Branding, design, and strategy are just some of the pieces to the puzzle that is Westchester North.
Westchester North is Northern Westchester’s newest, premiere gateway to local businesses, nonprofits, and community events empowering the Northern Westchester community to connect, taste, experience, and explore.
I worked with the Westchester North team to help launch the new entity and will be filming new content for their site and social.
#FindYourNorth
Augmented Reality as a technology is still in its infancy, yet it has been “around” for quite a few years. When it made the leap to smart phones from desktops it created a unique opportunity to engage people on the go. Thankfully the proliferation of smart phones has made more people aware of the technology and we are seeing them use it for entertainment, education and all around added value.
Recently, brands have jumped into the game and have been quick to align the technology with their message for deeper connections to their consumers. This past holiday Starbucks offered up unique holiday greetings that came alive via their cups. Mazda leverage the technology to introduce new products while leveraging existing brand material, movie studios have launched location-based experiences and magazines have found innovative ways to make their pages come alive.
This is good news for brands and consumers and for us as a company on the forefront of the technology.
There are numerous players in the development community with innovative AR platforms. Leaders like Layar and Metaio have set the benchmark, while others like String, Wikitude, Total Immersion and Blip’r are wowing us with innovation. Device manufacturers are getting into the game by preloading software on their phones making it that much easier for the rest of us. AR as a platform in many ways is another delivery mechanism for getting your story across. Think of the platforms as networks like HBO or Starz where content developers can deploy the next cool interaction.
As a creative technology company we are constantly looking to elevate our game. We are always creating new ways to use technology to build on a story, to create a connection with the consumer that has context. We have built stand-alone AR applications and AR brand channels that live in AR browsers like Layar and Junaio. In each case we looked at the challenge and executed a creative solution that would achieve the goals of our client and make sense with the technology. As we have discovered, no platform is without limitations and AR itself has (surmountable) challenges including user education. (It’s great to have a cool piece of tech, but if you can’t fire your phaser chances are your not going to get beamed back up.)
When launching an AR campaign you have to think of the dialogue around the experience. How you convey the message that you have a unique offering is paramount. We use social media and traditional media as integral components of all our AR efforts. We look to educate the user on how to use the technology while expressing why they should. Lastly, we leverage the technology in a sharable manner to get the greatest reach and impact beyond the user themself. It’s cool; so let them talk about it and in the process your brand.
Recently, we partnered with digital agency, Moroch, on an AR campaign for McDonald’s and Coke. To execute the creative concept developed by Moroch we worked to adapt materials from an on-air campaign into a compelling AR experience.
To begin the process we had numerous discussions to develop the AR strategy. It is important to look at your audience, your target demographic and the location(s) where you will be executing the campaign. One of the first hurdles we faced was deciding on the platform on which to launch our process. Ultimately, we decided on building a custom user experience on the architecture of the String platform. What is great about String is it’s dependability with scan-ability and tracking. Tracking was key to the unique AR experience and we wanted to make sure that when a user launched the experience they could get right into it and have fun.
Once we knew we could build what we needed it really came down to collaborating closely with Moroch to execute the strategy. They provided the assets we needed to build from. We took the assets and began work and ultimately have created what we think is a great user experience for this campaign and beyond.
With the architecture built there are many ways that we can continue to expand on the creative and offer unique social forward solutions for the brands moving forward. AR is great in this way. As momentum continues and more people use it and more brands use it intelligently, we will truly create memorable experiences for all.
– Chris Valentino
I am all about Social Media. Infusing digital brand dialogue’s secret sauce into creating a batch of Social Brand Action. While Social Media has many tentacles stretching across platforms such as twitter, google+, instagram, foursquare and more here are some tips I utilize when developing facebook campaigns.
YOUR BRAND + FACEBOOK
KEY THINGS TO REMEMBER
Be Likable
• Pages like RedBull and LL BEAN do a great job of like-gating offering an email opt-in as well. This is great for connecting your web experience with facebook.
• It also create a visual presence on landing – make a splash.
Be A Part of Their Story
• Stay on topic
• Stay relevant
• Make your message cohesive using images, threads and contact with your fans
• Use the wall to jump start conversations and feed existing ones
Be Sharable
• Contests can be simple – from a scary quiz, to a sweepstakes, to recognizing your top fan interaction.
• Offer up prizes to drive interaction and promote sharing of your page
Take Advantage of your fans
• A little goes a long way with facebook’s Sponsored Stories ad offering.
• Build relevance around a campaign by running a sponsored stories campaign in conjunction with on-air tent-poles
• Facebook Sponsored Stories Ads Have 46% Higher CTR, 18% Lower Cost Per Fan Says TBG Digital Test http://www.insidefacebook.com/2011/05/03/sponsored-stories-ctr-cost-per-fa/
ORGANIZE YOUR PAGE
Make a Great First Impression
• Control what your fans see when they come to the page
• Welcome new fans with a landing page that directs them to like you
Featured Photos
• Get Creative
• Pick 5 relevant images to create a banner story
Organize Left Panel Topics
• Keep Videos and Pictures visible
• Highlight applications
• Incorporate Twitter
• Start a Discussion
• Connect other Fan pages
-KEY is order!
Featured Likes
• Show Off Your Friends
• Pick up to 5 pages to feature here
• Add as many relevant fan pages to your own to connect with. This allows you to post as your page to their walls and attract new fans.
by Chris Valentino, Partner/ECD
Five questions…an old blog interview with Studio Daily.
This is truly a reflection of a different time, a different company but the same positive outlook. Growth is an aspect of change. We learn who we are from where we’ve been. I really love what I do and the company I have worked hard to build.The law of connections both loved and lost.
Metcalfe’s Law: the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of users of the system (n2). Robert Metcalfe, who coinvented Ethernet along with David Boggs and cofounded 3Com, first formulated his law to explain the network effects of things like joining computers or fax machines together, but it’s just as useful for explaining social networks and the Web.
by Chris Valentino, Partner/ECD
Aaarrrrrr! Okay, let me explain. AR has been the buzz word around the office for some time now. When people ask what we are talking about “AR” rolls off the tongue as eloquently as a quesadilla on Cinco de Mayo. Of course, AR is not a word in the traditional sense. So let’s think of it as a technological piece of the big consumer puzzle. I am sure by now most of you have heard of it, some may have played with it and others have asked “Jane, what is this crazy thing?”. AR is short for Augmented Reality which Wikipedia defines as “a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input.” I am sure that cleared up things for you, but to truly understand AR you have to see it in action.
Like any new technology there are bound to be a lot of questions and a short list of trailblazers willing to risk using it for the sake of making noise. For us, AR is very exciting for a number of reasons. One reason is that we jumped into the playing field early to both test the waters and see what was capable from a creative and technological standpoint. Another reason is that it gives users control over their “ad-vironment” (my other buzz word). With AR we have the ability to set new creative benchmarks. The more we talk with businesses and brands the more we visualize possibilities. Industries can take advantage of this technology in ways that are both unique to their brands and services and creatively informative for their consumers. We know a good deal about this having had quick success with a location based scavenger hunt which became one of Layar’s (the big player in the AR community) favorite apps of last year. (You can see an overview on our site for find.copan.ie) Most recently we launched a campaign with Mazda to feature their new Mazda2. In both we utilized traditional print advertising and social media marketing to drive and educate the consumer. In short we leveraged key components of the technology and available platforms to present the best marketing plan for the individual brands.
New technology also means new challenges. Perhaps the biggest challenge for AR is consumer and client education. There are other challenges for brands to effectively integrate AR into their marketing campaigns or as a standalone effort. For one your target audience needs a smart phone or camera enabled device such as a laptop, desktop or tablet. Two, they need to download and install an AR browser application such as Layar, Junaio, Wheremark, Wikitude or mTrip (mobile carriers and device manufacturers are now starting to preinstall which is great for the long run, for example LG is poised to support Wikitude on the 3D AR home front very soon). Three, they need to open a specific brand page for your project to launch your awesome campaign that we created just for you.
Now, that may seem like a lot, but let’s look at the benefits Swiss watchmaker Tissot launched an incredibly successful AR campaign wherein users could virtually try on any watch from their home computer. The user simply placed a paper watch on their wrist and held it in front of their computer camera; they could then simply select any style and watch it appear on their wrist. The online campaign soon transitioned to their retail store and the benefits yielded a boost in overall sales. You can find the video demo on YouTube easily enough.
Perhaps the most recent and talked about AR campaign has been for Lynx deodorant (we know the Unilever company as AXE here). Their innovative idea was the Angel Ambush at London’s Victoria Station. As commuters walked past a specific (marked) spot they suddenly saw themselves on a large video screen by the departure display. It was there they discovered they were not alone. An augmented reality angel was right beside them stirring a commuter commotion and consequently a viral sensation on YouTube.
AR has also made its way to other brands and products such as trading cards, retail shops, milk cartons, fashion and of course video games. Enthusiasts have found ways to create their own augmented reality applications (such as AR Tatoos) for devices such as the Nintendo 3DS. Esquire magazine even launched a Robert Downey Jr driven AR issue.
As much as tablets signaled a change in traditional publishing, AR is signaling a change in the static promotion. Any print ad can be transformed to offer a consumer a whole new world of information and brand awareness that can move with them. With the ever increasing penetration of smartphones technology is within reach of most anyone (and at the very least the most common target demos). We are limited only by our creativity and strategy for reaching the consumer audience.
As with any campaign though you have to look at the big picture which includes the marketing plan, the design and the target audience. It is a good idea to market your efforts in areas that will drum up interest and discussion. Hit your facebook and twitter fans, let them know how awesome you are. Get it in front of the tech blogs if you are breaking new ground. Get it on the park benches, bus stops and billboards.
It goes without saying that this technology will continue to evolve and that awareness will continue to grow furthering my hope that I no longer sound like a pirate to passersby. AR!
“I love working with hsr|ny and MOTIVE because they expertly deliver two critical elements to the show – the audio and graphics, both of which are essential to portraying the whole story of each of our house hunters,” says John Bertholon, Co-Executive Producer, Leopard Films. “Our audience needs to be intoxicated by the story we’re telling and the expertise of the engineers and creatives at hsr|ny and MOTIVE help us do just that.”
Bertholon can often be found working with hsr|ny to mix the sound at the companies’ facility in New York City on any given day. Chad Roucroft and Tom Gehring, sound mixers at hsr|ny, both work on the series, alternating from episode to episode. When in session, it takes about seven hours to complete a mix for a typical episode of House Hunters International. In Pro Tools, staff members remove most of the background noise that comes with raw footage, leaving some intact to add to the show’s naturalistic sound, look and feel. Gehring, also notes that a major challenge is keeping the audio consistent from show to show. “The local crews always send us good quality sound; it is just that some portions of it is better than other portions,” Gehring says. “We’re just trying to make it sound the best it can.”
Roucroft explains that a big part of what they do, about sixty percent of their day, is to edit sound elements to better move the story along. “For example, if you want a husband or wife to say, ‘We’re really looking forward to this part of our lives,’ we’ll take different parts of different sentences and put them together to ensure it sounds natural. In the industry, these are known as “Frankensteins.”
Creating the graphics for each episode presents its own set of issues. “The map type of graphic, which depicts the destination town, includes any iconic highlights, such as the Coliseum in Rome or the Eiffel Tower in Paris,” says Will Hong, the MOTIVE artist who handles graphics for House Hunters International. Some cities lend themselves well to this, but if you’re in a lesser-known location, such as Ulan Bator, Mongolia, then you might have to show more graphics that are specific to the person’s experience, such as a school they will be teaching in, or the train station they’ll use for their commute. In these instances, Leopard Films helps us decide what kinds of graphics to create.”
MOTIVE also performs the final online edit for every House Hunters International episode. Leopard Film’s offline edit is very tight by the time MOTIVE receives it, so senior editor Stephen Hoppe, who handles this edit, usually only makes minor corrections. He checks to ensure that the graphics and color correction are of consistently high quality, as well as conforms any uneven shots.
“House Hunters International is an excellent example of the value the collaborative efforts of hsr|ny and MOTIVE bring to the client,” says MOTIVE Executive Creative Director Chris Valentino. “Since the episodes take place in some exceptionally gorgeous settings, it is absolutely critical that the look and sound is picture-perfect. That’s why our graphics and design skills and hsr|ny’s renowned sound services make for an especially powerful combination. Along with Leopard Films’ superb video editing talent, they help to truly bring the show ‘home’ to the viewer. We are looking forward to a continued relationship with all parties well into the future.”
Chris Valentino 