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Tag Archive for ‘technology’

How Smart Phones and Social Networking Changed Word of Mouth

July 28, 2010GeneralNo Comments

Several years ago, people would say that word of mouth is no longer a powerful advertising tool. With mass media in its growth the most successful advertisements were often the ones with the most air time on television, the largest billboards, the most posters and the widest streamers.

People could still give out recommendations to friends and family, but word of mouth can only travel so far. Unless you were a journalist or elsewhere in the media, a personal opinion and recommendation is not going to change the future of your favorite corner book store.

Today, a single Tweeted opinion can be as powerful as the most expensive commercial air time during a major sports event.

This is the world that we live in today, highly influenced by three major factors: better smart phone technology, the growth of social networking and the improvement of mobile wireless technology. Information can be sent, received and share instantly, not just among small circles of friends, but across hundreds and thousands of linked acquaintances, colleagues, peers, co-workers and other contacts.

In a portion of the findings from research firm Gartner’s study, it was revealed that may people rely heavily on what people in their social network say regarding products and services. The study covered the influence of social networking in the purchasing habits of over 4000 consumers from all over the world.

According to Gartner, the realm of social networking is a highly underutilized tool for marketing that many commercial companies are failing to tap to into. Despite the already large number of ads that appear all over sites such as Facebook and sponsored Tweets there are still plenty of avenues left unexplored, and many brands still without an online presence.

One could say that smart phone technology and the internet have turned the concept of marketing into a full circle –giving the power of influence back to the consumers. From what we are seeing, it looks like the progress has pushed marketing beyond its’ original scope.

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Out of the Box: Finally, a Useful Manual for Mobile Phones

June 4, 2010GeneralNo Comments

Print is definitely not dead with the “Out of the Box” mobile phone instruction manuals. Thanks to Vitamins Design’s Adrian Westaway and Clara Gaggero, teaching the tech illiterate how to operate a smart phone may not be such a problem.

Out of the Box works kind of like a picture book. The picture is your mobile phone and the instructions point directly to it in order to show the user precisely how to turn on, say, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

In the video demo, the parts of the mobile phone (SIM card, battery, chassis and battery cover) are already packed into the instruction book. The user is then instructed to place the SIM card and battery inside the mobile phone and start it up himself. It looks like even a kid or an old person can do it without any problems since the instructions are concise.

Another manual is provided to teach the user how to navigate through the many different menus in order to make the mobile phone perform a certain function. The user simply has to turn to the section which includes the instructions to whatever he wants to accomplish, place the mobile phone in the space provided and follow the bulleted steps. The sections are divided much like an old school address book so getting to a specific part of the manual will be a breeze.

The demo photos of the Out of the Box manual include other possible implementations, such as the use of picture cards and map guidelines. It really looks promising and if this gets to be marketed for real, a big chunk of the non-tech savvy population may just be convinced to buy their own smart phone.

Since Vitamins Design worked with Samsung on this project, it may just open up a new market for the Korean brand. Hopefully they will use recycled materials to make it a bit friendlier to the environment.

Out of the box – book from adrian333 on Vimeo.

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