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As part of our ongoing partnership with BAM Entertainment, Punkyduck have launched the comedy sketch, video community website Hoot Comedy.

Hoot Comedy showcases some of the very best award winning comedians in a hilarious series of short videos available online and soon to be available on the iPhone. Initially starting with 6 series, new episodes will be added on a weekly basis and website users will be given the ability to feedback on each one.

The website functionality includes a full content management system that allows automatic upload and encoding of video for distribution both over the web and in dual formats for the iPhone to cover playback on both Wi-Fi and 3G channels.
With a concentrated PR effort and the buzz that already surrounds many of the comedy talent involved it is expected that Hoot Comedy will be a huge success. To this end, the video is stored across a fully expandable content delivery network to ensure the best quality of video is maintained at the lowest cost.

If you haven’t visited yet then go visit www.hootcomedy.com and keep checking back for new sketches.

I promise you it’s worth it.

Digital production specialists BAM Entertainment have successfully launched their new group website in conjunction with Punkyduck.

Founded in 2008, the group which covers areas such as creative studio design, mobile distribution, licensing and comedy approached Punkyduck with the basic brief of creating a website that showed the breadth of their talents and made them stand out from the crowd.
The BAM Entertainment logo was revisited and enhanced to apply more directly to the market sector that BAM operates in and from here the site just seemed to grow. At its centre is the company’s showreel video, illustration better than pages of descriptions exactly what BAM Entertainment is about.

The site will continue to develop over time to showcase work from talented individuals involved such as Mike Ploog, creator of Shrek, and veteran of Marvel, Disney and Dreamworks.
In addition to the initial site development Punkyduck have been chosen to work closely with BAM on other projects, using out technical expertise on forthcoming projects such as Hoot Comedy, a web and mobile comedy clip distribution channel to be launched in the new year.

If you haven’t visited yet then go visit www.bampictures.com and keep checking back for regular updates.

With Facebook continuing to go from strength to strength more companies are realising the benefits that having a brand presence gives them.

One such company is Cranbrook Consultants that put out a pitch to companies to build them a fun Facebook Application that would analyse a person’s personality from a series of questions. Once the questions were completed the user would obtain a basic review of their motivators with the opportunity to purchase a full review via paypal.

After successfully winning the pitch, Punkyduck created a series of characters to visually represent each person’s personality that could be posted and displayed on a users Facebook Profile page after completion of the questions. The application also builds of a full PDF document reviewing each answer and what it says about the user.

The application has been a great success with several thousands of people using the application in its first week and prominent placement within the Facebook Application directory.

If you’d like to learn more about your personality why not give it a go at What's Important to me?

With every one seemingly jumping on the social media bandwagon and everyone from your niece to your grandma having a Twitter account should your company be getting involved?

The answer to this is a resounding yes! Social networking is a cost effective way of attracting new customers and invaluable tool for brand awareness if not direct response.

However it does come with a few words of caution.

Controls need to be put in place to ensure what the world sees about you is exactly what you want them to see. Not for instance your entire team drunk and behaving badly at a Christmas party.

There are now so many tools, sites and networks out there that knowing where to start and how to approach it is a minefield. With that in mind we’ve briefly outlined 3 things you can do to start getting your company involved today and have highlighted what you should be carful about.

Start a company Twitter account

Twitter is an excellent tool for publishing small snippets of information known as “tweets” to people who subscribe to be your followers. One of the most advantageous aspects to using Twitter is that instead of having to directly contact individuals and push information to them, people subscribe to receive your updates and you allow Twitter to push the information to them in whatever form they want it.

Setting up a Twitter account is very simple and with a small amount of technical knowledge can be integrated into content management tools and existing websites.
In these cases not only does it provide fresh website content that aids SEO but also provides you with one centralised place to carry out updates.

Some ways in which companies are already using Twitter to help them are:
 

• Posting product news and updates
• Posting job vacancies 
• Creating a micro news system
• Posting special offers and discounts
• Engaging with followers by allowing discussions

Caution: with the simplicity of adding new Twitter updates it’s easy to get drawn into posting without thinking about what you are writing. Care should be taken to ensure your messages, although friendly, are free of slang, well written and professional. Remember although Twitter is seen as a fun tool it still represents your company.

Facebook Fan Pages

With its ever growing community, getting your company a presence on Facebook should be high on your list.

Building a company page not only allows you to post information and invite Facebook users to join your community but provides an area for discussions, photos and user reviews. This page can then be seeded and spread throughout the 150million + users by word of mouth creating a free viral advertising campaign.

Like Twitter, Facebook status updates can then provide an easy way to keep members of your community up to date with what’s new at you company.

Caution: Much like Twitter it’s easy to post messages and photos without giving them much thought. There have been numerous cases of people and companies coming unstuck with inappropriate content so always ensure you check and double check any updates

YouTube

YouTube provides a platform to showcase your company’s products, services and expertise in video form.

Short video clips can be uploaded and shared around the community to provide a viral advertising campaign or a reference point to direct customers to when looking for more information.

Sponsoring a channel takes this one step further by creating a branded community to send your customers to.

A good example of this can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/adidasandlondon2012

Caution: When you upload videos to YouTube you invite users to rate and review them. These can be both positive and negative so always ensure you are happy with the content you are uploading and that it represents your company in the best light.

If you'd like to find out more abotu how social networking and social media could help your company give us a call on 0845 0 347 347 or drop us an email at info@punkyduck.com

With so many applications on Apple’s app store it’s becoming harder than ever to get yours noticed.
Obviously it’s fine if you are investing a fortune creating an enormous advertising push behind it or if you’re one of the companies lucky enough to have their work showcased by Apple. But if, like most of us these aren’t an option then here are some tips that will help you get the most return on your investment.

Showcase your application
The old adage that “first impressions count” is as true for your iPhone applications as it is for anything in life. It may seem obvious, but getting the icon, screenshots and description right are key to how well your iPhone App performs.
Many potential customers will make a snap decision whether to buy or download your application from the descriptions and screenshots you provide to make sure they are attractive as possible. Nothing puts a customer of quicker than dull, low quality screenshots as these are seen as a reflection of the application as a whole.
Crafting the correct description is much like the writing of blurps at the back of a book, you should take some time and if possible use a good copywriter.

Test, debug and test again
Nothing will put customers off your application faster than buggy code, more so if these cause memory leaks resulting in their beloved iPhone crashing.
O.K, so if a customer is experiencing a problem with your application then you have at least got them to download it in the first place! However, if it’s an application to drive traffic, promote brand awareness or generate money from repeated use then you’re in trouble.
You should also remember than dissatisfied customers can get their money back so even if you have taken their money before they experience a problem you may soon find yourself paying it back again.
Either way there‘s no excuse for not testing your iPhone application thoroughly with the plethora of tools available as part of the Apple iPhone Developer Program.

Watch that battery usage!
With so many features at your disposal it’s easy to carried away building the most feature rich application you can. While this may look great and work fantastically it could have a major drawback in the battery department.
Some of the more interesting features available can, if used incorrectly or over generously, cause the iPhone battery to drain at an alarming rate which is likely to mean you application gets used sparingly. Calls to gain information on location and velocity and anything that keeps the screen illuminated for long periods should be carefully monitored to ensure they’re only used for as long as they need to be.

Provide a clear navigation
As standards of usability slowly improve across the internet the same cannot always be said about mobile application design.
Apple have done as much as they can to provide a consistent user interface and frequent tips on control positioning, however many developers are still ignoring or overlooking these.
Where possible you should ensure you are using the standard iPhone controls such as Tab bars, buttons and pickers to provide a user experience that iPhone users are used to.

Do not link to web pages that are not optimised for mobile
One of the biggest complaints we hear from iPhone users are applications that send them to web pages that are simply impossible to use on an iPhone.
If you need to send users to a website, ensure that the pages you are sending them have been optimised as much as possible and that it’s easy to find the information they are looking for. If the pages are on a website you do not have control over then warn the users first!
The most common place this occurs is in applications that send users to payment providers without thinking about how they will use this page. Tailoring the page to work better on an iPhone is a simple job and one that should not be overlooked, better still keep the user in your application and build the content in.

Net-Links a courier specialist in the north of England have just launched their new courier bidding website in conjunction with Punkyduck.

The new website aims to provide both commercial companies with an alternative delivery option and independent couriers with a mechanism for obtaining new business.

Punkyduck have developed a system that is easy to use and provides all the functionality needed to place jobs, place bids in addition to managing billing and advertising.

Simon Seed the owner of Net Links says this about the website:

“We aim to provide a safe, easy-to-use service for all of our clients. This will enable clients to achieve the best possible price for the service they require whilst also being guaranteed a quick and efficient service.

Simultaneously, Net Couriers provides independent owner drivers with revenue opportunities that are no longer limited to their location, area of specialisation, size of their sales force or marketing capabilities. This will enable them to become more efficient, profitable and compete with larger corporations.”

Check out the website at: www.net-couriers.com

Recent figures on the web statistics site Alexa.com show that far from being on the decline Facebook continues to expand its reach amongst internet users around the world.

Having surpassed the video giant YouTube in recent months to take the number 3 position it now appears to be closing in on the search and portal behemoth Yahoo, which is starting to show a slight decline.

At the start of 2008 Facebook had a daily reach of just 6% but since then has exploded to sit at just over 22% today.

It remains to be seen whether it can top the rankings and haul in Google’s number 1 position, which currently experiences around 34%, but for all companies looking to use Facebook for marketing it’s exciting times.

Both Facebook Fan Pages and Facebook Applications still reach millions of users, with the top performers showing impressive figures of 10 million and 25 million respectively.

Facebook Applications can be used for anything from brand promotion to direct marketing.

If you want to find out more about how Facebook and Facebook applications can help your company give us a ring on 0845 0 347 347 or email us at info@punkyduck.com

Although not as popular or indeed populated as other social networking sites, LinkedIn has long been seen as the more "professional" site to be seen on.

Applications on LinkedIn are few and far between and you certainly don’t wake up to find 15 vaguely related people you once added have thrown sheep at you overnight. Application development on LinkedIn is tightly controlled to ensure that only those that will bring real benefit to the user base are approved and made publicly available. Anyone looking to launch an application has first got to convince LinkedIn there is a need for it.

So if it’s so difficult to get an application approved what's in it for the company developing the application?

Well first of all it’s this tight control that makes having your application on LinkedIn quite an accomplishment. Where there are thousands of Facebook applications, at the time of writing this article LinkedIn had just 10. Out of this 10, many are from illustrious names such as LinkedIn itself, Google, WordPress and Amazon.

Then there’s the somewhat unique demographic of the user base.
LinkedIn users have an average age of just 41, older than many other social networking sites but lower than other leading business sites.  In addition to this they are more influential with almost 49% business decision makes:

So if you’re looking to target business users in any shape or form then LinkedIn and in particular LinkedIn Apps are definitely something that should be considered.

To find out more about LinkedIn's demographics, see the full presentation by Erick Schonfeld at Slideshare below.

http://www.slideshare.net/erickschonfeld/linkedin-demographic-data-jun08-presentation

If you'd like to know more about how social media can help you give us a call on 0845 0 347 347 or drop us an email at info@punkyduck.com