Deciphering a crowded digital marketplace

Shopping becomes a learning experience

A hidden twist on give-and-take

A second life for learning languages

World’s first "sustainable dance club"

Deciphering a crowded digital marketplace

We have a million media content choices from a thousand ever-changing channels, but only five minutes to pick what to watch next. Even for hardcore media mavens, it’s tough to separate signal from noise, to isolate what to watch from what to toss. So what’s on the emerging edge of media discovery? Here’s what — Netflix and Amazon already butter their bread using sophisticated recommendation engines. About two-thirds of Netflix rentals come from its engine. Amazon puts its rec-driven number at 35% of sales. But the current recommendation incarnations are the tip of the iceberg. Consumers want a more seamless route to relevant content and media purveyors are making bigger pushes-leveraging social media and social networks-to help users painlessly discover new tunes, new movies and new passions. Last.fm, iLike and MyStrands leverage your peers’ listening habits to help people find what to download next. Members of those communities install a widget on their computer to track their music library and the songs they play. The services then collect and crunch members’ data and can suggest songs for on-the-hunt music fans based on the habits of members with similar listening profiles.

Think of these social media-driven engines as more focused, directed versions of what MySpace has traditionally done for artists organically. Pandora takes a different tack. Using data from the Music Genome Project, Pandora crunches the audio attributes of songs (400+ of them) to predict what users will like next. (But in December 2006, Pandora too began incorporating social aspects, user profiles and band fan lists into their offering). The emerging areas of media discovery? Social and mobile. Shazam’s a mobile media service that not only allows users to recognize tunes by playing them into a cell phone, it also lets listeners buy, tag and store the songs on their cell. The user becomes part of a music community and can share audio intel and discover new acts on the go. The flip side: While tech solutions move forward by the algorithm and the blip, consumers still often lose patience and turn to good, old-fashioned sources for guidance: word-of-mouth buzz, expert reviews and, of course, marketing.

Getting smart doesn’t require attending the ivory tower. Thanks to a broad array of merchant-provided classes and special events, shoppers are learning for simple enjoyment or to hone specific skills and hobbies. From how to buy jewels and make baubles to safe cycling and building bikes, consumers are discovering that store classes are a cheap and fun way to deepen their knowledge, get skilled in new pastimes and broaden understanding of specific products and specialized techniques. Most courses, if not free, cost less than $100 and normally last several hours. While classes do help drive foot traffic, their minimal cost makes them less a merchant moneymaker and more a way to bond with customers.

Aside from free-for-all sampling events, retail classes are taught by seasoned staff or invited category celebs. In some cases, one-on-one tutoring is available. PetSmart, for example, offers a series of six- and eight-week courses designed for every doggie life stage, but consumers seeking specialized pet training can opt for private classes. Many store courses address everyday hobbies like the scrapbooking, knitting and other craft classes offered by Michaels. Others venture into specialized areas. Bass Pro’s course schedule includes lessons on deep-frying a turkey, handling a muzzleloader and avoiding an avalanche. At Sur La Table, foodies can get smart about knife skills, building gingerbread houses and making ravioli. The REI Outdoor School consists of one-day classes targeting greenhorns who are interested in learning new activities like outdoor photography and kayaking. Whole Foods offers regular workshops on subjects like eco-friendly cleaning products or how to shop its store on a budget. Thanks to the internet, not all courses require leaving the comforts of home. Browsers can click on the RadioShack Learning Center for self-paced tech tutoring.

During 2006, Home Depot torqued its traditional DIY courses with the launch of Home Show 06, a nationwide event of in-store, brand-sponsored demos and celebrity clinics. Consumers could also log onto HomeDepot.com for virtual tours of featured products or to participate in e-workshops. Manufacturers are also going back to school. Kodak and Nikon offer digital photography classes via authorized dealers, while car makers like Audi and BMW offer driving clinics. And at Heathrow Airport, Virgin Atlantic Airways uses its business class lounges to teach passengers how to play the guitar or mix cocktails. Retail classes are a thrifty way for consumers across generations to discover new interests and deepen their knowledge of already adopted pastimes. But they’re also a convenient way to socialize with other like-minded consumers. For others, classes offer the opportunity to safely dabble in new ventures and lifestyles without shedding their mortgage-paying day jobs. Brand loyalty can be fleeting. Launching a roster of courses deepens the merchant/consumer relationship, differentiates the offering and positions the retailer and brand as a trusted and wise resource. But don’t expect to get rich with classes. Instead, expect the gratitude effect: consumers who feel thankful to and appreciate merchants for helping them become smarter.

Paying it forward is nice, if a little, well, one-sided. For those looking to give and receive, there’s DropSpots.org. A Drop Spot works like an "alternative mailbox:" It’s a secret nook, cranny or crevice in a public place where people leave gifts for exchange. Gifts can be anything: a poem, sketch, quote, trinket, recipe, photo, etc. They shouldn’t have any monetary value, though folks do sometimes leave/find subway tokens, freebie coupons and spare change. Drop Spots are mapped on the Google-powered Drop Spot Map, searchable by state, city, zip code or address. Locations are often just a hole in a wall, so they come with handy descriptions like "There is a bunch of sweet graffiti around the hole and a sticker that says, ’Chill Globally, Groove Locally.’ Hope you find some love there."

Participants can easily create their own Drop Spot, upload photos to the gallery and post comments. DropSpots.org also includes tips for choosing a good Drop Spot and gift ideas. This is not a selfless, random act of kindness. More like a year-round Secret Santa game where everyone’s invited. Giving and getting double the fun, while the secretive approach to good-doing is more subversive than schmaltzy. Exchanging gifts with complete strangers using honor-system ethics helps restore consumers’ faith in humanity and rewarms feelings of community and connectivity that have lately grown cold.

For those of us who studied a language in college, the words "language lab" may conjure memories of drab videos, staticky headphones and repeatedly announcing "ˇDeseo comprar tres libras de la salchicha!" to no one in particular. Today, educators recognize that, when it comes to picking up another tongue, tedious repetition is only slightly more effective than, say, sleeping with a Spanish-English dictionary under your pillow. The best way: experiential learning, even if it is virtual. From Second Life comes Languagelab.com, where students interact via their avatars with teachers, native speakers and one another in "real-life" situations like weddings, business meetings and museum tours. Technically speaking, the Languagelab uses a "specially designed voice system that enables participants to speak to one another in real time." Languagelab is open 24/7; classes are organized by ability, so students can move up as they would in old-school situations. Only Spanish and English are offered as of press time, but the site plans more language offerings.

Avatar-enabled education adds a level of sociability that traditional online courses lack. We may be a dual-language nation, but comparatively few citizens are actually bilingual. For Latinos, learning English is the key to cultural empowerment and can help them score better-paying jobs. And Spanish skills enable English-only speakers to communicate more fluidly with co-workers, customers and patients without costly third-party assistance. 24/7 courses offer a convenience that cannot be overlooked when work, family, commutes and household responsibilities steadily chip away at our after-hours.

Dance floors that generate power from human feet. Toilets that flush with rainwater. Walls that change color with heat fluctuations. The Critical Mass unveiled a rave-up of green concepts at the world’s first sustainable dance club in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Environmental org NGO Enviu and architectural firm Döll hosted the sold-out October 2006 event, which featured a global lineup of cutting-edge music washed down with organic beer. Critical Mass envisions a network of eco-clubs where music and dance converge with "culinary theater" and "honest fashion." With their throbbing sounds and pulsing lights, conventional dance clubs are the SUVs of the underground. An extreme green makeover that appeals to the young and hip is a smart way to lighten their impact. Many Millennials are already thinking green, so the concept isn’t a hard sell.

© 2007 ISM and Iconoculture, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published monthly by ISM in partnership with Iconoculture.