The Edge45® Round Up – 16/06/17

It’s been a turbulent few weeks for Britain, in our last round up (Which was the end of May, apologies) we listed ‘promote’ by the Labour Party as ‘a big thing’. We’re feeling pretty vindicated about that now!

Anyway lets get cracking, here are the three things we’ve seen this week that made us sit up and pay attention:

1. Amazon Opens up Programs to ‘Watch and Shop’

Now first of all we’re assuming this is not so they can create their own version of QVC on Fire TV. There is huge potential for a revolution in product placement here. The concept goes if you’re watching a video, products in the video are tagged and are integrated into the Fire TV system. That means you can, with the click of a button, bring up the information and size of the product or put the item onscreen into your basket. Considering you are already  have to be signed into your Amazon account to be watching in the first place. This makes the process of buying so easy, as if it needed be easier to get rid of your money…

It’s part of a wider evolution in video content. You could maybe now class video as in one of two camps: “Traditional Video”. That is video that you watch (Remember that? Sitting and watching a thing?) and that’s that. The value of it is in the content and execution of the video. You could maybe call the other “Dynamic Video”, which would be video with responsive ads, personalised options. In our opinion we think that Amazon’s ethos of combining interactive shopping with passive video could be taken to the next level by number 2 on our list…

2. Apple unveiling AR Kit

First we know – not technically this week but the possibilities behind this are too good to gloss over it. If you haven’t seen the video from the Apple keynote showing it in action check it out here. Because after seeing that the cogs in your mind will be moving, there are two things that make this particular iteration of the technology a true game-changer. First – look at it! The idea that from a tablet or a phone, that such an experience can be played out in real time is incredible. Especially the responsiveness of the events unfolding, how they adapt to the real world environment (see the guy jumping off the table). Second, when iOS 11 is released in Autumn (or the “The Fall” for you Americophiles) suddenly most iPhones and iPads overnight become Augmented Reality empowered devices. That’s a lot of people suddenly potential users of AR and the key to making something succeed is accessibility.

Imagine if TV Stations snatched Amazon’s idea of shopping and watching and then applied AR Kit? Picture the scene: You’re watching Love Island (you know you are) or some other highbrow programming. Someone is wearing a jacket or skirt that you like. Imagine then being able to hold up a phone and have an app interact with your TV and pull out all the items of clothing that you can then sort through and buy?

The scale of AR keeps going up, imagine you’re a Production company and you want to mock-up sets, lighting and studios? Just do it in AR first, save yourself valuable time on set and get it right when you’re there. Top Stuff.

3. The Drum and Facebook Telling You TO GO OUTSIDE.

Let’s be clear: we all spend too much time in the office. We just do. It’s not always the most fruitful thing when it comes to re-generating your creative energy. When we say “Creativity” we don’t mean artistry, creativity is creating solutions to problems, fusing old ideas to make something new – to create something. It is the lifeblood of agencies and the key to top performance in almost any industry. After Facebook (under the Instagram flag) started talking about how creatives could bring some more inspiration to their ecosystem. The Drum asked these people about what they did to re-charge their creative muscle.

The article is interesting enough but it taps into a salient point. Spending time doing something you like makes your work better, it’s a simple equation. One that we should value.