The week’s viral vid:
Rush, 2112, and My Missed Interaction In Mobile (Mediapost 2.1.12) 0
Creativity and insights can emerge from the most unlikely of places.
Today is a unique date; it’s 2.1.12. The numbers 2.1.12 immediately bring to my mind one thing, and that is the much-heralded Rush album 2112. In 2112, a man discovers an ancient guitar, learns to play it, and his subsequent enthusiasm and excitement are crushed by the ruling classes of this dystopian future where technology is routinely abused to control the society and repress its inhabitants.
While I was thinking of this album, I was also at dinner with my family and in front of me was the familiar visage of a red Heinz ketchup bottle (you know – the new ones that are stored upside down so the ketchup comes out even faster). On the plastic bottle was a QR code, and one of the people I was with had not seen one of these before and wanted to know how they were used. Being a technology and marketing geek, I immediately extracted my iPhone from the pocket of my jacket and commenced taking a scan of the QR code to see what magical wealth of information it surfaced.
I held the phone still, waited patiently for the “click” of the scan, and the delivery of the content, however my pay-off was sub-par as it returned a message “Sorry, the sweepstakes ended 9/30/11”. To me, that wreaked of a missed opportunity and one that could have been avoided with some basic planning.
In that future world imagined by the members of Rush, technology was used for repressive purposes, whereas in our world it is used to provide more information and create more connections. The entire advent of social and mobile media are intended to create faster connections between people, as well as between people and brands. The use of the QR code exemplifies that connection, making it possible for brands to provide more detailed information, and an experience for their consumers that they could not have otherwise had. That being said, when you employ these tools you need to make sure you plan through the consumer interaction carefully and fulfill on the implied promise of that interaction.
Upon further review I noticed that the Heinz ketchup bottle said there was a contest and I could enter by scanning the QR code, which was obviously outdated. Either the restaurant was holding onto the ketchup too long, or the decision to run the content message on the packaging wasn’t thought out well enough. I checked the ketchup bottle, and the date was still far enough in the future, so I return to the missed opportunity for the mobile interaction. If you promise a contest, you need to fulfill upon the contest.
In a dystopian future, technology can be used to lead along the masses, and create a singular vision that allows for the government to mold and shape the minds of its inhabitants. Of course, a contest can be used in the same manner, but hopefully with more positive benefit!
Or it might be a stretch to try and unite the two into a common theme.
Either way, its fun to be inspired to think about a mundane occurrence (like a QR code) from a new perspective and that is what the Rush album had me doing. In the case of the Heinz QR code snafu, why not rotate in a new contest, with regular winners and more information to keep the QR code active and fresh? What about having the contest initially printed and placed as a sticker on the bottle, so it could be removed after expiration? More than 3 months after the contest had expired, do you think Heinz would have replaced the contest with something better than the “trivia game” content they placed there? There’s no pay off to the new trivia contest, and that left me kind of bummed. I took the time to interact with their bottle, and got nothing in return for it. Not even a coupon.
CPG companies tend to try things in the digital space, and only invest half way in them. If you are going to commit, you should commit fully to driving that engagement to ensure the return is a strong one.
All that being said, I got over being bummed about the lost interaction. I went home, kicked up my Spotify account and listened to 2112 for the first time in a long time.
Here’s to hoping that my next social/mobile interaction is a good one!
When Innovative Isn’t Good 0
As more and more start-ups focus on advertising and
marketing dollars as their tickets to profitability, it seems appropriate to
provide some texture into how one goes about attracting and growing
relationships with marketers.
marketing dollars as their tickets to profitability, it seems appropriate to
provide some texture into how one goes about attracting and growing
relationships with marketers.
The first thing that’s important to know is that a
relatively small number of companies make up the “first wave” of sponsors for
many of the web’s most promising ideas. The reality is that a relatively small
number of marketers have both the “innovator” spirit AND the freedom to
allocate significant resources to unproven platforms. For these visionaries, seeming
“innovative” is a tremendous asset for a start-up anxious to partner with them.
relatively small number of companies make up the “first wave” of sponsors for
many of the web’s most promising ideas. The reality is that a relatively small
number of marketers have both the “innovator” spirit AND the freedom to
allocate significant resources to unproven platforms. For these visionaries, seeming
“innovative” is a tremendous asset for a start-up anxious to partner with them.
For innovator marketers, the promise of great or at least
buzz-worthy results is sufficient to garner a first investment. They hope to be
early movers in transformative platforms that will have a profound effect on
how people interact with each other and with brands.
buzz-worthy results is sufficient to garner a first investment. They hope to be
early movers in transformative platforms that will have a profound effect on
how people interact with each other and with brands.
The challenge is in what happens next. For a company to
generate significant revenue from marketing programs, it needs to quickly move
beyond an insular sort of innovativeness. This is because most marketers take a
wait and see attitude toward new platforms and tools. They want to see both
results and a sustained commitment to these offerings from the first movers.
generate significant revenue from marketing programs, it needs to quickly move
beyond an insular sort of innovativeness. This is because most marketers take a
wait and see attitude toward new platforms and tools. They want to see both
results and a sustained commitment to these offerings from the first movers.
In the crucial months after first advertiser commitments, it
is critical that such companies achieve six things:
is critical that such companies achieve six things:
1.
Building of the rudiments of a service and
support structure for marketers. In general bad service leads to bad sales
Building of the rudiments of a service and
support structure for marketers. In general bad service leads to bad sales
2.
A change in brand equity from “first” to “leading”
– a shift that achieves a perception of size and importance
A change in brand equity from “first” to “leading”
– a shift that achieves a perception of size and importance
3.
Creation of business stories and case studies
that provide the business results for marketers. People in the next “ring” of
marketers want proof, not promises
Creation of business stories and case studies
that provide the business results for marketers. People in the next “ring” of
marketers want proof, not promises
4.
Vertical solutions – how the platform can
fulfill needs in leading business sectors including CPG, Auto, Finance, Health,
etc.
Vertical solutions – how the platform can
fulfill needs in leading business sectors including CPG, Auto, Finance, Health,
etc.
5.
Integration with leading reporting and analytics
tools. While specialized reporting can be valuable, achieving scale generally
requires that people be able to use tools they are already familiar with to
analyze and optimize programs
Integration with leading reporting and analytics
tools. While specialized reporting can be valuable, achieving scale generally
requires that people be able to use tools they are already familiar with to
analyze and optimize programs
6.
Proactive efforts to drive awareness through
marketing trades and events
Proactive efforts to drive awareness through
marketing trades and events
So many great ideas die on the vine because they fail to
cross the marketing chasm. Perhaps even more critical than winning the first
customer is laying the foundation for the next ten.
cross the marketing chasm. Perhaps even more critical than winning the first
customer is laying the foundation for the next ten.
Five Scary Client Stories To Tell In The Dark 0
Picture it: You’re sitting around a campfire and swapping stories of your worst client engagements — tales beyond moments of annoyance, and way past discomfiture. We’re talking the sorts of experiences that could be called disastrous were it not for the fact that ultimately it’s only advertising.
In general, I detest stories that place the blame on clients — or agencies for that matter — when an engagement is supposed to be a partnership. While it will be clear from these stories that partnership was not the client goal in each case, the agency bears responsibility for these snafus as well. But each of these incidents makes both a good story and a great opportunity to learn from the mistakes and missteps of others.But at the time people were going through these events, minds and stomach linings were consumed in prodigious quantities
Oh, enough of my caveats. I interviewed a few agency people to collect some good “horror stories” for your amusement and edification. Each teaches a lesson — to both agencies and clients — about how to make relationships and projects work better.
Scary story 1
Losing tens of thousands for lack of a $30 credit checkAn old friend tells of a time that an agency — a big ‘un — got so excited about the prospect of a massive web project that it jockeyed for the account without doing any due diligence on the company it was courting:
They were looking for a big e-commerce site, which would have given us the opportunity to show how well our team was aligned with a back-end web dev company that our holding company had just acquired. The prospect client threw out a budget that was astronomical — three or four times the cost of any previous web project we had done. We jumped at the chance and signed a contract within three days of the initial inquiry.
The instant the contract was signed, the client became an absolute nightmare, speeding the timeline by 60 percent and tearing out the hearts of four project managers who were assigned to the account in succession. The average tenure for PMs on this gem of an assignment was about four days. One person quit the industry as a result of the project:
Finally, the agency found someone in the account team who could deal with the evil and bile, and the project got on track. A week or so in, the A/P team first sounded the alarm that the initial payment had never been received. There followed several weeks of “it’s in the mail,” “we have record of it being signed for,” and “how dare you ask me about this again.”
About four weeks into the project, someone typed the names of the website founders into Google. The results page exploded with lawsuits, complaints, and invective-filled blog posts about the clients and how they had garnered web work in the past without ever paying a cent. The agency called the client to tell it work would stop until payment was received. And the agency never heard from the client again.
Lesson for agencies and clients: A credit report costs $30 or so. A Google search even less. Don’t be intimidated into foregoing basic due diligence. Separately, clients need to ensure that their agencies have the financial stability to do jobs as well. While this wasn’t an issue in this case, that is a problem that happens with some frequency these days.
Scary story 2
The client that wanted the agency to take the legal riskI heard from one person who was working on a vitamin supplement brand. That person was directed to put certain claims in banners that would be extremely compelling, if they were true:
We got started on the project before all of the terms of the contract were agreed to, but with a payment already made by the client to cover the costs of early development. Fortunately, the copywriter had worked on supplements before, and was aware that the FTC has strict rules on what can be said — and not said — about supplements.
When the client sent back the contract terms and conditions, it had crossed out provisions that stated that the client bore ultimate responsibility for the legal risk. In short, the company was unwilling to back the very claims it wanted made in the advertising.
Despite great pressure from the client, the agency refused to traffic the ads and lost the business. And likely averted tremendous legal consequences for false statements:
Soon after, the individual client was fired from the company. Turns out that the company as unaware of what this marketer was trying to do until the agency’s refusal to run the ads.
Lesson for agencies and clients: Think about the potential legal implications of projects before you take them live.
Scary story 3
The client who cried “innovation”Many agency folks spoke of clients who demanded innovative ideas but only ever bought the most offer-focused banners and other kerplunk direct-response programs. What drives this, I think, is a desire to be at the forefront of the industry but ultimately being beholden to very strict performance objectives.
Tens of thousands of brands have tried virtually every sort of digital tactic, but the reality is that a subset of digital is virtually always better at driving DR metrics.
What agency people told me was that this all becomes problematic when clients want the sort of creative campaigns that will serve to “make their career” and ”deliver their number.” DR tends not to be sexy like that.
Another respondent told me:
I once worked on an account that asked us to run DR-focused banners on ultra-elite pubs — sites with CPMs $30 or more. We explained that this was unlikely to deliver great DR metrics, but the client persisted. The idea was to enhance the brand image of the service while also delivering some sales. And besides, how do we know it wouldn’t work? When the first performance reports came in, it quickly became apparent that more efficient audience-based buys were far more effective and that brand goals — which weren’t even being measured — weren’t serious considerations for the client. They were wants not needs.
The resulting scramble to refocus dollars proved that old adage, “It’s not a DR campaign until the first reports come in.”
Lesson for clients: For best results, communicate bona fide objectives. Tell us what really matters.
Lesson for agencies: Be strident in alerting clients to bad direction. We are ultimately paid for our expertise, not our agreeable natures.
Scary story 4
Six months of Mars-Venus relationships for want of three Southwest ticketsAn old friend tells me that her agency has had a client for six months and has never met anyone from the day-to-day team face to face.
The client expects to do about $800,000 a year in creative business, and place more than $10 million on banners through Christmas. The account is very low margin for the agency owing to a tough round with procurement, but it keeps a bunch of designers and planners working and gives the shop a modicum of prestige.
My friend is convinced that the work could be much stronger if the agency team felt more ownership and had a better understanding of the business:
Our people would be more energized and do better work if they actually knew the people they present to on conference calls. Issues and problems arise because the people on both sides are disembodied voices to one another.
This client refuses to pay for three airline tickets to send the account person, the creative director, and the lead designer to the home office. They feel it is an unnecessary expense.
The agency and client towns are served by Southwest. I just checked, and the supersaver fare is $59.
I pointed this out to my friend and asked, “Why doesn’t the agency just pay?” The response:
Well, the contract indicates that the client pays for travel. So you may find it penny wise and pound foolish for the agency not to spring for the tickets. But there is a principle at stake. And when you start making exceptions to procurement-driven contracts, the slope gets awfully slick awfully fast.
Hmm. Would a site visit improve the work? It certainly seems worth three $59 tickets plus cab fare to find out.
Lesson for clients: Find a way to get face to face with the agency, especially at the outset of a relationship. It doesn’t cost very much relative to the amount you are probably spending through the agency, and I promise you it will mean better work.
Lesson for agencies: See lesson for clients. And if the terms of a contract are so onerous that you can’t afford a couple of Southwest tickets, don’t take the contract.
Scary story 5
The “huddle” and bad feedbackI once had a remarkably overstaffed client that involved a CMO, SVP of marketing, three VPs, five brand managers, and four assistant brand managers in every creative meeting. Yep, it was a CPG company.
Having lots of decision makers is not an unexpected part of the territory. What generally isn’t is “the huddle,” where agency people are ejected from the meeting to allow the client team to privately debate and discuss the campaign. Ostensibly the huddle is to enable the less-experienced assistant brand managers to speak more freely. I get the idea (though I would point out that in 25 years I have never worked with an assistant brand manager who was afraid to share an opinion). The huddle is also said to ensure that the agency gets one unified set of direction. That is appreciated — but the act of kicking the agency out puts distance between the teams.
While I personally find the huddle off-putting, I understand the desire to talk privately for a short period. What wasn’t reasonable was being made to stand in a hallway for an hour or more while the client team members debated the executions.
The most prolonged huddle was more than three hours. The executions under discussion were Flash banners — DR banners.
What could they possibly have been talking about for three hours?
Lesson for clients: If you want your agency to act in your interests as part of the team, involve its team in discussions. Oh, and contemplating every word in a banner for 17 minutes apiece is a tad excessive.
Lesson for agencies: If something in the client’s process is counterproductive, have the courage to tell them and explain why. We bitched about it amongst ourselves but didn’t explain why it was a problem.
Conclusion
Advertising is a service business, and agencies need to adapt to clients. And it would be wrong to look at the stories above and conclude that the clients always sucked. Certainly in the case of the company that had no intention of paying for services, that was the case.
But to look at all those stories and say it’s the clients fault is destructive behavior.
We all need to be masters of our own destinies, and the desire for short-term harmony shouldn’t outweigh the airing of genuine concerns. It isn’t always the client’s fault any more than it is always the agency’s.
Our role as individual participants in this process is to do what’s right, not what’s easy.
And of course, never, ever, ever forego running a credit check.
Thanks to iMediaConnection for running this first.
Start-Up Watch COD: CPG Product Discovery Comes of Age With Consmr 0
These days, when I want to try a new restaurant in the Bay Area, I head over to Yelp to see what others have said about it. When I want to find new books to read, I visit LibraryThing. These platforms are really rather powerful ways to get some perspective on a new business or item.
Not perfect, o’course – there are certainly instances in which bad actors have tried to manipulate the scores.
And there are certainly times when the crowds are decidedly unwise. Witness the fact that at the moment I am writing this, Snooki’s A Shore Thing is rated slightly higher than Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. No matter. These sites can provide AN INVALUABLE INPUT into your decision making process.
One world that hadn’t really been touched by the whole reviews and ratings thing was CPG. Until now. has debuted, billing itself as a fun and easy way to share your opinion about consumer products.
Now, many people think of CPG purchase decisions as fairly low involvement or routinized. I agree that some are, but then again some aren’t. I’ll wager that there are millions of people who get a little pulse race when they see a package of Oreos, or have a strong belief in and loyalty for Tide.
Tide is, after all, a miracle product.
But I digress. Given that CPG touches the lives of virtually every person on the planet, it’s logical to expect that millions of people will care enough about a need or category to read before they buy and review after they try.
The current economic situation exacerbates this tendency. More and more people have to think about how they spend every dollar – buying the wrong $4 cereal is damned important when it’s what you have for the kids to eat all week.
So in my view the opportunity is there. For cult products like Nutella as well asworkaday allies like Swiffer. Consmr.com makes the experience of reviewing, rating, and reading about the most seemingly mundane things engaging and addictive. I’d liken it to when you read 11 pages in Consumer Reports about bar soap testing. Or a long post on Consumerist about someone’s dreadful experience at a big box retailer.
Naturally you won’t read through the pages for every product category, but it’s sort of empowering to know that there are other people who share your interest in a simple, everyday product or activity.
Consmr.com offers a variety of ways for brands and companies to partner with them. The site offers ways to engage site visitors in social media campaigns, to create brand activation programs that leverage and expand your audience of brand advocates, contests to drive message virality, and the like. I’ve spoken with one of their charter clients who attested to their flexibility combined with their vigilance to empower consumers and be 100% transparent.
Bloggers and other opinion leaders are also being signed to be category experts for the site. While it may seem a bit odd to think that there is a peanut butter expert out there, I for one have no doubt that there is. Actually, there are probably 43 of them. Which is one of the wonderful things about connected, democratic media. And another reason why I think there’s real business opportunity in Consmr. For them, and for CPG brands.
CPG Advertising Insights 0
Insights from Comscore on CPG advertising – good reading!
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WWCD: If I Were… Creating & Marketing A New Industry Conference (Mediapost 4.27.11) 0
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There are lots of really great conferences in our business, loaded to the gills with information, insights and intelligence to help everyone become more effective in their day-to-day roles. That being said, it’s easy for conference formats to become stale. The fact is it’s difficult to have a conference that offers relevant points of view in a way that’s unique, and that you can repeat. With this week’s column I wanted to throw out an idea for how I’d create a conference if I were to create it from scratch.
T o be effective, there are two common challenges faced with event programmers; how do you create interesting, relevant content and how do you present that content in a way that is well received, and memorable. Those are the primary two areas where I’d focus attention.
First, you find a niche of content that’s of interest to your target audience, and ensure your content has real-world applicability. As an example, there are many retailers using the web to influence customer behavior and bring the world of “shopper marketing” into the digital age, so that’s an area where I’d begin. I’d develop 3-4 tiers of content that provide relevance at different stages of customer interaction; in this instance I’d suggest Awareness, Interest, Consideration and Action as these are the fundamentals of any goods marketer’s plan. The content would be clearly marked so an attendee would understand what phase of the interaction they were going to learn about, and could choose to attend and align a list of their needs as it relates to that phase. In that way, when they attend, they come prepared understanding how their needs could be affected by this information.
To make a strong impression, I’d hold the conference in the real world so attendees can see these ideas in action (too many times attendees leave saying “I like what so-and-so said, but how does that work in the real world?”). I‘ve always wanted to do a roving-conference event where the attendees sit in lectures throughout a city, and are then transported to a real-world location to see these ideas in action. They would hear how mobile is applied to CPG marketing, and then be transported to a grocery store to see it be implemented with real consumers, and have the chance to interview those consumers. The content they learn about becomes immediately applied to the environment for which it was intended, and that is where the value comes from. Your ideas become less conceptual, more actionable and the learning sinks in deeper, with the attendees able to see the impact these ideas have on real customers. You could further support the lectures with real-time feedback, through social media or face-to-face customer interactions, thereby closing the loop between the hypothetical and applicable. Brand managers, agency marketers and publishers could see immediately the impact they have on the marketplace (for better or for worse).
A roving-conference concept is a logistical nightmare, which is probably why no-one is doing it, but the marketing of such an event lends itself very well to the world of social media. To market a concept such as this you would likely take two paths; create buzz prior to the event and drive perception for the scale of the event while it’s taking place (to garner future attendees).
The first of these events would be smaller, and invitation only. You would identify influencers and key attendees who would be able to attend, add value and increase the strength of the event. These people would receive a fair-value exchange heavily weighted to them, in terms of not only content but also notoriety for being one of “the first” to undertake this kind of event. They would be tasked to help promote the event, generate buzz around the event and a sense of hype for a new kind of event, unlike anything else in the market today. This build-up would run parallel to a paid media effort targeting a secondary tier of attendees, all of whom would apply and have to be approved to attend (creating a further sense of exclusivity). All this action would run tandem with a paid campaign in online and print to generate further awareness.
During the event, the goal would be to own the social ecosystem with hashtags, exclusive snippets of content and a web presence that serves to envelope the target market and create the perception of a big, highly impactful event unlike anything else in the marketplace. If the content is valued highly, and the attendees are inspirational and influential to the marketplace, then the perception will be of a “must-attend” event in the future and you can continue to expand the event as revenue and content allow.
Think of the value in seeing the effects of mobile and geo-location based marketing in the real world, with real consumers, as support for the content you were discussing. Think of the value of hearing directly from consumers, to either support or dispute what you learned at a conference? The talking heads on stage would have to provide relevant value, and the attendees would have to commit to the experience, but you could create the “TED” of the new decade, for marketers not for popularity.
Of course it’s just an idea, unless someone wants to give me a call!
What do you think? Tell me on the Spin Board!
Start-Up Watch COD: Checkpoints takes check-in rewards to grocery, pharmacy, toy stores, electronics stores… 0
Thanks to ad:tech for publishing this first.
Yesterday I wrote about shopkick, one of the check-in apps that has been gathering significant retail and consumer attenton. Today, I want to tell you about another leader in this space: Checkpoints.
Checkpoints is an iPhone/Android app that lets a consumer check in at virtually any retail store, and earn points by locating and scanning items with their cell phone camera.
Advertisers can target offers at particular chains, markets, even individual stores. Once in the store, the app generates a list of products that can be scanned for points, organized by category. So, for example, a retailer could give me a discount at Safeway of a certain value, and a different discount at Lucky. Subject to fair trade laws, of course.
To give the app a test run I took it to my Safeway and fired it up. It confirmed my location in about 15 seconds, and then told me about 32 products I could scan for points. As a result, each of these products was very much in the forefront of my awareness. Checkpoints call this effect a “virtual endcap,” analogous in impact to an end aisle display.
Gotta tell you, I think the “virtual endcap™” is an apt description. Checkpoints got me to pick up (and buy) brands I don’t ordinarily consider, and introduced me to new SKUs from venerable brands I already purchase.
Here’s their official flick:
When you scan the item, the app gives you a special offer triggered by the scan. This could be a discount, a sweeps entry, an offer on a complementary product, or advice on which product might be ideal for the consumer’s needs. Thee app also offers the opportunity to deliver a FB update that you have scanned the item and gotten an offer.
To reward more frequent scanning, the app also offers a virtual coin redeemeable for special game play. For example, after I scanned Huggies, I got a free spin on a slot machine that earned me more points.
While the service is by no means limited to Grocery only, the system appears to be very well suited to CPG. At the time of this writing, there were scannable items from Unilever, Del Monte, Soy Joy, Energizer, Frito-Lay, Tyson, and others. They also offered points and discounts at specific retailers like Kmart. Certainly the well organized interface made the product VERY easy to use in an environment like a Food/Drug/Mass store with thousands of SKUs. They have many clients outside of CPG as well.
Checkpoints says it offers consumers check-ins at more than one million retail outlets. Points can be redeemed for gift cards, air miles, merchandise, and charitable donations.
Few doubt that we are going to be seeing a lot more activity in shopper marketing through the mobile phone. The ease of use and versatility of this application may drive strong success in the future. Getting a greater share of mind space is particularly relevant in many categories, not least CPG. A particular item is competing with tens of thousands of other items in a grocery store. And buying a feature or a display – when you can get one – is an unbelievably expensive proposition. I think another interesting use would be to increase velocity for products that are struggling with particular retailers. For example, I have worked on several brands that had strong sales in some chains, but slow starts in others. This kind of program can be fielded very quickly and in a very targeted manner.
That’s cool. Check out this free app on iPhone or Android.
COD: MotiveCast – cool, compelling, location based, mobile AR games 0
Thanks to for publishing this first!
Is there an appealing adjective NOT in that headline? The first time I saw , I knew what it meant to have bladder control issues. It was that exciting.
Here’s the deal. Imagine addicting mobile casual and crossover casual/core games. Lovely animation, telegraphic gameplay that requires no directions, and connected leaderboards. Nice, hunh? Well, now add in some AR. Because MotiveCast uses your phone’s camera and hyperlocal triggers to spawn games and game play based upon where you are. So, as a hypothetical example, imagine you’re standing in line at Piggly Wiggly, and to kill time you point your camera at the candy rack. As one does…
And all of a sudden little packs of gum start flying off the rack and moving toward you mock menacingly. You begin to fire shots at the gum from Hell, and rack up points while the 12 people in front of you check out. But, wait! It’s not 12 people anymore! Because you’ve just spent 6 minutes shooting at the gum packets. It felt like no time at all. And as your reward, you get a coupon for 50 cents off a real Plen-T-Pak. You have a better shopping experience, Wrigley’s sells some DoubleMint. Win win.
Right right, and the conservative marketers among you are saying, “I don’t want people shooting at my product.” Fine, MotiveCast can conceive and execute a game that will make you happy, either in conjunction with an agency or on its own.
One of the examples THEY use is the idea that you could enter a Disney Store and see Tinkerbell flying around. And even interact with her. This experience would ONLY be available in those store locations. So it gives you and the kids another excellent reason to make the trip. And while you are there, purchase $80 worth of plush toys. Natch.
The possibilities are endless, and it’s not all that hard to see that this kind of technology could be relevant in many categories. Even, dare I say, B2B. Though of course it really is B2C primary.
For retailers in particular, however, I think this technology has even greater appeal. Retailers are going to have to be exploring shoppertainment as a way of differentiating themselves in our overstored country. MotiveCast uses an example of being at a Target and having actual targets drop from the ceiling throughout the store.
Now, imagine CPG. Mom gives the kid the phone to entertain them as they navigate Safeway aisles. In dairy, Yoplait flowers grow from the floor. In cereal, gigantic Cheerios pop off the shelf and roll toward the child like the Indiana Jones rock. Can you imagine the giggles?
Moving on to Macy’s. What if you walked into the Polo shop and could see animated runway models sporting the fashions?
MotiveCast makes its own unsponsored games, but a core part of their business is developing interactivities for brands. Go to to see a couple of their games, including a sizzle vid of three concept games they made for the Pepsico10 competition.
Or check out this interview conducted by On Digital Media from the floor of ad:tech NY:
Me likey. Actually, me likey likey likey.