digital xchange // innovation

Mobile Apps Are in! On your Mark…Get Set…Stop!

Outline a Mobile Gameplan before Jumping the Gun on Apps

Welcome to the 2012 Tour de Change!

As we enter a new stage in the race to innovate, the routes have again changed. And unlike the courses of marketing Grand Prix ending just a little over a decade ago, this new race features routes that change on the fly, and continue to expand - giving no time to rest between stages or even build a lead at any point.

Now that many of the “lollygaggers” and “middle-of-the-pack” riders can finally see the route, they are about to once again find themselves losing ground if they repeat the bad habits that haunted them in tours past.

Once again, this challenge will require a user focus to triumph.

Introducing the latest obstacle…Mobile

And by mobile, I mean the smartphones and tablets that will soon eliminate the origin of the word.

Many brands currently want to break into the mobile space via applications, but not every marketer needs one. With experts debating whether an application or mobile browser is more ideal for clients, the application is a curse for those who fail to manage carefully user and client expectations.

In some commerce venues, apps are still just a shortcut. Their use should always should be a case-by-case example – when you consider the average consumer, they’re still not on a smartphone.

Mobile versus apps

For companies who are thinking of going into mobile, some experts suggest starting with SMS or a short code campaign.

Gene Keenan, vice president of mobile at Isobar, San Francisco, disagrees.

“A lot of advertising in general is a move towards utility advertising,” Mr. Kennan said. “That’s why apps are so popular – they provide utility to the end user in a way that advertising can’t sometimes.

“At the end of the day, you have to look at your client.”

Regardless of tactical implementation, brands first make sure that they have a defined strategy. Take a step back and look at your audience. Focus on who you want to target.

Kmart, for example, mixes it up with voice search and SMS. It’s not just about the iPhone and apps, it really depends on how the target audience uses their phone.

Once you figure that out, you can create a strategy.

Location, location, location
Location-based technology is a great tool to help clients reach consumers. Localization services can deliver the right message at the right time and place.

“Location-based services is the center of the main trends in the next few months,” said Alexandre Mars, CEO of Phonevalley and head of mobile at Publicis Groupe, New York.

Mr. Mars believes that before companies start looking into incorporating location-based services in their mobile initiatives, businesses need to have their core mobile sites up and running.

Brands have to build their mobile site strategy and then they can spend money, per Mars.

“At the end of the day, you need to embrace mobile with digital agencies,” Mars said. “You have to first build a mobile strategy and then money will flow – not the opposite.”

Measurement
Like most digital platforms, analytics are also key to a company’s mobile strategy.

“Analytics is not like it is online, it’s a little bit different,” OMD’s Mr. Machado said. “The problem right now is scale.

“You have to manage it properly,” he said. “It’s still a small group, but there’s a whole lot of value there.”

Demand-side platforms may put mobile ad networks in danger.

A big enabler is the tracker. Agencies are interested in DSPs because they can decide whether they want to buy the impression and for how much.

There are certain tracking abilities within mobile. But with feature phones - things can often differ.

In the end, you simply have to find the variants (like any other digital strategem).

Posted 7 months ago

What Steve Jobs taught me about Marketing

Over the past century, every generation has experienced a revolution in the cosmos of business. And each awakening in technology has stemmed from a new innovation.

In that respect, Steve Jobs is a legend.

To me (and many other business professionals in a variety of disciplines), his genius was noteworthy not only because it changed the way people live, learn, and behave, but also because of the fact that he did it multiple times across more than one decade, and particularly at the turn of a century.

His drive to innovate was constant.

As a digital marketer, there are many critical lessons that Apple (namely, Jobs) taught me over the years about how to be a successful brand in any industry. Here are just a few of them…

Embrace Change, and Build a Culture Around it.

Yes, the Apple commercials across decades, along with other brand experiences, were nothing short of breathtaking. But more important was the remarkably sustainable “us-versus-them” messaging. The result was the “culting” of a brand.

People didn’t buy Apple products - they bought into the brand’s ethos. As the rival evolved from IBM to Microsoft and now, increasingly, to Google, Apple consistently remained something more than just a company or a brand. It was a movement.

Marketing is No Longer Message or Media

Sure, these factors are certainly still key to most brands in today’s economy. But even more important today is to make your product or service so innovative that it markets itself.

With each product launch, Apple changed the game. And in doing so, captured increased loyalty and boosted their brand’s revenue. The message was great - “Think Different.” And his products did exactly that, which only made the message stronger.

Be Genuine.

As consultant Bob Garfield recently stated in an Ad Age feature article:

“I have written endlessly on the subject and explained it to countless audiences for decades. But here’s the strange thing: Until recently, I had failed to notice the central genius behind the Apple ethic.

It was true.

Not just shrewd, not just potent, but literally true. So admirable was the advertising for understanding the iconoclastic psychology of the audience and for flattering random graphic designers as heroic subversives, I never noticed that the positioning was rooted in reality. Steve Jobs was a bona fide liberator. A revolutionary. A visionary leader.“

Now that I’ve shared the acumen given to me, feel free to chime in. What are some of the things this digital genius taught you?

(Source: branditlikebarker.com)

Posted 10 months ago

It’s Time to “Tee Up” on Your Digital Experience

At this very moment, the biggest, most legendary ad agency in your city… is losing clients. And their biggest client, losing its lion’s share. Brands that once ruled the galaxy - are now light years behind the pace. With teams made up of world-class aces in each discipline, how did this happen?

Conventional wisdom might suggest that this is a fluke. That these brands should be thriving.

But the digital cosmos is anything but conventional.

And like many NCAA championship teams have shown in the past, nimble “T-shaped” talent is the make up a dominant team. They build on their own unique skill set by learning the role that each team member plays.

Here, T is the shape of synergy. Great players on an even better team.

THE NEW MARKETER IS “T-SHAPED”

I recently met with the VP of Interactive at an esteemed agency. Like too many of the big city ad clans, the company is now rapidly seeking “interactive” creatives - due to what is clearly lost business on the digital front to the new wave of more nimble, scrappy hybrids. Places where everyone contributes. Everyone has ideas. And everyone…is creative.

After our introductions and dry humor riff raff, we began discussing the firm’s culture. He told me about the 2 types of successful marketers today:

Those who learn multiple disciplines, and do each of them well
The true linchpins that hammer home one focus, and that is where she dedicates her career

The second, he told me, is what they were interested in. And the former, nothing more than generalists who will never be great at any particular skill.

As a more “T-shaped” creative and digital strategist, I question the VP’s stance on this issue. Especially when the firms that are taking his clients are made entirely of professionals in the first category he mentioned.

Mr. Glib clearly missed one key “class” of marketer - the one who has a specialty, and builds upon it. To quote the industry-revered creative Luke Sullivan:

“Today’s most successful creatives are a sort of hybrid, capable of expert contributions in their chosen fields of art direction or copywriting, but fluent enough in other digital disciplines to collaborate effectively, occasionally even executing things on their own.

The new creatives have both depth and breadth and today their job description isn’t “writing or art directing cool ads and TV spots.” It’s bigger. Your job is to create entertaining or useful experiences for your clients’ brands. That might involve an ad; it might not.”

There are several reasons for the tight correlation between being T-shaped and success in digital marketing. But here are just a few…

1. IT IMPROVES YOUR GAME

There will never be a “best-at-everything” marketer, digital or traditional. Everyone has a specialty. A niche. You know the subjects close to your raison d’etre, and by learning them, you’ll only get better.

Knowledge of strategy = more effective tactics

With knowledge of the target, you have better aim. Knowing your competition gives you a better game plan. And in an industry that now demands better products, better service, and better business ideas altogether, you can even build a better weapon.

2. IT GIVES YOU A BETTER LONG BALL

If you’re a creative, then you knew this already. In fact, I know a few non-digital creatives who possess acumen in design, psychology, and brand strategy that would impress most. And they’re irreplaceable linchpins, all of them.

To move up and become a Creative Director, you have to know (and know well) the games of art and copy. And once you’re there, knowledge in project management, collaboration, consumer behavior, and team leadership had better be in your repertoire if you plan on staying there.

Digital takes “T-shape” demand to a whole new level. Web analytics, User Experience, Usability, Information Architecture, and Content Strategy are all key ingredients to success. And not just to one specific team member.

Most important: if you’re a freelancer, you can increase your capabilities. And your revenue.

3. YOUR TEAM (AND CLIENTS) WILL APPRECIATE IT

There’s nothing worse than a research/strategy/designer/writer team that delivers work separately. Designers appreciate those who speak the language. And strategists hate the creatives who execute tactics to win awards, or “promote the importance of art” in advertising.

They label them as granola nerds. Heady blow-hards. And they’re right.

“T” is NOT Shape of the Future

It’s the shape of now. In an industry that requires constant shifts and nimble minds, focused digital specialists are often blinded by their one expertise. They can’t spot new opportunities or, worse, can’t anticipate the slow demise of a niche. And even if they do, adaptation is difficult and unyielding to those with all of their eggs are in one basket.

To those who wish to build on their skill set, move forward, create change and make a difference, you’ve reached your crossing.