Hacking Arnold into the Future

My pathway into advertising was weird, I came in through the interactive door in 2000, when everything was new and process hadn’t yet taken hold of advertising and digital. Yet, by the time 2007 rolled around, the routine around digital was fairly predictable and I saw a clear opportunity to create space inside the agency for exploring new technologies + interactive concepts for brands that Arnold serviced. After working with the creative technologist and designer who would staff the lab, I pitched the idea to our creative ops lead and then to the Managing Partners, and the Arnold R&D Lab was born (a few short months before my first daughter arrived).

The purpose of this lab was to inspire internal teams with experiments and prototypes that pushed beyond traditional advertising and online marketing techniques. The most effective use of this unit was to invite Clients from the agency roster to experience the Lab's hardware and software prototypes and imagine how their brands could engage consumers using these creative and unique approaches to interactivity.

The R&D Lab produced projects for brands like Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Carnival, truth®, Legacy, Citizens Bank plus an interactive beer vending machine named, Arnie.