Nurun lab sprint commuting

Commuting: An Untapped Opportunity for Smart Brands

Commuting: An Untapped Opportunity for Smart Brands As explored by the Nurun Lab

Quick Takeaway Time wasted commuting is at an all time high and becoming a major social problem. Smart brands can help the consumer by turning wasted com-mute time into useful time.



Introduction How can brands add consumer value during the commute?

The average daily commute time in OECD countries (Organization for Eco-nomic Co-operation and Development establish in 1960 by 20 countries) is 38 minutes. With growing numbers of the popula-tion living in the suburbs, commuting time is on the rise. According to the Nurun Lab’s ethnographic research and data supported by Statistics Canada, commuting time contributes to the feeling of being trapped in ones daily routine.

The roads here are a disaster and it’s only getting worse... No, it’s not a to-tal loss of time maybe once a week

when there’s a good radio show on, but during those other four days I mostly feel like shooting myself, said Rachel, a 28-year-old participant.

The Need: According to research from the Association of Publishing Agencies,

67% of respon-dents were hun-gry for brands to provide them with more inter-esting and exclu-sive content on their iPad, with lifestyle (38%), games (27%) and entertainment (23%) the top areas they would like brands to create more apps for.

Smart brands can help the consumer by turning wasted commute time into useful time.

Entertainment Commuters taking public transporta-tion use this time to catch up on the news (the explosion of the free press) games (the rise of smartphones and portable consoles) and music (MP3 players). To fight the monotony of the daily commute, people have developed alternative means of entertainment: 30% of commuters use video apps with the average video duration on the rise (4.5 minutes compared to 2 minutes in

On average, Americans spend 16 minutes per day on Facebook.

This sign indicates a concept or a pro-totype imagined by the nurun Lab ba-sed on research.


2003). Car commuters, on the other hand, listen to the radio and absorb content with a specific level of concen-tration and attention. While digital of-fers alternative ways to engage with information (podcast and 3G), apps remain an underutilized area that could offer enhanced options for the com-muter, including faster downloads and enhanced streaming methods. Ideas in Practice Blancspot: The app takes an artistic ap-proach to the news by combining im-agery with editorial content and offers links to related articles and Twitter feeds. Vodafone Content Channel: The first channel in Europe offers customers a regularly updated selection of Voda-fone serves as well as news, sports and gaming apps. BMW Connected: The app lets drivers connect to Internet radio stations, re-ceive status messages from Twitter and Facebook and review iPhone calendar events through the iDriver controller. Chromaroma: The online, multi-player game takes commuters on travel mis-sions through London, England’s trans-portation system. Insight from the Lab Commuters experience frustration when, in an overcrowded subway or bus, they can’t read the newspaper or reach their smartphone. Imagine if a brand could provide a tool or app that would launch a voice reader of preselected texts with the touch of a button. This would be a valuable addi-

tion to the iPhone instapaper app, which compiles articles and web pages that the user can’t immediately read. The Lab sees it as a tool that could be utilized by any media source, Telco or public transportation system.

I actually love my commute. I love to read in the train and sometimes wish it could last longer – I travel an hour each way. But what I hate is how the closer we get to downtown how crowded it gets. I think the Montreal metro is actually facing a serious spatial problem these days, said Julie, a 38-year-old participant.

Productivity Another perspective when examining the commuting problem is to offer ad-ditional ways that people can use their commuting time for other purposes. Modern train systems promise that you’re not only traveling, you’re work-ing, watching a movie, reader or sleep-ing. The perception that travel is a waste of time vanishes.

No, Podcast is not dead A buzzword in 2005, the podcast is often thought to be dead. But with more than 8 million adults in the UK (16% of the population) who have downloaded a podcast - more than the number of Twitter users in the UK - and almost 4 million listening to at least one a week, this is not the case. Providing content at the point of need is the key for success. Abso-lut radio in London has reported that 76% of all podcast downloads had been completed via a mobile device in July 2011.

The Emergency Voice Reader prevents commuters from being trapped in the

metro with nothing else to do than wait.


Is it possible for brands to find digital ways to reach a similar perception for commuting time? Ideas in Practice • Dominos Pizza: The brand recently

launched a mobile pizza app that lets users order pizza from their iPad and have it at their doorstep the moment they get home. Dominos revealed it had taken 1 million in mobile pizza sales within a week of the app’s launch.

• Microsoft Tags: Captures consumers in the moment, engaging them any-time, anywhere on their smartphones. At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport passengers can use Tag to get discounts and coupons at shops and restaurants.

• Toys R Us QR Codes: The toy retailer makes holiday shopping easy with the QR code-enabled virtual store. It made its debut on New York bill-boards and 40 New Jersey transit sta-tions. Sears and Kmart recently launched QR-enabled catalogues.

Insights from the Lab • Given the growing popularity of web-

sites like e-how.com, provide easy access to academic courses or DIY branded content. Any brand could potentially endorse this idea, the most obvious being categories where the customer needs to develop his/her expertise to make informed decisions.

• Given the growing number of di-vorces and the rush of urban life, a lot of urban singles in their 30s to 50s are having a hard time to meet the right person. This led to speed dating con-cepts and popularized TV shows like Sex and the City. We imagined a ser-vice like Meetic or ReseauContact could propose a car date during com-muting time to get to know better a potential significant other. Login/Logout principles associated with GPS technologies could contribute to the safety of such a service.

DIY classes optimized and simplified for commuting conditions


• To think out of the box, the Lab sug-gests this problem framing to online supermarkets: how could you make it possible to purchase food for a four-person household in 15 minutes, on a smartphone, with poor connectivity, on a crowded bus.?

• On the same principle as Amazon Mechanical Turk, a company could pay for tasks doable on a smartphone (for example, recognize images) dur-ing commuting time.

Efficiency This is an ambitious promise that de-pends on public investment. Large companies like IBM are investing mil-lions to better understand where and how time is wasted in complex systems. But, start-ups should not be discour-aged by big-brand involvement. It’s about inventing smart, agile solutions to commuters’ problems.

I know there’s an app that’s been de-veloped to help you park your car. But I just don’t trust that people will have the discipline to mark when they leave... However old school this may sound, I trust larger systems of information with this sort of stuff, said Tyler, a 34-year-old participant.

Brands also have the power to encour-age the usage of digital tools with CRM-based rewards. This could result in an image benefit (a brand involved in real people’s problems). Ideas in Practice • Roadify: The free app connects driv-

ers to the parking and public transit in their neighbourhood, all through the user’s mobile phone.

• Zipcar: members can now reserve a vehicle around the corner or across the globe, manage reservations, honk the vehicle’s horn and lock and unlock the Zipcar using an iPhone.

• The Exit Strategy: this app tells NYC subway commuters which side of the train the doors will open on.

Insights from the Lab In the US, the percentage of workers who travel to work by car, truck, or van alone is as an average 78, according to a 2004 survey of the US census bureau. We imagined a system that matches up commuters based on a similar driving routine, rather than building a pool around a single driver. This would al-low commuters to drive on alternate days, cutting down on gas consumption and mileage.

Is the one click Smart Quick Fridge Filler pos-sible?

Dating carpool: could commuting time become a way to date?


In practice: try to ‘own’ some commuting time Brainstorm to imagine how your product or service could exist in a world where advertising and stores would only exist during commut-ing. How could your company or cate-gory be legitimate if it were com-mercializing a digital product or service for commuters ?

A point of view developed by the nurun Lab

The nurun Lab team gathers anthropolo-gists, design thinking experts, strategic planners and new tech experts.

Conclusion It is clear from the Lab’s ethnographic research and authoritative resources in the field that commuters are looking for ways to be entertained during their commute. Whether it’s public trans-portation, walking or driving, the time spent commuting is inefficient. While consumers are quick to dismiss adver-tising, the commercial power of apps is proving the opposite. According to the study by APA, 81% of respondents indi-cated that they have sough out a further interaction with the brand as a result of using an app, 19% said they bought a product or service, 29% considered buying a product or service and 33% visited a brand’s website. Thus, smart brands can certainly help the consumer (and improve their brand image) by turning the commute into a productive use of time. And digital of-fers the answers.


Appendix USING TWITTER TO DETECT PATTERNS At the Lab, we gather meaningful tweets to detect patterns on a subject, a category or a brand. Tweets are a gold mine for marketers: people express frustrations and desires without being asked to do so. This canvas demonstrates the commuters’ problems and search for solutions.


APPENDIX : USING TWITTER TO DETECT PATTERNS


Travel

Nurun lab sprint commuting