Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine has posted an interesting piece predicting the end of the advertising-based revenue model for publishers, and, by extension, the end of advertising. Rupert Murdoch's decision to erect a paywall around The Times website has received a great deal of publicity and it seems as though Condé Nast may be following in his footsteps. However Jarvis believes that there is little chance that publishers will ever achieve the sort of revenues that they are used to simply through selling their content. Instead he thinks that the only way that publishers can survive in an era where scarcity has been removed as a means for inflating value is to enter the world of commerce. In other words start competing with the brands that used to supply those advertising dollars and sell the stuff themselves. Of course, having expertise in writing about fashion, for instance, in no way qualifies you to start operating as a fashion retailer.

I think there will be some tough times ahead for the publishing industry it has yet be shown whether consumers will ever be willing to pay a price for content that realistically reflects the true cost of generating that content - they are so used now to all of those free-to-access websites and magazines with cover mounted gifts. Sooner or later someone will develop a business model that works, and, who knows, maybe publishers will all become retailers. They will need to radically shift their areas of expertise first though.

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Promoted tweets and promoted trends are two ways of advertising on Twitter. Big advertisers such as Sony, Starbucks, Disney and Nike have been using them but are they working? Nobody really knows as there have been no results issued and this article on Clickz conjectures how well they are doing.

Promoted Tweets are the original Twitter ad format, having beenintroduced in April. They appear in Twitter search results, targeted to keywords. For instance, in Starbucks' recent campaign, search queries for "Starbucks" and "coffee" produced a brand appearance at the very top of the results.

Promoted Trends, meanwhile, came into play last month and entail an all-day listing at the bottom of a list of worldwide trending topics oneach user's Twitter homepage. Clicking through the Promoted Trend buttons takes a user to a search results page with the brand's tweet at the top. Links to landing pages are typically incorporated in the tweet. For instance, Disney linked to a Fandango.com tickets page with a discount code while pushing "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" on the micro-blogging site. 

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Open Leadership a great book by social web guru, Charlene Li. 'Be open, be transparent, be authentic' are the current leadership mantras - but companies often push back. Traditionally business is premised on the concept of control and yet the new world order demands openness. As Li explains, openness requires more rigour and effort than being in control. This book explains how leaders can tap in to the power of social technology and use social media to be open whilst maintaining control. It shows how Facebook Twitter, YouTube et al can improve efficiency, communication and decision making for organisations. A must read.
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Having been to a number of emerging technology and new media conferences of late and there was one that really caught my eye.  Oh yes - this might not be to everyones taste.  The future in this area looks very exciting indeed!

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Trekstock, the music and fashion charity raising awareness and support for young people with cancer, have announced details of it’s 10,000 HEARTS T-SHIRT CAMPAIGN which launches tonight, with a Pop-Up Shop in central London.

Trekstock have collaborated with ten international bands/artists with a UK presence over the upcoming festival season, to design a limited edition charity t-shirt, kindly supplied by fashion brand Gio Goi. Designs will be coming from Bloc Party, Delphic, Devendra Banhart, Ellie Goulding, Foals, The Horrors, Little Boots, Local Natives, The Maccabees, Yeasayer and a very special design in support of Save BBC 6Music. All t-shirts will be priced at £10 and will be available at the pop-up shop from 1 July — 15.

The pop-up store will be doubling up as a gallery space to help bring the place alive, exhibiting exclusively commissioned and donated artworks by some of the U.K’s leading names in street art. Artists include; Eine, Eelus, Blam, David Walker, Mysterious Al, Probs, Motorboy, Stika, photographer Alex Bartsch, and our favourite German; Ronzo! The works will be on display for the duration of the pop-up shop, with an added opportunity to win works via an online competition at the end of the event.

‘10,000 Hearts’ Pop-up store | 65-67 Broadwick Street | W1

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