International round-up: Domino’s tests self-driving delivery & Ikea’s human catalogue

Ikea introduces the ‘Human catalogue’, German publishers join forces against duopoly and Deutsche Telekom brings VR to its dementia-fighting sea hero quest game.

Ford and Domino’s to test pizza delivery using self-driving cars

Domino’s and Ford are joining forces to research the viability of delivering pizza using self-driving vehicles in the US.

In what the companies claim is an industry first, the two brands will investigate how receptive customers are when it comes to interacting with a self-driving vehicles as part of their delivery experience.

Ford plans to begin the production of self-driving vehicles in 2021.

“As delivery experts, we’ve been watching the development of self-driving vehicles with great interest as we believe transportation is undergoing fundamental, dramatic change,” says Patrick Doyle, Domino’s president and CEO.

“We pride ourselves on being technology leaders and are excited to help lead research into how self-driving vehicles may play a role in the future of pizza delivery. This is the first step in an ongoing process of testing that we plan to undertake with Ford.”

Burger King launches the ‘mystery burger’

Burger King is introducing a “mystery burger” that will allow customers to enjoy, at random, one of its 10 burgers for €2.

The initiative was developed by French advertising agency Buzzman and is part of an offer available until 25 September in all French Burger King restaurants.

The campaign will feature a film broadcasted on TV, online and through outdoor advertising.

Meet the unforgettable 2018 Ikea ‘Human’ catalogue

Ikea has found a novel way to promote its latest catalogue, convincing Yanjaa Wintersoul, a 23-year-old world memory champion, to learnevery detail of the 2018 version.

She is able to recite almost every detail from the 328-page catalogue, from a child’s drawing stuck on a fridge in the far corner of a room on page 21, to the types of books sitting inside a glass cabinet on page 132.

Wintersoul will showcase her talent at a Facebook Live event on 6 September at 5pm in Singapore. Wintersoul is the face of Ikea’s 2018 catalogue launch for the Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand markets and is currently the world’s highest ranking female memory champion.

“The iconic Ikea catalogue is something we are very proud of. Each year we celebrate its launch as we believe it is the go-to home furnishing inspiration for many people and it has been that way for years,” says Mike King, retail director of Ikea, South East Asia.

German publishers join forces against the digital duopoly

German publishers are joining forces against Google and Facebook by forming a cross-industry alliance that prioritises consumer data privacy.

Axel Springer, owner of national newspapers including Bild and Die Welt, is part of one of Germany’s two high-profile alliances, which also includes auto manufacturer Daimler, insurance juggernaut Allianz and Deutsche Bank. There are nine members in total, with airline Lufthansa, telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom and IT security company Bundesdruckerei signing on this week.

The alliance aims to provide a single login for customers that complies with the new EU data privacy regulations (GDPR), which come into effect on May 2018.

Once users have created personal accounts, they can use the same security settings and passwords across member sites.

READ MORE: German publishers are joining forces against the duopoly

Deutsche Telekom brings VR to its dementia-fighting sea hero quest game

Deutsche Telekom has turned its Sea Hero Quest mobile game into a virtual reality game in its fight against dementia.

The game, which collects data to help scientists fight dementia, has won 11 Cannes Lions and three D&AD Pencils. It has also been downloaded three million times and helped to collate information equivalent to more than 12,000 years of research into people with dementia.

The VR version has been created by Saatchi & Saatchi and independent game designers, Glitchers, and will be available for free through the Oculus Store. Up to 10 people will be able to play the game together.

Deutsche Telekom claims the new game will be able to collect data that is 15 times more precise than the smartphone game.

“Millions of people across the world were inspired to share their time and their data to game for good. As more people start to adopt new technologies such as VR, the demand for new and exciting content grows – we want to meet this demand whilst at the same time empowering players to contribute to a global dementia research,” says Hans-Christian Schwingen, chief brand officer at Deutsche Telekom.

READ MORE: Deutsche Telekom brings VR to its dementia-fighting Sea Hero Quest Game

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