A Wider Net

Recently Philips unveiled Lumalive - a series of LED-laden fashion textiles that can emit bright colorful animations. In this video, a series of t-shirts spell P-H-I-L-I-P-S across the chests of seven models. Apparently this technology manages to produce these mesmerizing displays without sacrificing the softness of the fabric. I’m sure your imagination has already produced and filed away a dozen uses for this in event marketing, guerilla marketing, experiential design, and so on. This is clearly a glimpse into the future of what AdsOnFeet is doing now. They equip a small fleet of people with LCD video monitors on their chests and set them loose to catch and interact with their target audience in the field. I look forward to seeing these devices connected to wireless feeds, displaying remotely-generated content and information in real-time. We’re hoping to see both of these at Innovation Day.

I’m occassionally asked how I find the crazy stuff I toss at the wall in creative sessions or sneak optimistically into pitches. The “crazy stuff” (gadgets, gizmos, widgets, wizards) is everywhere. My favorite finds result from equal parts methodical digging and fortunate stumbling. One of my sources is Digg. This terrific example of social media, Web 2.0, and AJAX produces enough stories of interest to keep any curious reader occupied way past bed time. So I scan Digg routinely and I watch Diggnation (NSFW), their video podcast, while driving. (OK, I listen to it while driving - but it is a video podcast). Just this week I was watching listening to the show, while the hosts perform their usual magic - drinking beer and commenting on the weeks top Digg news stories. Then they stopped to gush about the bottle opener they were using. It was this miraculous cylinder that you simply “Kachunk” over the top of the bottle, and “Kaschnap” off the cap. They marveled at its clever design and ease of use, and plotted to seek sponsorship from the manufacturer. I finished my commute, rushed to my office to see the thing in action, and snagged the URL off the tiny iPod screen. You can get this thing in all sorts of colors including transparent green and stainless steel. For you marketers looking for a tchotchke everyone will love - engraving is an option. And that’s how it happens: While driving to work, watching listening to a video podcast with two geeks discussing tech news stories and trying to open a beer. Don’t worry, you can say it opens soda too.