For marketing it’s a great tool because it’s a relatively pain-free way of vetting a product or a campaign ahead of a major launch. If the masses have given it the once-over and supplied criticisms and suggestions, then the final product is likely to be better received.

The collaboration just announced between Sony and Last.fm to launch the first “fantasy music festival” is a good example of crowdsourcing for the purposes of marketing. Brand Republic has more details:

The competition, in the style of fantasy football game, will give music fans across Europe a €1 million budget to put together their fantasy festival line up. Last.fm users will be encouraged to invite friends to compete through Facebook Connect and email. The music service will score musicians based on trends, listening data and online buzz, to determine the rankings, beginning in mid-November.

Such a large cash prize will doubtless encourage many to take part. But looking beyond the competition, the data that users supply about their musical preferences will be an invaluable asset to those involved in music marketing.

Buying an album or downloading an Mp3 is one thing. However the true test – what music marketers are most curious about – is whether an artist has become someone that a consumer has more than a passive interest in. By listing an artist as one whom they’d include in a “fantasy festival”, it tells marketing heads that this artist, if not already established, may be going places. That’s data charts can’t give.

The data from this competition will also help tour organisers understand who should be on tour with whom. Facing declining record sales revenues, labels are putting more emphasis on income from tours. By putting together artists whom a large number of people have indicated they’d like to see share the same stage, the ROI is likely to be higher.

This partnership is also a win for Last.fm’s brand image. Owned by CBS, Last.fm remains well-liked by its users, who are all musicphiles. Facing creeping competition from Swedish start-up Spotify, this partnership with second-largest global recorded music company increases Last.fm’s brand visibility and could increase its market penetration. For Sony, they stand to gain reputation currency with a key user base from Last.fm through the affiliation.

These social issues — such as child labour practice, minimum wage rates, and working conditions and hours — affect the values underpinning the clothing’s brand, which in turn represents the consumer herself.

Supply chain issues are complex and can require huge resources to manage successfully. Multinationals like the Gap (in India) and Mattel (in China) have faced accusations of late for ethically questionable or sub-standard work from suppliers.

As global flows of information and demands for transparency continue to increase (80% of Brits still think retailers are not doing enough on the CSR front), premium brands may be able to differentiate themselves further form competitors but must also build the necessary infrastructure to monitor, control, and report on their ethical credentials if they hope to substantiate their premium prices.

Going to war by bringing in the lawyers is a guarantee the ‘negatives’ will spread. newscounter.com meets a real market need – for those aggrieved by media inaccuracies to put a full, immediate, unedited rebuttal ‘out there’, next to the accusation, for the world and the search engines to see.

If it builds a reputation as a place to go to see ‘both sides of the story’ and where those rebuttals can be seen, then it will have a place in the corporate communications armoury. At the moment, the Baby Products Association (BPA) is winning the public vote against Which? in a battle over child car seats safety. The fact that ‘public opinion’ on a public, impartial web site ‘backs’ their position is a gain in itself because it’s referenceable as evidence in their ongoing communications battle that their position is understood, believed and deemed fair. For corproate communicators, that’s got to be worth having.

The idea is innovative and necessary. The five rings are available only to the ‘big boys’. Inspiring as they are, they are the property of the international associations, the powerful corporates and the sporting elite.

A new, 2012 ‘community’ brand will allow ‘ordinary’ people to ‘feel’ part of the Games by association. It could be a rallying point for consumer interest and participation by being a more intimate, local, accessible symbol of the best of everyday sport and culture. It will also give Governing Bodies, including those who fear the Games may squeeze them financially, a new asset to build social, commercial and marketing value. Let’s hope that LOCOG is succesful. It’ll be a tough battle to find a brand and identity close enough to have a valuable association without messing with the value the main sponsors have bought into.

If they do then they’ll be a step closer to building a new fellowship of the rings.

The issue of measuring carbon footprints throughout the supply chain was the topic of discussion at a recent conference hosted by Glasshouse client Lloyd’s Register. Many participants focused on the fact that what is measurable can be managed; however, they also stressed the difficulty of accurately determining their impact comprehensively while maintaining the competitiveness of their offering.

It will also be interesting to see whether these standards will be able to actually shift business behaviour and consumer decision-making in addition to creating a measurable system which can be uniformly certified.

The Summit brought together many leading international businesses (and business leaders) from up and down the UK in a day designed to generate new ideas and bring about fresh commitments to bring about an environmentally sustainable society, even asking for personal pledges for action. The energy and enthusiasm were palpable. But will it go anywhere? As Prince Charles said, it has to: ‘Business as usual’ just isn’t an option. It was interesting to see, then, that last week the Financial Times dedicated three days to questioning the efficiency of carbon markets and the effectiveness of carbon markets versus carbon taxation (if you have a view: go to and vote on LRQA’s poll on the subject) and publishing ‘exposes’ on carbon cons (in particular the vaguaries of non verified off setting schemes). If the mechanism of the ‘carbon market’ doesn’t work and consumers grow confused and cynical about carbon claims, the two wheels driving carbon change fall off. Markets (especially fledgling ones) grow best when there is trust and transparency between buyers and sellers. Consumers buy from brands that really do ‘what they say on the tin’. It’s clear there’s a real need for clearer standards and better assurance. The voluntary market, in particular, needs to embrace indepedent verification. Without it, pledges made at Summit’s could well end up being pointless.

The core consumer insight was that Ariel’s ability to provide a ‘brilliant wash’ at 30°C would help consumers save money and at the same time help reduce their carbon footprint. The campaign which was launched in conjunction with the Energy Savings Trust is still being evaluated to see if it really has had a long term impact on consumer behaviour as initial results suggest consumers in several EU markets are ‘turning down the dial’.

The campaign strikes us as a brilliant piece of P&G marketing… data driven insight, clear analysis of a rational (money saving) and emotional (help the environment) consumer benefit and then a cleverly endorsed, well executed integrated marketing and communications campaign.

Interestingly, the product promise (a great wash at a low temperature) has been the same for years and wasn’t really changed, just emphasized in a different way. Even more, the possible guilt of using the product (after all, how ‘green’ are the chemicals in washing powder?) has been replaced by a gentle, reassuring sense of greenness.

Earlier, on the same stage, Gareth Hughes, Climate Change Capital, painted a picture where the capital markets are going when it comes to environmental factors — those interested in a quick view should read Peter’s blog over at BusinessAssurance.com.

Although perhaps not as immediate of a return as traditional media channels, “branded utility” gives savvy brand managers the potential to create longer-term allegiances with consumers and bring a fresh perspective that is long overdue.