BLINK #4
MEDIA TRENDS CONSUMERS PUBLISHED BY
THE CONSUMER ISSUE
dell.com /domore
©2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Powering 25 of the world’s most popular websites.
#4
INTRO WELCOME
What is the best way to reach consumers today? Are brands ready to meet the demands of digital natives? Will technology be a carriage or a barrier for messages? And what can we do to prepare for further changes in consumer behaviour?
#4 Winter 2011 Circulation: 8.907
These are just a few of the many important questions that every advertiser should be asking themselves. Empowered by choices, we now live in a world of opportunity where everything is just a click away. As consumers, we expect to have our needs met immediately and nearly effortlessly, and more than ever, we are not afraid to share information to get there. And with every online interaction, we are creating a footprint.
Tel.:
+44 (0)20 7158 5500
Email: blink.magazine@mediacom.com Web: www.mediacom.com
For advertisers, this has created huge opportunities and challenges. On one hand, the doors have been opened to a world of consumers, making it easier to speak directly and relevantly to audiences. On the other hand, however, consumers are now in charge of their own media consumption and are enclosed in interest-specific filter bubbles created by search engine algorithms. It is even harder for brands to get noticed in the first place, and brands need to tackle both the consumers and the technology.
Editor-in-Chief: Signe Wandler, MediaCom signe.wandler@mediacom.com
To break through, brands need to look closer at the data that consumers leave behind and think about what makes them tick. Get it right, and the rewards will be worth it; consumers will love and trust your brand. Get it wrong, with no focus on the consumer, and your brand will be left outside the bubble.
Printed By: Vilhelm Jensen & Partnere
In this issue of BLINK, we recognize that the shift in power from advertisers to consumers is a noticeable one and that many questions still need answering. Inside, we identify what advertisers are doing right, what they are doing wrong, and what they will need to do more of in the future. I hope you find it interesting, useful, and ultimately, empowering. Regards,
Stephen Allan MediaCom Worldwide Chairman and CEO
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MediaCom Global 124 Theobalds Road London WC1X 8RX UK
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
Design & layout: Propellant, www.propellant.dk Art Director, Martin Dahlbeck Cover art: Stephan Walter
ISSN: 1903-5373 The opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors. Minor textual contents may be republished as long as the original author and publication are cited. Find BLINK in the “News & Insight� section at www.mediacom.com
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STATUS UPDATES
PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES
By Dennis Grzenia and Daniel Bischoff, MediaCom Germany Consumption is still a way of displaying social status but digital is changing the game. What does this mean for brand communication?
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WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP LIKE? Take the quiz to test if your brand communication is up-to-date.
#4
CONTENT 02 Welcome 06 Please Me Now 10 Status Updates 18
Cases: Dell & EA
20 Hacking the Meme Code 26 The Data Wars 28 M:Files: The Power of Empathy 30 Finding New Magic 34 M:Files: What is your Relationship like? (QUIZ) 36 Interview: A Crowded Place 40 Digital Persuasion 44 Digital: Retailers’ New Path to Purchase 48 Interview: Time to Get Active
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A CROWDED PLACE Interview Why crowdsourcing is a powerful tool.
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DIGITAL IN RETAIL By Tricia Nichols, Managing Partner, MediaCom US The unstoppable march of digital marketing is forcing retail brands to fundamentally transform their relationship with shoppers.
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MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
THE CONSUMER ISSUE
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HACKING THE MEME CODE By Joerg Blumtritt, MediaCom Germany Social media and sophisticated algorithms make it increasingly difficult to get your message across.
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DIGITAL PERSUASION By Mauritz Kaptein Persuasion profiles will help create more effective messages and valuable, trade-able data.
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THE DATA WARS By Daniel Nye Griffiths Who controls information about where consumers go online and what they do there?
06
PLEASE ME NOW
By Aimar Niedzwiedzki, MediaCom Beyond Advertising, Norway Are you entering the Customer Satisfaction Treadmill?
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
5
PLEASE ME
NOW!
CUSTOMERS ARE AN INCREASINGLY HARD AUDIENCE TO PLEASE AND BRANDS MAY HAVE TO APPLY SOME TOUGH LOVE. HAVE WE FOUND THE RIGHT BALANCE IN THE RELATIONSHIP? BY AIMAR NIEDZWIEDZKI, MEDIACOM BEYOND ADVERTISING, NORWAY Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel Laureate and the father
Are you really ready to fulfil that demand? Are you
of behaviour economic theory, described a principle he
going to be there for the customer, mountain high
named The Customer Satisfaction Treadmill. The faster
and valley wide? If not, you’d better not please every
we get it, the faster we want it. The more convenient
whim that we the customers express via these new
it becomes, the more we realise just how convenient
social channels. Because most likely my barking has
it could be. The more our unreasonable demands are
no specific aim. It is more often than not, an attempt
met, the more unreasonable they become.
to get attention from my surroundings, not you (the product) specifically. I am saying you suck because
Every time you go out of your way to please
I want recognition from my friends. It is a modern
a customer you are adding weight to creating
game of “forget me not”. You just happen to be
unreasonable demand. But it doesn’t have to be this
the content.
way: there has never been a need for IKEA to include a carpenter in its flat packs. Because we have been
Many brands are now using Facebook as a customer
trained in regards to what we expect from IKEA.
service platform. Ask yourself what the purpose and consequence might be. Airline companies that
An important force that shapes brand strategy today
deliver personal flight services on Facebook are in
is the threat of substitute products or services,
fact creating a feeling of a personal assistance that is
according to Professor Michael E. Porter from Harvard
massively missing when they get to airport and on the
University. This factor leads business managers to
actual flight.
believe that loyalty should be bought and included in automated programmes. With the entrance of the
As a secondary effect is that their Facebook wall ends
social net where the individual voice suddenly becomes
up as spam since everything is about 1:1 experience.
visible, real-time support has become the latest trend.
They have lost a good tool for communication to many
But how smart is it to “be there, everywhere” for the
people in their attempt to satisfy their customers’
customer? And what is the purpose?
imagined needs. Brands that take this route are repeatedly solving the same problems over and over
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UNSTRUCTURED DATA
because the answer in not available as a simple query
When someone shouts out into thin air via Twitter,
for the customer. Most questions are repetitive and
that something is wrong with your service or
basic. Things consumers should be able to find in a
product, and you reply without thinking through all
good database. A good structured database. So the
the consequences and possible snowball effects, you
same message doesn’t have to be sent hundred times
are about to embark on a dangerous trail.
to different people on the same wall.
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
CONTENT PLEASE ME NOW!
GET SATISFACTION?
Twitter mob says their new logo is ugly. Considering
Even worse. You train your customers that they
the general public’s level of knowledge the process of
can shout in the woods and be heard. There are
logo creation I am certain that one should be cautious
online platforms that actually help customers
about making such decisions based on ephemeral
without creating increased demands on the brand.
popular demand.
Getsatisfaction.com, a community-based support platform, gives fans of companies and their staff a
Here is what a good business leader should do.
place to share their knowledge of certain products
Monitor and track conversations on the web with
or services so the pressure on customer support
a suitable social analytics tool. Acknowledge the
decreases. Swedish music service Spotify has done
frustration on the subject publicly. Find out if the
this with great success. Spotify’s customer community
99,99% of customers who did not join the mob like
PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES
I AM SAYING YOU SUCK BECAUSE I WANT RECOGNITION FROM MY FRIENDS. IT IS A MODERN TIMES GAME OF “FORGET ME NOT”. YOU JUST HAPPEN TO BE THE CONTENT routinely receives more than 100.000 visitors per
your logo or not. Ask your employees. If the logo
week. This traffic provides support to Spotify’s 10
is liked by the silent majority, then fight for them.
million registered users, and helps the Spotify team
That will earn respect from the mob over time. And
remain lean despite an exploding customer base.
give you something to talk to fans about: The actual reasons why you run the business the way you do. By
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS
having an open and honest strategy most critique will
Treadmilling isn’t only about support. It is first and
most likely become an asset.
foremost about creating situations where expectations are adjusted without a specific purpose or strategy.
This is what happened when JetBlue (not an airline,
Business owners tend to spend more time looking
but a happy jetting company) left many passengers in
for threats than opportunities. Jumping if the angry
a horrible situation during a blizzard some years ago.
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
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CONTENT PLEASE ME NOW!
The angry mob went ballistic on Twitter, media picked
customer service training in two of their first four
it up, and the company’s CEO put on the mad hat and
weeks of work, regardless of department and position.
made a YouTube video. He gave a public apology but most importantly he made a promise on how JetBlue
All employees are expected to drive a wow-effect
would deal with similar problems in the future.
through service. To make a lasting impression you must do something above and beyond what’s
The next thing JetBlue did was make sure that all staff
expected. Make someone smile. But Zappos staff do
members tried really hard to make every passenger
this over the phone. Not via 140 characters or less.
feel special. Not by replying on customer service mat-
Seeing a problem online does not mean it must be
ters on Facebook. They actually state pretty clearly that
solved online.
they don’t respond to specific customer service issues posted on this platform. Instead they perform random
The more I research customer service, the more
acts of kindness; like staff members performing as an
important the human factor becomes. This is about
a cappella band at their JFK Terminal, or instantly mak-
humanising the brand or company. Our power as
BUT HOW SMART IS IT TO “BE THERE, EVERYWHERE” FOR THE CUSTOMER? WHAT IS THE PURPOSE? ing their Caribbean flights freely available for rescue
customers via the social net will affect the business
workers from the US when the terrible earthquake hit
strategy of the core business. This needs to be under-
the islands in 2010.
stood by the C-suite, the CEO and his friends up there. If they don’t see any danger in automating satisfaction
Real human attention gives your employees the
in measurable programmes or being present without
power to become autonomic. This is how you make
understanding why, for us the customers, treadmilling
true champions of positive customer satisfaction.
will continue. That was key to the success of Zappos.
Loyalty programmes, and similar schemes, don’t
com. Delivering happiness came from the CEO. It was
work as well as the human touch because they create
a core element of the strategy.
expectancy. When customers start to expect gifts or bonuses they don’t value them as highly anymore. It
It is possible to love data and show some love to the
is bought loyalty. We are running on the customer
customer simultaneously. But only when a clear busi-
satisfaction treadmill.
ness motivated strategy is in place, and not without a clear understanding of what tools to use. Being service
TAKE IT TO THE C LEVEL
minded and making sure that you help your customer
Customer service can be immensely powerful for
is very important. But know when, where and how.
a brand if used correctly. Just ask Tony Hsieh of
Why and with what isn’t such a bad idea either.
Zappos.com, the CEO who built the world’s largest online shoe store by delivering happiness. To really
So if you want to please me now, I don’t mind. But I
understand the value of customer service as an asset,
didn’t expect you to, before you just did so. And now
all Zappos.com’s employees are obliged to attend
my expectations just went up a notch. Good luck.
AIMAR NIEDZWIEDZKI Aimar Niedzwiedzki, Marketing Entrepreneur, MediaCom Beyond Advertising. Author of marketing blog tasteasreal.com.
PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
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PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES
I CONSUME, THEREFORE I AM
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MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
CONTENT STATUS UPDATES
STATUS UPDATES CONSUMPTION IS STILL A MEANS TO DISPLAY SOCIAL STATUS, BUT DIGITISATION IS CHANGING THE GAME. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO BRAND COMMUNICATION? BY DENNIS GRZENIA AND DANIEL BISCHOFF, MEDIACOM GERMANY Cars are one of the world’s strongest
them based on their appearance, their
demarcation such as nationality, religion,
signifiers of social status and give everyone
clothes, accessories and cars. We
or education no longer work as they did
an opportunity to compare social standing.
are all exposed to the consumption
in the past.
Today many of the signifiers of our place
patterns of those in our reference
in society can be seen in the goods we own
groups – and seek to replicate the
Instead people search for new reference
which provide helpful, and often instant,
patterns. That is why people consume
groups, which results in a more fragmented
indications of our place in the social order.
to keep up with their peers and to
affiliation. You can be a banker at day
impress people in lower social classes.
and roaming World of Warcraft as an orc at night. One does not rule out the
In 1899, Thorstein Veblen, a US economist and sociologist, who became well-known
Richard Centers, author of The Psychology
other, since the current profile depends
for his ‘Theory of the Leisure Class’, shaped
of Social Classes: A Study of Class
on current reference groups. And in every
the term ‘conspicuous consumption’.
Consciousness, defines social class as
situation and every area of life, we can use
That is, spending money on visible goods
follows: “A man’s class is a part of his
different symbols to display our status.
for the purpose of displaying income
ego, a feeling on his part of belongingness
or wealth – or social status. According
to something: an identification with
FROM PHYSICAL TO VIRTUAL GOODS
to Veblen, the consumption of goods
something larger than himself.” This
As in so many other areas, digital is
not only satisfied basic needs but also
definition still holds true but, accord-
providing new ways to consume, display
provided a means to build reputation.
ing to the report ‘Middle Britain’, the
and build reputation. In the past, you had
traditional markers of social class like
to pass my house to see my car. Today, you
This not only promotes and justifies
job, family background and wealth are
just have to Google me! On the internet
limitless consumption since you can always
fading away. Often people even assign
anyone can find enough information
climb one step higher on the social ladder
themselves into the wrong social class,
to determine the status of others.
but also makes consumption a way of
e.g. 36% of builders classify themselves
communicating our – hopefully rising -
as middle class and 29% of bank
And there is a shift from physical
status. For instance, we know that owning
managers say they are working class.
status symbols to digital ones. Of course, physical status symbols retain
a Mercedes Benz indicates high status The traditional boundaries of social
their impact but status is now also
classes are fading and they are becoming
conveyed by my Facebook profile and
Just think how you react when you meet
less significant. The reason being that the
the amount of friends I have or by
someone new. You instantly categorise
traditional ways of differentiation and
the magical sword I own in World of
based on income, education, and prestige.
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
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Warcraft. This is also the reason why people
NEW CURRENCIES FOR A NEW WORLD
upload photographs of their (posh) meals.
When we talk about virtual currency, we mean objects in digital environments like game items
The enabler of these new digital status symbols is the
(the magical sword from World of Warcraft or
smartphone (a status symbol in itself). It is the physi-
the tractor from Farmville etc.), that can be
cal manifestation of my ability to show my consump-
traded for real – that is, the old - money.
tion to the whole digital society within seconds. Taking this idea one step further, social media In addition, if you post something on a social network-
platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube also
ing site, you reach a minimum of several hundred
provide their own virtual currencies, namely ‘likes’,
of people within a second. Digitisation provides the
‘followers’, ‘views’ and ‘subscribers’. Likes and
capability to communicate to an infinite audience.
followers are sold for real money, and an increasing number of people have already ‘paid with a tweet’.
On top of this, virtual goods can also in themselves be used to display my social status and who I
While the digital immigrant may still distinguish
am. Digitisation has become an accelerator of
between virtual and real money, digital natives
consumption. And all goods must now submit to
view this distinction obsolete. In the future,
the mechanisms of this new way of distribution.
it will make no difference, whether I own 1.000 Facebook credits or US$100 because
Physical goods need to offer a fast, ergonomic
money is nothing more than an enabler.
and effective way to distribute themselves via digital media such as Facebook. This need to
The business of virtual goods – especially within
show off my physical goods online means that
(social) browser-based games – has exploded in the
the design of products is becoming even more
last few years. Even if we can play the game for free,
important, because my possessions have to
costs occur if the gamers wish to add to the game, be
look perfect in the pictures that I share.
it with a bigger farm or a superior spacecraft. Such virtual items have the potential to become the new
Tools like Instagram have responded to this need
status symbols. In the US, the virtual goods market
by providing multiple filters that can be used to
already reached US$1,6 billion by the end of 2010,
enhance the pictures. Everything I photograph
while social gaming contributed US$835 million.
looks great in no time, whether it is a retro sports
PHOTOGRAPHY CUBAGALLERY
bike or a meal at my favourite restaurant.
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MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
CONTENT STATUS UPDATES
ON TOP OF THIS, VIRTUAL GOODS CAN ALSO IN THEMSELVES BE USED TO DISPLAY MY SOCIAL STATUS AND WHO I AM
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
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CONTENT STATUS UPDATES
A BRAND NEW PERSPECTIVE
self-produced homemade video content can
or “aspirational” brands tend to stress
This development not only has an impact on
find its way on the TV screen, as seen in
individualism or even ego (“look what I
products and goods, but also on com-
the Deutsche Telekom’s Million Moments
can afford and you can’t!”) – which is not
munication. The advertising industry needs
campaign. All these brand communications
helpful in the formation of a community.
to embrace this new need to communicate
help the user look good to his peer group.
status. This happens both on the creative side – that is design and embellishment – but also on the structural media level.
And let us not kid ourselves: Most people
THE FUTURE: FROM ASPIRATIONAL TO MEANINGFUL BRANDS
wouldn’t care if 80% of all brands disap-
In Germany, there is currently an
not as attached to brands as we may think.
peared tomorrow. Products and services are
By integrating portable devices and cloud
intense debate about forbidding the
services into our everyday life, we have
‘like’ button. The key argument being
There are already clear signs of people
already entered the next level in the evolu-
that it stores data about consumers
liberating themselves from the paradigms
tion of media. Media barriers have been
who are not Facebook members and
of the previous decades – individualism,
lowered and every piece of information (on
have thus not agreed to the storage.
consumerism, mass society – as shown
signs, ads, products, buildings, and even
in impressive ways in the uprisings in
people etc.) is linked to further content via
There is very little probability that
Spain, UK, and recently with #occupy-
constructs such as QR codes, augmented
the ‘like’ button will be banned, but
wallstreet in the US. These netizens,
reality, or Shazam, to name but a few.
critical voices have been raised and it
digital natives, pirates - or however they
has already caused suspicion. This is
might be labelled - are highly suspicious
Facebook has become a diary of status
one of the reasons why the ‘like’ button
of the old economic structures without
symbols – or a ‘museum of me’ as seen
should not be seen as the holy grail of
being “left”, “green” or any other form
in Intel’s campaign (see QR Code). All
advertising. It goes beyond the likes.
of classic anti-consumer-ideology.
using the omnipresent like button. This
Brands that glue people together in
In this new environment, trust is
mechanism is already heavily used by
communities go beyond the fulfilment
established through mutual experiences
brands, especially in campaigns with a
of conspicuous consumption. To be part
which take place on social media, no matter
participatory aspect. People can integrate
of a community one has to identify with
if it is politics, brands or products. The
themselves into movie sequences and even
others. However “classic” prestige-driving
way that these new consumers “tribalise”
relevant content is easily gathered by
DANIEL BISCHOFF (*1981) Research Director at MediaCom Germany After studying Theatre, Film and Media as well as Philosophy in Frankfurt, Brussels and Berlin, Daniel started his professional career in journalism before heading to the Berlin office of Trend Research Company TrendONE. He joined MediaCom Germany in 2010 where he founded and heads up Innovation Science, a research unit dedicated to applying trends and innovations to media planning. He and his team work across a broad spectrum of clients and industries.
into communities over social networks
LITERATURE
means brands need to be less pretentious, and make fewer grand promises, and instead donate value and meaning.
Conspicuous consumption by Thorstein Veblen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorstein_Veblen Definition of Social Class by Richard Centers
In the future, brands will still be able
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1388331
to leverage the phenomenon of conspicuous consumption, yet they will have to tap into the accelerated opportunities offered by digital media by becoming meaningful brands.
Middle Britain Report by William Nelson http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7053761/ Were-all-middle-class-now-darling.html Virtual Goods and Currencies by Vili Lehdonvirta http://vili.lehdonvirta.com/
So we see a shift towards brands that give meaning, support consumers who show their sympathy with others and thus foster community. As long as a brand focuses on
Monetizing digital media by Ernst & Young http://www.ey.com/Publication/ vwLUAssets/Monetizing_digital_media/$File/ Monetizing_digital_media.pdf
being aspirational rather than humble, it is highly vulnerable to negative news that gets spread fast over social networks.
Rethinking the Idea of the Brand by Umair Haque http://blip.tv/harvard-business-publishing-video/
STATUS UPDATE QR CODE
rethinking-the-idea-of-the-brand-4826346
A brand that instead positions itself in the community by helping, doing good, being of real value for the community’s members is more robust and less likely to be harmed if someone posts a negative comment.
DENNIS GRZENIA (*1979) Research Analyst at MediaCom Germany After graduating in economics, business studies, and social psychology, Dennis started working for MediaCom as a media planner. Thus he came in touch with various clients from categories like telecommunication, FMCG, and insurance. In early 2010, Dennis became Research Analyst at MediaCom Science and is now responsible for trend research, social media, and communication consultancy.
SS:
Will Critchlow HARDtalk is the flagship programme on BBC World News that asks the difficult questions. In this special series of interviews for Blink, Stephen Sackur, one of the BBC’s most respected journalists, adapts the same uncompromising style with moguls and figureheads shaping the worlds of advertising, sales and media. This issue, Stephen goes head to head with Will Critchlow, the co-founder and Director of Distilled, a London-based SEO and search engine reputation management (SERM) agency. Well-known across the industry, Will regularly blogs and speaks at conferences.
Do you accept that what you do amounts to a manipulation of the Internet?
WC: It really isn’t about taking what is already there on our clients’ websites and manipulating things so they appear higher up in search results. It’s actually about helping them change their business, change their website, change their online marketing so that they end up appearing there. I would say that there’s a misconception that what we do is an external thing to our clients. In other words, they do their thing and we just tick away in the background manipulating things. Actually it’s much more integrated than that, or at least it should be, and we push our clients hard to let us be integrated into what they do. What we do is very much a mixture of technical consulting, helping them produce an excellent website; content strategy, in other words helping them decide what they should be writing about; and promotion strategy which broadly speaking tends to look a lot like online PR.
SS:
Let me ask you about one particular aspect of your business, that is your work on search engine optimisation (SEO). It is possible to cheat isn’t it, when it comes to this optimisation process? You can tag links across the web on unrelated content, for example. Do your clients ever want you to do that?
WC: Firstly, what do we mean by cheating? There’s a whole spectrum of things ranging from the completely legitimate with perhaps unintended consequences. There are some things that you might do completely naturally and normally that have an unintended influence on how you perform in the search engines. All the way through to things that are slightly worse than that. There are things that Google, for example, don’t like you to do that actually have a perfectly innocent explanation. Through to things that are very distasteful - alternative methods like spamming blog comments which just creates work for the owner of the blog in cleaning those things up. All the way through to the actually illegal, hacking websites, breaking into computers, that kind of thing.
SS:
You mention Google and as you suggested, it has a pretty strict set of guidelines. It has things it says are acceptable, and many things it says are unacceptable. Do you think that their guidelines are sometimes too strict?
WC: I wouldn’t say their guidelines are necessarily too strict. I think that they are occasionally a little bit vague and open to interpretation. They leave themselves leeway to say that they don’t like something after the fact, very often. I personally would like to see them tightened up and I would also like to see some kind of appeals process. They’re very much judge, jury and executioner at the moment, especially in the markets where they have such a massive market share.
SS:
I just wonder whether this SEO process is as complex and multifaceted and as difficult as some people inside the industry seem to say it is, because obviously it serves your interests to have people believe that, because your business is all about selling your service?
WC: I would challenge that actually. We put a huge amount of effort into educating our peers and our clients on what it is we do, why we do it, how we do it. We run conferences to explain, we don’t hold back our secrets. There definitely are people in our industry who would rather it be seen as a dark art and a mystery, but we are not among those. We believe that the biggest challenge, the biggest thing we need to overcome as an industry and as a business ourselves is fear of the unknown.
BBC WORLD NEWS is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation, © BBC 1996.
preached to my clients is step one: stop doing the stupid stuff. We have taken on clients in the past who have still been doing the stupid stuff and it’s never worked out well for anyone. When there’s a constant flow of new stories that they don’t like, it is pretty much impossible and a fool’s errand to try and pretend otherwise. The web is simply too good at uncovering interesting stories.
SS:
HARDtalk presenter, Stephen Sackur What we need to do is educate businesses that this process is not rocket science, it’s not horribly complex, it’s not horribly risky. There are definite rewards, and it’s usually seen as part of a modern marketing mix for any business doing business online.
WC: It is definitely one way of phrasing it. I prefer to work with people who want to do new and interesting things that are more interesting than their past and promote those. Thinking about what ranks when somebody searches for your name is, I would argue, a good activity for pretty much everyone because it is, these days, how you get a job. When you apply for a job, very often they want to know who you are, what you’ve done before and they want to know the real you, and they are going to creep around and see what’s out there.
SS: Just how important is it for a business selling itself today to be at the top of the search list? To be either number one in any keyword Google search, or at least, to be on the front page? WC: It very much depends on the business. If you are a business to business organisation selling entirely through personal networks and relationships, you could maybe get away with not even having a website. But if you’re selling online or you have an e-commerce operation, appearing in search is absolutely critical. It is literally a question of survival for many businesses. One of the key realisations for our business was that it very often isn’t actually about helping our clients rank for a specific keyword. That activity is often misguided and a low return on investment. Often it’s much more valuable to help them build up a website that ranks for many new key words, and that can actually bring higher returns to their business. It is also more valuable, in my opinion, to the consumer than the activity of fiddling around as to whether something ranks at number three or number one in a highly competitive niche, because you’re actually adding new value to the internet; you’re creating new content and you’re allowing search engines to index content that they previously couldn’t get to.
SS: Let me switch focus now to another important element of your business, search engine reputation management (SERM). Is it right to regard this as your clients wanting to bury bad news and accentuate the positive? WC: That’s a pretty close description of what they come to us asking for. The first thing we say to them is that in the modern, connected, socially-networked world, it’s pretty much impossible to bury bad news.
SS: You can bury it pretty deep down the web though can’t you? WC: Depending on what it is and depending on what the alternative news is out there. The very first rule of reputation management that I’ve always
“There definitely are people in our industry who would rather it [SEO] be seen as a dark art and a mystery...”
Assuming that they stop doing the stupid stuff, it then comes down to how effectively you can cover up the embarrassing behaviour that they displayed in the past?
“In the modern, connected, socially-networked world, it’s pretty much impossible to bury bad news.” SS:
They want to know the real you, not the airbrushed you, but your job is really to promote the most positive view of you or any subject and that isn’t always the most truthful is it?
WC: So the activity we would be doing is promoting the new stuff, whatever it might be. But that is not an activity that hides anything else. It’s simply presenting both sides of an argument. There is no way to remove existing stories from the internet once they’ve finished.
SS:
Are you saying that if a client approaches you saying, “my priority here is to ensure that it is as difficult as possible to access information about x, y or z, that I’m rather unhappy about”, are you saying that you’ve refused to do that for clients because that wasn’t truthful or morally right?
WC: No, what I would say to each of them is that you have to realise that stuff is always going to be able to be found. We can’t remove it, we can’t make it that hard to find. To be perfectly honest, the search engines these days are phenomenally good at presenting a variety of views of someone. When you search for a particularly controversial subject on Google for example, you will find that they actively return differing views on that first page the search is on. So, I do counsel my clients that you can definitely put a good story forwards but you can’t remove the other stuff, and that definitely has resulted in us not working with some individuals.
Interview conducted with Will Critchlow October 2011.
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Advertising feature sponsored by BBC World News.
TARGETING GENERATED MORE REVENUE THE CHALLENGE: Dell’s website had swarms of visitors…but too many were leaving without making a purchase. We needed to find a way to leverage stored data from cookies—which could clearly indicate which products or type of products each shopper was interested in or maybe even intending to purchase—to increase engagement and keep their Dell.com experience top-of-mind after they left the site. OUR SOLUTION: We mixed cutting-edge technology with creative ingenuity to totally cut out inefficient advertising! We drastically improved the customer experience by increasing the relevancy of the advertising message seen by individual users, while minimising wastage and increasing engagement. HOW WE MADE A DIFFERENCE: In an industry-leading move, we developed a model that merged behavioural targeting technologies capturing prospects’ visit history with dynamic creative tools that built customised messaging. Ads feature products from each consumer’s visit history, keeping them fresh days after visiting Dell’s website. We tagged hundreds of pages within Dell’s site—something few other blue chip advertisers have done—to pinpoint the reason for each visit, based on the products the visitor viewed, searched for, placed in their shopping cart or purchased. Our model recognised these prospects via a cookie, then retargeted them with customised ads on their next visit to an outside website running Dell advertising. So, if someone placed an Inspiron laptop in their shopping cart but exited before purchasing, that consumer would receive an Inspiron ad later on, for instance, Yahoo.com. Other visitors might see ads for products they were researching, or be cross-sold on products they had purchased. RESULTS: Our targeting produced outstanding improvements across the board—click through rates, conversion and ROI. • • • •
Online ads with behavioural targeting converted nearly THREE times more than those without behavioural targeting! Behavioural targeted ads account for 42% of Dell’s online impressions…but they drive an amazing 83% of online advertising revenues Behavioural targeting impressions generate almost SEVEN times more revenue per impression served than non-targeted impressions Online ads with behavioural targeting had a 70% higher click-through rate
This campaign also won the US 2010 Creative Media Award for the Performance Media & Marketing category.
18
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
CONTENT CASES
SMART USE OF DATA GAVE EA THE BEST SELLING SPORTS VIDEO EVER BY PUTTING SMART USE OF DATA AT THE HEART OF OUR PLANNING, WE CHANGED EA’S COMMUNICATIONS AND BUSINESS MODEL AND CREATED THE MOST POPULAR SPORTS GAME IN HISTORY. OPPORTUNITY/PROBLEM: EA had a huge amount of data on people playing EA’s FIFA franchise – but weren’t doing anything with it. INSIGHTS: 14 billion minutes of playing data told EA what people are doing within the game but not what would bring more people into the franchise. We convinced EA that if we created a YouTube channel for all their football content, the combination of internal telemetry and external YouTube behavioural data would be powerful enough to change the way they did business for good. STRATEGY: For the first time we persuaded EA to launch the FIFA AV ad on YouTube and Facebook rather than on TV. This gave us data on 380.000 individuals, data that changed the way we approached planning in future. MAKING IT HAPPEN: Data changed our approach in four ways: CONTEXT: Distributing content and flighting media to coincide with engagement cycles, peaking on Sundays and in August. CONTENT: More people engaged with ‘tips and tricks’ so we developed bespoke coaching advice videos that delivered 1,5 million views in a week. COMMERCIAL: Reworking EA’s club agreements to get the most engaging content. MOBILE: Prompted exploration from EA to deliver the mobile game for free, as the data can prove more valuable than any loss in income. RESULTS: We delivered the best-selling sports video game of all time. And now EA need never use industry standard planning tools again.
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
19
ILLUSTRATION JACK HUDSON
CONTENT HACKING THE MEME CODE
20
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
HACKING THE MEME CODE THE SOCIAL NETWORK TIMELINE IS, IN EFFECT, A PERSONAL NEWSPAPER. OUR FRIENDS’ POSTS ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER OR GOOGLE+ TELL US WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THEIR WORLDS. BUT LIKE EVERY GREAT NEWSPAPER, THE TIMELINE ALSO LINKS US TO OTHER INFORMATION, NEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT THAT WE MIGHT LIKE. BY JOERG BLUMTRITT, MEDIACOM GERMANY It is often said that our timeline is, in fact,
filter bubble” by author and entrepreneur
hearder to reach some audiences through
a filter. We see only what our community
Eli Pariser. The word bubble in this case
the classic communication channels.
of selected friends post. If someone posts
has a thoroughly ambivalent meaning:
things on social networks that we are
a bubble that surrounds us, in which we
Advertising is perhaps more sensitive to
not interested in, we will “unfollow” or
are somehow trapped, because we no
this development than any other form of
“uncircle” him or her sooner or later –
longer see the reality outside clearly; the
communication. However, it also becomes
depending on our mood, on the strength
second meaning of course is that of a
increasingly difficult to reach out to
of our relationship and the “netiquette”,
soap bubble that will burst sooner or later
audiences, be it for advertising, political
the rules of courtesy in social media
like any other piece of online hype. There
announcements or any other kind of
that everyone has to obey to remain an
is concern that this bubble could not
communication. This filter bubble process
accepted member.
only diminish the quality of serendipity
will add a new dimension to the rising
inherent in networks such as the internet,
complexity of communications planning
Advertising, in particular, seems to be
but also the ability of advertisers to reach
that we have to take into consideration.
content that only very rarely passes
new audiences.
through this filter, if at all. Just as we would
Social media platforms provide multiple technological means to make this filter-
avoid people pushing unwarranted business
THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE CHANGES FOR MASS MEDIA
towards us. Thus, the timeline might be the
The rise of social media has been
invisible to their users. By organising our
toughest spam-filter there is.
accompanied by the decline of mass media.
contacts into groups, lists or circles, users
Although it is undisputed that the 30’’ TV
are encouraged to (re)create hierarchies of
This phenomenon of a highly sophisti-
spot is still the most effective means of
relevance (“inner circle”, “extended circle”,
cated algorithm combined with a social
advertising and is likely to remain that way
“nuisance circle”, “spam”). Thus content
prediction engine has been named “the
for a long time, it is becoming harder and
posted by someone from the “buddies”
in our “meatspace” communities, we try to
process even more seamless, effective and
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
21
ILLUSTRATION JACK HUDSON
circle might get a totally different amount
impact Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
edit the predicted preferences of these
of attention compared to content from
How will searchmarketing specialists
algorithms in the way that Google, for
someone in the “business partners” or
in the future be able to guarantee that
example, does on http://www.google.
“opinion leaders” circle.
you’ll get a top-10 search ranking? For
com/ads/preferences. This might become
SEO purposes it will thus also become
more common following the EU Privacy
MY INTERNET DOES NOT LOOK THE SAME WAY YOURS DOES
important to see the URLs of websites we
Directive that became effective in May
want to promote recommended as often as
this year and will be implemented in
A third layer – after the timeline and the
possible by being posted or tweeted.
national legislation soon.
reality” is created by Google and other
The targeting of display ads can be
Finally, the media consumption of the
search engines that use the selections made
improved in the same way. This is, of
classic channels is also affected by the filter
by users in their social media profiles (time-
course, a good thing at first, since cam-
bubble. Studies have shown that nothing
line, circles) as input for their algorithms
paigns will perform more efficiently and
influences a consumer’s choice more
to provide the most relevant results for our
the user will experience more relevant
heavily than the recommendation they
queries. These technologies take content
advertising. But, at the same time, the
get through their timeline, which thereby
posted by our friends to predict what would
inventory that addresses a broad audi-
becomes a screen that might preselect what
be relevant for us.
ence, maximising reach - a prerequisite in
someone would watch or read. It’s not only
building brand awareness - becomes
media consumption – our brand prefer-
more fragmented.
ences also start to be affected by the posts
circles – between the user and “outside
We can no longer expect to be shown any kind of objective search ranking, instead
22
from our community to our circles, friends
we will get our very own list of results
Thus social media works as a filter,
that might be completely different from
induced by the user, but also selects what
that of our colleagues or neighbours.
the user gets recommended by search
MEANINGFUL BRANDS
Google translates this into what it thinks
engines and display advertising. Very
One side effect is that the meaning of
we would find relevant. This will heavily
few platforms allow users to access and
brands in people’s lives changes. With
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
and our timeline.
mass media advertising, the most
Brands that contribute something of
Business Review, has coined the term
valuable brands would have been those
value to a community, something that not
‘meaningful brands’ in opposition to the
that gave their buyers a sense of prestige.
only the buyer but the whole community
more conventional ‘aspirational brands’ that
Conspicuous consumption is based on
can benefit from, will be the brands that
we previously bought into.
mass communication. It requires that
succeed. They will be more likely to show
others easily recognise what brands
up in their buyers’ posts, telling their
With the ‘meaningful brands’ we have a
we buy.
friends, “look, I care about all of you”.
first hint of how advertising within the
When the process of building brand
THE MEME
that, and in addition to the obvious - the
preferences gets somehow atomised, as
So far we have been mostly looking at
personal statements, the thoughts, and
we experience when enclosed within our
what gets filtered out. But what about the
emotions that people share with their
filter-bubble might still work. Apart from
THE FILTER BUBBLE WILL ADD A NEW DIMENSION TO THE RISING COMPLEXITY OF COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING THAT WE HAVE TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION filter bubbles, others may no longer notice
content that does make it inside our filter?
followers - there is a specific type of
the significance of our brand-choices. At
Since most users follow more people
content that gets propagated from one
the same time, it becomes increasingly
than they know in person, there must be
personal circle to the next, that is repeat-
important to show affiliation to your
something that gets through.
edly shared, retweeted, liked or whatever
community, to get acceptance and to be welcomed as a member.
4form of handling a certain platform Umair Haque, a writer for the Harvard
might provide.
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
23
You probably know what I am talking about
Two examples of how memetic images are shared within communities
when I mention these viral ideas: LOLCats, dramatic chipmunk, Nyan Cat, Sad Keanu, Goatse and Pedobar. Viral ideas and images like this can be described as ‘memes’. But more often, memes consist of more mundane images, such as pictures of food or birds that spread across the web. ‘Meme’ is an artificial word. It was created in behavioural biology to describe the way cultural ideas, symbols and practices get passed from one generation to the next. These ideas can self-replicate and adapt to a changing environment in the same way that genes do through the standard model of biological evolution. The meme is hence seen
The vertices represent the shared images, edges connect images posted by the same user. The left graph shows a set of images that get propagated with almost equal probability in the supporting community, the right graph shows an image that made its path into two separate communities before spreading further.
to be the cultural equivalent of the gene. There are different types of memes, depending on their way they propagate. Some get spread very rapidly, globally and evenly. Others are shared only in their own community – which needs not to have been defined otherwise; these
JOERG BLUMTRITT
images just tend to stop at some invisible border. Some images seem to virtually infect one community and then, after some time, jump over to the next, creating bubble-like structures in the social web, while others fade away proportionally to the distance of their point of origin. Before joining MediaCom, I did research with my long-time associate Benedikt Koehler, now COO of Ethority, to find out why some images and ideas had the power to become memetic. Even more interesting, we aimed to work out a way to brief creative people how to shape an image for a certain memetic task. So we set about hacking the meme code. The results will soon be published. And of course we will deploy our findings to create campaigns that are seen to be valuable and meaningful, or at least entertaining for our clients’ target audiences.
24
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
Joerg blogs under slow-media.net and can be followed on twitter.com/jbenno
Joerg Blumtritt (*1970) is managing director at MediaCom Germany. After his graduation in statistics and political sciences he started working as a researcher in behavioural sciences, focused on nonverbal communication. Projects were funded by EU Commission, German federal government and the MaxPlanck-Society. Subsequently he ran marketing and research teams for TV-channels ProSiebenSat.1, RTL II and magazine publisher Hubert Burda Media, introducing new qualitative methods like Netnography (< interNET ethNOGRAPHY) into media research. As European Operations Officer at Tremor Media, Joerg was in charge of building the New York-based video ad-network’s European Enterprises. He is founder and chairman of the German Social Media Association (AG Social Media) and is co-author of the Slow Media Manifesto.
ILLUSTRATION JACK HUDSON
CONTENT HACKING THE MEME CODE
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
25
CONTENT THE DATA WARS
THE DATA WARS BY DANIEL NYE GRIFFITHS
WHO CONTROLS INFORMATION ABOUT WHERE CONSUMERS GO ONLINE AND WHAT THEY DO THERE? TAKE A WALK IN THE NEW WALLED GARDENS OF THE INTERNET. An often-repeated statistic reveals that the
THE RISE OF THE DATA BARONS
buy, or look at, the better the personal
human race created 5 exabytes (5 billion
The Bulgarian politician and consumer
recommendations they can offer. As the
gigabytes) of data between the dawn of
representative Meglena Kuneva called
company has evolved from an internet
time and 2003. It’s now generating the
personal data “the oil of the internet.”
bookstore to a hypertext hypermarket
same amount every two days.
Some companies, either as an objective
and now to selling devices on which
or consequence of their business models,
to consume media from its own data
The numbers are open to question, but the
have established themselves as current or
centres, its needs have grown. Amazon
broad thrust is clear: we are creating a
potential “data barons”.
now adds enough server capacity every
mind-mangling amount of data. Data
day to contain the global infrastructure
that can be mined for meaning and
Facebook is often the focus of bitter
created in the first five years of its life.
value extracted.
disputes around data and privacy issues.
The amount of customer data it generates
This matters because of Facebook’s sheer
has grown apace.
Customer information has always had
size: it has reached 800 million members
an intrinsic and an extrinsic value. The
and nothing seems likely to keep it from ten
With the introduction of the Kindle Fire
intrinsic value lies in understanding
figures. Recently, 500 million people logged
opens an interesting new element to the
customers better, and being able to provide
into Facebook in the course of a single day.
way data flows through Amazon’s servers.
better products and offers as a result.
To compensate for the slow processor of The majority of Facebook’s revenue now
this media-focused tablet, Amazon plans to
The extrinsic value is sometimes in selling
comes from advertising - in 2010 an
use its own cloud computing resources to
databases of customer information –
estimated $1,86 billion, with estimates for
cut up the meat of websites before serving
although this is generally unpopular with
the full year in 2011 up to $3,80 billion. The
them to the tablet – compressing content to
customers and raises privacy issues – and
reason Facebook is raking in so much ad
an appropriate quality level.
in increasing the accuracy and thus the
revenue? Because buying the ads is the only
value of advertising opportunities.
way to profit from Facebook’s vast store
In practical terms, the page request will be
of customer data; you specify your target
made by Amazon’s cloud and then routed
As the web increased in popularity and
audience and they deliver the ads to readers
to the device from there, meaning that
usage, brands and media companies used
who fit the demographic profile.
even if the data is aggregated and stored
their web presences to gather information
26
anonymously it could theoretically be used
and recruit subscribers. However, web-
Amazon has always had a clear reason
to improve associations and even to deliver
native companies – companies built on
to gather customer information; the
targeted advertising – for Amazon products
and for the internet – arose and began to
more information they have on the kinds
or third parties – on the page that arrives
outperform the old guard.
of products buyers of product x also
on the user’s screen.
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
A cynic might point out that this makes the
across a number of high street and online
publisher a content provider, with Apple
retailers, providing material for profiled
owning the relationship.
data analysis.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The sample numbers may not be as great
Unusual situations lead to strange bedfel-
on a global scale, but for brands looking for
lows. Google, which until it took steps to
analysis in specific target regions this may
hamper searches for file sharing at the
be a benefit. Loyalty programmes offer a
start of this year was regularly attacked
clear benefit to consumers in exchange for
for facilitating the death of the traditional
information – just as Facebook effectively
media, has emerged as a possible ally
rewards users for their data by providing a
for publishers.
social network.
In France, several news publishers have
Ultimately, brands and media producers
united to sell their iPad and iPhone content
in the physical world need to deduce what
through epresse.fr, an app outside Apple’s
will persuade customers to share their
Newsstand. Obviously it will be left out of
data, match the methods of the technology
what will presumably be the first port of
platforms and make smart alliances to
call for magazines on iOS 5 devices, and
approach their scale.
from the benefits of tight integration with US Congressman Edward Markey has
the OS. Instead they plan to expand the
The chances of replacing or forcing open
platform to other devices and to the web.
tech platforms do not look great, ultimately.
written to Amazon asking for clarification
Once established, a dominant player like
of what information the Fire’s browser will
The web could, ultimately, play a larger
Facebook (in social networks) or Apple (in
collect and how it will be used. As is often
role. “Web apps” - mobile apps that route
mobile media) can usually only be swayed
the case, there is a balance between deliver-
out to mobile websites instead of working
by concerted, unified industry action or
ing an improved service and maintaining
natively on the phone or tablet - are often
by legislation – which will usually seek to
privacy and confidentiality.
derided for their lack of offline function and
limit rather than facilitate the sharing of
one-size-fits-all structure. However, HTML5
customer data. There are, however, some
When it comes to owning the screen, it’s
– still in development, but supported
advantages to this situation.
impossible to miss Apple. In June 2011,
piecemeal on mobile devices – adds several
the iTunes store had 225 million accounts
elements to make the experience more
The technology and media sectors are
with credit cards attached. In common
“app-like”, including, vitally, offline storage.
full of “frenemies” – companies that are
with Amazon and Facebook, a key element
The Financial Times, with the advantage
simultaneously rivals and partners. The
of these accounts is that they are provid-
of a well-known brand, is a notable early
frenemy model might apply to these data
THERE IS A BALANCE BETWEEN DELIVERING AN IMPROVED SERVICE AND MAINTAINING PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY ing personally identifiable information,
adopter, directing readers to app.ft.com
aggregators as well. Their position at the
tied not just to music purchases but phone
rather than the Apple App Store and thus
head of the river may mean that they collect
apps, movies and increasingly media
avoiding the App Store’s regulations.
huge amounts of data, but it also mean that
through the App Store.
they have the resources to store, manage
LOYALTY PROGRAMMES
and analyse it to the point where its use for
With the Newsstand service in iOS 5, Apple
Apps, native or otherwise, are not the only
targeting on behalf of advertisers becomes
has raised its game, aggregating magazines
option for companies looking for enhanced
a salable asset.
into one place rather than hosting multiple
consumer understanding, of course.
apps, increasing the convenience for brows-
The walled gardens, in this light, are more
ers – and, the argument goes, the sales
Traditional consortium loyalty schemes
like the gardens of stately homes than
for content providers. But there is a price
such as Nectar have been doing many of the
feudal castles. You have to pay to get access,
to pay – not just a 30% cut, but the loss of
same things as Facebook and the like. Based
and you cannot take anything away, but,
customer data, which without an option
in Britain, Nectar cards can be used to earn
nonetheless, you are glad that someone else
click is kept in their Apple account.
and redeem loyalty points for purchases
is pruning the hedges.
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
27
M:FILES THE POWER OF EMPATHY
THE POWER OF
EMPATHY BY SUE UNERMAN, CSO, MEDIACOM UK
28
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
AT MEDIACOM WE PUT CONSUMERS AT THE HEART OF OUR PLANNING. AND TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THEM YOU HAVE TO WALK IN THE SHOES OF THE END-CONSUMER. WE CALL IT METHOD INSIGHT. THIS IS A PERSONAL STORY OF HOW METHOD INSIGHT BEGAN IN THE UK AND HAS BECOME PART OF OUR WORK AROUND THE WORLD. There is lots and lots of data available to analyse
off to find out what really made the consumer tick.
path to purchase and give us a microscopic look at
This is now mandatory on every client brief. We
digital media behaviour. We now know more than
believe passionately that no great strategy comes
ever about the consumer’s decision-making process
without great consumer insight, and for truly great
from studies by marketing research companies and
consumer insight Method Insight is a must.
Google Analytics. But none of the information that we can get from any of these sources can replace the
And it’s incredibly simple to do. Our planners for
power of empathy.
Müller have spent time lurking in the chilled food sections of supermarkets, our planners for Met Police
At MediaCom London we have been encouraging every
have been to hairdressers in Brixton and our planners
planner to put down the data and walk a mile or two
for holiday firm TUI spent a day meeting holiday-
in the target market’s shoes. Funnily enough for some
makers at Gatwick.
of us who have been working at MediaCom for a while, or in my case at the company MediaCom acquired at
One outstanding example was when Nicola Jopling
the turn of the last century, The Media Business, this is
spent an evening with her sister’s National Childcare
real back-to-our-roots stuff.
Trust group to understand how to sell baby monitors to pregnant mums. Nicola, who is single and has no plans
Before we had the resource and budgets to buy all
to become personally involved in pregnancy, neverthe-
the exciting research that we do now, we had no
less immersed herself in the group and picked up lots
alternative but to go out and find out about real
of great insights. Those insights helped her persuade
consumer behaviour for ourselves. In fact, one of the
the client to ditch the existing strategy, which involved
first things Nick Lawson – now our EMEA CEO – did
daytime TV and parenting magazines.
when he first joined the company a couple of decades ago was go out to Euston Station in London and ask
She was convinced that the true target market for
rush-hour commuters about early evening drinking
Tomy’s new baby monitor, which had a very premium
(I should point out that this was for a pitch for
price and substantial technical superiority over its
a wine company not because he was looking for
competition, was not the broad mum audience that
someone to go to the pub with!)
standard research measured. Instead, she wanted to go for upmarket pregnant opinion forming mums to
However, as the UK office grew in size, acquired
be... not an audience easily measured by standard
more data and, dare I say, more professional
industry research.
expertise, we noticed that our planners were turning to our brilliant Real World Insight team for consumer
This upmarket target audience worked and therefore
understanding. It worked very well but it also tended
didn’t watch daytime TV. On top of that they found
to mean that the planners were outsourcing insight
mother and baby magazines patronising. Instead
rather than trying to empathise with what their
they were hugely swayed by what a few years ago
target audiences were feeling.
was still a newish trend... blogs by mums online.
PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES
The new strategy involved winning over these Back in 2008 we were discussing how to cope with
bloggers by publishing their top tips for new mums
this situation – both the frequent bottleneck caused
in a leaflet that was then distributed via exhibitions,
by resources and the sense that there was sometimes
in-store and promoted by the bloggers themselves.
lack of emotional insight from some of the planning
And, of course, it promoted the Tomy monitor.
teams – when our strategy head Steve Gladdis came up with a brilliant solution: Method Insight.
It was an unusual solution that proved to be a huge success. And it was all because of Method Insight.
He suggested that we free the planners from their desks and the tyranny of too much data and send
Sue Unerman’s new book, Tell The Truth, which includes
them out to experience the consumer journey in
a fuller case study of the Tomy baby monitor,
person. So with a bit of guidance from Pauline
is now available for pre-order at Amazon.
Robson, head of Real World Insight, the planners set BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
29
CONTENT FINDING NEW MAGIC
FINDIN G NEW MAGIC HOW CAN BRANDS EARN TIME IN CONSUMERS’ LIVES? INNOVATOR FARIS YAKOB EXPLAINS HOW SCALE, EMPOWERMENT AND TECHNOLOGY CAN STILL DELIVER. BY FARIS YAKOB Advertisers are in a bind. Many fear they have too
media industrial complex and the advertising industry
little to say to attract and hold consumer attention.
were able to create and distribute culture. So when
In the past they could rely on traditional media own-
you saw such elements of culture, you couldn’t help
ers to reach consumers. By advertising in commercial
but be impressed.
breaks around the edges of content they could take advantage of the audience that shows had aggregated.
The exponential impact of Moore’s Law means that the computing power of a bespoke Silicon Graphics
30
Fragmentation has meant consumers are gathering in
workstation, as used to create the special effects for
big numbers less and less and that the cost of taking
Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park, can now be easily
advantage of the aggregation ability of others has
approximated on a consumer laptop. Digital techno-
become ever higher. The internet is the great disin-
logy has given every consumer the power to create
termediator, connecting everything to everything,
content. The monetary power of brands no longer
but this direct connection comes with a cost. Brands
buys them uniqueness. We can all make films, we
with little to say do not attract any attention in a
can all create web pages and we can all record our
world where communications are spread by consumer
own music. The magic that exclusive access to this
networks rather than broadcast ones.
technology used to deliver has evaporated.
However, the challenge isn’t simply about distribu-
Content producers – the role traditionally taken by ad
tion, it’s also about the means of production. Until
agencies in the marketing industry – no longer have
very recently, the ability to make something public,
exclusive access to the magic that is content creation.
to publish, to a mass audience, was a privileged act.
That isn’t to say the quality of “consumer-generated
The powers that be historically outlawed the ability
content” [a tellingly oxymoronic term] is on par with
to disseminate information – unlicensed printing
Hollywood production. Rather, the gap between not
presses were illegal, as they still are under certain
being able to do something and being able to do it is
modern regimes, such as in Malaysia under the
infinite, but the gap between being bad and excellent
Printing Presses and Publications Act of 1984. When
is simply one of degree. It’s hard to be amazed with
the age of mass media arrived, only governments, the
any technical wizardry on film when you grow up
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
with iMovie at your fingertips. But all is not doom
exclusively leverage the technologies for marketing.
and gloom for smart brands. They still have strategic
The problem with the blurring of the technology and
advantages in the eternal quest for consumer atten-
the communications industries, however, is that they
tion: technology and scale.
are divided by a common language. Words that should mean the same thing often mean something com-
Technology provides a canvas that is yet to be
pletely different to those on either side of the divide.
effectively colonised by the amateur and, as Arthur C. Clarke famously pointed out, any sufficiently
Take a simple word like platform. To a communica-
advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
tions specialist it means an idea or theme that all
Thus, technology provides a medium to amaze and
messages fit into, but to a technology expert it means
cut through the clutter of content.
an underlying technology that enables other products
IN THE AGE OF THE EMPOWERED CONSUMER, BRANDS NEED TO IDENTIFY WHAT THEY CAN DO THAT CONSUMERS CANNOT, HOW THEY CAN ADD SOMETHING TO THEIR LIVES Because technology companies often tout their latest
or services to be built on it. This means that collabo-
tools to brands and media owners to help drive
ration among disciplines can seem to be aligned when
uptake, brands have first user advantages.
it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. At the extreme, creative directors trained in writing or graphic design find themselves being asked
The Pepsi TEN project is an explicit manifestation of
to review algorithms they canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t understand, as code
this advantage. The consumer packaged goods giant
becomes a creative deliverable.
established a venture fund to support and partner with early stage technology start-ups in order to
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
31
CONTENT FINDING NEW MAGIC
For brands to take advantage of technology
an old example but it classically leverages
In the age of the empowered consumer,
and their first-access rights to new develop-
the consumer’s ability to make films and
brands need to identify what they can do
ments, they and their agents need to develop
incentivises them to participate with the
that consumers cannot, how they can add
common understanding. Often it is the role of
opportunity to see their ad in the biggest
something to their lives.
the strategist to translate business language
TV event of the year.
into creative inspiration. Increasingly
Technology may be part of the answer, if
additional translations are necessary, evinced
Scale can be delivered via access. For all
brands and technologists can learn to speak
by the formation of new agency roles, reverse
their digital tools, tablets and laptops won’t
the same language, but it could also be via
mentoring, and management training from
get you close to the big stars, although
the appropriate application of scale that
groups like HyperIsland.
Twitter disrupts even this advantage.
gives consumers something that even the
Brands can leverage their corporate
latest laptop, tablet or mobile cannot offer.
BRANDS DELIVER SCALE
might to provide access to things that an
The scale and complexity of multi-platform
The other area where brands still have an
individual’s money can’t buy. Coca-Cola
content presents an novel twist on the
advantage over empowered consumers is
experimented with an example of this
traditional competency – if brands can
their ability to deliver scale. Ironically this
when they sponsored a live, online 24-hour
effective harness transmedia storytelling,
is often most powerful when delivered in
recording session with the band Maroon 5.
we may find a kind of content that consum-
traditional media environments. Digital
The band composed and recorded a track,
ers once again think of as magical.
channels may now deliver massive reach
aided by feedback and suggestions from
but the almost infinite nature of the web
people online in real time.
means it can lack the cultural impact of
@faris www.farisyakob.com
TV and the associated media that reports
Scale can also deliver empowerment. Pepsi
on it. Fragmentation leads to the counter
Refresh is an unconventional example
Faris Yakob is Chief Innovation Officer
intuitive fact that things can be incredibly
that allows consumers to get behind their
at MDC Partners’ kbs+ and co-founder of
popular on the internet and yet you may
favorite local group. Scale enabled them
creative technology shop Spies&Assassins.
never hear about it.
to gain access to funds that made a real difference to the causes their consumers
Scale can be delivered in terms of audience.
cared about and as a result the campaign
Doritos Crash the Superbowl campaign is
has been spread via their networks.
TECHNOLOGY PROVIDES A MEDIUM TO AMAZE AND CUT THROUGH THE CLUTTER OF CONTENT
32
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4 #3
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M:FILES QUIZ
HOW CLOSE IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP? BRANDS NEED TO BE CLOSER THAN EVER TO THEIR CONSUMERS, BUT ARE WE TAKING ALL POSSIBLE STEPS TO UNDERSTAND, INTERACT AND ENGAGE? ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS TO FIND OUT IF YOUR BRAND COMMUNICATIONS ARE FIT FOR PURPOSE. When was the last time your brand conducted a social media listening study? A In the last three months B In the last six months C Never
How many of your staff can interact with consumers? A All our staff are empowered to tweet and post on social networks within clear guidelines B We have an intern who tweets for us C The people who work in store do that for us
Have you optimised your website for mobile? A Yes, for Android and Apple B I think so C What website?
When did you last create some content? A We’ve got a rolling programme of content and events B We run an event once a year and then try to spin it out for as long as possible C The ad agency posts our commercials on YouTube
What incentives do you offer consumers to join your digital community? A Money off vouchers, bespoke content and invites to meet the team events B Money off deals C Business is about commerce not community Can customers return online purchases in-store? A Of course and we give them a voucher for free postage next time B No, it’s too difficult for our internal IT system to tie the two together C All online sales go through affiliates What media channel is the most important for reaching your target audience? A They all work together and are planned as whole B Online spend has just hit 10% but TV is still the strongest medium C We plan our TV and then see what money we have left
What are your customers really passionate about? A We know they love sports so we sponsor matches and give them the chance to meet their heroes. B We hope they are passionate about our products and services C I don’t care as long as they buy my stuff
WHO ARE YOU? Mostly As: Congratulations, you are a ready-for-action 2012 marketer. To stay up-to-date your focus should now be on content and possibilities of 4G mobile. Mostly Bs: You are a Millennium marketer. You’re moving in the right direction but still have a way to catch up. Real World Insights can help ensure that your communications keep up with the expectations of modern consumers. Mostly Cs. I know the 1980s are fashionable again but you can do much better. It’s time to ditch the shoulder pads, get some sneakers and go online. Visit www. google.com or any other search engine and type MediaCom. Call your local office and we’d be happy to help you become a marketer of the future. ILLUSTRATION FERNANDO VOLKEN TOGNI
How much do you know about your most profitable consumers? A We hold regular, exclusive events for our biggest spenders B I think they like us on Facebook C We have their credit card details
CHRISTIAN GODSKE Christian Godske is Head of Digital at MediaCom Denmark. One of his professional milestones was when, as EMEA Client Service Director for Nokia, he helped launch the biggest online multiplayer experience “Nokia Games”. Christian is an external lecturer and a much soughtafter speaker on social media, new media and trends.
A CROWDED PLACE STEPHEN BENSON IS AN EXPERT IN CROWDSOURCING AND HAS DEVELOPED A BUSINESS MODEL THAT INCLUDES A STRONG SOCIAL ELEMENT. IN THIS INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTIAN GODSKE HE EXPLAINS WHY CROWDSOURCING IS SUCH A POWERFUL TOOL. STEPHEN BENSON: Innovation Exchange is an
about who has the most gifted employees – because
online global innovation network that helps Fortune
we all know you can never have enough – and it
500 companies solve their innovation challenges in
is not about who has the best equipped Research
the broad business areas of product development,
and Development labs – because lots of companies
marketing, sales, operations, designs, supply chain
have those and lots of companies have failed. It is
and research. We do it by tapping into that collective
more about who has access to the most compelling
intelligence and resources of a proprietary network
innovation community and that just does not mean
global community of innovators and we believe that it
your customers and it just doesn’t mean one or two
is our understanding of the physics and the psycho-
strategic suppliers.
logy of online communities that makes us successful. We make sure that the right people collaborate and
We believe it is a global community of resources and
with the right virtual teams on the right projects for
people that you need to have access to and so we’ve
the optimal results for our clients.
established the Innovation Exchange as a source for that whole process.
The Innovation Exchange platform is designed to
36
govern the process and create a community that
CHRISTIAN GODSKE: Crowdsourcing is noth-
becomes more productive the more that it is engaged
ing new and we have seen some great cases like
with, and a community where people network and
Wikipedia and even commercially focused ones, like
learn from each other too.
Dell Ideastorm. But why does it stay relevant?
We built this business model because we have a
SB: The actual concept of reaching out to people
firm belief that sustained innovation is no longer
for solutions has been around since the 1700s. In
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
STEPHEN BENSON
Q&A A CROWDED PLACE
Stephen Benson is the founder of the crowdsourcing organisation, Innovation Exchange. Since starting the business in 2007 he has worked with some of the world’s largest brands.
1714 the measurement of longtitude was a problem
things and certain challenges lend themselves better
that came into sharp focus as people began making
just having somebody solve it through an internal
transoceanic voyages. The British government
employee and some challenges lend themselves better
realised this was something that needed to be
to maybe look outside the company’s four walls.
unlocked and offered a £20.000 reward to anyone who could come up with a simple and precise method
CG: How does a company get started using crowd-
of determining a ship’s longtitud. Numerous awards
sourcing? And how do you motivate and initiate that
were given against the challenge.
crowdsourcing experience? Is that all done internally through the company or through a million dollar
So reaching out to people to solve problems is not
competition to come up with the best idea?
new. What is new is our ability to connect and our ability to communicate with people on a global scale.
SB: It’s not necessarily always a million dollar
I think social relationships have been completely
competition. We have spent a lot of time working
redefined by the internet and some of the techno-
with academics because we wanted to get a real
logy that is going on. I think who we know now is
understanding of how people operate in network
becoming much more important than what we own.
communities online. What motivates them? This
We are right now at a crossroads where the world is
has resulted in us developing a couple of algorithms
really too fast, too complex and too networked for
with between 120-150 variables that identify what
any company to have all of the answers internally.
motivates somebody to actually participate in a particular challenge.
I think organisations have come to the realisation that they need to look across disciplines and they need to
And the financial variable is sometimes weighted
look across sectors to find the innovations that will
fairly low. To get started we make a broad or narrow
matter tomorrow. It is not necessarily all going to
call to action to our community. But it is always
come out of their Research and Development (R&D).
a well-managed process, it is not just to throw something against the wall and see what sticks.
CG: Can crowdsourcing replace R&D? CG: Out of those 150 variables that makes people SB: No. I am a firm believer in saying that we do
want to join, what would you say would be the
not replace R&D departments we are just an adjunct
main incentive for consumers to participate in
to them. We are an extra tool in an organisation’s
crowdsourcing? And is it something that people can
innovation tool box. Crowdsourcing is just an extra
actually make a living of?
little tool that organisations can use to reach certain
BLINK #3 | MEDIACOM
37
Q&A A CROWDED PLACE
SB: Well making a living obviously depends. Do
financial piece being just one small component which
our incentives have the ability to make a life
has a different weight for different people.
change for certain people? Absolutely. We have a team in Romania who worked on a challenge and
CG: Is crowdsourcing something that can be used
were successful and our client purchased that for
by all brands and all sectors from consumer brands,
$100.000. $100.000 goes a lot further in Romania
businesses, business to business and that can be used
than in the US. We also have another team who used
for all challenges? So what’s really the range here?
their reward payment as seed money for a business they’d always wanted to start so they quit their jobs
SB: We are a firm believer here that certain chal-
and followed their dream.
lenges aren‘t designed for the Innovation Exchange. If you need specialisation you might want to look
However, I believe that you will see the financial
somewhere else. We thrive on challenges that require
reward being taken out of the equation more and
a broad diversity of thinking. Here is a silly analogy
more as crowdsourcing evolves. Instead the whole
to make my point: I wouldn’t want somebody doing
WHO WE KNOW IS BECOMING MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT WE OWN social aspect is something that will grow and the
a medical operation on me if they have diverse
financial aspect is something that will diminish.
experience in all sorts of things. I want a person who
I don’t have to pay a $100.000 reward but I have to
is doing that medical operation to be a specialist in
do something else, something that is socially relevant
that specific area. So that challenge is best tended by
to the folks and the organisation that are working on
someone who is a deep specialist.
the challenges. CG: Do you see any differences region by region? Some of the motivating factors that we have seen
We know from commercial online behavior that
coming more to the fore include peer recognition
there is great variation in how much different regions
and just the creative and intellectual challenge of
participate. South America and the APAC are much
being able to solve something that a Fortune 500
more likely to be ‘content creators’ than Europe
might not be able to. Crowdsourcing is a creative
for example.
and intellectual challenge in and of itself and people get motivated by many different things with the
38
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
SB: We do not experience that difference. Our
community has 192 countries represented and we do get a significant amount of solutions coming in from Europe. It is probably because we are a community with dedicated participants. CG: Do you think a business like Innovation Exchange is required, especially for more complicated crowdsourcing projects. Or could a company just put out a
SB: I think they are becoming smaller and I think
challenge on the internet and say here’s a banner, and
they are being integrated into very many different
here’s a million dollars if you solve that question?
areas. Initially when we started out it was the marketing guys who saw the value of this. Now we’re
SB: That becomes an electronic suggestion box and we
seeing all sorts of different elements of a business
are definitely not an electronic suggestion box. This
organisation getting involved and saying “hey, we
isn’t a technology play at all. So anybody can throw up
have an issue and a problem, I wonder if the com-
a piece of technology, which is an electronic suggestion
munity could solve it”
I BELIEVE THAT YOU WILL SEE THE FINANCIAL REWARD BEING TAKEN OUT OF THE EQUATION MORE AND MORE AS CROWDSOURCING EVOLVES box and say “hey... here’s a question”, here’s a million
CG: So there is no doubt that this is becoming more
dollars, give me your suggestions” and that is a viable
common, so it is becoming a part of any serious
thing to do and organisations have been successful
business toolbox for solving problems basically.
doing that. However, we have a much more managed process and although it is called open innovation, it is
SB: Yes, I fully see it as that.
open with a managed structure behind it. CG: In general where do you see crowdsourcing heading from a more practical perspective. Are the projects becoming bigger more elaborate or are they becoming smaller and more relevant for everyday use?
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
39
CONTENT DIGITAL PERSUASION
DIGITAL PERSUASION TRADITIONAL SALES PSYCHOLOGY IS BEING UPDATED FOR THE DIGITAL AGE. MAURITS KAPTEIN EXPLAINS HOW “PERSUASION PROFILES” WILL HELP CREATE MORE EFFECTIVE MESSAGES AND IMPROVE RESULTS. What kind of shopper are you? Do you
What “persuasion profiles” potentially tell
communications raises a number of
always buy the most popular items? Do you
brands and governments is whether you
wider issues.
look to see what your friends are buying?
are more likely to respond to a message
Do you look at the newspaper reviews
based on authority, whether you are more
WITH US NOW
before buying a new book?
likely to respond to scarcity or whether
The use of psychological strategies is
you are more likely to respond positively
already part of the world we live in. They
to someone you like?
are used in DirectLife, Philips’s health and
Questions like these lie at the heart of a new set of techniques that are just starting to
weight management tool, which guides
be applied to e-commerce, lifestyle changes
They can be applied across all aspects
and almost any facet of your life.
of your behaviour and ultimately could
consumers towards a healthier lifestyle.
become tradable data valued on the basis
They can be seen in apps like MyZEO, which
Such “persuasion profiles” differ from the
of their ability to boost conversion rates
is designed to help people sleep better.
personal recommendations we know and,
and improve take-up of other changes
Devices and tools such as these rely on
sometimes love, from Amazon and iTunes,
desired by governments, service providers
what are called influences strategies, which
which are based on purchase patterns and
and campaigners.
are designed to increase their effectiveness.
an understanding of our psychology rather
In essence, they are the digital equivalent
Some researchers specify more than 100
than the relevance of a particular book or
of the salesperson’s skill in sizing up a
influence strategies or ways to convince
music track.
customer and working out what message
people to adopt a certain pattern of
about his or her product is most likely
behaviour but there are six core principles
They are also a step beyond online
to convince them to buy. But while
of persuasion.
behavioural targeting in that they detail not
their use on a one to one basis is as old
what we have been looking at but rather
as the human race, their widespread
what messages we are likely to respond to.
adoption and automated inclusion in
behaviour on site, in that they are based on
40
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
CORE PRINCIPLES OF PERSUASION RECIPROCITY People feel obligated to return a favour, thus when a persuasive request is made by a person the receiver is in debt to, the receiver is more inclined to adhere to the request. SCARCITY When something is scarce, people will value it more. Announcing that a product or service is scarce will favor the evaluation and increase the chance of purchase. AUTHORITY When a request or statement is made by a legitimate authority, people are more inclined to comply or find the information credible.
COMMITMENT AND CONSISTENCY People do as they said they would. People try to be consistent with previous or reported behaviour, resolving cognitive dissonance by changing their attitudes or behaviours to achieve consistency. If a persuasive request aligns with previous behaviour people are more inclined to comply. CONSENSUS People do as other people do. When a persuasive request is made people are more inclined to comply when they are aware that others have complied as well. LIKING We say â&#x20AC;&#x153;yesâ&#x20AC;? to people we like. When a request is made by someone we like, we are more inclined to act accordingly.
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
41
CONTENT DIGITAL PERSUASION
In fact, each of these six influence
persuasion profiles with Dean Eckles at
The homepage of the online store presents
strategies can be seen in an e-commerce
Stanford University, I wanted to see how
a random collection of 40 products
domain, so reciprocity can be delivered
they might be applied in a real world
together with pictures and a single
when online stores offer a small gift to
context. In partnership with a new Dutch
sentence description. Once a visitor clicks
consumers; scarcity includes limited time
children’s clothing store, kinder-kleetjes.
on one of the products (or enters the site
offers; authority is recommendations;
com, I tested two of these influence strat-
using a search term directly pointing at
commitment strategies could include
egies while monitoring store performance
a product page) a product is displayed
a wish list; consensus would include
before and during our experiment.
which shows a large image and a textual
showing how many other people had also
description of the product.
bought these products in question; while
THE EXPERIMENT
liking could be the use of social media to
Kinder-kleertjes.com offers a selection of
We decided to offer a three-strategy
promote what your friends had bought.
more than 1.200 products, via two affili-
choice – no influence strategy, scarcity
While such techniques are a common part
ate programmes and the website aims to
(“special offer”) and consensus (“best
WHAT “PERSUASION PROFILES” POTENTIALLY TELL BRANDS AND GOVERNMENTS IS WHETHER YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO RESPOND TO A MESSAGE THAN ANOTHER of the e-commerce palette, what’s new
attract traffic via search. Running since
seller”). Every other factor including price
is the application of them to you as an
July 2010, it is a small site with an average
remained consistent.
individual. So that the sales tactic used
of nearly 400 visitors each month during
to make you buy is intentionally different
the six-month experiment. I monitored
Consumers who clicked through would
from the pitch I get and based on your
click-throughs and average purchase
either see no text or a message that
(and my) previous behaviour.
per visitor from July until October 21
read “This clothing item is available
to provide a baseline for our month-
today at a special discount rate” for the
long experiment.
scarcity strategy and “This is one of our
Having developed the concept of
42
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
best-selling clothing items” to appeal to
using our adaptive persuasion algorithm.
consensus seekers.
As with other consumer data, it’s possible to envisage a market for these profiles
VALUING THESE PROFILES
developing subject to existing constraints
Consumers would get a particular message,
Because such profiles and strategies can
on data usage. Such potential transfers
initially most often based on what was
deliver improvements in performance,
create ethical issues because, once
proving most successful, but as users
they clearly have a value for anyone who
constructed, the profiles can be used for
looked at multiple items we were able to
seeks to change consumer behaviour.
ends not anticipated by its designers.
apply learnings about them as individuals to
Companies or organisations that we visit
see if we could convert them.
infrequently might rely on probability
Then there’s the issue of ownership. Do
tools such as algorithms to decide which
individuals have access to their complete
We attracted 831 unique visitors during our
strategy to apply, but for a retailer such
persuasion profiles or other indicators of
trial and, while our adaptive persuasion took
as Amazon that we might visit frequently,
the contents of the profiles? Are individuals
time to learn what might work best, both
it could be worth building up a complex
compensated for this valuable information?
the scarcity and consensus strategies sig-
individual profile.
nificantly outperformed the “No Strategy” implementation within two weeks.
What if an individual wants to use the And, unlike recommendations for books
hypothetical persuasion profile created
and music, persuasion profiles could
by Amazon to jump-start and improve the
During our baseline period, 14,4% of the
be applied across product sectors. For
effectiveness of a mobile exercise coach,
users of the site eventually clicked on one of
example, the profile constructed from
would they be able to obtain and transfer
the products and were taken to the vendor’s
observing a user’s online shopping
this profile?
home page. With our adaptive persuasion
behaviour could be of use in increasing
techniques in use this increased to 18,3%.
compliance in saving energy.
We’ve since repeated the experiment using
Not only could persuasion profiles be
only half the customer base as our test and
used across different contexts within a
Maurits Kaptein is a Ph.D. candidate at
the other half as our base level. The aim
single organisation but there is the option
the Technical University of Eindhoven in
was to remove any element of seasonality
of exchanging the persuasion profiles
The Netherlands
from our results. Once again click-through
between corporations, governments, other
rates increased, up from 9,4% to 13,5%
institutions, and individuals.
It’s early days and the answers haven’t been resolved.
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
43
CONTENT NEW PATH TO PURCHASE
ONE OF THE LASTING EFFECTS OF THE RECESSION IS THAT CONSUMERS REMAIN PRICE SENSITIVE AND VALUE CONSCIOUS
44
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4 #3
DIGITAL RETAILERS’ NEW PATH TO PURCHASE
THE UNSTOPPABLE MARCH OF DIGITAL MARKETING IS FORCING RETAIL BRANDS TO FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORM THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH SHOPPERS. BY TRICIA NICHOLS, MANAGING PARTNER, MEDIACOM US Retailers, reliant on a traditional bricks-and-
What retailers have learnt is that innovation and
mortar heritage, face a complex task of maintaining
creativity are no longer aspirational luxuries for
relevance to an increasingly elusive consumer base.
retail marketers: they are business essentials.
The question we are increasingly asked is: how do
CIRCULAR PATH TO PURCHASE
brands take advantage of all the shiny new toys
Recently I was discussing these challenges with
in the digital playpen to both drive traffic to their
Gwen Morrison, CEO of The Store, The Americas and
physical shopping environments and maximise
Australasia, the retail hub of the WPP Group. Her view
e-commerce potential?
was that technology has changed the path to purchase.
Our answer is always that the solution must be a
“It used to be that the path to purchase was linear,” she
seamless integration of the virtual environment with
said. “A retailer would build brand affinity, followed
the physical one in a way that’s fresh, dynamic,
by a call-to-action, which would trigger the consumer
and interactive.
to put the product into the shopping cart and go. Now, with all of the digital tools at the consumer’s disposal,
Many retailers have been tentative about pursuing
the path to purchase is more of a circular one.”
such a strategy in the past. However, with no slowdown in the mass proliferation of technology and
What this means is that thanks to social media
the fragmentation of media platforms, what we find
and geo-social applications, the consumer has now
is that the sector is facing up to the sobering reality
circumvented – or even “toppled”– the traditional
of increasing consumer control and a purchase path
purchase path. Consumers now have the ability to
that‘s ever harder to manage.
research product information via Google, Facebook
BLINK #4 | MEDIACOM
45
CONTENT NEW PATH TO PURCHASE
and other social media, as well as from
digital is generally cheaper than spending
shoppers who are yearning for richer
manufacturer websites. Increasingly, it
in traditional media, the pendulum could
retail experiences.
is only after extensive due diligence that
swing in its favour if or when margins and
consumers actually pull the trigger on
budgets are tightened.
brand purchases.
For instance, Bloomingdale’s recently created a very slick, high-tech fashion counter
Already brands are pushing us and we
at its flagship midtown Manhattan store.
The problem has been that while most
are constantly pushing the media owners
This beautiful environment is bursting with
retailers might rate a 10 for the emphasis
we work with to be cleverer in leveraging
digital video touting high-end cosmetics.
they put on digital in their marketing
digital opportunities in a more cost-
To promote it, the retailer surprised
plans, both MediaCom’s experience and The
effective manner. Until the economy turns
shoppers with a flash mob. Actors, posing
THE TRICK IS TO INTEGRATE RICH EXPERIENCES ONLINE WITH BRICKS-AND-MORTAR Store’s is that they often fall short when
we expect that many retailers won’t be
as shoppers, were recruited to drop their
it comes to actually committing the
able to invest in bricks-and-mortar capital
bags at an appointed hour and start dancing
required resources.
improvements, so the focus will be on the
at the cosmetics counter to loud music
digital arena as the place where they can
blaring from the store’s speakers. This
afford to make a difference.
impromptu dance party was videotaped by
“Allocating incremental resources is difficult when you aren’t making your numbers
Bloomingdale’s and then posted on YouTube
because of the most severe global economic
One of the lasting effects of the recession
downturn since the Great Depression,” is
is that consumers remain price sensitive
how Gwen expresses this conundrum.
and value conscious. Because times have
TAKING RETAIL FURTHER
been tough and could get tough again, they
It’s an approach that harks back to
DIGITAL OPPORTUNITIES
are demanding greater transparency and
the 1980s in some ways. “In the ‘80s,
Ironically, the increasingly precarious state
engaging experiences from retailers.
brands were striving to become a part
of the global economy could encourage
46
to great viral effect.
of the popular culture,” recalls Gwen.
marketers willingness to experiment with
Some smart bricks-and-mortar operations
“Nowadays, it is about going viral. The
digital. That sounds counterintuitive but
have been able to evolve through high-tech
trick is to integrate rich experiences
because investing and experimenting in
acting as a momentary escape for jaded
online with bricks-and-mortar.”
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
This is not to suggest that every retailer
also as a means of facilitating the shop-
RETURN-ON-INVOLVEMENT
should start contemplating their own
ping experience. Walgreens’ shoppers now
With all of these exciting new case studies
Bollywood bricks-and-mortar production;
have the ability to use smartphones to fill
involving online video, mobile and social
in fact, more subtle but progressive ideas
prescriptions and order photo prints in
media, have other retailers been inspired
that focus on practicality and service
advance, saving them time waiting in line
to follow suit? As often happens with new
to the consumer can be as effective
and placing orders. This also helps stores
technology, some retailers are remaining
as entertainment.
operate at peak efficiency.
tentative for longer than they need to.
For example, Topshop, the proprietor of
Finally, some daring marketers are
One thing that is holding many back is
stylish and trendy apparel, has installed
extending their brands out of the stores
the inability to track these new initiatives
virtual display technology near dressing
and into the streets. Gap launched its
to sales results. However, a new spin
rooms to allow shoppers to immediately
very own gourmet taco truck, dubbed Pico
on ROI is emerging in the retail sector,
see how they look in a particular outfit.
de Gap. The mobile unit promoted the
and ROI is being re-defined as Return-
Diesel in Spain has taken it a step further
brand’s newest 1969 denim offerings for
On-Involvement in many quarters. This
with the introduction of Diesel Cam,
the Fall season, while offering fun faire by
is based on the notion that if you create
THE CONSUMERS ARE DEMANDING GREATER TRANSPARENCY AND ENGAGING EXPERIENCES FROM RETAILERS which allows shoppers to photograph
TV chef Ryan Scott. To further the brand
more relevant, highly targeted offers with
themselves in Diesel clothing at the
message, two tacos and a drink were
sustained interaction (for which digital
physical store and post it on Facebook.
cleverly priced at $1,69 and, with a proof
media is the perfect platform), retailers
of a same-day Gap denim purchase; the
will develop more “high-value” shoppers.
American pharmacy chain Walgreens has
tacos were on the house. Visitors received
been successful in using mobile not only
a $20 coupon on the 1969 collection.
To me that would seem to be as close to
as a marketing medium—through which it
Truck destinations were unveiled on
the Holy Grail as you could find in retail.
offers coupons and other incentives—but
Twitter and Facebook
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INTERVIEW Q&A TIME -TOTIME Q&A GETTOACTIVE GET ACTIVE
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MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
TIME TO GET ACTIVE NU METRO FILMS IN SOUTH AFRICA RECENTLY PROMOTED THE HANGOVER PART II VIA A DIGITAL ACTIVATION THAT INVOLVED LOCAL ENTERTAINMENT BLOGGERS TAKING THEIR OWN HANGOVER-STYLE PARTY MARATHON AND BROADCASTING THE EXPERIENCE ON BLOGS, FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. Charlotte Archer, marketing manager at dis-
something different alongside our classic
experience of blogging, shooting and
tributor Nu Metro Films, talks to MediaCom
media to stand out from the crowd.
seeding videos online.
CS: What did you do?
We arranged for them to attend the
South Africa’s Cherylann Smith about why they did it, how they created engagement with young, male film-goers and what has been learnt from the experience.
premiere (accompanied by a stuffed tiger) CA: Our aim was to create something
and then enabled them to spend the rest
really different that said this film is
of the night engaging in activities that cre-
CHERYLANN SMITH: Why did you decide
coming. We knew traditional media would
ated a South African experience drawing
to run this type of activity for this film?
create awareness but we wanted to appeal
inspiration from the film’s major themes.
to the core 18-24-year-old male who might CHARLOTTE ARCHER: South Africa is
go with his mates or his girlfriend.
All the while they were creating content for our consumers with posts streamed
an incredibly diverse market – we have many different cultures here – and a lot of
We needed to speak to them in a way
onto their blogs, Facebook pages and
the times the promotions that are done in
that would titivate and excite, creating
Twitter feeds. In total we reached 36.000
other markets don’t work here.
an illusion of chaos while also ensuring
social media fans who then spread the
our content was in line with the spirit of
word via their own feeds.
At the same time the first Hangover film
the film.
had been incredibly successful. Audiences
Working alongside the traditional media,
attendances stayed high for weeks rather
We identified key voices in the digital
our digital activation helped Hangover
than dropping after the first weekend,
realm that had a following. Since people
Part II perform 20% better than the first
indicating the power of word of mouth for
follow people not brands we recruited
film at the box office, an impressive result!
this franchise. We wanted Hangover Part
entertainment bloggers Dan Nash and
II to enjoy the same success.
Mike Sharman.
The competition for audiences has become
Dan is owner of new media specialists
fiercer, even since the first Hangover film
Rubiks Room and owner of South Africa’s
CA: Digital PR and social content is
was released. There is a lot more content
number two entertainment blog
most likely always right for a campaign
fighting for the same cinema going
www.bangersandnash.com while Mike
or product if seeded and targeted to
audience – especially the core 16-24s that
is the owner of digital communications
an influential few who have a targeted
might watch Hangover. We needed to do
agency Retroviral with extensive
audience, especially if it has a general
CS: What did the activation deliver for your brand?
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INTERVIEW Q&A - TIME TO GET ACTIVE
positive sentiment. When social bloggers
at the end of the day a young person is a
so that there is an over-riding strategy and
talk positively about a product, they
young person whether they are white, Zulu
a stronger link between what we are doing
build a natural positive brand positioning
or Xhosa but at the same time there are
virally and what we are doing traditionally.
within the market. Influencers can evolve
little idiosyncrasies that we are learning to
This results in a more impactful message
a brand’s perception and create a sense of
integrate into our campaigns.
being communicated to the consumer. So our cinema materials need to have a
aspiration within this space. Obviously some films lend themselves far
Facebook link or a QR code. The message
more to this type of content or activation.
must be on every piece of material in a way
When the content doesn’t lend itself to a
that shows the consumer that we’re trying
CA: The main learning for me as a
consumer-driven campaign, however, that’s
to create a conversation with them. We’re
marketer is just how much the marketing
when we need to be more creative. We
not just trying to get to them by bombard-
landscape has changed from monologue
need to challenge ourselves more and ask
ing them with our messages.
CS: What did you learn from the experience?
THIS RESULTS IN A MORE IMPACTFUL MESSAGE BEING COMMUNICATED TO THE CONSUMER to dialogue. It’s also reinforced my
how can we target 50-year-old females, for
In the South African market, integration
perception of the power of endorsement:
example, in a way that doesn’t feel flat or
with mobile is also very important. This
If someone takes time out of their day to
doesn’t engage. In the case of the Hangover
can be as simple as SMS short codes, or
engage with you, not just like your brand,
II the content did lend itself to a consumer-
as advanced as Augmented Reality. The
that’s incredibly powerful.
driven campaign – but the point was to get
key is to get the basics right and build
the target audience talking about the film
from there.
For us as movie marketers, there is a con-
and endorsing it through word of mouth
sumer expectation that we will be ahead
– more effective with the target audience
Ultimately, social PR and digital is not
of the game, so it’s vital that we embrace
than conventional media.
about a platform, but more about the
these techniques and environments. CS: Can you apply these techniques to all
conversation and a culmination of all CS: How do you envisage activation working
channels driving a strong unified message
alongside your traditional media activity?
bringing all the pieces together seamlessly.
CA: Our strategy going forward is to inte-
CS: How do you see activation being used
grate the various elements of our campaign
in the future?
the films that you promote? CA: Although South Africa is very diverse,
50
MEDIACOM | BLINK #4
CA: I think that when we see more budget
CA: There’s a saying that you remember
shifting from buying banners and buttons
10% of what you read, 20% of what you
to creating amazing content that people
hear and 80% of what you experience.
naturally want to share, we’ll be heading
Getting consumers to experience your
in the right direction.
brand or content or product is incredibly effective. It makes your brand part of their
It is imperative that integration not be
social space.
perceived as repetition across platforms, but rather as each channel working together
Brands have to remember that it’s no longer
closely toward the campaign objective.
enough to just talk to consumers we need to get them to experience our brands.
The future of activation is in reaching people by targeting by interest and
The right approach will vary from category
behaviour, with a relevant message in
to category. In our case it’s our content
order to get them to talk about a film or in
that enables consumers to contribute to
order to do something and then selecting
the campaign and makes them feel they
the right channels according to the role
are participating in the message not just
they perform.
being talked to or at.
Alongside our activation we need to
Experience is the key to marketing in the
leverage banners and creative with
future. A social campaign is not about
segmented messaging to drive people to
having a Facebook page. It’s about having
those conversations and activation.
meaningful conversations over a period
CHERYLANN SMITH Cherylann Smith is Senior Digital Strategist at MediaCom South Africa.
with the right people, giving them remarkLongevity is key to success – recruiting
able content so that they will share it. It’s a
consumers campaign by campaign is a
shift from advertising to social influence.
dead community. Retention and building strong long-term relationships with
But most of all, start small, get the basics
consumer communities will move custom-
right. You don’t have to be everywhere at
ers towards becoming brand fans.
once, but wherever you are, be present, consistent and ‘wow’ your audience
CS: What advice would you give to someone
continuously so that our community will
who hasn’t gone down this route?
participate and grow.
CHARLOTTE ARCHER Charlotte Archer is Marketing Manager for Warner Bros. at South African film distributor Nu Metro Films.
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