Noel 2013: Behind the scenes

In line with the trend of 'Surprise and Delight', we decided to take a hand-made approach to our festive gifts this season. Given that we have had a lot of interest about how the look was achieved we thought we'd write a quick blog about how the craftsman process materialised.

The Yard Creative festive gift 2013 - the finished article

We decided that a lovely bottle of wine to accompany a festive meal or cheese-fest was best and after visiting a local wine merchant, Philglas & Swiggot, to discus (and taste) some recommendations we settled upon a tasty red with a spicy richness which was evocative of Christmas.

But now, how to put a TYC stamp on it? 

Well, seems as we are all about a personal service, it made sense to personalise each gift with a message, hence the wine box lid painted with blackboard paint. Next we decided upon a frosty white bottle with a festive wish etched upon it.

Calling upon some old workshop skills acquired during the golden days of university, the labels and bottle necks were masked.

 The Yard Creative festive gift 2013 - preparation

 The Yard Creative festive gift 2013 - masking and glue gunning

Following a lot of failed attempts we used a glue gun and a steady hand to scribe the festive wish and then lovingly spray painted each bottle in mat white.

The Yard Creative festive gift 2013 - the spray booth

The Yard Creative festive gift 2013 - ready for personalisation

Each bottle was accompanied with a neck label telling the story about the remarkable wine producer André Romero, which describes one mans determination to single-handedly put the unknown wine region Rasteau on the map by focusing on generating a high quality product in order to survive and thus putting him in the ring with the famous producers / big players. Something that we as TYC aim to do with every project, every day.

Thank you to those lucky people that received them. The feedback has been great.

The Yard Creative festive gift 2013 - the finished article

The Yard Creative festive gift 2013 - the finished article

Job done.

Next generation coffee machine

We saw this in a recent Trendwatching report, we loved the idea and it is yet another good example of experiential marketing, hence the blog.

Basically, Dutch coffee company Douwe Egberts came up with a campaign dubbed "Bye Bye Red Eye" based on a simple idea of offering coffee to people in areas where red eye prevails.

The company took a typical coffee vending machine and installed facial recognition technology together with a mechanical barista and placed the machine in a prime position at Johannesburg’s O.R Tambo International Airport (July 2013).  

The main hook with the machine is that it has no buttons or method of payment - the currently it requires is a yawn.  Once the machine recognises a yawn then it dispenses a free coffee!

Can we have one in our office?!?!

Tapestry - enabling cross channel retailing

Ok, think about the last time you went shopping.

Did you see something you liked, but it was in the first shop you went to so you didn't buy it. You carried on, the day passed and now you haven't found anything else. You know you should go back and get that first item but now your hot, bothered, late and just want to go home.

Well now a piece of digital technology has come along that will make this moment, and more, so much easier. Tapestry.

Since fast fashion hit the high streets, individual curation of fashion has shot through the roof. The likes of Asos have fuelled this but only through one channel. Tapestry completes the ultimate fashion curators tool kit by allowing you to gather and curate whilst you shop, travel, work or at home. Watch the video above and you'll see what we mean.

Now that's clever. Gather info whilst you shop. Get inspired by mags and add that to the mix. Get alerts, discounts and rewards. And buy anytime, anywhere once you've made your mind up.

Amazing.

The guys at Tapestry are keen to expand this technology so if you're a retailer and fancy being at the forefront of cross channel digital retail, give them a call and qualify for a free trial in your store. Just like the Diesel store at Westfield.

Oh, and that first item you knew you should of bought in the first place, well now you just buy it on your way home from your Tapestry app and get it delivered the next day. That's true cross channel retailing!

Experiential marketing - a great example

How can you raise awareness and generate interest in a brand or product that doesn't cost the earth?

We think that the Coke Cola campaign, "Unlock the 007 in you", coinciding with the release of SKYFALL 007, is a brilliant example of experiential marketing that created great viral results. At it's heart is a simple idea but the execution is what makes it great.

The campaign uses a vending machine placed in a very public location to engage customers and ask if they wish to win tickets to the new James Bond film. If the answer is 'yes' the customer is given a challenge which transforms their commute in to an action scene straight out of a thrilling Bond film!

The result - well apart from the obvious buzz created at the location you have the experience being tweeted and posted across a plethora of social media sites with the brand sitting comfortably in the background, supporting the whole activity. 

The FAB Awards - Our Top 5

FAB Awards night 2013, what an outstanding evening; great location, superb company and a few pieces of pure genius. Here are some of our favourites from the night:

The new packaging design, called 'Electro', for Bombay Sapphire is amazing - it uses electroluminescent ink and a hidden mechanical sensor / switch which then sends a current through the pathways in sequence, and creates a mesmerising cascading effect on the shelf drawing attention from browsing customers. Brilliant!


Webb deVlam - Bombay Sapphire Electro from Webb deVlam on Vimeo.


The advertising campaign 'We All Make The Games' for McDonalds really impressed us as it tapped into user-generated content with people sending in images of their Games moments with them being incorporated directly in to the campaign via a bespoke website and facebook page.



Another campaign that we liked for McDonalds was 'Next stop, McDonalds' where the side of a bus morphed in to a takeout window, giving McDonalds the chance to interact with drivers and to demonstrate how easy it would be to stop at the next drive through window. Great product placement.

Photo courtesy from http://www.coloribus.com

The scale of the Deep Ridged campaign for Walkers blew our mind! Basically Britain's tallest ever freestanding climbing wall was built in the shape of a Walkers Deep Ridged crisp. The public and celebrities were then invited to climb and this resulted in both traditional and online viral campaigns.



The Coca Cola magazine amplifier was too cool - Just roll it up, plug your iPhone and amplify your party! Basically to celebrate Coca-Cola FM first birthday, Capricho Magazine subscribers received their magazine with a special cover that allowed readers to transform the magazine into an iPhone sound amplifier.

Coca Cola Magazine Amplifier from Rodrigo Adam on Vimeo.

Congratulations to everyone that was awarded a FAB, we thought that the quality of work was top notch and we were delighted to be on the panel judging with this level of creativity!

Micro blog: Digital meets the physical

So you want to engage with your customers?
You want customers to have a memorable experience?
And you want to mix the digital with the physical?

Well, here's one of the best examples we've seen recently!

PRETAIL: An innovation explosion

We recently received the PRETAIL Trendwatching bulletin and as always we read with eagerness and wanted to share our take on this interesting trend.

Innovation and invention is nothing new but the way that the general public can now engage and influence the process is.... 2012 saw a massive 85% increase in donation & reward-based crowdfunding to an astounding USD 1.4 billion.*

Crowdfunding is a way for inventors and entrepreneurs to raise finance for projects from ordinary, everyday people and not the big banks. Often the people who donate money (aka supporters) have no financial investment in the new product or business other than backing something that they believe in.

This rise in crowdfunding activity means that the awareness and support for new and innovative products is exploding and as a result there is a growing demand for the retail of these product, often before they are mass-produced, as concepts. Hence the term PRETAIL.

Take the DOORBOT for instance - this is brilliant, we think we might actually buy one. A door bell with a web camera and when someone rings the bell it streams the video of who is at your door to your smart phone, you can then speak to your visitor via your smartphone and a mic in the DOORBOT. Simple enough. But we love the fact that this allows you to: ignore the caller, pretend you are in even when your not, tell your friend that your down the pub or the delivery man that you'll be back in 5 and to leave the parcel behind the plant pot. A bit like 'Caller ID' for your front door.

DoorBot -- The Wi-Fi Enabled "Smart" Doorbell from Christie Street on Vimeo.


Now this is a crazy one: the Ostrich Pillow.  It's makers describe it as "neither a pillow, nor cushion, bed or garment, but a bit of each all at the same time". Not sure that we would wear this but the project raised a stunning 278% of its funding target and can now be bought from a dedicated online store that sells only crowdfunded products, from USD 99.00. Somebody somewhere wants it!



So what do we think is the key thing to take away from this new PRETAIL trend?

Bigger brands and retailers can ask their customers to help them develop their products but perhaps that limits the audience catchment.  The obvious next step for some of the PRETAIL projects is the traditional high street in order to hit the main stream... our thoughts; perhaps the buyers, brand planners and also the boardroom needs to start looking at these platforms with a view to buy, sponsor, stock or fund projects that match their business goals.

Take a look at some more innovative projects on the following websites:

Crowdfunding platforms:
Kickstarter
Christie Street
Crowdfunder
Indiegogo

Market places for crowdfunded projects:
Outgrow.me
Quirky
Wrappled

* Massolution, April 2013