Tag Archives: Out of Home

Macy’s Shows Us How to Think About (& Use) QR Codes

I have a love/hate relationship with QR codes.

On one hand, I love them because I think they’re a great enabling technology – a technology that bridges the offline world with the online, which is essential in driving any level of engagement when connecting with consumers outside of their homes. They’re efficient, convenient, and potentially rewarding. That is, they’re easy to use and they can unlock rich content.

In theory.

This is the hate side of the equation. Bad QR code executions are commonplace out there in the real world. Brands don’t know where to put them – should they go on TV or other digital screens or just be confined to print materials? Brands don’t know what content to put behind them – should they just unlock a website or an entry form or some sort of rich, multimedia content? But most of all, brands don’t seem to understand consumers’ awareness and comfort level with them – should they include instructions or an alternate way to access the information or just leave it to consumers to figure out how to use them? These are all general statements, I know. Yes, I have seen my fair share of quality code-based initiatives over the past 1.5 years, but they pale in comparison to the poor executions.

I believe now we’re seeing something that normally happens with any sort of technology that doesn’t wash out to the ocean of nothingness – on the consumer side, there is an awareness with what the technology is, and on the brand side, there is a drive to understand how best to use the technology to impact behavior. This adoption/impact wave is a long one. Right now, we’re just seeing brands actually understand how to best use social media to build relationships and impact consumer behavior. And social media (er, web 2.0) was introduced 5-6 years ago. That’s not to say QR codes will take 5-6 years to figure out, but adoption of technologies and new ways to utilize them do not happen overnight. They also require a fair amount of deliberate thought. They’ll hardly work if they’re just thrown out into the world for everyone to figure out.

This is what I’ve seen more often than not with QR codes.

So, it was refreshing to actually see a brand utilize traditional media channels in their marketing mix to raise awareness of their QR code campaign. A couple of weeks ago, I saw this Macy’s commercial on TV.

I did a double take. I had to rewind it to make sure I was seeing this right. A brand devoting a national TV spot to their QR code campaign? Brilliant.

I think the true brilliance is in the spot itself. It doesn’t just highlight the technology, it explains it. It explains what it is, where to look for it, how to use it, and most of all, what consumers can expect to get out of it. It also doesn’t limit this content to QR-code-only access. Have mobile phone? Can text? Then, not to worry, you can still experience this same content.

Now, when consumers go anywhere near Macy’s and see one of these pixilated stars, they at least have a better chance knowing what it is and what they can get out of it – two critical pieces needed to drive adoption and result in success.

And they’re not just focused on TV. They’re using many channels in their ecosystem to introduce, educate, and drive engagement with this star. Like on their Facebook page:

On their windows:

And of course, in their store:

This, along print ads and even their staff wearing lanyards that explain what the program & code are, show how deliberate they want to be with this campaign.

Who knows if it will work? And more, who knows if QR codes, as a technology, will endure time and actually become adopted by the general consumer. In 5-6 years, we’ll know, right?

But this much is certain, and has endured over time – whoever reaches consumers at the right time with the right content will win.

The problem is – we’re living and consuming media in an evolving world, where consumers are on the go, out & about more than ever, technology is not the barrier it once was and everyone is connected. The rules have changed. Now, the right time to reach consumers is different for everyone. And it’s typically when they’re not in the confines of their homes.

Traditional broadcast channels like television are still great awareness channels, regardless of what you say about DVR. Non-traditional, emerging channels like Out-of-Home (OOH) and mobile are more and more becoming great engagement channels. Everything needs to work together. And Macy’s – much to their credit – has recognized this and is actually doing something about it.

I know the jury is still out on QR codes so I’d be interested to know if you think even a full-out marketing blitz like this will move the needle, in terms of QR code adoption and engagement? What do you think?

My Debut on Cohen on Content

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I had a chance to meet Phil Cohen at DSE and sat down with him for one of his Cohen on Content interviews. Here is mine.

I don’t think I did a great job of explaining the convergence of “out-of-home” and content with my current agency. Since I work for a PR firm – although I think it’s the most progressive, digitally-saavy PR firm in the world – we don’t deal with traditional “digital” out-of-home and certainly not with networks. But where I’ve found incredible opportunity, particularly with the proliferation of mobile devices, is being able to turn on the things around us (cars, posters, etc.), that we use in events that we concept and support. We take a very grassroots approach to interactive out-of-home.

And the story that I was going to tell was how we basically turned a car (a thing in the real-world) into a virtual scrapbook that allowed everyone who came into contact with it to not only consume content, but create and add their own content to it. In today’s social world, brands don’t need to create all of the content themselves. Consumers are creating content themselves and sharing with their networks. This is a treasure trove of content that brands can tap into.

For anyone putting together a content and/or engagement strategy, regardless of channel/screen, consider social content. It is powerful, effective, and for the most part, free.

Aside from that, I just wish someone would have told me to look at the camera more.

Is Coke’s “Secret Formula” the Secret to Their Brand Story?

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And is this it?

In an effort to dig in and really experience the brand, I’m going to take a few of my favorite brands and pay as much attention to them as I can. I want to understand how they’re engaging with consumers Out-of-Home and even beyond that, how they’re engaging consumers in the “offline” (non-digital) world. Not to get caught up in semantics here, but it’s important to differentiate the two. Here’s a quick grounder in my definitions:

Out-of-Home – any experience that occurs outside of the home that originates from a platform or device that the consumer doesn’t have to own.

11^th Screen – the experience that occurs between the offline and online worlds, regardless of the device or ownership.

What I’m looking for are examples of brands who are a) present in the offline and online worlds and b) how well they tell their story in and between the two. From the story comes real brand engagement, at least sustainable brand engagement. I believe that the Out-of-Home and offline spaces have great potential in the brand ecosystem, but they have a different definition in today’s world than they did in the past. Because of this, few brands really utilize them to their fullest potential.

So today, we’re going to start the first brand journey with one of my favorite brands – Coke. As a marketer, I stay abreast of what brands are doing (particularly in the digital world), but as a consumer, I’m not fanatical about any brands, so I ‘m not dialed into their every move on every channel. These exercises are truly going to be journeys for all of us. As we go through any of them this year and you know more about the brand/what they’re doing than I’m discovering, I’d love to know any/all of that information. It will only help complete the picture so we can more fully understand the depth and breadth of the brand and their story, and particularly what they’re doing across all of the channels.

So, for Coke, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about them and their brand story?

For me, it’s their “Secret” Formula and Happiness. Polar bears and that snappy jingle from way back when are up on the list, but they both play into the Happiness theme. I never really gave much thought to either of them until this weekend when I had an empty coke bottle in my hand.

And, I just happened to look on the inside of the wrapper and found a message along with a mobile short code.

So I had to text it in. And then the journey began.

After my text, I received a link to a mobile website where I was introduced to Dr. Pemberton, big and bold, front and center.

Not knowing who this character was, I had to follow him on Twitter and come to find out, he’s the inventor of Coca-Cola. So, I checked out his feed and saw good, constant engagement. But the more I read, the more I felt they were a little off in the nuances of their brand story, particular in the voice of Dr. Pemberton. I mean, he was born in 1830 and invented Coke in 1885 – two important components of the brand’s story – and the Twitter voice sounds like it’s a 2010 person writing for an 1800’s character. Not an 1800’s character writing for himself. The language and colloquialisms aren’t consistent with what I would expect to hear out of an 1800’s guy. Details like this are critical when writing any sort of narrative and it’s something that would make the Coke story sing a little bit more in my opinion.

Nevertheless, I journeyed on. From my mobile phone, I also subscribed for SMS updates so I could constantly be connected to the brand and this particular campaign. Shortly after subscribing, I was sent another text indicating that I would receive more clues each week (this tells me they have a solid content strategy, sending me consistent, purposeful weekly updates) + a link to the Coca-Cola YouTube channel. I clicked on the link, found an “Unlock the Secret Formula” video, so I played it. The video was short, compelling, filled with imagery (there’s Dr. Pemberton again), good score, and a series of questions:

What is the secret formula?
Who is Dr. Pemberton?
Why would they want to steal it?
Wouldn’t you like to know?

Then it was over and I didn’t know what to do next because I was faced with many more videos on the channel. I don’t like getting in this deep, searching through videos and feeds, on my mobile phone. So, I went online to explore more – in a format more enjoyable to me – where I found the same video. But here on my computer, it was interactive. The bottles in the top right-hand corner are clickable (look for them and click if you feel so inclined).

I clicked on each of them and was directed to the following:

Dr. Pemberton’s Twitter Feed
Pemberton’s Medical Files (interesting, amusing documents that give more character to Dr. Pemberton, but don’t do much at answering the “secret formula” question)
Ahh Giver Facebook App (send a friend a personalized message via grunting bear, but doesn’t do anything to answer and/or provide more clues to the story)
Vault Live Security Feed (video feed where the camera is pointed at the vault – presumed to hold the “secret formula” – and ninjas, dogs, ghosts, robots all pass by during the feed, and then someone – perhaps the ninja? – ignites a smoke bomb, blocking our view of the vault, then the feed goes snowy. Did someone just steal the secret formula? Hmm.)
2 Guys/Secret Formula Video (another YouTube video, this one eluding to the fact that there only 2 guys who know the “secret formula” – what about Dr. Pemberton, making a 3rd? – and asking the question, “what would happen if something happened to one of the guys?” Well, you need not worry because “thankfully the formula is safe, (in the vault!) so is the rest of the world.” No more answers, but another clue – there are 3 people on earth who know the “secret formula.” Is it safe from ninjas in the vault, though? Don’t know.)
Smile-izer website (microsite where you can create your own laugh and share with others, but no answers/clues)
Perfect Serve City (another microsite where you can play a game, take personality test and/or a history quiz, even uncover ingredients, but not the real “secret” ingredients. Perhaps the best secret ingredients though – “energizing refreshment and happiness”)

While I might not have found the answer on the ingredients, I have learned more about a central character in this story – Dr. Pemberton himself – and have been able to experience and share Happiness with others. All key components in Coke’s story.

The experience up to this point has been immersive. I’ve engaged in an interactive, compelling experience. Imagine going through any of this on an interactive kiosk. Or a digital screen. What about getting a little bit more of a hint to the campaign at point-of-purchase?

I haven’t found any OOH components to this campaign, but from the digging I’ve done, it seems like there are plans to integrate more offline/real-world components into the experience. Out-of-Home is an ideal channel for a brand to engage consumers in an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) like this. It reaches them when they’re out and about in an already exploring mindset. It would just be critical that the story evolves in more bit-sized chunks because I wouldn’t have the ability, time, and probably even patience to go through everything above in one experience while I’m on the go.

But pretty quickly, you can already see how many channels they’ve used. Originating from one simple text message on a bottle in a grocery store. Mobile, digital, and social. Plus offline, via the packaging. (And I see, via some comments on YouTube, that the “Secret Formula” video is a broadcast commercial and currently running.) They could do a little bit better with the offline story, but we’ll have to see what/if anything else rolls out in the future.

It’s also important to recognize all of the different forms of content they’ve used. Video (and many different qualities/types), animation, games, quizzes, grunting bears, and Tweets. Not to mention everything else they’ve got going on in their marketing mix, outside of this one campaign experience.

Even in one sitting, consuming just about as much information I can about a brand, I am impressed with the thinking and execution behind such an engaging multi-channel experience. It sucked me into the brand via their story. Not through gimmicks or technology, but through a consistent, cohesive brand story.

I think that Coke is one of the brands who does it right. I like their advertising and communications approach. They’re dialed into their story and they leverage the power of social media in a productive way for their brand (in fact, they just completed their largest ever social media campaign – Expedition206 – it was quite a campaign.) They obviously have the size and the resources to market and engage on a massive scale.

This particular campaign is a great example of a brand using their story to engage consumers, through various channels and mediums, with many different forms of content, and to pass it on to others. Which really might be the true key – “Happiness” is to be shared. Coke knows this and even if they’re not willing to really gives us the answer to their “secret formula,” they’re enabling us to spread what they center their story around.

Happiness.

No doubt there will be much more to come on this journey.

Have you seen any of these? Did you find the experience engaging? Any other examples from this campaign? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Friday’s 4-1-1, Core Story Style

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For the next 15 days, I’m going to participate in Reverb 10. It’s an open online initiative that encourages participants to reflect on this year and manifest what’s next. It’s an opportunity to retreat and consider the reverberations of your year past, and those that you’d like to create in the year ahead. We’re connected by the belief that sharing our stories has the power to change us.

Today’s prompt – CORE STORY: What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world?

It’s the end of the year, the final thoughts, the look-ahead, the last of the 2010 Friday 4-1-1’s, and the end of the Reverb10 series, all wrapped up into 1 post. And how fitting it is, stripping things down to the core, the thing that means the most – the story.

My story here has been an exploration. I didn’t start with much of a plan or many key message pillars and certainly nothing in mind for a “year later.” It all started pretty simple. I was open. But what’s happened through the exploration is that I’ve actually formed a story. It’s a story that’s centered around this wide-open space we call Out-of-Home, but it’s not about screens or technology. It’s about INTERACTIVITY, and ENGAGEMENT, and the PLACES/THINGS AROUND US being able to be TURNED ON, and more than anything, it’s about TELLING the BRAND’S STORY. These 4 themes have surfaced to the top in my exploration and it’s here – with these 4 themes – that I want to focus exploring more in the coming year. These are the core themes to my story. So, today’s Friday 4-1-1 is dedicated to them.

1. INTERACTIVITY – From the beginning, I’ve latched onto the concept that Interactive Out-of-Home is markedly different than Digital Out-of-Home. They’re both centered around technology, but different types of technology that do different types of things. I believe that you can make anything interactive, be it from a digital experience or not. But what deems something truly “interactive?” Is it just the fact that a consumer can take some sort of an action? Or is it deeper than that?

2. ENGAGEMENT – Interactivity and Engagement go hand-in-hand. Once something is interactive, it could be implied that it’s engaging. But not so fast. One does not necessarily make the other. The two are linked, yes, but true brand engagement might not be accomplished by simply taking an action. All actions are not created equal. If brands understand where consumers are in the funnel, they can drive true, meaningful brand engagement, all through some level of interactivity. Can this only happen with some scientific formula and an endless well of content?

3. PLACES/THINGS AROUND US TURNED “ON” – This is probably the most nebulous theme of them all, but I believe it’s just because we’re still quite a ways in front of the curve. In 2010, we saw bikes with brains. Trees that could talk. And interactive cars. But these are the exception. Technology is rapidly developing to the point where anything can be turned “on.” Will we see more and more places/things around us taking the place of physical “screens” in 2011? Or will we see more actual screens?

4. TELLING THE BRAND’S STORY – In college, me and my buddy had dreams of becoming the next Coen Brothers filmmaking dynamic duos. He’d direct, I’d write, and we’d both produce. It fit our skillsets and our passions perfectly. So, we grinded through the grind for many years trying to make that dream a reality, but in the end, it just wasn’t meant to be (ironically enough, he heads the film/video division for our company!) Every once in awhile, I get the itch to write another movie. I just haven’t been able to devote the long periods of time that it calls for with everything else going on in my life (I keep telling myself “when the kids are older.”) But over this holiday season, I’ve thought alot about that type of storytelling – the type with a beginning, middle, and end – compared to the brand type of storytelling – the type that’s structured around key messages and evolves over time – and how brands could write their story like a movie. It’s compelling and I’m going to dive deeper into it in the future. Can transmedia work for an automaker the same way it can work for a movie franchise? What does social media do to the story?

“Uh-huh” – At the end of the day, from a brand’s perspective, it’s all about building relationships with consumers. These four themes are at the heart of doing just that. It’s not easy to do, but I want to uncover who’s doing a good job at it vs. who isn’t, especially when they’re reaching people outside of their home.

“Duh” – I hope to not write as much about QR codes in the coming year. Yes, they provide a level of interactivity and engagement, and in some cases, drive the consumer deeper into the brand experience, but the complete solution – from a brand’s POV – needs to be improved. Mobile and Out-of-Home are linked together, and hopefully we’ll see more and more rich experiences involving the two. I’ve got to relax on the QR codes.

So there you have it. I’m excited about this direction in 2011. Thank you all for joining me on this exploration. Your readership and support means an incredible amount to me. I truly appreciate every one of you. I hope you all have a safe, enjoyable and prosperous new year! See you on the flipside.

The Evolution of My Brand

Thanks be to Some Pretty Awesome People – YOU!

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I’m riding the train right now, typing and watching all of the different-colored, half-leaved trees speed by me, and I’m reminded of how awesome this time of year is. It’s always been a time that we fall into our routines as a family (which is important for us), settle in for the upcoming season and year, reconnect with our families and friends, and get to see – visually, really see – how beautiful our surroundings truly are. This time of year always provides a nice centering for me because of all of these factors. This centering gives me the right perspective on what’s really important and meaningful. It allows me to reflect on those things that have blessed my life and to vocally be thankful for them.

No doubt, I have lots be thankful for. My family and friends and our health top the list. I lost a teacher and mentor yesterday, and I’m thankful for all of those who have taught and purposefully (or non-purposefully) mentored me. Over the years, I have learned from many people and they have collectively given me the knowledge, confidence, guidance, and experience that have enabled me to get where I am today. I can only hope to have a fraction of the impact on others as those have had on me.

This blog is another thing I’m thankful for. It’s a labor of love for me and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. It would not be what it is, though, without you guys, my readers. So, the biggest THANK YOU goes to YOU. You have shown interest by reading and providing comments and some of you even come back a second time. :) It’s really humbling. Your readership gives me reassurance that I am providing some sort of value to you. I only hope to continue, and ideally, get better. I’m always open to thoughts and suggestions on how to make this better for you, so please feel free to share. I feel like I’m just getting started.

I have to also thank my boss and friend, Matt Dickman, for encouraging me to start this blog. Without his support, I would have never started it and without his advice, I wouldn’t know the real “right” way to approach and do something like this. He encourages me unconditionally. He’s a great mind and I’m grateful to be working right along side him.

To that end, I’m privileged to work along AMAZING people who are committed to doing GREAT work. Brad – your help and insights have given me inspiration for pushing. Spike – your perspective is fresh and gives me courage. Herb – you’re wicked smart and you push me in ways I don’t like to admit (especially to you). Miker – you’re a rock, dude, and have been for a LONG time for me. Oh yeah, you’re super-talented at that video thing. Cindy – you keep us in line and strive to do what’s right. Sarah B. – you jump right in and aren’t afraid to mix it up. Most importantly, you want to get better. Chrissie – you’re a sponge. Keep sponging. Sarah F. – your drive is amazing. Aly – you just get stuff done and are a pleasure to work with. Clare – I can tell we’re going to get along just fine. Welcome to our team. Warren – you’re calm under pressure, brother, and your level-head sets a great tone. Rob – you think things through like a mad man and your edge levels that tone out. Ryan – your flexing is powerful. And I’m not talking muscles. Christian – does that smile ever leave your face? Matt W. – it’s been great to see you open up and you add a pleasant, chill dimension to the team. Abby & Lane – you’re machines with that research. And Chris – you do your thing, you bring quality thinking in everything. Inez – you’re the backbone of our group. Most of all, everyone’s just nice. And that’s nice. Thank you all for being who you are and doing what you do.

Outside of work, specifically inside the “industry,” I also have many people to thank, starting with the leaders of the two large industry (DOOH) conferences. They have both been incredibly generous and kind to me. Geri at the Digital Signage Expo (DSE) really gave me my first “break” in this blogging world. She gave me behind-the-scenes access that exposed me to things and people that I wouldn’t have otherwise been exposed to. Early on, in the life of this blog, she provided a source of great momentum by taking a chance on “the new guy.” And Lawrence at Customer Engagement Technology World (CETW) has been extremely gracious, too. In his time, his open ears, and his access. He’s also given me the opportunity to speak at both of his shows this year. For all of that, thank you both. You’re unsung heroes of this industry and I am honored to have gotten to know you, work beside you, and help you get the word out this year.

I’ve also had the good fortune to meet and become pretty close to other industry leaders. Dave Haynes and Paul Flanigan – two rock stars in this industry with LOADS of experience – have treated me so well since I met them. They reached out to me like a friend, as if we’d known each other for years, and have made it comfortable, and even more, insightful, every time we interact with each other. We’ve had many great conversations, and I hope to have many more. They’ve been instrumental in sharing my thoughts with their personal communities and have both opened up opportunities for me that are invaluable.

Another one is David Weinfeld, a kindred spirit. David runs in the same group as Dave and Paul, so it was a package deal – (along with Pat Hellberg) I got to know them all in one fail swoop. David is passionate about this space and the potential it provides and works tirelessly to advance the knowledge, capabilities, and power that technology enables when people are on the move. He’s become my Twitter BFF.

The last guy in that group is Pat Hellberg. Although I’ve spent limited time with him, the time that I have spent has been rich. He’s a video guy and a Nike guy. Both awesome in my book. I was in Portland earlier in the year and he spent a few hours with me and showed me around his old stomping ground – the Nike campus. It was one of my “industry” highlights of the year.

Adrian and Gail at DailyDOOH have also been kind to me, welcoming into the small world of industry bloggers. They are the premier news source in the industry so it’s been cool to get a glimpse of their world and how they operate.

Ken Goldberg, Keith Kelson, Kyle Porter, Stephen Randall – thank you for your openness in our conversations, and more importantly, your leadership within the industry.

And there are, no doubt, many that I’ve probably missed. It’s been a rich year to be sure. Not only for me, but for this industry. Regardless of our view of Out-of-Home or Digital Out-of-Home or Digital Signage, we’re all working together for the same thing – to advance the knowledge and the potential of this powerful medium. I see great things in the future for this industry and I’m glad to be part of it.

Thank you all, again, for your part in this. Thank you for reading and sharing. I hope you have had just as rich and rewarding of a year as I have and I wish each one of you a Happy Thanksgiving and holiday season and a prosperous year to come.

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

Friday’s 4-1-1, Mobile-Style

Celebrating (and Reflecting on) the 1st 6 Months

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We’re at a good halfway point in the year, so I think it’s an opportune time to look back on the first 6 months of this blog and reflect.

All in all, I think I’ve done a fairly good job of finding a relevant and clear point of view. It’s evolved from something narrow when I started to a bit broader now. Most everything has been grounded in OOH – I just look at things with more experience and exposure as time has gone (and goes) on. I’m also surrounded by different people in my everyday life who have impacted my thinking. So, naturally, my point of view will evolve. I just don’t want it to slow me down and/or turn into something crazy and incomprehensible.

I need to write more. I’m averaging about 10 posts a month. I feel like I need to double that so I’m providing a steady source of information. I’ve asked a couple of my work colleagues, all of whom are very bright and have an opinion and aren’t shy to voice it, to provide guest posts on as regular basis as they can. So, hopefully, you’ll not only get more content, but you’ll get more (and different) perspective. If any of you want to provide a guest post, just let me know. I’m open to it.

I haven’t found the secret sauce of doing conferences. Blogging, tweeting, meeting people, and just plain going to the conference is a lot of work and certainly requires some juggling. I’ve provided a decent mix of “live streaming” + my perspective. I feel like I need to focus on getting in front of some of “names” there and interview them (or something.) I can see how that would be valuable. So, any of you names at these conferences, take this as my initial request :)

Other than that, I’m pretty happy with everything. It’s still very new and the test is really going to be sustaining over time. I’m committed to continue learning and doing and writing. I expect big things and as a result, everyone reading this will experience that with me.

I’ve met some really great people through this avenue and that, more than anything, is the thing I’m most proud of. This blog allows for these words to live on until some Y2K catastrophe, but I hope to keep those relationships for much longer.

I thought it would be a fun exercise to share some of my favorite posts. I’ve enjoyed reading back over everything and for those who are new to this blog, it might help you navigate through some of my thinking up to now. To those of you who are not new to this blog and my regular readers (again, thank you guys for regular readership!!), I’d love to hear some of your favorite posts. So here they are, broken down by month (I picked a favorite per month):

January – The 11th Screen Puzzle – this was my 3rd post and really where I felt like I was able to really give everyone a sense of where I’m coming from and what to expect from this blog.

February – Keep It Simple Stupid – here, I showed a few examples of “simple” and effective Interactive Out of Home (IOOH) and an example of not so simple and not so effective. To me, there are many different kinds of enabling technologies that make OOH solutions “interactive.” These technologies are vital, not only for the industry, but for the future of marketing. On one hand, these technologies allow us to merge the offline with the online and on another hand, they allow brands to make “complete” experiences.

March – Facebook + QR Codes + A Good Idea? – a little snarky here, but this was on the heels of doing a big QR code initiative for one of our clients and all I was reading was how Facebook was going to save QR codes. That’s right, I said “save” because here in the US, I think they might have died before they were even born. I personally think there’s value to QR codes, if used the right way + proper eduction, but how many of you have used QR codes and like it? I just don’t know that we, as consumers of information through technology, need this particular technology. Point is – is Facebook going to save them? I don’t think so.

April – Why Business Cards and Video are the Same to Me – one of the un-IOOH-related posts, but something that allowed me to provide my perspective on more of what I do everyday.

May – Are You an Expert Learner? – I am of the mindset that if you aren’t learning, you’re wasting your time. I don’t particularly care for know-it-alls, but I really like learn-it-alls.

June – Kinect (and others) – “DOOH” Killers? – the launch of Microsoft’s Kinect should really open eyes on what can be done sooner rather than later with human computer interaction. It is particularly compelling for anyone in the “DOOH” (if you’ve read this blog, you know how I feel about that moniker) industry.

And here we are in July. Many more to come.

Out & About: Target’s Gaming Touch Screen

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I heard Chris Borek from Target speak at the Digital Signage Expo earlier this year and walked away from it impressed with their approach to serving customers – “it’s about interacting with the customer on their (the customer’s) terms, on their schedule. It’s not about being there all the time, it’s about being there when they need it.” So, I was not surprised when, over the weekend, I saw this touchscreen in the middle of their electronics/gaming section. Apparently, they’re planning a full chain roll-out with these babies.

Let’s put her to the test and see how she does.

Purpose – They are here to sell games. They’re providing this solution to make it easier for you to a) search for the game you want b) search for the game you don’t know you want c) find the most convenient store for you to get it at and d) get the information in the form you want. This experience delivers on all fronts. If I were looking for a game, I would go straight to this touchscreen vs. a store employee, but that’s just me. If I was intimidated by this touchscreen and wanted the comfort of a store employee, that employee could walk me straight to this and step through the experience with me (hopefully, that’s what they’re trained to do.) In that regard, it even levels the playing field for all of those employees – now they don’t need to know about every game in the store. The technology serves that purpose and allows the employee to focus on the customer.

Drama – As you can see, this touchscreen was built into the display unit and it all looks very nice. You can tell they spent a lot of time thinking this through and designing the entire unit, not just the touchscreen. I don’t know how they could have done a better job with placement, although it would have been much more noticeable if it were right on the main aisle. (As it is, it’s hidden behind the display unit on the main aisle.) Once I noticed it, the subtle animation and large text with prominent call-to-action made me want to interact with it and set my expectations on exactly what I needed to do. In my opinion, they made a good decision with the vertical monitor – it creates more of a dramatic impact than the same size horizontal monitor and for this type of information, I think it makes for a better use of space.

Usability – The interface was set up very much like a web interface. In some respects, it mirrors Target’s online experience, certainly the way in which the content was bucketed. I didn’t have a problem finding the information I wanted. In some cases, there were multiple ways to get to the same content, which I think is good. And regardless of where I was in the experience, I could always “Go Back” Home and “Notify an Employee.” It’s great (and smart) to have those anchors. I think it makes the user feel comfortable that they can always get the information that they ultimately want, even if it isn’t through this touchscreen experience.

Interactivity – This experience was touch-based with email & mobile integration.

The screen was responsive to touch and aside from the internet connection (which I suspect is needed to utilize their web content management system), I thought the experience itself was fluid and smooth. The email & text component was simple and provided only the information I needed in either of those channels.

Information – All games, all systems, all accessories, all the time. The content here is hooked into Target’s chain-wide inventory, so if the store that you’re in doesn’t have what you’re looking for, you can locate it at the stores closest to you. In addition to the product information, they worked in a social component via user reviews. That said, I couldn’t find any user reviews in the games that I searched (which I think can be easily remedied with some seeded content), but it might have just been by chance that those specific games didn’t have reviews. This application didn’t seem to have any un-needed information and it didn’t seem to lack any either. Everything in here seemed purposeful.

Personalization – There wasn’t much personalization in this experience, but there was more than in the touchscreens that I’ve previously featured. The email and mobile component was a nice, personal touch and a step in the right direction to make the experience personal. I think they have the opportunity to build user’s profiles, recommend content based on previous purchases, incorporate a loyalty-type program – all might not be appropriate for the everyday consumer, but would certainly help Target compete with stores like GameStop with the hardcore gamers.

All in all, this was a very good, efficient application. One of the best I’ve seen, and certainly the best touchscreen that I’ve featured here. Why other game stores and movie stores (like Blockbuster) and music stores don’t do this more, I just don’t understand, especially if they’ve already got a good system online. I think anyone who’s considering building/updating a retail-based interactive application should go to their nearest Target and play around with this for a little while – you’ll learn alot.