My friends, today we made art. Mixed art. Transmedia art. Call it whatever but we took one of the oldest Romanian poems (Miorita – romanian for The Sheep – an allegory of life and death, crime and betrayal), mixed it with a little twitter API voodoo, added some cool and fresh design, social media sharing features and made it sparkle: I give you Myoritza 2.0.

The four characters in the Poem were given Twitter accounts and through a little programming magic we made sure they say their part just when they were supposed to.

It was really successful but stay tuned for this result. We had fun doing it, I know people had fun watching it.

We’re all about the new media. Also old media turning new. Just before the big-bada-bum launch of KO Video we had launched MusicNonStop.ro, in Romania.

Music Non Stop was a partnership between one of the major Romanian record label (ROTON) and Nokia. The partnership included a 30 tracks voucher for Nokia buyers. All they have to do is just go here and register for their free tracks.

Today we’ve launched KOVideo, a new and innovative audio, video and lyrics platforms that makes use of newest technologies to make sure users get a seamless experience. Read about it here.

“Insurers receive premiums upfront and pay claims later. In extreme cases, such as those arising from certain workers’ compensation accidents, payments can stretch over decades. This collect-now, pay-later model leaves us holding large sums – money we call “float” – that will eventually go to others. Meanwhile, we get to invest this float for Berkshire’s benefit. Though individual policies and claims come and go, the amount of float we hold remains remarkably stable in relation to premium volume. Consequently, as our business grows, so does our float.

If premiums exceed the total of expenses and eventual losses, we register an underwriting profit that adds to the investment income produced from the float. This combination allows us to enjoy the use of free money – and, better yet, get paid for holding it.

Insurers receive premiums upfront and pay claims later. In extreme cases, such as those arising fromcertain workers’ compensation accidents, payments can stretch over decades. This collect-now, pay-later modelleaves us holding large sums – money we call “float” – that will eventually go to others. Meanwhile, we get toinvest this float for Berkshire’s benefit. Though individual policies and claims come and go, the amount of floatwe hold remains remarkably stable in relation to premium volume. Consequently, as our business grows, so doesour float.If premiums exceed the total of expenses and eventual losses, we register an underwriting profit thatadds to the investment income produced from the float. This combination allows us to enjoy the use of free money – and, better yet, get paid for holding it.”

The finer the choices, the more the internet advertising can answer and relate to this needs. The two – way communication works best with upscale needs and probably upscale individuals: the influencers, the early adopters, the few.

The self actualization need, the “be all you can be”, the “discover your inner power” works best on the internet and it’s actually believable in a world where class, color, race, religion or income don’t matter. This is something the real world option can’t actually offer.

John Gerzema states that the recession  has hit each and every one of us. “The times of leisure class marketing are behind us and the focus msut shift to addressing our essential needs” says John. While I cannot debate that I think that maybe, just maybe, it’s just the real world that won’t provide means of reaching higher ambitions to people. The internet will.

We got inspired about the red and white thread that accompanies this tradition. So we made a little widget people can post on their blogs and web pages. I use one on the blog too. Check it out in the right upper area. If you visit the minipage you can read the text saying “We wish you many new years. Tangle our thread around your website. It doesn’t have any magical properties, bringing you countless visitors to the website but it’s pretty good at showing what this celebration is about: new beginnings and fulfillment. All you have to do is copy the html code below in your template files.”

It was pretty fun doing it and it really caught up. Up to 400 websites, blogs and social media profiles adopted the virtual “Martisor”. In just 5 days we’ve served around 250 000 virtual “Martisoare”. And counting.

I have been studying the whole concept and focused on some of the variables that are usually left out.

The assumptions

The online startup I’ve studied to get a glimpse into this was an hypotetical online game. I’ve assumed the the game will be launched with a PR/advertising campaign, delivering an initial traffic to the website.

The game would sell power-ups to gain revenue. Other assumptions I have based my study on are that users would enter the website, register if they feel like, drop out and erase their account if it is just not their cup of tea, invite friends which would might or might not respond and of course, play.

The conventions

In order to test the user’s behaviour we will use several conventions, following Registration Rate (RR), Spread Rate ( SR – number of invited users / month / user ), Response Rate ( ReR – number of invited users actually visiting the website / month ), Dropout Rate ( DR – users cancelling / abandoning their ), Conversion Rate ( number of registered users buying upgrades), Medium cost per product (MCP).

I have also thought of a formula to determine purchase intent (PI), directly proportional to monthly visitors increase, RR and Influence rate of registered users (SR/ReR).

The Purchase Intent is Inversely Proportional to Dropout Rate (DR) and Medium Cost per Product (MCP).

The results

Although the concept hasn’t been tested on real life scenarios (I am looking for entrepreneurs willing to share some data for the study – 100% confidential) I guess I can outline some conclusions:

1. Number of initial users is important but not the most important
2. Spread rate (SR) is the single most important Indicator to be taken into account. Incentivize potential users to spread news and you have a booming business. Fail to do that and all the money in the world spent on advertising won’t guarantee safe revenue returns
3. The response rate (ReR) is not actually that important. It doesn’t actually matter users being influential but rather willing to share information with their microcomunities
4. Conversion rate (CR) is important but it will take more than that to have a really successful product. A tenfold increase in conversion rate is useless unless the registrants numbers goes up.
5. Micropayments are the best choice. Increasing Medium Cost per Product (MCP), while having a steady increase in user base, means decreasing potential revenue. Increasing cost by tenfold will decrease potential sales by more than 50%
6. Dropout rate (DR) is basically irrelevant as long as the dropouts are outpaced by new registrants.
7. So, if it is something you should be focusing on as an online entrepreneur this is Spread Rate, Micropayments, and number of initial visitors.

I hope this helps.

A rather interesting idea crossed my mind last night. I was thinking about the global challenges that humanity is facing today. The ones we all know about: global warming, crash of the economy as we knew it, globalization, unequal distribution of wealth (read some about it here) and many others.

I thought about the ants. As individuals they are insignificant. As a group they are amazing. They construct structures we are not able to (maintaining the proportions). They are organized and act as a whole organism.

So do humans, but with one big issue – the communication. We worked pretty well in tribes, cities but now we have to communicate globally. Our social structures are expanding. The rules we use to organize do not apply any longer. What rules should we establish now?

The mind of the many

The internet is a chaotic and at the same time a self organizing thing. A brain if you like. Its neurons are the people that use it. The connections – its synapses. We started thinking globally and not just as a metaphor.

We might now use this concept and develop it. We could create a new country, a new continent, with new rules that  apply to new times.

This structure would not be one led by governments but by the best performing citizens, just as our brain controls our body. There won’t be any taxes that we don’t already pay. The economics would be self balancing and self adjusting.

Social status would not matter. What would matter would be the outcome of one’s efforts. The best intellectuals, the best concepts would rise to the top, no matter the race, sex or ethnicity.

The system would be called Internetism, the social system that gathers the best of previous ones.

Is it an utopia or a reality we are yet to accept?

Three years have passed but they seem like ten to me. It was harder than I would have ever imagined. The last one was the hardest. It was full of sleepless nights, stressful deadlines and issues I never thought I would have stumble upon.

I wish I could say everything went by like a breeze but it didn’t. Some people let me down and I’ve let others down. Promises got broken. Some dreams too.

I had tough choices to make. Choices that keep me awake at night. I’ve made mistakes of which I am sorry. Mostly in my private life.

But through the darkest times I’ve realized how bright some stars can really shine. I am thankful to have met people like mr. Alex Buga, Gabi Nistoran and Andrei Gheorghe, which became my associates. I am honored by their presence and trust.

It’s not just about them. I thank all those I can still call colleagues and which I treasure more than I can say, although it’s getting harder to say it, being a larger group now.

We are the fastest growing agency in Romania. The people that joined this group are the best of breed in this domain. With a background like this, things aren’t always easy but the goal and path that lie ahead seem clearer by the day. We will be the best digital agency in the world. The agency for tomorrow.

Basically all of the other online games used to draw users to a social infrastructure (user accounts, social networks etc.) build on their own. The great thing about Zynga is that it targets already built social infrastructures (like Facebook, the iPhone AppStore). It lowers costs and it increases exposure and potential revenue.

What if brands would use the social networks to market products just like Zynga markets their games?