Do we rely too much on the hard metrics of an ROI model and miss the value of soft measurement factors like; what the ‘experience’ was to the consumers?
Yes many brands understand the value of giving consumers a brand experience and that evaluating the actual impact of a piece of activity is important, but although traditional ROI measurements provide us with certain information, they lack the evidence to prove just how effective they were in the long term.
A ‘Return on Experience’ model seems more fitting to accommodate to today’s consumer – a results model that provides tangible results and that proves the value of each practice. I’m not saying that we often obscure the consumer experience by the need to justify an impressive ROI figure, but that by thinking strategically, and combining the elements that drove the response rates with what aspect of the activity encouraged consumer interaction, means that we can gain a deeper understanding and a clearer holistic picture.
With an ROE model we can see the full picture. It is an essential part of measurement and one that gives insight into customers and their behaviour, and by analysing the correlation between experience and consumer behaviour means we can help give a brand an edge.
So in addition to a ROI model, incorporating a ROE element means that the hard measures of the ROI metrics; leads, redemptions, direct sales, etc., can be complimented, and overlayed with the softer measures metrics such as; brand trackers, focus groups, pre/post surveys etc.
It is all well and good if a campaign increased sales, but there are still the key learning’s to be gained as to what element of the campaign caused this, and why did it evoke such a response? Combining both models can give an all encompassing holistic view. From what the catalysts were that drove sales, to what actually influenced positive consumer perceptions of the brand, and allows us to see how well the experiences’ activities were received by the target audiences.
These outcomes are so important, especially in the current economic climate, where we need to go that little bit further to ensure that all campaign activity is strategic and caters to consumers growing demands and needs. Missing the value of soft measures, such as consumer feedback, could be seriously detrimental to a brand.
Consumer respect is earned rather than guaranteed, and so it’s the brands that demonstrate a true understanding of their consumers, ones that forge two-way relationships, and go beyond their expectations, that will prosper in these turbulent times.
Tuesday
Advermarketing 2012
So what will the world of advertising and marketing look like in three years time? More importantly, what will an agency look like? If the current trends continue my guess is that many of us are in for a big shock.
Our industry is in a state of upheaval, and it is likely that the future will be marked by a dramatic shift in the roles of agencies, and the personnel we will need.
Most people are blaming this rapid rate of change on technology. But it’s not technology that’s changing it. Technological change has simply made it easier to identify the real challenge – consumers are complex.
Even more so, persuading consumers to do things is a really complicated business. In 2012 we will have to do more than just create campaigns. We will have to study areas such as; human nature, psychology, and human behaviour, and we will have to make our output really fun.
Yes, the outlook does depend on the future of global commerce, and while technology evolves, so must the tools, talents, and skills necessary to differentiate and communicate with consumers, and today these tools are increasingly digital. Agencies must ask themselves if they have the youth, the digital skills, the real experience, and the intellectual resources necessary to compete in this evolving economy.
By 2012 the actual size of an agency will only matter to clients who are more comfortable with the old analog model instead of the newer digital reality of open-source creativity and scientific accountability.
Agencies have traditionally hired young employees because they cost less, but now savvy agencies prize youth for their digital skills, fresh perspective and creative abilities. However in today’s climate can we really accommodate inexperienced junior staff, and make money out of them?
It is likely that the days of the traditional generalist agency will come to an end. Agencies of the future will either be defined as the ‘creators of ideas’ (known as C agencies), or ‘producers’ or ‘placers’ of those ideas (the P agencies). The really smart C agencies will become combined communication agencies that clients hire to handle strategy, creative, and multichannel advermarketing programs, and these agencies will solve problems and create ideas that grow brands, and their bank accounts.
The C agency of the future will need individuals who are each a mix of account strategists, possess creative vision, intellectual bandwidth, communication, and organisational capabilities, all of which are needed to direct highly fragmented, complex campaigns.
These ‘Producer’ types (think Hollywood style here) will work with a diverse mix of specialists – media, interactive, creative, PR, research, in order to craft highly complex, yet elegant solutions to real business problems, and then work with P agencies to bring those ideas to life in multiple channels, and to multiple audiences, while ensuring everyone stays ‘on brand’.
The thinkers and creators, those C agencies that solve business and communication problems, will enjoy better margins and healthier client relationships as their insight and intelligence will be recognised and rewarded, most likely on a fee, or percentage of profit basis.
The P agencies will face far more pricing pressure, as they will have engage procurement departments who will drive down the cost of production and placement of campaigns. Much of this work may even go offshore, so a successful P agency will need to combine efficiency, quality and customer service if it wants to succeed.
Bigger agencies can be slow, inefficient and expensive. Smaller agencies do not have the range of expertise, but in each we can already see the two main aspects to an evolved agency: creative (C), production/placer (P) often reflected in departmental names. In the future however, smart agencies will outsource more, both intra-agency and inter-agency, but increasingly harvesting more ideas and content through the general public.
By 2012 the full-service generalist agency tradition will give way to a Keiretsu model – a business group, or set of companies, with interlocking business relationships. Maybe the agency networks will play a larger role utilising all their agencies together. Maybe smaller agencies will form their own Keiretsu. In any event, agencies will need to define themselves in an effort to respond to a new order dominated by fragmenting consumer segments and cost-conscious clients.
Our industry is in a state of upheaval, and it is likely that the future will be marked by a dramatic shift in the roles of agencies, and the personnel we will need.
Most people are blaming this rapid rate of change on technology. But it’s not technology that’s changing it. Technological change has simply made it easier to identify the real challenge – consumers are complex.
Even more so, persuading consumers to do things is a really complicated business. In 2012 we will have to do more than just create campaigns. We will have to study areas such as; human nature, psychology, and human behaviour, and we will have to make our output really fun.
Yes, the outlook does depend on the future of global commerce, and while technology evolves, so must the tools, talents, and skills necessary to differentiate and communicate with consumers, and today these tools are increasingly digital. Agencies must ask themselves if they have the youth, the digital skills, the real experience, and the intellectual resources necessary to compete in this evolving economy.
By 2012 the actual size of an agency will only matter to clients who are more comfortable with the old analog model instead of the newer digital reality of open-source creativity and scientific accountability.
Agencies have traditionally hired young employees because they cost less, but now savvy agencies prize youth for their digital skills, fresh perspective and creative abilities. However in today’s climate can we really accommodate inexperienced junior staff, and make money out of them?
It is likely that the days of the traditional generalist agency will come to an end. Agencies of the future will either be defined as the ‘creators of ideas’ (known as C agencies), or ‘producers’ or ‘placers’ of those ideas (the P agencies). The really smart C agencies will become combined communication agencies that clients hire to handle strategy, creative, and multichannel advermarketing programs, and these agencies will solve problems and create ideas that grow brands, and their bank accounts.
The C agency of the future will need individuals who are each a mix of account strategists, possess creative vision, intellectual bandwidth, communication, and organisational capabilities, all of which are needed to direct highly fragmented, complex campaigns.
These ‘Producer’ types (think Hollywood style here) will work with a diverse mix of specialists – media, interactive, creative, PR, research, in order to craft highly complex, yet elegant solutions to real business problems, and then work with P agencies to bring those ideas to life in multiple channels, and to multiple audiences, while ensuring everyone stays ‘on brand’.
The thinkers and creators, those C agencies that solve business and communication problems, will enjoy better margins and healthier client relationships as their insight and intelligence will be recognised and rewarded, most likely on a fee, or percentage of profit basis.
The P agencies will face far more pricing pressure, as they will have engage procurement departments who will drive down the cost of production and placement of campaigns. Much of this work may even go offshore, so a successful P agency will need to combine efficiency, quality and customer service if it wants to succeed.
Bigger agencies can be slow, inefficient and expensive. Smaller agencies do not have the range of expertise, but in each we can already see the two main aspects to an evolved agency: creative (C), production/placer (P) often reflected in departmental names. In the future however, smart agencies will outsource more, both intra-agency and inter-agency, but increasingly harvesting more ideas and content through the general public.
By 2012 the full-service generalist agency tradition will give way to a Keiretsu model – a business group, or set of companies, with interlocking business relationships. Maybe the agency networks will play a larger role utilising all their agencies together. Maybe smaller agencies will form their own Keiretsu. In any event, agencies will need to define themselves in an effort to respond to a new order dominated by fragmenting consumer segments and cost-conscious clients.
Friday
Onitsuka Tiger creates online 'light-writing' fashion show
Onitsuka Tiger is planning to put an interactive 360-degree light-writing fashion show at the centre of its website.
The fashion brand is asking consumers to become 'video jockeys', composing their own light show by synchronising layers of light to the beat of their own soundtrack.
The brand's agency, Amsterdam Worldwide, used Lumasol to create the campaign which will go live this month to promote Onitsuka Tiger's Autumn/Winter 2008 collection.
Lumasol specialise in ‘timeslice’ photography and the 3D ‘lightgraffi’ (invented by Pips;lab in 2001) which enables artists to ‘paint' with any light emitting object, such as a torch, inside a ring of 50 cameras. The resulting image is viewed as a 360-degree stop-frame animation.
Images will appear as print ads, advertorials, online ads and in-store video clips.
The site will also feature a selection of video animations of models showcasing the new collection, a video demonstration instructing users how to create their own light-writing, and an invitation to budding light-writers to upload their creations to an online gallery.
Check out some of the Lumasol animations on their website.
The fashion brand is asking consumers to become 'video jockeys', composing their own light show by synchronising layers of light to the beat of their own soundtrack.
The brand's agency, Amsterdam Worldwide, used Lumasol to create the campaign which will go live this month to promote Onitsuka Tiger's Autumn/Winter 2008 collection.
Lumasol specialise in ‘timeslice’ photography and the 3D ‘lightgraffi’ (invented by Pips;lab in 2001) which enables artists to ‘paint' with any light emitting object, such as a torch, inside a ring of 50 cameras. The resulting image is viewed as a 360-degree stop-frame animation.
Images will appear as print ads, advertorials, online ads and in-store video clips.
The site will also feature a selection of video animations of models showcasing the new collection, a video demonstration instructing users how to create their own light-writing, and an invitation to budding light-writers to upload their creations to an online gallery.
Check out some of the Lumasol animations on their website.
Wednesday
The era of ‘Scorn’
In the old days brands only heard customers when they chose to. They had to decide to listen, and even when they did, to really hear consumers, they had to listen hard.
They heard them when they held expensive, small scale and very tame focus groups. They heard them when they allowed the call centre personnel to eventually escalate something that they and the customers had known about for weeks, or months, or years.
They filtered, selected, and avoided.
Brands suffered from selective deafness, like an old grandmother sitting in the corner, deaf to everything but the bits she wanted to hear – smart with it, deaf to the bad, but noisy.
Inbound, it was all optional.
Brands input mechanisms were mainly a dumb terminal where feedback was filtered at every stage on the way to the top, and with “everything is fine”, the most default finding.
Yet their output was non-optional. They broadcast and blared out ‘interruption’, but consumers were still loyal because it was hard to find any alternatives.
That was the era of 'Control'.
Well it felt like control anyway, and it probably was, of sorts. Consumers were isolated, and media channels were intermediated and finite. But absolute control never really existed.
This was a period that started in the 1950’s and continued to around the year 2000. Brands were isolated and ‘deaf’, whilst consumers had pent up anger, which continued to build and build as brands did not listen or act.
Jump forward not one, but two steps from here, and we will find that in a new world where brands will have neat, simple, usable tools that flow feedback between themselves and their customers, like stock price data in a live marketplace.
It is a happy and contented world where listening will be a minute-by-minute task, not a daily check, not a monthly clippings report, or quarterly customer service review. But like it is already at some of the major news organisations, where live analytics on what's hot and what's not drive the news agenda and business behaviour.
Like it is already at some of the smart online retailers where merchandising decisions are truly dynamic and flow in realtime.
Like it is already at the few agencies where the finger really is on the digital pulse.
Solutions, ideas, and innovations will be the norm, and things like Dell Ideastorm will look like the simple early prototype it probably is.
APIs, affiliate programs, widgets, and other variations will be givens, seeding thousands of customers around the core services, and distributing them beyond the original source.
Importantly, loyalty will return because time poor consumers will be happier with the mature service-led brands that truly walk a customer-centred talk.
This will be the era of ‘Dialogue’.
But this is the future, a time where we will have the tools and process to mange feedback between brands and their consumers. A place where negativity is channeled, and consumer anger will fall as brands are listening and acting.
But right now we are somewhere between the two.
Not yet in the utopia of Dialogue, nor still in the comfortable era of Control. Instead we are in a turbulent transient time of a different era. But thankfully a temporary era.
This is a painful, confusing period of fear and loathing, away from the utopian aim but and era where we are caught with the basic and dated age of Control ways of working, processes, tools, people and expectations, where the feedback we receive is entirely different, entirely uncontrollable, unmanaged and unmanageable by our current systems.
An era where today's brands are badly equipped for the world today. Welcome to era of ‘Scorn’.
This is a time where angry consumers vent wherever they find an outlet. Customers like you and me who are disloyal and resent having to be so for the time and hassle it costs them.
A time where consumers pour into public and private online spaces to ask one another and quickly establish consensus before a brand even realises, and before brands have seen or collected the lies and half-truths. An era where well respected brands are all exposed to the ruthlessness of the public’s immediate feedback.
Worse still, cowardly consumers prevail in such circumstances. It's easier to scorn at the back of the room, and leave a nasty review than to feedback directly face-to face.
Right now we're at a unique point in this transition, at the very pivot of change, where consumer conversations have flooded online but the brands don't have the infrastructure and time to tap into and address them – online monitoring; umm, hmmm, ahem, yeahhh.
Very few major brands have yet invested in proper buzz monitoring solutions so they simply don't even have an ear to the networked chatter, or a regular, known presence in areas of online congregation such as consumer forums.
And until they do, they won't think about how to respond, who should respond, and what to do with that new incoming knowledge.
This is the era of ‘Scorn’. An era where consumers publish an aggregated voice, but where brands are slow to listen. And although consumer anger will build, it will peak, and eventually start to fall as brands realize that they have to start listening and acting.
As the listening devices, the community engagements, the processes and skills will change our expectations the hope is that we will enter a more harmonious time where the flow of dialogue between brands and consumers will be frictionless, immediate, transparent, open, and available.
And consumers will act more respectfully, and more maturely, because brands will be really listening to them, and responding to them, publicly, transparently, and rapidly.
How long will this take? I have no idea. When you look at mature disciplines or principles in digital such as usability, accessibility or even SEO, it’s normal to find very patchy awareness, let alone regular and consistent use of these core services amongst leading brands.
We must temper our optimism with our practical experience and guess that this will be years. Maybe years and years for the stragglers.
In the interim, we shouldn’t expect too much level-headedness, maturity and decency from the online consumers, but do expect big-talking anonymous cowards, raging frustrated unheard ex-customers, playground social dynamics with polarised opinions and cosy little cliques and gangs.
The era of Scorn is fatiguing, depressing, polluting, childish, unreasonable, bitter, cowardly, and in the main, absolutely deserved.
They heard them when they held expensive, small scale and very tame focus groups. They heard them when they allowed the call centre personnel to eventually escalate something that they and the customers had known about for weeks, or months, or years.
They filtered, selected, and avoided.
Brands suffered from selective deafness, like an old grandmother sitting in the corner, deaf to everything but the bits she wanted to hear – smart with it, deaf to the bad, but noisy.
Inbound, it was all optional.
Brands input mechanisms were mainly a dumb terminal where feedback was filtered at every stage on the way to the top, and with “everything is fine”, the most default finding.
Yet their output was non-optional. They broadcast and blared out ‘interruption’, but consumers were still loyal because it was hard to find any alternatives.
That was the era of 'Control'.
Well it felt like control anyway, and it probably was, of sorts. Consumers were isolated, and media channels were intermediated and finite. But absolute control never really existed.
This was a period that started in the 1950’s and continued to around the year 2000. Brands were isolated and ‘deaf’, whilst consumers had pent up anger, which continued to build and build as brands did not listen or act.
Jump forward not one, but two steps from here, and we will find that in a new world where brands will have neat, simple, usable tools that flow feedback between themselves and their customers, like stock price data in a live marketplace.
It is a happy and contented world where listening will be a minute-by-minute task, not a daily check, not a monthly clippings report, or quarterly customer service review. But like it is already at some of the major news organisations, where live analytics on what's hot and what's not drive the news agenda and business behaviour.
Like it is already at some of the smart online retailers where merchandising decisions are truly dynamic and flow in realtime.
Like it is already at the few agencies where the finger really is on the digital pulse.
Solutions, ideas, and innovations will be the norm, and things like Dell Ideastorm will look like the simple early prototype it probably is.
APIs, affiliate programs, widgets, and other variations will be givens, seeding thousands of customers around the core services, and distributing them beyond the original source.
Importantly, loyalty will return because time poor consumers will be happier with the mature service-led brands that truly walk a customer-centred talk.
This will be the era of ‘Dialogue’.
But this is the future, a time where we will have the tools and process to mange feedback between brands and their consumers. A place where negativity is channeled, and consumer anger will fall as brands are listening and acting.
But right now we are somewhere between the two.
Not yet in the utopia of Dialogue, nor still in the comfortable era of Control. Instead we are in a turbulent transient time of a different era. But thankfully a temporary era.
This is a painful, confusing period of fear and loathing, away from the utopian aim but and era where we are caught with the basic and dated age of Control ways of working, processes, tools, people and expectations, where the feedback we receive is entirely different, entirely uncontrollable, unmanaged and unmanageable by our current systems.
An era where today's brands are badly equipped for the world today. Welcome to era of ‘Scorn’.
This is a time where angry consumers vent wherever they find an outlet. Customers like you and me who are disloyal and resent having to be so for the time and hassle it costs them.
A time where consumers pour into public and private online spaces to ask one another and quickly establish consensus before a brand even realises, and before brands have seen or collected the lies and half-truths. An era where well respected brands are all exposed to the ruthlessness of the public’s immediate feedback.
Worse still, cowardly consumers prevail in such circumstances. It's easier to scorn at the back of the room, and leave a nasty review than to feedback directly face-to face.
Right now we're at a unique point in this transition, at the very pivot of change, where consumer conversations have flooded online but the brands don't have the infrastructure and time to tap into and address them – online monitoring; umm, hmmm, ahem, yeahhh.
Very few major brands have yet invested in proper buzz monitoring solutions so they simply don't even have an ear to the networked chatter, or a regular, known presence in areas of online congregation such as consumer forums.
And until they do, they won't think about how to respond, who should respond, and what to do with that new incoming knowledge.
This is the era of ‘Scorn’. An era where consumers publish an aggregated voice, but where brands are slow to listen. And although consumer anger will build, it will peak, and eventually start to fall as brands realize that they have to start listening and acting.
As the listening devices, the community engagements, the processes and skills will change our expectations the hope is that we will enter a more harmonious time where the flow of dialogue between brands and consumers will be frictionless, immediate, transparent, open, and available.
And consumers will act more respectfully, and more maturely, because brands will be really listening to them, and responding to them, publicly, transparently, and rapidly.
How long will this take? I have no idea. When you look at mature disciplines or principles in digital such as usability, accessibility or even SEO, it’s normal to find very patchy awareness, let alone regular and consistent use of these core services amongst leading brands.
We must temper our optimism with our practical experience and guess that this will be years. Maybe years and years for the stragglers.
In the interim, we shouldn’t expect too much level-headedness, maturity and decency from the online consumers, but do expect big-talking anonymous cowards, raging frustrated unheard ex-customers, playground social dynamics with polarised opinions and cosy little cliques and gangs.
The era of Scorn is fatiguing, depressing, polluting, childish, unreasonable, bitter, cowardly, and in the main, absolutely deserved.
A few quotes to brighten your day
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
“If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.”
“Change is inevitable except from a vending machine.”
“How does a man who drives the snow plough get to work?”
“I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by.”
“If it wasn’t for the last minute nothing would get done.”
“A “jiffy” is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.”
“If work is so great, how come they have to pay you to do it?”
“If you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain.”
“88.2 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.”
“Latest research shows that 3 out 4 people make up 75% of the world’s population.”
“Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, and then beat you with experience.”
“Never judge a book by its movie.”
“On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the escape key.”
“On the other hand, you have different fingers.”
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”
“The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half”
“To err is human, to really foul things up you need a computer”
“And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
“If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.”
“Change is inevitable except from a vending machine.”
“How does a man who drives the snow plough get to work?”
“I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by.”
“If it wasn’t for the last minute nothing would get done.”
“A “jiffy” is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.”
“If work is so great, how come they have to pay you to do it?”
“If you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain.”
“88.2 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.”
“Latest research shows that 3 out 4 people make up 75% of the world’s population.”
“Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, and then beat you with experience.”
“Never judge a book by its movie.”
“On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the escape key.”
“On the other hand, you have different fingers.”
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”
“The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half”
“To err is human, to really foul things up you need a computer”
“And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
What can bloogers teach us about online marketing?
Despite being armed with advanced technology and tools, marketers are often frustrated that their results don’t match the time and effort they expend online. In contrast, bloggers appear to achieve a great deal with very little. So what there is to learn from the success of our blogging comrades?
According to urban legend, when the boffins at NASA discovered that astronauts’ pens did not work in the zero gravity during the Apollo space flights in the 1960s, they regarded it as a ‘mission critical’ hindrance and instituted a massive research program to solve the problem.
The team of enthusiastic NASA scientists and engineers then spent over ten years and US$12 million developing a pen that could write, not only in zero gravity conditions, but upside down, on just about any surface, underwater, and at either extremely hot or cold temperatures.
The legend has it that, when confronted with the same problem, the Russian Federal Space Agency simply used a pencil.
This famous ‘Space Pen’ story circulated widely on the Web several years ago, and has proved to be an enduringly entertaining fable since then. Although the myth isn’t true, its continued popularity suggests that many people can relate to its message about not overcomplicating technology or tools.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the insight captured so brilliantly in the ‘Space Pen’ story is also extremely pertinent for any marketers who are tackling the challenges associated with creating sales-orientated websites.
Even though they usually have access to some very sophisticated, ‘high-tech’ technology and tools, they are often frustrated that the results of their efforts do not match the time and effort they have put in.
There are numerous reasons for this, and it’s a common enough occurrence to suggest that it is not so much what technology you have that counts, but what you do with it. This is further backed up by evidence from a great (if seldom examined) source of potential answers: the blogging community.
Much like the Russians in the ‘Space Pen’ anecdote, bloggers rarely have as sophisticated a toolbox as online marketers, yet they often achieve better results using the simple tools they have at their disposal. So what are they doing that we could learn from?
Clue: it’s about content.
The first understanding that bloggers have is that the simple key to achieving a good search engine ranking is to frequently change a site’s content. The immediacy of the medium is one of blogging’s great strengths, and the majority of bloggers post at least daily and, sometimes, more than once per day.
On the subject of content, bloggers also tend to write short, ‘punchy’ copy focused on being direct and presenting an individual idea or concept, rather than drafting long-winded articles that deal with several ideas all at once, or develop a particular idea comprehensively.
Breaking topics or ideas up like this offers several advantages, not only does it help online readers scan their articles and digest the information presented easily, it enables them to keep their sites dynamic by posting several articles over a short period, instead of one, and it can help improve the perception of how topical their site is, which is also better from an SEO point of view.
Bloggers also tend to focus on presenting good content, rather than graphics. Design definitely helps of course, and should never be overlooked, but it is worth remembering that it doesn’t mean anything to search engines, and only plays a role once a visitor has been attracted to a site.
It’s also a great idea to tag content. Most bloggers use tags to describe their content very effectively, making it easier to both locate and associate with other relevant content, within the site, and externally.
Link popularity is another important way of boosting a site’s prominence and effectiveness. Many SEO experts argue that it is the single most influential factor when it comes to determining how well a site performs in search engine rankings, yet it is also something that is beyond even the most advanced tools or technology (well, legally, at least).
Put simply, a site’s link popularity is based on the number, and quality, of links it has pointing to it. Most search engines reason that, the more independent sites that voluntarily link to your content, the better it must be.
Aside of joining lots of directories and promoting themselves to other sites, many marketers don’t believe there is much else they can do about this kind of external ‘off site’ activity.
Nevertheless, our bloggers once again, have seemingly mastered the art of encouraging numbers of other bloggers and sites to link to them, and offer us the very useful clue – it’s all about content.
The easiest way to attract inbound, one-way links is to offer great content that other sites want to link to. This is far more effective than joining large numbers of directories and, as every good blogger knows, the best part is that it doesn’t require time consuming or expensive promotional efforts – it actually happens quite easily and naturally.
All this is very straightforward and simple, yet it’s surprising how commonly online marketers – much like the legendary NASA boffins – forget how effective the most obvious and ‘low-tech’ solutions can sometimes be.
According to urban legend, when the boffins at NASA discovered that astronauts’ pens did not work in the zero gravity during the Apollo space flights in the 1960s, they regarded it as a ‘mission critical’ hindrance and instituted a massive research program to solve the problem.
The team of enthusiastic NASA scientists and engineers then spent over ten years and US$12 million developing a pen that could write, not only in zero gravity conditions, but upside down, on just about any surface, underwater, and at either extremely hot or cold temperatures.
The legend has it that, when confronted with the same problem, the Russian Federal Space Agency simply used a pencil.
This famous ‘Space Pen’ story circulated widely on the Web several years ago, and has proved to be an enduringly entertaining fable since then. Although the myth isn’t true, its continued popularity suggests that many people can relate to its message about not overcomplicating technology or tools.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the insight captured so brilliantly in the ‘Space Pen’ story is also extremely pertinent for any marketers who are tackling the challenges associated with creating sales-orientated websites.
Even though they usually have access to some very sophisticated, ‘high-tech’ technology and tools, they are often frustrated that the results of their efforts do not match the time and effort they have put in.
There are numerous reasons for this, and it’s a common enough occurrence to suggest that it is not so much what technology you have that counts, but what you do with it. This is further backed up by evidence from a great (if seldom examined) source of potential answers: the blogging community.
Much like the Russians in the ‘Space Pen’ anecdote, bloggers rarely have as sophisticated a toolbox as online marketers, yet they often achieve better results using the simple tools they have at their disposal. So what are they doing that we could learn from?
Clue: it’s about content.
The first understanding that bloggers have is that the simple key to achieving a good search engine ranking is to frequently change a site’s content. The immediacy of the medium is one of blogging’s great strengths, and the majority of bloggers post at least daily and, sometimes, more than once per day.
On the subject of content, bloggers also tend to write short, ‘punchy’ copy focused on being direct and presenting an individual idea or concept, rather than drafting long-winded articles that deal with several ideas all at once, or develop a particular idea comprehensively.
Breaking topics or ideas up like this offers several advantages, not only does it help online readers scan their articles and digest the information presented easily, it enables them to keep their sites dynamic by posting several articles over a short period, instead of one, and it can help improve the perception of how topical their site is, which is also better from an SEO point of view.
Bloggers also tend to focus on presenting good content, rather than graphics. Design definitely helps of course, and should never be overlooked, but it is worth remembering that it doesn’t mean anything to search engines, and only plays a role once a visitor has been attracted to a site.
It’s also a great idea to tag content. Most bloggers use tags to describe their content very effectively, making it easier to both locate and associate with other relevant content, within the site, and externally.
Link popularity is another important way of boosting a site’s prominence and effectiveness. Many SEO experts argue that it is the single most influential factor when it comes to determining how well a site performs in search engine rankings, yet it is also something that is beyond even the most advanced tools or technology (well, legally, at least).
Put simply, a site’s link popularity is based on the number, and quality, of links it has pointing to it. Most search engines reason that, the more independent sites that voluntarily link to your content, the better it must be.
Aside of joining lots of directories and promoting themselves to other sites, many marketers don’t believe there is much else they can do about this kind of external ‘off site’ activity.
Nevertheless, our bloggers once again, have seemingly mastered the art of encouraging numbers of other bloggers and sites to link to them, and offer us the very useful clue – it’s all about content.
The easiest way to attract inbound, one-way links is to offer great content that other sites want to link to. This is far more effective than joining large numbers of directories and, as every good blogger knows, the best part is that it doesn’t require time consuming or expensive promotional efforts – it actually happens quite easily and naturally.
All this is very straightforward and simple, yet it’s surprising how commonly online marketers – much like the legendary NASA boffins – forget how effective the most obvious and ‘low-tech’ solutions can sometimes be.
Tuesday
Why we need a unique strategic process for digital
Digital strategy should not be created in a vacuum. Yes we need to dovetail digital marketing closely with the overall objectives and strategies, but as digital is such a different beast that it really does require its own specific strategic efforts. Those should be a subset of the overall planning processes, but digital should also be managed as a separate entity within that planning process.
I’ve seen companies try to develop a digital roadmap without this sort of comprehensive approach, and the consequence has always been a need to stop midway through the ‘condensed’ process, and go back to perform the steps that have been missed.
A special digital process is necessary because:
I’ve seen companies try to develop a digital roadmap without this sort of comprehensive approach, and the consequence has always been a need to stop midway through the ‘condensed’ process, and go back to perform the steps that have been missed.
A special digital process is necessary because:
- Most marketers have some knowledge of the digital behaviours of the consumers, but do not know their consumers at a ‘mastery’ level. Ensuring a complete planning process – including a consumer insights phase – places the focus of digital on the consumer, rather than on what’s ‘cool’.
- Consumer digital behaviours change very rapidly. The adoption rates for specific vehicles and platforms are ever shorter. This rapid pace of change requires that we develop a comprehensive picture of digital consumer behaviour as often as possible.
- The “best practices” of broadcast media do not work in digital. Effective digital planning requires an entirely different kind of thinking, and building that foundation of thought requires the focus of a dedicated planning process.
- There are over tens of digital platforms, whether device- or content based, with solid consumer acceptance, so it is essential to consider all of these when looking at alternatives and developing an optimised plan.
Why brands should consider digital
After many discussions with my friends and peers, usually over a couple of pints down the pub, and generally on the same issues, I’ve decided to outline why brands should consider digital.
I often find that us digital folk have to combat the tendency from some people to only approach digital from an execution-centric perspective.
I also often come across far too many brands approaching digital media by just reacting to what’s new, or what’s “cool” in the space, rather than taking a more comprehensive, objective-based approach.
Unfortunately, the result of this practice is that millions of pounds are wasted on tactics that don’t properly align with the overall needs of brands.
The idea of having a strategic approach to an area of marketing as critical as digital should not be surprising. Yet there are a shocking number of agencies that dive into this space with little more than a pile of competitor digital activity as a guide. Given the limited time and money available to most brands, it should be clear how taking a strategic approach will pay off in both the short and long terms.
So, unless you’ve been living under a rock, the spectacular growth of digital will come as no surprise, but there are also a variety of factors that make digital a different sort of challenge for brands:
Brands are witnessing major competitors pursuing digital initiatives in earnest, but they are probably also finding that many of their initiatives don’t appear to be part of a cohesive strategic platform. Again, this is because many companies do not have an objectives based underpinning to their total digital strategy.
I often find that us digital folk have to combat the tendency from some people to only approach digital from an execution-centric perspective.
I also often come across far too many brands approaching digital media by just reacting to what’s new, or what’s “cool” in the space, rather than taking a more comprehensive, objective-based approach.
Unfortunately, the result of this practice is that millions of pounds are wasted on tactics that don’t properly align with the overall needs of brands.
The idea of having a strategic approach to an area of marketing as critical as digital should not be surprising. Yet there are a shocking number of agencies that dive into this space with little more than a pile of competitor digital activity as a guide. Given the limited time and money available to most brands, it should be clear how taking a strategic approach will pay off in both the short and long terms.
So, unless you’ve been living under a rock, the spectacular growth of digital will come as no surprise, but there are also a variety of factors that make digital a different sort of challenge for brands:
- Media fragmentation has splintered audiences and dramatically increased the complexity of effectively reaching most audiences. Where consumers used to have four of five major media choices (TV, Radio, Magazines, Newspapers, and Outdoor), they now have dozens of platforms and literally millions of professional, and amateur, publishers from which to gather information.
- The two-way nature of digital-based media (Internet, Mobile, etc.) necessitate that brands have to stop thinking as broadcasters, and adopt a more collaborative and consultative approach to brand development. This warrants special thought and consideration because the “rules” of collaborative marketing are very different from the “rules” of broadcast-oriented branding.
- Practically everyone is using digital media. There are millions and millions of consumers using the Internet, and most of these consumers are spending large amounts of their time with digital media.
- Digital media are playing an increasingly large role in all purchase decisions. Information on the Web now influences most offline retail sales, and this is continuing to increase year on year.
- Certain target audiences are becoming increasingly difficult to reach without digital. For example, men aged 18-24 now spend so much time gaming, online, and with their mobile phones that it is increasingly difficult to effectively deliver against this target audience without digital vehicles.
- User generated content and “civilian journalism” has driven a massive shift in how we receive information about products and services, and what sorts of information we trust. Increasingly, people prefer grass roots sources of information and recommendations to the so-called ‘professional’ sources of the mainstream media outlets. Even respected professional journalism organisations like the BBC and CNN are now routinely airing civilian journalism originated news, video, and other types of information, as part of their offerings.
- From a practical standpoint, many brands are seeing diminishing effectiveness from traditional ‘analog’ media. Brands need to identify new “on buttons” for their businesses.
- And finally, brands are already being represented to consumers in the digital space, even if they do not have proactive marketing efforts in this arena. That is because people (advocates as well as critics) are already talking about them and their products, and are reaching audiences that are potentially in the millions. By monitoring and creating brand expressions in this space, brands can influence the discussion in a very positive way.
Brands are witnessing major competitors pursuing digital initiatives in earnest, but they are probably also finding that many of their initiatives don’t appear to be part of a cohesive strategic platform. Again, this is because many companies do not have an objectives based underpinning to their total digital strategy.
Thursday
We Are The Toys
Generally viral videos have either become a bit old hat, or they have been overtaken by more technically complex solutions.
But every now and then you come across one that just makes you smile:
http://www.wearethetoys.com/
But every now and then you come across one that just makes you smile:
http://www.wearethetoys.com/
Wednesday
‘Brand’ New Thoughts
So what is a brand, and why is it important?
The Oxford Dictionary, 1602, describes a ‘brand’ as; “To burn with a hot iron, whether for marking or cauterising. To mark indelibly as a proof of ownership, a sign of quality”
But in today’s world a brand isn’t just the trademark, name and logo. It isn’t just the tag line and messages, or the intangible (soft) benefits of using the product or service. Nor is it just a relationship between the customer and the product, service or company, or just something that can be unilaterally controlled and manipulated by its owner.
Brands are omnipresent. They no longer adhere to traditional boundaries. Their definitions extend to activities that encompass; artists/bands (dead or alive), sports personalities/teams/clubs, TV channels/programmes, fictional characters, Political parties, and even countries.
Brands come as sounds (Intel). A brand can be a colour; engagement rings feel so much more special if they come in a duck egg blue box (Tiffany & Co). They can be a taste; orange champagne tastes more fun (Veuve Clicquot). A brand can be a smell (Lush). And even taste alone can define a brand (Marmite).
So a brand must be…
So what do brands offer consumers? Well, brands are badges of authenticity. They promise performance, and provide reassurance. Brands transform the experience, and help us organise our lives.
Strong brands...
So what defines a brand? Everything we do defines a brand.
The Oxford Dictionary, 1602, describes a ‘brand’ as; “To burn with a hot iron, whether for marking or cauterising. To mark indelibly as a proof of ownership, a sign of quality”
But in today’s world a brand isn’t just the trademark, name and logo. It isn’t just the tag line and messages, or the intangible (soft) benefits of using the product or service. Nor is it just a relationship between the customer and the product, service or company, or just something that can be unilaterally controlled and manipulated by its owner.
Brands are omnipresent. They no longer adhere to traditional boundaries. Their definitions extend to activities that encompass; artists/bands (dead or alive), sports personalities/teams/clubs, TV channels/programmes, fictional characters, Political parties, and even countries.
Brands come as sounds (Intel). A brand can be a colour; engagement rings feel so much more special if they come in a duck egg blue box (Tiffany & Co). They can be a taste; orange champagne tastes more fun (Veuve Clicquot). A brand can be a smell (Lush). And even taste alone can define a brand (Marmite).
So a brand must be…
- A fusion of the emotional and functional components of a product or a service;
- A promise and an expression of potential benefits; both tangible and intangible;
- A distillation of the beliefs and values of an organisation;
- The external expression of a company’s internal (shared) values;
- A relationship that creates and secures future earnings by growing customer preference and loyalty;
- Open to personal interpretation, not an objective fact – it is made up of a million or more individual and subjective assessments.
So what do brands offer consumers? Well, brands are badges of authenticity. They promise performance, and provide reassurance. Brands transform the experience, and help us organise our lives.
Strong brands...
- Capture the essence of what an organisation stands for;
- Provide a sustainable competitive advantage;
- Promise and deliver a unique and valued experience;
- Strengthen image, profile and reputation;
- Create value and help drive successful results;
- Can accelerate cash flow;
- Attract the best talent and retain them;
- Attract better suppliers and trading terms;
- Can branch out;
- Get to charge a premium for the same product/service;
- Buy the company time – consumers will forgive the occasional lapse;
- Engender trust;
- But most importantly they drive value for their companies.
- Is inspirational and aspirational;
- Defines the competitive frame of tomorrow;
- Captures what makes the offering unique.
So what defines a brand? Everything we do defines a brand.
One Genius or Thirteen Smart Guys
I read a very interesting article by Russell Davies about Malcolm Gladwell's speech last year at the New Yorker conference, and as they summarises my own thoughts so well, I thought I’d share them.
Gladwell’s speech was about genius, and the types of genius we need to solve modern problems. He contrasts Michael Ventris; who deciphered Linear B, with Andrew Wiles; who proved Fermat's Last Theorem.
Ventris solved his problem through lots of thinking, a flash of genius, and was, to some extent, a gifted and enthusiastic amateur, or at least self-taught. He did it largely on his own and his solution was relatively short and simple. Gladwell describes him as a 'pre-modern genius'.
Wiles was more collaborative, his proof built on the thinking of many others. His success is more about tenacity and focus than about an inspired moment of genius. His proof was incredibly long, and was the success of 'thirteen smart guys' rather than one genius. Gladwell describes him as a ‘modern genius’.
And Gladwell stretches that to a fascinating suggestion; that the problems the world faces today are more likely to be responsive to 'thirteen smart guy' solutions than 'one real genius' solutions.
He suggests that the people we're taught to admire and emulate are the lone genius types, and talks about how we're not giving us ourselves enough smart people to meet the challenges of the future, and that we should stop thinking so much about 'the top of the curve', as the problems we face today are complicated and involved, and are likely to require long, detailed responses.
But what he's talking about also explains a lot of behaviour you in see in our world of the creative industries, because the elevation of the genius is certainly big in advertising.
Agencies are always looking for the genius Creative Director or Planning Director that will dramatically turn around their fortunes. No-one's going to issue a press release saying “Agency Hires Fifteen Quite Good People Who All Promise To Work Really Hard”, instead they want to announce “Agency Hires Creative Genius With Many Awards”, and actually, I suspect that if you're product is a 30 second ad, then the lone genius approach might be the way to go. An ad, in the old traditional sense, seems like a Linear B kind of problem.
But the kind of problems we increasingly face now; digital experience problems, experiential marketing, big, complex, thorny interactive issues, social network strategies, the stuff that businesses are increasingly spending their money on, seem more like Fermat-style problems.
These are 13 smart guy problems, and require different kinds of thinkers, more about analysis and tenacity than the flash of inspiration. And maybe that means that we need new structures in agencies, practises not copied from the traditional model, but new inventions.
If you’re interested in the idea, you can watch Gladwell’s speech here: http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/conference/2007/gladwell
Gladwell’s speech was about genius, and the types of genius we need to solve modern problems. He contrasts Michael Ventris; who deciphered Linear B, with Andrew Wiles; who proved Fermat's Last Theorem.
Ventris solved his problem through lots of thinking, a flash of genius, and was, to some extent, a gifted and enthusiastic amateur, or at least self-taught. He did it largely on his own and his solution was relatively short and simple. Gladwell describes him as a 'pre-modern genius'.
Wiles was more collaborative, his proof built on the thinking of many others. His success is more about tenacity and focus than about an inspired moment of genius. His proof was incredibly long, and was the success of 'thirteen smart guys' rather than one genius. Gladwell describes him as a ‘modern genius’.
And Gladwell stretches that to a fascinating suggestion; that the problems the world faces today are more likely to be responsive to 'thirteen smart guy' solutions than 'one real genius' solutions.
He suggests that the people we're taught to admire and emulate are the lone genius types, and talks about how we're not giving us ourselves enough smart people to meet the challenges of the future, and that we should stop thinking so much about 'the top of the curve', as the problems we face today are complicated and involved, and are likely to require long, detailed responses.
But what he's talking about also explains a lot of behaviour you in see in our world of the creative industries, because the elevation of the genius is certainly big in advertising.
Agencies are always looking for the genius Creative Director or Planning Director that will dramatically turn around their fortunes. No-one's going to issue a press release saying “Agency Hires Fifteen Quite Good People Who All Promise To Work Really Hard”, instead they want to announce “Agency Hires Creative Genius With Many Awards”, and actually, I suspect that if you're product is a 30 second ad, then the lone genius approach might be the way to go. An ad, in the old traditional sense, seems like a Linear B kind of problem.
But the kind of problems we increasingly face now; digital experience problems, experiential marketing, big, complex, thorny interactive issues, social network strategies, the stuff that businesses are increasingly spending their money on, seem more like Fermat-style problems.
These are 13 smart guy problems, and require different kinds of thinkers, more about analysis and tenacity than the flash of inspiration. And maybe that means that we need new structures in agencies, practises not copied from the traditional model, but new inventions.
If you’re interested in the idea, you can watch Gladwell’s speech here: http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/conference/2007/gladwell
Monday
‘Engine Room’- HP and MTV’s new reality show
Hewlett-Packard has teamed up with MTV to launch a global online series for a new reality show called ‘Engine Room’.
The show will feature teams of digital artists competing for prizes. The 16 contestants, which are divided into regional teams for Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, will compete for prizes and a chance to program the giant MTV screen in Times Square for a night.
The series, which is aimed at college and university students, will follow the contestants as they work in a loft in New York producing digital art, using HP products such as PCs, printers, Smartphones, and other products.
During the show they will be visited by guests like the musician Moby; the Ting Tings and 'Chasing Amy' director Kevin Smith.
The series is designed to run online, and will feature short-form episodes, which are five to seven minutes long, and run daily over a seven-week period. It will be screened online in nine languages, across MTV's global channels and across its US college network mtvU.
HP want to portray the idea that they don’t so much want to advertise about what they do, but rather let people do things with the product, so the aim here is to amplify how technology brings digital art to life.
The show will feature teams of digital artists competing for prizes. The 16 contestants, which are divided into regional teams for Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America, will compete for prizes and a chance to program the giant MTV screen in Times Square for a night.
The series, which is aimed at college and university students, will follow the contestants as they work in a loft in New York producing digital art, using HP products such as PCs, printers, Smartphones, and other products.
During the show they will be visited by guests like the musician Moby; the Ting Tings and 'Chasing Amy' director Kevin Smith.
The series is designed to run online, and will feature short-form episodes, which are five to seven minutes long, and run daily over a seven-week period. It will be screened online in nine languages, across MTV's global channels and across its US college network mtvU.
HP want to portray the idea that they don’t so much want to advertise about what they do, but rather let people do things with the product, so the aim here is to amplify how technology brings digital art to life.
Friday
Social Computing
2008 has been a period of digestion. A period to reflect, integrate, and understand what is happening in the digital landscape.
We have well and truly moved on from the static 1.0 Web of ‘one-to-many’, and moved to a dynamic 2.0 version of ‘many-to-many’.
Technology is changing. We now have cheaper and cheaper hardware and software.
Social changes are occurring. Aging consumers are looking to technology to support their lives, while the younger generation are pioneering the use of networks and viral.
Technology changes the speed and force of social change, and social forces shape technology development and custom applications. This is social computing.
Social computing is about a movement, not simply a catalogue of technologies… it has to do with an attitude. As Eric Schmidt, Chairman & CEO, of Google said;
“The Internet is the first thing humanity has built that humanity doesn’t understand, the largest experiment in anarchy we’ve ever had.”
Bring on 2009.
We have well and truly moved on from the static 1.0 Web of ‘one-to-many’, and moved to a dynamic 2.0 version of ‘many-to-many’.
Technology is changing. We now have cheaper and cheaper hardware and software.
Social changes are occurring. Aging consumers are looking to technology to support their lives, while the younger generation are pioneering the use of networks and viral.
Technology changes the speed and force of social change, and social forces shape technology development and custom applications. This is social computing.
Social computing is about a movement, not simply a catalogue of technologies… it has to do with an attitude. As Eric Schmidt, Chairman & CEO, of Google said;
“The Internet is the first thing humanity has built that humanity doesn’t understand, the largest experiment in anarchy we’ve ever had.”
Bring on 2009.
Digital media is taking a more strategic role...
Digital media is taking a more strategic role in integrated campaigns at all levels.
It is a fragmented market which at best grazes on media, so the opportunity to engage at point of impact is critical. Focus has to be placed on what the individual consumer wants at a particular time, and this is increasingly from the digital medium. We should be looking to use all channels to push ideas… engaging with consumers… then using the whole media mix to pull them in.
Appreciating the needs of the audience is critical to building effective experiences. We need to immerse ourselves in our audience's world to understand their motivations, interests, likes and dislikes.
We have to engage customers or we will lose them. We have to be inclusive and not exclusive with our experiences. We have to understand that today’s consumers own the interactive space, that they have become their own creators, collectors, editors, distributors, broadcasters and community builders. We need to treat them with respect, engaging and stimulating them with creative that involves them, and which builds long-term relationships.
It is a fragmented market which at best grazes on media, so the opportunity to engage at point of impact is critical. Focus has to be placed on what the individual consumer wants at a particular time, and this is increasingly from the digital medium. We should be looking to use all channels to push ideas… engaging with consumers… then using the whole media mix to pull them in.
Appreciating the needs of the audience is critical to building effective experiences. We need to immerse ourselves in our audience's world to understand their motivations, interests, likes and dislikes.
We have to engage customers or we will lose them. We have to be inclusive and not exclusive with our experiences. We have to understand that today’s consumers own the interactive space, that they have become their own creators, collectors, editors, distributors, broadcasters and community builders. We need to treat them with respect, engaging and stimulating them with creative that involves them, and which builds long-term relationships.
Intel’s real-time voting on London Underground screens
Intel has become the first advertiser to use the ability to refresh London Underground digital screens in real-time with a campaign that shows who is currently topping its 'battle of the bands' style competition.
The Intel Studio websie allows unsigned bands to upload tracks which visitors can then listen to and rank according to their favourites. The best acts as voted for are then offered support slots at a series of Intel Studio gigs.
The campaign extends Intel’s online Intel Studio activity onto digital escalator panels and cross-track projection, with bespoke content linked to the site and displays the current top five bands across various music genres.
Each screen follows a different music genre with charts including band names, chart positions and band photos, pulled in live from the website, illustrating the extent to which new digital outdoor formats can converge with other media channels.
The Intel Studio websie allows unsigned bands to upload tracks which visitors can then listen to and rank according to their favourites. The best acts as voted for are then offered support slots at a series of Intel Studio gigs.
The campaign extends Intel’s online Intel Studio activity onto digital escalator panels and cross-track projection, with bespoke content linked to the site and displays the current top five bands across various music genres.
Each screen follows a different music genre with charts including band names, chart positions and band photos, pulled in live from the website, illustrating the extent to which new digital outdoor formats can converge with other media channels.
It’s a changing world
It’s a changing world.
Today’s consumers are being bombarded with messages from an ever-growing number of brands, via an ever-growing number of channels, but understanding and using these channels is more challenging, and more interesting than ever.
So what does this mean? Well, we need to embrace this new model of communication and interaction. We are going through a period of rapid transformation and it is difficult to predict what will happen in the future. But if you look around, change is everywhere not just in the way we communicate.
Consumers no longer view brands through the prism of traditional channels. Instead they use a complement of channels that help to inform their choices. Digital has radically shifted and shaped the way we interact and communicate with one another.
The emergence of digital technologies has changed who is in control of information, experience, and resources. There is a blurring of the distinction between the creative (content) and the media (the delivery of this content). The new consumer is empowered and in control. They have turned from a user into a creator and distributor of content, in partnership with the media they consume.
Digital is about creating experiences which are focused and entertaining, all stemming from a unique balance of creativity, technology, and human interaction.
As more people choose to communicate with each other digitally, we are finding that the demand for these services continues to grow and evolve – changing the way that brands communicate with their customers, changing the way that consumers, in turn, respond, and changing the way that customers talk to each other about brands.
It really is a changing world.
Today’s consumers are being bombarded with messages from an ever-growing number of brands, via an ever-growing number of channels, but understanding and using these channels is more challenging, and more interesting than ever.
So what does this mean? Well, we need to embrace this new model of communication and interaction. We are going through a period of rapid transformation and it is difficult to predict what will happen in the future. But if you look around, change is everywhere not just in the way we communicate.
Consumers no longer view brands through the prism of traditional channels. Instead they use a complement of channels that help to inform their choices. Digital has radically shifted and shaped the way we interact and communicate with one another.
The emergence of digital technologies has changed who is in control of information, experience, and resources. There is a blurring of the distinction between the creative (content) and the media (the delivery of this content). The new consumer is empowered and in control. They have turned from a user into a creator and distributor of content, in partnership with the media they consume.
Digital is about creating experiences which are focused and entertaining, all stemming from a unique balance of creativity, technology, and human interaction.
As more people choose to communicate with each other digitally, we are finding that the demand for these services continues to grow and evolve – changing the way that brands communicate with their customers, changing the way that consumers, in turn, respond, and changing the way that customers talk to each other about brands.
It really is a changing world.
The power of mobile
There really are new opportunities from the mobile sector to offer new ways to reach markets; after all mobile is just a new media channel.
Improvements in handset technology and faster IP connections will lead to more convergence, but understanding mobile marketing requires an understanding of the user's relationship to technology.
This is a device that most people have with them most of the time, but most users see the primary function of their phone for; calls, SMS and storing numbers, and something that is very personal to them.
For many people, their phone is connected to their identity in the same way as the clothes they wear, so to get a brand onto a phone, it must be invited.
They key to successful mobile marketing is the development of specifically made mobile content in conjunction with other, and to enhance, existing media, offering a seamless experience and meeting the identity needs of the user.
All you have to remember is that mobile is just a channel. Mobile is personal and cherished and should be integrated. Mobile provides immediate interaction and is a powerful viral network. And ultimately, mobile is, mobile.
Improvements in handset technology and faster IP connections will lead to more convergence, but understanding mobile marketing requires an understanding of the user's relationship to technology.
This is a device that most people have with them most of the time, but most users see the primary function of their phone for; calls, SMS and storing numbers, and something that is very personal to them.
For many people, their phone is connected to their identity in the same way as the clothes they wear, so to get a brand onto a phone, it must be invited.
They key to successful mobile marketing is the development of specifically made mobile content in conjunction with other, and to enhance, existing media, offering a seamless experience and meeting the identity needs of the user.
All you have to remember is that mobile is just a channel. Mobile is personal and cherished and should be integrated. Mobile provides immediate interaction and is a powerful viral network. And ultimately, mobile is, mobile.
UK consumers spend £13bn online in just 3 months
Despite the gloomy economic outlook and the downturn on the high street, online retailers are continuing to generate massive sales.
IMRG have just reported that during the first three months of 2008, UK consumers spent a whooping £13 billion online, a staggering 85% more that in the previous year.
Then it occurred to me; this amount of money is almost the same as what it would cost the World a year to eradicate hunger!
I'll leave you withthat thought.
IMRG have just reported that during the first three months of 2008, UK consumers spent a whooping £13 billion online, a staggering 85% more that in the previous year.
Then it occurred to me; this amount of money is almost the same as what it would cost the World a year to eradicate hunger!
I'll leave you withthat thought.
What is digital about in our business?
I often get asked about digital – who we are, what we do, how we do it, etc. etc.
Well, to summaries, I see digital as a diverse mix of individuals with different experience and knowledge, who are all focused on one thing; engaging people via digital media.
We are about the creation of strategic and creative interactive experiences, and producing effective communications based on powerful insights.
We are about crafting immersive and measurable dialogue and relationships, from consumer-centric yet dynamically focused products.
And more importantly, we are about creating engaging innovative solutions within any digital channel.
Well, to summaries, I see digital as a diverse mix of individuals with different experience and knowledge, who are all focused on one thing; engaging people via digital media.
We are about the creation of strategic and creative interactive experiences, and producing effective communications based on powerful insights.
We are about crafting immersive and measurable dialogue and relationships, from consumer-centric yet dynamically focused products.
And more importantly, we are about creating engaging innovative solutions within any digital channel.
Web Analytics - The Joy of Data
Web Analytics is basically the study of the behaviour of website visitors. It refers to the collection and use of data to determine which aspects of a site work towards the business objectives.
This data is typically compared against KPI’s and is used to improve the audience’s experience.
It is easy to overlook the importance of content optimisation, but small changes to key areas of a site can have dramatic effects on engaging and converting visitors. Optimising the steps that visitors take on their way to conversion is an aspect of content tuning that can yield significant results.
We therefore use analytics tools to show us:
Data helps us understand, interpret and then act.
This data is typically compared against KPI’s and is used to improve the audience’s experience.
It is easy to overlook the importance of content optimisation, but small changes to key areas of a site can have dramatic effects on engaging and converting visitors. Optimising the steps that visitors take on their way to conversion is an aspect of content tuning that can yield significant results.
We therefore use analytics tools to show us:
- How people find a site
- How they navigate through it
- How they become customers
Data helps us understand, interpret and then act.
An overview of Search Marketing
Search Marketing can be carried out in two main ways:
The best Search Engine Marketing campaigns integrate a number of activities to improve the level of traffic and enquiries to a website. These are as follows:
1. Keyword Research
Choosing, researching and targeting the best key phrases are the first steps and the main foundation of an effective SEM campaign. Some phrases are highly competitive while others might be infrequently used. A list of the best keywords to target is determined by a variety of factors, and the criteria to carry this out are:
2. Gap Analysis
Gap Analysis is the process of identifying which key phrases a site is achieving high listings with and which it isn’t. To achieve the highest listings for the best key phrases it is important that there is good, relevant key phrase rich content on the site that will be accessed through a search.
3. Competitor Analysis and Monitoring
It is possible to monitor where competitors’ sites are getting their traffic from, which key phrases competitors are bidding on, and what positions they are high on. This information is hugely valuable in finding where to build links to a site.
4. Site Review
It is vital that a site is built to be fully optimised with target key phrases. The purpose of making the site more Search Engine friendly with particular emphasis on:
5. Search Engine Copywriting
Writing the pages of a site in such a way that they are highly positioned on Search Engines, while at the same time read well for real visitors, will result in the site pages being easily accessible by visitors while at the same time be high on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
6. Link Building and Website Promotion
Link building and web promotion is one of the most important aspects in achieving a good position. The more link building and web promotion that is carried out the more the site will move up Google with the target key phrases.
7. Pay-Per-Click Campaigns
To make the most of a Pay-Per-Click campaign it must target the best key phrases at the best price. It must be set-up for the correct geographical locations and to run at the correct times. Pay-Per-Click is most effective when used with, or in advance of, a natural campaign.
Managing a PPC campaign means regularly and continuously making changes to the key phrases you’re bidding on as well as the bid prices. Every campaign needs to be monitored by continuously looking at key phrases, their value, how they are deployed, when they are used, and the market trends.
- Paid Search
- Natural (Organic) Search
The best Search Engine Marketing campaigns integrate a number of activities to improve the level of traffic and enquiries to a website. These are as follows:
1. Keyword Research
Choosing, researching and targeting the best key phrases are the first steps and the main foundation of an effective SEM campaign. Some phrases are highly competitive while others might be infrequently used. A list of the best keywords to target is determined by a variety of factors, and the criteria to carry this out are:
- Relevance
- Competitiveness
- Popularity
- Value
2. Gap Analysis
Gap Analysis is the process of identifying which key phrases a site is achieving high listings with and which it isn’t. To achieve the highest listings for the best key phrases it is important that there is good, relevant key phrase rich content on the site that will be accessed through a search.
3. Competitor Analysis and Monitoring
It is possible to monitor where competitors’ sites are getting their traffic from, which key phrases competitors are bidding on, and what positions they are high on. This information is hugely valuable in finding where to build links to a site.
4. Site Review
It is vital that a site is built to be fully optimised with target key phrases. The purpose of making the site more Search Engine friendly with particular emphasis on:
- Code
- Content
- Structure
5. Search Engine Copywriting
Writing the pages of a site in such a way that they are highly positioned on Search Engines, while at the same time read well for real visitors, will result in the site pages being easily accessible by visitors while at the same time be high on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
6. Link Building and Website Promotion
Link building and web promotion is one of the most important aspects in achieving a good position. The more link building and web promotion that is carried out the more the site will move up Google with the target key phrases.
7. Pay-Per-Click Campaigns
To make the most of a Pay-Per-Click campaign it must target the best key phrases at the best price. It must be set-up for the correct geographical locations and to run at the correct times. Pay-Per-Click is most effective when used with, or in advance of, a natural campaign.
Managing a PPC campaign means regularly and continuously making changes to the key phrases you’re bidding on as well as the bid prices. Every campaign needs to be monitored by continuously looking at key phrases, their value, how they are deployed, when they are used, and the market trends.
What is "Web 2.0"?
Web 2.0 is quite simply a term describing the trend in the use of technology and design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users.
These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and services, such as social networking sites, wikis, and blogs.
It does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the way we develop for the Web and how end-users use it. It is an architecture of participation where users can contribute content creating network effects.
The idea of Web 2.0 also relates to a transition of websites from isolated information silos to interlinked platforms, and also includes a social element where users generate and distribute content, often with freedom to share and re-use. It's as simple as that.
These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and services, such as social networking sites, wikis, and blogs.
It does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the way we develop for the Web and how end-users use it. It is an architecture of participation where users can contribute content creating network effects.
The idea of Web 2.0 also relates to a transition of websites from isolated information silos to interlinked platforms, and also includes a social element where users generate and distribute content, often with freedom to share and re-use. It's as simple as that.
What do we mean by “Digital”?
So what do we mean by “Digital”? Well, until the 1980's media relied primarily upon print and analog broadcast models, such as those of television and radio. The last 25 years however has seen a rapid transformation into media which is based upon the use of digital channels, such as the Internet. The idea of “digital” therefore captures both:
Interactivity has become the key term for digital. Evolving from the rapid dissemination of the Internet, the digitalization of the media, and media convergence, digital embraces every aspect of how people interact and communicate, and how they are entertained by today’s technologies.
- The development of unique forms of digital media
- The remaking of more traditional media forms adopting and adapting to the new media technologies
- Interpersonal and mass communication
- Public and private communication
Interactivity has become the key term for digital. Evolving from the rapid dissemination of the Internet, the digitalization of the media, and media convergence, digital embraces every aspect of how people interact and communicate, and how they are entertained by today’s technologies.
Thursday
The Real Viral Effect
People normally think of the viral effect in terms of an exponential curve. The number of views gently curving upwards and upwards as time goes by.
The reality of how viral campaigns really perform is, however, a lot more complex.
A real viral curve has an initial launch boost, which is similar to the classic exponential curve, and shows the preliminary surge a campaign generates on launch – generally created from the initial seeding push.
This initial curve is though then followed by a plateau. This leveling off viewings represents the “community conversation” around the campaign – in blogs, community forums, social networks etc. over a sustained period of time.
Finally there is the long tail. This is the legacy of a viral campaign and is created by the huge amount of referrers generally created from any form of viral activity.
The most interesting aspect of the real viral curve is the long tail – an area often over-looked in developing marketing strategies. It is important remember how viral campaigns continue to attract interest way beyond the initial viral launch period, and shows the ongoing value of viral marketing.
The reality of how viral campaigns really perform is, however, a lot more complex.
A real viral curve has an initial launch boost, which is similar to the classic exponential curve, and shows the preliminary surge a campaign generates on launch – generally created from the initial seeding push.
This initial curve is though then followed by a plateau. This leveling off viewings represents the “community conversation” around the campaign – in blogs, community forums, social networks etc. over a sustained period of time.
Finally there is the long tail. This is the legacy of a viral campaign and is created by the huge amount of referrers generally created from any form of viral activity.
The most interesting aspect of the real viral curve is the long tail – an area often over-looked in developing marketing strategies. It is important remember how viral campaigns continue to attract interest way beyond the initial viral launch period, and shows the ongoing value of viral marketing.
How important is social marketing to online marketing?
Social marketing is the process of promoting a brand through social media channels, so it is an immensely powerful strategy that gets links, attention, and generates massive amounts of traffic. There is no other low-cost promotional method that easily gives a business large numbers of visitors, some of whom are likely to return again and again, and is a potent method that will make a business profitable over time.
Some of reasons why social marketing is so important are that:
Some of reasons why social marketing is so important are that:
- It is natural. Not only do you get natural links without any discernible pattern, a brand is exposed to large groups of people in a spontaneous fashion, which differs from paid advertising that has overt commercial overtones.
- It is defensible. Social communities are a great source of traffic generation on top of any traffic already received from search engines. While you can’t easily increase search engine traffic, social media traffic can be very easily controlled through strategic marketing.
- It is low-cost and has high returns. The benefits often exceed the cost, as it can take thousands of pounds to buy many links; whereas social marketing has the ability to give you that for free.
- It complements other efforts. Social media optimization and marketing is usually community-specific and thus doesn’t interfere with any other methods of getting traffic, and it can fit perfectly with an advertising campaign.
Google is dead...
From now on, Google is a goner and everyone's going to be using...
"Search with Kanye West"!
That's right, he has his own search engine.
Clearly this is the new market leader in search. Especially since when you actually search for something, Kanye's name appears at the top in Google colours. (Just in case you forgot you were using his search engine).
Try it out here, folks – it's the future: http://searchwithkanyewest.prodege.com/
"Search with Kanye West"!
That's right, he has his own search engine.
Clearly this is the new market leader in search. Especially since when you actually search for something, Kanye's name appears at the top in Google colours. (Just in case you forgot you were using his search engine).
Try it out here, folks – it's the future: http://searchwithkanyewest.prodege.com/
Social Media in plain English (albeit with an American accent!)
Isn't this social internet thing great… people share ideas and stuff to make other people's lives easier and more fun.
This short video put’s a nice slant on what social media is all about:
http://www.vimeo.com/1083838?pg=embed&sec=1083838
This short video put’s a nice slant on what social media is all about:
http://www.vimeo.com/1083838?pg=embed&sec=1083838
Super Mario theme played with a remote control car and wine bottles
So this kid, he likes Nintendo. And one day, he finds himself in an underground car park, with a Remote Controlled Car and around a thousand empty wine bottles lying around.
What's he do?
He does what any of us would do, and combines the lot to belt out possibly the most wonderful rendition of the Super Mario theme you'll ever need to hear.
http://current.com/items/88903884_super_mario_theme_played_with_a_remote_control_car_and_wine_bottles
What's he do?
He does what any of us would do, and combines the lot to belt out possibly the most wonderful rendition of the Super Mario theme you'll ever need to hear.
http://current.com/items/88903884_super_mario_theme_played_with_a_remote_control_car_and_wine_bottles
Some music video inspiration
Radiohead have a done an interactive music video so every viewer gets a different experience by just clicking and dragging the images.
No cameras, or light were used - its just data. Takes a while to load, but it's worth it:
http://code.google.com/creative/radiohead/viewer.html
No cameras, or light were used - its just data. Takes a while to load, but it's worth it:
http://code.google.com/creative/radiohead/viewer.html
The fuure of 3D gaming?
This guy’s invented a virtual reality display using the standard Wii sensor and remote.
Skip to 2:45 if you get bored of him talking to see how cool it is.
http://www.neatorama.com/2008/02/21/the-future-of-3d-gaming/
Skip to 2:45 if you get bored of him talking to see how cool it is.
http://www.neatorama.com/2008/02/21/the-future-of-3d-gaming/
Nokia Morph
The Nokia Morph is a concept phone displaying the visions for using nanotechnology in the future.
Read about the Morph concept here: http://www.nokia.com/A4852062
Or watch the concept video: http://www.nokia.com/A4879144
Nice.
Read about the Morph concept here: http://www.nokia.com/A4852062
Or watch the concept video: http://www.nokia.com/A4879144
Nice.
Social and Business Networking – Are the lines beginning to blur?
Are social and business networking going to become one and the same thing? I’m not sure. Yes brands are flocking to Facebook, and the likes of LinkedIn has started to loosen up the business focus, while business directories are starting to allow interaction and comment.
Social networking has a certain stigma. Fun, frolics and photos you really would rather your boss never saw. Business networking is a rather dry, soulless experience. You connect with friends, you expand, but it still feels like a job search facility. But networking has to be the most important activity of any business, right?.
So dies linking all networking activity, business and pleasure, make more sense? When we all get tired of being a number and start being ourselves, will things get much more interesting?
Linking yourself to the company you work for, and making it more than just about an individual has its risks, but this is the new world we live in. Companies will have to learn to manage their PR online, and the individuals will have to learn that there are limits.
Not bad lessons either way, and in my opinion, this is where we are all going. The next phase of the online revolution will be about longevity, trust, openness and confidence.
Social networking has a certain stigma. Fun, frolics and photos you really would rather your boss never saw. Business networking is a rather dry, soulless experience. You connect with friends, you expand, but it still feels like a job search facility. But networking has to be the most important activity of any business, right?.
So dies linking all networking activity, business and pleasure, make more sense? When we all get tired of being a number and start being ourselves, will things get much more interesting?
Linking yourself to the company you work for, and making it more than just about an individual has its risks, but this is the new world we live in. Companies will have to learn to manage their PR online, and the individuals will have to learn that there are limits.
Not bad lessons either way, and in my opinion, this is where we are all going. The next phase of the online revolution will be about longevity, trust, openness and confidence.
What is Social Currency?
Think of social currency as being like a good joke. When a bunch of friends sit around and tell jokes, what are they really doing? Entertaining one another? Sure, but they are also using content – mostly unoriginal content that they've heard elsewhere – in order to lubricate a social occasion. And what are most of us doing when we listen to a joke? Trying to memorize it so that we can take it somewhere else. The joke itself is social currency.
Think of this the next time you curse that onslaught of email jokes cluttering up your inbox. The senders think they've given you a gift, but all they really want is an excuse to interact with you. If the joke is good enough, it means the currency is valuable enough to earn them a response.
That's why the most successful TV shows, websites, and music recordings are generally the ones that offer the most valuable forms of social currency to their fans. Sometimes, like with mainstream media, the value is its universality.
It is currency that we exchange with those around us as part of our everyday interactions. In other words, "social currency" is the stuff we talk about with our friends, and colleagues, and family.
Think of this the next time you curse that onslaught of email jokes cluttering up your inbox. The senders think they've given you a gift, but all they really want is an excuse to interact with you. If the joke is good enough, it means the currency is valuable enough to earn them a response.
That's why the most successful TV shows, websites, and music recordings are generally the ones that offer the most valuable forms of social currency to their fans. Sometimes, like with mainstream media, the value is its universality.
It is currency that we exchange with those around us as part of our everyday interactions. In other words, "social currency" is the stuff we talk about with our friends, and colleagues, and family.
Film 2.0
It was almost ten years ago that “The Blair Witch Project” first harnessed the power of viral marketing to elevate what was a low-budget independent film into a $248 million blockbuster. Earlier this year, “Cloverfield” made the most of Web 2.0 with its use of fake YouTube clips, Myspace pages and blogging. Cloverfield highlighted the use of online content to not only market films, but also extend the viewers overall film experience by layering content before and after the films release – creating a ‘multi-layered experience’.
The latest, and perhaps most ambitious, example of Web 2.0-styled multi-layered films is “Tropic Thunder” – a kind of Apocalypse Now meets Spinal Tap action comedy featuring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. as a set of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film.
Multi-layering is at the heart of Tropic Thunder – affecting its concept, plot, characters and marketing. Conceptually the film is a Vietnam “making of” style movie – with a ton of Apocalypse Now references, but within the plot there’s also a “making of” (or should that be “making of making of”) documentary. On top of this, there’s a whole host of back-stories for each of the main characters, including actor’s microsites and fictitious film trailers.
Each of these layers are then given depth online using a mix of video, interactive (http://www.mytoons.com/game/play/19669) and microsite content (http://www.tropicthunder.com), creating a whole web of crisscrossing layers that the fan can get absorbed in – helping extend the film’s overall experience, and providing powerful viral marketing fuel.
As a quick guide, here’s a few of Tropic Thunder’s layers:
Layer tactic 1: Faux trailers of the main characters past films have been created and distributed on their own personal websites. Paramount spawned an official site for star Tugg Speedman (http://www.tuggspeedman.com) – Ben Stiller’s character, as well as sites for some of his films like ‘Simple Jack’. Tugg’s favourite charity even has its own site – www.pandarelocationfoundation.org
There is also a site for the fictional company that turned Downey’s character into a coloured man in Tropic Thunder.
Layer tactic 2: A faux trailer and blog for the mockumentary ‘Rain of Madness’ (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TlTxeuOQpt0) has been released as a parody of Apocalpyse Now's ‘Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse’ – a ‘layeriffic’ documentary on the making of a movie within a movie.
Layer tactic 3: One of the greatest facets of the viral campaign is a star-studded attempt at the creation of their own viral, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBNVJG15tGs), which was originally aired during the MTV Movie Awards but can now be found on YouTube generating millions of views. The video shows the three lead actors on a mission to create a viral video for the Internet that could promote the movie.
Layer tactic 4: Paramount has reversed the conventional product-placement route by distributing a product that’s featured in the movie called Booty Sweat – an energy drink: (http://www.bootysweat.com). They even went as far as making an ad for the product: (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=38qTqp9cWbw).
With all this layering and inbuilt “talkable content”, Tropic Thunder’s a really good example of how film-making and marketing are being integrated together to ultimately create a self-marketing “social” film.
The latest, and perhaps most ambitious, example of Web 2.0-styled multi-layered films is “Tropic Thunder” – a kind of Apocalypse Now meets Spinal Tap action comedy featuring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. as a set of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film.
Multi-layering is at the heart of Tropic Thunder – affecting its concept, plot, characters and marketing. Conceptually the film is a Vietnam “making of” style movie – with a ton of Apocalypse Now references, but within the plot there’s also a “making of” (or should that be “making of making of”) documentary. On top of this, there’s a whole host of back-stories for each of the main characters, including actor’s microsites and fictitious film trailers.
Each of these layers are then given depth online using a mix of video, interactive (http://www.mytoons.com/game/play/19669) and microsite content (http://www.tropicthunder.com), creating a whole web of crisscrossing layers that the fan can get absorbed in – helping extend the film’s overall experience, and providing powerful viral marketing fuel.
As a quick guide, here’s a few of Tropic Thunder’s layers:
Layer tactic 1: Faux trailers of the main characters past films have been created and distributed on their own personal websites. Paramount spawned an official site for star Tugg Speedman (http://www.tuggspeedman.com) – Ben Stiller’s character, as well as sites for some of his films like ‘Simple Jack’. Tugg’s favourite charity even has its own site – www.pandarelocationfoundation.org
There is also a site for the fictional company that turned Downey’s character into a coloured man in Tropic Thunder.
Layer tactic 2: A faux trailer and blog for the mockumentary ‘Rain of Madness’ (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TlTxeuOQpt0) has been released as a parody of Apocalpyse Now's ‘Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse’ – a ‘layeriffic’ documentary on the making of a movie within a movie.
Layer tactic 3: One of the greatest facets of the viral campaign is a star-studded attempt at the creation of their own viral, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBNVJG15tGs), which was originally aired during the MTV Movie Awards but can now be found on YouTube generating millions of views. The video shows the three lead actors on a mission to create a viral video for the Internet that could promote the movie.
Layer tactic 4: Paramount has reversed the conventional product-placement route by distributing a product that’s featured in the movie called Booty Sweat – an energy drink: (http://www.bootysweat.com). They even went as far as making an ad for the product: (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=38qTqp9cWbw).
With all this layering and inbuilt “talkable content”, Tropic Thunder’s a really good example of how film-making and marketing are being integrated together to ultimately create a self-marketing “social” film.
Brand Tags
The basic idea of this site is that a brand exists entirely in people's heads.
Therefore, whatever they say a brand is, the brand is.
Brand Tags is a collective experiment in brand perception in which all the tags are generated by people like you…
Submit your own, see what people think a brand is, or try guessing the brand from what people have tagged it.
http://www.brandtags.net/
Therefore, whatever they say a brand is, the brand is.
Brand Tags is a collective experiment in brand perception in which all the tags are generated by people like you…
Submit your own, see what people think a brand is, or try guessing the brand from what people have tagged it.
http://www.brandtags.net/
Viewers decide outcome of the Oasis Cactus Kid campaign
Coca-Cola GB is asking the UK public to vote online to decide the end of the storyline in its latest Oasis drinks brand campaign.
The final spot in the "Run Cactus Kid, Run" campaign will only air three times and will end with a call-to-action asking the audience to go online to vote for one of three possible outcomes.
So far the campaign, which features a couple on the run, has set a scene where a young pregnant woman and her 'cactus' boyfriend are being chased by the law.
The final spot will see the couple in hospital as they welcome the arrival of their new baby, before the sheriff and his men pull up at the hospital steps for a cliff-hanger finish. Viewers will then be driven to www.runcactuskidrun.com to decide their fate.
The integrated campaign also includes footage on YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, a dedicated website for the couple, and one for the Sheriff trying to catch them. Additional online activity includes advertorial content on Sun Online, Heatworld and Zoo, as well as TV spots and an outdoor campaign.
You can also view the campaign websites here:
Mothers Against Cactus Kid (M.A.C.K.) – These angry Mums blame all the world’s wrongs on Cactus Kid: http://www.mothersagainstcactuskid.com/
Find Cactus Kid – Win $2000 if you can help the Cops find Cactus Kid on Google Maps: http://www.findcactuskid.com/
Cactusgirl87- The story through Cactus Girl’s MySpace Vlog: http://www.myspace.com/cactusgirl87
Flickr Sightings – It’s hard to go incognito when you’re a Cactus: http://www.flickr.com/photos/runcactuskidrun/
YouTube Sightings – Video sightings, witness reports, behind the scenes footage:
http://uk.youtube.com/user/RunCactusKidRun
The final spot in the "Run Cactus Kid, Run" campaign will only air three times and will end with a call-to-action asking the audience to go online to vote for one of three possible outcomes.
So far the campaign, which features a couple on the run, has set a scene where a young pregnant woman and her 'cactus' boyfriend are being chased by the law.
The final spot will see the couple in hospital as they welcome the arrival of their new baby, before the sheriff and his men pull up at the hospital steps for a cliff-hanger finish. Viewers will then be driven to www.runcactuskidrun.com to decide their fate.
The integrated campaign also includes footage on YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, a dedicated website for the couple, and one for the Sheriff trying to catch them. Additional online activity includes advertorial content on Sun Online, Heatworld and Zoo, as well as TV spots and an outdoor campaign.
You can also view the campaign websites here:
Mothers Against Cactus Kid (M.A.C.K.) – These angry Mums blame all the world’s wrongs on Cactus Kid: http://www.mothersagainstcactuskid.com/
Find Cactus Kid – Win $2000 if you can help the Cops find Cactus Kid on Google Maps: http://www.findcactuskid.com/
Cactusgirl87- The story through Cactus Girl’s MySpace Vlog: http://www.myspace.com/cactusgirl87
Flickr Sightings – It’s hard to go incognito when you’re a Cactus: http://www.flickr.com/photos/runcactuskidrun/
YouTube Sightings – Video sightings, witness reports, behind the scenes footage:
http://uk.youtube.com/user/RunCactusKidRun
Graffiti artist tags Buckingham Palace in YouTube video
A young graffiti artist wearing a hoodie appears to tag Buckingham Palace in video footage posted on YouTube in a hoax to promote the film 'The Wackness'.
The video shows the palace at night with bearskin cap wearing guards on patrol. Various camera angles show a young man wearing a hooded jacket and backpack scaling a fence, running towards the palace and spraying the words "The Wackness" on the stone walls.
The camera then pans back to show the whole of the building and the small patch of graffiti to the right of the front entrance.
A user called KingTag89 posted the video, which also includes his website address www.kingtag.com
The website includes the video and text stating: "wnt 2 c da queen but she wazn't @ her crib. dun dis 4 da $$$ check on dis 2 graf dis film tag n hit buck pal n tagged it up prpr. nunaya can tuch KT!!!! i iz getting a G 4 dis ***!!!!"
The video shows the palace at night with bearskin cap wearing guards on patrol. Various camera angles show a young man wearing a hooded jacket and backpack scaling a fence, running towards the palace and spraying the words "The Wackness" on the stone walls.
The camera then pans back to show the whole of the building and the small patch of graffiti to the right of the front entrance.
A user called KingTag89 posted the video, which also includes his website address www.kingtag.com
The website includes the video and text stating: "wnt 2 c da queen but she wazn't @ her crib. dun dis 4 da $$$ check on dis 2 graf dis film tag n hit buck pal n tagged it up prpr. nunaya can tuch KT!!!! i iz getting a G 4 dis ***!!!!"
Intel and Yahoo! to bring the Internet to Television
Intel and Yahoo! have previewed plans for the Widget Channel – bringing the best of the Internet to complement TV viewing by using widgets.
The Widget Channel will allow consumers to enjoy rich Internet applications designed for the TV while watching TV programs. The Widget Channel will be powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine, an applications platform that will enable TV watchers to interact with a set of “TV Widgets,” or small Internet applications designed to complement and enhance the traditional TV watching experience, and bring content, information, and community features available on the Internet within easy reach of the remote control.
The Widget Channel will also allow developers to write TV applications for the platform, extending the power and compatibility of PC application developer programs to TV. In addition to supporting the Yahoo! Widget Engine, Yahoo! will also provide consumers Yahoo!-branded TV Widgets that can be customized based on its Internet services.
TV Widgets will enable consumers to engage in a variety of experiences, such as watching videos, tracking their stocks and shares, or sports teams, interacting with friends and family, or staying current on news and information.
TV will fundamentally change how we talk about, imagine, and experience the Internet. No longer just a passive experience unless the viewer wants it that way, Intel and Yahoo! are proposing a way where the TV and the Internet are as interactive and seamless as possible.
By combining the Internet benefits of open user choice, community, and personalization, with the performance and scale embodied in the Intel Architecture will transform traditional TV into something bigger, better and more exciting than ever before.
The Widget Channel will allow consumers to enjoy rich Internet applications designed for the TV while watching TV programs. The Widget Channel will be powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine, an applications platform that will enable TV watchers to interact with a set of “TV Widgets,” or small Internet applications designed to complement and enhance the traditional TV watching experience, and bring content, information, and community features available on the Internet within easy reach of the remote control.
The Widget Channel will also allow developers to write TV applications for the platform, extending the power and compatibility of PC application developer programs to TV. In addition to supporting the Yahoo! Widget Engine, Yahoo! will also provide consumers Yahoo!-branded TV Widgets that can be customized based on its Internet services.
TV Widgets will enable consumers to engage in a variety of experiences, such as watching videos, tracking their stocks and shares, or sports teams, interacting with friends and family, or staying current on news and information.
TV will fundamentally change how we talk about, imagine, and experience the Internet. No longer just a passive experience unless the viewer wants it that way, Intel and Yahoo! are proposing a way where the TV and the Internet are as interactive and seamless as possible.
By combining the Internet benefits of open user choice, community, and personalization, with the performance and scale embodied in the Intel Architecture will transform traditional TV into something bigger, better and more exciting than ever before.
Lonely Planet content via Nokia
Nokia and Lonely Planet have teamed up to distribute Lonely Planet content via Nokia Maps.
This new service comes across as a genuinely transformational deal, making content available regardless of time or place, and helping answer all those questions which travellers frequently have on the road, such as; 'What should I explore today', or 'where should I go for dinner tonight?'
The service includes 100 tourist destinations, with more to come, helping travellers find places to eat, shop and sleep, as well as describing popular sights and nightlife for each destination. Nokia Maps now has maps covering over 200 countries, with over 70 of them navigable.
Lonely Planet is a well-known brand amongst travellers and stands for adventure and editorial independence, whilst Nokia continues to innovate and enable compelling location-aware experiences by offering expert local recommendations and itineraries to Nokia Maps consumers.
Travellers can now purchase and download city guides for £5.99 so that they have the information at their fingertips whilst they are on the road.
Maps can be downloaded directly to selected devices or by using the Nokia Map Loader on a PC.
This new service comes across as a genuinely transformational deal, making content available regardless of time or place, and helping answer all those questions which travellers frequently have on the road, such as; 'What should I explore today', or 'where should I go for dinner tonight?'
The service includes 100 tourist destinations, with more to come, helping travellers find places to eat, shop and sleep, as well as describing popular sights and nightlife for each destination. Nokia Maps now has maps covering over 200 countries, with over 70 of them navigable.
Lonely Planet is a well-known brand amongst travellers and stands for adventure and editorial independence, whilst Nokia continues to innovate and enable compelling location-aware experiences by offering expert local recommendations and itineraries to Nokia Maps consumers.
Travellers can now purchase and download city guides for £5.99 so that they have the information at their fingertips whilst they are on the road.
Maps can be downloaded directly to selected devices or by using the Nokia Map Loader on a PC.
Dell Ideastorm
In 1984, Michael Dell had $1000 and an unprecedented idea – bypass the middleman and sell custom-built PCs directly to customers. This idea led to the creation of what is now Dell Inc. and the birth of Dell’s direct model.
Twenty four years later, Dell believed more than ever that the best way to understand and serve their customers was to talk to them directly, wherever they may be located. The only difference between 1984 and 2008 is that they now have millions of global customers in more than 100 countries.
It is with that mindset that Dell has created ‘IdeaStorm’. The name is a take-off on the word “brainstorm” and it is their way of building an online community that brings everyone closer to the creative side of technology, by allowing us to share ideas and collaborate with one another.
Dell IdeaStorm is a website launched by Dell in 2007 to allow them to gauge which ideas are most important and most relevant to the public. The goal is for customers to tell Dell what new products or services they’d like to see Dell develop, and hope that the site fosters a candid and robust conversation about ideas.
Their commitment is to listen to peoples input and ideas to improve their products and services, and the way they do business, and to keep us posted on how Dell brings customer ideas to life.
www.dellideastorm.com
Twenty four years later, Dell believed more than ever that the best way to understand and serve their customers was to talk to them directly, wherever they may be located. The only difference between 1984 and 2008 is that they now have millions of global customers in more than 100 countries.
It is with that mindset that Dell has created ‘IdeaStorm’. The name is a take-off on the word “brainstorm” and it is their way of building an online community that brings everyone closer to the creative side of technology, by allowing us to share ideas and collaborate with one another.
Dell IdeaStorm is a website launched by Dell in 2007 to allow them to gauge which ideas are most important and most relevant to the public. The goal is for customers to tell Dell what new products or services they’d like to see Dell develop, and hope that the site fosters a candid and robust conversation about ideas.
Their commitment is to listen to peoples input and ideas to improve their products and services, and the way they do business, and to keep us posted on how Dell brings customer ideas to life.
www.dellideastorm.com
The 7 essentials of a Viral Campaign
The biggest problem most websites have is that they are instantly forgettable. They sell or say the same thing as hundreds or thousands of other sites; to an audience that is so quick to click-away, that a large percentage of their traffic never appreciates why they should buy anything or listen to what's being said.
In order for a website, or ad campaign, to be interesting enough for visitors to stick-around, or clever enough to be viral, it must be compelling enough to prompt viewers to; stay, absorb, and pass it onto friends and colleagues.
This does not mean that the media presented has to be salacious or somehow socially inappropriate. Common viral videos of silly people doing immature things on fuzzy video maybe viral for people with too much time on their hands, but it's viral without a marketing or branding purpose. Purposeful virals present meaningful theme-based messages within the context of an entertaining experience that is worth repeating and distributing. In other words, it must have both substance and style.
The 7 essentials of a viral campaign are therefore:
1. Engage the Audience
Grab Attention. If you start with the idea that Web traffic is an audience, you stand a better chance of grabbing their attention and making a connection that will get them to stick around long enough to listen to your message.
2. Enlighten and Inform
Provide Substance. Having a specific marketing or branding point, but understanding that not everyone is going to get all the references, but for those who do, the target audience, will be truly engaged by the presentation and informed by the content.
3. Stylize the Experience
Create an Experience. Of course we can present the same basic content with a straightforward presentation in a clear and concise manner, but it would be uninspiring and instantly forgettable. In marketing, being forgettable is the first deadly sin. If you're not creating an experience for your audience you will never be remembered no matter how important, or potentially useful, your information.
4. Focus
Be Consistent. Companies can't be all things to all people, but hammering away at the same message in the same manner can create a scenario where the audience feels they've heard it all before. The challenge is to keep campaigns fresh and new, while at the same time delivering a focused, consistent message. Don't change the message; just present it in new and exciting ways.
5. Entertain
Be Memorable. Be Bold. Deliver meaningful concepts that are worth the audience's time and attention because they inform and entertain at the same time: a simple idea that relies on creative implementation to make it memorable. The challenge is to turn advertising into memorable content. For the Web to be an effective marketing environment it must be more than a digital corkboard where millions of businesses place their flyers. The Web is a communication environment and effective communication must be entertaining and enlightening.
6. Resonate
Hit A Nerve. The flip side of entertaining is the necessity to connect to your audience. The message and the style must hit a nerve and a light bulb must go off in the audience's head that says, 'I get it.' What makes the Web such a powerful marketing and branding tool is its ability to communicate on a verbal, non-verbal, and metaphoric level. If a solution isn't communicating on all three levels then you’re missing opportunities to resonate and connect with your audience, and that means lost opportunity and business.
7. Excite
Compel Action. We all understand the need for a call to action but how can you expect people to pick up the phone, email, or fill-in a contact form if they aren't turned-on by your presentation. You cannot treat viral as a one-off commercial. It needs following up, a series, a campaign based on a terrific focused, differentiating concept.
The Web, unlike television, offers businesses the opportunity to create meaningful marketing campaigns that excite, entertain, and enlighten an audience looking for more. For some it's a giant leap of faith to accept the idea that something can be entertaining and meaningful at the same time. To turn a viral concept into an effective campaign – from advertising into content, not content into advertising, needs vision, guts, and great creative idea.
In order for a website, or ad campaign, to be interesting enough for visitors to stick-around, or clever enough to be viral, it must be compelling enough to prompt viewers to; stay, absorb, and pass it onto friends and colleagues.
This does not mean that the media presented has to be salacious or somehow socially inappropriate. Common viral videos of silly people doing immature things on fuzzy video maybe viral for people with too much time on their hands, but it's viral without a marketing or branding purpose. Purposeful virals present meaningful theme-based messages within the context of an entertaining experience that is worth repeating and distributing. In other words, it must have both substance and style.
The 7 essentials of a viral campaign are therefore:
1. Engage the Audience
Grab Attention. If you start with the idea that Web traffic is an audience, you stand a better chance of grabbing their attention and making a connection that will get them to stick around long enough to listen to your message.
2. Enlighten and Inform
Provide Substance. Having a specific marketing or branding point, but understanding that not everyone is going to get all the references, but for those who do, the target audience, will be truly engaged by the presentation and informed by the content.
3. Stylize the Experience
Create an Experience. Of course we can present the same basic content with a straightforward presentation in a clear and concise manner, but it would be uninspiring and instantly forgettable. In marketing, being forgettable is the first deadly sin. If you're not creating an experience for your audience you will never be remembered no matter how important, or potentially useful, your information.
4. Focus
Be Consistent. Companies can't be all things to all people, but hammering away at the same message in the same manner can create a scenario where the audience feels they've heard it all before. The challenge is to keep campaigns fresh and new, while at the same time delivering a focused, consistent message. Don't change the message; just present it in new and exciting ways.
5. Entertain
Be Memorable. Be Bold. Deliver meaningful concepts that are worth the audience's time and attention because they inform and entertain at the same time: a simple idea that relies on creative implementation to make it memorable. The challenge is to turn advertising into memorable content. For the Web to be an effective marketing environment it must be more than a digital corkboard where millions of businesses place their flyers. The Web is a communication environment and effective communication must be entertaining and enlightening.
6. Resonate
Hit A Nerve. The flip side of entertaining is the necessity to connect to your audience. The message and the style must hit a nerve and a light bulb must go off in the audience's head that says, 'I get it.' What makes the Web such a powerful marketing and branding tool is its ability to communicate on a verbal, non-verbal, and metaphoric level. If a solution isn't communicating on all three levels then you’re missing opportunities to resonate and connect with your audience, and that means lost opportunity and business.
7. Excite
Compel Action. We all understand the need for a call to action but how can you expect people to pick up the phone, email, or fill-in a contact form if they aren't turned-on by your presentation. You cannot treat viral as a one-off commercial. It needs following up, a series, a campaign based on a terrific focused, differentiating concept.
The Web, unlike television, offers businesses the opportunity to create meaningful marketing campaigns that excite, entertain, and enlighten an audience looking for more. For some it's a giant leap of faith to accept the idea that something can be entertaining and meaningful at the same time. To turn a viral concept into an effective campaign – from advertising into content, not content into advertising, needs vision, guts, and great creative idea.
Samsung creates a little adventure on YouTube
Samsung have just launched an interactive video series using YouTube's new "annotations" - effectively tying a storyline together by giving the user a choose-your-own-adventure experience.
The story follows the life of a young urban professional, armed with a Samsung Instinct phone, as he makes interesting choices that affect his work and personal life.
In "Follow Your Instinct," viewers are exposed to a series of nine vignettes, and just a total of 10 minutes of footage create the various story outcomes depending on what option you click at the end of each sequence. The segments include a frisky first date and an after-work party.
It’s very rare to find a brand that is willing to take a risk with a new and innovative viral marketing approach, and this is a first of its kind, and it is very interesting.
All videos in the series can be viewed at the Samsung Canada Films YouTube Channel: http://ca.youtube.com/user/SamsungCanadaFilms
But you can start your adventure here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoOCiaxIZF4
The story follows the life of a young urban professional, armed with a Samsung Instinct phone, as he makes interesting choices that affect his work and personal life.
In "Follow Your Instinct," viewers are exposed to a series of nine vignettes, and just a total of 10 minutes of footage create the various story outcomes depending on what option you click at the end of each sequence. The segments include a frisky first date and an after-work party.
It’s very rare to find a brand that is willing to take a risk with a new and innovative viral marketing approach, and this is a first of its kind, and it is very interesting.
All videos in the series can be viewed at the Samsung Canada Films YouTube Channel: http://ca.youtube.com/user/SamsungCanadaFilms
But you can start your adventure here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoOCiaxIZF4
Brands must embrace free online content
Recent research from Universal McCann calls on advertisers to take advantage of the new commercial opportunities presented by the increasing consumer demand for everything online to be available for free.
The ‘Welcome to the Free World’ study shows that as consumers focus their online experience around social networks and video sharing sites, advertisers will need to move beyond just placing banners on websites.
‘Free’ will be the dominant metric of the online world and the brands that are willing to be creative are in a strong position to take advantage. The increasing amount of free online content means that only strong creative ideas backed by multimedia executions capable of engaging consumers will stand out, and brands will need to divert budget away from TV and into digital in order to capitalise on the growth of free online content.
According to the study, brands that have already taken advantage of the growth of free online content include Intel, which recently ran a campaign on MySpace; and Microsoft, which placed branded instructional videos on the VideoJug website.
Similarly, Futurescape's research into online television shows that many major brands in America and Britain are already embracing digital and particularly the opportunities afforded by product integration within Web series. Intel and Microsoft will both appear in the forthcoming scifi thriller Gemini Division, while the car manufacturers are the most active sector. In the UK, Ford has backed Bite and Where Are The Joneses?, and Toyota was a major sponsor for KateModern.
The ‘Welcome to the Free World’ study shows that as consumers focus their online experience around social networks and video sharing sites, advertisers will need to move beyond just placing banners on websites.
‘Free’ will be the dominant metric of the online world and the brands that are willing to be creative are in a strong position to take advantage. The increasing amount of free online content means that only strong creative ideas backed by multimedia executions capable of engaging consumers will stand out, and brands will need to divert budget away from TV and into digital in order to capitalise on the growth of free online content.
According to the study, brands that have already taken advantage of the growth of free online content include Intel, which recently ran a campaign on MySpace; and Microsoft, which placed branded instructional videos on the VideoJug website.
Similarly, Futurescape's research into online television shows that many major brands in America and Britain are already embracing digital and particularly the opportunities afforded by product integration within Web series. Intel and Microsoft will both appear in the forthcoming scifi thriller Gemini Division, while the car manufacturers are the most active sector. In the UK, Ford has backed Bite and Where Are The Joneses?, and Toyota was a major sponsor for KateModern.
Google unveils Wikipedia rival - Knol
Google has opened ‘Knol’, its answer to Wikipedia, to the public for the first time.
The website, which was first announced in December 2007 when Google began limited testing on the site, allows people to write about their areas of expertise under their bylines in a twist on encyclopedia Wikipedia, which allows those posting to remain anonymous.
Knol are convinced that authorship - knowing who wrote what - helps readers trust the content.
The name of the service is a play on an individual unit of knowledge, and entries on the site are called "knols".
Knol has publishing tools similar to single blog pages, but unlike blogs, they encourage writers to reduce what they know about a topic to a single page that is not chronologically updated. Google wants to rank entries by popularity, decided by user ratings, reviews and how often people refer to the specific pages, to encourage competition.
What they want to get away from is the ‘last voice wins' model which is very difficult if you are a busy professional. Knol focuses on individual authors, or groups of authors, in marked contrast to Wikipedia's subject entries, which are updated by users and edited behind the scenes.
In another point of difference from Wikipedia, the new offering does not edit or endorse the information, and visitors will not be able to edit or contribute to a Knol unless they have the author's permission. Readers will also be able to notify Google if they find any content objectionable.
Although Knol is backed by the might of Google, it has a long way to go in catching Wikipedia, which boasts 7 million collectively edited articles in 200 languages.
http://knol.google.com/
The website, which was first announced in December 2007 when Google began limited testing on the site, allows people to write about their areas of expertise under their bylines in a twist on encyclopedia Wikipedia, which allows those posting to remain anonymous.
Knol are convinced that authorship - knowing who wrote what - helps readers trust the content.
The name of the service is a play on an individual unit of knowledge, and entries on the site are called "knols".
Knol has publishing tools similar to single blog pages, but unlike blogs, they encourage writers to reduce what they know about a topic to a single page that is not chronologically updated. Google wants to rank entries by popularity, decided by user ratings, reviews and how often people refer to the specific pages, to encourage competition.
What they want to get away from is the ‘last voice wins' model which is very difficult if you are a busy professional. Knol focuses on individual authors, or groups of authors, in marked contrast to Wikipedia's subject entries, which are updated by users and edited behind the scenes.
In another point of difference from Wikipedia, the new offering does not edit or endorse the information, and visitors will not be able to edit or contribute to a Knol unless they have the author's permission. Readers will also be able to notify Google if they find any content objectionable.
Although Knol is backed by the might of Google, it has a long way to go in catching Wikipedia, which boasts 7 million collectively edited articles in 200 languages.
http://knol.google.com/
Orange – I am Campaign
It is interesting to see Orange using a search based call to action in their latest ‘I am’ campaign. You might not have noticed, and that’s kind of the point, but there aren’t any URL’s in the ads.
As more and more content becomes available via the Web, people aren’t necessarily caring for URL’s anymore, and as such, this seems like a smart idea, and is a big shift towards a brand understanding the importance of search marketing.
The ‘I Am’ positioning sees Orange expanding the brand’s conviction in the power of community, with the key point being its ability to build relationships and help users connect, collaborate, and co-create, rather than the usual focus on numbers of minutes, or speed of connectivity.
All points of the campaign start with the line ‘I am’, which continues through press, print, and online, telling the story of the various people, ideas and loves that make up individuals - I am all the gigs I’ve ever been to; I am my parents; I am who I am because of everyone.
Once the key thrust of the campaign has been firmly established, longer executions, such as an evocative piece from Rose Tremain, winner of this year’s Orange Broadband Prize for fiction, will be released. Nevertheless, one of the most powerful parts of this campaign is its integrated nature. There are 120 different executions, touchpoints along the consumer journey.
In keeping with Orange’s recognition of how people use the internet, instead of using the campaign to direct people to a specific website, you are invited to search online for ‘I am’ to locate the site. And online will be where the campaign will come into its own. Not only with the overall idea offer huge potential for individual interpretation, but has campaigns specifically aimed at the under 25s.
The Unlit Sessions will comprise of a tour of the UK by an up and coming band in an Orange Winnebago, “powered by relationships”. Followers can offer the performers a venue in their living room or a place to stay, as well as embedding widgets into social networking sites to follow the band. Also keep an eye out for Geriatric 1928, which will follow an elderly gent travelling the UK from top to bottom.
The campaign is a refreshment of what the brand supposedly stands for, while creating a big idea that they can live off, and organise the brand around. With the campaign’s reach extending both externally and internally, as far as company business cards bearing individual manifestos, it looks set to emphasise Orange’s commitment to supporting relationships in a digital world, and how these relationships embrace the digital / real world cross over, and that the journey is powered by interactions and relationships.
No URL here, instead why not search for “I am”.
As more and more content becomes available via the Web, people aren’t necessarily caring for URL’s anymore, and as such, this seems like a smart idea, and is a big shift towards a brand understanding the importance of search marketing.
The ‘I Am’ positioning sees Orange expanding the brand’s conviction in the power of community, with the key point being its ability to build relationships and help users connect, collaborate, and co-create, rather than the usual focus on numbers of minutes, or speed of connectivity.
All points of the campaign start with the line ‘I am’, which continues through press, print, and online, telling the story of the various people, ideas and loves that make up individuals - I am all the gigs I’ve ever been to; I am my parents; I am who I am because of everyone.
Once the key thrust of the campaign has been firmly established, longer executions, such as an evocative piece from Rose Tremain, winner of this year’s Orange Broadband Prize for fiction, will be released. Nevertheless, one of the most powerful parts of this campaign is its integrated nature. There are 120 different executions, touchpoints along the consumer journey.
In keeping with Orange’s recognition of how people use the internet, instead of using the campaign to direct people to a specific website, you are invited to search online for ‘I am’ to locate the site. And online will be where the campaign will come into its own. Not only with the overall idea offer huge potential for individual interpretation, but has campaigns specifically aimed at the under 25s.
The Unlit Sessions will comprise of a tour of the UK by an up and coming band in an Orange Winnebago, “powered by relationships”. Followers can offer the performers a venue in their living room or a place to stay, as well as embedding widgets into social networking sites to follow the band. Also keep an eye out for Geriatric 1928, which will follow an elderly gent travelling the UK from top to bottom.
The campaign is a refreshment of what the brand supposedly stands for, while creating a big idea that they can live off, and organise the brand around. With the campaign’s reach extending both externally and internally, as far as company business cards bearing individual manifestos, it looks set to emphasise Orange’s commitment to supporting relationships in a digital world, and how these relationships embrace the digital / real world cross over, and that the journey is powered by interactions and relationships.
No URL here, instead why not search for “I am”.
Ten sites make up exclusive '500 million' club
Only 10 websites and applications, headed by MSN Messenger, eBay and Facebook, have averaged at least 500m UK minutes a month over the last year, according Nielsen Online.
The select group which includes YouTube and Second Life, are the fastest-growing sites in terms of total UK minutes, and all averaged at least 500m UK minutes a month over the last year as Britons spent a total of almost 34bn minutes on websites and internet-related applications on average each month.
MSN Messenger, eBay and Facebook are the only three websites/applications to average more than 1bn total minutes each month, with a further seven averaging more than 500m minutes. Interestingly the top 10 includes two social networks (Facebook and Bebo), two email sites (Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail), and two media players (Windows Media Player and iTunes)
It's incredible to think that despite the diversity of the internet, the 10 sites and applications that make up the '500 million' club account for 30% of all online-related time. This means that the thousands of other sites are competing for a much smaller share of the pie than they might think. If you also take into account the amount of time Britons are spending online, there are more sites springing up all the time, so it shows how increasingly competitive and cut-throat the online sector is becoming.
Facebook is the only website/application to have increased its total minutes by more than 200m minutes, as it grew by almost 1.8bn minutes. YouTube was second with an increase of 196m minutes.
Leading websites/applications by average total monthly UK minutes: June 2007-May 2008
The select group which includes YouTube and Second Life, are the fastest-growing sites in terms of total UK minutes, and all averaged at least 500m UK minutes a month over the last year as Britons spent a total of almost 34bn minutes on websites and internet-related applications on average each month.
MSN Messenger, eBay and Facebook are the only three websites/applications to average more than 1bn total minutes each month, with a further seven averaging more than 500m minutes. Interestingly the top 10 includes two social networks (Facebook and Bebo), two email sites (Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail), and two media players (Windows Media Player and iTunes)
It's incredible to think that despite the diversity of the internet, the 10 sites and applications that make up the '500 million' club account for 30% of all online-related time. This means that the thousands of other sites are competing for a much smaller share of the pie than they might think. If you also take into account the amount of time Britons are spending online, there are more sites springing up all the time, so it shows how increasingly competitive and cut-throat the online sector is becoming.
Facebook is the only website/application to have increased its total minutes by more than 200m minutes, as it grew by almost 1.8bn minutes. YouTube was second with an increase of 196m minutes.
Leading websites/applications by average total monthly UK minutes: June 2007-May 2008
- MSN Messenger
- eBay
- Google Search
- Hotmail
- Windows Media Player
- YouTube
- Bebo
- iTunes
- Yahoo! Mail
- YouTube
- Second Life
- Google Search
- Google Maps
- Wikipedia
- Asda
- iTunes
- Club Penguin
- Veoh
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