Google Glass

http://www.google.com/glass/start/

Really interesting to think how a consumer might interact with products / experiences while wearing google glass.

Allot more information from recent SXSW if you find this interesting!!!

http://mashable.com/2013/04/04/glass-sxsw-demo/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+(Mashable)

Thanks

James

Perrier Secret Place

Sparkling water company Perrier has put together an elaborate marketing campaign that puts you inside a wild online fantasy world, allowing you to fill the shoes of tipsy partygoers and elite socialites.

As a part of an effort to grow its digital strategy and build up a younger audience, the company rolled out on Tuesday an online gaming experience — available for desktop, iPhone and Android — that encourages players to hunt for a hidden bottle of Perrier inside the virtual world. Once you find it, you can enter to win a trip to one of the biggest party cities in the world, from Ibiza to Rio.

Although gamification is nothing new, Perrier's Secret Place (Perriersecretplace.com) is unique. The website starts with a quick video that takes you through a Parisian laundromat, which reveals a club in the back. By clicking any of the 60 guests at the party — from bartenders to ladies in the back playing chess — you see everything from their perspective.

Similar to the experimental Off-Broadway show Sleep No More, you follow characters from room to room to discover new clues and, ultimately, get closer to finding the Perrier bottle.

The experience is a bit overwhelming from the user standpoint, and you're not entirely sure what you're looking for (there are random Perrier bottles placed about the room, but yet you're on a quest to find a "secret" one). Even still, there is something captivating and intriguing about the game.

First, its intricacies are worth noting. With many scripted scenarios and choreographed scenes, you almost forget you're looking for something. The people are fascinating to watch, and it's fun to become a roller girl gliding about a party, while sitting in the confines of your desk.

In total, more than an hour of film footage (with the help of agency Ogilvy & Mather in Paris) went into the development of the website, and as you jump from person to person, it seems like you're always uncovering new events.

But finding that bottle is no easy task. In fact, the company says only the most experienced gamers will be able to do so. Although it's a bit time consuming, it's so easy to spend a good 30 minutes just playing around on the site, chasing around characters holding (non-secret) Perrier bottles as they meet and greet friends. And then you scratch your head wondering why you've just let yourself get so sucked in (and you still haven't found that bottle to enter the sweepstakes).

"With each visit to Secret Place, guests can discover more clues to find the secret Perrier bottle that unlocks your ticket into that sweepstakes, so we would certainly like to see people come back multiple times, and share with their friends via social," Gauthier Gay, group marketing manager at Perrier, told Mashable.

Although this is a lot of fanfare to bring attention to a sweepstakes (without even a new product), it's the latest effort from the company to lure users into the "experience" of Perrier, instead of just pushing out content.

"The Perrier target consumer is young, edgy, highly digital, and loves to socialize –- and these are exactly the people who will be attracted to Secret Place," Gay said. "And with digital and social playing an increasing role in these consumers' lives, we're maximizing these assets with Secret Place to enhance the experience."

Source: Mashable 2013

#FindTheEggs

Tescos has launched a clever little footfall-driving campaign using Google StreetView to hunt for virtual eggs and receive vouchers for free choccy.  

It's a simple idea with a couple of nice features, particularly the opportunity for users to 'plant' eggs for others to find, once they have found 3 eggs themselves.

Ultimately though, this is a great example of using digital engagement to drive store footfall.

https://www.tescofindtheeggs.com/

Tesco's easter activity

Tesco are running Easter activity in store and online this week.

In – store – http://www.tesco.com/easter-egg-hunt/

Bring your family down to a participating Tesco Extra between: Saturday 23rd – Saturday 30th of March.

Pick up an activity sheet, find the Easter eggs hidden around the store and solve the clues to win. Every player will win free chocolate and a 2 for 1 entry voucher to the UK's Top Attractions, plus the chance to enter into a prize draw to win a family ticket for a day out at a Top Attraction ††.

Online  via facebook - https://www.tescofindtheeggs.com/

Cute little app that uses Street View and encourages you to search the streets via Street View to find Easter eggs – if you find 3, you get a voucher for a free Lindt chocolate to redeem in store.  If you find special eggs, you win one of thousands of prizes!

Marie

Crowdsourced suggestions for locally sourced products

The Danish COOP have launched an initiative allowing shoppers to recommend suppliers of local produce, which they would like to see on the shelves of their local store.

http://www.springwise.com/retail/in-denmark-supermarket-crowdsources-suggestions-local-products/

This seems like a brilliant initiative on so many levels.  Not only does it create a relationship between shoppers and their local store, treating them as stakeholders in the success/shape of the store.  But it also endears the brand to local producers and, therefore, the local community.  Perhaps most importantly, it breaks the homogenised view of the supermarket shelf, with each store having a different selection   

Perhaps UK mults could take some inspiration from their Danish cousins? 

Owen

Can Coke turn social buzz into buying?

Coca-Cola has found that online chatter, or 'buzz', has no measurable effect on short term sales.  

Eric Shmidt, Coke's senior manager-marketing strategy and insights, continues to state that digital display advertising was 90% as effective as TV advertising and search 50% as effective.

But really, he sums up the mood of the study in this comment, "Digital ROI has to be a financial measure that allows us a consistent measurement of business performance over time."

http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/coca-cola-sees-sales-impact-online-buzz-digital-display-effective-tv/240409/

Which seems to beg the question, with 61.5 million Facebook fans how can Coke (and every brand trying to catch them) truly commercialise their social presence?  

Clearly there are long term brand building benefits, which should ultimately impact sales.  But, as has always been the challenge with broadcast advertising, brand regard can be great until the consumer enters a store and picks up a competitor.

The key difference between traditional broadcast and digital communications, is the proximity to purchase.  Whether driving from social feeds to online retail or from mobile to bricks and mortar sales. As a business focussed on driving consumer action (and ultimately driving sales), Wax believe that there is a great opportunity to 'close the loop' from off-line to on-line.  Turning conversations into sales conversion by understanding the full path to purchase and thinking holistically about those tipping points where consumers become shoppers. By applying shopper-centric thinking to digital channels and using activation mechanics (from the humble voucher to 'add to basket' tools like Slingshot) we can further improve the ROI of digital as well as building brand.

Does The Agency Model Need a Rethink?

An interesting article here from Shaun Varga, the Chairman and Creative Director at Ingenuity that's worth reading if you've ever felt frustrated by the amount clients seem to pay for the quality of work (and the effort, thought and expertise that goes into developing it) that we produce as an agency.

A broken model? Perhaps, but this is still a people-driven business and what really counts at the end of the day is the relationship that we develop with our clients – if it's based on trust, mutual respect and appreciation of different areas expertise then it is much more likely to be a profitable relationship for all concerned. If it is merely a transactional 'do for me' relationship, then getting paid profitably is always going to be an uphill struggle.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/2013/mar/12/clients-deskilling-advertising-industry-agencies)

Matt