Ok, most advertising campaigns today are brutally short sighted and missing the big opportunity that technology is enabling. And those that are taking advantage of the tech, are probably not maximizing, or anywhere nearing the potential they can realize…

So what are the approaches that should be used if the spot ad is dead? Here is a list to start with:

Interaction, interdependence, grass roots initiatives, multi-channel interactive media, conversation catalysts, customer driven feedback cycles empowering iterative product development, automated tracking and recursive real-time changes and so on.

Ok, so what does all that stuff mean?

Interaction is the key to engaging customers. It was difficult to do 10 years ago, but we now have the technological capability, via Internet and wireless (and other), to automate interaction with our customers. Better still, it allows us to build a relationship not just between an advertiser and the target audience, but, and this is the most important step – between the target audience members themselves.

Look at the success of MySpace. Its success rocketed when it became a venue for like-minded music lovers to find each other and support their favourite indie bands. You had overnight indie band sensations. There are countless stories of 4 guys in a rock band that had been doing evening and weekend gigs while choking down 40 hour a week day jobs for the last 5 years. They had fans, but they were scattered. 20 fans here, 50 there, another few over that other town. Through MySpace they were able to consolidate their fan base, associate themselves with a genre, and the fans spread the word about their music. A month later, all the day jobs were quit and instead of selling 3000 albums a year, they were selling 20,000 self pressed. All of a sudden they could make a decent living off their own music – live their passion.

So what does music bands and MySpace have in common with big brand advertisers?

It is a simple lesson in consolidating your passionate fans in a given market segment and empowering them to tell your story FOR YOU.

This is the TRUE interaction – it’s not about brand-X shoving another message down customer-Y’s throat, it’s about encouraging customer-Y to meet other customer-Y’s so they group together, and in numbers they have a voice, and that voice can be empowered to expand the brand. The collective voice of the brand loyalists turns them into activists – and they voices should be listened to closely.

ASIDE — I love how big brands spend so much money on market research. Wrigley’s did it recently trying to figure out what kids want in a pack of gum. The outcome? That kids tie their identity with the things they have in their pockets, the clothes they wear, the music they listen to, and the activities they engage in. Conclusion – let’s make a cool package for the gum so it looks good when you pull it out of your pocket and put it down next to your cell phone and iPod. Wow, staggering! They should have bought me a cup of coffee and I would have imparted the same wisdom while proving my point with a hundred case studies of other companies that did exactly what they did, but for shoes, shorts, shirts and so on. I’ll be using Wrigly as a case study for my clients when they ask me what kids want. Save them a cool mil or two. Anyway…

Ok, so what does that have to do with the original topic? Well market research is skewed. You’re picking a random assortment of your target audience to get a sense of what your brand should do, say, be. Honestly, how do you get anything but average results from the approach? I can prove it to you statistically if you want. It’s a simple relationships between the larger your human sample size the further your return will approach an average value. What do I mean by average value? I mean you’re going to design a product that is average and entirely forgettable.

Instead look to the LOYALISTS! They are your fan base, your market, they are the early adopters and those who will vocally judge your product. They are the people who others seek advice from when looking at buying your product, cause they know the category so well. They are the ones who will trumpet your cause for you. They will do an infinitely better job at selling it than you can ever do. You just can’t have the same relationship with their peers as they do (friends & family!).

INTERACTION people. It’s not just about you and your audience, but creating a circle of loyalty around your brand, and have them trumpet your greatness!

Next post – a bit more on interdependence…

(Ok, I used the word paradigm.. but at least I didn’t say “paradigm shift”..)

Had a chance this week to hang out with and listen to George Parker of the infamous Adscam. Intriguing, entertaining and always crass, George has unique insight into the ad industry. Listening to his talk and getting the benefit of several hours of conversation have allowed me to focus my ideas on the ad industry and its evolution.. to what end? For how to position our firm when pitching..

The ad agencies of today, especially the 500lbs goliaths in the industry, will have to transform or they will fall.

A combination of technology and consumers over-dosed on ads will bring the nirvana of the last 60 years of advertising to a halt. The days of producing 5 million dollar TV spot are dead. This one-way channel of ‘telling’ a consumer is dead. Big dollar TV media buys are dead.

TV ads are losing their effectiveness, especially among the youth. Usage stats clearly point to reduced watching patterns, digital recorders are programmed to skip commercials, on-demand movies, downloading TV shows, etc. are replacing traditional broadcast advertising driven business models. The networks are moving to change their distribution and funding models, I’m sure they’ll figure it out – they produce the content, and most of that is still being consumed.

So now what about the agencies that produce the ADS!? Big shiny TV ads account for over 75% of revenues at most agencies. If that budget gets cut in half and half again, where does that leave them? Where does the money go?

They have to shift to new models. They need to hire new thinking, new types of marketers. They have to start thinking MARKETING channels, they have to be TECHNOLOGY SAVVY, and they have to think COMMUNICATION strategies rather than just rapid spot advertising.

So what are the alternatives to tv spots? Let’s start instead with the approaches…?

Interaction, interdependence, grass roots initiatives, multi-channel interactive media, tracking, conversations, feedback cycles, iterative product development, and so on.

Ok, I’ll expand on these.. on my next post.

Herein lies conjecture – mine; write me, as I’m always interested in hearing yours.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the webofimpact.com RSS feed!

“I am part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!
As though to breath were life.”
- Tennyson’s “Ulysses”

Keeping your skills sharp and up-to-date is a requirement for any industry you’re in, but the Internet takes this to new levels of chaos. The technology evolves so rapidly you have little time to breathe and master your art before the next wave hits. So what to do?

Let’s start with what NOT to do – the worst thing you can do is stand still. Never stand still – how dull is it to pause, to rust unburnished..

We like to stay informed on the bleeding edge of the technology curve, but scale back a year for actual development, sometimes two-three years depending on the type of client and their accessibility requirements. You want your web technology to be as widely accessible as possible. Unless your business model is specifically targeting early (technology) adopters, you want to let the “masses” catch up so you are half-sigma away from the average Internet user.

Here are elements to keep in mind:
- Technology platforms (PHP, .NET, Ruby on Rails, Java, etc) – are they fads or trends?
- Plug-ins such as Flash, Quicktime, and so on – what’s the best way to showcase your media? Who’s using it? How fast do upgrades get pushed out? What’s the user adoption rate?
- Bandwidth – low connection speed alternatives to your site content, do you need them?
- Screen resolution – what is the average screen resolution?
- Browser compatibility – what browsers will your users be using? IE, Firefox, Safari, or ?
- Accessibility requirements (font size, screen readers, etc.)

As with anything, plan for success. You’ll need to define your target market not just with demographics, but with a technological profile.

Bruce

Problem: Attended the Web 2.0 Expo (April-2007) in San Francisco; a lot of great insight, but not very many speakers brought it down to the concrete and practical – how can SMB and enterprise use this stuff?

Let’s start with defining some basic fundamentals of Web 2.0:

Q. What is it?

A. Web 2.0 is about harnessing user (user = visitor to your website) generated content to add value to the experience of future users. So basically, if I interact with your site, it makes the next person’s experience richer, and so on.

examples: I write a review, rank an item, share a link, contribute knowledge, vote on a process, edit information (fact check), and so on.

Web 2.0 is about the power of the masses, building community, and self-expression.

Power of the Masses:
This theory is fairly straight forward – the more people you have who perform an action, the greater the ability to determine its true nature.

example: if 1 person rates a movie, you have no idea if it is good or bad, but if 10,000 people do, then you have a large enough data set that you can get a good indication if the movie will suck or not.

Building Community:
Now here is where it gets interesting. Web 2.0 allows for global congregation around any common interest.

example: So 10,000 people rating a movie should give a clear indication if its good or not – but that depends on who those 10,000 people are. Now if the movie is a cheesy horror flick, and the site rating it is dedicated to cheesy horror flicks, and most of the users are fans, then the 10,000 reviews now have much greater context – because the ratings are contributed from like minded individuals.

Self-Expression:
The final piece of the Web 2.0 experience is the capability of anyone, with no technical skill requirement, to publish anything they want at any time. Web 2.0 has put the power of the media into the hands of the masses.

example: so I, you, or anyone with an Internet connection, can, for little or no cost, publish or views, perspectives, or information on any topic we want. These are blogs.

Ok, so how do these all tie together?

First, anyone can be a publisher of words, images, audio and video.

The barrier of entry has been collapsed to zero. Off-the-shelf hardware and software can be purchased or used for low or no cost to create a message in any medium and launch it on the Internet. Where “mass media” had the only access to ubiqitous reach, now everyone does.

Second, mass media curated content only from a select few people, but now everyone with an interest (expert or amateur) and a passion to share that expertise can do so.

This gives greater perspective to the individual knowledge seeker – as there are many more sources to learn from.

Third, in a technically driven world where human interaction seems to suffer with automated services (Web 1.0), now uses technology to create natural communication and conversations – between individuals, groups, and of course entities (governments, businesses, non-profits, etc).

Next post:

The Tools of Web 2.0 – how to use Blogs, Wikis, Reviews, Ratings, Community Building, RSS, and other items. I will define what these items are and how to use them effectively.

Just got back from the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco put on my CMP and O’Reilly Media. Great event, I learned a lot, provoked many more thoughts – in general I highly recommend it.

I do have one major gripe…

Very few presenters really brought their talks back to business fundamentals.

Mr Speaker: How do I use what you just talked about
to further my business goals (make money!)?

Nothing summarized this better then on the last day while attending a talk about how Web 2.0 ideas such as blogging, video and pod casting, user generated content, and other such attributes can be used in the SMB market. How do you, as a small business owner, actually USE this stuff yourself?

About half way through someone finally asked that “So, how do I use this for my business!?”

The loudest applause I had heard yet… FOR THE QUESTION!

And to my great and utter disappointment, it was not answered. Don’t get me wrong, the guys on the panel new their stuff, they were passionate, they GOT IT. But they couldn’t make it concrete. They couldn’t bring it back from esoteric philosophy to physical representation that a business owner could understand, and more importantly, APPLY.

To some extent this was true for almost all the talks.

So now that I’m done bitching, I’m going to do something about it. My next few posts are going to be best-of summaries of the ideas I learned and how to apply them for SMBs and the enterprise.

Stay tuned.

“The main problem with your web site is that it’s ego-centric.”

Yeah. I said this to a prospective client last week. They were asking for a quote on making some extensive modifications to their site; ex. they wanted to change “Services” to “Our Services” – that was just the tip of the iceberg… it got a lot worse.

So I went through their requests to get a quote together. Actually all I had to do was read the home page and it set the expectation. The home page was all about them. This is who we are. We do this, we do that, we’re so great, as Elaine would say, yada yada.

I shouldn’t have been surprised though, they weren’t marketers, probably genius scientists, but not marketers. It’s really no fault of theirs, most websites are ego-centric.

Most websites are built to celebrate a company’s own grand illusion of themselves. I know I know, you’re going to say “well we have to sell ourselves.” Yes. Of course, BUT…

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m writing a proposal for a client. The main focus of the RFP (request for proposal) they issued was on the Content Management System. “Tell us about yours, tell us the features” the RFP said. I decided not to sell them a one legged chair, and focus my proposal on refocusing their perspective. Will it work? It’s a gamble, but it’s in their best interest. That’s the only way I go.

The Internet is a communication medium. It is not about technology. It is about communicating a message. Design, branding and getting your messages across are the critical elements. Everything else is made to support this.

Your website is about making a great first impression. It is about engaging prospects. It is about finding relevant information fast. It is about being a useful and current resource.

Your site has to sell what it has to offer – a promise of a future to a prospective student, a career for a new employee, an irresistible benefit to a service buyer, an excited then satisfied look when opening the delivered package, inspire donations, a source of knowledge to seekers of truth, and so on. Whoever your target audience is and whatever it is you offer then – you must convince them that you’re the one to provide it.

All other attributes of the Web site support these objectives. Code is infrastructure; a Content Management System (CMS) is code. It is a foundational piece, but a great foundation is just a very nice hole in the ground.

Design creates the visual appeal and first impression of the site.

Content is the substance which invites and satisfies curiosity.

And finally navigation is the rich user experience; make it obvious and thus enjoyable.

All pieces taken together create a great website.

An interesting brief on Jaguar’s (yes the car company) web site. Just more proof that great photography makes a great site.

http://www.keycast.com/keycast/jaguar/jaguardesign/#

I’m a big fan of Patch Adam’s ‘laughter is the best medicine’. Medicine may be to clinical, but it’s certainly a great way to difuse some stress. So here is a great link to make your coders lol…

Code rhymes, bust’n it true
Cobol is old and so are you

Ok, I suck, but these guys are way better.. and by better I mean way funnier..

Here are some samples from that site:
“Step to my DJ, you better step prepared / He got (28+22/50) squared”

“I’m a player, which is not to say I get a lot of chicks / But I’ve played through Final Fantasy 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6.”

“Cuz I can kick it in Algol, roll it up in Snobol / Anything from Ruby all the way back to Cobol.”

“My rhymes flow just like my code / even though my source is owned by SCO.”

“Dear Internet, you’ve pwned my life / And if you had an orifice I’d make you my wife.”

If you haven’t seen these already:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/media/20070301.html

Pretty cool images for design inspiration.