Innovate MENA- Aug 2016

Welcome to INNOVATE MENA, a monthly collection of industry related News, Case Studies, Media & Technology updates and emerging Trends designed to help inspire our everyday thinking.

CONTENT:

1. Instagram Copies Snapchat’s ‘Stories’2. Sony’s New Branding Store3. Verizon Acquires Yahoo for $4.83bn4. Google’s VR Paintbrush5. Instagram Launches Business Profiles in Europe6. Google’s Duo Challenges Facetime7. Pizza Hut’s Playable DJ Pizza Box8. DuoSKin Uses Tattoos as Connected Interfaces9. Nike Basketball Creates Anthem with Chance the Rapper

10. Top Olympic Ads of 2016

Instagram Copies Snapchat’s ‘Stories’

Just like Snapchat, Instagram has launched a ‘Stories’ feature that lives on top of your newsfeed and that expire after 24 hours. Yes, this is exactly like Snapchat! Instagram has taken the entire concept of Snapchat and integrated it into their platform. The advantage here, is that the ‘Story’ feature in Instagram is said to be more simplified and easier to navigate than Snapchat’s.

Could this drive users away from Snapchat completely, pushing them to browse content and view stories on Instagram? Instagram is taking away Snapchat’s essence and it also seems as though Instagram is out-innovating them. The most important thing to note here is Instagram’s network of active users, in comparison to snapchat. On Instagram, people can make new friends, discover new places, find recipes etc... a clear advantage over Snapchat.

Sony is opening a retail store that is more about branding than it about selling. Sony Square NYC will function as a testing ground for consumers to try new products, play with potential products as well as attend events. Steven Flud, senior VP-corporate marketing at Sony, said, “With this space, we're trying to give consumers an emotional connection with the brand”.

While the goal of the store is product integration, this ‘experience store’ will create a more personal connection with consumers. Due to the slump in sales, brands are looking for ways to better engage with consumers. It’s all about the experience with the brand, the consumer engagement and their excitement for new product releases. Sony, like Samsung, is attempting to create an experience that will resonate with consumers and hopefully positively reflect in sales.

Sony’s New Branding Store

Verizon, which owns AOL, has acquired Yahoo’s core business for $4.83bn- this includes Yahoo’s Advertising business, content, search and mobile activities. Verizon Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam said, “the acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising.”

Verizon is a giant telecom company, but the acquisitions of AOL and now Yahoo show that the company wants to diversify its revenue and operations. Verizon wants to merge Yahoo and AOL to form a bigger advertising and media subsidiary- with this, AOL can become and advertising giant as it gets more scale and reaches millions of internet and mobile users.

Verizon Acquires Yahoo for $4.83bn

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Google has blown our minds yet again and released the first VR paintbrush, the Tilt Brush. Available on the HTC Vive VR headset, the Tilt brush allows you to draw just about anything in your virtual space and in 3D. Not only is the art 3D and immersive, but also the art can be dynamic- the colors can shine, glimmer, glow and pulse, creating intensely stimulating art.

Google found a way to appeal to non-gamers, who are interested in virtual reality, by using non-gaming techniques to acclimate an audience of non-gamers to VR. It allows users to be creative and the app is completely immersive as individuals can surround their ‘space’ with their art work. This app shows how powerful and transformative VR really is. Traditional VR is typically sit back and watch an experience, the difference here is that users can be interactive and create their own experience. Mountain Dew and PepsiCo are already using the app.

Google’s VR Paintbrush

Instagram Launches Business Profiles in Europe

Business profiles was launched in Europe to serve small business, who make up the bulk of advertisers on the platform. Businesses now have a “contact” button and also have an insights tool that allows the brand to use several metrics to see if what they are doing is working. Also, there is a Promote feature that allows businesses to promote a well-performing post to reach new customers, using Facebook’s target and measurement tools. The tool will be available globally by the end of the year.

This tool will not only help advertisers better stand out from the regular users, but also will better equip them with measuring capabilities. Instagram's EMEA head of brand development Amy Cole said smaller firms have been a "key part" of the Instagram community. Smaller businesses will now be able to collect insights, connect with new customers and promote posts more easily. These smaller businesses have turned to Instagram because it "makes it easy to connect with a relevant audience, anywhere in the world when they’re in a key mind-set of discovery."

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Duo is Google’s new video-calling app that is the direct competition to Facetime. Google has always offered apps that work on a variety of devices, like Google Maps, Google Doc etc… which were always compelling alternatives to Apple’s apps, like Maps, Notes etc... Duo applies the same ideology- people can video call others between different devices, unlike Facetime that only allows calls between iPhone users.

Could Google Duo be the potential Facetime Killer? The fact that video calls allow users to communicate regardless of the device, increases the universes of people who can have video conversations. This definitely feeds into Google’s strategy to pull users to Android over iPhone. The more people get hooked to Google apps, the more they will be driven to Android considering that Google apps don’t work as well on iPhones.

Google’s Duo Challenges Facetime

Pizza Hut’s Playable DJ Pizza BoxPizza hut has invented the world’s first playable DJ pizza box, where the standard cardboard container is rigged with touch sensitive decks and controllable buttons. Created in partnership with Novalis, the boxes are not only designed to resemble a DJ turntable, but also the battery powered box is compatible with various DJ software and also connects to computers and smartphones via Bluetooth. These boxes are limited to just five of the 350 UK restaurants where only a small number of them will be given away. As innovative ideas seem to be slightly difficult to come by in the pizza-making industry, Pizza Hut is turning to clever marketing gimmicks to ensure sales keep flowing. Pizza hut are joining the growing trend of turning takeaway boxes into something more than just a food container. Other than updating their actual product, they are including tech features along with their Pizzas, getting people excited and keeping consumers on their toes waiting to see it for themselves. The company plans on providing more details of where the boxes will be made available via Twitter.

In partnership with Microsoft Research, MIT Lab unveiled DuoSkin that uses temporary tattoos as connected interfaces that act as input for smartphones or computers; they display output based on body temperature and transmit data to other devices. The temporary tattoos are made of skin friendly and cheap gold metal leaf (for basic conductivity), making the system inexpensive and easy to set up. One is able to design the circuit using any desktop creation software they like, feed the design through a vinyl cutter and layer gold leaf on top and finally lay it as a temporary tattoo. Surface mount electronic components, including NFC chips, complete the connectivity picture.

There have been different ways that researchers have devised the use of the DuoSkin tattoos- for example turning your skin into a trackpad, and a control knob that adjusts volume on your device. There are startups who are working on material advancements that will extend the tattoo. We will be keeping an eye out for any developments with this interface.

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Duo Skin Uses Tattoos as Connected Interfaces

Nike Basketball Creates Anthem with Chance the Rapper

Nike came up with a new kind of national anthem to inspire people to rally behind the US basketball team at this year’s 2016 Olympic Games. With help from the infamous Chance the Rapper, Nike created an original song called “We the People” for its ‘Unlimited Together’ film, part of their ‘Nike Unlimited’ campaign. Some of the finest players, such as Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Brittney Griner, Maya Moore and many others took the spotlight in this black and white film. In a press release Nike Chief Marketing Officer, Greg Hoffman, said, “The USA Basketball teams are an amazing example of athletes who come together to pursue their goals for their team and their country.”

Nike is not only getting involved in a sporting event, that basically defines most of the brand, but is also touching on some of the country’s recent grim headlines, which are filled with racially motivated violence. The film, ‘Unlimited Together,’ continues with Nike’s Campaign that sees athletes pushing past expected boundaries.

United Airlines“One Journey. Two Teams”

Gatorade “The Boy who Learned to Fly”

Powerade “The Corner”

Nike “Unlimited You”

Gillette “Perfect Isn’t Pretty”

Top Olympic Ads of 2016

BBC SportOlympic games trailer

P&G“Thank You Mom”

Under Armour “Rule Yourself”

Channel 4“We’re the Superhumans”

Samsung“The Chant”