Under the Radar -Last Call for Nominations

Final selections are being made for Under the Radar's Business of Web Apps Conference scheduled at the Microsoft Campus in Mountain View (CA) on the 19th-20th March 2008.

You can find the application form by following this link.

Under the Radar (Spring) plans to uncover 32 startups, that have launched within the year, showcasing the newest web apps created by developers with a quest for innovation and a tendency towards disruption. Having launched numerous companies into startup stardom, acquisition and beyond, Under the Radar bills itself as 'the most discerning and reliable platform today for discovering tomorrow's leading technology companies'.

The idea is for the companies to demo their product to a panel of industry experts in front of an audience of early-adopter technology insiders, with plenty of Q&A planned into the session.

This time round, the organisers are particularly keen to get stuck into the web backend and virtualization plays, so companies (especially disruptive ones) in these areas will be favoured.

Nominations close tomorrow, so apply now to get yourself on the radar.

Enjoy my Blog from your mobile device

Courtesy of MobiEnthusiast.mobi, Ric Ferraro's Blog is now available to read on your mobile phone. Although my blog is available on most mobile web browsers simply by typing http://www.mobverge.blogspot.com, following this link from your mobile browser may make it a more pleasant experience.

KitKat France Viral Video Marketing Campaign

KitKat (Nestle') France & JWT have come up with an exquisite 3D-effect digital marketing campaign that is tied in to their 'Ultimate Break/Win a Trip in Space' campaign.Not only is the execution of this computer animated short by AkamaStudio wonderful, but so is the timing.

A stressed stockbroker executive facing heavy losses...see any connection to the (in)famous trader at French bank SocGen who managed to accumulate trading losses of $7bn only last week?

The campaign call-to-action is for consumers to access the promotional website or to SMS a code via their mobile handset. What is a little surprising for such a brilliant campaign is that no mobile application (be it a game or other gimmick) or mobile site was built to go with it. This shows that despite the inroads mobile advertising is making in general, big brands are still reticent to capitalise reaching out to consumers through this channel -in my opinion, a missed opportunity.

Maybe the CMO Forum, organised by Ogilvy Worldwide in conjuntion with the GSMA at next month's Mobile World Congress, will go some way to bridge the 'mobile gap' between advertisers and the mobile industry...

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the 'trip in space' prize offered is genuine and is apparently worth a cool €147,000...not a bad return on a few crispy chocolate sticks...