Modern Marketing - Blog by Collaborate PR & Marketing

Dyson On Commercial Community

Esther Dyson, aka Queen of the Web, gives a powerful view in The Wall St Journal, about how personal data privacy and control is going to influence marketing and advertising.  If people are operating in public spaces where they are withholding personal information and are merely another IP address washing around vast websites their value to advertisers will be limited.  However, those private encalves which we see as being directly relevant to our lives, and therefore safe places to broadcast information about ourselves, will become extremely attractive places for brands looking to find markets.  Taking heavy-flyer community Dopplr as an example she says: "So what's the business model? I'll "friend" British Airways, which will say, "We see you're going to Moscow next month. Why not fly through London and we'll give you 10,000 extra miles?" I'm no longer in a bucket of frequent travelers, my privacy protected. I'm an individual with specific travel plans, which I intentionally make visible to preferred vendors. British Airways, of course, will pay Dopplr a handsome sponsorship fee to be eligible to be my "friend" (just as a Nike rep might pay to sponsor a basketball game and be part of the community). Someday NetJets may show up, offering to ferry me and my friends to a conference we'll be attending together."  (Via twitter/bmcmichael).

Goodbye MDAS, Hello Engagement Mapping

At the Microsoft bashola I went to in Paris last year, the company laid out their mega-kit for the world of advertising to see.  And very impressive it was too.  However, I wondered at the time how many of the marketeers in the room *got it*, as the techno-talk levels were set to max throughout the event.  For instance, the system was referred to by the terrifying moniker of MDAS (Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions) and the presentations were about rewiring telephone exchanges and silos of digital cool-tools.  At the time, I wondered if Microsoft were guilty of the classic technology marketing mistake aka Features Not Uses.  Well, it looks like someone else shared this view. Today, Microsoft is rolling out something that was mentioned briefly at the event by Brian McAndrews - previously Mr aQuantive and now Head of Yahoo Microsoft's Advertising Grand Fromage.  Yes forget MDAS and welcome to Engagement Mapping.  These two words are very close to the hearts of Big Brands/Agencies and therefore much more likely to unlock some serious TV cash than any shiny tech talk.  Especially when used one after the other as a snappy Phrase™.  But what is it I hear you cry?  Good question.  In short, Microsoft have set some big brains to work and come up with a set of algorithms which assign different degrees of affect to different aspects of online marketing campaigns.  This is interesting for three reasons.  Firstly, it backs up Ballmer's vision of the world where all marketing is digital and all digital is marketing. Secondly,  it (theoretically at least) answers the most famous question in advertising:  "I know that half my advertising works, I just don’t know which half."  And finally (and most sweetly) it suggests that the only reason click-throughs from Search are so high is that branding campaigns have taken people to the point that they are searching at all.  So, it's those branding campaigns where the real action is.  That means Engagement Mapping not only gives Ballmer some metrics for his vision, it also speaks to advertisers most long-held fears AND is a stick to beat Google.  Yahoo!   Of course, it's all just a tiny step in the world of mega-media convergence and as Scott Karp points out Engagement Mapping is just a black box full of technological hocus-pocus.  But hey, so was the BARB/Neilsen Ratings system and that worked for fifty years!  (Meanwhile, Yahoo launches its own Black Box here and the JICMIS - I know - story continues here.)

Conversation Is Great, But Sometimes A Row Is Better

Emily Bell, the Guardian's head of digital everything, writes about managing an online storm-in-a-teacup and sums it up by saying that, "A little blog abuse is worth it for a lot of discourse."  It's a statement that reminds me of open-source guru Eric S Raymond's quote in this short video: "The startling thing is that trading away all the supposed advantages of conventional closed development for the single advantage of massive independent peer review actually seems to win and get you good results."  In my consulting work, it can be quite difficult for clients to understand why they should open up their communications systems.  While the potential benefits can appear interesting, the risks can seem alarming.  For instance, where's the upside in opening up a forum where people may pick a row?  In reality such fracas are unusual and can be seen as the turbulence that must be dealt with to benefit from open communications forums.  And the odd skirmish can even be positive - allowing strongly held opinions to be aired - frequently in interesting, educational ways.  But starting out by trying to avoid all such turbulence can leave you in danger of never leaving the ground at all.  The best approach is to prepare well, find an easy breeze and take a short trip.  And when the turbulence crops up, keep your eye on the horizon.

Did Steve Jobs Invent BitTorrent?

No, but he should have. BitTorrent and P2P networks are probably the most valuable marketing campaign Steve Jobs never did. Having tried (and failed) to kill P2P through the law, Content Kings have been beating down the iTunes door to hand over their precious wares to Mr Whiter, Lighter & Brighter.  And, for Apple, it's a campaign that keeps on giving.  TorrentFreak reports that over one billion TV shows are downloaded each year through BitTorrent networks such as Mininova.  "Some episodes of popular TV-shows such as “Lost”, “Prison Break” and “Heroes” get up to 10 million downloads per episode, spread over hundreds of sites. This number is getting awfully close to the average number of viewers on TV in the US. However, the major difference is that the BitTorrent “viewers” come from all over the world."  Apple TV anyone?  But in fact, outsourcing digital distribution to Apple maybe not be a wonderful long-term move for the Kings of Content.  Jobs appears to see their goods, not as precious, creative manna, but as great ways to shift his lovely new hi-margin kit.  So may I suggest a different strategy?  If we take the view that P2P is now part of the mainstream marketplace, why not engage with those who spend so much time and effort in making it happen.  Because (surprise, surprise) they aren't all hook-handed, black beards who need a good wash but regular people with regular requirements.  Why not start with the EZTV folk who sound very sensible: "The only possible impacts I can see (of P2P) are positive ones; free publicity, which may lead to higher ratings when people “discover” new shows and also larger numbers of DVD purchases - it is my understanding that many of the people that download TV shows from us are avid TV fans and will usually buy DVD boxsets of shows they like. Many of these are foreigners, that can’t view the shows normally. This is free money for the industry. I don’t understand why they would be upset with that."  It's all a vivid illustration of Doc's words: “In networked environments, the demand side supplies itself.”

Advertising Outside The Box

Advertising has a serious effect on some people.  But not in the way that you might think.  I mentioned the A-word to a very experienced and successful associate last week and he almost spat his coffee out.  He then went onto explain how irritating he found advertising to be and gave a couple of examples where his opinion of organisations had fallen because they had chosen to advertise to him, even though he'd already bought into their services.  He's a very well-balanced man but for five minutes he didn't hold back explaining the evils of pop-ups, banners and anything else that got in the way of his information flow.  "It can't just be me", he said.  When I said I didn't think advertising was going to disappear but only the good stuff would survive, I thought he was going to ask me to leave.  So I didn't go on.  But what is advertising?  For most people today it's commercial messages which they'd prefer to avoid - but often put up with.  However, for businesses it's simply a tool.  A tool to make people aware and maybe act.   So why stick to formats that make very desirable customers spit latte, others invest in blocking gadgets and the remainder reach for the kettle?  The answer is simple.  Ads go in boxes and at the moment the boxes are 30 seconds long, 48-sheet high or banner-shaped.  But over the next five years we are going to see a lot of different options to which the best creative teams can apply their magic.  Some of these new boxes will be quite familiar - like pre-rolls - but others will be very different shapes.  They might be data flows, customer-created networks, online services, conversational content, niche communities, co-created products, self-organising and organic - or completely invisible.  Hard to say right now but the good ones will have one thing in common.  No boxes.

Why Media Convergence Is Lost (In Reality)

I went to a Microsoft briefing this week where the company announced another small step in Ballmer & Co's epic assault on the world's $550bn advertising markets.  This particular part of the jigsaw is MS's partnerships with Sony BMG and MTV (Viacom).  At a simple level, it's a straightforward deal that allows the Content Kings to access the Software Supremo's vast MSN network - and share revenues accordingly.  However, that's only how it seems.  In reality, the world of media convergence is throwing off unlikely alliances, sub-plots, ghoulish back stories and long-hidden, vested interests faster than Lost - a story of unconnected individuals flung together and forced to create a new world order by divvying up the post-wreckage riches.  The executives speaking at the event put on a good show although there was a sense that if wasn't for the 'others' lurking in the digital undergrowth with their strange P2P secrets, they'd prefer to go their separate ways.  Of course, no part of this mysterious story is unaffected by the Reality-Distorting effect of Steve 'Jacob' Jobs - a leader who promises his followers a whiter, lighter, brighter future - and his pro-but-also-anti DRM agenda.  And matters are constantly muddled by the strange new regimes that appear as paranoia grows and fades.  But as the executives at the event said, mantra-like, when asked about the future prospects of their alliance, the priority is now their ability to stick together through 'the journey' to an unknown future.  It's one that some relish, some fear and others embrace.  However, the unspeakable truth always remains.  What if there is no answer or welcoming future?   What if a strange paradigm shift has occured which means the destination is now an illusion?  What if, from now on, the only reality is The Search.

MDAS + YHOO - Who Needs Search?

Search is massive but it isn't a replacement for ALL marketing activity.  Since my visit to the Microsoft mega-bash in Paris last year where the company laid out it's vast new media platform - MDAS - it has been clear that Microsoft are pursuing a different strategy to Google.  Yes, Google is an amazing platform driven by Search dollars (aka The Database of Intentions).  But that's all about text.  And the web is changing from a text-driven environment to an everything-driven environment, including video, which is a much, much bigger playground than just Search.  Famously, Google tried to suck up the video area by buying YouTube.  But that's had limited success to date - from an advertising perspective.  And subsequently the company has gone after TV, print, mobile and other audiences.  But text-driven search dominates its revenues.  However, MDAS is a mixed basket of marketing offerings that goes way beyond text.  And, crucially, it's one that can support branding activity.  One problem for MS is that MDAS is at an early stage, whilst Adsense is already up-and-running and purring away.  But that could change as MS is hardly about to run out of cash or engineers.  And if Ballmer and Co can get the heart of MDAS running (effectively aQuantive but specifically Atlas) and plug it into the vast Yahoo global audience they can start hoovering up mega-marketing budgets.  Then - who needs Search?

[Update: SVI throws further weight behind the MDAS aspect.]

How Do You TV?

TV used to be a thing.  A single thing that everyone did.  Now it is a leisure activity.  An activity to which everyone brings their own requirements.  In my post below, I described 11 different ways to TV.  And in the comments a few more arose.  Charles says he likes his TV, "in the background as a 'radio'" when surfing the Interwebs.  Which resonates with Angus.  Ed says, "MS Media Center (thought it was dead?) rips all our viewing as it records into formats for other computers and on my aging Nokia mobile. All formats of a show are deleted when we zap the master recording. Almost everything is time-shifted (even big games), and we skip (almost) all ads, except for the Superbowl where we skip everything else. Recently watching presidential debates it has been fun to keep an eye on the back-channel (e.g. on Twitter), and that wider social aspect would be about our only reason not to time-shift."  Neil says, "In my house TV has become steadily less significant over time. We probably watch about an hour a day average but often that's time shifted or it might well be a film on Sky which doesn't have ad breaks. I think it's a little ridiculous to suggest that people have any kind of decent take out from an ad seen at 30 times the speed. When we do watch, we're often on the internet at the same time or reading or talking."  Which rings true to me.  But David Brennan from ThinkBox kindly drops into offer a cautionary word of warning following a mega-research study:  "I am convinced that the entertainment value of TV advertising can create engagement unlike anything else - not many media can boast people laughing, singing along, dancing & clapping, talking about the products being advertised, playing 'guess the ad' games, mimicking the voice overs word perfectly....and the list goes on!"  Which is not a picture I recognise but does also makes TV sound more like an activity.  So come on folks - how do you TV?

What's Your Story? (Is Marketing Glory)

Marketeers love the idea of themselves as storytellers and some of them aren't bad at it.  However, what stokes the fires of networked media is individuals' own tales, not MegaCorp Folklore™.  After all, why is blogging and social media so popular?  Because people care about the stories from their own lives, those of their friends, family, neighbours, colleagues (occasionally), and people they recognise as being like them.  And how products, services and ideas fit into these stories is the road to glory for marketeers.  But this very simple idea can quickly become a complex, baffling powerpoint deck when unleashed within the walls of an institution or brand cathedral.  Why?  Because it's very difficult for brands to drop a legacy of Me, Me, Me, even a little, and embrace a future of You, You, You.  Much of this is driven by a fear of the unknown.  Rather than remembering the words of that fine storyteller David Ogilvy - "The consumer is your wife" - some brands harbour a lack of faith in the talents of their own customers, or worse still,  see them as bull's eyes to shoot for.  So for a super-brand to sit down and relate to the lives of individuals makes no sense - even if they are the ones buying the products.  That's what the Press Three function at the call centre is for, right?   And hey, what craziness might these so-called stories involve?  And where are the metrics?  But, of course, it's the unpredictable nature of our lives which makes them so fascinating especially when compared to the sterile, air-brushed world of AdLand.  In terms of engagement, Tales Of The Unexpected beats Stories From The MegaCorp™ every single time.  Now reversing the industrial oil tanker and redirecting the crew to focus on individuals' stories about products and services takes some doing.  However, What's Your Story is always a better starting point than Listen To Mine.