Is this another Ferrit?

There have been a lot of TV ads promoting Lasoo.co.nz, a price comparison pre-shopping website.

I remember all too well Telecom’s foray into the online shopping experience. Now NZ Post, along with Reachmedia which it owns 50% of, is having a crack at this market.

Let me predict right now - this is destined for failure, in New Zealand at least.

Ferrit collapsed in January 2009. It was also a price comparison website but with the difference that customers could buy directly from the site. Lasoo sends customers to the nearest store or website of the retailer. So it would seem that the only way that Lasoo is making money is by charging retailers for the activity that their products generate on the site, and from Google ads.

It’s not going to work for a number of reasons:

1. New Zealand is too small a market
2. There aren’t enough retailers offering the same product to make price comparisons worthwhile

Only nine retailers have signed up but Reachmedia chief executive Greg Radford says it expects to bring about 10 more on board in the next few months. That’s a projected total of 19 retailers presumably offering different products with minimal ability to compare prices. If all nineteen stores offered the same products then the game may be on.

Lasoo has been operating in Australia for nearly two and a half years with some success. But that market is a lot bigger than New Zealand. As Stephan Korn, director of Webfund says in this Stuff article - “the site will be difficult to make a go of in New Zealand. It will need to charge retailers a ‘low cost per 1000 impressions’ rate to get their buy-in so they will need huge traffic to make it work.”

Crazy drummer

Not sure who to laugh at - the drummer or the MC…

The sick guy - Aussie rapper

How come I hadn’t heard about this guy before today? I know! It’s cos I don’t watch commercial television.

But I did catch him tonight at the end of Campbell Live. Christiaan Van Vuuren has been in a Sydney hospital since December 9, 2009. He returned from a trip to South America where he contracted tuberculosis. He’s in isolation. Poor bugger.

So, to while away his days he writes rap songs and posts them on You Tube. Campbell Live have him doing a weekly wrap (rap) each Friday night. They are very funny.

Here’s the first one he did after his quarantine:

Here’s this weeks wrap on Campbell Live.

Enjoy.

Air NZ, Rob Fyfe and the NZ Listener

Anyone know who does Air NZ’s viral campaign work? Only reason I ask is cos it’s good.

Here’s the latest - a sign-language response to an editorial in the NZ Listener magazine where that magazine suggested Air NZ would be becoming a budget airline by joining with Virgin Blue on the transtasman route.

The Air NZ response is so simple. Plus timely given that it is just weeks after NZ Sign Language week.

BTW - the woman in the clip is Victoria Skorikova - she works at the Deaf Association headquarters in Auckland.

Check the website here: http://www.dearlistener.co.nz/. While you are there check out the press release.

The Swell Season

As many of you know I work at Springload.

We are lucky enough to sponsor (by way of providing the website) the International Arts Festival every two years. Consequently we get to go to a few shows.

Last Sunday night was one of the best. I have to admit to having never heard of The Swell Season, nor have I seen their acclaimed movie Once. Now I own two CD’s and I’m ready to offer my hand in marriage to Mar - the female half of the song-writing duo.

Here’s a video from their website to give you a flavour. Beautiful in so many ways.

http://www.vimeo.com/9443895

Minimax #7

And on a final note here’s a great photo of me and my son Harper on the boat. The photo was taken by Pete Notman, a Minimax builder and racer himself. Thanks Pete.

Two-up on the Minimax: Pic by Pete Notman