IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 14
geek life
Phone-y Brew
How a fake coffee-making
phone is rebranding a
canadian province
A
t first, the Pomegranate NS08
seems plausible as a sleek nextgeneration cellphone. But the
list of features goes on just a tad too
long to be true: a built-in translator
(cool), a coffeemaker (please, please),
a harmonica (huh?), and finally...
an electric shaver (okay, you got me!).
But the Pomegranate exists only in a
YouTube video and a Web site designed
to draw you to another Web site, that
of the "Come to life" initiative in Nova
Scotia, Canada, a partnership between
the government and 300 private
associations, schools, and businesses
located in the coastal province, which is
due east of Maine. The idea is to rebrand
a rustic vacationland as a bastion of
innovative minds, creative businesses,
and a balanced quality of life.
22
NA * iEEE SpEctrum * july 2009
wildly futuristic: the pomegranate
In the first six months after its
phone can brew coffee, translate
September launch, the Web site
foreign languages, and be played like
registered more than 1 023 000 visits
a harmonica. Images: ProvInce of nova scotIa
from 198 countries, led by the United
States, Canada, Germany, Italy, and
the phone to brew coffee, but I kept
Britain. An astonishing 64 percent
watching!) Then the punch line pops up:
of visitors clicked through from the
"Someday you'll be able to get everything
fake phone to the Nova Scotia pages.
you want in one device. Today you
At least one featured business, Ross
can get everything you want in one
Screenprint, in Antigonish, received
place." The site then pitches the Nova
calls for new business, and a Greek film
Scotia lifestyle, businesses, education,
festival wants to screen the site's opening culture, and local entrepreneurs.
phone sequence. But success will be
A creative team consisting of Web
measured not by buzz but by results.
programmers, video producers, and
"Our goal was to reach key
an ad agency spent nine months
influencers-media, senior politicians,
putting together the campaign. They
CEOs, people addicted to their
stamped real pomegranates with the
BlackBerrys," says Stacey Jones-Oxner,
campaign's URL and passed them
communications advisor of the Nova
out in Ottawa, Toronto, and Boston.
Scotia campaign. "A new gadget that
Then word of mouth took over.
did everything was the best way to
While no one has seriously tried
grab those folks, so we created one."
to buy the Pomegranate, Jones-Oxner
The site leads users through
adds, "We did get a call from Germany
increasingly fantastic features until you
telling us that if we decided to actually
click "release date" or "I've seen enough." make this phone, they would distribute
(You'd think I'd have reached that
it. So we may be onto something here."
point when water was poured through
-Susan Karlin
www.spectrum.ieee.org
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum July, 2009
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - Cover1
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - Cover2
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 1
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 2
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 3
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 4
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 5
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 6
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 7
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 8
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 9
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 10
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 11
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 12
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 13
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 14
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 15
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 16
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 17
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 18
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 19
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 20
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 21
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 22
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 23
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 24
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 25
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 26
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 27
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 28
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 29
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 30
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 31
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 32
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 33
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 34
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 35
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 36
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 37
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - 38
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - Cover3
IEEE Spectrum July, 2009 - Cover4
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