[ paul isakson ]

Feeding The Lions

Seems that the snubbing of Big Spaceship by BBDO in regard to the gold Cyber Lion for the HBO Voyeur site is causing a bit of a stir. After reading the above two quotes by Mr. Rosenshine (from earlier this year) it starts to make a little sense. When you read the response of BBDO's current chairman and CCO, David Lubars, it becomes even more clear:

"Ideas are timeless. Ideas are what inspire people. Ideas are the root of all execution. On 'Voyeur,' BBDO thought of the idea, shot the idea, then brought in Big Spaceship to do what they do. They did a great job (and we've made every effort to acknowledge them). What's the issue? Maybe Cannes should consider the idea of a Palme d'Or for digital production."

While on the surface this appears to be an argument about who should have received credit for an award, I think it's really a bit more than that. In fact, it just might not be about the award at all. It's not even just about BBDO and Big Spaceship. Instead, what it's really about is money and control and a big network agency not wanting to lose any bit of either with any of their clients.

BBDO wants to retain control over as much of their client relationships and budgets as they can. By painting Big Spaceship as just a vendor/production house who executed BBDO's idea, BBDO positions themselves as the power-player with the ideas and strategic leadership. They're essentially saying, "Without our idea, Big Spaceship never would have pulled this off."

It also works to present Big Spaceship as the equivalent of a talented photographer or director that BBDO might use on a print or TV ad campaign. Yes they bring value to the overall work, but the clients wouldn't ever just go to the (TV) director or (print) photographer directly. They need BBDO to come up with the strategy and ideas first. Then the director or photographer get involved.

In saying Big Spaceship was just the digital producer, they're saying that the clients still very much need BBDO first and foremost.

The bigger behind the scenes issue here is that BBDO and the other major agency networks are often sitting on significant contracts from big clients to be their lead brand agencies. The BBDOs of the world want to keep things as they are. Meanwhile, smaller agencies working on small- to medium-sized projects here and there for bigger clients are wanting a bigger piece of the pie and can't get to it because of these contracts.

If it becomes clear to the clients that other agencies can and are pitching-in great ideas on the work being done for them, it doesn't bode well for the enormous retainers the network agencies have grown to love. So, if BBDO admits that Big Spaceship played a larger role in this, it begs the question of why wouldn't HBO just start to work with Big Spaceship directly on some future projects.

Not only that, but it could additionally raise eyebrows around the globe as to whether or not the traditionally air-tight contracts between large agencies and their clients need some re-tooling to allow for more flexibility in the modern age of marketing. (The answer is yes, they could and should.)

All of this is symptomatic of the biggest issue facing the ad industry right now - massive change. Any time you're dealing with large-scale change, there are bound to be conflicts, frustrations and turf wars. Both BBDO and Big Spaceship are doing what's best for their respective companies here and you really can't fault either of them.

What's tough for BBDO is that by pushing down Big Spaceship and fighting to claim they deserve all the credit, they're making themselves look like the big bully who doesn't get today's culture of openness and collaboration and instead showing that they're stuck in the era of control and possessiveness. As Clay Shirky points out, that might not work out so well...

And if that doesn't say it clearly enough, I don't know what will.

Helge Tennø on Content Marketing

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Helge was kind enough to contact me a couple weeks back to get some thoughts on this presentation. I meant to share it then but was traveling and let it fall down the Gmail inbox rabbit hole a bit. Thankfully, Damiano reminded me today.

Some things I especially liked were:

Slide 3: The thought of not focusing on one idea, but creating a range of ideas that engage people and bring them closer to the brand - something that the research of Duncan Watts is leading people to and something that Faris and Noah have been on to for quite a while, as have a few others.

Slide 33: If you're producing applications for brands/clients, always remember that the application is a means to an end, not the end itself.

Slides 47-59 on Emotional Research - it's time to start looking at things differently, don't you think?

Anyway, give it a read and be sure to let Helge know what you think over on his post of it or on Slideshare.

Heineken Light vs. Coors Light

The Battle of the Facebook (FREE) Beer Gifts

Noticed today that Heineken Light had sponsored the "Gift of the Day" on Facebook and remembered that Coors Light did so a couple weeks back.

I found it interesting that in just one day, Heineken Light nearly sold out - with people giving away almost 275,000 of their beer gifts (25,000 more than Coors Light had available in total). Meanwhile, Coors Light still has 96,130 to yet give away after being available for two full weeks.

The question is, does any of this matter? Regardless of that, does it say anything about either brand? Is it simply a matter of the execution? I've got my thoughts, but first, I'd love to hear yours.

Please, let us know what you think in the comments...

What's Next In Advertising - Uwe Gutschow's Take

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If you have followed this blog for a while, you know that I'm a fan of mash-ups and remixes. Never in a million years though, did I expect something I created to become part of a remix/mash-up of sorts. I'm honored, flattered and impressed all at once.

What am I talking about? Well, Uwe Gutschow and Don Longfellow have picked up the "What's Next In Marketing & Advertising" presentation I shared a couple months back and taken it further with their "What's Next In Advertising - Moving from Advertising to Marketing."

As you can guess from the title, their main point is that advertising needs to go from where it is and has been (interruption and now, annoyance) to adding value. They say we need to "create marketing solutions, not ads" and "stop pitching people with messages," and "start providing useful content." I wholeheartedly agree.

Please give it a look and let them know what you think over on Uwe's post.

To download the slide show or view it full screen, jump over here.

Brand Building in the "Application Economy"

Much ado has been made about the Domino's Pizza Builder. It has been praised, including here, as a great example of branded utility. While that is still true and deserved, one of their biggest competitors recently threw an oven-fresh piece of pan crust pie in their face.

Yup. Pizza Hut not only re-tooled their online ordering experience, but they also launched a slick application running on Adobe Air. Now if it's too much work to go to Pizza Hut's web site to order, you can place an order right from your desktop.*

Why am I pointing this out?  Good question.

Long before many of us got into this business, someone decided that they could stand out by putting their product in attractive packaging. They were right. At first this probably worked tremendously for them, but then all of their competitors started doing the same thing.

We're looking at a similar situation today, only in a different environment. The evolution of the internet, the growth of broadband, and expansion of WiFi (and soon the presence of a more powerful mobile web) have made most products or services a click or two away from virtually anywhere. The same is true for 360-degree information about those products.

As people dig for more and more information on what they buy and online shopping continues to grow, having a great digital experience for your brand becomes as important as, if not more so than, having the right packaging at retail.

The problem is, any brand can work with their agency (or hire a new, better one) to make their digital experience more engaging, rewarding, useful and valuable. While this is quite important to do, and it can provide short-term competitive advantages, it doesn't necessarily communicate what makes your actual product or service unique and special and it doesn't give you any real long-term advantages. It just makes it easier to procure/engage with your company today. (The content within a brand's digital experience most certainly can differentiate it and make it more meaningful to people, however.)

When every one of your competitors has essentially the same quality of application/utility/experience as you, and eventually they all will, then what? Mobile? Nope. We'll be having this same chat when the code gets cracked there too.

Now, I'm not saying developing applications, making better digital experiences, and creating greater brand utility aren't important. They are. They're new pieces you need to add to the mix that will help contribute to the overall feeling a person has about your product or service (otherwise known as your brand).

But they're not the magic solution to leap-frogging the competition that many are making them out to be. They're a cost of entry to doing business today and tomorrow. They're not the long-term solution to making people want to buy your product or service over a competitor’s.

No, this all points to why the essence of what modern advertising has been about - building emotional connections between people and brands - is still needed. (But let's stop with all of the annoying and interrupting people, o.k.?) Especially as advancements in technology continue to make borders disappear and markets open up.

It is precisely why despite all the talk about this being "the application economy," having an engaging and interesting way to communicate what actually differentiates you from your competition, and that helps people feel something emotional for your brand, matters most.

--

*For the sake of transparency and honesty, I've not spent much time with their ordering tool, nor have I downloaded the application. The experience could fall short of what Domino's has done for all I know. But since the point of this post was about the importance of brand building today and not a review of their new application and online ordering tool, I didn't feel it required me to do so.

Digital Influencing the Real World

Threadless has a real-world store. TMZ started appearing on TV.

Now you can buy a couch with fabric inspired by what happens when you zoom in really tight on a digital image.

What other examples have you seen of things from the digital world moving into the real world?

found

Volkswagen UK Makes An Ad About Making Their Site

UPDATE (02 April 2008): Maybe I was just a little tired last night and not feeling the best. As Crawford reminded me in the comments, it's just meant to be fun and give you a good feeling about VW.

Volkswagen, at least here in the States, has historically been about "the joy of driving" if you will (Drivers Wanted) and this certainly touches upon the fun feeling you can get zipping around in a car you love driving. So, yeah... Maybe I was just in a bad mood and over-thinking it.

As I said near the end of the original post below, it is a well done site and the video is nicely done as well. I am certain a lot of people put a lot of hard work into launching the site. This wasn't meant to put them down in any way. It was a challenge to the business decision made here.

In digging around a little more, this might not be running on TV and just as a "viral" online video. I don't know for certain on that one since I'm not living in the U.K. If this video was made as a reward for all the hard work that went into building the site and then it happened to get put online and it was not meant to advertise the new site to the public, then this entire post is for naught.

Final note... Fun as this may be, the business strategist in me still says any money spent on this would have been better spent getting in front of people actively searching for a new car online.

I know, I know. Sometimes businesses have to have fun too. Especially if they're rewarding their employees and agencies for all the hard work that goes into what they do every day.

I'll quit being a grump now.

-- ORIGINAL POST BELOW--

I might be out on an island here, but does anyone else find it at all peculiar that Volkswagen UK made an ad/video to tell people they have a new web site? Won't anyone who is in the market for a new VW already be going there anyway? Isn't this just driving a bunch of traffic to your new site for the sake of driving traffic to your site? Is this really going to help sell more cars?

Fallon Brainfood: The Social 10

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Didn't get around to sharing this one last week, but meant to do it. Sorry about that.

Fallon planner, Aki Spicer, shared his thoughts on 10 Trends Marketers Should Know About Social Networking at the agency's Brainfood lunch both with the agency and beyond by broadcasting live across several social media platforms so that anyone could watch if they were so inclined. Sounds like it went pretty well. Wish I could have caught it live.

Aki starts off with a good quote from William Gibson: "The future is here. It's just not evenly distributed yet."

Much of this is inline with some of what I've shared here throughout various posts and comments elsewhere. If you're following the social media conversations around the blogs, then I would say this is a really good round-up/recap of many of those ideas with some great case studies, quotes and implications to support exactly what he said this is, "a kind of social media 101."

Anyway, give it a go if you're looking for a good perspective on this topic. If you've got comments or thoughts, be sure to leave them for Aki over on the SlideShare or on the Fallon Planning blog post.

The Future of Marketing + Advertising

So here are the slides from the presentation I shared with everyone at work on Friday during our monthly, "What's Next" lunches. These lunch sessions are one of my favorite things about working at space150. It's fun to see what people are interested in and what makes them excited to come to work every day. Not only that, but with my having only been here around six months, it gives me more insight into the people presenting, which helps me get to know them better. Anyway...

Quick background on these lunch sessions: Each month, three or four people are called upon to share either what inspires them or what's going on in a specific area. So far, I've seen some of our creatives talk to what motivates them and share trends and up-and-coming names in art and design; some of our tech team talk to emerging technologies, showing off what they can do and how they're relevant to our clients; and finally some of our modern media team share the newest ways we can help people find what they're looking for more easily and get more relevant information in front of them for our clients. Like I said, it has all been very fun to take part in as well as quite inspiring and energizing.

For this one, I was asked to share what's going on in marketing and where things are moving. What you'll see/did see is that I ended up using a little bit of what I've been posting about here and some of what has been getting covered both within the trade pubs and on blogs to give me the outline. If you follow the plannersphere and other social media and marketing blogs, then this probably won't be much new, but it might connect the conversations a little more. Or maybe not.

Mostly just wanted to share it since I did put a bit of time into pulling it together and was inspired by many of you who've been writing about similar subject matter. Also because what limited free time I did have last week went into putting it together instead of writing on here.

Note: Most of the examples in it are the more covered ones used to support the topics they're associated with. With limited time, I opted for the easy-to-find examples. Sorry about that. One that isn't as covered across the blogs and in the press yet is the My Vegas site. For more info on it see David Armano's post.

As always, if you've got any thoughts, questions or comments...

Some Thoughts on Utility

[ image inspired by Joshua Porter ]

Asi has a really good analysis of Facebook Apps over on No Man's Blog. Give it a good read - especially if you're considering creating any of these for your brand(s) and/or client(s).

In his write-up, he links to my post earlier in the week where I shared the ADWEEK article on brands moving toward doing things that, well, do things for people along with a few of my thoughts around this. I'm not calling this out to brag. I'm calling it out because the way I read it, he's rightfully taking a jab at me for just talking about doing these things. 

Fair enough. I gave no proof as to what we're doing in this area. I wish I could, but I can't. For one, some of it's not done yet. Additionally, and unfortunately, for those that are done I'm not allowed to talk about them per contractual agreements we have with the clients we're working with on them. I attempted to share one before and almost as soon as the post went live, I was pinged with a request to take it down. Lesson learned. As soon as that changes, I'll be sure to let you know. But anyway...

I'm glad he called me out because I wasn't entirely happy with where that post ended up. It turned into something I wasn't intending it to. I didn't mean for it to sound like you should never create another micro-site or extend an off-line campaign into the digital realm. There are definitely cases where you should.

I left it as it was though because it felt like a good place to start the conversation on moving from just creating more noise online to creating utility. So, it was a good push for me to pick back up sooner than later.

First, I agree that it's absolutely "easier said than done." If it weren't, we'd see a lot more brands who have cracked this nut. This is also why everyone keeps referring to the same case study which Asi is tired of hearing about. I have to agree that I'm tired of hearing about it as well. The hard thing is, because it is in a class all on its own and it's the gold standard, it ends up being the champion for utility in the digital age. The good news is that I think we will see more and more of them soon, but right now there aren't many. (For a few examples, again, see the ADWEEK article.)

Now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about the first stage of creating utility...

Take anything digital you might be creating or are thinking about creating and plug it into the blue character's chat bubble above - Web site, micro site, application, MySpace profile, Facebook fan page, widget, digital thing-a-ma-bob, etc. Then look at your answer to the red character's question. If the answer is no, maybe it's time to press pause and see how you can turn that answer into a "yes."

Dictionary.com defines useful as:

1. being of use or service; serving some purpose; advantageous, helpful, or of good effect: a useful member of society.

2. of practical use, as for doing work; producing material results; supplying common needs: the useful arts; useful work.

I take this to mean that useful can be accomplished in a variety of forms. From the user perspective, useful can be as simple as giving someone information they were looking for quickly and easily. Useful can be teaching someone something new. Useful can be helping people communicate with each other easier or better. Useful can be saving people time. Useful can be extending the value or capabilities of your real-world product. And, under the right circumstances, useful can be entertaining someone.

From the client/brand side of things, useful can also mean several things. Useful can mean opening up a new channel for conversation with fans/users of your product or service (please use it for conversation and not just to spam people). Useful can mean creating a new stream of revenue. Useful can mean engaging people in something that encourages them to purchase more of your product or service in order to extend that experience. Useful can mean reinforcing a first time purchase. Useful can be simply giving them yet another positive experience with your brand so that they're more likely to want to buy your brand again in the future.

It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of new technologies and new places where people are gathering and then rush to do something in that area so you can say you've done it. Before creating whatever it is you're thinking about doing, just ask yourself how both parties involved will find it useful. You need to figure this out in the beginning. After it's created is too late.

Let's all try to remember, it's not only not enough to be first, it's also not enough to only be useful to one of the parties involved. Especially if the only beneficiary is the brand. It needs to be useful to both parties involved.

More to come on the subject of utility for sure. This post has already gone too long as it is.

ALSO: I would love to hear any thoughts any of you have around this or any other post I put up. I realize that the way I often tend to write things may seem like I'm not asking for participation, but please share anything you wish in the comments. Share if you agree or disagree. Share if you have a great example that counters or supports it. I'm just sharing what is in my head here and by no means am arrogant enough to think I'm right all of the time. So please, comment away as much as you please. We'll all be smarter because of it...