Barology

As we have seen with many other social media community recommendation sites, Sydney based startup Barology is taking the concept to a niche market, the nightlife scene.

Barology has created a search engine platform with over 643 bars and clubs in Sydney. It provides nightlife adventurers and party goers with the latest information such as menus, current live feed offers to video showcases, reviews and ratings on Sydney bars and clubs.

Barology emphasis is on growing the Barology community and driving the crowd to determine what are the hottest bars and clubs in Sydney via reviews and ratings.

At the same time, providing Sydney's bars and clubs with a promotional channel and opportunity to draw the crowd with special offers, incentives, great customer service and experience.

Co Founder of Barology, Paul Somers, says "We have a great deal more up our sleeve in regards to  our webiste and our efforts towards mobile app integration which we believe will continue to excite over the coming months".

We see great synergy with Barology and SceneTap (featured in our July spottings) who provide realtime snap shot of the male to female ratios at nightclubs and bars.

Barology, another great example of a startup grabbing an existing concept and taking it to a niche market with a twist.

Pommery Pop-up Bar Sydney

Pop-up retail has been sprouting all around the world for years now. From startups trying to build a crowd to major corporate brands connecting with their fans.

To celebrate the completion of Westfield's luxe level three precinct, French champagne house Pommery (who is also celebrating their 175th birthday this year) are hosting a intimate pop-up bar. 

For only 5 days from the 17-21 August, Pommery's "The Champagne Cube" Pop-up bar will be enticing shoppers of Sydney Westfield level 3 with its fine champagne.  With its sleek minimalist design, "The Champagne Cube" is decked out with the Pommery's signature colors of silver, blue and white. At $15 a pop, shoppers can experience the sense of luxury, style and indulgence of the Pommery brand. At the same instance, Pommery introduces its brand to a wider market segment and crowd.

Pop-up concept is a great way for startups, small businesses and brands in general to connect with the masses with minimal cost, short term commitment and locations with great exposure.

What has your startup or brand recently done with pop-up retail?

Free solar charging for mobiles

We are living in a digital world where we heavily depend on mobile and multimedia devices for communication and leisure. Batteries are pushed to the limits with the introduction of new devices and technologies on a daily basis, hence more energy been continually consumed. 

We have all experienced the dead battery scenario with our devices which seems to occur whenever we need our devices the most. To resolve this day to day inconvenience, a group of students calling themselves the "Strawberry Energy Team" from the University of Belgrade have possibly created the first public solar charging station for mobile phones with the "The Strawberry Tree". 

Located in the town square of Obrenovac district in Belgrade, The Strawberry Tree offers free solar mobile charging to the public.

Installed and launched late last year, the charging station supports up to 16 various types of mobile phones with a charging time of 10 to 15mins. The station also has a built-in battery to enable charging during nights and poor weather periods.

May this year, the Strawberry Energy Team was awarded the "Sustainable Energy Europe Award" for 2011, which has sparked great interest from across the globe. The Strawberry Energy Team has plans to launch The Strawberry Tree in a number of other cities in Serbia this year. 

Emphasis on sustainability, The Strawberry Tree located in busy public spaces also brings social communities together in the form of a meeting place for locals.

This innovative eco concept, opens up a huge potential for brands such as mobile carriers and device manufacturers to partner with and inturn stamp their mark on eco friendly sustainability. 

One Big Switch

We have seen the likes of Spreets, Living Social and Groupon leading the trend in the group buying concept over the last couple of years. It's popularity has increased immensely over the last year or so with the crowd, who are always looking for a great deal. We are starting to see a number of new startups taking the crowd power group buying concept to a new level.

Australian startup One Big Switch, is using crowd power to obtain better mortgage deals with the various financial institutions for everyday mortgage holders. One Big Switch launched its first campaign "Choice Big Bank Switch" on the 31st July 2011 to find 1000 Australian mortgage holders willing to switch banks for a better mortgage deal. 10,000 Australian consumers registered in the first 12 hrs and 40,000 registered in the first 2 weeks.

Concept is simple, mortgage holders interested in switching banks for a better deal register on the One Big Switch site. One Big Switch negotiates with lenders, seeking the best deal and rate for the switchers. Mortgage lenders compete with each other to attract the group of switchers with a special offer and rate. The registered mortgage holders then have the opportunity to determine if the winning lender offer is right for them.

One Big Switch monetization is based on a commission model which is paid by the lending company who win over the switchers. One Big Switch advises that full disclosure of commission payments is disclosed to all switchers.

Currently One Big Switch is looking at other switching offers such as electricity and other market segments.

Another great example of an innovative startup creating a twist on an existing competitive market concept. Why not start a similar concept in your corner of the globe, inturn demolishing government and corporate dominance. People power is showing no signs of slowing down.

Eat With Me

Are you adventurous and brave enough to dine and strike up a conversation with total strangers?

It was only a few months ago that we featured the foodie social networks Lets Lunch and Dishcrawl where foodie lovers meet to share common interests and love of food.

Following the footsteps of "Lets Lunch" and "Dishcrawl", Melbourne startup Eat With Me brings a social twist to the foodie social scene. Launched October 2010, Eat With Me is a social network site where foodies plan a event, post the event and request other foodies to join in.

Members and events are popping up in cities from around the world from Melbourne to Berlin, Buenos Aires to Milan, with many more locations to come. The meetups create a sense of community and connection with new friends. 

WIth the help of technology and the growth of the online community, Eat With Me provides an innovative approach to the traditional eat out and dining experience.  Eat With Me is a perfect example of the online and offline community converging hence removing the isolation and barriers as a result of the digital world. 

Great concept to emulate for another niche market.