Augmented Reality

A few weeks ago I attended the national Direct Marketing Association’s annual convention at McCormick place here in Chicago with some colleagues.  In all my years of direct marketing, this was the first time of attending and I was curious to see how good old fashioned direct marketing was being represented in the new digital era.  My own work with clients has changed drastically over the last decade, and I wanted to see if the DMA had kept pace with that change.

I attended several fascinating sessions, but the one that was most intriguing was a session about the latest mobile technologies, including augmented reality trends.  Augmented reality is a view of the real-world in real time that has been “augmented” or enhanced by computer-generated sensory input.  More specifically, augmented reality uses the camera on your smart phone to overlay information on your field of view that you see through your smart phone.

IKEA uses augmented technology with its catalog and a smart phone to let customers see what specific pieces of will look like in your own room at home.  Way better than taping a catalog picture of a table to the wall in your dining room to see if it looks good!!

Check out this IKEA video.

Even more practical, and useful, is what Audi has done in Germany using augmented reality to create a new version of an owner’s manual.  I recently got a new car, and it’s a different brand from my old car.  The other day, a strange light appeared on the dashboard.  I flipped through the owner’s manual to no avail.  Then, I took a picture of it and texted it to my husband, who told me I needed to fill my tire immediately!  Audi’s new owner’s manual eliminates the need for a handy husband (at least when it comes to cars).

Audi's Augmented Reality.

Of course, my mind went wild thinking of applications for our clients, and in my everyday life.   How about an app showing how your home would look with new energy efficient lighting, or new energy efficient appliances, along with an estimate of how much you could save based on how many lights you have in the room?  How about scanning an item from the grocery store, and getting some recipe ideas or even better, seeing the cooked item on a dish at your kitchen counter?  For now, I’ll settle for looking at my living room through my smart phone and seeing it cleaned up, instead of looking like this:

Amazing how much chaos a two-year-old can get accomplish in a very short amount of time…

Your Brand's True Colors

I have an 8 year old daughter who is currently into those paper “fortune teller” gizmos.  Remember, the ones you make yourself out of a piece of paper and operate with your index fingers and thumbs? Your “client” chooses a color, then another color, then a number, and presto, your fortune is revealed. This article about brands and colors made me think of her fortune teller game.  Maybe her fortunes can really tell a person something about themselves if she includes some of this wisdom.  What do your colors say about you?

YOUR BRAND'S TRUE COLORS

BizBash Social Media Workshop

On Wednesday we went to BizBash IdeaFest in Chicago and participated in a workshop organized by @IanSohn from Ogilvy & Mather on Social Media for Event Marketing. Ian’s presentation was Event-specific, but his ideas could also be implemented into any marketing plan. We discussed the importance of including social media – not as a tag-a-long after-thought to the overall effort – but having it's own agenda and specific purpose. Social media can be looked at as a way to ignite an entire campaign, promotion or event. It stretches the reach to include a larger audience… including virtual attendees, consumers, etc. through "word of mouth". These were my favorite take-aways:

PRE (Event, Campaign, Promotion)

– Establish a calendar – then tear it up

This point really resonated with me. I think it's great to have a plan but it takes away the essence of the vehicle to know what you're going to say ahead of time. We don't need to tweet just to tweet – it's better to be moved to. It can be what makes your tweet ring true – that something you saw or heard or experienced is something worth sharing. Basically, have a plan but be prepared that you probably won't follow it.

DURING

– 80/20 rule: Don't be boring

I like having rules to follow and this 80/20 breakdown is a great rule of thumb. 80% of your content should be relevant information, what's happening, what's engaging you, what you're interested in (and seeing and doing and hearing). Save the other 20% for self or brand promotion. Also, the best content is serendipitous – not planned!

POST

– Generate an Impact Report: How many tweets, re-tweets, favorites, shares, comments, likes, uploads etc.

To me, one of the best things about social media is the ability to track activity. Simply by including a #hashtag, we can search for content and record the results. How many people are interacting with Eire Direct? Our clients? Our creative??? What are they saying? These answers are so easy to collect – they are right there at your fingertips.

The main thing, you need a plan. It can and should be simple. It should allow people to exercise their own creativity and experience – but with a little added direction and forethought. Social media efforts can be everyone's job, or no one's job – so be clear about your objective and assign responsibilities accordingly.

New Year. New Website.

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Thanks for visiting. We hope to hear from you soon.

Choosing Colors

The Creative/Production Team here at Eire often gets feedback regarding color choices. I came across an interesting article today that summarizes color and how different colors evoke different emotions. When we use a color and you’re not sure why, know there is reasoning and meaning behind every color we choose.

Click here to read the article.