...a massive great Foursquare tower in the middle of New York's Times Square!
The Foursquare advertisement has been erected over American Eagle’s Times Square store. It is reported that Foursquare has a deal with American Eagle opening it to multiple location brands, even though it’s already one of the retailers using Shopkick, a location-based rewards app for iPhone (see video below).
The average Briton spends almost half of their waking life using media and communications, data suggests.
The statistics from regulator Ofcom suggest people in the UK spend seven hours a day watching TV, surfing the net and using their mobile phones.
However, the average person actually squeezes in the equivalent of nearly nine hours of media and communications by multi-tasking on several devices.
The statistics come from industry sources and a survey of 1,138 adults.
The report also suggests that traditional media is holding its own.
Television still dominates people's media habits, with the average person spending around 3.8 hours watching television every day, it says.
"For the first time we have mapped the totality of communications use over one day," said Peter Philips of Ofcom.
The annual Communications Market Report says that the average person spends around 15 hours 45 minutes every day awake. Of this time, it says, the average person spends seven hours and five minutes "engaging in media and communications activities".
However, it found that most people are able to cram in even more by multi-tasking. For example, the report found that adults aged between 16 and 24 appeared to consume the least, spending just six hours and 35 minutes a day on the phone, laptop, radio or television.
But by multitasking - effectively using two or more devices at once - the survey found that young adults were able to squeeze the equivalent of nine hours 32 minutes worth of consumption into that time.
"They are taking up more and more communications activities but fitting them into the same amount of time," said James Thickett, director of market research and market intelligence at Ofcom.
He said this was largely due to the rise in the mobile internet and the use of smartphones.
"It has untethered people from being in one particular place."
The report says that the number of people using their phone to surf the web currently stands at 13.5m people. This has almost tripled since 2008, when the figure stood at 5.7m.
Concurrently, the use of mobile data has exploded, the report said, increasing by 240% between 2007 and 2009.
It suggested that, in part, much of this increase had been driven by one site - Facebook - which accounts for 45% of all mobile web use in the UK, followed by Google at 8%.
"All of the others have less than 4% market share," said Mr Philips.
Radio star
Facebook also dominates fixed line broadband use. The report says that social networking now accounts for nearly one-quarter of all time spent online, with Facebook accounting for the majority of traffic.
The majority of users of the site - and other networks - are between 16 and 34, although Ofcom said that there was a growing trend for older people to also sign up to the services.
The report also mapped the current state of broadband in the UK.
It suggests that internet take-up has now reached 73% in the UK, the majority of which is fixed broadband.
But despite the rise in new ways of accessing content, the report says that traditional media, such as TV and radio still dominate people's media habits,.
"TV still plays a central role in people's lives," said Mr Thickett. "We are watching more than at any time in the last five years."
Yet, despite the growth in online TV services and devices that allow people to record television, most shows were watched via traditional live broadcasts.
Radio also held its own, the survey said.
Although listening has gone down slightly, the number of people able to access radio services was at an all time high, at 91%.
"It is still a very important medium for people," said Mr Thickett.
This 'Alice for the iPad' video has been around a while, but just found it again - and still love it! It not just demonstrates how a classic book can get a new digital lease of life, but it also provides plentiful interactive inspiration for other iPad communication solutions.
Another map to communicate the social networking landscape (click on the map to enlarge), but I rather like this one - maybe it is the Tolkeinesque 'Middle Earth' expanses, just begging to be explored.
Last month, Cx3 blog posted 'If Facebook was a country'. The 2010 Social Networking Map adds 'populations' to a few more 'countries' - The estimated number of users per designated network as detailed on the map are as follows:
Corporate and business communications specialists, Radley Yeldar (RY), work with Lloyds Banking Group’s Corporate Responsibility team and this year, they have developed a best-in-class online CR report.
The bank has many compelling Corporate Responsibility stories to tell, and they have taken the opportunity to communicate these stories simply in an engaging online format and with factual clarity, backed-up by supporting statistics and data.
RY's approach embraces the online channel and the opportunities for engagement, interaction and dialogue.
The online report purposefully uses interactive features enabling the exploration of content and strong sign-posting that directs users to related content. Pull-out facts and figures substantiate Lloyds Banking Group’s Corporate Responsibility credentials at a glance. An engaging and interactive approach is sustained when telling Lloyds Banking Group’s stories using inviting colour photography that encourages users to drill down to simple introductory teasers, and then the more detailed story itself.
Content can be shared via users’ choice social media channels by using a ‘share this’ feature integrated into the site. Throughout the site, a series of real-time polls have been integrated that start to open dialogue with audiences and opinions shared. The 16 polls across the site provide a simple route for audiences to express their opinions on Corporate Responsibility issues and in the first five days of the site going live have received more than 1,800 votes.
Elaine Cohen, co-founder of Beyond Business Ltd, has also commented positively on her CSR for HR blog appreciation for the inclusion of an 'HR Directors Introduction' in Lloyds Banking Group's CR report:
"Lloyds [Banking Group] clearly have an appreciation of CSR for HR. Let's hope this is the beginning of a new (tidal) wave of visible HR partnership in CSR-HR business practices and reporting".
Cadbury's spots v stripes is my favourite advert on TV at the moment and is part of the wider integrated campaign tying in the reach of broadcast media with incentivised online data capture, game play and viral social media.