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There's a youthful motif to this week's selection of new business ideas: we spotted recruiting events for babysitters, pop-up laundromats at summer music festivals, free notepaper for students, financial training for kids and prepaid taxi cards for teenagers. (Plus a few cross-generational concepts.) Our next edition is due on 29 August 2007. 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. Thank you! |
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Advertisers competing for the much desired attention of the college-aged set now have another opportunity to get their ads in the hands of students—and hold their interest for up to 90 minutes. FreeHand Advertising distributes free note-taking paper to students on their way to class. Each page is branded with the same type of horizontal ad you see on websites, only these are visible for at least the duration of a college lecture, and longer if students refer back to their notes (as they should). FreeHand agents operate at 90 of the biggest college campuses in the United States, reaching up to 3,500,000 students in 32 states, including all major cities. Businesses can select which campuses they want to market to, for local or nationwide campaigns, or to a targeted demographic. Thorough post-campaign reports detail how many sheets were distributed and even include pictures of agents handing them out to students. Ads can be used to gain visibility, offer coupons, or promote sales, grand openings or other events. Colored and recycled papers are also available, and larger images can be displayed as watermarks. With so many brands and marketers reaching out to this market, note paper is an innovative low-tech solution for grabbing their attention. And free love—giving away ad-sponsored anything—is generally appreciated by those on the receiving side, too. (Related: Free photocopies for students.) Website: www.freehandads.com Spotted by: Ozgur Alaz
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We've featured efforts by two banks—Postbank and Umpqua—to stimulate children to start their own businesses, but financial institutions aren't the only ones interested in making children financially savvy. South-African Ka-Ching aspires to empower children with financial and entrepreneurial skills that will help them throughout their lives. The company offers courses that parents can use to teach their children to plan a budget, to control spending, to identify a business opportunity (we assume Springwise is on their reading list), to present a business plan, etc. Ka-Ching sells its courses online and through affiliate partners for USD 147. Customers include schools and individuals in South Africa and abroad. Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based It's A Habit, a socially conscious startup, spent the last five years developing an educational program to help teach young kids financial literacy. Taking a more playful approach, It's A Habit employs Sammy the Rabbit in books, CDs and training guides that aim ‘to make the American dream accessible to kids no matter who they are, where they come from, or what language they and their parents speak at home.’ Faced with a profusion of stimuli to spend-spend-spend, it can't hurt to show children the other side of the coin. We have no doubt that, if properly marketed, similar initiatives would work well in most countries. Two to look into if you're in education or publishing. Websites: www.ka-chingworld.com — www.itsahabit.com Spotted by: Willem Bonneux
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People dropped off their mud-encrusted laundry and were sent a text message the moment it was ready. No spare change of clothes? Wrangler came up with a generous solution to that problem, too: they handed out black overalls to anyone who used the laundromat. Like most other pop-up ventures, Wrangler Laundromat is an exercise in experiential marketing, aimed at surprising and delighting consumers in a way that magazine ads or TV spots usually can’t. (Related: pop-up nightclubs in Australia and Spain.) Wrangler isn't the only brand to have tackled dirty laundry at pop festivals. In Slovenia, home appliance manufacturer Zanussi-Electrolux has been offering free laundry services at Rock Otočec for several years and has cleaned thousands of muddy t-shirts and jeans. After picking up their spotless garments, visitors are given a "Dear Mom, I'm clean" postcard to send home. All of which makes for a fun and memorable example of tryvertising: letting consumers try out your product in a relevant setting. Websites: www.wrangler.nl / www.lowlands.nl and www.zanussi-electrolux.com / www.rock-otocec.com Spotted by: Lieke Veld & Maja Hosta
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Skateboarders, surfers and snowboarders and now have their own web portal for uploading and sharing clips of their raddest rides, most daring stunts and other feats caught on video. Similar to Yideoz, which we recently profiled, BoardRideTV has carved out a niche in the online video sharing community—this one catering to board-riders of all types. The site offers channels for snowboarding, surfing, skateboarding, bodyboarding, kitesurfing, wakeboarding and music and is supported by advertising dollars, so businesses marketing to this particular audience should take note. In addition to uploading and viewing video clips, members can connect with other like-minded enthusiasts, forming groups, subscribing to one another's videos, saving favourites and creating playlists. Users can share their videos with the entire community or make them private to share only with friends and family. Communities such as these could quickly become the web version of niche cable TV channels—only with more potential to specifically target consumers and far less capital required to get up and running. Now's the time for anyone with a good knowledge of a sport, hobby or other special interest to get on board with their own version—before someone else beats you to it! Website: www.boardridetv.com Spotted by: Peter Fischer
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Last week, SellaBand celebrated their first anniversary with a 'SellaBration' in Amsterdam's pop temple, Paradiso. Our description of the concept when they launched: aiming to empower independent artists, SellaBand has created a platform that enables fans to sponsor bands, and get a piece of the action in return. How it works: fans, dubbed Believers, find an artist they like on SellaBand.com. For USD 10, they can buy a share, or 'Part'. Once the band has sold 5,000 parts, SellaBand arranges a professional recording, including top studios, A&R managers and producers. Believers receive a limited edition cd of the recording. So—what happened over the past year? Fans have invested over USD 1,000,000 in the bands they believe in. The first band to raise USD 50,000 was Nemesea, which did so in 83 days. Six other bands have also raised 50K. Three of them—Nemesea, Cubworld and Second Person—have produced and launched their first album, and the other four are hard at work in the recording studio. In total, 4,806 artists signed up to SellaBand. As pointed out by SellaBand's Music Director, Dagmar Heijmans: "Twelve months ago we didn't know if it would work. Well, we've proven that. People are willing to pay USD 10 (or more) to be part of an artist's success." For the coming year, SellaBand aims to make it easier for anyone to operate like a record executive, by giving them the tools to scout talent, track the recording process and promote 'the heck out of the artist' once an album has been released. We'll keep an eye on them and will dutifully report back to you ;-) Website: www.sellaband.com
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We've featured group purchase facilitators in the past, from Chinese Taobao to Malaysian Tumpang. A new start-up from Sydney is cleverly focusing on a product niche: parts for Japanese performance cars, aimed at owners with a keen passion for modifying, tuning and styling their vehicles. Every month, Auto Group Buy features a limited range of parts that are up for group buying. Customers register their interest, and if there are enough potential buyers by the end of the registration period, the parts are ordered directly from manufacturers in Japan. Prices are said to be about 10 – 15% lower than retail. Focusing on a niche makes sense when it comes to group buying: it's easier to hone in on potential buyers through special interest websites, and the products on offer might not be readily available or competitively priced elsewhere. For more on the larger trend of consumer grouping online for a specific cause, from bringing down politicians to forcing suppliers to fork over discounts, check out trendwatching.com's crowd clout briefing. Website: www.autogroupbuy.com Spotted by: Nathan Curtis
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MommyMixer is a networking event that brings together selected university students and parents who need babysitters. A cost effective alternative to childcare agencies, the events allow parents to interview a number of candidates in an informal setting. Parents pay a USD 100 entrance fee, or USD 75 if they've attended a previous mixer. On arrival, they're handed a 'nanny notebook' containing resumes of all potential hires attending the event, including references and their schedules for the upcoming academic term. After brief introductions, parents and babysitters are encouraged to mingle and get to know each other. Attendance is limited to twenty to thirty moms and/or dads and the same number of candidates. Students don't pay a fee, and MommyMixer doesn't take a cut of their pay—parents and sitters negotiate hourly rates. The main advantages for students is access to a group of potential employers in one go, instead of time-consuming and potentially unsafe interviews with individual families. Besides babysitting, many students work as 'family assistants'—running errands, driving kids to after-school programs, planning birthday parties, etc. MommyMixers was founded in 2003 by a University of Texas graduate who nannied her way through college. She was regularly approached by parents looking for educated and reliable sitters, so knew there was a demand for a service that could bring sitters and parents together outside traditional placement agencies. The company got started in Austin, Texas, where 42 mixers have been held so far, and MommyMixer has recently expanded to 18 cities in the US, with plans for continued growth. Mixers in each city are organized by a team of two women: a city manager who organizes and hosts events and corresponds with sitters and parents; and a campus representative who creates awareness and recruits sitters. Both personal and efficient, face-to-face networking events like MommyMixer are a smart concept to set up elsewhere, either focusing on babysitters or other (casual) employment niches. (Related: Sitters with a creative touch.) Website: www.mommymixer.com Spotted by: Kristen Manieri
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Launched in eleven Minneapolis suburbs this month, Get Home Free is a flat rate, prepaid cab card that gets its holder home safely. Mainly targeted at teenagers and college students, the concept's initiators are aiming to help out kids who are stuck with car trouble, have been drinking, or whose ride home has fallen through. Cardholders place a call to the Get Home Free hotline, and a car is immediately dispatched to bring them home, no questions asked. Teen drinking and driving is a serious issue. As reported in the Star Tribune: "According to the 2004 Minnesota Student Survey, 28 percent of high school seniors reported having driven after using alcohol or drugs at least once in the previous year. Also, almost 40 percent of seniors reported that they had ridden with someone who had been using substances." Having a Get Home Free card as an emergency back-up should help keep some of them off the road. Cards can be purchased online for USD 64.99 and are valid throughout the Twin Cities metro area, with statewide expansion to all key cities in Minnesota planned for 2008, and to high school and college campuses in all 50 states by 2010. In order to offer the service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Get Home Free has partnered with Airport Taxi and Town Taxi, Minnesota's largest fleet of taxis with over 300 vehicles. To spread the word, Get Home Free will give away one card every month to a random MySpace friend. Useful and straightforward, this is one to start up locally. (Related: Cabs for and by women.) Website: www.gethomefree.com — www.myspace.com/gethomefree Spotted by: Ozgur Alaz
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Eco-friendlier skateboards from San Francisco: a fun reminder that most brands will soon have at least one green twin. Comet Skateboards uses poplar and hickory from sustainable forests for a board's core, topped with bamboo or maple veneer and coated with water-based paints. They're also working with manufacturers and universities worldwide to help develop 'green' epoxies, reinforcements and coatings. The boards are designed and manufactured in the world's only solar-powered skateboard factory, which is located in downtown San Francisco. The company is committed to manufacturing locally (still made here!) and sources supplies locally whenever possible. Of course, a green aura isn't enough to sway buyers from other brands, which is why Comet also builds boards that are stronger and lighter than most. One to be inspired by if you're in leisure or lifestyle—how about starting a solar-powered gym, or a sporting goods store dedicated to eco-friendly equipment? If you’ve spotted other green sports gear or services, please share them by leaving a comment below. Website: www.cometskateboards.com Spotted by: Franziska Luh
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