The current issue of WIRED has an interesting article about Tablets, focusing mostly on the iPad of course. It talks about the game-changing positives: revolutionizing the GUI and the impressive creative potential (advertising being one). It also points out some potential flaws in the dream: the learning of new standards, a new development environment and the closed world of Apple (contrasted with the open world of Google/Chrome).

When talking about some of these future ideas, and in viewing some the demos others have produced (2 are listed below), it’s amazing to see how these new executions are virtually identical to what we’re already doing on the web. Therefore the question becomes: is the move to a new “touchable”, more mobile GUI,  THAT much of a difference? Did we need a new device and a new way of interacting with the device in order to realize the potential of these interactive ideas? Don’t we already have magazines online? One of my personal favorites is.

How the Tablet will change the world  (WIRED Article).

The Future of Advertising on the iPad (thanks to Rick Mathieson for the link)

The future of Magazines. First, watch these ancient prophecies from 2007, 2008.

And now, on the iPad

VIV Mag Interactive Feature Spread – iPad Demo from Alexx Henry on Vimeo.

New iPhone app from Best Western hotels features a good use of GPS. This app creates an opportunity for the company to be the preferred hotel for loyal customers; business travelers especially: If I can always quickly search and book a Best Western hotel, why go anywhere else? Read more from BRANDING UNBOUND.Posted using ShareThis

As the decade comes to an end, I’m reading a preview copy of a new book on digital marketing. I can’t talk about it yet as the book is not out – but so far, I’m really enjoying it. It is bringing back memories of the classic days of this industry (remember Subservient Chicken?), as well as providing great insight into what has worked, what has failed and why. Most importantly, I’m getting all sorts of ideas for what I can be dreaming up next; I love it when a book can do that. It’s wild because some of the projects discussed in the book were either projects I worked on, or were somewhat close to, or, I know the people who did work on them. Some of my old friends are quoted in the book as well – which I was not expecting. Only half way done – so more to come….It’s amazing to think how far this industry has come in such a short period of time. It’s been nice to see the emphasis move, for the most part, from whiz-bang and fancy “chrome” to hold some content, to instead focus the content itself. And what is exciting to me, is that sometimes this content is just simple raw data – but manipulated in creative new ways that have not been possible before.  I’ve got a good blog coming up that goes into this more (after Xmas).

Wow, another great Adobe MAX. (Actually, it ended 2 weeks ago, but I’ve been too swamped to get to my blog!) This year’s MAX was very action-packed for me: I was invited to attend the Adobe partner/agency summit, where about 15-20 peeps from my industry get to hang out with Adobe leaders for a full day, learning about the new things Adobe is up to as well as offering ideas for the future; then, AKQA was up for 2 MAX Awards, so I attended the awards ceremony and party; and then I spoke, along with Charles Dunan, at our MAX session: Delivering Integrated Content Across Multiple Channels (i.e. Multi Channel). Whew, all this jammed-packed in to 3-4 days….not to mention all the great sessions, keynotes, and parties I attended.

Everything went great. AKQA won one of the two awards we were nominated for: The Coke Happiness Factory website, done by our New York office; congrats guys! The Agency Summit, which I also attended last year, was fun and informative as well. It was so cool to see some of the ideas we had discussed for new Adobe tools actually make it in to CS4! The new video stuff in After Effects is sooooo amazing.

Our session on Multi Channel marketing went really well too. I was so impressed with my co-presenter, Charles. It was his first speaking engagement (and at MAX no less!) and he did a great job. We had a solid turn out, lots of good questions and our final feedback was excellent (thanks everyone). More on this later…gotta pack for my trip to Japan next week….

I’m super excited to be speaking at Adobe MAX this Nov. For a guy like me, Adobe MAX is kind of like the Oscars or something! Really excited. I will have my bud Charles Duncan presenting with me. We will be discussing my favorite topic: Multi Channel creative development. We will discuss the creative strategies as well as the technical implementations behind some of our recent work from Visa, Xbox, McDonald’s and Nike. The goal will be to show how to create an integrated experience across multiple channels, including: mobile, web, social media, search and even print and other offline mediums. Please come join us. It’s at 9:30 in the morning, and I’m guessing many MAXers will just be waking up from a night of parties….so we need all the peeps we can get!

Delivering Integrated Advertising Across Multiple Channels
Join Peter Cole and Charles Duncan from digital media agency AKQA for an exploration of new possibilities in multi-channel advertising. Learn technical and creative strategies for delivering integrated experiences that blend multiple channels of communication for engaging customers, including web, search, mobile, social networking, offline, and outdoor. Concepts will be supported by real-world examples of projects completed for some of AKQA’s top clients, including Visa, McDonald’s, and Xbox.

I’m back from presenting at the AAAA Conference in Miami. Dang that place is hot – 90 at 11pm at night? Whew. I presented along with AKQA Group Planning Director, Kelli Robertson. Our presentation, entitled, “Emerging Technologies Can Create Powerful Brand Experiences” focused on a number of new technologies and how to use them to help create/inspire new marketing ideas. It can be difficult to present new technologies with the idea of pushing creative potential, without appearing too “gimmicky:” technology for technology sake – if you know what I mean. It is the great idea that leads over any new techie trend, however, just as a paintbrush and a canvas influences a painting, technology can inspire and enhance a creative vision. That said, we wanted to show new technologies, and then explain how they could be used within a marketing context.

As the audience was primarily non-technical marketing folks, we kept things high level and divided our talk into two main areas:
Location-based marketing: Serving up unique content to a user based on his/her phyisical location.

• GPS (new iPhone, Jotyou.com, loopt.com)
• Triangulation for Non-GPS Devices (Google’s MyLocation)
• Bluetooth broadcasting
• RFID (McDonald’s Japan, Mini)

Everyone can play

• Google’s Open Social
• Augmented reality (Total Immersion)
• Radiohead Lasers: DATA, it’s all about the data!

Actually, the Radiohead example got to the heart of what I wanted to get across: DATA. It sounds so “un-sexy”, but it is the ultimately where the creative power lives. The idea of being able to use a single data source to manipulate and create new “views” (presentations) of this data, is, in my opinion, the way to really begin to harness the power of technology for new innovative ideas. More on this in my next post!

I think many have already seen or heard of Nextwall, as it has been in creation for about a year or so now I believe. I find it more than just a cool visual “art” thing, I think it points to how a future of digital social networking and commerce may look. It kind of sums up all the freaky stuff I’ve been blogging about recently into one amazing experience. Although Nextwall is focused for artists, it’s not difficult to imagine what could be done for any digital media audience. Because it allows any user to “contribute”, as well as receive, from the wall, it begins to look like a powerful and very expressive tool for social networking.

“Nextwall is an interactive “graffiti wall” in the Karo district of Hamburg.” The wall, 30-metre also contains QR Codes, Bluetooth, object recognition and RFID technologies to enable people who pass by the wall to download content to their mobile phones. In this case, the content can be further information including notes on the artist’s approach and the idea behind his/her art. But now the commerce part kicks in as people take photos of the nextwall, QR codes send along coupons for neighborhood cafés and shops back to the user. Other technologies enable passersby to add their own comments or jokes. There’s also a technology that enables people to spray virtual spray paint – creating 3D, free-floating graffiti that can only be seen through special glasses. Additional ideas in the pipeline for 2008 include: “a mobile phone guide that explains details of the graffiti to the user; or the “I was here” camera, with which nextwall visitors can immortalize themselves on the Internet. In addition, some of the very latest technologies will be tried out: from object recognition and RFID to laser projection.”

http://www.nextwall.net

This has potential for a lot of interesting connections between mobile and online advertising: I can create (Flash-based) ad units that live anywhere, and allow users to get related mobile content directly onto their phone simply by entering their mobile number into the unit. Pretty cool. Not only speeds up the experience, but also blurs the line between the online world experience and “that” mobile world. We could relate the ad content directly to the mobile content. It would be great to start a game online, and then, when you need to go, you can grab it and finish it on your mobile.

In an industry-first, Flash-based “Online2Mobile” ad units streamline the process for acquiring of mobile content by eliminating the need for consumers to enter their mobile carrier, device make and model, or having to click through to a microsite; To begin downloading the Rogue advergame or wallpapers to their mobile handsets, consumers simply enter their mobile number directly into the ad unit and click “submit.”

MangoMOBILE created a series of online ad units that empower consumers to download “Rogue-themed” content for the Nissan Rogue Crossover Vehicle, including a fully-branded advergame, directly to their Mobile Devices.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/LATH00311102007-1.htm

Thanks again to Rick Mathieson for providing the source for this sweet info!

I am a big fan of Rick Mathieson; I read his blog regularly and re-use (steal) a lot of what he says, for inspiration. Recently he posted something about Mobile Ads that really captured my attention; mostly because the gist of the article touched on what I believe is going to happen in the digital (marketing) world: More useful, relevant “tools” – that are likely data-driven(think web service model) – and create engaging experiences and provide value back to the user. (Has Google written all over it). This, instead the more traditional, static (think broadcast, rasterized graphics, heavy video), fancier, flashier, ads we have come to know the ad biz to be. This does not mean that things like video and animation and great design will go away at all, just that the focus will be to use these in conjunction with real, dynamic data/content.

As the article below points out with regard to Mobile, I think the same will be mirrored on the web and will continue grow with all the free/cheap “Web 2.79z” (or whatever) services that give us access to data and applications like never before. According to the Programmable web, a new web service API was released every day so far this month!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/17
/AR2007081701164.html

Saturday’s Washington Post features a story on how brands like Nokia and McDonald’s are moving away from push-style text and display ads to what can be more accurately described as mobile apps that enable consumers to (for example), find the nearest restaurant outlet or retail store. Other apps are unrelated to a brand, but sneak in a branded nugget, ala Yahoo’s mapping service and combines search and location-based mobile technology. Enter a keyword or search, and advertisers registered on Yahoo’s database pop up as features on the digital map.

HP, disenchanted with Web-style advertising transplanted to the mobile medium, is looking at a major new mobile launch next year along these lines. As Craig Davis, worldwide chief creative officer for JWT tells the post: “We should all by now (know) that doing boring TV ads aren’t much appreciated….Doing annoying things is no way to seduce people that your brand is for them.”
-Rick Mathieson

Has anyone seen this “Augmented Reality” stuff? I saw an in-person demo of it last Friday. It is “Real-time interactive-3D-video” that connects up with Print, Web and soon Mobile. It has the ability to track movement, including facial expressions, and can recognize physical objects (people, print) and interact with 3D objects, characters or environments all in real time. In the past it was targeted to outdoor installations and broadcast, (if you watch sports on TV, you’ve likely seen a version of their technology at work: Overlaying 3D objects on top of the action), but it also hooks up with desktop, the web and soon mobile.

This is a link to a crappy and limited video presentation- but you really need to see it presented in person to get it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8Eycccww6k

Company site, more examples:

http://www.t-immersion.com/video_gallery/main.asp?idf=a0#

Because it’s all networked, we can track the user journey, hook it up to a database as well as integrate it with other digital touch points or mash-ups via web services. Maybe a user’s physical interactions can be captured and tracked to a back-end that mirrors, enhances or mashes the experience up with a web service (maps, weather, YouTube?) We could tap into an asset database to consistently keep the experience fresh and updated with current graphics, etc. It supports 3D models that we work in (i.e. Objects output from Maya).