IoT, NFC and Beacons – Treefrog Inc.

Artificial Intelligence, Augmented & Virtual Reality, Branding & Design, Digital Marketing, Hosting & Infrastructure, IoT, NFC and Beacons, Mobile App Development, Web Application Development, Web Design & Development

What Does Treefrog Do?

admin / October 2, 2019

Our “Who”

It is not uncommon for a company, country, or an individual to have an annual theme. At Treefrog, our CEO has set one for the company each year, and while most often they have remained internal; this year, we’ve decided to launch a marketing theme along with an internal monologue:

“What does Treefrog do?”

While this might seem like a strange question to be asking after nearly 20-years of business, as a digital agency, we have evolved incredibly over the last two decades; from CD burning to website development, creating a content management system (LEAP), to the additions of search ranking and social, to bleeding edge innovation around AI, AR, and IoT. And throughout all of this change, we hold one common theme: innovation and ideation.

Wall with full of multi coloured adhesive, sticky notes, project planning.

But, we are no longer the people in a basement designing websites by day and coding them by night. We’ve grown into a 40+ team. Our clients have matured and grown, just as the small Town of Newmarket has too.

There comes a time in every organization where you need to step back and ask: Based on our growth, are our clients of yesterday still our clients today? And will they be our clients of tomorrow?

At the end of 2018, we set out to answer this very question.

Let us share how we did this:

Our goal was to identify ten words or fewer that would succinctly recognize who our client is. We began by listing out a variety of clients (both past and present), what types of services they offer, and the successes we’ve had with them. This was followed by a lengthy exercise of identifying attributes of these many customers and how we work with our clients.

During the process, we started to notice patterns in the clients and attributes. While some clients were our long-time partners of 15+ years, others had been working with us for less than two years. Some clients were multi-million dollar organizations, with operations around the world, and others were less than five team members and under half million in revenue.

Fascinating similarities in connection for all clients regardless of size, location, industry or income started to emerge. Attributes such as:

Relationship-focused
Growth-Oriented
Collaborative
Curious
Patient
Experts in their field

We then categorized the attributes, in the hopes of boiling our brainstorming session down into one sentence that was evident in all the clients that we selected, both prosperous and less successful (yes we looked at our failures too).

In all cases, we were dealing with the CEO or lead decision-maker; even in the $80-million company, we had a direct line to the CEO.

However, we also realized that in focusing on our clients, what they asked of us was only part of the equation. How we behave, and our values played an essential role in this process too.

As we mingled our values with the attributes of our clients, we landed on something very close to “who” our ideal client is. This included a definition of each client, and a description that would be lasting regardless of the services that we offer or the ways to which we provide support.

“Courageous, aspirational decision-makers concerned about being digitally underdeveloped who want an invested partner.”

TREEFROG INC.

It’s not marketing speak. It’s not meant to be pretty. It’s an internal dialogue for whom we define as our partner. Let’s unpack this definition:

Courageous

Courage defined as ‘being afraid of something and doing it anyway.’

Starting a company, inheriting a company, or gaining the position of leader in an organization is an act of courage. Sometimes it’s the only act of courage a leader makes (that’s an article for another time). But, taking on that role can be scary. Leading an organization takes courage, on a daily basis.

This word was especially crucial to our team, as many of the clients we looked at need a lot of courage in both their companies and industries. Also, when you think about technologies and the digital industry, there are a lot of unknowns, it’s intimidating to many individuals, yet the courageous person moves forward even in the face of uncertainty.

Aspirational

Aspirational or Aspiration has a dual significance in the hope or ambition to go-after or achieve something paired with the action or process to get it. Aspirational individuals are decisive, visionary, curious, and willing to take risks. At Treefrog, we are aspirational; we take risks, we go after big ideas with curiosity and joy. Our best clients are aspirational, taking risks in business, achieving something beautiful.

Decision-Maker

Let’s be real. We all want to be dealing with the decision-maker, that’s a given. But, this decision-maker is unique, they go after new things, and they embrace or welcome innovation, thinking outside the box. They are not just any decision-maker but one who eagerly craves success.

Concerned

This word is especially significant in our definition. Several businesses in the world are happily digitally underdeveloped or non-existent. These are not our clients. We are not seeking to find these decision-makers.

We have one of these businesses leaders on our team right now, a hired consultant working with us part-time: but she is not our client, as she isn’t concerned about her digital footprint.

We are instead interested in working with (and for) companies and decision-makers who are worried about their place in the digital space, who fear missing out, who recognize they are lagging in the digital arena even though they may be experts in their industry.

Digitally Underdeveloped

What does it mean to be digitally underdeveloped? It is relative to the business, knowledge holders, competitors in the industry, and the company itself. It could mean a variety of status points, having an out-dated website, lagging in social engagements, using antiquated systems such as Excel for essential business functions, and more.

This is the one area we’ve spent the most amount of time on, defining and understanding what this could mean to many businesses including our past, current, and future clients. Stay tuned for part two of this article next month, as we will unpack this even more.

Want

Desire. Need. Want. Again, another impactful word in our definition as it describes the mental state of the decision-maker. They aren’t merely looking to fill a gap; this is something they crave or seek. It’s like breathing or nourishment to them, and they see the importance, they are willing to explore and find more than just the bare minimum.

Invested Partner

Lastly, a partner, yet not just any partner but one who is there for the long journey. At Treefrog, this is one of our strongest values, almost to a fault. We think of our clients and their businesses as if they are our businesses and our families. We pride our relationships with authenticity and love. When we engage in a new project, we look at the contract like that of the full depth and sanctity. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish. We are there side-by-side with our clients.

What’s next for Treefrog?

Now that we have a defined a clear path of the types of individuals for whom we have seen through evidence-based work and by aligned values, partnership, and longevity, we can start to examine the ‘what’ in: What does Treefrog do?

We hope you’ve found this article informative as to how we discovered our “who,” a question most businesses struggle to articulate.

At Treefrog, we encourage innovation and thought leadership in all that we do. If you would like help in finding your “who,” we offer no-charge innovation ideation sessions for our clients. We merely ask for a 10-15 minute pre-call to learn about your business and what keeps you up at night.

Interested? Please let us know by emailing info@treefrog.ca.

A man interacts with a touchscreen tablet at home.

IoT, NFC and Beacons

What Is The Internet of Everything? Why Should You Care?

admin / June 13, 2019

As a leader in innovation and technology, we felt it appropriate to share a recent talk by our CEO, Sean Stephens where he addressed four of the hottest questions in the field:

What is the internet of everything (IoE)?
How is it changing business?
What are common products are we already seeing in this space?
How can it apply to your business?

You may have heard the expression internet of things (IoT) referring to internet enabled products such as appliances, vehicles, wearable and more. What then is the difference between IoT and IoE? That’s an entire other article, but to put it simply:

The difference lies in the intelligent connection.

An IoT device or product relies on the physical object to communicate, whereas an IoE device relies on network intelligence to bring all of the concepts together into a more united system.

What Is The Internet Of Everything?

As technology evolves, there is a goal to have every single object connect to the internet in some way. This is a significant change in the information age by being connected to all our devices, utilizing machine learning to predict our every wish and desire. Does that freak you out, or excite you?

Before we get into that, let’s look back to see how we got to where we are today. Essentially there have been four revolutionary periods, and we are living in one of them today:

The revolution of steam, the ability to push and drive through waterpower.
The manufacturing revolution.
The birth of technology with inventions such as the telephone, television, cell phones, wireless devices and more.
Today is the revolution of the internet of everything. From doors and fridges to vehicles and thermostats, almost everything is being embedded with electronics, software, sensors and connectivity, which enable things to connect and exchange data.

You are likely already using IoE and don’t even realize it! Let’s be clear though, cell phones and social media are not IoE. Devices such as thermostats and home cameras that monitor your home, connected cars with Google GPS and traffic tracking, and activity monitors that track your health, are. Soon we will have fully connected lives.

How Is This Changing Business?

It’s affecting our buying decision, to know or not when it’s connected to our personal devices or our businesses. Soon the IoE devices will become as second nature as your cell phones and coffee makers.

What Common Products Are We Already Seeing In This Space?

One of the most common: sensors. The extensibility of a sensor is endless; from knowing the position of something, the movement or displacement of an object and the velocity, to monitoring the temperature or moisture of a space, air quality, presence of chemicals and more.

You can likely think of products that identify with these sensors: smart fire alarms, smart water meters in townships, smart water monitors in basement, and smart carbon monoxide detectors just to name a few.

What makes sensors so special? You might be thinking “simply adding a sensor isn’t IoE” and you’re right! The magic comes when we start to think about changing human behaviour through positive access to information. Really, isn’t that why the sensor is there, for connectivity and access to data? We often think about connectivity being wires hooked up to two objects. Where we start to push the boundaries is when we remove the wires and connect through other options.

Let’s explore some of the technological options, which are pushing everyday devices into the IoE space:

Bluetooth – the connecting of devices within a limited space often about 30 meters, such as your speakers or headphones.
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) – scanning of devices when passed through an entry point. There are several options of RFID types: paper based, labels, inlayed, buttons, chips, glue, key and more.
Near Field Connection (NFC) – This involves a very close connection, for example tapping your visa on a point of sale.

How can we use this data to change behaviour?

Food Industry

In a recent study using sensors and data, researchers found that Canada produced enough food for 52 million people. As our country is home to 32 million, 58 per cent of food produced is wasted. How could IoE make a difference to the food production industry in Canada or the world? It can be used to track where in the food chain spoilage occurs to help reduce the amount of waste and optimize distribution.

That’s one area, now let’s look closer at the consumer level: in a fridge.

Close-up Of A Person's Hand Operating Refrigerator With Mobile Phone How many times in the last month have you thrown something out from your fridge that’s expired?

There are monitor-censored fridges available – but how many of us can afford an $8k fridge? Now imagine if you could make your fridge IoE through the use of a sensor. You would know if the door got left open accidentally, if the temperature drops or if your kids are grazing and opening the door every 5 minutes, causing massive temperature changes.

Gun Control

While this is a larger problem south of border, it’s fascinating the number of accidental deaths due to guns. Imagine if you could monitor the movement of guns, the cupboard door or drawer where it’s stored. You are instantly notified and can act. What effect would that have on the behaviour of others and us?

Water Damage

Water is the most common cause of damage and accounts for 50 per cent of home insurance claims. Imagine how with the use of small sensors, insurance companies could save thousands of dollars in claims by installing sensors in basements, sump pumps, and under sinks to catch leaks before they get out of control.

With these examples, we can see some simple IoE wins:

Remote control and monitoring
Reduce costs
Data collection
Theft, spoilage and damage prevention
Health monitoring

How Can It Apply To Your Small Business?

Let’s look at a few examples:

Asset tracking for your entire business
Movement
Monitoring supply chain inventory
Monitoring door movement to identify how long people stay in certain areas of a restaurant or business
Manufacturing – industrial IoE in robotics
Storage units and warehousing – monitoring the doors, temperature and humidity levels

The possibilities are endless.

Make it your own. Have you identified a specific problem that you have due to lack of access to regular data? Could you change the flow of work or increase savings in your business by leveraging sensors and data collection?

Where Do You Start?

Having helped several companies across Southern Ontario, we’ve identified the steps to take for bringing your IoE ideas to life:

Do you have a problem you are trying to solve? What are the basic function and features?
Once the idea is identified, start to sketch it out, create variety of ideas, explore alternatives, foster discussion around the potential or prototyped product, root out bad ideas, identify what you will measure
Design & Architecture
- Mapping the user through use of the tool or device? How will you connect to them?
- Identify the data to collect
- Create 3D print or rendering of the concept
- Prototype
- Develop
- Beta-test
- Go to market

Ten years ago, if you wanted to bring a concept to fruition, it would require thousands of dollars, crowd funding and more to simply get it to market. Now with the use of 3D rendering and technology, your ideas can be birthed with relatively less investment, and in weeks not months or years.

So, what’s your idea? Connect with us; we’d love to hear it!

Resources:

A green potted plant near a laptop on a wooden table

Why The Frogs Are Green

admin / June 5, 2019

Here at Treefrog, we like to look at the bigger picture. Instead of thinking about the here and now, we see far into the future and understand that the decisions we make today, can greatly impact the next generation of Frogs.

We must share our beautiful world with everyone, and everything that resides here. While we might only live in a small pond we’ve found that a few simple changes can make a BIG difference.

At Treefrog, we are constantly looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint.

Here are a few little changes that have made a big impact:

We Are Paperless

Saving trees starts with ditching paper. Once upon a time our entire project management office was run from coloured folders and stapled dockets. Moving the team away from the colour folder project system and into project management software was no small task. Our design team moved from sketchbooks and carbon pencils to a Wacom for digital mind mapping. Our Sales team moved to virtual notes directly in our CRM software (Salesforce), ditching the spiral Hilroy’s. Our cleaning team moved from paper towels to washable cloths, and we changed our washrooms to compostable towels.

The production and distribution of paper has a significant impact on the environment. Paper production poses issues on air, water and land. And as frogs, we dislike when deforestation destroys our homes. So we ask… why use paper when we have a virtual environment that can help us produce and deliver documents? And who likes paper cuts anyways? We do not.

We Started a Recycle and Compost Program

When we made the move from 12 Vincent to 567 Davis, we didn’t realize this change would mean giving up the ability to recycle and compost as we moved from a zoned-commercial/residential location to a pure commercial location. Unfortunately, the Town of Newmarket doesn’t offer pick up service for businesses.

Recyclable and non-recyclable garbage can indoors.

We were faced with an issue of how to maintain our recycling and composting habits – since throwing out cans just didn’t seem like an option for the frogs. For the first few months, frogs would boomerang their lunches until we were able to convince the town to offer us curbside services too.

As Bill Nye the Science Guy would say: “To leave the world better than you found it, sometimes you have to pick up other people’s trash.” But, this was not enough.

The frogs lobbied for these services, and won! We are one of the only businesses in Newmarket with this opportunity, so we do our very best to ensure we are properly recycling and composting.

We Smart Commute

Commuting to work sucks. Especially when you are stuck sitting in traffic. And hello, the prices of gas are crazy! Speaking of gas, it is extremely harmful to our planet.

That is why Treefrog has implemented a Smart Commute Program. Before Smart Commute opened its doors to under 50 employee employers, we offered our Frogs cash bonuses when they choose to smart commute. This included carpooling, taking public transportation, walking to work (some frogs prefer hopping), or even skipping the drive and working from home¹.

We Buy and Grow Locally

You can catch flies with honey. And frogs love flies. So, we go through lots of honey. However, we only buy locally sourced honey for our office. There are many environmental benefits in supporting local honey farmers. Farm-raised bees help to pollinate plants, which is beneficial to local wildlife. In addition, buying local supports honey farmers who are properly caring for and raising the endangered bees.

We also love to grow fruits and vegetables in our Treefrog garden. While having a garden may seem like a small impact, it has huge environmental benefits. Growing your own food can reduce carbon emission and waste. Food travels long distances to arrive at the grocery store, on average it takes over 1500 miles of travel before the fruits and veggies we love get placed in our carts. In addition, growing food can reduce waste as it eliminates the need for packaging such as plastic and cardboard. So, if you are ever passing Davis Drive in the summer, feel free to enjoy a tomato (or two) from our garden².

We Only Drive Electric

Our Frogs are always on the go, whether we have a meeting with a client, a networking event or one of us is speaking at a workshop or conference; we have an electric car that will get us where we need to go. We invested in two fully electric cars to reduce our carbon footprint and protect our planet. While this might require some extra planning on our part when navigating to and fro, it’s worth the effort knowing that in the last five years we’ve reduced our carbon footprint by 130,000 km through the use of electric vehicles.

Vehicles that run on gas emit toxic greenhouse gases into the environment and pollute our air. Greenhouse gas emissions are the leading cause of climate change.

We Made Small Changes Around the Office

Change starts with the low hanging fruit, and at Treefrog, those are the simple things like batteries and lights.

As a digital marketing agency, it’s no surprise that we go through a lot of battery power. We recently started a new tactic with the goal of minimizing our environmental impact through battery conditioning. We converted all our batteries to brand new, top-of-the-line Eneloop batteries with a life of 2100 charges. So, no more one-time use batteries, only rechargeable!

Apart from the batteries, we also have a Nest Learning Thermostat that programs itself and helps save energy. Not only does it save us money on our heating bill, but it also helps us avoid running the air when no one’s home. We also use a combination of compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) lights and LEDs, which are more energy efficient.

These small things make a big difference in saving our planet. We want Treefrog to live on for many generations, and we hope you do too.

What are you doing in your space to reduce your footprint? We’d love to hear from you!

Resources

https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation
https://www.tomsofmaine.com/good-matters/natural-products/the-amazing-benefits-of-local-honey

¹Smart commute bonus is only for in-office commuters.
²Garden options tend to change from year to year.