learn for life

Make time each day to learn something new.

It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it interests and inspires you.

Thanks to littlemiss for the R. Buckminster Fuller quote

augmented utility

I’ve been frustrated by the lack of utility in ‘augmented reality’ campaigns I’ve seen so far.

That was until Herbert shared these clips with me:

It’s great to see some applications of this technology that go beyond the novelty of a shiny new toy.

Zugara’s idea is quite simple, but it’s still very useful. As Santiago notes on this Organized Chaos post, it would be a great tool for visualising how furniture might look in the actual rooms in your house.

And while Layar’s application is just a logical progression from map mashups, it has a lot of potential; I’d be surprised if brands like Lonely Planet didn’t use it to develop mobile sightseeing apps.

It can take time for people to find the best uses for a new technology, but I’m confident we’ll see even more impressive applications of AR in the coming months – particularly in the area of virtual sampling.

Please feel free to share your own examples in the comments section.

Find out more on Zugara from this Organized Chaos post and their website, and more about Layar on their website

you’re onto something

Sometimes, you stumble upon a great idea that consumes you.

You know you’ve found a great idea when…

You haven’t checked your mail (or twitter) for at least an hour, because you’ve been so engrossed in it (what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls ‘flow’).

The presentation seems to write itself.

You want to blog about the idea, even before it’s finished.

You didn’t even notice everyone else had left the office.

You can’t wait to share your thoughts with the rest of the team.

You keep a notebook beside you at all times, because you can’t stop thinking about it.

You wake up in the middle of the night with ideas on how to make it even better.

You can’t wait to get back to work in the morning.

You have so much inspiration that you struggle to decide what not to present.

The rest of the team share their builds before they even think of any issues.

You realise that you could get other brands to participate in the same campaign too.

Your MD brings the client meeting forward.

Even the finance team contribute creative ideas.

But best of all…

You exhibit the change in behaviour you’re trying to inspire in your audience before you’ve even presented the idea to the client.

Any others?

The quote is from the Wright Brothers, who knew a thing or two about getting an idea off the ground. With thanks to my dad for the Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi link, and a nod to John Hartley.

slick on both sides

PSFK reports that Mos Def has launched his new album as a t-shirt.

At first, this struck me as a pretentious PR act.

But further reflection reveals a mastery of audience insight.

In a world where illegal downloads are commonplace, what alternative channels can commercial artists harness?

The music t-shirt has long been a valuable source of social expression; they’re what Hugh MacLeod might term ‘social objects‘.

So making the t-shirt the core product, and providing access to the music via a link on the hang tag, is a masterstroke of contemporary marketing.

Mos’s approach identifies the expressive benefit of ownership, and amplifies that very same expressive element.

Brilliant.

With thanks to PSFK for the info and image, and much kudos to Mos Def

dramatising the story

Stories don’t have to have happy endings to be good.

Indeed, the stories that leave you wondering are often the most powerful.

This particular story has a moral.

And it’s one worth sharing:

With many thanks to Katie Chatfield at Get Shouty for sharing this video

time and tide

A particularly pertinent mantra for today, courtesy of i can read

the altar of progress

An ex-colleague used to remind me that “strategy is the art of sacrifice.”

There are many things you could do… But which of them should you do?

Inspiration courtesy of littlemiss

unexpected benefits

We saw a couple of weeks ago that satisfaction is a function of expectations.

As we interact more frequently with a brand, we come to expect certain things of it, and over time, we can start to take some aspects of the experience for granted.

These aspects become part of the brand’s promise, and not receiving them negatively impacts our level of satisfaction.

However, this premise works the other way too; if you only expect average service, and instead experience a more pleasurable interaction, you’ll probably come away feeling more satisfied.

We tend to tell others about these experiences too, and this ‘word of mouth’ effect amplifies the impact.

If managed correctly, brands can harness the delivery of these unexpected ‘nice surprises’ to foster deeper consumer loyalty.

Hotel brand Hyatt appears to be applying this potential in a new initiative called ‘Random Surprises’, which featured in Springwise recently.

By providing unexpected, yet individually meaningful surprises, Hyatt give themselves more opportunities to delight the people that interact with their brand on a regular basis.

In other words, Hyatt have created more opportunities to satisfy their most valuable guests.

Such an approach can work for any brand, and it doesn’t need to involve costly extras either.

The trick is to incorporate the potential for nice surprises, while ensuring that the specific benefits they deliver don’t become an expected part of the brand experience.

Moreover, for those who are willing to venture beyond the conventional, the approach can work equally well for advertising too.

By incorporating subtle differences in execution across the same campaign (or even the same channel), you can ’surprise’ your audience and increase your opportunities to engage them.

Picture from here; more on the Hyatt’s Random Surprises in this Springwise article, and on the brand’s blog

apathy, indifference, mediocrity…

If you’re not enthusiastic about it, it’s time to change something.

Thanks to littlemiss for the Elie Wiesel quote

social capital and conversations

More superb stuff from Clay Shirky: