iPint - the sincerest form of flattery?

693284 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:11:00 GMT

My views on the iPint (great idea, could have gone further) prompted some to argue that the idea was good enough to preclude any criticism. Now it seems even that might not have been theirs in the first place.

For BMB, which created the iPint for Carling and won a Cyber Lion at Cannes for its efforts, is being sued by an apps developer that created iBeer and claims it refused BMB the rights to use it as the technology behind iPint. BMB instead went elsewhere to create their own.

Now, nicking ideas is not a rare occurrence in adland - particularly now that the 'viral' effect lands loads of them on creatives' PCs on a regular basis - and if iPint was nicked then it's the latest in a long line. But the mistake will have been to have messed with application developers.

Theirs is a close-knit world. They often feel they are fighting towards some undefined common goal (The Matrix, War Games and Tron will almost always feature in their favourite movies) and interlopers, particularly those from the dark world of 'traditional advertising', are not particularly welcome.

If BMB is found to have ripped off a member of this particular sect of the digital landscape, then it will have done much to confirm everything they already think about ad agencies. Since marketers these days need technology on their side to stand any chance of having an impact, that is not a helpful state of affairs

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iPint - the sincerest form of flattery?