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.

Projection Mapping has recently become one of the most effective and popular methods used in advertising to instantly attract consumers towards a brand, like BMW, Ralph Lauren and Samsung. It enables digital designers and architects to map sphere surface technology (projected images) onto three-dimensional objects, such as buildings and sculptures.

To achieve a successful projection, you first need to ensure that there are no trees surrounding the building. Sounds obvious, but you will be surprised by the amount of companies that create incredible moving motion pieces, only to be stumped by a tree that gets in the way. The next stage is to position the projector in the best possible location, ensuring that the selected point remains constant throughout testing and when executing the final show. Once the position has been marked, one can then create the initial grid using horizontal and vertical lines within Adobe Photoshop, before blocking out appropriate areas with easily identifiable colours. Then, in my opinion, the hard work begins.

Transfer the Photoshop image as a JPEG into 3D Max, positioning the plane at 0, 0, 0. Then set the render dimensions to coincide with the plane and final projected image size. Once this is achieved, one can create a targeted camera that can be positioned at the image plane’s origin, before setting the safe frames within the camera view. The camera can then be carefully pulled back so that the edge of the frame matches that of the plane.

After the camera has been locked, model backwards from the image plane before setting the appropriate lighting rig. As a result, one can experiment with transformations, material effects, dynamic animations and rendering, bringing the model to life.

Lastly, remember to save it as a video file, align with the projector and enjoy watching people’s extraordinary expressions as they stare in owe at what you have created. Sounds simple? It is! Though it can take time and definitely requires a wad of cash to get the ball rolling, hence is it really worth it?

In my opinion, projection mapping seems to be used left, right and centre at the moment, meaning that very few actually stand out against the crowd. Nevertheless, two are worth a mention; Ralph Lauren for classically introducing 4D into the notion, using smell to engage with consumers and Hyunda, who combined 3D projection with physical products (car and driver) to transcend the medium into a much more significant form of engagement for consumers. So where will it go from here?

Midlands-based Alison Smith of Pesky People and Birmingham’s ClustaLabs have emerged from an exceptionally strong field of creative businesses and developers as winners of Nokia’s Pitch ‘n’ Win mobile app development competition. Following an initial written application process that attracted entries from across the UK, teams behind the eight strongest ideas were invited to an exclusive one day event at Birmingham’s Zellig building at the Custard Factory, featuring top level speakers from Nokia and international creative agency, Wieden + Kennedy.
 
After keynote speeches from international guests including Nokia’s Head of Content and Partnerships, Keith Varty, and Wieden + Kennedy’s Interactive Creative Director, Andy Cameron, the eight teams each pitched their ideas to an expert panel, who were then faced with the difficult decision of picking just one winner. In fact, the quality of ideas presented was so strong that the judges ended up picking two.

Talking after the event, Nokia’s Keith Varty said "The panel was blown away by the breadth and quality of ideas presented at the Pitch ‘n’ Win event in Birmingham; we look forward to working with Pesky People and Clusta to deliver truly innovative apps for Nokia smart phones."

Birmingham’s ClustaLabs presented a groundbreaking app idea capitalising on Nokia’s exciting developments with NFC technology (Near Field Communication). This proved an irresistible proposal for Nokia, who decided to present a second award with an offer to take the app into further development. ClustaLabs’ Innovations Manager, Chris Harkin, said “Clusta was delighted to attend The Nokia Pitch ‘n’ Win event in Birmingham. We were proud to be announced as the winners and are now eager to continue our relationship with Nokia. As a leader in digital advertising, we understand the potential of designing NFC Apps for Nokia and hope that our concept will become a unique feature within Nokia’s Store. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and are very much looking forward to seeing how this project continues to evolve over time.”

Presenting the awards, Nokia’s Head of Developer Relations, Greg Merten, said “Alison’s Go Genie app will be a great example of ‘connecting people’ through innovation. We are also excited about developing Clusta’s innovative NFC app, and look forward to seeing both apps available to Nokia smart phones owners.” For further information, please visit: http://goo.gl/bo8Pl