Good bye Hill & Knowlton, Hello Karmony!

Yesterday was my last day as EMEA VP of digital for Hill & Knowlton. Monday, I am off to Mountain View, California to raise funds for a new generation of social shopping engine. Codenamed “Karmony”, it cuts through the so-called “wisdom of the crowd” to provide only the most relevant product recommendations to individuals. I’ll blog more about Karmony and about my journey as an entrepreneur in the coming days. Wish me luck and stay tuned.

Mobile Television: Europeans not interested

Only 5% would consider trying it within the next 12 months if it was available. Article in French.

Facebook user? You are worth $238

"Microsoft is poised to buy a 5% stake in the firm for between $300m and $500m. That would make Facebook worth up to $10bn" (...) "The valuation would amount to $238 for each of the 42 million people who have Facebook profiles." Guardian article.

Myspace was sold two years ago for $580 million and claims 100 million users.

France: 9 out of 10 search queries are on Google

Google: 85.8%
Yahoo!: 3.8%
Microsoft: 3.4%
eBay: 2.2%
France Télécom: 2%

Article (French).

Pirate Bay sues media giants for 'sabotage'

"The big record and movie labels are paying professional hackers, saboteurs to destroy our trackers" Pirate Bay said."

Story on the Register.

Tianducheng, Paris' replica made in China

Tianducheng, a gated community near Hangzou has its own Eiffel tower (second largest replica in the world), Arc de triomphe and parisian's style appartments.

Article on Yahoo!
More pictures on Reuters.

Short List:: new free weekly men magazine

I picked-up a copy of the first issue of ShortList this morning and for a free paper, I am pretty impressed by it. Phil Hilton, the editor wants to raise above the repetitive "how to get a six pack", football and tits formula that plague FHM, Zoo, Nuts or the like. I wsih them good luck and eagerly await the next issue .

Ahoy! It's talk like a pirate day!

Why talk like a pirate? How: the five As.

The world's best hotels on a budget

Article on the Times about book "Secret hotels" by Erik Torkell.

If you like travelling in style without breaking the bank, this book looks like a must have.

Healthcare companies / eMarketer not web 2.0 ready

In a report titled "Pharmaceutical Marketing Online: Stuck in Web 1.5" eMarketer senior analyst Lisa Phillips said "Pharma's slow adoption of Web 2.0 strategies like blogs, social networks and broadband video can be attributed to its conservative approach to advertising in general and to government restrictions".

Most pharma companies still build "Web 1.0" brochureware websites with limited user information. I agree that the regulatory framework doesn't help.

However, Lisa Phillips names some exceptions such as Rozerem where visitors to the website can see a "video featuring the characters from its TV spots--Abraham Lincoln, a talking beaver and a sleep-deprived young man--with each imploring users to click on his individual section to learn more about the drug".

It's abit more creative but really, how web 2.0 is that??? It's just a layer on a brochureware website...

From Online Media Daily EMarketer report is there.

Facebook costing firms over £130m a day

233 million hours are wasted by employees every month according to employment law firm Peninsula. BBC article. There must be some gains... for some employees somehow...

Wacky Japanese Fanta TV commercials