Room 121, "Sleep Seasons"

In most hotels, the rooms have the same standard look. They have similar carpeting, furniture, and pictures on the walls. In Copenhagen’s Hotel Fox, however, each room is a unique art exhibit.  

Twenty-one artists designed the hotel’s 61 rooms. Room 504, called “Boxing,” features decorative boxing gloves and trophy case. Room 121, “Sleep Seasons,” has a makeshift tent pitched over the bed and a forest mural adorning the walls.

When guests arrive, they choose which room they want to stay in based on their personality and mood. The result is a fun and individualized experience.

The hotel’s unusual theming was created as a publicity stunt by Volkswagen. In 2005, Volkswagen was in Copenhagen unveiling its new Fox model. The auto maker knew industry journalists would be visiting to cover the unveiling, so VW took over the existing Park Hotel, brought in the artists to redesign, and renamed the hotel after the Fox.

The redesign was so successful in attracting attention that after Volkswagen’s stunt was over, the hotel’s owners kept the theming and name change.

eBay's holiday pop up store

A week before Black Friday, eBay launched a pop up store in one of the busiest, trendiest shopping locations in the world: 57th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan. The store was open for nine days. It sold no merchandise. It was created solely as a reminder that people don’t have to wait in line and battle crowds to get their holiday shopping done. They can shop more cheaply and easily with eBay online.

Inside the 57th Street location

Inside the 5,500 square foot store, trend experts and personal shoppers taught visitors how to navigate eBay’s website. Displays showcased the kinds of items customers could buy, such as laptops, designer shoes, and vintage Ray Ban sunglasses.

By occupying a three-dimensional space, eBay allowed customers to interact with and experience its brand. The pop up location allowed them to do this without the cost or commitment of a permanent store.

When you walk into Clo wine bar in Manhattan, the first thing you notice isn’t the way technology maximizes a small space. The first thing you notice is the center table.

Interactive tabletop

The long table appears to be composed of multiple touch screens that allow customers to scroll through the bar’s wine list. What kind of technology is inside the table? There isn’t any. It’s a regular white coriander countertop. The technology is embedded in the ceiling above.

Three ceiling-mounted projectors turn the tabletop into a showcase of digital wine bottles. An infrared sensor (also in the ceiling) tracks customers’ hand movements, enabling them to scroll through the different choices. When a bottle is selected, its image is enlarged and information about that particular wine — such as the cost, year it was made, where it was produced, and tasting notes scribed by Clo’s sommeliers —  is displayed on the table.

According to Hunter Tura, managing director of 2×4, Inc., the design firm that designed Clo, the interactive tabletop was “a way to . . . advance the self-guided nature of exploring the wine selections.” (The architect of record was Gensler and the technology was developed in association with Potion). The self-guided nature Tura mentions is also demonstrated by the way Clo serves wine.

"Enomatic" wine dispenser

When customers enter the bar, they run their credit card with a sommelier and receive a branded Clo card. The Clo card keeps track of which wines they’ve tried and how much they’ve spent. Customers swipe the card at one of the self-serve “Enomatic” wine dispensers and make a selection (think high-brow vending machines). The dispensers, which line the walls of the space, then fill their glasses with tasting pours.  

By integrating technology with design, Clo adds new functionality to conventional fixtures. The table becomes interactive and educational. The walls become self-serve displays. The result is efficient service and a memorable experience.

(Thanks, Brian Smith)

LA Kings' Ice Rider

Many brands create exciting in-store experiences with design and entertainment. Unfortunately, some of them fail to convert that excitement into sales. Often, it’s because the point of purchase is hidden or disconnected from the otherwise engaging in-store experience.

To sell hockey tickets, the Los Angeles Kings knew they had to make their point of purchase more visible. They created a branded ice cream truck that is one part road show, one part traveling ticket booth.

The truck, called the Ice Rider, is decorated with flashy team logos and graphics. It parks at public events and attracts people with free ice cream and entertainment. On one side of the Ice Rider, there is a giant plasma screen where visitors can play Xbox. On the opposite side, mounted flat screens air Kings’ highlight footage. There is also a green screen photo booth operated by a street team. People who have their photo taken receive it in an email that links to a branded website.  

Amidst the entertainment, the truck lets fans buy game tickets from an on-board kiosk. There is no separation between the point of purchase and the entertainment. The Ice Rider gets fans excited about the Kings, and gives them the opportunity to buy right then and there.

In case of "fear attack."

Not all barriers are physical. In the airline industry, one of the barriers standing between carriers and prospects is fear. Fear of flying. According to The New York Times, 40% of people have flying anxiety. Some people’s anxiety is strong enough to keep them from flying at all.

Virgin Atlantic saw this barrier as an opportunity. If they could help people overcome their fear, they’d win business from, and build loyalty in, customers no other airline could reach. To do this, Virgin created an iPhone app, “Flying Without Fear.”

The app, which costs five dollars, includes two videos: one, an introduction from Virgin founder, Richard Branson; the other, an eleven-minute explanation of the in-flight experience, from takeoff to landing. The app also includes relaxation exercises, answers to common questions, and a “fear attack” button to alleviate midflight anxiety. (Hitting the button triggers a breathing exercise and message that reads: “This is natural. We know you’re scared. You will be ok.”)  

By using the app, is there any doubt that people taking their first successful flight will remain Virgin customers for life?

All brands should take note. Consider finding spots where your prospects and customers suffer. Ask yourself: “How can I help them get over their difficulty?” and “How can I do it in a way that’s practical for my business?”

Technology by itself is neutral. It’s how the technology is used that’s key.  

At Adobe Max 2009, Adobe’s user conference, musician John Mayer unveiled the video for his song “Heartbreak Warfare.” It’s the first music video ever to use Augmented Reality.

Adobe’s CTO Kevin Lynch demonstrated how the technology creates a visual experience that puts fans “inside” the video as lumbering onscreen giants behind a tiny virtual John Mayer.  

The technology is exciting but, as Mayer points out, the viewer experience depends on technology and content working together.

Augmented Reality, he says, “is great, but if you can get a song in there and actually have an artistic experience, then I think that would be the best you could possibly achieve.”

(Thanks, DG)

Want to effect your customers’ behavior in a major way? Make the thing they’re striving towards fun.

As part of its new campaign “The Fun Theory,” Volkswagen converted the stairs in a Stockholm subway station into functioning piano keys. Each step played a different note. Walking up the staircase became an opportunity to play a little ditty. The result: 66% more commuters than usual used the stairs instead of the escalator.

Another part of the campaign included equipping a trash can with cartoon sound effects. Every time someone threw out a piece of trash, a high-pitched whistle sounded (think Wile E. Coyote falling off a cliff).

The sound effect got people curious. They wanted to hear the odd whistle again, so they picked up litter off the ground and threw it away. In one day, the Fun Theory trash can collected 90 more pounds of trash than any neighboring trash can.

Both initiatives nudge people towards a positive behavior — not because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s the fun thing to do.

In an interview with Harvard Business School’s online publication Working Knowledge, HBS professor Sunil Gupta discusses why companies shouldn’t buy advertising on social networking sites:

“The click-through rate of ads on social networking sites is extremely low . . . because people don’t go to these sites to seek information about specific products.” They’re there to look at photos and communicate with friends. So, rather than looking to older advertising-based models of reaching people, like static ads, companies should try viral campaigns that focus on active things, like contests and giveaways.

Say, for example, Dell wants to promote a new laptop on Facebook. Dell can pay to advertise and accept that most people won’t notice the ad. Or, they can give away free laptops to several fans on Facebook. The cost of the computers is probably less than the cost of advertising, and the giveaway is much more effective at getting people talking about the brand within the network.

The lesson: Use the cash you would’ve spent advertising your product at customers and put the money towards something that directly benefits them.

The wine company, Carlo Rossi, is holding a contest with a $10,000 grand prize. Information about the contest can be found on the company’s Facebook page. To win, people have to read a little bit about the company’s “legendary” founder. They have to answer a few quick questions, like what’s their favorite sport or TV show. Then, contest entrants have to write a one hundred word essay about why they should be chosen to lead “the Carlo Rossi Posse.”

The contest lets people interact with the brand, generates entertaining content, and gathers information about what the company’s customers like. The approach is more valuable to both Carlo Rossi and its fans, and is more cost-effective.   

(photo via Wired)

"The Taste of Yellow Chocolate" spokesman, Josh Winger

Last year, New Zealand’s yellow pages, known as Yellow, created a publicity stunt that got people talking. The company built a tree house restaurant only using businesses found in its listings.   

Now, Yellow has launched a reality TV-inspired campaign with a similar premise. The campaign, called “The Taste of Yellow Chocolate,” stars 27-year-old spokesman Josh Winger. Winger, a former photocopier salesman, will have six months to create, manufacture, advertise, and distribute a chocolate bar that “tastes like yellow.”

Josh has no related experience, but was selected for his “Kiwi ‘can-do’ attitude.”

On the campaign’s website, he asks for feedback. Should his chocolate have more conventional “yellow” influences like honey or vanilla? Or, should it taste like a sunset or a VW Beetle? 

The website also features blog posts, pictures, and video updates. Videos show Josh behind the scenes touring his new office, contemplating how to fix the toilet, and buying a computer. He also posts updates on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

The campaign adds relevance to the phone book as a printed artifact. It also adds value to Yellow’s customers by listing every business Josh uses on the entertaining website.

“If your business isn’t in Yellow,” Josh says, “then people like me won’t be ringing you.” Clearly, the company is banking on its spokesman’s likability.

Like a TV show, the campaign draws people in with plot, character, and conflict. Will the public like his chocolate? Will he rise to the challenge? Will he complete the project in time? Stay tuned to find out.

Children learning to drive at ten years old? That’s the goal of the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy.  

Located in the UK, the academy offers kids as young as ten a variety of packages designed to teach them car handling and road safety. There’s also a package designed to give parents the confidence and patience to teach their child how to drive, and a program that prepares older teens for their licensing exams.

The academy’s website serves as an additional resource for young drivers. There, they can find out information like what to expect from their driver’s test, how to book it, and the cost.  

For those that have already passed the test, the site offers tips such as what to do in case of an emergency and advice on buying a car.

The site advises: “It’s really great to get a car similar to the one you learned or are learning in. You will be familiar with the car and you will have become accustomed to parking and turning, for example already.”

Beyond this strong hint, the driving academy doesn’t explicitly push its students to buy Mercedes-Benz. Rather, it embeds the Mercedes name in their memories and establishes the brand as an authority that can be trusted.

There are 159  Hard Rock Cafes  in places as widespread as Bahrain, Fiji, and Ho Chi Ming City. Each location displays rock relics from the company’s 70,000-piece collection (the most prized relic being the Hard Rock’s first  – Eric Clapton’s red Fender guitar).

So, what do you do if you want to see an artifact from their collection, but you’re not near the location housing it? The Hard Rock has solved that problem (in Las Vegas, at least) through digital signage.

In the Hard Rock Cafe Vegas Strip, there’s an eighteen-foot-long HD touch screen called the Rock Wall. The Rock Wall allows visitors to tour the restaurant’s locations and explore the memorabilia collection virtually. A deep zoom feature can give you a close enough look at the relics to see the tears in Jimi Hendrix’s coat or where the paint’s chipping on Slow Hand’s Fender.

(Thanks John. Thanks Kristen).

People don’t want blanket messaging. They want information that pertains directly to them. To provide this, marketers are using more “invasive” approaches.

For example, a new billboard for Castrol Oil in London offers motor oil recommendations, whether you asked for them or not.  

Here’s how it works.

As you’re driving, a high speed camera snaps a photo of your car’s license plate. The plate is matched to your particular vehicle through a database maintained by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). Two seconds later, the roadside digital billboard broadcasts your license plate number and the proper Castrol motor oil for your vehicle.

The sign will help people protect the health of their cars while saving them time choosing the right (Castrol) product in the automotive aisle. According to dailydooh.com, the personalized message is only broadcasted for 7.5 seconds and no plate information is recorded. Still, the tradeoff of privacy for personalization could be unsettling for some.

The definition of privacy is changing. Will people be willing to sacrifice a degree of privacy for more helpful, customized messaging?

"Thanks for the recommendation, billboard. Now when should I rotate these tires?"

We wrote about the British company Bompas & Parr when they introduced the world to the walk-in gin and tonic. Now, the culinary events company is taking immersive cocktails one step further with a drink so big you can row a boat across it. It’s called the Architectural Punch Bowl.

The Architectural Punch Bowl follows the lead of England’s admiral Edward Russell. In 1694, Russell, the First Lord of the Admiralty, threw a party for his fellow officers. To impress the guests, he filled his garden fountain with 250 gallons of brandy, 125 gallons of wine, 1,400 pounds of sugar, 2,500 lemons, and 20 gallons of lime juice. A boy filled guests’ cups from a row boat.  

Now, Bompas & Parr, in association with Courvoisier, is holding a contest to find the best cocktail recipe made with VSOP Courvoisier Exclusif cognac. In November, a panel of judges will select the winning recipe, which will be used to fill an enormous punchbowl inside 33 Portland Place (pictured to the left) in London.

As of right now, the actual size, design, and materials of the massive punch bowl are still in the works.

Bompas & Parr are working with the University College London to answer questions like: How do you make a building food-safe? And, what technology could be used to keep the enormous beverage chilled at the right temperature?

The Architectural Punch Bowl will allow the public to have a cup of punch and step on-board a row boat for a quick paddle across the biggest punch bowl ever made.

The event will raise money for the architectural charity Article 25, which provides building expertise to aid agencies and communities in need.

The Architectural Punch Bowl demonstrates that experiences can be temporary. A temporary installation can pop up, generate customer excitement, and then disappear before becoming old hat.

(thanks to Sam Bompas for the photos.)

In today’s social media world, people have become addicted to sharing. They want to share information and opinions. They want to tell one another what they’re thinking and doing. Digital signage can play a role.

As an example, look at what Coldwell Banker did. To promote its realty service, the company erected an interactive billboard in Times Square, which prompts passersby to use the board as a real-estate search tool.

Viewers dial an on-screen phone number, text the word “homes,” and add in the zip code of the geographical area they’d like to search. Soon, house listings and photos from that area appear on the billboard. Their search goes public. Conversations and debates begin. Coldwell Banker is suddenly in people’s heads.

This principle is all about sharing in public. To incorporate it into your experience, think about the choices your customers have to make – especially those choices which prompt discussion (Obviously, nothing too sensitive). How can digital signage help your customers think things through with others?

By now, we’ve all heard about global warming and the importance of living eco-friendly lives. But, how do you get through to people who are immune to Al Gore? Get their attention with the oldest trick in the book: sassy models.

Angry Green Girl is a website that offers greener living tips, product reviews, and social networking. The site features videos of sarcastic spokes-models who claim to be “shamelessly exploiting everything” to save the world. 

To commemorate the site’s launch, Angry Green Girl hosted a car wash in Los Angeles. The car wash featured waterless green cleaners and swimsuit-clad models. The models offered free washes for people driving electric or hybrid cars.

Now, using models to promote products and events is no new tactic. But, Angry Green Girl’s approach is interesting because it applies a “lowest common denominator” approach to a high brow social cause. The idea is simple, but smart.

By acknowledging the exploitive, “shameless” marketing approach and justifying it as for the greater good, the site tempers its superficiality with intelligence. We’ll see if it works.  

Travelers Insurance is using redundancy and impressionistic digital imagery to get customers’ attention.  

At the Minneapolis - St. Paul Airport, the insurance company has installed four screens. Each screen bears an identical image – the company’s trademark red umbrella. When the airport hallway is empty, the screens look like carbon copies. But, as soon as people walk by the images morph and interact with them in a fun way.  

The big digital umbrellas scatter into hundreds of small leaves and slowly reform, until somebody else passes by.

If there was only one screen, it would easily be ignored. People would walk by and not notice. By having four screens, Travelers has an enveloping presence. In addition, the umbrellas send the message that Travelers’ coverage is flexible and responds directly to customers’ needs.

The signage is more about leaving an impression than explicitly stating facts. You don’t always have to tell customers that you’re there. Sometimes you can subtly show them. 

(Thanks, Scott.)

The above video showcases the work of EasyWeb, a French company that creates “Monumental Video Projections.” To produce the projections, EasyWeb first maps the building’s exterior using architectural plans, photographs, and laser quotation. The laser quotation process allows them to calculate distances and map minute details of the structure.

Once the mapping is complete, they recreate the building’s exterior on a PC using 3D software. 3D software is also used to create the dynamic effects and graphics of the projection show.  

Finally, light “beamers” project the 3D effects onto the façade.

“Our technology is ‘very handmade,’” says EasyWeb’s PR & Project Manager, Pierre Caulet. “Like fashion designers, the production team creates unique video shows [which play] with volumes and architecture.”

EasyWeb’s goal is to create a new event marketing approach. The company delivers a spectacular visual experience sure to attract crowds and get people talking. We look forward to seeing how brands will use emerging video projection. What will they say and do for their customers once they’ve gotten their attention? A question like that’s important to answer ahead of time.  

(Thanks, Shawn T.)

Melissa Allison’s article in The Seattle Times discusses a new effort by Starbucks to de-Starbucks itself.

The coffee giant’s store on 15th Avenue in Seattle is getting a name change and a makeover. The store, which will be called “15th Avenue Coffee and Tea,” has been remodeled in a “rustic, eco-friendly style” that features salvaged woods and antique theatre seats. The shop will host live music and poetry readings, and serve local wine and beer. The intention is to give Starbucks a neighborhood feel.

Two other Seattle-area Starbucks are slated to be remodeled and take on names relevant to their respective neighborhoods.  If the pilot goes well, Starbucks plans on trying the strategy out in other markets.

With the new stores, Starbucks is clearly giving “authenticity” a go. Is it the right move?

Yesterday, we wrote about Clay Shirky’s idea that technology doesn’t become interesting until it gets boring. Once people understand a technology’s function, they can focus on putting it to use in creative ways. A perfect example of this idea is the music video for the Japanese band, Sour.

Sour’s video for the song “Hibi No Neiro,” is posted on hundreds of blogs and (as of this writing) has received 660,000 views on YouTube alone.

How’d they get so many people to take notice? They didn’t need HD cameras or CGI. Instead, they relied on fan collaboration, commonplace technology, and choreography.   

Dozens of fans were instructed to film themselves with web cams as they performed choreographed moves — taking a photo, spinning in their chairs, holding up a piece of paper. They sent their videos to a team of directors who weaved the segments together. The result is a unique video mosaic that uses “boring” web cam technology to connect people in new ways.

In his TED talk, “How Social Media Can Make History,” author and technology expert Clay Shirky explains: “Tools don’t get socially interesting until they get technologically boring. It isn’t when the shiny new tools show up that their uses start permeating society. It’s when everybody is able to take them for granted.”

Shirky’s comment reminds us of two technology mistakes companies make:

1. They focus on attention-grabbing technology when they should focus on people. Serving people is technology’s purpose, and it should act as a facilitator rather than a star attraction.
2. They ignore emerging technology and stand pat with older technological solutions that once worked, but no longer do. Technological ignorance puts them behind the curve when these “shiny new tools” become socially adopted and engrained.

Shirky closes his presentation with a reality check and a call to action:

“Media is less and less often about crafting a single message to be consumed by individuals. It is more and more often a way of creating an environment for convening and supporting groups. . . And the choice we face, I mean anybody who has a message they want to have heard anywhere in the world, isn’t whether or not that is the media environment we want to operate in. That’s the media environment we’ve got. The question we all face now is, ‘How can we make the best use of this media? Even though it means changing the way we’ve always done it.’”