Want to catch up with what happened in the digital world this week? Our weekly cheat sheet will fill you in on everything you missed while you were scrambling to meet deadlines and put out fires.
Read about the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book and digital watermarks, the new social network Pheed, the Angry Bird collaboration with McDonald’s, coupons for Passbook, and how Chirpify is bringing social commerce to Instagram!
1. Neiman Marcus interactive holiday catalog
In its 86th year, the annual Neiman Marcus Christmas Book is getting an interactive update. The luxury department store has marked the pages of its catalog of fantasy gifts with digital watermarks that shoppers can scan to access additional content about products. Shoppers will first need to download the NM Action app, which is only available for iPhone and iPad users. The holiday catalog has a history steeped in tradition, and it’s not likely that Neiman Marcus will ever abandon a printed edition. However, Neiman Marcus recognizes that print media alone is not as engaging compared to other mediums, and seized the opportunity to enhance user experience.
2. Pheed is a new social network
Pheed is the newest social network going head-to-head with the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Spurred on by a roster of celebrities that include Miley Cyrus and Paris Hilton, the site gained more than 1 million users in just 10 days. Interestingly enough, half of all users choose to sign up for the site using Twitter, the other half through Facebook. What differentiates Pheed from Twitter and other seemingly similar sites is that Pheed gives users opportunities to monetize their original content. For example, users have the option to charge people a monthly subscription fee to view their content.
3. Rovio and McDonald’s team up in China
Rovio and McDonald’s have teamed up in China to create a special location-based version of the hit game, Angry Birds. Playing the game inside one of China’s 1,500 McDonald’s locations will give the user access to exclusive game modes and free power-ups. This is not the first time that Rovio has teamed up with a brand for an Angry Bird collaboration. The Hunt of the Golden Pistachio was the first fully-branded Angry Bird game, and Angry Birds Rio integrated characters from the 20th Century Fox movie into the game. Rovio has released a teaser trailer for its upcoming collaboration with Star Wars out on November 8th.
4. 20 retailers sign up for Passbook
We haven’t heard a lot about Passbook since its initial launch last month. This week, however, brought news of 20 retailers who have signed up to offer coupons for Passbook via Coupons.com’s mobile site. When a user visits Coupons.com on their iPhone, they can navigate to the Passbook section, where they will have the option to download the coupon to Passbook. Retailers include Macy’s, Old Navy, ULTA Beauty, and PETCO. According to eMarketer, the total transaction value for mobile payments in the United States will be $640 million this year, but that number is expected to jump to more than $62 billion in just the next four years.
5. Chirpify lands on Instagram
Chirpify made its first splash in social commerce with Twitter, and now the service is coming to Instagram. Users will be able to easily buy and sell items from within the photo-sharing service that boasts more than 100 million users. If a user wants to sell an item on Instagram, all they need to do is upload a photo of the item and tag it with #InstaSale and the $ amount it’s for sale. If a user wants to buy an item, all they need to do is reply with “buy” and the transaction is complete. Payment is done through linked PayPal accounts. Social commerce is in its early stages, but it already shows promising signs. Earlier this year, musician Amanda Palmer sold more than $5,000 worth of merchandise in 12 hours using Chirpify for Twitter.
