Let's Get Physical?
Projects that translate digital content into something physical (combining the ease of the former with the tangibility of the latter) are all the rage in the marketing world. They speak to some basic human needs for tactility and possession and are a reaction to the increasing virtuality of many people's lives.
While I love the whole idea of this Nike project and its modernisation of the age-old tradition of chalking messages on the Tour de France road, I'm not sure it is physical enough. If yours is one of the 100,000 messages, what is the likelihood of your seeing it? The race is, after all, nearly 2000 miles and three weeks long.
Obviously, a lot of these issues will have been addressed but, in the context of such a huge "tarmac "billboard", is it personal enough? Or is it simply physical?
posted by john dodds @ 10:59 PM
1 Comments:
As usual, the industry grabs onto a new idea even though what it actually is delivering is relatively small.
I'm sure they do this because they think associating with something innovative will help them be seen in the same light - even though in practical terms, the hype,scale and impact of the machine is far greater than any of the messages it can produce.
Is this a bad thing?
No ... and to the people who actually see the messages [be it things they did or not] I am sure it will have a positive effect ... but it'd be nice for a change if the industry made things happen that also achieved real scale rather than micro bursts that stand out mainly because of the PR campaign associated with them as well as the fact the rest of the industry is as boring as hell.
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