Filed under: Trends stuff | Tags: now and next, Richard watson, trend blend, trend map
If you haven’t seen the latest trend map by Richard Watson then here it is. This puppy sketches out the top trends / risks for 2009+ and is worth a good look.
You can download the mega version trend and check out more of Richard’s stuff here
Another cool little tool which lets you map out arguments in a fun visual format. Check it out aMap
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: consumer trend, generation unplugged, mobile usage, Teens, telco
If you’re into mobile youthy type stuff then this is a great little ditty from Mobile Buzz covering the release of Harris Interactive’s latest research study. Here goes…
Borrowed courtesy of T.S@Flickr
Harris hinted at making the presentation available for a price, so I thought I would post the following highlights:
- About half of teens interviewed say they would die without their mobile phone and ability to make calls. Texting was not far behind.
- The two biggest motivators of mobile usage for teens are: 1) staying in touch, and 2) (surprise) feeling safe (more…)
A great little preso sent over to me by a Franco I know. Talks to the fact that advertising can only solve a limited number of marketing problems but building marketing into products & services can address a much larger set of problems.
There are loads of ad agencies entering the innovation space and in a bid to be different and feel like they’re doing more than just NPD ideas they are positioning themselves as being able to create product prototypes and actually commercial the innovations they dream up.
Whether or not they are actually pulling this off remains to be seen, after all I imagine it’s a lot harder and more time consuming (and thus inefficient) to be trying to prototype a new food product on your own when you know nothing about food regulations, RDI labeling policy, manufacturing, what affects nutrition levels in the food etc etc.
Surely the best position for ad agencies to take up is to look at how they can build marketing into products? If you’re curious, this preso is worth a look…
Filed under: Futures, Futurists, Geek stuff, Innovative stimulus | Tags: Accelerated Studies Foundation, augmented reality, future of the metaverse, futurist, Gerontology Research Group, jazz diet pepsi, lifelogging, midwest airlines, mirror worlds, scent marketing, sensory marketing, supercentenarians, The Singularity, thomson holidays, virtual worlds
I’m just flicking through the latest issue of The Futurist Magazine which arrived this morning and I thought I’d share with you the highlights of this latest treasure:
* Scent of Success
Apparently Jazz Diet Pepsi was promoted via black cherry scent strips in magazines, Thomson Holidays put smell strips of suntan lotion on their windows to remind people they could escape the cold weather and Midwest Airlines put cookies in the oven after take off to calm nervous passengers so that the smell of cookies wafts through the cabin as the plan reaches altitude. Did you know that unlike other senses, scent travels directly to the brain’s emotional centres and produces automatic feelings in the receiver? Whereas perceptions registered by other senses travel first through interpretive brains centres before they reach the emotional centres. So the quickest way to reach emotions is through smell . . . So what would a successful agency smell like? Or a good doctor? Will the next widget on the market be customisable Glade plug ins? I wonder…
* Supercentenarians – The secret to a long life
There’s just been a study done on predicting which of us will make it to triple figures and why . . The good news is that women make it to the top of the list, women are much more likely to outlive men when it comes to supercentenarians and can I just include this quote from robert Young of the Gerontology Research Group who says “Women are statistically more likely to survive . . women are designed for endurance whereas men are designed for peak strength . . “. Anyway the big news is that you’re more likely to live longer if you…
1. Social Support - . . have social interaction, chat on the phone and keep in touch
2. Anthropometrics - . . have a lower body to fat ratio and higher waist to hip ratio
3. Cognition – . . keep your mind active & keep working on your cognitive abilities
4. Eating Habits – . . eat breakfast regularly & consume substantial amounts of vitamin A & carotenoids
So there you go, you can throw out your overpriced Goiji berries, get back on the treadmill and make the crossword part of your daily routine. Having said that, Jeanne Calment (122 in the Guiness Book of Records) smoked until her 120th birthday so go figure…
Credit for this image to Vermin Inc@ Flickr
* The Singularity
Many scientists , researchers, culture watchers and futurists believe that in the next 4 decades we will enter a phase of rapid & unprecedented technological progress, caused in part by the use of machines to improve themselves using artificial intelligence. The Acceleration Studies Foundation refers to this future period as The Singularity. It will be exciting and absolutely unlike anything humanity has experienced before.
Ok admittedly this sounds a little Matrix-like but it’s a fascinating overview of the future scenarios which may play out in the metaverse space. It basically explores 4 possible scenarios [not dissimilar to the traditional 4 box method of scenario planning - forcing yourself to think through four distinct scenarios based around key themes of impact].
The article explores:
1. Virtual worlds -where humanity spends more time in virtual settings because digital worlds are supremely compelling & seductive or because the real world has suffered widespread collapse.
2. Mirror Worlds – readily accessible data about places and objects creates an ever more sophisticated digital world that mirrors our own.
3. Augmented reality – The tools & technologies of the Mirror World become more personal. Up-to-minute data about people, places and objects enhances our perceptions and deepens our understanding about what’s going on around us.
4. Lifelogging – Digital surveillance, info technology and sensing technology combine to record almost every moment of our lives in a variety of ways. This info is either helpful or hurtful depending on who controls it.
Check out the Accelerated Studies Foundation for more geek treats
Filed under: Advertising, UGC | Tags: Advertising, dorritos, FMCG, UGC, USG
Like many big FMCG brands, Dorritos stepped into the user generated content arena and asked their fans to come up with new ideas for TV commercials. I found this winning one on Youtube (I think it was screen during the 2008 superbowl) It’s a cracker.
Filed under: Trendy Trend sites | Tags: the cool hunter, thecoolhunter, trend report, trendspotting
For those of you who love a trendy trend report, thecoolhunter is launching their own innovation research reports for USD$500 a year which gives you access to weekly reports to keep you in the know.Chock full of brainy bibs & bobs, this sounds like it’d make some sexy bedtime reading. Although I’m not sure their line about ‘loathing marketing speak’ can be swallowed with much cred given their sell…
The Hunt for Cool . Culture’s newest buzzword. Cool is fast becoming the new frontier . . The Cool Age has begun. Cool has become a concept, denoting a kind of elusive X-factor that makes something exceptional. . Led by the founders of thecoolhunter.net, The Cool Hunter Platinum offers clients, agencies and marketeers an opportunity to de-code the concept of cool, to help successfully usher their product or brand into the Cool Age.
We don’t talk marketing-speak. In fact, we loathe it. None of our team has a background in this area. Hailing instead from the worlds of fashion, book publishing, newspaper journalism, glossy magazines, photography, graphic design, product design and other creative disciplines, The Cool Hunter Platinum team offers a unique view into the world of Cool Culture.
Why does everyone seem to jump on the ‘I-hate-marketingspeak-and-people’ bandwagon as if somehow running with fashion designers and graphic artists who’ll help you ‘de-code cool’ is somehow more credible? I find this odd, don’t you?
Anyway, if you haven’t checked out their site it’s worth a look. It’s jam packed with interesting examples, products and great stimulus.
Filed under: Advertising, Genius, Innovative promotions | Tags: Burger King, facebook application, Social media, viral marketing, whopper sacrifice
I just found this cheeky little app on Facebook courtesy of Burger King ‘Friendship is strong but the whopper is stronger’. You simply download the application and it asks you to ‘sacrifice’ 10 of your contacts in order to receive a free whopper.
You simply select your victims, cancel them from your friends list and watch their photo go up in flames but the fun doesn’t stop there. Burger King then sends a message to your deleted friend telling them you gave up their friendship for a Whopper. Bloody brilliant.
Check it out here
Saw this over at aktifmag and it made me smile.
A quick Google revealed many discussions online around the difficulties Ch7 seem to be facing, namely from one blogger who goes by the tag of dickheadprogramersat7.
Maybe this year will prove to be a more fruitful one for them…
Filed under: Innovative stimulus, Marketing | Tags: advertising to children, cigarette advertising
Saw this Kiddie Retail stand in Indonesia over the break and had a small chuckle. Presumably it sells icy poles and sweets along with the cigarettes. Nice placement. Great advertisement for Marlborough too.
