Innovation & Interactivity joined

Innovation is described by the Online Cambridge Dictionary as “the use of a new idea or method” which can be applied to advertising. Advertising is used to revolving around consumers and what they want out of products and services. Today, marketers and advertisers are thinking more broadly and producing innovative products and ways to advertise to prospects. Chris Anderson on Tedtalks talks about how innovation involves hard work and is based on hundreds of hours of research. But is it? I disagree as new innovative products are not purely based on what consumers want, as stated before it is about the use of a new idea therefore it is a risk that marketers and advertisers are willing to take and what they think will work.

I came across an interesting website which I thought was key to the topic of innovation in advertising:

Link to website: Revolution Awards 2011

“For 14 years, Revolution magazine has presented the digital marketing world in common sense marketing terms, encouraging exploration, discovery and motivation by marketing teams” (Marketing revolution Awards 2011)

As I scrolled down their website page I located awards which had been given to companies for their innovative advances namely 1) AKQA’s Fiat: Drive Fleet and 2) SapienNitro’s Share Happy Work with Wall’s ice-cream.

The revolution Award for Innovation: AKQA Fiat eco: Drive Fleet

“From car to PC in a USB” youtube: Fiat EcoDrive

I found this advertisement exciting as it shows how Fiat have become innovative by linking information of the cars CO² emissions with online communications. This is done by using a USB stick which transfers each consumer’s driving information in order for them to have the ability to track their journey; how much damage it does to the environment and gives advice on how they can improve their driving to be environmentally friendly. This is a great advancement in the use of technology as it is personal and innovative. It brings a positive outlook on Fiat cars in being socially responsible.

However. will people find the time to do this? It depends on whether consumers are environmentally conscious and if they care about the size of their carbon footprint. Even though this is an innovative and creative idea which seeks to help the environment, the main question should revolve around whether or not people will get involved in this and actively participate. Maybe there needs to be more of an incentive to do so other than helping the environment such as deals online or getting petrol vouchers for achieving goals with your car or something along those lines...

What do you think?

Another revolution award for innovation:  SapienNitro *Unilever “Share Happy” Smile activated vending machine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kbl8CA6wlg Youtube: SapienNitro Share Happy Work with Wall’s ice-cream

An ice-cream van for the digital age

This vending machine is able to detect demographics such as your age and gender but more excitingly your smile! People just had to touch the interactive screen to begin the fun! Anyone who had a big enough smile looking at the vending machine got their picture taken and received a free ice-cream! Sounds good to me! This is a great example of innovation and highlights a huge advancement in interactivity in an innovative and fun way. It is described as “an ice-cream van for the digital age” this is due to the fact that it has 3G technology built in which enables consumers to upload and share their picture on Facebook and share their experience. This use of social networking sites helps create buzz and emphasizes the feel-good and sharing aspects involved with consuming Wall’s ice-cream.

Have an opinion? please leave a comment :)

Mobile Marketing

Mobile technologies are rapidly changing in the advertising and marketing environment. Mobile phones have gone from 1G (first generation) where wireless services were on offer which were mainly analogue. 1G technology advanced quickly to 2G phones in the 1990’s where you were able to access fax and SMS (short message service). At this time of development, the use of texting escalated however the lecture I attended stated that at this time people found it difficult to communicate across different networks efficiently. In improving efficiency in communications, the development of mobile phones brought about 3G which changed the way people could send SMS messages by introducing MMS messaging. This allowed for multimedia messaging across platforms where users could send videos and pictures making the experience more engaging and exciting. 3G allows for high speed data exchange and makes communications between networks more efficient. This interestingly came to Japan a lot earlier than it did Europe.

We are now entering a world of 4G mobile technology; these include smartphones where users can stream videos, browse the internet and are able to access high quality broadband services.

 

After reading the Journal of Macromarketing; Exploring the Digital Divide in Mobile-phone Adoption Levels across Countries   I understood that the “digital divide” is to do with mobile technologies developing more in certain countries than others. Matt Findel-Hawkins from Nikkei BP Europe gave our course a lecture on Mobile Marketing and he stated that the mobile market is being driven by China and India as it is the “cheapest way to get online”.

In addition he added that “many mobile web users access the web only via mobile”. This is interesting as it shows how people are using smartphones and suggests a move away from the computer screen and more towards mobiles. Reasons for this is that mobile is a more personal form of communication, Matt said that mobiles are effective as “no other media that you can buy that sits in your pocket!” In 2009 there were half a billion mobile web users and this number is growing at a fast pace.

Two examples of major players in mobile marketing today is the iPhone and the iPad. In an earlier blog I have spoken about the iPad in a previous blog and how it can be a great platform to advertise on and what is it capable of.

Advancements in mobile marketing such as being able to buy things online from your phone is changing the mentality of consumers.

I read an interesting article by Ronan Shields titled “RIM confirms BlackBerry’s commitment to NFC” published this month. (February 2011). The article explains how NFC technology is going to be intergrated into BlackBerrys.NFC Is described as a forn of short range wireless connectivity. This technoloigal advancement aims to bridge the connectivity between the virtual world (for example people living in their mobile phones which I am familiar with too!) and the physical world. An example of how NFC communications can be used is that people can use their Blackberry phones to make a payment. This advancement is said to simplifying your day to day lives by giving you a true mobile experience. Ronan adds that you can also collect “local information about a store on tapping on something” as you walk past the door which I found quite interesting.

Is this a future application that all 4G mobile will be able to use? In this way we would not have to carry our bank cards and purses around with us when we go shopping. Sounds good to me! This has a similarity to QR codes which I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.

Whilst browsing through Ted talks I found an interesting speech from Clay Shirky where he talks about the transformed media landscape (shown below)

Clay says that the world we are living in now is the “largest increase in expressive capability in human history”. He adds that the mobile phone gave us the one-to-one pattern and that the internet then gave us the many-to-many communication opportunities. This has influenced the way we act as consumers

An example of how fast information can travel through the internet and the use of mobile phones is given by Clay about an earthquake that happened in China. The earthquake it was reported as it was happening. People were texting, taking photos and videos of buildings on their mobiles and uploading it onto “QQ” which is Chinas biggest internet service as well as uploading it onto Twitter. Such social connections resulted in people listening all over the world. The BBC got the information from published news on Twitter indicating the advances in social media connections with people being able to access the content from all over the world. Within half a day donation sites were put up getting money from all around the world. Clay further says that the last time China had an earthquake it took them three months to say that it had happened!

Feel free to add any additional information or comments!

Do you have any thoughts on mobile marketing?

What do you think about people like yourself being more likely to use their mobiles for internet access rather than a laptop or computer?

Will mobile maketing have an effect on computer usage? will mobiles slowly take over in the way of convergence ( convergence = the bringing together of media onto one device/medium)

What is "Transmedia Storytelling" ?

In his book “Digital Advertising” Andrew Mcstay (2010) describes transmedia storytelling as “communications of brands are relayed across a broad array of media, including offline”. Stories can be attached to products in order to emphasise with the audience and create meaning with a brand.

It is important to keep up with technological advances in seeing the potentials of transmedia storytelling. This was a topic talked about in a lecture which I will further discuss. Viewers want more than just a video posted up on YouTube.

Mcstay uses the example of EA (Electronic Arts) where someone on YouTube identified an opportunity to post something online after watching a Tiger Woods golf game. They uploaded a video via their Weiden and Kennedy agency which worked as a video response to tiger walking on water to play golf. This reflected a game of Tiger Woods walking on water then showed the clip in real-life which looks like he is walking on water to show that “he really is that good”

Coke has been involved in transmedia storytelling as well in promoting the “coke side of life”. Coke aimed to develop a world that can easily be translated over various media such as Cokes Advertisement (shown below) and their global website. 

Can you emphasise with this? I think it is an amazing advertisement with the integrated imagination and use of CGI (Computer generated images) and is very cleverly thought out. How effective do you think it is?

Looking at the influence of interactivity in our digital world and the importance of communicating with consumers whilst recognising implications

Digital advertising is now a mainstream activity where the online advertising industry is “now the fastest growing advertising medium” (Mcstay, 2010 p. 18). Web 2.0 allows a much higher level of person interactivity than traditional media. According to Sheizof Rafaeli, everyone is familiar with social interaction and therefore interactivity; which is seen as a two-way influence (Pavlik, 1999). This highlights how popular the internet has become for companies to advertise on. However many advertisers find it difficult in understanding how to best reach these digital audiences. There is no guideline how to best utilise digital communications for advertising which is reasonable as Andrew Mcstay describes Web 2.0 as a moving target (as are the audiences). It has become a huge challenge to constantly keep up with changes in consumers’ needs and wants as we always want more and expect more! Which hasn’t changed from the day we were born really...

Deighton (2007) states that interactive marketing has five paradigms which involved the responses consumers have in the new and interactive marketing environment.

1.       Thought tracing - is where people, like you, search the web for information and (more likely) entertainment. Here firms gather information on how you act online and provide relevant advertising.

2.       Ubiquitous connectivity- quite longwinded but is a term used to describe people who integrate computing into everyday life. Here, firms exploit information and intrude on your online browsing. For example; how Facebook targets advertising to users such as basing the advertisement on what film you have just watched online. An example is shown below:

Do you think this is effective? Or intrusive?

      In some cases advertisements target completely the wrong people in terms of their demographics. An example is shown below where a man is clearly married yet advertisements for single women and dating have popped up alongside his screen.

Have there been any times this has happened to you? If so were the advertisements relevant to you?

3.       Property exchanges – This is where people exchange goods or services for example eBay or Amazon books. Firms compete with these exchanges to work towards their marketing goals.

4.       Social exchanges – Where people build identities within virtual worlds and firms sponsor them. A good example here is HabboHotel which can be accessed by this link: www.habbo.co.uk . I used to play this online the whole time a few years back as it was very interactive and amusing. A report from Brand Republic (2007) online outlined that Habbo is sponsored by the NSPCC who used this online social network to target the teen market.

      Interactive ways of promotions included posting virtual billboards in communities for the Childline. This is also known as in-game advertising, another topic covered in my lecture. Celebrity ambassadors also visit the hotel for virtual “meet and greet” events which makes the whole experience more exciting and welcoming. See also the BBC website

     

5.       Cultural exchanges – is where people participate in cultural exchanges. Here firms can offer cultural products or sponsor such activities. An example of this can be found at www.caribeworld.org which is a website designed for cultural diversity and mutual understanding between the Caribbean and the rest of the world.

An interesting Video I found on interactivity with digital media and consumer demographics

Question- are people who they say they are online?

Ted talks introduced me to a very interesting talk from Johanna Blakely. She talks about research found on consumer demographics and how they affect media and entertainment, especially social media.

Demographics is a particular sector of the population for example; the demographic trend is towards an older population. (Oxford Dictionary Online)

It is assumed that all people who participate in such networks exist in the same categories. Today people want to find out and be a part of their friends lifestyles; creating online groups on facebook or other social networking sites such as Second Life. Here users have a chance to be whoever they choose to be without having to give out correct information. Johanna says that it is “much easier for us to escape from some of our demographic boxes”. I remember once when I was going out with a boyfriend and he knew what type of guy I liked so he created a profile on Bebo (yes a long time ago...). He created this virtual person pretending to be someone else to see if I would talk to him! Crazy. This just shows how easy it is to be fooled with false information online which could cause huge implications if you’re not careful such as on dating sites or giving away any personal information about yourself where a stranger could track you. A fatal example of this is where a guy, Alan Johnson posed as someone else on Facebook and murdered a 17-year old girl. (February 2011)

Advertising rates are still made on consumer demographics yet advertisers find it difficult to understand variables such as your age or income. On the other hand, they can keep track of what interests you as you click away online. Johanna further adds that “shared interests and values are far more useful than demographics”. I agree with this as advertisers are now finding ways to create closer relationships with consumers and trying to avoid bombarding them with irrelevant advertising.

As mentioned before about advertisements on Facebook, Johanna adds that media companies believe you are predictable in certain likes and ways in which you behave and therefore assumptions are based on your demographics. Interactivty is on the increase in online communications. With people searching for information or entertainment online, around 40% of them have a purchase motive in the hope for finding online bargains. This draws much attention to marketers and advertisers to promote their products and services online.

Hyperlinking the physical world to the internet using QR codes...

So what is a QR code?

Its simple, it is a type of barcode that can be read from camera phones. QR codes are also known as quick response codes which are becoming increasingly noticeable in our everyday lives. This is what the codes look like:

These codes makes searching for desired information quick, easy and useful at the time of need all through your smart phone.

I have taken some time to expand on QR codes in what they can do and how they can help smart phone users access wanted information in the palm of our hands effortlessly, without having to search anything or type anything into a URL.

QR codes, like iPads in the previous post, are about hyperlinking the physical world to the internet

QR codes can help support experimental learning, moving away from keyboards as input devices and towards smart phone applications.

If you haven’t yet uploaded an application to support access to QR codes on your smart phone (if you have one) do so now! A few popular scanners that can be downloaded for free include the following for Blackberries and iPhones:

1.       BlackBerry mobiles: BeeTagg, MobileTag                                         

2.       iPhone and iPod touch: Kaywa, NeoReader, OptiScan

The Youtube video below shows a current advertisement by Tesco where consumers are encouraged to download a free tesco grocery application. By doing so, you can put products into your online shopping basket on tesco.com and buy online from your iPhone.

So how can you create a QR code?

Try the QR code I created myself below; this should take you directly to their online site where you can create your own QR code by typing in any URL address and clicking on “generate”

Being able to create your own QR code opens many opportunities in areas such as education, for example; desired websites for students to access can be given in the form of a QR code for them to scan, instead of having to manually type the URL out. This prevents spelling mistakes in their search, makes the task more intriguing and helps prevent students getting distracted from other sites which seem more interesting such as Facebook.

After reading this post from http://deangroom.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/how-to-make-qr-codes-with-google Dean talks about how you can share your “little black and white boxes” via social networks.

Stores are also taking advantages of QR codes such as the example below with tailor made hotel:

QR codes can be taken to a whole new level and become interactive codes used for nearly all purposes in our everyday lives. These codes could help us with decision making when buying and choosing products for example:

1.       Scanning beers or wines where you are taken to websites with reviews on the products so you can choose the one that is right for you.

2.       There can be a use for not having to visualise what a meal looks like, by this I mean that making decisions on which meal to order in a restaurant is mostly based on descriptions. Having small QR codes besides each meal can bring up a picture of what the consumer will be getting on their plate.

3.       Also, QR codes could be used to get information when needed such as reviews on DVD’s or finding out the popularity of a magazine in-store.

All three suggestions above show the potential of the extent to which the world can adopt a digital stance and is increasingly doing so at a very fast pace. This enables consumers to be more efficient in their purchasing decisions. However this puts a downfall on new brands that are trying to enter a market as they would not have gained much consumer interest. The ease of consumer’s ability to get information from one single scan places already successful brands in an even better position as they will be recommended to consumers.

Do you have any thoughts or comments about QR codes? do you think they will take off and appear everywhere?