The Google Creative Sandbox event last week opened the doors to the innovative and dynamic world of Google. There was an array of creative technology in action at the event epitomized by our entry to the event. RFID tags ‘chipped’ with our individual information were the gateway to entry & with one swipe at each stand, information packs were magically emailed to us the next day.
The main speaker for the evening was Ed Sanders (an Australian that heads up Google’s creative lab business), who flew in from New York. He delivered some great sound-bites and a message of partnership to work with the creative industry here in Australia. So much so, that they announced they would be setting up a team here in Australia to drive creative solutions. This message was delivered via a Google+ ‘hang out’. Skype beware, multiple person live chat for free. My kind of hang out.
The biggest headline for me was around needing to ensure that the ‘Magic’ needs to go hand in hand with the ‘user experience’. We all know that Google is full of technology ‘magic’ but if you don’t think about how this applies to the end user experience &, make it valuable & relevant to an individual, it can be the coolest solution in the world but it will never fly in a scalable way.
We thought this was interesting because we talk a lot about the ingredients that create the best ideas in today’s world. Our observation is those ideas like Mentos ‘Dragee’ & Nike ‘Write the Future’ are those that are social by design. Social by design meaning that, because you have thought about the end user experience at the conception of the idea, you are then able to use the best creative technology to deliver content in channel that allows for a seamless & interactive user experience. A user experience that adds real value to a person – be that entertainment, utility or the sheer scariness of discovering the smarts of today’s technology that ‘read us’ in ‘Minority Report’ style way.
That’s why we at TCO are looking to bring all of our specialisms into one room at the creation of the idea. We believe that digital producers & developers need to sit with our planners & content producers/directors if we are to deliver the real ‘magic’.
With the above in mind, this brings me to the launch of Trapease. An industry social networking site that goes deeper than ‘linked in’ highlighting both professional and personal interests. As this site gets scale it will be a nifty way of connecting agencies with specialists like digital developers who have both the coding skills required, whilst telling you that they are big foodies with a love of Adventure Racing and Cats…It’s starting to sound a bit more like RSVP than Linked in but hey who are we to judge?! As the site grows we’d love to see ‘crowd source’ functionality built in please (like ‘Jovoto’ out of the US), where we could throw briefs into this creative community to wheedle out the best person for the job.
