Experience Manifesto

Coming soon to a T-shirt near you...

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Coming soon to a T-shirt near you: trailers for "I, Robot," the upcoming sci-fi thriller starring Will Smith.

In the never-ending search to capture the attention of consumers bombarded by commercials, billboards and a massive array of other advertisements, 20th Century Fox debuted an innovative guerilla marketing tactic at the E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles last week: T-shirts embedded with video screens that played "I, Robot" trailers.

The two women who wore the video T-shirts as they walked around the Los Angeles Convention Center drew crowds and TV news crews. 20th Century Fox is the first studio -- or business of any kind -- to use the video T-shirt marketing tactic developed by San Francisco-based Brand Marketers.

Entertainment News Article | Reuters.com

Here's where I originally read this article: Boing Boing: I, T-shirt: wearable movie trailers at NextFest

Experience Summit, June 21

Details are now available for the upcoming Experience Summit, June 21st in NYC. Patricia Esgate, Executive Editor of EGate and producer of the Summit, had this to say: The word 'experience' continues to be used in an ever-growing variety of market platforms - branding & marketing; curated destinations; hospitality design; health care; destination attractions - any destination that relies on a compelling experience to build brand loyalty, drive repeat visitation and create new revenue streams.

The Experience Summit invites professionals from all market segments to convene, in order to:
■ Discuss the opportunities, the challenges and the future, across all experience platforms
■ Differentiate between the perception and the reality of the industry
■ Share philosophies and expertise

This will truly be a summit—an intimate experience in which we engage in real dialog about the direction of the industry. Only 35 slots are available for attending, so if you are interested, download the registration form and send it back right away.

Brand Experience Lab will also be hosting a Cocktail Reception for the Summit on the evening of the 21st at the Lab. This reception is also open to non-attendees, so if you've always wanted to know what we do here, now is the time to find out! E-mail Mitali for additional information or to be added to our RSVP list for the event.

Click here to download the Summit brochure and registration information.

Indie Nursery Magic

Reveries has this story today, about how one local garden center competes against the nearby Wal-Mart. As many companies are learning, trying to beat Wal-Mart at their game is a difficult and often losing proposition. The key, once again, is to create a unique guest experience. One that creates a different value proposition and gives the consumer permission to spend more.

With the "Wal-Marting" of the world in full swing, it's becoming more and more critical to look for the point of difference. People are also willing to pay extra for an experience that means something to them. Just look at our previous posting about the American Girl Place.

You need to choose where you want to be in the world. A commodity strictly competing on price or an engaging experience that creates more value to your audience. Are you simply a brand steward or are you truly passionate about your brand and what it stands for?

Here’s a quote we’ve been using a great deal around here, from that great 20th century philosopher, Springsteen, that sums up how we feel about creating great experiences. “No retreat, baby, no surrender.”

In fact, people not only accept Matterhorn's high, high prices, they will drive way, way out of their way for the honor of paying them. "I think of the higher prices as an entry fee," says Judy Lauster, a customer. "It's all so beautiful." It sure sounds fantastic, boasting as it does some "18 wood-and-stone buildings sprawling over 20 acres," giving the nursery "village effect," as Matt Horn describes it. Some folks refer to Matthorn as the "Disneyland of garden centers," with "eye-catching displays ... and aquatic center ... a bird pavilion ... a gift shop; a florist; 10 acres of display gardens; a nature walk and a cafe." It's all very obvious to Matt Horn: "We're selling a thing of beauty, but 90 percent of garden centers are dumps," he observes.

That beauty is not just flowers -- Matterhorn mixes in "colorful pottery and English watering cans with mosquito killers and weed whackers." A shopper comments: "They're selling a whole garden lifestyle, not just plants and herbicides." They back it up with plenty of help, too -- some 60 "knowledgeable" employees stand ready to answer "millions" of questions. (Emphasis ours)

reveries - marketing insights and ideas

Yahoo! News - Cell Phones Go Karaoke

Just when you thought cell phones had everything, engineers at Sharp and Toshiba have come up with new handsets that can double as portable karaoke machines.

The phones will go on sale in Japan this summer and are among the first that can connect to an external display--in this case a television--so users don't have to crowd around the phone's small display. It's this capability and a new service from Vodafone K.K. called V-kara that makes possible the karaoke function. Because it's tied to local telephone service, the function will be available only in Japan.

Yahoo! News - Cell Phones Go Karaoke

It's the Hottest Place in Town, and Dolls Eat Free

It's a place that we talk about all the time. It's the Amercan Girl Place and it's certainly a mecca for anyone with girls. In fact, it's one of the few places that I haven't taken my daughter for research purposes! She's only 3 and much too young to get hooked!

The New York Times ran a story about the NY location this week and if you ever doubted the power of experience, try to book a Saturday night at the American Girl Cafe!

Pink is inescapable at the American Girl Cafe, a 140-seat restaurant on Fifth Avenue at 49th Street that has become a destination of choice for 4- to 12-year-old girls from all over the United States. There are pink flowers on the tables, pink aprons on the waiters and carpets crisscrossed with pink. Eating at the cafe is the culmination of a visit to American Girl Place, a giddy combination retail store and theme park devoted to the enormously popular American Girl line of dolls.

Before opening in November, the cafe had already taken 30,000 reservations. And this week, callers looking for a Saturday night table — prime time is 5:30 — were told that they would have to wait until August.

The New York Times > New York Region > It's the Hottest Place in Town, and Dolls Eat Free (Registration may be required)

ABCNEWS.com : Will Computers Read Your Mind?

An interesting article about research being done to make ATM machines "react" to you. But, of course, it begs the question. Do we want ATM's to react to us?

"We're teaching the computers to be more like human beings," said Dave Schrader, an engineer with Teradata, a division of automatic teller machine manufacturer NCR. In an attempt to give consumers a better banking experience, Schrader is teaching ATMs to discern emotions.

Forgot your glasses and can't see the numbers? The computer can detect this and automatically increase the font size or change the contrast of the display. Hate annoying advertisements? Emotion-sensing ATMs could help ease your irritation.

"When you interact with an ATM it's all about convenience," Schrader said. "It's also all about not having a lot of clutter advertising coming your way or one-size-fits-all kind of advertising. The bank can be much smarter and treat you special."

The machine can track which ads you frown at and change those pitches. Maybe a cute, humorous ad pops up that causes you to chuckle. The database remembers your reaction and you'll likely see the advertisement again.

ABCNEWS.com : Will Computers Read Your Mind?

Andrew Zolli on NPR

Advisory Board member Andrew Zolli gives an interview on the role of design in creating a place of differentation in the marketplace.

Andrew Zolli's interview about design on Marketplace on NPR (Requires RealOne Player)

Starbucks Names Kenneth T. Lombard Senior Vice President And President of Starbucks Entertainment

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 2004--Starbucks Coffee Company (Nasdaq:SBUX) announced today that Kenneth T. (Ken) Lombard, president, Johnson Development Corporation/Magic Johnson Theatres and co-Managing Partner of the Canyon Johnson Urban Fund, has accepted the position of senior vice president and president, Starbucks Entertainment, effective May 24, 2004. In this newly created role, Lombard will lead the vision and strategy for Starbucks enhanced involvement in music and entertainment. Lombard will report to Jim Donald, president, North America.

"Since Starbucks acquisition of Hear Music in 1999, Starbucks has become a trusted editorial voice of music for our customers, delivering proprietary record compilations and now, personalized CDs," said Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman. "Through innovations like our significant wireless network and digital technology, Starbucks has transformed the way that millions of customers access music and information that is relevant to them. We believe we have an exceptional opportunity to leverage the equity of the Starbucks brand, and the trust and confidence our customers have in the Starbucks Experience, to deliver unique content to our customers." (Emphasis ours)

Is this the next phase in the development of Starbuck's?

Starbucks Names Kenneth T. Lombard Senior Vice President And President of Starbucks Entertainment

New Technology Speeds Grocery Shopping

LEWISVILLE, Texas -- Grocery stores fight a heated battle in competition for consumers' loyalty. Now, Albertsons stores across North Texas have unveiled a high-tech tool company officials hope will make grocery shopping faster and easier for patrons and turn the shoppers into repeat customers.

The device, called Shop and Scan, can be found in 103 Albertsons throughout the Metroplex. Albertsons chose the Dallas-Fort Worth area as a test market for the high-tech device.

Shop and Scan allows customers who have an Albertsons Preferred card to scan items they wish to purchase as they pick up the products from the store shelves. The machine keeps a running total for all purchases -- which also lets shoppers watch their budgets.

Shop and Scan also can check prices on untagged items without adding the product to the bill. Patrons then check out at the self-checkout lane.

nbc5i.com - Consumer - New Technology Speeds Grocery Shopping

Learn about the Shop and Scan promotion --

nbc5i.com - Sponsor -

The Sound War

One technology in the Lab that always generates a great deal of attention in the laser sound system. Many people ask how it works and this recent article from the MIT Technology Review will give you an excellent overview as to how the technology works and what the future may hold.

It’s easy to see why directional sound is cool, but understanding how it works is far tougher. Traditional speakers generate audible sound waves that spread out in all directions like ripples from a pebble tossed in a pond. These devices instead generate narrow, laserlike beams of ultrasound waves, which have a frequency above 20,000 hertz, the upper limit of what the human ear can detect. Both audible sound waves from traditional speakers and ultrasound waves from a directional-sound system distort when they travel through the air; in a traditional sound system, the distortion slightly degrades the sound a listener ultimately hears. But in a directional-sound system, the distortion is actually the mechanism that generates the audible sound, breaking the ultrasound waves into lower-frequency, audible sound waves along a straight, narrow path.