Oh, believe me, we’ll get to location. But, like yesterday’s post on touch and touchless, we’ve got some smaller fish to fry first.
In the meantime, let’s check in on our Hometown’s Hero trend (and regional marketing in general). We’ve spoken at length about the opportunity for brands to help consumers learn more about their communities, [...]

Sweeeeeet Caroline… oh, sorry, got carried away for a second there.
As we alluded to in yesterday’s post, today we’re going to talk a bit about touch. Specifically, where touch is at, where it’s going, and why it’s finally relevant in-store at the point-of-purchase.
Oh, and why it may be inherently obsolete.
In one panel, hosted by some [...]

You know the drill: follow Upshot on Twitter to keep up on the latest SXSW Interactive news. It’s only three days away!
We’ve already mentioned that location is the watchword at this year’s SXSWi, but we’d advise you to keep your eyes out for news on QR codes as well. Longtime readers know that we’ve been [...]

As we’ve mentioned in our discussions of Immersive Sensory Experiences, the increasing prevalence of engaging technologies has driven consumers’ expectations through the roof.  No longer confined to early adopters, it’s the everyday consumer who now expects evermore immersive experiences from all forms of media.
While Steve Jobs can’t take all the credit for this trend, we’d [...]

From a marketer’s vantage point, few would argue that 2010’s biggest question goes something like this:
As economic indicators trickle in the right direction, will consumers continue to practice the New Austerity?
Sound familiar? Of course it does; we lifted that from trend #2 – Down-to-Earth-ism – from our 10 Trends for 2010. The resilience of the [...]

Ok people. We know January’s habitually a month of soon-to-be-abandoned hopes for shedding the extra baggage you brought home over the holidays.
But, did we miss the memo on the public workout fad?
First, Gap announces that they’re temporarily dedicating their NYC concept store to workout attire, and partnered with Crunch gym to bring in trainers for [...]

So, you didn’t heed our warning about the rise of 3D, and now you’re scrambling after last week’s follow-up.
Let’s not make that mistake again.
In October, we mentioned that the size debate between smartphones and e-readers and netbooks and notebooks could be completely sidestepped by mini projection technologies. With the announcement of the Light Touch Interactive [...]

Since it was posted just as we were heading out to vacation, we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss the annual NYC Holiday Window Survey from the fine folks at PSFK.
The hundred or so images certainly indulge in the fantastical and whimsical, with our personal favorites coming from the imaginative “Compendium of Curiosities” series [...]

Ohhh, this is going to be awkward.
See, friend-of-The-Source Kiki Bruner had this longstanding tryst that did not end well. He put everything into the relationship, but got nothing back, and now his temptress is going to be getting all kinds of media attention.
We’re referring to QR codes, of course.
Way back in March of 2007, we [...]

What’s a retailer to do when, as an act of political resistance, a bunch of pesky artists start squatting in one of their stores?
Embrace it, of course.
At least, that’s the approach taken by an Ikea store in Hamburg. Gentrification of the area has eliminated many of the homes and workplaces for artists and designers in the region, [...]