New Web Math: Form + Function > Pretty + Funny

Brian Morrissey has a great article in ADWEEK today on the coming age of marketing as a service/utility.

(Download a PDF of the article here .)

It supports a lot of what has been rattling around in my head for the past several months as well as a recent post by Gareth that I've been meaning to write about, in addition to what many others have been writing and thinking about.

The not-so-shortened version of the article:

The overarching thought is that the time has come for brands to stop creating one-off Web sites for everything and start building brand loyalty by delivering utilities that both "improve people's lives in some small way," and, "directly pad corporate bottom lines."

The first step in getting there is that brands need to stop treating the digital space like old media. It's not about forcing your brand message at people through your site. Yes, consistency in how you present your brand is important. But the digital space is not TV, print, OOH or radio. It requires a different design process and a different approach to being successful in this space. It's a two-way interaction and communication tool, not a one-way one.

This means no more pushing your off-line marketing campaign online through a shallow micro-site that is more like a set of really bad "matching luggage" to your TV spots and print ads. That means no more treating online video as a TV spot. It means no more site navigation terms that only make sense to the people who work at the agency or at the client's company.

The second step is that everything you do in the digital space needs to revolve around the people who will be using what you create and it must be designed for them. Yes, everything.

It's not about how you want to present things, what you want to tell them, or forcing them to a place where you want them to do this. It's about allowing them to easily get what they need from you, how they want to get it and where they want to get it. Even if that's not on your Web site.

Beyond that, it is even more powerful if you can give them a tool that in some form adds value to their life. Nike+ and the Dominoes Pizza Builder are two popular examples of this right now. The more you can create a connection between your real-world product and the digital space by making the two work together to make peoples' lives a bit easier when it comes to using them, the better.

Ultimately, building emotional connections is still the goal. Same as it ever was. Only it's even more attainable now. If you can create something that helps people get through their day with a little less effort or that saves them a bit of time or that makes something they care about more enjoyable, you have an even better shot at having them form an emotional attachment to your brand.

Anyway, you should really give the article a read. It's full of good quotes and thoughts from those who are practicing this already. Here are a few of my favorites:

"The days of making funny things that may or may not have an effect on the client's business are ending." - Jeff Benjamin, interactive creative director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky

"When you create a utility, you're creating something that gives people time back. It becomes less about information as pollution and more about information to help people get through life." - Nick Law, CCO for North America at R/GA.

"Five years ago, people would muck through a site with non-standard navigation that was confusing because the whole Internet was confusing. Now the Internet is so big you can't do anything that's annoying anymore." - Benjamin Palmer, CEO of Barbarian

"There's a big possibility to deliver on your brand through the tools or functionality you can give people that are positive." - David Armano, vp of creative at Critical Mass

"No digital property is an island anymore. Everything can be connected to everyone. You have to design for that." - Garrick Schmidt, vp of user experience at Avenue A/Razorfish

"We're trying to think from the beginning of how to syndicate them [Web-based applications] out to other platforms. That's been a mind shift for us because a year and a half ago there wasn't that expectation." - Conor Brady, ecd at Organic

"If you think we're just going to be making Web sites in the next five years, anyone with that business model isn't going to be a business." - Dan LaCivita, executive director at Firstborn

"It's a different way of approaching marketing. The creative has always been about telling stories. It's obscuring a truth until a punch line. It's linear. Designers want to make the message or functionality apparent immediately. It's fundamental to what we're doing in marketing." - Nick Law, CCO for North America at R/GA.

UPDATE: More on this topic here.