Ever wondered how, or who makes the digital signs that seem to be everywhere these days? Image from user wfryer (Wesley Fryer) on flickr
Digital signage is popular for a reason - they are highly effective in getting across to the casual consumer. That’s why you see them everywhere from the checkout counters at grocery stores to subway trains. Helius is an example of a company that offers digital signage, among other things. I think that in a few years from now, all the billboards will become digital signage of one kind or the other. They are more intrusive in a way - it is hard to ignore a moving image, or a sign that keeps changing. Some of these by the highway might even be dangerous, depending on what is shown on them, but I, for one, welcome our digital overlords. They beat looking at the covers of the B magazines at the checkout counter.
The technology behind all this is incredibly well-done. Helius’ IP video solutions are pretty neat, for example. The following figure taken from their site shows how video content from multiple sources can be transmitted via multiple channels to many things, including digital signs. If you are in marketing, then this pretty accurately describes the immediate future. Or is it the present?
Chipotle’s website is minimalist and a lot of fun, too. Their food is better. There is absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing, that I crave more than their burrito-in-a-bowl. I love it. I tried Qdoba’s “naked” burrito, which sounds sexy, but is everything but. Something about the chipotle taste makes me want to go back for more.
When Chipotle came to midtown Manhattan last July, it gave burritos away to 6,000 people, some of whom stood in line for two hours. The stunt cost $35,000, figures James W. Adams, Chipotle’s marketing director. In return, the company landed 6,000 new spokespeople. “You could spend that same amount on an ad in The New York Times and you wouldn’t have that many people talking about you,” Adams points out. “The response to the food is almost always positive. It’s unique and it’s tasty.”
Heck there’s even a blog about Chipotle (Where “blog” stands for burrito log, it seems).
I have personally introduced at least 10 people to chipotle. I myself went there first after being told of a friend’s girlfriend who woudn’t eat anywhere else. So what is it that I love about Chipotle?
I like the fact that their food is organic - everything(including the meat) is grown organically, naturally. Admittedly, their beans are not 100% organic, but the fact that they want it to be provides economic incentive to organic farmers
I love the way the food tastes
I love how much food they give, and that you can limit your portions if you want
I love the simplicity of ordering food at Chipotle - fewer choices, but really you can get a lot of variation in taste with the choices offered
I love the music that’s playing at the place - always different, always interesting
I don’t know how many people will end up at a Chipotle’s after reading this, but this I am sure of - you’ll love it, and think it worth every dollar spent.
The blur effect you see in the ad is for real - the billboard uses GE Lexan EXL Semi-transparent Resin to blur whats behind the billboard, regardless of weather, season and lighting. See Ian Hart’s page for details. Ian was the guy who designed the ads. The ads take the cake for creative use of polymer technology.
FKF Applied Research, with the help of UCLA’s Ahmanson Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, said that Coca-Cola’s “Video Game” ad–a 60-second animated spot that promotes random acts of kindness–scored this year because it elicited the most positive emotions in subjects’ brains.
Interesting research - they monitor brain activity to see which ads elicit the most “positive” response. They say some ads elicit a fear response and will be quickly forgotten - now we are in hot water. Why? Because people like my girl friend get enormously turned on by horror movies and the like. Going by the idea the FKF research folks put forward, the only movies that make a lasting, positive impression are the feel-good, empathy-generating ones, but we all know that Jaws, Omen etc have been huge hits and have been permanently etched into so many memories, world wide.
I think there is no way to tell which ads were more successful, but yes, you sure can find out which ones were terrible failures - those would be the ads that generated a minimal response from any part of the brain.
Now for your viewing pleasure, here is the best ad, according to the human brain:
LoudLaunch is a budding site, much like Pay Per Post or Review Me that rewards bloggers for blogging reviews about their sponsors. So far, so good.
So what do I think about it? Please note that my opinion does not count, in any way, and that I am not getting paid or anything like that.
I think it won’t succeed. The first reason is that they don’t clearly mention how the bloggers will get paid. They say:
If your blog and interests are aligned with an advertiser’s campaign then you can do your own research and write about them in exchange for pay—not in exchange for a pre-determined outcome but for a fair assessment.
So you expect good bloggers to sign up on uncertain terms? What the heck is “fair assessment” is that based on click-throughs or pageviews or conversions, or just the fact that the review has been posted, and has stayed up for a week/month? You need to be crystal clear if you want someone to put their reputation and resdership behind your business!!
Things like stupid answers in the FAQ don’t help either. Here’s one:
