If it were up to CEO Jeppe Jensen, Stiicky should be a strong brand.
Stiicky is the name of the invention which he and his three partners have recently applied to patent.
He came up with the idea four years ago when his mom gave him a box of chocolates for his birthday along a simple ‘happy birthday’ and a promise that she would transfer 500 kroner via mobile banking.
“It all just felt too easy. And even though the thought was nice enough, the gift felt impersonal and a bit perfunctory,” he recalls.
From impersonal gift to personal experience
Based on his own birthday experience, Jeppe Jensen two years ago started working on a way to turn an impersonal gift into something special.
Stiicky was the answer: A technology that makes it easy to record your personal video greetings and have them delivered physically, without the sender having to be present in person. You record a video clip using your mobile phone. Then, via an app, you attach the video clip to a physical card with a built-in chip, which the florist, for example, can then place on a bouquet and deliver to the recipient. When the recipient receives the bouquet and scans the card using the app, the app will allow the recipient to watch the video clip attached to the card. All greetings you send and receive are stored in the app, allowing you to go back and see the personal greetings you received from your mom ten years ago – even if she is no longer alive.
Until now, it has only been possible to send video greetings by transferring your video clip to a flash drive or by burning a CD-ROM and sending it to the recipient. This is so much hassle that no one bothers to do it, but fortunately today’s technologies open up an array of opportunities.
“I think it’s a shame, because pictures are worth a thousand words, as the saying goes. And receiving a video clip via text message, snap or Instagram just isn’t the same as receiving it physically together with a gift. My hope is that Stiicky will bring joy to a lot of people in the future,” says Jeppe Jensen, who has a background in advertising.
Protection gives you a clear competitive edge
Experience from the advertising industry has taught Jeppe to think differently than most other entrepreneurs. While many entrepreneurs are focused on how to make money on their product or service, Jeppe Jensen thought about how he could turn his product into an emotional experience. A concept that people understand and can relate to. If you have this under control, the business side of things is bound to fall into place.
“Right from the outset, we focused on protecting our idea through trademark registration and a patent application. And although this decision took a big chunk out of our budget, it was money well spent, because the protection has given us time and peace of mind to work by keeping the competition at bay and enabling us to better scale our business,” he explains.
The technology can be used for many different purposes. Initially, Stiicky will be marketed as a personal video greeting service, but longer term, the plan is to broaden the concept to enable people to send their video greetings together with pecuniary gifts, gift certificates or other types of gifts. Or they can record a message on Stiicky and send it as a personal invitation to a wedding or a stag or hen night – instead of sending out a mass invitation via Facebook. It can also be used by pharmacists to attach a video clip to a medicinal product, instructing the user in how to take the medicine. It is discreet and allows the recipients to watch the video clip again to refresh their memories.
“We’re currently preparing a pitch to attract investors, and in that context it’s a huge plus that we’ve already applied for a patent and obtained trademark protection. The investors can see that we’re serious and committed to ensuring that third parties can’t just snatch the idea away from under our noses. That is also an important signal to our competitors,” says Jeppe Jensen, who is extremely pleased that he liaised with IP professionals to secure his business.
“Patrade examined the market very carefully for us, and we couldn’t have done that ourselves. They drafted a patent application with foresight and provided thorough guidance on how we could best secure our rights. Their services have indeed been hugely valuable for us,” says Jeppe Jensen and adds:
“I hope that Stiicky will set a new standard for how you can send personal greetings in the form of video clips, instead of resorting to the traditional greeting cards we’ve been using for the past thirty years, and also set a new standard for giving pecuniary gifts in the future. Our dream would never have come true if we hadn’t protected it from the outset.”
