Tag Archives: Augmented Reality

Believe in Macy’s Augmented Reality *Magical* Experience

Macy's Christmas Story

For anyone creating or thinking about creating an experience with any sort of enabling technology, look no further than Macy’s. With their new Believe-o-Magic Augmented Reality experience, they show us that when you use new technologies like this:

1. Don’t let the entire experience hinge on this technology

2. Do what you can to extend something that already exists

3. Anything that creates an emotional tie between people and/or people and a brand has a pretty good chance of use and success.

Macy’s hits at the heart of a deep cornerstone of Christmas – every little boy and girl’s belief in Santa Claus and the magic wrapped up in the whole wonder. And this year, they’re doing it through emerging technology. Beautiful.

I have written about Macy’s a few times before, primarily because of their Behind the Scenes QR Code campaign. I really liked what they did with that campaign in terms of using all their channels to raise awareness and promote the actual program. Their broadcast spots supported it, their social media efforts supported it, even their in-store supported it. It was a seemingly well-thought out campaign as opposed to so many that we see that seem like afterthoughts.

So, it made me smile when I saw their foray into another enabling technology – this time, Augmented Reality.

Fundamentally, I really like what they’re doing with this letters-to-Santa program. They’ve had a mailbox to Santa for the past few years, at least. It is a ritual for our family to go to Macy’s and let the kids write their letters to Santa. Our kids love it. (And oh by the way, they do make a donation to Make-a-Wish for every letter received up to $1 million. Say what you will about that, I think it’s a nice tie-in.)

At this time of the year, this is the thing that separates Macy’s from the other department stores at this time of the year. This is the reason that we go to Macy’s before any others. So, this is just a solid program without any of the fancy technology.

But it’s here, in this fancy technology that makes ME want to go and be a part of the experience myself. This year, they’ve created a Believe-o-Magic (great name, btw) mobile application that allows you to pose with characters from a Christmas narrative that they created, take a picture, make a virtual Christmas card, and send out to whoever you want, including those in your social network.

Now, I’ll be very interested to see if Macy’s audience (parents, more middle-class than not, who knows what their familiarity with emerging technologies like this is??) is the right audience for Augmented Reality, but what I love about it is this – they are now deepening the experience. Without ruining it. The experience is already special, just in the fact that kids can write letters to Santa and put them in a big, red mailbox. Add an enabling technology on top of it and you have an a) richer experience and b) one that creates a more interesting piece of social content.

This experience does not require this app or technology to exist. That’s a great thing. Take note, and as much as you can help, when you create an experience that uses any sort of emerging technology, don’t let the experience live and die with that technology. It should just be an extension, one that deepens and extends the experience.

Last week, I sat in on a session with Michael Tobin (VP, eCommerce Integration) of Macy’s and I walked away knowing that they are very in tune with connecting with consumers, on their terms, through whatever technology is best for them. They’re not afraid to experiment with these new technologies, but they’re measured and thoughtful about how they use them, too. In my opinion (based on their QR code campaign and now this), they’re very good at thinking strategically about implementing them.

This is another thing we can learn from them – how can you tie this new technology to programs that already exist? It’s (relatively) easy to create an Augmented Reality something-or-other. It’s an entirely different thing to use the technology to make something that already exists better.

It doesn’t seem like Macy’s does something just to do it. I think that’s a hard temptation to fight in today’s world, with all of this new technology around. It just screams for people to play with it and often times, spend big money doing it. But with a measured approach, you might just create believers in all sense of the word.

 

CETW Keynote #3 – 10 Mobile Social Trends for 2012+

These are my recap notes from the last session of the day, the closing keynote at CETW. Brought to us by David Berkowitz, VP Emerging Media at 360i. I have been following David for a couple of years as well as his agency, 360i. Every year, they put out Playbooks and Trend Reports for mobile and social and a host of others. While I find them to lack a few things, they are comprehensive and represent a voice from 360i in the market, one that I suspect has paid quite a few dividends. I am always interested to see what he/they have to say because I feel like they are on the forefront of emerging technology and not afraid to get their thoughts out there. So, I was very excited to hear David speak and give this presentation. I don’t know that the audience knew what to do with him. And it was the last session of the last day, an unfortunate slot. He was kind enough to share his presentation via slideshare, so here it is:

Here are the 10 trends and a few notes I took with each:

1. Social Fashion – real-time fashion advice

2. Tagging – everyone sees the same things differently so tagging is a way we can make consistent

3. Interactive TV – not necessarily through the TV, but through other channels. Check these apps out, if don’t know/use them already: IntoNow (my personal favorite), Umami, GetGlue

4. Q & A – see Siri.

5. Recommendations – from MY friends. Only relevant-to-me recommendations.

6. Social Context – check this app, Sonar. Kinda creepy, but kinda cool. It shows you those people around you who you have something in common with, be it friends, colleagues, interests, etc.

7. Geo-gaming – like Mafia Wars but in your own real-life neighborhood.

8. Augmented Reality – I like the way he described it. “AR adds a virtual layer over the real world.” Simple, but easy to understand.

9. Near-Field Community – this is about much more than payments. Interacting with objects and places where you are.

10. Facial Recognition

What do you think? Sound about right?

CETW Keynote #1 – Driving Customer Engagement through Digital Experiences

Note – this dude is a heavy hitter and brought to life a great way of thinking about this wide, open space that technology and our world has given to us. This is a post that captures many of his thoughts from his keynote.

Brought to us by, B. Joseph Pine, author of Experience Economy & other books – now Infinite Possibility

Progression of Economic Value – goods and services no longer enough, what consumers are looking for are experiences

Commodities > Goods > Services > Experiences

What we need now is innovation in experiences

New digital frontier that changes things today; need a tool to help us explore the digital frontier

The known universe – time, space, matter – in Future Perfect (Stan Davis), he says he wants to give new meaning to time, space and matter. This will require profound transformations in the way we think about these 3.

When you have matter, you have no-matter. Matter is material things, no-matter is about bits.

If there’s no-matter, then there’s no-space and no-time. No-space is virtual places. No-time is autonomous events. This now is a model about what is possible in today’s digital space. This is what he calls the Multiverse.

This is not a plea to abandon reality. But there is a migration going on. More and more, people are spending their time in virtual worlds through screens.

We can access virtuality through screens of any sorts. Virtuality is an experience that you have through any screen.

You can have virtuality without digital technology. Think about books. Just from words on paper, you can create a world in your mind where that is taking place.

Enchantment – close to Engagement

Reality and Virtuality

Augmented Reality – this is the quintessential reality/virtuality example. It augments what you’re experiencing in the real world by giving you information in a virtual environment, typically on your mobile phone. Using digital technology to enhance the real-world.

Showed a lot of examples of AR – Word Lens – real-time translation of your own language that you see, take a picture of. Pop notes – virtual post-it notes.

Think of AR as a virtual prosthetic.

Augmented Virtuality – interact with the virtual world from the real-world. Augmenting that virtual world. Some material substance that is controlling that environment.

Wii. Kinect.

Look into this company – Personal Space Technologies.

He also showed an example of Hallmarks cards that, to me, seem like Augmented Reality (not Virtuality??) He addressed this. So, what’s the difference? Primary experience is either in the real world (reality) or the digital world (virtuality). Interesting. I like it.

Alternate Reality – alternate view of what’s going on in the real-world. Use the world as your playground (ARG’s).

Alternate reality is no time.

World Without Oil – HBR article by the author. We can use Alternate Reality as the new Business Reality.

Physical Virtuality – design experience that becomes real. For example, take a digital picture of a physical space. Then, it turns into a 3D space. Now, use a tool to design how it should look. Then, you can make the furniture. Make it real based on the virtual experience that you have online. Your ideas can become real.

Shapeways. Autodesk. Techshop.

Warped Reality – taking you into the past. Reenactments like the Civil War Adventure Camp. But what about the future? Not reenactment, but preenactment.

Starizon (company) – you determine what experience you want to have happen in the future and then they create it.

Flow – look at this book. “Freedom from the tyranny of time.”

Mirrored Virtuality – real-world experience & time tied into virtual world & time. Anything you can track is an example of this. Look at MLB.com and you can see what’s going on in the game, real-time via your computer. Tweetdeck – no real world component, but it’s mirroring what’s going on real-time in the Twitteverse.

This is the Multiverse.

Some tips as you think about each one of these components in the Multiverse.

  1. Reality – shift marketing from advertising to marketing experiences.
  2. Augmented Reality – use smartphones to bring messages to customers when and where they most need it. Stop bothering them when they don’t need it.
  3. Alternate Reality – use the real-world as your playground for engagement.
  4. Warped Reality – get customers into the flow. Engagement them so much that all time goes away. Or help them envision their future.
  5. Virtual Reailty – shift your marketing dollars from advertisng to virtual marketing experiences.
  6. Augmented Virtuality – use customers own bodies to control what they experience from you.
  7. Physical Virtuality – mass customize your offerings – not just target your messages – to help your customers realize their dreams.
  8. Mirrored Virtuality – help your customers track what’s important to them in your offering category. And then give them a dashboard.

 

The best offerings are those that do not live within one of these categories.

The Evolution of OOH – Pt. 2

In my new exploration to try to find the 3.0 versions of OOH executions, I don’t think I’m going to have to search hard. They seem to be popping up every single day. The problem is in their scale. They’re typically one-off, experimental examples. Nonetheless, they deserve attention. This time, a billboard:

The 1.0 version

Billboards for Everyone 1.0

And the 3.0 version

Billboards for Everyone 3.0

An augmented-reality, GPS-based personal billboard that can be shared with your own social network. Instead of expressing your road-rage and/or road-delight expressions with cars and/or other drivers next to you, just hold up your phone, pick an emoticon and post it to your Facebook wall. (You can see more in the video below.)

This is a great example of how to make billboards interactive, but there are only a handful of places this would work. Somewhere where stop and go traffic, er gridlock, is the norm. Somewhere like NYC, right outside of the Holland Tunnel. Where this happens to be placed. So, they’ve got that working for them.

This has all of the characteristics of a 3.0 execution:

1. The experience – you can interact with the static billboard through your mobile phone. Just launch the AR application, point it at the billboard and the billboard will tell you how it feels and/or you can tell others how you feel, vis-a-vis the billboard.

2. Sharability – an interactive billboard like this is unique, so it’s more likely to drive a little bit more interest than normal. In a place like New York, it might drive a lot of interest. But aside from the interest, once people start to engage with the experience, sharing is at the center of it. What good is it to keep your emotions all pent up inside yourself? Especially in today’s hyperconnected world when everyone wants to share how they’re feeling, what they’re doing, and just generally, what they think of everything in the universe? Why not share how you’re feeling when sitting in traffic? Sounds reasonable to me.

3. Smart – traveling in and out of New York can be a bear. You can literally sit in one spot for an hour. While the message here is not groundbreaking, it does give travelers another way to express themselves, which everyone loves to do anyway. And to me, this is one of those smile things. When you engage in the experience, it can bring a smile to your face. Having sat in this particular place many times, before, after and/or during a busy New York day, I can say that smiles are not only good, they’re needed. Now, New Yorkers could care less about smiling or interacting with a silly billboard. But me, I like it.

4. Scalability – Billboard space is all over so we’ve got that going for the scalability of this execution. Smart phones will soon not be a barrier to something like this. A technology like augmented reality might. I still don’t know if the average consumer knows and/or cares to know about a technology like this. And if they do, how many times will the actually use it? If it unlocks experiences like this, perhaps it will increase interest and demand enough to break the barrier.

How many times would I engage with this billboard? After the first time, probably not too many. But what if most, if not all billboards could be personalized in an experience like this? It would completely change the way we interact with our surroundings. And that is the power of this new – 3.0 versioned – OOH space. It is inherently interactive. Not static. Not digital. Interactive.

Note – This unique billboard is part of the ADstruc’s ‘Billboards for Everyone’ campaign that partners with artists and designers to help promote creativity and innovation in the outdoor space. Very cool stuff. Check them out.

MINI’s QR Code Masterpiece

Leave it to MINI. Again.

These guys are at the forefront of using emerging technology to connect with consumers.

First, they created real-life LA Story talking billboards through the use of RFID.

Mini RFID Billboard

Then, they created a real-life/virtual world game of chase through the use of Augmented Reality.

Now, they’re taking a simple approach – yet just as unique – with QR codes. Only to drive to a different Augmented Reality experience.

How would you launch the all new, bigger MINI Countryman? How about a big QR code? Like bigger than anything in the ad.

Mini QR Code Magazine Ad

Here’s the thing about MINI – from my perspective, nothing is a mistake. Or an afterthought. It’s all purposeful. Here, they didn’t just oh-by-the-way-stick-a-qr-code-in-the-bottom-corner-of-the-ad. They made it the ad.

And it works.

And for those who don’t know what this is, they give directions. And for those who don’t want to scan the code, they give another way to get to the information. And for anyone else – those who wouldn’t even want to take part in the complete experience – this campaign, this app, and ultimately this brand is probably not for you.

These guys are smart. They’ve gotten some insight that their target audience has a high propensity to engage through various mobile technologies – even more, that their target is not constrained by location, they like to be on the go, and are early adopters. Can you imagine this out of the MINI owner? I can.

And to their credit, MINI goes full tilt.

I think there are many ways to connect with consumers when they’re out and about, not in front of their computers. More and more, this is a mobile world, and I’m not talking about a mobile-phone world (although we are) – mobility is a way of life. So, being able to connect with consumers while they’re on the go, in various ways – especially through enabling technologies like this – will become more and more critical for brands to figure out.

MINI’s making it easy for everyone else.

Take note.

This is interactive out-of-home. Where experience masterpieces happen.

 

What Car Makers Can Teach Us About the “New” OOH

I didn’t have a chance to go to CES this year, but did my best to monitor it from afar. One of the big headlines to me was the focus on the connectivity of cars. Cars and technology have always had a place at CES, but the advancements in technology along with the concept of mobility catapulted it to one of the headliners this year.

I was inspired by Audi’s CEO, Rupert Stadler’s, keynote that he gave last week. If you were there, or read the transcript, the theme was clearly connections, not the car. Specifically, he talked about technology that enables connections between the real and virtual worlds. “Ultimately, we see a world where the car is connected – to the world of the internet, to other cars, to the cloud, to traffic and weather data streams. It’s connected to technologies that increase safety and efficiency. All in all, the car of the future is part of the mobile world. In every sense of the word.”

As we’ve seen with consumer brands over the year, and now seeing with automobile makers, the concept that the places and things around us have the ability to be turned “on” and connected is more and more a reality, not just a fantasy. There are many technologies, from OnStar to MyTouch to Augmented Reality and Bluetooth and motion sensors, that are quickly becoming standard features with cars. They all enable different ways to make our experiences easier, safer, and more enjoyable. They ultimately make our lives better.

This is the same effect I see in this “new” OOH space. When the places and things around us can be turned into screens (via whatever technology is appropriate for the environment), and the people are a large part of the network, their lives can be made better – whether that be easier or safer or smarter or more efficient – because they’re connected. They’re connected to each other, to brands, to their past experiences, and in today’s mobile world, the connection is the thing. Not the place. Or the thing. Or even the technology.

Just as cars are adapting to this reality, will the digital signage and OOH space?

Friday’s 4-1-1, Coke’s Brand Story Style

Coke Secret Formula Keyhole

Wow. What a week. Do I say that every Friday? It’s felt like 5 weeks back from the break, not 5 days. As you can see, I’m making some changes to the blog. I haven’t been able to get it exactly where I want it, but over the next few days, it will be there. I hope you like the change. It’s really designed to reflect the depth of this space I’m calling the 11th Screen – a bit more robust, visual, and exploratory – and hopefully, it will be just as simple to get around (or simpler!).

I haven’t explored as much as I would have liked to on the Coke campaign that I posted about earlier in the week. A few people commented and gave me some insight on other components of the campaign (Kyle/Brian – thanks!) and I have been able to uncover a few more myself. But as I said, this is going to be an ongoing journey, so I expect the scope to be more filled out throughout the year. Since it’s all fresh, I thought it would be best to dedicate today’s Friday 4-1-1 to more of this Coke story.

1. Thanks to the guys at IndoorDIRECT, they clued me into a video that ran on their Restaurant Entertainment Network, specifically in Wendy’s (~200 locations).

As you can see by the video, they ran a complimentary ad (to the right of the video) advertising a special offer – obtained by texting in a short code. When texted in, consumers received a coupon for a $1 Frosty (Coke) Float.

Coke Secret 18 Campaign Short Code

They also received a link directing them back to the same mobile site I experienced from the “Secret” shortcode on my bottle. Smart, although I wouldn’t expect anything else from Coke, to utilize the same mobile property and create different initiatives to drive traffic to it. This is another example of how purposeful they are about touching consumers when they’re out and about, whether in a grocery store or quick serve restaurant, and enabling them a way to engage with the brand story.

And along with this whole promotion, Coke also included a nice piece of branded content by sending out the Polar Bear to give out Frostys at an LA Wendy’s to tie in the Frosty coupon offer as well. Thanks to Brian at IndoorDIRECT for bringing this to my attention, and kudos to the great work they did around this!

2. One of the best Out-of-Home experiences that I saw last year was Coke’s Happiness Machine. If you’re not familiar with it, it was a vending machine that they placed in a school (don’t know how set up it all really was?) and it delivered “doses of happiness.” See for yourself.

This is great because they took an object – a “thing” – around us and turned it into an engagement vehicle. It wasn’t digital. But it was highly interactive. Through good ol’ human touch. Thanks to Kyle for sending my way!

3. Although I can’t find this feature out there, I read about Studiocom and Hypnoticmedia partnering together to create an immersive website.

After two years of running its “Secret Formula” campaign in traditional media, The Coca-Cola Company discovered that its target consumers (18-35) weren’t hearing the message…Coke realized this was the perfect opportunity to both engage its audience in the digital realm and re-position the story behind the “secret.”…Studiocom filmed, developed and launched a highly-interactive, self-guided, video-driven web experience to show young consumers how Coke’s “secret” ingredients could make everyday moments better and serve as an anticdote to modern day woes. Innovative augmented reality features brought interactivity and engagement to a whole new level, allowing users to unlock additional video content using only printouts and their webcams.

Quite interesting that this campaign was recently “refreshed” and targeted to millennials, which brings me to the last thing I found….

4. Coke Targets Teens with Black Friday SCVNGR Promotion

Coke SCVNGR Campaign

Teens (Audience) + Coke (Brand) + SCVNGR (mobile) + Malls (OOH) = the type of engagement that makes sense because it’s a) centered around the idea of interacting with teens while they’re out and about b) supporting the brand’s story in a unique way and c) the thing that could make a memorable experience for this highly impressionable and influential target audience. And memorable experiences with a brand create trust and trust creates loyalty.

“Uh-huh” – as I’ve said before, in the end, it’s all about building trust-based relationships between brands and their target audience(s). In order to do this, I believe it’s imperative for brand’s to understand their story and the channels available to them. Once they understand those two fundamentals, they can only hope to utilize them to their fullest capability. Few brands do this well. Coke is one of the ones who do.

“Duh” – I have not uncovered 1 2D barcode (ie – QR Code) in this short journey and I haven’t come across any while I’ve organically experience Coke myself, in my personal, everyday life. And that kinda makes me happy. As you can see by all of the technologies that they’re already using – mobile SMS, mobile location-based SCVNGR, augmented reality, that good ol’ human touch – they’re driving consumers into the brand story just fine. If anyone’s seen a code-based implementation for Coke, I’d love to see it. I wonder if they ban them from their arsenal?

In one long week, I’ve been able to uncover a deep brand story that is being told through many channels, including OOH. The channel is powerful, for sure. It’s about understanding what you need to say, though, before getting to exactly how, or through what channel, you’re going to say it.

As always, I’d appreciate any thoughts you can send my way. Have a great weekend!

Friday’s 4-1-1, Looking Ahead to CETW Style

Yup, doing Friday’s 4-1-1 on Saturday for the first time.  And hopefully the last.  The week was just a bear for me and I finally found myself at 10:00 last night weighing whether or not to push on through the blog post or call it a night and get some rest.  I chose rest.  So, here we are, early Saturday morning trying to play catch up, which is the feeling I’ve had all week.  I was preparing for a huge pitch (which happened on Thursday), trying to tie up a couple of large initiatives that we’ve been working on for a few months, and participating in the office-wide move (we basically “flipped” wings on our floor), and that’s just work.  2 of the 3 kids at home came down with strep throat this week and on top of that, just generally, they’re about to drive my wife crazy (the boys are in their destructo mode, treating the house and each other like coloring books, punching bags, and jungle gyms.)  But enough of all that.  Let’s get into this week’s 4-1-1.  I wrote yesterday about the session I’m participating in at CETW next week, but I failed to talk about what else is going on at the conference.  I’m looking forward to the entire conference.  It looks to be a good one.  So, today’s 4-1-1 is all about looking ahead to what I’m excited to see next week.

1.  Increasing the Number of Customer Touch Points – I’m not familiar with Vernon Slack (speaker) or AOpen America (his company), but the description of his session has sold me.  The first two lines – “Customers want to be engaged, a part of the action. They want to “experience” your business.” Yes, Vernon they do.  We’re talking the same language, man.  I will be there to hear what you have to say.  Although this is focused specifically on “in-store,” I’m sure the things he’ll share enable consumers the ability to “experience” your brand/business outside of those 4 walls of the store.  We’ll see.  (Session is Wednesday morning at 11.)

2.  Lessons Learned From Health & Beauty Augmented Reality Programs – I believe Augmented Reality is a powerful enabling technology that allows “out of home” to become an engagement vehicle, not just an awareness vehicle.  This session looks to focus on the health & beauty industry only, but this niche of an industry is smart for using this type of technology.  Here, in this industry, Augmented Reality actually serves a purpose (which I think is the holy grail for AR.  It can be really cool, but it can also be really useful and solve business problems), and at the same time, provides a rich, engaging consumer experience.  (Session is Wednesday morning at 11:45.)

3.  Who Moved My Customer?  Engaging & Empowering the New Digital Consumer – first, Nanonation is top notch, so I suspect anything they talk about will be enlightening.  Second, this session is aligned with what I’ve been talking about for awhile – engaging consumers, not just talking to them.  Consumers expectations are increasing – we see this in social media, we’re starting to see this in mobile, and the “out of home” world is staring this fact right in the face. I believe that consumers already expect brands to make them aware via any channel, digital or not.  When they walk into a store, they expect a monitor with moving images and messages.  When they’re walking down the street, they expect a sign that moves.  I believe their expectation, sooner rather than later, is for those “screens” to give them the ability to engage with a brand on a personal level.  I look forward to hearing another POV on this in this session.  (Session is Thursday morning at 11:15.)

4.  Driving Customer Experience:  Using Digital Signage to Engage Customers and Increase Repeat Business – one of the last sessions of the conference looks to be one of my favorite.  Again, the session description speaks right to my heart – “The greatest potential of “Digital Signage and Interactive New Media” is the opportunity to facilitate a one-on-one relationship with each of your customers.” This session looks to be more geared to CRM as a whole, not just focused on “out of home.”  If it is what it sounds like, I completely agree with the concept (touching a consumer “out of home” is only one touchpoint in their relationship with the brand) and again, look forward to hearing another’s POV on what I believe to be true, too.

“Uh-huh” – overall, I just get a feel from the sessions that it’s all about using this channel as an engagement channel, not an awareness channel.  There are multiple mobile sessions (my buddy, David Weinfeld is moderating one – Integrating Mobile into your Customer Engagement Solutions – Wednesday at 2), multiple multi-channel sessions, multiple strategy sessions, and the two keynotes are specifically geared around “engagement.”

“Duh” – yes, this is a no-duh – the conference is now called, “Customer Engagement Technology World,” but it’s one thing to talk about it and position yourself in one way, it’s another to actually do it.  I felt, earlier in the year, that this conference recognized the need to showcase how we can use this channel as an engagement channel and not just as an awareness channel.  I was excited that they even changed the name of their conference, which before didn’t say what it seems like they want to say.

So there you have it.  I, no doubt, left out some good sessions.  I’m going to try to fill my day – both days – with these sessions.  There are plenty and it will be easy to fill my day.  If you’re around and want to chat, let me know.  I’d love to.


Panel 2 – Digital PR Summit – The Next Generation of SM Tools

Panel 2 of the day – this should be interesting.  Again – best part is the questions at the end!  Maybe I’ll start just recapping questions?

Panelist – Jason Winocour (Hunter PR)

He’s going to talk about geo-location apps today.  Not going to get into privacy today.  Show of hands in the room – who’s on FourSquare, Gowalla, FB Places – only 50-75 raised their hands, out of a room of 400+.  Giving 101 overview of FourSquare, Gowalla and FB Places.  The thing about FourSquare that’s problematic is that their BD team is overwhelmed right now.  It’s difficult to work with them.  (AMEN!)

He’s geting into case studies, starting with Starbucks/FourSquare.  Another case study – Market Fair Mall in New Jersey – mayors got special parking spots (primo) at the mall parking lot.  Nice.

Gowalla – he’s focusing on our Chevrolet/SXSW case study!  Specifically, talking about our free rides to/from the airport when people checked into the airport on Gowalla.  Very nice.

FB Places – Are they going to become the Walmart of geo-location?  No rewards, incentives, gaming element YET.

Scvngr – involves skill along with just basic checking in b/c it’s a real-life scavenger hunt.

Now, out of geo-location, he’s going to talk about blogging platforms.  Alot of people are blogging.  Alot of people are reading blogs.  What’s the new way to blog?  Introducing Tumblr and Posterous.  Both are good platforms.  Stronger social aspect – allows re-blogging and “liking.”  Bloggers can post from email/SMS.

Another panelist – Nick Mendoza (Zeno)

The tools he’s going to focus on: video, social media management, group buying.

Video – users watch an average of 15 hours/month of online video.  Ooh – learned something new – you can edit YouTube videos with Tube Chop.  Where have I been?!

Alot of people haven’t developed a social video strategy, much less a live video strategy (using tools like UStream).

Effective videos sell and entertain.

Show of hands again – how many people use social media management tools to listen?  About 50% of the room raised hands.  I want to look into Sprout Social.  Tools like this are important to understand what’s being said about you/your brand, and gives you better insight as to how to respond/engage.  Also allows for syndication of content.

Group buying now – he’s talking Groupon and the like.  Yipit – look into this.  This company aggregates all of these deals into 1 place.  Group buying is all about the DEAL (D = daily, E = experience, A = awareness, L = local).  One of the unique benefits of group buying is that it enables conversation to extend into people’s own social communities.

Questions – what do you think is going to be the next Twitter or Facebook?  Nick – 3 pillars right now – Facebook, YouTube, Twitter.  What’s next – Scvngr, FourSquare – something related to mobile because people have their mobile phone in their pocket every day, all the time.  He talked about Facetime on iPhone 4 and the power of using video, real-time services.

Jason – agree with everything Nick said, but he extends it into Augmented Reality.  Walking down the street, you can see deals, information on businesses you’re passing (nice that he mentioned this, although he didn’t specifically say Out-of-Home or Interactive Out-of-Home).  Also mentioned gaming.

Question – people are just starting to come around to social media, much less these “new” tools.  What can you say about that?  Jason – in terms of getting buy-in, geo-location has to be a natural tie-in with the brand and what they’re trying to accomplish.  Does it make sense?  Don’t try to force fit, don’t do it for the sake of doing it.  You don’t want it to seem like you’re buying a new “toy.”

Nick – a big challenge is legal.  A lot of these initiatives haven’t ever been done before so that might cause trepidation.

Question – hard time convincing marketing executives that when consumers are engaged in these types of engagements, they’re skeptical that the brand should be “involved” in the space.  What’s the opportunity?  Nick – any social network out there is NOT a marketing platform.  We’re there to talk to our friends/communities.  He offered up some research, but didn’t really answer the question.

Jason – people are receptive to hearing from brands.  There’s a balance between commercial content and user-generated content.  It’s about having the right metrics to show how far you can push this.

Friday’s 4-1-1, Mobile-Style

It’s Friday and time for the 2nd Friday 4-1-1 series.  This installation is all about mobile, particularly the specific enabling technologies associated with mobile that have an opportunity to make brand interaction richer & deeper when coupled with OOH/DOOH/IOOH.  If you’re a new reader, I think there is a difference between what makes “digital” Out of Home and “interactive” Out of Home – “digital” is made possible through display technology, “interactive” is made possible through enabling technologies.  These technologies enable deeper interaction with a brand and its OOH/DOOH installation.  You can think of it like this:

Enabling technology (and there are many of them) + OOH/DOOH = IOOH (Interactive Out of Home)

Display technology + OOH = DOOH

My premise is “Digital” Out of Home cannot be made interactive without any of these enabling technologies.  So, today, I’ll focus on 3 mobile enabling technologies – augmented reality, geo-location, and of course, QR codes.  Here’s the 4-1-1:

1.  Facebook Places Propels SCVNGR to 100,000 Downloads in 48 Hours – reality check, first of all – the “general” consumer doesn’t use geo-location apps like FourSquare, much less a new app like SCVNGR.  The penetration numbers for “digital” users who use geo-location apps are low (~4% according to Forrester).  However, I believe there is loads of potential for geo-location apps like FourSquare, Gowalla, FB Places, and SCVNGR (and the others).  These apps really enable a feature that I believe is core to a brand’s success in the new “Out of Home” space – reaching consumers where they are (out of home) and driving deep(er) engagement with the brand.  There are few brands who have really figured out how best to do this, but there are many who are experimenting.  As far as SCVNGR goes, their platform is really based on the idea of a Scavenger Hunt – users go around to different places (called “Treks”), when there, they have to complete a challenge, get rewarded via points, and then ultimately get rewarded with badges.  For brands, this platform is significant because it’s a built-out mobile platform, specifically intended to provide challenge-based scavenger hunt game-play experiences.  Yes, you can pretty much do the same thing with FourSquare (you have to work through FourSquare) and Gowalla (users themselves can set up “trips”), but they weren’t built for this very thing (neither of them are based on “challenges”).  In my opinion, it’s a better way to reward consumers who are loyal enough to your brand to go through a challenge-based scavenger hunt (again, outside of their home) vs. just checking in repeatedly at a single place.

2.  Four Seasons Joins Geo-Social Gold Rush With California Campaign – I’ve put together a number of campaigns with Gowalla – it’s not the Austin-based connection that I am high on with them, it’s really the experience they provide vs. FourSquare.  (In fairness, if I could put together any geo-location-based campaign, regardless of budget/time constraints, I would probably look at using both of them, but Gowalla is easier/more accommodating to work with.  FourSquare has sheer numbers, Gowalla has a more engaging experience, particularly on the brand side, in my opinion.)  So, it was nice to read about a brand like Four Seasons hopping on the geo-location bandwagon.  Again, this is yet another example of a brand driving engagement with consumers while they’re out and about, going through their normal day-to-day activities.  Who would have ever thought that just by “checking in” some place through your mobile phone, you could get rewarded with a hotel-stay voucher.

3.  Toys “R” Us Unveils Multichannel Mobiel CRM Tactics – here’s my QR code example this week.  Only problem with this is that it’s launching in Hong Kong only.  At least right now.  Solid concept though – targeted at their loyalty card holders, those loyal consumers can unlock exclusive content through these “R” (what Toys R Us is calling them) codes and from the sounds of it, with each scan, can earn more “loyalty” points, which is of benefit to them with real-world merchandise.  QR codes are commonplace in that part of the world, so I suspect this is going to be widely used.  Hopefully, the campaign will make its way here and even more hopefully, US consumers will actually know what to do when they see this weird code in front of them.

4.  Augmented Reality Campaign for Lustucru Pasta in 500 Supermarkets – pasta + a martian + tomatoes + Augmented Reality = AWESOME.  Forget about checking into places, whoever thought they could play a game with a martian just by purchasing a box of pasta?  Augmented Reality has come so far in a few short months.  Now, instead of needing a black-bound box that serves as a marker and a webcam, all you need is an AR application on your mobile phone.  It’s really unbelievable.  For this, though, I guess the question is, “does this drive more sales?”  Don’t know.  After I play the game, would I want to play it again?  Does it build?  Is there anything deeper?  If so, it could be the reason that I’d want to continue buying this pasta when I need pasta.  If not, on the surface, it’s a good engagement, but what does it do to achieve longer-terms goals?  It makes me smile, though.  Check it out:

“Uh-huh” – Reggie Bush hit the Holy Grail by combining geo-location (FourSquare) with social media (Twitter/Facebook) and the real-world (with StickyBits).  This is the perfect combination of driving Reggie Bush-brand engagement through the use of various mediums/channels, including a strong OOH play.  Basically, Reggie used FourSquare like a scavenger-hunt service (should have used SCVNGR!) so that fans could find autographed footballs around the city of New Orleans in anticipation of last night’s opening NFL game.  They could then attach messages to StickyBits for Reggie.  Great cross-channel program.

Before I get into this week’s “Duh,” I’ll say this – I think that “OOH” as a media channel has changed drastically in the past few years.  My definition of “OOH” is “anything that the user doesn’t have to own to have an experience with.”  In these cases, a user needs a mobile phone, but the point in which that experience originates is always OOH and from something that they don’t need to own – checking in at a location doesn’t require you to own the location, using a QR code doesn’t require you to own the QR code, and even playing a game from a box of pasta doesn’t require you to necessarily own the box of pasta.  Lines are certainly more grey than they used to be in terms of “OOH” and it’s in this grey area that I believe lives the 11th Screen.

Now, my “Duh” – it’s not an example this week, it’s a piece of advice based on a few experiences that I’ve had this week.  Slow down.  Life and work move very fast and most often, we make decisions in split seconds.  Those decisions can have a profound impact on other people and your own work (substitute “life” with “work” if you want to).  There is nothing wrong with slowing down, taking a deep breath, having a think on it, and then moving forward.

I hope you guys have a great weekend.  Would love to hear anything you’ve got to say about any of this.  Just shout!