Gone are the smoke and the rustling newspapers, but there’s plenty to discuss and even more coffee to sample. Enter #guardiancoffee, a pop-up coffee shop at Boxpark, in the heart of London’s creative technology community, where desk-mounted Bouncepads offer access to the Guardian’s iPad editions.
The Guardian is internationally recognized for its commitment to digital innovation. It is regularly voted best newspaper site in the world, and was named newspaper of the year in Great Britain in 2013. It now reaches a global audience of tens of millions. As a ‘digital first’ organization, the Guardian was looking for a way to make their digital brand tangible in the real world – and create an amazing experience.
#guardiancoffee at Boxpark in Shoreditch, London proved the perfect vehicle, transporting the traditional relationship between journalists and coffee shops into the digital age, while visitors can view Guardian and Observer iPad editions on Bouncepads, the site also offers a space for journalists to work. It reflects the newspaper’s commitment to ‘open journalism’ by providing a place where the public can meet the journalists who report on technology face-to-face: among those is the Guardian’s Head of Technology, Jemima Kiss. She reports live from #guardiancoffee, interviewing some of the smartest minds in the sector, and gathering news and views from visitors to the coffee shop.
The technology-infused pop-up space puts great emphasis on delivering an engaging real-time experience. Innovative interior design – created by local furniture makers Unto This Last – meets digital interaction and live data: visitors can share ideas, articles and opinions via the #guardiancoffee Twitter feed which is displayed on an interactive data wall; it even shows real time stats on the amount of London’s own Nude Espresso coffee that’s being consumed via super fast 4G connectivity, courtesy of EE who provide free top speed WiFi to all visitors.
Conceived and executed by Guardians News & Media in partnership with creative agency Mohawk, Bouncepad provides a key ingredient to #guardiancoffee: the Bouncepad Desk iPad holder with a Rotate base allows visitors to share the reading experience by turning the screen to look at articles together. It provides secure and effortless access to the digital world of the Guardian – without a dog-eared copy in sight.