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Hallmark Cards Inc. is getting into the text-messaging world - but not the one that usually springs to mind. Text Bands, a new product from the Kansas City-based greeting card giant, aim to give kids a way to exchange positive messages when they meet in person. Kids wearing the colorful bands bump fists or shake hands, causing the the bands to light up and the message - up to 10 characters - to transfer. Each band can hold as many as 24 messages; they include filters to help prevent negative messages.

But it's AOL's own properties the company aims to build up as a go-to premium buy for brand advertisers. Display revenue on AOL properties grew by 2 percent. The company is betting on premium ad formats such as its rich-media laden Project Devil units to entice brands to spend more. AOL reported that more than half of the advertisers who bought the ads in Q1 re-upped this past quarter. Armstrong admitted that last year the company's focus was not data-driven, and stressed the firm's renewed mission to ensure that data - meaning results-related numbers proving the value of buying AOL's ad products - is at the heart of its sales approach. People cannot leave the building without data, said Armstrong. Mobile and video ad revenue are key to future growth for AOL, said Armstrong, who said that last summer 75 percent of insertion orders included both platforms. Today, it's close to 100 percent, he said. The company reported that videos, video views, and video revenue rose at double-digit rates, though it did not break out revenues for video advertising.

"Although that audience isn't as native to web content as, say, a 18-year-old video game fan, WIGS has managed to attract viewers: While it goes up and down on Deadline's weekly YouTube channel charts, WIGS is consistently present, as it's quickly found an audience, racking up over 15 million views and over 75,000 subscribers - in just three months.  "

Gimme the Gig's focus is on the redesigned 2012 Ford Focus Ford will record the winning bands on the spot and upload the tracks to iTunes using the Focus's in-car wifi feature, chevy teamed up with band Ok Go -- Chevy Sonic is used to make the music: OK Go's members drive a specially equipped Sonic through a track lined with musical instruments and other sound-generating objects. Devices attached to the outside of the car play the instruments and devices along the route, resulting in sounds that make up the song.

To celebrate Helsinki as the capital of design, and to illustrate the importance of good design, interactive pop-up cafes were set up all over the city that were complete with tables, music, lighting and more that are remotely controlled by people online.

just launched, but might be interesting to keep up with them to see what branding opportunities will come up

"We've seen touch-friendly tables before, but they're rarely so slick as the Multi Surface Experience, a newly launched collaboration between design firm Gensler and ad agency The Hive. The installation lets guests explore Gensler's architectural portfolio (the book you see above) just by walking up to a wavy table. An overhead projector, Kinect for Windows and special software present an interface wherever people stand; when users choose to learn more about a project, it pops up on a wall-mounted 4K display."

Pop-up brand experiences

"McDonalds beacon case study (retail) 26 McDonald's franchises in Columbus, Georgia tested out iBeacon technology with its customers. Over the four week trial, the franchises were pushing special deals for McChicken Sandwiches and 10 piece Chicken McNuggets. The iBeacon powered promotions pushed McChicken Sandwich sales up 8 percent and Chicken McNugget sales up 7.5 percent. Based on the initial results of the pilot it looks as though McDonald's will continue to explore the technology for an additional 263 retail stores in the southeast. "Everyone is looking at their phones, millennials especially, and that's where we've decided to engage," Jack Pezold, a McDonald's franchisee of 40 years, said in a statement. Spotless beacon case study (enterprise) Spotless is an Australian owned and managed provider of integrated facilities management services. In 2014, Spotless partnered with Lighthouse to build and deploy a custom workforce management solution with the goal of reducing litigation claims in the commercial cleaning service line. The solution allowed Spotless to understand when cleaning KPI's are missed in real-time and produce employee location reports that can be used as legal defense against slip and fall litigation claims in shopping malls. Spotless has also been able to optimise their workforce and reduce operating costs by analyzing Lighthouse powered heat mapping of employee movements. The solution has been so successful that Spotless are extending the capability across other service lines including facilities management, security and maintenance. Read the full case study here. Pause Fest beacon case study (events) Pause Fest is Australia's premier digital event, aimed at supporting and showcasing the best in creative and tech from Australia and all over the world. In 2015, Pause Fest partnered with Lighthouse to deploy a network of beacons that delivered proximity based content and experiences to attendees, while enabling real-time event analyt

Nice recap on the benefits of Retailers and Pop-up stores

a bathing ape pop up pirate store in london, releasing a pirate themed shirt each day for the nine days it will be open

We hear that everything was pretty much sold out. Sales exceeded all records from previous pop-ups, and more than 11,000 people stopped by over the shop's two short but glorious days of existence. The central location probably had something to do with the success; Target doesn't have any specific plans to use the site again, but it's not out of the question.

Pop up store for a software company. Keeping in mind for Gold Peak.

guy that headed up Flip now has a grilled cheese store- order from your phone and go pick it up, it will be ready in one min

Irish telecom Meteor has a new top up a friend app that makes it easy for people to top up a friend's prepaid phone.

Estee Lauder has a social shoppe.

Mentos is launching a new gum called UP2U, which includes two flavors in the same pack - The Martin Agency put up a couple of billboards in Chicago (the site of the annual Sweets and Snacks Expo) urging people to call (800) 304-UCHOOSE. an automated voice asking you to choose from a spoken menu of options-but the questions get odder and odder. "What is your favorite color?" then leads to "Where do you think grandpa is hiding?" and then to "What would be a good name for a Mongoose farm?" And on and on from there. Eventually the voice says: "Thank you, friend, for your choices and the hard work you put into choosing all of them. After analyzing your responses, it appears that Mentos UP2U gum is the perfect gum for you. Please buy some and visit us at facebook.com/up2u."

Nice stats on social influence on purchase decisions

Pulse, the news-reading app for iOS and Android devices, has signed up its first international partner, and it's a biggie: Al Jazeera will become the first foreign news organization to partner with the company to deliver news and videos from its Al Jazeera English catalog of content.

Created by BBDO San Francisco for Barefoot Wine and Bubbly, this billboard is made up of 17,500 of pieces of trash picked up on the beach. promotes the upcoming film by director Jason Baffa called One Beach, a film about art innovators who support clean and sustainable beaches with their art.