovative approach, not least its ability to make cutting-edge technology friendly and accessible to everyday users. By enhancing an infinite number of objects, Mir:ror shows just how much potential the off=on trend has, and how the surface is only just being scratched. One to pair up with to give your products exclusive or newfound digital functions, perhaps... Website: www.violet.net Spotted by: Gregory Armene
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When times are tough, there's nothing like a little sympathy from a brand to get through to consumers in a way no mass-media ad can. Case in point: To promote its new Stove Top Quick Cups, Kraft Foods is offering warmth and samples at select Chicago area bus stops. Kraft has already posted ads in 50 bus shelters around Chicago featuring the tagline, "Cold, provided by winter. Warmth, provided by us. It's a good night for Stove Top." Earlier this week the company went a step further and began heating ten of those shelters to give consumers within a little sympvertising in the form of relief from the cold. Next, beginning today and continuing for three weeks, Kraft will also be giving out samples of its Quick Cups at those heated shelters, for a dose of tryvertising as well. As economic conditions continue to drag throughout the world, consumers will increasingly appreciate small acts of kindness—even branded ones. Throw in the opportunity to try before they buy, and you may just have a recession-proof plan! Website: www.kraft.com Spotted by: nytimes.com
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Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, and it's also widespread in Paraguay, where some 300,000 families lack adequate housing. Motivated by that fact—and by the severe deforestation that has been wrought upon the land—a local Paraguayan activist has devised a way to create recyclable housing materials without using wood. Social activist Elsa Zaldívar has found a way to mix loofah, the cucumberlike vegetable that gets dried into a scratchy sponge for use in bathing, along with corn and palm husks into a soup of melted, recycled plastics to form strong, lightweight panels suitable for use in houses and furniture. Loofah are already readily available in Paraguay thanks to a project Zaldívar, as head of nonprofit organization Base ECTA, initiated to empower local women. Working with Zaldívar, industrial engineer Pedro Padrós then devised a machine to combine the vegetable materials and plastics into panels that can be produced with varying strength, flexibility, weight, insulating qualities and colours. The lightweight composite panels are not only easier to handle than lumber or brick, but also much better in an earthquake or other natural catastrophe; if destroyed, they are fully recyclable, too. Combining a melting unit, mixer, extruder and cutting unit, Padrós' machine can produce a half-metre-wide panel 120 metres long in one hour. Costs have already fallen to less than about USD 3 per square metre, making the material competitive with existing construction materials. A newly granted Rolex Award will finance a promotion centre, the construction of three model houses and a video that will be used to describe the project, which has already attracted commercial interest as well. One to sponsor, test out, or otherwise get involved in? (Related: Instead of Styrofoam, fungus and rice hulls.) Website: www.rolexawards.com/en/the-laureates/elsazaldivar-the-project.jsp
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