360 - Jack Morton Worldwide's Experiential Marketing Blog

A Changing Experience

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:14:01 +0000

As I depart Beijing as the Olympics comes to a close I’m reflecting on the changes that I’ve seen over the last three years since we set up our first mainland China office here. The first thing other than the gradual westernization of the city is the sheer scale of new infrastructure Beijing is benefiting from. When we opened our office in the Chaoyang district my office window offered a panoramic of dusty building sites, cranes that had seen better days and a plethora of motorcycle cabs (see below) – by comparison I’m now greeted by a view of a Gucci shop the size of an entire western shopping centre/mall. A gleaming Ritz Carlton Hotel, and white gloved attendants opening doors and guiding drivers of black Rolls Royce Phantom’s. to parking spaces. My, how things change.

eMail - Too much of a good thing?

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:42:50 +0000

As I was going through a recent Sunday Boston Globe (the ink-stain and dead tree version), this piece jumped out at me – “Creativity can thrive if you can keep the e-mails in check.” As we all know too well, that’s a big ‘if’. The stats are startling – people receive an average of 156 e-mail messages a day (that’s over 55,000/year), they change tasks every three minutes and spend a full quarter of their day dealing with electronic interruptions…

Coupons: The Web's Killer App?

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:39:17 +0000

The typical image of a coupon clipper is someone w/a scruffy wallet overflowing with paper fragments of all shapes and sizes who somehow always winds up in front of you at the checkout stand. According to a recent study by Simmons Market Research Bureau and Coupons, Inc. that image is increasingly out of date. Today's coupon clippers (or, more appropriately, coupon clickers) are increasingly online - nearly 36 million of the 148 million Americans who use coupons find them online instead of in their local newspaper. And that demographic is increasingly attractive - more than half of online coupon users are 22 to 44 years old, and their household income is significantly higher than that of your tradtional coupon clipper. I have to admit to being a bit of a coupon clicker myself. Like the 81% of Web users who say they look for product information online before making a purchase, I search for information on the item I want (new running shoes, say), then find an online store that has the best price. Then, in another browser tab, I search for coupons for that online store hoping to score free shipping. The point here is that your best customers may have very different behaviors online than off and you need to understand not just their profile or demographic, but their online an offline behavior patterns as well. That's the only way you can successfully plan your communication touchpoints and engagement strategy. Plan your strategy around an outdated image of your customers and you could find yourself a little short at the checkout counter.

Journeys into an Online Experience

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:14:41 +0000

When you think of Luis Vuitton, perhaps you think of luxury fashion and exquisitely crafted goods with high price tags and tons of counterfeits all over the world. What doesn't come to mind is a brand that has created one of the more sublime online experiences out there. Through subtitled videos, moody audio and the impeccable photography of Annie Leibovitz, Journeys gives you a glimpse into the lives of various celebrities and their relationships with Louis Vuitton travel products.

Mobile - The Final Frontier

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:31:16 +0000

For many of us, the idea mobile marketing creates a cringe-enducing association with mobile spam. Images of random text messages waking you up in the middle of the night race through your head. You begin to shiver with thoughts of your cell phone rattling in the middle of a presentation letting you know about “Free Pix”. Well I’m here to tell you – It doesn’t have to be that way.

Utilizing advanced network capacities, refined measurement/tracking capabilities, and a solid strategy, marketers can safely enter the mobile universe with little fear of turning off their valued consumers. The key to connecting with your audience through mobile is to provide valuable and timely content on an opt-in/opt-out basis. If people are asking for you to communicate with them, you have a perfect opportunity to provide an engaging brand touchpoint.

Here are a few tips for entering the mobile space for your company:

Brilliant (Brand) Experience

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:23:01 +0000

How cool is this: Chanel is sponsoring a Mobile Art pavilion designed by the award-winning architect Zaha Hadid that will be landing in New York's Central Park in October (having already made stops in Hong Kong and Tokyo, with London and Paris to follow). According to the New York Times, more than a temporary art space (not to mention Hadid's first building in New York), "the pavilion is a provocative advertisement. Chanel, the fashion brand, commissioned Ms. Hadid to create the traveling structure to house works by about 15 hot contemporary artists. Each was asked to create a work that was at least in part inspired by Chanel’s classic 2.55 quilted-style chain handbag, so named because it was first issued in February 1955."

"Knol" -- be among the first to know what that means!

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:10:54 +0000

It's going to be the next little made up word to change our culture, you know, like blog and wiki. "Knol", as defined by Google, is a unit of knowledge (shouldn't it be "knowl"?) Google has entered the Wiki space, launching the beta of it's own user-contributed knowledge base. The key differentiator from Wikipedia is that entries identify the contributor -- and even pay them a percentage of ad revenue generated by their page. New model, more transparency, part of Google -- probably has a good chance of succeeding.

Intruder Alert!

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:00:00 +0000

Like my colleague Eddy Perez mentioned in a previous post, Apple’s new AppStore is the hot new thing. The iPhone’s future success relies on the AppStore's sale of third party applications. It’s also getting hot for another reason, and Apple had nothing to do with it.

Applications In Store

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:35:05 +0000

Unless you've been living under a rock or stuck in endless meetings for the last week, you've heard that Apple released the iPhone 3G. The new phone sports GPS capabilities, 3G network access, Exchange support, a slimmer design, and an updated operating system. But all these new features combined pale in comparison to the one thing on the iPhone that is most relevant to brands, marketers and agencies: the App Store.

Mobile (cellphone) marketing - it's more than just a phone

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:37:58 +0000

The buzz about new technology for mobile phones is everywhere these days; from the launch of the 3G iPhone to geeks everywhere using Twitter and all its latest spin offs for micro-blogging. It makes sense, because according to a recent survey by Cisco, "there are three times as many mobile-phone subscribers (3.3 billion) as Internet users (1.3 billion) worldwide." - and most people use their phone all the time. Many of our clients - like Subway - are now trying mobile marketing in the U.S. that is common in Europe and Asia;

High definition weather

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:43:53 +0000

For the first time since its launch in 1982, The Weather Channel set has been redesigned. Our Jack Morton/PDG and Jack Morton Exhibits teams designed and built an innovative 360-degree environment featuring HD projection technology and LED lighting, while utilizing low-emitting materials (adhesives, sealants, paints and carpets) to decrease their environmental footprint. Check it out on Weather Channel TV

A Dancing Gnome

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:30:38 +0000

A friend recently sent me a link to a funny clip you probably have already heard of, or even viewed: "Where The Hell Is Matt?” This four and a half minute video montage introduces Matt Harding, your average Joe, as he dances his way through 42 different countries, vigorously flailing his arms and kicking out his feet in what is now his signature jig. There isn’t too much more to say about the video – it’s simple and surprisingly endearing. I had read about the viral phenomenon a few weeks back, but at the time, didn’t think it was compelling enough to YouTube. A random guy who’s hit fame doing something wacky? Eh, I’ve heard enough of those Jared the Subway Guy-esque stories. But after my friend emailed me the direct link, I had no excuse not to click on it. So click I did.

This is my mom's house: How Google is changing the world!

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:12:14 +0000

Have you seen the "street view" feature in Google Maps? It's astounding, really. You enter an address just like normal on any mapping software, and then click on the Street View button and a picture of your destination -- or any step in your route from point A to point B -- appears. Not the angle you're looking for? Just click and drag the image to change your perspective or position on the map. My wife is not great at directions (I can say that because she doesn't read this blog). She relies on landmarks to find her way, so this feature has been great for her. You can click on any point on the route, then back up a hundred feet or so and see what landmark there might be. How do they do it? Popular Mechanics shared some info on it. Basically, they've got an 11 lens camera and they shoot lots of video as they drive through the streets. Hugely labor intensive, so they must only do big cities, right? Clearly, they'd start with the most populous areas, but they've managed to make their way to the small town in KY where my mother lives -- that's her house in the picture. We live in a marvelous time in history!

Growing Up Online

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:42:43 +0000

One of the most fascinating programs that my wife and I watched this year was an episode of PBS's Frontline called "Growing Up Online." We don't have kids yet, but it's in our future, and eventually our kids will be teenagers. I graduated from High School only 13 years ago, and the experience of being a teenager has completely changed. This new generation doesn’t know what life was like before the web.

Talk it out, write it down and sign it

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:38:36 +0000

As VP, Director of Production Procurement I am some times called upon to mediate "issues" that have developed between a production team and a supplier. My first responsibility is to carefully listen to both sides of an "issue" to truly understand it and then see if I can help lead both sides to a meaningful and equitable solution. All too often I find myself trying to mediate a situation that has formed through poor communications. Emails have been fired back and forth and quick phone conversations have been had and yet nothing has been placed in formal writing and signed by both parties. I'm sure you can see that whatever the "issue" might be it is based in an honest miss-understanding between parties. The fact that there hasn't been anything placed in formal writing which shows the resulting "understanding" means there can't be an "oh, that's what you meant?" moment!