Photo Sharing Confidential: Do You Cuddle With Your Camera Phone in Bed?

Mobile Marketing, Photo Sharing | by

    Mobile and Me: Our cell phones have become an inseparable part of our daily lives. But you knew that already. (Source: IDC Research Report — Sponsored by Facebook)

    I use my iPhone as my only alarm clock — I’m a fan of waking up to the pinball ringtone — and admittedly, I check my email while I’m still belting out my first few yawns.

    A new IDC Research Report, “Always Connected: How Smartphones and Social Keep Us Engaged,” reveals some staggering findings about how our mobile phones have virtually become 24/7 extensions of our minds and bodies. The study, commissioned by Facebook, surveyed 7,446 iPhone and Android mobile phone users, ages 18-44, in the United States over the span of one week last month.

    Some findings:

    * 74 percent of 18-24 year-olds reach for their phones IMMEDIATELY after waking up. That means the mobile phone is beating soap, shampoo, toothpaste and deodorant.

    * 84 percent of the average mobile user’s time on the phone is spent texting, emailing, picture sharing and doing social media versus only 16 percent talking. Alexander Graham Bell would be horrified.

    * 79 percent of survey respondents keep their mobile phone on them or within reach for all but up to 2 hours of their time awake each day. Presumably that means during your showers, your phone gets some invaluable alone time.

    * 46 percent of people use Facebook while they are shopping, while an additional 8 percent are Tweeting while they are in stores. We wonder if those numbers would be reversed if Twitter sponsored this IDC study.

    * 25 percent of people say they are ALWAYS in the same room or within immediate reach of their phone.

    Photo Boom: Posting and sharing pictures is one of the top mobile phone activities amongst 18-44 year olds regardless of gender. (Source: IDC Research Report Sponsored by Facebook).

    So we know that our mobile phones go to bed with us at night and wake up with us each morning. It would be fascinating to see which times of day generate the most photo sharing. Here’s betting that bedhead hair and bags under the eyes push most people’s ideal modeling time to right before lunch!

    (Read the full IDC “Always Connected” study here. In the mood for getting your favorite brand’s attention?  Check out the new Pongr App for iPhone and Pongr App for Android.)

    The Evolving Mobile Revolution and the Rebirth of Public Pay Phones?

    Advertising, Mobile Marketing | by

      The Future of Pay Phones — New York City’s daring dive into public mobile phones began with its Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge.

      As Wired Magazine puts it, giant public iPhones are about to invade the streets of Manhattan.

      Public access to social media and the digital highway was on the forefront of New York City’s agenda when its Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications launched its Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge last December. The contracts for the city’s 11,000-plus pay phone expires in 2014, leaving a wide-open opportunity for an enterprising company looking to breathe life into a dying medium.

      According to Wired, there are less than 500,000 pay phones left in the USA — and my personal experience says half of them are broken or coated in grime — compared to 327 million-plus active mobile phones in this country.

      The contest winner, “NYFi” (pictured above) was picked this month out of 125 submissions. Proposed by Sage and Coombe Architects, the Pay Phone of the Future combines a phone with a subway and bus fare kiosk to reduce street clutter. On its huge TV-like touch-screen, there are apps that would let you call a cab or find a restaurant. Expect a few photo sharing apps to be sure.

      New York City is not committed to adopting the design. Officials said they were trying to spark a conversation about what communication tools should be made available in a public fashion.

      Humorist Art Buchwald as Superman, who famously changed his civilian journalist clothes in the semi-privacy of a glass phone booth.

      If you are younger than 30, odds are high that you’ve never used a pay phone, let alone an old-fashioned phone booth, which seems as dated as the record player. The death of the phone booth might not have affected our day to day lives, but the impact on pop culture has been brutal.  Superman, of course, used them to seamlessly change himself from and back to mild-mannered journalist Clark Kent.

      In the movies, journalists got all their anonymous tips at pay phones. And master criminals would taunt the police from them. Let’s not forget all those dramatic rainy scenes in John Cusack movies in which his character is heartbroken trying to win back the girl who left him.  Sorry, boombox.  The pay phone is the secret behind Cusack’s romantic appeal.

      The creepy ghosts of yesterday’s ubiquitous pay phones are a reminder that technology stops for no one.

      What’s a Dial Phone? Despite the popularity of the Fisher Price retro pull-toy phone with nostalgic hipster parents, this version of the telephone seems as distant as Alexander Graham Bell.

      As Pongr continues to develop the computer vision and artificial intelligence behind the advertising world’s best photo-sharing platform for brands, it’s a lesson we keep reminding ourselves.

      (What would YOU like to see in a public smartphone kiosk?  Drop us a line on the Pongr Facebook page!)

       

       

       

       

      Taking User-Generated Content By The Horns

      Advertising, Computer Vision, Direct Response Campaigns, Image Recognition, Mobile Marketing, Photo Sharing | by

        The Pongr site features user-generated images on a day to day basis.

        You walk into a store, see a pair of sneakers you love, try them on, buy them, snap a picture, and share it across many of your favorite social networks. Sound familiar? I’m sure we’ve all done something along the lines of this, whether it is clothing, food, or literally anything else. We are living in a time when pictures speak louder than words, and are pleasing on the eyes too.

        This user-generated content is priceless to us here at Pongr, just as it should be to every brand out there. Brands are finally taking advantage of the authenticity that is coming through social networking channels, and using it as a way to connect with new and existing consumers. When a consumer has the opportunity to participate in a brand’s community and create their own content, it opens up a level of trust and communication that cannot be reached through one way advertising.

        Crowdsourcing campaigns are being launched left and right by big brands, calling on the consumers to get involved, whether it be by sending in pictures, videos, stories, or simply voting on something.

        This is a big trend currently in the food industry, seen in brands like Pepsi, Doritos, and most recently, Taco Bell. “Feed the Beat: SXSW 2013” is Taco Bell’s new campaign, working to leverage user-generated content with Twitter and Vine. Taco Bell is calling upon its fans to share photos and videos of themselves enjoying live music in order to create a “Rockumentary.”

        The ideas for these crowdsourcing campaigns are endless, and are becoming an increasingly normal habit in today’s media driven world.

        Here at Pongr, we work on many user-generated photo campaigns, such as the recent UNREAL Candy “Unjunk Your 2013 Sweepstakes.” All that participants had to do was email or picture text a photo of UNREAL Candy for a chance to win a $10,000 shopping spree at Target. (Check out the UNREAL photo gallery here.)

        Pongr user Ariel M. shows off her favorite UNREAL Candy!

        With Pongr’s image recognition technology, we are able to take this user-generated content to the next level by offering direct response photo marketing built especially for brands. It’s as easy as snapping a pic of your favorite brand, sending it in, and immediately getting a response from that brand with information about a contest or a promotion. This direct response technology allows users to truly feel the love from brands they are using on a daily basis, while allowing brands to receive vital information about their consumers, all at the same time.

        Wouldn’t you like to get a response from one of your favorite brands about a picture you posted on the web? Well, at Pongr, we make that possible.

        **
        (Pongr’s mobile Photo Response Marketing platform and image recognition technology helps brands turn any of their existing logos, CPGs, visual media and advertisements into an always-on direct response program – and integrates brand photo contests to their CRM. Check out Our Story.)

        Cups of Opportunity — How Chipotle Restaurants Make Branding Fun

        Brand Packaging, Brand Photo-Sharing Games, Direct Response Campaigns, Featured Posts, Mobile Marketing, Quick Service Restaurants | by

          While eating your burrito or refilling your soda, there’s always plenty to think about at Chipotle.

          When you’re waiting in line at a Quick Service Restaurant for your meal, or dining by yourself because no one in the office can agree on where to grab lunch, there’s always a bit of idle time to fill.

          In the tradition of reading a fun-filled cereal box at the breakfast table, Chipotle copywriters serve up plenty of amusing and interesting tidbits — sharing their brand mission on every soda cup, napkin, bag and wrapper.

          “They say a restaurant could never use mostly naturally raised meat because it’s WAAAAY too expensive & hard to find,” my cup says to me as I’m biting into a steak burrito. “They say that it doesn’t matter how good the ingredients are in quality as long as they can get a big quantity on the cheap… I think they are just trying to keep a good Chipotle down. Keep doing things your way, Chipotle.”

          I love the doodles on the cup. I love the font. I love the messaging. While I’m sipping my drink, I gobble down the entire script much more eagerly than if my server had given me a corporate brochure on sustainable agriculture.

          Captive Audience: Do you always read the entire cup monologue at Chipotle?

          Chipotle napkins brag about recycling with a joke about once being a parking ticket or electric bill and being reincarnated for a greater purpose. The joke reminds me of a classic Sesame Street skit in which game show host Guy Smiley does a “Here is Your Life” bit with an oak tree, introducing him to his furniture offspring.

          Wanting to read more, I ask the cashier if I can please have a clean wrapper without burrito juice seeping through any nouns or adjectives. She’s happy to oblige:

          Mealtime Reading — Double click on the burrito basket wrapper to read the witty Chipotle copy, without any stray sauteed onions obscuring your view.

          Cleverly worded fountain drink cups, place mats and in-store advertising certainly can engage customers when they are a captive audience, but there is always competition. Nearly everyone in line has their mobile phone and thus, no reason to ever look up from their game, Facebook or email.

          Whenever there is engaging brand copy, the Pongr Photo Response Marketing platform can turn any visual media into a direct response campaign. Pongr technology recently was used by Arby’s to power its popular “Snap and Rock” Sweepstakes.

          Arby’s fountain drink cups featured pictures of three rock stars: Trace Adkins, Taio Cruz and The All-American Rejects. Customers chose to photograph their favorite star for a chance to win a VIP concert experience, emailing/texting their pics to Arbys@pongr.com and instantly receiving an entry confirmation as well as a special offer or prize from Arby’s and Pepsi.

          The response to the promotion was overwhelming: Nearly a half million fans submitted more than 660,000 soda cup photos for their shot at glory. Entering the Sweepstakes did not require any special QR codes or pulling sticker labels off the cup — just a snap and send with a cell phone.

          As Chipotle (see our burrito fan photo gallery) continues to demonstrate, you don’t need to put rock stars on cups to grab thirsty people’s attention. But once you have it, Pongr can help bring this engagement to the next level.

          **
          (Pongr’s mobile Photo Response Marketing platform and image recognition technology help Quick Service Restaurants turn any of their existing logos, cups, napkins, place mats and in-store advertisements into an always-on direct response campaign. The Pongr system also integrates brand photo contests with their CRM. Check out Our Story.)

          Talking Candy: Still Time to Snap Away in Pongr’s Valentine’s Day Photo Contest!

          Mobile Marketing, Photo Sharing, Pongr Contests | by

            Coming Soon: Pongr Conversation Hearts? (Click here to make your own customized messages).

            WHO DO U LUV?

            Historians will debate this for ages, but a strong argument can be made that Conversation Hearts, pioneered by NECCO, is the original inspiration for texting — and maybe even Twitter?

            For men and women who have difficulty expressing their true emotions, these candies are a godsend on Valentine’s Day or for school dances, wedding proposals, anniversaries, etc.

            SweeTarts, under its Willy Wonka sister (brother?) brand, makes message Hearts, too. But the entire Valentine’s “conversation” candy genre has just exploded. For all you bashful types, there are now:

            Papa Gino’s restaurants just jumped into the Valentine’s arena with their clever Conversation Pizzas!

            We love the creativity of Papa Gino’s restaurants, which have taken pizza to a whole new level. Click to see their full gallery of Conversation Pizzas!

            Lastly, there’s the message candy for the outsiders — those who despise the very idea of Valentine’s Day still have wallets. BitterSweets candy, created to share disappointment and rejection, is from the same folks behind Despair business humor products.

            Valentine’s Candy for Bitter People — The candy itself isn’t bitter, but Despair.com is marketing its sugary tins to those of us who have experienced one too many heartbreaks. (Click to learn more).

            Did we miss any foods that talk back?  What’s your favorite Valentine’s Day candy?

            Pongr’s mobile photo contest software is usually used behind the scenes by brands to engage with fans at supermarkets, convenience stores, retailers and Quick Service Restaurants. But in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we’d love to hear from you directly!

            Snap a pic of your favorite Valentine-themed item and send it to us (insert-brand-name@pongr.com) for a chance to win gift cards to H & M, Old Navy, Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts.

            Love, Pongr

            (You have until Feb. 17 to play. Click here for contest details.)

            Brand Experience: Sharing Is Caring

            Brand Ambassadors, Brand Loyalty, Mobile Marketing, Shopper Marketing, Social Media | by

              Every store of every brand is different. The Apple Store on 5th Avenue isn’t quite the same as the one on Newbury Street in Boston. It goes the same for any food or beverage chains; the Starbucks in Seattle isn’t identical to the ones at the airport. Different stores give customers a different experience.

              A photo taken with the male model in front of Hollister’s 5th Avenue location.

              If you’ve ever walked down 5th Avenue in Manhattan, it’s a street full of every brand you can possibly think of. There are thousands of people walking up and down that one avenue, in one day and even so, people remember to stop in front of their favorite store and take a snapshot of that moment.

              Pongr isn’t just a social media platform, it’s somewhere you can have fun with the pictures you take, visually share what you love about your favorite brands and share your experience at different stores of various brands.

              Stores like Uniqlo have limited locations in the U.S., mostly focused in New York City. Johnny Cupcakes is another clothing store that is limited to the East Coast and only one location in Los Angeles, California. Each store has its unique atmosphere and some brands even launch limited promotions in different areas.

              A band playing live jazz at one of the Uniqlo stores.

              Through Pongr, not only do users enjoy uploading pictures and earning points, but also can share a personal experience of a brand or store that is exclusive to their memory. By sharing various photos of products or stores, users can gain information about sales, themes and limited edition products. On the Pongr website, there is a location function that identifies where the photo was taken, helping users locate which store has what specific product.

              Pongr a photo of your favorite store, shop or product. It could be a photo of a Starbucks mug that’s exclusive to your city, photos of a flagship store or even a limited edition product that you want to share. Head over to www.pongr.com to share your experience.

              Everything in one, all in your pocket

              Advertising, Brand Ambassadors, Mobile Marketing, Social Media | by
                The iPhone 5

                The new Apple iPhone 5 in black and slate.

                There’s a new kid in town: the iPhone 5. The newly added features have people talking and more excited than ever. Among the many features, we’re most excited about the enhanced mobile camera. Now with the iPhone 5, you can take higher-resolution photos, photos in darker areas, and panoramic photos without a separate application. Apple even integrated a function that allows photos to be shared on Facebook directly without launching the app. The screen is 176 pixels taller, so you can see even more. With a metal back instead of glass, the durability of the iPhone 5 enables mobile phone photographers to take pictures with less fear of the heartbreaking drop-and-shatter.

                Smartphones, like the iPhone 5, have freed the public of carrying around different digital devices and combined it to one, making everything mobile. Now it’s even lighter to carry around. For any smartphone, each upgrade presents a camera with higher definition. Why are companies so focused on enhancing the camera function on a mobile phone?

                With all the fast-paced changes in the world, people don’t have the time or patience to carry around a phone and a camera in their pocket. Now with all the mobile applications and social media platforms, photos have become such a big part of everyone’s life. Photos can show a perfect day or years and years of memories. In order to capture that moment, people need a good camera in hand. Nowadays, the quality of camera phone photos are good enough to even frame on walls. The public needed something that could make photo-taking convenient and smartphones have achieved just that.

                For those of you who have smartphones or camera phones, we want to invite all of our users to face the mirror with your phone, tag the brand and share them on www.pongr.com. We want to see the ones responsible for all those wonderful photos on Pongr!

                How to Make the Most of Your Phone’s Camera

                Mobile Marketing, Shopper Marketing, Social Media | by

                  In this day and age there is no shortage of camera apps for smartphones. From Instagram to DMD Panorama, you can capture the perfect shot and show it off on Pongr. Here are some useful tips to make the most of your phone’s camera.

                  Stick to the basics at first. 

                  A clean photo always looks good.

                  Unless you are going for a panorama, always take your photos with the phone’s basic camera app. We hate to admit it, but apps occasionally crash. The likelihood of the basic camera app crashing while you snap a few shots is far smaller than a photo app crashing during the editing stages. Plus, shooting without any filters allows you to focus on framing the subject.

                  Speaking of framing, keep in mind that some applications confine images to specific dimensions. Instagram, for example, saves photos as squares. Beware of the black bars that can appear if your photo is too wide. To remove them simply zoom in, but remember that the same area will be removed from the left and right sides of the photo. Once you are satisfied with the photos you have taken move on to editing.

                  Then bring on the filters. 

                  Simply increasing the contrast can make a big difference in a photo.

                  One of the most exciting aspects of using a photo application is applying the filters. There are dozens of filters out there, but how do you choose which one is best for a particular photo? Sure, you can just click through them and see which one you like, but there is a better method. When taking your photo envision the final image. This a tip all photographers receive. Think about which colors you want to accentuate. What tone do you want the photo to have? Do you want it to be warm or cold? Should you increase or decrease the contrast?

                  The key here is practice. Pickup your phone, set your sights on a subject, and shoot. Aim to make choices that will create a dynamic and eye-catching photo. Try different angles, lighting, and positioning of the subject. Then complement the photo with some nifty filters and Pongr away.

                  No Need To Be A Pro To Pongr

                  Artificial Intelligence, Mobile Marketing, Photo Marketing Widgets | by

                    With the new iPhone 5 that has been presented to the world, it is evident that device video creation quality is getting really good, but memory and cell phone carrier bandwidth still has its limits. More photos could be saved and shared than a video that may buffer on some phones and take a long time to upload/download.

                    The technology for videos to be fully enjoyed by everyone is not quite there yet. There are still bandwidth issues in most major cities around the world, and it seems like sometimes it’s getting worse, not better. However, the technology for photos and mobile cameras has been skyrocketing by the day.

                    Why save up $600 for a DSLR when you could get a mobile photography application for free? Not everyone has the money to afford a professional camera and you don’t have to be a professional photographer to Pongr your photos. There are so many smartphone applications out there to apply high quality to your photos. Here are some iPhone apps to consider:

                    Left: Raw photo taken by iPhone 4
                    Right: Same photo edited by a photo editing app and finished with Instagram.

                    Instagram – The famous, the obvious and the free

                    Love vintage photography? Instagram has amazing effects that can make your photos draw more shares and likes. It is the closest smartphone application to creating the film camera texture. This app is available for both Androids and iPhones. You can use Instagram to take cool photos and then send them into Pongr.

                    Photo Editor by Aviary – Fast and easy photo editing

                    This app is also free on iPhone and has many features to enjoy. It easily enhances photo quality and it doesn’t crop half of your photo like Instagram does. Want to keep your photos, but still want the fancy effects? This might be the app for you.

                    Color Effects – Fun and artsy color isolation

                    Here’s another free iPhone app to add a little twist to your photos. You can isolate the color of the object of choice and make everything else black and white to give the photo a stronger focus. You don’t need to be brilliant at Photoshop, either.

                    Fast Camera – Got to catch that moment!

                    Spot a runner with a Gatorade bottle in hand, but they’re moving too fast for you? Another free iPhone app is here to the rescue. It captures second-by-second movements for the times you desire to capture a perfect photo of the exact moment.

                    DMD Panorama – Instant high quality panoramic pictures

                    This free app lets you capture a your favorite brands with a wonderful skyline in the background. Never thought it was possible with a camera phone? Well, think again.

                    We invite you to try these apps and explore more on your phone to Pongr your fancy and professional-like photos with your favorite brands!

                    Photo Taking: The Universal Behavior

                    Brand Ambassadors, Mobile Marketing, Social Media | by

                      Even though this K-Pop music video has gone viral within days, not many people can produce high quality videos.

                      Who here hasn’t seen Gangnam Style? It’s everywhere: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MTV Awards and even on Ellen. The hilarious K-Pop video went viral within days and now the song is replaying all over the radio. YouTube stars are making their own parodies and sharing them on the web.

                      While there are a handful of people who make high quality videos, quality videos are yet to be created by everyone. It’s hard to do.

                      Creating high quality videos is still harder even in the high-tech world we live in. Brands, professionals and celebrities have enough resources to create a cool video to post online. Many YouTubers express themselves through these high quality videos that go viral within days. That is where a trend starts.

                      A photo taken with Instagram on an iPhone 4.

                      However, trends are maintained differently. Camera phones are easily accessible and now consumers express their own style through photos and hundreds of iPhone and Android photography apps that instantly enhance photo quality. People are searching for ways to take better photos and get more likes on Facebook or more followers on Instagram. Taking photos is now a universal behavior. And, it’s much much easier to create high quality photo content than video content.

                      Products and brands aren’t meant to be one-sided; it should be reciprocal. Through photos, product marketing and expressing individual style has never been easier. Pongr is here to make it faster, simpler and more fun for everyone on the web.

                      Have a favorite brand or product? Pongr your photos and add a little Gangnam Style to it – or maybe even your own – and share it with the brands you love and the friends you like.

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