picked this up via a TrendCentral article describing how brands are leveraging the power of AR in the mobile space.  there's nothing massively groundbreaking about the above application; we've been talking about this kind of technology for a good while now.  but there are however three important things to observe…

it is done very well.  its comprehensive, simple to download and seemingly easy to use.  its one thing to develop the strategy of having a bar-finder app…  its quite another to make one happen.  and to make one happen that has clearly been developed with user-centricity (rather than brand-centricity) at its heart is to be applauded.

it was developed outside of an established silo of expertise.  specialist iPhone app building agency arossair (not an existing ad, media, or digital agency) built the application for Stella.  this is an agency build on the basis of being a specialist not a generalist; of being totally focused on doing one thing well and being famous for it.  I can't help but think that all of us in more generalist agencies will have to decide just how generalist we want to be in the future…

…the obvious model that emerges is that the generalists will evolve into central hubs of thinking and coordination, pulling in the capabilities of specialists on behalf of brands and projects as they go.  but an evolution to this role brings with it lower margins and potential revenues – especially and specifically in the area of production and execution.

finally, they did it.  enough of the talk and the thinking and the chart writing and justification and exploration and debating; and more of the doing.  as the early 21st Century witnesses an exponential increase in the things that brands could do, there is a pleasure in seeing a brand actually doing something.  'build it [well] and they will come' could well become a mantra for our times.