Starting Something

This is my first ever post, l plan to write many more. This blog will be a mish mash of things I come across and wish to share with you, ranging from advertising campaigns, product design, science, statistics and anything else thought-provoking. I hope you enjoy it.

Here are a few interesting things I've seen recently:

Panera Bakery introduces pay-what-you-like plan

This month the national bakery chain is opening its third café at which consumers chose the price of their purchases. The first two non-profit bakeries located in Dearborn, Michigan and Clayton, Missouri, feature a sign that says 'Take What You Need, Leave Your Fair Share' and donation boxes instead of standard menus. The third community café will open in Portland, Oregon and is part of founder Ron Shaich's mission to tackle ‘food insecurity’ in the US by giving consumers who can afford to pay for food the chance to contribute to a café that provides for those who can’t.

This is a fantastic example of a brand behaving ethically in an inventive and risk-taking way, Ron Shaich's is really putting his money where his mouth is. I’m interested to follow the success of this community café and whether other brands follow suit.

See also Denver's SAME Café

Commuters cooked by Caribou Coffee

A bus shelter has been turned into an oven with real heaters in Minneapolis as part of an advertising campaign for Caribou Coffee’s new hot breakfast sandwiches. Heat emanates from the coils of the toasty shelter, created by advertising agency Colle+McVoy.

Photo via PSFK

I like this advert because anyone who encounters it, whether they are familiar with the brand or not, is likely to enjoy the experience. It has a practical purpose rather than just being an add-on. 

You’re it

Nike+ Tag, a new update to the Nike+ GPS app, lets you challenge friends to a race, whoever runs the shortest distance or for the least amount of time is ‘It’. After taking a run, the user can ‘tag’ friends and set the judging criteria and the only way that the loser can get rid of the humiliating moniker is to start a new game.

This app is an example of how gaming is entering every area of life and adding an extra layer of stimulation. Streak.ly, a webapp that gamifies daily chores by rewarding users with a 'streak' for consecutive days of completing a task, and the Puma Life Scoreboard are other examples. 

Thanks for reading; I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow.

Vashti