The document summarizes the top 10 signs from April 2018 across various categories including consumer insights, business innovation, communication, experience, and partnerships. Some of the signs discussed include Gen Z experiencing "phone boredom" due to running out of interesting content online; slow entertainment like 8-hour films without dialogue gaining popularity; Toyota creating an immersive print ad that simulates the car interior and heartbeat; and partnerships between brands and media companies to develop original content.

1. top 10 signs
of april 2018
Explore top 10 signs of last month. Get your monthly update
of the most innovative signs selected by our readers from
across different industries. Signs are clustered into 5 broad
categories: consumer insights, business innovation,
communication, experience & partnerships.
SIGNMESH.COMSNAPSHOTAPRIL2018

2. consumer
insights
1Consumer insights around media,
purchase and lifestyle behavior

3. BUSINESSINNOVATION
Gen Z’s Boredom
Reaches The Internet
Generation Z is bored of a lot of things.
However, the internet is new to that list - and
that might not even be a bad thing.
The youngest generation is experiencing a
new type of boredom: phone bored. Phone
boredom happens when teens have cycled
through everything on their devices and
they’re left feeling stranded, looking for
interesting things digitally and just not
finding anything that grabs their attention.
As one teen describes it: “Sometimes I feel
like I’ve reached the end of the internet, I’ll
just watch the same videos on YouTube until
eventually I’m so bored I start clicking
random things on my phone.”
http://signme.sh/IjkrV7xqv

4. BUSINESSINNOVATION
Slow Entertainment
In a wellness focused world, even
entertainment is slowing down.
Slow media is enjoying new mass attraction.
Films like “Baa Baa Land” - an eight-hour
slow-motion movie without dialogue or
storyline, focusing on hundreds of sheeps -
have the sole goal to help people relax and
unwind. Other slow epics include four-hour
National Knitting events, reindeer
herding and seven-hour train rides.
The wellness movement is changing the face
of entertainment, offering an antidote to
hectic modern life.
http://signme.sh/oaVZ13zcR

5. business
innovation
2Signs and innovations around new
products, services and ventures

6. BUSINESSINNOVATION
Telia Sense
Telia Sense is bringing IoT to private
consumers, making car ownership easily
manageable.
The small IoT device by the telco company
has three different main functions. First of all
it is tracking the car’s health, reminding the
owner of inspections, tire change, and
warning against engine, electricity and
battery failures. The second feature is
helping to find a parking spot, warning
against parking bans and signaling when
anyone is stealing or harming the car. Lastly,
the device brings WiFi into the car, using the
4G network in Sweden and the EU.
http://signme.sh/5i0_1Rcgv

7. BUSINESSINNOVATION
Gaming-As-A-Service
PlayGiga wants to launch gaming-as-a-
service, offering Telcos another option for
content.
Spanish startup PlayGiga aims to create
gaming-as-a-service to add another layer of
content alternatives from telcos to
consumers. In its core, it is planned to offer a
“gaming platform as a white-label solution to
operators”. The solution is supposed to work
like subscription services, having customers
pay a fee and getting unlimited access to
games in return. For operators this solution
gives the chance to target less affluent
markets like families or developing markets.
http://signme.sh/QiV5BBIXp

8. communication
3Signs and examples around advertising,
content marketing, CRM and loyalty

9. BUSINESSINNOVATION
N26’s Bold Millennial
Campaign
To position themselves as the Millennial-
friendly bank of the future, N26’s cheeky
hashtag is spreading across Europe’s cities.
N26, the Berlin-based mobile banking
startup has a new hashtag “#nobullshit,”
taking aim at traditional banks. The hashtag
on bold posters can be seen in subway
stations in Berlin, and will now appear in
Munich and other cities as the OOH
campaigns broadens its’ rollout.
http://signme.sh/AcbbUghK1

10. BUSINESSINNOVATION
Toyota Multi-Sensory
Ad
The car manufacturer’s new ad in InStyle
magazine takes the reader inside the car and
even simulates his heart rate.
A 2018 print ad of Toyota in InStyle magazine
places the reader inside the car by simulating
its sight, sound, smell and touch. It even
simulates to measure readers’ heart rates. On
a double-page, readers are able to grab the
door handles of the car and place their
thumbs on built-in sensors that then simulate
their pulse line. LED lights make the
heartbeat visible and a beeping noise makes
it hearable. The pages show an exact replica
of the Camy model’s interior, including the
“new car scent”.
http://signme.sh/fqFBpa2CL

11. experience
4Signs and interesting practices around
retail and POS spaces, events or
installations

12. BUSINESSINNOVATION
Outdoor Shopping AR
Athleisure brand Outdoor Voices’ app uses
AR to let people shop while on a hike.
During SXSW the company launched the AR
app, motivating festival goers to take a break
outside and hike around Austin. Users of the
app could scan the ground and collect
rewards in form of location specific deals on
apparel. They could see their rewards in AR
and order them with Apple Pay.
http://signme.sh/VXRaVkxeU

13. BUSINESSINNOVATION
Daimler's Digital
Human
Sarah, a digital human combining AI and
emotional intelligence, is on a mission to
improve customer experience.
Daimler Financial Services introduced
“Sarah”, a digital human that is supposed to
link man and machine with artificial and
emotional intelligence. Sarah was made to
improve customer experience by assisting
like a personal concierge, offering “the right
information at the right time with a
convenient and emotionally intelligent,
digital touchpoint”. This assistance is
necessary as the automotive company’s
mobility and finance portfolio is becoming
increasingly complex.
http://signme.sh/vFpE1_UmU

14. partnerships
5Signs around sponsoring, interesting brand
and media cooperations, influencer
marketing

15. BUSINESSINNOVATION
Heineken Original
Content For MLS
Heineken USA partnered with Copa90 to
develop Major League Soccer social video
series.
Copa90, a multi-platform soccer media
outlet, and Heineken USA formed a
partnership to release a original content
series about Major League Soccer (MLS).
The series, called “Hometown”, shows the
culture of supporters and MLS city through
the eyes of some of the league’s biggest
stars. It can be viewed on Copa90’s social
channels.
http://signme.sh/jb6tBHe6I

16. BUSINESSINNOVATION
Educating The Next
Generation Of Coders
Barbie’s creators are working on a new
version that will teach young girls how to
code.
Mattel partnered with computing platform
Tynker to bring coding lessons to 10 million
children by 2020. The goal is to spark a
desire for pursuing tech-based careers.
Seven Barbie coding lessons will be created
to inspire kids, especially girls, to go into
technical professions.
http://signme.sh/V1MxT2LrT

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