Your Story Alive: A Live Communications Blog

January 26, 2012 12:34 PM

NAIAS Review: The Good, the Great and the Ugly

Posted byKatie

This year’s North American International Auto Show was a departure from years past – both when it comes to attendance (770,932 attended this year, with the highest opening day attendance since 2005) and automaker’s exhibits.

Our design team took to the aisles to see what’s happening and what’s hot (or not), and here is what we found:

The brands are back. Companies that haven’t been around the past few years have made a comeback, and their re-emergence wasn’t always small. However, on that note, we saw that condensed kits are still around even for the seminal automakers, but didn’t seem to be doing their brands much justice.
Automakers and consumers are talking about fuel efficiency and personalization – and some of this is being reflected right into the booth themselves. EWI Worldwide client Kia turned its brand’s fuel efficiency into a driving interactive, and another interactive in the space highlighted features that could be personalized to the driver. This trend also shows signs of event marketing and the live experience becoming a larger representation of the brand and an overall marketing campaign, instead of a standalone effort.
Exhibitors are building new stands every year instead of using the same kit for 4-5 years – just look at GM and Chrysler as examples. This speaks to the European build style – and is perhaps something we all should keep an eye on for future years (and builds).
Black is the new black. And so is drywall and fabric. One short trip around the show floor revealed these materials reflected in a lot of the exhibit spaces. Not everyone did it well, but awesome forms in drywall were delivered particularly in the Audi stand. Chevy, on the other hand, was almost entirely executed with fabric.
Bring on the LEDs. LEDs are becoming a bigger part of exhibits, and BMW’s LED ceiling was a good example of this. Although not all automakers have embraced the LED trend, we expect to see more of it in future years.

Are there any trends that you saw this year that you haven’t seen in years past? Share below.

Tags: Architecture, Brand Stories, Interactives, Technology, Transportation

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January 25, 2012 3:15 PM

STORE 3.0 - How Retailers are Adapting Digitally

Posted byKatie

At the National Retail Federation’s annual conference last week, retailers were pondering this dilemma: how to position brick-and-mortar stores in an increasingly Internet-driven future. Below are a few key takeaways on trends, industry leaders and best practices from major industry brands:

“We have new retail rules,” said Alison Paul, vice chairman and U.S. retail & distribution leader at consulting firm Deloitte. “The store is not dead. Stores have become a part of a much more complex ecosystem.” Rare is the store that can strike a harmonious balance between physical and digital.
Today, traditional stores account for 91 percent of all retail sales, according to Deloitte. Five years from now, that number will shrink to 63 percent. For retailers, the obvious strategy is to grow both physical and online stores. Easier said than done.
Some retailers, like Target Corp., excel at running stores but are still working to develop the same pattern of success when it comes to online retailing. Others such as Best Buy fare better with new technologies, but their physical stores suffer from the perception they are merely “showrooms” for online merchandise.
As technology – especially consumer technology – revolutionizes retail, retailers will be forced to adapt and rethink how to meet the shifting needs of a demanding, fickle, and on-the-go consumer.
According to Deloitte: The changing role of the store – evolving to Store 3.0™ Tomorrow’s customers will demand a customer experience that is uniquely relevant to them. They will be drawn to value and only spend time (and money) where they find value.
Each shopping experience will matter more. The free flow of real-time information will reshape the way sales associates and customers interact. Whether the retailer has a relationship-centered or transactional-centered customer service model, this change will impact nearly every aspect of how a store operates. Some of these changes are already occurring as demonstrated by Exhibit 1.
While no longer the only place where retailers and customers connect, the physical store remains central to many consumers’ shopping experiences. But to stay competitive, retailers should develop a store strategy that aligns talent, physical space, processes, and technology to meet the changing demands of their customers.
The relevant details of the customer’s history and profile will be dynamically delivered to the associate at every point of interaction to deliver a consistently excellent customer experience
Mass customization will allow a global retailer to provide a local experience and will flexibly leverage merchandise mix, pricing, and in-store communications and information delivery
Retailers will edit their store portfolio and reduce store counts

(Sources: http://www.startribune.com/blogs/137420753.html, http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Industries/Retail-Distribution/aec014cf4e33b210VgnVCM1000001a56f00aRCRD.htm)

Tags: Consumer Electronics, Retail Environments, Technology

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January 13, 2012 3:28 PM

Breaking Through at CES

Posted bySherri Ferren

Creating a Fresh Perspective

As many of you know, CES is one of the world’s largest (and important) trade shows that occurs annually in Las Vegas. While CES has a desired goal of being the global stage for innovation, there is no one single formula for success for a particular brand. This week, there was a lot of buzz around Microsoft pulling out. And the fact Apple has always had a minimal presence off the floor. So what should a strong or emerging brand consider for their presence next year?

Based on what we heard and have experienced with our clients, we believe it’s:

Identify your clear differentiators before you begin to design your presence or event. If you don’t have a differentiator that’s immediately understood…you become a commodity. And your presence feels like a “me too” marketing activity rather than an innovative company.

Define the audience you really want to engage and focus the development of the audience journey on them. There is such a wide spectrum of attendees, we often see brands trying to appeal to all of them rather than zeroing in on the key targets who will generate the best ROI. Ask the questions: Who are they? What do they want to hear and experience? (And by the way…it’s not a lot of specs!) And what do they need to take away? Design your experiences to that.

Keep is simple. No more than three primary messages. Provide enough space to move around as well as have comfortable conversations. Ensure there are several opportunities for human connectivity and genuine dialogue – not just an abundance of demo stations. Consider if your brand is best served on the floor of CES or some other location that allows your brand’s goals, products, and services to really stand tall. Ask yourself: “How can we stand out in all of the noise that is Las Vegas?”

Tags: Brand Stories, Exhibits, Innovation, Interactives, Product Launch, Technology, Global Programs

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December 29, 2011 9:40 AM

Within the layers...you find the light.

Posted byEli

Michael Peck’s work is layered both in meaning and technique. He creates a tension that is both disarming and disturbing in the same moment. The contrast and the push/pull of light and dark in composition as well as subject matter of wonder juxtaposed with moody and deep contemplative landscapes are hypnotizing. The monochromatic watercolor keep us focused on what is in front of us leaving the past behind. Timeless. Fantastic! Check it out.

http://www.juxtapoz.com/Current/michael-peck-within-the-layers-documentary

Tags: Cool Stuff, Creative Inspirations

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December 27, 2011 1:39 PM

As if my brain and heart collided...

Posted byEli

Unsound NYC, Alexander Kaline and Joshue Ott from superdraw on Vimeo.

feel it in your toes.

Tags: Cool Stuff, Creative Inspirations, Graphic Design, Interactives, Media

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December 27, 2011 1:30 PM

Get your party started!

Posted byEli

Thicket Reboot from superdraw on Vimeo.

Instant new years fun...

Tags: Consumer Electronics, Cool Stuff, Creative Inspirations, Environmental Design, Music, People

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December 23, 2011 3:12 PM

Happy Holidays!

Posted byKatie

From our family to yours, wishing you a safe and happy holiday season!

Tags:

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December 21, 2011 9:40 AM

Turning a Pointless Collection Into Something.....

Posted bySteve Riley

Hotel Shampoo, a record, a place, and a way to use your "free hotel shampoo."

Tags: Creative Inspirations, Music, Pop Culture

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December 16, 2011 5:04 AM

Europe’s Largest Exhibition Sites

Posted byMartin Dorsch

European cities host some of the largest international fairs. Some of them even have several large fairs and have thus developed enormous sites with impressive capacities. You will not be able to see all of one of them in one day; employees use cars on the grounds to get from A to B and some halls allow you to have exhibits up to the size of airplanes and ships.

Below are some of the largest sites. As a comparison, China’s largest site in Guangzhou has 340,000 sqm and Chicago’s McCormick Place offers 248,000 sqm, while the SNIEC in Shanghai has 126,500 sqm.

Tags: Exhibits, Architecture, Environmental Design

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December 08, 2011 8:30 PM

Observations from Event Tech 2011

Posted byAndrew Austin

Earlier this week we had the privilege and pleasure to participate, along with 200 industry peers, in the inaugural Event Marketer Event Tech Conference. The event took place in Manhattan – a Mecca for events, technology, creative energy and live communications.

The Event Tech conference designed an agenda focused on the industry’s best practices on connecting live events with technology and social media. The application of this spanned from global marketing and advertisement campaigns all the way to the tradeshow floor. We had the benefit of hearing perspectives from designers, technology experts, social media gurus, innovation leaders and brand marketers, making this event a truly unique assembly of industry thought leaders.

Innovate, combine, and create: as featured in a number of presentations during Event Tech, myriad interactive and social technologies are at our disposal. The ten most relevant to date seem to be large multi-touch interactives, RFID tracking, stereoscopic interactives, tablets and mobile, transparent touch interfaces, telepresence, immersive interactive environments, augmented reality, motion/voice control, and 3d projection mapping.

As interesting and exciting as these technologies are, content is still king – and a messaging strategy that resonates with your audiences is a critical step for success. Often times the key to unlocking a truly unique brand experience is collaborating with brand leadership to create a social engagement that may include the integration of two or more technologies in a completely new way.

Here our Top Tips for successful digital engagements:

Start with the basics: Know who you are, be real about what you have, know what your audience wants, and agree on how to give it to them.
Amplification + Genuine Passion = Buzz. A strong media campaign and infinite budget doesn’t necessarily guarantee success. While these things are important, a genuine passion for the product line is needed for sustained brand recognition. Personal conviction from users and consumers drives long term growth.
Leveraging interactive social technologies, it’s possible to close the gap between point-of-engagement and point-of-sale in both live and on-line environments. People love social applications with a reward element – be it Foursquare or Facebook, incentive drives participation.
Don’t forget the role of the nerd. Developers have a say too. Those platforms that have made integration easy (Amazon, Facebook, Apple) are winning. User interface designers and users have found it easy to do what they want on these platforms.

In the company of industry thought leaders – making a big difference in how business grow their audiences on and off line – was stimulating for each of us.

Jon DeGorsky, Amy Pesa, Katie Slattery, Andy Austin

Tags: Cool Stuff, Innovation, Interactives, Media, Technology

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