Marc-Oliver / Digital Brand Experiences

2011 Recall – Snap-Shots In Visual Interaction Design.

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:51:16 -0500

Some snap-shots of the visual design work I’ve done in the past 12 months. For quite a few of those products and digital services I also took care of the User Experience and IA Optimization, respectively the messaging architecture. A post with all UX and Digital Strategy work is coming up next. Stay tuned.

EA SPORTS Arena Web and Mobile Experience (Visual Design, Interaction Design, UX Optimization for Web, complete UX for Mobile)

EA SPORTS MADDEN NFL World, MADDEN Online Franchise Web and Mobile App, MADDEN Ultimate Team Web App (Visual Design, Interaction Design, UX Optimization for Web, complete UX for Mobile, Messaging and IA Improvements for all experiences/platforms, Content Creation)

EA SPORTS Tiger Woods Web-2-Game App (Visual Design, Interaction Design, UX Optimization for Web, complete UX for Mobile)

EA SPORTS Tiger Woods Marketing/Product Site (Visual Design, Interaction Design)

EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis 2 – Share A Pro (Visual Design, Interaction Design, UX Optimization for Web, Suggestions for Improvements on Mobile and Natural User Interfaces)

EA SPORTS Console User Centric Service Application (Creative Vision, Engagement Strategy for executive Level, Feature Set Creation and Definition, Proposed UX, Visual Design, Interaction Design – Jesus man, this one was a lot of work)

Some design never get to see the light, but nonetheless, for this one I did Creative Vision and Engagement Strategy for executive level, UX for all online channels, Visual Design, Interaction Design – final Execution, which looks a bit different now ;-)

Some random snap shots, created on a less creative day.

Dismantling The Classic Gaming Console Into A Branded Life Service.

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:08:00 -0500

I am currently exploring new engagement strategies on video consoles. Since there hasn’t been anything similar done yet, there is also no category out there: Not on SONY’s PS3, nor on Microsofts XBOX. So, for now, let’s just call it branded “console” service apps.

My job is to play with the hardware platform and input technology, and come up with new user-interface and application concepts for it (despite engagement strategies and feature sets). I design and prototype apps to demo these ideas mostly using Mindmeister, AXURE and Photoshop.

A few things I became known for – internally – is to include pervasively direct-manipulation interfaces on the video console (where the user does his thing by moving and gesturing with meaningful objects, instead of relying on verb buttons and other indirect controls (kinda hard with that bulky, old school controller).

Here are some early, rough, colored wire frames of a digital delivering service. More to come within the next weeks.

Boot Screen

Guided Tour:

Dashboard:

Messaging:

Hidden menu modules foster interaction with content elements instead:

Have you had too much fun in the sun? myTAN – a tanning advisor for the iPhone can tell you.

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 19:28:00 -0400

The strategy: In an effort to create awareness for Canada as an alternative holiday destination for the Australian sun worshipper, we developed a new mobile brand experience: With myTAN you were able to control your tan, track your overall sun exposure time, screen your tanning environment and do a skin exam on a regular basis. This long term benefit for myTAN users was linked to the functionality of exploring sunny beaches in Canada, the northern hemisphere, with less hazardous ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

Story behind it: Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. About two in three people who grow up here will develop some form of skin cancer before the age of 70. The major cause of skin cancer is over-exposure to UV radiation from the sun and other sources, such as solarium’s. People are well educated in terms of skin protection but still experience difficulties in evaluating their environment. The app does excactly that.

The execution: The core campaign message was: “Follow the GOOD sun.” We invited people through ads to do a basic skin exam on their computer with a web cam installed. The mobile service provided additional help to keep track of their tan and tanning environment and record any alarming changes of their skin. Through a credit system called UV-Credits, people could evaluate the time they were allowed to spend in the sun, at any given place. The app offered the opportunity to change that place. Users now discovered alternative places linked to a higher amount of UV-Credits, which granted more time in the sun.

A few screenshots:

The ADs:

The online campaign and the self assessment skin test.

The app in use:

myTAN© is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at Marc-Oliver.

Legal Disclaimer: This is a Concept – pictures were modified. Names could be changed to subject.

iQueue – Global Queuing Network.

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:11:00 -0400

In an effort to create awareness for the Yukon Territory as a unique holiday destination, we developed a digital marketing campaign and established a new, fascinating mobile service for travellers – the iQueue© – a global queuing network. It turned out, that we created a new social movement: iQueuing.

The core campaign message was: “Discover the Yukon – vacation without line-ups.” We invited tourists across 7 key international markets who were waiting in long line-ups to get swopped by iQueuers so that they had more time to explore nearby areas. We made that possible by establishing a new real-time mobile service called iQueue. Behind that service was a network of friendly people managed and organized through a website and mobile mesg. platform. The app got featured just recently on BBC

The work:

We placed street ads & signs at key tourist spots

Travellers access the iQueue network and request iQueuers to wait for them in the line-up

iQueuers swop with travellers

2 hours later - a personal message from the iQueuer (branded)

Additional screens:

Taking iQueue to the next level – a Social Experiment

For a duration of 6 weeks we provided the same service (non branded) with a significant change: We encouraged jobless people to use our service and sign up to become an official iQuerer. We now also asked people to pay for the service. 5 Euros/h went to registered iQueuers. The results: 89 people signed up for the service and recieved an average of 38 queue request (we provided phones and clothes). Most of the iQueuers walked away with ~400 Euros after 6 weeks and 76h of waiting in the lineup (average).

The iQueue© is a worldwide network of friendly people who help others spent less time in boring line-ups. The idea for this application iQueue is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. Based on a work from Marc-Oliver Gern. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from Marc-Oliver Gern.

Legal Disclaimer: This is a Concept – pictures were modified. Names could be changed to subject. The app and the campaign has no connections to the current iQueue app that is available in the Apple App Store. Thanks Apple for copying.

TaxiAPP – Be An Explorer Not A Backseat Passenger

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 21:53:00 -0400

Next year, the mayor of New York will announce the winner of the “Taxi of Tomorrow” competition. The winning vehicle will be the exclusive New York City taxicab for a minimum of 10 years, city officials said. Right now there are approximately 13,237 cabs on the streets of greater New York (ca. 50 Billion worldwide). Time to equip the passenger cockpit with a new and fascinating digital experience. Time to say the odd TaxiTV goodbye. Here are some sketches, respectively concept drafts:

The benefits for taxi drivers:

Provide a better experience for your guests (29% of all passengers are frustrated by the service offered from many taxi operators)
Turn your Taxi into a interactive tour bus, a shopping guide or an art curator
Be part of an intelligent location based Ad-System and offer additional advertising space for local businesses
Deliver smart services to your international and local passengers: Translation services, Online Booking, Digital Payment, Video Calling, Flight Check-Ins, Entertainment (News, Video, Games), etc.
It is inexpensive, easy to install, detachable and scalable.
It provides alternative navigational principles for people with disabilities.

The benefits for marketers:

Discover an intelligent system, that connects your customer with your product offers and services in real-time
Share the latest company news and events location based and time sensitive

The benefits for passengers:

Explore the city in a different, comfortable way
Socialize with the city and it’s community instantly
Use additional services to save time while you get from A to B

TaxiAPP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at Marc-Oliver.

Legal Disclaimer: This is a Concept – pictures were modified. Names could be changed to subject.

Da Vinci would have died for this app.

Fri, 28 May 2010 14:47:00 -0400

Just recently, I thought about a new app for the iPhone/iPad and within this post, I want to share a four step creative process (or call it scenario design), that I followed to develop the idea and make it presentable. This creative process usually takes place before the rapid prototyping - it’s more a methodology for communicating ideas effectively. Ok, so very briefly; this is how I usually sketch my first drafts. I write down the vision of an idea in one sentence (usually the main benefit) and give “the thing” a name.

1. Step - The Vision: “iXamine provides realistic tools to make all living things more transparent – it will help expose their inner beauty.”

The next step is to turn on the marketing speakers, but instead of pushing out cheesy headlines and claims from a marketer’s point of view, I change the perspective and think of the users and what they would say about the idea. Tip: Don’t limit yourself - think of any kind of users and all kinds of possible use cases/scenarios. That gives you a better picture of what people are looking for and what I should focus on. I call them…

2. Step - Quick Op’s (Opinions):

“DaVinci would have died for this app.”

“If we have had the iXamine, we could have saved millions of dissected frogs.”

”iXamine is the world’s most progressive and innovative digital step towards a haptic learning environment for upcoming doctors.”

“Who had ever thought that plastic surgery would actually be a fun thing?”

“If you ever wanted to cut your enemies into slices, than this is the app you were looking for.”

“What was once seen in Cameron’s Sci-Fi visions is now becoming the reality and will make medical education fun.”

The last two steps are quite easy, now that I already developed the main idea and collected hypothetical thoughts from different users. I can start writing down the main functionalities and the benefits for different audiences. Tip! - With everything you describe, use strong verbs in every sentence. You want your digital ideas to do something.

3. Step - How does it work for Who: “iXamine uses the touchable surface of the iPad/iPhone to provide playful access to a realistic set of medical tools and examination methods. It’s main feature is the integration of augmented reality, which allows users to connect to the exposed objects in real-time. Students/Schoolkids use iXamine to practice and explore the (human) bodies with new tools. Doctors manage their daily medical check-ups and medication. iXamine helps pharmacy to offer their products and make them more transparent to the people. iXamine provides access to alternative medicine and natural ways of treatment.”

Last, but not least: Give the idea a picture. I love to sketch my ideas and put them in a true context - a live (user) environment. That’s it. Fini.

4. Step - Picture it: - see above

How does your creative process look like? Share some thoughts. Would love to hear from you. Regards, Marc-Oliver

The idea for this application iXamine is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. Based on a work at There is no app 4 that. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at flip-digital (Marc-Oliver).

Couple more concept drawings and sketches:

Top 10 places where you don't need to check-in with foursquare, +explanation.

Wed, 05 May 2010 13:29:00 -0400

1. At the office: Media people love to check-in everywhere.  It’s no surprise that the mayor of an ad agency is actually an  employee. But foursquare is for customers. How can customers ever compete with the 1500-ish something check-ins and become a mayor of a venue to receive rewards? Thanks for checking in!

2. Your grocery store: They want you to use your credit card so THEY  get rewarded. Please show your VISA-connected Safeway and Walmart card. Foursquare? For… what?

3. At the golf course: You already paid your annual fees. Don’t ever  think they will give you back a portion of that. It already “grows” in the form of hourly sprinkled grass in the deserts of Saudi Arabia.

4. At the grave yard: You will never become the mayor of a grave yard,  unless it is yours, or your name is Dracula and you are able to wake up from the dead.

5. At the coffee shop: Apparently, I should give rewards to coffee shop owners and thank them for using their internet, having great people, offering free magazines, space, art, music, etc. etc. etc.

6. The White House: For some reason Aya M. is the mayor of this  location with 1516 check-ins. You’re never gonna beat that. And you will also get no medal from B. Obama.

7. Conferences: Why make your fingers do the extra yoga touch pad act?  They give away their stuff for free anyway. Apropos yoga, Zzzzzz!

8. On the moon: Try it.

9. At grandmas place: Well, let me rethink that. Never mind, that may just escalate into a family crisis.

10. At home: The guys (or followers) from “Rob-Me-I’m-not-@home” won’t give back your  personal belongings. No, it’s not their way of doing business.

So, question is: Where do I have to check in?

Starbucks: You can earn customers rewards. Although there is no  financial incentive or free coffee to begin with. Why did they just update their facebook fan page where you now can reload your Starbucks  card? … See above (no1)

Tasti D-Lite: They already have an reward program where you can earn  additional points with your check ins, but you need to sign for their  MyTasti website as well.

BART San Francisco Public Transportation: They offer a special badge and $25 rewards to randomly selected  users.

BRAVO NY: They gave away special gift bags to forsquare users. Now,  the venue is closed.

Carrabbas Italien Grill, Glendale, AZ: Get a free desert.

Montis La Casa Vieja, Tempe, AZ: Get a beer or wine for 5cents.

Pinkberry, ButterLane and AJ Bombers give away free food.

Invoke Media: They actually work in the media industry and must know how it works. So they thought of a great bonus for their customers: Half price websites every 3rd check-in. Tip for future clients of  Invoke Media: 1st check in - just say hello and chit&chat about your project. 2nd check-in; you talk about requirements and your budget.  Let’s say you are a big player and can easily spent 500k. Save 250k on  your next check-in when you actually sign the contract. Put a lid on it: Media people are quite moody. You don’t wanna miss the last check- in no 4, were you sit together and laugh … (well, now I’m getting  nasty).

There are more, all listed on foursquare.com/businesses. 35 in total.  vs. 600k-ish users. Makes it kind of challenging to become mayor and get rewarded - doesn’t it?!   Well, it’s probably good to know that the status updates are being  accepted as a valid alibi in court cases in the US. At least take  advantage of that.

Why I LIKE NEW YORK is better than I LOVE NEW YORK

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:25:00 -0400

This post is part of Marc-Oliver’s Digital Traveler post series – Digital Brand Experiences and Ideas for the Tourism Industry.

Travel destinations, holiday resorts and destination marketing organization (DMO) should provide free wifi access and partner up with telcos. An open plea for the digital, mobile age – from a traveler perspective.

People travel along data streams and highways, built by a social and mobile web. Help them keep traveling by providing a wireless infrastructure. Offer intersections when useful and necessary.

We all know that the profile of a traveler, also described as ‘tourist’, is changing. Today, an increasing number of travelers use mobile devices to plan and book their trip online – in real time. Intelligent and useful social media apps give rise to new ways of discovering adventures and travel opportunities on the go – something that can be very beneficial to travel destinations. But while there is much to gain from this, destinations can really benefit only if they provide actual and potential travelers with a free (affordable) way to connect to the Internet. Free Internet access for travelers and tourists is no longer an option – it’s a MUST for staying relevant in a digitally connected world.

In what follows you will find a collection of random thoughts, ideas and opinions on why this is the case (please share your thoughts and comment below).

Start sharing action, not just words

Social media for tourism is not only about sharing links, comments, thoughts and status updates, its also about sharing and creating opportunities (besides listening, engaging, measuring). Resorts and DMOs should partner up with telcos to develop ‘pay-as-you-travel’ mobile phone plans that travelers can purchase at the airport, border or with their travel agents, so that they can connect themselves with the web from the start to the end of their trip.

The ‘open&free web travel destination’

The open web travel destination lets people connect to the Internet wherever they are. This is not an option; it is a necessity and it should be free. It was not that important two, three years ago, but now with the digital, mobile age – things changed dramatically. Free, always available web access will be regarded by digital travelers as an integral part of an overall positive travel experience. In return, digital travelers will reward you with an increasing use of local online services.

Get personal and connect

With a free wifi network local businesses can finally start attracting the “always-on” traveler in a smart, fun and inspiring way. It allows them to customize services/products (due to holidays, seasonal offers, local events, etc.), talk to customers individually and learn more about their needs and habits, gather user data as much as you they want.

Free web access is an invitation for engagement and becoming relevant

When they have access to the web, people instantly create content. That will help your destination to stay relevant in the digital world. The more content people produce – and this includes pictures, movies, comments, blog posts – and the more opportunities they have to share it with others, the more they spread YOUR brand as well.

Keep your online content ‘fresh’

As soon as you can see new user-generated content emerging, its up to you as a resort or DMO to make that content valuable. Tag everything useful with your brand. Learn more about the LIKES and DISLIKES from your travelers within short time frames.

Book Now works best online, not offline

If your booking platform is in the travelers’ pockets pretty much 24 hours a day, 7 days a week while they explore your country, it is more likely that they will play around with it and use it. And this technology is not an add-on; it will soon become part of the ’system’. Recently, for instance, Apple claimed a new patent for the ultimate travel assistant called iTravel.

Don’t call me a ‘tourist’ anymore – it’s a relict of a disconnected world

Some tourism marketers might ask; wouldn’t it be easier to sell our products and services to people that are disconnected, without access to user reviews and online product ratings, so that travelers and ‘tourists’ arrive with an unprejudiced mind and be open to new adventures? That may be a good point, but people who think this way have already missed other opportunities in their businesses.

Need more inspiration? Ok, I am going to give you some examples to market your ‘open/free web travel destination’:

How about safety and destination updates – they become actually quite useful when you will be able to receive them while you are travelling. Promo: “Receive now automatically safety updates for South Africa with our new iPhone Travel Alert App. Make your trip to the World-Soccer in Africa a save trip. Brought to you by XYZ Tourism.”

Think of people with disabilities. You can offer lots of new services and make their vacation more enjoyable. Help them to get around easier, locate and ‘activate’ services on the go.

Think of the next Olympic games in London – how much can you improve travelers/visitors lifes when you provide free web access and new mobile services? For London that would be the biggest marketing coup forever. “Pick up your ‘pay-as-you-travel’ phone plan at London Airport and install the ultimate London 2012 Games App. The smartest guide on earth: Find your way to any event. Helps you book your Hotel. Avoid any traffic jam. Participate in fun contest and win backstage passes.” Etc. etc. etc.

Ok, just wanted to give you a good BOX of true inspiration. Now: Connect with your travelers. Become the first ‘real-time travel destination’ – accessible via your mobile phone at any time, any place.

From Macro to Micro Interactions – How the Web Usage Changed

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:12:00 -0400

This post is part of Marc-Oliver’s Digital Traveler post series – Digital Brand Experiences and Ideas for the Tourism Industry.

In recent years, there has been a fundamental shift in the way people use and access the Web, and while user behavior on websites hasn’t changed a lot, the ways users interact with, consume, and consult the Web in general have changed: New user patterns, desires, and perceptions have emerged along with more efficient web services, social networks, and the ability to access and request data streams in a location-based and time-sensitive manner – on the go.

After 15 years of Web usage, our natural instinct is starting to change, in which we gather and access information.

From Macro- to Micro-Interactions

There have never been so many different ways to book a flight, order a book, or find a job online as there are today. The options of online services are endless, which creates a very unstable digital universe and makes Web usage in general unpredictable and hard to measure. The current trend is to go from macro interactions to micro interactions, by using devices, tools, and web services that support rapid browsing* (Study Weinreich, Obendorf, PDF).

In this context, a simple online activity like job hunting has become a complex setup of accessing different types of websites and services, conducting a variety of tools and administrating multiple types of interactions—all at the same time.

Job Search As a Multi-Dimensional Interaction

Job search once was a very rudimentarily online activity for job seekers. A few major job portals like StepStone, Monster and Workopolis once controlled the market and made it quite comfortable for users to browse through company listings. The list entries linked to the company’s website and that was it. A few years later industry specific job portals popped up and forced job hunters to visit additional domains like go2hr.com for tourism and hospitality, krop.com for digital creatives, or if you were an academic you went to AcademicJobs.com, just to name a few. The market for job portals just got a little bit more competitive and job seeking more complicated; there were way more sites and services to consider if you wanted to to stay on top of all job offers. Not every company updated their listings on each site and service.

Now, social networks like LinkedIn are once again rearranging the overall user patterns for most of the job seekers and job providers – although, not all industries reflect that trend. Headhunters are taking job posts from official company sites and trading them back and forth – from platform to platform, from person to person. Once powerful, centralized job sites like the above mentioned are now losing influence again, due to this transition.

Another interesting thing happened within this domain, although somewhat on the sidelines. Savvy Web users dismantled services like Google, Twitter, and Foursquare and are using them for different purposes — in some cases, to get a new job. And who knows how long this system will remain stable, up and running.

On the Web, the only constant is change. Now, statistics show, that people access the same few sites 90% of the time, but that number changes when they accomplish specific tasks, like job hunting or, even a more popular one; travel planning.

Websites had become part of an overall Web experience, embedded in an unstable, increasingly complex framework of interactions, competing with an innumerable amount of other web sites, mobile services and data flows.

Web usage affects web sites usage.

The travel industry is experiencing a similar effect: New web services and travel platforms arise day by day and affect user traffic and behavior. Most importantly, they affect the overall web-experience of “Trip Planning”.

In India for example, the Indian Railways website had for years dominated traffic and the experience of booking a trip online via their site, but this is starting to change. New web services and travel platforms are pushing into the market and starting to reorganize India’s online travel universe. People now have more options to choose from and experience the popular online activity “Trip Planning” in many different ways.

Another interesting and still ongoing study found that checking consumer-powered web sites had not only affected most Russians in their decision-making process, but also influenced their online behavior on other sites. Quite often, they arrived at official tourism sites heavily opinionated, and consequently, were less patient with the content and the navigational elements. They already made their decision somewhere else; now they just wanted to confirm information chunks officially or book quickly. This example shows you specifically how changes and transitions outside of your own domain can affect user behaviors inside your web site.

The Bottom Line

Reports and studies show great hope and value and gather lots of quantitative data on web site usage, purchasing decisions, the degree of adoption of various digital behaviors, the involvement with online social networking, media consumption patterns and what not. What this data doesn’t expose is how those multi-dimensional micro interactions affect the web usage in general, nor how users map tasks, layout functionalities and bundle up activities.

To go back to the online travel sector: We know how the consumers use Google as a search engine to start their vacation planning. We also know how many visitors end up on tripadvisor, what they do and how it affects their decision making process in specific areas of the world. But, we don’t know how they puzzle, segment, conduct and combine different travel services to accomplish multiple tasks and fulfill selective needs.

What makes them browse the Seattle’s Four Seasons web site, sign up for an RSS feed with the latest deals from San Francisco’s Westin & Spa, and two days later compare apartment prices in Portland on craigslist, then finally book a treehouse in Montana via the mobile service airbnb?

Raising these questions was the objective of this article. It is now up to web site owners, user experience designers and information architects to positively re-assess the strategic role and value of their web sites and services as part of popular online activities, that are getting more and more complex, divided, segmented and transformed into multi-dimensional micro interactions.

tweetickets.info is the first real-time twitter service for your car-navi

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:05:00 -0500

This post is part of Marc-Oliver’s Web Fiction series, which highlights a creative business idea for the digital world. Names are fictitous.

Once a week I cruise around with my old 1986 Vanagon Camper, which keeps Schultz happy and the batteries in good shape. Too bad the fun times didn’t last so long. At the 3rd corner a police officer rudely interrupted my romantic road liaison. I missed a STOP sign. You know what’s coming next.

Hi, it’s tweetickets – the community road service. We realized that you received a traffic ticket. Share the info, so others get notified and can evaluate the road situation on a interactive map in real-time.

So as I waited in the car, I played around with my iPhone and tweeted about my ticket. Just 1 minute later, I received this message you can see quoted to your right. I thought; thats kinda cool and clicked OK. Back at home I was curious what that map might look like, so I clicked on the link and ended up on a website with an impressively designed street map showing the major roads of my local Whistler neighbourhood (thanks to the new geo-tagging service of Twitter). Now here’s the cool thing. Tweets were all over the place – with certain areas highlighted in red – the ones with the most tweetickets.info©.

From the map, I realized that the corner where I received my ticket was somewhat of a “hot spot” for road tickets. Must be a favorite place for our local police officers to hang around. Gonna be taking a little more care when driving ’round certain areas from now on! Thank you tweetickets.info© – you too, local twitter community.

Hold on, there is more to this story. A little banner on the website popped up and told me that if I am the owner of a tomtom navigation system I can now connect my tomtom with the tweetickets and will receive warnings when I am reaching a ’special road situation’ (that is, when I am coming close to those ‘red areas’ where usually officers are around the corner). NOW, isn’t that outstanding? What do you think? Can’t wait for your tweeticket.info service? Share your thoughts and ideas.

P.S.: Later I found out, that the site is hosted by Porsche, as a Social Media Campaign to engage with their customers. I guess – its a special service for those people who love the gas-pedal. Anyway, what a great digital marketing idea. Just kidding…

(Special thanks to Caroline Smalley, who helped me with editing and translating my thoughts and ideas in plain English).

tweetickets.info is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at Marc-Oliver.

Legal Disclaimer: This is a Concept – pictures were modified. Names could be changed to subject.

4 Stunning iPhone Ideas for the Perfect Skiing Day on the Mountain

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:54:00 -0500

This post is part of Marc-Oliver’s Web Fiction series, which highlights a creative business idea for the digital world. Names are fictitious.

As a creative designer I was looking for additional (marketing) opportunities to offer interactive experiences to peoples mountain routine. Ideas to connect them with the brand (in this case the ski resorts) in a new inspiring way. Its about: Life – Fun – Play.

Well, you know me: I just love skiing and I love my iPhone. The question that came up yesterday while I was riding on Whistler and Blackcomb Mountain again: Can the iPhone change the way we ski? Simple question and some might say stupid too. But, think about it twice and take a look at some of those great ideas I outlined and scetched for you.

1. Chairlift Surfers – Discover People, Events and Services nearby.

Chairlift Surfers helps you to easy catch up with your ski buddies, find new friends on the slopes, plan backcountry trips, organize your aprés ski party and even more in a fun and playful way. I can set up a comprehensive personal profile with my skiing abilities and my days off from work. It matches community members automatically with the same abilities/interests and shows them on an interactive map, so you can connect with them on the mtn. way easier. If I live in a city the app will send me push notifications when any of my “followers” hit the road up the mountain, just in case I need a ride. Chairlift Surfers brings the social life back on the mountains.

The motivation for the app: Chairlift Surfers deals with the fact that ski resorts bring together lots of people who share the same interests and passion for skiing and snowboarding. This iPhone app extends that experience, easily connects them and takes the customer service of the resort operators to another level. It is also a great motivation for Singles to hit the slopes more often.

2. Ski Bums Mountain Ralley – transform your mountain into a living adventure park each day.

Ski Bums Mtn. Ralley is a checkin gameplay or call it reality game for multiplayers: Its the first real-time outdoor game for skiers and snowboarders (all ages!!!) and the iPhone app is your compass and access to it. Its a new way to explore the mountain and to switch things up a little bit each day. You can collect points by competing with your friends and get rewarded for your days on the mountain. You can also put your own places and happenings on the interactive map and share them with the community. The app just make things useful where you are – geotility is the key.

The motivation for the app:Ski Bums Mtn Ralley connects the season pass with the mobile phone and location based services – it adds a intelligent memory to the lift pass. It gives the mountain operators the opportunity to reward season pass holders with special incentives as well. The idea: Just get closer to your mountain and make the “hidden” visible. Create revenue with cross-selling products like the Kokanee Saskatch – let people search for him on the mountain by using their iPhone and augmented reality.

3. My Ski Instructor

My Ski instructor helps beginners and kids to become familiar with the world of skiing and snowboarding. They can set up a virtual ski instructor as their personal “company”, watch ski lessons and explore the mountains with the interactive trail map before they even arrive at the resort.

The motivation for the app: My Ski instructor is a great way for resort hosts to get in contact with first time skiers and snowboarders. Its a tool to break down barriers and help encourage beginners, especially kids to explore new opportunities on the mountain in a fun, playful and interactive way. With an update it could also bring customer reviews (rate instructors and such) closer to your fingertips.

4. Ski Patroller

Ski Patroller lets you experience all levels of a real mountain patroller by playing several games and full filling tasks. You can progress from a volunteer to a chief patroller.This game integrates latest augmented reality technology: The app tracks your location and at some point, it even asks you to do avalanche tests and bombings before you hit the slope in real-time.

The motivation for the app: The goal of this game is to educate people about mountain safety and avalanche risks in a playful, responsible way. It’s again connected to your EdgeCard or Season Pass. It’s a great way to reward skiers and snowboarders for riding and playing safe on the mountain.

Thats it: 4 great marketing ideas to connect with the digital, outdoorsy consumer. But, hold on! As a marketing department you would probably think; well it’s quite expensive and risky to develop such an application cause you don’t know if people are going to accept and use it. But let me put it this way: Two years later from now, how many users will you have on your clumsy, old fashioned and overloaded website? You probably already have more visitors on your facebook page than on your website. How much effort does it cost daily to drive a couple of guests to your sites? Where is your website when people are on the mountain? How do you connect with them? The other fact is; people gather around and spend hours on other major social media hubs like facebook, foursquare, twitter and what not. They wanna be where their friends are. And most of them already access those sites via smartphones. You really think you should invest in your website? I don’t think so. But that’s just future-talk.

Never underestimate the power of gaming activities.

iPASS is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at Marc-Oliver.

Google gets prepared for the 2010 Olympics in Whistler with the...

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:31:48 -0500

Google gets prepared for the 2010 Olympics in Whistler with the Google Slope View.

Preview: The ME-TOURISM and the Future of Travelling

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:41:00 -0500

This post is part of Marc-Oliver’s Digital Marketing Toolbox series – useful documents, interesting presentations and helpful strategy papers for marketers and creatives.

If you’re wondering why my posts to Flip Digital Blog (aka Curious Digitalus) have been a little infrequent of late here’s the reason why. I’m writing/illustrating an ebook/trendreport tentatively titled, “The ‘ME Tourism’ – Redefing Travelling” It will be available June 2010. I’m in the last throes of writing it with barely two or three chapters left go now. As I get closer to the launch of the ebook, I’ll publish more about it. For now you can check out some randomly taken screenshots, sketches and a draft of the content page. Feel free to leave a comment with your name and a contact/link. I will notify you once its ready. Enjoy (… feedback and some inspiring words are welcome).

Enjoy some images from the upcoming report:

Feel free to send me an email if you are interested in contributing YOUR ideas to this report. Make use of the contact form on the left hand navigation. Thank you.

recyclable-bc.ca changes the way we recycle things in BC

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:09:00 -0400

This post is part of Marc-Oliver’s Web Fiction series, which highlights a creative business idea for the digital world – for the near future. Names are fictitous.

Yesterday I visited this new website a friend had mentioned to me recyclable-bc.ca (fictitous name). I wanted to get rid of a big box with old construction gloves. You know the ones I mean? Those red-grey ones they used to make – half leather, half cotton I seem to recall. They’ve served me well in the years gone by and still going strong – hence some serious reluctance in simply tossing them out!

On connecting with the site, I started typing into a clearly located search field… “Construction Gloves”. Without a quibble of hesitation, a profile of a specialized recycling service in Vancouver showed up. Perfect result! All the information I needed was right there before me, including where to drop them off and some cool generalized facts about the recycling process:

The footprint it would have caused when I throw them on the landfill instead of recycling them.

The percentage of how much those gloves can be recycled.

What they can do with the materials.

Wait though – here’s the coolest thing I found out on www.recyclable-bc.ca. As a registered user, I can actually earn money by sending in recyclable materials. What’s more, the more I send in, the more money I earn. Its a win-win. The business owners get access to free materials, I get rid of my old stuff – get to feel good about it and to top it all off earn money in the process. Sweet!

Isn’t that such a great idea? Indeed I later discovered that this site had actually already inspired a bunch of entrepreneurs who started offering niche recycling services for a particular type of product/material.

You might also be interested to know that recyclable.ca offers a weekly/monthly pick up service, which could be very useful for companies which have to deal with huge amount of “waste”. I’m impressed! I ask myself; Is garbage the new currency for a sustainable world? What do you think? Share your thoughts.

(Special thanks to Caroline Smalley, who helped me with editing and translating my thoughts and ideas in plain English).

recyclable-bc.ca is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at Marc-Oliver.

Photo

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:45:06 -0400

Of course, skiing…

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 01:13:06 -0400

Of course, skiing…

Photo

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:01:04 -0400

Huuuuuge drop. New Peak 2 Peak Gondola at Whistler

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:54:07 -0500

Huuuuuge drop. New Peak 2 Peak Gondola at Whistler

Photo

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:30:38 -0400