A deep dive into digital marketing

No Passive Media

Posted by Chris under Advertising, Community, Mobile, Research, trends

Despite the title I don’t mean media in the strict sense but rather in the context that the consumer is/or can be interacting further with the brands we market. Or just maybe, I mean something even bigger.

For the past year we’ve been utilizing a customized version and experience of the Consumer Decision Journey (link the McKinsey’s white paper). Becoming a core to our context planning, that we’ve expanded further by segmenting the barriers that block someone from moving around the path (to purchase), and then adding the possible media touch points that could intersect at that moment.

Consumer Decision Journey

Maybe not rocket science, but it’s been art and science, and highly successful for a number of clients and their business. Overlay it with our Institute of Decision Making: which brings (as described in Michael Fassnacht’s blog) “Behavioral Economics and Neuro-Science, or more scientific ways of understanding the impact and purpose of brands for the unconscious part of consumer’s minds and we’re ready for the next leap.”

No Passive Media, The ability to create systems that connect, that allow and plan for a next step with each touch point as a part of marketing.

Why now? Three things – Technology, Behavior and Content

Technology

Well on one side we have technology. Technology in which I can interact or take a next step (easily) with just about every media touch point out there.

We can think about this as one aspect of our 6.5 Seconds that Matter^SM, the brief window of opportunity we have to make our message count.

However let’s expand it, not only to reflect multiple touch points but also to create flow and a depth of story that no singe medium can sustain. In other words, a series of 6.5 moments or 6.5ⁿ

Technologies like:

Connected TV* – widgets and apps on your tv

Bar, QR codes and even symbols and logos - and the apps that support them –See them in print ads today

App’s like Sound Hound and Shazam – what’s that song on Glee

Search – Where a lot of our next step takes place

SMS – Get a coupon from OOH

Social media – it’s already there

Mobile – perhaps the nexus point of next step

The list of technologies go on, but I think you get my drift that technology is allowing us to take a next step; to engage if we want to.

Now I’m not going to argue if this is good or bad, time and how well we do it will tell.

Behavior

We’re seeing this connectedness/next steps with media with consumer behavior now, albeit perhaps with cobbled together technology. Is it everyone all the time? No and not yet, but that’s ok, it’s about scale across dedicated audiences.

Absolutely there are times you want to lean back (see * below) and we’ll take that into account. In fact it all has to start with consumer behavior and then using technology to support this

Content

This can be the copy, the status post, the visual story; all that and more. It’s the information that we create and curate, which ultimately is the expression of the brand. And to bring the idea of No Passive Media to life we have to think like content creators, but that’s for another post.

How we think about it:

Here’s the foundation, the output of which is Commercial Transmedia Ideas; Ideas or media that connect and creates a system and allows for a range of passive and active interactions with the brand.

Modern Advertising System

Next generation Experience Planning

This goes beyond integration. McKinsey gets at this a little in their new white paper:  Beyond paid media: Marketing’s new vocabulary. But we’ll need to go farther beyond just integrating, we actually will need to do interaction decision planning: a what happens or can happen next planning that creates advertising and marketing that connects the dots and doesn’t just leave room but creates space for a next interaction.

Of course not everyone will want to always do this for ever interaction, sometimes I just want to switch off and have a lean back experience with my TV/magazine/book/website, etc. and that’s ok, it’s part of our planning!

Recap

Evolving technologies, core and changing behaviors and multi channel content give rise to commercial transmedia ideas. This in turn will let us recognize and bring to life work that has No Passive Media.

It’s the evolution of what we once called campaigns, then evolved into what some called platforms and what we now call systems. More on that later!

———

*yes I know this one is the “farthest out” but I kind of consider a laptop / mobile phone interaction while you are watching TV the caveman version of this. Since there are TV’s and systems (Google TV for all it’s pluses and minuses) available now I’m counting it. And if the forecasts are right, mainstream over the next 12-18 months.

Digital Ethnography – a reminder

Posted by Chris under CNMS08, Community, Research, Social Networking, trends

I’m pretty sure you’ve seen these video already, which are from, Dr. Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Digital Ethnography at Kansas State University.

The below video was played at CNMS08 as part of a presentation from Constance M. Yowell, of the
John D. & Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which reminded me, maybe some people haven’t seen it.

The video  summarizes in a great video form what students face, do, act, etc.

You can follow his blog here and YouTube channel here. He’s got a lot of great content on both but check out his YouTube channel for some of the student videos as well, good insight on today’s Millenials

There is no I in team but there is a me

Posted by Chris under Advertising, Community, I wish I'd thought of that, Research

His Master’s Voice

Posted by Chris under CNMS08, Google, Mobile, Technology, trends

Remember the days of calling 411 and hearing, “hello Operator” and before calling 411 cost from $1.25 and upwards? What about what I used to do in the early 90’s, calling the Chicago Public Library’s reference desk to answer questions that are now a click away on Google? Sure, I could have gone over there and done the research, but the librarians on the other end of the line were too happy to do it for me.

Well, there are a couple of newish tools and websites that  allow you to have much of the same functionality all at your voice or if needed, fingertips, all of which are free. Why are these important to look at? Well, just as I described a few weeks back how the iPhone is more computer then phone, services like these make any phone more computer-like.

There are three services that I’ve been using for a while, all of which allow you to use your voice for tasks. First is 1-800-GOOG-411, Google’s answer to 411. A simple call and I get not only the number I’m looking for, but I also get connected or can get a text message with the number and address. GOOG-411 has been a around for a bit, so chances are you have used it already; if not, however, give it a go.

I find that while I’m driving is when ideas, to-do’s or follow-up’s come to mind, but I can’t very well stop or keep driving safely and write them down. So that’s where Jott comes in. Just out of beta, Jott is still free for the ad-supported version and low cost for the pro version. What is Jott? Well, think voice-to-text but with actions associated with it.

After an initial set-up through the Jott website, and a confirmation text with your phone, you’re ready to go. A simple call to (866) JOTT-123 / (866) 568-8123 and you can record to-do lists, send emails or texts, add an appointment in outlook, post to twitter or your blog, and even get Amazon prices/results back. This list keeps growing each day.

And while Jott works with any phone, there are applications for the iPhone and Blackberry. With Jott’s iphone application, a tap to the screen and you can record a message and use a second tap to stop. These Jotts are transcribed to text notes and become available on-line or on the phone itself as part of the notes.

Next up is ChaCha, which for the back-to-school crowd is like a cheat sheet on your phone. By either texting CHACHA (242242), calling 1.800.2CHA.CHA or twitter @chacha any question you have, you’ll get an answer back from one of their guides. Yes, a human at the other end. Now some questions like weather or stock are automated when you text message, but I find that I use ChaCha when I’m in a hands-free situation for anything I might have looked up on Google.

And ChaCha is also the ultimate bar/party bet decider, as we found out one night at a ping pong night over at CrowdSPRING. Questions like “how long is the conveyor belt at at Wal-Mart distribution center” or “what’s the largest public building” were handled with ease by the ChaCha guides. -note I mention CrowdSPRING because as a reader of this blog and TalentZoo, they are worth checking out, and most recently presented at DEMO and CNMS08, but I’ll cover them in a future post.

From my usage, these three apps are harbingers of another form of change in how we access and use data. For example, with GOOG-411, why would I pay for a call to 411 or if GOOG-411 isn’t finding my info, why not try ChaCha? And if I can’t or shouldn’t (walking, driving) use my phone’s keyboard, why not let my voice do the work with Jott or ChaCha?

I think these three tools are just the start; there are others as well but it’s the tip of the iceberg in how we now and will access data and information. Call it part convergence or part device specialty–either way, jump in and try them out, because there will be more to come.

Are you in the Tribe

Posted by Chris under Advertising, I wish I'd thought of that, Social Networking, Technology, trends

Call it smart marketing or eating your own dog food but Seth Godin is pushing his new book building community in a pretty interesting new way. First you have to buy pre-order his book then you may be admitted into his”tribe for marketers” after you jump through a few small hoops.

An invitation only, spots are limited, membership has it’s privileges kind of site which I of course could not resist signing up for.

Are you in the tribe?

As a note I got my auto response back, I like that they are using Ning for the community, that’s really eating your own dog food!

note per Seth’s request I took the email down, I’d posted the email response I’d gotten from them. (you’ll see his reply below) Happy to do so!

Free Book: The 6 Laws Of Customer Experience

Posted by Chris under Research, Social Networking, trends

Bruce Temkin’s is a fantastic Forrester Research analyst (he’s actually a Vice President and Principal Analyst) who focuses on customer experience. A few weeks ago he started posting his 6 laws of customer experience and wrote posts for each of his six laws. Today he put them together in a pdf – mini book: “The 6 Laws Of Customer Experience: The Fundamental Truths That Define How Organizations Treat Customers.” And as he says “since it’s not really a novel (only 11 pages), I’m giving it away for free.”

I recommend a read.

Worth it’s Weight in well… awesome

Posted by Chris under Fashion, Mobile, Social Networking, Technology, trends

A big shout out for Oliver Tse, planner/cultural anthropologist/cool hunter at Element 79. His Blog Worth it’s Weight in Awesome or know around the office as WiWiA, is a great collection of as he says “Awesome things happening now”

I’d recommend putting it in your bookmarks.

Look out hitwise

Posted by Chris under Google, Research, Search Engines, trends

Google Trends does a flip. Sure you’ve been able to use Google Trends to see what the world is searching for but not you can also see/get insights on the traffic and geographic visitation patterns of other websites.

Simply enter the address of a website into the search box and Google Trends for Websites will show you a graph reflecting the number of daily unique visitors to that website. For even more data, sign into your Google Account to see a list of regions where visitors originated from, other websites that they have also visited, and terms they have also searched for.

Of interest are searches for Google.com and Yahoo.com in which you note that NO results show for Google. You’ll also note that when I’m logged in I see the #’s in the graph for Yahoo.

Yahoo.com, not logged in and logged in

A search for Google.com ? Come on and share.

It’s just a start but interesting none-the-less. We saw what Google’s done with Google Analytics, so watch this space

For more details please refer to their official Blog post

Chicago New Media Summit – Sept 15-16

Posted by Chris under CNMS08, Conference, Research, Social Networking, Technology

CNMS08

How the heck did I miss (or almost miss) this one. Thanks Russ and Thanks David

for telling Russ about this great event, incidentally David is speaking at this. Some of the usual chicago tech suspects are signed up to speak: Jason from 37 Signals, Jake and Jeffrey from SkinnyCorp/Threadless, Ross and Mike from crowdSPRING, well you get the picture.

John Patterson, the organizer is billing this as “widescale network of people and industries that allows us all to benefit from our shared ideas and expertise; the intent being that as Chicago becomes known globally as a new media hub, we all benefit.” I certainly like the sound of that. As well as the comparison to making Chicago a New Media capital much like Austin is is an arts/music capital. Tall boots to fill but this fall conference/meetup/TEDish summit may just be the spark to the flame.

Something else supercool, well they are using Ning (you know I’m a big fan of Ning) for the website, forums and social networking around the summit. There’s already about 1000 members of the CNMS08 Website community and it seems to be hitting a ground swell of growth.

Seats are limited to 300 invitations only! That’s right invitation only. However, the first 60 seats, of which as of this writing there are handful left are available on a first come/first serve. There will be 36 presentations, capped at 18 minutes each, I hope that John is as tough as Richard with the hook and I’ve ponied up my $425 already, figured even if I get accepted to speak I’d rather be safe then sorry.

But don’t take my word for it, well do but also make sure you check it out.

We Think – The Power of Mass Creativity

Posted by Chris under Books, Research, Social Networking

Thanks Lance Hill for turning me on to this one a few months back.

There are things that are good the first time and great the second. And that’s the case with We-think: The Power of Mass Creativity, from Charles Leadbeater. At my second reading and review this book really stood out, probably because I stopped speed reading and took the time to stop and think, which this book almost compels you to do

This fantastic book is also paired with this great video as well as Charles’ talk at TED (ed. note, why the heck did I stop going to TED, note to self get booked for 2010 since ‘09 is already sold out, but more on TED in another post).

What makes it so great. Well any author that starts a chapter with:”Viewed through the lens of traditional industrial era organisations, it seems improbably that skilled people, with busy lives, would give their time for free to mass collaborative efforts, only to give way the fruits of their labour” gets my vote.

But watch the video on you tube and then order the book, I got it from Amazon.co.uk but it is available (as of this writing) from 3rd party sellers on Amazon.com

We work in an environment that both promotes sharing, heck I just came from a meeting trying to come up with an idea that our audience (consumers) will not only engage in but will want to get others engaged with. Luckily no one spoke the words, “let’s make it viral.” So while we act to control our ideas we ask others to give freely sometimes without much quid pro quo. Right thing to do, I’m not sure but Charles got me thinking a bit differently on the subject