Bash! Digital-Interactive OOH

Let’s cut right to the chase – a lot of companies are going beyond traditional marketing tactics to get your 1 minute of attention. Here’s a sample list of some of the companies that did it right – either by incorporating social media, digital marketing, or intrusive out-of-home advertising.

1. Forever 21 // Interactive Billboard
Launched in 2010, this is still one of our favorite out-of-home campaigns. The interactive billboard in New York Time’s Square interacts with the passing crowd by letting the billboard model “pick up” passerbys with her hands. Other features of the project included “love tweets”, a live on-screen Twitter feed from fans that include the word “Forever 21”. 

2. Mini Cooper // Personalized Billboard
Mini Cooper has had a number of out-of-home marketing campaigns, each pretty unique and branding Mini Cooper as innovatively charming. One example utilizes a computer chip installed in Mini Coopers for drivers to receive personal messages via a digital billboard when they drive past it. Creepy as it might be seeing your name on a billboard, still nonetheless, very creative.

3. Ford Britain // Augmented Reality 
Ford’s interactive screen in malls allowed users to hold a virtual model of the car within the palm of their hand. By simply stretching their hand in front of the screen, a Ford model assembles right before their eyes on the screen, with the options of virtual buttons to change car colours, open doors, fold seats, and watch demos of the car in action. The user interface is based on hand gestures and natural movement, making it very easy and accessible for passerbys to interact with it.

4. Mercedez-Benz // RFID + Social Media
Mercedes had ten kiosks set up at the 2011 PGA Championships to be seen by 25,000 exclusive VIP guests. Guests were given RFID chips that allowed them to log on an iPad, while at the event, then use the passes to login into the kiosks and ‘Like’ any of the Mercedes car models featured on the floor. Additionally, the guests could also login into Facebook and do a quick check-in, as well as a take a person and live picture at the kiosk. Interactivity with the people in the event, as well as people outside of it, while still being connected.

Smartphones and mobile internet has changed the ways consumers shop online, interact with brands, and view companies altogether. The same can be said for companies too; they’ve had to adapt to a new and tech-savvy consumer market than ten, even five, years ago. 

Marketers have been taking advantage of these technologies, and companies have been basing their business model on them of more recently. We found some supporting numbers from the Out-of-Home Marketing Association of Canada that indicates the ever increasing rise of digital marketing:

• Over 5 million Canadian access the web via mobile devices
• By 2013, it is expected that mobile phones will overtake PC’s as the most common web access device worldwide
• Smartphone users are 50% more likely than the general population to strongly agree  that OOH advertising influences their opinion of brands
• Almost 70% of people who own a mobile phone are texters; in 2010 over 56 billion texts were sent. Whether it’s for business or entertainment value, people respond to this trackable marketing tactic.
• On average, 30% of the on-the-go audience is willing to travel 9+ KM to redeem a mobile coupon, travelling the furthest for entertainment, retail and restaurant offers

Companies like Mini Canada and McDonald’s have employed digital, out-of-home marketing to take advantage of these numbers. Mini Canada (pictured above), for example, used an interactive night projection on walls similar to a vending machine image. They then invited viewers to select their favorite model of a Mini via text message. Lucky Penny Wines, on the other hand, used social media by inviting Facebook users to send their friends a good luck message to their friends via a digital billboard.  Via RSS feeds, their message appeared on the billboard almost instantaneously.

Jump on the digital, out-of-home bandwagon – the numbers (and sales) are going up!

How cool is this – a botanical QR code has been grown in France at Place Stanislas. Place Stanislas is a large pedestrianized square of architectural ensemble on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites promoting cultural events, such as music and art programs. According to 2d-code.co.uk, over 1,700 plants were used in the creation of the QR code over a span of 43 feet. The naturally grown QR code can be scanned from the balcony of City Hall, which then directs the user to a mobile page with information about the garden and its events as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, including classical music in the garden, a listing of their schedules, and choir member biographies.

The mobile site majestically implies that QR codes, or technology, can be seen as the opposite of nature and therefore not easily adapted by nature enthusiasts. The Place Stanislas states, “This QR code is a giant plant snap digital. The brilliance of…playing with a smartphone, a next generation phone, provides access to content that speaks of quiet nature, beautiful plants, the ephemeral garden of the eighteenth place. The technology is not necessarily the enemy. It can help put us on the way to the universal, the timeless.” Not a bad way to put it, huh?

As Place Stanislas portrays, QR codes can be a modern and creative way to engage audiences on larger and less “robotic” levels. Most QR codes that we’re used to seeing tend to stick to the traditional black and white prototype, but Place Stanislas certainly does bring a new layer of innovation to the QR code world. They’re just one example of how any organization or company can embrace mobile technology solutions, regardless of their mission, to connect with their audience.

To see more creative QR codes, check out this article by Mashable: http://on.mash.to/n8yuYu, or to find out how you can create a customized mobile solution, contact us for more information.

In the last few blogs, we've talked about how vending machines, QR codes, and social media could be combined to create unique user experiences. As of recent news, Nokia has put vending machines and social media to the test by revealing a Foursquare enabled vending machine in lieu of Social Media Week.

The process is simple; you check into the machine on Foursquare using the hashtag "#NokiaConnects", share it on Twitter, and instantly collect your prize from the "Nokia Gift Machine". The idea is certainly neat and sure to be a success at Social Media Week, but the idea has already been tried by German dog-food brand, GranataPet. Calling it the "GranataPet Snack Check", the brand allowed dog-walkers to check in at their billboard on Foursquare. Once checked in, free dog food was dispensed at ground-level for the dog. 

Earlier this year, Pepsi also tested the waters of a social-media activated vending machine. Deeming the project "Social Vending", Pepsi offered users to send their friends complimentary sodas via interactive touchscreens on the vending machine. By entering the recipient’s name & number, they receive a redemption code for their free soda. Although Foursquare, Twitter, or Facebook wasn't involved with this project, Pepsi certainly took "Social Vending" to a pioneer level.

Mobile and out-of-home custom solutions are a great way to separate yourself from the competition. Huge brands themselves have revealed integrating mobile technologies with their vending machines. Contact Bash! today to see what customized solutions we can come up for you!

If you thought waving your MasterCard at a PayPass terminal made things easy, MasterCard may be coming out with an advanced NFC that makes payment even easier.

MasterCard, an exclusive launch partner of Google Wallet, unveiled some prototypes at a Google Wallet event that went beyond the "regular" NFC payment processing we see in stores today. One prototype app, for example, was QkR, an app that allowed payment processing from just about anywhere. The app reads QR codes from posters or a TV screen and prompts the user with an option to purchase that item. The app also picks up cues from TV signals that can prompt the user with another relevant shopping opportunity they may be interested in!

Another interesting prototype MasterCard revealed was the Xbox Kinect-NFC technology. If a user sees something on TV they want to buy, they can simply wave their hands at an icon on the screen. From there, the user selects personal purchasing options (such as size) – all with their hands. After the user completes the purchase, the receipt is sent to the QkR app. It's a little scary how products can easily come to be of your possession with this technology!

Although demonstrating the prototypes, MasterCard has no set dates for launching them as commercial products, however it does bring to reality what the technology is capable of. NFC has been a large focus in technology and mobile payment news in the last year since Google launched Google Wallet. With MasterCard and other financial giants jumping onto the NFC bandwagon, NFC technologies have been able to grow and expand what it can be used for. Social media, for example, is one medium that stands to gain from NFC. For e.g., rather than downloading an app for QR codes then having to scan it, NFC can pick up data and instantly connect the phone with the code automatically.

NFC holds a lot of potential and evolution beyond payment processing, such as customized mobile solutions in combination with other platforms such a social media. The question is, which company will be the first to do it?

Mobile and out-of-home solutions continue to take creative turns around the world; this time we focus specifically on China and their new mobile app, Ubox. Ubox is the app and concept that brings mobile payments to consumers at vending machines using their smartphones. The Ubox vending machine has only one button that needs to be pushed, and the process of choosing a product and making a payment is done all on the app. Seems pretty simple, right?

Ubox is still relatively new; the brand is currently trying to get the vending machines into high-traffic locations like subway stations and shopping centres in China. According to RetailCustomerExperience.com, Ubox has already received a cash sum from a Chinese firm to increase traction of the vending machines. Although it's difficult to evaluate the success of Ubox due to its early launch, we must give it to the developers for thinking of an innovative and modern way to catch customers on the go. Last week, we wrote about the underground QR-code supermarket that allowed customers to scan the products and have it waiting at their door when they came home. The Ubox vending machine adheres almost to the same concept: tailor to a market that's busy on-the-go. 

The Ubox is coinless, and that's one of its main selling points that customers will no longer have to search for loose change. The Ubox also gives the customer a 10% discount on all products in the vending machine. However, in order for the buyer to use the app, they must sign up for a pre-paid Ubox account using a UnionPay or Alipay account. Knowing that this only form of payment might have a drawback to new customers using the app, Ubox chose the two biggest and convenient methods of payment for easier access. 

Mobile and out-of-home custom solutions are a great way to separate yourself from the competition. Coca-Cola and Pepsi themselves have announced they're working in integrating mobile technologies with their vending machines. Contact Bash! today to see what customized solutions we can come up for you!

Yup, it's finally here. As said in the last blog post, QR codes really aren't going anywhere, except up.

A virtual grocery store in a subway station in Seoul, South Korea, has products labeled with QR codes, and only QR codes. There's no physical product – just pictures of the product with the equipped QR code. The QR codes allows customers returning from work to place their scanned items in a virtual shopping cart, checkout, pay, and be on their way. Simply scanning the QR codes with a special app that needs to be downloaded, puts the items into the customers' online shopping cart and when users have completed their shopping, the products are waiting for them at their doorsteps within 48 hours. Pretty convenient, huh?

Tesco Homeplus, the store that's running the creative QR code shopping experience, has a reported increase of sales of 130%. The idea for the virtual store came from South Korea's largest advertising agency, Cheil Worldwide. 

Shanghai is supposedly to follow in the footsteps of Seoul by adding more virtual stores for the traveling, metro market. Huge LED screens are to be advertising promotions and sales for the virtual stores across the city, showing the push for consumers to check out the new virtual shopping experience. 

One thing we've experienced here in Toronto (and perhaps you have, too) is that scanning a QR code on the subway deems to be useless as we can't be taken to a link due to no-internet access underground on subways. However, Seoul has managed to overcome this barrier with the simple fact that all their subway stations have wi-fi (including some of their trains, too). It wouldn't be a bad idea to think of the endless marketing opportunities for brands and agencies if underground areas had some access to the web!

To see a video of Tesco Homeplus' "unique market" check out their video on YouTube here!: http://bit.ly/l5T92z

For many of those that thought QR codes were the new "new media fad", it seems as though Taco Bell and Fox Searchlight aren't part of that little group. Both of the giant companies, whose names are well known throughout the world, have incorporated QR codes into their marketing strategies in order to stay innovative and trendy. According to mashable.com, a survey from comScore released in early August reported that 14 million people scanned QR codes in the US…in June alone!

For starters, Taco Bell isn't hard-coding the QR codes permanently into their products, but are rather experimenting with the new technology as a way of testing its effectiveness. Taco Bell has put the QR codes onto their sodas and burritos, making them interactive. When activated (aka scanned) by the user, exclusive footage is unlocked related to Taco Bell's sponsorship of MTV's Video Music Awards. McDonald's, however, did beat Taco Bell as the first fast-food chain to use QR codes as they had ran a program in Japan that let customers access nutritional information via QR codes. 

In the entertainment scene, Fox Searchlight has become the first film company to promote a movie trailer using QR codes. (One wonders how someone else didn't think of this before!) The upcoming film Martha Macy May Marlene (launching October 21st) is being promoted through a QR campaign and promotes 2 separate trailers. The QR codes can be found on posters, theatre stands, and coaters in NYC and LA. Fox Searchlight also has an experimental website for the film, http://www.iamateacherandaleader.com/. The website and the QR codes are the only promotional materials for the film, so it'll definitely be interesting to gather the results of exposure and its users come opening day.

We're excited to see that QR codes aren't fading into the background as new technology pop up every day. Taco Bell and Fox Searchlight have found a creative way to integrate an emerging technology into their marketing campaigns. We'd be interested in hearing what you think about QR codes on popular, everyday products!

Foursquare has announced that they will be launching a check-in feature for events.

The social check-in app previously let users only check into places and compete for badges for locations. But with this new event check-in, the feature will allow people to show what they're doing rather than simply just where. One can't help but think what edge Foursquare might have over its competitors, aka Facebook, in regards to the whole check-in concept. Heavily-used Facebook has a check-in feature and does allow user input, something Foursquare did not allow before. Now, Foursquare will start programming major events in the check-ins such a preliminary events in their database provided by ESPN and MovieTickets.com.

Frankly, we're a little surprised Foursquare hadn't come up with this before. After all, it's seems more important to let people know what you're doing rather than just where. Foursquare said in their blog post, "It's one of the most common check-ins in Foursquare: you head off to movie theatre…or check into a stadium and shout 'Patriots Game' or 'Lady Gaga'…In moments like this, a place is often more than just a place; so today, we're starting to pull major events into our database." Bravo, Foursquare.

So what importance does this lead to digital and interactive media? It's really quite simple, and it's a concept that we at Bash! Interactive have kept our eyes on: the enhancement of interaction with technology. Last week, we blogged about how Mercedes Benz used RFID and kiosks to make their event technologically-unique to involve attendees' opinions online in real-time. Foursquare's integration of event check-in's is yet another addition to bring users together in a physical environment through online means. 

If you're considering holding an event for your customers, contact us to consider what other interactive elements you can add to the mix with technologies such as RFID, QR codes, mobile tie-ins, or any social media element!

Mercedes Benz is the latest, happenin' brand to employ RFID with their cars at the PGA Championship in Atlanta. Immediately, we were drawn to the news of RFID in combination with a great car-brand, AND at the PGA Championships. We've got to hand it to Mercedes for employing an under-utilized technology to enhance visitor experience in a current and fun way. 

Picture this: Mercedes had ten kiosks set up at the PGA Championships that would be seen by 25,000 exclusive VIP guests. The guests are given RFID chips that allowed them to log on an iPad, while at the event, then use the passes to login into the kiosks and Like any of the Mercedes car models featured on the floor. Additionally, the guests could also login into Facebook and do a quick check-in, as well as a take a person and live picture at the kiosk.

How cool is that? Collecting valuable information with the simple touch of a screen in an offline environment. Plus, it actually makes the guests feel like their opinions on cars can be of some value as they Like the models on Facebook.

Event based check-in's in combination with a tracking technology, such as RFID, build creative environments in which collecting data and making events unique can become easy and fast. Joining the offline and online worlds seems to be the future of social interaction as technology continue to leak into our personal lives. Utilizing these technologies in marketing can definitely unite your brand with your customers, or just even get your name out there with the label of "current" and "cool".

Call us today to find out how we can make your next event interactive combining online-offline social elements!