Always-On Digital Platforms

Hi everyone

It has been incredible to see the changes in digital marketing in Asia over the last 12 months.

Increasingly, our brands and customers are moving from mainly campaign oriented short-term solutions, to include more long-term programs focused on maintaining an digital platform with customers.

This change is of course driven by the always-on nature of many of people today. The growth in use of social media, micro-blogging, mobile and gaming - along with numerous other digital media - has provided brands an opportunity to extend the connection with people beyond a campaign site and short burst of paid media.

The question now is this - beyond our main web offering, how can our brands sustain and build a presence online?

I read a great article on this by Garrick Schmitt on this last week in Ad Age, and rather than selectively quote I’ll add the link at the end of this blog so you can read his whole story. In it there are many great examples of digital platforms based on community action, crowd sourcing, e-commerce, brand experience and CRM. Covering brands such as Pepsi, Best Buy, Starbucks, Legos, P&G, Lufthansa, Nike… the list goes on.

What I think is important to understand is that the same marketing approach applies as much to Thailand and Asia as anywhere else now.

12 months ago I used to have to convince clients to invest in digital, now digital is part of nearly every brief and our clients are the ones who are identifying the real need. This has been driven in a large part by the digital trend amongst Thais of all ages taking hold. The growth in use of smart phones (iPhone, Blackberry), social media (Facebook, Twitter), gaming, blogs and instant messaging, and the general rising trend of using the web in every way (for work and play) for all ages and demographics, has driven the need to transform the marketing approach here.

I would see this change as one moving from more passive involvement to active, continuous participation online. I call it the ‘participation economy’. Thais are no longer content to stand on the sidelines and just passively watch what is going on. They are jumping in and doing things for themselves, sharing their voice, and being active participants online.

One reason is the rise of sites like Facebook where only by participating in conversations and sharing photos, blogs & videos can you really take advantage and enhance your social connections.

It is literally participate or die. And these digital platforms allow this sort of ongoing platforms that will start to dominate digital thinking moving forward.

The article is : Super Bowl Shuffle: Why Marketers Will Shift to 'Platforms'. Enjoy.

Cheers, Rob

Microsites vs Facebook

Hi everyone

It was interesting to read this article recently about how Lynx Twist launched on Lynx’s fanpage and X-Box live, rather than via the regular homepage/microsite approach.

Why? Listen to the Brand Manager, Katie Harrison. “The brand is moving towards creating a more consistent engagement with Lynx consumers in territories where we know they already exist. The brand has no current plans to build additional microsites for forthcoming campaigns”

Interesting, and as Robin Grant re-quotes in the Death of the Microsite “Clients want more of an emphasis on igniting conversation and less on the rich, textured sites that have typically accompanied their campaigns. The goal, as EVB CEO Daniel Stein put it, is to “stop building $1 million microsites that attract [only] 10,000 visitors.”

So what now? What are the benefits of each, and when to use them?

Facebook has some advantages because:

• Fish where the fish are: If your target market is spending large amounts of time on social networks, they are already there. You don’t have to spend huge amounts of money trying to drive them to a new, possibly remote, destination. No FB is an island, as they say.
• Cost & User Effective: Actually a well constructed FB page is not cheap but often less expensive then a media rich microsite, and potentially not as cumbersome in terms of downloads/speeds for the user.
• Full of Cool Stuff: As per this Coke FB site, the key is to make it full of unique content, interesting applications, and reasons for really being a fan. To me this is absolutely crucial, and leads to my next point
• It’s Social: People here are already sharing photos, videos and comments here. So a great FB page gives you the useful/entertainment value to share as a natural part of your FB behavior.

Microsites ain’t dead yet though because…

• Customer Fit: Not every customer segment is a heavy social media user (although it is starting to be popular among most age groups). A good microsite, well promoted, overcomes this problem.
• The Wrong Market: There are markets here in Asia where you can’t even access FB (China) or it’s becoming harder, like Vietnam. For regional campaigns this can be a real issue.
• Often Experience Matters: Sometimes for a major launch of a product or game or interactive experience, you want the rich media and production values a microsite can provide.

Something to think about for your next campaign.

Cheers, Rob