Photo taken from Pretty Much Amazing
Coachella Round 1: The first weekend of this year’s music festival wasn’t quite up to par compared to last year. True it’s hard to beat a 2Pac hologram but when a headliner fails to draw crowds, it’s an issue. Still, Coachella is always a good time and the highlights were plentiful with a night of Phoenix and a surprise appearance by R. Kelly alongside solid performances by Blur, The Postal Service, Grizzly Bear and the Local Natives among others. Perhaps the biggest excitement was over a group that wasn’t even performing: Daft Punk.
Trend alert: Would you pay for a restaurant ticket? Most of us don’t think twice about cancelling or failing to show up at a restaurant. On the other side of the hostess desk it’s a whole different story. Now restaurants are taking matters into their own hands, creating a solution to the problem…and shame tweets are only the beginning. Trois Mec, about to open in Los Angeles has adapted a ticketing system where guests must purchase their tables in advance. The cost includes food, tax and tip so that diners need only to sit, enjoy their meal and walk out after. Several high-end restaurants have already adapted this form of payment though some owners hope to see the system trickle down into even the smallest of restaurants.
Sip, swirl and tweet: Breaking away from traditional wine tasting, Canada’s Open Wines invited guests to sample wine … and enjoy a full-fledged party. Partnering with Narrative PR and Bensimon Byrne, the wine company encouraged guests to “#BeOpen” and participate via Twitter to access all the event happenings. Using wristbands and smart phones, guests were encouraged (via tweets) to check out various games, treats and other stations in the venue.
Ah, Youth: A recent survey conducted by Piper Jaffay reports that Facebook and YouTube are losing popularity with teens. And considering how teens are responsible for $819 billion in consumer spending, marketers need to start finding new ways to influence these youths. The same survey revealed that social media still influences consumer purchasing decisions. So the question now is: which platform to target next?
Technology: CNet wrote a lengthy but eye-opening article on the innovation of smartphones and just where the technology is going, how it’s coming together and what that looks like for us.
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