The tough economic climate this year created a negative impact on many retailers. To combat their continued losses some retailers chose to offer a smaller inventory. Other retailers decided to move their sales earlier into the shopping season, instead of waiting for the rush to begin on Black Friday.  Both solutions helped to guarantee their sales, and create less of an overage when inventory time rolls around.

Other retailers were scrambling to make up lost sales through their online presence. Online shopping has become more prevalent and retailers are not above “baiting” you to their websites to secure the sale. In the past, the promise of Free Shipping and before Christmas Day Delivery was enough to inspire some shoppers to make their purchases with a particular retailer; now it seems that promise is not nearly enough to incentivize the online shopper to make the purchase.

In my own shopping ventures it seemed each retailer was ready to “one-up” the other and I found myself visiting site after site, comparing each incentive before finally making my purchase. When purchasing my mother’s perfume, did I prefer the FREE robe or did I want to receive a free cosmetic gift? Was I interested in  purchasing a “bundle” of pre-selected video games for my son, or did I want to pay full price on my own selection? Incentives were available on nearly every retailer’s site I visited throughout the season and I was only too happy to take advantage of what they had to offer.

I anticipate the “online-only” specials and online incentives will become more prevalent as the economy has more people shopping online at work, instead of dipping into personal time spending the day driving from store-to-store.  Also, with so many people facing unemployment, every dollar needs to stretch a little further than before and each shopper is looking for more “bang for the buck.”

With several gift cards in hand, I’m looking forward to see what incentives will be offered to me. Do you know of any spectacular online deals? If so, let me know – I’m only too happy to do my part for the economy.

Challenge: 3/4 of “boomers” will experience one (1) or more chronic conditions.

Challenge: 89% prefer to “age in place,” despite the possibility a spouse may suffer from a debilitating condition. An even larger percent of seniors anticipate technology will help them live longer, better, more independent lives even if they are unaware of what that technology may be or how it will help.

Solution: Diakon Smart Homes. Outfitted with the latest technological advances, Diakon Smart Homes are designed to enhance safety, particularly as older adults desire to grow older residing in their own homes.

Challenge: Create a way for people to learn about Diakon Smart Homes showcasing the technological advances and attractive living space designed to support this new idea of “Aging in Place.”

Too complex to be boiled down to a single bullet point, the solution for explaining the advantages of aging in a Smart Home was best accomplished by creating an intricate, multi-tiered virtual “in-home experience enabling website visitors to interact with and learn about these new inventions. It also required the time and talent contributions provided by a team of creative individuals. The result is groundbreaking. More importantly, it empowered the efforts of Diakon to inform and educate prospective residents.

The process started with a complex three-dimensional illustration of a Smart Home, rendered by our partners, the fine folks at FUSE FX out of Minneapolis. The illustration was scrutinized down to some of the most minute details. It needed to accurately display the new technologies which will revolutionize the way people thought about senior living. Medication Reminder Systems, Minimal Threshold Showers and Under-Counter Appliances were just some of the amenities featured. At one point, even the bed spread was changed because it wasn’t cozy enough. It was this attention to detail that would resonate with potential buyers.

Once the groundwork, pun intended, of getting a layout was finished, a way of introducing people to the different technologies of the home needed to be implemented. Though research has shown 85% of Baby Boomers are tech-savvy, the system needed to be accessible, intuitive, and practical. The resulting interactive animation makes it fun to experience Smart Homes technology—virtually. Moving throughout the home, an animated character would trigger room sensors signaling lights to turn on and off, as a room was entered or exited, all the while leaving a dotted trail showing the course of its path—harkening back to the days of Family Circus cartoons.

The next step was to create an interactive means for enabling website visitors to access specific information pertaining to Smart Home facilities. To achieve this, a series of navigation menus and drop-downs were designed to appear at the click of an icon. Easily understood, user-friendly icons were designed to encourage participation. Any solution too technical in appearance and the opposite might occur—scaring visitors away from discovering important benefits. Fun and easy to use, the interactive illustration is guaranteed not to become pure eye-candy.

In order to present this revolutionary system, a new website was created. Reportedly the first of its kind in the country, the new Diakon Smart Home website showcases and incorporates all the various features from the home. It is the ideal way for people who may be looking into retirement, to learn and familiarize themselves with this new initiative. It was and is the perfect marriage of form and function. As a young person just entering the work force, and nowhere near retirement, I often thought during work on this project that I wouldn’t mind having these amenities and technologies in my house. I mean, who doesn’t want lights to go on and off when they enter a room. They are definitely the future of senior living, and ultimately, living in general. It’s only a matter of time until houses look like that of the Jetsons. I can’t wait.

]]> http://brand3.triplestrength.com/2010/01/06/designing-for-the-future/feed/ 1 http://brand3.triplestrength.com/2010/01/04/a-tall-feat/ http://brand3.triplestrength.com/2010/01/04/a-tall-feat/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:52:29 +0000 Lance Dietrich http://brand3.triplestrength.com/?p=93

Although Burj Khalifa is twice as high as the Empire State Building it does share one thing in common with its half-pint predecessor. Construction of both buildings commenced during an unprecedented economic boom only to be completed in the midst of a depression. Let’s hope the new 2,717 ft. tower will stand tall through many economic upticks and downturns to come.

Previously known as Burj Dubai, the tower was renamed today during the grand opening ceremony in honor of Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, ruler of oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi. The new name is a well-deserved “thank you” to the sheik who pumped tens of billions of dollars into Dubai last year to help finance its enormous debts after the real estate bubble burst.

The height of the tower is staggering. It’s so big it’s nearly impossible to capture the building in a single photo. Talk about keystoning! A ground floor chiropractor could make a mint treating strained necks. Window washers will never run out of work. (There’s something like 24,000 windows!)

What sort of person desires to live at the top a half mile from terra firma—orbiting the planet? Someone does. Someone who can afford to live large is already residing up there enjoying their remote lookout in lavish style atop another monument to human ingenuity.

Here then the lofty giants that sway in the shadow of this new world’s tallest building:

#1 Burj Khalifa, Dubai : 2,217 ft. (828m)
#2 Shanghai World Finance Center, China : 1,615 ft. (492m)
#3 Taipei 101, Taiwan : 1,470 ft. (448m) (not including the antenna)
#4 Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia : 1,483 ft. (452m)
#5 Willis Tower (Formerly Sears Tower), Chicago, USA : 1,451 ft. (442.3m)
#8 2 International Finance Centre, Hong Kong, China : 1,358 ft. (413.8m)
#11 Empire State Building, New York, USA : 1,250 ft. (381m) (not including the antenna)

The new Nike+ Website

Over the holiday I had the pleasure of receiving a “Nike+ iPod Sensor” from one of my siblings. As always I broke it open within minutes of being handed the package and immediately began loading the software onto my laptop. How the system works, there’s a sensor in your shoe that sends data from your run to your iPhone (or iPod), which when synced with your computer, uploads the material to the Nike+ website.

Upon viewing the Nike+ site, I was thoroughly impressed at how intuitive and user friendly it was. Much like the fitness trends of today, people want results with minimal effort, and they want them NOW. Rarely does either goal occur, but Nike was able to cross the finish line for both, in impressive fashion. For starters, the site has a very futuristic feel to it. With its rounded corners, gradients that seem to go on for miles, and large, bulbous color fields, Nike is telling users that the days of logging miles in an Excel spreadsheet are over.

Counting calories and setting weight lose goal is easier than lacing up your sneakers

The site logs all the information from past runs, uploads them, and instantly spits back data for a plethora of different statistical uses. Calorie counting, exercising for a certain number of days, or even speed and pace patterns can all be reviewed with the click of a curvy, colorful, new-age tab. Exciting charts and graphics, which are updated in real-time, are used to motivate and sometimes, I admit, shame the users into continuing with training. Completely controlled by the user, you are able to set up goals and training programs geared to achieve the results that you find to be worthwhile. It helps to alleviate previous excuses of “running is boring” and “I don’t know how to train,” by leaving them in their dust.

Set up a coaching program in order to hit goals for the future.

As a runner I find the site to be pretty inspirational. Whether the results are good or bad, I get to interact with them and see where progress is being made. No longer do I have to log miles and workout information in a tattered and torn yellow legal pad. The data becomes an actual entity, which grows as I progress through training. The one potential drawback I could see occurring is that people may spend more time playing and exploring the system, rather than actually working-out. I, however, will be out running, and for once, I won’t have to re-gift something my brothers gave me for Christmas.