I just came across an interesting story that involves Dali creating the design of the Chupa Chups lollipop mark. Chupa Chups started off under the name “GOL,” imagining the candy as a soccer ball and the open mouth a net. The name then evolved to “Chupa Chups,” from the Spanish chupar, meaning “to suck.” The lollipop, invented in 1958 and the first candy ever to be sold on a stick, is a bona-fide design classic. What I didn’t know was that its famous daisy logo was sketched on a newspaper and designed by none other than Dali, who insisted that his design be placed on top of the lolly, rather than the side.
After discovering this bit of the story, it instantly changed my perception of Chupa Chups. Not only does it reiterates the huge importance of storytelling in creating brands, it makes you realise that the mark placement is an integral part of the brand and probably a game changer in its time. Not to forget that the association with Dali adds a lot to the table - think Campell’s and Andy Warhol!
Naturally, I couldn’t stop myself from imagining Dali trying it out, I bet it suited his mustache. Wow - could it be that Dali and I have shared a similar experience!
Popuphood, launched last year in Oakland by Sarah Filley and Alfonso Dominguez, is an urban planning project with an unusual strategy for revitalizing depressed urban centers: the pop-up store.
“Ms. Filley and Mr. Dominguez persuaded a landlord to offer pop-up stores free six-month leases in locations that, in some cases, have been vacant for years. The merchants have a goal of turning a profit during the six months and then signing a longer-term lease, at a price to be negotiated. The landlord, Peter Sullivan Associates, is hoping that the free short-term leases will turn into longer-term revenue.”
Compared to the proliferation of pop-up retail by any big player from Target to Gucci, Popuphood’s approach harnesses the David and Goliath effect of rooting for the underdog - and the sense of possibility that comes with it.
Drawing on what seems like a tired marketing strategy for a solution that’s experimental, transient, urgent, novel and efficient, Popuphood’s strategy is a great example of boundaryless and constant beta behaviors we described in our recent Gamechangers report.
The Popuphood project made us wonder:
+ What can city planners learn from retailers?
+ What are other examples of success being redefined as fluid versus fixed experiences?
+ As more categories look to transform themselves from B2B to B2C – like healthcare and financial services – what can they learn from a pop up mentality?
Related:
+ Artist Julia Christensen’s Big Box Reuse project: how communities are repurpose abandoned retail spaces
+ Generation Sell: “Today’s ideal social form is not the commune or the movement or even the individual creator as such; it’s the small business” (New York Times)
+ London’s Boxpark, a pop-up mall made of old shipping containers
+ “Urban culture is retail culture” (Trendwatching, Retail Renaissance)
Visual art museums–Should they be a peaceful sanctuary to escape from the always-on, back-lit, digital world in which we all now work and play? Places to appreciate the spiritual energy of something raw and “real”?
Or, should directors and curators be looking to integrate cutting edge technology into museum spaces- to make the experience somehow more educational and accessible, interactive and fun? And if so, how?
It’s an interesting question, and one we’ve kicked around internally and with a numberofclients over the years.It’s also one that big tech guys like Google (Art Project and Google goggles-> maybe Google Glasses in the future?) are rapidly trying to digest and influence.
This month the Louvre followed in the experimental footsteps of the Brooklyn Museum, the Met, and a host of other world class institutions with their own future-looking answer.As part of an ongoing partnership with Nintendo, the museum created a handheld console aimed at evolving the age-old “audio guide” into something more fit for our hyperdigital expectations.If you haven’t seen it, you can check out pics and video here.
I find this incredibly exciting for a number of reasons. On the most basic level, it’s useful. The console simplifies the logistic challenges of a visit to the Louvre, allowing its operator to focus less on navigating the famous labyrinth and more on the art itself. It also offers flexibility in the level of info each user consumes- a nice middle ground between basic didactics and the commitment of signing up for a tour.
But maybe more importantly, it communicates that the Louvre is serious about designing an experience that’s not so far removed from people’s everyday lives.It’s an attempt to shift the institution from a sacred place you visit once a year (or once a lifetime?) to a space for continued learning and relevance.Hervé Barbaret, Managing Director of the Louvre says “the new audio guide is a valuable tool that will help make visiting the Louvre a more dynamic and rewarding experience, particularly for those that are not so familiar with a museum environment.” It’s a conscious move to get fit for the future and it will resonate with new, younger audiences.
Regardless of this program’s success, the Louvre has taken their shot at answering that fundamental “role of technology” question.Considering the way they’ve answered it though, maybe the issue isn’t as black & white as I originally posed.The challenge for cultural institutions might instead be more subtle: How do you integrate technology into the experience in a way that’s useful to those who want to take advantage of it, without distracting those who don’t?
Have you recently visited the Louvre and had a chance to test this thing out?We’d love to hear your thoughts here or on Twitter.And if not, feel free to weigh in on how technology is enhancing/destroying the experience of visiting your favorite museum. @wolffolins
(This is the fourth Future Patrol, a monthly series of macrotrend posts by WONY StrategistEmily Segal. You’ll see Wolff Olins’ established macrotrends called out with a hashtag.)
#Hyperloyalty
I. What it is:
Loyal3, launching in May, is a new startup that enables consumers to buy shares of companies (really $10 fractions of shares) directly on Facebook, an idea CEO Barry Schneider is calling “the ultimate ‘like’ button.”
Loyalty programs have already become a focal point for incenting consumer behavior, creating personalized perks, and gathering consumer data.
Loyal3’s move to put real stakes behind consumer engagement shows that loyalty is beginning to generate new revenue models. The #Hyperloyalty trend is about precisely this kind of consumer-focused shift from marketing to value creation.
Future Patrol predicts that loyalty programs will become an expectation for every brand –even in industries that have conventionally gone without them – with elements such as crowdfunding, branded currencies and extra perks for good social media behavior as key features.
II. Some examples:
FROM REWARDS TO MICROECONOMY
The line between jokes and innovation has become increasingly blurry. Virgin Holidays’ April Fools’ Day hoax, a branded currency with Richard Branson’s face on it, recalls a trend we discussed in Future Patrol’s #Funny Money post: loyalty and rewards programs are becoming alternative currencies unto themselves, with points that can be redeemed for nearly as many things as cash can.
“Most large companies – from Starbucks to British Airways to Sheraton to American Express – are evolving their reward and point loyalty systems into digital micro-economies, complete with redemption and exchange between systems.” (Cayman Financial Review)
EXTREME CONSUMERS
Frequent flyers are the day traders of this new economy.
“Mileage runners are the high-tech nomadic wanderers of the air. Predominantly male, generally obsessed with flying and miles, and typically employed in white-collar careers that involve significant business travel, they scour the web for cheap flights, phoning in sick or using vacation days to fly the longest itineraries they can string together.”
GAMING THE SYSTEM
Loyalty programs – and games – are both about incenting customer behavior, and both use feedback loops and points to that end. But a loyalty system need not actually be a game to feel like one.
“Assembling a mileage run means deciphering complex fare rules and pulling together information from up to a dozen websites. It’s an achievement that tickles the same satisfying problem-solving centers of the brain as a Sudoku puzzle, and always ends in the deep-rooted human thrills of travel and flight.” (Wired)(“Frequent Flyer” documentary on Vimeo)
THE EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPE
Freedom is the best perk.
“Designing programs with an overarching theme of “freedom” can instill incredible power into our initiatives.” …. “Not “freebies.” But “freedom.” The ability to do things, to make decisions, to enhance one’s life, in ways that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. The word is telling. Many elements contribute to freedom, and, yes, the freebie is one such element. Others include privilege, convenience, assistance, guidance, choice and ease.” (“Freedom: Perhaps the ultimate aspirational reward” Colloquy Blog)
COERCIVE CURRENCIES
However, “freedom” is not the first word that comes to mind when integrating social media into loyalty schemes. Giving consumers deals or discounts because they have desirable social media influence is a marketing trend, but also can create a coercive situation in which consumers must forfeit deals if they want to preserve their privacy
+ Gilt Groupe provides extra discounts for users with high Klout scores
+ Amex / Twitter: The new Twitter integration lets American Express cardholder receive special offers by tweeting with a special hashtag. Initial partners include Zappos, the Cheesecake Factory, McDonald’s, Best Buy, Virgin America, and Whole Foods. In order to redeem a deal, you send a tweet with a hashtag and the offer is loaded on to the account. The credit appears automatically when the card is swiped. (Venturebeat)
+ Exchange systems like Pay with a Tweet, or Chime.in that exchange goods for social media “love” and personal data from consumers
+ Reputation currencies like Whuffie Bank (where you get discounts and rewards based on your online social reputation)
III. What this means for brand:
+ Extreme consumers and mileage runners have invented their own rituals around current loyalty infrastructures. There’s an opportunity for brands to leverage the subcultures that spring up around the way they architect their companies. What seems like extreme niche behavior today will likely be mainstream tomorrow.
+ Don’t become so seamless and ubiquitous that you slip beneath the convenience threshold. Failure and friction are important elements in building brand loyalty – and put the “social” in social media. Help your customers “play, fail, replay, achieve, succeed and progress” (LS:N).
+ Brands that make customers feel free are powerful, but the feeling of getting away with something may be even more powerful.
Whoa! In Camberley, UK 2,012 schoolchildren have formed a human London 2012 Olympic logo covering 1800 square meters on a sports field - setting the new world record for the Largest Human Olympic Logo, according to the World Records Academy: www.worldrecordsacademy.org/.
Apparently last year, 1,900 people, mostly children, broke the world record for the largest human Olympic rings.
I recently read a fascinating interview with Phil Libin, the CEO of Evernote, a provider of note-taking and archiving technology, about how he’s sculpted his company’s unorthodox culture. Libin hasstructured Evernote’s two offices and employee benefits around the idea of facilitating achievement, and he holistically considers the factors that may further or inhibit that goal in and out of the office.
From providing his employees housecleaning twice monthly (to get his employees’ partners on Evernote’s side) to offering unlimited vacation (and $1000 if people actually take a week off), Libin ensures his type-A employees are refreshed and happy enough to do their best work. Libin has successfully created benefits that affect people outside of the office so they can do their best when they’re at work—and feel proud of, and loyal to, the company they’re building together.
Libin has also made choices about Evernote’s physical offices that demonstrate smart, on-brand thinking. He is constantly looking for unnecessary technologies to dispense with and recently got rid of employees’ desk phones. Most offices just have desk phones by default. By asking what purpose they served for Evernote’s business, given that they’re not a sales organization, and by considering existing redundancies (like paid employee cell phones) Libin realized the landlines were extraneous and detracted from the purpose of being at a desk—getting work done. This technological subtraction helped Libin’s ultimate goal of achievement by removing barriers to it.
Libin also took steps to ensure his employees, and his two offices, one in Mountain View and one in Austin, were well connected and equally valued. He created a flat hierarchy for employees by removing any obvious markers of status (aside from compensation), and having all employees sit together. He encourages people to stay connected and to communicate in-person where possible to avoid a confusing and infuriating email (ball and) chain culture.
Libin also tries to create parity between the offices by using a giant digital screen that functions as a “window,” showing each office to the other and enabling employees to see and talk to each other—not for meetings but for the creation of a broader one-firm culture. These decisions about how to structure the offices and working environment create connections that help people achieve, therefore ensuring that every element is purposeful and in service of Evernote’s goals and brand.
Libin’s holistic thinking about the factors in and outside the office that affect employees’ work demonstrates incredibly savvy managerial and brand thinking. He constantly re-evaluates old norms, asking what purpose they serve, and whether they obstruct rather than create the clearest path to getting work done. This critical re-evaluation, this re-connecting of the dots, is also what Evernote as a product, and as a brand, seeks to do—eliminate barriers to creative achievement.
Three months ago, I quit Facebook (and wrote about it on this blog). I had my sister change my password, so I couldn’t log into my account. It was a social experiment to understand the value that Facebook brings to the way people connect to each other.
After a two-and-a-half month hiatus, I am back on.
What inspired me to log in again was my birthday. Engagements, graduations, and birthdays are the only times when all 500+ of your friends simultaneously will write on your wall or send you a message. You get a highly concentrated level of positive feedback in a short period time.
Birthdays aside, surprisingly, I didn’t crave it or fear I was missing out on anything. There were a few friends abroad whose messages were left unread, but for the most part, my social life continued on as normal. For personal communication, I used email, text and chat; for broad communication, I used Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram. For the most part, my online social habits have stayed the same.
Facebook currently serves as a personal directory for my “weak ties.” I seldom post updates, comment or check the newsfeed; I use Facebook to add and accept friend requests, receive messages, and view wall posts. And I only have it on my mobile browser (I still don’t have my password), so I check it about once a day. Even though it does not serve as my primary social channel, Facebook is still a significant utility in my life.
While Facebook has enhanced the way people around the world connect to each other, there are clearly social gaps that it fails to fill. Facebook’s recent acquisition of startup darling Instagram signals its ambition to become a more mobile, photo-sharing space. Social communities, like Instagram, offer a much more intimate, curated look into people’s lives. While people do over-share and promote on Instagram, there is a level of consideration you rarely find on Facebook.
And some would go so far to say that the over promotional nature of Facebook can be detrimental to your mental health. A new study shows that spending too much time on Facebook can lead to depression, while others have suggested it can also lead to loneliness. Because Facebook gives the illusion that people lead perfect, happy lives, people can feel like they are not living up to their peers.
A recent piece on Read Write Web called “Now is the Time to Quit Facebook” discussed people’s growing desire for more meaningful, authentic forms of engagement. I agree with them, but I’m back on The Book for now.
Melissa Andrada is a brand and content strategist at Wolff Olins New York. She’s passionate about the intersection between technology, social good and brand. @themelissard
Someone, obviously a man, once said, “Behind every great man there’s a great woman.” Well, behind, besides and often in front of the guys who deliver great work to our clients there’s a team of people who create and deliver the experience of being at Wolff Olins for us and our clients.
These guys don’t just make sure the coffee machines are full, the bins are empty and the computers run smoothly, they also put on great shows by the canal, deliver the most amazing workshops and cook up the most delicious food everyday. Yesterday one of this team, Gilbert Mills celebrated 20 years at Wolff Olins, working in our excellent kitchen and generally making Wolff Olins London a great place to be.
At Wolff Olins, a Senior Account Manager provides crucial support to the client leads and project teams from pitch and proposal thought to final delivery.
This role is both an external and an internal one; balancing the needs and requirements of the client with the needs and requirements of the internal team (and any partner agencies/vendors) to help ensure that the quality of the work is high, projects are run efficiently, communications are clear and the process is both smooth and fun!
A good understanding of human behavior is crucial to the role, anticipating needs before they happen, having “spidey” senses about how a client culture operates, what individual agendas might be, how decisions get made. Great listening and communication skills are also incredibly important, as the smooth progress of any job is only possible when everyone is on the same page and shares the same ambitions and expectations.
Account managers work closely with people from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines – design, strategy, production, new business, finance, etc. You will need to understand how our business works, how we work with each other and with clients, and how to push the buttons of an array of different personalities. You are the client lead’s right hand, helping to motivate the team, being pulse lowering during times of high stress, averting potential disasters with a light but firm touch and being total masters of giving people the right information at just the right time.
This role requires you to be ambidextrous and super buttoned-up, keeping multiple small to medium sized projects tracking at once, managing timelines, budgets, scopes of work, handling all of the details from top-to-bottom. You keep the big picture front of mind, but also get down into the weeds - we are a small and very flat company, and there is no task too small to do ourselves.
Account folks with 6+ years of experience in a marketing service role, preferably at a brand or integrated communications agency are welcome to apply.
If you are interested, email your resume to us at peoplenewyork@wolffolins.com with “Sr Acct Mgr” as the subject, and tell us “why Wolff Olins” and “why you” in the email.
Wolff Olins is looking for a strong strategist to join its New York strategy team. This position requires a dynamic, self-motivated individual with experience in understanding different types of business models and challenges, analyzing large amounts of content to develop cut-through insights, and connecting these insights to clients’ business and brand opportunities. In addition, our senior strategists independently run medium-sized client engagements, with responsibility for overall content development and delivery as well as long term client growth. This individual often directs other strategists on a project, and works closely with strategy directors, design directors and designers, and the new business and marketing teams
Main responsibilities include identifying cut-through insights, building and supporting strong strategic recommendations and crafting compelling stories. You will contribute to thought leadership by writing blogs and white papers, cultivate client relationships and conduct client presentations. This role partners with the creative team to translate strategic insights into tangible and meaningful visual and verbal examples. It supports the new business process through competitive research and strategic point-of-view development.
Required skills:
Bachelor’s degree plus 5 - 10 years strategy experience in brand, advertising, digital or management consultant agencies
Proven critical thinking, content synthesis and research skills
Experience designing and analyzing quantitative and qualitative research
Exceptional communication, writing, analysis and organizational skills
Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
Proven ability to build consensus and work effectively within a cross-departmental team
If you are interested, email your resume to us at peoplenewyork@wolffolins.com with “Senior Strategist” as the subject, and tell us “why Wolff Olins” and “why you” in the email.
