There’s definitely a lot of future tech thinking in this video that we’ve seen before. But what really intrigues me is who the video was produced by - Corning. Not really familiar with the company, but they seem to be looking to shift perceptions of the company - Corningware (for your kitchen) or geeks in lab coats vs. the company that’s bringing you the kitchen of the future … and beyond.
Interesting approach in making technology “invisible” with mostly translucent interfaces throughout the video. Feels both high-tech and unobtrusive.
They might have thought about putting a little of that UI love into their 1990’s style website though.
I was impressed on day one with the demo I saw of Windows Phone 7. One of the biggest accomplishments was the execution of a brief that, I could only imagine, said “I can’t look like the iPhone”. In so many ways the UI is the antithesis of the iPhone, yet just as beautiful and fluid in its own way.
And while I haven’t been impressed with the on-air spots to promote the phone - they did do a great job of distilling down a way to position the product in a consumer marketplace that doesn’t know what to make of any smartphone that isn’t the iPhone: a fast phone let’s you get back to what’s important in life. They’ve had banner ads that challenge you to literally compare your phone’s speed to Win Phone 7. And then there’s the commercial below that talks about the efficiency of the UI.
Then along comes their most recent spot (above). You can feel the pull of Apple with the focus on the product. But unlike Apple’s straight-on shots of the phone, or more specifically the apps, this phone is floating through space, and is equal part apps and OS.
Their throwing a lot of stuff at the wall right now to see what sticks. It will be interesting to see what does.
And the company to be the first to jump into the ring with the iPad is BlackBerry!?
In viewing the above video I have to say that I was a bit surprised and impressed with the snippets of the UX. Yes, it is very Apple - but there are worse criticisms out there for a 1.0 product release.
It will be interesting to see if they get any real momentum on this product. My feeling is no. But not because it doesn’t look like a great product. I think BlackBerry’s biggest challenge is their brand. In the public’s eye they are largely perceived as an enterprise (or business) brand. They’ve spent millions of dollars trying to change that perception with their Apple-esque “Love what you do” platform. Was I the only one that felt the disconnect there?
And then there’s the advantage that Apple has on everyone with a robust app ecosystem.
The exciting thing for me is to see another player putting a solid product out there. Hopefully heating up the competition will accelerate innovation in the tablet space.
According to the Financial Times Kodak has gone through the most radical business transformation in history.
Here’s a company snapshot to give you an idea:
Company employees 1988: 145,000
Company employees today: less than 20,000, 60% of which are new in the past 4 years
19 products drive almost all the company’s revenue, 11 of them are digital
Half of these products didn’t exist 2 years ago
In this video CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett is very open about the rapid pace and in-flux state of their brand transformation.
I have to say that I love this guy. In a very entertaining and humorous way he highlights the company bottlenecks that have them producing break-through products with meaningless names (i.e. Zi8).
In my opinion Hayzlett’s energy is just what this company needs if they’re ever to become a household name again. Seems like a great client to work for.
AOL CEO Tim Armstrong introduces the new AOL brand identity to employees in this video. The brand is supposed to officially launch in December.
There’s a few interesting treatments in there, but there’s also quite a bit that feels lackluster and stock. As far as employee communications go, I hope this was broadcast with some other supporting documentation, as all this video really says is “hey, we’ve got a new brand identity”.
I’m interested to see if this identity feels as dynamic in the places that it’s going to live the most: the upper left corner of their digital properties.