eCommunications for global organisations

ZN, the eMarketing agency for European HQs, is now 10 years old. To celebrate this event, we have organized an Innovation session with our main clients and partners at Living Tomorrow. To have a glimpse of how the tour looked like, view the video-report from the BBC here.
The tour has been topped off with a brainstorm session that heated the spirits and generated valuable innovative ideas to be applied for five sectors: Packaging, Plastics and commodity, Consumer electronics, Consumer goods (sports and other), Healthcare.
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Here is a glimpse of the positive feedback that the Innovation event has incited:

Helen Dunnett, ECPA –> “Thanks so much for a great afternoon at Living Tomorrow yesterday. I really appreciated the opportunity to meet your other clients and hear what they are up to online or up against internally. I’m amazed at the work you are doing and your drive in uncertain times and feel privileged to be working with you and your team. ”

Trevor Jenkins, LyondellBasell Industries –> “Many thanks for your invitation to your anniversary event at Living Tomorrow. I found it extremely interesting and stimulating”

Petrina Soh, Sappi Europe –> “Thanks for inviting me to the very interesting tour of Living Tomorrow and a lively discussion/brainstorming session. It was great to meet others interested in the topic of innovation and technology”

In 2005 BusinessWeek magazine wrote that blogs were the next big thing. Well, not anymore. Although it takes only 10 minutes to create a blog, not everybody is willing to write on it regularly or even to take into account blogs when conducts a quick online research. How blogs have changed the communication process, why blogs are not anymore THE solution for companies’ way to communicate and who are the next big things… find out by reading “Beyond blogs” article.

According to thefreedictionary.com, “a cache< is a hidden storage space, usually for money, provisions or weapons. But nowadays caching means more especially since it became associated with life catching content. A new concept is now on the lips of communicators and trendsetters: “life caching<.

Everything started with the effectiveness of the “multimedia – web< combination, which today seems more efficient than the old-fashioned ATL (above the line) communication. Numerous studies have shown that ATL’s efficiency is uncertain and the greatness of the 30 second commercial TV/ radio has even been questioned. We all know that the commercial break is the ideal moment to change channels, go to the loo or have a kitchen break. People are using more and more several media at the same time: watching TV and browsing the web, while receiving a SMS advertisement or taking a photo with a camera phone.

Using the “multimedia – web< combination FoodPhones has developed diet services. They use “Life catching< content via multimedia and have even moved into “Life caching< on web. People can take pictures of everything they have eaten during the day with a camera phone, and then they send the pictures to their own Registered Dietician. Every week they will receive feedback from their dietician on their personalised web page who has analysed their nutritional habits and provides recommendations.

Nokia has also launched into the world of Life caching, through their recently created Life Blog. This software organises all messages, images, notes, videos and sound clips that consumers capture with their mobile phones. In other words, the Life Blog is a digital photo album created for multimedia user bloggers. Once a phone is connected to a PC, Life Blog will download all the content stored on the handset and populate chronologically a timeline with information.

What’s the next step in using the “multimedia – web< combination? Healthcare applications? Let’s take the example of treating people with epilepsy. The videos recorded by the patient’s relatives during an epilepstic seizure could be uploaded and cached on a web page. Afterwards the video content could be analysed by a healthcare specialist, who could send recommendations via e-mail or on a personalised page. All of this happens without the need of a face-to-face appointment with the patient.

The first time I heard about Second Life, I didn’t get too excited about it. I’m not a web-game addict, I’ve never played Sims and I have almost no free-time. But I decided to give it a try. And guess what, I discovered that I could easily quit my job and start a business within this new world. Moreover, I could have my dream headquarters and I could start working in any field. So I could be a Dancer, a Model, a Fashion Designer or even a Land Baron.