BlackRepoRt//

tRends // Ideas // InnovatIon // InspIRatIon

Issue:03special Report: The Wireless Generation – The Rise of the iPad, the decline of the computer and the dangers of ‘always-on’ digital burnout.

The Futureof News

Monthly RepoRt

coveRIng consuMeR and socIal tRends,

tRends In MaRketIng

coMMs, packagIng,

pRoduct InnovatIon

and Beyond...

The Black RepoRT is...laura Demasi has been a trends journalist for 15 years, working for the sydney Morning herald

and many women’s magazines including Vogue. she now works with brands on innovation, trends

and ideation. she has worked with major australian brands including Red Bull, Fosters and Foxtel. BRoughT To you By:

hTTp://uncluTTeReDwhiTespaces.coM www.seekanDDesign.coM.au

cReaTiVe By:

In a busy cafe, somewhere on the outskirts

of your City (let’s say Detroit for the sake

of this article), sits a young student, typing

away on his laptop. He is writing about the

rise of the Detroit entrepreneur’s movement,

a shift from the industrial age focusing

on a new Detroit, with a low point of entry

creating a platform for anybody to start

anything. This kid is reporting on current

trends, news and the future of technology

and he has a world wide audience.

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The FutuRe oF news

around a decade ago, such an innovation might have

taken shape as a large plasma TV in a big office block

welcoming visitors to the building, or at best, connecting

cities by way of conference calling. Today, this kid,

one reader at a time, quickly shifts from being a blogger,

to having a voice on industry and becoming a leading

activist for new business models all over the world.

as he types, people walk past, their smart phones in

hand reminding them to stop and drink something,

to call John back, to eat some nuts and to get that last

project out the door as yoga is creeping up. all the while

informing us that this weekend is going to be sunny,

so book that cheap accommodation that just popped up

on groupon. all from the palm of their hand or pocket.

This kid in Detroit may not realize it (but i assume he

does) but as he types, one word at a time, he is evolving

an industry. at one end of the scale, we have wiki-leaks,

sharing information faster and with “arguably” more

accuracy (without the bias of any newspaper) and at the

other end, bloggers continue to report on current affairs,

technology, people, travel and the environment at a

faster rate than ever before.

it begs the question. what is the future of the

newspaper? will the newspaper live forever?

what happens once a newspaper or magazine goes

online? it becomes neither a magazine or a newspaper.

it becomes just news. we all know the environmental

pluses with decreased burden on paper production

including its attendant use of strong chemicals and

all the carbon footprint implications of distributing

physical newspapers around the world. That is

important. what i am interested in is the change that

is occurring right before us, right now.

who produces the news and at what cost once the

papers are gone? while most online content is

(currently) free, the new york Times, Murdoch and other

big hitters have implemented pay-walls for online news,

creating paid ipad and iphone applications.

Editor & Founder of uncluttered white spacesOn Twitter @benrennie

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is youR ceo Ready FoR a shiFTing FuTuRe?

The issue still remains, there will always be news

online and it will always be free, somewhere.

in 2010, Rupert Murdoch, speaking at george

washington university commented on his admiration

for apple’s ipad, which he stated is a “glimpse of the

future”. interestingly, he all but called for the end of

the physical paper and ink newspaper. stating, “if you

have less newspapers and more of these [ipads]…

it may be the saving of the newspaper industry.”

This is an amazing insight into Murdoch’s thinking.

he really thinks, like many other commenter’s, that

the ipad [tablets] could save the newspaper industry.

he’s not at all afraid of technology, as long as it can

be bent to his agenda: a paid ipad application with

subscription access and all the protection of apple’s

locked-down iTunes distribution system lines up

sweetly with Murdoch’s vision for the future of news.

some news publications are dying fast and others

need to die out so that people with a passion for the

news can look at creating online news communities

with a different business model, whose value

proposition is good enough that people are willing

to pay to participate.

The online community provides plenty of options with

amazing journalism; honest, fast and free reporting

on most things we previously paid good money for.

newspapers will make a shift from the current

model into online communities, either free or paid.

Focusing on two-way communication, not broadcast.

The future is in building and engaging a community

of interest by encouraging active participation,

by allowing community members to actively discuss

the news, a progression from existing blogs where

the community can also connect, in a way that social

networks such as linkedin and Facebook do but

circulating around breaking news, world issues,

sport and current affairs. Driven by community

demand, not the advertising dollar or paid content.

Murdoch has completed the erection of paywalls

around his news content, and has created methods to

block or ban “companies like google or Microsoft or

whoever from taking stories for nothing” by forbidding

their web crawler technologies from accessing it.

Murdoch’s dig at a competitor’s efforts at erecting

a paywall, snubbing it as halfhearted and that the

management doesn’t “seem able to make up its

mind” on the matter is a classic example of an

industry in crisis, looking to reinvent itself to a fast

moving c-generation of connected, smart and well

educated consumers already ahead of the game.

i agree with Mr Murdoch, the ipad is a revolutionary

innovation that will effect change and speed up

the demise of printed media and in particular,

the newspaper. That does not bother me. The tablet

business is cool, convenient, cost effective and

accessible. wouldn’t we rather spend our time

and money on people, bloggers and organisations

that want to offer smarter, faster, more efficient

(well-edited) content rather than news that feels

squeezed, cheap and funded by corporations?

in the race to shift news from print to tablets,

with generation-c driving the change, connection

has become the new c-word!

how are you connecting to your future? welcome to our

third issue of The Black Report...dedicated to mobile

technologies. enjoy.

ouR new consTanT coMpanions keep us connecTeD To woRk.Smartphones (led by the iPhone) may

have revolutionised not only the way we

communicate with each other but how we

perceive and interact with the world at large

- but the iPad is not far behind. New research

shows that iPads are being used in all manner

of public and private places keeping workers

continuously connected to the office.

where we’re using our ipads

an australian survey reveals:

- 49% of workers used their ipads to send

emails while they were on holidays

- 23% of workers used their ipads to send

emails from bed

- 21% of workers used their ipads to send

emails from restaurants

- 42% of workers had used their ipads to

send emails from an entertainment event

- 19% of workers admitted to using their ipads

from churches and other places of worship

3

view the link:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/workers-on-ipads-

in-bed-church-holiday/story-fn6b3v4f-1226130743852

1. ipaDs

cuTTing The coMpuTeR coRD . A major study – ‘The Pew Internet

Project’ – reveals just how great the

proliferation of smartphones has been

in the USA and how Americans are using

their phones. Conducted by the Pew

Research Center, the study shows there

has been a significant shift towards

smartphones and away from desktop

and laptop computers to access the

internet on a daily basis.

some of the key findings of the

pew study:

- 35% - one third of american adults –

own a smartphone, and two-thirds of

them sleep with their smartphones

right next to their beds

- 87% of smartphone owners access the

internet or email on their handheld,

including two-thirds (68%) who do so

on a typical day.

- when asked what device they normally

use to access the internet, 25% of

smartphone owners say that they

mostly go online using their phone,

rather than with a computer.

4

2. sMaRTphones anD TaBleTs

view the link:http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/smartphones.aspx

some of the key findings of the google study:

- 49% of australians have a smartphone – the highest smartphone

penetration in the world.

- 44% of these use their smartphones to do local searches each day

- 1 in 3 mobile searches is local.

- 80% of local information seekers have reached out to a local business

after a mobile search.

- 46% wont leave their house without their smartphone.

- internet usage could soon eclipse pc internet usage as 36% of respondents

said they expected to use the web more on the smartphone in the future

compared to 28% for the pc.

- 79% of top advertisers do not have a mobile optimized website.

sMaRTphones gloBally A global study by IMS research predicts one billion smartphone sales by 2016.

The study predicts that sales of smartphones will exceed 420 million devices in

2011, accounting for nearly 28 percent of the entire global handset market

5

A similar trend is occurring in Australia. A global study by

Google Australia and Ipsos Research reveals how Australians

have embraced the smartphone revolution in comparison to

their international counterparts.

“ The Rise oF sMaRTphones is DRaMaTically incReasing The use oF The inTeRneT oVeRall in ausTRalia. we’Re seeing MoBile usage anD sMaRTphone usage sTaRTing To appRoach oR eVen MaTch pc usage.”

Ryan haywaRD, google’s MoBile pRoDucT MaRkeTing ManageR FoR The asia-paciFic Region.

sMaRTphones in austRalIa

view the link:http://www.techjournalsouth.com/2011/07/smartphone-sales-headed-for-1b-devices-nokia-share-declines-samsung-leading/

5

sMaRTphones in austRalIa conT.

6

3. DigiTal FatIgue:

is uBiquiTous connecTion causing BuRnouT? How much connection is too much? Just how information can you

digest? How much of this information is genuinely important and

how much of it is just distraction?

how much time does social networking take you away from real-life

networking and socializing? what is all this instant access doing to our

brains and our ability to focus?

These are just some of the questions being asked by a rising tide of

commentators who say that mobile technology is taking over our lives.

Bestselling books such as hamlet’s Blackberry by william powers

and The shallows by nicholas carr warn against the dangers of being

‘aways-on’ and ‘always- connected’ via our mobile smartphones

and tablets, which include rising stress levels, information overload,

connection addiction, choice fatigue and the death of solitude. uWs insighT/smartphones and tablets have revolutionised the world, changing the way we communicate and consume. as global smartphone and tablet penetration continues at break-neck speed ‘mobile’ marketing will eclipse all other platforms. is your business ready? are you one of the 87% of brands whose website is not optimized for mobile?

while consumers continue to embrace mobile media the anxiety over digital fatigue and over-connection hangs in the shadows. how will your brand respond to this important counter-current?

7

inFo-gRaphic: ‘The sTaTe oF The inTeRneT‘ RighT now

Statistics are a moving target,

right? Especially with the internet

where developments occur every

second. This brilliant infograph from

OnlineSchools.org is live, constantly

calculating various statistics –

from how many new wesbites have

launched to the fastest rising Google

searches, gender usage for a host

of the world’s biggest sites and how

much time we spend online.

uWs insighT/live tools are the future of digital insight. Tracking a constantly evolving multifaceted platform like the internet demands that we are watching every moment. live tools like this infograph provide a powerful window into the now, rather than the yesterday.

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inFo-gRaphic: ‘The sTaTe oF The inTeRneT‘ RighT now

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The latest on TwiTTeR

uWs insighT/Mood is at the core of the psychology of consumption. Reaching potential consumers when they’re in the right mood can be crucial to how successfully your message is received. are you talking to your consumers at the right time of day?

1. The TwiTTeR-MooD-MeTeR using TwiTTeR To gauge ouR MooDs Twitter’s potential as a tool for social and consumer research has

reached an entirely new and exciting level now that researchers have

discovered how to use the micro-blogging site’s endless data stream

to gauge our moods during different times of day.

Researchers at cornell university analyzed more than 500 million

tweets from 2.4 million people in 84 countries, and found striking

similarities independent of country, culture or religion.

cornell sociologists used a text-analysis program to search 509 million

tweets made over a two-year period for words associated with a

positive attitude, such as agree, fantastic and super, as well as for

negative words, such as afraid, mad and panic.

key finding of the study:

- positive mood peaked about 8am on weekdays, and again

at the end.

view the link:http://www.sciencemag.org/content/333/6051/1878.abstract

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stIll wiTh TwiTTeR

Mashable has released this history-to-

date infograph on Twitter... who’s on it

and who we’re following.

11

is FaceBook The neW google?

The social neTwoRk’s new TiMeline FeaTuRe ReDeFines how we use anD expeRience The weB The days of Facebook primarily being a tool to

connect with friends is over. The social network

has never hidden its ambition to evolve into a

real-time, Google-like search engine, the core

tool in your daily digital life – and its newly

announced Timeline feature brings it one

giant step closer to this objective.

as the new york Time puts it, Facebook “wants

to be a force that shapes what you watch, hear,

read and buy.”

The Timeline feature allows you to see what

your friends are doing in real time – Ben is

watching the movie inception, Jane is

listening to Joss stone, kate is shopping at

gap, Matt is eating at McDonalds.

This massive ‘internal’ or ‘social’ web of

information displayed along the real-time

Timeline banner becomes an internet of its

own, where your online choices are increasingly

defined by those of your friends as you are

exposed to their consumption habits - be it

movies, shopping, whatever – on a minute-to-

minute basis.

By creating Timeline, Facebook is in effect, trying

to completely redefine how we search online – by

allowing friends to direct friends to content.

uWs insighT/Timeline is one of the most significant developments to hit social media. not only does it have the potential to redefine how we search for content and experience the web - transforming it into a real-time integrated medium – it also has the potential to transform how we consume.

and by allowing Facebook to see our consumption, the company will be able to mine even more valuable data than it does now about its users’ habits and desires, which in turn can be used to sell more fine-tuned advertising.

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Real-liFe Toys MeRge wiTh inTeRacTiVe apps

Disney and Lego pioneer a new category of physical

iPad and iPhone enabled toys to create the ultimate

interactive app and gaming experiences. gaming is still the top category when it comes

to apps - branded and otherwise. The best are

pioneering new applications of technology like these.

Disney’s appMaTes caRs 2 Toys FoR The ipaD cReaTes a whole new caTegoRy oF ipaD enaBleD gaMing Toys. This new development from Disney is something

a revolution that will bring the play experience

literally to life. The brand has pioneered a system

in which physical toys can be used to interact with

ipad apps and games, transforming the ipad into an

interactive play-mat.

it’s called appMaTes and first up is a product for

the movie cars 2 from Disney/pixar. Released this

month, consumers can buy the special ipad enabled

toys and then download the app for free.

Watch the video demo:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vanzbctxtcy

The toys trigger various levels, effects, sounds, narration and experiences based

what car is actually placed on the ipad. it works by special sensors that are placed

on the bottom of the cars and when pressed down on the ipad surface, the individual

cars are recognised by the app accordingly.

The brilliant idea hits two birds with one powerful stone – not only driving downloads

of the branded app but toy sales – in a whole new category of toys – as well.

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Real-liFe Toys MeRge wiTh inTeRacTiVe apps conT

lego MeeTs augMenTeD RealiTy gaMing app

The clever thing about this game is it’s

simplicity - lego have kept the game

accessible to a range of ages.

The app is based around the lego character

‘george’ who shows you pictures that you have

to recreate from lego. once the picture is

complete in lego form, you take a picture of

your object on the playmat. From this picture,

a brick recognition system from eyecue

awards you points for speed and accuracy.

uWs insighT/as apps become more and more prominent in the marketing mix, innovative, ground-breaking ideas like these will become mandatory in helping brands stand out from an increasingly crowded space. By linking physical products with apps and games these brands are also directly driving product sales.

Watch the video demo:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1DhZwsoVkBy

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inTeRacTiVe InstallatIon

Interactive is the new buzzword in

experiential and installation marketing.

But engaging a cynical consumer by

striking the right balance between

entertainment, amusement, relevance

and usefulness, isn’t always easy.

In these recent campaigns brand

juggernauts Nokia, Virgin Mobile and

Powerade get it right.

1. The nokia FouRsquaRe giFTing Machine

nokia us picks up on the increasing “Random

acts of kindness” trend with this great

interactive installation vending machine

campaign. using Foursquare, anyone can

simply ‘check-in’ to one of the vending

machines, that will then release a canister

containing some sort of surprise, which could

be anything from chocolates to the latest

nokia handset.

Watch the video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsyqviwkBs4&feature=player_embedded

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inTeRacTiVe InstallatIon conT

uWs insighT/interactive installation is about creating a unique brand experience in a space that consumers are passionate about – be it on a dance floor or at a football game or via an unexpected act of kindness. The best interactive installations don’t ‘impose’ on consumers, they add another positive layer of experience to something they already enjoy. it’s not about being in your face, it’s about being useful, fun and engaging.

2. MoBile FReeFesT: The inTeRacTiVe echo TeMple

Virgin Mobile teamed up with the producers behind

the kyocera music festival to create The echo

Temple, a brilliant installation staged at the Virgin

Mobile FreeFest, which allowed festival-goers to

play virtual instruments and create music by moving

their body in front of motion-tracking cameras.

Festival-goers could use special fans to help control

the volume, pitch and unique audio effects as the

cameras tracked them.

The echo Temple included six monolithic speaker

towers for the party goers to play with, all circling

around a huge subwoofer station.

This unique interactive music experience proved

to be a hit at the day-long, 50,000 strong-event,

morphing into its own dance party.

3. poweRaDe: FooTBall TwiTTeR caMpaign

Twitter has become a default second screen during most big sporting

events. leveraging this powerade Brazil created a live infographic for

every game during the copa america argentina 2011, which is the

most important football championship in south america.

Twitter aggregated every tweet about every game, and compiled them

into an interactive infographic style interface where you could explore

the social interaction through every minute of the match.

source: DigitalBuzz

view the link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufro55cTp7w

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DigiTal Real MotIon pRoJecTion Mapping

This trend is much like the apps that use

real-life toys that we saw earlier, in that it

allows the real and virtual to seamlessly

interact.

large scale projection mapping isn’t new

but its evolution to include interaction with

real life objects represents an exciting

opportunity to marketers.

These two examples demonstrate how

interactivity brings projection mapping

powerfully to life.

Watch the video:The world’s Biggest space invaders game.http://vimeo.com/29838859

Watch the video:wasps Rugby fight the Dragonshttp://vimeo.com/29840636

uWs insighT/Real Motion projection mapping demonstrates how crucial it is to keep evolving platforms and technologies so that they become more engaging. For large scale events particularly, real-life projection mapping represents an opportunity to create high-impact, highly interactive and memorable brand experiences.

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Zegna cReaTe The 3D ipaD app

iMMeRse youRselF wiTh This in-sToRe expeRienceErmenegildo Zegna, the Italian luxury menswear

house, has launched an iPad application with a 3D

immersive digital retail experience. The in-STORE

app is a virtual boutique where customers are

greeted by their own personal shopping guide, the

actress Milla Jovovich. The virtual environment is filled with clothes

and models. users can navigate the store

by swiping the screen, and view products by

tapping the items. The application is one of the

first examples of an immersive app that tries to

replicate the in-store experience.

view the link:http://www.zegnainstore.com/

uWs insighT/This is a unique call to action, creating a new experience will always draw in customers. Research is yet to provide feedback on how the app is performing but it has been instantly attracting eyeballs. can Zegna convert those views into transactions?

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layaR cReaTe woRlD FiRsT

welcoMe To The augMenTeD RealiTy BRowseR. Layar is the world‘s first augmented reality browser for

mobiles phones, and works by overlaying information

about your surroundings onto your camera phone viewer. The application, mixing digital information with reality,

currently works on the android platform. android has

all the features necessary for an augmented reality

application to work, including gps, a compass, and a

camera. however, layar are also building browsers

compatible with the iphone and other platforms,

including symbian and windows.

one application of the browser includes finding houses

for sale, which are displayed using dots on the screen.

The information bar displays the address of houses and the

price. settings can be changed to allow the user to find exactly

the type of houses they are looking for, and they can also

choose to get additional information from the estate agent.

uWs insighT/augmented reality is an exciting new frontier in mobile marketing, as the ability to fuse digital information with real-life surroundings provides endless opportunities for marketers. although the technology is still very much in its infancy, more exciting new applications are beginning to come to the forefront.

view the link:http://layar.eu/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b64_16k2e08

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nike chalkBoT takes oveR The TouR De FRance

The Chalkbot was automatically programmed

to paint personalizes the text and online

messages in yellow chalk around the 2,200

mile route of the Tour de France by Nike‘s

innovative mobile campaign. Focusing on

printing messages on roads around the

Tour de France route.

as an extension of the livestrong campaign,

the aim was to provide messages of hope, support,

and perseverance to the cyclists and inspire them

to push themselves that little bit further.

after the chalkbot prints the message, it takes

a picture of the road, logs the time and gps

location then sends it back to the user.

The campaign also aimed to generate money for

a charitable cause, as 100% of the profits from

nike‘s livestrong collection go to the lance

armstrong Foundation.

view the link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jb-kT4r6ny

uWs insighT/The campaign was not only innovative, but also effective in terms of increasing the bottom line. The campaign coincided with a 46% jump in sales, generating $4 million for lance armstrong’s fight against cancer.

20

ikea cReaTe a shoWRooM on FaceBook

Initially using the Facebook profile of store

manager, Gordon Gustavsson, they uploaded

pictures of the store‘s showrooms to Facebook.

Any friends who tagged the products with their

names then won these items.

This was an effective promotional tool, as the

campaign went viral. This is a good example

of an innovative social media campaign on a

low budget.

This makes it easy for users since they are

already familiar with Facebook tagging.

in addition, using the Facebook platform is

effective because of its inherent viral potential

as user actions are automatically reported in

news feeds.

view the link:http://creativity-online.com/news/forsman-and-bodenfors-turns-facebook-tagging-into-a-promotional-tool-for-the-opening-of-ikeas-new-store-in-malmo-sweden/140646

uWs insighT/whilst this might now comply with Facebook terms of services, which limits the potential for campaigns like this in the future. The novelty of this campaign as the added incentive of prizes made this a viral success for ikea. Make online content remarkable... ie.e, as seth godin states, worth remarking about.

21

chaRTBeaT cReaTes Real-tIMe analyTics DashBoaRD

Chartbeat provides real-time analytics for

websites and blogs, allowing site owners to

see what their users are doing right now.

It shows visitors, load times, and referring

sites on a minute-by-minute basis. The service

also provides alerts the second your Website

crashes or slows to a crawl.

Traditional analytics services have focused

on understanding usual behaviour across

persistent content. Real-time analytics can

supplement the insights from traditional web

analytics solutions, as the software focuses on

unusual patterns of user behaviour.

chartbeat makes data available in real-time,

and also receives constant updates from a site’s

users about what they are doing. For example,

chartbeat can tell the analyst how many

people kept the page open and are on the

page right now, and whether they are actively

interacting with it.

view the link:http://chartbeat.com/demo/#

uWs insighT/chartbeat also includes alerts via sMs, email or iphone and this means site owners get information in real-time such as when traffic spikes, page load slows, or the site goes down.

22

The eDiToR’s cRItIcal lInks

1. http://made.com

Made.com is an online furniture retailer that ―cuts out the middle-man―, and connects consumers with furniture makers directly.

The online site cuts out the retailer and the wholesaler, to offer consumers designer furniture at highly discounted prices.

2. http://preorder.it/

preorder.it is a website that allows customers to pre-order new gadgets and electronic devices before the sale officially starts.

3. http://GoTryItOn.com

goTryiton is an online fashion site, where users can upload their own photos in various outfits. The community can then vote to

wear the outfit, or change it, choose between two different outfits.

4. http://martinandosa.com

Martin + osa‘s us website makes organizing products by type and by outfit. users then click on each product range and have the

option of buying each item with the outfit.

5. http://pronto.lastminute.com

lastminute.com has recently launched an innovative new search feature on its website, called pronto. The search makes it easier

for customers to find what they are looking for as drop-down lists appear for each search item, helping the user to make their

search as precise as possible, by enabling them to specify different attributes of what they are looking for.

5 online ReTaileRs woRTh VisiTing oR peRhaps, DaRe we say iT... MiMicking.

tRends // Ideas // InnovatIon // InspIRatIon