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August 26th, 2010
by Teri Rogers
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Objects: Becoming a Part of the New Business Win

iPad

Reading a piece in the Harvard Business Review about devices and how integral they’re becoming to the art of the pitch really struck home with me.

As a creative services shop, we pitch new business all the time. And, being immersed in the digital space, we’re always considering how our clients’ products and services can best be maximized in that space. So even when our clients come to us asking for what they think they need, we’re always thinking about what they might not know they need, but what would make their end result even more impactful.

The reason the HBR piece hit home is because it mentioned that at Fortune’s recent technology conference in Aspen, it was not unusual for innovators to pull out their smartphones and run through a quick presentation on their device when asked for more information. Seeing really is believing and the author of the piece said just that. When you can touch, feel and experience a concept, and see all the different applications while holding a device in your hand, it really makes the selling process more personal.

It’s not unusual that we use our seemingly omnipresent iPads during new business pitches or even during meetings with existing clients. We use them to demonstrate an idea or walk them through a presentation or an experiential design piece and that really seems to resonate with them. Sometimes we even build a technology element into a project for a client, that they can subsequently use for their new business pitches.

In fact, Michael Schrage, author of the HBR piece, put it this way:

“My professional bet is that “hand-it-over” innovation pitches will double smartphone and mobile device sales worldwide. Entrepreneurs, salespeople and innovators alike will socialize with at least two devices in the backpacks and breast pockets — one for their personal/professional use and the other to “hand over” for interpersonal play.”

Technology – it pretty much rules all of us these days. Thoughts?

June 28th, 2010
by Teri Rogers
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Cannes Winners Signal Profound Change in Advertising

Vintage Cannes Poster - 1939

Design + Technology is the hot new “creative” as it relates to the ad industry. The big Cyber Grand Prix winners at Cannes are indicative of where advertising and the world of design are headed. There’s no argument that great design will always be great design and regarded as such. But, in today’s advertising world, where we are routinely charged with producing great design that drives results, the addition of technology into the mix is, in my opinion, the best recipe for success.

DDB Stockholm’s work for Volkswagen took home a win for its terrific Fun Theory campaign that took ordinary experiences, added technology and not only made the experiences fun, but changed behavior as a result.

Weiden & Kennedy’s Chalkbot campaign for Nike Livestrong was evidence that by integrating technology into an event, you can actually bring the public into the event and make them a part of the experience, almost seamlessly.

In both cases, technology was the hero, and the driving force behind the concept, but the beauty of both of these integrated experiences is that the technology was invisible. The winners at Cannes validate that this is where the world of advertising is moving. Design + Technology may seem like strange bedfellows at first – similar to the traditional agency creative process integrating with the digital creative process. Those agencies that mastered that were way ahead of those who kept them separate.

For us, it has been an adaptive process over the last couple of years. Our designers were at the top of the heap – so we had to learn how to embrace the collaborative effort between technologists and designers. There were fits and starts – but today, I can say without reservation that the line between our designers and our technology gurus has blurred into one big integrated space. And happily, it has changed the face of our business, as well as the kind of work we are able to do for our clients.

*The poster is the 1939 Cannes Film Festival vintage poster, which is from the year of the planned festival debut. The film festival was canceled that year, because of the start of World War II

May 2nd, 2010
by Michael Ong
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Bon Appétit!

Dining by Design
Perpetual open canvas
for creative minds

– Michael Ong

T2 / Harvest Productions Dining by Design Table from T2 + Back Alley Films on Vimeo.

Footnote: DIFFA (Design Industry Foundation Fighting AIDS) just had its 20th year of Dining by Design in its founding city – Kansas City. I’ve been attending the Gala event for many years but I’ve always felt being in the production/post-production and motion graphics business, that we were sort of on the fringe of the so-called design industry, which for this particular event, meant architects, interior decorators and florists. However, this function has grown over the years and has become the signature event nationwide, in major cities like NYC and San Francisco. As a result, the event now attracts a more diverse group of participants and the level of creativity and passion the designers put into their works was really amazing beyond words. In a recent Fast Company interview, John Waters aptly called it “the Cannes of tabletop.”

Today, multimedia technology has infiltrated every facet of our lives and it’s a big area of focus for our creative teams at T2. Since the gap is now closing, we decided it’s time for us to design a table!

Once we secured our choice partner – Harvest Productions – to be part of the team, we knew we could bring our Dining by Design table to a level that most attendees had never experienced before. What we came up with was basically a blank canvas of everything white: table, chairs, plates, tablecloth, linens, centerpiece and floral arrangements; decorated in a sleek and minimalist approach. We intentionally primed simplicity on our table settings so we could project a perfectly calculated motion graphic imagery onto its surface. Even though Harvest Production has a huge inventory of multimedia tech toys that would wet any geek’s pants, we chose a softer approach in which a single projector was installed at fifteen feet above the table and let the content do its magic. The “technology” seemed to disappear out of sight and we could still decorate the table with everyday familiar surfaces and textures; no foreign machinery or fan noise that would encroach on a pleasant dining experience.

The result: When the house lights dimmed, our table came to life! There were kaleidoscopic patterns on the plates, and undulating forms and lights radiated from the centerpiece, making an otherwise dead and leafless collection of branches wave. The plates and table each had their moment to shine, in a seemingly endless loop of light dance and hypnotic patterns. What can I say? The guests ate it up! We were very pleased with the outcome and would like to share it with the rest of you who couldn’t make it to the event. Bon Appétit!

Credit: T2 – Michael Ong/ Creative Director/Motion Designer, Garrett Fuselier/Experience Designer, Claudia Chagüi/Motion Designer, Drew Bolton/Volunteer Designer, Andrew Kuttler/Volunteer Designer, Derek Ferguson/Producer, Nick Balda/Editor.

Harvest Productions – Joe Athon + the rest of his team.

Let’s do it again next year!