Peter Sunde is better known as co-founder of the infamous Pirate Bay, a Swedish website that indexed BitTorrent files. At this year’s Republica Conference he introduced a very different start up concept, Flattr, the name being a combination of Flattery and Flat rate. This is a new micropayment system with a mission to encourage people to share, content and money.

When you register with flattr you set an amount you’re prepared to pay for content you enjoyed each month. If a website offering content features a flattr button you can show your support or gratitude by clicking it (an online equivalent to a tip jar?). At the end of the month, the predefined amount get’s divided up amongst all things you flattered. With just over 20 000 members and a minimum of 2 Euros a month, the average flattr tips the author a whopping 15 cents. However, all clicks add up and some users are already reporting significant earnings. Germany’s newspaper taz.de reportedly made 988.50 Euros in June and an independent photographer claims to have received 33 Euros from 90 clicks. Flattr itself takes 10 % commission, which it says will fall as usage grows.

For the founder, motivation is as much ideological as commercial: “It’s about removing the barriers between producers and consumers. I want to get rid of that mindset so that people realise in order to create, you have to participate”.

With freedom comes responsibility, and as power gradually shifts from the provider to the consumer, Flattr could be a nice example of the responsibility that may come with this. Yes I as a user can enjoy all this wonderful content for free and instantaneously, but in order for it to be sustainable, I may just have to give something back. Mr Sunde is convinced: “Current micropayments methods are completely inefficient – there has to be a better way. Flattr is pushing the envelope from a cultural, economic and business model perspective”.

From the user’s perspective however, there are still several niggles which might hinder flattr’s long-term success. What If I want to flattr one website more than another? And what if flattery just isn’t the right word? From a branding point of view, the name just isn’t the most flattering, to make a very bad pun, as by definition it implies excessive or insincere praise.

The website is currently in the beta stage and in invite only. If you’re ready to set aside a fixed amount to donate, why not message the Flattr team and get yourself an invite? We’d love to hear your opinions and perhaps we could even exchange flattery someday.

When one of the top four global accountancy firms published a provocative point of view recently about the regulation of Europe’s hedge funds, internet immediacy helped to ensure it was widely read and discussed. For asset managers, the firm instantly became the forward-thinking authority that they needed to consult to ensure their UCITS hedge fund products were appropriately structured.

Old-fashioned PR played its part. The Financial Times picked up on the point of view, publishing its findings prominently, and was followed up by other publications. Yet internet discussion on forums such as LinkedIn maintained the momentum.

This example is no exception. Web 2.0, with its explosion of interactivity, debate and referrals, has made thought leadership a far more valuable tool. Original and insightful points of view stimulate discussion as never before. They raise the author’s profile and increase interaction with clients. Ultimately, they should stimulate new business.

Today’s internet, with its interactive forums, is made for thought leadership. If Web 1.0 made long-tail marketing a reality, then Web 2.0 has vastly increased its effectiveness. In other words, the first generation of the internet gave niche topics a global audience and the second has built the specialist online communities to discuss them.

Such is the diverse nature of the web that there is no single set of data illustrating its power for marketing thought leadership. But consider the structure currently evolving. Myriad online communities have thousands of discussion groups within them. For business-to-business marketing, there are groups dedicated to topics as diverse as private equity, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and HR.

At a time when the internet is fast becoming the most important medium for business-to-business marketing, debate stimulated on these sites, and consequent traffic to a firm’s web site, is valuable in several ways. Not only does it raise the profile of the firm on the particular topic profiled, but also it helps to improve the web site’s overall search engine rankings.

Quality of content

Evidently, the key to thought leadership marketing is the power of content. The term point of view explains neatly that every piece of thought leadership should articulate a clear opinion. Such opinions are at their most powerful when they are both topical and controversial. Former journalists with a nose for a story are often good at sensing what will be interesting.

An opinion is worth little, however, unless it is substantiated. While it goes without saying that the logic behind a point of view should be rigorous, with the evidence substantial, all too often this is not the case. Internal politics, the dead hand of consensus opinion or insufficient internal knowledge can often derail these projects.

Some organisations – such as professional services firms – have considerable internal knowledge, which provides a basis for strong opinions. This can be supplemented by straw polls or surveys of external opinion. These can focus on specific issues or, more generally, ‘take the temperature’ of the market.

A good writer can pull these disparate elements together.

Becoming a ‘web influencer’

In the terminology of the internet, thought leadership can ultimately make organisations or their employees ‘web influencers’. Using language that everyone understands, this means thought leadership on the web can be used to cultivate a position of authority on a specific topic.

Various techniques can be used to promote thought leadership. Videos can be added to written papers. Online and offline events also help. Dedicated web sites can be forums for debate, as can groups on social networking sites. And blogs help too of course.

Ultimately, thought leadership can be used to establish leading market positions in ways that were never possible before. The ease of exchanging and accessing information ensures this is the case.

For companies seeking to market their wares – especially those with high intellectual capital content – this can be extremely valuable.

But even in this new world old rules apply. Thought leadership must be provocative, rigorously researched and well written.

Rupert Bruce, The Clerkenwell Consultancy

www.clerkenwellconsultancy.com

Nestlé’s social media mishap was one of many examples that helped prove German professor and psychologist Peter Kruse’s point.  In his presentation at this year’s re:publica conference in Berlin he illustrated how the Internet is facilitating a redistributing of power from the providers to the receivers.

By nature, the Internet is self-perpetuating and able to create it’s own buzz. The number of connections and networks formed are growing at an incredible speed and every good idea or sentiment can be met with instant resonance. A multitude of individuals are acting spontaneously, tweeting, blogging and sharing random information all the time. These are then re-tweeted, linked to and re-posted until absolutely everyone has seen the piano playing cat or the disapproving rabbit eating parsley. These are of course the less significant examples…

Nestlé’s, one of the world’s largest food manufacturers, and its anti-social behavior offers a more poignant story. On the 17^th of March 2009, Greenpeace posted a protest video on Youtube. Mimicking Nestlé’s KitKat advertisement, they outlined the plight of the Orangutan and its shrinking natural habitat. The aim of the video was to raise awareness and get people to ask Nestlé’s CEO to stop the corporation buying palm oil from destroyed rainforests. By the end of the day views had almost crept up to 200 000 when Nestlé panicked and ordered the video to be removed. As a consequence, queries came flooding into Nestlé’s official KitKat Facebook Fanpage, one of their largest online fan communities. Instead of responding to them, Nestlé foolishly deleted their own fan page the following day. Even not responding at all would have been a better reaction. Needless to say, this anti-social behavior did nothing to improve Nestlé’s reputation. Greenpeace’s video was re-uploaded and headlines such as “Nestlé doesn’t deserve a break”, “Nestlé’s attempts to censor Greenpeace backfire” and “Nestlé hit by ‘anti-social’ media surge” still hold the pole positions on Google searches.

Kruse believes that online networks are fundamentally changing the economy and society for the better, challenging old media and antiquated hierarchies. With a myriad of networks ready and waiting to be tapped into, individuals and organisations no longer have to fight for the attention of mass media in order to be heard. In this world of self-publication, it is the quality of content and intent that counts. Discussion with audiences and customers is the essential part of digital marketing and is becoming an ever more important aspect of running a business. As Peter Kruse concludes, “You can offer as much as you want, but if there’s no resonance then there’s no chance for your offer to succeed in the world of 2.0”.

Facebook is an excellent resource for building strong connections with the student and graduate community, but achieving Facebook success is not as straightforward as it may seem.  Some pages such as the Oxford University page have achieved a high number of followers by really understanding the medium and using it to its full advantage. Other corporate pages are left behind with few followers and lacking impact or a strategy.

In our work with the Actuarial Profession we have taken a strategic approach by linking offline activities to social media in a carefully timed and orchestrated campaign. The result is a 6,000 strong Facebook community – a great achievement for one of the smallest and most elite of the professional bodies.

Since Facebook’s population has now risen to over 400 million active users, a size equivalent to the world’s third largest country, no one involved in communications can afford to ignore it – even those in the professional space who until now may have placed it in the “not for business” box.

Facebook tells us that half of their users are logged on in any given day and the average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on the site. With an average age of 33 and the 35+ group the fastest rising, business audiences are certainly present, providing great opportunities for HR and internal marketing teams to build company-wide communities.

At the same time as arranging their weekend plans and keeping in touch with friends and family, Facebook users are also busy learning and keeping up to date with the latest business thinking as the popularity of pages such as the following testify:

TED with over 384,000 (fans – has now given way to likers) we prefer – followers
The Harvard Business Review with over 100,000 followers
The Financial Times with over 39,000 followers

Linkedin can feel like a more natural home for business connections, but while it is a great place to make direct sales or supplier contacts and to speak to people one to one, the mechanics of the site are not ideal for creating a sense of community in a managed environment. Facebook’s sheer simplicity makes it perfect for integrating media and creating a sharing and listening environment.  All posts can be monitored and deleted so there is no fear of any comments companies would prefer not to hear.

One of the most important rules is to take a planned approach that considers both the nature of Facebook and the interests of the audience. Followers need to understand quickly why they’re on your page and what’s expected of them. While that may sound daunting, it is only a matter of combining imagination and organisation.

Engaging audiences’ interest does not mean you have to start from scratch. You probably already have a host of potential material tried and tested in past activities that could offer a potential central theme.  Supporting the central theme could be issues of particular interest to both the business and graduate audience, such as corporate social responsibility.

Uniting staff to share ideas and a common sense of purpose is a goal most organisations aim to achieve and Deloitte’s Facebook page with over 22,500 followers is a good place to see it in action.

Getting to the Deloitte level of activity doesn’t happen overnight, it requires a kick-off campaign around themes of genuine interest to the target audience and a carefully planned content strategy. While interactions and updated content are required ongoing to keep the page fresh, once the following reaches a few thousand members it becomes increasingly self-supporting.  We have been monitoring and managing ‘actuaries’ for over a year, successfully building awareness, promoting a positive image and uniting the profession around the world.

Actuaries on Facebook

Deloitte on Facebook

Building relationships with the student and graduate communities is changing on-campus recruitment activities and generating a buzz around online social media. Combining all on- and offline activities into an integrated relationship development strategy, however, is still some way off for most graduate recruiters, although one of the benefits of joined-up thinking could be to impress and attract the new generation of high flyers.

Each year’s graduate recruits have spent more of their lives as natives of a digital world and gaining the attention of the best and brightest requires a less traditional, more innovative approach if it is to appeal to today’s media and web savvy university-leavers. Looking at the Deloitte’s work on Generation ‘Y’, and last year’s AGR/Barker National Media Audit results, we’ve examined the issue from both perspectives.

Building the relationship with Generation Y

Generation Y has grown up with information at its fingertips and the smartest amongst them know exactly what it takes to get ahead.  Deloitte has been keeping tabs on what it terms ‘Yers’, seeking the positive transformative opportunities that they bring as well as their well-publicised downside. Optimistic, future-oriented and ready to contribute are all traits Deloitte has observed that, if harnessed well, could certainly contribute to organisations’ need for innovation. Put these characteristics alongside restless, demanding, an expectation of rapid advancement and desire to work abroad and you begin to realise that these are people who are hard to keep up with, never mind lead.

According to Deloitte, generation Y is fully engaged in society. They have a real sense of a global community and have grown accustomed to sharing their views and building relationships on and offline. They trust people over 30 who they are keen to learn from, bringing opportunities for mentoring but also opportunities for strong engagement through online channels.

First steps in social networking

Recruitment campaigns may feel more open and responsive than the push of traditional product or corporate advertising campaigns, but the tendency is still to control the information flow and manage campaigns in tried and tested territory.  As the results of last year’s AGR/Barkers National Graduate Media Audit show, specialist recruitment sites are the main online focus of recruitment campaigns and rightly so as students recognise them as a first resource for career information.

However, recruiters gain little opportunity to build relationships on these sites since content is managed and anything beyond the dry basics has to be paid for. At the time of writing it is not the high season for graduate promotion, but there was barely a video or day in the life presentation available. Links to corporate recruitment sites were being relied on to bring a richer experience, but while recruitment websites offer a valuable resource for candidates, they are on company territory rather than the student’s and seldom offer the opportunity to engage in conversation and build relationships.

Sites such as You Tube have gained popularity since they allow content to be taken out into the community and are a popular resource for users as the 20,000 views of one video on internships from PriceWaterhouseCoopers shows.

Facebook offers an excellent social hub with great opportunities to interact, inform and bring the reality of work to life.  Yet few companies make the most of this opportunity by effectively managing their Facebook presence and integrating it into their recruitment activities.

Those who feel Facebook is insufficiently serious may take heart from The Actuaries Facebook page. Launched in May 2009 as a component in their online graduate recruitment campaign, Actuaries was immediately successful in connecting members of the profession as well as building relationships with graduates.  This is an elite profession with just over 20,000 members in the UK, yet the Facebook page has continued to grow over the year, with follower numbers now at 5,800. Membership to the profession is growing rapidly and it’s not impossible that Facebook has played a part.

Deloitte too, perhaps inspired by its work on Generation Y, has developed an effective Facebook Page although it’s ‘Wall’ focus is more on internal connection than recruitment.

Online relationship building requires management of multiple strands of activity and a carefully planned content strategy. You need to be interactive and responsive, but by all accounts of Generation Y that’s the least they’ll be expecting.

AGR/Barker National Media Audit, 2009

Published in May 2009 the AGR/Barker National Media Audit gave recruiters a great insight into which media fellow professionals were finding most effective in their graduate recruitment activities. Over 120 graduate recruiters, who collectively employed over 11,000 graduates over the past 12 months prior to the survey ranked for effectiveness the media they used they used in their campaigns.

Not surprisingly, the deepest relationship building activity, work experience and internships, came top.  With both sides benefiting from getting to know each other better, students are now seeing internships as the first step in their career ladder.

Following the effectiveness of job listings and campus fairs, online sites Graduate Prospects and Milkround were the favoured online recruitment sites. These are the natural social hubs for students and graduates focused on their careers and they provide recruiters with an excellent opportunity to create a rich experience for audiences that is compelling and connected.

Direct e-mailing to students just made it into the top 10 in 10th place.   This is a more surprising finding perhaps reflecting the resistance of new generations to intrusive marketing.

It’s always hard to grab students’ attention at careers fares when the guys in the corner have a tank to play with. But the latest communications technology offers some attention grabbers that can also demonstrate that innovation isn’t just a word in the recruitment blurb.

Mobile apps offer the opportunity to link on a very personal level with graduates. With the potential for downloads at career fairs as well as from your website they bring an instant buzz factor and, if the app has been designed for long-term usefulness, they can help build long-term relationships.

Essentially, there’s the option to focus either on smart functionality or brilliant content. The latter is not the easy option since simply providing a mobile download of your web content is unlikely to hold the attention unless it is suffused with the wit of a Stephen Fry. Smart functionality can range from harnessing the mobile phone features such as camera and location or linking to social networks, such as Twitter and Linkedin. Local area networking is a feature that could be used to share information at an event as well as providing students with ongoing file-sharing capability in their own networks.

We recommend centering your app around a theme, whether it relates directly to your company or to a broader area such as a general careers manager which could carry your brand banner.

Touch screens are not limited to iphones and rail ticketing machines.  The latest technology touch screens can use any glass surface from a coffee table to a large exhibition panel to project an interactive display through the glass.  Those who have seen the film ‘Minority Report’, will have an idea of just what can be achieved using this technology and how exciting that could be in an event space.

Creating an interesting and visually captivating journey within the software environment of the display is key to successful user engagement. None of us gets too excited about ticket machines, or just using a finger to point at a website.  A true minority report experience requires creativity and visual excitement, but need not break budgets.

Whichever digital experience fits the practicalities of your recruitment campaign, creating an interesting and visually captivating journey will ensure your company projects the up to date image this year’s high flyers will appreciate. Attracting innovators has the potential to feed energy into the cycle of innovation and creativity that is vital to the competitiveness of organisations today.

Internal Communications – HR 2.0?

Over the last few years, new opportunities have arisen for HR teams to leverage social media and Web 2.0 in internal branding. Social media is now being used extensively through corporate platforms to unify, establish collaboration, create innovation and even to establish corporate standards across large multinational corporations. While the uptake of social media is most apparent in the US, adoption by global companies is increasing awareness within Europe. Rapid technological development is also bringing social software tools within the reach of smaller businesses.

In a survey of 20,000 HR professionals, Birkman International found that many people working in HR are fully aware of the potential of social media technologies, such as blogs, social networks, social bookmarking, wikis, content syndication, mobile computing and online video (83%). However, opportunities exist to improve their knowledge and experience and turn awareness into effective usage.

When asked which Web 2.0 technologies they use more than once a month, the clear leaders were LinkedIn (75%) and Facebook (66%). More surprisingly, almost half (45%) are also using Google Reader and 28% use Twitter. Using social media for recruitment purposes is the obvious starting point for web thirsty HR professionals and LinkedIn, Twitter and videos distributed through platforms such as YouTube are the most popular platforms for this.

Best practice for social media requires a clear distinction to be made between internal and external communications. For external communication HR teams need to work closely with marketing teams to contribute to building a strong, branded community that brings consistency of brand experience from recruitment to customer support. While businesses tend to have clear distinctions between departments, audiences are oblivious to such lines of demarcation and will wander freely through the information available through online channels.

The first requirement for internal social networking is a social media policy to give employees clear instructions about what is acceptable and what isn’t in their use of social media. The next requirement is to set objectives and to develop a content strategy that makes the best use of each of the available media to ensure your communication brings a rich user experience. Video is an important component internally as well as externally, whether it is to improve internal understanding of your brand by demonstrating values in action, or by using video to bring a closeness to communication across distant locations or from senior personnel.  Blog content can also be valuable to bring access to leaders within the business to develop better managers and nurture best practices.

Above all, web 2.0 is about collaboration and two-way conversations. This is where concerns about privacy often inhibit participation and companies can miss out on the benefits of social media. However, with an internal online infrastructure, managed or closed to external participation, companies can enjoy the benefits of social media without the downside. The HR team can encourage managers and employees to get involved and send as well as receive tailored messages building closer ties across the organisation. It’s also a great way to deliver various types of e-learning to the employee’s desktop.

For a bit of inspiration, here are a few examples of companies who have developed internal social media platforms:

1) IBM has created a social media platform called Beehive. The team created the site in order to help IBM employees to meet the challenge of building the relationships that are vital to working in large, dispersed enterprises today. They’re also exploring whether Beehive can help discover people with common interests or the right skills for a particular project. Incorporating functionality people are familiar with on Facebook, such as a profile page and photo uploads, Beehive allows employees to schedule events and write commentaries in a private, closed environment.

2) Pixar, the Acadamy Award-winning animation studio, has a video wiki for animation collaboration. The company started with text based sharing and then moved to video-based wikis to share information about films in production and to document meeting notes. Once the system was installed, they found it led to increased efficiency and faster film development.

3) Leading IT company, EMC, has an internal social platform called Global/One. Their goal was to create a platform for building relationships on a one-to-one level amongst staff and the corporation with virtually zero-budget toward branding. Over the last three years it has become the driving force behind a cultural shift in a collaborative environment that is spurring innovation, global collaboration and solutions that solve client’s problems. It has created social media “rock stars” within the company who are becoming recognized leaders for their blog writings as the go-to opinion leaders who people respect and follow for their thoughtful ideas and inspiration.

As the alternative and traditional fund management industries become less distinct, competition between the two tribes is ever increasing, creating interesting marketing challenges, not least in the retail space. UCITS III, the European Regulatory framework and fund structure that allows hedge fund-like products to be distributed throughout the EU, are gaining in popularity with both hedge funds and main stream asset management firms. Analysis of UCITS III vehicles indicates there are now over 400 funds across Europe using the UCTIS III powers to target absolute returns. Given the competition, how do you market your new UCITS III product and make it stand out?

UCITS III has given a new lease of life to fund managers following the financial crisis. Many managers are now launching absolute return funds using powers available in the UCITS directive. A survey from HedgeFund Intelligence on the momentum-gaining trend of hedge fund companies going onshore reveals that more than half of European Hedge Fund companies plan to launch regulated, onshore versions of their strategies or have already done so. Furthermore, a fifth of European Hedge Fund managers have launched, or are launching a mainstream UCITS III mutual fund, while another third say they are considering doing so. In their research report the HFI researchers conclude:  “Considering the flexibility UCITS III offers, we’re forecasting that this trend [UCITS III fund launches] will continue”. 

Marketing a UCITS III
EDUCATION

This is a complex product for both the intermediary and end user, and successful uptake will require understanding to be developed throughout the entire sales chain. Market materials could benefit from being stripped back to the bare essentials in order to highlight the product’s unique selling points. The rules of UCITS III do increase the freedom of an investment manager, but there are also limitations. Knowing how a fund manager has interpreted these limitations is vital to the savvy investor. Fund managers need to clarify their strategy and educate prospective advisors and investors on their particular approach to managing the fund. Advisors will also be watching for the experience of the fund manager in this more complex area with its greater demands for risk controls.

Education is always important for intermediaries, but particularly so with a new and complex product. They also appreciate having part of the their work done for them and our own research shows that the support they most appreciate from providers is marketing materials they can use directly with clients to explain the product, bringing a promotional boost to the provider with the best explanation. With the resources and access to intermediaries, the main-stream traditional fund managers have a clear advantage over their hedge fund counterparts here. By employing digital marketing strategies, niche providers could economically tip the balance of influence a bit further in their own favour.

Another factor benefiting traditional providers is the likelihood that buyers for UCITS III products will be cautious. Fund Managers can expect some initial resistance, for whenever a sector sees a wave of new launches, alarm bells tend to ring out. With so many UCITS III products launching, investors are able to be more selective, so transparency and differentiation bring advantages. Even well known names in the market may be advised, therefore, to think through the sales story for the intermediary and ensure it hits the right chord to assuage concerns and promote the positive as well as having a unique proposition.

Online Marketing

In our research, we were surprised to find little UCITS III marketing directed at the end-user. It’s possible to find press release upon press release on the web, but the language and content is certainly aimed at an educated audience. It would appear the industry is more interested in telling competitors about their latest fund launches than potential advisors and investors. Furthermore, even if inspired by the press release to search for more information, it is not easy to find mention of UCITS III products on the websites of the larger asset management firms, despite having news-worthy, recent launches.

A good example of online UCITS III marketing comes from Jupiter Asset Management, who launched two UCIT III funds at the end of last year. These products were marketed specifically as funds that have been developed especially “for top-performing fund manager Philip Gibbs” (Jupiter online) and were referred to as such consistently, throughout all web publications. Customers could read up on the new products directly on the Jupiter website, where they could also buy the product directly, of course. In addition to this, Jupiter also used Twitter to promote the upcoming product launch via the GIMagazine.

Jupiter has got ahead of the game online by integrating digital activity to promote a differentiating message consistently applied. This approach is no longer an add-on to traditional marketing, but is fundamental to taking communication beyond promotion to engagement with the target audience.

Since the launch of the ipad the excitement about mobile apps which has been creating a buzz in the tech world for a couple of years has exploded into the mainstream. The Number of apps available and the number of downloads are reported in numbers too large to compute and it’s been predicted that mobile phone app growth will be ten-fold in the next decade. The birth of new technology brings with it the emergence of new cultural practices. It’s not the technology as such, but the change in consumer behaviour that’s significant. We now want relevant information when we want it. A desire made possible through application technology and it goes into all aspects of our daily lives: The future holds apps in television set-top boxes, in car electronics, for personal and increasingly for business communications.

Although RIM’s Blackberry has previously  dominated business, the iphone is quickly emerging as the premier wireless smart phone device and is gaining popularity in the corporate world. Of late, iphone apps have come to play a major role in business travel as senior executives rely more and more on their iphone for basic business tasks, such as grabbing data from the company’s computer system, managing a website as well as viewing, editing and storing word and excel documents. One new application and a great example of app use in business is “Shoeboxed”. Available free, it digitises your receipts and lets you generate an expense report on your phone. Ultimately, with the move to cloud computing where content and software are served from the web rather than the desktop, the iphone and ipad replace the laptop and allow for lighter travel with less to worry and hassle. It could even offer a paperless office solution in the near future. In regards to developer support, the iphone definitely has the momentum over rivals.

According to RIM, 80% of their new subscriptions (for the Blackberry) are consumers and not businesses. Once the corporate phone of choice, the Blackberry is becoming increasingly popular with …teenagers. Perhaps the antithesis of a financial company’s business leaders, the new Blackberry owner demands more entertainment apps (Games, Music) and therefore, RIM developers are focusing more and more on this type of application. We predict that the Blackberry will slowly go out of fashion as a business accessory.

Apps in Finance – where do we stand and where are we going?

Bank of America has been in the news with some very impressive figures on new adoption rates of their mobile phone application. The mobile banking app includes an ATM locator, balance checking, transfers and bill payment and has attracted more than 200 000 users to the new service each month. Excellent results, but could they have gone further? Their app combines services that are individually already available for mobile, missing the opportunity to add value to the apps market. Keeping in mind the importance of internet banking to both providers and users, the future should bring excellent opportunities for a range of financial services applications. How about an app for applying for a personal loan, a travel insurance app or a risk appetite app? As Brett King, author of BANK2.0 and founder of the International Academy of Financial Management summarises: “We are about to enter another phase of disruptive technology innovation. It is time for banks to make fundamental changes to adapt to the networked consumer”.

Clearly, it’s a dynamic time for application development. However, be aware that in order to launch a successful app, it’s necessary to have a sound application development and launch strategy to meet market needs and to get noticed amongst the thousands of available applications.

Mashup the digital marketing networking event is hosting a mixer tonight based around Augmented Reality.  AR is sure to be a definitive technology tool in the upcoming year what with the growing sophistication of smart phones and handheld technology.

For the uninitiated AR technology merges a real world view with computer generated imagery through a viewing screen. For instance you could use a camera on a smart phone to view an object which is enhanced somehow by some sort of digital special effect or data. AR takes full advantage of smart phone technology using a phone’s camera, compass, GPS system and internet connectivity to create a truly unique experience. But the only real way to truly understand AR is to see it in action.

Here are a few really interesting examples courtesy of  Mashable:

Tonight’s mixer will give attendees the chance to learn more about this emerging technology from some of the experts in the field, speakers include Myles Peyton – Total Immersion and Nick Brown co-founder of Crossplatform. More importantly Slam Global will be attending the event. The full itinerary can be found here.