Keeping up with Generation A : Two current mobile trends - dual screening and clickable things

Summary

This paper discusses and provides examples of two current mobile trends: 'dual screening' and 'clickable things'. Dual screening describes the increasing number of people (80%, according to some research) who use mobile devices whilst watching TV. It will be a strong tool for broadcasters and brands, particularly around narrative-driven, immersive drama and other genres such as reality, comedy and sports. For example, the free NHL pre-play app allows TV viewers to play along with a game by making live predictions. 'Clickable things' (related to the idea of the 'internet of things') enables the use of mobiles to 'click' images and objects in the real world. An example is Tesco's clickable store front in the South Korean Metro, in which consumers are able to shop for home delivery groceries by simply clicking pictures of grocery items on the Metro wall. Technology is not far away from allowing mobiles to recognise 3D objects, which will open up new opportunities.

There's plenty of speculation on where technology may be taking us in the future. But there are two significant mobile trends that are happening right now, pretty much everywhere in the world: 'dual-screening' and what could be called 'clickable things'. How should brands be responding?

Dual screening

Dual-screening has been going on for a long time. One could argue that it dates back to days of black-and-white TV when people would chat on the phone while watching a show. With the rise of connected devices, we have seen a huge increase in internet searches driven by TV. Google has published plenty of data showing huge spikes in search terms during popular TV shows or ads. One study shows that today, 80% of respondents are mobile multitasking while watching TV.

So why are we not taking more notice of what is probably the biggest consumer trend since the emergence of the web? Brands have taken the first step; many no longer put their web URL on ads, replacing it with the line 'search for Volvo'. Perhaps soon this will be replaced with something like 'Shazam now for a 3D test drive on your iPad'. (Shazam, an app that started off as a name-that-tune service, now recognizes ads by their soundtrack and allows consumers to access more information on the brand, plus coupons and discounts. According to reports in the US, up to one-third of the 2012 Super Bowl ads were Shazam-able.)

A few years ago people started supplementing the old-style TV-plus-telephone-conversation with Facebook posts and then Twitter messages. Today people have an array of apps at their disposal to use while watching TV. People still like to connect with friends while watching a TV show - especially if they are not able to come round to watch it together - and social apps are facilitating that connection. Some research from Deloitte (August 2012) confirms this:

• Nearly half of all 16-24-year-olds use messaging, email, Facebook or Twitter to discuss what they are viewing on TV.
• Voice conversations remain powerful distractions - 80% talk to other people in the same room while watching TV.

But what is a brand's role in this? Is there more that it can do? How can we work with dual screening in a way that people will love?

There are several examples of brands that have tried to respond to this. Mobile agency XS2 worked with broadcaster Channel 5 in the UK on a promotion for The Gadget Show. The result was a dual-screening broadcast experience. This work offers the audience a lot more if they watch the show while using the iPad app at the same time. An audio cue at the beginning of the online version of the show tells the app that the TV show is at the right point for the dual-screening experience.

Viewers of the mobile experience could use their phone to turn around and see what was going on behind the TV cameras, above them or anywhere off-screen. Specially scripted scenes and action was happening all around the studio exclusively for the mobile viewers. Directional movement of the mobile device resulted in synchronized movement from the 360-degree TV cameras - the viewer could look anywhere around the studio along a horizontal and vertical axis.

In this case the scriptwriter, director, set designer and presenters have all put dual screening (and, with this example, a 360-degree mobile experience) at the heart of the broadcast. This is where brands can really do great things. Imagine how a TV show would be scripted if the audience could move the camera around themselves? They can look up, down, left, right and see everything. The storyline, script, the set design - everything - opens up for more interesting storytelling.

Another example is the companion app to TV show The Walking Dead, called 'Walkers Kill Count'. This is not a 360-degree film experience, but it does offer a wider element to the show. The dual-screening app keeps track of events within the show by using audio watermarks. It's a zombie drama and we have protagonists killing zombies with various weapons. Each time a zombie is killed, the iPad responds, keeping track of weapons used and the protagonist's progress. Viewers are invited to participate more closely with the storyline by predicting the kills/outcome.

The goal of the app was to deepen the audience's engagement and build buzz for The Walking Dead's second season on UK channel FX. Redbee Media, the company that made the app, cited a YouGov poll from October 2011 that showed that more than three-quarters of UK viewers are now using other devices while watching TV.

It is clear that 'dual screening' will be a strong tool for broadcasters and brands - especially when it comes to narrative-driven, immersive drama. Audiences are using other devices, but the main screen experience is what makes the work so successful.

Certain programming genres lend themselves to dual screening of this kind. The main categories that might get us reaching for our iPad would be reality, drama news, comedy, sports and food. There is much more to come, other recent examples are listed below - watch this space.

Some other examples:

• NHL: The free NHL PrePlay app allows TV viewers to play along with a game by making live predictions on the action.
• Celebrity Apprentice: Interactivity, social game mechanics, community sharing, and e-offers in the form of real-time digital coupons and currency from major TV advertisers.
• New Girl (sitcom): interact in real-time with the show and earn badges by watching and answering trivia.
• Million Pound Drop: first mobile play-along app in the UK, boosting the second-screen credentials of its gameshow The Million Pound Drop.

 

Clickable things

The 'internet of things' has been talked about for many years. In fact, the term was first coined back in 1999.

A few years ago, the latest advances in making the real world 'clickable' came from image recognition. Six years ago, I the first image recognition campaign launched using UK outdoor media, and a drive to promote the film Mr Bean's Holiday. The campaign used an image recognition algorithm - which some said had been invented for the Bush administration to identify people's faces in airports - to map Mr Bean's face, which was plastered all over outdoor posters in and around London. People were then invited to take a 'snap' of the post and send it in via MMS. The system would then recognize the image and respond with entertaining ringtones, recorded by the film's star, Rowan Atkinson.

The technology has advanced dramatically. We are almost at the point where computer vision can recognize objects. It is infinitely more difficult for an algorithm to recognize a car than a flat poster. Imagine how many angles it must understand. It is even more difficult at a time when cars bear so many similarities. Still, this kind of stuff is coming pretty soon.

Back to today. For a great example of clickable things', see Lego's product 'Life of George'. It is a game which is all about using the mobile (or iPod Touch) to 'click' on the Lego model you have made in order to proceed. 'George' asks you to make a simple Lego model, say a car. Then he starts the clock. You must build the car, grab your phone and 'snap' it with the camera within the app. The technology recognizes if you made it correctly and how long it took you. If you do it quickly you get more points. It's the perfect vehicle for a little father-son competition.
There are countless examples of 'clickable things' today. Tesco's clickable store front in the South Korean Metro is already well known.

It is incredible because the 'mobile clickability' transforms a large poster site (in the metro) to a real-life grocery store. While people are waiting for the train they can 'click' on groceries and have them delivered home. The best part is that the posters look exactly like the shelves of the store. (This work uses QR codes for the 'click' bit - not image recognition or computer vision.)

I used to call this 'real world connection', but it now goes much further. How will this 'internet of things' evolve? It follows that digital objects and machines will be controllable from various locations by 'clicking'. And as gadgets such as Microsoft's Kinect put 3D scanning technology in people's homes, maybe one day robots will do the clicking for us.