Montreal is not only an earthly city as we know it, with its symbols like the leaning tower of the Olympic Stadium or the cross on Mount Royal, or even the underground city, with its endless malls. It is rather becoming the virtual city…! Some start-ups have adapted themselves well in this digital age. Leo Gamayunov has created Wish Box. It allows sending a selection of experiences and activities in the form of a gift. (Article extracted from Les Affaires, Expressonomie Blog, 20/04/2016)
All those who wander in the streets with their mobile phone in hand, they live together in a parallel universe, composed of a vast network of virtual connections which gives them permanent access to their favourite electronic gadget. A ‘beep’ and they start an exchange of text messages with a boyfriend or a girlfriend. A series of insistent vibration, and they discover that the shop in front of which they are passing by offers 25% immediate discount on certain products which match their tastes. In short, Montrealers today are ubiquitous: they are able to evolve simultaneously in two parallel universes. This, when you think about it, is phenomenal.
Without us realizing it, a historic turning point came in 2013. For the first time, more mobile electronic devices (cell, tablets, …) were sold rather than fixed devices (laptops, connected phones, …) according to the Global Internet Report 2015 of the Internet Society. It was at that moment that we entered the era of mobility.
One of the consequences of which no one has yet grasped the magnitude, is that digital mobility is now transforming the lives of inhabitants of cities like Montreal. A striking example: who has never changed his Saturday’s program to come in a café with a good Wi-Fi, not to enjoy a delicious smoothie, but rather to reintegrate in the virtual universe of its network of connections?
Our own experience of the city is changing. Hence, the emerging tendency of start-ups in Montreal is to marry the real to the virtual. Wishbox is an idea of brilliant simplicity. It allows the user to offer to the person of his choice (his lover, a customer, an employee …) not an ordinary gift, but an experience, necessarily in Montreal. It can be a rafting down the rapids of the Lachine Canal, or a helicopter flight over gigantic fireworks. It offers a lasting memory instead of a disposable gadget.
How it works? Simply order online via Wishbox, then the person is notified on his cell that someone made him an extraordinary gift, which will be presented to him, for example, at his home as a surprise gift in the coming days. In brief, WishBox increases engagement, builds loyalty and delivers happiness in Montreal. So this is how real and virtual can feed each other for the best in Montreal. A new city is developing and we are not even aware. Montreal is becoming more beautiful virtually and for real too.
