The Mobile World Congress took to Los Angeles this week, gathering together the wireless industry: network operators, software companies, manufacturers and creative partners. The focus on this year’s event was intelligent connectivity, and how 5G is set to bridge together several innovations (like big data, AI, the internet of things and extended reality) to reinvent the way we interact with content and each other, both in our professional and daily lives.

In his keynote kicking off the event, GSMA Director General Mats Granryd identified several real-world impacts that 5G will offer. Mental health practitioners could provide at-home therapy to lonely patients via hologram, for example; colleagues could better collaborate with one another in real time from across the world, and students could “literally carry your classroom in your pocket” with experiences make a greater impact than a simple video recording of a lesson.

It’s the Year 5G Finally Gets Real

At a gathering of so many innovators and mobile operators, you get the sense that anticipation for “what’s next” is high. Technologists have waited years for 5G to grow out of its status as a buzzword and into an actual offering. With its rollout to select cities in the US, the promise of the ultra-fast connection is almost upon us, and a sense of excitement permeated the conference. In conversation with Meredith Atwell Baker (President and CEO, CTIA), Ken Meyers (President and CEO, US Cellular) contrasted this attitude with the jump from 3G to 4G. “We didn’t sit back and think, ‘Oh, look at the app-based economy right in front of us,’” he said.

But that’s what’s happening now. On the panel “New Marketing Strategies: How to Make Money with XR,” RYOT Head of Content Nigel Tierney mentioned how even with 5G on the horizon, there are still limitations to solve: “We’re at the crux of unlocking possibilities.” Silkie Meixner, Partner, Digital Business Strategy at IBM, likewise mentioned how the firm is working now to help clients prepare for a future that’s ripe with opportunity and is set to change the way they work. “There are already things we have to do with our clients to think 5 years out,” she said. “You have to take 5G as a given.”

Buying in on Big Bandwidth

So, what does the 5-year, 5G plan look like? The simplest way to envision a 5G-infused future is to consider the significant boost in bandwidth it will provide: it can reach speeds of up to 100x faster than 4G, which had previously made significant impact on services like streaming music and video years ago. And what 4G connectivity has done for video, 5G could do for emerging media, including cloud-based gaming (like Google’s upcoming Stadia gaming service) or streamable AR and VR.

In his keynote presentation, Viacom CEO Bob Bakish discussed how the multinational entertainment conglomerate is looking forward to a near-future of premium video content, enhanced with the power of 5G and integrated with related media and platforms. This would usher in an “era of advanced video experiences that will truly allow mobile to distinguish itself as an entertainment medium.” It would also encourage brands and content creators to consider the many contexts in which audiences will connect to their content: on a smartphone, in a driverless car or somewhere else.

Bakish mentioned how developing such content through new partnerships would help network operators differentiate themselves by leveraging their partners’ IP. We saw the strategy in action at this year’s Comic Con, where we helped AT&T launch a VR experience that let Batman fans fly through Gotham City. The experience’s presence at the conference instilled trust in AT&T’s ability to output the kind of content that audiences desire after its acquisition of Time Warner and DC Comics IP.

Extending Extended Reality Even Further

While the Batman experience was site-specific, 5G offers opportunity to enhance and scale up such experiences for mass audiences. One of the biggest challenges affecting AR and VR right now is that it’s not easily streamable; users must discover and download applications for fully-featured experiences, which is partly why the much more limited (yet accessible) camera filter has risen as the most popular and ubiquitous use of the technology.

But 5G can do away with those constraints. “More bandwidth means we can be more ambitious and artistic with the content we create,” says Olivier Koelemij, Managing Director of MediaMonks LA, who sat on the same panel. “A better, more immersive story means our strategies to amplify it will become more ambitious in lockstep.”

This means there’s opportunity for brands to relate with audiences through more sophisticated, shareable digital experiences. Tierney attributes failure to poor storytelling and lack of meaningfulness, citing a need for brands to integrate personalization and data into the creative process and delivery—basically, they need to be more purposeful in their ideation and delivery to provide resonant interactive experiences.

“We don’t suggest a technological approach because it’s the hot trend,” says Koelemij. “Our content and technology must be fit for format, purpose and consumer.” He suggests viewing any creative problem through a pragmatic lens. “You should ask questions like: is extended reality helping us deliver a stronger message here? How can we integrate other digital elements to do this?” The goal is to home in on the right approach for your business goals through data and KPIs, ultimately delivering an experience that resonates with consumers.

Meixner described how IBM employed such a strategy to develop a VR-enabled training experience. The B2B solution not only makes training faster and scalable by teaching trainees skills that they’d otherwise gain in a classroom—it also collects data through interactions like motion analysis, which could be used to optimize the tool or develop new ones. The strategy shows how innovations can be developed and optimized through practical, real-world data that empowers and educates.

It’s clear from this year’s conference that 5G isn’t just about connecting people to friends or family via a wireless handset. It’s about truly integrating all of the devices and touch points we interact with each day, enabling truly transformable and new interactions. As the technology begins to roll out, brands must be prepared to adopt it with a sense of purpose to offer audiences meaningful, impactful and differentiated experiences.

This week, Fast Company launched its annual Innovation Festival, featuring Fast Track sessions that take attendees behind the scenes and into the homes of some of the most innovative companies in New York City. Billed as “Fast Company’s unique take on the field trip,” Fast Track sessions engage brands and creatives through hands-on talks and experiences hosted by participating companies, including MediaMonks.

Our New York office opened the doors to the dojo, inviting brands into our home to discuss all things extended reality. In a panel session devoted to augmented reality and its application to music and entertainment, our Monks dove deep into the design and development process of Pharos AR—a mobile AR experience made in collaboration with Childish Gambino, Wieden+Kennedy, Unity and Google. Taking users on a cosmic journey set against an exclusive track from Childish Gambino, the app is notable for being the first multiplayer music video.

With a panel including Snider-Held (Creative Technologist, MediaMonks), Thomas Prevot (Senior Producer, MediaMonks) and Tony Parisi (Head of VR/AR Brand Solutions, Unity), the session served as a casual fireside chat. The conversation kicked off by establishing the state of VR and AR, often characterized by the conflicting feelings that VR is dead and that the clear use case for AR hasn’t yet been found. But both technologies are well established, each excelling in achieving different goals within different environments.

Showcasing our Batman experience as a strong example of the immersive powers of VR, Snider-Held noted that “These experiences are still very installation-based,” and that AR’s distribution through mobile offers the potential for greater reach with a simpler experience. In explaining the process of developing Pharos AR in particular, the group explored key considerations for challenges to consider when developing an extended reality experience.

AR Can Feel Real Without Being Photoreal

Constraint prompts creativity—an adage that applies just as well to AR as any other medium for art making. Because mobile AR experiences are designed for use across a variety of devices, they must be relatively lightweight to provide a smooth experience to the widest share of users. Failure to keep technical constraints at top of mind can instead result in a lagging, stuttering experience that breaks immersion.

While this is true for any digital experience, it’s especially true for AR, a medium which Parisi says aims to “intelligently interact with the real world.” This expectation to seamlessly integrate with the surrounding environment can make stuttering graphics stick out like a sore thumb. “You want to keep the frame rate above 30 frames per second,” says Snider-Held, “because the user will compare the motion on the screen with the action happening around them in reality.”

The trio took this challenge as an opportunity to discuss the highly stylized look achieved with Pharos AR. While a photorealistic graphics might be impractical for a mobile device to realistically render in real time, a stylized look presents the opportunity to differentiate your experience through a strategic choice in aesthetic; for Pharos AR, the team took visual inspiration from Childish Gambino’s laser-punctuated stage shows, ensuring the app’s look and feel naturally integrated with the rest of the artist’s visual brand.

“Stylistically, we were trying to remain within the constraints of mobile processing in a visually appealing way,” said Snider-Held. An example of this is the use of particle effects, in which sparkles of light coalesce into a ghostly image of Childish Gambino as he dances to the music, animated via motion capture. “This is the best example on why you don’t need to do photorealism,” Parisi said. “We were able to capture the essence of Donald, because it’s his dance.”

Carefully Plan the Narrative Environment

Extended reality experiences are interactive by nature, meaning they rely on a different approach than how you would plot out and plan more linear experiences. There’s a careful balancing act between giving users the reigns to explore on their own versus stringing them along a narrative thread. MediaMonks Founder and COO Wesley ter Haar notes that “Narrative UI is key for onboarding and guiding the user in an AR experience,” making it incredibly important that you plan out users’ interactions and use environmental cues to shape a narrative.

While Pharos AR begins and ends through open-ended user interaction, it still follows a clear narrative through the virtual performance of Childish Gambino’s single, “Alogrhythm.” In exploring the primary path through the experience, the team began planning it in storyboard form, much like you would make for a film. “This process not only serves as visual research, but also in briefing the animation team and envisioning how actions will play out in the user’s environment,” said Snider-Held.

That makes sense—but what sets storyboarding for AR or VR different than other forms of digital storytelling? Because users could play with the app in their homes, the team had to plan for other variables how large the virtual scene should be, and what actions would be possible for multiple users to make within a smaller environment—like the cramped living room of a New York apartment, to offer an example that the Fast Track attendees could relate to. The challenge demonstrates how important it is to map out the virtual scene for different scenarios and users.

An interesting insight uncovered in the panel was that the team didn’t just rely on visual methods of planning like maps and storyboards. Due to the nature of the background music building up as users explore the space around them, the team also developed a musical timeline that maps up how different interactions trigger the layering of the music. The step showcases how sensorial, environmental cues can shape the action within an immersive, extended reality experience.

Whether developing for VR or AR, extended reality experiences require developers to rethink the creative approach beyond the standard linear story. From considerations in setting, technical constraints and variations in number of users across platforms, extended reality development relies on a comprehensive understanding of the building blocks that make up a total user experience. Snider-Held capped off the session with an ambition on what MediaMonks aims to achieve with brands through such experiences: “We strive to further the use of the technology from impossible to probable, and experiment in how to further that, too.”

Granted, it’s been a while since I’ve been at the student’s end of a classroom, but I’d like to think I haven’t totally lost touch with my childhood education. And as much as I enjoyed being in school, my fondest memories—prior to discovering the internet—are probably those that were most hands-on.

Field trips and practical lessons gave me the chance to learn on my own terms. Rather than learning through the filter of others, these outings allowed me to create my own educational narrative and learn through first-hand experience—escaping the usual set up where you sat staring at a teacher as they talked at you from the front of the room.

However, since my earlier expeditions to the local science museum or treatment plant—yes, my school was very progressive—educational technology (edtech) has changed the game considerably. Smartboards (digital whiteboards), laptops, and smartphones have made their way into the classroom and the curriculum. And as with anything concerning children, this influx of technology in the classroom adds fuel to the fire of the helpful vs. harmful debate.

We have to deal with the fact that progress is inevitable. My parents for one, missed out on most of the digital revolution, leaving them oblivious to a lot of its benefits. Who would have expected that with just a smartphone and a selfie-stick, you can discover parts of life on earth that are otherwise invisible or out of reach? That’s the innovation that Google Expeditions, an educational tool launched in 2017, offers by showcasing the promising ways in which AR and VR can turn your average lesson into an extraordinary expedition.

While we might not be able to avoid progress, we can influence it by deciding how to expose future generations to innovative tech. What better place to start than by using innovative tech to take children to places beyond their wildest imagination—creating experiences that even field trips can’t match?

Back to the Chalkboard

I’ve never met anyone who learned to play football just by reading about Cruijff’s biggest feats alone or could ride a bicycle after watching Peter Sagan pull-off a winning sprint. If we want to develop certain skills and learn valuable lessons, we have to live them. And even though offline teaching increasingly revolves around exploration, there’s still a gap between many areas of applied learning and everyday practice.

Why not close the gap by using technological advancements to our advantage? By giving children access to experiences that are quite literally out of this world, we can further encourage the development of real-world skills—without having to leave the classroom. 

Others are taking note of this potential; investments dollars have risen in edtech over the years, with over $1.45 billion raised by US edtech startups in 2018—beating the $1.2 billion raised the year before. But that money is also going into fewer and fewer companies, demonstrating a need for edtech tools and startups to stand out with unique experiences and demonstrable educational results.

As this increasingly competitive environment matures, the winning edtech startups are those that provide differentiated experiences. They won’t use tech for tech’s sake, but will find the best medium for the message and iterate upon it. Sitting for hours on end scrolling through our feeds is not something you want to actively encourage, but exploring a virtual visualization of a DNA string is.

Designing these experiences requires educators to build an appetite to try new things and innovate—essentially, they must become students themselves, seeking out ways to innovate. A publisher can translate their book into a CD or internet portal, which might offer some interactivity and exploration, but that does little to make the lesson significantly more engaging or meaningful to a student. Instead, edtech requires an entirely new mentality around learning.

The Next Frontier  

It’s not just earthly life that’s suddenly at our fingertips thanks to new technical interfaces. VR offers the first real means of making “space travel” possible for everyone. The SPACEBUZZ project is something particularly close to my heart. TLDR: a real-life rocket pulls up to schools, virtually launching students into orbit.

While working on SPACEBUZZ, I got to see first-hand how an interactive VR experience can leave a lasting impression on developing minds and encourage curiosity. Guided by real-life astronaut André Kuipers (who helped develop a fact-based script and serves as Mission Commander in the experience), kids get to gear up and produce in a 15-minute space flight.

What really makes a difference is giving children the hands-on experience to learn. While children who watched just the VR flyover film were impressed by the view of earth from space, the students who experienced the onboarding mission first got into the mindset to better investigate and understand what they were seeing from the stellar view—like the visible effects of deforestation, air pollution and more. Similarly, the Lockheed Martin initiative, Field Trip to Mars, shows just how much influence a positive application of technology can have on the appetite for learning, bolstering a positive perception of digital experiences.

By embedding practical technology in the everyday lives of the next generation, in the right setting, we’ll not only see a continuation of positive technological experiences but also provide access to a broader educational experience. In addition to giving children a new perspective on the world around them, these digital experiences could inspire deep engagement with their passions across a variety of subjects, helping cultivate the next generation of scientists, teachers, astronauts, manufacturers and more. We could tailor parts of these experiences to speak to individual needs, because who knew that according to one study girls learn better from a virtual teacher while boys prefer tutoring from a drone?

The above gets at the heart of what makes edtech such a powerful tool: teach students in a scalable way that’s personalized to their individual learning styles. In a Medium post that serves as a primer to the different styles of personalized learning, the Office of Educational Technology within the US Department of Education defines personalized learning as “instruction in which the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized for the needs of each learner.” The key thing is that “learning activities are made available that are meaningful and relevant to learners, driven by their interests and often self-initiated,” and edtech offers an excellent opportunity to prompt that sense of exploration in students.

With this potential for individual enrichment, edtech doesn’t have to be limited to education throughout the formative years. Imagine what we could do if we applied the same theory throughout the entire educational infrastructure? In supporting lifelong learning, edtech could play a key role in training across disciplines, including fields in which the stakes are high, like in the medical industry, combat training or of course: space travel.

From digital experiences that inspire to the possibility of personalized courses and expert guidance based on personal data, edtech can set students up for a lifetime of learning, helping them discover and apply their passions to benefit society as a whole.

I might not be in formal education anymore, but I’m definitely still learning—and look forward to continue paying that experience forward to help tech users of any age better explore and relate to the world around them.

First, you feel a thrilling sense of weightlessness as you dive through the city skyline, watching skyscrapers pass you by. But the exhilarating skydive takes a harrowing turn when you spot your target: the Scarecrow, who’s wreaking havoc throughout Gotham City by spreading his trademark toxic fear gas.

As you cut through a gas cloud, your vision becomes clouded: villains from the Batman universe begin to surround you as buildings come crashing down. As you glide through the increasingly abstract and crumbling city, can you catch the villain in time?

This isn’t your typical skydiving experience. It’s just one part of the Batman Experience, powered by AT&T at Comic-Con, celebrating the character’s 80th anniversary and induction into the Comic-Con Character Hall of Fame. The activation made such an impression that Wired said it “soars—while others fall flat,” while the New York Times called Batman and AT&T “a new dynamic duo.” But how exactly does such a heroic tale come to be?

Every Kid’s Dream: Be Batman

In a recent SoDA Report On Trends in AR, VR and Mixed Reality, MediaMonks Creative Technologist Samuel Snider-Held writes: “[AR and VR are] no longer the shiny, new thing it once was, and brands can’t blame a subpar experience on experimentation, either.” Rather than chase the appearance of innovation, he says, brands must closely consider “how a given touchpoint impacts the broader customer experience” and design the offering around that. The VR segment of the Batman Experience achieves this by pairing the virtual scenario—gliding through the city to catch Scarecrow—with the weightlessness made possible by a skydiving wind tunnel.

We all know about Batman’s utility belt full of cutting-edge tools and equipment. This VR scenario lets everyday people experience what it’s really like to try out the kind of tech Bruce Wayne—Batman’s alter-ego—would use. But the immersion begins before participants put on the custom headset shaped like Batman’s iconic cowl, with an instructional safety video delivered by Lucius Fox, who supplies Batman with his equipment.

Contrasting the Batman Experience with other AR and VR activations that fell short of pushing the medium forward, Wired noted that AT&T’s stood out among others at Comic-Con this year: “At all of 77 seconds, it’s not long … But it’s also utterly unprecedented.” It didn’t take much time to make a powerful impact. The cinematic narrative thread throughout the experience, from onboarding to leaving, goes a long way in ensuring that participants are fully engrossed in the world of Gotham City.

The video briefing, for example, turns a boring safety regulation—required for these sorts of events—into an opportunity for storytelling. “We really wanted to immerse participants into the role of Batman in a full narrative sequence,” says Eric Shamlin, SVP Growth at MediaMonks, who collaborated with AT&T to bring the project to life. “Part of this idea was that Lucius would do the onboarding video to showcase a new adaptation of the bat suit, training them on how it’s used.”

Large-Scale Activations Still Benefit Smaller, Niche Audiences

The tech-infused experience showcases the strength of the telecom company’s network that powers many of the things that Comic-Con’s audience cares about: things like streaming movies or TV shows, online gaming experiences and more. By paying homage to 80 years of Batman in the opening of the Comic-Con Museum, AT&T pays respect to the franchises and characters that the corporation recently inherited in its acquisition of Time Warner.

The exhibit also gives attendees an idea of the partnership’s increased creative and production muscle. “The combination of the two companies was intended to create something new in the media industry,” writes the New York Times covering the exhibit. “A powerhouse that could reach millions of people through its vast distribution system of mobile devices and satellite networks, while also creating the content that will fill their screens.” Through an exhilarating cinematic activation, fans get a taste of the ways AT&T might bring its properties to life on and off the screen in the near future.

Following insights from this year’s Cannes International Festival of Creativity, Accenture Interactive highlighted the need for brands to “think small to launch big, going after enthusiasts in need. It’s a need for niche rather than mass.”

A dependable strategy, even with large-scale activations like this one, is to start small by first targeting niche audiences by delivering the experiences they crave. While superheroes aren’t necessarily a niche interest these days—they continue to dominate in box office sales, and Batman himself is one of DC’s most popular characters—it’s worth noting that San Diego Comic-Con’s audience makes up some of the most passionate fans of comic culture.

And while the superhero-loving audience may be growing, it’s also a skeptical one, highlighting the importance in delivering exceptional creative to those ends. “AT&T might be viewed by some as a heavy-handed corporate voice,” says Shamlin, “but they’re successfully navigating how to leverage the very significant pop culture icons they’ve come to control to make themselves more approachable to a very discerning audience.”

Ensuring an Experience for Everyone

The team knew that not everyone attending the museum would have the chance to try out the VR experience that stole the show. “We didn’t want those who missed a chance to try the skydiving experience to feel they missed out, so we designed the entirety of the activation to be fun and shareable,” said Shamlin. The multi-layered activation made full use of the Comic-Con Museum, bringing attendees the chance to engage with the Batman universe in a variety of ways.

This included a Bat Cave, built by MediaMonks, where attendees could play through an archive of Batman video games. We also developed a training room filled with punching bags featuring portraits of villains from the franchise. As you punch the bags, light projections dynamically fill the walls with comic panels and onomatopoeia (“Pow! Wham!”) that let you feel like you’re in a comic book—or the campy Batman TV series from the 60s. Throughout the museum, attendees could pause to snap a selfie with a variety of props from Batman movies, including costumes and the iconic Batmobile.

Pulling all of this off was a heroic effort in itself, requiring the alignment of several parties: AT&T and its agency The Collective; Comic-Con, including the group managing the Comic-Con Character Hall of Fame; and the city of San Diego itself, who issued the required permits for hosting the massive stage for the skydiving experience. “Our activation was just one part of a larger one within the museum,” said Shamlin. “There was an incredible amount of coordination and back-and-forth communication.”

From aligning a diversity of experiences to getting several partners (and fans) on the same page, an exhibit on the level of the Batman Experience is a huge undertaking. But together, the multiple layers of the activation culminate in a rich, accessible exploration of Batman, his history and his cultural impact over the decades—a recognition that the character doesn’t need, but certainly deserves.

Con un ritmo de cambios en la tecnología cada vez más acelerado y con plataformas nuevas que surgen igual de rápido, puede ser difícil para los negocios adaptarse. En vez de reinventar la rueda, las marcas con historia deberían esmerarse por ser ellas mismas.

Cuando se trata de transformación digital, las marcas con historia están en una posición particularmente difícil: deben considerar cómo proveer experiencias nuevas e innovadoras y, al mismo tiempo, conservar el carácter, la imagen y la relación con el cliente que han funcionado tan bien hasta ahora. En algunos casos, estándares de marca muy rígidos y la resistencia interna hacia el cambio pueden afectar la relación de los clientes hasta con las marcas más queridas. Entonces, ¿cómo hace uno para invertir en transformación digital sin perder eso que lo hace tan único y exitoso?

Prestar atención a las necesidades de los clientes y cómo satisfacerlas.

El primer paso para adoptar una estrategia digital es mantener el foco en el cliente. ¿Cómo pueden las plataformas digitales agregar valor para ellos más allá de tu IP y tus productos existentes? ¿Cuáles de las necesidades de tus clientes no están siendo satisfechas teniendo en cuenta los canales que tienes hoy a tu disposición? Además de poner el foco en los hábitos y las necesidades de los clientes, deberías fijarte en la competencia en cuanto a inspiración y puntos de referencia, y también para ver dónde están las posibilidades. ¿Existe alguna manera de que puedas proveerles una experiencia aún mejor?

Cuando te imaginas la experiencia que quieres darles a tus clientes, evita un error común que muchas marcas cometen: la suposición de que la transformación digital sólo significa un sitio web o una app llamativos. En realidad, la transformación digital es un proceso multifacético que va a requerir que reestructures el modo en que llevas a cabo el negocio. Así que más allá de invertir en un sitio web nuevo o en una experiencia en una app, necesitarás un enfoque mucho más integrado en cuanto a cómo tu mensaje central se puede amplificar a lo largo de varios puntos de contacto, medios y otros modos de comunicación. Esto también significa reestructurar tu equipo un poco. Un ejemplo de los cambios que podrías implementar incluye fusionar tus equipos de marketing e IT para asegurar una experiencia de usuario más fluida en la web.

Usa tu estatura a tu favor—pero no le temas al cambio.

Es difícil romper con los viejos hábitos, pero las marcas con historia tienen una ventaja sobre las nuevos: décadas de relevancia cultural y la confianza de los consumidores, dos elementos a los que pueden recurrir cuando se imponen en un espacio digital. Por ejemplo, una de las marcas de juguetes más icónicas de todos los tiempos: LEGO. Cuando la atención de los niños se desplazó desde los juguetes físicos hacia los smartphones y iPads, LEGO no iba a desaparecer sin dar pelea. La gran amenaza de los medios digitales no pudo con el legado de LEGO. Al contrario, el fabricador danés de juguetes decidió seguir las tendencias e invertir fuertemente en apps, videojuegos y películas. El esfuerzo de la transformación digital tuvo tanto éxito que hoy se lo denomina el “Apple de los juguetes”.

Niels B. Christiansen, CEO de LEGO, mencionó en el reporte “LEGO Play Well” de 2018 que “los niños de hoy están mezclando sin esfuerzo lo que es real y lo que es virtual, reinventando el juego de una manera que la gente de mi generación jamás se podría haber imaginado”. Eso también inspiró a la marca a borrar esas líneas entre las experiencias físicas y digitales. “Nosotros, en LEGO, estamos abiertos a esa fluidez en el juego”, agregó la CMO de LEGO, Julia Goldin, “y queremos tener un rol más grande en el desarrollo del niño” tanto online como offline.

La sofisticación de LEGO en plataformas digitales culminó con Nexo Knights, una franquicia de juguetes diseñados para retener la atención de los niños a través de un ecosistema entero de experiencias y medios que incluyen una serie de TV, una app, una experiencia de realidad virtual y un juego en la web. Esta vigorosa campaña introdujo a los niños al mundo de la series de juguetes – pero aún con todo el énfasis puesto en el juego de realidad virtual y la app móvil, el foco seguía estando en las cajas de los coloridos bloques de plástico dentro de las cuales los niños podían meter sus manos.

Algunas cosas simplemente no se replican digitalmente, según Sander van der Vegte, director de MediaMonks Labs. “Desde la sensación de los bloques hasta el sonido del click que hacen al unirse”, hay muchos elementos físicos propios del querido bloque de juguete que harían que fuera imposible reemplazar el aspecto físico del juego. La gran pregunta a considerar con la transformación digital es cómo lo digital puede aumentar la experiencia o eso que la gente ya ama de tu marca.

Descubre cómo construimos bloque por bloque el lanzamiento de Nexo Knights.

No te aferres a los modelos de negocio con legado, sino mejóralos de una forma inteligente.

Aferrarse a un modelo de negocio con legado puede ser un suicidio en un ambiente de hábitos cambiantes de consumo. Las empresas que se adelantan al proceso de transformación digital pueden priorizar herramientas, plataformas y las características que encajan dentro de su modelo de negocios existente en vez de intentar reinventar la rueda o negarse a la ola de cambios en las necesidades de los consumidores.

Un aspecto de la campaña de Nexo Knights que no deberíamos pasar por alto es que invita a los consumidores a ir y explorar los negocios físicos de LEGO en varios modos diferentes—aún a sabiendas de que la mayoría de las ventas de juguetes se dan en internet, no fuera de ella. Lo que parece una mala idea dio resultados para la marca. Una clave de la campaña es la experiencia de realidad virtual de Nexo Knights que deja que las personas entren, literalmente, en el mundo del IP en el momento que entran en un negocio de LEGO. Luego de que conocieran el producto, los niños podían encontrar recompensas en los locales que podían escanear en la app de Nexo Knights, aumentando su experiencia digital con visitas a los locales físicos. Con las dos herramientas, la marca utilizó la tecnología digital para fortalecer el negocio físico y animar a los niños a ver los productos en persona. ¿Quién dijo que las ventas en persona se habían acabado?

La transformación digital definitivamente puede ser intimidante—te obliga a mirar la manera en que formas relaciones con los consumidores y puede también afectar tu producto. Pero adoptar una estrategia digital no tiene por qué resultar en una crisis de identidad. A veces, la mejor estrategia es ser tú mismo.

With an ever-quickening rate of technological change and new platforms emerging just as fast, it can be tough for businesses to adapt. Rather than reinvent the wheel, legacy businesses should strive to be themselves.

When it comes to digital transformation, legacy businesses are in a uniquely tight spot: they must consider how to provide new, innovative experiences while retaining the character, image and customer relationship that have worked so well thus far. In some cases, rigid brand standards and internal reluctance to change can squander customers’ relationship with even beloved brands. So how does one invest in digital transformation without losing what made them unique and successful? 

Take stock of customers’ needs and how you can meet them.

The first step in adopting a digital strategy is to keep a customer-centric focus. How can digital platforms add value for them on top of your existing IP and products? Which of your customers’ needs are unmet given the channels that are available to you today? In addition to focusing on customer habits and needs, you should keep an eye on competition for inspiration, benchmarks and to see where possibilities lie. Are there any ways you can provide an even better experience than them?

When envisioning the experience that you want to give customers, avoid a common pitfall that befalls some brands: the dubious assumption that digital transformation solely involves a flashy site or app. In fact, digital transformation is a multifaceted process that will require you to restructure the way you do business. So rather than just invest in a new website or app experience, you’ll need a much more integrated approach to how your core message is amplified across several touchpoints, media and other messaging. This also means restructuring your team a bit. One example of changes you might implement includes marrying your marketing and IT teams to ensure a smoother user experience on the web.

Use your stature to your advantage—but don’t be afraid of change.

Old habits die hard, but legacy businesses have one advantage over newer ones: decades of cultural relevance and consumer trust that they can draw upon when asserting themselves in a digital space. Take, for example, one of the most iconic toy brands of all time: LEGO. When children’s attention shifted from physical toys to smartphones and iPads, LEGO wasn’t going to go down without a fight. The big, bad wolf of digital media failed to huff, puff and blow the LEGO-brick house down. Instead, the Danish toymaker chose to follow the wind and invest heavily in apps, videogames and film. The digital transformation effort has proved so successful that it’s today regarded as the “Apple of toys.”

Niels B. Christiansen, LEGO CEO, mentioned in the LEGO Play Well Report 2018 that “today’s children are seamlessly merging what’s real and what’s virtual, reinventing play in ways people of my own generation could never have envisioned.” This inspired the brand to similarly blur the lines between physical and digital experiences. “We at LEGO are embracing that fluidity in play,” added LEGO CMO Julia Goldin, “and we want to have a bigger role in a child’s development” both online and off.

LEGO’s sophistication in digital platforms culminated in Nexo Knights, a toy franchise designed to hold children’s attention across an entire ecosystem of experiences and media including a TV series, a mobile app, retail VR experiences and a web game. The robust campaign introduced children to the world of the toy series—but even with the bells and whistles of a VR game and mobile app, the focus was still on the boxes of brightly colored, plastic bricks that kids could dive their fists into.

Some things simply aren’t replicated digitally, according to Sander van der Vegte, Head of Labs at MediaMonks Labs. “From the feeling of the bricks to the sound of them clicking together,” there are many physical elements to the beloved brick toy that would make it impossible to replace the physical aspect of play. The big question to consider with digital transformation is how digital can augment the experience or thing that people already love about your brand.

See how we pieced together the Nexo Knights launch brick-by-brick.

Don’t cling to legacy business models, but enhance them in a smart way.

Clinging to a legacy business model can be suicide amidst changing consumer habits. Companies that are early in the digital transformation process can prioritize tools, platforms and features that fit within their existing business model rather than try to reinvent the wheel or deny the changing tide of customer needs.

One aspect of the Nexo Knights campaign that shouldn’t be overlooked is that it invites customers to visit and explore LEGO retail stores in a couple of different ways—despite the fact that most toy sales are happening online rather than off. What sounds like a bad idea has proven fruitful for the brand. A keystone of the campaign is the Nexo Knights VR experience, which lets customers literally step into the IP’s world as soon as they walk through the doors of a LEGO store. After they became acquainted with the product, children were able to find power ups at stores that they could scan into the Nexo Knights app, enhancing their digital experience with in-store visits. With both assets, the brand leveraged digital tech to enhance brick-and-mortar retail and to encourage kids to see the products in-person. Who said retail was dead?

Digital transformation can certainly be intimidating—it forces you to take a long, hard look at the way you form relationships with customers and can even cannibalize your product. But adopting a digital strategy doesn’t have to result in an identity crisis. Sometimes the best strategy is to be yourself.