Modern Marketing - Blog by Collaborate PR & Marketing

Digital Packets

Parcelforce Worldwide is moving its entire above-the-line budget into digital marketing.

The shift, which has been taken as part of a "group decision", according to Brian Hardie, head of brand and promotions at Parcelforce Worldwide, means Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, which was handed the company's £5m ad account in February, will not be working on new ads for the brand until at least next April.

Expect many more stories like this. At Collaborate Marketing we expect the growth of digital marketing to be funded by budgets currently being spent above-the-line.

Thanks to Jim at Large Design for drawing our attention to this one.

Games To Go

Screen Digest, the research, company have published a report that states the values of the mobile gaming industry has reached $1bn.

The company believes that this figure will grow by more than six times to $6.4 billion between 2004 and the end of decade.

At Collaborate Marketing we have found there are many opportunties in this space for brand owners. A rich vein for the Modern Marketeer.

Dangerous Ignorance

The New York Times has an article about the popularity of blogging.

There are some comments from the old-school marketing institutions which suggests that ignorance is still bliss on Madison Avenue.

A representative from Interpublic Group poses the following question about blogging,

"Does this provide a platform to connect with their (clients) most relevant audiences and how will this address business objectives?'".

Modern Marketing suggests this question could be asked about media of any kind. We also think that if it were to be asked of broadcast media the answer would be negative on both counts.

A representative of CooperKatz & Company in New York, a public relations agency with clients including the Association of National Advertisers, says the biggest fear about blogging is an uncontrolled message slipping out. The use of the word 'uncontrolled' is telling and suggests a paranoid corporate outlook. Blogging is not going to mean that previously responsible employees are going to suddenly reveal all to the world, without thought to the consequences. Whistle-blowers have always existed and have nothing to do with the emergence of weblogs.

It's very simple, blogging is one element of Citizen's Media, and is a key component of consumer control. It's evolving quickly, offering inspiration to many people and creating exciting, energetic communications.

Now, when did you last hear that said of Madison Avenue ?

Little Business?

In the Industrial Age executives, entrepreneurs and professionals worked within large institutions and corporations which in exchange for access to their skills provided an environment offering structure, logistics and financial support.

In an excellent, bat-it-all-around coffee shop chat with Johnnie Moore yesterday we wondered if this structure could continue in a digital era and what a new landscape will look like.

After all, digital consumers have already started to undertake major projects outside of institutions and corporations, often within the open-source community and most famously, Linux. And Citizen's Media, an industry of individuals, looks like the start of a new granulated business world.

At Collaborate Marketing we know that even the best idea will not work without a suitable commercial structure to support, protect and drive it forward. So, we are greatly interested in the opportunities that digital technology is creating for new types of company or enterprise.

Like many aspects of the digital there are no clear rules. We can only try and spot trends and developments. Will the corporation be reduced to its separate parts, all working as independent entities that come together only when they are required ? Or will super-powered individuals become the driving force of the economy. Comments please. This one is too big for Johnnie and Collaborate alone. There's a start here.

Digital Business

At Collaborate Marketing we talk to many senior marketeers from different sectors about the strategies they are employing to innovate and benefit from a raidly-evolving digital world. However, a lot of these discussions revolve around their responses to short-term change

Over the next six months we will be interviewing senior marketeers from different industries and giving them the chance to sit back and talk about their longer-term perspectives. The results will be collated into a report entitled Digital Business:The Long Term View.

If you are interested in contributing tothe report please get in contact. We will email you a short summary and a questionnaire.

Multi-Channel Business

Digital technology has created a multi channel world that can be difficult to navigate. But the importance of getting it right is fundamental to content owners.

Today's announcement by HIT Entertainment, of Bob the Builder fame, that it has fired it's CEO for "failing to concentrate on channels" coincides with an announcement by Superscape Group, a mobile software company, of rapid growth on the back of the 3G games market.

While HIT relied on the strength of its content to bring channels flocking, Superscape has signed up content providers Sony Digital Pictures and Disney, who were drawn by its ability to run games across 11 network operators.

In fact HIT has signed a deal with Comcast to run a 24 hour pre-school cable channel in the US. However, it's the massive potential for growth on mobile that is driving Superscape, with mobile games expecting to retail around $5 in the US and £5 in the UK

At Collaborate Marketing we believe it's vital for modern marketeers to keep a close eye on the rapidly-changing digital landscape.

The Future of Marketing

Jim Stengel, is global head of marketing for P&G. That makes him the biggest marketeer in the world. And he is a Modern Marketeer. So when he talks we should pay attention. Here are a few quotes from a recent speech -- The Future of Marketing -- to the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA).

"I believe today's marketing model is broken. We're applying antiquated thinking and work systems to a new world of possibilities."

"We are once again at a turning point, based on many of the same factors as 10 years ago. The solution is always the same : we must collaborate."

"The hard truth is that we are in a $450 billion global industry and we are making decisions with less data and discipline than we apply to $100,000 decisions in other parts of our business."

"Holistic marketing is driving our business -- but we're going along somewhat reluctantly and blindly. We have not find a way to measure the effectivness of these new approaches. Our industry is in desperate need of new tools for measurement."

"We're limited only by our creativity - and by our ability to prove it's in everyone's interest to involve advertising in these new media....we may not get another opportunity like this in our lifetime."

At Collaborate Marketing we firmly believe this approach is right. And Stengel shows that it CAN be done in large corporations. In fact, he says that:

"Those who stay loyal to the past model will be left behind."

You can find the whole speech here: http://www.aaaa.org/transcripts/transcripts.html

Carnival of the Capitalists

Modern Marketing has been featured in the 2nd anniversary edition of US business newsletter Carnival of the Capitalists.

There are 25 entries from business writers around the world -- well worth a read.

Wrong Mr Hegarty

John Hegarty (the H off BBH) is a legendary adman but an article he wrote in last week's Media Guardian suggest he hasn't quite come to terms with digital media.

Collaborate Marketing's letter pointing out Mr Hegarty's misunderstanding appears in today's Guardian.

The power of persuasion
John Hegarty's article (The trouble with viral campaigns, October 11) was wrong on two counts. Firstly, the fact that Ford wouldn't take responsibility for the "cat-decapitation" does not show that digital media is unsuitable for brand building. It shows that Ford are scared of the web. Secondly, viral media are not, as Mr Hegarty suggests, without "context". Anyone who saw the Ford ad probably received it from a friend, a highly influential context. And that trusted introduction may well have later developed into the context of "a relaxed chat down the pub". Not the Sistine Chapel, but highly desirable for a car manufacturer.

The point is that digital technology has given consumers control over their own media. It allows people to avoid what they don't like, pass on what they do and generate and publish their own content to a mass audience. And whether it's called citizen's media or consumer-generated media, it's greatest strength is that people trust it. Like Mr Hegarty I also haven't heard anyone say: "I am eating virtual tonight". But if I heard it from a good friend, I might be interested in joining them.

James Cherkoff, Collaborate Marketing

Gates On TV

In an interview with Hollywood Reporter Bill Gates declares the death of the broadcast model.

"The idea of just having that one linear thing -- you don't change your channel, so the local news leads to the whole lineup getting this great popularity -- that's on its way out," Gates said. "But slowly."

Gates goes further saying that the current broadcast model swindles advertisers:

"Advertising that consumers either skip or don't see until it's too late is financially "the equivalent of piracy" for over-the-air broadcasting, he said.

His answer ?

"The ideal for many content people would be that they just put their content on the Internet and then they have a direct relationship with the viewer," Gates said. "That model for low-volume content is the future."

At Collaborate Marketing we believe we are living through fascinating times, as the broadcast model slowly collapses. The opportunties being created for modern marketeers are endless.