Social Marketing Strategies Powered by Innovation

Did you know that Latin America currently boasts 187 million Internet users and 458 million mobile phone subscribers?

To find out more about how this kind of digital media can be incorporated into your organization’s fundraising programs, join Marcelo at the 2010 Latin American Fundraising Congress in Recife, Brazil next week!

This event, which is due to take place from the 1st to the 3rd of September, will involve 22 speakers on a variety of topics affecting the area of fundraising, including “Face to Face fundraising with major donors” and “How to find International donors”.

Marcelo will be speaking on how to begin a new media program using the latest new media trends.

For more information, check out the Congress’ website here.

This was one the great session this year that enjoyed at TED Global 2010 in Oxford the past July. In this visual era David McCandless turns complex data sets (like worldwide military spending, media buzz, Facebook status updates) into beautiful, simple diagrams that tease out unseen patterns and connections. Good design, he suggests, is the best way to navigate information glut — and it may just change the way we see the world.

Just a quick note to let you all know that I will be appearing at the 6th Hemispheric Fundraising Congress – Latin America, in Monterrey, Mexico on the 2nd of December.

The Congress will focus on new trends in fundraising and related technology, attracting social sector professionals from all over Latin America…and the world.

My keynote lecture will be held in the afternoon and will focus on how to implement an innovative fundraising program using new media technology.

For more information and to register, please visit the Congress’ website.

Radius Music Installed 2 from hendersontwelve on Vimeo.

Check out this great video from digital media artist, Henderson. He has created “Radius Music”, an art project involving a special machine that scans its surroundings and uses the information acquired to create an audiovisual map of the immediate environment.

To create this map, Henderson’s machine spins slowly in the centre of the area to be mapped, probing the area with ultrasound sensors. This information is then collected as sound and used to create an eery, warbling music track.

A particularly interesting factor of this project, especially as far as the social sector is concerned, is the way the music changes as the environment changes – as new objects are introduced or taken away. This could be a really innovative way of highlighting the impact that change can have on an environment through interactive technology…and music!

WikiLeaks collects and posts highly classified documents and video. Founder, Julian Assange recently gave one of the best presentations I listened to at TED Global in Oxford. Wikileaks is a great example of new paradigms regarding open communications and democracy. Check back as I will be sharing some more content and opinion just as soon as TED uploads the new Talks.

To watch this presentation in 8 languages , just click on subtitles.

As many of you are already aware, Lucy Innophoria’s Facebook profile was cruelly removed from the world a couple of weeks ago!

Despite a prompt protest and many emails of complaint from her friends, Facebook refused to reinstate our beloved colleague on the grounds that she was not “a real girl”…Imagine!

We have some good news, however. After a two-week absence, Lucy is back on Facebook (with her own fan-page) and can’t wait to start contacting her old friends again.

To befriend Lucy and receive all the latest Innophoric updates simple click “like” on the widget above! And don’t forget to pass this message on to your colleagues and any other former friends of Lucy!

Check out the very latest in interactive installations…the SMS slingshot!

Developed by VR Urban, a group dedicated to creating interactive street art installations, this amazing example of innovation combines projection, laser guidance, and SMS to create graffiti painted by a digital slingshot.

The primary aim of VR Urban is reclaim urban “screens” for public use. To operate the slingshot device, all users have to do is type in their SMS, guide their message onto the wall…and fire!

What a simple and ingenious way to make a public statement!

On August the 3rd 1985 SMS (short messaging service) was developed in Germany and France by Friedhelm Hillebrand, Bernard Ghillebaert and Oculy Silaban – making the popular service 25 years old today!

Despite being developed in 1985, SMS was slow to take off as wireless operators had to develop a system to charge mobile subscribers.

One of the main reasons behind the success of SMS has been attributed to the fact that it was initially offered to mobile subscribers free of charge! An early model of social trysumerism, perhaps!

The use of SMS then fell by up to 40% when operators began to charge…but slowly climbed back up again.

25 years later and SMS has become the preferred method of communication for many – mainly because it is fast, easy and simple to use. It is even being adopted by the social sector as a way of campaigning, raising funds and communicating with supporters…Long may this continue!

Happy birthday SMS – and Happy texting everyone!

I recently filmed this interview with Vishal Gondal, GOD-in-chief of Indiagames ltd, during my time at TED global in Oxford.

In the interview, Gondal discusses e local gaming industry, highlighting that in India, the biggest gaming platform is not the PC, nor gaming consoles…but the mobile phone! With 700 million mobile phone subscribers in India, a large portion of which are using their handsets to download games, this is no small achievement.

With a surge in the purchase of netbooks and lower-end PCs, Facebook gaming is also starting to take off in India.

To find out more about gaming trends in India, check out the interview above.

We recently came across Vodafone’s World of Difference International competition on Facebook, which gives eight people the opportunity to work abroad with a charity of their choice for 12 months.

Finalists were invited to submit a short film on the work they would like to do and Facebook users can then select the finalist of their choice to go on and take up one of the eight places.

At first we were quite enthusiastic about selecting one of the winners via Facebook – There are currently four finalists and two places left! However, all of them are incredibly enthusiastic about their work and all of the programs they want to be involved with are absolutely vital!

This got us thinking and we decided to take a look at Vodafone’s annual report for the last fiscal year…£44.5 billion! with 8.4% growth! And they’re asking users to choose between which two (out of four) charities should receive a boost. Personally, we think that all four candidates should be sent on placements…It’s really not going to leave a dent in Vodafone’s budget!

I recently came across this fantastic, interactive campaign by UNICEF.

A vending machine was placed in a busy US street offering consumers the opportunity to purchase a bottle of dirty “drinking water” for just US$1! The idea behind the vending machine was to create a novel way to raise money for UNICEF’s clean drinking water campaign, whilst involving supporters and educating them on the impact of contaminated drinking water in developing countries (and that a US$1 donation could provide a child with clean drinking water for 40 days!).

Not only did this great example of social trysumerism help to raise funds for the cause, either through a 1 dollar donation straight to the “vending machine” or via SMS, but also got potential supporters directly involved in the organization’s work right there and then on the street! Great, great idea!

During my recent trip to Johannesburg, I had the opportunity to meet Duane Raymond, the Head of New Media for the One goal campaign.

The campaign aims to get 72 million children who are currently not receiving an education, into school. In his interview, Duene discuss both the mobile and online tactics used to encourage supporters to join the campaign. These include celebrity endorsements online, widgets, SMS messaging.

According to Duene, the 1 goal campaign will also encourage its supporters to participate directly in actions themselves. This could include sending “yellow cards” to world leaders.

Towards the end of the interview, Raymond talks a little bit about his e-campaigning forum, described as the G20 of e-campaigning. This brings together leaders from the worlds of new-media and online campaigning to share ideas. To find out more, check out my interview!

A recent article published in ABC news has revealed the development of new software that will enable mobile phones to function in areas where there is no reception whatsoever!

The Australian researchers, at Flinders University, behind this new software, which has already been tested in the South Australian desert, assure that mobile phones will now be able to work anywhere, potentially helping to save lives in times of disaster.

According to the head of the project, Dr Paul Gardner-Stephen, the new software incorporates a compact version of a mobile phone tower into the device itself!

“With Haiti what was actually observed was that their mobile phone network and their landline phone network was essentially knocked out for the first 48 hours after the earthquake,” he said.

“The vast majority of the response to a disaster is actually from the local people there, so if we can provide them with ease of communications as soon as possible after the earthquake, not 48 hours, not 72 hours but potentially minutes after a disaster, then we can help them to start rescuing people from rubble and generally rebuilding, maintaining law and order.”

I recently came across yet another example of 2010 World Cup innovation – this time from Fifa itself!

This latest feature, found in the statistics area of the Fifa website, enables journalists and enthusiasts alike to track every player in the world cup using a “heat map”.

The heat map shows the areas of the pitch that each player covers during the match, tracking their movements when the ball is in play. The pitch is divided into 600 cells, and each cell lights up when the player enters that part of the field.

Not only does this provide the statistics section with a great visual feature, but the heat map also serves as an excellent example of how technological innovation can be used for, well, almost anything!

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1 goal campaign is, by far, the best social campaign to be taking place throughout the 2010 World Cup.
Their objective: “Education for All and to call on world leaders to provide education for 72 million children worldwide by 2015″

1GOAL is a campaign seizing the power of football to ensure that education for all is a lasting impact of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Raising our voices all over the world we believe that, together, we can make education a reality for the millions of boys and girls who remain out of school.

While in Johannesburg in South Africa, I was fortunate enough to have dinner with part of 1GOAL’s Spanish team based there and Duane Raymond, Head of new media at 1goal shared this excellent tool with me – the widget generator.

To check it out, go to http://widget.join1goal.org Select the size of the widget you require, choose your favourite celebrity or football player and voila you have your code. Just copy and paste this code into your website or blog to support this campaign.

Check back here soon to watch my interview with Duane that I recorded with my Flip. And don’t forget to sign-up for the 1 goal campaign right now on my blog.

Write the headline, the latest interactive phenomenon by Nike, is causing a stir during World Cup festivities in Johannesburg, showing just what an impact this kind of technology can have on the public.

The installation, which is almost half the size of an entire football pitch, enables World Cup fans to post messages of support to their favourite World Cup player – using Twitter, QQ (a chat program from China) and Mxit (a South African instant messaging service).

The message of support is then displayed on the side of Johannesburg’s Southern Life Centre building – the fourth tallest building in the city!

The messages are displayed for 12 hours each night – from 6pm to 6am and can be seen from a distance of about 2.5km. Users are notified if their message is chosen for selection via their social media of choice…showing them their message as it is projected!

For more information about how to get involved in this interactive, World cup program, search for the Write the Headline application on Facebook, or tweet your message of support for a player using #NikeFuture.

I am currently in South Africa working for Greenpeace International and recently had the chance to experience Jericho, a rural community just 3 hours away from Johannesburg. Greenpeace South Africa is playing a different World Cup there, a solar World Cup. In Jericho, people have been given the opportunity to watch the matches on a huge screen powered by solar energy. Over 600 people have taken this opportunity to watch the crucial matches of Bafana Bafana (a term of endearment meaning “the boys”) – South Africa’s national football team.
I recorded this interview with “FIFA’s alternative CEO” ! This project is an innovative way to transmit such an environmental message, driven by the creativity and hard work of Greenpeace South Africa.
Ayoba !!!

I’m travelling to Africa this week in order to work with a client on mobile projects in the continent and thought that now would be a great time to post an interview I filmed during the 2010 World Mobile Congress last February.

The interview is with Filip Nilsson, Regional Executive at Fundamo, a mobile financial services enterprise.

During the interview, Nilsson confirms that the biggest users of mobile banking are indeed people in developing countries. Africa is currently the highest-ranking continent for using these services – In 2008 alone, around US$ 2 billion was processed via Fundamo’s mobile banking facility, providing “mobile wallets” for over 2 million members that wouldn’t otherwise have access to banking services.

For more information, check out my video!

After our small effort to report on this horrific disaster on this blog, I recently came across several efforts from other ordinary citizens who also wanted to contribute to providing the world with accurate reports about the recent oil spill in Louisiana…using their cell phones!

This kind of reporting, known as “Crowdsourcing” has been springing up all over the Internet since the event and has enabled the entire world to obtain up-to-date information about the unfolding spill and response efforts right when it’s happening!

The oil spill crisis map, developed by the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental advocacy group, is now bringing together hundreds of these field reports in order to compile an online map of the spill using free, open-source software, Ushahidi.

In order to submit your report, send an SMS or MMS to 504-272-7OIL. You can even tweet your report to #BPspillmap

Or if you’d prefer to contribute using a smartphone app, check out the free Oil Spill Response iPhone app which will enable you to file mobile data reports and photos regarding affected coastline and wildlife using GPS. Android users should download the Oil Reporter Map which contains similar reporting facilities!

Webcam chat at Ustream

How I can act to stop BP and the oil companies? This is a super powerful tool for activism – live broadcast for free and in real time. Showing this horrific disaster on my website is my tiny contribution!