P&G are developing quite a taste for f-commerce – selling on Facebook.  In the UK, with their Amazon-powered Facebook store for the makeup of makeup artists brand Max Factor, and in the US, now a Facebook Campaign Store to support and capitalize (literally) on their heavily promoted and much talked about Old Spice Man campaign.

From the Facebook storefront, Old Spice aficionados – yes they now exist – can buy branded merchandise from the Super-Bowl-to-Real-Time-Social-Media ‘Old Spice Man’ campaign featuring shirtless baritone and ex-NFL player Isaiah Mustafa, replete with washboard ads and comedic timing.

As with the UK store, P&G has outsourced all the heavy lifting with the Old Spice Man Campaign Store – the Facebook store is simply a storefront linking through to an external e-store managed by a e-commerce partner in Massachusetts that looks after fulfillment and customer service.

So one of our predictions we make when speaking about the future of social commerce is no longer a prediction – the emergence of Facebook campaign stores to support and monetize marketing campaigns – pop-up f-stores – see the ad; engage with the promotion; buy the merchandise.  The P&G Campaign store is elementary, and no doubt could be improved, but all the elements are there.  And it’s there. Welcome to the world of Facebook Campaign Stores.

Why do we think pop-up (temporary) Facebook Campaign Stores are the future of f-commerce?  They’re quick, cheap and easy to set up, they help monetize campaigns, and ultimately, because they may help solve the century-plus old problem encapsulated in the famous quote of disputed origin Lord Leverhulme) origin “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half”.

Whilst much advertising, including the digital variety, is and should be focused on building lifetime customer value (AKA ‘Brand building) rather than producing sales bumps, any integrated campaign that creates a digital trace between advertising and buyer behavior can only be a good thing.

So if you manage a brand, why not take a leaf from the book of the biggest advertiser in the world, and throw up a Facebook store for your next campaign?  And if you are an agency, why not consider teaming up with the burgeoning number of f-commerce solution providers out there and start proposing campaigns with real ROI?

Post courtesy of Social Media Today

SEE/HEAR/BUY thrives on (mobile) NOWISM technologies that allow consumers to quickly find out more about an item, a song, or anything else they hear/see, and then buy it. This short overview of experience-and-buy services should get you going:

• Shopsavvy, an Android app, allows the user to scan almost any barcode using the phone’s camera, and it will then search over 20,000 online and local retailers to find the best price. Once the best deal has been found, users can either purchase online, or use the phone’s built-in Google Maps feature to find their way to the store.
• Californian SnapTell says half a million iPhone and Android users have downloaded its application (which, unlike Shopsavvy, allows users to photograph a product using cameras in their handsets, and then upload it to the website for reviews, recommendations and best prices), resulting in more than 1.5 million image queries so far. More than one in three buyers click through to an online retailer, earning SnapTell commissions.
• SnapTell is owned by Amazon.com, who recently also released its own, free, Android mobile application. This allows users to take photos of an item on their phone, or scan a barcode, and then have Amazon search for the same product online, enabling immediate comparison with the physical-retail price. If the price is right, users can purchase the item securely from their mobile device.
• SEE/HEAR/BUY pioneer Shazam, which was launched in 2002, offers a mobile app that allows users to identify tracks by recording a small clip of music. The app “tags” the track with a name and artist, and then allows users to purchase the music through an online store. The company just announced that more than 50 million people around the world have used the service; an increase of 15 million users since February of this year.Related: Midomi’s iPhone app offers a variety of ways for consumers to identify music. They can record a clip of live music, hum, sing or say the name of the song and Midomi will name the track and provide links to online content such as music videos and lyrics. Users can also click through to buy the song immediately.
• ColorSnap is a free iPhone application developed by US paint brand Sherwin-Williams. Launched in 2009, the application allows consumers to match the color of a photo taken on their iPhone with over 1,500 colors listed in the Sherwin-Williams database. This color and the complimentary color pallette is then sent to the phone. Next: a ‘buy now’ link to a DIY retail chain?

So… Who’s going to build similar SEE-HEAR-BUY services in 2010 for looking up movies, television shows and even commercials by just saying a few lines? And how will these instant gratification services further shape expectations among infolusty shoppers?

Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world’s leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide.

Augmented Reality Applications are more than just a simple accessory for your smart phone, it combines the physical real-world environment with interactive digital data providing you information or sometimes, just for fun using your phone’s camera, compass and GPS data to identify your location & field of view.

Many AR Apps have filled the market place in recent times on all the major OS and this category is quickly gaining momentum. Here are some of the best Augmented Reality Apps I found for Android Phones:

1. Wikitude World Browser

Wikitude World Browser is an augmented reality browser based on location-based Wikipedia and Qype content. You can search from 350,000 world-wide points of interest by GPS or by address and displayed in a list view, map view and “Augmented Reality” cam view, very handy for planning a trip or to find out about landmarks in your surroundings.

You can also share your AR Camera view you experience with your friends too

Search for Wikitude World Browser in the Android App Market to download it.

More Info

2. Layar Reality Browser

One of the first of it’s kind in the world, Layar App is a beautiful, fun augmented reality Browser app that displays real time digital information on top of the real world as seen through the camera of your mobile phone based on your location.

Watch this video to see it in action (Youtube)

Search for Layar in the Android App Market to download it.

More Info |

3. Wikitude Drive

Wikitude Drive is an Android navigation app that make use of the AR technology to overlay video being captured through your phone’s camera with driving instructions. This allows users to literally drive through their phone, watching the road even while they are looking at directions.

Search for Wikitude Drive in the Android App Market to download it.

More info

4. Weather Reality

Weather Reality allows you to explore the weather around you in an augmented reality view through the camera of your mobile phone. You can check current conditions, real-time radar and severe weather alerts. Plus track the path of the sun and moon. You can even share geo-tagged weather pictures on social networking sites.

Download it Here

5. AugSatNav

AugSatNav is an augmented reality navigation system which overlays WALKING directions upon a live camera feed of the PATH/ROAD ahead.

With AugSatNav there’s no need to follow instructions or interpret maps – you can find your way by walking along the route highlighted by a bright white line.

Download it Here

6. 3D AR Compass

This app is an augmented reality 3D compass which comes with Multi-compass types, Auto rotate map facility, Heading and degrees, Current address, Fast bright with one tap and much more

* Only as good as your hardware. Beware surrounding metal and magnetic field

Download it Here

7. Tweeps Around

Tweeps Around is a free App which shows users tweeting in full Augmented Reality around you. Its basically a launch application which works with Layar but its awesome.

This app requires that the Layar app is installed on your device and provides a shortcut to the Market if it is missing.

In principle, Dodgeball was bought by Google and then transformed into Latitude , then came Loopt and BrightKite , but for some time to take advantage of the opportunity to state its position with other geospatial (slang check-in ) was a small group of early adopters. 

Today Gowalla (over 150,000 users) and Foursquare (over 600,000 users), created by Dennis Crowley, creator of Dodgeball already, try to exit the niche of geeks, which ranks at the intersection of user-generated guide and social play (they are also called social lettings games ).

Here, in fact users are encouraged to report places visited, offering advice to future visitors, a complex and mysterious system of virtual prizes ( badge ). In some cases the most active is assigned a permission level higher than that of others (eg the ability to remove false signals).

The lever also becomes a rewarding new marketing element for companies that have a presence, like Starbucks , which decide to offer a personalized badge or a real gift to the patrons / sponsors more faithful.

Finally it seems interesting to consider how the concept of “friendship” in geo social networking takes on a new meaning, friend is one who is entitled to know our location.

The element of the game, combined with the growing availability of mobile devices with GPS, could push the use of these new services, but what happens when Facebook will enable you to communicate its position geospatial its 400 million users? How will our concept of privacy be?…

Some notes about, and context for, the latest weekly Trendrr chart, a collaboration between Advertising Age and social-media tracking service Trendrr Pro:

 
• This is the “Year of Location,” everybody in the tech media keeps saying, as geo-focused social-networking services like Foursquare and Gowalla keep growing their user bases and grabbing VC dollars. (Check out my colleague Edmund Lee’s take on Foursquare’s recent $20 million infusion.)

 

• “None of us have 30 million users,” Loopt CEO Sam Altman told USA Today yesterday, in a rather deft understatement (Loopt has 3 million users). “But we’re just at the beginning of breaking into the mainstream.” 

 

• But what counts as mainstream? Will the growth of location-focused services fuel the trend — can your average, middle-American mobile consumer really be convinced of the value of constantly “checking in” to locations? — or will the seamless inclusion of location capabilities into the likes of Facebook and Twitter do more to drive adoption? In mid-June, for instance, Twitter formally announced the launch of Twitter Places. In the thick of World Cup mania, the official Twitter blog noted, “It helps to know where a Tweet is coming from — is that person watching the game on TV or is he actually in the stadium?” 

 

• So, where are most tweets coming from so far? Twitter hasn’t revealed how many users (as a proportion of the total user base) are electing to reveal their locations, but among those that are, well, no surprise: Tweets classified as being “near” New York City are dominating, lately showing twice the volume — roughly a million geo-specified tweets a day — of the next runner up, Los Angeles. Chicago’s in third place, and San Francisco’s in fourth.

 

• Let’s dwell on that for a moment: Urban hipsters (and de facto tech early adopters) want the world to care where they are at any given moment, and marketers are being told that it matters. But consider the average daily life of an average American, which might not involve prideful trips to the new “it” bar or hot party or recently opened boutique. I’m thinking it’s more like: back and forth to work, one weekly trip to Walmart, a couple trips to the Shop-Rite, a stop at Walgreens to pick up a tube of antifungal cream, a back-and-forth to the mall multiplex on Friday night, a back-and-forth to the kids’ soccer practice Saturday morning, etc.

 

• Let’s step back a moment and just admit it: Location is interesting when it’s interesting … but usually it’s not. Sorry, Twitter, but the vast majority of people tweeting about the World Cup weren’t actually in the stadium.

The location-based applications Foursquare and Gowalla–which reward users with points for “checking in” at different places–are all the rage in some social groups. But many other people balk at sharing their precise location and struggle to see the point of doing so. A new location-based application for mobile phones called face2face hopes to attract new types of users by offering more filtered, useful information and providing more privacy controls.

“Location is more a platform than it is a particular service,” says Hameed Khan, CEO and lead developer of face2face. In other words, simply sharing location information isn’t enough–it also needs to be incorporated into a useful application. His application doesn’t require people to sign up to a new social network in order to use it. Instead, users can tap into their connections on Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter–then see if any of their connections are nearby.
Unlike some services, which bombard users with the location of everyone in their social network, face2face only notifies users when a contact is nearby, and it does not give out that contact’s exact location. This is a subtle difference, but an important one, according to Khan. “We want to look just at what’s within walking distance, so oversharing doesn’t ruin it,” he says.
The application also comes with privacy settings that let users decide if they want to be invisible to others, and who they want to share their information with. Once users know they’re near each other, the application lets them communicate, by text, phone, or messages on a social networking site.
Khan says users need a good reason to share their location information, and developers need to assure users that their location will only be shown to people they trust, and that this will be done in a way they can understand and control. Khan adds that social and location information can also make advertising more relevant. For example, in the future, instead of simply offering coupons to nearby coffee shops, his app may offer coupons to a coffee shop where a friend is already sitting.
But some say proximity-based services could make targeted advertising feel more invasive. “We’re gallivanting into finally commercializing one of the last parts of life that isn’t filled with ads: friendship and hanging out,” says Michael Coté, an IT industry analyst with the research firm RedMonk.

Others, notably in the music industry, offer location-based applications that are more clearly useful. An early example was an iPhone app for the band Nine Inch Nails that filtered posts from users based on proximity. Fans at the same show could use the application to communicate with each other and the band. Rob Sheridan, the band’s creative director, says: “It was perfect for us as a band on tour, because we have events where our fans gather together in close proximity, and I’ve found that events really are the best use for this type of thing.”

Foursquare is a location-based social network—and the current “it” thing for local business promotion. It’s used by retail shops, cafes, hotels, and even libraries. It’s a great way to find your customers, attract new ones and reward those who frequently visit your store. It capitalizes on the fact that many today use their smartphones and mobile digital devices to log into social media networks. And if you want to promote your business, this is exactly where you want to be—at the palm of your market’s hands.

Foursquare encourages customer shout outs.
Each time a customer visits your store, they “check in” and announce to friends where they are. Since you can link your Foursquare account to your Facebook and Twitter profiles, this shout out goes a long way. What’s more is that customers can give tips to their friends and followers.

This is a great strategy to promote your store. Remember, peer recommendation and word of mouth is the name of the game in social media.

Reward loyal customers with perks.
Foursquare makes it easy for you to keep tabs of your most loyal customers. And the one that visits you the most one earns the distinction of being your store’s Mayor. Many businesses take advantage of this by giving away freebies and discounts to frequent visitors and Mayors—they get free drinks, free meals, and other exclusive items and offers.

Make a mini-game out of it.
What’s fun about Foursquare is that you can engage your customers by creating a list of things to do while they’re inside your store. Whether it’s a mini treasure hunt, the top 5 things to order off the menu or a list of quirky things to do during their visit—it’s a fun way for your customers to interact with you. Best of all, if done right, this goes a long way to attracting new customers to your business.

If you’ve tried Foursquare already, share your stories here and let me know how it’s working for you!

The news of Facebook’s new game application, Retail Therapy (app, site), fits perfectly on Shopbabbles. It combines social networking, big brands, and shopping (albeit virtual and pretend) all in one. 

If you ever wanted to set up a fashion store selling top labels such as Diane Von Furstenberg, Gap, Barneys New York, Juicy Couture, Banana Republic, Tory Burch and TopShop.  Now you can.

The Sugar Inc. blog network (ShopStyle, PopSugar, FabSugar, BellaSugar) targeting 18-40 women, has just partnered with leading fashion brands to launch a Facebook-based game app, pitched as the ‘FarmVille of shopping’, called Retail Therapy where you set up and manage your own virtual store (a bit like the Fashion World and Mall World Facebook apps, but with heels).

The idea is simple and familiar; manage inventory from in-season fashion items, and build your clientele.  Upgrade your retail store with Facebook Credits that you win, earn or pay for – and build the best store in Facebook.

What’s different about Retail Therapy are the brand partnerships, which effectively transform the Facebook game into a vehicle for in-game advertising, and a Facebook promotional platfrom for exclusives, scoops and promotions for brand fans.  What would be really interesting is if the game evolved to include a social affiliate program – whereby visitors to friends stores could actually purchase items for sale – and the store owner receive an affiliate commission.

Virtual social commerce is an interesting twist on social commerce – with many marketing opportunities, and if you are a fashion brand, it’s perhaps worth investigating.  And for non-fashion retail brands too, there’s the opportunity to set up your own Facebook game for in-game advertising and promotions – perhaps a virtual social commerce game for your category…

Now excuse me, please, I have a delivery of Banana Republic Cotton Military Jackets to see to.

Retail Therapy promotional video

Tech Crunch interview with Brian Sugar

What will you get when you have a combination of a Barcode Scanner by ZXing Barcode, Google’s Google Goggles and the Shopping Tab on Google.com.

Google Mobile Shopper

Google Shopper

“Shopper lets you find product information quickly by using your phone’s camera. It can recognize cover art of books, CDs, DVDs, and video games, along with most barcodes. You can also speak the name of the product you’re looking for.” via

Google Shopper Android App is slightly different, its goal could be more a direct hit against Amazon.

Google Shopper Android App will save your history that you can store easy the product and price information. You can favorite items but you also can share your selected items with your friends. Google Shopper helps you to find product information quickly by using your phone’s camera.

View everything you have purchased in the past, you can track your orders and your deliveries, you also can contact the sellers and this from one one web page.

Will Google Shopper revolutionize Online Shopping?

Shop with your Android Phone wherever you are make a picture of a pair of shoes you like and get the address of the next shop where you can buy it.

Manage all Online Stores with one account.