My First Friday 4-1-1

In an effort to write more regularly, I’m going to implement something that every other blogger on the planet does – a regular series.  It’s called the Friday 4-1-1.  And here’s how it breaks down:

Each week, on Friday, I’ll highlight 4 stories/events/implementations that I’ve seen during that week and give my impressions.  On top of that, I’ll highlight the best “uh-huh” (rockin’) thing I’ve seen and the worst “duh” (what were they thinking?) thing I’ve seen.  And we’ll see how it works.  So, here we go.

1. Interactive Technology to Enhance Museum Experience – an affiliate museum of the Smithsonian, The Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture in Washington state, is piloting a “Passport to Discovery” project that sounds a lot like the myLOC passport system (set up in the Library of Congress).  Solid idea – make the user’s experience smarter each time they visit, based on their actions/interactions from the last visit, but my question is – how much of a pain is it to keep track of a passport-like tchotchke?  I would either lose it, forget it, or be annoyed that I have to sift through my catch-all drawer every time I need it.  Tie this into the one thing that people keep track of and don’t leave home without – their mobile phone – and you have something.

2. Google Introduces Branded Map Icons – simple – brands can now “brand” their locations into Google maps.  For OOH/DOOH/IOOH, brands can benefit in a major way.  They not only benefit from the brand recognition when Google maps is integrated into a digital/interactive sign, they benefit from the native functionality that allows users to automatically click-through to details about the brand.  I’m big on driving deeper brand experiences through all mediums, particularly OOH/DOOH/IOOH, and this is an example of an API unlocking that feature.  This feature has been available before now, but for a brand, there is a big difference from their location being tagged by a grey dot and being tagged by their logo, especially on an interactive sign, when you want to make it as enticing as possible.  Of course, this feature is only available to paying brands (using this as a form of advertising).  :)

3. Eye Expands Mobile Marketing at Malls, Sans “Big Brother” Effect – this is cool, but I just wonder for the end-consumer, if they make any distinction with geo-location ads.  The average consumer probably thinks it’s still creepy, regardless of “how” it’s done.  EYE and Ace Marketing & Promotions are working a system based on phone proximity, nothing GPS-related.  Here’s where I think digital/interactive signage (I don’t even think you’d need a “digital” sign) serves an ideal purpose – the sign is the bridge between the smart-but-creepy ad and the not-knowing-and-wary consumer.  Imagine in a mall, you walk up to a sign that lets you know what to expect on your phone – in terms of store advertisements – just because you’re “in the area.”  Viola, without doing anything other than being in that place, you’re pleasantly delighted when you look at your phone and see that Gap is having a sale on jeans.  You don’t walk away creeped out.  We need as much of this “non-creepy” interaction/advertising as possible right now – it will only help in the acceptance of digital/interactive signs (that have the potential to be very smart).

4.  Seahawks Utilize iPad Kiosks for Fan Registration – first, I can’t wait for football to begin next Thursday.  Second, anytime interactive technology and football are mentioned in the same sentence, my ears perk up.  So, I was delighted to read about the Seattle Seahawks building kiosks with iPads to “register over 20,000 fans” at their training camp this summer.  Sounds like they were also able to allow the fans to experience some premier content, which I would fully expect on devices like that.  I think this is a great, relatively cost-effective solution to explore when wanting an interactive out-of-home solution.  Take a $800 sophisticated piece of hardware & software, build a nice unit around it and you have yourself a feature-rich, well-functioning IOOH solution.

“Uh-huh” – I give this the “uh-huh” head nod each time I see it.  Imagine what could be done with this interactive film – The Wilderness Downtown – in an out-of-home setting?  Not only would the current iteration be sticky enough for people to stop, interact, and gather around, it sure would be cool to integrate the point where people are interacting with it and the point where they ultimately go (their hometown house).  That idea goes against what I said earlier about the “creepiness” factor, but it would be cool.

“Duh” – I don’t know if this is the right word for this category.  Nor do I know if it’s a “what were they thinking” category.  I just know it’s opposite of the cool, “uh-huh” category.  But this week’s installment of the un-cool comes in the form of QR codes.  And not one specific implementation.  Just as an overall solution.  I saw this one and this one, not to mention this one in a magazine I was reading:

Now, look, there’s not another enabling technology that I’ve written about more than QR codes, but the more I learn, read, see, not to mention actually work with QR codes and other mobile technologies, the more I question whether or not the average consumer knows what the heck to do with them.  It’s all about the audience – the JFK/Twitter example will probably get more interaction because Twitter, in and of itself, does not attract the “average” consumer, but I just might be at the point of QR code over saturation.  Good to see so many examples this year, but are they working?  Jury is still way out.

So, there you have it.  My first Friday 4-1-1.  What do you think?

I work for a really great company and am part of a really great group.  We’re a small group (who has more than doubled in size since I started in October) with a start-up mentality – we work hard, we have fun doing it, and I think we all enjoy being around each other, in and outside of work.  We push, we do many different things in any given day, and we are tireless in our pursuit to do great work.

As a “start-up,” we are creating everything related to our business from the ground-up – staffing, processes, positioning, templates, identity (everything really) – we’re trying to define ourselves as THE place to do awesome work in Dallas, in Texas, and really, in the industry.  We have a lot of work to do, but we are making strides each and every day.  And it’s not just in the form of internal operations, it’s in the form of fantastic work for our clients.

We met as a group today and discussed a few new, important initiatives that will help shape the foundation for what we’re trying to create.  Aside from just being generally excited to roll out initiatives like this, I was struck by collective intelligence and thinking of our group.  At one point, I looked around the room (which was full, by the way – a sight that is rewarding, considering the group was a fraction of the size when I started), and relished in the position I was in – I’m surrounded by smart people.

So, here’s what I would say.  Identify as many smart people around you, friends and/or co-workers, and talk to them.  Build a relationship with them.  Learn from them.  Smart people make smart people smarter.  And as I’ve said, before I yearn to learn.  It’s just amazing how much knowledge is usually right in front of us, in the places and the people we see on a regular basis.  Embrace it.  Learn from them.  Get smarter.

The Detroit airport is littered with digital and interactive (touch) displays, outside of the standard flight boards.  I’ve always wanted to stop and play around with the touch screen displays, but I usually find myself hurrying on both sides of the trip.  Last week, I was with a few of my colleagues in Detroit, so I made us all stop for a minute and capture one of the experiences.  This is one of the touch experiences in the SI store (there are a few Detroit-specific city-search kiosks in the airport, too) and I can tell you, right off the at, this (along with those other touch screen displays that I’ve seen) is not a great experience.

But let’s break it down against the scorecard.

Purpose – I just shake my head at this, but from what I can gather (based on repeated observation), the sole purpose of this experience is extend the SI brand experience.  In theory, this sole purpose is not a bad one, especially inside a store, but to simply display the normal .com website is not extending anything in my book.  If they don’t want to create custom content for this experience, why not simply display their Facebook page or their YouTube channel?  Either of these would drive the normal consumer deeper into their brand and provide a much more compelling experience.  As it is now, these screens are assets that provide little to no value.  I don’t think they deliver on their purpose, much less affect sales.

Drama – In the store, there are two of these screens – one on each side of the store – and they’re consistently hidden by merchandise.  You can tell that the employees of the store don’t even see value in them because they never clear anything out of their way.  (The only reason I ever see them is because I’m looking for things like this).  And to top it off, I’ve never seen both of them working at the same time.  One is constantly black while the other just sits there, displaying the current home page of the day.  No call-to-action.  No animation.  No nothing.

Usability –  Ugh.  You can see for yourself.  It’s virtually unusable.  We interacted with it (if you can call it that) for no more than a minute before it errored out.  And in terms of the actual experience, had the hardware supported the experience, the SI website is so deep, even with a mouse and plenty of time, you’re not assured to have a great experience anyway.

Interactivity –  Website standards are not digital signage standards.  To think that someone, even with small fingers/hands, could navigate a standard website experience on a touchscreen, without any modifications, is a stretch.  Add a non-responsive touch screen monitor to the mix and you have one big headache.

Information – See www.si.com.  Lots of content to interact with.  Ask yourself, if you’re a traveler, coming into or flying out of Detroit, would you want to interact with a website on a touch screen?  Would you have that much time?  I think not.  You wouldn’t even want to interact with the entire website on your mobile phone.  There’s an app for that.

Personalization – Um, no.

These kinds of experiences are exactly the kinds of things that do not help get people excited about digital/interactive signage.  Black screens.  Screens that don’t react to touch.  Screens that simply show websites.  This is not good practice.

Fortunately for them (if “they” even see value in these screens), they already have the screens in place.  They just need a few minds in the room to think of possible content executions.  There are many things they could do, even if they needed to ditch the “touch” (LBS anyone?), that would actually get them closer to achieving their purpose.

Fox and Glee, what are you doing?

This code showed up right after the announcement for Glee, Season 2 and stayed on the screen for no more than 5 seconds.  Knowing what this was and having the curiosity to interact, we paused the TV so I could snap a picture of the code.  It being Glee, I held out hope that I would find something exclusive on the other end, something fun, engaging, unexpected.

Wrong.  Just another mobile site with videos.

While I was happy to see videos (and even a choice of videos), I just felt jilted of a unique experience, which is what I expect from the Glee “brand.”

Here’s my takeaway from this, one that I haven’t verbalized before now – the brand identity trumps everything.  It sets the context for everything a brand does.  For the Glee brand, it’s not about implementing new technology (QR codes) like everyone else does.  It’s about implementing new technology in the Glee “way,” commiserate with the brand identity.

Right now, with new technology like this, I’m sure brands are merely experimenting without any expectations.  On the consumer side, it’s raising awareness for this type of technology and satisfying an urge to know “more” about their favorite show.  But with this audience, in particular, Glee could take the experiment much deeper while still exposing their audience to the technology.  What about a mash-up?  What about an all-Glee scavenger hunt?  What about a simple ringtone?  These are Glee-type executions that, without consciously thinking about it, I already expect from the brand.  So, when I don’t get it, it makes me care a little bit less, not wanting to engage a little bit more.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I don’t broadcast a lot of news. It’s just not my thing. If you want digital signage news, there are many other channels to get it on. But today, when I got word of the Digital Signage Federation’s new webinar series, it made stop, applaud, question, then want to announce, which is what I’m doing here.

The release says (found in its entirety here):

Digital Signage Federation (DSF), the independent not-for-profit trade organization serving the digital signage industry, is making available an entire program of interactive, educational webinars for its members and initially, inviting non-members to participate as a free trial.

DSF’s webinar series will be conducted by notable industry experts the second Wednesday of every month beginning September 8, at 2pm EST. The program will kick off with Turning on Digital Signage, part of the popular Digital Signage Expert’s series. Alan Brawn, Principal of Brawn Consulting who will be leading the first webinar session, is also Chair of the Federation’s Education Committee.

Brawn said, “The Federation is launching this webinar series in response to requests in a recent member survey for accessible and continuous educational opportunities. The program is designed to educate, inspire, and motivate individuals interested and involved in the digital signage industry. The topics would be under the umbrella of the 7 Key Elements of Digital Signage as well as the new educational Conference Series structure of the DSE that is being launched next year. The webinars will be impartial, agnostic, and vendor neutral in nature and represent a true cross section of our industry.”

Members and non-members may reserve seats free of charge on a “first come” basis at https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/277144451 until the session fills. The first free webinar is on Wednesday, September 8th. The program will run one hour beginning at 2pm EDT/2pm CDT/11am PDT.

From my perspective, this seems like a good, well-intentioned initiative. To gain traction, adoption, and ultimately buy-in, education is a key component. There seems to be a solid program structure with credible speakers in place. Kudos to the DSF for this. I don’t know many occasions where education can’t be of benefit.

But…….here’s the question I have: will something like this reach the right people? The marketing/advertising/communications professionals? The media agencies? Brands? Their member list looks to be diverse, but as I’ve seen in my short time in the digital signage “circle,” there is a tendency for the circle to talk to itself. As a result, the circle might get a little bigger, but it doesn’t morph into a web, which is what we need.

Make no mistake, I am thrilled to see something like this concept. I think it could be a huge benefit to those inside and outside of the industry. My hope is that the Federation, in its attempt to do good, thinks through to those who can really impact the traction, adoption, and ultimately buy-in of this amorphous, yet inevitable communications channel.

For all of you readers who want to know more, please sign up for the first webinar.  Let’s see what this is all about and get our learning on!

When I was a kid, over breakfast, I found great joy in cereal boxes.   They came loaded with a toy and provided excellent reading material. It was all the entertainment I needed over the 15 minutes it took me to eat my cereal.  Fast forward to now, my habits have changed – tend to eat cereal at night, not in the morning, I don’t buy cereal solely for the toy, and I usually don’t read/study the cereal box anymore.   But I do I watch my daughter in the mornings finding the same joy in cereal boxes.   Right now, it’s less about the toy and more about the reading, but it will change soon enough.   This past week, I saw an example of what we might be in for and it was exhilarating!  What I saw was an 11th screen cereal box! A cereal box (offline) that drives a deeper brand experience through online channels!  No real-world, immediate gratification toy here.   It’s all about virtual widgets and collecting virtual coupons for special real-world items.

This is not new.  Even though I haven’t really paid attention to cereal boxes in the last umpteen years, I know that brands utilize these opportunities to drive consumers online.  But as you can see in this example, I think they’ve gotten really good at it.  I created a scorecard-type guide for experiences like this, so I’ll put my box of Mini-Wheats to the test.

Experience – What’s the brand experience?  Is it offline to online or vice versa?  Here, the experience begins offline, on the cereal box, and drives consumers online, to the “prize & account” hub where the user’s points/codes are collected and can be redeemed for various prizes.  The site is simple.  It’s there strictly for the purpose of utility – keep track of consumer’s points and allow them to redeem the points for a limited number of virtual & real-world items.

Purpose - What’s the purpose of this experience?  The purpose I see here, really, is to provide more value in the merchandising/promotional items, which in turn, results in repeated purchase of Kellogg’s cereal.  They do provide rewards for low-level engagement, but the real rewards come with multiple points, which means buying more cereal.  Now, some of these things (bank account, desk light) are questionable in their worth/usefulness, but some are good, age-appropriate items (concession cash, movie pass).

Visibility – Similar to “Drama”, here it’s important to understand how visible the call-to-action is that drives people from one channel to the other.  In this case, the call-to-action is to get “free stuff”, which is found on the box.

Cereal boxes and makers have already set the expectation that there is something “special inside,” so I think they can get away with a little bit more in terms of CTA prominence than others.  While the CTA on the front is small, it’s visible, separated enough in design from the rest of the packaging and appears in multiple places.  Then, on the back of the box, the CTA and instructions take the entire real-estate and provide simple steps to get started.

Entry Points – How many “offline” entry points does the consumer have?  And how many “online” entry points does the consumer have?  How consistent with each other are they?  Do they all drive to the same destination?  The only way that I can find to get into this site is the direct URL from the cereal box(es).  Neither the Kellogg’s site, nor the Mini-Wheats site makes mention of this promotion, which I assume is pretty standard with limited-time offers like this.  I think they could get more coverage by including it on the Mini-Wheats site, at the very least, but you have to ask yourself a question – how many people buy a box of cereal vs. go to the cereal’s website.  I daresay many more people buy these boxes than visit the site.

Content – I think there are two parts to this: 1) What type of content sets up the engagement? and 2) What type of content, if any, is generated by the consumers?  As mentioned above, the site is pure utility, which is good for this audience.  Before diving into the content of the site, consumer’s must register, which is a necessary evil.

I feel like they could offer a bit more exclusive content once logged-in.  The only “free” content is a “funny real” from TS3.  Aside from that, there’s nothing that keeps consumers here for an extended period of time.  Since this is geared towards children, Disney/Pixar have an abundance of content that could engage them for hours on end, literally.  I question, then, if all of these real-world items are really needed?  There is something to be said about tangible items, but we live in such a digital world as it is, Disney/Pixar could just get away with serving up exclusive content.  No content generated by consumers here, which considering the audience, seems appropriate.

Extensions – How deep does this experience go?  It’s bringing people from the offline world into the online world, now where all can they go?  The best piece of this experience, in my mind, is an extension on the site.

In my house, technology, while I think it’s great to expose our kids to, it is a major annoyance to my wife.  The computer is just an extension of the TV and she is of the mindset that the kids need to be doing something other than sitting, watching TV or messing around on the computer.  So, when this screen automatically appeared after I’d been on the site for 5+ minutes (I don’t know the exact timing), I appreciated the message.  On top of that, Kellogg’s has created a site that actually gives kids activities to complete, all in “challenge” format.

Recently, I’ve been involved in a few debates over marketing to children and here’s an example of a company who is making an effort to put the right, responsible checks in place. There’s no assurance that this will strike a chord with kids out there (and even their parents), but it’s so much better than nothing.

All in all, I found this experience solid.  While it excited me much more than my daughter, I think it’s a good idea for brands to be driving this type of engagement for younger audiences.  We are living in a technical world where kids appreciate mobile applications much more than physical piggy banks.  (Not so in my house quite yet, though!)

Nike one-ups the Chalkbot with Precious – the bike with a brain.  This “brain,” made by Breakfast, New York is the ultimate enabling technology.  It not only merges the real-world (offline) with the virtual world (online), it actually processes data like a brain and then responds (via Twitter) accordingly. It’s pretty amazing what they’ve made.

They’ve explored an interesting angle here, one that is much more in play here vs. Chalkbot – the thing (bike) is the hero, not the person (bike rider).  (I also think it’s way cool that they’ve given a voice to Precious on the website, and taken it away (for the most part) from the rider, as you can see by the picture-only blog).  This is a great example of the potential of the things and places around us – not people or true “screens” – that can engage consumers in ways we never thought possible.  Technology is key to this. And in this specific instance, this brain technology actually enables the messaging to take on a life of its own.  These messages are not customized based on the audience, they’re customized based on the messenger, powered by all of the context leading up to each message.

For marketers this is one of those game-changing ideas and executions.  A thinking, talking bike?  A “thing” that can provide content with a more-than-decent level of context. It truly learns as it goes.  This is what gets me excited.  This is the potential that I see in this space – those who are effective (will) understand the power of merging offline (which to me, is “out-of-home”) with online to create deep, meaningful brand experiences for their consumers.

The topic on my mind most recently is “merging the offline with the online” and I’ve been hyper-aware of noting examples when I see it.  I think this is a practice that brands must work capitalize on when forming their cross-channel strategy.  We operate in an ecoystem so connecting with consumers wherever they are (and driving them deeper into the brand) is key, particularly in today’s world.  This is difficult to do, for sure – different departments are in charge of their own particular “house,” they each have different objectives, and in the case where they do work together to drive deeper experiences, there has to be a plan in place to keep people engaged.  Remember, this is a relationship that brands are trying to build, and it requires an ongoing dialogue.

So, JCPenny gets some props today.  We pulled out a JCP flyer from the mailbox this weekend and prominent on both sides of the flyer was a call-to-action for mobile engagement.

This is a simple way for JCP to use their existing collateral (they’re going to print and distribute these flyers anyway) to a) engage consumers in a different way b) keep an ongoing stream of communication, albeit only push messages and c) incentivize them to purchase.  Now, putting this on a paper flyer is one thing.  Communicating with the consumer is entirely different.  Frequency of communication, the offers, and the actual words is where the real thinking and work comes in.  Even with SMS coupon initiatives, brands still have an opportunity to speak their voice.  That voice is instrumental in defining the brand and the relationship.  They can’t push messages out too frequently, but they can’t disappear either.  I think with an engagement like this, consumers are more tolerant to updates, but they will turn them off if they’re coming too frequently or not enough.  As a brand, you really have to know your consumers’ behavior and attitudes to both mobile and shopping before you can really decide on the frequency.

So here, I applaud JCP for capitalizing on the “low hanging fruit,” but it will be interesting to see how they capitalize on the meat of the program.

And here we are, QR codes again.  There’s no other enabling technology that I’ve blogged about more here than QR codes.  For good reason – I think they have good potential, but I just don’t know if they make the general consumer’s life easier.  So, I don’t know that they’ll ever take off here in the U.S. (And I do have the perspective of actually implementing a program around them for a large brand.)

That said, I read what amounted to a good post this morning on QR codes, but it was another example that supports my doubt.  The post was titled, “NYC Garbage Trucks Take QR Codes Mainstream,” so it piqued my interest.  But when I saw what it was, I just had to shake my head:

How many people take pictures of garbage trucks?  How many people want to get close enough to garbage trucks to take a picture of them?  I mean, who came up with this idea?  I just don’t get it.  What are they trying to accomplish?  Apparently, there’s a video behind the code that supports a recycling initiative in NYC, but it’s also going to run on TV.  Why don’t they just advertise the details of the TV spot?  Or just paste the URL big and bold on the side of the garbage truck that would accomplish the same thing?

I don’t think this is going to take QR codes mainstream by any stretch of the imagination.  I mean, if Calvin Klein can’t do it with a super-large QR code on the side of a building, I doubt that the city of NYC can do it on the side of garbage trucks.

There is something to be said with delivering (exclusive) content through technology like this.  More and more, technologies are enabling brands to merge the offline with the online.  (This is the future of marketing, in my opinion.)  QR codes are no different.  But brands are still a ways away from utilizing these technologies correctly, and to their fullest ability.

What do you think of this garbage truck initiative?  Will they bring QR codes into the mainstream?

I just got back from a much needed weeklong vacation with my wife, without our kids.  It was as we all want vacations to be – quiet, peaceful, relaxing, not driven by time or schedules, and without work.  I came across a few things that I wanted to blog about while I was out there, but I resisted and stayed unplugged (pretty much).    

There were many moments for us that defined our experience, the overwhelming majority of which were positive.  This was the first time we’d been to the east coast of Florida – from St. Augustine to West Palm Beach to Ft. Lauderdale, the beaches were awesome, the towns were all nice, each with a different personality, and by and large, the people were accommodating and friendly.  But unfortunately, the one moment that was the recurring thorn in our side was brought to us by Hertz.

This is certainly not the forum to go into everything that made that experience bad, but suffice it to say, they really didn’t seem to care about us, two kidless adults, eager to enjoy a relaxing vacation together.  And whether they liked it or not, they were part of our experience.  From this point on though, they will no longer be part of any Cearley-vacation experience. 

See, the thing about companies in the travel and leisure industry is that they actually play a part in people’s well-being.  Some companies understand this to the point of creating mission and culture around it.  Their purpose, and everything they do, is to make life easier for travelers.  But on the other hand, there are some companies who seem to feel content as just another part in the commodity game, and could care less about making things easier.  Hertz, unfortunately, came across this way.

Nevermind the hours that my wife and I spent on the phone or in front of actual people (at least 10) without a single answer or commitment of ownership, the attitude, above anything else, was extremely disappointing.  We repeatedly got an “it’s not my problem” attitude rather than a “what can I do to make your Hertz experience better” attitude.  An “I’m sorry” attitude would have even worked, but that was nowhere to be found.  I even asked one of their employees, “so, it doesn’t matter what we feel or think about this fiasco?” And he said, “no, not really.  There’s nothing I can do.”

I know companies are big and they have business to attend to, but just as I advise every one of our clients – if you don’t show people that you care, in turn, they won’t care.  And if the whole point to any money-making business is to build loyalty, not caring is a heavy weight that can lead to a slow death. 

Everyone is connected now.  Consumers to brands.  Consumers to consumers.  Words spread.  Service (or lack thereof) is amplified.  This hyper-connected world requires a higher level of consistency in philosophy, particularly as it relates to service.  Many companies, Hertz included, have many different channels that they monitor and field comments and complaints.  These different channels, regardless of the size of the company, are entry points into brand experiences.  These are all opportunities to let that philosophy shine and in the case where that philosophy is not best-in-class-service-oriented, it comes through in everything (and everyone).  What does your brand experience say about your philosophy?

I think this is such an important lesson, certainly for us in the business of providing services.  Is your brand experience and philosophy lined up?  Does your brand embody and foster an “it’s not my problem” attitude or an “I’m going to do whatever it takes (even within reason)” attitude?  Does your organization breathe this?  Are the “faces” of your brand restricted or empowered to serve customers? 

To me it all adds up to being the difference between just another place I can buy a commodity and the place I can trust with my well-being.  On the one week of the year that I can step out of my house and have a vacation.  It’s an important experience.