February 4, 2012

Business Problem Topology Mapping: Using Kinect in Merchandising

Business Problem Topology Mapping is taking a technique or a technology that has been used or developed for a specific purpose in one field or business category and applying it in an unrelated category to solve a similar problem.

In the video game world, the Kinect was invented to allow the game console to “see” what the player is doing in order to provide a richer and more realistic game experience. They use a device with cameras and spatial sensing to capture this movement.

A company called Agile Route is taking the Kinect and placing it atop a store shelf so that shoppers can be tracked. They are using the captured data to help design better ways to display merchandise for increased sales and a better customer experience. Brilliant!

With thanks to Jeff Sexton for sending me a link.

Using Kinect to build real world Google Analytics from Administrator Agile Route on Vimeo.

Soundbites: Personal Experience Factor and The Approach

 

Adam: Welcome once again to BrandingBlog SoundBites with Wizard of Ads Partner, Dave Young from BrandingBlog.com. I’m Adam Lefler. Hello, Dave.

Dave: Hi, Adam.

Adam: Today, we’re talking about Personal Experience Factor: the Approach. What do you mean?

Dave: Well, Personal Experience Factor, Adam, is the term that we use in the Advertising Performance Equation that relates to the actual experience that you’re delivering to a customer if you’re a brick and mortar retailer. If you don’t understand the advertising performance equation, you might not be familiar with this concept. [Read more...]

Soundbites: Mistake #9 – Great Production That Missed The Mark

This is Mistake #9 of the 12 Most Common Mistakes in Advertising, as presented in On Your Market. [Read more...]

Soundbites: Impact Quotient – An ad’s power to convince

Chris: Welcome once again to BrandingBlog SoundBites with Wizard of Ads Partner Dave Young from BrandingBlog.com. I’m Chris Loghry. Hello Dave.

Dave: Hi Chris.

Chris: We wanted to talk about Impact Quotient. I would like to start by asking you what that means to a client. [Read more...]

BrandingBlog Radio: Wizard of Ads Partner, Tom Wanek

Tom Wanek is the author of Currencies That Buy Credibility. A great little book for finding some unique ways to give your business sound credibility in the eyes of your customers.

On the podcast this week, we discuss the chicken and egg scenario of customer experience vs strategy and core values. Which should you focus on first?

Tom is one of those guys who I’m always having interesting conversations with about marketing, branding and strategy. This time, I had the recorder running and you get to listen in.

Soundbites: Personal Experience Factor

Chris: Welcome to BrandingBlog SoundBites. I’m Chris Loghry along with Dave Young from BrandingBlog.com and a Wizard of Ads Partner. We’ve talked about several things. We’ve included the Ad Budget Calculator in a couple of the podcasts. You can always go back to that and check that out online. There’s a link to that on the podcast. Today we want to touch on the topic of the power of personal experience. Hello Dave.

Dave: Hi Chris. Personal experience, it’s a big deal in any retail store.

Chris: Now are we talking about the customer? Are you talking about the retailer themselves? Which angle are we taking here? [Read more...]

Soundbites: The Myth of Reach

Chris: Welcome to BrandingBlog SoundBites. Dave Young is with us again from BrandingBlog.com. Dave is also a Wizard of Ads partner. Last time, Dave, we talked about the Ad Budget Calculator, which is a free tool that folks can use online to calculate an ad budget. Now you wanted to take it kind of to the next step, I suppose, and talk about the “myth of reach.”

Dave: The “myth of reach, it just sounds mythical, doesn’t it?

Chris: To start with, yes. What is the myth?

Dave: Well, the myth is that most advertisers, (it’s a big mistake advertisers make), they buy more reach than they can afford.

Chris: Okay. Stop right there and explain to me what you mean by “reach”? What are we talking about? [Read more...]

SoundBites: How To Calculate An Ad Budget

BrandingBlog SoundBites is a new podcast. In contrast to my rambling weekly talk-show format, these are concise topics that will average about 10-minutes. I’m using the Shortcut Blogging method. I hope you find them useful. Please let me know.

A full transcript follows…

Our first Soundbite is a lesson in how to set an ad budget

Chris: Welcome to Branding Blog SoundBites, we’re with Dave Young from BrandingBlog.com and a Wizard of Ads Partner.

Dave: Hi, Chris.

Chris: How are you doing?
[Read more...]

BrandingBlog Radio: Generosity as a Business Strategy

This week, I’m riffing on the subject of generosity and how it can effect Word of Mouth, employee attitude and community acceptance.

You’ll hear about Ding Dongs, moving from Typepad to WordPress, Safelite, Rooflife and more.

Enjoy!

Avery's run at 3M: Differentiate. Demonstrate. Directed Humor.

Avery (the label folks) are taking a run at one of 3M's core products…the ubiquitous Post-It note.

I like this campaign because the ads do a good job of differentiating the Avery products from the competitors, they demonstrate their use and advantages and the humor in the ads is directed in the right direction. That is, it reinforces the message rather than just being funny for the sake of funny. It's funny when the wife wipes out the guy's fantasy football board with the leaf blower and the Avery note is still firmly attached.

Sidenote: I'm growing weary of the male=doofus theme of our present society, but I'd better get used to it. Not sure what I'm talking about, start with this post from Michele Miller's Marketing to Women blog, Wonderbranding.

I think these ads, obviously targeted at women, will be enough to get people to grab an Avery product when they are displayed alongside the 3M product in a store.

Here's one of the Avery ads…the other two will be after the jump…

 

 

 

[Read more...]