RedPeg

Where We Look for Online Trends

Martin Codd — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:30:24 +0000

I was recently asked how I stay abreast of creative trends and technology innovations. There are a tremendous amount of resources. I selectively distill the information, services and products from them that benefit our world of experiential. At RedPeg we always seek to deliver cohesive and authentic experiences that make the consumer the focal point of the experience. Evaluating new trends and innovation is the heartbeat of our business model.

Without further ado and in no particular order this is my top list of information resources:

TED.com: Showcase for new ideas across technology, entertainment and design
Readwriteweb.com: Popular blog that focuses on web technology news
Gizmodo.com: The popular gadget site
Engadget: One of the top technology blogs, a great source for industry news
Geek.com: The original technology resource
TechCrunch.com: Focused upon new start-ups and Web-linked or enabled gadgets
Mashable: Technology news site
CNET.com: The latest news and technology reviews
Digitaltrends.com: Reviews the latest in consumer technology products
GigaOm.com: In-depth reviews and analysis of the broadband and mobile phone industry
TUAW.com: “The Unofficial Apple Weblog,” covers everything Apple products
Creativity-online.com: Details the best visual and idea-centric communication from around the world
Springwise.com: Publishes ideas and concepts from across the globe
Facebook-studio.com: A community for marketers that utilize Facebook
Contagiousmagazine.com: A resource for the latest creative trends within the marketing industry
Scoop.it: A resource that that allows you to track the topics that you follow

What other resources would you add to this list?

A Great Case for Integrated Marketing at SXSW

Matt Sincaglia — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:08:25 +0000

Having been on various sides of the marketing industry (brand, property, experiential agency), I constantly look for really smart integrated campaigns. Traveling down to Austin for SXSW for the first time, I could only imagine the innovative, entertaining, and on-brand activations that I would see. From Nokia’s launch of the Lumia 900, to the Catch a Chevy mobile powering station and On Star demonstration, I saw some great marketing execution. One brand, however, stood out amongst the others: Nike.

Nike has always clinched its iron fist as a marketing juggernaut, but not in the same way as it did at SXSW. For those who don’t know, SXSW started 25 years ago as a music festival and has grown to one of the biggest interactive and entertainment events in the nation, with over 2,000 musical acts performing. Fans flock to the Texas capital hoping to hear the next big breakout group. Nike capitalized on the music frenzy with their campaign “I’m With The Band.”

Promoting the FuelBand, a fitness tracker that monitors your daily activity, calories burned, steps taken, while doubling as a watch, Nike played itself up as the other “band” in town. A footprint with a skate park, basketball court, soccer arena, and daily activities acted as a focal point for onlookers and passersby. Seems about right for a brand that relies on its consumer base staying active. When I went up to the Nike space, I was greeted by a team of brand ambassadors who explained all of the features of the FuelBand. I had already known a little about the product, but was fully educated and shown exactly how it worked, which increased my intrigue about the product. “Where do I get one? I know they are always sold out,” I asked.

The answer couldn’t have been any closer – right across the street at an old restaurant turned pop-up retail environment. And this FuelBand came with an added bonus. For $150, consumers were able to grab the newest Nike innovation, and with it, front of the line access to the six or so concerts that Nike was hosting over the course of the festival. Due to a limited release of FuelBands at any given time, a line formed outside the pop-up store causing others to inquire what was happening in the formerly closed-down eatery. WOM authentically spread throughout the Austin downtown.

I have to hand it to Nike. They really rocked out this campaign. They played into a highlight of the festival (the music) through their concert sponsorships, while staying true to who they are (a fitness company) through their open-to-the-public sports park activation. They created demand for their FuelBand by providing an incentive to purchase (front of the line access to concerts), limiting supply (scheduled releases), and a simple drive to store (since the pop-up store was across from the experiential footprint). Nike’s brand message was “Life is a sport. Make it count.” Well, if integrated marketing is a must in today’s industry, then Nike definitely made their “I’m With The Band” campaign count.

Digital Consequentialism

Martin Codd — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 04:19:11 +0000

Here’s a post for you to ponder this Thanksgiving weekend (BTW, we highly recommend these TED talks – they are quite thought-provoking): A colleague recently showed me the TED talk by Dan Cobley entitled “What physics taught me about marketing.”

This set me thinking about the physical principle that applies most to the world of production and logistics. The sociologist Robert K. Merton popularized the “law of unintended consequences.” In very plain terms, it means that intervention in a complex system can have unintended and often undesirable outcomes.

In this connected world the distinction between the online and offline world has disappeared. As we develop more robust, integrated and complicated experiential campaigns the risk of catastrophe is ever present. A simple change in the Facebook application programming interface (API) can derail your Facebook campaign, website, mobile platform and render your on-site activation moot. The importance of planning to mitigate this cannot be underestimated; the agency that does not adequately test for usability, scalability, performance, compatibility and reliability will rue the consequences when that program implodes.

We’ve all experienced the QR code that takes you to a website that hasn’t been optimized for mobile. Being directed to a flash website that won’t play on my iPhone, or a QR code that does nothing discernable leaves me disappointed and aggravated. Interjecting a new mechanism such as a QR code must serve a purpose or the impression on the consumer will be negative, a classic case of the law of unintended consequences!

RedPeg Marketing and Habitat for Humanity in Haiti

Tamara Francois — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:40:31 +0000

Thanks to a generous donation of $2,500 by RedPeg CEO Brad Nierenberg, I had the opportunity to travel to Haiti with The Carter Project, Habitat for Humanity. I was among a group of 400 volunteers to successfully build 100 homes for displaced earthquake victims in the Santo Community of Leogane, Haiti, from November 6-12. Although the volunteers have departed Haiti, Habitat’s work continues. Over the next 6 weeks, Habitat will add 29 wells and latrines to each home that we built by hiring and training local Haitians. Habitat secured enough land to build 500 homes total but volunteers and financing are still needed. I can’t wait to do it again next year and complete the project. Join me?!

Here are a few pictures from the trip.

1. Three of the homeowners that will receive a home

Three of the homeowners who will receive a home

2. Our team’s first assignment was to attach the walls to the cement foundation that was done during the pre-build. They were heavy as I don’t know what and took 6 of us to lift.

Our team’s first assignment was to attach the walls to the cement foundation that was done during the pre-build. They were heavy as I don’t know what and took 6 of us to lift.

3. The homeowner Lesley and I work on his house together

The homeowner Lesley and I work on his house together

4. The President of Haiti stops by our worksite for a visit. I was so excited to talk to him!

The President of Haiti stops by our worksite for a visit. I was so excited to talk to him!

5. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are longtime Habitat volunteers. Here we are talking after a long workday

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are longtime Habitat volunteers. Here we are talking after a long workday

6. Prepping the wall for siding

Prepping the wall for siding

7. Our team nails in hurricane clips from every angle

Our team nails in hurricane clips from every angle

8. The homeowners celebrate and sing “Thank You Savior” when the homes are complete

The homeowners celebrate and sing “Thank You Savior” when the homes are complete

Sounding Off!

Martin Codd — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:12:59 +0000

The TV commercial and iPhone application that Honda UK developed to advertise the “Jazz” titled “This Unpredictable Life,” was undoubtedly ground breaking. It recognized sonic frequencies in the advertisement to trigger content.

On the heels of this the MasterCard innovation lab has unveiled a new payment platform called QkR. The primary use will be to process payments triggered by NFC (Near-Field Communication) via Google Wallet, but that was to be expected.

More interestingly this technology enables the user to trigger content simply by frequency codes (sound). The content can be triggered by either touching or waving a smartphone in the proximity of the monitor – as demonstrated by Honda.

MasterCard is teaming up with Microsoft Kinect to develop this platform so that consumers can purchase products directly from a TV ad with physical gestures. Imagine a transparent shopping dialogue appearing over a commercial that will allow users to choose and purchase apparel or merchandize with simple gestures.

The next time you see a family member gesticulating in front of the box, it might not be because they’re sounding off but rather that they’re looking to purchase those new Adidas sneakers everybody is raving about.

It’s NOT Always The Shiny New Thing

Brad Nierenberg — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:43:02 +0000

As the first blog post, I’ve been thinking about what tone to set. After all, this blog is new, and the work we’ve been doing a enormous amount of lately has been with new technologies: social media promotion, augmented reality design, and mobile app development. But it strikes me that it’s not always the shiny new thing that should always grab our attention – rather, it’s the basics. So I’m thinking back to the questions I get asked the most as the head of an agency, and they’re mostly about the basics – how to grow a business, how to cultivate the best talent, how to adapt to a changing market, etc.

I get asked a lot about how we grow our business. And my answer had remained consistent through the years: the best way to grow business is through existing clients. If you do a good job by them, it is easier to grow current billings and to be referred to other departments within the client. Too many times, we feel the need to obtain new customers, focusing our efforts there when you forecasts are not where we want them to be. If, instead of spending time working on a hit list of new clients, we focus our efforts on what our clients’ problems and challenges are, asking questions like, “What are the biggest hurdles you are facing?” new opportunities will appear faster. This will also strengthen our relationship with the client for a prolonged period of time and far surpass any pipeline.

Through the Looking Glass…

Martin Codd — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 05:16:16 +0000

It was no wonder that the Tim Burton ode to Lewis Carroll received Oscars for achievement in both art direction and costume design. His phantasmagoric tribute is a visual spectacle without compare.

Recent technological advances now enable us to be able to appreciate this extraordinary film in what was previously unimaginable splendor. The new Sony HMZ-T1 is a wearable OLED 3DTV with a 150-inch screen-equivalent and 5.1 virtual surround sound. It weighs less than a pound, offers 720P resolution and will be the must have holiday accessory this season for the film aficionado, fashion dilettante and geek alike.

As content has migrated to personal devices such as smart phones and tablets, the act of viewing has become an increasingly individualized experience. OLEDs are solid-state devices composed of thin films of organic molecules that create light. OLED technology offers an unparalleled opportunity, they are efficient, brighter, and provide for an ultra-thin malleable display format.

I have seen through the looking glass and the future will be OLED!

The HMZ-T1 will be available in Japan in November. Expect it in the US shortly thereafter.