The unprecedented global financial crisis of 2008 underscored a widespread need for personal finance education. Millions of people accumulate mounting debt, fail to save and make poor financial decisions that leave them vulnerable to financial ruin. According to a U.S. News & World Report Blog it referenced a recent Charles Schwab study which found that parents are more prepared to discuss sex with their children rather than investing. But learning to make sound investment decisions should begin early. To that end, as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility effort, Danske Bank Group has tackled the widespread issue of financial literacy through innovative financial initiatives and programs aimed at promoting financial literacy and targeted for the younger population. They developed educational materials and products online geared toward helping younger people understand the value of money and importance of saving through fun interactive online gaming sites such as Moneyville, Control Your Money and Pengeby
In the category of ‘Social Gaming’, Sony PlayStation did not command the same reputation as its competitors. Sony Playstation thus tasked VerticPortals with the mission of promoting Singstar online as a game that encourages social interaction amongst its players. We leveraged the Facebook Connect application to empower users to organize parties within their peer group in an environment where they already felt very comfortable. Singstar is the hero that acts as the catalyst driving the communal engagement. Depending on whether users were seasoned veterans at the microphone, or complete amateurs, the site experience was personalized to help everyone make the most of the party atmosphere and, most importantly, used the integration of an established social network to effectively brand the social aspects of the game. Go try out the site for you self.
The latest Nielsen study shows that more and more seniors 65 or older are online and they are spending more time online in the U.S. The study does not give reasons why this is happening but I think it’s a just another example of how the Internet has gone mainstream. It’s becoming more and more difficult to live without using the Internet and the Internet is becoming more accessible and easy to use. People who turn seniors has also in many cases already use the Internet and computers for many years as they are no longer a generation that grew up without computers.
From November 2004 to 2009 there has been an 55% increase in active users totaling 17.5 million. They are however still only 10% of the total amount of U.S. users. Their user pattern is very normal including checking email, online maps, weather, paying bills and reading news. They are using the Internet as a normal extension of their daily live.
What I found most interesting is Facebook as number third most visited site and Youtube as the forth most visited site. It’s interesting because it shows that once they are online they embrace new services that are unique to the Internet. It also shows how good services like Facebook and Youtube are designed as they can easily be used by people from of all ages. The lesson for marketers is that functionality helps capture audience and that there is a growing mature audience on the Internet to speak to.
The influence on business from the Internet is non stop. In previous post I have already talked about the influence on TV, magazine business and the music industry. Now there is trouble ahead for the GPS industry as Google has just launched greatly improved navigation on the new Motorola Androided equipped phone. I have embedded a quick demonstration above.
Immediately stock from Garmin fell 16% and TomTom by 20% as their business model heavily relies on selling either updates to current product or new product with upgrades maps. Now Google is offering all of this plus integration to their Steetview and satellite maps giving a never before seen enhanced user experience.
This serves as a good reminder how digital solutions constantly influence business decisions and how the competition not only comes from you normal competitors. It also illustrate how you have the opportunity to take advantage of new technology to create competitive advantages and break into new businesses. Not fun for Garmin and TomTom but I am sure millions of GPS users with outdated maps likes a little more competition.
