IBM bought Coremetrics

1) How soon before Webtrends get bought and by who - noone seemed to want to buy them a while back (SAP/Oracle/Autonomy/Microsoft?)

2) IBM should have a good end to end marketing message - realistically are there going combine Core with their other products (other than websphere) in any short time, I think not.

3) It doesn't change the current Core message. Coremetrics always traded on their close partnership with IBM. Unless IBM pump money into Core (which they wont) the offering will remain relatively the same - i.e. a relatively underfunded and underdeveloped solution that makes sense only due to its ties with other products.

4) I do hope that IBM's process, acumen and money does bring some good fortunes for Core, they've seemed to be in a mess for a while.

I'm a fan of diversification. I hope this is good for the industry.

My concern is that a significant vendors strides forwards in this space will actually be hampered as IBM take their eye of the ball.

I predict Webtrends will get purchased in the next 6 months and then within the space of 3 years there will be a new diversification of analytics companies hanging their hat on something slightly different, my guess is it will be the social media / mobile phone apps trendy bunch who will go through that "lets build a company, lets get data, what do we do with it now? lets sell the company" cycle, maybe IBM will buy them too.

Phone Apps of interest

I don't have a fancy mobile phone.

If I did would it change my life?

I think in some ways it could. The potential is huge.

The potential is a wide as it was for the internet in the mid nineties.

But the web is full of a lot of shit and I'm guessing apps will be too. I would probably spend a lot of time doing relatively useless crap.

I was trying to think what apps would change the way I'd do things, what would actually change my behaviour rather than some flash in the pan gimic.

What would combine data collection, photography, GPS and data available from the internet that would keep me interested?

I hate filling in forms. I really do.

I was wondering what industries use a lot of forms that really put me off.

I didn't think of anything glamorous.

I thought of insurance.

I wondered how hard would it be to photo a receipt or item that you buy and upload it to you home contents insurance? I know I've got stuff not covered simply because I haven't got round to filling the form in stating I've purchase it. I'd be willing to pay that little extra to my premium or app just to know I've got everything covered.

I wondered how hard would it be to upload details at the time of a car crash/ incident. You could show impact and GPS location whilst swapping details with the other person via bluetooth. Now I don't think this would be a big seller, but it could have a great impact (no pun intended) as there are accidents everyday and people get stressed and forget what to do, an app could take them through the steps. Think of it as customer service.

I wondered about local government (after being inspired by this website) there must be so many different applications that could make a difference.

I will get a smart phone, honest. I just might wait for another 5 years before the less glamorous industries catch up so that I can then start using apps that would really make a difference to my life.

What would be my perfect advert for a Web company?

So here am I thinking

1) Most companies are trying to get people to their websites
2) Online advertising is supposed to attract some of the most creative people in agencies
3) TV advertising is supposed to be dead

And yet...

What television advertising do we get in the UK for online businesses and what format does it take? Surely a web business doesn't need the TV.

But lets see.

1) Fat opera singer - gocompare.com
2) Moonpig.com - moonpig.com
3) Alexander the meerkat - comparethemarket.com
4) We buy any car.com -webuyanycar.com

Non of these are sophisticated.

They rely on catchy sight and sound to create a meme that gets stuck in your head (and I feel they have worked very well much to my disgust).

Now, I expect this is because the best way to get brand awareness for something new, a jingle, a bit of alliteration and a wacky character. The message / service delivered by the advert is less important than getting the catchy tag line that someone will recognise in another occasion.

Is this any different to other TV ads? Well the established brands seem to think they don't need the catchiness to help (honda advert, mcdonalds, cadburys).

Whilst the brand kings have their own approach, I think the newer web advertising represents a renaissance in advertising that works and sticks in the memory - I'm thinking of the following:

Hello Tosh got a toshiba?
For mash get smash
Allwhites lemonade, I'm a secret lemonade drinker
Do the shake and vac...

These were catchy.
We still remember these.
I think that's what the web companies are doing - they are the new pinnacle of advertising and we'll be thinking about them 20 years from now.

If you asked me to advertise for a web company I would do the following

a) create a short jingle
b) create a wacky character
c) use alliteration in a catchphrase that refers to the website
d) Quite a lot (saturation) of advertising on telly (the dead medium)

Basically, a 20 second musical equivalent of "Little Britain" - That is the unfortunate, but effective, pinnacle of advertising for any new brand.

p.s. my actual personal preference for adverts are using those with an intriguing visual with a good soundtrack. Dunlop introduced me to the velvet underground, for which I'm extremely grateful, Cadburys (already mentioned), Most of Levi's in the 80's and 90's and a good proportion of the VW adverts from the same period.