MetaMirror on the Wall, What’s the Best Web TV of All?

by Robert van Alstyne

What’s Happening

• MetaMirror, a conceptual software platform from Ireland, wants to give consumers a smoother blend of the Web with traditional television. The proposed platform would display real-time contextual info on a mobile device over a simultaneous television broadcast.

• MetaMirror could flex its Web-overlay muscles in numerous ways. Statistical updates to live sporting events and instant product purchasing links on lifestyle shows are just a few of the possibilities foreseen by Notion, the Dublin design firm pushing the concept.

• Just when (or if) MetaMirror goes from imagined killer iPad app to consumer-facing reality remains uncertain. Notion is looking for a partner to assist in building functioning prototypes.

What This Means to Business

• An ever-swelling segment of consumers is already keeping their laptops on while trawling TV land, and many are ready and willing to embrace services that can simplify simultaneous multiplatform consumption.

• Simple evolution often trumps more ambitious tech endeavors when it comes to meeting consumers’ media consumption needs. Many consumers won’t want to muck up their pristine flat screen with a deluge of data, even in the not-too-distant future when every TV is connected to the cloud.

Saving Money 101: PocketYourDollars.com

by Raya Jewell

What’s Happening

• Consumer-created PocketYourDollars.com helps consumers save cash on everything from groceries to diapers.

• Carrie Rocha, a Minnesota native, built the Web site after getting her own family out of more than $50,000 in debt in only two-and-a-half years.

• The site is broken into various categories: shopping lists, deals and freebies, tips and tricks, and toolbox.

• Whether they’re looking for the latest Starbucks promotion, Taco Bell chalupa discount, or free yoga classes, consumers can sign up for the daily e-mail, follow Rocha on Twitter and Facebook, or simply browse the Web site.

What This Means to Business

• The deal of the day is here to stay. Web sites and daily e-mails prompting consumers to cash in on cost savings continue to pique interest.

• When it comes to financial-services advice, sometimes real-world experience and authenticity trumps a degree.

Daily Grommet Makes Finding Ethical Products a Cinch

by Sarah Barker

What’s Happening

• Someone’s probably built a better mousetrap, but how’s a mousehunter to find it? Scurry over to DailyGrommet.com, an e-marketplace for innovative products and “nice companies” that can’t afford to promote themselves.

• Innovations featured on Daily Grommet—five per week—are chosen by a 15-person research team. They look for well-made products that have socially redeeming value, and entrepreneurs who demonstrate ethical practices and excellent customer service. Recent spotlights include an acupressure mat, sponges, and a line of messenger bags.

• Daily Grommet demonstrates the product, provides its backstory, and allows for purchase. The site eschews advertising for the sake of objectivity and credibility, but takes a cut of sales.

What This Means to Business

• Daily Grommet delivers a dose of Etsy-like discovery of one-off, handmade treasures with a feel-good coating. It’s populist, anti-corporate craftivism all tied up together.

• It’s no coincidence that ethics and transparency are the DNA of Daily Grommet, considering it was born out of disgust with and distrust of big business practices. Consumers are thirsty for integrity and businesses that have wider concerns than simply making money.

Bolder Gives Selfishness the Cold Shoulder

by Anna Otieno

What’s Happening

• Who’s up for a challenge? Social responsibility Web site Bolder works with businesses to create fun and easy tasks for groups of consumers to take on.

• Businesses post a challenge, such as “reuse something you normally throw away.” Consumers who are up for the challenge log on to the site, post how they completed the task, vote on each other’s actions, and wait for a reward from the business that created the challenge. It’s like Groupon, but with a do-gooder angle.

• Bolder posts a different challenge every week. Past challenges include completing a two-mile biking trip for 50 percent-off bicycle chain lube (sponsored by Mike’s Bikes) and buying local to earn free candy (sponsored by Charles Chocolates).

What This Means to Business

• Consumers are game for armchair activism with social components—especially when they include rewards. Businesses that tether their brands to meaningful and personal ways to give back can reap increased consumer loyalty in return.

Leader of the Pack: Nice Ride Minnesota

by Sarah Fazio

What’s Happening

• With 700 bicycles and 65 stations, Minneapolis hosts and boasts the largest bike-sharing network in the U.S.

• Nice Ride Minnesota’s sizable operation was backed by substantial funding. Each bike includes a Blue Cross-branded fender (the HMO bankrolled with tobacco settlement money), and Minneapolis mayor R.T. Ryback helped secure local business support and additional cash.

• Anchored by downtown and the University of Minnesota, Nice Ride caters to short trips and encourages consumers to combine biking with other modes of transportation as cyclists hop on and drop off bikes at any station throughout the city.

• Nice Ride Minnesota charges $5 for 24 hours (with deposit), $30 for 30 days, and $60 for an annual membership (April to November).

• In addition to Nice Ride Minnesota, Public Bike System Co. launched bike-sharing systems in Denver and Montreal, with plans for Washington, D.C.

What This Means to Business

• Car-conscious consumers and casual commuters benefit from the easy access of bike sharing, with a strong infrastructure and simple system.

• Better bike lanes and other municipal support ups convenience and control for city cyclists. Bike-friendly businesses that provide perks like secure racks or discounts for cyclists will win loyalty among this growing consumer cohort.