This summer, Live Nation, Pepsi, TerraCycle and Canopy teamed up to generate fan excitement and help increase the recycling rate of plastic water bottles and aluminum cans at Live Nation venues.

The experience included two new interactive bin concepts developed by Pepsi and TerraCycle that help “game-ify” recycling. Concert-goers at the Jones Beach Amphitheater over the course of 5 shows (Dave Matthews Band, Train, and others) were encouraged to join in on the fun, and boy did they!

As agency of choice, we were completely focused on getting fans to not just engage in the game, but more importantly, to understand the importance of recycling. And while rewarding them with tangible prizes for their involvement was great, the emotional reward of helping sustain the health of our world was that much more.

“It’s great to work with a team that focuses on not just doing the activation, but one that proactively looks to refine and improve it as it’s live. Canopy’s team was able to do this in more ways than one. Always thinking of ways to engage and educate. Making for a very successful pilot with Live Nation and TerraCycle.” says Lawren Cooper, Manager, Environmental Sustainability at PepsiCo

For a broader look at what we did, check out the highlight video.

Thanks again for reading! Hope this inspires you to get involved. And as always, feel free to drop us a line if you want to talk about this, or any other needs you might have.

If you live in a major metro market, then you know what it’s like to walk down the street and see 90% of the people with their heads down buried in their phone. I was one of those people, until I found myself standing in the middle of the street in Manhattan writing a text and nearly getting hit by a taxi. From that point on, I made sure that I was always looking up. But I am definitely in the minority. And this post is not about the safety, or lack thereof, when it comes to texting. It’s about how marketers can capitalize on this Head Down Revolution.

According to Statista, the U.S. mobile phone penetration has reached 81%, representing 223 million consumers. And those consumers spend an average of 4.7 hours per day glued to their smartphones. More importantly, is the role that texting now plays in our everyday lives, especially when it comes to marketing. For an eye-opening example, texts have a 99% open rate compared to 20% for email*. Pretty amazing, huh? Now I imagine that smartphones are currently in the midst of fine tuning their hardware to introduce features that can block such correspondence. But who knows when that will come?

So until that day, marketers have a humongous opportunity to take advantage and focus their outbound efforts on the behaviors of the smartphone user. A behavior that is now second nature, and while receiving a text from a brand may seem like a nuisance at first, it is certainly less of one than an email. Also, if you’re sending info or content that isn’t selling, but more serving them something of value, then you’re more likely to be able to maintain that dialogue.

And isn’t a dialogue what we want? It opens the door, and leads to traffic. And when you have enough traffic, ultimately it will lead to transactions. It’s this approach to marketing, partnered with the aforementioned tactics, that can build the awareness and engagement you’re looking for.

Now how about a little “social experiment”: The next time you’re walking down the street, take note of how many people’s’ heads are down. It truly is a sight to see. Just think, those eyes could be engaged in your brands message. And if the message is “timed” to when your customer is in the market for a new product, it becomes relevant and timely — a very powerful combination.

*Credits: Jack Loechner — Editor of The Center for Media Research; SinglePoint; Statista

What Sparks Our Fire: an ingenious app that makes our life easy by enabling us to quickly and easily translate languages.

Are you ready to never get lost in translation with CamDictionary? Let us know your thoughts on this app.

In one way or another we are all becoming smart phone addicts. But if you think about it, we use our devices for the same functions most of the time. For instance, we listen to music, text the same people, check our social media feed, and the list goes on and on. So, if you are just like everyone, then you are constantly doing the same thing on your phone. And maybe you wish there was something that could make it easier, like a button you could press instead getting your phone out for every little thing. Well, you’re in luck. Flic will be your new gadget to cherish and to pet. Especially if you appreciate a little ‘real-world’ interaction.

As far as smart gadgets go, Flic is about as simple as it gets. It’s a stylish magnetic button that communicates wirelessly with a smartphone to carry out certain favorite actions, such as launching GPS navigation, controlling lights, snoozing a phone alarm, playing music, controlling the camera’s shutter and even allowing hands-free texting. The button can also be programmed to access the controls of a smart home, with different ‘clicks’ (long hold, double-click, single click) activating certain functions. And you can have as many buttons as you wish. Check out the video below to get an idea of how this tiny device works.

What Sparks Our Fire: A simple and stylish wireless button that can change the way we live every day.

Are you ready to create a button for anything? If so, hurry and check out Flic’s Indiegogo to snatch great deals before they fade away.

There are many task manager apps out there but Wunderlist remains our favorite with its eye-catching design and a set of handy tools. The option to assign tasks to specific people and monitor all parts of your team’s projects alone makes Wunderlist arguably the best task management app out there.

Wunderlist is simple and comes with a minimalistic interface to help you create as many lists as you need that instantly sync between your phone, tablet and computer, making them accessible anywhere. In addition, the app makes it easy to start conversations about your to-dos with family, friends and colleagues. Also, you can attach photos, PDFs, presentations, and Dropbox files to share your work and delegate to-dos. Finally, Wunderlist is equipped with a reminder function to ensure you never forget important deadlines ever again.

Wunderlist is free to download and Wunderlist Pro is available for under $5 to help you experience even more: unlimited access to files, subtasks, etc. You can find the app for  iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows Phone, Windows, Chromebook, Kindle Fire and on the Web.

Last week, Wunderlist introduced Wunderlist for Chrome. With this new functionality, you can replace your new tab page with a lightweight version of Wunderlist that lets you quickly add new to-dos straight into your Inbox.

‘Ideas can strike like lightning. Now when they come to mind, you can instantly capture them just by opening a new tab’. -Google Chrome

What Sparks Our Fire: A simple tools for team collaboration and task management.

Have you ever tried Wunderlist? Share your experience.

Automatic Smart Driving Assistant is a gadget designed to unlock your car’s full potential, making driving safer and more efficient. Automatic can help you spend up to 30% less on gas (about $800/year) by learning your driving style and giving you real-time audio feedback when you do something that wastes gas. Automatic also monitors your car health and warns you when something is wrong. It provides written details of the problem and possible solutions; it tells you if it is something you can do yourself and save a trip to the mechanics or if needed, helps you find a mechanic nearby. But most importantly, if you are ever in a crash, Automatic provides a full-service crash response 24/7 and alerts 911 with your location and can even contact your loved ones to let them know what happened and that help is on the way.

Automatic is extremely simple to set up and use: plug the Automatic link into your car’s onboard computer with no tool required and connect it to your smartphone via the App (on iOS or Android). Automatic is only available in the US.

What Sparks Our Fire: A gadget that redefines people’s relationship with driving, making it safer and more efficient by giving you useful information.

Are you ready to be a better driver and adopt a smart driving Automatic Assistant?

If you have a smartphone, you’re most likely typing fast and while doing so, you may have fell victim to autocorrect failures. Luckily, there are apps out there to help you avoid such typo mistakes. Our favorite so far is Swiftkey, a free predictive keyboard app for Androids and iOS that helps you type faster on your phone or tablet. It works by replacing your on-screen keyboard with one that adapts to the way you type. What is magical about Swifkey is it uses algorithms to learn your personal writing style and uses all information gathered to fix typos by suggesting your next word for faster and more accurate typing.

What Sparks Our Fire: An app that makes it easy to create and communicate on mobile.

Would you download Swiftkey?

Imagine you enter your home, and your apartment turns on the lights or, you wake up in the morning and your favorite music starts playing. And while you are getting ready, your coffee machine makes your favorite cup to grab before you leave home. With Airfy Beacon, you can do just that: transform your home into a smart home. The device works in conjunction with an app and is connected via Bluetooth Low Energy communication and IFTTT.

So, with Airfy Beacon, you can turn on your music, the lights, the thermostat, the TV based on your proximity, the number of people in your home, and time. One of the perks is the battery life of an Airfy Beacon is approximately 1.5 years. Watch the video to get familiar with the product.

What Sparks Our Fire: An app and gadget that cater to you and help you save energy

Are you ready to turn your home into a smart spot?

Today, most businesses are riding the waves of digital marketing. When asked, “Where do you think the non-digital brand experience fits in?” here is what Marc Sampogna, Canopy’s Managing Director, had to say…

As we continue to see the world of marketing shift further and further into digital, we have to ask ourselves: Does the analog (print, TV, OOH) brand experience fit in anymore? Well, of course it does. But it’s really a matter of how brands and marketers want to spend their budgets. As we know, digital is the most efficient means to reach an audience, measure it, and do it with more modest budgets. But does it leave the profound impact that non-digital channels and tactics leave? The answer is…. not yet! Traditional media has made efforts to tie-in their digital platforms to ensure their brands are accessible, relevant and shareable. But digital isn’t designed to return the favor. So, what’s the outcome? Well, as marketers, we need to recognize the new paradigm, and be very picky about how and where we want to connect with our target. It comes down to who they are and where they get information. Gen X, Y, Millennials, are all digitally connected and rely on this to drive their purchasing patterns. And that makes up a significant piece of the market. Boomers and above are adjusting, but have greater appreciation for traditional because they grew up with it. And while I continue to ramble on, I’m not sure if I’m answering the question of whether or not non-digital/traditional/analog brand experiences fit in anywhere. But if I look at how cyclical trends have become, from fashion to art, I’d have to say this would apply to marketing. Digital will at some point evolve to finally turning around and introducing itself to analog, and who knows, maybe they’ll get along.