Banking Made Easy from National Irish Bank with Smartphone App

Tonight I attended the launch of the National Irish Bank smartphone app…a laidback affair featuring a comedy set from Colm O’Regan which was great for a Thursday evening when neurons are firing that bit slower!

I got an app demo with a difference from Liam Curran, Project Manager at Danske Bank and Jesper Nielen, Head of Business Development and Deputy CEO at National Irish Bank. You could tell that the company is really proud of this app…one NIB staff member referred to it as ‘feckin deadly’!

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Leo Burnett Turn Street Signs into an Interactive Car Catologue

This is a clever campaign from Leo Burnett Iberia to promote the new Fiat Punto Evo. They created a smartphone app – Fiat Street Evo – which effectively transformed the city’s road signs into an interactive car catalogue.

The app treated any road sign like a QR code, scanning it and revealing additional information about the Punto Evo. For example when you scanned a sign of a traffic sign you got info on the cars parking sensor. The app also connected people to their nearest retailer to book a test drive.

To incentivise people to use the app, prizes (such as iPads) were ‘hidden’ within some of the signs. The first one to come across the prize won it. In the first week more than 1 million signs were spotted and the app was voted Spanish App of the year.

‘Gay Cure’ App Has Apple Stewing

We’ve all heard the slogan ‘there’s an app for that‘, well the Christian activist group Exodus International would have you believe that there’s now an app that can help cure homosexuality.

Apple approved the so-called ‘gay cure’ app for entry into their app store and have found themselves in the middle of a gay rights controversy this week as a result.

Over 80,000 people have signed an online petition on Change.org against the app according to a piece published in the Guardian today.  Gay rights group, Truth Wins Out, is now encouraging people on the site to send a letter to Steve Jobs ‘demanding the iTunes store stop supporting homophobia and remove the Exodus app‘.

They’ve been successful in this area in the past, handing over a petition with 8000 signatures to Apple last year against the app “Confession: A Roman Catholic App” which they described as “cyber spiritual abuse that promotes backward ideas in a modern package“.

Alarmingly the Exodus app currently sits 14th in the top free apps in the Lifestyle category.

MINI Use an App to Create Reality Car Chase

Stockholm based agency Jung Von Matt have developed a really clever promotional campaign to launch the new MINI Countryman.  They have created an iPhone app called “Getaway Stockholm” which allows the city’s iPhone-brandishing residents to play a reality game and be in with the chance to win a new MINI Countryman.

The idea is that you use the app to chase a virtual MINI Countryman. You can see on the app your location relative to that of the MINI. Once you’re nearby you tap to ‘catch the MINI. But the game doesn’t end there. Once you’ve managed to ‘catch’ the MINI the challenge is to keep it. You have to keep at least 50 meters away from everybody else playing the gamee as they can snag the car back. The person who has the virtual MINI in their iPhone after the game week ends wins the real car.

It’s a clever concept which makes great use of mobile technology – the app becomes the focal point of a fun campaign, creating ‘talkability’ around the brand and sustaining the interest of the public and creating PR opportunities across a week.  It will be interesting to see how many people download the app and take part.

This video was released to explain the game. All the fun kicks off this Sunday and the game will be played for a week.

Golden Pages App Launched with a Video

Truvo, the company behind the Golden Pages, have officially launched the new Golden Pages iPhone app with a video.

‘The Golden Pages Journey’ follows a phone book and it’s ‘friends’ around Dublin city and ends with a shot of the app on a smartphone. There are some nice touches in this video such as the phonebooks circling the wheel of ‘Molly Malone’s’ barrow.

I’m not sure if the best way to highlight the convenience of a smartphone app is to focus on phonebooks speeding around town but the video would work well at a TV spot and does hold the viewers attention as the phonebooks move around well known parts of the city.

A phone directory is considered quite a traditional thing and in the minds of many people it has become an unnecessary tool. I personal cannot remember the last time I picked up the Golden Pages – I prefer to hit the internet or even call directory enquiries.

Developing an iPhone app is an obvious way for a traditional phone directory to become more relevant to modern consumers. The app itself is simple to use and has a share function so that you can tap to share the contact information by email or on Twitter or Facebook if you’re so inclined. You can also get directions to places of interest. To be honest though I was surprised the app doesn’t allow you to do more.

I was recently in Kerry wandering around Dingle looking for somewhere to eat and whipped out my iPhone and went to MenuPages for a recommendation. If the Golden Pages app allowed people to add reviews and rate particular businesses then it would be a much better resource.

The brand have been really upping their online presence recently and now have a Twitter account and a Facebook page. They also have a blog on which they’ve some special offers and giveaways.