Communities Dominate Brands Archive

Bob Lutz Blogs

Don't know who Bob Lutz is?
The vice chairman of General Motors.
Fast Company ran a post that Lutz is now blogging.
And the good the bad and the ugly are responding as Fast Company points out.

Remarkably, the marketing mavens in Detroit haven't yet pulled down the comments, despite the harsh, honest musings spawned by the post. Indeed, they've thanked readers for them. In the process, they've created an instant, cheap, and much more authentic focus group than anything corporate marketing could artificially manufacture. It will be fascinating to watch what they do with it.

I would agree, that real life testing, discussions etc are far better than focus groups. As Malcolm Gladwell said in a Fast Company interview

It would be better for everybody if focus groups did not exist

I’d like to teach the world to sing but only if you have internet explorer

From J walk blog

My Coke Music
To the morons who designed the My Coke Music site: Everyone doesn't use Internet Explorer. Here's what happens with Mozilla.
I go to the site.
I see a useless "click here to enter the site" link.
I click it and I get a new window with an obnoxious Flash intro.
I click on the "skip intro" link, and I'm back to the "click here to enter the site" window. And even if I put up with the Flash intro, I still end up back at the "click here to enter the site" window.
Yes sir… it's really "packed full of exclusive, pre-release, new & old tracks to download" — but only if you use Internet Explorer
No great loss. I don't use cocaine anyway.

I tried too and no luck. Its a shame that not everyone can share.

The dance of change

Future-faced brands are not brands that are omnipotent, or consistent in the traditional sense that brands are consistent or standardized across all territories, but rather that they accommodate the personal, the individual.

Martin Raymond  The Tomorrow People

Apple evangelism? Viral marketing?

An interesting story in wired
Not only are Apple evangelists making their own ads and putting them out on the net.
You can now iPodize your own images, says the article:

Customers upload a digital snap, choose a background color and pay. In about five days, the "iPodified" image is e-mailed back to them. A white iPod and earbud wires will even be added to the picture, if so desired.
"It's mostly pets, a lot of children and tons of married couples," said iPod My Photo co-founder Kevin Muoio. "There's lots of new babies, too. Straight out of the womb — bang, they've got an iPod on them."

iPop my photo offers the following
We'll get your photo iPodified, what you do with it is up to you:
- Christmas Cards – iPodify your family this Christmas.
- Gift T-Shirts – there is no cooler iPod shirt available then the one with you on it.
- Gift Cards – Giving someone an iPod? Customize your wrapping job with an iPodified image.
- Baby Portraits – Those cute little buggers can't wait to be iPodified!
- iPod Rain Check Notifier – Wanted to get that special someone an iPod this holiday season but they are all sold out? Send them this email and just maybe they will forgive you for not planning ahead.
- For the heck of it – iPodify someone you love.
And of course this concept fits into the concept of co-creation, where user and brand have come closer together to create something.

"It's a very creative idea from this little company," said Jackie Huba, co-author of Creating Customer Evangelists and the Church of the Customer website.
Huba said the testimonials on the site show some customers want the image to accompany an iPod gift. Others are using the image to demonstrate their love of the product, or make a connection with other iPod fans.

Its what one might describe as Participatory Social Media.

Fire your ad agency and get your neighbour to create your ads

From Wired Magazine

School teacher George Masters has the marketing world abuzz with a homemade ad for Apple Computer's iPod that is rapidly 'going viral.'
To some experts, Masters' ad heralds the future of advertising. Homemade ads will play a big part in marketing, just like blogging is shaking up the news.
Masters' 60-second animated ad features flying iPods, pulsing hearts and swirling '70s psychedelia. It's set to the beat of "Tiny Machine" by '80s pop band the Darling Buds.
Masters quietly posted the spot to his site a few weeks ago. It received moderate traffic until it was picked up by several blogs last week. In a matter of days, the ad has been watched more than 37,000 times, and is making the rounds on blogs and e-mail.

This apple spot demonstrates a number of things, that; via the internet and what is described as the blogosphere and then via mainstream media, the sheer scale and pace of communication is a pradigm shift.
I think of the flash mobs also generated via viral email that took place in Liverpool street station iin London (also iPod groupies) and the pillow fight at St. Paul's Cathedral. I think of the Boeing world design team that has 150,000 people signed up. Nobody is as clever as everybody remember, or the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree for starters.
Communities are forming that are passionate about many things, their power to activate changes the way brands should be marketed. There will always be a role for traditional media, but I also think there is a a very different way for brands to behave and connect with their targeted audiences. This requires diifferent metrics and different skills, creativity is at the heart of all of this but it manifests itself in many different ways.

These connections are more subtle, no we are not spending £20 million on above the line media, more like ?1 million or less, but watch what happens when we light the touch paper.

The business of blogging

From business week

Now advertisers are realizing there is a market emerging in the blogosphere. Already, the growth in regular online advertising, estimated to be about 35% this year, will far outpace the spending increases for any other sector of the media world. Add to all this the fact that about 11% of Internet users today are inveterate blog readers, and the blogging scene starts to get mighty compelling for marketers

Don't understand blogging then you need to speak to the big blog company.
Wondering what to do post the 30-second spot, talk to us!

Marketing thought for the day

You don't lead by hitting people over the head…that's assault, not leadership

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Less interruption and more engagement, more co-creation and  less one-way broadcast

TV for teachers

Chalk on blackboards, and the occasional inspirational teacher, are memories we all probably have. Lets fast forward to 2004.
Teachers TV is a new government funded project aimed at teachers themselves. Its a great opportunity.

The UK government has embarked on a unique experiment that will use digital television to enhance the continuing professional development of school teachers. British teachers will probably be the first profession to have a dedicated national television channel about their work.
Teachers' TV aims to commission innovative programme formats aimed at helping teachers develop new insights into their practice, while offering practical suggestions for improvement. The channel will include a weekly news roundup on developments in education.

The Guardian article: Teacher's TV needs to turn on the style points to the need to develop formatting of the programme that engages its audience and is a non traditional approach to academic life.
No shit sherlock. It amazes me, that one cannot see what a valubale resource we have in our teaching profession, anything we can do inspire, encourage and aid self development has got to be a good thing.
The lateral bit, is thinking outside the profession and if one is looking at broadcast formats one needs to look at lots of genres of programming styles to see what learnings there are which could be applied to this particualr situation.
Boring programming is boring programming, we get enough of it already.
So c'mon teachers TV lets have something exciting that is relevant, contextual and a bit of fun to watch. It nevers hurts to learn when you are having fun, or did someone forget that as children we learn through play.

Things are not OK for many of today’s UK teenagers

They are supposed to be the happiest days of our lives, yet British teenagers have among them the highest rates of obesity, binge drinking, cannabis consumption, sexually transmitted diseases and early pregnancy in the world

claims The Observer in its piece The kids aren't alright
In a special report published over the last two weeks, it got us thinking at SMLXL.
There is a pressing need for Britain to re-educate its future work force to be knowledge workers, to face the changing macro-economics, and this is having a profound impact on young people in our society.

The drive to keep everyone at school means that we have effectively narrowed our definition of 'achievement' for young people to one option: academic success. There are plenty of people doing just fine, but it leaves the practical, the impatient, the not-that-interested and the not-that-bright nowhere to go.

How can society meaningfully engage these people? Educate and re-educate them to help make them feel they have an equally important contribution to make? And is it funny that a marketing company is asking these questions? I would argue no, as ultimately these are all in part communication challenges which if successful enables and helps; individuals, society and businesses.
The COI is the biggest overall spender on advertising communications in the country, it has some big thorny issues to deal with and I believe that in today's world there are many ways in which one might be able to get over important messages, information and deploy initiatives that could result in a dramatic change in behaviour. That's not to say that there is not a considerable amount of work already undertaken, a great deal of commitment from a great many people, but we do seem to be facing fundamental challenges of how we meaningfully reach young people or those that feel disenfranchised.
So how do you engage and educate in the 21st Century. Well perhaps we need some joined up thinking. For example the BBC has recently tackled seemingly more serious/dryer/academic issues with the Big Read and Restoration. The latter example has been recognised as a phenomenal success. Through a multi-platform approach the BBC successfully engaged large sections of society.

Could there be a similar initiative for teenagers, with space for debate and interactivity? I am not saying we copy the format of Restoration or for that matter Big Brother, but when the voting turn out is so high, its worth thinking for moment, are there learnings here that could be put into another context?
It just saddens me to think in the 21st Century we are faced with some pretty serious issues, that desperately need to be confronted in more intelligent ? interactive ? engaging ways. Evidence points to a number of solutions but they require more holistic ways of developing communication platforms.
Many teenagers could feel they are isolated in their experiences. Could we harness the power of blogging for vulnerable teenagers, which is a phenomenon in the US. I believe it could become a powerful tool to help today's teenagers understand the changing complexity of their lives by sharing with others locally or nationally?

So blogs about self-harming, bullying, identity, teenage pregnancy, drugs, low self-esteem ? could these become important places for young people to go where they can share freely their experiences?
Clearly the changing role of the family has had a significant impact and should we be engaging debate with parents and children, in a proactive manner?
First thoughts on a very complex issue.

Out of home media

Authored by Axel Chaldecott

Out of home media will become more and more pervasive.

In stores, in malls, in trains, in taxis. Just about anywhere you can put a plasma screen.

At present the people who own these locations see them as new additional income streams but inevitably they will soon rely on them.

The danger is that advertisers will see these networks as a way of continuing to interrupt their audiences but in a new segmented environment.

To date, most advertisers transposing the old broadcast model to more relevant contexts where you, as a customer, are supposed to act on that commercial message immediately rather than the 13 hour lag that happens between seeing something on TV of an evening and finding yourself in a supermarket the next day.

On the other hand, if people thinking advertising is starting to be intrusive today they will think ‘in your face’ in 4 years time if you extrapolate the above model. Everywhere you go will have a screen where someone is trying to sell you something.

The key questions is – Will the owners of these networks just see them as a new source of income stream or a new source of customer value?

It is interesting that Tescos has recently launched it’s own media service to sell in-store advertising space with Tim Mason using the same 13 hour statistic already mentioned.

First off as ‘in home media’ gets more and more interactive there is a danger that this new out-of-home segmented environment will adopt the old interruptive TV advertising model.

No remote control

There are some that think, for retail media to work as a new source of consumer value, retailers and their suppliers need to expand their understanding of consumer needs in new directions. I agree with them.

Although there will be opportunities to switch-sell and increase the propensity to impulse purchase. A lot of customers will be in a ‘Pre-disposed to buy’ headset which is very different to how they view TV advertising.

If you are pre-disposed you want to know more, gathering information mode, not wanting to be sold too all over again. A different type of content is needed.

Out of home media is uniquely placed to act as channels for the distribution of useful, relevant information for shoppers and customers.

Such information comes in many forms:
information about products themselves (ingredients, provenance)
alerts to new value opportunities (price promotions, product launches)
advice (which product is best for a particular need)
stimulation (recipe ideas)
reassurance (over things such as supply-chain safety, ethics)
assistance (navigating stores, fixtures).

Think about it?.. As a customer would you rather have access to what for some could be vital information on say contents or ingredients of certain foodstuffs that may trigger anaphylactic fits, or information on whether a product can be used as part of a low carb diet, like Atkins.

To quote the writer and journalist Alan Mitchell. “If retail media degenerates into an exercise in monetarising the value of ‘eyeballs’, its potential will have been squandered.”