Friday 30 March 2012

Nike Fuelband

Submitted by Sean

http://vimeo.com/38379381

A follow up to my previous blog on the Nike FuelStation at Boxpark in East London, in this video Nike's global creative director Andy Walker demonstrates how the company's new FuelBand wristband helps athletes monitor their activity across a range of sports and daily activities.

The NikeFuel Station provides digital interfaces for trying out the FuelBand and uploading data from other Nike+ monitoring devices.

It’s a really cool way of integrating the brand and it’s products into people’s daily lives.

Keywords: Nike, FuelBand, Gamification, Boxpark, Sport

Tuesday 27 March 2012

The brutal simplicity of thought

A very simple but impactful way of expressing themselves - Saatchi created a book about how the simplicity of thought changed the world.
It started out as a training manual for Saatchi employees, now you can add yours to it too.


Punam

Monday 26 March 2012

Now, I like biscuits, and I like cereal, but which is best? There's only one way to find out - FIGHT!

With key category growth drivers being critical within a poor economic climate, brands and retailers are constantly searching for a jewel of an insight, or an occasion to help drive incremental sales.
So it seems no surprise, that there are two heavyweight TTL campaigns presently going head to head by targeting the breakfast occasion, both of which are pulling no punches when it comes to marketing spend.

In the red corner, we have Cereal Partners, who are throwing down the gauntlet by launching their ‘Battle of the Breakfasts’ campaign. This tried and tested campaign formula gives consumers the opportunity to compare the nutritional content of Nestle cereals against other typical breakfast fodder.
And in the blue corner, we have Belvita Breakfast Biscuits. Building on their successful launch, their comms focus is now on the nutritional benefit of their product and its slow release of energy to help you get through to your next meal.

Interestingly, both these campaigns are using a similar holistic template by driving awareness though various ATL media, trial through sampling & in-store discount, and repeat through continued discount in and out of store.

Both are targeting consumers at key commuter stations throughout the mornings with sampling activity, and while Nestle have saturated TV and Press with Ads, Belivta have taken a longer term strategic media route through targeted sponsorship of the weather slot on the ITV morning programme Daybreak.
A clue to the outcome of this ‘Battle of the Breakfasts’ however, could be given through a key insight unearthed by one of the companies involved in this breakfast battle:
‘Breakfast cereals have been a cornerstone of the British breakfast for decades, but sometimes are overlooked in the morning rush, or with the variety of alternatives that are now available.’
Therefore, as a brand, your response to this insight would naturally be to offer an easy solution to a nutritional breakfast on the go.

Surprisingly, this quote was not from Kraft Foods rationalising their breakfast solution Belvita, but was in fact a quote from Cereal Partners supporting the insight around their current Nestle Cereal campaign. Their campaign communicates the vast range of breakfast cereal on offer within their portfolio (too much choice?), and unfortunately doesn’t address the ‘portability’ problem with any type of solution which overcomes the trend around breakfast of ‘eating on the go’.
This key trend is the biggest threat to their format rather than nutrition or choice, and finding a solution which encourages more people to sit down and digest their most important meal of the day would possibly have helped address the issues better.

Now if this was a fight, I think Nestle may have just handed the impetus to Kraft and Belvita and landed a knockout blow - on themselves! 

Friday 23 March 2012

Free Mr Kipling cakes on TCR

 
Have you all grabbed a free cake out from the JCDecaux outdoor poster on Tottenham Court Road?
The poster includes a cake dispenser which can distribute up to 500 Mr Kipling Angel Slices every day and not only does it give you a free sample but it also sprays out a cake scent from the top of the poster.
They launched the outdoor poster campaign with Joanna Page AKA Stacey from Gavin & Stacey last Monday on Tottenham Court Road.
Keep a look out for the experiential campaign which will involve a tailored "Cakemobile", which will tour the country from 27 March. The van will promote the brand's snap-pack format and the fact that consumers can eat the cakes on-the-go.


Jess

Saturday 17 March 2012

Jameson's Chandelier























I saw this on a friend's Facebook update. Brand's need to find ever more innovative ways of gaining visibility in bars and I thought this was clever.
I don't think I've ever seen friend's posting pics of the usual paper POS!!
Perhaps this could be an interesting angle to put in a brief on permanent POS - not only something that bars would want to place, but also that their customers would want to share with their friends on Facebook.

JAMESON'S, CHANDELIER, POS, FACEBOOK

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Starbucks adds the personal touch!

From now on there's no need to answer to 'Skinny wet triple shot latte' when you buy your favourite coffee based beverage from Starbucks. Plus go in and introduce yourself before 12 on 14th March and you'll get a tall cup for Free. We all like Free. See you there.

Craig


UPDATE:

All morning every Starbucks I've passed has had queues like this outside. Some people like FREE too much. I went to Nero!


Boxpark space is the future of Nike retail




Nike is opening its first-ever Nike+ Fuelstation outlet at east London retail development Boxpark (Shoreditch).

Designed in-house by the Nike brand design team in The Netherlands, the new space ‘mixes the human and the digital world’, according to Andy Walker, global design director at Nike.

Nike describes the project as ‘the future of Nike retail’, adding, ‘It’s unlike any other Nike store - we’re changing the way we do retail.’

The Fuelstation, which is installed across nine Boxpark crates, features augmented reality, interactive information screens and digital mannequins. Walker says, ‘It’s super-rich in interactions in a small physical space.’

The space uses materials including concrete and wooden bleachers

The entrance area features a wall that starts out coloured red, changing to green as visitors walk past - reflecting the Nike Fuelband, which changes from red to green as the wearer exercises.



Further into the store is an area which uses Kinect technology to create an avatar ‘portrait’ of the visitor, which can then be uploaded to social media. There are also iPads and digital mannequin ‘mirrors’, in which digital characters model clothes.

There is space for a running consultant and a physio, while the upper level features further Nike products.



Walker says, ‘It’s not a traditional retail space - it’s more of a brand showcase, and it also works as a community hub.’ The space will be a meeting place for Nike running clubs







Sean


Bushmills Whisky Shwood Sunglasses

BUSHMILLS WHISKY x SHWOOD SUNGLASSES



A unique collaboration between wooden eyewear manufacturer Shwood , Boston boutique Bodega and Bushmills Irish Whiskey has resulted in limited edition sunglasses made from genuine Irish whiskey barrels that come packaged in a custom wooden whiskey crate and a crowbar. This great cross-sector collaboration has created a premium, cleverly branded product from upcycled materials.

The run of Shwood’s “Canby” frame style was limited to 100 pieces, handcrafted in its Portland, Oregon woodshop. The frames were made from White Oak, which dated back over 100 years, and the optical quality Carl Zeiss lenses offer 100% UVA/UVB protection. The handcrafted wooden eyewear comes packaged in a custom wooden whiskey crate, with a crowbar to pry it open.






Sean


Monday 12 March 2012

Hailo cab

Activated by a cabbie
I had a lovely chat with a cabbie the other day who was raving about about this brilliant new service: Hailo Cab.  He was so enthusiastic I had to check it out:



























Essentially it's an app you download to your Android/iPhone and in just 2 taps you can order a black cab.  It works via GPS to notify your nearest Hailo cab driver of your location.  A countdown clock then appears so you can see when he'll arrive and you get his photo and reg number.  You can even press the call button to be connected directly to your driver.  Pay by cash or card, either way a receipt is emailed directly to you.  And as they're required to wait 5 min for you -without the meter running - no more standing on the street in the rain waiting for a cab, just find somewhere dry to wait!

I haven't had  chance to use it yet but I have downloaded the app and I'm looking forward to trying it next time I'm trying to find a cab on a rainy day.
 

Jennifer Thomas

KLM Surprise

Check into your KLM flight via Foursquare or message them via Twitter once you've checked in at the airport and you too might find yourself bombarded by a film crew while a member of staff gives you a little personalised gift.  How do they personalise it?  They have a nosey around your Facebook/Twitter page. 


Although I think KLM are very good at nice little personal touches (I love the free personalised luggage tags they sent me after I designed them on their site) I find this just a little bit creepy.  I'm all for interacting with a brand and (generally) happy for them to interact back but I think a personalised gift based on what I've been talking about on my Facebook page is a bit too Big Brother. 
Jennifer Thomas

Friday 9 March 2012

Fast Company

If you don’t subscribe to Fast Company yet, I’d definitely recommend it, alongside mashable (which you can also get as an app)

Here is a link to their list of the top 50 most innovative companies 2012

www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2012

Some surprises in the top 12...



Cheers
Sean


Wednesday 7 March 2012

eBay.co.uk £5 coupon promotion

I love eBay, especially finding bargains! what better way is there to grab a bargain AND get an extra £5 off with a promotional coupon. To show there fans how much they love them, they will be giving you £5 to redeem on any purchase, but you got to be fast as they're only giving away 50,000 vouchers!

So it all began late last night when I was browsing eBay for a bargain, I received a text telling me eBay are offering £5 off on any purchase if you go to their Facebook page and 'Like' it, this will then notify you on the promotional code to use at the checkout, brilliant!

I had my doubts if I am honest so I decided to buy something cheap like 2x car air fresheners (They were called California Scents if you wanted to know, also if you haven't heard of them BUY one they're really good). Anyways moving on make a purchase and put the code in at the checkout, if successful your item will be £5 cheaper or FREE if you purchase something of the value of £5 or less, but there was a catch you could only use the code once per PayPal account.

I won't lie.... I used multiple PayPal accounts to buy more items.... I love eBay!

Gary




























Tuesday 6 March 2012

Rumbling tummies rejoice!


McCain has unveiled its latest advert with its 'scratch and sniff' concept - where the ads literally smell like freshly baked potatoes. The bus shelter ads are 3D and ooze the smell of a freshly baked jacket potato and the 3D jacket potato is also heated.
The adverts issue money-off vouchers for everyone who presses the button!
The smelly adverts are part of McCain’s new campaign celebrating the launch of their new frozen jacket potato and is the biggest ad campaign since the famous McCain Oven Chips in 1979.
The potato aroma took three months to develop as they teamed up with a specialist scent lab to ensure they got the potato smell just right….

Laura

Monday 5 March 2012

Instaprint

A cool project I saw on Kickstarter and thought it might work for Southern Comfort in high energy bars and clubs.

Instaprint is a location based instagram printer - it's been described as the love child of polaroid and instagram.



There's a nice video on their site http://instaprint.me/ and here's the blurb...

Instagram has brought the nostalgia of old Polaroid prints back to modern day, but deep down we all still miss the uniqueness of those square little photos you'd hold comfortably in your hand. So, we made Instaprint.

Each Instaprint box is set with its location or a specific hashtag. Any Instagram tagged with that location or hashtag will pop out of the Instaprint box, giving you a modern day photo booth.

To stay true to the old days, Instaprint uses a new inkless printing. Similar to how instant film once worked, the color for the prints comes from the paper itself. No ink necessary.