The changing nature of news

There was a great article in the FT’s Inside Business section by the paper’s media editor, Andrew Edgcliffe-Johnson.  Describing how newsrooms have shrunk, he looks at how services such as PR Newswire (owned by UBM plc) are responding and how it sees its future being driven by digital syndication, social media and search engine optimisation.   

As we have commented before in our blog, a rethink has started for press releases as multimedia content to help feed the growing number and variety of news outlets online.  Edgcliffe-Johnson argues that “search and social media trends suggest corporate content will only grow”.   

So not only do we now need to be aware that the majority of news is ‘broken’ online, but that how we package up that news into deeper content will increasingly make a difference. This will have an impact not only in how this might be facilitated both client and agency side, but also that the content must be credible and ‘watchable’.   

There will be a need  closer integration of advertising, digital marketing, PR and investor relations concludes Edgcliffe-Johnson.  

See the article in the FT here. (registration required)

A vision of our augmented reality future

This short film from two students suggests an almost-plausible forecast of the evolution of augmented reality, everything from cooking to dating.

Sight was created by students Daniel Lazo and Eran May-raz from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and is an eight-minute short that takes augmented reality to the next level with iridescent contact lenses that enhance the wearer’s world.

The result is interactive overlays of video games, cooking lessons, TV shows, and anything else that’s accessible on smartphones and computers

"We were inspired by many present-day apps and several sci-fi movies," says Lazo. "But most of the ideas came from us trying to visualize a world where this tech is standard, and what kind of interactions can happen in it."

See their vision of he future below or find out more on co.create:

Social media gets serious

If LinkedIn's recent news is anything to go by then Social Media really did just get serious. LinkedIn is looking to go public - conveying an expansion of the role of social media as an advertising space.

You have heard it from us before, but what happens in the B2C market really will at some point be relevant in the B2B. Don't believe us? Check out the B2B Marketing website for further info on the real market value of these sites in the future...