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Intimate Online Sharing: Bras, Bunnies and Brands

Event Interactive 2011
Format Dual
Organizer Paul Murray WhittmanHart
Description It is conventional wisdom that some questions are better left unasked. This is even truer when the risk of a slap in the face may be involved. And yet, the most intimate of information is often unabashedly offered up online. In January, 2010, thousands of women on Facebook filled their status updates with descriptions of the bras they were wearing. In this viral phenomenon, scores of women cast aside timidity and openly shared the color of their undergarments. Facebook acted as an intermediary between question and answer, a buffer between people and shyness. Since one of our key clients is an iconic lingerie retailer, we began to ponder how seemingly inanimate objects might act as confidants and whether women – and men - might reveal even more intimate data using such digital intermediaries. The results could inform marketing initiatives, product evolution and website design. The key? Bunnies. Nano:ztags bunnies are programmable RFID-enabled cartoonish figurines that, aside from cutely reading the news or playing music, act as interactive hubs for sharing information online. (read about bunnies: www.violet.net) A test group will gear up with these little guys. We’ll ask questions regarding the relationship between undergarment (and other) choices, usage and mood. They’ll answer with bunnies. What these women and men share, we’ll share with you. Bunnies could change the way that people live. We want to follow them down the rabbit hole, and show you where we end up.
Questions
Answered
  1. Are people more forthcoming with information using the bunnies as intermediaries?
  2. How could this methodology evolve into remote ethnographic research?
  3. What implications does this have for a brand's digital content?
  4. Did our volunteers enjoy the experience of interacting with their bunnies?
  5. What data did we collect during the course of this test?
Level Intermediate
Category New Technology / Next Generation