More Mobile Thoughts

Ignition is very excited by the mobile world as you know! OMD Canada has been privileged to work with Apple & Rogers on the recent launch of the 3G iPhone here. We know there has been a lot of excitement about this product and it's potential to really drive change in the way that consumers in North America use their mobile devices. We believe that at last, the mobile revolution is underway in this part of the world!!!

We also work with Visa. Just recently we have been working with a number of our teams here on some really interesting briefs and we came up with some great insights and ideas about people & money & technology.

Bear with me here.....

Next Great Thing recently posted an article about Near Field Communications and a subject that is very dear to our heart. We talked about this before. Thinking about the iPhone & Visa we wanted to touch on the subject again. Ignition wholeheartedly agrees with NGT. The majority of the wording below comes from them but with our additional commentary...We really hope Canada picks up the pace on this!


In certain parts of Asia, you can pay for taxi cabs, take public transportation, and make purchases at convenience stores with a wave of your mobile phone. Now mobile banking is finally making strides Stateside.

The use of integrated NFC (near-field communication) chips in phones—the same that are in those contactless credit/debit cards like Chase Blink—make carrying a wallet obsolete. A new analysis of NFC mobile payments from Juniper forecasts that its value will exceed $75 billion globally by 2013, when 20% of all phones shipped will possess NFC capability. According to Mobile Marketer, a host of large brands, including banks, carriers, handset manufacturers, retailers and fast food chains, have partnered to make contactless payments via mobile phones a reality in the United States, most likely by the second half of 2009.

“By Christmastime 2009 you’ll be able to buy an NFC-enabled handset with mobile wallet software already installed and go to any of those stores with contactless readers to make a payment by tapping or waving your phone,” said Mohammad Khan, founder/president of Vivotech, Santa Clara, CA.

RFID contactless readers are becoming more and more pervasive, and you may have tapped them with your bank card in drug stores, fast food chains, gas stations, even taxi cabs. The new step is the software in the phone, which can then use the same reader.

Nokia will have 15 different handsets equipped with NFC chips by the end of the year, with Samsung, Kyocera and Motorola all releasing versions in the near future., AT&T, Sprint and Cellular South are all running pilot programs using the technology (c'mon Rogers & Bell!!!)

A concern arises in regards to such an advancement, imagine when losing your cell phone means the next person who finds it possibly has access to your bank accounts. But these services not only make the line move faster, but can be more secure as well. Says Khan,

“Nobody can replicate the data or counterfeit a contactless card, because it’s all based on the highly secured contactless computer chip embedded in the card, which has a secret key algorithm that changes the three-digit CVV/CVC code for each purchase.”

But in terms of authentication technology, Asia has its finger on the pulse—literally. In partnership with AuthenTec, Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, has developed the FOMA F1100 phone, which has an integrated fingerprint sensor that protects not only the capability to make mobile payments, but any access to the phone’s stored information.

Mobile wallets not only make lines move faster for consumers, they can reduce the bottom line for them as well. We’re talking hyper-targeted promotional offers that would be very easy to implement. With the addition of mapping systems on phones now, say, Google Maps it would be very easy to get local. Imagine (after having opted-in) being pinged on your phone about a special at a McDonalds restaurant that the phone knows is close to you, going to the McDonalds and paying for the meal (or maybe it's a coffee) just by tapping or waving the reader with the very same phone. No cumbersome wallet or scrambling around for change & definitely no Interac. Great value for you as a customer and very cost effective to implement for the marketer. Very Cuil.

What do you think?

Crazy Kiwis

This ad is for a showing of Kill Bill on TV in New Zealand. Brilliant.

The Sky's the Limit...

This is the coolest invention of the week. A device that spits out foam and gas in the shape of type and artwork.

Flogos lets users publish their artwork and ideas to the sky. The gas blaster can send art into the sky at a rate of every 15 seconds. Who needs Twitter or Microsoft Word, when you can just type your message across the atmosphere?

They're affordable too - renting out at about $2500/day. Not a horrific expense to the right event budget. They come in versions that produce 24", 36" and 48" flying logos.

This has so many fun possibilities - from retail, event promotion and creative art installations to just plain old media placement...

from brandflakesforbreakfast

The Mobile Wallet

Anyone who knows me at work will know that I have been convinced for a long time that mobile phones and other similar devices have been playing a increasingly important role in our lives (even if we don't realise it) and as such should play an equally important role in our communication plans. We know that Asia is way ahead of North America in the way that people use their mobile devices and so is Europe, often led by Nokia. I've had a bunch of Nokia phones over the years and I love them. This snippet from PSFK highlights how much closer we are getting to the digital wallet. This my friends is only the tip of the iceberg. I encourage you to follow the links and find out a bit more.

Nokia in Europe have launched a new phone that uses ‘Near Field Communication‘ to enable functions like mobile payment. With the right retail systems the phone can be used as a credit card or even a pass to use on the train or bus.

The phone can also share content like images and videos by touching it with another 6212 and the features section on the Nokia suggests that the ‘touch’ will give access to other location based services when available/developed.

Nokia 6212

Been a long time.....

Ok, so first one half of Ignition was on vacation in Argentina (very nice thank you) then the other half broke their collarbone. And we've been doing a bunch of new business stuff. All in all, not a whole lot of blogging going on recently.

However, did come across this recently on c-scout. I make no apologies for lifting this almost in its entirety because I like Josefine Koehn's commentary. Let's face it, we may choose a different word than "lure" because we think what we are trying to do is oh-so-much-more-sophisticated, but is it really???? This is US oriented information but doesn't mean it should be any less relevant in Canada, particularly where we have such strict laws and self-regulation regarding advertising to kids. It would be interesting to see some harder metrics regarding the effectiveness of this form of communication.

Marketers take advantage of children’s social networks to target younger age groups.

Trend Description:
First there was Webkinz, a special kind of stuffed animal that came with an access code to an online social network. Soon, other toy manufacturers followed the trend. More and more collectible figures with an online twist entered the market. Other companies established social networking sites where kids could socialize through their virtual pets. Now, even food manufacturers have entered the online world for children. Promising secret codes and virtual worlds, food companies lure kids and their parents into buying their products. Already established toy companies hope to regain their original market share by adding virtual components to their toys.

Cases:

General Mills: Millsbury
With 1.3 million visitors per month, the General Mills website has become a hit with school-aged children. Users can design and name their own avatar and enter a world of games and learning. The educational aspect is mostly centered around nutrition and your body, as expected with a food company. But there is also a museum stuffed with facts and activities, an art class, online books and articles. By clicking on links to other companies, children can earn Millbucks, which they need to purchase outfits, furniture, clothes, toys, pets, and accessories for their virtual life. Playing at the arcade, where there are about 20 games to choose from, also earns Millbucks.

Ty: Beanie Babies 2.0
Toy manufacturer Ty did not want to miss out on the online trend. So they added a tag to some of its iconic Beanie Babies, giving their young owners the access code to enter the virtual world. Although there are lots of cute animals hopping around on the colorful site, the games may seem boring and not very educational to many parents. Kids, however, may take interest in the history and imaginary world of Beanie Babies. They can also chat with other members and write their own chapter about their Beanie friend, and that personalization feature may appeal to many kids.

Bandai: TamaTown.com and Tamagotchi connection
Bandai has also tried its hand at the 2.0 market with TamaTown.com, where users can have their Tamagotchis — the original digital pet — interact online. Now they can watch movies together, play games, and connect with a big, supercute Tamagotchi online world. The makers of the iconic keychain-pets surely don’t want to give in to all the new online competitors, but the fact that they originated the trend and have an established line of real-world products that can easily integrate with the internet surely works to their advantage.

Trend Impact:
Most children would love to have a pet, and most children like to play computer games. To connect these two kid-favorites is a win-win situation. So more and more websites offer ways for kids to raise a virtual pet, to care for it, and interact with it through it with others. There are Neopets, Superpets, Marapets — you name it. The user numbers are in the millions and in peak periods there are between 1,000 and 3,000 kids online at a time on each site. Many companies want to profit from this trend and develop their own version of a playful online world, where kids rule. Unfortunately, not all sites are smart and child friendly. It just is not enough to throw some colors, cute looking creatures, and a chat function online. Hopefully the kids and their parents are smart enough to weed out the ones that just want to market their products as fast and cheap as possible.

Great New Search Technology

Vodafone has demonstrated a new trial service called ”Otello”, which is basically a mobile search engine that uses images, rather than words at the CeBIT show in Germany. Vodafone’s reasoning is that it’s more convenient to take a picture than to enter search terms with a phone that lacks a normal keyboard. The picture can be anything from a historical building to a CD cover, according to Vodafone. Otello then returns information relevant to the picture to the mobile phone, just like a normal search engine. Users can easily send images via MMS from their mobiles and the search service will return the results.

Vodafone is running trials with a German newspaper that allows users to find out more about stories by photographing the images that appear in the article and MMSing the images. This gives the reader access to additional multimedia content, such as photos or videos that would not be possible to have in the newspaper itself.

Can you imagine the possibilities - take a photo of an image in an ad in a newspaper and get access to content on your phone! From static image to video commercial in 1-click. Wow.

via Trendhunter

Girls Rule Online

Came across a really interesting article in the NY Times today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/fashion/21webgirls.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

Basically it says that "the cyberpioneers of the moment are digitally effusive teenage girls." They are "the primary creators of Web content (blogs, graphics, photographs, Web sites.) "

I shan't go into all the details because you really need to read it all but I think that the explanations for why this is (they are storytellers, they crave connections etc) are very interesting and have real implications on the way we should think about communicating with this group.

What do you think?

Do We Have Any Juice Clients In The House?

Scratch and sniff is so ‘90s. Marketers for Welch’s have gotten a lot more savvy when trying to appeal to the senses of their customers. The company has launched a new lickable ad campaign for their grape juice.

Similar to perfume ads that have panels you pull back to offer a hint of the fragrance, Welch’s is launching tabs in this month’s edition of People magazine in the form of a one page print ad that let the customers peel to taste.

Image when kids start to offer their friends a taste. Imagine the problems this could pose in the waiting room of a doctor’s office…

“If someone doesn’t rip off the whole sticker, First Flavor says, the flap can’t reseal, giving people an easy way to know whether the ad has already been licked,” the WSJ reported. I guess they’ve got all bases covered.

The idea is fantastic, but parents are still going to have to start watching out!

The ad was created by First Flavor who has launched other taste campaigns to test everything from pepperoni pizza to soy milk and flavoured kid’s cold medicine.

“In some lickable ads, including the Welch’s ad, some of the essence of the actual product is added to the strip, while in others, the strip is made up of unrelated flavors, both natural and artificial,” the WSJ wrote.

From Trendhunter

Look to Gen Y for Mobile’s Killer App

I thought this was a nice article from NGT although I'm personally not convinced mobile UGC video is it......

At last week’s OMMA Mobile, Roger Wood from Amobee speculated on the elusive yet inevitable mobile “killer app”, claiming that it will be created by someone born after 1990. “A Facebook will happen to messaging,” he said. He’s not alone in thinking this. Kanishka Agarwal from Fierce Wireless put it thus:

Early adopters we are, but our experience does not match the true
mobile generation, who most likely have carried a phone since they were
pre-teens and who are avid users of data content and mobile media services.

The idea is that a person who hasn’t grown up with the technology cannot possibly grasp all its potential. Youth have grown up with a different mindset where mobile is inextricably tied to their lifestyle

Wood, decidedly not under the age of 18, later speculated that on what that killer app would be: mobile UGC video. Youth are documenting their lives with picture phones, and increasingly on video capture phones. “Such video phones would let you do some level of a mashup, adding audio overlay send via mms,” he said, “that becomes Youtube or Metacafe on steroids.” This would create many niche channels to run highly targeted advertisements to micro-audiences, which could sustain a high CPM.

Given this proposition, carriers will look to raise ARPU through services that enable multimedia creation and communication. These services should replicate what’s been happening on the web—UGC video, mashups–but adapt them to a wireless environment. YouTube Mobile lets users watch video on the handset, while Kyte TV Mobile enables mobile lifecasting to the web. AT&T’s Video Share goes a step further, allowing users stream live video to one another all on the handset. Such data intensive apps are key to monetizing the future of mobile usage ad we’ll likely see many more in the future. But as for the killer app, ask your little brother.

Grand Central - Frozen

http://www.improveverywhere.com/2008/01/31/frozen-grand-central/

Pretty cool stunt that ImprovEverywhere did at Grand Central Station.

Enjoy!
Jessica

Our First VISA Post!

Hooray to all of us at OMD around the world for winning VISA!

Now here is something I came across on Trendhunting.

Following the custom Visa gift cards, Capital One is letting you personalize their credit cards too! The Capital One Image Card lets you upload your own photos or select from a variety of gorgeous designs and patters on the site.

Uploading your own, of course, is the obvious choice if you want to have fun with your money! Get a photo of the kids, one of your dog, a shot of your sail boat at sunset or the family photo you took skiing this holiday.

Surely it is only a matter of time before Canadian card issuers do this too?

Cheapest New Car in the World?

Last night I was discussing bicycle sharing schemes in Amsterdam. Somehow the discussion morphed into providing bicycles in India. That reminded me of a piece of news I had watched yesterday morning about a new car launch. Here is a piece on it from Coolhunting.

Tata Motors, India's largest automaker, unveiled this week what could become the Ford Model T for the 21st century, the $2,550 car.

Marketed in India as the “one-lakh” (100,000 Rupee = $2,550) car, with a two-cylinder 623 cc gasoline engine, the world is reacting to what has been touted as a “people's car” for the developing world.

The announcement is making waves in India with the country's Commerce Minister calling it “a proud moment for India.” But not everyone is so enthused with the idea of hundreds of thousands of inexpensive vehicles flooding the market.

“The ultra-cheap small cars in the pipeline will tilt the skewed balance against public transport and two-wheelers irretrievably,” argues Anumita Roychowdhury of the Centre of Science and Environment, an environmental advocacy group in New Delhi. “The result will be an urban congestion nightmare and an unsustainable fuel load.”

Be that as it may, at only 10 feet long, a maximum speed of about 60 miles per hour and getting about 50 miles per gallon, the Tata may have some appeal outside its home country. Especially considering SmartCars have achieved a modicum of success in Europe and United States, despite the most basic model costing nearly five times as much as the Tata Nano.

Amazing Animation

fantoche from blu on Vimeo.

Happy new year!

Came across this wonderful video. There isn't any sound but it's still incredible. In fact, maybe the lack of sound ameliorates the experience?

More incredible animations at their blog: http://www.blublu.org/blog/.