Sony Music recently packaged "anti-piracy" software with its music CDs - software which sent data to Sony when its audio tracks were copied. Since this was done without informing consumers, Sony ended up paying $1.5 million to settle spyware charges in U.S.A.

Recently, Sony's fake blog was an attempt at stealth marketing.

Looks like executives working for consumer giants need to understand the kinematics of consumer feedback travelling online !

Blending TV with the Net
Brightspot.tv is another project which is working to meld television with the Internet. BrightSpot is an entertainment portal competing with the likes of YouTube, MySpace, Revver and the like. But with a difference. By ensuring that the ads hosted are entertaining & socially relevant, Brightspot members will get paid for being entertained ! (Brightspot plans to ask its registered members to answer market research questions, which are used to select the most relevant set of spots, thereby minimizing wasted ad impressions for advertisers.)

So we have consumers as one part, who decide which ads they want to view (although Brightspot may proffer a list of ads which will be matched to the psychographic profile of each consumer).

And the advertiser as the 2nd part, who will actually pay for those ads (only) which consumers actually view.

And a 3rd part comprising of "providers" who will provide the "rewards" for consumers in terms of credit points for items offered by each provider. For example, credit points may be redeemed against subscription fees for a gaming portal. (The obvious benefit of the "provider" is consumer footfall - since the consumer will have to visit his site or shop for redemption.)

Win-win-win for all?

Art on the Net
Going by recent trends, the Internet seems to have become a favourite with the world of art. Dealers / buyers are using web-sites as another way to sell / buy artworks. As value of art skyrockets worldwide, art collectors need not travel to galleries to preview new works. Ditto for artists & sculptors.

Of course, artists for some time now, have been using web-sites which are dedicated to art along with the numerous social networks like MySpace. (The Indian art world has just witnessed the launch of Indiatimes Art.)

But the recently created web-site by art collector Charles Saatchi (no relation to the more famous ad men) is unique because it targets only art students. STUART.com is a (the?) Web site for art students, which has already sold a few works online within weeks of its launch.

With more than 2,000 art students as members, STUART web-site claims it actually crashed because of 6 million hits in a single day.

Not bad for a web-site dedicated to art students, what?