The internet, in all its myriad forms, has been touted as the ultimate measurable medium. However, the digital landscape and indeed the entire consumer-to-advertiser relationship has changed so dramatically over the last couple of years that it has made it difficult for marketers and their agencies to accurately measure return on investment (ROI).

As with all emerging technologies, the return on investment (ROI) is a key guideline when considering an investment in digital advertising, as it enables companies the chance to balance the benefits of an investment against the overall costs associated with it, reducing room for error. In the case of digital advertising, this will largely depend of the brand’s main goal; increasing public awareness, profit or brand value.

This academic paper will break down the cause & effect procedure, using up-to-date motion capture techniques to visually explore the success of existing mediums against new innovations; reviewing campaign reach, profit & accreditation. From a brand’s prospective; should they be spending their budgets on traditional, yet safe above the line campaigns or opt for riskier, potential more expensive digital executions? We are always asked this question by our brands!

Alongside three of Clusta’s most prestigious brands; BCU & ClustaLabs will create a reliable testing procedure to review exactly what success is (per medium) and state potential areas of investment in the future.

Make sure you check into our blog and twitter site (@ClustaLabs) on a regular basis to review our findings.

Where do you look when you are on a plane, a bus, in a car or even walking down a street? Do you even notice what is going on around you? New adverts, buildings and shops are constantly popping up everywhere, but do you care or even pay attention?

In a brief discussion with BCU University, it soon dawned on us that there is no clear way of accessing whether social media, online & offline advertising, actually affects the decision-making process. Hence, can pre-digital campaigns really affect future purchasing decisions? How can we prove this?

Over the next six months, ClustaLabs will be testing this notion, with the help of Birmingham City University. We will be presenting our findings online, to our brands and through academic sessions, which you are all welcome to attend. So keep checking in and feel free to email us, if there is anything else that you would like us to review.

When I say the words ‘deep thinker’, what springs to mind? Dolphins? Probably not, but these creatures can tell us a thing or two about how we might communicate with one another & with animals in the future, and when I say future, I mean within the next ten years. These clever things have developed an extensive communications system that doesn’t rely on technology; they don’t even use Facebook!

We are always talking about the possibility of living within a parallel universe, yet could this actually be with animals, rather than with ourselves. This might explain why we feel so close to our pets, I mean, take dolphins for example. Mothers look after their young before they are old enough to leave the nest; the same can be said for dolphins & even elephants. When we leave our parents, we stay in contact by telephone, whereas dolphins use signature whistles; we both even call each other by our names.

Hence, wildlife demonstrates that parallel communication can evolve in the unlikeliest of places, yet until recently, it has been confined per specie, compared to one another. Nevertheless, Louis Herman’s recent research from the University of Hawaii has highlighted that this might change within the next few years.

In 2010, Louis Herman realised that dolphins processed information in a similar way to human beings, resulting in strong memories that can differentiate between sounds and tone. Through a series of test, Louis found that 70% of Dolphins could correctly identify whether they had previously heard a sound track or not. Therefore if they could recognise sentences expressed within music, then what about in normal conversation? The results are still out, but this will not stop me getting excited about the prospect of having a civilised conversation with a dolphin, the next time I am lying on a beach in the Bahamas.

Currently, people are becoming increasingly tired of their mobile phones, as they are constantly looking out for something new. Recently, scientists have introduced gesture navigation into the mix, meaning that people no longer need to use their fingers to select buttons or send a text; they don’t even have to come into contact with the phone!

The University of Tokyo in 2010 proposed a vision-based interface for mobile devices, utilising a 3D motion tracking system that sensed human finger motion through a single camera. Since the fingerprints near the camera moved fastest in the image, a high frame-rate camera had to be implemented for stable tracking. The binarised 3D finger trip image could then be introduced using Luca-Kanade algorithm to estimate its 3D motion and posture, resulting in a contactless clicking method, similar to that of a computer mouse. Yet, strip this back and what you do you have? A micro-Kinect.

Patrick Baudisch, Professor of Computer Science at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Postdam, Germany and his research student, Sean Gustafson also seemed to come to a similar conclusion when they took this concept one step further, developing a series of mobile prototypes that removed the use of touch screens and keyboards altogether. Simply by attaching a video recorder and microprocessor to their clothes, hand gestures could then be recognised and converted into mobile actions, such as making a telephone call or scrolling through the internet.

With these in mind, will future mobile phone developments rely heavily on such products as the Microsoft Kinect or could it be that one day we actually get bored of gesture navigation altogether and refer back to the days of touch?

Graffiti is often used as tool of expression within Western Society. Since the beginning of time, it has been limited to walls of caves, train lines, buildings, but recently it has seen itself blown into the stratosphere with the likes of Banksy, Reverse Graffiti and digital advertising. Although some may argue that it cannot be categorised as graffiti, companies such like Chanel have embraced this art form, enabling consumers the chance to showcase creativity and communicate messages digitally, yet legally on the streets of New York, London and Paris.

Chanel arguably brought digital graffiti into the mainstream when they developed a ten foot high LED video wall that spanned 90 feet of the boutique’s façade on Wooster Street and 50 feet on Spring Street in New York; massive in the eyes of any advertising agency. The Graffiti Wall, which was used as an interactive application, consisted of a 23-foot wide expanse of video projection screen, onto which guest’s sprayed colourful digital video graffiti from elegant Chanel-branded cans. The central high-resolution core was comprised of 40 Barco Olite10 LED tiles, 380 MI Strips and a custom-fabricated steel chassis. As a result, Chanel was able to directly change people’s immediate perceptions based around the brand, encouraging them to enter into the store, whereas previously they may have felt like they would have been judged by their clothing or how much money they have.

Naturally graffiti is a great way of breaking down barriers, just check out Kinect’s Graffiti application, Graffiti Research Labs (Holland) 3D Projection Mapping and YrWall, who in particular, have made digital graffiti accessible to the masses, after there appearance on Dragons Den in 2010. Since then, they have developed customised interactive walls for Google, MTV, NatWest, Orange and Chevrolet, using infrared spray cans, yet where is this going? What place does graffiti have within our ever popular physical digital world?

Hektor Auto graffiti robot is a classic example of how digital advertising and graffiti can join together to form a powerful advertising campaign. As an interesting extension of the plotter concept, the robot moves around on a canvas, spraying paint to create a scene. Hektor’s light and fragile installation consists of only two motors, toothed belts and a can holder that handles regular spray cans. The can is then moved along a set drawing path, just like how an old plotter or human hand would. The result is something unique, engaging and interactive; just imagine this in your shop window.

Another application is Robotagger, an assistive tool for taggers working in harsh environments, providing long-needed relief for graffiti artists with RSI. The application has the potential to be used in-store to showcase latest twitter updates, like the Talay Robot from Sony, brand messages and even drawings of the latest fashion trends, taking it a step further than Nordstrom successful interactive installation in Seattle 2011. Here several Kinect cameras were installed to allow those walking by the opportunity to play with light and interact with their window display, simply by moving their hands. Viewers were only able to draw simple images and write messages, however maybe this could develop into a way of getting consumers to design the backdrops of retailer’s window displays or give feedback on what they are seeing on the mannequins?

Hence, the origins of graffiti are still relevant within today’s digital society; to communicate feelings, messages and stories to other people, therefore is graffiti advertising and if so, how will the relationship between the two evolve over the next few decades? I can’t wait to find out.