As we look to the new year, we’ve collected some inspiring digital marketing pieces and analyzed trends within the industry over the course of 2010.
We believe that for a campaign to be successful it should have certain elements to capture a user’s attention and involve the user in an active UX. Many great ideas are social, personal, emotional, challenging, surprising, addictive and deliver a clear benefit as opposed to talking about one.
The following campaigns are forward thinking and include elements that determine success:
We have noticed a trend towards using 3D and light projection technologies. For example, Greentomatocars, a Hybrid Taxi service, used laser-powered graffiti in London, England. Magic laser-wands connected to computers projected interactive digital “paint” onto building surfaces in real-time. This stunt appealed to the scruffy nature of the brand.
The new Penki app for the iPhone and iPad, allows you to paint 3D messages and images that are revealed in long exposure photographs. These are not necessarily examples of practical UX, but they are certainly captivating and it will be interesting to see how this technology can be used in the future.
Many campaigns are connecting UX online with physical reality through gaming, demos, check-ins, webcams, QR codes or simply by entering personal credentials. The lines of digital media and reality are being blurred.
The collaboration between Arcade Fire and Google on their single ‘We Used to Wait’ has pushed both music video and product demo into new territory by combining sound, memory, emotion, and mesmerizing effect within a web browser.
Qrapping paper, Interactive-wrapping paper, debuted during the holidays. It’s filled with QR codes you can scan with your mobile device to play videos. This paper is entertaining and encourages addictive exploratory behaviour with more than 50 videos to watch.
Even elements of Facebook have been drawn into reality. Earlier in the year, Coca-Cola Israel brought the “Like” app to life at a three-day festival where teens wore wristbands embedded with RFID chips. RFID Readers were placed all around the village within “Like” signs. Each time a visitor touched their wristband to the signs an update was posted to their Facebook profile page telling everyone what a great time they were having in the village.
Many campaigns depend on real-time executions, responses, and interactions via social media. Real-time campaigns show the user immediate results and who’s being influenced.
Burger King’s Whopper Face video is a great example. This campaign involved creating personalized packaging for Burger King customers. A hidden camera was used to photograph customers who made a personal request on their burgers. A picture of their face was then printed directly onto the burger packaging. The message ‘have it your way’ was delivered in real-time. This stunt on it’s own was just as important as the campaigns ability to be passed on through social channels to get people to really notice.
