mindblob

Post Digital Marketing (Thinking)

View more documents from Helge Tennø.

 

This is probably the best slideshare presentation I've read for a long time. It was composed by Helge Tennø, Strategic Director and Digital Planner at digital agency Screenplay in Oslo, Norway. -  (HT to Dominique Poncin and apparently also to Jourik).

Smart thinking documented by brilliant quotes from successful leaders, marketers, strategists, CEO's or so called visionaries. What I find interesting in this long -yet completely fascinating- presentation is the overhaul perspective it unveils to our eyes, from the obvious EVOLUTION of consumer behavior, through the new definition of "digital marketing", way to the ultimate long term battle of the brands related to (shared) VALUE.

He introduces 3 ideas representing THE NEW CURRENCY :

VALUE : transports much better compared to "attention" - creating value in the context surrounding the product is positively transforming consumer experience.
+ DIRECT RELATIONSHIP : "Visualizing the decline of the destination web and the rise of the social media web"... New opportunity : Brands to create direct relationship with consumers.
- TIME -the unstoppable force- (love this!) : He quotes: "Time does not exist!". On some media, content disappears. On other platforms it grows, connects and augments.
 

 
A rich journey naturally guiding you across notions like the fabulous TRANSMEDIA (Faris Yakob), importance of context and convergence, ARENAS, collaborative creativity, utility, search vs SHARE, idea exchange, etc.

Insightful, to the point, clear, mind challenging, absolute must read if you're related in any way to marketing, communication, advertising or have an open curious mind looking for some clues about the future of the relationship between consumers and "their" brands.

  

Creative genius VS the obvious

Here is a touching talk by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of "Eat, Pray, Love") on the creative genius and the importance of its perception. Should we see a person as "being" the rare genius or as "having" a genius moment? Well, the answer of this question -if there is one- is worth spending 19 minutes listening to Elisabeth's out-of-the-ordinary story.

So many things take all their meaning from the way we decide to see them. Always great to allow a little short-circuit within our brain synapses every once in a while, and then eventually... re-think the obvious. Or maybe the other way around: the obvious is maybe closer and simpler to understand when "listening to our heart", than it might seem to be when trying to "see it through our brains".

I liked the idea of running fast... in order to catch the genius.  Makes me think about Forrest Gump, running faster and smashing the obvious to our eyes: - "I may not be a smart man... but I know what love is".

HT to Nishad for this mind challenging link.

   

Big boys... big toys

 

I remember getting caught by a silly quote while watching what one might see as a silly film as well : "Golden Eye". OK, as a James Bond fan, I don't care about the silliness of the film but rather see it as a fairly good piece of entertainment. This said... in the film there is a sequence where 007 (Pierce Brosnan) is having an argument with Defense Minister Dimitri Mishkin (Tchéky Karyo) while Natalya Fyodorovna Simonova (Izabella Scorupco) is quietly watching them. Suddenly, she interrupts the 2 men and says :

"Stop it! You act like... boys with toys!"

Well, believe me or not, this unexpected allegory made me laugh and these words stayed in my mind ever since. So, simply, true. Sometimes men supposed to be, act, behave as adults show themselves off, like (big) little kids. Their toys? Well, could be anything, from dart guns to real guns, the sky being the limit (Mmmm... can't think of any limit, actually!).

The video illustrated above is a good example of "fun adult play". Naturally, and again, we could be wondering if this is a real story... and if they really did it. Usually, I like things to be quite clear, but this film was surprisingly not pulling the trigger for me. Why? Because it is entertaining, fun to watch and creatively insightful. So whatever, I like it as it is. Even if some questions remain... like who's behind? Vodafone? Blackberry? And of course... the  now super great classic: "So what? ...and then what's next?". This last question being exactly where the focus should be in order to make it really "different" or impactful.

   

Positive values... from ripples to waves

What's the point about writing a blog, reading others, commenting, contributing to social networking? Is there a link between blogging and reality? Or is it just like blowing in the wind of virtual authority, ephemeral popularity? If some of you still have these questions in a corner of their minds, here is a wonder-full (yes, full of wonders!) angle to look at it.

Yesterday, David Armano published a very touching post. He was sharing with the community that he was in contact with a family obviously going through very difficult times. Daniela (pictured above with her family - Brandon, age 6, Daniela, age 9 and little Evelyn age 4) is divorcing her spouse after years of abuse. In recent years her mortgage went unpaid and she's lost her house. As of this moment, Daniela's family is staying at David & his wife Belinda's house and they are trying to help her find a one bedroom apartment for her family to live in (read more about the story here).

So, for the very first time since he began blogging David raised a call for help to the community, starting from his readers to... whoever the message can be carried to. I can't help remembering one (now) famous graphic David posted back in 2006, trying to illustrate how valuable content can travel and be carried through the Influence Ripples of social networking. The ripples are indeed there through, within and sometimes way beyond the internet. Some blogger getting more influence every day, some loosing influence... some simply not caring about influence, but still "being there".

Well here is a fact : David, with his simple, genuine, authentic call dropped a tiny little stone in his blog pond. The ripples started to move, but this time something different happened. A wave jumped out of the waters and spread the social networking ocean with a self propelled very positive energy. That energy is the one making things jump from the virtual (ideas) world into reality. And in less time than it takes to realize what's happening, David raised above 10.000 USD for Daniela's family!

Well, what I'm writing here is indeed very personal... but when I see David's thank you video, it touches me. I mean, it really touches me. I think there is something greater in this film than a blogger saying "Hey guys, thanks!". The compression codec of this video is filled with sincere emotions. The common wave length is wrapped around the POSITIVE VALUES embedded into the little stone he dropped on L&E.

Thumbs up David! Thank you for the inspiration you brought to Daniela's family and to us at all at the same time. This gem is what makes me believe that there is a human treasure hidden behind this age of conversation. I trust people will get it... it's probably just a matter of time.

PS : And of course... it's not too late to participate! Just do it! : )

 
   

About NEW, unique... live EXPERIENCES

  

A few months ago, I ran across my RSS reader and POW! Right Between the Eyes... got hit by a post of my friend Andy Nulman. Andy said (again!) :

"Consistency isn't everything it is cracked up to be" -  Then, naturally I can hear your immediate question  why? Andy brings his own answer to this : "In business, a reputation of being reliable and true-to-your-word is both admirable and desirable, but there's something to be said about the currency of Surprise being part of your corporate DNA."

He then points to the way Andy Berndt of Google described working with Obscura Digital in Fast Company (see other article on digital projections here) :

"The thing about working with these guys is that you never know quite how a project's going to come out... you just know they have great taste and are going to wow everybody"

   

That is definitely a very nice way to be described by a client. So this lead me to investigate a little about Obscura Digital. Who are these guys and what are they doing. Well, glad I did... look what I found in a very interesting CNET News article by Kara Tsuboi - (video credits CNET) :

   

  

CEO Patrick Connolly describes his company as "... a marketing company revolutionizing the advertising world with its interactive and immersive technology." Obscura Digital is based in San Francisco USA (soon new offices to come) and their work has found clients all over the world.

As you might know by now, documenting "new & innovative live experiences" is one of my favorite topics. This, because I believe that unique experiences will always strongly insight conversation. I just love the "I wish I could have been there... I wish I could have seen this" effect. But when you make the experience INTERACTIVE + IMMERSIVE + CAPTIVATING you get really powerful human emotions drivers... and so, powerful communication tools when mastered with the appropriate expertise, of course. Well, I wish I could meet these guys and visit the testing labs of Obscura Digital! ; )

  

When was the last time you were impressed by a "unique" live experience? What made that live experience memorable?

  

Are you... CURIOUS?

Originally uploaded by reclusivemonkey

  

Most people agree that curiosity may be interesting, depending on the circumstances, naturally. It leads you to discovering new things, it feeds creativity and it's a gate to innovation. From a personal perspective I think it works a little bit like a radar... in stand-by mode and starting to beep when you sense "something different", new or interesting.

  

I just found an interesting article of Donald Latumahina on Stepcase Lifehack. 4 reasons why curiosity is important and how to develop it. Donald's four reasons being:

1. It makes your mind active instead of passive
2. It makes your mind observant of new ideas
3. It opens up new worlds and possibilities
4. It brings excitement into your life

  
His tips to developing it are IMHO worth the read too (see complete article here):

1. Keep an open mind
2. Don’t take things as granted
3. Ask questions relentlessly
4. Don’t label something as boring
5. See learning as something fun
6. Read diverse kinds of reading

 

What does curiosity mean to you? What do you do out of it? -Forget about it? Simple smile-trigger? Waste of time? Or real driver of your work?-

  

Big Ideas (don't get any)

Big Ideas (don't get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.

 
  

Here is a little gem I just discovered via threeminds and that illustrates how creativity and talent can transform a challenge into a master piece. This short film is the work of James Houston, a student of the Glasgow School of Art who decided, for his final project, to respond to the online challenge launched by the Radiohead. The band proposed on a dedicated site a contest to remix their latest single "Nude". Here is what James did out of it. Although he was too late to enter his work within the deadline, I think he deserves a big huge online wave of applause from all of us.

Here is how James describes his quest on Vimeo :

"I've just graduated from the Glasgow School of Art's graphic design course. This was my final project.

Radiohead held an online contest to remix "Nude" from their album - "In Rainbows" This was quite a difficult task for everybody that entered, as Nude is in 6/8 timing, and 63bpm. Most music that's played in clubs is around 120bpm and usually 4/4 timing. It's pretty difficult to seamlessly mix a waltz beat into a DJ set.

This resulted in lots of generic entries consisting of a typical 4/4 beat, but with arbitrary clips from "Nude" thrown in so that they qualified for the contest.

Thom Yorke joked at the ridiculousness of it in an interview for NPR radio, hinting that they set the competition to find out how people would approach such a challenging task. I decided to take the piss a bit, as the contest seemed to be in that spirit. Based on the lyric (and alternate title) "Big Ideas: Don't get any" I grouped together a collection of old redundant hardware, and placed them in a situation where they're trying their best to do something that they're not exactly designed to do, and not quite getting there.

It doesn't sound great, as it's not supposed to.

I missed the contest deadline, so I'm offering it here for you to enjoy.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Guitars (rhythm & lead)
Epson LX-81 Dot Matrix Printer - Drums
HP Scanjet 3c - Bass GuitarHard
Drive array - Act as a collection of bad speakers - Vocals & FX"

PS : And I'm really wondering what my friend Tom (DirectorTom Thomas Clifford) will think about this film. ; )

  

UPDATE :

Check this film James did as he mentioned it to be his "...first ever project working with live action video". Wow! Definitely worth being pointed here as well. Read the comments on Vimeo and find out how he did it!

MTV from James Houston on Vimeo.

 

Dear marketers, are YOU... LISTENING ?

Originally uploaded by coconinoco

Today I came across a few convergent posts around the idea that "some" marketers are still not in phase with what's going on with their interconnected, web-surfing consumers' online life.
   

The first is an article published by our friend Alan Wolk (...aka Tangerine Toad from the Toad Stool) and published on AdAge: "You Are Not My Friend". Alan describes in his text how people going on Social Media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, go there to interact with their friends and NOT with brands. He says that there are indeed exception brands that are tolerated there because they are seen as the "prom king brands"; cool icons one would proudly refer to. A brand trying to engage conversation via social networks should do it with one keyword in focus : AUTHENTICITY. So instead of pretending to be a friend -as a brand- create an honest communication frequency based on the brand's real values (not built-up or dreamt about values, because there is simply no way fooling people that way). Talk as a salesperson to your target group and propose  honest and relevant added value to their experience with your brand. Lead them to your site to share your message with them, not to a social network platform.

   

The second post that did hit my attention was Katie Chatfield's brilliant shout "Get it right - Dammit!" on her blog Get Shouty. Here Katie related the story of a brand who "created" an empty online community shell and pitched the 100 top women bloggers of Australia to come there and contribute with stories, thoughts and advices... with in return a link back to their blogs. Targeted bloggers' responses were immediate and stroke like thunder. In her post, Katie also points to Joseph Jaffe, author of the books "Life After the 30-second TV Spot" and "Join the Conversation", blogger at Jaffe Juice -ranked 26 in the AdAge Top 150 Best Marketing blogs- and President & Chief Interruptor of Crayon, a new marketing company. Now, have a look at the speech he held at the recent Association of National Advertisers’ Integrated Marketing Conference, slamming 5 big brands for making big mistakes. It's a MUST SEE for the curious marketers who haven't already!  NB: Now, I apologize for taking you to AdAge VIDEO (I couldn't find the video anywhere else,  exclusive content, right!) to let you see this film AND forcing you to view a 10-sec. AD before reaching Joseph's speech... but hey... the message is definitely worth it. - Oh boy... don't we live in a world of paradoxes! ; )

The third is a post from Scott Monty : "Think Banner Ads are Effective?" -Geee... he's from Crayon too!- sharing a little fun video  named Man vs Banners Ads. Now, if banners are indeed completely trackable and measurable, let's not forget about appropriate targeting and relevant content.  Again...  it's not about fooling people, it's about giving them an honest opportunity to access relevant information about your brand.

Convinced and ready to LISTEN? If so, Chris Brogan in his blog Community and Social Media wrote a fantastic post that will certainly help you : "Five Tools I use for Listening". A simple first step into the right direction. Do you have other suggestions or "ways to listen" to share?

PS : Little out-of-the-box thingy to share with you here : the headphones pictured above by coconinoco are Grado Labs SR-80. Now these are the best -affordable- piece of audio equipment I could ever recommend if you are into music listening. They change the music you thought you were listening to into a complete re-discovery of the sound vibes - even with an MP3 player. Delightful! - And NO I'm not payed by Grado for this little post scriptum, I'm just sharing my happy customer POV. ; )

   

United PEAS of Social Media

- Original picture from Addixon777 + home made transformation -

   

The amazing thing about "social media" is the power that these two words joined together took over the meaning of each word when standing alone.

"Social" is the grouping of individuals around common characteristics, interactions between groups of people, is taking consideration of other's behavior. Many more definitions apply to that word, but in a way the "united humans" side of the definition is probably the one we keep in mind. And here comes "media" basically related to communication and being the vehicle of messages towards as many people as possible, not to say "masses".

Now "social media" pushes us from being readers and spectators of news and information, to being actors and publishers of messages through a completely new vehicle. And we may see "the wisdom of the crowds" as the evolution of individual messages freely embraced by other individuals.

The very first time I understood the power of "social media" was after Noel Davis' terrible bicycle accident just before Christmas 2007. Noel is the father in law of Gavin Heaton, a blogger friend I had met on the net months before. At the time, I didn't know Noel but I was warned by another friend blogger CK that "something terrible" happened. Gavin communicated to friends and family on Noel's web page and a solidarity chain was raised by other bloggers relaying the information and collecting funds to help. Cam Beck created a special page to make donations, David Armano made a visual for the cause, many helped making posts to spread the information. Hopefully, Noel recovered from his accident and I'm quite sure many people still think about him today.

Then, another terrible event tore many of us apart when our friend CK was facing the toughest moment of her life. This difficult moment, brought to our eyes the important fact that there is a link between this virtual world, our emotions, values, good intentions and reality.

More recently, Susan Reynolds a blogger I don't know personally, discovered that she had breast cancer. As a matter of fact, Susan suffered so much from the multiple biopsies she went through that she placed a pack of frozen peas on her breast to relieve the pain. She decided to share her experience with others and launched a special blog : Boobs on Ice. When she posted a picture of her and the pack of peas in such an unexpected place, some of her friends were touched and reacted. In less time than it takes to actually say it many people took action (see the full story on Connie Reece's blog) and a solidarity wave rolled around the planet.

Then a special Frozen Pea Fund was launched to raise money with all benefits going to Making Strides, the breast cancer campaign of the American Cancer Society. Now what if we would all donate the price of a package of Peas to such a fund raising program? Hundreds of Twitter users changed their avatars on a Pea theme. When I see the specially created Frozen Pea Flickr group, I really beleive that there are PEAple out there ready to help change the world.

Today is the THIRD PEA FRIDAY... so if you have not done it yet, go to this link and donate the value of a few peas (or more), because this action is good and is helping an important cause we should all care about. I am sure Susan was happy to see that many were there to encourage her and try to help. Also, I'd like to honor people who lead others in the right direction, to help those in need. Connie, this one is for you -sorry it took me so long to make this post-. Even if we have not met yet, please know that it is a real honor to know you. I am amazed by the mountains you are moving.

I understand that social media is not done shaking positively my vision of this world. These incredible examples raise the definitions to another level. So, whoever still thinks "social media" is yet another trendy notion to debate on, might want to consider this : next time you are watching PEAple from a distance, watch closely and listen... maybe you'll find out that the voice behind each one of them is worth some of your attention. Above definitions, there are people behind all this, connected and sharing experiences. Internet is just a vehicle, let's keep in mind that human beings are on both sides with their hearts and values.

      

The graduate call

   

Here is a fun and very well edited video shot in the JWT London offices.  No wonder why it is the post of the day on Craig Davis' blog, The Good Stuff. Once again, apparently -like on the previous OMB mentioned on mindblob-, no money or big production, just a bunch of motivated grads led by Musa Tariq. His description of the video on Vimeo says it all :

"We (the graduates who joined last year straight out of uni) had an idea one day after work... and thought why not!"

Also, check this other film from Musa Tariq on his Vimeo page, entitled: "A Day In The Life Of Me". Here is what he says about it :

"I was asked recently what the highs and lows of my job were at JWT... Well one of the highs was the fact that if you ever had an opinion or a suggestion, people would ask you to go do it! The following video was part of an idea we had, it was to show a client how someone my age interacts with technology on a day to day basis! ..."

Basically, I like to see positive energy leading a simple idea into reality. It spreads that same positive energy outside the office walls and is insightful for whoever is "listening". Well, of course, the goal here is obviously to recruit new grads. The last first dot to connect to is JWT London's website frontpage (*) where  the intention appears loud and clear.

Maybe our good friend Sacrum should try to apply there.
; )

   

PS :  (*) this link will probably not be relevant to this post after november 7th - end of the call for grads.