Jake is in Washington DC speaking at the Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s yearly summit.  He is talking about how brands can create passionate fans, describing how our Fancast™ system can assist in that process.

Just as he arrived in DC, the Federal Trade Commission ruled that “companies engaging in word-of-mouth marketing, in which people are compensated to promote products to their peers, must disclose those relationships” according to Annys Shin of the Washington Post.

Interesting to see the FTC coming down on the side of the WOMMA…

In a move that reflects the current direction of the Big in Japan business, we are launching our first true tool set ~ an API to allow web applications to build in robust voice features  that are built, managed and hosted by Big in Japan. Big in Japan doesn’t want to build the applications you use, we want to make the applications your deliver better! Think BASF for web services.

We have been providing Voice 2.0 integrated applications as dedicated services for quite some time. Now we are offering a robust API (application programming interface) that allows any web developer or application developer to integrated custom phone features into their application.  The first API provides hooks into our Podcall system.  The API work regardless of the web technology (Ruby on Rails, PHP, Flash and of course simple HTML to name a few). Want to offer this sort of functionality found on Google:

Originally built to allow for quick and easy integration for Courtney Cox’s new television show Dirt, the Big in Japan team is opening the API for any developer who needs access to a telephone system. What can it do? The possibilities are endless. Start with simple functions like providing messages or wake-up calls to your users or clients. Then build interesting dating applications to connect people together. Or create robust identity verification system for your services for payment processing or demographic data collection. The system is robust and the applications are limitless.

To help promote our Fancast service, Fox has been running short promotions on its various channels.  Jeremy Pepper IM’d me this afternoon after he saw our promo on Fox News.  To see the promo visit Fancast on YouTube.

After our initial launch for Nip/Tuck, users told us that our registration system was annoying.  We took their comments to heart and relaunched last night allowing users to simply request a call without creating an account.  Now all you need to get on the show is a phone number, email address and a name - no password or registration necessary.  Users now get “instant gratification” and that is a good thing.

Fancast Before UI Simplification.

Fancast After UI Modifcations.