A new study released today from Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group confirms that deep engagement with consumers through social media channels correlates to better financial performance. The ENGAGEMENTdb study (www.engagementdb.com) showed significant positive financial results for the companies who measured as having the greatest breadth and depth of social media engagement. These “Social Media Mavens” on average grew company revenues by 18 percent over the last 12 months, while the least engaged companies saw revenues sink 6 percent on average over the same time period.

The ENGAGEMENTdb study reviewed more than 10 discrete social media channels, including blogs, Facebook, Twitter, wikis, and discussion forums for each of the 100 most valuable brands as identified by the 2008 BusinessWeek/Interbrand Best Global Brands ranking. Activity in each channel was ranked for depth of interaction on measures that corresponded to that specific channel. Scores for overall brand engagement ranged from a high of 127 to a low of 1. The top 10 ENGAGEMENTdb brands with their scores are:

Starbucks (127)
Dell (123)
eBay (115)
Google (105)
Microsoft (103)
Thomson Reuters (101)
Nike (100)
Amazon (88)
SAP (86)
Tie – Yahoo!/Intel (85)
Qualities of Success

Companies that scored well in the study generally have dedicated teams, however small, active in the social media channels they utilize. The study found that the most successful teams evangelize social media across the entire organization to pull in a broad range of stakeholders. These companies view social media as an indispensable tool to help them achieve results, and their approach is conversational. This mode of operation differs from the approach of traditional communications and early corporate blog experimentation, which emphasizes messaging and talking points.

“This is the first study of this depth on the top global brands and we think the results provide a good guide for corporations and brand marketers in every industry,” said Charlene Li, Founder, Altimeter Group. “The success stories we have uncovered provide a blueprint for companies making decisions about how to best apply their marketing and consumer relations resources.”

“The ENGAGEMENTdb study goes a long way towards validating the importance of social media for business,” said Ben Elowitz, CEO of Wetpaint. “The closer any company is to its customers, the better, and it’s hard to argue with the ability for social media to create such proximity. In this day and age, companies should feel much more comfortable investing in social media — the correlation to results is so clear.”

Four Quadrants of Engagement

While each company in the study received a quantitative score, the ENGAGEMENTdb study revealed that companies fell into four specific categories in terms of their breadth and depth of investment in social media channels — Mavens, Butterflies, Selectives, and Wallflowers.

Mavens — brands that have made social media a core part of their go-to-market strategies and are very active in many channels; usually driven by dedicated teams assisted by company-wide awareness and participation.
Butterflies — brands that recognize the need to be in many channels but have only met with real success in a subset of their activities; these companies are usually spread a bit too thin.
Selectives — brands that focus on just a few channels and excel in those; these efforts are usually initiated by an internal evangelist.
Wallflowers — brands present in only a few channels and very lightly in those; these brands are sitting on the sidelines and are wary of the risks. They are still trying to figure out the best next steps and investments in social media.
Rank Your Company Against the ENGAGEMENTdb Top 100

Launching today, the ENGAGEMENTdb website (www.engagementdb.com) makes it possible for companies and brand managers to quickly find out how their social media efforts rank as compared to those of the world’s most valuable brands. After taking a quick survey, respondents will receive an email evaluation of their social media efforts compared to the companies in the ENGAGEMENTdb report. Additionally, companies can detail their social media efforts for inclusion in the ENGAGEMENTdb through the website. This data will be used in future research and study of the benefits of social media.

The Wetpaint/Altimeter ENGAGEMENTdb Report can be found at www.ENGAGEMENTdb.com

About Wetpaint

Wetpaint provides the leading platform for fans and brands to easily create and participate in online communities around the topics they care about most. Wetpaint offers businesses a turnkey solution for creating and fostering passionate communities that drive traffic and increase loyalty. Consumers flock to http://www.wetpaint.com to create sites around topics they love. For more company information, visit http://press.wetpaint.com

About Altimeter Group

Altimeter Group provides advice and consulting on digital strategies, with a focus on how organizations can leverage social and emerging technologies to achieve results. It is led by Charlene Li, the co-author of the best selling book, “Groundswell”. For more information, please visit http://www.altimetergroup.com.

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (Nasdaq: MGIC), a provider of application platforms and business and process integration solutions, announces that it has signed a contract with AVL, the world’s largest privately owned company for the development of powertrains. AVL selected Magic Software’s iBOLT to integrate their Salesforce.com with SAP R/3 and Oracle systems.

AVL selected the iBOLT integration suite because of its ability to integrate their on-demand Salesforce.com CRM system with their on-premise SAP R/3 ERP and Oracle systems rapidly and more cost-effectively than other solutions. Up until now, this data exchange had to be performed manually. AVL was particularly impressed by the fact that iBOLT came with standard connectors for Salesforce.com and SAP R/3.

The iBOLT business and process integration suite enables organizations to synchronize data within diverse applications. It provides enhanced workflows, automation of manual processes, and a real-time view of business activity.

For AVL, iBOLT offered an open architecture that was practical and comprehensible, so that when AVL plans to implement future changes to their IT set-up, those changes can be made quietly and efficiently without the need to call in expert help.

iBOLT quickly and cost-effectively integrates a wide range of IT business applications including SAP Business One, SAP R/3, Salesforce.com, Oracle JD Edwards, Lotus Notes, Microsoft Office, IBM i (AS/400), HL7 applications and Google Apps. The iBOLT business integration suite is the winner of SAP Awards for three consecutive years, including the Global Innovation Partner Award for 2008.

For more information about the iBOLT business integration suite please visit: http://www.magicsoftware.com/78-en/products.aspx

Experian(R), a global information services company, today announced the adoption by Forex Capital Markets of Experian Universal ID Check, an authentication service designed to counter the threat of identity fraud and money laundering across a range of countries, helping organizations address identity risk and satisfy regulatory compliance requirements.

“As an online foreign exchange trading firm with more than 125,000 live accounts that are traded through our platforms, authentication across numerous countries via a single platform is of paramount concern and value for us,” said Juan Cafe of Forex Capital Markets. “Experian Universal ID Check allows us to authenticate consumers residing in multiple countries and perform a variety of effective identity checks through a single access point, saving time and cost without compromising the customer experience.”

Experian Universal ID Check is quick and accurate. Via an Experian Web user interface or XML implementation, clients select the country associated with the applicant’s current residence. The screens then provide the appropriate formatting of the name, address and telephone number associated with that country. In addition to these identity elements, users also may initiate checks associated with passport details, bank account data, IP address geolocation, or a series of relevant sanctions and Politically Exposed Persons watch lists. The applicant is then authenticated, and both summary- and detail-level record results are returned.

“Effectively combating fraud in a global economy requires a global approach,” said Hiq Lee, senior vice president and general manager of Experian’s Fraud and Identity Solutions group. “Organizations who rely on documentary evidence for authentication may face increased operational costs and organizational exposure. They also may suffer a degraded customer experience brought about by the perceived inconvenience and security concerns associated with providing required documents. Currently covering 24 countries, Experian Universal ID Check utilizes electronic data to offer a robust, cost-effective and customer-friendly system for fighting fraud in diverse markets and on an international scale.”

As an alternative to the comprehensive reporting provided through Experian Universal ID Check, Experian Universal ID Service delivers a menu of distinct capabilities that can be combined or leveraged individually as standalones, allowing users to customize the authentication checks they wish to utilize and eliminate superfluous searches.

About Experian

Experian(R) is a global leader in providing information, analytical and marketing services to organizations and consumers to help manage the risk and reward of commercial and financial decisions.

Combining its unique information tools and deep understanding of individuals, markets and economies, Experian partners with organizations around the world to establish and strengthen customer relationships and provide their businesses with competitive advantage.

For consumers, Experian delivers critical information that enables them to make financial and purchasing decisions with greater control and confidence. Clients include organizations from financial services, retail and catalog, telecommunications, utilities, media, insurance, automotive, leisure, e-commerce, manufacturing, property and government sectors.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Experian has corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and has operational headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif., and Nottingham, UK. The Group employs approximately 15,000 people in 40 countries worldwide, supporting clients in more than 65 countries around the world. Total Group revenue for the year ended March 31, 2009, was $3.9 billion.

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.

Experian and the marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc.

Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Experian(R), a global information services company, today announced the adoption by Forex Capital Markets of Experian Universal ID Check, an authentication service designed to counter the threat of identity fraud and money laundering across a range of countries, helping organizations address identity risk and satisfy regulatory compliance requirements.

“As an online foreign exchange trading firm with more than 125,000 live accounts that are traded through our platforms, authentication across numerous countries via a single platform is of paramount concern and value for us,” said Juan Cafe of Forex Capital Markets. “Experian Universal ID Check allows us to authenticate consumers residing in multiple countries and perform a variety of effective identity checks through a single access point, saving time and cost without compromising the customer experience.”

Experian Universal ID Check is quick and accurate. Via an Experian Web user interface or XML implementation, clients select the country associated with the applicant’s current residence. The screens then provide the appropriate formatting of the name, address and telephone number associated with that country. In addition to these identity elements, users also may initiate checks associated with passport details, bank account data, IP address geolocation, or a series of relevant sanctions and Politically Exposed Persons watch lists. The applicant is then authenticated, and both summary- and detail-level record results are returned.

“Effectively combating fraud in a global economy requires a global approach,” said Hiq Lee, senior vice president and general manager of Experian’s Fraud and Identity Solutions group. “Organizations who rely on documentary evidence for authentication may face increased operational costs and organizational exposure. They also may suffer a degraded customer experience brought about by the perceived inconvenience and security concerns associated with providing required documents. Currently covering 24 countries, Experian Universal ID Check utilizes electronic data to offer a robust, cost-effective and customer-friendly system for fighting fraud in diverse markets and on an international scale.”

As an alternative to the comprehensive reporting provided through Experian Universal ID Check, Experian Universal ID Service delivers a menu of distinct capabilities that can be combined or leveraged individually as standalones, allowing users to customize the authentication checks they wish to utilize and eliminate superfluous searches.

About Experian

Experian(R) is a global leader in providing information, analytical and marketing services to organizations and consumers to help manage the risk and reward of commercial and financial decisions.

Combining its unique information tools and deep understanding of individuals, markets and economies, Experian partners with organizations around the world to establish and strengthen customer relationships and provide their businesses with competitive advantage.

For consumers, Experian delivers critical information that enables them to make financial and purchasing decisions with greater control and confidence. Clients include organizations from financial services, retail and catalog, telecommunications, utilities, media, insurance, automotive, leisure, e-commerce, manufacturing, property and government sectors.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Experian has corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and has operational headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif., and Nottingham, UK. The Group employs approximately 15,000 people in 40 countries worldwide, supporting clients in more than 65 countries around the world. Total Group revenue for the year ended March 31, 2009, was $3.9 billion.

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.

Experian and the marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc.

Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Do you set up all your friends’ photos on your phone contacts? It’s too much trouble to take photos of all your friends, isn’t it?

If your friends show their profile photos on the SNS[*1], you can install them on your phone contacts. When they call you, their photos will be displayed and it will make it easier you to recognize who is calling you.

This application is the second in our “Contacts List Application” series. Our first application “Pixel Contacts”[*2] is being received well. Please check it out as well.

[*1] It is now compatible with Facebook and Twitter.

[*2] Pixel Contact – Characters for Each Contact –
Get an easy to remember Pixel Character for your Phone Contacts!
http://www.zerohachi.jp/iPhone/PixelContact/index_jp.html

?About SNS Contact Title : SNS Contact – Friends’ Photos on Your Phone Contacts
Genre : Utilities
Correspondance Model : iPhone / iPod touch
Software Version : iPhone OS over 2.2.1 (and OS 3.0)
Release : 24 July 2009
How to get : Download from App Store
Price : $1.99
Company : 08 Inc.
Copyright : (c)08 2009

?App Store
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSo …

?Production Information Website
http://www.zerohachi.jp/iPhone/SNSContact/index_jp.html

?Promotion Video?YouTube?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oikGZJitACA

?08 Inc.
http://www.zerohachi.jp/

?Contacts
Kuniaki Suzuki

08,Inc.
Internet & computer software company
TEL: 81-03-3989-8879
FAX: 81-03-3989-8870
e-mail iphone@zerohachi.jp

http://www.zerohachi.jp/

“LA Investment Capital Alternative Investments Fund I” is a global alternative investment private equity fund specializing in the development of a unique portfolio of “Mineral Rights” investment opportunities and investment strategies that provide unparalleled diversification and performance for qualified investors. LA Investment Capital’s advisory panel has delivered years of positive, uncorrelated returns to its worldwide customer-base.

At the core of “LA Investment Capital Alternative Investment Fund I” is the philosophy that strategies should capture the enduring and explainable market participant behavior. We strongly believe in diversifying risk in every way possible including long term investment strategies, geographic region of the investment opportunity, sector and individual markets within a sector.

Senior management at LA Investment Capital has partnered with Mining & Technology LLC for a mining operation in Arizona. M&T holds two and one half square miles of mineral claims with the Bureau of Land Management in Phoenix, Arizona, which are located in Pinal County near Florence.

These claims are replete with commercial and precious minerals, not limited to gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, iron oxide, and titanium. The value of just one claim is estimated to be worth approximately US $4 Billion Dollars.

These mineral claims lay on an alluvial plain that is in an area where mountains have been eroded into sand and gravel, filling a valley to depths of 3,000 feet. The minerals have been determined to be roughly uniform in dispersal throughout the geological area.

According to Steve Muehler, President of LA Investment Capital, a capital investment of $100 million dollars by “LA Investment Capital Alternative Investments Fund I” is anticipated to return more than $800 million dollars to “LA Investment Capital Alternative Investments Fund I” over a five year period.

Al Rajhi Bank CEO, Mr. Abdullah Sulaiman Al Rajhi announced that the Bank posted a net profit of SR 3,503 million, compared to SR 3,344 million during the same period last year, representing a 5% increase. This growth is attributed to the increase in customer deposits and the diversification of the Bank’s financing and investment strategy. Al Rajhi explained that the Bank is continuing with its conservative strategy by increasing its financial provisions by 55% compared to the same period last year.
Al Rajhi Bank CEO also explained that the financial results for the period June 30, 2009 showed that the net income from financing and investment operations reached SR 4,623 million, compared to SR 4,170 million, which represents an 11% increase from last year. Total operational revenues reached SR 5,641 million, compared to SR 5,201 million, representing an 8% increase. Al Rajhi indicated that the Bank was successful in diversifying its revenue base and developing the investment and banking sectors hand in hand with managing customer relationships and meeting their needs with quality products and servicess.
Al Rajhi added that the shareholder value increased to reach 27 billion, compared to 24 billion during the same period last year, an increase of 13%. Assets increased to SR 165 billion, compared to SR 150 billion, representing an increase of 10%. Customer deposits grew by 14%, increasing from SR 123 billion, compared to SR 108 billion. The Bank made a return on investment from assets at a rate of 4.25% whereas the return on shareholder value reached 26%. Profits per share reached SR 2.34 compared to SR 2.23 representing a 5% increase from last year.
Al Rajhi continued that these due to the fine financial results and as part of the Board’s keen interest to distribute dividends. The Board of Directors agreed to distribute SR 1,875,000,000 at SR 1.25 per share after deduction of Zakat as half year dividends for 2009. Priority for profit distribution for registered shareholders will be end of day Sunday July 19, 2009 and the bank will begin depositing profits in shareholder accounts by Sunday July 26, 2009.
Al Rajhi Bank Website Address http://www.alrajhibank.com.sa/