Experience Manifesto

MediaPost Publications - A Sense Of Place: Thomson Muscles Into Retail Media, Acquires PRN - 07/29/2005

A variety of research has shown that a majority of purchase decisions - as much as 90 percent for certain products - are made at retail locations.

To capitalize on the growing interest in retail media from big marketers and agencies, Point of Purchase Advertising International, the trade association commonly known as POPAI, has initiated an ambitious research initiative to develop data and metrics that would make the measurement of place-based media more comparable to the biggest national media.

The project, known as MARI, for the Marking at Retail Initiative, is designed to make "P-O-P on a measured medium on par with print and broadcast," according to a recent POPAI briefing. P-O-P stands for point-of-purchase media, which historically has meant low-tech advertising like placards, hang-tags and posters in retail locations, but increasingly represents dynamic digital and sometimes interactive media. More importantly, the new electronic formats are allowing marketers to run the same kind of high-quality commercials they run on TV outlets, but with a greater assurance that consumers are actually seeing them.

At least that's what the MARI initiative is setting out to prove. To date, the initiative has invested more than $1 million developing research on advertising in three major "channels:" grocery, convenience and drug store locations. In addition to MARI, major marketers have been pushing the development of better research about retail media, especially the world's largest, Procter & Gamble. P&G, which has been pushing its agencies to think out of the box about communications channels, and which has been challenging them to move beyond a TV planning and buying framework, held two big roundtables to explore retail media earlier this year.

Those P&G meetings concluded that the retail media industry needs to make "real progress" in audience measurement to gain the confidence of major marketers, and it needs to focus on three separate agendas:

The measurement of in-store GRPs, or gross rating points - the metric used to compare audience impressions in TV and radio.

ROI, or return on investment research on the effectiveness of retail advertising buys.

And better research on so-called "message effectiveness," or how and what types of ads communicate best in retail locations.

The POPAI's MARI initiative, not surprisingly, has created three task force teams focusing on each of those subjects and is expected to begin executing research in those three areas in the next several months with results by the end of 2006, or early 2007.

Upon announcing its acquisition of PRN, Thomson noted that place-based media networks are one of the fastest growing segments of the advertising marketplace, and estimated it would grow at annual rates of more than 25 percent.

"The growth of this market segment has been accelerated by advertisers' demand for alternative media reaching more engaged audiences compared to traditional TV advertising," stated Thomson. "In addition, this segment has benefited by the improving quality of data measuring the effectiveness of such out-of-home networks, and by the falling prices of networking infrastructure and flat-panel displays.

Link: MediaPost Publications - A Sense Of Place: Thomson Muscles Into Retail Media, Acquires PRN - 07/29/2005.

New York Post Online Edition: business

As home to Madison Avenue and Times Square, New York is no stranger to advertising spectaculars.

Every week seems to bring a bigger, bolder concept in an attempt to grab the attention of an increasingly ad-resistant populace.

The New York City ad landscape is so competitive these days, and apparently fresh ideas so hard to come by, that marketers are going to new lengths to assert their claims of originality.

Earlier this week, cheap-and-chic superstore Target presented New York's first "vertical fashion show." Instead of strolling down a horizontal catwalk, model/acrobats attached to harnesses appeared to dance down the face of Rockefeller Center.

Link: New York Post Online Edition: business. Registration may be required.

Modern age overwhelms TV icon: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Another big change in the life of us older folks!

Once a familiar sight atop the nation's television sets but wary of going the way of the rabbit-ears antenna, TV Guide intends to be a comprehensive guide no longer.

The iconic 52-year-old magazine, which rode TV's popularity to become one of this country's best-read periodicals, announced plans on Tuesday to revamp completely. It will ditch most of its listings in favor of lifestyle and entertainment features with only selected programs showcased.

It also will expand from its robe-pocket digest format to standard magazine size as of its Oct. 17 edition, while slashing its weekly circulation by nearly two-thirds, promising advertisers just 3.2 million readers, down from a peak of 20 million in the early 1970s.

"This is an important moment in the history of TV, pop culture, and publishing," former TV Guide television critic Jeff Jarvis noted on his blog, buzzmachine.com. "This is the official end of the mass market."

Like the networks it covers, TV Guide has seen its audience age and decline, fragmented by the advent of increased competition and remote-control channel surfing.

Ironically, the publication that once boasted in ads that it was vital reading because TV was getting more complicated, is now being forced to change dramatically in part because TV got more complicated.

Many viewers, especially younger ones, have grown accustomed to consulting listings online or onscreen via cable systems and satellite TV providers along with digital video recorders such as TiVo.

TV Guide's listings, printed a week or more ahead of time, also were facing the challenge of becoming obsolete, or at least unwieldy, because of the proliferation of channels. It threatened to overwhelm the once tidy grid system of listings, making it look more like a telephone book than a program guide. At the same time, their reliability was challenged in recent years by networks' last-minute competitive schedule changes.

Link: Modern age overwhelms TV icon: South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

MediaPost Publications - Teens, Tweens Abandon TV, Study Finds Waning Interest In Television - 07/29/2005

NEW TV RESEARCH HAS DISCOVERED that young teens and tweens are less interested in TV as they get older. This is not to say that children aren't still enamored with television, according to new research by Packaged Facts, a division of

MarketResearch.com. Almost 80% of the 8- to 14-year-olds, or so-called tweens, "love" television. But that number drops to 60% in 12- to 14-year-olds. The research points out that the 8-14 audience gets "distracted" by other activities when watching the television. As they get older, other activities take up their interest--such as reading, listening to music, or mostly, surfing the Internet--while watching television. This research has found out what other studies have shown--the young people are masters at multi-tasking.

Perhaps aping conventional wisdom from parents or other adults, a significant minority of tweens say "watching too much TV is bad for you."

Packaged Facts says tweens and young teens control a purchasing power of $40 billion--and that if marketers want to take advantage of this, they should start shifting money to the Internet.

Link: MediaPost Publications - Teens, Tweens Abandon TV, Study Finds Waning Interest In Television - 07/29/2005.

Soon In Japan, It'll Be Raining Ads

We saw some examples of this kind of technology last year at SIGGRAPH and thought that it was very cool! Very much like the IBM Everywhere Display technology and a great deal more engaging then the standard video display's currently being used at retail.

After being bombarded by commercials on the way to work and watching promotions pop up on the Internet, the Japanese consumer could soon be hit by advertisements where they least expect it: on their hands.

Researchers are working on "information rain", taking advertisements to the realm of mock meteorology.

A projector on a tall tripod shows images of raindrops hitting the ground and making ripples, in hopes that people will enter the "rainy" area and hold out their palms.

A camera tracks the entrants' movements and sends the data to connected computers. Then the projector shoots out a round-shaped advertisement -- which can post words such as "SALE" -- right onto their hands

Link: Soon In Japan, It'll Be Raining Ads.

Conference: SIGGRAPH 2005

Once again, we're preparing to visit the SIGGRAPH conference. As always, we expect to be well energized from our trip and look forward to seeing the way cool things that they have there.

Experience astounding images, and learn how they were created. Interact with tomorrow's digital systems, and understand them. Meet the leading international innovators in computer graphics and interactive techniques, and share their knowledge.

At SIGGRAPH 2005, you'll find all the data, techniques, people, and inspiration you need for another successful year of research, development, creativity, and production.

Here are some of the interesting experiences that we will be reviewing once we're onsite:

conscious=camera. The reality we perceive is not a flow of flat images as a digital camera or video camera would output, but consciousness "of things." This project attempts to represent that consciousness. If the movement is slow, only the face and hands are shown: this is the consciousness of a static person. If the movement becomes more important, the face and hands disappear and the body begins to appear: this is the consciousness of a less distinguishable body in motion. A trailing effect makes each image integrate the "before" and "after" moments, which are components of the consciousness of movement. Each consciousness shown leaves a mark on the background, which will very slowly vanish. This represents the memory.

Color Enhanced Emotion. The Color-Enhanced Emotion system recognizes facial expressions and controls skin-pigment components using a real-time processor. The installation allows attendees to experience a system that will usher in a new era in communication and movie editing.

Kobito Virtual Brownies(How could I not be excited about brownies of any kind!). Virtual creatures called "Kobito" interact with real objects and real people. One common way to create imaginary, virtual creatures is to overlay computer graphics images on real scenes. But this method is not sufficient, because it allows people to only see the imaginary creatures. In Kobito: Virtual Brownies, imaginary creatures interact with the real world. They move real objects, and people interact with them through the real objects. The real objects function as a kind of "haptic interface." This technology can be used in the fields of design, amusement, and healthcare because it conveys haptic information in addition to the visual information that is delivered in current artificial life systems.

The Living Room. How does mobile technology change how classical forms of cathartic entertainment, particularly theater and puzzle games, can be realized? How can storytelling, gameplay, and mobile technology be combined to create a successful, coherent, and rich interactive piece? Game design is now using mobile technologies to explore the potential of the real world as a playing field. Drawing from the availability and advantages of digital video, wireless, and RFID technologies, this project seeks to transform traditional theater and puzzle-gaming experiences into a new type of entertainment experience.

TouchLight: An Imaging Touch Screen and Display for Gesture-Based Interaction. In this novel interactive display technology, the outputs of two video cameras behind a transparent projection display are combined to produce an image of objects on the display surface. An otherwise normal sheet of acrylic plastic is transformed into a high-bandwidth input/output surface suitable for gesture-based interaction.

Ubiquitous Graphics. This system supports collaboration and interaction with very large computer graphics images. Position-aware handheld displays function as "magic lenses" that allow seamless access to both overview and detail on a large display. In-place annotations and modifications can be added easily and are propagated throughout the system to facilitate multi-user collaboration.

This is really but a small sampling of some of the experiences we'll be having over the next few days. So look for updates all of this week!

newsobserver.com | Technology

Erik Robb's pockets are filled with the usual 10-year-old's loot - a Game Boy, Pokemon cards and holographic temporary tattoos he buys at a dollar store.

Then, there's the cell phone with the built-in flashlight, a birthday gift from his mother.

"If I have to give him some independence, that's a way to keep him next to me," said his mother, Mary Ebert-Robb.

Erik, who is headed to fifth grade at an Auburn charter school this fall, is the first of his friends to carry a cell phone, but he's not the first in his age group.Kids ages 10 to 14 are the fastest-growing segment of the population getting cell phones, according to Lewis Ward, a senior research analyst for IDC, a market research company in Framingham, Mass. About 5.8 million children in that age group carry cell phones and that number is expected to grow 22 percent next year, Ward said.

Children even younger are getting wired as well. About 400,000 kids ages 5 to 9 carry cell phones and 20 percent more will have them next year, Ward said. "With adults, those who are going to get them already have them," Ward said. "So it's a function of reaching younger and younger demographics. ... It's a relatively untapped market."

Cell phone and toy companies have noticed. Mattel is introducing a My Scene Barbie cell phone this summer, Disney will partner with Sprint next year to launch wireless phone service for kids, and a new company, Firefly Mobile, has begun selling glow-in-the-dark cell phones at Target stores.

Firefly, based in Chicago, is unabashedly targeting 8-to 12-year-olds, said chief executive Robin Abrams. "It's a unique demographic. They're not teenagers yet and they're not little kids," she said. "They're right at that breaking point when their lives get more complicated in terms of logistics and scheduling and they're just starting to go out on their own."

The phone caters to 'tweens by offering parents a certain amount of control with pre-paid minutes, buttons to call "Mom" and "Dad," and programmable incoming and outgoing calls. The Firefly Mobile phone, which sells for $99.99, also drops the distractions with no text messaging, video games or cameras, but amps up the "ooh" factor with fun ring tones, animation and flashing lights.

"Kids like the idea of being close to their parents," Abrams said. "It gives kids a higher level of confidence."

But Bernardo J. Carducci, a psychology professor at Indiana University Southeast, thinks young children with cell phones do the exact opposite. While he concedes phones are important and even necessary during emergencies, he worries children won't learn important decision-making skills if they're constantly calling mom or dad for advice.

"There are real big developmental concerns," he said, adding that instant gratification and the failure to learn how to plan ahead are also detriments.

David Anderegg, a child psychologist and author of a book on parenting anxiety, "Worried All the Time," thinks young children with cell phones are plain ridiculous.

"It's an unneccessary expense and I certainly don't think there's any good reason for kids to have cell phones," he said. "It gives a false sense of security in any case - middle school kids need to be supervised by adults and they should always be supervised by adults."

Jon-Paul Kuykendall, 13, of Orangevale, Calif., has been begging for a cell phone since he was a sixth-grader. But he's not getting one until he's a sophomore in high school and he starts driving, insists his mother, Diane Kuykendall.

"There just doesn't seem to be a need," she said, adding that her son has never been unable to reach her. "I think a cell phone is a tool for kids to learn how to use as a tool. It's not a social device."

Link: newsobserver.com | Technology.

Phony Purple Heart Taken Off Film Web Site

Seriously, is this the best use of Congressional time? Sometimes I think we've just lost our sense of humor...

Following complaints from a congressman, the producers of "Wedding Crashers" on Monday yanked from the movie's Web site a printable Purple Heart advertised as a gimmick to pick up women and get free drinks.

The movie characters -- played by Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn -- use the medals to pick up women. But advocates for a bill introduced by Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., say it's no joke -- impostors also use the fake medals or fraudulent stories of medals to get ahead in business.

"We understand the sensitivity regarding the medals and did not intend to make light of their significance in any way," New Line Cinema spokesman Richard Socarides said Monday.

Wearing, manufacturing, buying, selling or trading a Medal of Honor is a crime. Salazar's Stolen Valor Act, introduced Friday, would expand the law to include more medals and would allow prosecution of anyone who falsely claims to have earned a military medal or a Purple Heart.

His office drew attention to the Web site. On Monday, he claimed victory.

"If any movie-goers take the advice of the 'Wedding Crashers' and try to use fake Purple Hearts to get girls, they may wind up picking up an FBI agent instead," Salazar warned in a statement. "I am pleased that New Line Cinema has agreed to take down offensive parts of the Web site. Our veterans and FBI agents are working hard to make sure that we honor our true heroes, no one should undermine their efforts.

"The movie's Web site included a "Crasher Kit" with instructions on how to win attention at a wedding."Print your own Purple Heart," it invited. "To get one of these babies, some dudes have to prove their physical, mental and spiritual strength with great feats of bravery on the battlefield. All you need to do is press the button below.

"Socarides said it would be removed by the end of the business day. "This is a comedy, and it's intended to be funny," he said. "It's really not intended to offend anyone.

"Advocates for Salazar's bill praised the producers for altering the Web site. In a way, some said, the flap over the movie has helped by bringing attention to a cause they have been working on for years.

"With Hollywood you have to give them a little bit of license," said B.G. Burkett, one of the authors of the book "Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History," about fake Vietnam vets. "I'm hopeful Congressman Salazar's bill is going to go through, and it will put a clamp on the people who are doing this."

Link: Phony Purple Heart Taken Off Film Web Site.

For playboys and girls

Playboy turned 50 last year, and this year Playboy Enterprises Inc., New York, is celebrating with a new store in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas. Designed by WalkerGroup, New York, the 2,000-sq.-ft. prototype opened in May in the country's number one shopping venue, in terms of sales per square foot. Last year, Playboy's consumer products -- apparel, accessories, home fashions and jewelry licensed in 150 countries -- raked in more than $500 million worldwide. And Playboy magazine is the number one men's magazine with readership exceeding 3 million.

Playboy's new concept kicks off a new round of retail initiatives and design for future stores, in-store shops and freestanding lingerie stores aimed at trend-conscious 18- to 25-year-olds. "This concept store not only helps our business domestically, but helps us portray what the brand is internationally," comments Aaron Duncan, Playboy's senior vice president and creative director. "It's a great environment for us to be in, because everybody knows Caesar's," he continues, "and the glitz is perfect for us."

Click here to read the full story: For playboys and girls.

Experience the Message: MMM...MMM...BBQ

Max Lenderman has an excellent first-person review of his experience at the Weber Grill Restaurant. Many years ago, when I lived in Beaver Creek, CO, we ate at a place called the Minturn Country Club and they took this to the next level. It was a steakhouse where you picked your own cut from their butcher shop, gathered your spices and then cooked your own steak on a giant grill located in the middle of the restaurant! Now, that was an experience!

Erik Hauser of Swivel Media asked a rather simple question on the Experiential Marketing Forum yesterday, wanting to know what marketing "experience" EMF's readers have had recently. The question sparked a recent memory for me, specifically, a restaurant I passed in Chicago on the way to a Steel Pulse show at the House of Blues on State Street. That restaurant was called The Weber Grill Restaurant, and yes, it was a grand bow to experiential marketing and the future of brand marketing.

The restaurant is an homage to all things grill-related. It, and two other locations, are extensions of the Weber Grill. The brand already owns the backyard for many consumers. Now it seeks to make the grill into a gourmet experience. The Weber dining experience is boyued by Pavlovian sensory inputs that gets carnivores to imagine the same steaks, ribs and other BBQ fare on their very own Weber grill outside in the yard. The brand is truly experienced by the experiential marketing. It's also a pretty good revenue driver for Weber, which gladly serves up $40 steaks and $8 well drinks at the restaurants. Wow. It's marketing with immediate ROI -- about 100 tables turning over five times each night. (Nevermind the business lunches.) We're talking the Midwest here. They love their grills.�

The Weber Grill Restaurant is an extension of experiential retailing, such as the recent "pop-up retail" trend that has been making marketers rethink the way consumers want to experience the act of shopping. If two-thirds of all purchases are unplanned, as Paco Underhill contends, then why should retail be so static? This is a trend that sees a $200,000 lease of a vacant storefront in NYC turn into $10,000,000 worth of unpaid media exposure, as it did for Purina when it opened the Meow Mix Cafe last summer. This is the trend that allows an organization like Vacant to become a retailing pioneer, much like the London Fashion Bus or Target's pop-up stores.

So when is Nike going to open a hotel for the athlete-traveller? I would gladly pay double for a hotel room if I could shoot baskets before going to bed, take laps in an in-room jet pool, buy an official Olympic jersey at the gift shop, watch an Uzbeki wrestling match on TV (or any sporting event in the world at the moment), and work-out in the most state-of-the art facility in the city, go to an indoor driving range. Imagine the cool staff uniforms, wearing the freshest gear. Imagine the conceirge being able to get tickets to any game in town. Imagine Gatorade and Vector bars in the mini bar. Imagine running into sports pros in the elevator.

Can't a guy dream? When, Nike, oh when will you do it? Everybody else is going to. It's pure experiential marketing, y'all. Think of Camp Jeep. Versace has a hotel. Why not you too?

Link: Experience the Message: MMM...MMM...BBQ. He actually just launched his blog and he has some great posts there, so make sure you check it out!