A short idea about 21.12.12

12 steps of a phenomenal story

Chanced across this presentation whilst doing some story telling research. If you have the time to absorb it, it provides some great insights. For both sides of the fence.
(plus, great fun to read, as all preso's should be)

12 Essential Steps of a Phenomenal Story from Mauro D'Andrea

Augmented Reality | What's the story? (part 1)

There's a lot chatter about Augmented Reality at the moment. But what exactly is this enchanting new technology, that a recent a Juniper Research report suggested will yield annual revenues of $732million by 2014? 

How does it work? 

Does it have a real future and how can you begin to explore it for your brand? 

Read on…

What is it?

Like all new communication tech platforms, early adopters tend to get carried away and too technical with their lofty descriptions. So for the purpose of clarity,  let's define Augmented Reality simply as: 'the process of overlaying digital content onto a real life, physical environment, when viewed through camera enabled communication devices (CECD) : laptop, tablets and of course, smartphones.

How does it work?

There's 3 basic elements to an AR experience:

1. The Real Life Physical (RPE) environment: This is wherever you're standing in the world, and what ever you are looking at through your CECD. This could be a press or magazine ad, a building, a car, a sign, a person or even just a random 'space'. It doesn't matter, it can all be brought too life.

2. The Trigger: This is the 'agent' that talks to the application software and instructs it to pull the relevant content from the Cloud or Server, and place it over the RPE  in whatever way it has been created. The Trigger traditionally took the form of a Marker; a unique black and white shape that can be easily identified by the camera. However more recently, and more frequently, GPS and GPRS coordinates are being used as The Triggers. This development is behind the AR's quantum leap, from adolescence, to alpha-adult.

3. The Digital Content: This is the content that gets overlaid onto to RPE, and so 'augmenting' it as an experience. This content ranges in complexity from animated text, still photography and video files, through to 3D animated graphics, and interactive 3D content. 

Where is it being used?

The question should perhaps be, 'where isn't it being used?'. Such is its versatility. AR is predominantly a marketing and communications tool; used at POS, direct marketing, collateral, events, exhibitions, presentations and increasingly to add a new level of engagement in advertising. 

Yet with exciting frequency, the technology is now being franchised to improve and solve much more diverse problems such as customer service, out of home sampling (see virtual shopping video), out of store trial, gaming, travel and tourism services (see Olympic navigator video) and perhaps most important of all, medicine and health care. 

The more the businesses and brands start to understand how to use the AR formula, the more we are going to see its presence in all areas of our lives

Why is it being used?

The million dollar question. The why? In it's early days, AR solved the challenge of delivering a fresh and seemingly break thru experience to consumers. It didn't need to be clever or solve a real problem. The magic was in the newness. But as the tech curve starts to flatten out, that space has shrunk, requiring those committed to using AR to adopt a much more creative and strategic approach. 

Having created several AR projects over the last 2 years, I've always worked very closely in the planning stage with my clients to ensure the solution achieves at least one of the following:

1. solves a problem of complexity for the brand or for the consumer: (see the lego video)

2. solves a problem of scale: (see the Alstom video below)

3. Make the impossible, possible: (the Nat Geo video)

4. Stimulates a point of sale motivation in a way that no other media can (see the the Tissot/Selfridges video)

5. Makes a 2D communication experience 'genuinely' more engaging and impactful (see the Audi example)

Not forgetting of course, that any AR solution should always be built around the central themes of your brand, in 'ALL' its aspects. There's nothing more frustrating than seeing a clever AR idea that has little relevance to the brand. We call that the jelly at the party syndrome: it might look nice, but no-one ever touches it.

Here's some examples to help illustrate the 5 drivers:

1) Lego: Genius POS application that answers 1, 4 and 5. 

2)  Alstom: Remains one of the most epic examples of AR, especially it's example of smashing through the scale barrier!



3) The famous National Geo. Some might argue that this is not pure AR, but I disagree. It's magical, enchanting, and certainly makes the impossible, possible.



4) Tissot and the virtual sampling window. Add a whole new layer to out of hours shopping and competitor free trial.



5) Always ahead of the game, VW prove how much 'more' a press ad can become with AR. 



6) Calling all retailers...the potential of this needs no explanation!

7) Clever navigation app for the Olympics. For travel and tourism in general, the possibilities are phenomenal




Part 2 coming soon to address:

1) price vs value
2) creative development and planning tips 
3) The future of AR and why you need to be exploring it now 

To make sure you don't miss the follow up article, why not subscribe to our blog now, at the top right hand corner of the page.

C73 provides complimentary AR consultancy and planning sessions. If you'd like to talk to us and a get a more intimate low down of this technology and how it can be applied to your brand, then we're here to help. Contact us here.

To subscribe to The Stream, the C73 newsletter, and regularly receive free advice, tips  and ideas to keep your brand and digital comm's at the edge of the curve, click here

Brilliant. That is all....

Jonah Lehrer: The Origins of Creative Insight & Why You Need Grit from 99% on Vimeo.

Why does the "aha!" moment arrive only after we stop looking for it? At Behance's 99% Conference, Jonah Lehrer explains how creative insight works & what drives incredible achievements.

Desperately Seeking Self-Inspired Salvation?

I must be honest. I cannot recall when or where I read the meat of this post. Or who wrote it. Only that he/she/they inspired me enough to feel the need to pay them forward.


So for all you entrepreneurs out there, and anyone else Desperately Seeking Self-Inspired Salvation, the following 16 questions were written (by someone clearly with their finger pressed firmly on the aorta of life right now) as an alternative to getting clarity and conviction on any new business venture your might cooking up. 

1. Who are you trying to please?
2. Are you trying to make a living, make a difference, or leave a legacy?
3. How will the world be different when you've succeeded?
4. Is it more important to add new customers or to increase your interactions with existing ones?
5. Do you want a team? How big? (I know, that's two questions)
6. Would you rather have an open-ended project that's never done, or one where you hit natural end points? (How high is high enough?)
7. Are you prepared to actively sell your stuff, or are you expecting that buyers will walk in the door and ask for it?
8. Which: to invent a category or to be just like Bob/Sue, but better?
9. If you take someone else's investment, are you prepared to sell out to pay it back?
10. Are you done personally growing, or is this project going to force you to change and develop yourself?
11. Choose: teach and lead and challenge your customers, or do what they ask...
12. How long can you wait before it feels as though you're succeeding?
13. Is perfect important? (Do you feel the need to fail privately, not in public?)
14. Do you want your customers to know each other (a tribe) or is it better they be anonymous and separate?
15. How close to failure, wipe out and humiliation are you willing to fly? (And while we're on the topic, how open to criticism are you willing to be?)
16. What does busy look like?

Very cool. I for one, have them printed and posted up by my desk. They teach as well as shape. And avoid too much wanton sprinting into visceral and fad charged dead ends.

Be well. & Good things

CB

Selling the new cool. Great Article for a little right brain massaging...

Splitscreen. A Love Story. Brilliantly simple.

There is so much more behind the idea to this film,  than I reckon the Director got credit for. Very touching. 

Splitscreen: A Love Story from JW Griffiths on Vimeo.

The Art of Innovation Part 2...

Continued from previous post...Peter Druker inspired tips to keep your creativity flowing in the right direction:


6. Don't be afraid to polarize people: The Holy Grail of ideas, that means great things to all people, simply doesn't exist. And in seeking it you're almost guaranteeing mediocrity. Instead, create great things that make segments of people very happy. And don't worry if those things make others unhappy. Passionate reaction is the barometer of innovative success. Good or bad, the greater the better.


7. Break down barriers: Life isn't fair. Learn it and deal with it. The better your idea is, the more barriers the status quo will erect in your way. So don't get flustered if acceptance and traction comes slow. Embrace it. In fact the best way to break barriers is to get people to use, try and download whatever is you're creating. Listen. Learn. Tweak. Ship. 


8. "Let a hundred flowers blossom": (Stolen from Chairman Mao). Be flexible about how people use your ideas and products. The market may surprise you and find uses you never intended, or even thought about. (Did you know micro-blogging site Tumblr has become one of the largest free porn sites on the internet?) The lesson is to sow fields, not water boxes, and let those hundred flowers blossom.


9. Never ask people to do what you wouldn't do: Massive test for your company. And links back to points and 1 and 2 of Saturday's Part 1. Make it meaningful and practical. You wouldn't jump through hoops so don't expect customers to, either.


10. Don't let Doubters get you down: It's amazing how many people will tell you it's not worth doing, can't be done, shouldn't be done and isn't necessary. Sometimes its losers who are easy to ignore. Worse than that though are family and friends who hold some emotional equity over you. But the most dangerous of all are the rich, famous, and powerful: Because they are so successful, you may think they are right. They're not right. They are just successful on a previous curve so cannot comprehend, much bless embrace, the next curve that you are looking create, or at least redefine.

The Art of Innovation Part 1

...or maybe it's Rules. Either way, as the world economy continues to pull G's like a demented Switch Back, here's some Peter Drucker inspired tips to keep your innovative pursuits focussed and fruitful.


(Because like it or not, innovation creates wealth. Period.)


1. Build something that you want use/buy/have/see in the world: The idea that great innovation is the work of visionary entrepreneurs is, well, rubbish.  A more accurate theory is that people create things that they want to buy or use. It's not about being visionary. So if you want to be innovative, start with creating something you want to use.


2. Make meaning: Great innovations enable people to do old things better; do things they always wanted to do, and do things they never knew they wanted to do. Solve an existing problem, or better still, solve one that no-one knows exists yet. If it means 'something', it's got wings. 


3. Jump the next curve: If you're going up against a busy curve, chances are your enthusiasm, or cash flow, will run out before you see black numbers. True innovation plays out when you jump to the next curve - or better still, invent the next curve and ride it until the line gets to busy. Then jump to the next one. (Here's to my good friends at Virtuzone. They pole vaulted the curve and now lend countenance to countless others trying to do the same. And yes. It worked phenomenally)


4. Don't worry, be LTP: The first version of any new innovation is, by definition, work in progress and should, by unwritten law, have an element of an element of Less Than Perfect about it. If you wait for it to perfect, chances are the market will pass you by. 


5. Ship, evolve, reship: Staying LTP however, isn't cool. "Innovation is not an event, its a process": (Guy Kawasaki). Once you have shelf life; evolve, tweak, improve, update, expand. Welcome complaints and feedback from your stakeholders and customers. Yes,  it's always hard to field low blow's against your new born.  But one of the most powerful lessons for bootstrap innovators is to seek and welcome criticism...it's the fuel that keeps you curve jumping.


Part 2 to come....

A brief note on Faith

We don't test Faith. 
Faith tests us. 
From the inside out. 


To see if we're ready.


CB

The Opportunity is Now.

(I didn't write this. But it's brilliant. And quite possibly the most important and powerful articulation of the type of attitude needed to thrive as a professional, in these chaotic times.

With thanks again, to Seth Godin.

At the same time that our economic engines are faltering, something else is happening. Like all revolutions, it happens in fits and starts, without perfection, but it's clearly happening.

The mass market is being replaced by multiple micro markets and the long tail of choice.

Google is connecting buyers and sellers over vaster distances, more efficiently and more cheaply than ever before.

Manufacturing is more of a conceptual hurdle than a practical one.

The exchange of information creates ever more value, while commodity products are ever cheaper. It takes fewer employees to generate more value, make more noise and impact more people.

Most of all is this: every individual, self-employed or with a boss, is now more in charge of her destiny than ever before. The notion of a company town or a stagnant industry with little choice is fading fast.

Right before your eyes, a fundamentally different economy, with different players and different ways to add value is being built. What used to be an essential asset (for a person or for a company) is worth far less, while new attributes are both scarce and valuable.

Are there dislocations? There's no doubt about it. Pain and uncertainty and risk, for sure.

The opportunity, though, is the biggest of our generation (or the last one, for that matter). The opportunity is there for anyone (with or without a job) smart enough to take it--to develop a best in class skill, to tell a story, to spread the word, to be in demand, to satisfy real needs, to run from the mediocre middle and to change everything.

¡Note! Like all revolutions, this is an opportunity, not a solution, not a guarantee. It's an opportunity to poke and experiment and fail and discover dead ends on the way to making a difference. The old economy offered a guarantee--time plus education plus obedience = stability. The new one, not so much. The new one offers a chance for you to take a chance and make an impact.

Note! If you're looking for 'how', if you're looking for a map, for a way to industrialize the new era, you've totally missed the point and you will end up disappointed. The nature of the last era was that repetition and management of results increased profits. The nature of this one is the opposite: if someone can tell you precisely what to do, it's too late. Art and novelty and innovation cannot be reliably and successfully industrialized.

In 1924, Walt Disney wrote a letter to Ub Iwerks. Walt was already in Hollywood and he wanted his old friend Ubbe to leave Kansas City and come join him to build an animation studio. The last line of the letter said "PS I wouldn't live in KC now if you gave me the place—yep—you bet—Hooray for Hollywood." And, just above, in larger letters, he scrawled, "Don't hesitate—Do it now."

It's not 1924, and this isn't Hollywood, but it is a revolution, and there's a spot for you (and your boss if you push) if you realize you're capable of making a difference. Or you could be frustrated. Up to you.

Confluence Thoughts

I was clumsily trying to explain to my wife this morning, why this project inspires and annoys me in equal measures. I think the answer lies hidden somewhere amongst the barriers we place around our own moments of genius. Those illuminating ideas, thoughts and notions we tingle over in private, yet never see the light of day. Muffled by delusions of unworthiness. Dimmed by fear of success. Shackled by misguided expectations of failure. Judgement. Ridicule.


What if...we'd all given every idea we had, a chance? 


What if...we start today?


PS What he says is equally as inspiring as what he photographed.

Bust them by mobile

Definition of madness: "doing the same thing and expecting different results".


(Dear people in charge of minimizing bloodshed on UAE roads, read above.)


Idea: Busted by Mobile...www.nameandshame.com


How about setting up an online service that allows 'virtual citizen arrests', via mobile phone photographic evidence? We can't stop in our cars. And remembering number plates and telling tales won't cut it. But you know what they say, "a picture busts a stupid driver."


The photo of this moron (White Lexus plate #A4919) was taken in my car a few days back, by a  colleague. In fact the day after the 120 car pile up that killed 5 people! Case in point...at one point I could smell the drivers breath he was so close. 


Maybe if we all knew that evidence of such irresponsibility and blatant disregard for human life had a formal place to be sent, reviewed and potentially acted upon, a) we'd feel more empowered to protect ourselves, and b) maybe, just maybe, idiots like this might think twice about putting his own, and other people's lives at risk! 

Lexus Plate # A4919

The Socialization of Nature's Pests

(These are just thoughts, after all. But hey, they're there to be shared...)

Scrolling down through my Facebook wall the other morning, I found myself astonished at how much of themselves people are now willing to volunteer. Myself included.

Ideas, thoughts, emotions, suggestions, opinions, loves, hates, recommendations, cautions, do's, dont's, oohh's, ahh's and everything in between.

What's more, the nature and timing of many of the posts exhibit an ever shrinking period of 'consideration', between Creating and Sharing. As if we've reached a new level of spontaneity. A new level of comfort and confidence to share with instinct and altruism.

The social cynics may sneer and jape at this new level of transparency.com, but personally I think it poses a much more exciting question: Has our New Social Order started to bloom into the majesty that Nature intended it for?

Read me out...

On reflection, the only other candidate I can think of that demonstrates the same degree of innocent spontaneity is, well, Nature herself. In all aspects; good, bad, awesome and terrifying. But over the years, mankind's well documented history of fxxxing things up, slowly led to our unique isolation from this most precious of Nature's laws.

But as we all know, and are seeing with increasing frequency across the world, Nature takes and creates, and knows no limitation when needs must. And in our case, Needs have most certainly Must, for many, many years.

So perhaps, in Her own fantastic way, the inspiration and genius behind the creation of the Social Web phenomenon is another of Nature's tricks. A deliberate and timely gift that has allowed mankind to reestablish - on our own terms and in our own time - that level of interconnectivity, transparency and unification that once upon a time, made her, and us, the envy of the Universe.

Good things.

CB

PS PLEASE click the follow box to your right (if you like).

Turning left up Change Street

Sunday mornings are often quite low affairs (for those living and working in the Middle East, given that Sunday is, and has always been the new Monday).  The  mind, soothed by the fairness and freedom of the weekend, is abruptly spun into life by the deadlines and to do lists of the working week.

This morning was no exception.  Right up until I instinctively decided to take a different route to work. Instead of turning right onto the brutal highway of another week, this morning I swept left on to a much more soothing beach road, of another sun kissed morning.

The difference to the day that this small and seemingly insignificant change in behavior has made, has been quite remarkable. For the first time in a long time I've brought my A game to a Sunday (and everything that goes with it). And all it took was a left turn, that's been there all along.

My point? Too often in these manic times, our omni-wired-super-charged minds cheat us out of the power of simplicity. Sometimes, the things we need change to create the life we want, are right there in front of us. As simple as a left-turn.

Simple wisdom for an epic New Year.

In this interconnected universe, every improvement we make in ourselves and in our private world, improves the world at large for everyone. We all float on the collective level of consciousness of mankind so that any increment we add comes back to us. We all add to our common buoyancy by our efforts to benefit life. What we do to serve life automatically benefits all of us because we're all included in that which is life. We are life. It's a scientific fact that "what is good for you is good for me".

Simple kindness to one's self and all that lives is the most powerful transformational force of all. So as we march on through 2011, let's carry this small but powerful sentiment with us, to keep us looking up and out for one another, as we go about doing the best we can.

Good things and Happy New Year.

CB 
@confluence