Spanish smart bed makes itself in less than a minute

thumbnailby Sairica Rose

WHAT’S HAPPENING

  • Making one’s bed could be a thing of the past for tired, busy or just plain lazy consumers who invest in an Ohea smart bed (Ohea.eu, March 2012).
  • The Spanish-made bed is equipped with a device that automatically straightens the bedding in a mere 50 seconds once it has been vacated.
  • Duvet, pillowcase and pillow are straightened mechanically, while the bottom sheet is kept straight through its Velcro attachment to the mattress cover.
  • A switch on the bed-frame offers two settings. “Manual” is activated when the occupant deems fit, while “Automatic” mobilises the bed-making process three seconds after he or she gets up.
  • The manufacturers insist that for safety reasons the device does not function if accidentally (or deliberately) pushed while a person is still in bed. Smart beds and their associated bedding come in five sizes, available for purchase from June 2012.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

  • Gadget and control-loving consumers often get a kick out of devices that do the hard work for them, especially if they wield a novelty factor.
  • Making the bed, or leaving it unmade, can drive some consumers to distraction. Automatically solving the roll-and-fold dilemma can activate peace of mind or even more peaceful sleep.

RESOURCES

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At Zoora, every apparel item is open to change

by Nissa Hanna

WHAT’S HAPPENING

  • It happens: Every day, style-bleeding hearts are broken by items that are “almost perfect,” their appeal foiled by personal aversions like a too-short hemline or the wrong neckline.
  • Public beta e-marketplace Zoora fights apparel heartbreak by letting customers personalize select elements of each item’s aesthetic details. It features women’s tops, bottoms, dresses and outerwear by fourteen indie designers that vary in style and price point.
  • Shoppers can purchase a piece as-is or hit the “customize” button to change one or more details like the sleeve or hem length, material, color or neckline style (for a reasonable fee) and opt for a made-to-measure fit. The estimated production time is included with each description.
  • Designer bios accompany their items’ pages so customers can get to know the names and stories behind the looks.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

  • A bespoke service for the masses isn’t a viable option for many labels, but brands need to recognize that consumers’ fashion IQ is improving, creating a more discerning clientele that understands what works and what doesn’t on the individual level.
  • Retailers that want to help their customers create the desired look and fit can start by exploring options for offering convenient or complimentary access to a tailoring service.

RESOURCES

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Hangover Heaven rides to the rescue of Sin City revelers

thumbnailby Sheri Linden

WHAT’S HAPPENING

  • When it comes to the morning after, sometimes hard partying demands hard science. A Las Vegas anesthesiologist claims that IV treatments like those given to patients post-surgery can benefit people who overindulge, and he’s bringing the Rx directly to the suffering.
  • Dr. Jason Burke’s Hangover Heaven is a mobile service designed to cure even the most monumental hangover in 45 minutes or less. On the company’s Strip-roving, designed-for-comfort bus or in the client’s hotel room, medical professionals administer intravenous hydration solutions packed with vitamins, amino acids and prescription medications.
  • The FDA-approved therapies reduce recovery time by accelerating the purging of aldehydes, the toxic compounds that cause headache and nausea.
  • Treatments start at $150. For those who can’t make it to the bus or just want to spring for a house call, in-room therapy is available three days a week for $500.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

  • What happens in Vegas: Video testimonials on the HH site speak of speedy recovery from nights of prodigious alcohol consumption. The company’s judgment-free attitude toward overindulgence might not sit well with everyone, but it’s in keeping with the vice-friendly profile that draws tourists to the city.
  • Party-hearty types value the convenience of easy access to serious remedies, and the confidence that painful downtime won’t ruin their getaway.
  • In nightlife meccas, mobile and pop-up opportunities abound for detox drink and food brands.

RESOURCES

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A NEW WAY TO WOO CHINESE CONSUMERS

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by Becky Sun

It used to be that Chinese mainlanders were too poor to travel. But as personal incomes rose, they started venturing farther and farther from home. In the past few years, the world’s top tourist and shopping destinations have been wooing them with Chinese signage, interpreters, and even slippers and rice porridge at top hotels.

That’s so last year. To attract young-adult leisure travelers and their disposable cash, the savvy marketers at Tourism Australia went right to where their target audience loves to spend time: online. But they did much more than create something ordinary, like a local-language website or cute commercials. Tourism Australia became a filmmaker, casting Taiwanese heartthrobs to star as strangers who are thrown together by circumstances and, yup, fall in love … all in front of Australia’s most scenic and iconic landmarks. Each 10-minute episode — there are five — of Heartbeat Again appears weekly exclusively on Yahoo Taiwan and Tudou, the Chinese equivalent of YouTube.

What this means to marketers
Tourism Australia is doing what Scarlett Johansson did for Japan in Lost in Translation, but with much more control over the message. It also did its homework and knew that young Chinese are strongly attached to longer-format serial “movie-mercials,” especially ones that have clever plots or tug on heartstrings. This is a positive shift for marketers wanting to break into China. Not only does it cost much less to air commercials online than to buy TV time, but it’s infinitely easier for on-the-go viewers to share the link with their friends and followers this way. Young people are watching TV less, but they still love dramas and sitcoms. Make advertising spend reflect this shift.


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Want to reach Latinos? Go mobile

thumbnailby Amber Davis

WHAT’S HAPPENING

  • According to a Nielsen study, heavy mobile use among Latinos shows no signs of letting up.
  • Latinos are at least 68% more likely than non-Latino whites to watch videos online and are one-fifth more likely than non-Latino whites to watch videos on a mobile phone (TechCrunch.com, 4 April 2012).
  • They also send and receive more SMS text messages each month than any other ethnic group and make 40% more calls per day than the typical US consumer.
  • Relying on mobile may be more about access than lifestyle choices. Over 76% of all US households have Internet access at home. Though their broadband access is up 14% since this time last year, that number is only 62% for Latinos.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

  • The desire to stay connected to friends and family anywhere and everywhere certainly goes a long way toward explaining why Latinos are out-texting and out-calling the average mobile user in the US. The tendency to turn to social and familial networks first for everything from health concerns to purchase advice means reaching out more often.
  • As tech evolves to make it easier and faster to download data and stream videos on-the-go, Latino-driven apps and sharing platforms are likely to pop up to meet Latinos’ unique behavioral needs.

RESOURCES

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Barbie goes bald for a good cause

thumbnailby Abby Carlen

WHAT’S HAPPENING

  • After parent-inspired Facebook group “Beautiful and Bald Barbie! Let’s see if we can get it made” scored thousands of likes within hours, toymaker Mattel instantly responded by announcing the creation of a bald friend of Barbie (Good.is, 18 April 2012).
  • The doll will be exclusively distributed to children’s hospitals in 2013 and will come fully equipped with hats, scarves and other fashion accessories, giving young girls the traditional Barbie-playing experience.
  • Beckie Sypin, co-founder of the cause and mother of a 12-year-old daughter who lost her hair after chemotherapy, hopes that Barbie’s new friend will help children with cancer and others who have lost their hair cope with their conditions.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

  • A cause that plays up beauty and self-worth through a much-loved and familiar toy gives Gen We a playful way to cope with their own or a loved one’s illness.
  • Listening to and responding to a viral Facebook campaign goes a long way for brand loyalty.

RESOURCES

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UK: Folk in a Box is world’s smallest music venue

thumbnailby Sara Bivigou

WHAT’S HAPPENING

  • Folk in a Box is a music venue big enough only for a single musician to play to one audience member (Complex.com, 17 February 2012).
  • The bespoke wooden box is a small pitch-black cabin, creating a dark and intense space. It has a front door for the audience member and a small back door for the performer; inside, the musician and audience member are barely visible to each other.
  • Designed by David Knight and Cristina Monteiro, the flat-pack box can be easily dismantled and reassembled, so concerts can take place in many different locations.
  • Folk in a Box has been around London, to the Tate Britain, the SouthBank Centre and Battersea Arts Centre, and there are plans for it to tour Britain from Land’s End to John O’ Groats.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

  • Folk in a Box transforms a common experience into a compelling one by personalising it intensely.
  • It follows an emerging trend, which is to make the consumption of music a more tailored endeavour, moving in the opposite direction from the mass-produced, easily accessible approach of the music industry at large.

RESOURCES

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ACCELERATING INNOVATION AT FINOVATE 2012

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by Hans Eisenbeis

Money. It’s a pretty mature market, right? It’s been around since, like, the invention of agriculture and accounting. But as with other mature industries, from food to automobiles, marketers’ approach to the financial services world is poised for change. Big change. This week, we’re at Finovate 2012 in San Francisco, and one of the core questions innovators here are asking themselves is: How often do we need to refresh the screen to stay on top of consumers’ changing motivations? Do we need a “Finovate” every fiscal quarter? Every month? In every industrialized country?

While the banking industry is often thought to be a sleepy, conservative one, we can assure you that screens are getting refreshed at an alarmingly accelerated pace here, as leading-edge companies move fast to recognize and meet evolving consumer demand for things like P2P mobile payments, creative retirement enticements and beyond. (If you want more as-they-happen nuggets about the conference, follow us @iconoculture. You can also check out our coverage of last year’s financial-services innovation conference.

We know that change is the only constant, and thanks to new technologies and unprecedented social networks, time and space are being compressed for every business. This is releasing tremendous amounts of energy, both creative and destructive — and not just in sleepy old industries like banking and insurance. (To dive deeper into the implications of these networks, check out The Wheelhouse Effect.) The moral of this story is simple: As a marketing professional, you think you know how fast your industry is moving, but you probably want to move just a little faster to make sure that change is your friend and not your brand-eroding enemy.

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MEAT podcast, Episode 10: News and the evolution of the Power of Suggestion Trend

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by Andrew Hawn, Mike Garrison, Katie Elfering and Robert van Alstyne

Media, Entertainment and Technology Strategists discusthe news of the week — Facebook’s purchase of Instagram and Tupac at Coachella — and the evolution of Iconoculture’s the Power of Suggestion Trend.  For more information and to listen, click here.

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India to soon get medical test that predicts a person’s lifespan

thumbnailby Aditi Krishnan

WHAT’S HAPPENING

  • Chromosome testing can be used to accurately predict a person’s biological lifespan vis-à-vis chronological age, it has been found. This revolutionary test, which measures the length of telomeres (caps at the end of chromosomes), will be available in India in 2012.
  • “Now, more Indians believe in healthy living. Many would want to know how healthy their cells are and how long they may live. Telomeres are essential in preserving the regenerative capacity of different tissues and organs, and significantly contribute to ageing when they become short,” said Dr Jerry Shay, developer of the test and winner of the Nobel Prize for medicine in 2009 (TimesOfIndia.com, 17 February 2012).
  • The procedure, as simple as getting a regular blood test, will cost a hefty $500. Telomere length has been associated inversely with risk of diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

  • Health-conscious consumers are increasingly knowledgeable about preventive healthcare and do not hesitate to spend time and money on latest technology to improve their lives. As Indians grow increasingly affluent, services and products are jostling to vie for their custom.
  • Revolutionary medical tests gauging telomere health will assist consumers in incorporating necessary lifestyle changes, such as altering smoking and drinking habits or changing exercise regimen, in order to live longer and healthier lives.

RESOURCES

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Bread & Boxers puts underwear in baguette bags

thumbnailby Kate Connolly

WHAT’S HAPPENING

  • Bread & Boxers AB, of Sweden, sells underwear that’s fun to wear and fun to buy. The company’s packaging is a paper bag similar to those used to package baguettes.
  • The white paper bags have a transparent, lengthwise window to display the product. After the underwear is packed in the bag, the top of the bag is folded over and sealed with a sticker bearing product info. The package is designed entirely in black and white, and the Bread & Boxers logotype is printed on the bottom of the bag’s front panel.
  • According to the company’s website, the founders believe that the “daily morning routine … [of] getting underwear should be as simple as picking up the morning bread.”

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

  • The minimalist package design portrays Bread & Boxers as a better, more straightforward alternative to competitive brands of underwear. It doesn’t get much simpler than a paper bag. As a green bonus, the bag also minimizes packaging waste

RESOURCES

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“Just walk away… and walk right back.” Strategic modifers emerge?

thumbnailby Hans Eisenbeis

WHAT’S HAPPENING

  • They came to be called “strategic defaulters”:  US homeowners who could afford to make mortgage payments but chose not to because their homes were deeply underwater. They simply walked away from those homes, mailed the keys, and took the hit to their credit scores. Now analysts say there may be a new breed of strategic defaulters who stop making home payments not in the expectation of foreclosure, but with hopes of leveraging a principal reduction or refinance (Reuters.com, 12 April 2012).
  • Strategic modifications could become a trend  because foreclosure proceedings are expensive for banks. When a homeowner is unhappy with an overpriced mortgage, but doesn’t otherwise want to move, a reduction in principal is a better option than a short sale.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

  • Homeowners stuck in properties with mortgages that far exceed their market value are eager to explore their options. For most, foreclosure is the nuclear option, and any strategy that involves intentionally missing payments is risky.
  • Still, the extreme informs the mean. As we’ve reported in the past, there is a taboo against defaulting, but when this taboo breaks down, it tends to do so in a viral way. Neighbors see neighbors walking away from their homes, and this softens their attitude toward it.


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People Power: The latest macrotrend shifting the consumer landscape


by Josh Kimball

At Iconoculture, we track consumer culture, digging deep to understand people’s desires and motivations. We research the small shifts in people’s behavior in order to understand the big ones. And every once in a while, like right about now, we see a major tilt in the consumer landscape.

When our research observes clusters of consumer values beginning to shift the culture, and that shift has the potential to change the consumer and business environment for 10 to 15 years to come, we christen the movement a macrotrend. New macrotrends don’t come around often (we released one last year), but this one’s been brewing for a while, and it’s particularly important.

We call the new movement People Power, and though its roots go way back, a swell of unprecedented empowerment has popped up just in the past year. From politics to the online realm, examples of People Power have proliferated.

Empowered individuals, enabled by free-flowing data and Information Age tools, are coordinating efforts with one another and demanding to be heard — by corporations, governments and any other institutions in need of a citizen-fueled reality check. It’s a shift in the power balance between people and the institutions they bump up against day to day.

What this means to marketers
In the era of a more holistically empowered consumer, brands need to thoroughly refine their understanding of their own value proposition (especially as they try to negotiate volatile social-media waters) and serve their core customer (even when that means being tough with the taste-and-test customer on the fringes). “Transparency” is an overused buzzword, but the real thing wins consumers and potential customers to your side, both as buyers and as advocates and allies in an always-changing media world.

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Berlin pop-up restaurant: Diners pay in time, not money

thumbnailby Inga Seidler

WHAT’S HAPPENING

  • The German chapter of the Time/Bank artist collective recently opened Time/Food, a pop-up restaurant in Berlin (E-flux.com, 17 February 2012).
  • The restaurant serves lunch every other Sunday, in exchange for time currency, earned by helping others in the Time/Bank community. The price of a meal at Time/Food is half an hour of time.
  • To use the restaurant, “starving” artists and interested Berliners only have to open an account on the Time/Bank website and start earning time credits.
  • Time/Bank is an international community and a platform for cultural workers to get things done without using money.
  • The idea behind the platform is to develop a parallel economy based on exchange of time and skills. Time/Bank allows individuals to request, offer and pay for services in “Hour Notes”.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

  • Time banking is a creative way to deal with economic pressure. Everyone can chip in what they can, and they’re valued for their contributions.
  • Time banking, and especially the concept of Time/Food, not only has financial benefits but fosters a greater sense of community. Consumers are realising that building local relationships can benefit themselves and support the regional economy too.

RESOURCES

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Hungry in Dubai? Push a fridge magnet to instantly order a pizza

thumbnailby Samina Virani

WHAT’S HAPPENING

  • Dubai residents can now order their favorite pizza simply by pressing a special refrigerator magnet. This one-step gadget is a first in the fast food industry (DigitalTrends.com, 26 March 2012).
  • Created by the Dubai-based Red Tomato Pizza, the magnet button is synced to a user’s smartphone via Bluetooth. The Red Tomato customer has on file his or her favorite pizza choice, payment info and address.
  • When the “Push for Hunger” button is activated, the order is seamlessly placed and a confirmation SMS is sent to the user’s phone. And if you pushed in haste, there is the option to cancel the order by sending a reply text.
  • The VIP Fridge Magnet has been so popular that Red Tomato has run out of them. Unlike its wood-fired pizzas, the next batch of magnets will take 6-8 weeks to arrive.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

  • In a world where consumers would rather text than talk, and time spent chatting is time wasted, the pizza magnet speaks to the customer who wants speed, convenience and efficiency.
  • But is it too easy? We are already increasingly living in a cashless society where the price of everyday items are not top of mind. And when you add the instant gratification to the mix, satisfying our every want becomes dangerously easy.

RESOURCES

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