Modern Marketing - Blog by Collaborate PR & Marketing

Advertising’s Omerta Begins To Crack

A Grand Fromage from a big agency network broke the advertising omerta with me over coffee the other day.  ‘Of course, we’ve never really been able to link campaigns to sales or ROI’, he whispered.  Let me tell you, I nearly choked on my almond croissant.  It’s the unwritten law among GF advertising executives that no one mentions how random the effect of brand advertising is.  When under scrutiny from client procurement executives the Big Ad industry has ensured success by rounding the wagons and sticking to the BARB-Nielsen script, or pointing to the latest Thinkbox research.  However, just as I was getting over this blatant breach of the rules another industry GF broke the code!  Writing on his blog Steve Henry blurted out that: 'I'm getting sick of saying this, but 90% of advertising goes out there and does nothing at all. (I heard a figure the other day for what the average ROI is for marketing in this country. I can't tell you the figure because I've been sworn to secrecy for now - but it's diabolically low)'.  What’s going on?  Maybe it’s just a case of a few loose tongues.  They’ll probably disappear next week as the Farm St lawyers hand out the super-injunctions.  However, maybe, just maybe, it’s because a few brave souls have noticed that technology is slowly making the mass marketing argument impossible to maintain.  For forever and a day, any ad executive worth their salt could deliver - with feeling - some variation on: ‘Maximum reach-and-frequency is the only way to build brand awareness thus creating equity that drives sales.’  Which paved the way for vast media spends that in turn justified chunky production budgets and maybe even an exotic location or two.  However, as all media, including TV, is slowly sucked onto one IP platform or another, thereby becoming highly measurable, the black box that the marketing industry used to keep its metrics in has been exposed to the digital sunlight.  The battering ram of reach-and-frequency is being replaced by granular laser targeting.  First there was Google and its ‘database of intentions’ where only people who were searching for something were targeted with related commercial messages.  Then came the rise of applications where people could choose content to run on their social networks, iPhones, iTouches and now Droids.  More recently, we’ve had Facebook and its ‘people not pages’ approach, where advertisers can target individuals who have expressed a particular interest through their profile.  Even the impregnable metrics maze that has driven TV’s vast global revenues has begun to open up.  Social networks make it all too easy to see what people are actually watching – and what they are not.  And finally, the promise of behavioural advertising looms large, where commercial messages are targeted according to the digital data trails that people leave behind them – not thrown over the nation like a blanket.  Now these developments do of course bring their own Big Brother issues.  But that can all all wait.  The Grand Fromage of advertising are finally taking notes.  And a few are talking outside of the old school too...

Sea Monsters

While on holiday this summer I went swimming in the sea a few times.  Initially, when I got a short way out I turned back, despite being a decent swimmer.  Not because I was worried about the tides, but because I was concerned about what was beneath me.  I didn't know how deep the water was, but more importantly, I didn't know what was down there.  Irrational I know when swimming off the Atlantic coast of France but my imagination got the better of me.  However, it was also exciting and there was a pull to go out further and further.  It struck me that this sense might be similar to the fear factor that some marketing folk feel about the web and specifically networked media, such as blogs and social networks.  What's out there?  Is the risk worth the reward?  Why not just stay in my comfort zone?  Will I look like a fool compared to the surfers and hardy sea swimmers zooming out to the horizon?  On my holiday, of course, I was easily able to paddle back to shore and as long as that was the case I really had nothing to worry about.  So after a while I found my own space and started to enjoy looking around at the strange creatures nibbling my toes.  And it was a very refreshing change to be away from the hot crowded beach.

On Hols

I'm off with my family for our summer hols around the West coast of France.  We'll be relaxing on the beautiful Île de Ré before trundling around the Loire Valley.  I am looking forward to traditional French gastronomic delights, some family fun, as well as a little digital down time.  I'll be back in back in action on the 1st of September.  Au revoir mes amis modernes!

TV's Present World Reality

TorrentFreak has an interesting little interview with Jesse Alexander who has worked on Lost and Heroes, two of the most popular downloads of all time.  “People watching shows such as Lost and Heroes on BitTorrent is the present world reality.  TV networks have to recognize this, give their viewers more ways to interact with the shows, and find ways to generate revenue from every member of the global audience.  It’s the same for music artists. The reality is, people share music. Artists now make money by driving people to concerts, through community websites, and by offering exclusive events. TV networks are focusing too much on one exclusive product, instead of building a community. This is a mistake I think.”

Do You Boil Down Or Boil Up?

Boiling ideas down in advertising planning is a very popular pastime - aka reductive thinking.  However, in networked media, the opposite is true.  The aim is for an idea to boil up - and preferably - over.  Both approaches have their attractions and are largely determined by their natural media.  TV and billboards are about the big punch.   The web is about seeding and weeding.  These different outlooks make a huge difference when it comes to preparation.  If you've only got one shot at getting your message across, then taking a lot of time to finnesse your plan is a must.  You want a bold flavour and it may take time to blend the ingredients, with plenty of mistakes made behind the scenes.  However, networked media is about many intimate fragments that on their own can be meaningless, but in time will build into something complex and alluring.  To succeed you must get chopping, chuck the ingredients around a bit, throw in a few random spices and maybe let other people make some suggestions along the way.  Indeed, the preparation may never end because the rich process is often the desired outcome - not the tasty dish itself.  Bringing these two styles into the same kitchen (or studio) is tricky.  While one chef is focusing on adding the final slither of vanilla truffle to their perfect white dish, the other will be energetically throwing spaghetti at the wall and asking passers-by for opinions on the sauce.  But now paymaster Big Brands want the sociability of Tapas mixed with the fine experiences of Haute Cusine.  So inevitably change is coming.  Although not without some pain.  Such a major redesign of the planning processes to mix styles is going to leave many eggs - and egos - on the floor.

This Message Is Real

Historically, marketing has been about crafting key messages and handing them over to creative teams to wrap up in powerful narratives.  This approach has worked well and in many cases still does.  However, increasingly, the style of the modern web is challenging this process.  People find the social web attractive because it's a very personal sphere where they can share the reality of their lives - without a key message in sight.  And that spontaneous vitality is tough for even the best creative departments to fake.  In other words, it’s difficult to craft 'real’.  But that hasn’t stopped some brands trying.  Take the latest social content from Coors Beers which has created a team of lads who hit venues and parties to demonstrate their beer-pouring skills.  “We brought the Coors Lights,” they announce before going onto perform tricks, including standing on the roof of a house and pouring beer into a glass 30 feet below.  Without spilling a single drop!  But despite their efforts to disguise the keyness of their key messages, they resonate with all the  authenticity of William Hague’s baseball cap.  “It’s not me, it’s the vented wide-mouthed can,” declares the leader of the Smooth Pour Crew.  However, the difficulties of brands trying to enter personal communication environments, such as YouTube, are really brought into sharp relief by the responses to the Coors film.  Because, of course, when people are left alone with beer they don’t run to the nearest bar or BBQ and demonstrate the product's key differentiators in an eccentric, quirky manner.  Nope, the reality is much more random.  For example they may try and disprove what you have told them - in an eccentric, quirky manner.  Or have a detailed technical discussion about how it could have been done better.  They may create imaginative ripostes.  Or ignore your key messages about the new style pouring top, and instead rip the bottom off and shotgun the contents.  And then run to the toilets to throw up.  They may provide product reviews using some very real language.  Or, natch, take your new can into the desert and destroy it with a semi-automatic weapon.  So what to do?  Well there are many exciting creative techniques that will work. However, above all, when it comes the modern web, be aware that while you may supply the beginning of the campaign, the rest of the world will provide the conclusion.

No One Is In Control - But That's OK

David Weinberger has a great habit of throwing light on thorny issues that arise on the modern web and does so again in this Supernova interview with observations such as: "Explicit governance is a second resort online."  It may  sound like a grand statement but it's quite the opposite.  He's simply saying that if it's not fairly clear what's going on in an online group or community after a few minutes - a rulebook probably won't help.  I think we all know the feeling.  You wonder into any social situation and instead of being given time to check out the surroundings and the people there, to see what they are saying and wearing, you are given some directions about how to enjoy yourself.  Certainly a good host to show you the ropes and explain what's happening can be very welcome, but being asked to spell your name, postcode and exact purpose upon arrival feels like Organised Fun.  In fact, encouraging people's willingness to participate in some way, even if that's just an invite to hang around, is better than handing out leaflets about preferred objectives.  "That's why lurking is so important," says Weinberger.  However, no one is saying you can't do anything to help an online network or community develop and grow.  It just requires putting your efforts into the right places.  If your community is flat and you want to encourage participation, more direction probably isn't the answer.  But a greater focus on visitors' behaviour, clear invites and permission to join in may do the trick.  And this all goes for design and coding too.  Focusing on an intuitive space is better than creating a chrome and glass box with extreme signage.  In short, Weinberger suggests, if your online social network is refusing to go social don't reach for the rulebook.  Take a deep breath, drop the clipboard and let The Ooomph Factor grow...

By The People, For The People

Thanks to Anon for this insightful comment, left on the post below, about the morphing world of users and audience: "The metaphor I keep coming back to on this is Folk Music.  If you look at an open mic session, the "audience" turns up and sometimes, some people join in. People start by foot tapping, after a few ales they might pick up the courage to play an instrument, sing along at a table or even grab the mic. The boundary between audience and artist is practically non-existent. They are also playing, improvising and "remixing" copyright free music. Most importantly, you don't have to do anything, just by being there you feel as if you are participating. Internet participation and the movement from audience to user is creating a new "folk" or "people's" culture."

Community Pays

Sam Lawrence has a great piece about the supersonic Nike+ community, including an interview with Nike-dude Roberto Tagliabue.  Community is often seen as a sort of love-in with no commercial value.  But here's Nike's experience: "As of February, 2008, Nike+ members have run over 50,000,000 miles, logged over 14,000,000 runs and issued over 450,000 challenges. We created the world’s largest running club at nikeplus.com. 40% of community members who didn’t own Nike+ ended up buying. That is pretty tangible."

Do You Bond Or Bridge?

Networked media (eg the blogopshere) at its best is an incredibly varied mixture of expert, passionate voices from around the world throwing their respective types of mud at the wall to see how they mix.  At its worst it's Techmeme.  People who all work in a narrow field trying to incrementally raise the debating bar on a small range of niche opinions.  That's not to say that single issue communities are bad.  Far from it.  However, with the addition of too much caffeine and not enough fresh air they can quickly fester.  One of my favourite ideas from Clay Shirky's new book is there are two types of 'capital' in social networks - that which bonds and that which bridges.  It's a pretty straightforward notion and all the better for it.  The most successful networks have people who are very good at making that network tick and others who remember to open the window from time to time.  Last year I tried a little experiment with a member of the plannersphere (fyi: a distributed blogging community of people who work in the planning departments of advertising agencies).  The aim was to try a little bridging between the advertising and networked media worlds by writing posts for each other's blogs.  Interestingly, it didn't quite come off.  Mainly, I think because we were both too busy.  However, it made me realise that while it's fairly easy to bond in an area that you are naturally interested in - it can be quite difficult to bridge between two disparate groups.  Quoting from Ronald Burt's 'The Social Origin of Good Ideas', Shirky suggests that: "People connected to groups beyond their own can expect to find themselves delivering valuable ideas, seeming to be gifted with creativity.  This is not creativity born of deep intellectual ability.  It is creativity as an import-export business.  An idea mundane in one group can be a valuable insight in another."  I think there are ways to develop bridging skills.  For instance, I try to not read too many RSS feeds from people I know and to refresh them regualrly.  But it's very easy to stagnate and sink back into the Techmeme pool....