About Facebook, Hyves and Burble, the New Kid on the Block

Dutch social media platform Hyves is an excellent lesson in social media. The Dutch competitor of Facebook was highly popular. At its heyday a few years ago, its revenues reached close to Euro 20 million and it boasted over 10 million profiles. To put it in perspective, the total Dutch population reached close to 17 million in April 2015.

That’s why the Dutch media group Telegraaf Media Groep (TMG) decided to purchase 100 percent of all the Hyves shares. The idea behind the takeover was, that Dutch newspaper “De Telegraaf” would become the biggest player in the market reaching 62 percent of the Dutch readers online. TMG purchased Hyves at end 2010 for a whopping Euro 43 million.

But TMG underestimated that Hyves was already under pressure from global competitor Facebook having a similar target audience. During 2011, users left Hyves in droves in favor of Facebook. Page visits declined from 200 million in January to 150 million in October the same year. Also the number of unique visits per day and the amount of minutes that visitors stayed on Hyves declined sharply.

In 2013, TMG gave up hope that Hyves would remain a relevant social network site. Hyves wa kept alive as an online gaming platform. The group wrote off Euro 36.5 million in booking value.

But when one market player leaves, it creates an opportunity for a new one. Enter Burble, the brainchild of programmer Marlon Barth who owns a small IT company in Rotterdam. He envisions Burble as a modern kind of Facebook where users can create their own profile, communicate with each other en discuss issues. He claims that the environment is safe with data protection, It is free for everybody and is in Dutch.

Will Burble be the next Facebook success or Hyves failure? Let’s wait and see!

Five Great Applications for Drones

Drones are on the rise, drones in the US but also in Europe. Drones are becoming cheaper, able to lift more weight and also get easier to control. It’s only a matter of time before the drone will become part of your daily life – one way or the other.

1. Sales Promotion

The drone will become one of the tools in marketing & PR. Real estate agents can use it to show property for sale, and tourist agencies for showcasing destinations. Event planners and exhibition organizers can use it as a powerful tool to drum up business. Universities can show potential students what they will enjoy. Let’s face it - what is more powerful than an ascending drone shooting a professional video with paparazzi effect? Huge number of viewers guaranteed!

2. Home Delivery

Let’s face it – schlepping to the super can be so annoying when you find out you run out of e.g., milk. Supermarket s will offer an “instant drone service” to deliver to your doorstep. It so fits into our digital lifestyle.

More importantly, drone delivery will also become standard for reaching remote locations with essential and even lifesaving supplies. That future is already here, DHL already delivers medical supplies by drone the remote German island Juist.

3. Agriculture

Agriculture is the lifeline of our existing, so it only makes sense that drones will contribute. A drone can assist farmers to monitor their crops from above. This would allow them to take immediate measures, such as irrigation. The drone would be a small investment for a great ROI since higher yields would achieved.

4. First Aid

Just consider the scenario of a cardiac arrest in a public place or at home and no defibrillator is available. Sending a drone is faster than dispatching an ambulance and could therefore save lives. The Dutch Delft University of Technology demonstrated that the survival change after a cardiac arrest jump from 8% to 80% after using a so-called ambudrone.

5. Inspection

Inspecting property will be easy with a drone. This could range from homeowners checking out their gutters or solar panels to governmental agencies checking illegal structures.

These are all great applications of drones. However, there is a major problem – in most cases, it’s not allowed. Legislation is lacking behind. Even innocent use of drones will result in legal action.

In the Netherlands, Mr. Jelte Keur was fined 350 euro for shooting drone images of a landmark, the Domtoren.

Artist Gets The Upper Hand Against Fast-food Giant Chik-fil-A – With Kale

Who knew that kale could trigger legal action? It all started way back in 2000. Bo Muller-Moore is an artist located in Montpelier, Vermont. One of his farmer friend (who grows the leafy vegetable aka as kale known for its nutritional value) asked him to make three T-shirts for his family for $10 each. He did and the “eat more kale” caught on.

With approval of the farmer friend, Muller-Moore began putting it on clothing and bumper stickers. He has been using the phrase ever since to promote local agriculture. He prints the phrase in silk-screen on T-shirts and sweatshirts and also prints it on bumper stickers that are used all around Vermont and even in other states. In the summer of 2011, Muller-Moore decided to trademark the phrase.

Once fast-food giant Chik-fil-A learned about the filing, it sent Muller-Moore a letter telling him to stop using the phrase, claiming that it would confuse the public since the Chik-fil-A slogan is "eat mor chikin." The fast food giant cited 30 examples of other companies and individuals who wanted to the "eat more" phrase and withdrew it after Chik-fil-A objected.

In contrast to other before him, Muller-Moore did not cave in. He stated "In our case, we said we're not going to cease and desist until a federal judge tells us to and as far as the trademark goes, I never wavered from the idea that I deserved protection from copycat artists."

His public fight drew the support of Shumlin as well as a team of pro-bono lawyers, including law students from the University of New Hampshire legal clinic.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Muller-Moore his application to trademark "eat more kale".

Needless to say, the artist was over the moon, stating "I'd like to think that maybe some persistence and polite defiance, you know, and proving to them [the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office] that we were in it for the long haul. If it took us a decade, we're going to fight for a decade."

Muller-Moore is not alone in relishing his David vs. Goliath victory. Governor Peter Shumlin for one applauds the decision. He stated: "The message is out: Don't mess with Vermont. And don't mess with Bo. This isn't just a win for the little guy who stands up to a corporate bully; it's a win for our state. In Vermont, we care about what's in our food, who grows it, and where it comes from."

(Image courtesy of Bo Muller Moore)

The Funny Marketing and PR of The Interview

Sometimes you get an unexpected marketing and PR boost. Just look at The Interview, a comedy that made the headlines for unexpected reasons.

The Interview is a comedy about talk show host and producer finding out that their show is a favorite of Kim Jong-un of North Korea. Once they land a live interview with him, the CIA recruits them to take him out.

Although the movie is mediocre to say the least (movie critics panned it), it got an unexpected boost from an unexpected source - hackers! They hacked Sony (the producer of The Interview) demanding to stop the release and threatened with violence if their demand was not met.

Needless to say, this put Sony in an awkward position. The movie studio decided to pull the release. MoviestarClooney and President Obama reacted, crying wolf.

In the end, Sony decided to release the movie online, with great success. The Interview is a bestseller on YouTube and Google Play. With more than 2M downloads, it generated $15M before Christmas 2014. The movie was also made available on Xbox Live and PlayStation.

According to the latest reports, the hackers do not hail from North Korea. It seems that it was an inside job.

No matter where the hackers are located, they did the movie a huge favor. They gave The Interview some serious marketing and PR that is worth its weight in gold!