Continuing its heritage of providing innovative utilities and fun experiences at Glastonbury, 2011 sees the brand bring its customers a sound-powered T-Shirt that can recharge you phone while you watch bands perform.
The noise-responsive shirt is equipped with several adaptor options enabling the festival going wearer to simply top-up the charge on their handset while enjoying the music.
The Sound Charge T-shirt was created in conjunction with energy outfit GotWind and uses piezoelectric film to absorb sound waves and convert them into electricity. The electricity is then stored in a reservoir battery which comes with a set of adaptors allowing the user to plug a wide variety of mobile phones in for charging.
Orange ran testing programmes to see which acts are the best at charging phones at the ‘Spirit of 71’ stage. Andrew Pearcey, head of sponsorship at Orange UK, said: ‘In a vibrant festival environment such as Glastonbury, sound is such an obvious medium that it seemed like a natural fit to use it in the development of this year’s prototype.’
Running out of juice is a perennial problem for festival goers and finding a charging solution is a challenge. So this could be a perfect solution, Furthermore, understanding festival conditions sees the Orange shirt have a removable piezoelectric panel should the shirt need washing after being caked in mud.
Of course, this utility is not the only charging solution provided by the brand at Glastonbruy, Orange has run its Chill n’ Charge tent programmes for several years now. Offering consumers the chance to relax while their phones charged by more traditional methods.
Comment:
Using a bit of imagination and taking time to understand consumer needs can see just a small investment produce a genuinely useful, service/product-related utility which can generate loyalty and engagement for years to come.
Orange has established a genuine track record in this area at Glastonbury with its mobile app, its geo-location beacon and its communal imaging festival projects.
Links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuRdF46TKDs&feature=player_embedded
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/news/t_shirt_recharges_mobile_phones
http://newsroom.orange.co.uk/2011/06/20/turn-it-up-to-11-orange-unveils-the-sound-charge-2011/
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