New opportunities for content brands to deliver value in our multi-modal world THE CONNECTED BRAND By Critical Mass January 29th, 2013
Jan 27, 2015
© 2013 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
New opportunities for content brands to deliver value in our multi-modal world
THE CONNECTED BRAND
By Critical Mass January 29th, 2013
© 2013 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Today, the screen a brand chooses to engage its audience with is less important than the value and content that screen delivers. The screen is just the conduit for an experience created through interaction.
Having more screens to engage with is only one variable of the new equation – smarter screens is another.
In this new reality, content brands are facing a
fundamental choice. They can fight the inevitable
– or embrace the opportunities in this hyper-
connected, ‘turned-on’ world.
At CM, we believe that brands must embrace
this multiplicity. We believe that ‘better together’
experiences are a space for really building a
brand. We believe that 2+2 does in fact equal 5.
And changing customer behaviour adds to (or even multiplies) the complexity of what brands need to solve.
More and more, customers are expecting plurality and amplified value from their screen experiences, and they demand content that rises up to meet their elevated expectations.
WELCOME TO THE MULTI- MODAL WORLD
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Last year, Nissan, Sony Playstation® and the
television channel SPEED debuted an epic reality
TV show promoting the Gran Turismo racing
video game. As part of the campaign, Critical
Mass created an immersive, 360-degree digital
experience that transported people from their easy
chairs to the driver’s seat of a GT racecar, leveraging
the iPad 2 and iPhone gyroscope technology.
This year, to support the launch of the second
season of GT Academy, Critical Mass amped
up the interactivity to make the GT Academy
experience more personal and social by putting
the user right in the middle of the action. Nissan
wanted to offer gamers and fans an enhanced
viewing experience by putting them into the heart
of the action and creating branded companion
content to complement the TV episodes.
GTAcademy.us is a mobile-first, second screen
experience that transforms people from passive
viewers to active participants via exclusive time-
synced content that drives deeper engagement
and tells the full GT Academy story. Viewers can
turn on the TV, then use their smartphone or tablet
to access companion content while continuing
to watch the show on SPIKE TV. Every episode
has its own unique content to complement the
show, from videos and interactive maps to polls,
tutorials and fun facts. This adds an extra layer of
entertainment and participation for viewers and
inspires social media sharing.
Experiences like this are redefining connected
brands: disrupting the conventional model of
content creation by delivering amplified customer
value via a connected experience.
But this is only a first step. We believe that the
potential for Connected Brands will continue
to evolve.
NISSAN GT ACADEMYSecond screen experience that transports fans from living room to silverstone racetrack
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THE EVOLUTION
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EvErywhErE is a scrEEn
EvErything is connEctEd
EvEryonE is a contEnt crEator
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THE EVOLUTION
It’s no longer about the big 4 (television, movie screen, smartphone, and tablet). Screens are everywhere and everything is a screen. With augmented reality, NFC, QR codes and more, we are living in a world of digitized everything. Our streets, buildings, walls, billboards, even our washing machines, can be interfaces.
In Lviv, Ukraine, there’s a building that doesn’t
just look like an empty crossword puzzle – it is
one. Visitors to the city can go on an interactive
scavenger hunt to find clues and submit those
findings via mobile phone. When night comes,
answers are revealed on the building using special
lights. The residents of Lviv have transformed
what would have been an ordinary façade into
something interactive – a screen.
The opportunity here is not in what screen to use – it’s in how these screens will interact with each other and how, where, and why consumers will engage with them. Brands need to think optimization, context, and how to create the ‘magic’ that comes when these screens work together.
LvIv’S PuzzLE TowErAny surface is now a blank slate
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EvERywHERE is A sCREEN
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The Pebble Watch has transformed a device – the watch,
a traditionally static and uni-functional device – into a fluid
multifunctional screen that’s always available and visible to
consumers. Aside from showing the time, the Pebble device
can alert users with a silent vibration to incoming calls, emails
and messages, track how fast and far users run, bike or walk,
and control music remotely. Because it is open source, its
capabilities tomorrow are unlimited.
PEBBLE wATCHConsumers’ digital life is now always on hand
Evolving from providing functional or entertainment value to generating real-life value, the new capabilities of these screens present the opportunity for brands to pump up productivity, save time and even help their customers be a better ‘me’.
5© 2013 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
© 2013 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
THE EVOLUTION
Screens have gotten a whole lot smarter. Our screens can now talk to each other in ways we hadn’t imagined. Content is no longer tied to any device or programming mode, and
emerging technology lets content be pushed, pulled, and shaped based on customer interaction.
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Google Glass is essentially a computer inside a
pair of glasses that acts like a conduit for multiple
devices. The glass enables content to move back
and forth between devices, delivering maximized
utility through the input and output of information
that’s totally user-controlled. It can display content
from smartphones by showing calls, maps and
other features right in front of the user’s eyes. The
glass can also take pictures and then share them
via Google+.
Image taken from: https://plus.google.com/+projectglass/posts
GooGLE GLASSTransforms line of sight into ‘your’ screen
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EvERyTHiNG is CONNECTED
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This connected household refrigerator, from
Samsung, can immediately update a digital
shopping list whenever someone looks in the
fridge. Using Evernote, the person at home
can update a shopping list based on the
inventoried contents of the fridge. The fridge
then alerts whoever is out shopping that an
item is missing. All of this communication is
done screen-to-screen, no humans required.
SAMSuNG T9000The connected household
manages itself
Xbox SmartGlass illustrates how technology is
shifting dual content screens from companion
experiences to simultaneous and elastic
experiences. This application within Xbox provides
consumers with pop-up style supplements
for certain shows and movies. It creates
simultaneous content when gamers use it
as a map or to look at user stats. And most
importantly, it allows content to transfer back
and forth between devices. Music can be
played off of the SmartGlass surface using
headphones, and then seamlessly transferred to
a TV using the Xbox. This fluid transfer redefines
the nature of content because it can be picked
up and experienced anywhere, anytime.
MICroSofT xBox SMArTGLASS
Content is now elastic
These technologies are making content and brand experiences fluid. Consuming content has changed from a conscious, time-based action to a constant part of our lives. One specific piece of content can be experienced anywhere, anytime, on any device.
7© 2013 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Image taken from: http://www.samsung.com/us/news/newsRead.do?news_seq=20346
Image taken from: http://press.xbox360.com/products/1321p211/xbox-smartglass-on-windows-8
© 2013 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
EvERyONE is A CONTENT CREATOR
New content creators are entering the game with different business mandates, broadening the arena well beyond the traditional content creators like television studios and expanding the definition of content.
Brands, in their desire to provide their customers with solutions instead of merely delivering marketing messages, are not only creating new forms of content but also extending the multiverse of screens.
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Not only is it one of the most important new
‘screens’ created in 2012, the Nike+ FuelBand
proves how being a connected brand can both
extend and reinforce a brand’s promise. Nike
has always been in the business of motivation,
and the FuelBand is another proof point of this,
encouraging customers to ‘move more.’ But it
also shows the necessity of brand-customer
interaction, not one-way messaging, since the
FuelBand only creates value when it is connected with
the consumer. Without them, it’s just a ‘dumb’ piece of
plastic.
NIkE+ fuELBANDAugments existing brand value to create new customer value
Increasingly, it is the consumer that is the content. Consumers are arguably the biggest collective authors of digital content today, whether that is through their online communications with each other, the data their lives are producing, or the experiences they are co-creating with companies and brands.
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Connected Brands should recognize the potential of thinking ‘open source,’ giving more power to consumers to co-create experiences. The consumer shift from passively consuming fixed brand messages to creating personal connections via brand properties has already started, so embrace it.
Facebook Connect lets users log onto third-
party websites, applications, mobile devices and
gaming systems with their Facebook identities.
This represents a tremendous relationship shift,
but more importantly, it blends device capabilities
with brand content and consumers’ digital
lives. This opens up the opportunity for a hyper-
personal Connected Brand experience.
fACEBook CoNNECT Makes the consumer the hero everywhere
With Nintendo’s AR Cards for the 3DS, users
can use the AR Games™ application to view
characters and game content through their 3DS
camera in the environment around them. These
digital assets, unlocked through AR, also make
it possible for consumers to use their Mii™
characters to create stop motion video.
NINTENDo 3DSTurning brand content into
consumers’ content
Consumers want to be the heroes. They are looking to be immersed – to contribute and not just consume.
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Image taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGwH1p7EH9g
This image is the property of Facebook
© 2013 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
If content is king, then context is queen and magic is created in their union. Don’t do matching luggage content. Instead, create optimized ‘in-the-now-where-I-am’ experiences.
The New Rules for Connected Brands
No one likes to be told what to do. So think of these rules as guidelines. Together, they’re a go-forward mantra, challenging you to break the conventions of connected content and unlock the potential
to become a Connected Brand.
Think simultaneous, not companion – it’s not about the old hierarchy of screens. Create experiences that are better when consumed together.
10© 2013 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
© 2013 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The consumer should be the hero of everything you do. Integrate consumers and their data to deliver hyper-personal experiences that forge connections.
Solve problems. Deliver solutions. Move beyond what you want to say. Create an indispensable experience.
Tuned in and turned on. Consumers will get more value out of experiences that they can take part in. This means evolving beyond the conventions of a click or a touch. A broader array of actions are now in play; gestures, voice, and body movement will make customers not just consumers of content but ultimately participants in a brand’s experience.
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© 2013 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Interested In TRANSFORMINGYOUR BRAND INTO A
COnnECTED BRAnD?
Critical Mass would love to help.
As a marketing agency in an increasingly digital world, our job is to create extraordinary experiences. Experiences that bring together creative thinking, smart ideas and emerging technologies to drive our clients’ businesses.
12© 2013 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
For more information, please contact:
Diane Heun
Phone: 508-541-5336
Email: [email protected]