The team at Contagious Magazine spends its days finding, filtering and reviewing the most innovative exercises in branding, technology, and popular culture, and delivering our collective wisdom to our ...
The team at Contagious Magazine spends its days finding, filtering and reviewing the most innovative exercises in branding, technology, and popular culture, and delivering our collective wisdom to our beloved subscribers.
Once a year, we round up the highlights, tell you what's important and why, and push it out to the world, for free.
Welcome to Most Contagious, the only retrospective you'll ever need. Available on a beautiful website here: http://www.mostcontagious.com
MOST CONTAGIOUS 2011 Cover image: Take This LoLLipop / Jason Zada
most contagious / p.02 / mosT ConTagious 2011 / subsCripTion oFFer / 20% disCounT FuTure-prooFing your brain vaLid unTiL 9Th January 2012 offering a saving of £200 gBPchapters / Contagious exists to find and filter the most innovative01 / exercises in branding, technology, and popular culture, andmovemenTs deliver this collective wisdom to our beloved subscribers.02 / Once a year, we round up the highlights, identify what’s importantproJeCTs and why, and push it out to the world, for free.03 /serviCe Welcome to Most Contagious 2011, the only retrospective you’ll ever need.04 /soCiaL It’s been an extraordinary year; economies in turmoil, empires05 / torn down, dizzying technological progress, the evolution ofidenTiTy brands into venture capitalists, the evolution of a generation of06 / young people into entrepreneurs…TeChnoLogy It’s also been a bumper year for the Contagious crew. Our07 / Insider consultancy division is now bringing insight and inspirationdaTa to clients from Kraft to Nike, and Google to BBC Worldwide. We08 / were thrilled with the success of our first Now / Next / Why eventaugmenTed in London in December, and are bringing the show to New York09 / on February 22nd. Grab your ticket here.money We’ve added more people to our offices in London and New10 / York, launched an office in India, and in 2012 have our sightshaCk CuLTure firmly set on Brazil. Latin America, we’re on our way. Get ready!11 /musiC 2.0 We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our friends, supporters and especially our valued subscribers, all over the12 / world. We look forward to another great year together.video13 / The more information there is out there, the more the filters arereTaiL important – and we like to think Contagious is the best filter in the Contagious / Full of Tomorrow / ad business. Future-proof your brain with the Most Contagious. Magazine / Online / FEED / Special Reports / Consultancy / Events /14 /gaming Think about it. Talk about it. Share it with everyone you know. Special Offer to readers of the Most Contagious 2011 report – Enjoy! Subscribe to Contagious Magazine/Online before 9 January 2012 and save 20%.15 /pubLishing Visit http://shop.contagiousmagazine.com/subscriptions.php to subscribe now / The Contagious Team www.contagiousmagazine.com / E: sales@contagiousmagazine.com /16 /design supported by
most contagious / movements / p.03 01 / mosT ConTagious / movemenTs / The new worLd orderchapters / What a year. It’s difficult to grasp what caused UK, a group of disenfranchised young people The internet did not create the Arab Spring, or01 / such momentous change around the world took to the streets to burn and steal, for reasons the riots in London, or even Occupy Wall Street.movemenTs this year, but it’s certainly been contagious... still not entirely clear. (The operative failure of However, there’s no doubting it has forever02 / government, education, policing, the family and changed the ways in which we make ourselves One by one, most power structures cameproJeCTs society as a whole can be a difficult thing to pin heard. Initially, the web provided a discussion under pressure from the torrent of information, down.) platform for like-minded souls to connect. Then,03 / collaboration and distribution afforded by theserviCe it was a communication tool, as protestors web. First came the music industry, where frantic As governments, police forces and armies around the world took to Twitter (and in the04 / attempts to ringfence a product widely available faced their own citizens, other smaller reminderssoCiaL case of the UK riots, BlackBerry Messenger) to for free led to the establishment of newer models of the new world order have come to light. The rally and organise. We then turned to the web to05 / and younger players amid talk of its own demise. fact that a man as powerful as Rupert Murdoch rationalise events happening in the real world,idenTiTy Then, the news media, which was forced to can be held accountable and forced to answer faster and more thoroughly than before. The06 / share the limelight with digital-only players, to his own board, as well as a government Guardian’s timelines of the Arab Spring and liveTeChnoLogy some of whom are now more influential than inquisition, for the phone-hacking scandal taking coverage of the phone hacking scandal set new07 / the stalwarts they were created to usurp. Then place at one of his myriad publications sends a standards for the reporting of intricate and fast-daTa Hollywood. Then the TV networks. Then the high very clear message: nobody is untouchable. moving issues. street. Then. Then. Then.08 / photo / haydn / www.flickr.com/photos/wheelzwheeler/6255028088augmenTed 2011 will be remembered as the year this gradual09 / disintegration shifted away from entertainmentmoney and consumerism towards something altogether10 / more profound.haCk CuLTure The motivations for this shift are extremely11 / complex. Throughout the ongoing Arab Spring,musiC 2.0 in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and the other Middle12 / Eastern nations in which uprisings occurred,video years of oppression forced political and13 / ideological change, sparked, in part, by thereTaiL democratisation of technology.14 / Meanwhile, Occupy Wall Street and the othergaming happenings it spawned have been criticised for15 / being unfocused, but, over time the discourse ofpubLishing wealth distribution, the 99% versus the 1%, has16 / become the dominant organising ideology. In thedesign Supported by
most contagious / movements / p.04 Many web pundits were the first to lay out From a brand perspective, the implications of all They don’t actually embody any of those things. in simple terms why, exactly, the Wall Street this are obvious. When everything is changing, They just emulate. It’s scary man, this simulation Protesters were so very angry. Others followed, be consistent. When everyone is confused, be life that we’re living. It scares me.’ essentially creating a coherent narrative on behalf transparent. And when the world seems bleak, Pitchfork’s analysis of the Tumblr phenomenonchapters / of those too busy trying to garner consensus to be good. is recommended reading. The argument against do it for themselves.01 / Tumblr / is that Tumblr could wreak as much intellectualmovemenTs damage as it provides dumb entertainment. In September, blogging/reblogging/image-02 /proJeCTs sharing platform Tumblr announced that it had Democratisation – be it of technology, reached its 10 billionth post, up from one billion information or pictures of cats on trampolines –03 /serviCe one year previously. That’s ten times as much apparently always comes at a price. content in the space of one year, created on04 / In the meantime, be distracted by the rise 28.5 million blogs and averaging 36 million postssoCiaL of single-usage Tumblrs – blogs created to per day. In the same month, Tumblr also closed aggregate images around one theme only. From05 / an $85m round of venture capital, valuing thisidenTiTy ‘Accidental Chinese Hipsters’ to ‘Shit that Siri moodboard machine at close to $1bn. Says’, we’ve aggregated as many as possible06 /TeChnoLogy The appeal of Tumblr is obvious. Essentially a over here. Enjoy: http://singleusage.tumblr.com curated channel of bits and pieces that you find07 / (For next year’s niche-gone-mainstream As the global pendulum swings towards the around the web – images, other Tumblr posts,daTa technology, look no further than image-sharing rising BRIC countries, Western nations, faced music, video – it’s an easy way to project the kind08 / network Instagram’s iPhone app; it has been photo / guney Cuceloglu / www.flickr.com/photos/guneyc/6208557363 with the decline of their own industrial heft, of person you are, or the kind of person you’d likeaugmenTed downloaded 14 million times, and an average of are focusing their efforts on the burgeoning to be, with very little effort. Never one to ignore a 50 photos per second were uploaded over the09 / Innovation Economy. All of this is happening popular platform, Barack Obama has launchedmoney recent Thanksgiving holiday in the US. Not bad while a generation comes of age having taken his own crowd-sourced Tumblr to grab images for a company with a staff of six. Anxious Android10 / its moral code not from the individual laws that and sentiment from the 2012 campaign trail.haCk CuLTure users can expect their own version next year.) govern the country in which they live, but from But there’s always a flipside to popularity. To11 / a more collective and instinctive mindset that get an idea of why it’s so popular, you couldmusiC 2.0 prevails online. This is a generation that grew do worse than read confessional hip-hop artist12 / up with the internet, has two decades worth of Drake’s comments, posted on his own blog invideo conviction that global warming is real and entered November this year: ‘I’m really scared for my13 / the job market in the middle of a global financial generation, you know. The thing that scares mereTaiL collapse. Faced with undeniable evidence that most is Tumblr. I hate what Tumblr has become…14 / the people in charge – politicians, bankers, Instead of kids going out and making their owngaming educators – have failed to adapt, millennials are moments, they’re just taking these images15 / harking back to concepts of pride, community, and living vicariously through other people’spubLishing honour, labour and decency instead of the flabby moments. It just kills me. Then you’ll meet them consumerism that ate their boomer parents. and they’re just the biggest turkey in the world.16 /design Supported by
most contagious / projects / p.05 02 / mosT ConTagious / proJeCTs noT Campaigns / born To Live, noT buiLT To diechapters / Our Projects not Campaigns category recognises a new strain01 / of marketing in which the brand, agency and consumer workmovemenTs together to reach a tangible, meaningful goal. As a decade02 / of digital interaction gives way to socially, collaborativelyproJeCTs organised initiatives, brands and marketers have been less03 / inclined to accept the traditional campaign as their defaultserviCe strategy in the battle for consumers’ hearts and minds.04 / It’s a sign of the times. Having evolved to suit the tightly definedsoCiaL media options of yore, a campaign is the end product of the05 / creative process, fine-tuned and finished before it goes out of theidenTiTy door; concept, realised. Media, bought. Backs turned. A project,06 / on the other hand, is the beginning of something, not the end. ToTeChnoLogy borrow the title of a presentation delivered by David Lee, digital07 / executive creative director at TBWAWorldwide, at the FuturedaTa Flash conference in Canada in May, projects are about ‘creating things that are born to live, not built to die’.08 /augmenTed A project needs to be nurtured and encouraged. It relies09 / on engagement, feedback and input. It is collaborative andmoney communal, and requires constant monitoring. It is undoubtedly10 / more challenging, but potentially much more rewarding. And,haCk CuLTure crucially, it plays to the strengths of the new media landscape in11 / which the flow of information is two-way, not top down, and canmusiC 2.0 be experienced, echoed and amplified in real time.12 / The appeal of creating a project is clear: not only can itvideo encourage deeper engagement and forge social connections, but pepsi / sound oF FooTbaLL13 / it also gives brands the chance to nail their colours to a particularreTaiL mast and show what they stand for by effecting change in the real14 / world. Advertising has woken up to pop culture’s favourite cliché:gaming it really is about the journey.15 /pubLishing16 /design supported by
most contagious / projects / p.06 Patagonia / Common Threads Initiative on the selling-on of second-hand goods, a into a surround-sound landscape. The result is As a brand, Patagonia has always favoured process which happily involves no additional a kind of sonic image that helps participants a long term approach, and this year partnered manufacturing. In fact, eBay’s Green Shopping identify and locate other players, the goal, the with eBay on an extraordinary mission to reduce portal touts the universal truth that the greenest sidelines and ball.chapters / excess consumption, creating a resale website product is the one that already exists. The technology advances the current blind01 / where people can buy pre-owned Patagonia However, it’s a riskier step for Patagonia, which football game, whereby players wear bells tomovemenTs outdoor clothing and kit. The Common Threads doesn’t directly profit from the eBay sales, but alert each other to where they are, and use a02 / Initiative asks would-be buyers and sellers to benefits instead from the less tangible value specially weighted ball. The mix of innovation,proJeCTs take a pledge that fundamentally redefines the of practising what it preaches; the website imagination and human interest is also earned-03 / role of the consumer and also clearly delineates demonstrates the brand’s own dedication to media catnip: Discovery Channel is creating aserviCe the responsibilities that Patagonia embraces reducing, repairing, reusing, and recycling, by, 30-minute documentary charting the project.04 / as a manufacturer. It states: ‘Patagonia agrees for example, donating unsold goods to disaster to build useful things that last, to repair what Akestam Holst and Society46 are determinedsoCiaL victims or encouraging customers to return worn breaks and recycle what comes to the end of to extend the magic of the technology to other goods to Patagonia stores to be recycled into05 / its useful life.’ Consumers undertake ‘to buy only sports and situations, and Pepsi is encouragingidenTiTy new fabrics. This bold strategy reached a peak what I need (and will last), repair what breaks, the public to pitch in their own ideas for further on the shopping armageddon of Black Friday06 / reuse (share) what I no longer need and recycle ‘Sound of’ projects. See Contagious 29TeChnoLogy when the brand ran a full page ad in The New everything else.’ www.thesoundoffootball.com York Times saying simply, ‘Do not buy this jacket’.07 /daTa See Contagious 29 www.patagonia.com/us/common-threads08 /augmenTed Pepsi / Sound of Football09 /money 2011 saw Pepsi’s Refresh Project rolled out in other regions, with this iteration from Sweden10 / leaving Contagious staffers slack-jawed withhaCk CuLTure admiration and wondering where the hell were11 / Nike and adidas when this idea came up?musiC 2.0 Ad agency Akestam Holst, Stockholm,12 /video creative technology experts Society46 and The Swedish Association of Visually Impaired13 / From almost any other brand this idea would Youth collaborated on a system that allows blindreTaiL seem optimistic at best and, at worst, offensively football players the ability to ‘see’ with sound.14 / sanctimonious. But Patagonia’s track record The system relies on TRACAB 3D trackinggaming as a champion of sustainability throughout its technology, originally used in fighter planes, to15 / business enables the brand to stake a claim on capture data on players’ positions, how far theypubLishing the moral high ground. It’s a perfect PR match-up have run, etc, but Society46 has pushed the16 / for eBay since the auction site was predicated technology further, translating the informationdesign Supported by
most contagious / projects / p.07 Chipotle / Back to the Start Norte / Best Excuse Ever to boost the counter. More than 50,000 minutes US restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill In Argentina this year, lager brand Norte (34 days) worth of good deeds were accrued collaborated with legendary country music discovered that nothing says ‘Corporate and the campaign gained sufficient coverage in crooner Willie Nelson, creating a heart-rending Social Responsibility’ like an icy cold bottle of print, radio and TV to mitigate any unease aboutchapters / animated film to promote its commitment to beer. Having no doubt thoroughly researched its ‘do it for the community’ approach to drinking01 / sustainable farming. the market, Norte discovered that wives and beer. Contagious 27movemenTs girlfriends were constantly overriding the www.cervezanorte.com.ar02 / carefully laid social plans of their menfolk (i.e.proJeCTs going to the bar) with worthy alternatives. Nike / MAG03 / The feelgood campaign of 2011 has to beserviCe Nike’s limited edition release of the futuristic trainers worn by Michael J. Fox in Back to the04 /soCiaL Future Part II. The power-lacing, self-illuminating Nike MAG shoes were specially designed by the05 /idenTiTy brand for the 1989 film, in which Marty McFly visits the year 2015.06 / Back to the Start tells the story of a farmer whoTeChnoLogy transforms his family farm into an industrial animal07 / factory, but then has a change of heart and revertsdaTa to sustainable farming practices. The soundtrack08 / to the film is a cover of Coldplay’s The Scientist,augmenTed performed by Nelson and available on iTunes for $0.99 with proceeds going towards the Chipotle In retaliation, the brand hit back with a booze-09 /money Cultivate Foundation, which funds sustainable fuelled CSR campaign that offered men ‘The agriculture, family farming, and culinary education. Best Excuse Ever’. Every time a man drank a10 / Norte beer at a bar, he could drop the bottlehaCk CuLTure Chipotle’s preference for sustainably grown cap into a counter box. For each bottle cap, the11 / ingredients and food ‘naturally raised with brand promised that one minute of good deedsmusiC 2.0 respect for the animals, the land, and the farmers – repairing schools, improving parks, restoring For the 2011 iteration, only 1,500 pairs of who produce the food’ echoes Patagonia’s12 / monuments, planting trees and cleaning lakes – shoes were made, sold in batches of 150 pairsvideo considered approach, but stops short of would be carried out by a team of Norte workers. per day on eBay. Prices ranged from $3,500 to suggesting that customers pledge allegiance13 / $10,000 ensuring that a substantial sum was to the cause. On a related theme, Chipotle also To put the campaign firmly in the public eye,reTaiL raised for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for commissioned Abandoned, a short film about Norte, through Del Campo Nazca Saatchi14 / Parkinson’s Research, set up by the actor when the hardships faced by family farmers trying & Saatchi, Buenos Aires, ran a series of wrygaming he was diagnosed with the disease. to compete with industrialised agriculture. It commercials and installed counters on streets,15 / features another Willie Nelson track, this time tracking the total on its website and Facebook, YouTube clips featuring Fox, Saturday NightpubLishing covered by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. and posting details of its good works. Facebook Live star Bill Hader and Christopher Lloyd, who16 / See Contagious 29 www.chipotle.com users could also click an ‘I’m going out’ button played Doc Emmett Brown in the original movie,design Supported by
most contagious / projects / p.08 hyped up the auction and drove fan donations Dulux / Own a Colour Ones to Watch / to The Fox Foundation. A perfect storm of brand Paint brand Dulux partnered with UNICEF on We’re expecting to see this trend for Projects loyalty, fan culture and fundraising, the MAG Own a Colour, a charitable project which lets not Campaigns continue throughout 2012, project, through Wieden+Kennedy, Portland visitors to the website buy one of the 16.7 million particularly as the final quarter of 2011 spawnedchapters / and produced by @radicalmedia, Los Angeles, colours that smartphones, tablets and computer two stand-out examples. In October, JWT Madrid01 / served as an acknowledgment and celebration screens are able to display. escorted seven residents from the land-lockedmovemenTs of the shoe’s enduring cult status, matched Chinese village of Bulin to the sea for the first only by the affection still felt for Michael J. Fox Each colour costs £1, and buyers are able02 / time on behalf of Mexican beer brand Corona, and his role in a pop culture phenomenon. to tag it with a name (e.g. ‘Tanya’s Teal’), thenproJeCTs its Experience the Extraordinary philosophy See Contagious 29 supply some text explaining why they chose it. and inherent love of the beach. And in the final03 / The website is a retina-blasting motherlode ofserviCe www.back4thefuture.com nikemag.ebay.com countdown to Christmas, Coke Philippines, via polychromatic options that allows visitors to McCann Worldgroup, fixed it for three OFWs04 / OMO / Super Nice Training Center view trending colours and see popular shadessoCiaL (Overseas Filipino Workers who work abroad to by gender or country. At the time of writing, the Sao Paulo-based interactive agency F.biz support their families back home) to make it back05 / campaign – which was kick-started with celebrityidenTiTy Brazil applied a project-based approach to help for the holidays. Continuing Coke’s global series contributions from Roger Moore, Jemima Khan, launch the Unilever brand OMO Líquido Super of campaigns that ask ‘where will happiness06 / Matt Dawson and Duncan Bannatyne – had Concentrado (super concentrated liquid) in strike next?’, the Filipino version and EnglishTeChnoLogy raised over £88,000 for UNICEF. Brazil, showing that projects, not campaigns can subtitled versions together have broken 1 million07 / work wonders for FMCG brands. Although deeply reminiscent of the infamous views on YouTube in five days. Three cheers fordaTa Million Dollar Homepage, this celebration of colour the real thing. The target audience was Brazil’s large08 / is perfectly on brand for Dulux. Contagious 29augmenTed community of maids, a group accounting for 19% of the country’s working women. F.biz set www.ownacolour.com09 /money up the Super Nice Training Center, a blog and website offering a series of free lessons10 / about housekeeping and home economics. ThehaCk CuLTure tutorials could be watched online or downloaded.11 / As well as learning key cleaning skills, tips weremusiC 2.0 offered on how to write résumés and check12 / housekeeping job vacancies. The guides alsovideo cited the importance of using sustainable cleaning13 / products and awarded a study certificate to thosereTaiL who completed the course.14 / This campaign not only offered training forgaming a sector not exactly renowned for career duLux /15 / development, but also showed consistentpubLishing respect for the people who use Unilever’s16 / products on a daily basis. www.omo.com.br Corona /design Supported by
most contagious / marketing / p.09 03 / mosT ConTagious / markeTing as serviCe design / meeTing The unmeT needchapters / With brands more adept at tapping into the rich wells of01 / data which consumers now leave in their wakes, many aremovemenTs becoming increasingly able to spot the gaps, or unmet needs,02 / in people’s lives. Addressing these was previously trusted toproJeCTs token utilities such as mobile apps; however, a recent study ConTagious / issue 26 / sneakerpedia: so good we puT iT on our FronT Cover in q1/1103 / by Deloitte found that a 80% of branded apps have beenserviCe downloaded less than 1,000 times. Today, consumers expect something wholly more relevant, enabling and ultimately04 /soCiaL less self-serving. This is where marketing becomes genuine service design.05 /idenTiTy Foot Locker / Sneakerpedia06 /TeChnoLogy Based on the simple insight that footwear retailer Foot Locker’s core demographic – sneakerheads – have ‘enthusiasm beyond07 /daTa reason’ for their collections, SapientNitro, London, built a crowd- sourced holy grail of a platform in the shape of Sneakerpedia.08 /augmenTed The Wiki-esque website enables users to create a profile and then upload pictures of all the cool kicks in their collection –09 /money complete with a brief history and info on the make, model, material etc. This tagging helps the site to then archive each model10 /haCk CuLTure correctly, creating a vast and infinitely navigable database of every significant sneaker ever bought and cherished.11 /musiC 2.0 Creating a platform from scratch, rather than piggybacking an12 / existing social network or fan portal, was a bold move on thevideo part of Foot Locker. Even braver, however, is the distinct lack of overt branding on the site, which adds to the sense that this is13 /reTaiL somewhere enthusiasts can come to share their passion, not be marketed to. However, by stepping out of the frame and putting14 /gaming users at ease, Foot Locker is able to draw rich social data about what makes/models are popular etc. It has even been encouraging15 / new floor staff in stores to join up and immerse themselves in thepubLishing culture as part of their training.16 /design supported by
most contagious / marketing / p.10 Proof that the platform has struck a chord with scanned with smartphones, transformed the devices sneakerheads around the world is evident in initial into venues for the Hidden Live gigs. What’s more, results: In beta format alone, Sneakerpedia reached audiences could interact with the bands in real time, more than 6.7 million fans online and delivered more and even buy the albums directly from their phones.chapters / than $1 million worth of free media exposure. See More than 10,000 attended the online festival each Contagious 26 www.sneakerpedia.com01 / night and, better still, Zoo Records sold out 80% ofmovemenTs Flair / Fashiontag the albums for the performing bands. Leo Burnett,02 / Hong Kong was responsible. See Contagious 27proJeCTs Working on the insight that women take fashion inspiration from their friends’ wardrobes, Belgian www.zoo-records.com03 / fashion weekly Flair launched a Facebook applicationserviCe Orange / Glastonbury 2011 App that lets users request information on specific outfits04 / Telco provider Orange continued its impressive track FLair / in uploaded photos.soCiaL record of muddy field-based branded utility, with a05 / Flair Fashiontag, created by Duval Guillaume, mobile app developed by M&C Saatchi Sport &idenTiTy Brussels, lets users tag an item of clothing or Entertainment London for the Glastonbury Festival. accessory that they’d like to know more about and06 / post it to their friend’s wall. All Fashiontags and All the handy functions from previous incarnationsTeChnoLogy responses are then displayed in a gallery on the Flair were present, such as performance schedules,07 / page and the best tags are published in the weekly planners, and maps. New additions included a seriesdaTa print magazine. of ‘smiley’ symbols through which users could specify08 / – and geo-tag – their mood. This data was used toaugmenTed Fashiontag is a perfect example of how creating build a collective mood map, plotting the buzziest (or successful Facebook apps is all about spotting and indeed most cold, wet and skint) areas of the site.09 /money then augmenting existing behaviours. After launching A news feed also pinged regular write-ups directly on 22 March the application increased the number from the Guardian, as well as any must-know festival10 / Zoo reCords /haCk CuLTure of Flair fans on Facebook in one week by 35%, from updates from organisers. 17,000 to 23,000. See Contagious 2711 / The improvements resulted in the app beingmusiC 2.0 www.flair.be downloaded 100,000 downloads in a single month,12 / Zoo Records / Hidden Live amounting to 70% of the festival audience – a 75%video increase on previous years. See Contagious 28 In March, Hong Kong-based indie music store Zoo13 / Records staged a music festival – Hidden Live – http://glastonbury.orange.co.ukreTaiL featuring eight bands across four nights. What made14 / it unique, however, is that the performances were onlygaming accessible via mobile.15 /pubLishing Two hours prior to the event, free tickets were made orange / available in-store and for download on Facebook. A16 /design hidden code was printed on each ticket, which when Supported by
most contagious / social / p.11 04 / mosT ConTagious / soCiaL and beyond / aLways on(Line)chapters / It’s the tail end of 2011, and 96 out of the to recognise the airline’s heritage. And in KLM’s activity, in conjunction with Tribal01 / top 100 advertisers in the US are spending September, it promoted its social media policy DDB Amsterdam, forms part of a new schoolmovemenTs money on social media, with the rest of the of answering every tweet and post in person, of marketing and branding that sees the02 / world not far behind. However, the profound within the hour, day and night, by assembling brand committed to exploiting existing socialproJeCTs changes wrought by social media on the ways a ‘living alphabet’ of employees who answered platforms to improve the user experience.03 / in which we interact go much, much deeper online queries using letter boards. For 12 hours Contagious 28 and 29serviCe than advertising. Facebook in particular is the airline replaced normal Facebook and www.tileyourself.com becoming the black hole of the web, absorbing Twitter typed responses with a team of 500 https://twitter.com/kLm04 /soCiaL ecommerce, content distribution, CRM and KLM volunteer crew members who answered by www.youtube.com/kLm marketing budgets into its gravity field. This running around and assembling the answer live http://bit.ly/kLmLive05 /idenTiTy year saw social mechanisms incorporated before your eyes, inside 60 minutes. The Live into everything from supply chains to Reply videos were hosted on YouTube.06 /TeChnoLogy customer service to product design. As data mining becomes increasingly sophisticated,07 / we can expect social channels to registerdaTa highly on everyone’s radar, from the CMO to08 / the teenager at the checkout.augmenTed In this section, we salute the brands committing09 /money most fully to Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of a future that is ‘social by design’.10 /haCk CuLTure KLM / All Social, All the Time11 / You’d be hard pushed to find a brand, or company,musiC 2.0 that has committed more wholeheartedly to the12 / integration of social media than Dutch airlinevideo KLM. In January, KLM laid on a special direct13 / flight to a dance festival in Miami at the TwitterreTaiL behest of an aspiring raver, on the understanding14 / that he help fill the plane with 351 dance musicgaming professionals. He did, and KLM fulfilled its part15 / of the bargain. In June, it covered a plane withpubLishing its fans’ Facebook profile pics, transformed into traditional Dutch blue ‘tiles’ for Tile & Inspire,16 /design Supported by
most contagious / social / p.12 Domino’s / Pizza and The Art of War Burberry / Tweetwalk Since 2009’s Pizza Turnaround campaign, Burberry is fast becoming the Terminator of luxury Domino’s, America’s largest pizza delivery chain, has branding. It just doesn’t stop. As competitors struggle been aggressively pursuing a policy of transparency to execute the most basic of digital functions –chapters / with regard to its product and service. In July this ecommerce, for example – this British powerhouse01 / year, the pizza chain took this further by broadcasting has demonstrated an uncanny ability to embrace newmovemenTs comments from customers – regardless of whether platforms and democratise the brand without selling02 / they were positive or negative – to thousands of out any of its aspirational exclusivity. At LondonproJeCTs onlookers via a digital billboard in New York’s Times Fashion Week in September, Burberry tweeted03 / Square. This was to promote Domino’s tracker backstage Twitpics of every look before they wereserviCe system for quality maintenance where customers can sent down the runway, allowing its Twitter followers04 / follow their pizzas online, giving feedback throughout to see the Spring/Summer 2012 collection before thesoCiaL the process. The campaign was masterminded by fashion bigshots on the front row. Take THAT, Wintour. Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Boulder.05 / During the Tweetwalk, Burberry’s InstagramidenTiTy CMO Russell Weiner claimed earlier this year that account was taken over by photographer Mike06 / Domino’s strategy was inspired by a story in Sun Tzu’s Kus, the most-followed Instagram user in the UK,TeChnoLogy The Art of War, in which he advises that the best way to and Burberry streamed the show – complete with07 / win a war fought on an island is to blow up the bridge celebrity arrivals – live in HD through Burberry.comdaTa yourself. That way, your army will fight for their lives, and Facebook. As if that weren’t enough, Burberry08 / as they have no option of retreat. This combination once again offered a ‘Runway to Retail’ service, withaugmenTed of bravery and insanity is working. The company the collection available to purchase for one week after announced that same-store sales growth increased the show. Viewers can also download the catwalk09 /money 10.4% between 2009 and 2010, and rose a further soundtrack through the iTunes on-demand service. 2.3% in the first quarter of 2011. Contagious 28.10 / What makes this Contagious? Simplicity.haCk CuLTure www.dominos.com Christopher Bailey, the brand’s creative director,11 / said: ‘We are now as much a media-content companymusiC 2.0 as we are a design company, because it’s all part of12 / the overall experience.’ He’s right. None of the socialvideo technologies Burberry has employed are complicated, but the benefit of feeding this content to growing13 /reTaiL legions of fans is immense. See Contagious 2914 / www.burberry.comgaming15 /pubLishing16 / burberry /design Supported by
most contagious / social / p.13 Kraft / Mac&Tweets Essentially an online notice board to which you Kraft gets an honourable mention for embracing can pin pictures and items of interest, Pinterest Twitter more than most. As well as taking a leaf has quickly racked up an estimated 3.3 million out of the Old Spice playbook, incorporating unique users and secured $27m in fundingchapters / comments from its Twitter followers into ads earlier this year. Ideal for moms, DIY enthusiasts,01 / that were subsequently broadcast on TV, Kraft’s events organisers and anybody looking to create,movemenTs Mac & Cheese brand also invited internet share or aggregate pictures around a certain02 / sensation Ted Williams – a homeless man with theme, brands like Whole Foods are already onproJeCTs an extraordinary voice for radio – to be the voice board to share recipe suggestions.03 / of its advertising. This was done through Crispin http://pinterest.comserviCe Porter + Bogusky in Miami. See Contagious 2604 / www.youtube.com/kraftmacncheesesoCiaL Ones to Watch /05 /idenTiTy The ‘wishlist’ is a fundamental part of the ecommerce experience – where you keep track06 /TeChnoLogy of stuff you like, but perhaps can’t afford to buy yet. The UK-based startup, Fantasy Shopper,07 /daTa aims to recreate the emotional experience of real world shopping online. After collecting virtual08 / paydays to get hold of some pretend cash,augmenTed players can put together outfits and shop for high09 / street brands to create a virtual wishlist. Looksmoney are shared with the community, or users can click10 / through to buy clothes from the stores in real life.haCk CuLTure Currently available in the UK, the service has11 / items from 300 real shops, including New Look,musiC 2.0 Topshop, UNIQLO, Reiss and Harrods. Users12 / create outfits from a wardrobe of purchasedvideo items, and follow other users to comment on13 / purchases and creations. Additional cash can bereTaiL earned in a variety of ways, including introducing14 / others to the platform. Fantasy Shopper launchedgaming in October 2011, and could prove an interesting indicator of the social future of ecommerce.15 /pubLishing See Contagious 29 www.fantasyshopper.com kraFT /16 /design Supported by
most contagious / identity / p.14 05 / mosT ConTagious / idenTiTy onLine / This one has my FaCe on iTchapters / As we spend an increasing amount of our01 / waking days online, it is becoming hardermovemenTs to distinguish between what we would02 / previously have referred to as our ‘digital’proJeCTs and ‘physical’ lives. The reality, of course,03 / is that the lines between the two are nowserviCe constantly shifting and blurring. Emphasising the fact that we no longer exist online in a04 /soCiaL separate, anonymous capacity, brands have been exploring the notion of the digital self05 /idenTiTy – holding mirrors to consumers and helping them visualise, celebrate or simply make06 / sense of their own identity.TeChnoLogy07 / Intel / Museum of MedaTa arms delicately pluck pictures of your friends of all time via his production company, Tool of Semiconductor powerhouse Intel took an from the air, arranging them into a mosaic which North America.08 / ambitious step towards changing its image from eventually forms your own profile photo.augmenTed that of a technology company into one of a lifestyle Take This Lollipop shows the dangers of09 / brand, via the interactive website Museum of Proof that personalised experiences often result sharing your identity online by using Facebookmoney Me. Built by Tokyo-based Projector (of Cannes in increased levels of engagement, more than Connect to scrape information before revealing Titanium Grand Prix-winning UNIQLOCK fame), 440,000 people created their own museums a creepy man poring over your profile page. You10 /haCk CuLTure this site uses Facebook Connect to draw in the three days following launch. More than then see the man calculate your actual location personal content from each user’s page, before 150,000 users took advantage of the built-in by verifying server addresses etc, before driving11 /musiC 2.0 presenting it to them in a virtual tour of their own one-click sharing mechanisms, by publishing their to your house with your Facebook profile picture personalised museum. exhibition catalogues directly to Facebook. In total, taped to his dashboard. The film ends with12 / more than 21 million impressions were recorded a timer set for an hour and lists which of yourvideo The resulting video pans elegantly through a on the social network. See Contagious 28 Facebook friends ‘is next’.13 / minimalist interior, in which onlookers peruse www.intel.com/museumofme/r At time of writing, the app had been likedreTaiL a series of exhibitions including your photos, friends, Liked content and geo-located check-ins. Take This Lollipop / Jason Zada over 11 million times on Facebook. Not bad14 /gaming A digital billboard even filters, in real time, through for something which took just one month to Director Jason Zada – the man behind Office everything written on your wall before finally produce… See Contagious 29 and the front15 / Max’s Elf Yourself website – proved that he hasn’tpubLishing displaying the most common word. The tour cover of this report. lost his touch for creating insanely viral content, ends in a cavernous space where two robotic www.takethislollipop.com16 / by unleashing the fastest-growing Facebook appdesign Supported by
most contagious / identity / p.15 Pedigree / Doggelganger Coke Zero / My Life As A Game In an attempt to raise awareness of dog food brand Coke Zero created a particularly compelling and Pedigree’s Adoption Drive for shelter dogs, Colenso interactive expression of one person’s everyday life, BBDO, Auckland and Auckland-based production by translating it into a playable advergame.chapters / company NEC created the gleefully compelling Digital agency Gringo, São Paulo, first launched a01 / Doggelganger website, which plays to the endearingmovemenTs search via popular blog Jovem Nerd (‘young nerd’), observation that people often look like their pets. before finally selecting entrant Lucas Dias as the basis02 / for the character. His mission? To have more time forproJeCTs his life outside work, and in particular his girlfriend.03 /serviCe The final video-game was called Minha vida de game (‘My life at stake’) and was created by São Coke Zero /04 /soCiaL Paulo-based Hive Digital Media. Dias was filmed and photographed before the images were projected on05 /idenTiTy a 3D scanner and then rendered to build the game. See Contagious 2606 /TeChnoLogy http://bit.ly/game_cokezero07 / Lynx / StreamdaTa Unilever-owned male grooming brand Lynx took a08 / break from the female-fleshed theme of its regularaugmenTed advertising, with a rather nifty mobile app that lets Visitors are asked to either upload a picture of their09 / users plot, document and share a night out. The Lynxmoney face, or capture one directly via web cam. Facial Stream requires a group of friends to create an event mapping technology then measures the precise10 / via the app, which then aggregates all photos, videos, position, shape and size of key features, beforehaCk CuLTure tweets and check-ins from that night into one single, cross-referencing the information with a database of11 / chronological thread. genuine shelter dogs. It will then unite them with theirmusiC 2.0 own, personal ‘Doggelganger’. By logging on to the Lynx Stream site the next12 / morning (coffee and aspirin in hand), the group canvideo There is the option to make contact regarding a then watch and share their own video stream – even genuine adoption request; however, recognising that13 / deleting any particularly private or compromisingreTaiL the majority of users will feel an affinity with their pooch ‘occurances’. Razorfish, New York was responsible. but not realistically be in a position to acquire a new14 / See Contagious 27 Lynx /gaming pet, there is also the option to make a donation. Of www.thelynxstream.com course, Doggelgangers can also be shared directly15 / via Facebook, Twitter, Digg, etc. See Contagious 27pubLishing www.doggelganger.co.nz16 /design Supported by
most contagious / technology / p.16 06 / mosT ConTagious / TeChnoLogy / hiding The wireschapters / The technology section in last year’s Most pre-installed on the iPhone 4S in October. Siri actually01 / Contagious was, in our own words, packed with originated outside of Apple, having been spun out ofmovemenTs ‘digital complexity’ to ‘boggle your mind’. So it’s developers SRI International back in 2007 as Siri02 / telling that this year, some of the most remarkable Inc. The company launched a voice activated personalproJeCTs pieces of tasty tech are rather the opposite… assistant app of the same name on the App Store in February 2010 and was acquired by Apple just a few03 / For a while our consultancy division, ContagiousserviCe months later. Insider, has been tracking examples of ‘experience04 / over innovation’ – where technology is used to reduce Siri can complete a wide array of tasks throughsoCiaL friction in people’s lives. Apple’s voice activated Siri voice activated commands. In addition to sending05 / and Jawbone’s movement monitoring wristband UP, text messages and emails, it can, for example, bookidenTiTy for example, place advanced technology in people’s restaurants and find locally recommended services.06 / hands but with a user experience that ‘makes the Over time, it even learns your preferences and tailorsTeChnoLogy wires disappear’: it’s simple, effective and focused on its responses accordingly. benefitting the customer first and foremost.07 / It courted controversy recently, however, when itdaTa With Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt was found to be able to locate local brothels, but not08 / bemoaning the level of computer science being nearby abortion clinics – an app with a pro-life agendaaugmenTed taught in UK schools, it’s been fascinating to see proving difficult for many users to swallow.09 / the emergence of hardware and software kits, such http://bit.ly/oJynhcmoney as Raspberry Pi and Twine, which are designed to10 / provide anyone with an interest in computers with Twine /haCk CuLTure the building blocks required to make coding and We’ve long been fans of all things Arduino, the11 / programming more accessible. popular open-source microcontroller. However, amusiC 2.0 We included 3D printers in Most Contagious 2010, recent project on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter12 / but the technology has continued to amaze this year, aims to get more people tinkering with electronics andvideo most recently with the 3D printing of bones through hardware at home. Twine is a small wireless module Washington State University and the generation of a and online service that help people to connect their13 /reTaiL functioning kidney during one extraordinary TED talk. household objects to the internet.14 / Mary Shelley should have something to say about that. Sensors within the Twine module detect, amongstgaming Apple / Siri other things, changes in temperature and movement.15 / These can be programmed through Spool, a web app One saving grace for Apple fans when the rumouredpubLishing which communicates messages via SMS, email and iPhone 5 wasn’t released earlier this year was the social network. So, if you want to be warned if a door16 / success of voice activated service Siri, which camedesign Supported by
most contagious / technology / p.17 is opened in your home while you’re at work, you is going to be available in the UK through the can programme Twine to inform you via Twitter. Raspberry Pi website, and the charity reports that Or if your basement is prone to flooding, you can a range of people are interested; from education, programme Twine to send you a text message if to technology companies and individual softwarechapters / it detects moisture on the floor. developers. www.raspberrypi.org01 / Developed by MIT grads David Carr and Ones to Watch /movemenTs John Kestner of Cambridge, MA-based New York-based developers Kyle McDonald02 / Supermechanical, the project has beenproJeCTs and Arturo Castro demonstrated their real-time pledged over $220,000, easily exceeding the face substitution app, using face tracking and03 / original goal of $35,000. http://kck.st/uuhljtserviCe cloning. Their software swaps faces, allowing Raspberry Pi / anyone to masquerade as Brad Pitt or Barack04 / Obama (at least while their webcam’s switched Twine /soCiaL When he visited the UK earlier this year, Google on). Contagious 2905 / bigwig Eric Schmidt pointed out that too manyidenTiTy schools continue to teach pupils how to use In Issue 28 we covered Japanese confectionery software, rather than the building blocks to brand Ezaki Glico which used an advert to06 /TeChnoLogy create it. introduce a new member of pop band AKB 48, Aimi Eguchi, with the help of Dentsu07 / The Raspberry Pi Foundation, based in Kansai, Osaka. Actually a computer-generateddaTa Cambridge, is a UK registered charity that aims composite of existing members’ facial features,08 / to address that issue, by creating low cost the new member sparked a flurry of excitement,augmenTed computers specifically for teaching computer with Eguchi even appearing in Japan’s Weekly programming to children.09 / Playboy.money ‘We perceived that in the UK, the reduction in But fans began to get suspicious when Eguchi10 / access to programmable hardware to children went straight from trainee to starring in thehaCk CuLTure was leading to a reduction of the number and raspberry pi / commercial for the confectionery company’s Ice11 / quality of applicants to University and in turn no Mi candy. Some particularly observant fansmusiC 2.0 number of graduates for the industry,’ says Eben even noticed that her birthday, 11 February, is12 / Upton, one of the foundation’s trustees. the date that Ezaki Glico was founded.video PCs and other machines make learning ‘Their hunch proved right and they solved the13 / coding tricky, as they’re focused purely on endreTaiL mystery quite rapidly,’ said creative director user experience. Raspberry Pi’s development Toshitaka Nakao. After a few days, Ezaki Glico14 / philosophy has been to place education and released a ‘making of’ video revealing that Eguchigaming coding skills front and centre. was a sophisticated hoax, created entirely by CGI.15 / Its first computer is set to launch imminently, atpubLishing http://vimeo.com/29279198 a cost of just £25 and has been developed with http://vimeo.com/29348533 eZaki gLiCo /16 / open source principles. The initial run of 10,000design Supported by
most contagious / data / p.18 07 / mosT ConTagious / daTa / The Fine arT oF meaning-makingchapters / As the assembly line otherwise known as ‘progress’ pushes01 / us forward through the information age, and past themovemenTs connected era, humans are creating sophisticated tools to02 / sort the deluge of information we generate. We have nowproJeCTs entered the age of the algorithm.03 / These logical sequences are increasingly responsible forserviCe shaping our world beyond the computer. The biggest companies04 / are built on them. They control what you see on Facebook, andsoCiaL how and when billions of dollars of shares are traded on markets.05 / Brands are using them to evolve their marketing. For an excellentidenTiTy discussion on the importance of algorithms, check out Kevin06 / Slavin’s TED Global talk here.TeChnoLogy Clive Humby, founder of shopper marketing firm dunnhumby,07 / is widely credited with the 2006 observation that ‘Data is the newdaTa oil’ – exceptionally valuable when refined. However, there’s still an08 / immense amount of room for us to build and tweak the structuresaugmenTed governing how data is distributed, which represents a new frontier09 / in marketing: how will we take command of the natural resourcemoney of the information age?10 / The Privacy CrunchhaCk CuLTure As marketers’ relationships with data evolves, now more than11 /musiC 2.0 ever brands need a firm understanding of how they’re protecting customer privacy.12 /video It’s no longer enough just to design programs to fuel massive amounts of data harvesting. The creeping liability inherent in these13 /reTaiL efforts comes as consumers get smarter about their own data and its privacy, and will hold your business more accountable in its14 /gaming gathering and storage. bLueFin Labs /15 / BlackBerry and Research In Motion have been pilloried forpubLishing releasing data; Twitter lauded for retaining it. Google was in16 / the spotlight when The Wall Street Journal announced the USdesign supported by
most contagious / data / p.19 government had a secret court order to turn over the But it’s only recently that a series of technological files of Wikileaks supporter Jacob Appelbaum. and cultural forces have come together to see an explosion of such activity – the radical transparency But what’s lost in the idea of data as oil is that and sharing ethos of social media, the growing data, in many cases, is personal. The oil is made ofchapters / concern among people about health and wellbeing, tiny bits of our lives. The data is the colour of your and the prevalence of sophisticated devices packed01 / first car, the grade you got in college chemistry, ormovemenTs with sensors, recording and monitoring devices such the flirtatious comment you left on a facebook photo. as GPS, cameras, microphones and accelerometers02 / As the Facebook Timeline is a mainline to our past,proJeCTs – cheap convenient and ubiquitous enough to make personal data is loose bits of unrefined nostalgia. this widespread. This is most recognisable in the form03 /serviCe Your company already has a privacy policy of the smartphone, our most intimate, and frequently somewhere. Is it time for a revision? Should you put used piece of technology.04 / it into plain English and prove you understand yoursoCiaL Total shipments of smartphones in 2010 were responsibility? Should you post it on the front door?05 / 302.6 million units, up 74.4% from 2009, accordingidenTiTy Take Ritz-Carlton as an example. It’s taken big to IDC, with smartphones making up 21.8% of all steps in the hotel and hospitality sector using the data handsets shipped. 89% of smartphone users confess06 /TeChnoLogy it collects on its customers to build loyalty and great to using their mobile throughout the day, according customer service. But were that data to be applied to Google/IPSOS’ Mobile Movement Study (April07 /daTa without relevance, or made OVER-relevant, it pushes 2011) – meaning that it has never been easier for past the ever-changing ‘creepy’ boundary. people to gather their own data.08 /augmenTed Competent monitoring of data will soon be an Brands have entered this arena by creating essential ingredient in the recipe for success. A Sybase products, services and software to cater to the09 /money commissioned survey from the University of Texas trend; GE, for example, launched four iPhone apps at Austin, called ‘Measuring the Business Impacts that monitor sleep, weight, pregnancy and mood in10 /haCk CuLTure of Effective Data,’ found that a mere 10% increase in conjunction with online community MedHelp. As data usability for Fortune 1000 companies resulted community members use these tools to track their11 /musiC 2.0 in a $2.01 billion increase in revenue across the 150 own development, MedHelp collects this data in real companies surveyed; a 49% increase in productivity time and aggregates it to produce real-time results on12 / in the retail industry, 20% in food products, 19% invideo symptoms and general norms. With over 11 million automotive. monthly visitors and growing, the content available is13 / constantly evolving. Meanwhile, apps like TicTrac arereTaiL Life tracking / emerging. TicTrac promises a personal dashboard and FaCebook TimeLine /14 / Self-quantification is not new. People have been meta-analytic service that can discern more complexgaming meticulously measuring many aspects of their lives by patterns in users’ lives.15 / painting pictures and recording where they are, whenpubLishing and what they’re eating, and how they’re feeling, for16 / centuries – the basic diary being a common example.design Supported by
most contagious / data / p.20 Ford / Sync measure them against their competitors, creating Ford has unveiled an ambitious string of a more nuanced picture from which to direct partnerships with medical monitoring and creative and strategy. technology companies in order to create ‘the http://bluefinlabs.comchapters / car that cares’. Extensions to its existing in-car01 / Sync technology, which to date has focused on Netflix / House of CardsmovemenTs entertainment and communication, will enable US entertainment streaming company Netflix02 / diabetes sufferers and those with other chronic recently outbid traditional cable channels HBOproJeCTs conditions to monitor themselves from behind and AMC to secure the rights to House of Cards03 / the wheel. By plugging the same wireless blood – a series which hasn’t yet begun production.serviCe sugar monitors used in the home into a Sync The series, a remake of the 1990 BBC political04 / interface, the car would be able to notify the thriller, is slated to be directed by David FinchersoCiaL driver when glucose levels rise or fall, with voice and star Kevin Spacey, and was bought by Netflix recognition software removing the need for any for a reported $100m. It’s the first time Netflix05 /idenTiTy manual interaction. has invested in original programming. Originally06 / http://ford.com/technology a subscription-based distributor of film and TVTeChnoLogy content, the company has expanded to become Bluefin Labs / an on-demand streaming content provider under07 /daTa MIT Media Lab startup Bluefin is matching the Netflix Instant banner. Content is streamed social media chatter to TV to help brands, online and to games consoles such as Xbox 360,08 / TiCTraC / networks and production companies work out Nintendo Wii, or PS3, and devices such as Blu-augmenTed what content viewers are most engaged with. ray players and internet connected HDTVs.09 /money Founded by professors Deb Roy and Michael The company mined vast amounts of subscriber Fleischman in 2008, Bluefin works by scanning viewing data to determine whether its audience10 /haCk CuLTure over three billion social media mentions a would find the combination of political drama, month, and matching visual signatures from an director and stars a compelling one. The same11 /musiC 2.0 archive of over 200,000 TV broadcasts from data which allowed Netflix to decide which series over 50 national broadcast and cable stations. to invest in, will also help the company to promote12 / The two are then married together, to provide House of Cards to subscribers appropriatelyvideo retrospective data about what viewers were using the service’s existing recommendation13 / saying about a show in real-time. system. http://bit.ly/blog_netflixreTaiL This, the company says, will help brands to get14 /gaming a deeper and more accurate understanding of Ford / HOW viewers are watching, rather than simply15 /pubLishing measuring eyeballs. The service will allow brands to check how ads work in different time slots and16 / across different channels and shows, as well asdesign Supported by
most contagious / augmented / p.21 08 / mosT ConTagious / augmenTed ConTenT / adding vaLue, noT disTraCTionchapters / Emerging technologies and non-traditional Giving viewers something to do with these itchy There is even a complete set of badges to01 / media platforms may not be directly stealing fingers, Star Player is a free to download mobile collect by answering certain tricky questions,movemenTs eyeballs from TV as many predicted they gaming application (also available online and on along with mini trophies such as ‘Free Kick hero’,02 / would – Thinkbox research reveals that TV Facebook) that allows football fans to interact ‘Goal Master’ and ‘Corner King’. FacebookproJeCTs viewing figures in the UK have risen every in real time with Champions League games. By Connect allows users to show these off directly03 / year since 2006. However, what they are doing syncing automatically with the televised game, via their profile walls – in doing so attractingserviCe is fundamentally changing how audiences the app challenges users to predict goals, bet more potential Star Players to the platform. behave. People now expect content on on the outcome of set plays and even take See Contagious 2704 /soCiaL demand. They want to be able to share their part in mini pop quizzes – amassing points in www.facebook.com/heineken experiences. And increasingly, they want competition with friends and fellow Star Players.05 /idenTiTy access to added layers of interactivity that take advantage of the smartphone, tablet06 /TeChnoLogy or laptop resting on the arm of the sofa. For brands, new opportunities exist not in creating07 / content from scratch, but in spotting existingdaTa consumption behaviours and augmenting08 / them with added value. Put simply, this isaugmenTed about content being better for having the09 / brand involved.money Heineken / Star Player10 /haCk CuLTure With Heineken looking to make its headline11 / sponsorship of the UEFA Champions LeaguemusiC 2.0 work a little harder, agency AKQA did some research into exactly how we watch football on12 /video TV. Two key findings were unearthed; one, from UEFA, confirmed that the vast majority (72%)13 /reTaiL of viewers watch the UEFA Champions League alone at home; and a second piece of third-party14 /gaming research confirmed that most of these viewers (80%) are dual-screening – using laptops or15 / phones to access social networks or otherpubLishing platforms to share their experience of watching16 / the game.design Supported by
most contagious / augmented / p.22 Microsoft Xbox / Kinect Sesame Street TV / Jose Cuervo / Cuervo Cold Kinect Nat Geo TV Tequila brand Jose Cuervo, via agency Albion London, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has partnered with iconic masterminded a series of pop-up gigs throughout entertainment brands Sesame Street and National São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro featuring band andchapters / Geographic to turn passive TV viewing into viral video sensation OK Go. The experiential side of01 / educational and interactive TV experiences for things was balanced with an online experience, whichmovemenTs children, using Kinect’s gesture and voice-recognition saw one of the live gigs being filmed and fed through02 / software. Shotcast – transforming the footage of the band intoproJeCTs pixels made up of Twitter and Facebook avatars.03 / Viewers could tweet #shotcast or sign in throughserviCe Facebook Connect to share and read messages04 / through the video. Contagious 29soCiaL www.cuervocold.com/en/verifyage05 /idenTiTy Multi-Screen06 / Pepsi / SoundOff / PulseTeChnoLogy In an attempt to improve on the traditional prime time07 / TV sponsorship model, Pepsi has created a pairdaTa of utilities to give US viewers of The X Factor new08 / The programming will enable children to interact opportunities to interact, socialise and even competeaugmenTed with the content using their bodies and voices. around the reality show’s content. For example, in Kinect Sesame Street TV, Cookie09 / Monster may ask a child to clap their hands and will The first, SoundOff, is a social viewing platformmoney Jose Cuervo / be able to recognise whether the child played along. through which users comment on the show, but also10 / Kinect Nat Geo TV could, for example, transform the compete for Likes. The quips that receive the most nothaCk CuLTure viewer’s living room into an animal habitat – in which only earn their creators points and unlockable badges11 / the viewer can see themselves projected as an animal (in this case, bottle caps), but are also integrated intomusiC 2.0 before foraging around for food. 15-second ad spots during the show.12 /video Xbox is also collaborating with the Sesame Pulse is for the more passive viewer and scrapes Workshop Curriculum Team on an interactive the web for mentions of everything X Factor-related13 / reading-based experience code-named ‘Project online, dragging the information into a rich, navigablereTaiL Columbia’. This portal, which is still being tested, data visualisation. The platform was built in just three14 / aims to allow children to immerse themselves in weeks by New York-based digital shop Firstborn.gaming storybooks, by literally being able to see themselves See Contagious 2915 / in the pages of a book and play with the words and www.pepsisoundoff.compubLishing illustrations. See Contagious 29 www.pepsipulse.com16 / pepsi /design www.xbox.com/en-gb/kinect Supported by
most contagious / augmented / p.23 The Black Eyed Peas / BEP360 Ones to watch / Shazam / USA Network TV and Old Navy Fans of Shazam – the music identification app withchapters / over 150 million users worldwide – will now be able01 / to capture content directly from their favourite TV adsmovemenTs and shows thanks to the Shazam for TV service. USA Network TV has made season 2.5 of its popular spy02 /proJeCTs drama Covert Affairs ‘shazamable’, allowing viewers to unlock exclusive videos, photos and wallpapers.03 /serviCe There is even the option to ‘Shop Covert Affairs!’, which takes users to a mobile-optimised store where04 / they can purchase show merchandise. Meanwhile,soCiaL Old Navy created a TV ad/music video called Super05 / CUTE for faux band Audio Threadz. Viewers wereidenTiTy Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas transformed the prompted to fire up the app when the TV ad came on, band’s single The Time/Dirty Bit from a linear06 / which triggered their phone to serve up styling tipsTeChnoLogy audio track into a 360 degree interactive music from the band, discount coupons for clothing in the video. Created by the pop polymath’s digital media07 / ad and a download of the track itself.daTa company, will.i.apps, the $2.99 BEP360 app allows mTv / http://bit.ly/vsa7vc fans to virtually step inside and explore the video08 / www.oldnavyshazam.comaugmenTed via their iPhone/iPad – as well as direct a 3D photo shoot of the band. Pointing the device at the album Syzygy Labs / GOAB09 / cover triggers each band member popping up in 3Dmoney German creative agency Syzygy Labs has provided with a speech bubble containing their latest tweet. a sneak peak of what multi-screening might look like10 / See Contagious 26 www.williapps.comhaCk CuLTure in the future with its concept app, GOAB. In a two- MTV / WatchWith minute video, the multi-platform app is shown letting11 /musiC 2.0 people take full control of their viewing experience: MTV is catering to multi-screen behaviour with a choosing what to watch and when, connecting with12 / free iPhone/iPad app, WatchWith, which allows friends in real time via social networks, accessingvideo viewers to interact with the channel’s content as contextual extra content and even tapping into13 / it airs. Described on iTunes as ‘a DVR for social specific ecommerce portals based on their social/reTaiL commentary’, the app automatically detects the user’s interest graph. http://lab.syzygy.de14 / time zone and displays tweets and Facebook updatesgaming relative to when they were added during the show’s original airing. The app also provides exclusive video15 /pubLishing content around popular shows like Teen Wolf and US hit Jersey Shore. http://bit.ly/p6dT8p shaZam /16 /design usa neTwork Tv Supported by
most contagious / money / p.24 09 / mosT ConTagious / money / digiTaL Cashchapters / A revolution is coming in the way that people use money. NFC01 / (near-field communication) and tools for personal financialmovemenTs data analysis are now finding their way into the hands of02 / consumers, in no small part due to growth in the use ofproJeCTs smartphones. Leading the pack this year has been Google03 / with its NFC-based Google Wallet solution, which is currentlyserviCe being rolled out in the US.04 / The internet behemoth’s entry into mobile money is indicativesoCiaL of the potential of this burgeoning market. According to analysts05 / Research and Markets, in 2011 there were 158.1 million mobileidenTiTy payment users worldwide, a number that should break 1 billion by06 / the end of 2016. Additionally, $159.3bn worth of payments wereTeChnoLogy made in 2011, forecast to rise to $1 trillion by the end of 2016.07 / However, jostling for position within the competitive anddaTa complex infrastructure are the familiar mobile network operators,08 / banks, card issuers, retailers, and service vendors. MeanwhileaugmenTed app developers and disruptive startups like Square and Simple09 / (formerly Bank Simple) are growing in stature and challengingmoney the status quo, with their dynamic focus on customer, or user,10 / experience.haCk CuLTure Google / Google Wallet11 /musiC 2.0 Filling the near-field communications opportunity void it created when it launched its HTC Nexus S handset, Google Wallet is an12 /video ‘open commerce ecosystem’ which combines the capabilities of the phone, financial services companies and local merchants.13 /reTaiL Currently only available on the Sprint 4G network in the US,14 / the service can be used to pay anywhere MasterCard’s PayPass googLe waLLeT /gaming system is accepted. Partners in the scheme such as American Eagle Outfitters, The Container Store, Foot Locker, Guess,15 /pubLishing Jamba Juice, Macy’s, OfficeMax and Toys’R’Us are also letting customers redeem coupons and earn reward points when they16 /design tap their phone on the in-store NFC readers to make a payment. supported by
most contagious / money / p.25 Wallet represents a major data bounty for Google, but showing the customer’s name and photo and offering its growth remains dependent on the uptake of NFC- the option to charge items or services to their credit readers like MasterCard’s PayPass at retailers. After all, card (which is linked to the system at sign-up). without ubiquity, NFC represents just ‘another way’ for We love how Card Case places the emphasischapters / people to pay. However, it’s expected that the service back on the human experience. Rather than the cold will come to Europe in 2012, starting in the UK.01 / tapping of hardware, the system requires a spokenmovemenTs www.google.com/wallet exchange between the customer and vendor: and02 / hopefully a smile along the way too.proJeCTs Square / Card Case https://squareup.com03 / US-based startup, Square (co-founded by JackserviCe Dorsey, also co-founder of ever-so-slightly-successful Commonwealth Bank of Australia / Kaching Twitter), made headlines in 2010 for its nifty hardware04 / Against a backdrop of growing public disdain for add-on that allowed people to accept payments fromsoCiaL financial brands, several retail banks have designed credit cards through their smartphones. CommonweaLTh bank oF05 / mobile applications to help customers manage their ausTraLia /idenTiTy money more easily. So many, in fact, that we dedicated06 / a whole report to them in Contagious 28TeChnoLogy In Australia, Commonwealth Bank of Australia07 / (CBA) launched an NFC-powered banking app with adaTa wealth of useful banking services.08 /augmenTed The iPhone and Android app – Kaching – includes services such as paying people via Facebook, email09 / and even mobile numbers, and paying with a simplemoney swipe at PayPass-enabled stores. Users can instantly10 / check their bank balance, transfer between accountshaCk CuLTure and undertake other banking activities.11 /musiC 2.0 CBA sidestepped having to wait for NFC-enabled handsets to hit the Australian market by partnering12 / This year, it launched its second service, Card with iCarte. The Canadian company producesvideo Case. This service allows users to pay for goods and smartphone cases with NFC and RFID readers and13 / services by simply stating their name to confirm the writers embedded.reTaiL transaction – with no need to wave a handset or tap a bit.ly/tvwqsb14 / card, let alone provide a PIN or signature.gaming The app automatically detects when the user comes15 / within 100 metres of a participating merchant whichpubLishing they have already approved. As they arrive at the16 / store, the merchant’s app is alerted and opens a tabdesign Supported by
most contagious / money / p.26 Westpac / Impulse Saver Key to that experience is NFC, and Movenbank Team member Ben Knelman told attendees at ‘We’ve never created the opportunity for impulse will launch on Android phones with the technology a Startx Demo day that Juntos Finanzas tools had saving,’ proclaimed adland’s very own Rory built in. Gaming dynamics form part of the app to helped participants earning under $40k save an Sutherland to TED Global, Oxford in July 2009. encourage loyalty (for example, using it to pay average of $1,400 over six months.chapters / In the same presentation he went on to suggest for your morning coffee), with points building To strengthen its business model, the company if each person had a big, alluring red button at towards an automatic line of credit.01 / is looking at third-party licensing, so banks andmovemenTs home which, whenever pressed, saved them The bank’s credit rating system is also very credit unions can pay to use the tools; it’s also02 / $50, people would tend to save more. different. CRED works around a customer’s investigating the potential to generate salesproJeCTs Two years on, and BBDO Colenso, New financial behaviour and social reputation. A quick leads based on the savers’ individual goals.03 / Zealand created precisely that for retail bank survey determines their financial personality, with http://ahorrandojuntos.comserviCe rewards for paying off bills, saving, or donating Westpac. With New Zealanders cumulatively04 / spending NZ$16.1m on impulse purchases to charity, for example. Rather than punishingsoCiaL every day and only 49% holding a savings customers for exceeding their credit limit, the05 / account, the Westpac Impulse Saver is an service aims to identify when that might happenidenTiTy iPhone application to help the bank’s customers through their everyday behaviour.06 / save more. Every time a user taps the button www.movenbank.comTeChnoLogy that appears on screen, an amount of $5, $10, $15, $20 or $50 is transferred to their savings Juntos Finanzas /07 /daTa account. As we’ve seen, smartphone owners can rejoice and revel in the new options for banking and08 / The application is an outstanding piece ofaugmenTed payments now and in the near future. But what of marketing as service design. We covered people who own feature phones? Or who simply09 / it in Issue 27, at which point it had exceededmoney don’t use the internet? How can technology help Westpac’s uptake target by 259% and over a them to improve and track their finances?10 / third of all Westpac customers with iPhones hadhaCk CuLTure downloaded the app. At a time of debt-ridden StartX (a non-profit student startup accelerator) doom and gloom, it generated over $400,000 of and the d.school Institute of Design Thinking,11 /musiC 2.0 free media coverage. both based in Stanford, appear to have a www.westpac.co.nz/impulsesaver successful project on their hands with Juntos12 /video Finanzas (Finances Together). Movenbank / wesTpaC /13 / The project seeks to create personal financereTaiL Movenbank, New York, a mobile-centric, cardless projects for first-generation Latino immigrants in14 / and branchless startup bank, announced it the US. It allows them to track their expensesgaming would open to the public in 2012. It is one of a via SMS, and receive a monthly ‘visual story’ number of startups, like Simple and Perkstreet, showing where the money has gone via email15 /pubLishing to partner with established banks while taking full or ‘snail mail’ – a Mint.com designed for people control of the ‘front-end’ customer experience. who are offline and depend mainly on cash.16 /design Supported by
most contagious / hack culture / p.27 10 / mosT ConTagious / haCk CuLTure / pLaTForms risingchapters / 2011 was when hack culture entered the Initially highly wary of consumers tinkering with The Kinect Effect page of the Xbox website01 / mainstream. An umbrella term, hacking can its hardware, 2011 has seen Microsoft change encourages people to submit stories of howmovemenTs mean anything from creating a plug-in to tack, and learn to embrace the hacker ethos. In they’re using the Kinect in surprising and02 / adding bespoke functionality to existing off- June it announced the beta version of a Kinect ingenious ways and features videos showingproJeCTs the-shelf software. The proliferation of hack software developer kit (SDK), with the full how the UK’s Lakeside Centre for Autism and03 / culture means the adoption of hacking ideals, commercial version set to launch in early 2012. stroke patients at the Royal Berkshire HospitalserviCe in other words, embracing innovation and are benefiting from the hands-free technology. Microsoft has even gone so far as to celebrate experimentation. For companies, this can04 / hackers’ repurposing of the Kinect in its latest Microsoft, together with seed fund TechStars,soCiaL mean tearing down a few walls to encourage global TV ad, created by twofifteenmccann, also created a startup accelerator to provide people to tinker with and remix their brands’05 / San Francisco, which shows the Kinect being developers or entrepreneurs interested in properties, or using open data to createidenTiTy used by musicians, students, doctors and even building a business that takes advantage of the something new. In turn, this has the potential06 / bomb disposal experts. As the ad illustrates, Kinect technologies with the funding, mentoring to raise engagement, earn media exposure,TeChnoLogy Xbox effectively turned the world into an R&D and support they need. See Contagious 29 and position willing brands as benefactors of07 / department, and celebrating the unexpected www.microsoft.com/bizspark/kinectaccelerator cutting-edge creative technology platforms.daTa uses of Kinect has helped position Xbox as an www.xbox.com/en-gb/kinect/kinect-effect Kinect / The Kinect Effect innovative brand with a relevance that extends08 /augmenTed well beyond the world of gaming. When Xbox launched its gesture-recognition09 / hardware Kinect in November 2010 it rapidlymoney shot into Guinness World Records as the10 / fastest-selling consumer electronics device, withhaCk CuLTure more than 10 million units sold in four months.11 / Microsoft intended the Kinect to providemusiC 2.0 controller-free motion-capture fun for Xbox gamers, but hackers were quick to discover a12 /video source of creative technological expression. Soon Kinect hack videos were popping up on13 /reTaiL YouTube in their thousands, showing the breadth of possibilities for the device beyond gaming.14 /gaming Examples ranged from a 3D video capture entertainment series, to a magic medical mirror15 / that showed the inner workings of the bodies ofpubLishing people who stood in front of it.16 /design Supported by
most contagious / hack culture / p.28 Ford / OpenXC SDK The project offers possibilities for new revenue Bug Labs, the New York-based open-source models for the car maker, most notably through an hardware and software development company, app store where developers can create and sell new created the OpenXC SDK for Ford. This in-vehicle software.chapters / research platform enables developers to ‘plug and Ford should also benefit from fresh insights and a01 / play’ with modular hardware and software to configure broader intellectual capital base. It exemplifies howmovemenTs cars to run customised apps and platforms. All apps hacking can give consumers the chance to personalise02 / submitted are reviewed and tested by Ford before a product’s capabilities, not just its aesthetics, toproJeCTs being approved. better suit their needs. Contagious 2903 / www.buglabs.net/ford-buglabsserviCe04 / EMI / OpenEMIsoCiaL Prior to EMI Music’s sale to Vivendi/Universal Music05 / Group in November, it announced a partnershipidenTiTy with The Echo Nest, a data-rich music intelligence06 / company. The result? OpenEMI, a testing environmentTeChnoLogy – or ‘sandbox’ – that gives developers dynamic access to EMI content, and is designed to allow developers07 /daTa to generate revenue through partnerships. In other words, apps for the web, Apple’s iOS platform and08 /augmenTed Google’s Android platform. One example of the countless add-ons is Bug Labs’ OpenEMI includes content from several specific09 /money Fuel Economy Challenge application, which plugs artists, including Pet Shop Boys, Gorillaz and Tinie into a Ford car to show the fuel efficiency of the driver Tempah, in addition to audio and associated meta10 /haCk CuLTure behind the wheel. It also connects them to other data available from EMI-owned jazz label Blue Note drivers taking the challenge to see who is driving most (10,000 tracks), classical music from EMI Classics11 / efficiently. (1,500), and a broad range of music from EMImusiC 2.0 Selection (1,500). To release a commercial or real12 /video world application, apps must be approved by EMI – who will ultimately become the publisher upon13 /reTaiL approval, with revenues shared between the record label (60% of net revenue), then the developer (40%)14 / and The Echo Nest (a small share of that 40%).gaming See Contagious 2915 / http://developer.echonest.com/sandbox/emipubLishing16 /design Supported by
most contagious / hack culture / p.29 blablabLAB / Be Your Own Souvenir URL from ‘False’ to ‘True’. Word spread fast: Barcelona-based blablabLAB’s public art while the original site gained 80,000 hits, rumour project Be Your Own Souvenir combined a generated over 360,000 mentions, and resulted Kinect hack with 3D printing. in a 20% rise in sales, proving the might of thischapters / cunning little campaign that tapped into the In January, the project invited tourists in appeal of sticking it to the man.01 /movemenTs Barcelona’s Las Ramblas to stand in front of www.burgeranch.co.il three Kinect sensors for a 360-degree scan.02 / The 3D printer received the data and withinproJeCTs ten minutes churned out a personal memento:03 / a tiny toy-like replica of their pose. Across twoserviCe weekends, 500 souvenirs were made, uniting04 / tourists and locals to watch the production live,soCiaL burgeranCh / while a video of the project was viewed more05 / than 300,000 times on Vimeo.idenTiTy The project showcases the phenomenal06 / possibilities of the combination of Kinect hackingTeChnoLogy and 3D, where suddenly real life objects can07 / be perfectly replicated or resized, for repair,daTa replacement, entertainment or art. Contagious 2708 / www.blablablab.orgaugmenTed09 / Burgeranch / Combinamoney To promote its Combina deal Israeli fast-food10 / chain Burgeranch launched a digital campaignhaCk CuLTure that referenced the illicit nature of hacking.11 / Playing on the meaning of combina – anmusiC 2.0 Israeli word meaning to outsmart the system12 / while getting something out of it – Burgeranchvideo worked with McCann Erikson, Tel Aviv to launch13 / a two-pronged online campaign. One part ofreTaiL the campaign featured banner ads that led to14 / an online trivia quiz that offered free dessertsgaming for answering with unanswerable questions.15 / Concurrently, the agency seeded rumours online bLabLabLab /pubLishing that the site could be hacked to give out free16 / desserts, by simply changing a portion of thedesign Supported by
most contagious / music 2.0 / p.30 11 / mosT ConTagious / musiC 2.o / LighTing smaLL Fireschapters / 2011 has seen the established power01 /movemenTs structures of the music industry continue to crumble with sharing and streaming services02 /proJeCTs coming to the fore and an increased focus on experimentation.03 /serviCe The rapid uptake of app/web-based services such as Songkick (Contagious 26), which04 /soCiaL recommends gigs based on your music tastes (and takes a cut of resulting ticket sales) and05 /idenTiTy SoundCloud, which allows easy sharing of recordings, serve as a reminder of the massive06 / cultural currency that music continues toTeChnoLogy command.07 /daTa Meanwhile, bands are developing increasingly innovative ways of attracting attention to album08 / releases. Expect more digital/musical crossoversaugmenTed in 2012.09 /money Spotify / Apps10 / Spotify is giving third party app developers thehaCk CuLTure opportunity to create music-based apps which11 / integrate into and enhance the service through anmusiC 2.0 open API, while its alliance with Facebook saw it add seven million users in just over two months. animations, musical scores, lyrics and essays.12 /video Early apps were developed by established The experience was supported by residencies in Björk / Biophilia different cities around the world and a 90-minute editorial presences, such as the Guardian and13 /reTaiL Rolling Stone, serving music reviews direct Serial innovator Björk has fundamentally documentary produced by Pulse Films, while to Spotify listeners. The integration of music- changed the way she approaches making music, the faint-hearted could get involved through CD/14 /gaming focused social network Last.Fm to Spotify taking a multiplatform approach to her latest vinyl/iTunes. improved music recommendations, and other album, Biophilia. The album is presented as Björk and her record label One Little Indian/15 / apps are allowing users to buy concert tickets a series of iPad apps, housed in one ‘mother’ Nonesuch put together a sophisticated teampubLishing and view lyrics. app, offering users an entirely interactive way of developers, led by Scott Snibbe Studio,16 / to experience the songs – through games,design Supported by
most contagious / music 2.0 / p.31 LA, who were responsible for Cosmology – the Bluebrain / Location-Aware Albums mother application. Various developers worked on Washington DC band Bluebrain released two one or two apps each, co-funding the projects, and location-aware albums this year, The National Mall taking a share of the revenue. Snibbe explained: (Washington DC) and Listen to the Light (Centralchapters / ‘The beauty of apps is that they allow you to Park, New York). The series of choose-your-own01 / experience the music far more like the musician has.’ adventure style app albums matches the musicmovemenTs Contagious 28 http://bjork.com according to the physical location of the listener via02 / GPS, with the beats, melodies, instrumentation and Gorillaz / KorgproJeCTs rhythms of the songs changing according to their Virtual band Gorillaz teamed up with synthesiser movements, creating a unique musical experience.03 / kaiser ChieFs /serviCe manufacturers Korg to launch a new version of Korg’s Contagious 27 www.bluebra.in iElectribe synth app for iPad. The Gorillaz version04 / costs $19.99 and comes with 64 preset grooves and Batelco / Super SonicsoCiaL 128 sounds from the band’s latest album, The Fall. Leading Middle East telecom provider, Batelco,05 / Users can select preset samples from a track and edit worked with Bahrain-based FP7/BAH to create anidenTiTy or discard individual instruments, including kick drum, audio signature that quickly became part of urban06 / snare, hi-hat, percussion, synth, vocals and sound culture. The Super Sonic CD which contained fiveTeChnoLogy effects. This provides dedicated fans of the band with remixes of an audio signature was sent to influential07 / a new way to experience and interact with the music DJs in Bahrain, and before long was heard in nightdaTa and offers more general users of the app a host of clubs across the island state. 100,000 copies of the08 / sounds and tunes to experiment with. Contagious 28 CD were available in shopping malls, either for freeaugmenTed www.korg.com/ielectribegorillaz or a $2 donation, and raised $80,000 for Batelco’s goriLLaZ /09 / Hearts & Minds social initiative. Super Sonic alsomoney Kaiser Chiefs / The Future is Medieval received 44,000 plays and 17,000 downloads on10 / UK indie band The Kaiser Chiefs and their label SoundCloud and 4,000 ringtone subscribers.haCk CuLTure Universal Music worked with Wieden+Kennedy, Contagious 26 www.facebook.com/batelco11 / London to re-engage fans by allowing them to selectmusiC 2.0 the tracks that would make up the Leeds band’s latest album. The kaiserchiefs.com website presented 2012 /video new tracks and invited fans to select their ten favourites for a bespoke tracklisting, before creating their own13 /reTaiL artwork using a customisable template. Smartest of all, fans were able to sell their personalised album,14 / receiving a payment of £1 each time their version wasgaming sold. Contagious 2815 /pubLishing http://kaiserchiefs.specialmoves.com16 /design bLuebrain / Supported by
most contagious / music 2.0 / p.32 Social Networked Music / To promote its free, legal music sharing service, Singaporean Telco, StarHub, through DDB Singapore, created Musical Mood Box, a Facebook app. Based on posts and status updates, thechapters / app used an algorithm to sense the user’s mood and then posted01 / appropriate tracks to their Wall. Musical Mood Box racked upmovemenTs 40,000 Likes, raising monthly traffic by 53%. See a full case study02 / on StarHub in Contagious 29proJeCTs Cellcom hosted a series of virtual gigs for Israeli youth through03 / Facebook. Viewers of Volume Festival could convene online atserviCe a designated time to watch band performances, comment live via04 / the social network, and integrate themselves into the performancesoCiaL via webcam. See Contagious 2705 / http://music.starhub.comidenTiTy http://volumefestival.co.il06 / CeLLCom /TeChnoLogy One to Watch /07 / The Bronze format is an app, currently in beta, which creates adaTa unique piece of music on every listen. The innovative app was08 / developed by former Golden Silver frontman Gwilym Gold,augmenTed Björk producer Lexxx and a team from Goldsmiths College, University of London. It works by transforming music in real time,09 /money triggering different sounds to create an evolving version of a song each time it is played. Gold’s single Flesh Freeze was the first to10 /haCk CuLTure be released via the format. Contagious 28 http://bronzeformat.com11 /musiC 2.012 /video13 / sTarhub /reTaiL14 /gaming15 /pubLishing bronZe /16 /design supported by
most contagious / video / p.33 12 / mosT ConTagious / video / who’s ConTroLLing ConTenT?chapters / Online viewing figures are at an all-time high,01 / with the average American watching 21.1movemenTs hours of content in October, according to02 / ComScore. And, as YouTube’s recent effortsproJeCTs covered below demonstrate, online content is03 / heading in the direction of longer form, qualityserviCe efforts from professional content producers. Back in March, Warner Brothers became the04 /soCiaL first major Hollywood studio to launch movie rentals though Facebook, while Miramax’s05 /idenTiTy eXperience app allows users to share video content via their News Feed.06 /TeChnoLogy YouTube /07 / Google-owned YouTube continues to dominatedaTa the video content market. The most popular channel on the site – with 54.2 million unique youTube /08 /augmenTed viewers – is music video powerhouse Vevo, a09 / joint venture by Sony Music Entertainment,money Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media.10 / YouTube’s shift to organise itself increasinglyhaCk CuLTure redesign to make it easier to find videos and to is released through peer-to-peer file-sharing around professionally-created content, is shown integrate with social media including Google+ system BitTorrent’s distribution platform VODO,11 / through deals with Disney, Warner, Universal and Facebook. Rumours also abound that and the season finale aired in December.musiC 2.0 Pictures and Sony, offering the studios’ movies YouTube will be more organised around vertical Created by writer Josh Bernhard, director12 / for rent through the site. In March 2011, YouTube channels. Expect a flood of venture capital intovideo Bracey Smith and a cast and crew working also invested $100m in YouTube Next, a venture content creation throughout 2012. for free, the drama centres around a Soviet13 / dedicated to partner projects, programmes www.youtube.com/lifeinaday cosmonaut who is discovered on Earth andreTaiL and services. The launch of YouTube’s own claims to have been born on Mars. Viewers who14 / crowdsourced film, Life in a Day at the Sundance Pioneer One / donate to the project via PayPal receive rewardsgaming Film Festival cements the video content site’s Pioneer One, an independent science fiction that vary depending on how much they donate.15 / commitment to quality original content. To finish drama series that is legally distributed online and These include an associate producer credit andpubLishing off the year, in early December, YouTube had funded solely by viewers, has managed to raise a DVD of the first season. See Contagious 29 what it described as a lick of ‘digital paint’, a16 / more than $80,000 in fan donations. The series http://vodo.net/pioneeronedesign Supported by
most contagious / video / p.34 Storymaker / Bar Karma Intel / Visual Life Will Wright, the brains behind the hugely successful Imbuing a silicon chip with personality? Sounds like game The Sims, has built Storymaker, a piece a tough brief. But Amsterdam Worldwide’s Visual of software that enables fans to suggest themes, Life platform for Intel, supporting the launch of itschapters / dialogue, props, music and characters for Bar Karma, 2nd Generation Core Chip, rose to the challenge,01 / a light-hearted sci-fi show. Ideas are sketched out into positioning it as a facilitator of creativity. Visual LifemovemenTs a rough narrative, with users voting for their favourite, is a storytelling platform, featuring people whose02 / which is then written up and filmed by professionals. lives are enabled by the technology, including ScottproJeCTs Turnaround time is just six weeks from plot to episode. Schuman (the snapper behind streetstyle website The Sartorialist), animator Christen Bach, designer03 / The show was aired on US broadcaster Current TV,serviCe Michael Wolff and musician Michael Franti. More exec-produced by Wright and starred Deadwood and than 37 million people engaged with the campaign in04 / Lost star William Sanderson as a 20,000 year oldsoCiaL 198 countries over an eight month period – a 460% barman who encounters time travellers, offering them increase in Intel channel views, with an average of05 / drinks and conversation at the end of the universe. ItidenTiTy seven minutes spent on the site. Contagious 26 gaTorade / has been backed by American Express, AT&T and06 / Mazda. http://bit.ly/storymaker_tutorial http://intel.ly/smnhh7TeChnoLogy Gatorade / Everything to Prove Cheer / YouTube07 /daTa Expanding its portfolio of impressive branded content Leo Burnett, Toronto teamed up with synth pop- gems such as Replay, Gatorade, through VML, esque band Strange Talk for P&G laundry detergent08 / Kansas City, launched Everything to Prove, a series Cheer to create an interactive music video for its DigaugmenTed promoting its G Series sports drinks. The series it. Get it campaign. By clicking on brightly-coloured09 / followed the journeys of 15 of the NFL’s top rookies objects throughout the video, visitors were takenmoney in their attempts to become professionals. Debuting to the brand’s Facebook page where they had the10 / online through YouTube, Facebook, NFL.com and chance to win the item when they Liked the page.haCk CuLTure Gatorade.com, the brand was keen to infiltrate Reinforcing the brand’s commitment to keeping11 / the teen athletic circle and help them understand colours vibrant, the two-week campaign saw 19,000musiC 2.0 prizes given away, with almost 2,000 being picked up the importance of sports nutrition in improving12 / performance. The rookies became advocates, in less than 40 minutes on day one.video spreading the word through Twitter, Facebook www.facebook.com/Cheer13 / and targeted media. The work became the mostreTaiL watched and talked about content in the history of14 / Gatorade, generating 229.6 million in earned mediagaming impressions. With 5.5 million total episode views15 / and 93.5% of teens finding the content appealing,pubLishing Gatorade is considering turning Everything to Prove inTeL /16 / into a television series. http://bit.ly/gatorade_provedesign Supported by
most contagious / video / p.35 Most Viewed / And, of course, we’ve been impressed with an array of films either launching on YouTube before heading to TV, or being hosted exclusivelychapters / through social media channels.01 /movemenTs Here are a few favourites:02 / Volkswagen Passat / The ForceproJeCTs (Deutsch, Los Angeles)03 / View count: 62.7mserviCe http://bit.ly/vw_theforce T mobiLe /04 / Dermablend / Go Beyond the CoversoCiaL (Tuxedo Agency, Montreal)05 / View Count: 7midenTiTy http://bit.ly/beyond_the_cover06 /TeChnoLogy Nissan / Damned Ponies (Lew’LaraTBWA, São Paulo)07 / View count: 14m nissan /daTa http://bit.ly/damned_ponies08 /augmenTed T Mobile / Royal Wedding09 / (Saatchi & Saatchi, London)money View Count: 28.4m http://bit.ly/t-mobile_wedding10 /haCk CuLTure Source: AdAge / Visible Measures11 / voLkswagen /musiC 2.012 /video13 /reTaiL14 / dermabLend /gaming15 /pubLishing16 /design Supported by
most contagious / retail / p.36 13 / mosT ConTagious / reTaiL / more sTreamLined, more soCiaLchapters / Those in Europe and America may still be teetering on the01 / brink of recession, but, if anything, the world of retail seemsmovemenTs to have been galvanized by the relentlessly bleak outlook,02 / offering a succession of innovations and experimentsproJeCTs throughout 2011.03 / The rapidly evolving relationship between our online andserviCe offline consumer behaviour is driving inventive new consumer04 / experiences that merge the best of both worlds in useful andsoCiaL increasingly intuitive ways.05 /idenTiTy Staking a claim on that most precious resource, our disposable income, means brands must work harder and smarter than ever.06 / Even as economies falter, flash-sale sites have flourished, withTeChnoLogy consumers still willing to splash out so long as they’re assured07 / a kick-ass discount to preserve that crucial feeling of fiscaldaTa responsibility.08 /augmenTed However, deal-of-the-day juggernaut Groupon, the leading light at the start of the year, has had a bumpier ride of late. Fierce09 /money competition from upstart rivals – think Amazon-backed Living Social, Google Offers and over 500 other hungry new players10 / worldwide – cashing in on their business model is just part ofhaCk CuLTure the problem. Hard-luck tales from disgruntled vendors make for11 / bad headlines and despite typically netting 50% of the profit onmusiC 2.0 the deals it offers, the company has a $500m deficit around its12 / neck. Notwithstanding the launch of Groupon Now, a mobile- iLLusTraTion / marC aspinaLLvideo based real-time deals service, its failure to innovate consistently13 / and distinguish itself from the pack looks ominous. Not to mentionreTaiL the long term economic effects of this cut-price culture...14 / With 2012 shaping up for more financial thrills and spills, whichgaming of the past year’s success stories will continue to make their15 / presence felt in the next 12 months?pubLishing16 /design supported by
most contagious / retail / p.37 Tesco / Home plus Cannes Lions Festival into the bargain. They salesperson to see how they’re manipulating Offering hardworking Korean commuters the say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and graphic elements around the screen without the chance to do a bit of grocery shopping on the this idea has been picked up by yihodian.com in usual mirror-imaging problem that makes it hard fly, the Tesco-owned Home plus chain created China, P&G/MALL.cz in Prague, and HMV/20th to click or point against our natural tendencies.chapters / interactive posters in subway stations that exactly Century Fox in the UK; expect variations on this01 / replicated the aisles and products in bricks and theme throughout next year. Contagious 28movemenTs mortar stores. Each item on the 2D shelves http://www.tescoplc.com/271802 / had a unique QR code which users could scanproJeCTs with their smartphone to add the product to Tre / LiveShop03 / their basket. Having selected all they wanted, While Tesco used the internet to take groceryserviCe they completed the transaction via the online shopping to subway platforms, Swedish telco 3/ checkout, leaving the goods to be delivered to Tre brought the human touch to online customer04 /soCiaL their home later that day – without an onerous service with the launch of 3LiveShop. The system trip to a crowded supermarket. is based on a videochat-style touchscreen05 /idenTiTy interface that allows employees to demonstrate While the LiveShop pushes the boundaries The scheme proved popular, driving a 76% rise the newest phones, using slick screen graphics of what’s currently possible, it does invite you06 / in new members registered on the Home plus to highlight key features and price plans. to wonder how long it might be before similarTeChnoLogy e-commerce site, 600,000 downloads of the scan-and-shop app in four months and a 200% A lot of work went in to making it all look so functionality can be offered with having to07 /daTa increase in online sales. Hat tip to ad agency easy, with digital agency B-Reel, Stockholm, custom-create a whole new platform... Could Cheil Worldwide, Seoul, for finding the perfect collaborating with Teenage Engineering and Facebook or Google Hangouts be adapted to08 /augmenTed way to serve both consumer and client in one fell Isotop to help bring the ingenious interface to accommodate similar one-to-one experiences? swoop – and scooping a Media Grand Prix at the life. It uses a system of reflection that allows the Contagious 27 3Liveshop09 /money American Express / Link Like Love10 / One brand extending Facebook functionalityhaCk CuLTure this year was American Express, launching a11 / service for US cardholders that taps into theirmusiC 2.0 social graph to create a customised selection of12 / deals and offers.video Cardholders who sign up to the Link, Like,13 / Love service via Facebook link their card toreTaiL the programme and indicate which types of14 / deals they wish to receive from across a wealthgaming of categories including food, travel fashion and15 / dining. Customers claim specific deals theypubLishing like by clicking ‘Add to Card’, and swipe their16 / Amex next time they’re making a purchase fromdesign Supported by
most contagious / retail / p.38 the vendor. The transaction – and discount – is Stockholm-based Akestam Holst is the agency later displayed on their statement. No coupons. No behind all this furious plotting, which neatly taps into codes. Easy. Customers claim their discount without people’s increasing interest in working together online any change to their normal purchase behaviour. And to solve puzzles and, well, rob their way to consumerchapters / there’s no hand-wringing about privacy either; there fulfilment. Contagious 29.01 / is no exchange of profile or financial information www.pauseljudbild.com/heist.phpmovemenTs between the two partners. Contagious 28 www.facebook.com/americanexpress Coca-Cola / Happiness Quest02 /proJeCTs Coca-Cola Japan has launched a campaign called Pause / The Heist Happiness Quest, gamifying its 820,000 vending03 /serviCe While Amex is exploring the eminently slick and smart machines via QR codes. To play, people will be end of the retail spectrum, there’s been plenty to think asked to snap the QR code on their local vending04 /soCiaL about that’s inventive in less immediately obvious machine, which will then prompt them to name the ameriCan express / ways. Especially leftfield was a campaign for home machine and choose an avatar for it. Each machine05 /idenTiTy electronics retailer Pause that encouraged the public can be assigned an avatar, but the user will be asked to plot and execute a burglary. to pick one machine to be their own. That machine will06 / interact more personally, sending the user campaignTeChnoLogy A YouTube film shows the story of Peter, news and weather. Points and badges will be ignominiously fired from Pause, and seeking revenge07 / awarded for checking in multiple times to a specificdaTa by leaking security details about the store online. machine, allowing users to buy shoes, skins and Potential burglars are invited to crack codes online,08 / backgrounds for the machine’s avatar. The real hook,augmenTed and then, working in teams of two, physically traverse though, is that one lucky player will receive one million the actual store to win the prizes on offer. A $6,00009 / yen ($13,045), and another million yen will be givenmoney TV was up for grabs, or a variety of discounts from out to someone who introduces a friend to Happiness 10-30% depending on how far wannabe burglars got10 / Quest. Contagious 29 http://bit.ly/Cokevending into the store before tripping the security system. pause /haCk CuLTure11 /musiC 2.012 /video13 /reTaiL14 /gaming15 /pubLishing CoCa-CoLa /16 /design pause / Supported by
most contagious / retail / p.39 Lays / Vending Machine of Burberry Bespoke, an online service that which might once only have been seen during PepsiCo-owned snack brand Lays created allows customers to design and customise a show, only to be passed over by cautious an attention-grabbing vending machine to their own version on the brand’s iconic trench industry buyers, now actually stand a chance of demonstrate that its crisps are ‘100% Natural’. coat. The system offers just enough flexibility going into production because the customer ischapters / Blame it on Unilever’s smile-for-an-ice-cream to accommodate personal preferences, but not brought into the process so much earlier… automaton, or maybe Coke’s pizza-pushing enough to let customers run roughshod over the01 / Flying in the face of the majority of online retail,movemenTs Happiness Machine, but something about a big brand’s rigorously protected aesthetic… MO targets customers who are not looking02 / metal box that delivers treats in an inventive way Elsewhere in the rag trade, brands are pushing for a bargain, are willing to wait a long time forproJeCTs brings out the inner child in all of us. the customisation possibilities further, with their merchandise and don’t feel the need for03 / newcomers like www.blanklabel.com offering anyone to ‘curate’ the collections on their behalf.serviCe custom dress shirts from $60. Meanwhile, And it seems to be working; CEO Aslaug04 / Modcloth’s fascinating Be the Buyer program Mangusdottir cites an average transaction valuesoCiaL goes from strength to strength, by putting of $1,800 and many orders that come in between05 / prototype dresses up for customer critique, $5,000 and $10,000. Their largest order so faridenTiTy revising the designs based on feedback, and rings in at $42,000 – yep, guess the recession is06 / putting the most popular into production. hitting some harder than others...TeChnoLogy Also carving out its own fashion niche (and,07 / yes, picking out a more appealing brand name)daTa is high-end newcomer Moda Operandi. This08 / Developed by BBDO Argentina, the Lays disruptive player aims to bring consumers – andaugmenTed vending machine appears to prepare your their purchasing power – into the loop just 48 crisps – from potato to bag – before your very hours after a designer’s runway show has taken09 /money eyes! Promoters encourage passers-by to insert place, shortening the show-to-shopfloor lead real potatoes into the machine and watch the time considerably in the process.10 /haCk CuLTure transformation as their potato is washed and peeled, fried and bagged. The final product Almost as soon as the models step off the11 / is ejected in a slyly warmed bag – reason catwalk, Moda Operandi’s mobile crew ofmusiC 2.0 photographers and models sets up a studio and enough in itself to applaud this bonkers idea.12 / Contagious 29 www.fritolay.com shoots each outfit, recreating looks item-for-item moda operandi /video and posting the entire collection online for their13 / Online fashion / members-only community to browse and selectreTaiL At the other end of the retail spectrum, Burberry from. For members, the attraction is the chance14 / has continued to grab headlines with its warm to buy anything seen during the show, rather thangaming embrace of all things digital. Having established choosing from a heavily-edited range selected an industry-leading approach to catwalk shows by a store’s buyer. For designers, it offers the15 /pubLishing that allows consumers to buy items as they chance – finally – to see upfront which of their go down the runway, this year saw the launch garments and accessories has gone down well16 /design with this informed audience. The upshot is items Supported by
most contagious / gaming / p.40 14 / mosT ConTagious / gaming / megawaTTs and miCrohiTschapters / As gaming strengthens its role as a force in the entertainment01 / landscape, it’s settled into a duopoly of sorts: the indies andmovemenTs the majors. As indie gaming has risen and created many02 / creative titles for every potential device or OS, so has theproJeCTs world of blockbusting franchise games like Call of Duty, with03 / enormous budgets and expectations of success. While costsserviCe of production aren’t quite Hollywood-calibre, EA is on track to release MMO blockbuster Star Wars: The Old Republic at an04 /soCiaL estimated price tag of $80m.05 / But it’s not just the big boys making huge dollars. If you thoughtidenTiTy the virtual goods business was a curious fad likely to burn itself06 / out in the near future, you’ll probably be as surprised as the restTeChnoLogy of the world to learn that a gaming company recently made an07 / astonishing €2,000,000 in just four days selling virtual spacedaTa ships. German game developer Bigpoint is no doubt laughing all the way to the Sparkasse after selling 2,000 drone ships to08 /augmenTed players of its DarkOrbit game. Making the sales all the more remarkable is the fact that the online space shooter is free to play.09 /money However, a tiny segment of the game’s total 65 million registered players thought it worthwhile to spend money on the little drones.10 /haCk CuLTure With a recent report from Inside Network predicting that the11 / virtual goods industry on Facebook alone is expected to grow bymusiC 2.0 32% to $1.65bn in 2012, it looks like virtual goods may not only be here for the forseeable future, but continue to become more12 /video important in people’s lives.13 / Meanwhile, the demographics of gamers are more closelyreTaiL resembling those of the general entertainment-consuming14 / population. In an October survey, GameHouse and Harrisgaming Interactive found 55% of US adult online gamers are women. voLkswagen /15 / It doesn’t hurt that games are bubbling up everywhere, in thepubLishing backseats of cars, or built with stats connected to your own personal real world performance.16 /design supported by
most contagious / gaming / p.41 SyFy / Defiance and vice-versa has generally proved creatively Toyota / ToyToyota The blur between gaming and film content at the poor (Resident Evil, anyone?), but the quality of Backseat Driver, the first product introduced by big-money end of the entertainment spectrum the creative talents involved and the popularity of Toyota’s new toy brand ToyToyota, is an iPhone is growing, with NBC Universal-owned sci-fi films like District 9 suggest that Defiance could application that lets kids enjoy a virtual drive whilechapters / network SyFy working with games developer be a trailblazing example of the future of true safely buckled up in the back seat. The mobile01 / Trion to create a prime-time weekly TV show transmedia television. game, created by Tokyo-based creative shopmovemenTs called Defiance, incorporating an MMORPG www.syfy.com www.trionworlds.com Party, easily one of the most impressive breakout02 / that will influence the plot and action. Due to air companies this year, uses the smartphone’sproJeCTs next year, Defiance is similar to Neill Blomkamp’s Jason Rohrer / Chain World GPS functionality to create a fantasy driving03 / critically-acclaimed District 9, set in the modern Art-game pioneer Jason Rohrer won the route that mirrors that of the real car. Kids controlserviCe day, in an alternate reality where aliens have Game Design Challenge at the 2011 Game My Car, which follows the path of Papa Car, and populated the earth and live alongside humans. Developers Conference in San Francisco with score points by steering in the right direction and04 /soCiaL Audience members will choose a tribe to belong his ambitious creation, Chain World. Working picking up objects along the way. to, and avatars from real players will appear in around this year’s theme, Games as Religion,05 / Points are collected for picking up both theidenTiTy the show itself, which is being scripted by no Rohrer’s game gives each player just one life in virtual items that Papa Car drops, and the icons lesser a writer than circus drama Carnivale’s which to control or alter the game environment,06 / of shops and businesses from the real world. Daniel Knauf. building structures, tearing them down,TeChnoLogy After collecting enough points players can developing systems, etc. But when they die, customise their wheels, and share the design of07 / that’s it, and then they have to pass the game –daTa their car and the route they took via Twitter. housed in one single USB stick – on to ‘someone08 / else who expresses interest’, never speaking of www.toyota-global.com/toytoyotaaugmenTed it again. From the moment Rohrer introduced09 / the game it has created controversy – the firstmoney recipient decided to auction off the rights to play10 / the following turns, effectively creating his ownhaCk CuLTure set of rules. No one said religious law was fair.11 / See Contagious 28musiC 2.0 http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net MMORPGs like World Of Warcraft are hugely12 / popular – last year the game earned a staggeringvideo $1bn and claims to have 12 million paying online13 / users worldwide, spending on average 2.1 hoursreTaiL daily playing – not to mention hugely immersive14 / and engaging. Transferring those dynamicsgaming and figures to a TV property is potentially15 / revolutionary. The mechanism for how thepubLishing linear narrative and gaming dynamics interact is16 / untested, and the crossover of games to moviesdesign Supported by
most contagious / gaming / p.42 Volkswagen / BlueMotion Roulette Each copy of the game comes with three character Volkswagen and Norwegian agency Try Oslo ran toys, each with unique attributes and the capabilities an elaborate game of chance to show off the diesel to store game data and level information. To play the range of the new BlueMotion Golf, turning Norway’s character, it must be placed on the Portal of Power, butchapters / main scenic highway, E6, into a giant roulette board the characters can be used on any system, recalling01 / and taking bets on when the car would run out of gas. stats the player has earned. 32 characters, each withmovemenTs unique abilities, form the game’s possible players. The winning entry would, of course, receive the02 / car, and that’s the position one Knud Hillers foundproJeCTs himself in once he had chosen one of the 80,000 slots03 / available and calculated where the car would end up,serviCe based on its consumption of 0.38 litres of fuel per mile04 / – a kind of Cannonball Run for economisers, fitting insoCiaL perfectly with the rise of ultramilers, enthusiasts who05 / vie for maximum fuel efficiency.idenTiTy There was a two-week lead-up to the run, where it06 / was publicised with a television commercial urging The game is on its way to become this year’s holidayTeChnoLogy participants to the web portal, bluemotion.no. There big-seller, with Activision warning of shortages. Big-07 / they could place bets using the Google Maps- name Hollywood creatives were on board, with gamedaTa enhanced layout of the road, on where the car would soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and a story from Toy08 / stop. The site became a live showcase for the action Story writers Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow. voLkswagen /augmenTed once the drive started. More than 50,000 people www.skylanders.com09 / tuned in to the campaign site. The car drove 27money hours – 1570 kilometres – before running out of juice. Gadget Show / Battlefield 310 / Contagious 29 www.bluemotion.no The most complicated peripheral of the year goeshaCk CuLTure Activision / Spyro’s Adventure to the UK Channel 5’s Gadget Show, which turned11 / every first-person shooter’s fantasy into realitymusiC 2.0 Game developer Activision is the latest in a long- when it turned upcoming FPS Battlefield 3’s game running group of participants to add to the Spyro12 / environment into reality – a chamber with treadmills,video franchise, with a youth-focused multiplatform ambient lighting and paintball feedback. From a four- game that incorporates enhanced toy elements.13 / meter high igloo as a projecting surface to around Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure is the latest releasereTaiL 800 LED lights being mapped onto the canvas, the in a chain of games featuring purple dragon Spyro,14 / Gadget Show splashed out a ton of cash to create a who first starred in PlayStation hit Spyro the Dragongaming gaming nirvana. The simulator even featured paintball in 1998. This latest release, the first from Activision gadgeT show / turrets, firing according to events on the screen,15 / since it acquired the franchise in 2008, incorporates apubLishing blasting up to 12 paintballs a second at the gamer. unique toy element and a peripheral piece of hardware Contagious 29 http://bit.ly/gadgetshow_battlefield316 / known as the ‘Portal of Power’.design Supported by
most contagious / gaming / p.43 Friskies / Games for Cats adidas F50 / miCoach We’ve seen first-person Facebook game I Am Friskies has built three fantastic games designed Adidas has reached another personalised Playr (produced by Bigballs, London) embrace to ‘feed your cat’s senses’. Furry friends can content high point for gaming and life-tracking, the idea of football gaming based on real world choose between Cat Fishing, Tasty Treasures allowing players to track real-life athletic skill and performance, but for a major manufacturer thischapters / Hunt and Party Mix-Up. Each is a variation on use their own stats inside games. The miCoach is a big move into gaming, and a whole realm01 / a simple theme: brightly-coloured things move Speed_Cell, embedded into the bottom of the of opportunity for sharing data and performancemovemenTs around the screen; hit them with your paw to boot, measures average speed (recorded every socially at an amateur level, perhaps even02 / proceed to the next level. According to Nestlé second), maximum speed (recorded every five creating a virtual league based on real people.proJeCTs Purina-owned Friskies, the colours, movement, seconds), the number of sprints, distance at Contagious 2903 / and game-play have been ‘researched and high intensity levels, steps and step length. The www.adidas.com/com/footballserviCe tested for maximum feline fun’. device can store up to seven hours of data, which04 / can be wirelessly transmitted to a computer forsoCiaL analysis. It then connects to mobile phones, allowing the athletes to analyse their stats, and05 /idenTiTy use the data to play a virtual mobile football game against opponents. This a new approach06 /TeChnoLogy to football boots, which sees them acting as a product gateway to tools and services which07 / improve the player’s football skills.daTa08 /augmenTed09 /money Best of all, this isn’t a closed app – it’s an10 /haCk CuLTure HTML5/CSS3 website, so you can play it on iPads and Android tablets – or even in your web11 / browser (though furry gamers may struggle tomusiC 2.0 use a trackpad or mouse). Concerned about12 / claws scratching your iPad screen? Worry not.video Friskies has been conducting careful testing:13 / ‘We found that the bare glass screen on the iPadreTaiL stands up to our cat’s claws with no problems,14 / but please be aware that a cat’s sharp clawsgaming could damage add-on plastic film covers’. In15 / 2012, we’re looking forward to social gaming forpubLishing stick insects.16 / www.gamesforcats.com adidas /design Supported by
most contagious / publishing / p.44 15 / mosT ConTagious / pubLishing / beTTer Than bookschapters / As we grow accustomed to more nuanced Ladybird / Me Books Readers are also able to change any of the01 / information on the web, we’re seeing what Children’s publisher Ladybird has launched an audio of these existing interactive zones at the tapmovemenTs we can do with it when it’s more accessible. application for the iPad and iPhone that adds an of a screen and record their own sound effects.02 / Tablets, from the iPad to the Kindle Fire, have audio layer to kids’ books to transform them into They can also listen to the story being narratedproJeCTs brought us closer than we’ve ever been to the an interactive experience. Through the Ladybird by celebrities including comedian Adam Buxton03 / world’s libraries. Tablets also enable us to Classic Me Books app, created by Made In Me and actress Josie Lawrence.serviCe carry around our own library and leaf through Studio, London, the books are augmented with We’ve seen publishers start to make better it whenever we want. interactive zones with sound effects that enhance04 / use of the iPad’s interactive capabilities —soCiaL But as the big dogs compete for loyalty to the story. In The Zoo, for example, touching the Moonbot Studios in LA did this beautifully05 / platforms, and attempt to create the best text starts an audio recording, while touching the with The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr.idenTiTy space for reading, it’s the smaller, more atypical image of a seal produces the sound of the sea Morris Lessmore — but Me Books offers some productions for these devices that caught mammal playing in water. extra storytelling magic through an interactive,06 /TeChnoLogy our eye in 2011. What parts of the reading personalised experience. See Contagious 2907 / experience are being dramatically altered bydaTa touchscreens, or location-aware devices? How will future authors engage us to delve deeper08 /augmenTed into their narratives?09 / Meanwhile, more companies are trying to crackmoney how we experience text in browsers. Software10 / project Hypothes.is is aiming to develop anhaCk CuLTure open-source level of peer review for discourse11 / on the web, revealing bias, reputation and moremusiC 2.0 to give an increasingly factually accurate picture of what information is credible and what isn’t.12 /video Hypothes.is may be adding new content to each page, but increasingly people are getting used13 /reTaiL to things being stripped back, with demand for services like Instapaper and Readability14 /gaming growing steadily.15 /pubLishing16 /design Supported by
most contagious / publishing / p.45 Dorling Kindersley / The Human Body into the trend for healthcare professionals to use shed’. The financing is similar to Kickstarter, Stuck for Christmas present ideas? Publisher tablets in real-life medical situations. which has yet to launch internationally, where if Dorling Kindersley (DK) through AKQA the project’s goal amount isn’t raised none of the Tablets have been remarkably popular in other London might have just the thing. In August, it backers are charged. Authors like Terry Jones unexpected areas too: hotels are equippingchapters / launched The Human Body app, based on the and Tibor Fischer are participating. concierges with iPads to give guests advice,01 / book that has sold over a million copies. The estate agents and retailers are using them as http://unbound.co.uk/booksmovemenTs app was adapted to incorporate DK’s strong lightweight sales tools, restaurants are adopting Berg Cloud / Little Printer02 / design ethos while allowing the reader to them in place of menus and wine lists and, inproJeCTs explore and understand the human body. Users South Korea, tablets are on course to replace03 / can swipe through 3D layers of body systems, school textbooks by 2015. See Contagious 28serviCe zoom into details, switch on annotations, spin a 3D rendering of the human body and watch Unbound / Launch04 /soCiaL CGI movies of body processes. With a £9.99 Of all the strides authors have made on the price tag, the app was written in conjunction web, some of the most interesting have been in05 /idenTiTy with doctors and practitioners, and can be funding. In the US, many authors have brought bought on iTunes. It provides a compelling blend projects to Kickstarter, a funding platform for06 /TeChnoLogy of information, with impressive opportunities for creative projects. In the UK, however, Unbound interaction and a wide appeal, from mothers to is seeking to allow established authors to get07 / medics. As well as creating an additional revenue information from fans on what projects they’ddaTa stream for pre-existing content, the app also taps back, as well as offering access to their ‘author’s08 / In another on its long list of triumphs, LondonaugmenTed design studio Berg has taken the common receipt09 / printer and turned it into an anthropomorphisedmoney feed butler named Little Printer, which uses10 / the company’s Berg Cloud services to compilehaCk CuLTure a daily print-out of appointments, to-dos,11 / reminders, Sudoku puzzles, friends’ check-ins,musiC 2.0 headlines and more.12 / www.bergcloud.comvideo13 /reTaiL14 /gaming15 /pubLishing16 /design Supported by
most contagious / design / p.46 16 / mosT ConTagious / design / sophisTiCaTed diy, pLayFuL susTainabiLiTychapters / With 3D printing becoming more widespread and developed,01 / last year’s ‘make do and mend’ culture is giving way to moremovemenTs sophisticated ‘do it yourself’ design, where individuals have02 / the power to create beautiful, customised accessories atproJeCTs affordable prices. On a larger scale, we’re seeing a growth03 / in architecture inspired by living organisms and a moreserviCe whimsical shift in sustainable design, for instance Bjarke Ingels’s ski slope energy plant in Copenhagen (see below).04 /soCiaL San José International Airport / eCloud05 /idenTiTy eCloud is a dynamic data sculpture, created as part of San José International Airport’s Art + Technology public art programme06 / that shows the world’s weather.TeChnoLogy The piece is made up of dozens of square polycarbonate tiles07 /daTa hung vertically in asymmetrical rows, inspired by the shifting forms of clouds. A central computer takes in real-time weather data from08 /augmenTed cities around the world, visualising it by controlling liquid crystal pixels which turn the tiles from transparent to opaque.09 /money eCloud was created by a crack team consisting of Google10 / Creative Labs’ Aaron Koblin, NASA’s visual strategist DanhaCk CuLTure Goods and UeBERSEE designer Nik Hafermaas. See Contagious 26 http://ecloudproject.com11 /musiC 2.0 Make Eyewear / 3D Printed Sunglasses12 / Founded by 23-year-old industrial design student David Minich,video who was inspired by the possibilities of 3D printing, the Texas-13 / based Make Eyewear website sells 3D printed sunglasses andreTaiL frames for around $150.14 /gaming To create a unique frame, customers send Make Eyewear a sketch or some inspirational photos of what they are looking for,15 /pubLishing after which they are paired with a designer to refine the design eCLoud / and generate a 3D model of their spectacles.16 /design supported by
most contagious /design / p.47 Once the model is approved, the idea is brought to resource Kickstarter to find backers willing to pre-order life using an SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) machine. the watches. In 30 days, 21,120 units were sold and SLS manufacturing enables more eccentric and MINIMAL raised almost $1m from 13,500 backers in creative designs compared with traditional methods. 50 countries.chapters / Make Eyewear boasts that it can design pretty The striking designs have amassed a strong,01 / much anything you want, though springs and lenses passionate following, and MINIMAL has negotiatedmovemenTs are sourced separately. ‘Typically a company will a deal with Apple to distribute the products.02 / manufacture a product and try to push it out into the See Contagious 28proJeCTs market, but we’re asking customers to tell us what http://lunatik.com03 / they want,’ Minich professes. See Contagious 29serviCe www.makeeyewear.com Aaron Jones / YouTube Cinema04 / In a larger-scale example of ‘plug and play’ design,soCiaL LunaTik + TikTok / iPod Watch Accessory US-based artist Aaron Jones created an outdoor,05 / Chicago-based design studio MINIMAL’s LunaTik user-run YouTube Cinema. Visitors to the pop-up make eyewear /idenTiTy and TikTok iPod accessories are a far cry from movie theatre can plug their smartphone into the06 / designer iPod cases. The watch kits integrate with actual structure, playing content via 3G networkTeChnoLogy Apple’s iPod Nano to transform the personal music connectivity. Initially erected at the Cranbrook player into an interactive wrist watch. The more basic Academy Of Art outside Detroit, the DIY cinema has07 /daTa TikTok model ($39.95) combines with a Nano through moved to a more permanent location in a disused phoTo: James CarriLLo a simple click mechanism, while the LunaTik ($79.95) garage in the city. The project is an interesting08 /augmenTed offers a more permanent solution via a cage-like example of how democratised technology – powerful device made from aerospace grade aluminium. smartphones, ubiquitous 3G and millions of hours of09 /money Several manufacturers and retailers, including Apple, free content – can help brands create cheap, exciting deemed a premium quality watch accessory too risky pop-up spaces that offer opportunities to speak to10 / people directly, or even curate their own cinematichaCk CuLTure however, so MINIMAL turned to online crowd-funding experiences. See Contagious 2911 /musiC 2.0 www.fakebarf.com12 / MAD Architects / Ordos Museumvideo Beijing-based MAD Architects’ undulating polished13 / metal orb has taken shape in the Gobi Desert in Inner phoTo: iwan baanreTaiL Mongolia. Designed as a ‘natural, irregular nucleus’14 / sitting at the heart of the geometric grid of the newgaming city growing around it, The Art and City Museum15 / is intended to serve as a platform for the localpubLishing community, helping the rural city of Ordos develop.16 / See Contagious 29 www.i-mad.comdesign Supported by
most contagious /design / p.48 The Ordos Museum is just one design this And finally, Star Wars director George Lucas year which shows a commitment to biomimicry, has drawn inspiration from his own movies for design inspired by nature, a subject which has LucasFilm’s new headquarters in Singapore. provoked heated debate on the TED site. Read The Sandcrawler Building bears a strikingchapters / more here: http://bit.ly/ted_biomimicry resemblance to the lumbering vehicles used01 / to travel over the dunes of the planet Tatooine,movemenTs Energetic design / only less rusty. The glossy metallic horseshoe 2011 has seen a spate of sustainable buildings structure will combine low-iron glass with02 /proJeCTs that are not just functional, but spectacular and plenty of foliage to create a highly efficient playful too. building housing a 100-seat theatre in addition03 / to the company’s offices. The project, which soLar ship /serviCe Danish architect Bjarke Ingels’ new energy plant in Copenhagen is to take the form of a has won designers Aedas in Singapore a04 /soCiaL huge artificial ski slope. An example of what host of accolades including an International the architect terms ‘hedonistic sustainability’, Architecture Award, is set to complete by the05 / the 333,700-square-foot structure will not only end of 2012. www.aedas.comidenTiTy incorporate ‘the latest technologies in waste06 /TeChnoLogy treatment and environmental performance’ but will double up as a downhill ski resort to entertain07 /daTa residents of the otherwise flat city. www.big.dk08 / To prompt people to think creatively aboutaugmenTed solutions to the challenges of climate change, artist and UNESCO-IHP ambassador Ap09 /money Verheggen and refrigeration company Cofely are bringing ice to the desert with a concept for10 /haCk CuLTure a giant solar powered leaf called SunGlacier. The structure uses solar energy to suck moisture11 /musiC 2.0 from the air to create ice inside its shadow. See Contagious 29 www.sunglacier.com12 /video Toronto-based Solar Ship’s airship-cum- airplane can travel 1,000 kilometres carrying13 /reTaiL 1,000 kilos, powered only by the solar panels on its back. Needing no roads or fuel, the Solar14 /gaming Ship is designed to deliver medical supplies to isolated areas or aviation services to people15 /pubLishing living in endangered ecosystems. http://solarship.com sungLaCier /16 /design Supported by
most contagious / subscription offer / p.49 / ConTagious / subsCripTion oFFer / 20% disCounT FuLL oF Tomorrow vaLid unTiL 9Th January 2012chapters / Contagious explores the intersection between marketing01 / communications, consumer culture and emerging technologies. BymovemenTs identifying creative and strategic best-practices, this award-winning02 / B2B magazine & intelligence resource is regarded as an early warningproJeCTs system for future-facing marketers and agencies.03 /serviCe Contagious is only available via an annual subscription. This includes:04 / A quarterly 100-page publication that provides an expertly filteredsoCiaL perspective on the world’s most innovative marketing & PR ideas,05 / the hottest start-ups, the latest retail trends and the impact of newidenTiTy technologies, devices and social media on brands.06 / Access to the Contagious magazine website with its unique archive ofTeChnoLogy key campaigns, trend reports and detailed case studies on the world’s07 / ‘most contagious’ brands, dating back to 2004.daTa A multi-platform app (launching in Q112) containing two hours of the08 / world’s best marketing creativity, presented in a Challenge/Solution/augmenTed Results format.09 /money We are delighted to offer all readers of the Most Contagious 2011 report a 20% discount rate on the regular subscription price, providing10 /haCk CuLTure a saving of £200.11 / Make sure that you start 2012 ahead of the curve.musiC 2.0 Our offer ends on January 9th 2012.12 /video Click here to subscribe now: http://shop.contagiousmagazine.com/subscriptions.php13 /reTaiL14 /gaming Published by Contagious Communications Ltd /15 /pubLishing Dunstan House / 14a St Cross Street / London EC1N 8XA / www.contagiousmagazine.com /16 / ConTagious 29 / FronT Cover E: sales@contagiousmagazine.com /design supported by
AdvERTISEMEnT For ten years, Yahoo! has been indentifying the top stories and trends of the year based on nearly 700 million monthly unique visitors’ activity on the network and billions of consumer searches. Each year, the findings are revealed in our interactive editorial sites that act as a gauge for worldwide interests. The 2011 Yahoo! Year in Review is available in 17 versions including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Philippines, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States. What’s hot where you are? Explore the columns and links on our interactive map to find out. ARGEn- CoPA USA jACK TonY PHIlIP- SEEdIq ITAlIA TInA AMERICA (EnGlISH) lAYTon CHAn PInES BAlE TERRE- STEvE USA BUnGA HAnG AnnA SHAMCEY BRASIl RIM ESPAñA x-FACToR KoREA MoTo joBS (ESPAñol) BUnGA SEnG HAzARÉ SUPUP GUIll- TAno dEUTSCH- FCH ERMo SHAKIRA BIn lAdEn IndonESIA TGIF A2KAlS PASMAn lAnd Y KATE SMART- TECno InonG Food SIlvA MÉxICo RAPTURE CAnAdA FRAnCE IPHonE 5 IndIA PHonE PolIS MAlIndA SCARE WIdoWS WAll CAnAdA HonG GAlAxY AE jEonG- TAIWAn STREET PoST KonG TAB nAM CHARlIE UnITEd noRMAn CHRISTInA BlIzzARdS AI WEIWEI CRICKET PAGASA SHEEn KInGdoM CAMARU TSEnG Image: Presidency of the Nation of Argentina ElECCI- CASEY ARAB RoRIz dollAR GAddAFI FTSE onES AnTHonY SPRInG
Mukai Noiri
1–5 of 5 previous next Post a comment