The Future Media ExperienceTHE BRAND EXPERIENCE AGENCY

ISSUE 08|| SEPTEMBER 2014

THE PLAYREPORT A brief study on the changing

landscape of brand experiences.

Featuring Snepo, Spotify, Art Processors,Metalworks by Maxus & PLAY Communications

CREATIVE TECH

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LOCATION TECH

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WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY

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EXPERIENCETHINKING

CTMUSICM LOCATION TECHLTEXPERIENCE THINKINGE WEARABLE TECHNOLOGYW

HelloIn June this year, PLAY curated a speaker session at the Vivid Ideas festival.

We used this opportunity to explore what we feel is a really significant change for the media and ad industries – a change that requires brands to focus less on saying – and more on doing.

The way we consume media and interact with brands has altered dramatically. Today, brands need to understand how they can create experiences that help them build audiences, instead of buying audiences.

At PLAY, we collaborate with amazing practitioners to develop the best experiences for our clients, and at this Vivid session we brought some of our expert partners together to present their vision of the Future Media Experience to the Vivid audience.

In this edition of the PLAY Report we take a look at some of the insights and work examples presented by Snepo, Art Processors, Spotify, and Metalworks by Maxus at PLAY presents: The Future Media Experience.

We’d love to hear your feedback on this issue via our social channels.

The team at PLAY.

It’s time to give technology a back seat and lead with design.

The future of music is deeply personal and data driven.

No two journeys or experiences are the same.

Do more and say less.

Solving brand challenges with utilitarian technology.

CREATIVE TECH

The Future Media Experience

The Future Media Experience

Did you know?

86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience.

of luxury industry insiders believe digital marketing is not an effective method to reach ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

Brands with high advocate populations get 264% more earned media impressions than average brands.

85% of consumers expect integrated multiscreen campaigns will be “very important” by 2016.

89% of consumers switched to a competitor following a poor experience. 

50%of consumers will purchase your brand after “liking it” on Facebook.

In-store offers will account for more than 40% of indoor location technology revenues in 2017.

68%

59% of business leaders believe companies that don't fully embrace social media will not survive.

Source: RightNow Customer Experience Impact Report

Source: Chadwick, Martin & Bailey

Source:  Facebook for businessSource: ABI Research

Source: James Russo, Nielsen

Source:  Wildfire Interactive

Source: Wealth-X

Source:  Customer Experience: Is it the Chicken or the Egg, Forbes

The Future Media Experience

TOM SANDERSMC and Head of Strategy

PLAY Communications

BEN MOIRDirector and Founder

Snepo & Wearable Experiments

TONY HOLZNERCo-Founder and CEO

Art Processors

NICO ABBRUZZESEDirector of Creative Technology

Metalworks by Maxus

Speakers:

RENE CHAMBERSSenior Artist and Label Manager

Spotify Australia

The Future Media Experience

What is

The Future Media Experience?

“Personalised mobile interfaces that respond to your immediate context.”– Tony Holzner

“The useful interaction between a person and a brand, where technology adds a layer of utility and, why not a little magic.”   – Nico Abbruzzese

“Seamless connectivity and customisation throughout the day, across all devices, amongst yourself, your friends, your emotions and location.”– Rene Chambers

“Ongoing 2-way conversations between users and technology that lead to truly bespoke, interactive, immersive and multi-sensory experiences.”– Ben Moir

“Barrier-less integration between our individual lives and the immersive worlds brands create for us.”– Tom Sanders

The Future Media Experience

PERSPECTIVE: Experiences are the new

media currency - they are a brand’s most valuable owned

media platform.

CTMTMWE

GREAT TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCES = HARDWARE + SOFTWARE

Technology seems to be the answer - but what are the questions? In a world that is increasingly connected and digital, technology is the vehicle to deliver meaningful experiences. At PLAY, we work with specialists, such as Ben Moir, to develop technology solutions for meaningful and innovative experiences.Ben works across what he calls “Wearable Experiments” (aptly the name of his business), which are often the stepping stone to a commercial product - as is the case with the Durex Fundawear project. As a brand, Durex wanted to step out of the shady world of “safe sex” to a much more romantic brand mission of “connecting couples”. Through its long-distance, smart phone-controlled vibrations that partners can give to one another, Fundawear enables Durex to broaden its identity and appeal. It is no longer just about preventing risky sex about encouraging and facilitating intimate connection.

Other milestone projects of “Wearable Experiments” include the Foxtel ‘Alert Shirt’ - a fan jersey that uses wearable technology to take the experience into the physical world, allowing sports fans to feel what the players feel live as it happens during the game.

Similarly, their ‘Navigate Jacket’ helps the consumer find their destination using integrated LED lighting and haptic feedback via a number of small vibrators. A groundbreaking application of wearable technology that does not require a screen.

Can your business make a difference to consumers lives through smart technology?

AN INTRODUCTION TO EXPERIENCE THINKING

Don’t buy audiences, build themby delivering outstanding experiencesTraditionally media had one main goal - to aim for our eyeballs with laser precision. 2014’s media landscape is fragmented, inflated, personalised and complex. We are bombarded with more messages than ever, but we are also better than ever at avoiding them. Nowadays, we have the ability to control our media consumption, both in terms of time and place.

To create value in a world where experiences are currency, brands, agencies and their partners need to understand the processes, skills and risks associated with creating experiences.

There is a reason people claim they are not influenced by advertising; until recently the experience has been passive - learning was incidental, not deliberate or participatory. The Consumers’ role, has been simply that, to consume. Consume the message, consume the product.

However, people don't think of themselves like that. We are active and involved. We choose. We react. We vote. We don't want to be interrupted – we want to be engaged.

This new dynamic requires a new definition of experiences that are created by brands. In our fragmented media world, experiences are the new currency - they are a brand’s most valuable, owned media platform.

At PLAY, we put this insight at the centre of everything we do. We call this Experience Thinking.

SUCCESSFUL TECH EXPERIENCES = UNDERSTANDING HARDWARE + SOFTWARE

Technology seems to be the answer - but what are the questions? In a world that is increasingly connected and digital, technology is the vehicle to deliver meaningful experiences.

In 2013, Sydney tech company Wearable Experiments teamed up with Durex to create a piece of technology that would assist the brand in stepping away from the shady world of “safe sex” to a much more romantic brand mission of “connecting couples”.

Through its long-distance, smart phone-controlled vibrations that partners can give to one another, Fundawear enables Durex to actually demonstrate that they do in fact connect couples.

Other milestone projects of Wearable Experiments include the Foxtel ‘Alert Shirt’ - a fan jersey that uses wearable technology to take the experience into the physical world, allowing sports fans to feel what the players feel live as it happens during the game.

Similarly, their ‘Navigate Jacket’ helps the consumer find their destination using integrated LED lighting and haptic feedback via a number of small vibrators. A groundbreaking application of wearable technology that does not require a screen.

Can your business make a difference to consumers’ lives through smart technology?

The Future Media Experience

PERSPECTIVE:In an increasingly digital

world brands have to engage with technology to provide

meaningful experiences.

“You have got to make a difference to people’s lives, you’ve got to add some value”– Ben Moir

CTLTMWE

Watch the Navigate Jacket

case study Watch theAlert Shirt case study

Watch theFundawearcase study

The Future Media Experience

MORE RELEVANT EXPERIENCES THROUGH DATA

The future of music is the future of everything.

In March of 2014, Spotify acquired the world’s preeminent musical data intelligence firm, The Echo Nest. In doing so, Spotify inherited the most advanced database of musical knowledge in the world, consisting of 1.2 trillion data points across the songs in its library.

The Echo Nest will enable Spotify to match user profiles with similar musical tastes from around the world with greater accuracy and wider reach.

Also app developers will be offered access to the industry’s best music APIs to provide broad and deep data on millions of artists and songs, making it easy for brands to create branded listening applications and experiences for their users.

While streaming platforms like Spotify and Pandora are facilitating this kind of data aggregation and analysis for music, the principle of capturing data about user choices, preferences and cross category relationships will no doubt be applied to other verticals such as grocery shopping, socialising and movies.

So if you think big data is not relevant to your brand, think again.

CTLTMWE

PERSPECTIVE: Build up owned data

to deliver personalised, bespoke experiences for

your customers.

Watch Spotify’s

Vision of The Future

of Music

The Future Media Experience

CONTEXT IS KING.

Location based experiences customised to the individual.As we become accustomed to the seamless transition between digital and real experiences - beacon technology provides a perfect network solution.

Beacons broadcast tiny radio signals to smart devices, such as phones or tablets, which “hear” these signals and exchange data and information freely.

Tony Holzner, founder of Art Processors, turned the traditional art gallery experience on its head when his company developed “The O” for The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).

Using iPods, The O constantly updates the content that is available on the device, depending on the user’s location in the gallery, thus removing the need for the usual prescribed, linear journey through an exhibition. To date, over 500,000 MONA visitors have used the system to view over 17 million artworks.

Antwerp digital agency, Prophets, have recently created a similar solution using Apple iBeacon technology in The Rubens House museum. Breathing new life into the ancient works of Peter Paul Rubens, visitors use the technology to zoom in on details of artworks, look at x-ray imagery of paintings, solve quiz questions and much more.

Whether it is streamlining a shopping mall experience, offering tailored in-store sales promotions or pushing a menu direct to diners in a restaurant, the future opportunities for beacons are endless and varied.

PERSPECTIVE: Enhance the experience of

defined space by making every users interaction engaging

and bespoke to them.

CTLTMWE

Watch theProphets case study

Watch theBeacons in the

Retail Environmentcase study

Read about the

MONA “O”

The Future Media Experience

PERSPECTIVE: How can you provide

meaningful utility solutions to your audience?

“I see creativity and technology becoming increasingly connected to provide experiences that speak on behalf of the brand.”– Nico Abbruzzese

CTLTMWE

TONE AND PURPOSE OF MEDIA EXPERIENCES

Big Brother or Big Sister?According to Nico Abbruzzese, Director of Creative Technology at Metalworks by Maxus the global emphasis on “Big Data” has caused brands to seem all-knowing and almost Big Brother-like. Nico suggests an alternative, namely the Big Sister approach that channels the meaningful application of technology in brand communications.

In an effort to reduce drink driving, a nightclub in Singapore developed a technology solution to stop their guests from drink driving - an urinal that would warn male clubbers if they had “one too many to drive”.

In Korea, Samsung Insurance transformed the country’s number one suicide bridge through a project that was delivered in collaboration with psychologists. As pedestrians make their way across the bridge, positive, supportive messages appear in the structure of the bridge in an attempt to divert the dark plans of possible suicide candidates.

While it sounds sinister and possibly even inappropriate for a brand to be involved with suicide prevention - the initiative seems to literally save lives. Since the installation went live, suicides on the bridge have been reduced by 77% (Smart Planet).

How can creativity and technology solve current or future problems in your business?

Watch the Anti

Drink Drivingcase study

Watch the Samsung Insurance case study

The Future Media Experience

PLAY is a communication agency that specialises in Brand Experience Marketing. We activate brands, leverage sponsorships, create events and branded environments, and maximise every connection through mobile and digital amplification. We are known for our strategic, accountable and business centric approach. Our clients understand that we deliver sales, differentiate their brand and products, and build loyalty across consumer, trade and internal audiences.

WHO WE ARE

We are experience thinkers. We place the customer experience at the centre of what we do. This enables us to identify channel neutral, high impact marketing opportunities for our clients and ensures a relevant and meaningful dialogue with consumers.

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT

WE HAVE AN EXPERIENTIALMIND AND A DIGITAL SPIRITConsumers don't differentiate between a digital and real life experience with a brand. Neither do we. We fuse our strategic, creative, digital and activation capabilities into a seamless experience, delivering against defined business objectives.

For business and press enquiries please contact:Simon Horauf // Founder & DirectorSimon.Horauf@playcomms.com

WANT TO PLAY?

T: +61 2 8199 9900F: +61 2 9281 8125

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