Saturday, March 24, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Universal McCann's Wave 6 now released.
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Wave 6
Proprietary Studies
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Starting in 2006, Wave is the world’s largest and longest-running study of the impact of social media on today’s global marketplace – making UM the most authoritative agency voice in the social media space.
Covering 62 countries and 43% of the worldwide internet population, Wave 6 – ‘The Business of Social’ – is the most ambitious and sophisticated instalment to date. It offers invaluable, and actionable insights as to how advertisers can bring commercial value to their business through social media strategies, at a time when the value of social media has never been more important to brands.
View Wave 6 here, download the soft-copy using the link above, or click here for the official press release.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
From Rappler.com. The Internet: PH speeds and speed bumps
GETTING BETTER. Speed on the Internet is getting slowly but surely better.
MANILA, Philippines - Speed kills. This is true on the road as well as online.
In the case of the Philippines, it is the lack of speed online that keeps the country hungry enough to be a part of online space. Speed and the availability (and affordability) of broadband connections continue to plague a country that desires connectivity with friends, relatives and the world in general.
Thomas L. Friedman, a highly regarded columnist for the New York Times calls our world today a “hyperconnected world,” a world that exceeds any previous notion of being a part of each other. Is the Philippines ready for this new world?
Hampered by a topographically challenging landscape of 7,100 islands, a controversial National Broadband Network project, a lack of competition in the industry, and various equally pressing issues that beg for resources from limited budgets, the Philippines has its work cut out for it.
Enter Akamai
Akamai is a leading global service provider for accelerating content and business processes online. It also publishes a well-regarded quarterly, “State of the Internet” report. In the latest report it published for the 3rd quarter of 2011, we get a glimpse of how the Philippines fares compared to other countries as far as broadband speed is concerned.
Based on 1 trillion content requests worldwide as well as 25,000 unique IP addresses from July to September 2011, the report reveals a number of data points for various countries and regions.
Global Average Connection speeds have continued to rise. The 2011 report indicates a 2.7Mbps average, which was a 4.5% increase from the previous quarter and a 39% increase year on year. South Korea continues to lead the world with a 16.7 Mbps average followed by Hong Kong (10.5Mbps) and Japan (8.9Mbps). The balance of the Top 10 countries in the world for average measured connection speeds is from Europe. The US ranks No. 13.
For peak speeds, South Korea leads the world followed by Japan. The city of Taejon has a mouth-watering 58.8 peak speed followed by another South Korean city (Taegu) with 57.2Mbps. Japan’s Shimotsuma recorded a 55.4Mbps peak speed followed by Kanagawa with 54.5 Mbps.
How the Philippines fares
The Philippines ranks 101st among all countries surveyed for average connection speed. For the 3rd quarter report, the Philippines recorded a 1.1Mbps average connection speed and is ranked 12th among 13 countries classified under the Asia Pacific table.
Note that a 1.1Mbps speed is below the 2Mbps “broadband” threshold. It was ahead only of India which reported a 0.9 Mbps. The Philippines was also only one of 4 countries in the region that recorded a quarter to quarter drop in connections speeds – 4.7% down from the 2nd quarter of 2011. (see Table 1)
SLOW. The Philippines ranks among the lowest in terms of connection speeds.
No Philippine city made it to the list of "Top Asia Pacific Cities by Speed."
In the table for Average Peek Connection Speeds, the Philippines ranked better both globally and within the Asia Pacific region but it was also the only country that registered a decline in peak speeds in the region. The Philippines ranked 87th in the world for peak speeds with 8.3Mbps, which was a 12% increase year on year; but the country was down 0.2% versus the previous quarter. It also jumped to the 11th spot among the Asia Pacific countries. (Table 2).
PEAK SPEED. The Philippines ranks better only than India and China.
Unfortunately, the Philippines was also only one of three countries (together with India and China), that recorded average peak speeds below 10Mbps.
Given the aggressive rollout of the various providers of broadband in the country, it comes as no surprise that there was a significant increase in broadband adoption for the Philippines. The country however (while included in this metric) did not register the required 25,000 unique IP addresses for the report.
For High Broadband Connectivity, more Filipinos are now enjoying speeds above 5Mbps. The country registered a 79% increase year on year with a 15% increase from the 2nd quarter. Unfortunately, this comes from a very low base of people that enjoyed the high speeds to begin with, as evidenced by the fact that the country did not register 25,000 unique IP addresses. As such, it remains unranked globally and regionally. (Table 3)
UNRANKED. The Philippines remains unranked even regionally.
For connections above 2Mbps, only 9.3% of connections were classified as above 2Mbps which was 0.8% down from the previous quarter. This was, however a 32% increase from the same quarter in 2010. (Table 4)
WISHFUL. Less than 10% of the country have a connection speed of over 2 Mbps.
The gap between countries is significant. And while Malaysia, China and India are in the bottom half of the table, you will see that the year-on-year growth is way above that of the Philippines which could mean that the Philippines will be left behind in take up over the next two reports.
Finally, we look at narrowband connections – homes and connections below 256kbps. As countries roll out broadband, it is but natural that narrowband connections decline. While that is true for most, countries that have low broadband take up with populations only now becoming online savvy are resorting low speeds to get started.
This may also be a consequence of the price of connectivity driven by local competition or regulatory pricing schemes. Filipinos with less than 256kbps speeds increased by 7.8% from the previous quarter but overall, less Filipinos had these low speeds. The explanation could be that while more homes have migrated to higher speeds, there are also newcomers that have opted for these low speed entry packages. (Table 5)
LOWER EXPECTATIONS. Many in the country are opting for lower connectivity rates.
Over the next few weeks, Rappler will take a look at the state of the Internet for the Philippines bringing together various reports that help us understand this new, hyperconnected world.
Are we ready? How do we rank? And why does this matter to our future? – Rappler.com
From The NYT: Younger Shoppers Using Technology, Not Salespeople
“In all honesty, because I shop so much, I feel sometimes I know the brands better than some of the associates,” said Ms. Karim, 26, an analyst at Intel in Phoenix.
For a generation of shoppers raised on Google and e-commerce, the answer to “Can I help you?” is increasingly a firm “no,” even at retailers like Nordstrom that have built their reputations around customer service.
But instead of getting defensive, some stores and brands are embracing the change by creating new personal touches that feature gadgets rather than a doting sales staff. Bobbi Brown has touch-screen televisions to demonstrate the perfect smoky eye, something that was once the exclusive domain of makeup artists. The basketball star LeBron James’s shoe store in Miami has 50 iPads to describe its merchandise. Macy’s is testing cosmetics stations where tablets offer reviews and tips. And at C. Wonder, shoppers use a touchpad to personalize the lighting and music in dressing rooms (there is also a button in case, olden-days style, they need to call for help).
The self-service theme, which started years ago with checkout at groceries, has progressed to the point where shoppers can navigate entire stores without once having to say, “Just looking, thanks.”
Companies are adding the technology now because it has gotten cheap enough to make it feasible and because Apple and other tablet and touch-screen makers are increasing their sales efforts. Stores also don’t want to risk losing those customers who are not content shopping from home but nonetheless prefer Pinterest recommendations, Zappos reviews and Fashism feedback to interacting with someone behind the counter.
“There’s a tendency to believe that if you talk to somebody, they’re going to waste your time or sell you something you don’t need,” said Ricardo Quintero, global general manager of market development for Clinique, which uses touch screens at its counters. “It’s taking the pressure off.”
In Nordstrom’s case, customers have surprised the retailer. Nordstrom introduced an app in the fall that executives expected people would use remotely to order items while they were watching TV or waiting for a train. In addition to that, though, customers used the app while shopping at Nordstrom rather than approach the sales staff.
“How the customer is defining service and wants service to be delivered is changing pretty rapidly, and a lot of that is driven by technology,” said Erik Nordstrom, president of stores for Nordstrom. “A lot of customers like to touch and feel and try on the merchandise, but they also want that information that they get online.”
Nordstrom has added Wi-Fi to almost all its stores, in part so its app will work fast, and is testing charging stations and clusters of iPads and computers. It does not limit what people can do on the in-store devices, Mr. Nordstrom said. “It’s to have our stores be relevant, be a helpful place for people to be whether they’re shopping from us or stopping to check their e-mail,” he said.
The plain truth, some retail analysts say, is that businesses of all sorts have no choice but to accommodate consumers who are trained to do research on their own — and prefer doing so. Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland now gives suite visitors an iPad so they can order food and drinks directly from it, while Aloft Hotels, a Starwood division, has installed tablets instead of concierge stations.
At Land Rover, the addition of online tools for research has cut down sharply on dealer visits. In 2000, people, on average, made 7.5 visits to a dealer before placing an order. In 2010, that figure was 1.3 visits, with shoppers conducting 80 percent of their research on their own, said Andy Goss, president of Jaguar Land Rover North America.
The new technology is also being adapted by manufacturers who have been dependent on employees at big-box stores to sell their products but now see the opportunity for a direct line to the customer.
Scott Paul, chief executive of iPad Enclosures, which installs technology for retailers, said Samsung and other manufacturers were considering adding iPads that offered live video chat with a Samsung salesperson at stores like Best Buy. “You can use the kiosk to do better, in a lot of cases, than a 17- or 18-year-old sales rep,” Mr. Paul said.
The replacement of salespeople with screens is not without its detractors. Some people worry about jobs, though stores say that for now they are not getting rid of employees to accommodate their digital counterparts. And Sherry Turkle, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that shoppers lost something intrinsic to the human experience when they avoided salespeople.
“The point is not to be nostalgic for the good old days, but to ask ourselves, what kind of society do we want?” said Professor Turkle, the author of “Alone Together,” a book on people’s relationships with technology. With technology replacing human interaction, she said, “you’ve taken out a lot of the richness, the messiness and the demandingness of actually having to deal with people.”
Ms. Karim, the Phoenix shopper, says that she does not avoid all salespeople, but that technology has given her the freedom to be choosy. She still enjoys chatting with makeup-counter salespeople, for example, and getting suggestions from personal shoppers.
“It’s fun to see things in person, and touch the fabrics, and try on shoes,” she said. “It’s a social experience.”
Friday, March 09, 2012
Hmmm... Looks like there is something to look forward to: 7-Eleven TV Network's Early Advertising Success
Highlights:
- 7-Eleven TV significantly lifts sales of advertised brands.
- Nielsen study reports clear consumer recall from targeted advertising campaigns.
- Digital out-of-home model has a powerful influence on in-store sales.
MELBOURNE, FL/DENVER, March 8, 2012 — Harris Corporation announced that 7-Eleven TV significantly increased sales and revenue for advertisers across 4,344 stores in its first year of operation — validating the influence that digital out-of-home media has on consumers. The company reported that:
- Well-known national carbonated beverage brand sales were 17-to-35 percent higher in stores using digital advertising versus non-digital tactics.
- Targeted Hispanic language advertising resulted in a 21-percent sales increase for a leading national soft drink advertiser.
Meanwhile, the new Nielsen Fourth Screen Report confirms 7-Eleven TV advertisers are reaching targeted demographics and attracting viewers, with approximately 93,500,000 monthly ad exposures. The report arms media buyers with valuable audience metrics on one of the nation's largest digital out-of-home networks, with targeted impressions rivaling the top four broadcast TV networks.
Key Nielsen study figures include:
- Large audience shares in key advertising demographics including ages 18-49 (80 percent) and 18-34 (43 percent);
- Strong advertising recollection, with 68 percent remembering at least one ad; and
- Strong screen recognition, with 72 percent stopping to view screens — translating to increased customer dwell times in stores.
"The Nielsen Fourth Screen Report data clearly legitimizes the digital out-of-home model as a powerful advertising medium," said John Watkins, president of ABC National Television Sales.
Darren Mann and David Veckerelli, co-CEO's of DDN, provide additional perspective on the results: Mann said, "The report proves to both endemic and non-endemic advertisers that we are attracting viewers and reaching a highly sought after demographic." Veckerelli added, "As a result, the stores are reporting increased consumer dwell times and higher sales. All of this is attributable to the power and impact of in-store digital signage."
7-Eleven TV broadcasts programming that features entertainment content including Jimmy Kimmel Live, Access Hollywood and G4's Attack of the Show, and custom, targeted advertising sold through ABC Regional Sports and Entertainment Sales. Harris provides extensive network management capabilities across all store locations. 7-Eleven TV network advertisers include major brands such as Pepsi, Frito Lay, Hershey, ESPN and the California Lottery.
"Digital media is reaching consumers today in more ways than ever, and 7-Eleven TV proves the bottom-line impact for advertisers within the digital out-of-home model," said Harris Morris, president, Harris Broadcast Communications. "The Nielsen Fourth Screen Report metrics prove that strong video content and targeted advertising have a powerful influence on in-store sales."
About Digital Display Networks, Inc.
Digital Display Networks (DDN), www.ddninc.tv, is a digital network provider that creates and installs digital networks, produces and manages all content and administers advertising sales to provide a singular digital signage solution at point of purchase. DDN's 7-Eleven TV currently airs in over 4,300 7-Eleven convenience stores located in the top DMA's in the United States, reaching over 93 Million customers each month. DDN was formed by the principals of Explorer TV (www.explorer-tv.com), the nation's largest in-hotel digital visitor information TV network servicing over 150,000 hotel rooms in major cities in the U.S. and Europe, as well as cruise ships, visitor information centers and airports.About Harris Corporation
Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has approximately $6 billion of annual revenue and about 17,000 employees — including nearly 7,000 engineers and scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class assured communications® products, systems, and services. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at www.harris.com.# # #
Contact Information:
Brian Galante
Dimension PR
brian@dimensionpronline.com
570-425-2315
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sainsbury's using QR codes
Sainsbury's launched today a new initiative to help show customers the difference that buying Fairtrade products makes to the lives of farmers and growers in some of the world's poorest countries.
The supermarket features QR code technology across key Fairtrade own-brand lines that will allow customers to instantly find out the story behind the products in their basket, according to a company press release.
Using their smartphones, customers scan QR codes which instantly link them to the Fairtrade page on Sainsbury's Live Well for Less website, where customers can learn about Sainsbury's Fairtrade growers and how Fairtrade premiums are making an essential difference to businesses and communities around the world. From here, further information can be found about Sainsbury's Fairtrade lines of bananas, roast and ground coffee, tea, plain cotton T-shirts and roses.
By shining a light on how Fairtrade premiums are improving the lives of those helping grow the products, Sainsbury's hopes to inspire more people to switch to Fairtrade for those everyday essentials. One of Sainsbury's leading suppliers of Fairtrade bananas, the Banaeras de Uraba farm in Columbia, exported 1.2 million boxes of Fairtrade bananas to Sainsbury's in 2010, generating an investment of $3 million that has been used to improve the quality of life of workers, their families and the local community, Judith Batchelar, head of brand for Sainsbury's said in the press release.
"As the world's largest retailer of Fairtrade products, Sainsbury's knows just how important Fairtrade premiums are to the farmers and communities that they supporting," Batchelar said. "By introducing QR code technology to our Fairtrade packaging, we want to help our customers to understand the huge difference Fairtrade products make in helping to improve people's lives in developing countries around the world."
Read more about technology.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Interesting Take. From MusicThinkTank.com | The Real Reason Why SOPA Didn’t Pass: Marketing
I’d like to believe that the two recent controversial bills, SOPA and PIPA, were stopped because they were poorly written but the real reason had to do with the power of messaging and branding.
Let’s face it: bad laws are passed everyday. In 2009-2010, Congress passed 8,970 bills alone. Most of the time, things go by unnoticed. SOPA and PIPA had great intentions (even praised by their strongest opponents) to deter piracy but their problem had to do with messaging. Both bills had been making steady progress for months with bi-partisan support and hardly any opposition. However, during the last several weeks, things exploded online when major Internet companies such as Google, Wikipedia, and Facebook got involved. A lot of things were said about the bill that weren’t true…but by then, it didn’t matter. People were buying the new story: SOPA and PIPA would “break the Internet.”
This is what they did wrong from a marketing perspective:
- They didn’t share the stories of those affected by piracy. Some of the bill’s biggest supporters, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), vouched their support but the messaging came from their executive staff. They didn’t tell the story of the thousands of workers affected by piracy: film hands, aspiring writers, the struggling artist. People launched attacks against the entertainment industry’s wealthy while ignoring the possibility that multi-billion dollar Internet companies probably have their own lobbyists influencing legislation as well. People don’t mind hating a big corporation but it’s hard to dismiss the power of a single story.
- They Communicated in the Wrong Places. Nearly all of the messaging supporting SOPA were featured on industry sites (such as ASCAP and BMI) but that information wasn’t being shared much outside of that. On the other hand, anti-SOPA/PIPA messaging prominently featured on social media and Internet sites (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.), making it easy to spread quickly and effectively.
- They Focused on the Wrong Message. People don’t care about industries or companies, they care about themselves. When the entertainment industry talks about lost revenue or lost jobs, eyes glaze over (they’re tired of hearing that tale). It’s why piracy continues to rise. On the other hand, hen someone hears “the Internet will break” or that they could lose their favorite social media site, they begin to listen and more importantly, want to take action.
- The Brand Suffered but They Didn’t React. The bill supporters assumed that people would use reason and read the bills themselves (especially as they got updated throughout the process) but in reality, most people didn’t care enough to follow. They had one poor impression and it was enough. In the customer service industry, if manage negative touch-points aren’t managed, customers are lost. By then, it’s too little, too late. Many of the bill’s supporters began jumping ship simply because they didn’t want to be associated with SOPA or PIPA.
Even if the bills undergo major overhaul, I doubt they’ll get the support that they need. My recommendation would be to change the name (the brand) and begin with fresh messaging, highlighting the stories of the people who would be affected by its passage. Have independent artists reach out to their fans, show case budding directors and fashion designers. Show that it was more than the entertainment industry who had a stake. Share the a real story that people could relate to and spread.
Most of the bill sponsors involved never expected such a strong reaction since major laws are nearly ignored everyday. However, when you mess with the largest supply and delivery information services in the world, expect some sort of retaliation. In the end, it’s just business. But remember, a lot of spending, just like voting, is emotional and not necessarily rational. The story or idea that spreads and sticks is the one that wins.
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Simon Tam is owner of Last Stop Booking, a full service agency that offers tour booking and music consulting services. Simon has appeared on stage at over 1,200 live events and has traveled North America presenting ideas about the music industry. Simon’s writing on music and marketing can be found at www.laststopbooking.com
Friday, December 09, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
This just emphasizes the need for DOOH to go online. From DailyDOOH » Focus Media Group Accused Of Fraud
Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
‘Focus Media Sinks in Muddy Waters’ writes the Wall Street Journal, ‘Focus Media Shares Crater; Analyst Alleges Fraud‘ writes Forbes (there are many more) and there have even been regular bulletins on CNBC.
There seem to be three main allegations: -
A “significant overstatement” of the number of screens in its LCD network ”Olympus-style acquisition overpayments” Focus Media insiders selling at least USD 1.7 billion worth of stock since its 2005 IPO On Monday at one point, shares in Focus Media Holding Limited (Nasdaq: FMCN) fell well over 60% in trading.
I know it is easy to be wise after the event but there is a reason why the Greater Fool Theory has never been proven wrong.
With keywords like ‘China’ and buzzwords ‘digital’, ‘advertising’ there were many who (literally) bought in.
However many screens they are (finally) proven to have or have not, it will be interesting to see how they count them all as the whole network is run by Sneakernet.
If we remember correctly their CFO was a speaker (via the web, not in person) at one of the Digital Signage Investor Conferences many years back (at least 4 years) and we don’t remember him coming across particularly well.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 21st, 2011 at 19:37 @859 and is filed under DailyDOOH Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
This is inspiring. From SFGate via JPJ: This 28-Year-Old Is Making Sure Credit Cards Won't Exist In The Next Few Years
advertisement | your ad hereThis 28-Year-Old Is Making Sure Credit Cards Won't Exist In The Next Few Years
Alyson Shontell, provided by
Thursday, November 10, 2011
There's a tiny 12-person startup churning out of Des Moines, Iowa that most people have never heard of.
Dwolla was founded by 28-year-old Ben Milne, and it's an innovative new way of thinking about online payments that sidesteps credit cards completely.
Milne has no finance background, yet his little operation is moving between $30 and $50 million per month, or about $350 million per year.
We interviewed Milne about how he is building a credit card killer and Square rival from the middle of the nation where VCs and press are scarce.
I'm told you're pissing off credit card companies. How are you doing that?
Ultimately we're trying to build the next Visa, not the next PayPal. We're building a human network based on how we think the future of payments will work. The current model needs to be blown up.
Dwolla started out of my old company. I owned a speaker manufacturing company and we sold everything directly through a website. I got really obsessed with interchange fees and how not to pay them. Every time a merchant gets paid with a credit card, they have to give up a percentage. In my case, I was losing $55,000 a year to credit card companies. I felt like they were stealing from me -- I was getting paid and somebody was taking money out of my pocket.
So I thought, how do I get paid through a website without paying credit card fees? We pitched a bank, and amazingly enough they said, "We'll give it a shot."
That was three years ago, so we've been working on the project for a really long time. In December of last year we figured out how to legally do what we do.
How many transactions are you doing?
The average transaction volume for Dwolla is right around $500 dollars. We move between $30 and $50 million per month
What's your story?
I'm 28. I started my first company, Elemental Design, when I was 18. I dropped out of University of Iowa and built that.
I started college because I thought that's where I was supposed to go. I applied to one college, I got in, went, and realized it wasn't for me. I had customers so I stopped going to class.
We grew that company from a $1200 investment to over a million in revenue in 4 years with 3 or 4 people without outside investment. We were doing a million and a half a year and the company was running itself; I wanted to work on another project.
You don't have a finance background and yet you built Dwolla?
It's been helpful in some strange ways. I think the first financial institution we went in to only listened to me for entertainment. They let me get in and pitch the full executive team at the bank.
I don't look like a banker, they knew I didn't have a banking background. They actually agreed to work with Dwolla after two hours of arguing with me and me scribbling on a whiteboard about how the whole thing could work.
Had I been more typical, maybe they wouldn't have listened to me. In that respect, I think that probably not knowing how the mechanics work is good -- we just know the way we want them to work.
What did you do for the first two years when it wasn't technically legal?
For the first two years we built out the platform. We did a sh*tload of testing and did it small scale because legally we couldn't do it nationwide. We spent two years inside of Iowa fine-tuning Dwolla with the financial institutions, building out some of the initial models, and trying to figure out how to legally do what we do.
How'd you find a legal loophole?
Moving money is an exceptionally regulated business. We're in Iowa, which is sort of conservative -- I don't know if that helped us or hurt us, but long term I think it helped us. We figured to do this legally, we had two options: We could take in a tremendous amount of money and go out and get licenses, which is how most people do it. But we didn't have access to that kind of capital here. The other option was to bring in really strategic investors, which is what we did. One is a financial institution, one is a financial services company.
Our investors do credit and debit processing for banks. So when you get a credit card from your bank, it's being issued by companies like this. Our investors are also distributing our product to financial institutions. So we've been building a network, and we can do it legally because of who our investors are.
We launched in December of last year and started moving $50,000 a week. Now we're hovering around $1 million a day now. We hit that milestone in June or July. Now we've quieted things down. We had to tap the breaks because the way you handle money needs to be managed correctly. We have some new partners on board and we're going to hit it hard in December again. We've got some stuff coming out in December that we think should be really big.
How does Dwolla work and how is it different than PayPal?
With Dwolla, payments are made directly from your bank account. No credit or debit cards are allowed. And because they don't exist in the system, we don't have to bring the fees into the system.
You can spend any amount of money and when you do that, the person on the other end doesn't have to pay 1, 2, 3 or 4%. They only pay $0.25 a transaction, which is especially helpful when it's $1,000, $2,000 or $5,000 transactions. Obviously PayPal becomes very cost prohibitive with those larger transactions.
The biggest difference between ideas like this and a PayPal -- and PayPal is a phenomenal idea, Square is too -- is that those are built on top of networks like Visa and Mastercard. We're building our own.
Can users only send money to Dwolla members?
No, you can send money to anyone. Only the person sending it has to have a Dwolla account to initiate the transaction. The person receiving it will have to sign up for an account, but we've been surprised at the conversion there. It's worked relatively well. We leverage social networks really heavily as contact lists, which is one thing we do really different. You can send money with an email address or with a phone number, but the most popular way to do it is to connect to Facebook and type in a friends name.
We think, in the long term, sending money should be as easy and effortless as finding a friend on Facebook. That's really a behavior we try to mimic when it comes to peer to peer payments. When someone does not have a Dwolla account, they get a wall post that says, "You've got money." If a friend sent that to you and it was their name and their face, you would have a different emotional connection to that than an arbitrary email from hellokitten32@aol.com. It's a totally different interaction and one that's been really helpful for us in converting users into the system.
What kind of purchases and money transfers are Dwolla being used for?
We do pretty well in B2B; 11% of our business is person to person, and the large majority is business to business, consumer to business, and business to consumer. The platform was originally built for taking in payments through websites, and we have APIs that allow you to do that. We haven't experienced the scale on those quite yet.
Where we've seen a ton of transactions right now is with people paying monthly rent. If I'm a landlord and I want to collect it, taking a credit card payment means missing out on 3% of a $1800 charge. Dwolla is $0.25 cents.
The average Dwolla transaction is right around $500. PayPal takes 2.9% plus $.30 a transaction.
Why hasn't anyone side stepped the credit card companies before?
I think a lot of it is timing and luck. And a little bit of getting your foot in the door. One of our investors is a $1.8 billion financial institution. That's atypical anywhere, let alone in Iowa. Having them on board allowed us to get into a lot of rooms.
We serve everyone from the landlord taking in one payment to the individual buying a coffee with their cellphone, to billion-dollar corporations. Because we're so atypical and look at mobile payments differently, we got in the room with the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury who allowed us to have a conversation, not only from a corporate standpoint, but from a government monetary distribution standpoint.
All banks are connected by one APH system. Credit card companies utilize that same system to pay off your credit card charges. Banks internally set along that same system to move money in their own banks. This system in it's own right is riddled with flaws -- tons of fraud issues and waste and delays. If you've ever had a payment take a few days to clear, its because they're waiting on that APH system.
We want to fix that system between the banks, take out the delays and make it instant. If we can create this ubiquitous cash layer of distribution between consumers and merchants and developers and financial institutions, that actually fixes the problem.
No one has built a payment network in 30 years -- since credit cards. Everybody has concentrated on how we build a portal for credit cards, from digital wallets to Square.
We don't believe in credit cards. We believe in authorization and in lower cost transfers. Our generation actually understands that when you buy sh*t, it comes out of your bank account and you have to pay for that.
Since you're hooked up to bank accounts, users don't have to have money in a Dwolla account to make a transfer?
You can hold money inside of Dwolla but you don't have to. We're finding a lot of consumers want to hold it there. There is actually a positive average balance inside of Dwolla for each consumer. We also have businesses that use Dwolla to do payroll, so they'll keep a balance in there to cover the cost.
You could have an account of $0 in Dwolla and their would be no fee?
The only fee would be if someone paid you. We take a quarter. We really want that quarter. It's all we want!
How do Dwolla's mobile payments work?
We built out mobile facing system; your mobile phone is just a different view of a website, so a mobile payment is just an authorization on your cell phone.
We take the website, plop it into the cell phone, start adding proximity solutions so you can to see what Dwolla merchants are close to you, and then make it easy to pay once you go into a store that accepts our system. Dwolla uses the GPS feature and allows you to make a payment in real-time.
So you're saying if a Starbucks accepts Dwolla I'll be able to see that on a Google Map, go there and charge the coffee to my phone?
Yes, you'll just walk into the store and pay. It's like checking in on Foursquare, you're just paying instead of checking in.
We started in one coffee shop and now we're working with 400 or 500 merchants. Part of us scaling out is we have to pick inflection points and then do some hiring to actively pursue those communities and integrate with them. We'll be beginning that in December.
Do banks have to pay to be integrated with Dwolla?
No, we just give them the service and then your bank account comes with Dwolla. There are 16 banks across the country that come with Dwolla. We're talking to some huge financial institutions about doing the same thing.
Banks are going to have trouble being relevant in mobile. The fundamental issue with mobile payments is: how do you get to your cash regardless of where you bank? No one has cracked that nut. I truly feel like we've not only cracked that nut but we're already selling it into financial institutions.
You don't have to pay the banks anything to log in and access accounts?
Nope. We built a web service that connect with the financial institutions and we do not have to pay them to work with them. We're a service provider to them and we work at the same time to make their customers happy.
Who are your investors?
We've raised $1.3 million.
You ever hear of John Deere Tractor? They have a bank, Verdian Credit Union, but essentially it's John Deere's bank, Verthian Credit Union. Verthian is one of our primary investors. The other investor is a company called The Members Booth which provides credit, debit, and security solutions to banks and credit unions.
How big is the Dwolla team?
We're about 12 people -- that's a beast of a startup in Iowa. We were smaller last December, about 2 or 3 people, so we've had pretty good growth. Most everyone is in Des Moines.
We've experienced strong early stage validation and have generated revenue that says "Hey, this thing can work well." We've got this little fire and now we're trying to figure out how to pour a sh*tload of gas on it, and really make this scale out. The beginning of that is in December and right now we're trying to ensure we have the right partners to really kick that thing off really hard.
What happens in December?
Oh, it's going to be good.
What is it?
We've got this product coming out in December that solves a whole bunch of really big problems inside of the ACH system, which all banks are connected to, and it does it in a way that's never been done before.
Are you raising capital?
We have a lot of really positive conversations going on at the moment and we're trying to figure out who the right partner to work with is. We're fortunate that our current investors are very supportive of what we're doing.
How are you doing all this from Iowa? It seems like this company should be on Wall Street.
Maybe. Right now Des Moines is the right place for us to be. In the future there's going to have to be a lot of business development outside of Des Moines and there are some things we won't be able to do from here.
If we can convince people in Iowa, who are more conservative by nature, to use Dwolla then my personal feeling is we've really got something there. Had we been outside of Iowa, maybe we would have tried to scale things up too quickly and maybe it would have blown up in our faces. Maybe not.
In my own naive way, I would never build a company anywhere but Iowa so maybe I just don't know any better. My personal feeling is, if you want to build it, where you are is just an excuse. Figure out ahat the area has to offer you and then leverage that. Hustle your ass off and make it work.
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http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/11/10/businessinsiderthis-28-year-old-is-.DTL
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
A must share in this age, from my PR mentor: How a man should relate to a strong woman - by Ed Tamayo | Inquirer
How a man should relate to a strong woman
By: Ed Tamayo
Philippine Daily Inquirer1:19 am | Sunday, October 16th, 2011 Posted by ryanl-->2 share
All my life I’ve dealt with strong women, starting with my late Nanay, who imposed her will over my bad-boy inclinations, and now with my 2-year-old grandniece Moshi, a mischievous beauty who can command me to play “no pass” anytime.
I write as a lifelong student of women (although I can’t vouch for the quality of my studies on the subject). And I will always be a student who continues to learn, never an expert, since there is too much to learn.
But I must say that a strong woman is one with a mind of her own, gifted with smarts and common sense. Otherwise, she would simply be stubborn and obstinate, a shrew, a termagant.
A strong woman sees life for what it is, and will deal with it on the terms she has chosen. She respects her own person and understands her worth, and looks out for herself and the people she cares about.
Oh yes, she tends to be successful, because she sets goals and works to achieve them. A strong woman will control her desires and feelings, especially if she knows that there’s a dead end ahead.
They have different personalities, strong women, from outspoken and in-your-face to quiet but steely of resolve, to permutations in between. One characteristic that I’ve noticed strong women share is the understanding that knowledge and wisdom are important tools. So they take education seriously, because it represents independence, the ability to earn their own keep, and it opens up different options in their lives.
So how does today’s man relate meaningfully with strong women? It’s a question worth asking, because more and more, the worldwide trend toward the empowerment of women is enabling them to recognize and develop their potentials, making them stronger. Gender norms, parameters and roles are ever evolving.
No rocket science
There’s no rocket science behind it, but first, a man has to understand himself, who and what he is, and be comfortable in his own skin. He needs to define his masculinity and feel secure within his own self, before he can deal with the nature of a woman.
A man insecure about himself can view a woman as a threat and competitor, and cut her down in an attempt to deal with his internal issues. And that’s exactly what a strong woman has no time for. Not uncommonly, men, when they realize the strength of a woman, can feel intimidated, or shy away, or probe her for weaknesses in order to inflict hurt on her.
It’s no wonder that strong women aren’t too trusting, because they know only too well about human frailty and betrayal. So they tend to listen to words with a grain of salt. Men need to earn their respect and trust with their actions. And in every woman, as in every man, lies the wish to be loved truly.
In my inexpert opinion, but one evolved through trial and error, good old-fashioned respect is indispensable in a positive relationship with a woman, whether personal or professional, romantic or platonic, whatever it may be.
As you would wish to be respected, then should you extend respect. Especially to a strong woman. Why? Well, because she is strong, so you don’t want to face the consequences. That, of course, is tongue-in-cheek.
I’ve never believed that men are stronger than women or vice versa, because each gender is made and wired differently. There is just no apples-to-apples comparison. That’s why we partner with and support each other. It’s the best arrangement. And if a woman is strong, why then, celebrate and rejoice in her strength.
In my heart of hearts, I believe that true beauty can never be external. Thus, every woman is beautiful, especially if she is a strong woman. Like my grandniece Moshi, who rocks and rules.
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Tags: Relationships , Strong woman
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