potato or potato.

Here’s a list of questions.

1. Have you ever sent a text message while driving?
2. Would you say you travel abroad frequently?
3. Do you post a lot of pictures on Instagram?
4. Do you prefer to stop at big boxes or locally owned stores?
5. Do you have an iPhone or an Android phone?
6. How often do you eat sweets?
7. Do you tend to buy things that are on sale?

Our goal: Get people to tell stories. Because check yes, check no is so middle school, friends.

(Pertinent, yes?)

So let’s reword these questions and make them a little more fun.

1. Have you ever sent a text message while driving?
Or…. A) You’re in the middle of an intense texting conversation, but you’ve gotta go pronto — what’s your exit strategy? Or do you even exit the conversation?   B)  What would you say is your average speed for stop-light texting?

2. Would you say you travel abroad frequently?
Or…..A) Your thoughts on the travel-selfie. Cool? Or like your head photoshopped into photos with iconic landmarks? Your method?    B) What’s traveling like for you? A planned method? Or more of a throw a dart on a map approach? …. Or are you more of a Pinterest traveler? Be honest.

3. Do you post a lot of pictures on Instagram?
Or….. A) In lieu of J. Franco’s NYT article on the selfie, have you changed your thoughts about them? Do you post a lot of them? If not — then what of?   B)  What’s your method for Instagram pictures? Are you in it for the ‘likes?’ More of a foodie type? Could you categorize your Instagram?

(I know this is from Facebook —
but please do see his Instagram @jamesfrancotv)

4. Do you prefer to stop at big boxes or locally owned stores?
Or…. A)  If you’re on vacation and you come across a Starbucks, do you go there? Or are you the type that finds a cool local option?    B) Which is more interesting to you — the familiarity of knowing that every Wal-Mart is a replica (albeit they sometimes switch around that pet section)? Or the familiarity of knowing the community in which your goods came from? Or does this stuff even matter in that long run?

5. Do you have an iPhone or an Android phone?
Or…. A) I’ve heard this. Can’t verify it. That iPhones are made for easy usage. Droids are for people who like customization. What type of person are you? Does your phone reflect that?    B) This recent TIME article claims ‘iPhone Users Have More Sex’ — pretty bold statement, you think?

6. How often do you eat sweets?
Or…. A) If you’re standing in line and all you’ve ordered is a danish – are you one of those people that feels the need to explain your ordering choices to the person behind you?   B)  I’m handing you this pyramid. Where would you categorize the food you eat — bottom being the most of. Remember — talk me through your choices.

7. Do you tend to buy things that are on sale?
Or… A) What’s the appeal of Black Friday and After Christmas shopping for you?    B) What are the first three thoughts that come to mind when I say the word ‘sale’ item. (Example: mine are ‘out of season, ‘probably size large’, ‘there for a reason’)

It’s important to ask the right questions. I’m not at all saying these alternatives are the ‘right’ questions by any means. Asking the right questions allows for your interviewee to open up. You don’t get insights from ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions — you get facts. Fact – this lady does in fact shop sales. The insight comes in why she shops those sales. Is it because she likes that these items are cheaper? Or does she not shop them because of what ‘sale’ means to her. Asking the right question will allow you to maybe even come up with a better way to promote ‘sale.’ Maybe even change up the word if you discover (via asking the right questions) that sale is negatively connoted.

** I highly recommend following the above hyperlinks for interesting reads.

fact tackles insight – cause of provocation, undeclared.

Our task is to investigate the difference between ‘fact’ and ‘insight.’  So, I had to start somewhere. That somewhere was with the dictionary.

Fact: |fakt| (noun) a thing that is indisputably the case

Insight: |’in,sit| (noun) the capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing.

I guess things that I want to highlight here are a) indisputably and b) intuitive. Facts are bored in data. They’re indisputable – unable to challenged or denied. Insights are based in feeling without particular rationale. Beyond insights being exponentially cooler, (for reasons I will discuss), they’re more resonating with audiences, because they come from that weird and irrational place. I’ll use fashion here as my outlet to explain these key differences. Recently, I went through style.com’s runway photos for some of my favorite fashion labels’ Spring/Summer 2014 RTW pieces. Despite my day-to-day appearance, I really do have a thing for style. I noticed some things as I was meandering through these photos. Based on the conclusions I came to after viewing the collections of Tory Burch, The Row, Sass and Bide, Rebecca Minkoff, Rag and Bone, Rachel Zoe, Mulberry, Jason-Wu, J.Mendel, DVF, Chloe, Bagdley Mischka, and Alice and Olivia, I flew to Elle.com.

Elle likes to think of itself as a type of authority on fashion and style. In this long-winded metaphor, we’ll call ‘Elle’ the facts. The dictionary. The statistical data. Elle claims these facts about Spring/Summer 2014 to be the truth and nothing but the truth. Prepare for crop tops, overwhelming amounts of sheer panelling, white wide-leg pants, graphic black and white prints, fringe, embellished details, and the return of floral. A lot of my notes on my favorite labels resonated with these facts. However, because we’re in the business of fashion here we have to look a little deeper. All of these individual labels have personalities. As Chris Kocek says in his Practical Pocket Guide to Account Planning – brands (which these fashion labels essentially are) have to sell a world view. These labels are selling their consumers a way to viewed in the world. For example, Rachel Zoe – trendy, sophisticated, chic. Mulberry – neutral, local, organic. Rebecca Minkoff – edgy, trendy, on the cusp of something. Rachel Zoe, for instance, knows what type of people are buying her clothes – and why. Why do people wear those awesome Rachel Zoe fur vests? Because they want the world around them to see them in a certain way. Labels know this.

So, as I noticed, all these brands are following facts. They all have the fringe, the crop tops, the sheer (panels) in their collections. The insight comes in how they present it. Their insight comes in incorporating these ‘facts’ about a particular season and making it relevant to their particular consumers. Fashion labels famously use insight about their consumers. They take these industry facts and use insight to create relevancy. They use insight in knowing the way consumers want the world to view them while they wear their pieces – and they use it to keep the fuel going. To prove my point (or rather, a few of my points), I’ve compiled some pictures so we can compare. Besides, visuals are always nice. They really drive home a point.

Let’s take ‘sheer’ for instance:
All three of these pieces incorporate a sheer element, but how they do it differs based on the way the brand/label perceives itself.

Rebecca Minkoff, as a brand, is known for being exclusive, cutting-edge, and edgy (let’s be real here, her big selling point is her work with leather). Of course, there would be a risqué factor in the way that the sheer panelling is implemented in this top – accentuated with the texture of the floral print. It’s fun. It’s exciting. It’s something different, and this is how people want to be perceived while they wear this particular brand.

Chloé, on the other hand, is more utility-based. More practical. More eco-friendly. More calm. The way the sheer is incorporated here, accentuates this about the brand. It’s sheer, but not in a way that’s flashy. It’s there, it’s on trend, and it’s wearable – which is what Chloé, as a brand, is all about. Neutral.

And lastly, Alice and Olivia – which I view to be a pretty feminine brand. You have here the sheer mixed with some lace embellishments with texture. It’s feminine. It’s pretty. Alice and Olivia is big on big wide skirts with large prints – über feminine. This insight about consumers wanting that feminine, soft look is prominent here in the way they’ve used sheer.

While, this might seem long-winded. I think this very visually illustrates a difference between ‘fact’ and ‘insight.’ You’ve got something that’s known as a universal truth – what people are wearing for Spring/Summer 2014. The insight, or the irrational intuition, comes in knowing how this fact is relevant to your consumers. What does your insight tell you about who your consumers are, what their worldview is, what they’re interested in.

the social music box

The Chüne Smart Speaker.

This springwise.com article appealed to me mainly because I’m fresh out of the creaking movie theater seat after viewing Spike Jonze’s masterpiece, ‘Her.’ A music box that feels the ‘vibe’ of the room for a party. How cool is that? (I’ll tell you – not as cool as an OS1, am I right or am I right?) I’m kidding. Maybe.

With the Chüne Smart Speaker people will be able to connect their phones via app to the music box where it will be able to sort through the various interests of people in the room to create a relevant playlist (throwback!). However, if my friends are any indication, ‘varying interests’ can be a little scary. I’m not saying I have a Wu-Tang addiction to contrast my friends’ obsession of Ke$ha…but I am. To prevent these types of clashes from happening you can adjust the setting on the box from something like ‘low-key’ event to ‘full-on’ party, according to the article. I guess, in this respect, the title of the article was a little misleading. You still essentially have to set the mood of the party. However, you get to eliminate people requesting their favorites, because essentially the music box has already accounted for your guests’ interests. Still cool, I must admit.

I guess what’s more interesting here is the use of an app, and the idea that an app can address a community. Social media, as I understand it at this point, is a way to archive and network. This app takes this to an entirely new level. It’s not like Facebook – let me add you as my friend so we can talk (and stalk your pictures). It’s not like SnapChat – let me send you selfies. And it doesn’t have the quirkiness of Twitter necessarily. It’s using social media in real-time, as a background. The background part is important (Twitter is also real-time, but Twitter as the app is entirely the foreground). The Chüne Smart Speaker takes what you’ve archived about yourself (your musical interest) and allows you to fully engage with people in real-time. Maybe I’m overthinking this. Music is important. Think about movies – what does music do? It enhances your experience in a hyper real way. It sets the tone. It allows you to create visual memories. I would argue it’s the same in real life. With the Smart Speaker’s abilities to set the tone for you, you are able to really network with those around you. I suppose I’m going out on a limb here calling a college keg party (assuming that’s our market here) a chance to network. But at its root – that’s what parties are for, right?

In these respects, and for what it is at its bare product form – the Chüne Smart Speaker is neat. It’s exploring a connection between app and hard product that I haven’t really seen done before. Drawing back to the connection to Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’ that I was making before. This is the type of technology we see permeating through the future. Something that knows us. Something that allows us to focus on being in ‘real time’ and existing. I won’t go into the points made in Jonze’s film, because they’re quite the contrary – but it’s interesting to see where we’re taking technology and how we’re harnessing what it’s doing.

(Thought this was relevant, and kind of funny)