The Hollywood Reporter has a brief interview with Judith Regan, the publisher and media mogul, for the "future of entertainment" special. Surprisingly, the woman whom made millions with tawdry tell-all books, political muckraking and celebrity gossip, sees the future as a step away from the "pornoization" of American culture.In doing so, she echoes experiential marketers' calls for a humanization of marketing, and of using real people to engage with other real people, instead of the mindless gloss of traditional marketing and advertising.
"The central problem in America is lonliness, which comes out of consuming all this pop culture and yet, not having human experiences. I call it the "pornoization" of the culture. If you look at where the culture is going, there is no love, there is no tenderness. The images my daughter sees are devoid of love. I actually see in the future that simulating love or some authentic human experience will become what people desire and what they want to pay for (Emphasis mine)."
I love the idea that we'll be looking for authentic human experiences and I also believe that brands can play a greater role in the facilitation of those experiences. You see, despite all of the conversations about being friends with brands, really people are much more interested in letting brands facilitate our friendships with other people. In a world of "social" places, brands win by being the connecting point, not the connection itself.
Now Google is launching a new technology that places barcodes on store fronts. They've been doing this in Japan for years, so I'm glad it's finally coming to the States. I've heard advertising "futurists" talk about a world of mobile experiences where as you're walking down the streets, you can ads beamed to your phone. Frankly, no one I know wants that world. But this, this is cool! The best thing about technologies like this is that it is completely opt-in. Not interested in the store, don't take a picture of the barcode. But the ability to build 'oneline' experiences that move between the online and offline world.
Google plans on mailing around 100,000 window stickers to restaurants, hotels, bars, and other retail entities around the nation during the next two weeks. Each sticker will have a unique scannable barcode that is designed to work with numerous popular mobile phones and help local businesses target on-the-go consumers with promotions such as coupons.
When I first wrote about the socialization of place, I asked these questions:
What is the value of real estate for retailers today? Does a record store really need to exist as it's been for the past 40+ years? Or banks, grocery stores, fashion retailers? If, thanks to the internet, people are much more comfortable getting their purchases sent to them, rather then getting them right away, do we need that much space dedicated to merchandise? So, if we can do away with the inventory portion of most retail spaces today, what else would you do with the space? How could you make it a much more social environment, rather then being a retail environment? After all, this is exactly why places like Starbuck's or the Apple stores have boomed -- they created a social space, rather then a retail space.But, while people look at Starbuck's or the Apple stores and say "Yea, that's great for them, but it doesn't apply to me," I think that they're missing a huge opportunity today. I think there's a coming trend to socialize the retail environment instead of just merchandising the real estate space. And the more we try to use the space for our purposes rather then our guests, the more they'll stay away.
As companies like Google add things like this or Google Goggles, we're starting to see the beginning of 'oneline' brand experiences and the socialization of place.
Scannable Retail Stickers to Extend Google's Local Presence - ClickZ.
