This may not be an exhaustive list of all the ways that tech can be used in campaigns but they’re a damn good starting point. Plus, they all start with the letter T which is a bonus.
TOOLS: This one is obvious and old but actually the hardest to do. Make something genuinely useful. It used to be about making branded apps, but since people don’t want to download branded apps anymore these tools morphed into services that leverage existing platforms to perform some useful task on behalf of a brand (tools and services being different sides of the utility coin - I could have called this section “Utility” but then the title wouldn’t have been so catchy). To make a branded utility, think about what the company aspires to do and then do it by means other than the product they sell. It can help to ask yourself “What would this company do to deliver on their purpose if their product was banned?” And then think about how technology could accomplish that.
TOYS: This isn’t about utility, it’s about interactive entertainment. This is when you create something that is fun, distracting, engaging but not necessarily practical or useful. Think about any branded game like Gatorade’s Match Point or any Snap lens or any interactive installation or even a meme generator. They’re time-wasters that immerse you in the spirit of the brand or the tone of a campaign. Not surprisingly, toys tend to have a much shorter shelf life than tools. But they have the advantage of being centered on emotion and so they have more inherent talkability.
TRADE: This is a newer one. Think about this as e-comm innovation: can you sell or deliver your product in an innovative way? Can people scan a QR code in a metro station and have their groceries delivered to their home before they get there? Can customers buy a pair of shoes you’re selling via augmented reality? Can your burgers be delivered to people in their cars while they’re in traffic? This works particularly well when your product is highly desirable in the first place but new ways to shop and buy feel really futuristic and so people love to talk about it. Which is a good segue into the last of the four T’s.
TALKING POINTS: These are “tools” that aren’t as useful as they are PRable. Ford built a crib that worked like the Focus to show how smooth a ride it is or something like that. WestJet created a projector that could show when a family member’s flight would land. Lexus built a functioning hoverboard to show… I’m not actually sure what they were trying to show there but it was pretty damn cool. Nobody is going to buy or use any of these things, but the fact that they built them communicates the benefit of a product or the ethos of the brand.
And there you have it: Tools (utilities), Toys (games), Trade (e-comm) and Talking Points (PR stunts). The 4 T’s of using tech in campaigns. What an astute observer will notice is that they are conveniently on a spectrum of least talk-worthy to most talk-worthy. And since fame is the name of the campaigns game, aspire to include something surprising, topical, human and/or remarkable in whatever you come up with.
(This list does not cover ecosystems, websites, ad tech, content or media hacks. I’ll cover those in some other listicle.)