Monthly Archives: June 2015

Daddy Issues

funnydad

Just in time for Father’s Day, Y&R has released a new study outlining the shopping habits and behaviors of North American dads. Cleverly titled “Who’s Your Daddy?” the study also shows how millennial dads are “redefining fatherhood.” Here are five of the most impactful takeaways from the study.

  1. Dads will pay more for convenience. Knowing that they can get all of their shopping done in one place is important to dads, and they’re willing to pay a price for the time savings. Compared with 32% of moms, 49% of dads are willing to pay more for “one-stop” shopping.
  2. Being first is important. Just like their hunter-gatherer ancestors, dads are always on the the lookout. Except, instead of looking for wild beasts, dads are looking for the newest and coolest products. 59% of dads said that they want to be the first of their friends and family to try new products.
  3. Loyalty is king. Loyalty is the top value for both dads and men in general, and it shows in their interactions with brands. 48% of dads consider themselves “loyal to brand-name products,” as compared with 35% of moms.
  4. Millennials are changing the game. As millennial parents adopt the idea of co-parenting, and distribution of responsibilities gets closer to even, brands should consider the impact of shifting habits. For instance, 80% of millennial dads take primary or shared responsibility for grocery shopping, as opposed to 45% of dads in general.
  5. Put the coupons down. Dads aren’t particularly interested in saving money on purchases they’re already going to make, even compared with men who are not dads. In fact, only 43% of dads are proud when they “get great value for [their] money,” as compared with 70% of moms. 59% of dads even think using coupons or flyers at checkout makes them look cheap.

Read the full study here.

What Sparks Our Fire: Great insights into the maturing Millennial market

Opensourcing The Future of Travel

hyperloop

A train is leaving from Los Angeles to San Francisco traveling at 56 mph and takes 8 hours to arrive. This isn’t an algebra problem, this is an efficiency problem. In 2012, Elon Musk proposed an alternative to the slow and inefficient Amtrak “Coast Starlight” train line, called the Hyperloop. The Hyperloop is a high-speed transportation system that would propel passengers between the two cities in “pods” at up to 800 mph, approximately 200 miles faster than the average cruising speed of a 747. While the Hyperloop has remained a pipe-dream for many who frequently travel between the two cities, today, Musk announced a competition that might just get the ball rolling on its development.

Open to university students and independent engineering teams, Musk has asked participants to design the pods that will carry passengers between the two cities. By opening the pod design contest to only independent engineering teams and students, Musk is clearly leaning on innovative new thinking, but also making a statement that he’s looking for the best design, not just the design that gets funded first.

While there has not been mention of a prize for winning the competition, Musk promised to elaborate more on the contest in August. Until then, applicants can learn more about the guidelines and sign up to compete on the SpaceX website.

What Sparks Our Fire: Creatively shaping the future of transportation and design through an exciting open-source competition.

Tracking Each Drop

hidrateme

With the announcement of some very cool updates to Apple‘s Healthkit for iOS 9, everyone’s buzzing about the new ways that health apps are helping us keep track of our bodies. Beginning with step counters, health apps now use smartphone metadata to track a range of fitness, sleep and nutritional factors, as well as the body’s vitals. However, until now, it has always been fairly difficult to track the body’s water intake with accuracy. All of this is set to change with the release of the HidrateMe water bottle and app this Winter.

The HidrateMe water bottle is a geometrically designed water bottle with a sensor in the lid that measures how much water a user has had to drink throughout the day. This sensor syncs up with the HidrateMe app to track this information and relay it to the user. The HidrateMe app takes the user’s age, gender, and weight to create a daily target water intake, and adjusts based on the humidity and elevation of his or her location. Additionally, the water bottle uses a gentle light to remind the user to drink more water throughout the day.

With just over a month to go on it’s Kickstarter, HidrateMe has raised over $214,000 in funding–six times what it was initially looking for. And with up to 75% of Americans estimated to be chronically dehydrated, the HidrateMe water bottle and app is poised to tackle this widespread health issue.

And for more info on how much water you should actually be drinking, please click here.

What Sparks Our Fire: Sleek design and creative technology pairing up to tackle one large health problem

Phodography 101

NikonGrizzler

What would your dog take a picture of, if he could use a camera? In an attempt to answer this question, Nikon Asia devised a clever way for Grizzler to take a photo (without even lifting a paw) in their latest video that’s gone viral. Nikon strapped a camera connected to a heart-rate monitor onto Grizzler, and designed a shutter that automatically closed when Grizzler’s heart-rate increased.

Grizzler the “phodographer” took some excellent photos of plants, sandals, eggs, a turtle, and, of course, some other dog and cat friends.

NikonGrizzler2

People have been strapping GoPros onto their dogs for a while now, but that mostly gives owners an idea of how their pet spends their day, with no regard to the pet’s preferences. Nikon offers a glimpse into what dogs might actually be excited by. As the centerpiece of Nikon Asia’s Heartography campaign, the video does an excellent job showing how photography comes from the heart– especially in Grizzler’s case, where this is more than metaphorical.

Watch the full video here.

What Sparks Our Fire: A viral brand video that gives us an excuse to watch a cute dog take photos

Ready, Set, Call-To-Action

InstagramCallToAction

Since its purchase by Facebook in 2012, Instagram has slowly and precisely begun to build out it’s advertising program. Designed to make the free app profitable, advertisements were introduced to users’ feeds almost two years ago, but were limited to a few core brands. Today, Instagram has announced that it will expand its advertising program, allowing all brands to participate in advertising on users’ feeds.

In addition to this expansion, Instagram is testing new call-to-action buttons on some sponsored content. These will include buttons that say, “Learn More,” “Shop Now,” and “Sign Up.” The addition of CTA buttons allows Instagram to remain hyperlink-free, as it has been since it’s outset. As with past adjustments to their advertising program, Instagram remains dedicated to disrupting the flow of users’ feeds as little as possible.

This expansion of their advertising program provides a new opportunity for all brands to tell a visual story on Instagram and target it to Instagram’s younger demographic. And while some critics will remain skeptical until the program’s roll-out, we see this as an opportunity. Brands will be able to share a deeper connection with consumers based on a creative visual story, and consumers will be able to take action when they enjoy sponsored content.

What Sparks Our Fire: Enhancing offerings to advertisers, without compromising the user experience.