Work in the Brazilian drugs squad? bored? Try this
Like the Coke happyness machine without the humour. Nokia do a gift vending machine
Ok so there is a whole bunch more to it than a simple give away, BUT on the surface that is what it comes across as - anyway here is Nokia to explain more
Looks like it's the over 50's who are driving social media growth on mobile devices
New report from Nielsen (HERE) looks at social media trends, within this report are some neat insights about the over 50's. The rather forgotten, by most brands, but hugely significant sector (UK 50% of pop over 50 by end of 2011) Really important to understand the emotional outlook of a group who may be physically old but display spending patterns more akin to teenagers. Budget aware but prone to irrational urges to satisfy pleasure. I did a briefing paper on them late last year, specifically looking at drinking habits.
Images of China
I have been spending so much time studying Chinese mobile trends and online stats its easy to forget the actual country and its real world amazingness. Fantastic views of China in this slideshow collection, a mixture of AP, Reuters & Getty, first published in The Atlantic in May this year.
We all want to be loved, its not the same as being 'liked'
Tens of thousands of Facebook likes are not the same as a handful of customers who personally recommend your brand.
We feel the warmth of human endeavour in giving smart advice, a joy to see one of my favorite brands (LEGO) focusing on this above all else
The CEO of LEGO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp was interviewed after presenting really positive financial results for 2010/1. He was asked
“..what market share do you aim for worldwide, and where should the growth come from?”
Jørgen answered: “I have no specific market share goals for LEGO. We are measuring our success on customers satisfaction and on how many recommend LEGO products to others – so our growth and market share are just a result of this strategy.”
Blind panic or confused bewilderment? how you shop in Ikea
Good set of China digital stats
A lot of stats and claims about the internet in China have to be taken with a pinch of salt. But there are a couple of reports from Burston Marsteller recently that do a good job or summarising current activity. Twitterisque microblogs look a much bigger deal this year as they cope better with low bandwidths: also the growth of brand social media activity seems to be driving a more interactive discussion format.
www.twitter.com/BMAsiaPacific www.Burson-Marsteller.Asia www.facebook.com/BursonMarsteller.Asia
Update on 2011-09-20 16:02 by Philip
Worried your Eco car makes you feel impotent? Cadillac have just the car for you
Just when you thought the American car industry finally got the modern world they build the Cadillac Ciel, less a car more a barge, it really is huge, but yet it is sooooo wrong it just has to be right. -and the doors are fantastically impractical you just want them (but not in a Tesco carpark!) I mean in the days of Whipcar.com and Streetcar.com if you are really going to own your own car I think you should go balls out and get this. Nothing says I own the road like having a car that covers ALL of it! I would love to see this try and get through central London. The promo film features two young couples weekending in wine country, you do feel the cars more natural habitat would however be in old skool rap videos. Worth noting as well that in the film there appears to not only be no roof or covering but also no seatbelts - lets face it, if you are aiming on annoying the European eco's, you might as well really go for it!
WSJ pics of the whale, sorry Ciel here : http://on.wsj.com/pvyXM9
Fastcodesign.com also have pics and few good points about design studies gone mad: http://bit.ly/p7mFQ7
What is it like to buy spirits in Sainsbury's?
A 2010 look at spirit shoppers in Sainbury's, I pointed out the need for a brave approach to spreading shopper triggers out and around store, using both Wi-Fi and ontrade activity. Tesco have this month announced they will be rolling out free Wi-Fi across its stores. Also the recent award winning Tesco work in Korea that used QR code shopping in the Metro is a great example of multi-point shopper marketing
Update on 2011-08-24 11:45 by Philip
Spirit shoppers in Sainbury's v2 better in Slideshare.net view with speaker notes on, makes a whole ton of diffrence!
View more presentations from Philip Slade
Shopper trends in travel retail (edit)
Shopper marketing in airports
View more presentations from Philip Slade.
Posterous: great platform
Been playing around with the blogging platform: Posterous. very easy to use. imports the contents of this blog and lays out all fine. Squarespace is a very detailed service that I ma only really using a small amount of, but Posterous is actually (as a free service) just a tad too limited for what I want to do with it
July will be all about ZMOT thinking
Well actually there is a whole bunch of stuff this month to ponder, from Google+ to 'Networks of the Unacquanited' and 'data is the new oil' but in terms of agency activity here at Saatchi and our new chums at Google its all about ZMOT
click for video preview
"...Whether we're shopping for corn flakes, concert tickets or a honeymoon in Paris, the Internet has changed how we decide what to buy. Today we're all digital explorers, seeking out online ratings, peer reviews, videos, and in-depth product details as we move down the path to purchase. At Google, we call this online decision-making moment the Zero Moment of Truth—or simply ZMOT...."
London capitol of the world
If you like stats this is an excellent read, (no honest, it is) but also a great insight into future trends.
MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities:
Cross-Border Travel and Expenditures 2Q 2011
Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, Ph.D.
Global Economic Advisor, MasterCard Worldwide
London remains the global capital. This based not only on visitor numbers and average spend, but that its visitors come from the most diverse cities of origin.
Key trend is how American cities are getting less and less relevant on the global stage, none make it into the top 20 this year. Only New Yorks staggering average visitor spend of $2,671 (my last bar bill may of helped with this) make any headlines within the report.
Key global growth cities for 2012 with all factors considered are Istanbul and Kuala Lumper. In the long term, Istanbul's key rival in the region may be the newly democratic Tunisia as it has similar workforce, transport & economic attributes
Big big sign on the horizon however is China, New regulations mean Chinese nationals can now travel to places like duty free Hainan Island (savings of about 30% on luxury goods) Predictions show that by 2014 China will be the worlds biggest consumer of luxury goods
Remember we work in the worlds best city. People want to come here from just about every county across the globe. Once here more want to work, spend & invest than in any other city in the world. Wants more it's Friday and the sun's out
http://bit.ly/iTK1KA (news bit on report)
They've got search nailed, now time for the banking system
Google Wallet turns your phone into a wallet.
Begins field test today in the US, full roll out later in the year. Launch is on Android but can't see it not coming to the iPhone at some point.
Google Wallet is a cashless system (NFC) using a 'tap' technique similar to an Oyster card. Launch announcements covered its use as a store loyalty card. Store voucher and cashless payments
Questions at the launch centred on the data privacy issues (held by each of the stores own systems) and why you still need to sign, Google says this is just piece of mind for the shops. Big question of course what happens if you lose your phone (Mathew) Google Wallet uses a similar system to the Apple 'wipe my phone' remote control via a laptop
This is a video of retail partners talking about why they have signed up to the system = http://bit.ly/jeI4Vd
This is a link to the official press release = http://bit.ly/ltkZ3h
If you are one of those worried about Google taking over, do note they are NOT taking any revenue from the payment side of the system just the deals & voucher side, so pretty soon they will be able to undercut credit card payment systems in all stores............be scared
Small note for students of design, the logo for Google Wallet is strikingly similar to Google Wave the bonkers collaboration tool they launched a few years ago that died shortly after because know one could work out what to do with it.
You can also see this on my other blog = http://philipslade.posterous.com, why have I got two blogs? can't deceide on formats so went for both, content almost the same on both -ish
Boxpark cool use of shipping containers
BOX PARK 08/2011 from Roger Wade on Vimeo.
Re-booting empty retail space
Empty retail space is the current look for most high streets. Pop-up shops can only fill so many vacant lets. I really like this new idea from RIBA. Multiple Installations combined into a kind of indoor sculpture park -but viewed from the pavement. True this one is not really taking on the empty spaces exclusively. But it did make me think about what would you do if you did co-ordinate all of a shopping centers empty lets into a single piece of shopper engagement
http://bit.ly/kDEVzb - Londonist.com
http://bit.ly/me9jZi - RIBA / Regent Street Project
also seen on http://philipslade.posterous.com duplicate but easyier to use (in a rush) platform
This is very neat, daily/weekly newspaper made from your Twitter feed
Win a job working at SaatchiX
At Saatchi & Saatchi X we’re giving grads the chance of a job.
All you have to do is tell us WHY you should have a job here - in 30 seconds...in a lift.
On April 8th, show up, bring your CV, take a number, join the queue and get ready to pitch to our leadership team in the lift at 80 Charlotte Street, London.
You’ve got 30 seconds to impress.
For the shortlisted candidates there’s boot camp and summer placements; then one of you will walk away with a job for at least a year (and a rather impressive story to tell your mates).
www.facebook.com/xliftpitch
Who are you trying to delight?
"Pleasing everyone with our work is impossible. It wastes the time of our best customers and annoys our staff. Forgive us for focusing on those we're trying to delight."
The math here is simple. As soon as you work hard to please everyone, you have no choice but to sand off the edges, pleasing some people less in order to please others a bit more. And it drives you crazy at the same time. - Seth Godin's blog
It is very easy to say in hindsight but why do we get sucked into briefs that are trying to be catch all, shouty messaging. The truth being any measurement that counts will be looking at a minority of shoppers who convert into advocates.
Bored of blogging yet?
It would appear the world is slowly getting bored of blogging. There have been a number of end of year reviews looking at this very issue.
The instant sharing of Twitter and the better designed Facebook wall seem to have taken the mainstream. Bloggers now are more likely to be specialist writers.
Certainly I feel blogged out, I have not been updating this page much these past months, a very busy new job hasn't helped. But wonder how the other part time bloggers will fair in 2011
"...Hints of that appear in the new Pew Internet report that finds that blogging by teenagers has fallen by half since 2006, and even young adults seem to be dropping the habit.
Few of the activities covered in this report have decreased in popularity for any age group, with the notable exception of blogging. Only half as many online teens work on their own blog as did in 2006, and Millennial generation adults ages 18 to 33 have also seen a modest decline — a development that may be related to the quickly growing popularity of social network sites.
At the same time, however, blogging’s popularity increased among most older generations, and as a result the rate of blogging for all online adults rose slightly overall from 11 percent in late 2008 to 14 percent in 2010.
Yet, while the act formally known as blogging seems to have peaked, internet users are doing blog-like things in other online spaces as they post updates about their lives, musings about the world, jokes, and links on social networking sites and micro-blogging sites such as Twitter..." By Ryan Singel Wired Nov 2010