#imm714

With the 2015 Ikea catalogue app customers will be able to see how different sofas, chairs and beds would look like in their rooms simply by using their phone camera.

What is the technology behind it? It's called AR or Augmented Reality codes. AR codes allow for digital sensory data to be layered onto real life through the use of apps on smartphones. Basically AR codes are meant to enhance the perception of reality, whether with visuals, audio, 3D images or other graphics.

The first AR codes were introduced in military and medical training: in combat, AR served as a communication system that renders useful battlefield data onto a soldier's goggles in real time.

There are big opportunities for AR codes in commerce because the technology allows consumers to interact with creative advertisements and helps them to visualize the product.

The luxury fashion retailer Karl Lagerfeld created AR storefronts in Paris, New York, London, Munich and Sydney to promote his new collection.

After downloading the Net-A-Porter Karl app, customers who turned up at stores could activate an Augmented Reality shopping experience by pointing the camera at the various pieces in the window, revealing 360 degree product models, video catwalk showcases, product information and pricing.

  Google used Augmented Reality technology in its Google Glass (wearable computer with a head-mounted display).

Google Glass took a step further the idea that the Internet and computers will be accessible anywhere at any time without having to use hands. Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like hands-free format. It can interact with the Internet via natural language voice commands, and uses Google’s Android operating system.

Another AR product of Google is called "Google Sky Map app". The next time you're lying under a clear sky on a starry night and happen to spot a constellation, there is no need to wreck your brain to identify it. All you need to do is download the augmented reality app and point the camera of your smartphone towards the sky. The Google Sky Map will help you to identify the constellation and know everything about it.

The world’s consumers today are faced with more new technologies than ever before, and at a much more rapid pace. Increasingly, users are expecting their mobile screens to serve as more than simply smaller versions of their home desktop computer- through responsive and adaptive design, mobile sites can take on their own unique form that suits the needs of the screen size and people on the go. 

An article from The Guardian calls these people the “always-on consumers” who prefer knowing they can access the internet “anytime and anywhere." This is an important trend because it shows how web access on demand is becoming increasingly entwined with our daily lives, and therefore “the norm.” As I briefly touched upon before, this in turn also effects how mobile technology is designed. User experience practices have started to focus on simpler, cleaner designs for both mobile and desktop. 

As we see a rise in mobile use, we are also dealing with an emergence of larger screened mobile phones, or “phablets,” such as the iPhone 6 Plus. As a side note, when I first read the term “phablet” in an article, I assumed it was a word that author made up as a joke- hybrid words like this are few and far between nowadays, whether it be a spork or a cronut. Alas, it actually seems to be the proper term for these things and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Anyway, “Phablets”, or gadgets that identify as somewhere between a smartphone and a tablet, have been increasing in popularity in North America over the past year, following their popularity in East Asia. This trend has caused a bit of confusion for skeptics, especially after over a decade of what seemed like global demand for smaller and smaller phones. Why do so many consumers suddenly have the desire to size up? The larger screen undoubtedly appeals to gamers, but maybe the main reason some people like it is simply because it offers the best of both worlds- the pristine, well-sized display of a tablet that can also fit into a jacket pocket.

To be honest, I kind of want a phablet even though it has a stupid name. I like the idea of a larger screen, and it has nothing to do with vision problems. If I’m like my parents, I still have until my early thirties before I’ll need glasses. Not only am I using my smartphone to access the web, I’m also using it as my main camera, which I think is true for many. And with increased use of my web access away from the computer, I like looking into a larger screen.

One of the most interesting trends of the digital age, to my mind, is the emergence of communities of creator-consumers. They grow up around ever-more intuitive and easy-to-use media platforms, and they collectively create new aesthetic languages. I encountered an example earlier in the semester, when we were asked to come up with an idea for a viral video and pitch it to the class. One group of classmates pitched an idea that made me laugh out loud several times at its sheer bizarreness. Now, I personally have a taste for bizarreness, but this video idea seemed very strange. And...it was supposed to be six seconds long. Six seconds. Why? Then they explained about Vine. I still didn't quite get it. Ok, I understood what a GIFF was - I had seen those short little looping videos on the web, almost more animated photo than anything else it seemed. Vine was something I had only vaguely heard of though, and I was still confused about what this video would be, and who would watch it. Once I watched a few of these little looping videos, however, the wacky, off-the-wall concept my classmates had pitched began to make more sense. Vine is a tool for creating six-second stop motion videos using the camera on your phone, and then sharing them to a Twitter-like feed. It is incredibly easy to use. And it has its own distinctive aesthetics. As Mat Honan observed, one secret to the platform's enduring success is the evolution of a unique creator-consumer culture, shaped by the built-in limits of the app and its social platform.

Interactive media is the integration of digital media like graphics, animated images, electronic text and sound into a structured digital environment that allows people to interact with the data for appropriate purpose. In this ever changing world, the trends in interactive media keeps improvising as per the needs of technology. People all over the globe now has access to the internet which makes it challenging and also gives opportunities to create an exciting array of content for consumers. Having a very clear understanding of the upcoming trends and defining the content goals within an organisation is very important.

One of the major trend in content strategy is the competition to gain consumers attention. Each day there are around 92,000 new articles posted on the internet. It's not just from publishers; Word Press users produce about 35.8 million new posts each month. While developing content strategy it is important to realize the type of business it is created for and the target audience of that particular business. It is also important to understand what kind of product a business sells and the marketability of the product. For instance, is the product a think product or a feel product. Think products is where the consumer takes a personal effort to think or consider before buying the product whereas a feel product is where the customer takes an impulsive decision because of what they feel at the moment.

The rapid growth of digital innovation and the various platforms to work with makes it even more exciting and challenging. As the mediums to work on increases companies experiment with content in each of these mediums to reach their target audience. For instance PopTopia is a mobile game which has a mobile attachment called Pop Dangle which emits the smell of popcorn as u play, Sephora's mobile app has content that speaks to their core customer base and is in line with their other online and social media content.

There are several content marketing tactics that are used nowadays. It is said that 92% of business marketers use social media as one of their largest means of content strategy. Below is a graph of 13 content marketing tactics that a B2B marketer use :

 Going by the saying "Fishing where the fish are", business marketers target their existing and potential users on social media. A survey in the last year shows that LinkedIn is the top rated social media site that business organizations use.

Social media makes it easier to push content and access it faster than ever. Social media allows you to leverage existing networks to increase the reach of your content and it provides a testing ground for broad marketing campaigns. Social media platforms also allows you to share the content at optimal times, test and see what resonates your audience, gather insights from your audience. However creating and maintaining the quality of content becomes critical. As content marketing through social media platform increases the media buyers will have to allocate more funds towards content promotion. Companies have also come up with in-house social media experts who are entrusted to advise on the social media planning and execution. Image based content is believed to have a higher engagement on social media. On Facebook images receive 50% more interaction than text based posts. With technological developments, cheaper solutions and the increasing popularity of mobile and other wireless connections, social media is on the finger tips of every single person. This makes it a quicker and easier way to use social media as one of the major content strategy to market their brands.

I remember my first encounter with eileenfisher.com.  I had insomnia and it was at some ridiculous time in the morning that I got out of bed and walked into my home office. I googled their website because I saw their clothing at The Bay.  Once I got there I fell in love with their designs.   Because I’m always interested in seeing what people do with videos on line I was fascinated with what they did.  Eileen Fisher had real people, their employees, lined up facing the camera. Off camera a pair of hands appear with an article of clothing that’s tried on by the first employee who then takes it off and passes it to the next person in line.   She then tries on the same item of clothing but wears or styles it differently and so on and so on.  It was an ingenious way of showing different garments on different body types worn differently.  

Today eileenfisher.com has really grown up.  When you go on their website, the first thing that pops up is a screen informing you that they now ship to Canada.  Also that the prices on their website are in Canadian dollars and that there are low international ship rates.  If you’re in Vancouver, you can check out their store in the very fashionable south Granville neighbourhood.  They also list locations across Canada where you can find their clothing.  Eileen Fisher’s employees are still featured in their videos but from a behind the scenes and design perspective.  Their current collection is displayed as photographs but when you roll over the image a model appears in the featured clothing.  You can get your runway fix by literally watching a runway show or check out their Lookbook of stills that zoom in and out dissolving from one outfit to the next.  Eileenfisher.com also has videos and text about sustainable and organic fibres, and what they describe as “broader efforts to protect the environment, empower women and girls and preserve traditional crafts and cultures”.  Despite their very customer centric website, they want you to know that they are good corporate citizens.  I also think they want to say don’t cringe when you see the price tag for their exquisite designs.

One of my favorite websites is nike.com.  This site is nike’s online store.

Nike’ s site is a great customer-centric example. Upon entering the site, you find an engaging picture and clear navigation. The navigation uses icons with text to make it easier to figure out where to go.  You have several options to search the item you are looking for: by gender, by sport, or by type (shoes, tops, pants and etc). Easy navigation, clear structure and great colours make one’s experience on the website pleasant.

My favorite feature of the website is that you can “customize” your product. You can choose your favorite colors, select the weigh of shoe that feels best, and even add a personal message. Furthermore, it’s very easy to order, and before checking out you know how long delivery will take. Additionally, you can share your design with your friends via social networks.

There is only one disadvantage I found, that delivery to Canada will take approximately 30 days (“Customize” option is a great gift idea, but often gifts can be last minute buy, so that is where Nike will lose its customers).

For comparison let’s have a look at an organization-centric website of Sunlife insurance. As an example, my goal would be to find out about life insurance plans and make a decision which one will be better for me.

There are several live insurance plans I can choose, first I go to the section of “Term life insurance”.

http://www.sunlife.ca/Canada/sunlifeCA/Life/Term+life+insurance?vgnLocale=en_CA

 Let’s take a closer look at the content:

  “What is term life insurance? - Term life insurance provides temporary protection for temporary needs. It also has some flexibility, so you can adjust your insurance as your needs change.

 Term life insurance is a popular choice for:

individuals focused on affordability and flexibility

business owners with complex needs like key person protection"

Information above didn’t give me any clear answers, on opposite side it created more questions.

Let’s continue to search the content on the page.  Next follows the long table which gives five term life insurance options:

 SunSpectrum Basic Life

SunSpectrum Basic Life

SunspectrumTerm

Sunspectrum Joint Term

SunTerm

FutureInsure Term Life Express

A first criterion in the table is “Guaranteed premiums”.  Will look at this criterion among five plans.

 SunSpectrum Basic Life: Your premiums are guaranteed for 25 years or to age 65, whichever comes first.

SunspectrumTerm: Your premiums automatically renew (at guaranteed rates) at the end of your term.

 Sunspectrum Joint Term: Your premiums automatically renew (at guaranteed rates) at the end of your term.

 SunTerm: Your premiums automatically renew (at guaranteed rates) at the end of your term.

 FutureInsure Term Life Express: Your premiums may change annually but only on the policy anniversary. If the premium does change, we'll give you 30 days written notice before the change is made.

There are other criteria I’m suggested to look at and other plans (“Permanent life insurance” and “Universal life insurance”) that I suggested to compare with, but at this point I don’t want to read the website anymore. I know that I won’t be able to make a decision based on the website content and I would need to call to Sunlife or book an appointment with an agent.

Gerry McGovern’s October 2010 article on customer-centricity vs organization-centricity finally explained to me the Internet’s seemingly relentless need for me to classify myself. It would an annoying but relatively inconsequential hoop I often had to jump through in order to reach the actual website: am I a home or business customer? I really hadn’t clued in to the extent companies, for reasons of their own internal organizational structures, want to know where I fit. 

In a way it makes sense. Companies are aware that they have multiple types of customer, each with potentially different needs. They craft their services, their products, and their marketing efforts with this in mind. They may have units within the organization that are specifically responsible for one type of customer or another - I liked McGovern’s example of different divisions arguing over how to share revenue when a customer clicked on “laptops,” because it reminds me what’s at stake when it comes to company employees and organizational silos. Organizations look for ways to operate more efficiently, to segregate responsibilities in a large collective. But the customer just wants to buy a laptop. And as McGovern points out, they may start to wonder why their customer category matters to the company if the same products or services are available to all. Or accessing services may become difficult for customers who fail to fit neatly into the purview of a single organizational unit.

On the PC Financial website, for example, the credit card division appears to be operating on a different planet than the rest of the banking services. Actually, as someone looking to sign up for a new banking service, the website is pretty good. The typical banking products each head their own drop-down menus on pcfinancial.ca’s home page, and everything seems relatively integrated - I can explore credit card options, and then switch easily to mortgages if I want to research multiple kinds of products. Not so for existing customers looking to perform online banking tasks however. In order to log on, I first need to decide whether I want to do something related to online banking, credit cards, or PC points (a reward system tied to the various President’s Choice grocery stores). And I must sign into each one separately in order to perform all my online tasks. Need to pay my credit card bill from my bank account? I open two browser windows, sign into my PC bank account in one, and my PC credit card account in the other. It’s the only way I can see my balance AND pay it off at the same time. Managing my reward points requires yet another login. There is no way whatsoever to move between these worlds - Credit Card Land even has a different look and feel than the other two, as though arising from a completely separate and unrelated web project. Oh PC Financial, if you weren’t the only bank that doesn’t charge me monthly banking fees…

Let’s log in to my Royal Bank account to compare. I sign in once, and there are the balances for ALL my accounts - credit cards, bank accounts, everything. Right there at the top of the main page is a box for “Quick Payments and Transfers,” with drop-down menus allowing me to move money around easily between all my accounts. All the services - which I use in conjunction anyways - are integrated in a single interface. 

Does customer-centric content work properly? Doesn’t organization-centric content give customers what they really need? Let’s make it clear.

To find one example of customer-centric content and one example of organization-centric content on the web I decided to figure it out due to more or less real and actual task. Initially I chose a product which I as a customer would like to buy online. New headphones play a role of a touchstone.

Obviously, in accordance with searching request ‘headphones buy toronto’ I got numerous results. My purpose was selection of two well-known local retailers from the Google’s Top 10. There were Best Buy (http://www.bestbuy.ca) and The Source (http://www.thesource.ca). From the very first look at the both online stores it became absolutely clear which one of them has customer-centric content and which one is a strong advocate of organization-centric content. I’ll try to provide detailed comparison below.