Week of October 8, 2007

College Students' Preferences

Friday, October 12, 2007

The results of the just-released Anderson Analytics' third annual fall brand survey of college students include a few surprises along with quite a few predictable trends. The annual survey covers brand awareness and loyalty and consumption habits of 18-24 year olds. Their favorite brand for clothing is Old navy, the top fast food restaurant was taco Bell and their favorite soft drink brand is Coke.

In terms of technology, Apple was tops, while Facebook was the most popular website, supplanting MySpace in the last year. But perhaps the most revealing result is that social networking is much more popular with young women than young men. In fact, it's roughly twice as popular with younger women. Also, while visiting YouTube and reading blogs remain popular, the vast majority of those surveyed have never kept a blog or uploaded anything to YouTube.

eBay's new online communities

Thursday, October 11, 2007

eBay has just launched a series of small social networks built around various products. Each micro network is a community which allows user/shoppers to get more information and to share ideas about various product categories. Besides user comments, these communities will have blogs, discussions boards, guides, reviews and more. There are also more visuals and multi-media options than in the basic eBay experience.

This is another example of a company trying to create online communities to give their web visitors a much deeper experience. You don't have to try to beat MySpace or Facebook at being the world's biggest online community, but if you have a core of customers/listeners/users that have common tastes and experiences, why wait to make your site the gateway to a community based on that shared experience?

Direct-to-consumer music

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The great Radiohead-direct-to-consumer plan has been dubbed a success. Radiohead has attracted massive amounts of publicity and the accompanying web traffic to download their new album. The next domino to fall in this approach is Trent Reznor, who likewise has announced his intention to have Nine Inch Nails go it alone. Others that are also rumored to being the same are Oasis and Jamiroquai.

For radio, this points out the huge potential for finding hits among non major label acts. As many insiders have stated, the music business has never been healthier and the record business has never been sicker. Deciding to download the new Radiohead and the next Nine Inch Nails will be a no-brainer but what other possibilities are there? What acts which have never been signed to a major are ready to break big? Radio has to start looking for other ways of finding up and coming talent.

Tivo at the center of convergence

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Although the deal between Real Networks and Tivo was announced almost a year ago, it looks like the launch is finally at hand: Real Rhapsody customers with Tivo units will soon be able to stream their music directly through Tivo units. For the consumer, Tivo is now in the middle of the battle for the home media center, battling Microsoft and others. With Tivo allowing on demand movie rentals (via Amazon), on demand television (via their own service), an HD unit with dual receivers, and now on demand music, it has placed itself as front runner in the battle for the single entertainment center on the top of televisions.

We outlined this trend nearly two years ago in the Convergence section of our 2006 New Media Landscape report, and thanks to the Rhapsody launch with Tivo and the iPhone, it looks like it is showing no signs of slowing down.

Gphones and iPhones

Monday, October 8, 2007

Talk about Google's possible entry into the mobile space with a Gphone is increasing. Today's New York Times includes a story about the buzz around Google. But as the Times makes clear, there is a fundamental difference between the iPhone and the rumored Gphone.

The big change is that the Gphone is not a stand-alone device. It's not a gadget, but a new mobile platform built on Google's software. This means that virtually any manufacturer could use the Google technology to build their own version of the Gphone. Google is not interested in building their own device. Rarther, Google wants to redefine the mobile experience, eventually leveraging its AdSense platform for use in mobile devices