Leo Burnett - Cultural Fuel

To most technology buffs, Ray Kurzweil is a household name. He’s made a name for himself predicting technological paradigm shifts fairly accurately and has written many books on the future that not all of hope will happen as he describes.

Apparently he has written a new book that he just plugged on the Colbert report. It seems like a recycled version of one of his last ones, but still, the vision he paints is quite logical and scary at the same time.

Luckily, history isn’t always logical, but still the examples he brings in a worth checking out and not really far-fetched when you look at human behavior. Also, Stephen Colbert’s interview style is always a treat.

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Kinda geeky, but take a look at the article over on Big Think, where they explore the concept of our mobile devices forming a mesh network, separate from the typical one that we pay for access to.

I’m attracted to the idea of a web of technology - an ‘interconnectedness’ - that starts to provide value back into the ecosystem.

Via Brainpickings.org

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Just saw this on Tiago’s FB Wall. The E-Tomb. Why not? As our lives get digital, why not our deaths?

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After languishing in ‘too-techy-for-me’ territory for the last several years, retailers are starting to figure out how to get people to use QR codes (here’s a good refresher if you’re wondering what the heck a QR code is.)

Here’s a picture from Molly Garris of the latest in-store signage from the North Ave Gap in Chicago.  You can download their ScanLife app to check out new pants or read product reviews

One of the biggest challenges for most marketers was getting people to download the code reader software - which had lovely names like Quickmark, Kawa reader, and the super sexy sounding J2MEQRCode for example.  But now that retailers are starting to get people to download their own apps, they have begun embedding the reader software into their own apps - sneaky!  Target’s app is a good example of this.

Check out more from Molly about QR codes here.

Via Leo Burnett Blog

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Head on over to the TechCheck download page to check out the latest in technology and digital marketing or download it right here.

TechCheck is a quarterly publication from Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide that highlights emerging technology and digital services that can enable engagement, conversation or transaction.

Enjoy!

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Someone may consider this as a crime … but actually it is pretty cool.
Check all the slaughter at iFixit.com

Source: iFixit.com

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So, after the robot craze of the 80s and 90s in pop culture, we’ve been waiting for some more actual smart and more life-like robots. Well, I just saw this on Gerald’s posterous. It looks like some serious geeks have been busy.

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I just read an interesting article from Augustine Fou over at ClickZ about Digital being at the root of modern advertising, and it seemed to resonate with some discussions we had been having in the Frankfurt office over the last few years.

The point is not that everything begins and ends with a website/banner/facebook page, but rather the cultural impact made by the rise of all our digital options for living.  And it’s not that people live their lives online, but rather that people use digital ‘properties’ to do so much STUFF in their lives, even when they don’t think they’re ‘online’.  You use digital technology when you pay for gas with a card.  You use digital when you check the movie times on your phone.  You use digital when you Google the actors in a TV program you’re watching. You use digital when you watch a screen in a store while you wait to check out.  Your TV is as digital as most computers are.  It’s kind of everywhere, and you relate to it and use it, even if you’re not actively searching for information about a product or service.  Ultimately, there is more and more human behavior that is linked, or tracked, or enabled by digital properties. And due to the Request/Receive nature of digital properties, this behavior can be leveraged to understand needs and desires.

The value of this information about behavior (digital breadcrumbs left in our modern world) can’t be overemphasized.  Integrating digital at the core of marketing activities allows for unprecedented analysis of data related to how people interact with digital properties, making the case for more efficient and effective work, especially when it is designed from the beginning to take advantage of human insights and behavior.

I’m not sure I buy that Digital is the center, but I prefer to think of it as a key element of the modern human landscape, rather than a channel, for sure.

Via: Stephane Grunenwald @sgrunenwald on Twitter

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I had just read this article about marketers not sure how to take advantage of Location-Based Services, specifically ones that are Social-Network based, and one of our Account people popped their head in my office to ask “What’s up with FourSquare? Is it worthwhile? And is it significant for Marketers?”

Good questions all. Foursquare allows you to “check in” to locations and awards badges for different user activities. The Article correctly states that some restaurants and bars are already embracing it, but the activities and offers are still in early days. Note the offer from Wow Bao in my building below:

Yeah – it’s a freebie offer, but I find it interesting that there is such a conversation about “is this interesting for marketers” and “how will marketers use it” – since it should make sense to pay attention to if you’ve got at least some of your audience that uses these kinds of things, and you’re worth having a relationship with in the first place (which, granted, is a big question for some marketers).

Here’s why: think about why restaurants and bars already jumped on the bandwagon. They have to develop relationships with their customers – they don’t have a choice. They don’t have a retailer that will put up POS material, or vast amounts of online ad spend (generally), and most of the places I’ve seen don’t do TV. For them, the relationship with the person in that establishment is everything, and finding new ways to prolong and enrich that relationship is the key to their success. For them the only question would be “why would I not get involved?”

Now I’m looking back over the last 12 months and thinking about the times I’ve mentioned doing something like this for a marketer, and thinking “You know what? My Client needs to break out from the shelf, their target is pretty well-connected digitally, they are not always getting the POS attention they want, or always deserve, they want more engagement, and since their relationship with the consumer is everything for them as well … so Why not?”

Bonus topic for further conversation: How different would the strategy for the marketer be from what they use for Facebook and Twitter?

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