Dispatch: A Band for the Web

A few weeks ago I was at a friend's house for homemade pizza night and stumbled upon the band - Dispatch. Heard of 'em? Well, neither had I. As it turns out, we were enjoying their Madison Square Garden show on the flat screen while we created our personal pizza masterpieces. "Who is this?" I asked. "Oh! This is Dispatch. I have been dying to go to a show. This one sold out in 30 minutes on MySpace. They're great!" my friend smiled.

I had never heard of this band but the fact that they sold out Madison Square Gardens via MySpace was impressive to me, plus I really liked the music. I did a little online research and I am now officially a fan. I am not only impressed that they were able to sell out the show online. I am impressed by the band itself. I don't believe that all you need is a strong marketing program to create a viable online business. Their accessibility isn't the ONLY ingredient that makes Dispatch so good... or so successful. It's the incredible content. The musicianship. The songs. And the whole band itself. Add in the charitable giving and you have a recipe for some authentic fan building. Start with a good product. Period.

Here are just some of the things I found interesting about the way the band communicates with their rabid fan base.

1) Gained exposure without a label back when Limewire and and Napster were going strong (Although I hear Napster's founders are launching a video chat service). People loved the music and wanted to share. Good content is king...still.
2) Their farewell concert in 2004 was the largest independent music event ever. Over 100,000 people showed up to see the Last Dispatch. It started as a free event and they expected about 20-30,000 people.



3) In 2007, they performed a benefit concert in Madison Square Garden called Dispatch: Zimbabwe and sold tickets exclusively via MySpace. Show sold out in 30 minutes. They added a second show which sold out in less than 24 hours. They then scheduled a third show and sold tickets on Ticketmaster which also sold out.
4) Sold performance footage on MySpace and SNOCAP.
5) Video streamed the concert for a week on MySpace
6) In 2009, they played an acoustic show at the Kennedy Center and sold out within 10 minutes.

Lately the band has been considering a comeback. How do we know? An icon on their website "Dispatch 2011" followed by a tweet in November 2010 containing a QR code to a Google Places location at Red Rocks Amplitheater in Colorado. Then a QR code a week pointing to more Google Places map locations in Chicago, Atlanta and other US cities. Then at midnight Jan 1, 2011 the band confirmed a reunion tour this June in all the cities previously tweeted. All that plus a video on YouTube to promote the tour.

Ah, it's probably too late for me to get tickets but what an incredible story!

Visual Search with Google Goggles

Google released an update(v1.3) to the Google Goggles app for iPhone and Android on Monday. The latest update brings us fully into the virtual reality world of the future via visual search capability. Just hold your phone up to an object and BAM.... online content and search options are at your fingertips. What are some of the things you can search visually with Goggles?

QR Codes/Bar Code Scanner: Google Goggles makes interpreting a QR code or product barcode even easier...and faster (claiming under 2 seconds to process). Codes in Entertainment Weekly movie trailer ads. Codes on major ads in print media. You no longer need to take a photo in a reader app to launch the embedded content. You don't even have to press a button! With Goggles, just hold up the camera phone to the object so Goggles can recognize it using it's nifty visual recognition and watch the magic happen. Read product reviews, check availability and search competitor pricing in an instant.
Ad Recognition: Goggles will recognize print ads and launch enhanced online content on any ad published in a major magazine or newspaper published since August 2010. Google tested the advertising image recognition ability with some big brands before launch - Buick, Disney, Diageo, T-Mobile and Delta Airlines. Holy cow Batman...Is this the integration we've been talking about? A traditional print ad that launches digital content? Why... what will this mean for the traditional marketer vs online marketer war?

Now the goofy part is that Goggles can also solve a Sudoku puzzle. Of course the tech community is truly geeked about this one. Check out the Google Labs video to see the app beat Sudoku champion Tammy McLeod. It IS geeky cool, isn't it?

Trednspotting - 100 Things to Watch for in 2011 in 2011

The Trendspotting team at JWT has just released a great slideshare presentation called: 100 Things to Watch in 2011

Here are my digital-related highlights from the presentation:

F-Commerce - Facebook Commerce. Brands such as Victoria's Secret, 1-800 Flowers and Delta allow you to buy/book on Facebook (we've been calling this 'S-Commerce' or Social Media Commerce for months)

Group Pricing - with Groupon.com reportedly turning down a $6 Billion offer from Google we knew group pricing was hot. JWT suggests we check out Uniqlo's Lucky Counter pricing.

Community Meet-ups from Mashable, Huff Post and Tech Crunch.

Transmedia - story lines crossing into multiple platforms

Micro-Businesses - turn a skill into a bit of revenue Airbnb, Zilok and Neighborhood goods.

Smartphone Cameras - up to 12 megapixels (I can't wait for my Verizon iPhone 5!)

QR Codes - scanning barcodes with software installed on a smart phone link directly to websites

Personal Taste Graphs from Hunch or Gravity look at what your friends like on Facebook or Twitter and make recommendations

mHealth - mobile apps to monitor wellness and medical histories.

Amazon is looking for 'Kindle Singles'. Content longer than a magazine article and shorter than a book. Also look for eBook loans and library eBook access.

3D printing will allow you instantly produce items such as mugs and items out of resin and silver. (The world's first gold dispenser is located in the Mall across the street from our offices).

Brazil is an e-Leader with 23% of Brazilians on Twitter and 86% mobile penetration Captcha ads - the crazy text you enter online to prove you are a real person now has images and ads

Digital indoor maps - cool I'll be able to find my way out of the mall.