Metrotwin
UGC (User Generated Content) is a big deal right now. Companies who do it right stand to make significant inroads in customer engagement and brand recognition.
BA are in the process of launching Metrotwin at the moment -it is looking to generate UGC for the 2 cities of NY and London which BA fly between. It is currently on private invite and the email you get back from them once registered says to look at the blog.
Which takes you back to the start page and no blog. Come on BA, get with it! At least you can follow Metrotwin on twitter here.
Baacode
Stand out. Do something different. Be remarkable. Make your customers smile 
Icebreaker, one of my fave clothing brands, just did this with their new baacode system.
Your unique Baacode will let you see the living conditions of the high country sheep that produced the merino fibre in your Icebreaker garment, meet the farmers who are custodians of this astonishing landscape, and follow every step of the supply chain. We’re sure you’ll find the experience as inspiring as we do. Enjoy your journey back to the source.
What a great story – completely immersive, UNIQUE, fun, yet with a very serious message. All you do, is look for your baacode on your item of clothing, and tap it in on the site:
Now, we’ve got a few items of Icebreaker Merino clothes and it’s true, they are the best out there (along with howies merino stuff). Unfortunately, none have baacodes, but you can click for a demo, and you should – it tells a wonderful story about the people farming the sheep, the location and the history.
This is a perfect example of doing some original and well-executed marketing. If your reading this Icebreaker, a big well done. Made me smile
proofHQ
Basecamp from 37signals is a web-based project management application which quite a few people know about (I’ve spoken about them a number of times before). Ok, nothing new here then you might say.
Well, hold your horses – there is, and it is pretty darn good.
proofHQ is a webapp I heard of a few months ago and didn’t actually think much of it. However, having had a good look at it and the fact it integrates with Basecamp, means that I am now very interested.
ProofHQ is a smarter, easier way to manage review and approval of designs, artwork and documents. It is an online collaboration, proofing and approval tool built specifically for brands, agencies, designers, print and production.
I’ve been looking at a way of proofing materials with clients, and this looks like an impressive solution. Check out the video below:
Pretty nifty eh? I’m going to sign up and have a look, but if you are already using it, I would welcome your thoughts and experiences so far. Thanks!
UPDATE: I’ve just signed up for the free account to test it out, and I am VERY impressed. Simple sign up process and a simple set up. Some other highlights:
- Simple, simple simple to link to my Basecamp account – this then gives an option to post proof to any of my Basecamp projects – brilliant
- Great instructional videos – clear and well produced
- The UI for proofing is slicktastic – very easy to understand
One thing I think they could add is a big, visible link to go back to the dashboard from the proofing page. Apart from that, I’m going to start using this immediately and may upgrade to a paid account. Well done guys on a top job!
Ubiquity for Firefox – impressive
If you watch one thing today, watch the video below. Mozilla labs have just released the alpha of Ubiquity for Firefox. It looks like a major advance in web browsing / web interface. It is almost like a short cut app on steriods but has the potential to really take off – it is that impressive.
It reminds me a little of Quicksilver – an application which is loved by some and not quite understood by others (I’m in the latter camp). Anyway, check the video out below…v cool
Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.
