The Rising Wonder of Smart Vending Machines

A new generation of automated smart vending machines, including refrigerators and coolers, is taking its place within stores (e.g., food, pharma, convenience) and in public spaces (e.g., train stations & airports, malls, service waiting lounges). There is variation in their models and features, but they have some common characteristics: they are AI-augmented, data-driven, and often… Read More

When Aesthetics Meets Neuroscience: Neuroaesthetics

Seeing or hearing a beautiful creation — of art, design, or nature — usually makes us feel good, bringing in us a feeling of pleasure, elevation, calm or thrill. Often enough, the aesthetics of a scenery, artefact or person is realised almost instantly (i.e., astounding beauty). Neuroaesthetics, a young field of the neurosciences, is devoted… Read More

Wake-Up to Your Energy Drink

Every now and then people need a little help to ‘boost their energy’. To the rescue comes the ‘energy drink’ (e.g., Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar, and more recently Prime). It is an invigorating, non-alcoholic drink, but one that usually contains high levels of sugar, caffeine, and other stimulants to create its effect. Energy drinks have… Read More

Mapping Semantic and Visual Brand Associates

Brand associates are often conceived in verbal terms, as concrete descriptions and more abstract concepts; they may be captured by single words or longer phrases that express thoughts and emotions. But brands may be linked with visual images (pictures, drawings, photos) that capture the same brand ideas, sometimes even more efficiently than verbal expressions. The… Read More

Extracting the Meaning, Visually

Visual rhetorical figures are not so common in advertising; good examples are hard to find. They are used infrequently probably because they require more elaboration by consumers-viewers to interpret the implicit meaning embedded in a visual rhetorical representation. Nevertheless, considering the increasing use of images in many spheres of life, including in marketing contexts, and… Read More