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With less than 10 days remaining to C-Day, it's a safe bet that countless shoppers around the globe are desperately racking their brains for last-minute gift ideas. Luckily, a team of elves at IamSaintNick.com are now on hand to help. Launched just in time for the holiday season, I Am Saint Nick lets would-be gift-givers submit the phone numbers of those they're having trouble coming up with ideas for. The company's very own "Santa" will then place a discreet, anonymous call to each challenging person and ask them what they'd like for Christmas. Each such call gets recorded and posted online for access (only) by the gift-giver, who then gets insight into wishes that may not ordinarily get shared with mere mortals. (In recognition of the fact that recording phone calls without consent is illegal in some places, the caller reportedly first tells recipients that they will be recorded.) Powered by Twilio phone technology, Kirkland, Wash.-based I Am Saint Nick aims to support itself through advertising and sponsorships. It is considering offering online gift inventories as a future enhancement, as well as expanding the service to help with birthdays, anniversaries and other gift-giving occasions as well, MSNBC reported. Proving once again, of course, that where consumers feel pain, crafty entrepreneurs can gain. How could *you* make gift-giving a little easier....? (Related: Free holiday love in Manila — Gifts by text message.) Website: www.iamsaintnick.com |
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When we covered La Petite Reine this past spring, it had already expanded beyond Paris to offer business deliveries by cargo bike in Bordeaux, Rouen and Dijon. Recently we learned that the company is in the process of expanding once again, this time beyond French borders. To recap our earlier story, La Petite Reine's Cargocycles are available for hire to make small and medium-sized urban deliveries. With a cargo space of 1,400 liters, each 80-kg Cargocycle can transport about 180 kg of merchandise over distances of up to 30 km. Advantages of the man-powered vehicles are that they are faster than trucks in urban congestion, highly maneuverable, less expensive to operate and completely nonpolluting. Now, after receiving numerous international inquiries over the years since its founding in 2001, La Petite Reine just recently extended into Switzerland with a franchise in Geneva. Early next year, it plans to begin operations in London. Through a collaboration with Office Depot, the bikes will undergo a trial in Camden by which they are used to deliver stock from a central depot to nearby clients, according to a report in the Evening Standard. There are few things more gratifying to us here at Springwise than seeing a good idea spread, and La Petite Reine continues to seek additional franchise partners. How about bringing a fleet of cargo bikes to the congested urban roads near you....? Website: www.lapetitereine.com |
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Camping, an ancient form of holiday accommodation, is now going peer-to-peer: Single Spot Camping connects anyone who owns a suitably sized piece of land (‘even your garage entrance’, says the site) with those looking for a place to pitch their tent. Like the more established concept of couch surfing, the Swedish startup aims to create travel experiences that are more unique and personal than staying at a regular camping ground. Additional benefits are the small stream of income created for hosts, and the fact that—unlike with couch surfing—both guests and hosts can maintain a sense of privacy. As the site’s still very new, all listings made before 31 December 2008 will be displayed for a year free of charge. In 2009, listings will cost the landowner EUR 40 per year. Any plots of land sitting empty in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Australia or the United States can currently be registered, with the site aiming to become popular with campers and site owners in Europe, North America and Australia. We’ve covered similar concepts for spare bedrooms and off-street parking spots—what’s next? Website: www.singlespotcamping.com Spotted by: Helene Frick |
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Crowd clout has already wreaked havoc on industries far and wide, and now it appears the home furnishings industry could be among the next to get transformed. French site Myfab.com lets consumers collectively tell manufacturers which furniture items they want produced and then purchase them direct at near-factory prices. Each week Paris-based Myfab posts a catalogue of items that are available for voting, inviting members of the site to indicate the ones they like best. Those that win the most votes get put into production by one of Myfab's factory partners and become available for purchase through the site. Whereas many major furniture brands carry prices up to 10 times what it costs the factory to produce them, the site says, Myfab's prices can be as much as 70 percent lower since no middleman is involved. Consumers who voted for an item during its pre-production phase get an additional 10 percent off. All factory partners must adhere to the site's charter of quality, and consumers are given a one-week trial period to decide if they're satisfied. Myfab ships to France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland and the UK. Delivery takes 9 weeks on average, and consumers can follow an item's progress online each step of the way. In addition to furniture, Myfab also offers products in fashion, accessories, sports equipment and watches using the same crowd-based voting model. The lesson to be learned? Between transparency tyranny and crowd clout, companies are running out of places to hide. Better listen to the crowds, or risk getting crowded out! ;-) (Related: Shoppers team up for better deals — Reverse-boycotting: crowd clout meets eco-persuasion.) Website: www.myfab.com Spotted by: Lamia Aloui & Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye |
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Recycled materials give any brand an eco-boost, but a new range of accessories shows that their consumer appeal stretches beyond those planet-saving properties. Fabricated from German gym equipment used in the 1950s, Zirkeltraining's bags, laptop cases and wallets stand out because of the material's heritage, not its greenage. Zirkeltraining is German for 'circuit training', which makes sense when one learns that the bags are made from gym mats, pommel horse leather and trampoline rescue nets. Each of the handmade products is unique, with the finite amount of raw material providing a refreshingly genuine reason for limited edition status. The previous life of each item is made apparent with Zirkeltraining's assertion that items contain 'a little bit of sweat', Prices range from EUR 90 to EUR 249, and Zirkeltraining products are currently available from selected stockists in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan and Austria. The range was designed and manufactured by a former gym teacher, and it's a fun example of how eco-friendly products don't always need to be seen as green—sometimes it's more sustainable to focus on the status story. (Related: Virgin Atlantic's seat covers, reborn as bags) Website: www.zirkeltraining.biz Spotted by: Susanna Haynie |
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When preparing for some shuteye in the city that never sleeps, one option is to settle down with a favourite book in New York's Algonquin Hotel. Combining a long-standing literary tradition with one of the latest gadgets, the hotel is offering free loans of Amazon’s Kindle, pre-loaded with a book of the guest’s choice. The digital book service—which launched in September 2008 to coincide with National Literacy Month—ties in with the hotel’s literary roots, reminding guests that it used to be frequented by such fabled writers as William Faulkner, Gertrude Stein and Dorothy Parker. For guests whose decision-making skills are paralysed by limitless choice, the devices also come loaded with bestsellers and modern classics, as well as books written by members of the hotel’s famous Round Table, including Edna Ferber and Robert Benchley. Guests are free to use the devices anywhere within the hotel. It’s a win-win all round: customers try something new, Algonquin offers a personalised service using the latest technology and Amazon gives a select group of potential buyers first-hand experience of their product. (Related: Hotel offers reader-in-residence.) Website: www.algonquinhotel.com Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen |
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As if tax breaks, freedom from the pump and an emissions-free conscience weren't enough to make a person want to drive an electric car, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is now doing its part to make the road even smoother for the plug-in vehicles by offering free charging in select parking spots in the airport garage. Through a pilot program launched at the beginning of this month, the Sea-Tac Airport now offers six parking spaces in a prime location of the garage with plug-ins for electric vehicles. The green-striped spots, located on the garage's fifth floor, are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Standard parking rates apply, but the electricity itself is free. In this age of perks and free love, it really is better to give than to receive—particularly when the green aura of those on the receiving end reflects back onto you. Eco-iconic, meet perkonomics. Go forth and multiply! ;-) (Related: Converting standard Corollas into electric cars — Battery-powered trucks — The going is green.) Website: www.portseattle.org/seatac/traveler/index.shtml Spotted by: RK |
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Online and offline are no longer mutually exclusive realms, as we've already pointed out in numerous examples. The latest illustration comes from the world of online baby journals, where purveyors are increasingly beginning to offer print versions as well. To wit: Kidmondo, which we covered this summer, has since added a print option to its offerings. Through a partnership with custom publishing platform Sharedbook, Kidmondo now gives parents a fast and easy way to turn all the content they create online into a "KidBook" in the brick-and-mortar world. Users can pick which parts of the online journal they want to include in the book as well as customizing the content, cover, titles and more. Pricing for the KidBook begins at USD 28 for a perfect-bound softcover book with 20 full-colour pages and free US shipping. Hardcover is also available, and additional pages can be added for USD 0.50 each. KidBooks are currently available only in English, but Kidmondo hopes to accommodate other languages in the future, it says. BabyChapters, meanwhile, is another site that lets parents share their baby's precious moments with family and friends in a safe and secure way, and also offers an online-offline combination. After creating their free online baby book, parents can select the chapters they'd like to include in a hardcover print version. Prices begin at USD 27.95 for a 24-page book, with a 20 percent discount for additional copies. Los Angeles-based BabyChapters launched in April. For years offline ventures struggled to make their way online. Now that online ventures are often the starting point, opportunities abound in connecting digital offerings with the tangible here and now. (For more on that subject, see trendwatching.com's OFF=ON briefing.) Online is a given; now offline is cool once more! ;-) (Related: Blurb's blog-to-book printing.) Websites: www.kidmondo.com — www.babychapters.com Spotted by: Timothy Gutowski |
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While most direct marketing efforts invite consumers to reply by mail, a full 42 percent of interested recipients prefer to respond online, according to a recent study by the Direct Marketing Association. Rather than send those consumers to a generic landing page—where the likelihood they'll stay diminishes with every click—new technology from MindFireInc lets companies create a personalized URL and landing page for each and every consumer. LookWho'sClicking automates the creation and management of direct marketing campaigns using dynamic landing pages, personalized URLs, response tracking and more. Using a company's campaign mail file, the software first generates and hosts a personalized URL for each recipient—such as JoeSmith.Shoesaver.com, for example—and automates the process of inserting those unique addresses into the mail file for inclusion in each direct mail piece. When Joe Smith visits his personalized URL, he'll see a personalized VIP Landing Page tailored specifically to him and to the direct mail piece he holds in his hand, with matching design and a welcome message that thanks him by name for visiting. The technology then captures Joe's activity for additional follow-up and lead generation, all in real time; comprehensive reports display campaign response rates, visitor patterns and detailed lead information. Microsoft, BMW and Nestle are among the 500 companies using the technology, MindFireInc says. In this era of mass-customization, consumers expect to be addressed in a way that recognizes their individuality, and if it can stroke their gravanity too, then all the better. Something tells us this one will eventually become hygiene! Website: www.mindfireinc.com/info/personalized_url_marketing.html Spotted by: Roberta Steinberg |
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Earlier this year we wrote about Crop to Cup, an online venture that uses product life stories to connect coffee drinkers with small African farmers who produce the beans they love. Now a UK-based startup aims to do much the same thing for wine with an online community that profiles and supports small-scale producers around the globe. In a market where the average bottle of wine includes just 30p of wine along with GBP 1 of marketing, packaging and other costs, Naked Wines bills itself as an online farmers' market dedicated to "the kind of winemakers who want to spend their lives making great wine, rather than selling it." The site currently features 18 winemakers from Argentina, France, Spain, New Zealand and South Africa. Beyond simply listing basics such as their locations and product characteristics, however, Naked Wines includes a full-page profile for each one, complete also with their backgrounds, some personal details and their views on making wine. Users of the site can create profiles, rate wines, and chat with each other as well as the winemakers they're interested in. Based on what they've liked so far, Naked Wines can also make recommendations in Amazonesque fashion. All new wines are sent to a panel of consumer testers before they're added to the site, and all purchases come with a money-back guarantee. Through the Naked Angel program, meanwhile—embraced by many of the site's vintners—consumers can get 6 free bottles of wine plus 33 percent cash back on purchases when they prepay GBP 5 per month toward participating winemakers' wines. Naked Wines was launched early this month by Virgin Wines founder Rowan Gormely. With its product life stories, (still) made here focus, social networking features and tryvertising undertones, it may just be a winning blend. A model to sample in other parts of the world! Website: www.nakedwines.com Spotted by: Susanna Haynie |
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When we wrote about In Good Company and its New York work spaces for women entrepreneurs earlier this fall, we suggested it might be a concept worth repeating in other parts of the world. As if on cue, one of our spotters recently alerted us to a project in Dubai to build not just a work space but an entire office tower dedicated specifically to businesswomen. Abu Dhabi-based Hydra Properties just recently completed excavation for Eve's Tower, which it says will be the world's first exclusive tower for women entrepreneurs. Located in downtown Dubai's Business Bay, Eve's Tower will be part of the iconic Hydra Towers Project comprising five uniquely shaped, high-rise towers. It will feature a sleek design and high-tech facilities, rising 20 floors and facing Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world. While men will be allowed to work there, only women will be able to own office space, and women will enjoy special entrances, elevators and car parks as well, according to a report in Arabian Business. Sulaiman Al Fahim, Hydra's CEO, explains: "We have conceptualized the building as a tribute to the nurturing spirit of womanhood, world over. I'm confident that the tower will lead to a new awakening and unleash the latent entrepreneurial talent of UAE women and contribute to the overall growth of the nation and region." Eve's Tower is slated to be completed by 2010. Still haven't caught female fever? Check out trendwatching.com's briefing on the topic for some infection and inspiration—you'll be seeing pink in no time! ;-) Website: www.hydraproperties.com Spotted by: Roberta Steinberg |
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The end of the year has brought a flurry of personalized travel guides! The ink had just barely dried on our stories about Offbeat Guides and Tripwolf when yet another related spotting came in: Traveldk.com. Since 1974 Dorling Kindersley (DK) has been publishing its award-winning Eyewitness Travel Guides series covering more than 100 cities, regions and countries in over 30 languages. Now the UK-based company allows consumers to create their own, personalized travel guides as well. Users begin by choosing their destination and then selecting from among all the many attractions listed on the site via DK's own content and those submitted by members. Maps are automatically included to support those selections, and users can organize their content into chapters with titles and brief descriptions. To customize the cover of their guide, users can then add a cover photo, title and a brief description. The resulting guide is suitable for sharing and rating online, and—as with Offbeat Guides—it can either be downloaded as a PDF for GBP 2.50 or ordered in printed book format for GBP 10, including delivery charges. Some 50 cities are currently listed on the site, with more coming soon, the company says. The votes are in, and consumers seem to like having it their own way when they travel just as much as they do in other realms—imagine that! ;-) Repeat after us: Personalize, personalize, personalize! Website: www.traveldk.com |
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As the holiday season marches on, business travellers around the globe are no doubt shuddering at the prospect of the nightmare they'll have to endure each time they take a trip through the world's airports. Hoping to give such travellers a little extra respite, a new website aims to help them find the hidden oases in many airports where a rare moment of peace and tranquility can be found. Sponsored by 3M Privacy Filters—which, not coincidentally, are also aimed at avoiding the prying eyes of fellow airport-goers—Airport Havens lets users search from a list of airports across the United States to find recommendations on where to head for a break or to get some work done during that 5-hour layover. Suggestions are derived from tips submitted by fellow road warriors, such as one from James of Brookfield, Wisc., for example, recommending "a hidden lounge which no one seems to know about" at LAX: "There is a nice, soft sofa on which you can spread out and get some work done. The noise from the walkways is faint, and with ample wifi coverage and no interruptions, it's a great place to work comfortably at one of the world's busiest and most hectic airports." Similar suggestions can be found for more than 40 other airports in the nation, and users of the site are invited to submit their own as well. Reaching out beyond the online world (OFF=ON, after all!), 3M even sponsored a real, offline airport haven of its own at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport during the two days prior to Thanksgiving. On Tuesday, Nov. 25 and Wednesday, Nov. 26—infamous as two of the busiest travel days of the year—the 3M Privacy Filters Airport Haven offered Atlanta travellers VIP service with free wifi, snacks, beverages and massages. Have we mentioned that traditional one-way advertising is dead? By serving up a blend of sympvertising, free love and community-generated content instead, 3M is likely to reach its target consumers in a way no mass-media ad could hope to do. Website: www.airporthavens.com Spotted by: RK |
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After witnessing the makeover given to traditional foodstuffs like cupcakes and popsicles, it seems it's now popcorn's turn. 479° Popcorn is handmade, made-to-order popcorn in flavours such as Alderwood Smoked Sea Salt, Ginger Sesame Caramel and Black Truffle & White Cheddar. Taking a leaf from the book of gourmet wine tasting establishments, 479° offers 'Samplers' and 'Collections', all linked by theme. Samplers' five boxes feed 2-4 people, and the Collections' three canisters are enough for 4-8. Prices range from USD 33 for the Purist Sampler to USD 52 for the Caramel Collection. Aware that posh flavours and presentation aren't always enough to ensure premium status, 479° Popcorn stresses its green credentials. The majority of its organic fair trade ingredients are sourced from farms close to its San Francisco kitchen, with the popped corn packaged in 90% recycled paper canisters that are also sourced from local suppliers. 479° Popcorn—named for the ideal Fahrenheit temperature for popping corn—is currently available in select Californian stores and via its website for delivery throughout the US. One for boutique cinemas to partner with? Website: www.479popcorn.com Spotted by: Miriam Brafman |
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Now that virtually everyone and everything are online, connections are increasingly being forged with those who aren't. Peggy Mail, which we covered last month, was one example; another is Presto, which allows consumers without computers to receive emails and digital photos as printouts via a dedicated machine. Targeting grandparents and other consumers who may not have computers or Internet connections, Presto gives online family members a way to include their offline relatives in the "loop" with emails, photos and other online communications. The connection is made via an email address at presto.com, assigned to every offline user, and the Presto Printing Mailbox, a machine that gets connected to their analogue phone line. When online contacts send messages and photos to the user's presto.com address, Presto's mail service transforms them into printable, full-colour e-letters. The Printing Mailbox automatically retrieves those messages up to five times a day and then prints them out for offline perusal. All settings can be administered via Presto Connect, a website aimed at tech-savvy family members for managing communications via presto.com, even down to ink and paper levels in the user's Printing Mailbox. Event reminders, medical reminders and prescheduled message deliveries can also be coordinated through Presto Connect. The Presto Printing Mailbox is priced at USD 149.99—with a special USD 99.99 offer through Dec. 14—while the Presto mail service starts at USD 12.50 per month. Presto is available at Amazon, Best Buy and WalMart, among other retailers, as well as via the California-based company's website. Now that OFF=ON and ON=OFF, as our sister site trendwatching.com would say, there are still lots of opportunities to bridge the two worlds. For starters: Presto is aimed just at US users, so how about bringing something like this to the rest of the offline world....? Website: www.presto.com Spotted by: KN |
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