It was announced today, http://selnd.com/qcySJG – that Walmart, bought One Riot, those with the “Killer Social Targeting Engine” (their words not mine), to better be able to connect with customers.  They speak of the intersection of social, mobile and retail being and how this will help give consumers what they want at any time.  Coming off of the idea that Social Business is the future, this acquisition by the world’s largest retailer, makes for some really interesting thinking.  Big Brands buying out development and research shops…is this what the future of Social business looks like or is it just a case of not being focused on the core business?
Drop up a note and let us know what you think.

A few of the highlights:

• Over 60% of those consumers directly targeted by brands in a closed environment have downloaded the application
• 64% of the users engage with the application regularly. When compared to other social media applications, this figure is very substantive (e.g., Twitter only sees 1/4 of its potential audience engage)
• Active Consumer Engagement with itiBiti is averaging 2.4 times per day, with an average length of 6.8 minutes

And underscoring this is the fact that no major marketing or brand push initiatives have been undertaken up to this point. All of these figures are coming from organic growth, and early adopters. Consumers are responding & engaging.

More and more brands are seeing the value in customized desktop applications. It’s critical that within a fragmented media arena every opportunity to continue a discussion with consumers is utilized. And in the desktop lies an avenue of untapped merit…

Check out the nbc.com Communicator version of itiBiti

The users are showing us velocity…In February, average user “on time” was up to 2,125 minutes per month per brand, or 76 minutes per day, with engagement activity running as high as 20%…And now, we’re bringing the mass.

With the itiBiti platform, revenue is derived from advertising and data analytic services based on user engagement – the effect of 5 Million users will help increase the value proposition for our clients very quickly.

As our President David Lucatch states,

itiBiti is working diligently to deliver tangible client results, providing brands with opportunities to strengthen relationship value with users. As most social media platforms are slow to monetize the user’s online experience, itiBiti and brand clients are experiencing immediate, and accretive, revenue generation, at premium market rates…

We’re looking forward to rolling this out – let us know your thoughts. Many thanks to BlackTorch Capital LLC, our US fiscal advisors who were instrumental in the introduction, structuring, and negotiation of this partnership.

Check out the nbc.com Communicator version of itiBiti

Since launching, just under 3 weeks ago, on the NBC.com home site (www.nbc.com), the NBC.com Communicator is now available throughout the NBC web network, reaching the estimated 198 million people who visit NBC sites each month (ComScore) through the over 150 show, sports, entertainment and news web sites.

Whether you’re a 30 Rock fan with Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin (http://www.nbc.com/30-rock/), a Saturday Night Live viewer (http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/) or you’re a member of the myNBC (http://my.nbc.com/) community, you’ll be able to download the NBC.com Communicator from many of the NBC.com sites.

If you’re a sports fan, you’re not going to want to miss the 2010 Winter Olympics, and yep – you guessed it – you can sign up and download the NBC.com Communicator right from the NBC.com 2010 Winter Olympic Home Page (http://www.nbc.com/2010-winter-olympics/)

You can see the NBC.com Communicator “flag” on the NBC footer (2^nd item in on the left) or just click on the link above to visit the web site.

NBC.com runs one of the world’s largest online entertainment platforms and is considered by many sources to be the #1 online broadcaster.

Below is an image of the NBC.com Winter Olympic preview site.  To access all the great NBC shows and other online opportunities, simply “click” on the menu headers (like “shows”, “watch video”, “schedule”, etc.) and then click on an item in the expanded menu.  What you’ll see is that a vast number of sites have the NBC.com Communicator directly on their home page.

This is great news for itiBiti and the NBC.com Communicator as our exposure grows incrementally.

Users just need to click on the NBC.com Communicator link, sign up, download and start enjoying…

To see the NBC.com Communicator link on NBC.com sites, just select one of the “header” menu buttons and then a link in the menu to check out the NBC.com universe.

Stay Tuned! This is just the beginning, as itiBiti creates more encompassing marketing programs with NBC.com and our other clients.

What does this mean to itiBiti and Intertainment Media?

NBC.com is the first live launch itiBiti client and a tier 1 brand recognized globally, and this showcases itiBiti’s great program, product and value offering.  As itiBiti rolls out, we’re listening to feedback from users and we’re updating the offerings and increasing the program’s ability to create additional revenue.

Through the first few months, we’ll be looking to add new and exciting features that will improve the user experience and create viral “stickiness”.

For Intertainment and itiBiti, this launch means that we have real market results that other clients can leverage and bring to their own brand applications.  This, in turn, creates more opportunities for the Company to engage clients and create revenues.

For advertisers, this milestone creates a new engagement strategy for social media, leveraging community, communications, content and commerce. 

Not Facebook, not Skype, not even Twitter can do this!

To find out more about itiBiti and our other exciting Intertainment programs and properties, please visit www.intertainmentmedia.com or www.itibiti.com Intertainment Media Inc. is publicly listed on the TSXV, symbol “INT”.

If you’d like to speak with our team about our programs, feel free to email us, or call us at 800-395-9943

Regards,
David

PS – Located below is the 30 Rock.com Home Page – check out the bottom of the page and you’ll see the NBC.com Communicator there.

The information contained in this presentation may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statements or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements.

This beta desktop application is the first of its kind and offers an all-in-one experience for users. Meaning you get a great communications application (text, voice, and soon video) that also delivers video content from NBC.com right to your desktop.

Under the hood, running the NBC.com Communicator is a private-labeled (a.k.a. white-labeled) application built by Itibiti Systems (a subsidiary of Intertainment Media). It currently includes text and voice messaging, plus it’s connected to Microsoft Live Services, giving you full access to an enormous active social network. Any brand, like NBC.com can partner with itiBiti to release their own player loaded with their own content, commerce, and community.

The NBC.com Communicator is not a replacement for NBC’s other online media plays, such as NBC.com and Hulu, it essentially acts as a gateway to the brand’s other digital properties. While excellent, those media sites are a destination requiring the user to be motivated to go to the sites via a variety of means (e.g. advertising). The NBC.com Communicator is a location play, providing real estate on the desktop with a communications and content application consumers want to use.

NBC.com Communicator is itiBiti’s first public beta release of its application. We’re very much at the early stages of this new type of platform that combines communications, content, commerce, and community all together in a single desktop application. While we’ve seen great examples of other products excelling at just one of those capabilities, we’ve yet to see any one desktop application that combines all four successfully. We’re confident that itiBiti will be that platform for brands. Today you’ll see the NBC.com Communicator, soon you’ll see many more as itiBiti is developing partnerships with other brands that are soon to be released.

We look forward to your feedback as to what you’d like to see in this player. Good and bad, please let us know what you do and don’t like about the player. Together we’re going to make itiBiti a great application for you use to better connect your brand with your audience.

“The NBC.com Communicator as a really cool communication application.” Spark says, “[it has] text, voice and video chat all within the desktop application.” NBC.com is creating the [app] with itiBiti allowing users to watch NBC programs on the desktop.”

Disclosure: David Spark consults for Intertainment Media on the launch of NBC.com Communicator and is also one of the authors of this blog.

TWiT is one of the most popular internet shows that features discussions on the latest technology news and reviews. Leo Laporte hosts the weekly podcast with TWiT TV network to present light discussions and arguments on the internet and electronics.

Listen to the show podcast here.

You can also read transcript of the podcast.