Augmented Reality (AR) is the newest form of digital communication…and it is astonishing.
AR is the overlay of graphics onto a video stream or other real-time display.  It moves the digital experience from the online environment into the real world. AR will change the world of marketing in the same way that social media has and will open up a world of possibilities in terms of how brands can market to savvy, younger consumers.

TIMEZONEONE AND AUGMENTED REALITY
TimeZoneOne worked with the U.S. Army to create an interactive experience that engaged viewers and promoted recruitment. We initiated an event based and online augmented reality campaign to support U.S. Army NASCAR sponsored events. We created a unique interactive event and online brand experience supporting the sponsorship in which a NASCAR is steered across a desert racing Army vehicles.

Powered by the augmented reality technology D’Fusion, users can now race the Army sponsored NASCAR and also educate themselves on Army vehicles online. The augmented reality application is complemented by content on FaceBook and YouTube allowing for a prolonged PR effect and strong viral potential.

AR is in its infancy but we believe that AR will become a very important way for brands to engage with customers and fans.

goarmy.com/raceforstrength

The start of my NHRA career?…(this is my staunch look…certainly ain’t no Blue Steel)

Hamish McDonald

Tony Schumacher

I have met Tony several times as TZO continues to create the US Army NHRA collateral.  Tony is a great guy and loves a good joke (and tequila shots)

Tony Schumacher is an American drag racer, currently competing in the NHRA Top Fuel class, of which he is a six-time champion winning the last five years consecutively (2004-2008). In 1999 he was the first driver to exceed 330 mph in competition.  He also has the world record for fastest 1/4 mile top fuel run: 337.58 mph, earned in 2005 at Brainerd, Minnesota. On September 14, 2008 at the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Charlotte, N.C., Tony surpassed Joe Amato as the winningest driver in NHRA Top Fuel history with his 53rd career victory.

Schumacher has been sponsored for several years by the U.S. Army and his intense personality and buzz cut hairstyle has earned him the nickname “Sarge.”

He enjoys playing guitar. He also co-owns and operates a home brewing and winemaking supply business called Perfect Brewing Supply. He is a distant relative of the 7 time Formula One world Champion Michael Schumacher.

Hamish McDonald

Adrian Peterson

I met Adrian Peterson on the set of the Army All America Bowl photo shoot TZO undertook.  He was the consummate professional but I will remember him most for his CRUSHING hand shake – even when you are expecting it he still manages to bring tears to your eyes…

Adrian is a professional football running back for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League. Peterson was selected by the Vikings with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma.

At Oklahoma, Peterson set the NCAA freshman rushing record with 1,925 yards as a true freshman. As a First-Team All-American, he also set a freshman record by finishing as the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting. Peterson finished as the school’s third all-time leading rusher.

Following his stellar first pro season, Peterson was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. In the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl, Peterson rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns, achieving the second highest rushing total in Pro Bowl history. Peterson was awarded the MVP award for his performance in the Pro Bowl, which led to a 42-30 victory over the AFC. Peterson is only the fifth player in NFL history to have more than 3,000 plus yards through their first two seasons.

He is currently regarded as the best running back in the NFL – and this season his team (with Brett Favre) are undefeated at 6-0.

Hamish McDonald

While our fine creative continues to support the US Army’s recruitment drive in the sports arenas of college football and motor racing, the US Air Force have taken a different tack. The USAF have teamed up with Galpin Auto Sports to create the Dodge Challenger ‘Vapor’ in an effort to educate potential recruits to the mechanical and technical opportunities within the Air Force.

The vehicle has enough technological advancements to make Batman’s eyes water including radar absorbing paint, fingerprint access, stealth body panels, a stealth exhaust for silent running, GPS tracking, night and thermal vision and a computer allowing access to UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, apparently). Jeepers.

Matt

I’ve been working on projects for the U.S. Army race teams recently and while doing my homework, I stumbled across some impressive  images that show just how well this pattern does its job of making the U.S. Army soldiers almost invisible…

There are 4 soldiers in the next image…

And the image below  has 4 soldiers and 7 ninjas…

The next evolution in camoflage will no doubt be some kind of stealth suit the bends lightwaves around the person wearing it. Here’s a nice little marketing stunt for a public awareness campaign where they created this illusion with a film camera and a projector.

WHAKANUIA TE REO MÄ€ORI

Celebrating M�ori language Week brought to you by the color Waiporoporo and the digraph Ng.

The M�ori word for Army is tau� (toe-ah).

The m�ori name for New Zealand’s Army is Ng�ti Tūmatauenga, ‘Tribe of the God of War�

I thought I’d provide another scintillating account of the life of a Project Manager and the exciting world of the location photo shoot.  The attached video shows the fascinating highs and lows of this creative process – we laughed, we cried, we dozed off…

The resulting collateral from this photo shoot looks fantastic (as you can see) – thanks to the hard work of our Randy Anderson and Kenny Smith – our photographers who are always ready to share smutty jokes over a few lagers, (does anyone else notice they are Mr Anderson and Mr Smith – Matrix anyone?) our Art Director extraordinaire David McLeod who really enjoys telling Randy what to do, and yours truly – who really did a whole lot of not much…

Hamish the Blogizadpha

Have you ever wondered what goes on at a photo shoot? Do you envisage glamorous locations, scantily clad models and point and shoot photography? This blogger is now well versed in the execution of the photo shoot and let me tell you – it aint all glitz and glamour!

My last two photo shoots have been in a warehouse in North Carolina and at the Minnesota Vikings training facility in Minneapolis – not the ritziest of locations! I never knew taking a great photo was so difficult – especially when there are cars involved. Randy Anderson is our master photographer and does a fantastic job for TimeZoneOne. Great care is taken over the precision of the lighting, reflections, shadows etc.

Whilst the photographer, art director and talent are extremely busy – I am hard at work ensuring the iPod is playing and donning helmets (football or racing) for placement shots.

The end result from Randy is always exceptional, and our team uses these images to create our world class creative. The process however, is not all glitz and glamour – I have yet to see any scanty cladding at all!

I have made a (not so) short video of the photo shoot for NASCAR. To view this video, follow the link below…

PART ONE:

PART TWO:

The Blogizadpha – Hamish

In a break from tradition, this weeks “Zoner of the Week” has been moved up to Monday as TimeZoneOne needs to thank a few people for making a day in Minneapolis a good time.

New to the TZ1 team is Minnesota Vikings Running Back and 2007 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, Adrian Peterson. Adrian gave up his valuable time to spend 2 hours being photographed for the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

A complete professional, Adrian was only to happy to stand and look as tough as possible for as long as we wanted, and although he is a superstar he was also keen to share a joke, sign some autographs and then take happy snaps with the team.

The end results look great and Adrian is sure to play a huge part in the continued success of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, and the Zoners in attendance will never forget having the opportunity to talk with him and his crushing handshake (Tatts is still wringing his hand).

Thanks Adrian, and have a great upcoming season.

The day was also made easy by long-term Zoner friends Randy Anderson and his sidekick Kenny. Randy, a genius behind the lens, has been involved in many previous TZ1 photoshoots in the USA, making life easy for the business team and creative team by producing fantastic looking imagery. Randy and Kenny’s ability to make everyone laugh also made the day fly by and took the stress levels down a few notches. Both were also available to give autographs on the day, but strangely enough there were no takers.

So a big thank you to you both, and Randy here is a gratuitous plug for your website: www.andersonstudio.com. we recommend checking it out.

Lastly a big thank you to David (3 time Zoner of the Week) and Simon who put in a huge effort concepting the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl look and feel. Without their long-term contribution to making the Army look (super) strong the shoot would not have been as easy.

Stay tuned later in the week as the controversy of who gets “Zoner of the Week” will be settled once and for all with the announcement of “Zoner of the Millennium”. Yes with still 991 years of the 2000s to go this prestigious position will be added to the pantheon of previous winners.

The excitement is almost too much.

Blog Feat. Tim

Today I had a dig through the TZ1 archive to see what we were up to on this day last year. This day last year was a Sunday in New Zealand, so we would’ve been relaxing eating pavlova, but we got back into doing awesome stuff on Monday the 12th. Here’s a snapshot of some of the awesome things we were up to this time last year…

Blogmaster McLeod, TimeZoneOne