Monthly Archives: April 2015

Advertising in the Era of Purposeful Viewing

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The way we watch TV has been changing over the years, and as experts continue to unpack the trends and analyze the current landscape, advertising is changing as well. This week in AdWeek, Peter Naylor, senior vice president of Sales at Hulu, wrote an article about the cumulative impact of the changing TV-watching trends, calling our current period the Era of Purposeful Viewing.

In the Era of Purposeful Viewing, the viewer makes an active decision about what television to watch and when he or she will watch it. This means that the best TV programs really have the ability to thrive, because it’s not constrained by time or viewing method. For example, you can watch Mad Men the night it premieres, or the next day via DVR or Video-On-Demand, or even binge on past episodes using services like Netflix.  Conversely, “bad television”–what might be considered “filler” or background noise–is beginning to fall by the wayside. Viewers are making intentional decisions about what programs to put on and when, so there’s a diminishing need to watch just whatever’s on television at the time.

What does the Era of Purposeful Viewing mean for brands interested in advertising to these audiences? Mostly, we think it means that these brands must be even more creative than they have been in the past with their advertising.

In March, Geico released an ad addressing the trend of fast-forwarding through commercials on DVR or Hulu. By creating an undeniably creative advertisement that addresses the trend, Geico provides value to the viewer in the form of humor, and entices them to chose to stick with the ad instead of actually fast forwarding through it.

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Another way that brands can ensure their message reaches the viewer is through creative product placement. Integrating further into a television program is perhaps the only way to ensure that all viewers, regardless of the time they watch the program or the method they watch the program, see the brand’s message. Despite airing in 2006, Snapple‘s 30 Rock product placement can still be seen when a viewer binge watches episodes on Netflix in 2015.

What Sparks Our Fire: Exploring where brands fit into the Era of Purposeful Viewing

A Lamp For The Digital Age

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Philips has released the newest addition to their Hue professional wireless lighting collection, Hue Go. It is a portable color-changing lamp, and you guessed it, connects right to your smartphone. You can control Hue Go wirelessly to set timers, controls, notifications, or alarms. Hue Go provides you to get creative with your space and play with light in a new way.

The lamp has seven preset light settings, or allows you to pick your favorite color. It also has 5 patented natural dynamic effects: Cozy Candle, Sunday Coffee, Meditation, Enchanted Forest, and Night Adventure.

The Hue Go has the ability to wake you up in the morning to the glow of simulated sunlight. It also provides lighting that syncs to your music. 

What Sparks Our Fire: The ability to set the mood-lighting from our devices

 

Pixel Art and Post-its

office-mural-with-post-it-notesOver the past few years, there’s been a resurgence of pixel inspired art and pop culture of the 80s and 90s.  This trend has been spurred on by nostalgic Gen x-ers and first-wave millennials looking back to their youth and the joys of 8-bit gaming.

Last week, an SF based creative agency was looking for a way to spruce up their drab office walls.  After a couple of suggestions and internal discussions, designer Ben Brucker, found a cost effective solution to improve his office decor.

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With a budget of $300, Ben and his coworkers purchased nearly 9000 multi-colored post-its to create pixelated murals of Wonder woman, Superman, Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, Spiderman and Batman.

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While it may not be a long-term solution, it’s a great exercise in creativity and team building.

Watch the entire process:

What Sparks Our Fire: Creative, cost-effective design solutions

Round Up: The Best of April Fools

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April Fool’s is one of our favorite times of the year.  We like to play a few pranks in the office, but what we really look forward to is the creativity this day sparks within brands. Here’s a rundown of some of our favorites from this year:

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Each year we anticipate what Google’s April Fool’s joke will be. This year Google Maps turned into a game of Pac-Man. They also launched ‘com.google’ which mirrored all search results.

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Samsung announced it’s supposed newest accessory- the Galaxy Blade Edge, “the world’s first smart knife with smartphone capabilities”.

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Amazon went back in time by redesigning it’s site to look like it did in 1999.

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Groupon created its own version of Uber in “Grøüber”, a transportation service with cat drivers.Screen Shot 2015-04-02 at 6.59.56 PM

Netflix released a series of binge watching warning PSA’s that showed up if you streamed more than two episodes in a row of any show. They featured stars from some of Netflix’s most binge-worthy shows, including actress Taylor Schilling, the lead on The Netflix original ‘Orange is the New Black.’ 

What Sparks Our Fire: Some of our favorite brands, channeling their creativity to poke fun at themselves.

Moving Forward In Digital Retail

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Amazon has made waves in digital retail and home convenience today, by launching their newest product, Amazon Dash Buttons, which are plastic adhesive buttons that allow you to order from a list of 18 different household products with the press of the button. The products range from Gatorade, to Tide Pods, to Smart Water bottles, to Kraft mac and cheese, etc. The buttons connect to your Wi-Fi network and the Amazon App, so once the button of the item you want is pushed, Amazon places the order and you get an alert to your phone. The buttons are only available to those with an Amazon Prime membership, and currently by invitation only.

The Amazon Dash Buttons essentially bring the Amazon website into your home, eliminating the computer screen and taking e-commerce to a new physical interactive level.

What Sparks Our Fire: Digital solutions to help us through our busy day to day chores