Posts Tagged ‘Trends’
Cultural Fuel Trend Report June
09
07 2010
Cultural Fuel Trend Report April available
Please download the latest Trend Report we put together for you.
Cultural Fuel Trend Report April 2010
12
05 2010
How Much Does Free Cost?
In This Article on GigaOM, Liz Gannes reported on some statements made at the OMMA Global conference by Mark Kvamme, an industry insider, where he basically stated that if marketers harness the power of Social Media, they shouldn’t have to pay for advertising anymore.
It’s a bold statement (which goes over well at industry conferences I hear). And if you’re interested in the finer points of his argument, feel free to read through Gannes piece which seemed to cover the supporting arguments pretty well (shrewedly highlighting the vested interest the speaker had for at least some of his remarks). But for the real fun – as happens so often in the online world – DON’T forget to read the comments.
I mean, sure – the idea that some new platforms like Twitter or Facebook or others have low or no cost of entry is wonderful, and when we are convincing stakeholders of opportunities for testing and learning we advise Clients to avoid sinking crazy amounts of money in developing ‘owned’ platforms. But to take this fact and leap to say that user generated media equates to free marketing is missing some crucial considerations, and it can be misleading for Clients who are entering the space.
1. Just because you have a message, doesn’t mean anyone wants to hear it. If we start from examining Human Behavior, then - don’t take it personally – no one wants to be ‘friends’ with your Brand’s Mission Statement. Brands should take time and care to determining their place, actions, and voice in social media, and ‘tune’ them in order to participate fluidly and gracefully. This is not child’s play. Look at marketers do it consistently well – do they seem to be careless in terms of their approach? Are they repeating their :30 tagline on their Facebook page?
2. And just because users can spread your message doesn’t mean that they will. Figuring out why people may want to pass on a message or ask their friends to do something has to be considered in the actual development of what that message or experience is. This takes time, effort and yes, investment. In fact you may need to be monitoring the space, because if they are already talking about you, they are quite likely not using your talking points. And trust me, there are lots of companies out to make money on the fact that these tools need power and utility, as well as smart people to use them. Even Coke’s Facebook success in supporting a pair of fans who started their page is a tribute to targeted investing. Coke recognized their fans’ serious skills – then rewarded and supported them. If passion in the community is there then you’ve got a good shot, but the work doesn’t stop there.
3. There’s more to it than just ‘do it’. I find comments like ‘Brands just need to harness the power of social media’ or ‘you just need to figure out how to work in this new world’ are pretty glib statements. Brands can test and learn here, sure, but perhaps an approach might be nice? Maybe something that starts with questions like, ‘Are my customers using these tools? Or are the influencers of my customers using these tools?’ Maybe I need to consider producing some content for users to interact with? Be on the lookout for an article by Michelle Davidson, a colleague of mine, talking about the hidden high cost of User Generated Content. She and others are talking about behavioral economics and user expectations in social media spaces – and yes, you may have to ‘give to get’. Placing any old content into any old free platform does not constitute a strategic use of social media, nor does it guarantee you an overnight success story in terms of viral buzz.
4. Speaking of viral buzz – just because a video ‘went viral’ does not mean that no money was spent on it. There are actually processes and procedures that marketers and agencies can put in place to help successful videos to spread faster and get into featured lists. And even if the production is done on a dime, the idea needs to be developed in the first place. But don’t assume the inverse of this thinking proves the rule: your :30 spot may not have viral potential. Too often it is tempting to think that ‘We spent all this money on this commercial – of COURSE it has viral potential.’ Sadly, this may not necessarily be true, and all the preparation in the world can’t make up for the fact that there really are ‘different horses for different courses’.
I could go on and on, like how calling online marketing ‘Advertising’ gets my blood boiling, but in the end I think that a successful marketer will strive to understand the social space and how to use it, which takes investigation, thinking, planning, creativity and yes – investing. I would agree with the speaker that social media has changed things for marketers hugely, and how they spend their money is one of the most important considerations they have to make right now. But I don’t think that soundbites about marketing being free are helpful or accurate. Free doesn’t come cheap.
Disclaimer: I was working in my office during the convention: I wasn’t there. Maybe he added some caveats?
19
03 2010
Reinventing reinvention
As more pressure is put on marketers and their agencies to do more with less, some of the most interesting opportunities for connecting with people come not from creating marketing campaigns, but finding new ways of creating value for consumers outside of the delivery of marketing messages. This situation is an exciting new charge we feel today in our agency, as we look to find creative ways to have Brands participate in society with our consumers. It’s not just reinventing ourselves as an advertising agency, but actually reinventing this reinvention into our begin a whole new kind of partner for our clients and their business.
Razorfish recently grabbed such an opportunity in their participation of a venture with Citigroup and Microsoft - linking content (in Citi’s case consumer data), with computing power (in Microsoft’s case) to create Bundle.
Interesting and inspiring - and I can’t wait to see where they go with this! It also raises some fascinating questions in terms of what an agency model should be when the output is not a creative asset, but a business strategy, or even a new company. I have had the chance to work on some projects like this with our clients, and I can honestly say it is as challenging and eye-opening as it is rewarding. Check out the Bundle beta here.
Read about the venture here.
Source: AdWeek
08
03 2010
Location-Based Services and the Marketers that don’t Love Them (Yet)
I had just read this article about marketers not sure how to take advantage of Location-Based Services, specifically ones that are Social-Network based, and one of our Account people popped their head in my office to ask “What’s up with FourSquare? Is it worthwhile? And is it significant for Marketers?”
Good questions all. Foursquare allows you to “check in” to locations and awards badges for different user activities. The Article correctly states that some restaurants and bars are already embracing it, but the activities and offers are still in early days. Note the offer from Wow Bao in my building below:
Yeah – it’s a freebie offer, but I find it interesting that there is such a conversation about “is this interesting for marketers” and “how will marketers use it” – since it should make sense to pay attention to if you’ve got at least some of your audience that uses these kinds of things, and you’re worth having a relationship with in the first place (which, granted, is a big question for some marketers).
Here’s why: think about why restaurants and bars already jumped on the bandwagon. They have to develop relationships with their customers – they don’t have a choice. They don’t have a retailer that will put up POS material, or vast amounts of online ad spend (generally), and most of the places I’ve seen don’t do TV. For them, the relationship with the person in that establishment is everything, and finding new ways to prolong and enrich that relationship is the key to their success. For them the only question would be “why would I not get involved?”
Now I’m looking back over the last 12 months and thinking about the times I’ve mentioned doing something like this for a marketer, and thinking “You know what? My Client needs to break out from the shelf, their target is pretty well-connected digitally, they are not always getting the POS attention they want, or always deserve, they want more engagement, and since their relationship with the consumer is everything for them as well … so Why not?”
Bonus topic for further conversation: How different would the strategy for the marketer be from what they use for Facebook and Twitter?
09
02 2010
Trends in 2010
30
11 2009
How (more than just) teens consume media
If you haven’t read the “How Teenagers Consume Media” report by the 15-year-old Morgan Stanley intern then you may want to check out the original first. Otherwise you could subject yourself to the endless blogging and news commentary all over the place here, here, here and oh just google it yourself.
Ultimately there should be nothing shocking here for people who follow behavior, rather than wishful thinking. Yes, people want stuff for free. No they do not tend to want to have an interruption from a Brand, or a relationship, dialog or anything else with you, unless it benefits them (and sometimes not even then).
Sure - the ’study’ was probably not the most scientific, and there are a few too many sweeping declarations, and a lot of conclusions missing about what Brands should be doing that they aren’t However, I’m surprised that so many people are shouting that the sky is falling.
What should we expect? We should be striving to understand the behaviour, and apply creativity to solutions for people and the Brands that they include in their lives.
15
07 2009
Marketers get a kick in the Apps
There are several good articles out now about the race to create applications (apps) for mobile phones, with the iPhone leading the charge for most agencies in the rush to create branded applications.
Ad Age: Insisting on an iPhone App? Not So Fast
Media Renaissance@mediablog.com: Going Ape over iphone apps: will the trend last?
These articles all tend to point to the somewhat obvious conclusion that apps don’t kill people, short-sighted marketing plans do. In other words, too many marketers skip the step of making sure that their app has a reason for being before setting it loose upon the world and expecting to be on everyone’s phone tomorrow.
I think the outcry is a little exaggerated (after all we’ve really only started to see examples of obvious app abuse - there likely will be much more), but there are some basic considerations that do need to be put in context to have a successful trial of app technology. For the most part, what we are seeing is still people testing the waters, given the lower penetration of the types of phones that run apps. But the articles are dead-on about one thing - there are many more coming. In a few years every phone will be app-capable, and campaigns without an app will get scoffed out of the room. <shudder> Yes, get ready for that to be added to the checklist, kids.
The Ad Age article at least has a smart collection of 5 reasons you might want an app:
- Engagement 101. If done right, an app is an opportunity to deeply involve the consumer and a way to extend dialogue after a campaign has ended.
- It can raise brand loyalty. The more times consumers interact with a brand, the greater the chances they will gravitate toward it when they’re ready to buy.
- You’ll be ready when the app market really explodes. Within five years, In-Stat expects handset makers to ship a total of more than 100 million units that are app-compatible, so now is the time to gain some experience.
- It’s where the eyeballs are. The numbers are compelling: some 800 million downloads from the iPhone App Store.
- IPhoners have great demographics. Their income specifically makes them a very desirable target, and they’re ravenous multimedia users. According to AdMob, iPhone generates half the smartphone traffic in the U.S.
As we covered in TechCheck last year, mobile applications are going to keep exploding, and first movers will generally have the advantage, especially if they really focus on creating smart value for the user, and make sure that the use of the app resonates with their Brand. Our opinion and recommendations to clients remain rooted in human behavior: what we do must be relevant for the person, feel like the Brand, and have a clear reason for being. (I’m not sure how the iFart app rates on these items, but it’s funny as hell. For about a week.)
30
03 2009
Creative Technology
While reading a recent interview with Lars Bastholm about creativity, he speaks about how creative technologists are getting more and more involved in the creative process, and earlier and earlier.
A lot of the technologists here are really considered part of the creative team.
Often, we’ll also go down to the guys in tech and say, “You know what? We have this really crazy idea — is this doable?” The great thing about our tech guys is that normally, they’ll be like, “Huh. I can’t think of how to do it right now, but I’ll find a way to make it happen.” We never get a “No, that’s not possible.” We always get “I might not know how right now, but I will certainly crack that.”
This experience mirrors our own over the last several years in our agency, where it is clear that we have to stay ahead of what is being done technically, in order to continue to innovate creatively.
