Incito MentisA blog by Syed Abdul Karim

For those 500 million smartphone users worldwide, the concept of what one can do from a phone has far evolved. Nokia – the giant that put a mobile phone in the hands of the masses gave us the Nokia Communicator. A phone which felt like a mini-computer. Then Blackberry with it’s Messenger and Push E-mail created an enterprise ecosystem which altered the divide between personal and professional. Not getting an instant response to an email or a message became something to be frowned upon. Then out of the blue came a system which brought together touch technology with an operating system that created a perfect marriage between technology and simplicity – the iPhone was born. What’s more is that it has continued to build on this powerful framework combining previous innovations with newer concepts. It was this holistic thinking that created the iPod phenomena. An mp3 player was nothing new, but combining it with iTunes was what changed the entire music industry. Similarly the birth of the App Store enabled continuous innovation in the use and experience of iOS devices – iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and so on. The question is what’s next?

It is very human to take what we have in the present for granted. Quite frankly a lot of what we can do today was the stuff of science fiction not so long ago. The Trekkies from the USS Enterprise gave us a vision of future communications and one such vision has become a reality today in the form of “FaceTime”. Similarly we can all feel like a cyborg from Terminator with an augmented vision of reality using our smart phones with an app like Layar, for example. Such technology is fast becoming commonplace by the day. Feeling quite comfortable and pleased knowing that I live in an era where technology has profoundly empowered individuals to do so much more than could have been imagined I got jolted out of my comfort zone when I came across another vision of the future. But unlike previous eras however I see such a future becoming a reality pretty soon. Perhaps by the time we get the iPhone 5! Have a look…

Impressed? Perhaps not so much! I don’t blame you. So much is happening so fast. 3D has revolutionized the cinema going experience and pretty soon a 3D home viewing experience is going to become something like wearing a wrist watch. We have gotten used to blazing fast leaps in technology. The likes of Apple have spoiled us silly. But what if I were to tell you that I got something that would truly blow you away! What’s even more surprising is the company behind this vision of the future – Mozilla. Yes, the company that gave us the Firefox browser is up to something truly remarkable. If a search engine company can get into the mobile phone business and God knows what else then why can’t a web-browser company do the same! Well, this is just a concept video but the vision portrayed by the guys from Mozilla Labs is simply out of this world! I can’t wait to get my hands on the Mozilla Seabird! Hold on to your seats before clicking on the video below. Bye-bye Apple, Hello Mozilla!

UPDATE: 3D Projection Mapping is exploding! Samsung has done it again. First it was in the Netherlands for the 3D TV launch (read below) and now it’s with Vodafone for the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Tablet in Spain. Great stuff!

Avatar took the world of Hollywood by storm when James Cameron introduced the world to 3D! Not that 3D was entirely a new thing up to that point but as Malcolm Gladwell put it – it has reached a Tipping Point. Since then we have seen Samsung and the likes bring 3D to our homes, Micromax is attempting to do so on our mobiles, NVIDIA is bringing 3D to the world of gaming and some fellows from the world of advertising are doing the same with marketing communications.

What am I talking about? 3D Projection Mapping. It’s not exactly the kind of 3D you see in movies but it certainly is eye-popping stuff and it’s getting big…fast! A quick search for 3D Projection Mapping examples revealed innumerable videos. Like all new marketing innovations many applications seem to have used the technology for the sake of it. Some however have combined the brand experience with technology to deliver some breakthrough executions. My personal favorite is by Samsung for their 3D TV launch in the Netherlands. Yes, what better way to launch a 3D TV other than doing a massive 3D Projection. This one is simply awesome!

Another gret example of 3D Projection Mapping was for Red Bull “Off the Planet” – a night event where snowboarders and skiers jump between two massive ramps and each landing is tracked via infrared to dynamically change the projections, thereby adding interactivity and greatly enhancing the visual experience. The results are splendid.

Looking ahead I think 3D Projection Mapping is going to get bigger, better and bolder! It takes augmented reality to a whole new level by taking real world architecture and giving it a fresh context. The challenge as always would be to make the right connection that not only creates a great execution but enhances the brand experience. If  you are looking for more 3D Projection eye-candy then check out this video by AC/DC from the Iron Man 2 Soundtrack done as a 3D Projection. Enjoy!

It is amazing how the human brain works. Some of the findings from behavioral economics on our decision making abilities are both shocking and fascinating, to say the least. It’s like looking at an engine from the inside and seeing how everything works. As a planner understanding human behavior is always a cherished and critical part of my work. While reading about some of these concepts I could not help but realize how obviously we err when it comes to making a decision.

I have talked about Behavioral Economics in earlier posts as well. Here I would like to talk about the concept of anchoring. Let’s see how it works. What if I were to tell you that you have to guess the price of a premium chocolate bar and before doing so I make you write down the last two digits of your ID card. What would happen? You are most likely going to select a number that is close to your ‘anchor’ (in this case the last two digits of your ID card).

Don’t believe this. A number of experiments with students from MIT have been done with a similar setup. When the results were analyzed it was noted that all respondents chose a number that was close to their respective anchor*. This is known as ‘arbitrary coherence’. If we reflect on our lives we will find many occasions when our own anchors have influenced our decisions. Remember the price of the first Widescreen TV that you may have bought and then think about all future upgrades. The price you paid for the first TV will be your anchor for all future purchases.

What are the implications of “anchoring” on us at a personal level? For one not all our anchors may be in our best interest. Owing to some arbitrary coherence we may have anchored on values that are much higher than what they should be (at least from a rational perspective). Knowing how our brain works and our tendency to anchor so irrationally we can perhaps make better decisions.

So what’s the implication of this concept in marketing and branding? One brilliant example that comes to mind was the launch of a soft drink in the United Kingdom (I just can’t remember the name). In a highly competitive category with a limited budget this brand used anchoring to influence consumer behavior with great effect. What was the big idea? Outside the stadium before the end of a big game the company dumped hundreds of empty cans in and around all the trash bins filling them up to create the effect that this drink was consumed by hundreds of people from the audience. When the match finished fans leaving the stadium noticed these cans wondering why they did not see this drink anywhere. This creatively introduced the brand to thousands at the stadium for a minimal cost and triggered them to inquire retailers about the mystery beverage facilitating the soft drinks eventual arrival to the trade. This is a great example of how an anchor was used to cue popularity when launching a new product. Have you come across other examples of anchoring used in marketing?

*You can read more about this in Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational.

“Because life is not a spectator sport” – a tagline for Reebok in the 1980s is the mantra for brand building in the 21st century. Brands cannot expect consumers to be static spectators to their messages. Participation is becoming second nature in everything we are doing. Even the way we watch sports has changed. For anyone tweeting while watching the FIFA World Cup would have experienced the game in a way they have never experienced before. It was like watching the game with the world. Proof of this phenomena comes from the fact that a new Twitter record was created in the World Cup with 3282 tweets per second after Japan’s win over Canada (for perspective average Twitter usage is about 750 tweets per second). Brands need to engage consumers in the same way. They have to get in the field, play the game with their consumers and continue the relationship off the field. If there is a likability and genuineness in the engagement then hopefully they would be invited for the next game. This is a radical shift in the role of marketers. Like in a relationship the dynamics of media, mobile and the web have changed the way we interact with brands. Any attempt by a brand to fake it’s way into the consumer’s life is impossible. It’s like befriending someone with an ulterior motive. It’s only a matter of time before true intentions become apparent and the impending aftermath would be nothing short of catastrophic. Social media is simply too powerful and things can spread really fast. As we have seen in the case of BP recently social media has been unforgiving and the impact to the brand has been phenomenal (although a lot of what BP has done at any level is their own doing but that’s another matter).

Telecom brands would have to built based on these same principles. Fortunately the telecom sector is at the forefront of this change, experiencing the impact first hand. As people spend more time online operators are seeing a remarkable shift in data usage, for example NTT DoCoMo reports that approx. 90% of their network traffic is data, for Vodafone this number is about 70%. As Susan Wojcicki, VP Public Policy and Communications at Google put it “U.S. users spend 12 hours per week online, which represents about 32 percent of their media time.” People are spending more time online and doing so using their mobile with increasing frequency. In the US a 110% growth in mobile web usage has been noted in 2009. Point being that habits are changing. For a telecom operator besides the obvious business impact there are huge implications on the way a telecom brand is built.

Using the TeleCompass as a guide to determine a brand’s promise is one thing. Taking this brand promise forward is another. And it is here where the rules of brand communication are being rewritten. To illustrate this point I would refer to one brand who has embraced the new role of the consumer and ensured that everything the brand does is something which involves consumer participation, engages them in way that encourages sharing and builds a genuine two way relationship.

The brand is Koodo Mobile – an MVNO by Telus in Canada. Looking at the 8 spaces on the TeleCompass Koodo Mobile has taken the “Heroism” platform for their brand. By using an iconic character “El-Tabador” Koodo Mobile has taken upon itself the fight for phone freedom.

Building on this promise, Koodo Mobile has made creative use of YouTube to develop an interactive video game – something in which the user can participate and fight against Bloatimus Contractimus.

This is the kind of work that defines our era in which more people are using media that allows for greater participation and play. Koodo Mobile as a telecom player has made use of this new media by creating content that keeps the consumer actively engaged with the brand. As a follow-up to their initial work the latest YouTube interactive video game that went viral early this year was “Sugar Streak – Can you catch the Gingerbread man?”

Reposted from the Luciola Blog

For a brand that started out in the year 1937 as a fragrance for woman Old Spice  has certainly come a long way. For Procter and Gamble, a company known for it’s classic (read as formulaic) approach to advertising since the 1950’s that included x times of product mentions/product shots followed by media bombardment to drive a message, it too has come a long way.  Although the relationship between P&G and Old Spice is relatively recent – dates back to 1990 when Old Spice was acquired from the Shulton Company who originally created the brand, the last three days are anything but formulaic, dated or conventional.  In fact, Old Spice has sowed the seeds of something remarkable that defines the new communications paradigm for brands in the 21st century.

I think it is a brilliant case study on “how to build brands using social media”. We have seen a surge of branded activity in social media off late. The ingredients are the same – a large chunk of Facebook mixed add a spoonful of Twitter with a dash of YouTube. But as we say, a great idea is one that combines commonly known elements to create something new and unexpected. This is what has been done with Old Spice. The character from the TV Commercial – Isaiah Mustafa responds to individual comments made in social media through a video and he does so persistently over three days with a total of nearly 200 video responses.

Brands engaging people on social networks is not something entirely new. If you are on Facebook you get engaged on Facebook, your tweets get @ replies on Twitter and so on. The power behind the Old Spice campaign was the video response. This was the creative leap taken by W+K.  The character that personifies the brand talks back to you in the form of a video. He would pick up your tweet, your status update on Facebook, a comment on YouTube or anywhere else on the web and talk back to you!  This was the big idea!

To do justice to the idea, the execution was nothing short of being flawless. Isaiah Mustafa, the Old Spice guy, acted out his role brilliantly. It was a mix of bold performances, combined with wit and humor. The best part of it all was the branding – subtle yet obvious.  Besides what Isaiah did for Old Spice he did a lot for himself – from being an unknown actor to overnight celebrity (he apparently inked a deal with NBC that would land him in one of their upcoming sitcoms).

From the film that kicked off the campaign (it won the Film Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions 2010 last month) to the film that started this 3-day social media frenzy, along with a couple of my favorite video response by the Old Spice guy, all have been linked below for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy.

Old Spice -Questions

Old Spice – Responses – Re: chmown | Old Spice

Old Spice – Responses – Re: @knitmeapony| Old Spice

Old Spice – Responses – Re: rahnyc4 | Old Spice

Old Spice – The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (The one that won the Film Grand Prix)

The entire series can be found here.