Digital Strategy - Servant of Chaos

It’s Not Time to Cut Through But to Cut Out

Blogging, Branding, Co-creation, Community, Creativity, Digital Strategy, Facts & Figures, Measurement, Smart Bloggers, Social Media

As I have grown older, I have been amazed to realise that the more I know, the greater is my capacity to learn. Not only can I quickly absorb new information and transform it into knowledge, I can also direct this towards business and branding opportunities. Even where I come in contact with some completely foreign information, my brain scrambles to find a connection that allows me to contextualise it.

But what about you? Do you find that your capacity has increased over time?

Angela Maiers provides a great explanation in this 30 minute class. She leads us through the different types of connections that we can make so that our memories can be stimulated:

Easy – the simple connection can be made because of our exposure to a topic. There is no work involved here. A common topic will add a new layer over the knowledge schema that we already possess – and the information will be readily accessible to you in an instant.

Dig – while a piece of information may not have an instantly recognisable hook on which you can make a connection, a small amount of digging into your own knowledge will help you. This will require some effort, but will also help turn a piece of new information into actionable knowledge.

Impossible – when we are introduced to an alien concept, we are faced with an impossible situation. There are no EASY ways to make sense of the information. Digging provides no context and no prism for understanding. When faced with the impossible piece of information, our natural instinct is to begin to memorise, to rote learn – but this is a mistake, for without providing some personal context to this information you will not be able to retain and apply this knowledge. It will gradually fade from memory.

In the last 10 minutes of this video, Angela shares an approach that allows us to begin creating NEW memories. She explains the technique for creating the first thread of retained knowledge upon which you can build additional context.

Chunking: After reading/absorbing a piece of information, the main ideas are categorised by the ideas that they invoke. This is not about collecting facts. It is about finding one or two words that connect and explain the overall concepts.
Joining the dots: Once you have the “big ideas” you then need to make connections between them. You need to write them down. You need to establish a narrative between them.

Now, think about this from a branding and marketing perspective. Have you ever wondered why some things stick and some don’t? In general, the information that comes to us through advertising is “impossible”. We are hit by facts and assaulted by images. These all seek to CONVINCE us.

However, if we are each subjected to 5000 marketing messages per day, the blink of an eye that acknowledges each new message will instantly erase the previous one. This means that those marketing messages that are mediated, that come with BUILT-IN context, are more likely to anchor in our memory (hence the use of popular music/spokespersons) – and this plays particularly strongly for digital/social media.

And in a time of increasing financial uncertainty, brands will be looking not to CUT THROUGH but to CUT OUT. It won’t be a matter of your brand standing out in a crowd, but of eeking out some space in which it can create meaningful context in which your consumers can participate. Those brands who have begun experimenting with social media will have an advantage in these tougher times; and those who have not will need to accelerate their engagement by hiring agencies and consultants who have a deep understanding of hands-on brand activation in the digital/social media space.

Interesting times? Sure … but really, as Angela Maiers says, it’s about making connections.

A Wii Kidsperience

Branding, Digital Strategy, Future of Your Brand, Storytelling, Videos

When we talk about thinking "outside the box", or when we think of the "experience", this often means that we are trying to make a break with current types and modes of thinking. On the creative front, this means playing with expectation, changing the framing of a story, transforming a consumer’s sense of control or mastery. I often think about this in terms of the P-L-A-Y framework:

P — for Power

Demanding of attention
Testing limits (boundaries around behaviour, responsibility etc)
Controlling the controllable
Belonging

L — for learning and curiosity

Skills development
Negotiation

A — for adventure

Exploring an ever changing world
Actively making the world a better place

Y — the yelp of surprise and delight

Recognition and reward
Self expression

As brands continue to investigate the changing consumer and business landscape prompted by the ever-increasing adoption of social (and mobile) media, strategists need to also consider the idea of “kidsperience”.

Nintendo appear to be following a similar path in their efforts to differentiate their product in the highly competitive gaming console market. As Scott Weisbrod points out, Nintendo are in search of a Blue Ocean. His competitive strategy canvas shows exactly how the positioning is being planned. But the question remains – how does this play out in their branding and advertising works? Take a look here. NO … wait, really, click through – and then come back and share your thoughts. I am fascinated to know.

The Blue Ocean Strategy – Ipod, Wii, and this Blog

Reversing the Launch

Creativity, Digital Strategy, Storytelling, Strategy

We all shuffle into the meeting and take our chairs. We greet one another, sip our coffee and lift our pens in silent readiness — after all, one never knows when an action point will be thrust across the room.

Before long, even the most strategic of strategy sessions will be punctuated by tactics (and let me admit I am as guilty of this as anyone). In a bizarre twist on meeting bingo, marketing bingo is littered with words such as "viral", "youtube", "facebook" — and increasingly, "social media". Much of this is driven by short-term, campaign oriented thinking and a focus on short-term objectives. However, when it comes to advising our clients (whether they be internal or external), it is important to remember that campaigns (and microsites) are no longer stand-alone. Google has seen to that.

Where once we built our discrete campaigns around various plans to raise awareness, generate demand, build brand, stimulate sales, accelerate trial etc, brand custodians now need to consider a longer term narrative line that incorporates the way that consumers engage with the brand over time. We no longer have disconnected brand campaigns but discontinuous brand interactions. The crucial link between each of these campaigns is a combination of social media powered by Google. That is:

The articles or references that bloggers make about your campaign (whether it is digital or not)
The perspectives published by the media (advertising media as well as other publishers
User generated content that riffs off your campaign

All of this can be found by Google. More importantly, it can be found by Google well into the future — long after your campaign has ended. For example, when I search on some of my old projects, I can find all the pointers, the conversations and the discussions AROUND them, but the project has passed. The microsite has gone. All we are left with are traces leading nowhere. This is brand equity being squandered.

In the future, we need to think about brand lifecycles. We need to think about brand "through lines" — and design experiences with entry and exit strategies. We need to start putting as much thinking into "reversing the launch" as we put into the start of a campaign.

When we reverse the launch, we can draw upon the P-L-A-Y framework, delivering an experience that enhances and continues the conversations that evolve around your campaign. In fact, part of your strategy could be to build upon some of these user generated conversations as a catalyst for ongoing dialogue. After all, creating the talking point is one of the early challenges, maintaining or stoking that conversation requires much less effort and attention.

What’s Your Strategy?

Creativity, Digital Strategy, Social Media, Strategy

One of the most effective methods of getting an answer is to ask a question. Makes sense … but what happens when you receive an answer? Do you hear what you are hoping for? Do you hear something else? Or more importantly, is your question ANSWERED? And when it comes to strategy, not only do you need to ask the right questions, you need to listen for the real answers.

What do I mean?

No matter whether you work for a large or a small company, or whether you work on the agency side, any strategy work that you do will require input from various stakeholders. That means creativity, innovation, collaboration … and of course, compromise. But, perhaps more than anything else, you will get STRATEGIC FOG.

The strategic fog creeps up slowly, spreading uncertainty and confusion. It looks harmless, but consumes all insight, process and creativity in its path. Unfortunately, we can all fall prey to this fog. It seduces us with its questions. It suggests that responsibility can be passed. The role of the strategist, however, is to hold your line of questioning and to pursue a path of inquiry.

A strategic fog normally takes two shapes:

Tactics masquerading as strategy
Unfounded solutions answering non-strategic problems

You know when you are dealing with strategic fog when you ask a simple question — "what’s your strategy?". This one, single question is like a grenade. You throw it and wait. In the wake of its detonation you will get one of two things — the clarity of a bell or the steady onslaught of fog.

Things to remember. A strategy …

Is not a solution — you leave that to execution
Can be supported by multiple tactics
Should not be set in stone, but respond to your changing business conditions
Will serve as a basis for action and decision-making
Sounds simple, raw even, but resonates with the energy of your brand
Is nothing without insight

Have you ever experienced the strategic fog? Did you find your way out?

The Effectiveness of Digital Branding

Authenticity, Digital Strategy, Facts & Figures, Future of Your Brand, Smart Bloggers

Chris Schaumann has put together this excellent presentation on digital branding, with a particular focus on the Asia region. There are some great statistics peppered throughout, including the fact that there is only an average 5% spend on Internet advertising in Asia Pacific (Australia maxing out at 12.2%). But when you consider that 65% of all marketing spend in 2007 had NO effect on consumers and that 86% of consumers don’t believe what brands say about THEMSELVES, then it starts to make sense.

Clearly, brands can no longer EFFECTIVELY represent themselves. And with 78% of consumers believing what "other consumers" say about brands, the rise of consumer generated content/comment/analysis will have an impact on the Future of Your Brand. I particularly like the way that Chris breaks down the "new marketing model" into:

Transactional marketing
Relationship marketing
Experiential marketing

But I would add a fourth element — conversational marketing. This is the marketing that is done ON YOUR BEHALF by consumers to other consumers. And while it is much less controllable, it is certainly "authentic". Will it bring the love back? Only time will tell.

Tip of the hat to Geert Desager.

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Mr Chaos Has Entered the Building

Digital Strategy, Storytelling

I can remember sitting through a pitch on the oddcast technology. These spookily real looking avatars were interesting, maybe even funky, but I could not quite see how we were going to be able to use them for client promotions. And to be honest, the licensing rates were, at that time, beyond what we had in our budget.

Report

But it seems the folks at the BBC have come up with a very neat promotion that integrates the core storyline from their spy drama, Spooks — only this time, YOU are the star. When you upload a photo of yourself, the oddcast engine transforms your image into an animated avatar who is protagonist of this digital adventure episode. You even get to make a couple of narrative choices in this choose-your-own video animation promotion.

The question remains, however … did I achieve my objectives? Did I make it out alive? Hat tip to Stephen Collins.

Ad Guru Taps Into Young Minds

Digital Strategy, Smart Bloggers, Social Media

Despite the ongoing questioning about the relevance of "traditional media" in a fragmented Age of Conversation, there is no doubt that a blogger being featured in the mainstream media is still a novelty. For while reports and analysis continue to point towards social media reaching a tipping point, there is clearly a way to go before most of us reach the level of respect and authority that is wielded by the intern writing in the local community newsletter.

However, as the passionate and articulate Gen Y begin storming the cubicles and marching every onwards towards the corner offices, it is clear that brands and the businesses behind them are in for a rough decade of transition. No longer can they rely on a form of skull and cross-bones brand promise — interaction and engagement must go well beyond a simple raising of the flag.

Paul McEnany, the brain behind Hee-Haw Marketing, was interviewed in his local Dallas Morning News. When asked what is the biggest mistake companies make in dealing with Gen Y, he responds:

The biggest mistake is to assume that they give a crap about you. This is true across all demographics, but maybe more pronounced or obvious in the younger segment. This group has grown up with total control of their media environment, advertising included, and too many [companies] think they can just stroll in with screeching guitars while adding "for your generation" to the end of a tagline and expect that to connect.

This is echoed in Paul Den’s commentary on the banking industry:

Where all banking and finance [brands] … FAIL is that they lack the ability to resonate with my generation … I’m with NAB – not because I’ve been saturated with advertising, but because my mates recommended their Student Saver program when I was at uni. More often then not, especially with financed related products, we seek influence from our friends, family, work colleagues etc.

With a fragmentation of both media and influence, those brands wanting to reach, engage, hire and retain those born after 1980 are going to have to deal with the complexities and demands of Gen Y. And, to be honest, with an almost 1:1 ratio of Gen Y entering the workforce as the Baby Boomers retire, there is no choice if you want to thrive and survive. The challenge for brands is now to seek out those advisors, consultants and agencies that can help navigate this complex landscape.

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