Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Halo: Reach
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Lonely Planet Lonely No More
I’m sure most of us have heard of the Lonely Planet travel guide (website and the guidebooks) owned by BBC. Well, recently, BBC and Lonely Planet have decided to join together to make a new travel section in the BBC website, led by the former editor of NYTimes.com Travel & Style David G. Allan.
The site launched with partners in global territories such as Hilton in Asia Pacific and Europe, Spice Jet in South Asia and Middle East and Emirates in North America as well as targeting advertisers in the travel, tourism, and luxury products, such as airlines, hotels, and resorts.
The site is the first in a series of factual and lifestyles announced last month along with BBC.com’s new US edition. Already attracting blue chip advertisers and 16 million users, the site hopes to also target the more affluent and discerning consumers, and thus expects advertisers to be from the luxury consumer product sector, such as watches, fashion, cars and the like.
As Miranda Cresswell, Senior Vice President of BBC.com says*, “We know the people who come to BBC.com are curious about the world and look to us to feed that curiosity. BBC Travel will deliver insight, know-how and adventure that connects you to the world. With first person accounts from on the road we will dig into local culture, history and architecture.” True enough, the site includes a column of Top 5 Travel Stories from all over the world. Coming soon would be a series of commissioned stories from BBC and Lonely Planet authors on events such as the Edinburgh Festival, or life above the Arctic Circle.
So for all you travel hungry people out there, go on over to BBC.com/travel to see which places might catch your eye for your next big adventure!
*Quotation found here.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Are You Expendable?
When I first saw the ads for the movie on the walls of the Yonge subway line, I dutifully went home and YouTubed the trailers. What really caught my eye (other than the explosions) was the sheer number of different action figures both from the past as well as the present that was jammed into this film. Not to say that this is a bad thing, of course—more action for the audience! But after that passing moment, I had put this whole thing in the back of my mind and promptly forgot about it. However, a few days ago, I stumbled across this YouTube clip of Stallone (who stars in and directed the flick) doing an interview for the film, which I thought was innocuous enough. But halfway through the clip, I got a somewhat explosive surprise, which, to be frank, absolutely delighted me. Yes, that may have made me come across as somewhat bloodthirsty, but I also thought that it was a pretty cool viral marketing scheme!
After Googling it some more, I found out that not only does the film have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and—of course—YouTube, they also have a Foursquare account as well. Huh. That’s new. Turns out Lionsgate (the movie distributor, and the mastermind behind the all the marketing) has partnered with Foursquare and local businesses to market the film. How does it do that? Well, for a month now, Lionsgate has provided followers with tips and specials in local businesses in 11 different cities—all tied in to the “bad-ass” theme in the film.
For example, one of the specials in Santa Monica, CA, tells residents to check in at The Shack (a bar/restaurant, I presume), and say “Sly sent me” to the bartender, and they would be rewarded with a $2 discount off of a draft beer. Cool, eh?
Sadly enough, I don’t think any of the 11 cities are in Canada. Nevertheless, we still have Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube! The Expendables open on August 13th. That’s right folks, it’s this Friday! Go and see what the hype’s all about—I know I certainly will!