Customization Revisited

One of my first posts was a case study analyzing mass customization and comparing the NikeID and Puma Mongolian BBQ experiences. I was compelled to revisit the idea during my daily perusal of Twitter (FYI: my handle is now @brittanyblais. Follow me).

Mashable, my leading online resource for everything related to social media, business and technology, published a gallery of cool and unusual laptop sleeves. As soon as I saw an owl print on one by Snupped, I knew I had to check it out (owl is tied with turtle for my second-favorite animal after the giraffe).

I was surprised to find that not only were there MULTIPLE owl prints but that the entire purchasing experience at Snupped is customizable. The consumer can choose the size, exterior, interior and handle/no handle option before buying. I actually ended up liking a different print better, but I have yet to make the actual jump and purchase the sleeve.

The Story Behind Silly Bandz

I recently took a friend to Pizza Putt in South Burlington, VT. We mainly went to play mini-golf (all 11 holes...) but were side-tracked when exiting by Skee-Ball. After a few games, we had about 14 tickets and decided to redeem them for Tootsie Rolls at the ticket counter. However, we ended up waiting about 15 minutes for our Tootsie Rolls. Why? Because a group of kids were making the biggest decision of their lives: which pack of Silly Bandz was worth their ticket redemption.

I'd seen Silly Bandz at Michael's, A.C. Moore, Toys 'R' Us, Walmart, drugstores, etc. I knew my younger cousins were obsessed with them. I, too, succumbed to the fads of my childhood. I had a Tamagotchi, Furby, robot dog and currently still have a few crates of Beanie Babies. Somehow, those fads still make sense to me. I guess I'm too old to see the appeal of shaped rubber bands.

After reading this article about the founder of Silly Bandz, I still don't see the appeal but I better understand the power of viral marketing.

Tweet Me Up

If you happen to be reading this and happen to have a Twitter account (or actually, just not opposed to reading tweets), check out my Twitter profile @blayzey.

Amazon Kindle Will Get An Upgrade

Our class was just pitched an idea for online, digital textbooks (inspired by Nook, Kindle, Google Books, etc). And almost immediately, I found an article announcing that Amazon is adding Facebook and Twitter possibilities on its Kindle.

I sense Amazon is feeling some pressure from the iPad? Personally, I'm not interested in purchasing any of those devices until the iPad adds a word processor and Photoshop capability. Then we'll talk.

RIP Floppy Disk

Those of us old enough to remember the days of floppy disks are mourning today. Sony has announced that they will stop producing the ancient disks due to lack of sales.

Although I honestly have not seen one in years, I will miss those floppy disks. They came in a variety of cool colors, didn't scratch like CDs and were a lot sturdier. However, the same can be said of flash drives. Just call me a sentimentalist, I guess.

Case Study: Mobile Media

Compared to the toys available today, the ones I had when I was little seem so low-tech. I had a lawn mower that made bubbles as I pushed it. I had one of those toy cars that moved when I pedaled. I lost numerous bouncy balls in the bush by our back deck. I even had a toy clock that looked like an owl (with eyes that blinked andeverything) I also walked around the house dragging my Chatter Telephone behind me. Nineties-kids, you know what I'm talking about. Remember that colorful telephone with eyes, wheels and a rotary dial? Yes, that was the height of cool for a two-year old.

What do today's two-year olds play with? Well, they still play with the Chatter Telephone, but the concept is slightly different. Chatter Telephone has gone digital.

You're probably thinking, "Does it now look like an iPhone?" Well, you're getting kind of close.

Last month Fisher Price released three iPhone apps, including one based off Chatter Telephone. The other two are based off the See 'n Say and the Little People Farm. For $1.99 kids can virtually experience these toys without having to step foot in Toys 'R' Us.

History of Phone Apps

Cell phone applications, or "apps," were created to make cell phones more like computers. Many of cell phone's earliest apps wouldn't be considered apps today. Programs that allow Internet surfing, checking e-mail and mp3 downloads are apps as well, but now they're considered standard cell phone (or at least smart phone) features.

Now you can find apps to do pretty much anything. Like games? Forget Sudoku. Play Skee-Ball instead. Wish that magical creatures existed? Fairy Trails makes finding and capturing a fairy possible. Love Glee? Smule released a new app today that allows "gleeks" to sing, record and post their favorite tunes from the TV show. The exact number of apps available on iTunes is unknown, but it's somewhere in the six-digit range.

It sounds so good to be true, but there are some downsides. Special apps are generally phone-specific. Blackberry, iPhone, Android, etc. all have apps designed only for those phones, and the apps don't always cross over. iPhones and iPod touches are different enough that not all apps are compatible to both. Also, not all apps are free. Prices can range from 99 cents to several dollars. It's a small price to pay, but buying a lot of apps can definitely add up.

Marketing via Phone Apps

Many apps are designed by game houses and independent designers simply for the user's entertainment and the maker's profit. However, many apps are actually marketing tools for companies and brands. Here's a list of "app-vertising" by major names:

• MasterCard: ATM Hunter, allows the user to find the closest ATMs
• Charmin (sponsor): Sit or Squat, allows the user to find the nearest bathroom
• Gap: Style Mixer, designs outfits using the Gap clothing line
• House: InHouse, provides content to get a closer look at the TV show

The Fisher Price Apps

The Chatter Telephone app teaches kids numbers and plays music. The See 'n Say app has an animal theme and includes fun facts and videos about each animal pictured. The Little People Farm allows kids to explore the farmyard and play matching games using the barnyard animals.

These iPhone apps target two- to five-year olds, but toddlers don't have iPhones (at least, I hope not!). I would say that the toddlers are secondary targets. The primary target audience members for these apps are iPhone-equipped parents of toddlers. I say iPhone-equipped, because I highly doubt any parent would go out and buy an iPhone simply because of the Fisher Price apps.

Although these apps seem very basic and not very exciting to a 21-year old such as myself, I could definitely see them being useful as distractions. Say a mother is grocery shopping with her toddler and there's no kids' area. She can simply hand him her iPhone and voila! Her toddler will be able to enjoy his favorite toys in the grocery store without the nuisance of carrying around the actual items.

The app is also a great way to promote the Fisher Price brand name and perhaps encourage parents to purchase the actual toys if they haven't already done so. Although this is a new venture for the company, they seem to be doing well. Fisher Price is promoting the apps on the home page of the iTunes App Store, and the apps are generally receiving very good reviews. The only complaint is that the iPhone in general is too complicated for a toddler to use. It'll be interesting to see if the apps become popular or if other toy companies will also release similar games.

In new unrelated to mobile media but related to Chatter Telephone, check out the toy in the upcoming Toy Story 3 movie in theaters on June 18th!

Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month. To celebrate, Autism Speaks is implementing a Light It Up Blue campaign. For more information, click the banner below.

Reality TV Killed the Music Video Star

Some still remember the days when MTV was music television (see the reference in Bowling for Soup's "1985"). Most of us are now well aware that hasn't been the case for awhile now. It seems that MTV itself has finally been enlightened and will quit pretending that it's a music television channel. In other words, MTV has dropped the "Music Television" tagline from its logo.

The "M" and the "TV" will remain pretty much the same. The major difference is that images of the channel's reality starts will now be visible in the "M." Perhaps MTV should have kept the "television" in the tagline and replaced "music" with reality.

I, like many other consumers and music artists alike, have been disappointed in the channel's shift away from music but am glad to see that they're no longer trying to fool their audiences. However, I will finish off this entry with a tribute to the original MTV by posting the first video shown on the channel: "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.

Case Study: Mass Customization

Dying are the days of mass-produced consumer goods. The future is not about a required set and combination of colors, materials, scents, sounds, shapes and accessories. Consumers yearn for products that broadcast their identity and individuality and cater to their needs and desires.

For example, if I want a Volkswagen Eos (and I really, really do) I can dictate its color (thunder blue), interior (cornsilk beige), transmission (automatic) and various electronic accessories (iPod jack is a must). If I want a stuffed animal I can go to Build-A-Bear and choose the animal (Scruffy Puppy), its sound (I can make the dog meow if I so desire) and its clothes (does the Rainbow Fairy dress sound good).

Today I checked out customizable shoes. I wear a shoe size 11, so shoe shopping is not always a pleasant task. However, both of the two brands I checked out, Nike and Puma, sell larger sizes, so not only were my experiences fun, they did not damage my ego whatsoever.

NIKEiD

I started off testing out Nike's NIKEiD. Within five seconds of entering the Web site I pinned Nike's target market as teenagers and young adults. All of the featured shoes are named after current famous basketball players (namely, Kobe Bryant), and there was also a promotion for the NIKEiD iPhone app.

I was immediately blown away by the wide variety of shoes the brand offers. Where were all these choices when I ran track in high school?! I immediately checked out how to customize my own running shoe. It was here that I found the first downside: information about the shoe is very hard to find. When I clicked on a shoe, the site took me to the customization page. The information about the shoe itself was out of sight at the bottom of the page. Furthermore, I wasn't told what type of running, such as long distance or sprinting, most suited each design. Although I'm an avid runner I don't know much about the shoes, and information provided about the different designs has always been important to me.

I then began the customization process. I was very excited to have so many color choices available to me. Fashion and color are by far not the most important aspects of a running shoe, but I do like a feminine appearance. Most running shoes I've seen have a similar blue/green/gray theme. I've also always disliked wearing white running shoes, because they appear old and worn very quickly. I loved that I could choose black as the base color for my customizable shoe. In addition, I could choose the color of the tips, lining and even the Nike swoosh!

There were only a couple issues with the customization process. The first, minor problem was that the color selection varied depending on each part of the shoe. It's understandable, but a couple times I had to change around the rest of my color scheme. The second problem was that it was very confusing to know which parts of the shoe could be customized. It turned out that pretty much every aspect of the shoes are customizable, but some where harder to get to. After about five minutes of wondering why I was only 11/12ths of the way finished, I found the tiny link on the left that showed what I had left to customize.

In the end, I was able to customize a very pretty shoe. Unfortunately I am not on the market at the moment for a high quality running shoe, but if I were I would totally be getting the one I designed. It's everything I wish I had in my running shoes back in high school: quality, support, lightweight, stylish and a product of my own "creativity." NIKEiD also gave me many options for sharing my shoe design with my friends (and the rest of the world).

PUMA Mongolian Shoe BBQ

I then tested the PUMA Mongolian Shoe BBQ. My immediate thought was "why a Mongolian BBQ?" If I remember correctly, PUMA shoes are neither Mongolian nor BBQ fare. There was also a weird, overly happy chef greeting me on the starter page. I proceeded with caution...

I soon realized that PUMA was going for a restaurant-style customization process. The idea is that the consumers are choosing from a menu of options to create the shoe that's just right for them. I then thought, "Well, why a Mongolian BBQ? Why not a buffet?" I then looked up information about Mongolian BBQs and found that they are buffets. Clever, but it doesn't make sense and is slightly confusing to the average, uninformed consumer.

The customization process is similar to NIKEiD. I first chose the style of shoe I wanted to customize and proceeded to choose what color I wanted each part of the shoe to be. With the PUMA shoes, though, I was choosing the material of each part as well as the color. There were certainly less color options than with the Nike shoes, but they made up for it in a variety of materials such as canvas, leather and suede. The PUMA customization process was also more organized than NIKEiD, and I had a easier experience.

Here I was able to customize another very pretty shoe. The PUMA Mongolian BBQ did not make it quite as easy to share my shoe with the world as NIKEiD, but it still offered the option. Still, I'm even less in the market for a sporty fashion shoe than I am for a quality running shoe. Sorry PUMA!

And the winner of the Customizable Shoe Showdown (by a very slight margin) is...PUMA! The easier customization process definitely gave it an edge over NIKEiD, although I preferred the theme/layout and iPhone app offering of NIKEiD.

With more and more companies and brands embracing products generated and customized by the consumer it will be interesting to see what options will be available in the future.

Why "The Turquoise Giraffe"?

Pantone, a professional authority on color pertaining to print, paint and design, selected turquoise as the Color of the Year for 2010. It symbolizes escape and optimism, two things which are constantly on the minds of graduating seniors such as myself.

I chose the giraffe for the same reason that it's my favorite animal: it's unique. There is simply no other animal quite like it. I like to think that if I make the giraffe my mascot then my work will be unique as well.