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Another week, another picnic hamper packed with interesting new business ideas from around the world: designer barcodes from Japan, social money tracking and niche wines from the US, tryvertising in a UK showroom/restaurant, sky high dining in Belgium, and more. Our next edition is due on 18 July 2006. In the meantime, check out our daily postings on www.springwise.com, send us your tips, and please don't forget to tell your friends and colleagues about us. Much appreciated! |
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Like Wine Woot, which we featured not long ago, RadCru offers one wine a day, often at a good discount. Based in San Francisco, the online wine marketplace started its beta phase today. (During beta, the offering will be three wines per week; each wine selling for 24 hours or until the wine sells out, whichever comes first.) But the key selling point isn't deep discounts. Rather, it's the access to boutique wineries that consumers might otherwise not be able to buy from. The majority of RadCru's featured wines will be hard to find, limited quantities or new releases: "small vines, rad wines." RadCru is a prime example of nouveau niche, the Long Tail, or whatever you want to call the phenomenon whereby niche tastes are catered to, and individual consumers are offered greater choice than ever before. RadCru holds no inventory. Instead, wines are shipped directly from winery to consumer, minimizing costs of inventory storage and distribution. Producer, smart online middleman/curator, and consumer all benefit. And then there's the added sense of exclusivity and urgency created by offering a limited selection each day. RadCru Chile, RadCru Australia, RadCru France anyone? Website: http://www.radcru.com |
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Last month, we wrote about two eco-chic entrepreneurs from the world of fashion. A new, related spotting just came in from Germany: Feuerwear. Launched earlier this year, Feuerwear creates bags and belts from used fire hoses. Designed by engineering graduate Martin Klüsener, the accessories come in red or white, and are hand-made. Since every product is fabricated from a different piece of firehouse, each one is unique. (Similar to Freitag bags, which are made from truck tarps and seatbelts.) Linking to the traditionally male nature of fire-fighting, the bags are named Jack, Hank, Larry and Bill, and look suitably rugged and tough. They're priced between EUR 79 and EUR 98. Sounds like a good one for the back to school crowd. Any child that obsesses over fire trucks will no doubt treasure a bag made from an actual recycled fire hose. Feuerwear articles are currently sold via the brand's online shop, and in a select number of stores in Germany. Considering it's early days for this company, distribution rights for the rest of the world should be easy to snap up. Website: http://www.feuerwear.de Forward, comment or link to this entry » Spotted by: Martina Meng |
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CarSpotter and Parker's SMS Price Check both offer vehicle price checks by sms/text message. Parker's, a UK publisher of car pricing guides, introduced its SMS Price Check in 2004. To check the price of a car, users text the word 'price' and the license plate number to 80806. Parker's then texts back exactly what model and year the car is, and what the going prices are if purchased new or second-hand, in good and in bad condition, plus what the trade price is. The service is accessible on all mobile phones and all UK networks, and is charged at GBP 1.50 per valuation. Dutch CarSpotter also offers consumers price information by sms to guide them through sales and negotiating. Besides year, make and price, CarSpotter sends users details on a vehicle's maximum speed, horsepower and acceleration. Although the service was meant to improve price transparency and the balance of information between dealers and buyers, it turns out that people also use CarSpotter for fun, texting their employer or neighbour's license plate to find out how much their car is worth. CarSpotter also works for motorcycles. CarSpotter valuations are priced at EUR 1.50, and the number to text to is 2020. Both services are great examples of catering to consumers' infolust: making information available to them wherever they need it most, accessible through whatever channel or device they prefer, so they can get, in this case, the best possible vehicle for the best possible price. Or at least have something to pass the time while stuck in traffic. ;-) Website: http://carspotter.nl Website: http://www.parkers.co.uk/pricing/text
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Some new business ideas are admittedly over the top. Here's one we couldn't resist – Dinner in the Sky. Belgian Dinner in the Sky offers event organizers a new way to make their event highly memorable: a table, with 22 seated guests, is suspended from a crane. The specially built table is surrounded by chairs of the type usually found on roller coasters, with four-point seat belts. Hoisted 50 meters (164 feet) above ground, safety is a reasonable concern. Safely buckled up and floating mid-air, guests can enjoy a meal or meeting, with three chefs, waiters, presenters and/or entertainers standing in an open area in the centre of the table. One of the company's first events (pictured above) was a dinner for 22 chefs, hosted by San Pellegrino. Table, crane, logistic and security staff are available for EUR 7900 for an eight hour session, which can be organized anywhere a large crane can be placed. Selling a thrilling edge and aerial view, this could be the next big thing for Sweet Sixteen parties and corporate brainstorming session. One for the events industry to look into! Just don't look down... Website: http://www.dinnerinthesky.com |
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The Gulf Marketing Review reports that Harrods' owner, Mohamed Al Fayed, is considering opening a Harrods 102 in Dubai. The upscale convenience store, which we featured in May, could ultimately be rolled out to 100 stores in cities across the UK, as well as Paris, Berlin and New York. Like the first outlet at 102 Brompton Road in London, the stores will stock signature Harrods products, as well as containing a pharmacy, spa, deli and a variety of other services. Al Fayed is quoted as having said that he wants to make Harrods available to 'ordinary' people. Ordinary people with more money than time will surely welcome the idea of upgrading the convenience store concept, wherever it decides to make itself available! What's your upgrading project going to be? Website: http://www.harrods.com |
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Japanese Design Barcode turns standard barcodes into appealing and engaging brand elements. Following laundry services, supermarkets and coffins in our recurring 'everything can be reinvented' theme, come the humble stripes and digits that shape the ubiquitous barcode, as reinvented by Design Barcode. Fifteen companies are currently using the agency's novel barcodes as part of their packaging design. (A video showing examples can be viewed here.) The designs are clever and whimsical, from bars being picked up by chopsticks for a ramen noodles package, to a zebra carrying the black and white stripes on its back. Some designs were commissioned by clients, while others are part of the agency's initial range of 200 designs created to display the format's potential. Exclusive rights to the latter can be bought for USD 4,000 plus a USD 400 annual license fee. The agency prides itself on zero instances of false reading by barcode readers (machine readability is key), and all barcodes are put through a battery of tests before being released for production. Although Design Barcode has been reworking barcodes since 2004, the idea hadn't yet caught on outside Japan. That's likely to change after the four-man agency won major industry recognition in Cannes last week, in the shape of a Titanium Lion award. Everything that is packaged reaches customers' hands with a barcode attached. Turning that mandatory element into something unexpected and playful is certain to make many customers smile. Surely that's worth USD 4,000 to most brands. ;-) Design Barcodes is working with Pacarc to bring the concept to the United States, but other markets still seem wide open. One for regional (boutique) design firms and advertising agencies? Website: http://www.d-barcode.com In the United States: P.S. If you're interested in functional innovations in product codes, you might want to check out trendwatching.com's infolust, which explores new versions of two-dimensional codes (among other things). |
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Firevault is a hybrid retail setting: part fireplace showroom, part chic cocktail bar and restaurant. Tryvertising is all about brands letting consumers try out their wares in a relevant setting. So, how does a manufacturer of fireplaces go about this? A few years ago, British CVO opened a restaurant in London, where customers can enjoy drinks or dinner by one of the company's designer fireplaces. CVO's Firevault is an inviting space that displays the fireplaces far better than an ordinary showroom could. Each table has its own fireplace or firebowl, giving potential buyers plenty of time to get a feel for the product. Not just a retail gimmick, Firevault is stylish and hot enough for Time Out magazine to have described the restaurant as one of London’s ten best-kept secrets. For more smart examples of tryvertising, check out trendwatching.com's briefing. Website: http://www.cvo.co.uk Forward, comment or link to this entry » Spotted by: Kurt Shuster |
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BillMonk is an online and mobile application that helps friends to keep track of how much money and which items they owe each other. Developed and privately owned by two ex-Amazon.com engineers, BillMonk was launched in January 2006. The online service makes it easy to divide shared expenses such as rent or restaurant bills. A user simply reports who paid for the bill on whose behalf, and BillMonk figures out who needs to pay how much back. BillMonk also allows users to create personal lending libraries for books, DVDs and other items. Friends can see what's available for borrowing, and owners can keep track of who's currently in possession of their goods. BillMonk is a useful tool for roommates, college students, and other groups of people that split bills. Ensuring fairness, it helps friends avoid having to nag to get their money back, or risk losing their money or stuff. In addition to the online interface, BillMonk also offers an SMS service that members can use to record shared bills and loans the moment they happen, via phone text messaging. If you're interested in social money tools, be sure to check out ChipIn, which we recently covered and which also tackles group expenses. While BillMonk tracks IOUs after money has been spent, Chipin is focused on collecting money in advance. Business 2.0 estimates the social money market―informal debts between friends―at USD 103 billion (July 2006 issue). The thought of taking even a tiny cut of that stash should appeal to tech-savvy entrepreneurs. Time to jump aboard the social money train! ;-) Website: http://www.billmonk.com |
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