Tag: Measurable Intimacy

Hands-Free Tinder Lets Your Heart (Rate) Do The Swiping

Posted on by Lab Team

At the beginning of this year, we explored in our 2015 Outlook the concept of “Measurable Intimacy” – the idea that mobile devices, powered by the myriad of sensors embedded within, are making user engagement and their emotional responses increasingly measurable. Now, a new Apple Watch app for Tinder taps into the heart rate sensor on the Watch to create a new user experience of the popular mobile dating app.

Developed by U.S. innovation agency T3, the Hands-Free Tinder app monitors Tinder users’ heart rate while they look through pictures of potential matches. Using a baseline measurement, it will swipe right if the pulse goes up by at least 10% and swipe left if there’s minimal change after about 6 seconds of measuring. An ingenious usage of the sensors on wearables, this app finds a fun, innovative way to incorporate biometric data into real-time user experience, truly unleashing the potential of Measureable Intimacy.

 

Source: Hands-Free Tinder by T3; Header image screen captured from source video.

 

Event Recap: Ad Age Digital Conference 2015, Day One

Posted on by Lab Team

Top industry reporters and some of the biggest brand, technology, and media leaders—including the IPG Media Lab!— gathered for the annual Ad Age Digital Conference to discuss what the “post-digital” world means for advertisers. Some of the key takeaways from Day One included:

Time As The New Metric
According to an AdAge survey, over 80% of the industry is concerned about viewability, which was addressed head-on during the very first two panels. Rather than worry about pixel counting or frequency of exposure, time spent in front of an ad is emerging as the crucial metric. While CPMs have an unlimited inventory, there are only so many hours in a day, which limits inventory. This allows prices to rise, which is particularly exciting to quality-based publishers who have higher levels of engagement. As Lisa Valentino from Conde Nast pointed out, “The more value you can show, the more it should impact your pricing.”

Leverage Fan Engagement Into Story-Making
Authentic marketing requires a “relentless customer-centricity”, as Tressie Lieberman from Taco Bell called it. Tapping into the creativity of their fanbases, leading brands are shifting away from traditional storytelling models to a “story-making” approach, where they actively co-create engaging brand communications.

Brands Sneaking Into The Private Messaging Space
As Ben Huh, CEO of The Cheezburger Network, noted, brands have mostly been locked out of most chat apps—an ecosystem that today’s Millennials spent most of their time in. But with more and more messaging apps expanding into media platforms, brands now have a chance to enter that coveted space without being intrusive, as long as they adopt a “friend and explorer” mentality. In order to do so, Tami Bhaumik from Lyve recommended brands to serve content at the right time by taking the customer’s stage in the sales funnel into consideration.

4 P’s, 4 C’s
Customers have more choices than ever in terms of brands, content, and access: it’s estimated that by 2020, people will use 10 connected devices. As a result, the traditional 4 P’s of marketing—product, price, place, and promotion—have been replaced with a modified framework, the 4 C’s: choice, convenience, cross-device, and creative sequencing. 

Check back tomorrow for continuing coverage from the Ad Age Digital Conference.

 

SXSW 2015: Highlights From The Keynotes

Posted on by Richard Yao

Every SXSW Interactive features notable speakers on provocative topics, this year spanning everything from ride sharing to “mind clones.” We’ve identified three important themes for marketers:

  1. Empathetic design takes center stage
    Paola Antonelli, senior curator for MoMA, kicked off her keynote on the future of design with a shout-out to the rise of empathetic design. A user-centered design approach that focuses on the user’s feelings toward a product, empathy-driven design can provoke emotion, influence user behavior, and create strong connection. Paired with the right metrics, it can generate measurable intimacy that brands can benefit from.
  2. Ride sharing on the rise
    Logan Green, co-founder and CEO of Lyft, was reluctant to talk much about his major competitor Uber, but he did have a lot to share about his vision for the future of driving. He believes that the spreading practice of ride sharing has enabled more affordable, reliable and memorable transportation while boosting the local economy, and that on-demand car services like Lyft will make car ownership “unnecessary” in the future.
  3. Mobile reigns supreme
    Directly or indirectly, all five presenters this year touched on the impact of the ubiquitous connectivity aided by mobile devices. For instance, the first thing highlighted by Astro Teller, head of Google[x], was the recent success of its Loon project, in which Google has tested high-altitude balloons to provide Internet access to rural and remote areas. The paramount challenge for brands in this “mobile age” will be how to gracefully capitalize on the connection established by smartphones and wearable devices.

SXSW 2015: The Consumer Experience 2.0

Posted on by Lab Team

SXSWi 2015 is underway, and the Lab kicked off the conference with panels from sports owners and marketing directors. So far, we’ve noticed the conversation focusing on the consumer experience.  Sports teams and retailers both rely on truly intimate experiences to define both brands and bottom lines. Watching sports on television and buying shoes online are great, but physical presence can truly elevate the experience.

For instance, Major League Soccer is positioning itself as the premier sport for tech-savvy millennials, yet its live attendance far outstrips broadcast audience. Think about that: while NBA and NFL are looking into virtual reality to bring couches into the game, American soccer is pumping up the fans in the stands. Teams are dedicated to tech — not, says Seattle Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer, “just for the sake of investing in tech,” but because the future of the stadium is the future of their businesses. Sporting Kansas City is tech-positive, starting an entire business called Sporting Innovations, which is devoted to connected sports. The team has invested in WiFi throughout the stadium (built in 2011 as a tech-friendly sports venue), has created a real-time mobile engagement platform, and encourages social interaction during the game. And with WiFi comes data. “There’s about a terabyte of info across wifi over 90 minutes,” explained Heineman.”

Meanwhile, retailer Alex and Ani is pursuing its connected strategy with an emphasis on experience. The jewelry brand’s in-store sales volume is massive, but each store has a relatively small footprint, meaning “[their] biggest problem is lines,” noted VP of Digital Ryan Bonafacino. Helping the consumer interact outside of human associates is an ideal way to streamline the in-store experience.

But in-store innovation extends beyond just the consumer: Lowe’s distributes an app for its associates that, in the words of Digital Experience and Omnichannel head Sean Bartlett, “has the same requirements and rigor as the consumer-facing app.” Real-time inventory, ecommerce and consumer engagement are integral parts of the sales environment, and are helping to create a more intimate experience between consumers and their purchases.