 November 6, 2008
Remember the third place? Digital Millennials are the first real post-PC generation; their smart phones are not only their primary digital device but some would say their primary means of discovering what it means to be a social being. For brands, millennials’ perpetual connectedness via mobile phones and social networking profiles has been their most salient trait for about five years. Facilitating and being part of this perpetual connectedness was a brand’s route to relevance. But another millennial trait is about to usurp simple connectedness: their collective location awareness—and the importance they ascribe to place as a marker of self (yes, just as brands endeavor to be). Mobile phones once again are the technological driver of this generational trait, but only those that are location-aware (thanks to cell tower triangulation and GPS). These phones and their geo-applications, along with cyber cartography—the constitution of information-rich up-to-the-minute digital maps of astounding physical accuracy, mean that brands have to put themselves on the map, literally. Why? Because the more accurate and personally useful digital maps become—with the help of anyone willing to geotag their photo or geoannotate a place—the more people expect them to constitute a complete “mirror world,” as the gamers call it. Brands must recognize that there are consequences to being left out of this mirror world. As web surfing gives way to world surfing, brands have to be at the right places at the right time. Most important, they have to be part of the Fourth Place. After home (first), work (second), coffee shop/athletic club/church (third), the Fourth Place is a fusion of virtual and real, a spontaneous hot spot created by people oscillating between digital co-existence in a geo-annotated space and the heightened possibility of suddenly meeting up—at a store, nightclub, park—in the real world.
September 22, 2008
“You are here.” How many of us have scrutinized this inadvertently philosophical assertion when wayfinding in the subway or at the zoo, mall or amusement park? The X designating one’s location vis-à-vis other highlights on the map is practically the universal symbol for being slightly lost. In my experience, it always seems to have little to do with where I feel I am, or where I wish I were, or where I thought I had finally arrived. All manner of perspectival negotiation of the 2-D maze of lines and dots before me ensues: moving in closer, tilting my head to align the landmarks with my sightline, squinting so as to project myself onto the smaller plane of impervious reality before me. A cartoon check on Google reassured me I’m in good company finding humor in the incongruity between my existential self and this confident cartographic depiction of it. But a really funny thing has happened recently while navigating our way to the forum—or big box or nightclub. Something dislodged this incongruity, this mismatch between our selves and our public maps. Location awareness has become the new “there there” of our digital devices, and not just of the mere 17% of phones that are GPS-enabled (as of late 2007, pre- 3G iPhone). Low- and mid-tier mobile phones and PNDs (personal navigation devices) have been serving up location awareness to millions.
Location awareness, in case its killer app-ness is initially lost on you, means the navigator is embedded in the map. That inscrutable X that once stood for you is now the real-time longitudinal and latitudinal (and sometimes altitudinal) equivalent of you. And if that isn’t enough of a kick for the navigation-challenged, or the socially mobile (as it were), the map in which you are embedded can be populated exclusively by the geo-information in which you’ve indicated interest. So the world arrays itself around you and your immediate needs and desires as if you were Zeus on a daytrip. The digitally prescient have been talking about this paradigm shifter for some time—how web surfing is giving way—or at least sharing the stage with—world surfing. We in the RI:Lab have been studying the macrotrend of Cartocracy for months. But brands might be wondering what the heck these apps and maps offer that their store locators don’t. We’ll need a few WeThink posts to answer that one but, for now, here’s a handy list of five reasons a new kind of X marks the spot, and how mega value creation is sure to follow.
More mapping mania to come! September 8, 2008
August 27, 2008
Last week, I spent a great deal of time talking to clients, partners and colleagues about mobile. Seems like everyone in the U.S. is interested in mobile experiences again. Why is that? The iPhone, The Olympics, Ralph Lauren’s new mobile site? I’m not sure, but I can tell you the space is hot. Problem is, mobile tends to cool down quickly when you worry about the customer experience. We want to reach the widest applicable audience and we tend to agonize over the stats. What percentage of mobile phone users text? What percentage have unlimited data plans? How many use the mobile web regularly? If we get past those numbers (and some of us don’t) we worry about how to engage them. Will the user text a number to a short code? Depends. Will they type in your mobile site’s address? Probably not. Here is something to remember…every single one of the roughly 254 million cell phone users in the United States have one thing in common. Their devices can send and receive voice calls. Start there. Look at great services like ChaCha and Jott. Think about expert assistance and point of sale shopabilty. Try using voice as a way to start an experience that leads to a text message, offer or the link to your mobile site. Hang on a sec. I gotta get this call. August 8, 2008
 Let the (digital) games begin!Tagged as: O.P.E.N., creative, digital millenials, engaging, iCitizen, mobile, networked, new consumer journey, on-demand, personal, retail, social web, technology, trendsPosted by: Dan Shust
Here are my podium picks: Bronze Medal: McDonalds “The Lost Ring” In March 50 bloggers received a mysterious package in the mail. It contained an Olympic poster and a ball of string that, when unraveled, revealed a web address. Thus began “The Lost Ring” an Alternate Reality Game (or ARG) that is currently being played in 7 languages across 100 countries. The players work together to hunt for clues to solve an ancient Olympic mystery. Immersive gameplay leads them to websites, blog posts, wikis, podcasts and even Twitter. 4 million people and counting have visited the launch site. Silver Medal: Lenovo “Voices of the Olympic Games” In an attempt to bring attention to a variety of less mainstream Olympic sports, Lenovo has given laptops and Flip video cameras to 100 athletes. (No other compensation is being provided.) Their only direction was to tell the rest of the world about their Olympic experience. Their blog posts are revealing, touching and sometimes humorous. Mainstream media will blast us with Phelps, LeBron, Kobe and Torres, but Lenovo’s athlete bloggers allow us to partake in the “common” Olympian’s experience. Gold Medal: NBC - Digital Coverage In 2006 NBC streamed one hockey game live form the Turin Winter Olympics. This year the network will stream over 2200 hours of live coverage and 3600 hours of on demand video will ultimately be available. Their custom video player is ground breaking, allowing the user to enjoy such features as closed captioning, expert commentary even for less popular events, integrated trivia, picture-in-picture and a “control room” view in which you can enjoy up to 4 live events simultaneously. NBC’s coverage also includes a robust mobile web site, text messaging, e-mail alerts and mobile video. So, there are my “Digital Olympics” medal winners. Each effort is game changing in its own way, but just imagine if they were all on the same team. When you do, you can almost see the future… July 17, 2008
 What do you think of your new iPhone?Tagged as: engaging, mobile, networkedPosted by: Dennis Bajec
The question has been already been asked several times so I think it may be time to provide some answers. Despite some day-one hiccups (Five hours in line outside the Apple store, Apple’s systems going down multiple times, not being able to activate in-store as planned, that kind of thing), YES, it was worth it. Unfortunately, the in-store experience was slow and very un-Apple. Some guy named Chuck opened the box and was the first to handle my phone robbing me of this very important step in the Apple purchase process, thanks a lot AT&T. However, after this blip it got much better. I was impressed at how easily all of my old data ported over to the new device—once I got my own hands on the phone. Like the original iPhone, the new one continues to be much more than a phone or a PDA. I’m sure I’m showing my true gadget-geekiness here, but I find that not only do I always have it with me, but I keep it “on” more than any other personal electronic device I’ve ever owned. For those of you who know my technology addiction, you know what a big deal that is. And it’s not just for me–for mapping bike routes, getting directions to my son’s football camp, posting to tumblr or getting new music. Each time I’m in a client meeting, I dream up new uses and ideas for how we can improve life for consumers with a custom iPhone application. The opportunity that this device is providing will be looked backed on as significant as the development of the public internet. I now dream in gesture-based controls, highly saturated icons with rounded corners and, yes, really slick maps with pins dropping into place indicating my favorite restaurants, shops and clubs. I admit it, I’m in love. But I’ll end with a couple things still have on my wish list: Overall these are all minor issues compared to what this device does so well—balancing/blending the virtual and physical worlds and at the same time improving both. July 16, 2008
As most of you know by now, last Friday was an important day for Apple. Parts of the iPhone 3G launch went well and other parts…not so much. But, I’m going to leave that discussion to the multitude of other blogs and forums already deep into the subject. I want to talk about a little application called Remote.
In a recent report, Forrester Research speculates by 2013 Apple Inc. will have completely embedded itself into the hub of the digital home. And why not? Apple recently passed up Wal-Mart as the largest supplier of music in the United States and the iPod commands the MP3 player market with a 70% share. The report envisions Apple providing products including all-in-one computers that can easily double as primary entertainment systems, home servers, unique networked entertainment/informational devices and a universal remote to control it all. Wait…a universal remote to control it all? That would be cool! What if it also could take/view pictures, check your email, surf the web and knew your location? Heck, what if it was a phone too? Wouldn’t that be crazy? All we need is a little piece of software to get us started… Remote is currently the most popular download in the iTunes App Store. Check it out. Looks like their plan is in motion. July 10, 2008
 The 2008 Summer Olympics, brought to you by MicrosoftTagged as: engaging, mobile, technologyPosted by: Chris Berk The Summer Olympics are only 28 days away. Soon much of the world will be keeping itself updated on the events by visiting the official Olympic site. While all eyes will be on China and how it hosts this world event, another drama will be unfolding on the web site. The site is making use of Microsoft’s new Silverlight technology for showing live and recorded video throughout the Olympics. This is significant in that visitors must download and install the Silverlight plug-in in order to view video, or at least view it in its best quality. Microsoft’s goal is clear – to gain ground on the more ubiquitous Flash Player (Adobe’s plug-in for video and rich content) by making the content available only in Silverlight. While the Flash versus Silverlight debate has been brewing for sometime now, it is clear that this move by Microsoft will intensify efforts by both companies to assert their technology as best for rich content and video on the internet. The stakes are high as they try to ensure that their technology becomes the de facto standard for the Web 2.0 world and beyond. The winner will not only sell a whole bunch of development toolkits and supporting technologies. They will also directly influence how we receive digital content in the future (and think beyond the browser – both companies have already penned deals with various mobile providers to use their technology). We’ll have to wait and see whether the Olympics provide Silverlight the boost that it needs to gain ground on Flash. Until then, just enjoy the competition. July 8, 2008
Location, Location, LocationTagged as: digital millenials, engaging, iCitizen, mobile, new consumer journey, retail, technology, trendsPosted by: Dan Shust Well, it is a very big week for a lot Apple fanboys (and girls) out there. The new 3G iPhone hits the stores on Friday. The faithful will start queuing up anytime now (if they haven’t already). Sure, the new iPhone is a bit sleeker and a lot faster, but that isn’t what makes it an important new device. What makes the new iPhone significant is that it STILL delivers the absolute best mobile phone user experience available—and the addition of a built-in GPS makes the iPhone truly location aware. The next generation of location-based applications currently being developed for the iPhone (and yes, other mobile devices) is going to blow minds and change the way we interact with each other. Friendspotting/meetups, citizen reporting, fitness tracking, impromptu group buys and location based ratings/reviews/tagging…it’s only the beginning. Mark your calendar. July 11th ushers in the “Location Aware Era.” Where are you? July 8, 2008
 Twittering Your Way to PopularityTagged as: engaging, iCitizen, mobile, technologyPosted by: Molly Metzger My first date with Twitter was intoxicating – I could get lost for days in an online party with the brightest minds in the industry — Kawasaki, Armano, Pulver, Scoble. (Not familiar with twitter? Twitter in Plain English). Twitter tapped that collectivism motivation buried deep (very deep!) within me and I became a part of the in-crowd. People started to follow me! I’m popular! But my twitter binge took a toll on my day job. My 5 step program now includes limiting my twitter use to events, daily check-ins and killing time waiting at the bus stop. But here’s what I’ve discovered: Twittering at an event, like iCitizen, packs all that tasty collectivism goodness into a portable, 100 calorie pack. At a conference, following and contributing to the backchannel transforms me from a passive observer into an active participant. It’s a social lubricant, opening doors to face-to-face introductions I might never have had. I’m more engaged when I am sharing my opinion. I’m popular! I’m often asked how Twitter applies to brands. Here’s one idea: Consider how microblogging might transform local event sponsorship. What if your Major League (or little league) sponsorship banner included a call-to-action for fans to join the real-time conversation via their mobile phone? What if your brand could harness the shared passions of a group of raving fans (or parents)? As mobile technology evolves making location-based services the norm, it will become even easier for everyone to participate. You’ll be popular – and make others feel popular too! Concerned with staffing you own digital party? I know plenty of marketing-types who will gladly work for a cold beer, a free ticket to the ball park and a chance to share an opinion. Call me!
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