What’s In This Issue?
This Week’s Main Stories
Story 01How Digital Teachers Can Make Education Better
Story 02Can Kellogg's Reinvent Froot Loops As A Lifestyle Brand?Even More Stories
- Frito-Lay Helps Parents Leave Notes In Their Kids’ Lunches
- Häagen-Dazs Creates Social Media Friendly Package Redesign
- Janet Jackson Tries ASMR With Her "Silky" Voice And It's Creepy
- We're Dying Earlier And It's Because Of "Shit-Life Syndrome"
- Can Co-Working Spaces Save American Shopping Malls?
- Japan Wants To Make Flying Cars Are Standard
- Using VR To Ease The Pain Of Kid's Immunization Shots
How Digital Teachers Can Make Education Better
Earlier this month my family and I made a memorable journey to a fishing village in Cambodia. While there we were lucky to spend some time at a local school with a group of sixth grade children who had taken a rowboat to get to class. Unfortunately, their teacher was missing that day - because many teachers there are forced to work second jobs to make ends meet. So the kids show up to class and try to work alone. Some days they have a teacher, and some days they don't.
In New Zealand this week, Auckland energy company Vector teamed up with AI company Soul Machines to launch a digital avatar named Will who teaches children about energy use. He is interactive, human like and can even react to students answers. Watching the demo video for the technology, I wasn't scared about how those kids learning from Will might see the future. They still had human teachers too.
Instead, I was thinking of those hopeful faces at that school in Cambodia and wondering what it would be like if they could have a substitute like Will to teach them on those days when their teacher doesn't make it. The truth is, maybe we spend a little too much time worrying about the well being of kids who learn from technology and not enough worrying about the ones who show up to school every day unsure of whether they will have a teacher at all.
Can Kellogg's Reinvent Froot Loops As A Lifestyle Brand?
I remember last year I was walking past some trendy retail stores in NY and I saw a few handbags with the Pan Am logo. Apparently there is a whole historical foundation and store featuring all kinds of retro products like t-shirts and travel kits. The airline may have died but the brand is alive.
I was thinking about that as I read this story about Kellogg's partnering with fashion pioneer AWAYTOMARS to try and evolve Froot Loops into a lifestyle and fashion brand. As they face more consumers reluctant to give their kids sugary cereals for breakfast, I love the idea of taking their brand equity and trying to give people another way to love the brand.
It is interesting to think that slowly declining (or dead) brands like Kodak or Blockbuster or Toys R Us might find new ways to monetize the one thing they have left: a warm feeling of nostalgia. I would probably wear that.
