Ypulse Essentials: Sew Cool, MTV's 'Soundtrack,' Toys Thrive Online
Posted by casey on 07-17-2008
Sew cool (Thanks to the debut of season five of "Project Runway," sewing is hip again… for the fifth time around. And fashionistas have another new reality show — this time from Vogue) (The Capital Times) (WSJ)
- MTV returns to its music roots (the network is launching a new "music discovery tool" that includes music artist hubs and listings of the music played on every MTV show…or is it music as product placement? Plus Addicting Games goes for teens with a social network play and Nick's web traffic is UP) (Billboard) (News.com) (Media Post, reg. required)
- Girl gamers (game sales aimed at tween girls grew 63%, and six of the top ten games on Nintendo DS are targeted to tween demographic. Plus Ubisoft is launching more girl games for the Nintendo DS, Disney will release Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force on Nintendo DS for holiday 2008….And in Japan educators are using the DS as a teaching tool) (Reuters) (WhatTheyPlay.com)
- Guitar Hero becoming major player (in the music biz. We heard this echoed by Damon Whiteside from Disney at the Ypulse Mashup. Guns N' Roses plans to put out a new song in September…on the video game Rock Band 2. And the mobile version of the game is doing quite well) (New York Times, reg. required) (Textually)
- The success of toys on the web (from Bratz to Barble, Neopets to Webkinz, toy brand are finding huge success creating online virtual worlds based around their products. Plus the Jonas Bros. are now in WeeWorld, Gaia launched its "Rejected Olympics" featuring events that didn't make the Olympic cut, and MSNBC does the virtual teen entrepreneur story) (Brand Channel)
- ABC Family orders more 'Secret Life'… (while Disney's Princess Tiana is getting flack for racial stereotyping.) (Retuers) (The Independent)
- A timeline of mean girl moments (from Nellie Olsen on "Little House on the Prairie" to Blair Waldorf on "Gossip Girl"….seems timely with The N's "Queen Bees" record ratings….) (Journal Sentinel)
- IMing on Meebo (Meebo will begin syndicating IM services for online community sites in the fall, including teen communities like Piczo and MyYearbook.) (Media Post, reg. required)
- The Big Mac chant (goes user generated and social on MySpace…. And Nike i.d. goes mobile….Plus Worldwide Teen Lab's latest research on mobile accessories parts one and two) (via Media Post and TrendCentral)
- Sears goes back to school (with a Vanessa Hudgens-studded web campaign, MTV promos, virtual world branding and a catchy slogan: "Don't Just Go Back. Arrive". Plus, a big back-to-school trend will be "shopping down" because "conspicuous consumption is gauche right now." And just in case you missed Monday's New York Times piece, reg. required, on how this year's back to school campaigns are borrowing from Hollywood) (Media Post)
- Hayden's new music video (er or ad for Candie's apparel, footwear and accessories, all of which are available at Kohl's Department stores and Kohls.com)
- Engaging young activists (millennials are redefining civil rights activism and not thinking twice about getting involved. A new poll shows that Gen Y will likely vote dem and would prefer getting their political news online throughout the next campaign. Plus, a Guardian journalist recalls the day Gen Y gave him hope for the future. And Obama's YouTube guru) (Huffington Post) (Information Week) (Alley Insider)
- Get off the couch (teens are not exercising. And France cracks down on teen drinking) (AP) (Reuters)
P.S. Check out Anastasia's post rounding up some of the initial press/blog coverage of the Ypulse Mashup from yesterday. I am working on my recap and will try to post it tomorrow…
P.P.S. PSFK is live blogging their trends conference in San Francisco….