1:40PM October 10 2011
Grandad loves AR!
Dad founded the agency in ’79, working mostly on graphic design, press ads and brand identities. Fortunately he had the nous to invest in digital from the beginning and the agency has been innovating since ‘95.
Dad retired 5 years ago when digital agencies had truly begun to punch their weight, and how our landscape has changed in that time! Digital agencies are now pretty much defunct; the ‘agency model’ is being reinvented annually, mobile has finally arrived, and social has disrupted the world as we know it.
I wouldn’t say the old man has lost touch, as it’s still about ‘ideas’, but the ideas now have arms and legs and need to run around a lot…a bit like his 14 month old grand-daughter. The platforms, tools, channels, devices, media and networks demand considerations, which just weren’t in play even 5 years ago.
So on a recent trip to LA, visiting the office we opened last year, and enjoying a few days with the family, Dad had an interesting experience in a Lego shop – my 6 year-old nephew Harvey, is fanatical about Lego. The mere mention of it sends him loopy. This meant we spent 2 hours enjoying the freeways south of LA to visit a ‘special’ Lego experience. Having driven past a few hundred shopping malls on the way there, I was praying for a worthwhile trip. As the clip shows, dad certainly felt that way…I’m not sure who was more excited, him or Harvey!
I have to say, even though I wasn’t quite feeling the same level of excitement, I think this is one of the best uses of AR I’ve seen. The product is clearly spot on for it, but as a retail experience, the potential is huge if used in the right way with the right product.
It certainly worked for Harvey. All his birthday $ spent, he left the shop a happy chappy. Dad was blown away with the technology and was chuffed that we were still ‘on it’ after I showed him our latest AR efforts for Dynamo – #magicianimpossible on UKTV’s Watch channel, which delivered over 1 million watched the third episode making Dynamo the number one TV show in its time slot outside terrestrial television.
