musical barcodes, interactive park benches, increased commuter status and rewarding to-do lists/a lounge group trend report on making the mundane fun

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This edition’s theme ‘making the mundane fun’ is all about adding unexpected interest to the day-to-day and making the less fun parts of our lives more enjoyable. This month The Lounge examines the increase in products, services and experiences that aim to make the everyday exceptional. After all, it’s not what you do but how you do it…

Lounge view/EpicWin leverages the fact that the digital native generation are used to processing information via ‘gamification’. The app uses the same mechanic to help solve real-life needs. Rather than just mentally ticking of a task list, the use of a points based system and game-play language appeals to this group’s need for further incentives.

Digital/Win epic status and rewards with your to-do-list

To-do lists. Everyone has one, many people even enjoy making them, but few of us actually enjoy the process of doing all the activities listed on them. Putting it simply: boring chores just aren’t fun. The EpicWin app aims to change that by converting your to-do list into a role playing game (RPG).EpicWin allows you to select a character and begin questing. You add tasks, which can be anything from washing the dishes to finishing an application form, and then set them an appropriate number of ‘epic points’ depending on how labour intensive the task is. Once a task is completed you are awarded the points and advance on your journey, diversifying your tasks helps you to level up. As the game makers state: What are you waiting for? Start getting things done!

©2011 The Lounge Group / theloungegroup.com

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Lounge view/OMO differentiates itself from other washing powders with a stunt that gets people talking and drives WOM. The simple but clever design maximises the opportunity for reinforcement of the product benefit using a ‘smile in the mind’ mechanic to elevate an everyday product into something with personality.

Marketing/The power of OMO

To demonstrate the power of OMO washing powder the brand transformed napkin dispensers at bars, restaurants and café’s into mini-washing machines. Every time a napkin is pulled from the holder it creates the illusion of clean white sheets being pulled from the drum. The concept was designed to enhance the perception of OMO’s stain fighting capabilities and makes use of key locations where stains are likely to occur. Even for those of us who aren’t prone to spillages, the illusion of bright white sheets serves to enhance the whitening capabilities of the product and keeps OMO front of mind. The design uses clever graphics and common everyday objects to inject an element of humour into the communication surrounding laundry - which is definitely a task that many of us would like to enjoy a bit more!

©2011 The Lounge Group / theloungegroup.com

Creative/The playful bench

Architectural firm MAPT are behind the development of the first interactive bench; one that invites you to experience urban areas in a dynamic way. ‘The playful bench’ looks like any other ordinary bench but it changes colour and pattern as people pass by, luring them to play. The bench offers different games. One is calm and art based, simply displaying different colours which move as you touch the benches surface; others are more playful and require exertion for example the bench is lit up by a barcode scale as you run past it, the faster you move the more the light accelerates.

©2011 The Lounge Group / theloungegroup.com

Lounge view/MAPT have worked to create a piece of work that encourages a more considered use of urban space. As a backlash to the current climate we have seen many brands using the act of play, and reminders of childhood fun to allow consumers to escape their daily grind. This is a great way to change mind-sets and set consumers thinking off on a different course.

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Lounge view/As we highlighted in our recent ‘discovery’ trend report, sound branding seems to be on the rise. This app has obvious implications for retail through the linking of product and content, creating a whole new approach to the activation of a free iTunes download with purchase.

Digital/Turning your supermarket shop into a symphony

Leo van der Veen has created an iPhone app that lets you scan any barcode (EAN or UPC) and convert it into a melody. The app will interpret the scanned lines of the barcode as different notes depending on the number they represent. The idea is to make the supermarket more exciting, the website states: “imagine walking into a supermarket filed with thousands of tunes to discover and unlock”. The vision of a ‘supermarket symphony’ could soon be realised as we use our weekly shops to create sweet music, or at the very least create a buzz in the aisles as shoppers generate sounds that are coincidently reminiscent of a supermarket jingle. The app also allows you to share the barcodes you most enjoy listening to on Facebook. Here at The Lounge we’re wondering what sounds best; baked beans, toothpaste or loo roll?

©2011 The Lounge Group / theloungegroup.com

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Lounge view/Whilst this item doesn’t solve the problem of sending paper to landfills, it does deliver a message, encouraging consumers to see old things with new eyes. There is also the opportunity to create a longer-term bond with the consumer if branded items such as these are reincarnated rather than destroyed.

Packaging/The ‘never wasted’ bag

Lee Jeans is offering its consumers the ‘Never Wasted’ shopping bag, which can reincarnate into a number of things after being used as a container for taking purchases home. The creators of the bag wanted to develop packaging that would be able to fulfil multiple tasks and encourage re-use.The bag is made of several components that can be extracted from the bag after it’s not needed in its original form any longer. One ‘Never Wasted’ paper bag includes cut-outs that can be used to create entertaining items such as a snakes & ladders board game, a ‘do not disturb’ sign and spare shoelaces.

The Never Wasted packaging, that is retailed with Lee products in shops across India, has been so popular that the original limited run had to be increased.

©2011 The Lounge Group / theloungegroup.com

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Lounge view/GPS and RFID games transformation of the mundane daily commute are great examples of ‘Third Life’ - the blurring of boundaries between digital and ‘real life’. Whilst the games have huge success in offering commuters distraction and entertainment they could be elevated to a new level by interacting more closely with user’s daily activities and movements to offer locally relevant rewards.

Experiential/Location based gaming for commuters

Chromaroma is an immersive online/offline platform that transforms the daily commute into a game. The site syncs with your Oyster card, mapping visualisations of your journeys around London. You can join one of four virtual teams of commuters around the city and help a team ‘win’ stations. The RFID of your Oyster card acts as a virtual check-in when you swipe it at the station - the team with the most swipes at a station ‘wins’ it.

Another similar example is Koroni-na Seikatsu Plus (a Japanese competitor to Foursquare) that has recently collaborated with the Japanese Metro system. The game uses built-in GPS to award players points for visiting places where a certain item or clue is virtually located as they travel the subway. Once they piece together threads of information or stories from these they are awarded with virtual prizes and incentives.

©2011 The Lounge Group / theloungegroup.com

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a lounge group trend report on making the mundane funThis month’s theme of ‘making the mundane fun’ is all about engaging consumers by building an experience around the less fun parts of their lives and making them more enjoyable as a result. This includes the following:

Using a ‘smile in the mind’ mechanic to inject humour and interest into the banal

Engaging with consumers increasing awareness of ‘gamification’ culture to encourage productivity via reward

Adding unexpected interest that allows consumers to change their behaviour for the better - whether that be for self-improvement, time maximisation or even to help their surrounding environment

For consumers: Time saving services are common. If there is a shortcut or simplification process that exists, many consumers will have not only embraced but implemented it. The issue is not all ‘task’ time can be eradicated and it encroaches on time for personal enjoyment. If you combine this with consumers’ continuing desire to be entertained at all times, there is a clearly identifiable need for the maximisation of fun whenever, and wherever possible.

For brands: Brands that help generate better day-to-day experiences of mundane activities will not only be appreciated but will also stand out. As a result of offering an alternate approach, they are more likely to be remembered and the experience will be retained for a longer period of time.

It’s easy to be passionate about the things we love, but helping consumers to find passion in the mundane, monotonous, day-to-day tasks that we all have to do is a great way to engage them and really standout in a crowded market.

We’re a creative communications agency with a network of 10,000 consumers at our heart. And we’re passionate about understanding their world and connecting with them in the right way. If you’d like to know more about how we do it, email sara.gil@theloungegroup.com or call her on 020 7940 4381.

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