1. Curiosity Stop:
The Social Innovation Roundup
December 2015

2. CURIOSITY STOP
‘Social Thinking’ is understanding how and why people communicate, and using this insight to
provide value for our clients. This understanding is an ongoing passion project for the agency.
Our global team of 550 keep a keen eye out for intriguing changes in the social landscape. We
take the best of these innovations and compile them in the monthly
Curiosity Stop.
You’ll see some examples which prove our social trendspotting, and others which indicate what
might happen next. But if you look really closely, you might catch a glimpse into the future of
how and why we use social.

3. Curiosity Stop >
December
A lot has changed since ‘social’ simply meant a set of technologies
that connected us with the world. Now social is part of our lives.
Today, it is so pervasive in our daily activities that it informs
innovative projects from cutting-edge companies.
The insight is clear: if you want to build something that people will
love to use, share and talk about, build it with social at its core. This is
true for all creative products, and applies to start-ups and technology
as much as marketing and storytelling.
In this issue of Curiosity Stop, we’ll talk about projects inspired by this
principle - ranging from objects which connect you to your network,
to monitoring how people feel using Twitter conversation. We’ll even
talk about short stories printed on paper, for commuters who want to
‘disconnect’. They’ll tell their friends about them later, turning the
stories themselves into ‘social objects’.
Gabriele Cucinella, Ottavio Nava, Stefano Maggi
Managing Directors, Italy, We Are Social

4. TECH
Trend 1: Wearable Social
The forecasted wearable device market value
for 2018 is $13Bn. We are entering a world of
“Wearable Social” where movement,
heartbeats and emojis are a new form of
social language.

5. Meet the headset that allows the
hearing impaired to keep up in
conversations. Even if they don’t want
to.
Wearable Social >
The Live-Time Closed Captioning System
What’s it all about?
The LTCCS is a headset designed for the hearing
impaired. It provides real-time closed captioning of
the conversation happening at that minute, so the
wearer can join in as it happens.
The headset (which fits onto a normal pair of glasses)
comes with a clip-on microphone and micro-
computer. This way, the system is never interrupted
or slowed down, as it would be with a multi-
functioning headset like Google Glass.
The bigger picture
In a world of pointless innovations solving first world
problems (see next slide), it’s great to see some
cutting edge tech designed to make an actual
difference.
CLICK TO TWEET:

6. Feeling the long distance strain? Get
intimate in a heartbeat, with Pillow
Talk.
Wearable Social >
Pillow Talk
What’s it all about?
Pillow Talk is here to save your relationship. It comes
in two parts; a wearable wristband, and a small
speaker.
Spending the night apart? Wear your wristband to
bed, and tell your partner to place the speaker under
their pillow. Pillow Talk takes real-time heartbeat info
from you, and plays it through the speaker. Your
partner will fall asleep to the soothing sounds of your
heart softly beating. Hopefully.
The bigger picture
We saw this trend in last month’s Curiosity Stop, with
the wristbands that tell you when your bestie is
nearby. Pillow Talk is also making use of wearable
tech for a single, social use. This juxtaposes Apple
and Google’s efforts to cram an entire
smartphone into a tiny gadget.
CLICK TO TWEET:

7. Trend 2: Big Social Data
Say ‘Big Data’ out loud and everyone within
six feet will know you work in marketing. But
Big Data is often misunderstood and misused.
The ‘Big Social Data’ trend is seeing smart
brands mine conversations on social to help
them create products and services their
audiences really want
- in real time.

8. Telling the world about your dodgy
stomach? Your tweet may help
hospitals prepare for a disease
outbreak. Who knew?
Big Social Data >
Twitter x Food Standards Agency
What’s it all about?
Last month, we reported that Twitter was useful for
monitoring earthquakes. Well, seismic activity isn’t
the only disaster the social network deals in.
The Food Standards Agency is using Twitter as an
early-warning system for outbreaks of disease, such
as the norovirus. Professor Guy Poppy used software
to track hashtags related to illness, and found spikes
in conversation. This information is potentially very
useful for hospitals, so they can prepare accordingly.
The bigger picture
The ‘Big Social Data’ trend is providing brands an
opportunity to create reactive products and services.
Once this trend goes mainstream, will it still be an
opportunity... or a necessity?
CLICK TO TWEET:

9. Trend 3: Community
Commerce
Community Commerce is where positive
behaviour, social and finance collide. We are
starting to see communities rally around
common causes for good, with positive
financial outcomes for all involved.

10. Cheap access to the net with no strings
attached? There’s nothing fishy about
this government initiative, honest.
Community Commerce >
mFish
What’s it all about?
A New York telecoms company has worked with the
US State Department to provide Indonesian fishing
communities with a local mobile network.
The purpose of mFish is to give fishermen access to
tools like weather forecasts, market prices, and GPS.
They can also chat with other fishermen and NGOs
on the network, allowing them to report any sightings
of illegal fishing.
The bigger picture
Most people’s understanding of social technology
and the internet extends only to the largest and most
mainstream platforms. This trend demonstrates how
communities are coming together to find their
financial solutions through social. Brands are
welcome to help.
CLICK TO TWEET:

11. Trend 4: Anti-Social
Anti-Social is a consumer response to the
negative effects of having to maintain a social
persona and being ‘always on’.

12. Anti-Social >
The Short Edition Vending Machine
What’s it all about?
Publishing house Short Edition have set up eight free
vending machines around Grenoble. While these
machines don’t dispense delicious French snacks
(more’s the pity), they do offer a variety of short
stories.
The idea is to get the good people of Grenoble off
Facebook and onto literature - via one, three or five
minute stories. As the French would say, expand your
mind, not your stomach. OK that was me, not the
French. They bloody love croissants.
The bigger picture
We’re not about to unplug from reality anytime soon,
so until then brands have the opportunity to create
beautiful and resonant experiences IRL. (That people
go and talk about on social. Obvs.)
CLICK TO TWEET:
If you’re jonesing for a snack in
Grenoble, you’re outta luck. If you’re in
the mood for a short story, however...

13. 5: On The Horizon
These final innovations don’t fit neatly into
our trends (dammit), but we reckon they
are worth a mention. Successful
innovations create expectation, so we’ll be
keeping a keen eye on them. Watch this
space - if they turn into a wider trend, you’ll
be the first to know.

14. A UK police force is trialling Skype calls
with crime victims. Tricky if you’ve had
your iPad nicked...
On The Horizon >
Cambridgeshire Police on Skype
What’s it all about?
Skype is usually reserved for calling your grandma
on Christmas Day, but Cambridgeshire Police has
found another use for the video chat application.
To save precious time spent on neighbourhood
patrols and visiting burgled homes, the force are
asking crime victims to speak to someone via Skype.
A word of warning? Easy on the emojis, Bobby.
The bigger picture
We’ve seen GPs running consultations on Skype,
and now it’s your local PC. We’re surprised it took
Old Bill this long to work out they could Skype
victims, given that video testimonial has been used
in court before. It will be interesting to see if other
public sector officials replace good old-fashioned
footwork with Skype.
CLICK TO TWEET:

15. On The Horizon >
Sharecare
What’s it all about?
Sharecare has launched an app which can tell how
stressed you are, just by the sound of your voice. It
uses voice analysis to screen your phone calls,
providing real-time feedback on stress, behaviours
and relationships.
It might, for example, tell you that your mother-in-
law is stressing you out, in which case you’d be
obliged to hang up. On the grounds of ill health,
obviously.
The bigger picture
Artificial intelligence may be some way from making
genuinely useful services, but it’s getting there. How
soon before apps like Sharecare are giving
emotional data to brands, so they can
programmatically target content at us?
CLICK TO TWEET:
Mood ring playing up? Meet the app
which listens to your phone calls, and
tells you how you’re feeling.

16. On The Horizon >
Later That Same Life
What’s it all about?
If you could interview your future self, what would
you ask? Have drones taken over? Do I still hate
fish? Did I ever manage to seduce Ryan Gosling?
At the tender age of 18, Peter "Stoney" Emshwiller
recorded one half of an interview with himself. He
asked all the hard-hitting questions, like “Are you
exceedingly rich?” (cue laughter), and “Why don’t
you tell me something that I would never have
guessed?” 38 years later, he responded. Mind.
Blown.
The bigger picture
Now that we’ve lived over a decade of our lives on
social, we’re developing a new-found fondness for
yesterday. The brilliant Timehop gives an indication
of how powerful nostalgia can be. How can your
brand harness this?
CLICK TO TWEET:
Man interviews himself, 38 years in the
future. Spoiler alert: He looks much
older.

17. WEARABLE SOCIAL
The Live-Time Closed
Captioning System
Pillow Talk
BIG SOCIAL DATA
Twitter x Food Standards
Agency
COMMUNITY COMMERCE
mFish
ANTI-SOCIAL
The Short Edition Vending Machine
ON THE HORIZON
Cambridgeshire Police on Skype
Sharecare
Later That Same Life

18. WE ARE SOCIAL
We Are Social is a global agency with offices in five continents
(Antarctica is a little too chilly for our liking).
We deliver world-class creative ideas with forward-thinking brands, and have fun doing it. Our
clients include adidas, Google and Netflix.
As an international team of 550+, our passion is people. Our mission is to put social thinking at
the centre of marketing.
Trendspotting might get us unnaturally excited, but what really counts is action. If you'd like to
speak to We Are Social about how to make innovation work for your brand, email us at
talktous@wearesocial.net

19. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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