Posted in Advergames, Custom Branded Games, Data Capture, Events, Experiential, Gamification, Interactive Brand Experiences, Lead Generation, mobile marketing tours, Strategy, Technology, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

What’s Hot in Experiential for 2016?

January 18, 2016 at 13:02

by Chris Rogne

About a year ago, I wrote about the Tech Trends for 2015 and which ones matter. I took the angle of discussing that choosing the right technology to fit campaign goals is more important than choosing solutions simply for the sake of having a trendy gadget. Of course that still holds true but technology has made great strides in the past year. And, for the most part, companies are using them wisely.

What you should to expect to see more of this year:

Virtual Reality—VR is still hot and is being predicted by many to be an even greater attraction this year. It’s use has been growing since last year. The number wearable devices have increased and can be found in prices that range from under $3 (Google Cardboard) to over $600 (Oculus Rift). There’s something for everyone’s budget. You’ll also see more immersive VR experiences that will include the senses—smell, sound and motion. Check out this experience for Boursin made in the UK.

Wearable Technology—This is not going away any time soon and the technology keeps getting better and the number of ways to incorporate these into experiences is improving. We are still seeing RFID for movement tracking, registration and data capture as a popular choice. Smart phones, watches and bracelets, and others, will be incorporated into experiences making more a personalized connection.

Beacons—I touched on this last year. It was starting to take off and made real progress in 2015. Forbes sites beacons will drive $44 billion in sales in 2016. Why wait for people to stop by your booth or attraction? By sending push messages, you can attract people to you or keep them informed about promotions, product information or meet me at cocktail hour to chat.

Vertical Video—Meercat and Snapchat were first. Vertical videos (ads) make sense for mobile devices, not so much for your office environment. Vertical LED’s look cool at events. It will be interesting to see how this is used this year.

What you should keep an eye on:

CES had so many great technologies available for preview. Many of them won’t be ready for incorporation into many events this year but hold promise for late 2016 and 2017.
Samsung Rink VR Controller—A series of palm controllers that give you the ability to use your hands and fingers within the virtual world. This should be big with gamification. Having the ability to interact with your hands and more intricately your fingers will open up many possibilities. I know our team of developers will have fun experimenting with this once it’s available.

8i Volumetric VR People—3D Hologram people at your event? How is this different than other hologram solutions? They are using 2 or more video cameras to build the figures rather than depth sensors.

HTC Vive “Chaperone” Mode–Tired of bumping into the coffee table while you are wearing your VR headset? Your actual living environments can be over laid into the experience so you can move around fearlessly.

With so many interesting items available, 2016 will be an exciting year for experiential technology. 2015 was amazing too. It just keeps getting better and better. Yes, I love my job—and I’m just a small part of it.

Learn How Elation Digital Can Create Experiential Solutions for You!

Elation Digital develops a wide variety of interactive experiential brand solutions to attract crowds for events, tradeshows and mobile marketing tours. Their cutting-edge technology includes photo & video activations, custom gamification, social media engagement, data capture, tracking and reporting. These solutions are perfect for all budget levels from simple solutions to complete integrated campaigns.

Posted in Advergames, Custom Branded Games, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Interactive Museums, kiosks, Multi-Touch, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

Gamification for Honda Entertains and Teaches Recycling

September 4, 2015 at 12:18

by Chris Rogne

I’ve written about how our interactive infotainment solutions can help teach participants information companies want to convey, as well as many other ways these activation can help attain goals. When we meet with prospective clients, we assess their goals, budget, allocated space at the event and then we determine which of our activation will meet their campaign objectives.

Honda reached out to Elation Digital to create an educational game for the 2015 International Car Show. There was a dedicated area to keep children occupied and they wanted something that would be engaging and different. We developed a custom game to teach children about recycling. Multiple gaming kiosks, at varying heights, were set up for children to play.

The game had different recycle bins at the bottom of the screen and the colors represent what types of recyclables are allowed to go in each bin. Different objects fly on the screen at varying speeds and the child uses her finger to drag the object to the correct bin.

The children were engaged and educated at the same time. Parents were pleased and so was Honda!

Check out the video of the experience:

Learn how Elation Digital Can Help you Reach your Gamification goals!

Elation Digital develops a wide variety of interactive brand experiences and event technologies to draw crowds for tradeshows, events and mobile marketing tours including photo & video activations, custom branded games, infotainment, social media, data capture, tracking and reporting. Their solutions are perfect for all budget levels from simple solutions to complete integrated campaigns.

Posted in Advergames, Custom Branded Games, Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Interactive Museums, Multi-Touch, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

It’s All About Connection – Gen C

June 26, 2015 at 11:00

by Chris Rogne

Connecting to your customers is key. To do that, it’s crucial to know your audience. Who are you targeting? There’s so much information about Millennials, how to reach them and why they require a different marketing approach than other groups. Now comes Gen C also referred to as Generation C. The C stands for connected.

Is this a different group of people? Gen C is not defined by the year you were born but by your digital actions. When writing about millennials, I found myself thinking I had many of the attributes that described them (well not the age part-I’m older) but then I read all the articles about Gen C, these descriptors are a much closer description of how I work and surf. What are these characteristics?

• Connected—well of course, that’s the premise of this blog. Many were born into this technologically driven connected entity and others have adopted it. They connect through technology: smart phones, iPads, tablets, and wearable devices. It’s how they create deeper relationships with their family, friends, interests and co-workers. They are online—all the time.
• Community centric—as a way to stay connected to things they are passionate about, they think community by joining and following online groups or starting them.
• Content driven—whether they create it or consume it, it’s important to them. It’s where they derive their information and that drives their actions. Videos have become a huge part of the content they enjoy and YouTube is a favorite destination for them.
• Communicators—they communicate digitally and often. It’s become an easier medium for them to reach out this way. Social platforms have certainly helped with this.
• Collaborators—they absorb the information they consume and share it. This allows them to collaborate with companies and brands. They provide reviews and look to others for their reactions and opinions

Do these describe you too? I’m sure some, if not all, these apply to many of you. If you are reading this–you are connected. Gen C overlaps with Millennials and other generations too. Since it’s based on behaviors, the age group can span from teens to retirees.

So what do we do now? Just as in reaching millennials, it is important to connect to the Gen C audience in the medium they prefer—digital. Meet them where they are, allow and encourage them to interact and communicate with you. They are already connected. You just need them to connect with you.

Learn more about how Elation Digital can help you connect to your audience!

Posted in Advergames, Custom Branded Games, Data Capture, Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Lead Generation, mobile marketing tours, Multi-Touch, Strategy, Technology, Tradeshow Technology, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink.

Why Experiential Marketing Works

April 30, 2015 at 12:44

by Chris Rogne

Experiential Marketing is on the rise and we’ve been busy, so it must be true. Marketers are dedicating larger budgets toward incorporating these initiatives into their marketing mix. According to Event Marketer’s Event Track 2014, it’s an increase of 5% and is expected to be higher throughout 2015. It also says that marketers saw an ROI of 5 to 1–that’s 7% higher than the previous year.

But what is it about experiential marketing that makes it so successful? According to Quartz, it’s “an alternative to hard-hitting selling tactics, experiential marketing is fuzzy and abstract—prioritizing delight, touch, wonder, play, and encounter.” This is a great description and these attributes touch upon emotions and emotions are what drive sales!

Experiential marketing can be incorporated into the marketing mix in many ways and with that comes flexibility to develop a successful program. With so many choices, marketers select the solution(s) that best fits their brand and (prospective) customer. As new technologies continue to emerge, the number of options grows: gamification, RFID, custom apps, beacons, wearable technology, infotainment, interactive and immersion experiences—the list goes on.

Marketers are learning that active participation between the customer and these programs is increasing. It’s driving engagement and it’s deepening the emotional connection to the brand through these new and innovative experiential solutions.

Want more information on adding experiential solutions to your next marketing event? Learn more!

Posted in Advergames, Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Multi-Touch, Tradeshows, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink.

Successful Show at IAEE Expo! Expo!

December 11, 2014 at 19:28

by Chris Rogne

We just wrapped up at IAEE Expo! Expo! We showcased our photo activation software, data capture as well as several interactive games, including a custom game with Kinect Motion technology. By simply moving your arms in a steering wheel motion you can direct a car through a virtual city.

We teamed up with Cordell Racing who offers simulated racing experiences and corporate branding on Nascar race cars. By combining our event technology and social media solutions with Cordell’s expertise in corporate sponsorship and promotions at events and tradeshows, we can offer clients an even greater opportunity to draw crowds and generate brand recognition.

This unique combination drew in a large crowd as well as much interest in our combined offering. What did we learn? Two IS greater than one and it’s always a good idea to pack extra hardware so when all the parts don’t arrive, you are in a much better place to start the show!

Elation Digital develops a wide variety of interactive brand experiences and event technologies to draw crowds for mobile marketing tours, tradeshows, and events including photo & video activations, custom branded games, social media, data capture, tracking and reporting.

Posted in Advergames, Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Multi-Touch, Tradeshow Technology, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink.

Custom Branded Games

November 11, 2014 at 09:39

by Chris Rogne

Engaging potential customers in a fun interactive way is a great way to generate brand awareness. Elation Digital has developed a repertoire of games with various technologies: touch, motion, interactive, driving, puzzle, and trivia which are fully customizable based on the event, the target market and specific brand campaign goals.

For the launch of LG’s new G-Flex phone, we created a custom branded interactive game that could be deployed to storefronts or inside retail locations. Passers by were attracted by a customized attraction loop that invited them to play an immersive type game using just their body motion

We’ve also developed games for PGA Woman’s Tour, Puma, the Food Bank of NY, AT&T World Cup and more. View our videos and learn how Elation Digital can help you reach your 2015 goals.

Posted in Advergames, Strategy, Technology Bookmark the permalink.

Evolution of Advergames to Digital Marketing Platforms

July 7, 2013 at 11:29

by Chris Rogne

Advergames are simply games that have been branded at one level or another. Early on, brand marketers saw the potential of the video game market (in the old days 1995-2000) and started customizing game experiences with brand elements to connect with audiences.

One early brand experience created that I recall from this time period was from Nabisco and their Oreo brand. They created a race type game where you would float your Oreo “boat” through several obstacles down a river. It was simple, and fun and tied into the Oreo brand promise.

Fast forward to 2013; graphics have made a quantum leap, to hyper realistic 3D, augmented reality and mobile has opened new potentials, advances in physical controllers and sensors have created new brand experiences around physical digital blending our reality and virtual reality and providing the interfaces to bridge the experience, and social media platforms to play.

From our perspective as creative technologists, all the advances in technology has provided new canvases for creative and marketing directors to create new deeper positive brand engagements and even brand marketing platforms.

There is still a place for simple enjoyable advergames for events or mobile, where the goal is still simple to create a positive brand experience. However these interactive games can now leverage technology to extend and amplify this experience to a deeper level. Marketer’s can utilize the virtual digital marketing toolbox to design a platform that include games, experiences, user generated content, social media, mobile devices to create a virtual brand world of experiences, games, events, videos, live content, microsites and much more to add depth and relevance to the engagement of brand and audience.

Nike+ is a great example of Nike building a marketing platform utilizing all of the benefits of technology. Nike+ provides digital tools for their customers to achieve their fitness goals by providing customized senors to track and monitor activity, accounts to set goals and track progress, a social community to share and encourage each other, gamification elements of badges and achievements to bring rewards and recognition to meeting goals and encouraging performance improvements.

Nike+ combines the best of marketing and digital interactive. Marketing’s goal is to ultimately drive revenues by uncovering consumers needs and desires and solving them through products that are in alignment with a brand’s promise. Nike is about helping people reach their fitness and life goals. “Just Do It” is their well known brand tagline. Nike+ fulfills Nike’s brand promise and also has created huge new opportunities to sell products that work together, tied together by technology. As a first mover in this space, Nike has created an advantage with hundreds of thousands of fitness minded consumers using their products on their platform. The ultimate loyalty program providing useful, relevant services, information and products.

This type of marketing platform can be adapted to many industries, products and brands and provide early mover advantages. Advergames and brand experiences are only a part of what’s possible.

Elation Digital is a leader supporting brands with creative technology based engagement solutions. Please contact Elation to learn more or to discuss potential projects.