RFID: A more efficient shopping experience...

I'm sure you have had one of those days when you are in a rush to get somewhere but you have to make a quick stop at the store to pick up a few things first. That always just happens to be the moment when the store is busy and you have to wait in line for 20 minutes just to get your two items. It's frustrating, that's all there is to it.


One day, this may no longer be a problem. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is allowing individual products to carry a small RFID tag like the one shown above which allows them to be identified and scanned much more quickly and efficiently. Here is a commercial created by IBM showing what this technology could do in the future.



As you can see, the guy in the video looks like a thief even though he isn't. The benefit here is that stealing would be much more difficult as you would get charged for whatever you walked out the door with. Obviously, it would take a fair amount of time to work out all of the kinks in a system like this. There would be no cashier to ring your items up so you would have to check the receipt closely to make sure you got charged the correct price for your items. However, perhaps the RFID could completely replace UPC codes so as items arrive at the store, the entire bundle could be scanned and given the correct price by means of radio frequency. This would help eliminate pricing errors.

Businesses would benefit by not having to pay cashiers :), but at the same time those cashiers would lose their job :( The RFID tags on merchandise can be used with advertising as well. Digital signs can be set up to communicate with RFID tags. An example would be a person picking up a pair of headphones at the store. They are walking around and pass by a digital sign. The RFID tag could trigger the sign to show an ad for those particular headphones. This will reinforce the purchase decision. I see RFID technology becoming more popular in many different industries as time goes on.

Ads that are just plain fun...

When creating an interactive ad, you must remember that the overall point is to get the user to remember your brand. This ad does a decent job of that by showing the character in the video using the product (Tipp-Ex pocket mouse) to erase part of the title of the "youtube" clip. It is very unexpected and grabs your attention. Check it out:



As you probably just found out, the remainder of the ad is clever and fun. If you run out of things to type in the blank, just read the comments left below the video. Also, you may notice that if you don't write anything, the guy in the video will keep coming up and telling you to write something. He didn't have to tell me, though. I was hooked!

Using an ad that is creative and interactive gives brands like Tipp-Ex a bit of an edge. Correction tape is not a product that most would look at as being fun or exciting. Ads like this one put some excitement into the product and allow that consumer walking down the office supplies isle to associate Tipp-Ex with an incredibly awesome ad. That may be all it takes to get the sale.

Soon an on/off switch may no longer be necessary...

Intel's Gesture Recognition Technology is really interesting. You can tell an electronic device what you want it to do simply by giving it a specific gesture or movement. Check it out:



It's almost like a clapper on steroids. The idea is brilliant. Here is another clip showing the technology in a bit more detail:



3D cameras are making this all possible. I can only imagine how this will affect advertisements in the future. With 3D cameras coming down in price and 3D TV's slowly becoming more popular, it is only a matter of time before advertisements start showing up in 3D. This will also open the door for new forms of interaction and creativity.

Facial recognition technology is also slowly emerging. If a TV could determine your mood by reading your facial expression, it could reccomend TV shows or show advertisements that best suit your mood. That is almost creepy, but it could happen one day.

If a person was able to interact with an advertisement by means of gestures and movements, possibly that interaction could increase brand recall. Also, perhaps the ad could be personalized to that specific person depending on how they interact with the ad. This is interesting stuff!

Apple sets the bar once again...

The technological world is a revolving door. Devices seem to begin going out of style the moment they are created. Newer and better things are constantly being developed. The latest Apple iPad 2 is a perfect example of this.



All of the things that made the original iPad great have been improved to create something spectacular. This new iPad is thinner, lighter, and faster than its first generation counterpart. Whether watching movies, surfing the web, or checking out new apps this new gadget is not likely to disappoint.

The iPad 2 bundles entertainment and convenience into a small package. The fact that Apple can increase the amount of things they put into the new iPad and still make it smaller is incredible. The interactive aspect of the iPad may be what makes it the most popular. There are so many things to do with it that it is tough to get bored. One can spend so much time just looking for fun new apps. The iPad can easily be used at the office as well. It may even cause your desktop computer to leave something to be desired.

We can only hope that Apple continues down this innovative path for years to come.

Shanghai Subway Goes Interactive

Technology is an ever-changing variable in our society. New ideas constantly emerge and are acted upon in order to make our lives easier and to make common tasks more efficient. Advertisers are aware that they need to keep up with the new technology in order to continue to reach their targeted consumer segments.

Here is a video about the use of interactive ads in a subway in Shanghai:



While creative copy and a well-targeted message used to be enough to create an effective ad, technology seems to be leading us in a different direction. Consumers are involved with technology more than ever before. Having the internet go down at home or accidently walking out of the house without your smartphone at your side are two things that just can't happen anymore. How can we communicate without our smartphone? With so many people involved in the interactive world, an ad that doesn't stick out just won't get noticed at all anymore.

By creating ads that require people to interact, companies are able to get to know consumers better. Many people love games and puzzles, so when an ad is put into that format many of us fall for it. This one-on-one interaction is a great way to get the customer to remember the brand. Of course, only if it is done right.

I have requested a Klout score, but it seems that I won't get it sent to me until tomorrow according to Klout. I have connected my Facebook and Twitter to Klout. I currently have 6 followers on Twitter but hope to increase that number now that I have started to Tweat more often.