Digital Monday

5 Different Industries Using Social Media

2010-08-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

I wanted to highlight different ways that different industries are using social media, like Facebook/ Twitter and Foursquare, to change the way business is done.

Read on it's quite fascinating...and clear that every industry should be getting involved. (the following examples are courtesy of Mashable)

1. How Banks are using Social Media: The below example shows how bank tools can become fun and enjoyable.

First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO), an online only bank, encouraged customers to utilize the ease of transferring balances online to maximize the interest they earn on the money in their bank accounts via an innovative social media marketing campaign called the Pay Yourself First Challenge. The campaign helped customers develop a personalized saving plan, and FNBO utilized a number of different social media outlets, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, iTunes and blogging to get the word out.

The challenge involved five contestants competing to reach a savings goal. The bank recruited contestants by having them submit videos via YouTube describing their saving goals, and during the competition each contestant blogged about his or her progress. FNBO chose the winner based on a combination of reaching their goal and online votes. The contest helped to create awareness for their brand and showed current and potential customers how they can use FNBO’s online banking tools to become more successful savers.

2. How FMCG is Using Social Media: Using fun and entertainment, and combining mobile with social

Gillette uART - making shaving fun: A great example of social media use for the FMCG market via P&G is this campaign. Gillette came up with this cool iPhone app called uART that allows you to put a beard on a friend's picture, and then using your finger as a razor, shave it off. You can save and share the look via social media for fun with your friends.

Old Spice is a great example of a 'boring' brand that has just made one of the most popular viral campaigns in recent history — in which the Old Spice Guy made personalized videos for fans, randoms and prominent bloggers alike — has taken over the social media realm. Brilliant.

3. How Take Away Food & Beverage are using Social Media: You can now start to link your social media with great ideas for product promotion. Just make it fun.

Food & Beverage brands are also starting to find creative ways to tie offline brand experiences with online social media promotion. With the Keep It Coolatta sweepstakes, fans of the brand on Facebook (there’s over 800,000 of them) can post a photo of themselves with any Coolatta beverage to the Fan Page wall, add the caption #CoolattaGiveaway, and subsequently update their profile with the pic, and they’ll be entered to win a daily giveaway through June 24.

Dunkin’ Donuts will randomly select winners, award the prizes, and update their official profile with the winning image.

4. How Airlines Are Using Social Media: For travel, take advantage of real time and travel sharing habits of customers

MySkyStatus is a fine website-app that sends altitude, location, departure and arrival updates to your FB or Twitter account from the different flights you choose (in any airline). Ideal for those people who have to pick other people up at airports. It's travel made social and it's easy to set up.

JetBlue and United Airlines, two major airline carriers in the US, have started using the service to offer discounted seats on flights that weren't filled. These types of discounts have been available from airlines for a while, starting with emails in the 90s, but Twitter fills this particular need perfectly. See JetBlue Cheeps

5. How Telcos Are Using Social Media: Never forget to make an idea that's fun and fascinating, and engage using a cool Facebook connect application that relates to social service

Experience your social360 Reading With madame Tres Sesti and you can analyze your social Karma health, love and life and you’ll fall in-love with Mr Tweet, the sleepy social bird. Not only does this digital Psychic look into your Facebook, but she happily interrogates your Twitter life too. Smart Cute and exceptionally sticky, I found myself wanting to learn more from Madam Tres Sesti!

Cheers, Rob

The Paradox of Social Media Marketing

2010-07-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

We've all been involved in so many social media campaigns with clients lately, that it's good for all of us to step back for a moment and consider what we've learned.

Social media is not something brands or companies own. Yes it is media. But it was created by people, for people. That is the paradox many brands face.

An important point re-enforced here. " Social Media is not an advertising platform that was created by a brand or publisher. It's somewhat humorous to realize that by all aspects, Social Media was forced on to brands. Brands never wanted transparency.

Brands never wanted consumers publishing their perspectives about them to the world. Brands wanted to control the messaging and conversation from the top down and back up again."

There are some really important fundamentals here for all of us, because applying broadcast thinking to a social media conversation is not a recipe for success. In our experience of doing these campaigns with clients across Asia in the last 12 months, the main obstacles when thinking about social media planning are:

1. It's All About You: It isn't. It's about engaging with people with something interesting for the to engage with. Developing a social media campaign just to focus on your product and benefits alone - like make me a video on what is your favorite flavor - isn't really that engaging. But then create your own ad on YouTube about what you think our next flavor should be, is fun. There's a big difference.

2. Having a Fan Page is a Strategy: Read this. Many companies still want to build all their strategies just around just including Facebook or Twitter into the mix. Like linking with these platforms is enough to drive interest or engagement. Fact is you may not need a Facebook page or Twitter account to do social media, maybe it's another channel. Or it may be just the beginning, but you need to understand how will it engage with users, how you will maintain and drive traffic. And how it fits in with all your other marketing. Just saying we link with FB, Twitter, whatever, ain't cool any more. If it ever was.

3. All Social Media channels are pretty much the same: Think about this, Facebook is a community of friends. Twitter is a community of now. Foursquare is a community of place. Flickr is a community of images. I could go on...but you get the idea. Every social media channel has it's place, here's a starting point..

4. It's still all about reach & frequency: I still have clients request that we deliver only on reach and frequency even though we are using social media for other purposes. Look I understand, we are trying to reach as many as possible, but we need to get beyond just traditional mass media measures, and it gets back to campaign objectives. These campaigns provide an opportunity to listen, engage, and participate - yes hopefully widely. No one yet has all the answers on measurement, but looking beyond broadcast measures, like these, is a good place to start.

5. Social Media can stand alone: Digital can stand alone, many industries like banking and automotive are moving towards this. But generally, for social media campaigns, we need help letting people know where we are and what we're doing. Actually much of the success in campaigns we've had has not just been from other digital channels, but from ATL driving people to social media. Don't build and expect people to come, spend plenty of time thinking how to drive traffic.

As this recent article notes, "Social media -- what is it good for? Relationships, customer service, brand and image building, lead development, demonstrations of expertise and amplification of other channels. What is it not good for? Standing alone."

Cheers, Rob

Digital Lessons from The Cyber Lions

2010-06-28T05:28:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Well Cannes is wrapped up for another year, and Leo Burnett doing did particularly well in Digital/Integrated campaigns, especially in Asia!

Beyond self promotion though it's worth checking out the winners and what we can learn about what's going on globally in digital.

I've looked at 3 key developments that have made digital @ Cannes different this year:

1. Digital Comes to Life: The thing that was most noticeable for me was that most digital campaigns were really made real, and brought to life, in offline environments where people could experience them. One big winner was Nike Livestrong Chalkbot - which invited people to create messages of hope to be chalked by a robot-like device on the 2009 Tour de France roadway. People sent roughly 36,000 such messages via SMS, Twitter, Web banners, and a website at WearYellow.com.

Another winner was Volkswagen Fun Theory added interactive sound effects to physical environments to encourage healthier behaviors. The most famous, "The Piano Staircase," was turned into a video that's been viewed more than 12 million times.

There are plenty more examples championing this 'physical approach', two favourites of mine being Canon Photochains and our very own Heineken Stadium of Dreams, for their real world integration in photo exhibtions and a real Heineken Stadium of Dreams*, to truly engage people.

2. Digital in Real Time: Another big development was the real time nature of campaigns now, in line with the always on nature of our consumer (mobile,social media) and the expectation of instant answers to meet real needs.

One campaign I talked about before was the celebration last year of the first lunar landing in "We Choose the Moon" created for the JFK Presidential Library, recreated the Apollo moon mission exactly 40 years after it happened. Over four days, more than 100 hours of audio transmissions were streamed to WeChoosetheMoon.org and to a Twitter account that grew to 30,000 followers.

Another campaign I loved, in real time, was Nokia's World's Biggest Signpost. This is a nice installation from Nokia in the shape of arrow was lifted 50 metres above London by a crane. People on the street could send text messages directly to the live sign with their favorite places to visit, and the arrow would move to point to that location, and also provide the distance!The installation was streamed live to Nokia.com, where all the locations were synced with Nokias good things map. A great way to promote their geo-localization for mobile Maps.

Finally Leo Burnett got in the act with David on Demand at Cannes. A bit of fun at a website http://davidondemand.com/ that allowed anyone to Tweet David about what you wanted him to do at Cannes, in real time. Scary results I can imagine!

3. Beyond Social Media Integration: As I read recently, everyone now has Facebook or Twitter or Foursquare connected to their campaigns, "so what"? The question is how we can make our social media campaigns into a useful and engaging utility or experience, not just a campaign add on to make us all sound 'cool'.

Best Buy has done a great job with Twelpforce where they mobilized a small army of experts who give tech advice in tweet form based on the immediate needs of Twitter users.

I also loved the Facebook Showroom campaign from Ikea. What a great way to use a popular social media feature to give people a chnce to engage with products and brand in a fun way.

*P.S. Our Heineken Stadium of Dreams was short-listed as a finalist, but missed out on a prize. We'll keep trying but great effort team we should be proud!

Cheers, Rob

A Positive Network for Thailand

2010-06-21T05:50:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone

Following on from last week's post, a great local example of using digital and integrated communication for good, with the below information from this article.

Last week saw the launch of the Positive Network, from major communications agencies in Thailand. It's a social campaign designed to reflect the voice of Thais from all classes and social groups in a systematic and sustainable manner.

Through workshops, many talks in all areas throughout Thailand, and in various online forums, the activities are designed to promote awareness and understanding of the country's real issues such as politics and society, and to become another source in gathering the voice of people to push the government to work in line with the real needs and wants of the public.

Chaipranin Visudhipol, chairman of TBWA\Thai, said the communications agencies chose to launch this campaign because they wanted to see Thailand become a better country. "We want to become an important mechanism in reflecting the voices of Thais and become a gauge in measuring their temperature, and reflecting their power in managing the country," he said.

Chaipranin added that public polls would be conducted by the end of this year in cooperation with all leading poll agencies to reflect the voice of people in issues related to their livelihood, the economy as well as society and the country's politics.

Bhanu Inkawat, creative director of Greyhound and former MD of Leo Burnett Thailand, said Thais should become active citizens and understand their roles, duty and their own power. He explained that every person's action had a big impact in society.

"As professionals in the communications sector, we have joined up to encourage Thais in all groups to hold more talks, listen to each other and understand their role in using their personal power to make our country better," he said.

Sounds like a great idea to me. Find out more and get involved via these sources below:

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/PositiveNetwork?v=wall

Twitter:

http://twitter.com/IgniteThailand

You Tube Video at Launch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM_AlRqyTdM&feature=youtu.be&a

Cheers everyone

Digital For Good

2010-06-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

After a bit of a break we're back.

Given the troubled times in Thailand here of late, perhaps it's a time for some good news digital stories.

The great thing is brands are starting to create lots of these online. During the recent recession, many brands turned to CSR to help build brand metrics, and digital was ideally placed.

Seizing the power of tools like social networking, engaging web sites, streaming tools and mobile platforms has enables companies to create major programs to help with humanitarian efforts, environmental concerns and community engagement programs.

What I've done today is listed the 3 main criteria when establishing these programs for brands to consider, along with some wonderful examples of what is possible.

1. Identify Right Issues for Community & Brand:

The key is of course to choose a cause that means something to people, and people feel that they can take a part in and actually make a difference. It's not always easy, but a great example of this was done by Leo Burnett in Australia for Earth Hour. Get behind saving the world and the environment by switching off your lights for 1 hour. Here is the latest 2010 campaign
The issue must also be right fit for the brand. But this does not mean the campaign should be about sales, in fact linking these campaigns to sales is in many ways against the point. The idea is to align the brand with real change and get people involved in understanding your brand values, not sales values. The campaign by Tide called Loads of Hope, is a wonderful example of a brand getting involved in the right movement for them.

2. Create an Engaging Movement:

The next step is to create a campaign where people can engage with you across all the digital touch points - both in a emotional (understand the need) and practical (how do I contribute) way. One of the keys to getting the story out has been the use of social media to drive both awareness and engagement with the idea. A great example of this is the Target Bullseye Campaign, where people could vote on Facebook for a cause they wanted and Target would donate.
Another way of engaging is for a brand to build an always on digital platform devoted specifically to the cause, and to use all channels to drive awareness and participation. Pepsi has done this with the Pepsi Refresh Campaign, as a way of driving community engagement in ideas that matter to their customers. Check out Refresh Everything 2010

3. Make it Real

The key to these movements is their action or effect is often not just confined to online. people want to see their action have effect in the real world. That is the point after all. Most of the campaigns run by brands make a big effort to link the online participation with offline effects.
A great example is the The Dulux Let's Colour Campaign. It takes the idea of revitalizing community through online suggestions, they actually goes and makes it happen. Real change in the real world. After all, isn't that what it's all about?

Cheers, Rob

How Digital is Changing Automotive Marketing

2010-04-27T05:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Jim Farley, Global Group VP of Ford Motor Co, gave a great talk last week on automotive marketing.

Watch a brief highlight here. It will only take 3 minutes.

What Jim says, and also in this article, is important not only for automotive but for most other industries.

To sum up Jim's key points, and the impact that digital is having on marketing overall, are these three key points:

1. Campaign Timing Changes: Instead of focusing all elements at launch, digital and always-on platforms allow marketers 'flatten out' the campaign curve both before and after launch. Much more can be used on digital to get customers interested in the story and experience, and thus on the shopping list. And much can be spent afterwards to maintain the dialogue in a believable and customer-centric way.

2. Media Usage Changes: It follows then that media spend, combining traditional and online, is more spread out with much more spent on engaging the user with an experience. As Jim says about media spend, "we have to allocate resources differently because difference resources (social and digital) change the content and the dialogue after launch. It's much more manageable (than a big bang all at once), and it impacts how we build the product."

3. Creative Changes: Listen to Jim again: 'We're about the person, not the web site or channel. I'm not interested in advertising on a little box because it's what's in the box is important. We want to blow up the box..and change the way we interact with the customer, and we want it to be around experience."

"That's what digital has taught us: how to earn credibility among consumers". At that's what companies like Ford are doing with branded utility, with communities, and campaigns like Ford Fiesta Movement.

Here are 4 other automotive campaigns from other motor companies leading the way with this philosophy:

- VW The People's Reviewer

- Polo Get Behind The Wheel

- Mini Road Service iPhone App

- Fiat Eco Drive

Any more to share?

Cheers, Rob

What's Driving Facebook Growth in Thailand/Asia?

2010-04-19T20:55:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone

Great to read in this newspaper article recently that Thailand is embracing social networking - Facebook & Twitter - as much or more than anywhere in the world.

But as Jon Russell points out in this great blog, the actual impact is different from what the news article suggests.

It's the growth potential that counts. Thailand has one of the fastest growing FB markets in the world, and Twitter could have up to a million users. But we don't yet match the strength in numbers found elsewhere in Asia like Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

All across Asia we're on the edge of the next big wave in social networking that's taking customers, and marketers, by storm. And there is plenty of potential growth yet in Thailand, and elsewhere in Asia.

Why? Umm...well you wouldn't really know by reading the Nation article. But the 'why' is crucial for marketers to understand how we can use this tool in our marketing, or how we shouldn't, and the future of this type of communication.

I've listed of few potential reasons I see below, but would be interested in your thoughts as well:

1) Social Networking Re-enforces a Cultural Norm: You don't have to be Einstein to realise that many Asian cultures - grounded in close-knit nuclear families with networks of friends/neighbours originating from agrarian roots of community & sharing - would naturally embrace social networks.

In fact the early adoption of social media through Friendster and Hi5 were already some of the highest in the world, Couple this with the fact that online sites offer more entertainment to poorer kids in remote areas, such as highlighted in this NYT article about youth in China, and we can see the vast potential for social networks in the region.

2) Localization Means Deeper Engagement: Another 'glocal' lesson is that until FB offered Thai language content , its growth was stifled by local players. But with more localised content, especially new applications and gaming, this switch to local languages meant FB really started to take hold.

In the bigger picture the message for marketers is important, as this excellent NYT article highlights. Social networks and other digital tools give us the power to localize, personalize and deepen our engagement in different cultures now more than ever before.

3) Gaming & Entertainment are the Key: As I've pointed out a few times before, Thailand has a massive online gaming culture with youth (research shows kids spend more time gaming online than any other Asian country) and FB has been able to tap into that with an array of popular games such as Farmville really taking hold here. As a marketer using FB Connect or other services, creating and fun & sharable experience in line with this behaviour makes a lot of sense.

4) Mobility is the Driver: As Jon Russell again points out in this blog, the future for social is clearly mobile. "Mobile is an even more significant platform for Asia, a region where mobile is the primary internet access point for many. It is estimated that Thailand’s 12 million mobile internet users will grow to 18 million this year overtaking the 16 million in the country with ‘fixed’ internet access.

Smartphones sales continue to rise in Thailand with IDC estimating 2 million will be sold in 2010, an increase of 500,000 on 2009, you can bet most of these new smartphone owners will be logging into Facebook from their mobile."

Something to watch out for is mobile social applications, such as Foursquare. This service allows you to not only connect with friends where they actually are at any given time, but combines this with gaming and point systems to reward the user. The marketing benefits in Thailand are clear, as highlighted in this local article, so get familiar with this now!

Cheers, Rob

How the Digitization of Thai Media Changes Marketing

2010-04-05T04:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Fascinating to read about the changes going on in the Thai newsroom here and the modern challenges for Thai journalists here.

Of course this just the way journalists are changeing , how about the change in the content itself?

In this great article, called The Pleasure Principle, it described how news media had to re-consider what their readers wanted, rather than what editors thought they needed. It has lead to a revolution in content with the growth of blogs, most viewed lists and consumer driven content now available in most Thai online news sites.

This content is now delivered news via Email/SMS/WAP, and Thai newspapers are now considering how the launch of the iPad will change newspapers and publishing forever.

Interesting times indeed!

But how are these changes impacting marketers? Here's my take on 4 ways these changes will impact Thai marketers...

1. PR @ the Speed of Buzz: The nature of journalism now means they are always connected, to social media, to global new sources, and the story is always evolving. PR is having to adapt to this new media to make sure it delivers the right news, in all these media and formats, in paid and unpaid media. Thai PR agencies are already undergoing a revolution, as detailed here

2. New Media Formats mean New Ad Formats: Online ads are having to adapt to online sites with more rich media and interaction, WAP sites with very simple executions, and are now having to adapt to the new ad formats for the iPad. The ability to really have fun and engage with content on a touch-screen could be the boost online advertising needs, as described in these 3 ways the iPad will change publications forever.

3. Forget interruption, Try Utility: Even then online advertising is quickly being overtaken in news environments by providing users with widgets and tools, like providing an iPhone app or a game via a newspaper, to help users and get the brand message delivered that way rather than trying to just sell a message.

4. Plan for Location Marketing: iPad and mobile devices will start to dominate newspapers and magazines moving forward. Given their mobility, great Geo-Location Marketing will start to see ads and services being targeted exactly where people are and that will transform the ad industry. Are you ready for that?

Cheers, Rob

Asian Digital Campaigns Making Waves

2010-03-30T03:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Last week we met with the Contagious team here in Asia and the topic was, how is Asian Digital Marketing Different?

How are diverse places like Japan, China, Asia or Malaysia creating their own voice and starting to win a bigger share of global work and recognition.

And can we say ‘Asia’ has a style at all?

Japan and Korea have their own way, very technology driven and not afraid to be unusual in terms of content. Australian work is very realistic, direct and gritty. Chinese is simpler and more engaging on an emotional level, while work from places like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand tends to be a bit lighter, well-crafted and integrated fully with a still dominant mass media.

Below I have listed my favorite Asian digital campaigns for the last 6 months.

What is clear from these examples, and discussions with my Asian colleagues, is that this Asian work is breaking away and creating a voice of its own. That voice is one that embraces the old and new in popular culture, is not afraid to show positive emotion and a brighter side of life, sees heroes in its own culture rather than elsewhere now, and embraces social sharability as a natural extension of group culture & is therefore is an important core of new digital campaigns.

Okay here are my favorite campaigns, feel free to share your own:

Some you may know already:

1. Sagami Origianl - Love Distance: (Condoms - Japan) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwSvV78yDB8&feature=related

2. Best Job in the World (Tourism - Australia) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI-rsong4xs

3. Uniqlo Tokyo Fashion Map (Clothes Retail – Japan) http://www.uniqlo.com/uniqlo1000/

4. Nike ID Generator (Footwear – Japan) http://www.wonderactive.jp/award/2009/nike/nikeiD_generator/

And some you may have not seen before:

1. Nike Trackball: (Footwear – Singapore) http://www.vimeo.com/7046594

2. Visit the Other Britain (Tourism – Singapore) http://www.vimeo.com/7656988

3. Take the Wheel - Nissan (Auto – Australia) http://www.awardlook.com/nissan/370z/takethewheel/

4. One Day – Vodafone (Telecommunications – Australia) http://awardsubmissions.com.au/makethemostofnow/award_interactive.html

5. Hug a Day – Lipton (Tea – China) http://www.littlehairycrabs.com/awards_2010/lipton_milktea/

6. FogBar TV - Shiseido (Deodorant – Japan) http://birdman.ne.jp/awards/fogbar/index_en.html

Cheers

Thais now embracing online shopping

2010-03-15T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Fantastic to see this recent bit of research from MasterCard showing Asians, and Thais especially, really changing their attitudes to online shopping.

“India, Thailand and New Zealand are leading the curve with more than 90% of the online shoppers feeling satisfied. Secure payment facilities, convenient payment methods and price and value of the items are the top three most important factors influencing respondents’ online shopping experience.”

This is a far cry from what some marketing perceptions are out there. It used to be common to hear, even 12 months ago, that 'Thais don’t like to shop online'. The concern was primarily about safety - for example the fear of using credit cards online – but it was also because many brands rarely provided a customer solution that was simple or convenient enough, outside the usual purchases of airline tickets/cosmetics and online music.

All that has changed dramatically in the last 12-18 months. Here are some reasons why:

1. Feeling Safer & Try Something New: The fear has gone away. For one reason most brands, and card companies, have added the extra security measures (such as Verified by Visa System) that gives more comfort to users. Another reason is that as people become familiar with taking control of online purchasing in more traditional areas of air tickets and cosmetics, they feel comfortable moving beyond just the usual to try new product areas.

The research notes: “As online shoppers become more savvy and are increasingly satisfied with their online shopping experience, they are purchasing beyond lifestyle items such as airline tickets, online games and music downloads and have evolved to buying basic necessities including home appliances and groceries.”

Interesting to see local online purchasing in areas such as online shopping for groceries increasing from 20% to 27% of respondents. And interesting to see grocery store Big C in Thailand embracing this, albeit in a small way.

2. More Convenience & Ease of Use: Undoubtedly the big change has also been with the brands recognizing they need to provide a better site experience. And they research backs this up, noting that “more online shoppers in general agreed that it is more convenient and easier to shop online as compared to last year…78% of respondents stated that it is convenient to shop online in 2009 versus 50% in 2008”.

This change really has been driven by a Web 2.0 mentality that Thai brands have embraced, asking how they can make online purchasing better, simpler and faster for users – not just for the companies ? The result means that it’s much, much simpler (and more enjoyable) than ever to buy an air ticket ( http://www.thaiairways.com/ ), pay a bill (http://www.scb.co.th/) or even order a pizza!! ( http://www.pizza.co.th/ ).

3. More Value: The increasing attractiveness of purchasing online is the ability to reward the online user with a better experience, and even better rewards. The next phase of growth will see brand areas such as fashion, FMCG, food & beverage and home appliances/furnishings where people have the tools that make browsing and choosing a better experience than in the store.

This is backed by the research showing that "the incidence of people browsing and then purchasing online has risen especially in China, Thailand & India." A better online browsing experience – seeing the range of clothes or furniture or even everyday household products from the convenience of your laptop or mobile – is leading to better sales.

Driving this further this year will be 2 trends – mobile and social media. Already we can see from overseas experience things like sales focused WAPS and mobile retail applications, as well as the increasing trends of sales sites from within Facebook, will catch on here. Sooner that you think!

Now more than ever, is the time to start planning your online sales strategy.

Cheers

Always-On Digital Platforms

2010-02-22T21:57:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-01T04:13:00.000-08:00

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

Ten Predictions for Digital Thailand 2010

2010-01-11T03:44:00.000-08:00

Hi there

It’s a good time now to look forward to how digital marketing will affect us in 2010, and what we should be planning for.

While there are all sorts of predictions coming out – my favourites being this US article from Millward Brown and this slide presentation from an Australian agency – I wanted to look specifically at Thailand and what we can expect in the digital marketing sphere in 2010. Here are my predictions:

1. Web Sites Go Visual: Web sites become a far more visual and engaging experience as rich media elements such as video (TV, viral, demos and interactive applications (transacting, shopping lists, games, maps,etc.) start to take over from static content and text. The Web objectives for Thai sites will become far more and about measuring interaction and less on page visits, because this is a market where simplicity and ease of use & enjoyment are so important.

2. Mobile Apps Beat Mobile Web, But… : For many companies in Thailand, beyond industries like banks and media, a mobile WAP is not yet an option in terms of the user experience. The change in app developments of late means mobile apps are easier to do, produce a better user experience and can be highly focused. But as connections get better (let’s not talk about 3G delays!) the WAP will start to rise as an option to hit the masses. Also watch out for the new Google Nexus (hopefully by end of the year) smart phone and its applications.

3. Gaming Continues to Rise: More and more companies will see gaming and gaming type applications as more than fun but educational, informative, and a better way to engage a wide range of customer audiences. Thai’s are the biggest gamers in Asia (18-29), so stay tuned for more Web site based games, Facebook games, mobile games, offline games, from some unexpected companies, and some older audiences too. Especially look out for more integration with social media platforms.

4. Online Advertising Will Limp Along : I know I know, many people say that now with Mobile Web we have so many more online display ad options but you know what, I just can’t see it. Clicks continue to fall in Thailand (and everywhere else) and the number of other digital marketing options continue to rise. Yes we can do so much more with engagement in online ads. Yes search advertising will retain a vital role. And yes video ads hold a lot of promise. But the interruption model of most online advertising campaigns needs a serious revamp.

5. Location Matters for Social Media: With social media being used far more on mobile, and with geo-location starting to become a feature of mobile, expect to see more Facebook and Twitter campaigns based around where you are right now. It especially makes sense for young Thais who are out and about. I think something like Four Square here by the end of the year.

6. Social Becomes Mainstream Marketing: It’s already starting to happen with most clients, the use of social media and integrating it with the rest of a marketing campaign. Not just a Facebook page, but integrating this with the advertising, PR, promotions events and web will be standard very soon. The explosion of FB and Twitter in Thailand, and across Asia, makes this a must.

7. Search Becomes Real: With FB and Twitter proving more real time updates Google & Co are including real time search here in Thailand to make their service more up to date then just searching via social media. Local search will also continue to become more popular as people want to know what is happening RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW.

8. Data Awakening : The growth in digital in Thailand has seen an explosion of data, much of it either ignored or mis-used in my experience. This year I have seen already a trend of looking to the data for more understanding and insight of what matters in marketing and CRM campaigns. The refinement of digital measurement and data analysis, and the cost efficiencies it brings, is important in a market still keeping its belt tight.

9. Digital Ideas Lead: While traditional media will still dominate in Thailand, expect to see the continuing trend of campaign ideas that require consumer interaction, which will mean digital ideas will start to take a lead role in many campaigns. Yes, yes I’m biased I know but the trend is entrenched in most overseas markets and the early signs here are that online is where the core of the idea is starting to emerge. It will not, and should not, stay there though. Overall integration has never been more important.

10. The Un-Scared Thai: This is how a colleague recently described there experience with young Thais starting to experiment online with film, mobile, gaming and generally participating without fear online. The growth in social networking has meant people have to participate to be heard. That means they are far less afraid to try anything new or different, as engagement and sharing is now the norm. They won’t do anything to crazy of course – but mainstream campaigns getting people to jump in and do something more the enter a competition will continue to evolve here. Expect a lot more consumer created content this year in Thailand.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Looking Back @ 2009

2010-01-04T01:40:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone

Happy New Year to everyone, best wishes for a enjoyable and successful 2010.

In moving forward this year with all our digital marketing plans, it always helps to review what's happened before and how we can learn from our successes and our failures. And there have been some phenomenal changes in digital marketing in the last 12 months.

It seems everyone can provide a ‘list’ or 'best of' – from the Best 10 ideas of the Decade, the Best iPhone Branded Apps to even the Best Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid.

But yet again this year I give you the most complete, and comprehensive and MUST READ review of digital and interactive marketing for 2009 - Most Contagious. Yes it’s 50 pages, but you can just flick through it briefly or click every link - because it breaks down a big year into the key developments, ideas, business successes and case studies of the year. Check it out.

Next week we’ll look ahead at 2010 and what’s in store. Once again this year we hope to provide you with digital marketing ideas and examples to educate and inspire. With a particular focus on Asia and Thailand.

With that in mind if you would like any particular areas or topics discussed, I’d love to hear from you.

See you next week.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Social Media Success Stories

2009-12-21T02:18:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone

At a time when everyone is selling themselves as an expert in social media, but few really are, it’s worth having a reality check about what social media can and can’t do.

This great article, 10 things Social Media Can’t Do, is a timely reminder that nothing will replace a solid and holistic marketing strategy, and an understanding of social media’s limitations.

On the flip side though, I think there is a misleading perception among some that social media is not a place a brand can really be heard or engaged with in any serious way by customers, or that this audience is too young or dis-interested to even try.

Despite many strong arguments to the contrary, the only really effective argument is proof positive that social media marketing works. Because after all, only by doing and learning and re-applying can any brand or agency be successful in this ever-changing environment. And successful case studies can help highlight the fundamentals of what is working well in this field.

So let’s look at what we can learn from the following campaigns:

1. It all starts with a ‘social media’ idea: Not just any idea. One that is useful, or fun, and one that we are really dying to share with others. One that reflects your brand and its values. The one recently that I like most recently is the Ikea Showroom campaign, which combined all the elements of a strong Facebook idea, with the cheekiness and humor of the Ikea brand. Watch how it works here.

2. An idea that people want to share & others want to hear about: Some ideas aren’t born to share, aren’t right for the brand, or don’t have enough connection to truly catch on. It takes insight and inspiration to come up with sharing ideas which truly resonate with audiences. I love this one’s simplicity from Lufthansa.

Users who sign up to Lufthansa’s MySkyStatus will find their Facebook and Twitter profiles automatically updated with their altitude, location, departure and arrival information. Lufthansa is branding the service as ‘travel made social’, but any customers who don’t want to share their itineraries with the world are free to keep the information private. It’s reported almost half their online audience are signing up.

3. An idea your people want to talk about: One of the great strengths of Twitter is providing your employess, your people, to use it as a means of communicating directly with customers and provide a personal and engaging customer service experience. Best Buy is a great example of this, which you can read about here. The US-based consumer electronics retailer took its reputation for in-store service to the next level with the launch of Twelpforce – an army of 2100 Best Buy employees authorized to answer consumer questions via Twitter.

The tool took 13,000 queries in the first two months, and at a time when consumer spending in the US is down by 1.9%, the company made a net profit of $158m in 3Q09 on revenues of $11 billion (up from $9.8 billion year-on-year). It’s just one example of just how useful, fun and rewarding Twitter can be.

4. An idea that lives across different media: Yeah you can focus only on social media, but why risk that? Besides if it’s a great idea with great content then what are ALL the video, mobile marketing, social networks and traditional channels we can use to spread the idea. The reality seems to be the best ideas use other digital and other media, to drive the idea further.

One great example is Cadbury Nibbles online pop –up store, which combines Facebook application with a great in-store promotion. Read more here. The result saw comments appearing on the Facebook page at the rate of one every 2.5 seconds for the two days of the promotion, and the store garnered an equivalent footfall in excess of 4m people with over £1.5m earned through social media.

Estee Lauder also did a great campaign for cosmetics here http://visitshoremagazine.com/2/?p=7995

5. An idea that is measured, evaluated and then evolves: The evolution of social media is ongoing but the best campaigns are always measured, evaluated and built upon. In this wonderful article on ‘Retailers Go Nuts for Social Media’, it shows how Best Buy, EBAY, JCPENNEY, TOYS’R’US and WALMART are evolving their Facebook/ social media campaigns using trial, measurement and evolution.

And shows that social media marketing for retail, and almost every other industry, is here to stay.

Cheers everyone. This is my last post for 2009, look forward to exploring more exciting developments in 2010. And BTW the Avatar image is not related, but a great movie, I highly recommend it!

Happy New Year to you all.

You Have Beautiful UIs

2009-11-29T22:50:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone

We can talk about Web 2.0 strategy and functionality, but the design of the User Interface (UI) is fundamental to the success of any Web Site.

Too often in the past different industries have adopted a cookie-cutter approach to Web Site design, but that is changing dramatically.

Most companies now realize that they need a unique Site design approach to support their new customer centric content and tools, whether it’s a major Brand Site or a campaign specific Micro-Site.

Here are some starting points to consider when thinking about creating a great UI:

1. Create your Own Voice: Does your web site design truly reflect your company/brand/campaign story? The best web sites acknowledge industry norms but are not afraid to make things better, simpler or faster. They are not afraid to let the brand personality shine through in unique or innovative ways. These days Web Sites are often the first place people experience brands in any significant – across many industries such as travel, automotive, finance, fashion, technology – you name it.

But it doesn’t mean you need to look exactly like your competitors just to be in the game. The same customer that goes to your site visits many others, and is not locked into only one way of doing things. Look at best practice across different industries then create your own voice. This article on the design approach from Virgin.com’s new Web Site is a great example how a brand can go about creating something that speaks in a unique and engaging way through UI design.

2. Be Purpose-Oriented: What this means is simply being aware of the different types of users you have to your site. When designing a site our Information Architecture (IA) needs to consider the different types of users and different purposes they have in visiting your site. And we need to plot these user personas and ensure we optimize each journey for a particular customer. Does the site template design, navigation design, iconography, image presentation, information display, etc. actually make it a better experience for ALL your key customers?

Check out this great Web Site from Volkswagen UK, designed from the very beginning to be tailored to different needs of all its audiences.

3. Make it Useful/Usable/Enjoyable: Which brings me too the 3 elements that are a great checklist when deciding whether your design approach adds to the Web Site experience. Does the Web Site actually help you get something done that you need to get done. Many sites now are about providing transactions or tools to help you achieve a specific aim – buy something, test something, play something. So if your site is not interacting or engaging me – why would I visit?

In this article, UI Matters: How an Interface Lift Can Make or Break a Brand, Garrick Schmitt provides a number of great examples of brands such as Mint that combine utility, usability and yes are actually fun to use.

4. Be Organic: The pace of change in ALL marketing means that Web Sites need to be flexible enough in conception and design to cope with constant change in a brand’s involvement in things like consumer-centric content, social media, mobile utility, etc. We call this an ‘organic’ approach to Site design, and something that major Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo does with sites like this so well. The Japanese retailer creates striking visual interfaces that enable to users to look at the company’s fashions in a completely unique, and yet intuitive manner.

And one that is constantly evolving.

What are your favorites?

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

5 Reasons Why Thai's Love a Digital Life

2009-11-09T04:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone

12 months ago I used to have to convince some marketers that Thai people were embracing a digital lifestyle.

Not any more. As marketers we are constantly faced with the digital changes in our work and social lives. But there is still the belief that digital is ‘only for the young’, or that ‘most Thais aren’t ready for digital marketing’.

So I’ve provided 5 FACTS below (mostly sourced from the 2009 Asian Digital Marketing Association Handbook) about the digital change that is sweeping Siam and, what the implications of this are for marketers here.

1. ALL Thais Love the Web: There are more than 15 million Internet users, with a penetration rate of 23.7% this year. That’s up from around 20% last year and next year it’s predicted to hit 28%. That means we’re growing by about 20-25 % per year in terms of Internet usage. And it’s not just urban Bangkokians, 2/3 rds come from outside Bangkok and almost 60% of people online earn less than 30,000 Baht/month. Just kids? No, almost 50% of online users are older than 25. That means all mass consumer brands should be considering their digital strategies across the board, not just for young urban Bangkokians.

2. Thais are Embracing the Mobile Web: I have mentioned before that Thais are amongst the highest users in Asia of their mobile phones, at almost 3 hours a day. While much of this is just SMS & chatting on the phone, the real story lies in how Thai users are starting to embrace the mobile Web. Thailand’s mobile Internet population has grown by 116% in the past year, as people start to embrace smart phones and applications and the mobile web. It is still early days but predictions are that more people will be accessing the web from mobile than from any other device within 3 years. And with a mobile penetration rate of 82% and rising, you better have a mobile marketing strategy NOW!

3. Thais Connect with Social Media: While last year’s stats show 10.73 million social media users in 2008, I know for a fact that Facebook increased their members by about 1 million in the last month alone! Social Networking is split mainly between the teens on Hi-5 (Up to 8 million users) and the 20 + crowd, who are increasingly flocking to Facebook. And the trends are that the biggest growth area is actually in the 25+ age categories. Yes, everyone is starting to embrace this movement. And every brand now needs to recognize this is not a fad, but a real social media phenomenon which requires a new approach to marketing across different age groups.

4. Thais are Crazy about Gaming: According to recent research Thais are the #1 (18-29) for online gaming in Asia, at 3 hours per day. In fact, 33% of all users play games online. And the implications for this are beyond kids again. Looking at all the gaming on popular portal sites like Sanook or Pantip, at Hi5 and Facebook, and how game play is starting to become a part of marketing campaigns and web interaction from all ages. Gaming can be a fun way to educate, entertain and yes to sell. Are you making the most of this opportunity?

5. Thais Live to Blog, Create & generally ‘Engage’: Yes Thais are gaming a lot, using email and visiting news sites. But they are also inter-acting and creating in other ways. Look at blogging – 84% of Thai Internet users claim to write or participate in a blog every week. And 18% have used their mobile devices to make a video clip. As the Web becomes the primary communication & creativity tool in our lives, we need to keep up with the sophisticated and interactive elements in our marketing as well.

Of course we can talk about the negatives. The lack of infrastructure, that 3G is not here yet, the income divide. But the fact is many Thais are not waiting for anyone or anything - just getting out there and doing it. Marketers take heed.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Can Social Media Campaigns Drive Sales?

2009-11-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone

It’s a question we’re all faced with now. And it can be a tough one to answer at times.

“How can I get a campaign like ‘Whopper Sacrifice’ that sells?”

And as the bandwagon gathers pace, and social media becomes more central to our digital marketing plans, the right answer will get more important.

Because with more budgets and attention, comes more ROI demands.

But are these sales expectations justified? If you read recent research like this you are left wondering – marketing people saying it’s working, but results saying the opposite.

So what can marketers and agencies do to ensure we are developing social media campaigns that head in the right direction?

Different Ways to Measure Impact

The first step is to remember that social media has evolved by people and for people. It is generally not a direct sales tool, it is a conversation and relationship builder, although there are obvious examples like these that use social media to sell directly.

But in this interesting blog, we see there are a few different social media marketing goals, of which sales is only one:

- Increased Brand Awareness. Content can be created and spread by the social media community and improve public perception of your brand through the social media dialogue

- Reputation Management/ Customer Service. Another goal here is to positively influence the way a potential and existing customer/audience perceives your brand through this participation

- Improved Search Engine Rankings. Used as an SEO tool and creating content for the purpose of obtaining links from the members of the social news websites.

- Increased Relevant Visitor Traffic. Driving visitors or users to your website by investing more time on social communities which have a high topical relevance.

- Improve Sales for a Product or Service. Although hard selling a social media audience through an overtly commercial profile is not advisable because it will come across as marketing spam.

How Successful Social Media Campaigns Sell

So sales can certainly happen, but it’s selling in a different way. Perhaps the best lessons are looking at successful campaigns out there now to see how they are ‘selling different’:

#1. Give people something useful/ fun/ rewarding: Like a lot of digital marketing, utility and enjoyment are vital, because that’s what drives social media conversations and get’s you noticed and talked about or passed on. Look at recent examples like this one from Estee Lauder, offering free makeovers and photo shoots at its department-store cosmetics counters coast-to-coast to produce shots women can use for their online profiles. Similarly we have used social networking in a recent P&G online gaming campaign to help drive awareness and participation among young women in Asia.

#2. Make it sharable in the ‘conversation stream’: Twitter and now much more with Facebook recently, is a constant stream of updates that makes building static ‘fan pages’ and detailed brand material and very difficult sell. Instead, campaigns like this from Whisper (from our colleagues in Singapore) provide tools for women to connect with each other at ‘that time’ through messages of support and encouragement.

#3. Combine all your social media tools: Successful campaigns look at every social media – whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, FlickR, Youtube or Digg – and combines this with other online media channels such as web sites, blogs and online advertising. In this Ford Fiesta Movement campaign, Ford created a grassroots social media campaign to promote the new Fiesta model by placing Fiestas in the hands of 100 social “agents” and having them promote Ford’s new vehicle through Twitter, blogs, video, and events, all without spending a dollar on traditional media.

#4. Make a sale connection a natural part of the conversation: In all of the above campaigns, a sale or sales call is a natural outcome of giving people what they want. For Estee Lauder purchase isn't required, but the promotion does get women to the counter to talk with reps and try makeup. For Ford it raised 50,000 follow up sales contacts. And for Kellogg’s in this campaign, they raised awareness for the US’s largest hunger relief organization, through their Facebook page. Anyone can become a fan and those who donate $5 or more will receive $5 in coupons for Kellogg products. With over 200,000 fans that’s and good cause and good sales result.

So the answer is yes, social media campaigns sell. It may not always be the first or only priority, but done right it can definitely be a key part of the campaign goals.

But always bear this in mind. Do you really want to have a relationship, or even a conversation, with someone who is just trying to sell to you all the time?

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

App vs. WAP & Thai Mobile Marketing

2009-10-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Interesting to read today that VW in the US is launching the latest Golf GTI car, using ONLY an iPhone application as its sole marketing media

Which raises some interesting questions – like when should marketers invest in an iPhone application (App), as opposed to a mobile web service (WAP)?

And what focus should we put on these strategies, compared to the rest of our marketing mix?

In Thailand, with the lack of a 3G network and slower development of mobile web, getting the answer right has never been more important.

So today I want to look at 3 points when considering the benefits of each:

1. Smart Phone Application
- This presentation App vs WAP – what is a marketer to do? does a great job at comparing the pros and cons of each approach. The key benefits of an app are:

1. Allows you to build a richer experience without impacting data speeds / charges. It’s more focused, fun and faster to use then mobile web.
2. Allows you to take advantage of native phone features (GPS, camera & voice). Localisation services using GPS are often a key to app success.
3. Features can work offline. No problems with bad connections.
4. Integration with other services (i.e. Facebook connect) Works well with many new platforms.
5. Can become a great extension of your brand attributes. It’s useful, fun and they almost always perform very well.

On the other hand, in Thailand with perhaps 200,000 iPhones phones you are only looking at less than 1% mobile penetration. Sure there are apps for BB and Android, but not many yet.

And then what % will find/ take up the app? As good as apps are, the audience reach is still at an early stage, and you need a good strategy to get buzz and generate usage

2. Mobile Web Site (WAP site)
The growth in mobile web sites has been pretty big this year. Most media, technology, social networking, gaming and banking/financial companies have one. Check out this list for an insight into 30 of them. The benefits to mobile are sites are:

1. Can work on 100% of devices. We are not restricted to just iPhones, we can adapt the site reach all mobile users.
2. Experience can be optimized to the highest common denominator. Means we can set a high standard across all platforms.
3. You can publish when you want – no approval process by App store required. No more 1 month delays for app approval!
4. iPhone, new Blackberry, Palm, and Android all share same Safari open source application framework Web kit. Makes developing easier.
5. Easier to drive to mobile web vs. drive to mobile App from mobile advertising networks. Driving traffic to a WAP site is easier for marketers.
6. Content from mobile web is searchable / search friendly. It works more like a Web experience people are used to.

Of course the issue is WAP sites need to be made for phones, they are very different and need to be much simpler than web sites.

And let’s face it, with download times and connection problems and a lack of confidence in transacting over the web here – a mobile site approach needs to be simple, well thought out and highly practical to make it work for this market.

3. The Right Mix?
In this excellent 3 min video from President of Major League Baseball in the US explains why for media organizations like his, you need to have both.

Clearly he makes a lot of sense. With apps you get a great experience, but a much smaller market. Albeit a market you can make money from. But with WAP you can get a much bigger reach. For Thailand it does depend on your industry, but some basic rules apply:

1. For WAP if you’re in media, banking, tech or entertainment you need a WAP first and need it now. Most other industries may not have one yet but with estimates saying a majority of Thais will access the Internet primarily through mobile within 2-3 years – you need a WAP strategy now!

2. For iPhone, apps make sense here and are great for a targeted and quite youthful (20-40), urban demographic. As part of an overall digital marketing strategy though, it is not a silver bullet but a great addition to the digital marketing plan.

Even in the States, some are questioning VW’s iPhone launch approach. And so do I. I tend to a agree with this reader who makes interesting strategy comments then finished with:

“In Volkswagen's quest to be the world's largest car marketer, saving money by launching a brilliant new vehicle with an i-phone app is akin to cutting back on an army's bullet budget...you'll have a little extra cash on hand when you've lost the war.”

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Times are A-Changin' Again for Marketers

2009-10-13T03:16:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Over my recent holiday break I watched the latest series from the hit TV show Mad Men, about a New York ad agency set in the 1950’s.

It was a time of real insights and storytelling, of brand creation, and when the ad agency had the influence to shape a company’s future. They were times of great change.

Many agency people, and marketing commentators, would love to go back to that same role we once had.

Some people even wonder, with the advent of Web 2.0 and fast & cheap social network enabled content, whether this is the beginning of the end for marketers? Unilever’s so called crowd sourcing experiment is cited as one example of this outsourced marketing movement.

Are we then, as marketers, becoming obsolete?

Those people who haven’t experienced fully the revolution that’s been going on in agencies in the last few years might think so. But I’d argue that agencies are becoming as important as we were in the Mad Men days, but for totally different reasons.

The agency and client model has radically changed to suit the times. Here’s what we’re doing different now, and why I think it’s so important:

1. Understanding & reaching people better: With the shift to social media, changes in consumer preferences, growth in communities, etc. it has never been more important to not only understand relevant consumer insights, but also work out new ways to provide access to these audiences.

“Agencies now help to create or manage customer communities for their clients. They will also create client specific media channels – whether it’s Twitter feeds or Internet radio – which can be used to deliver specific campaigns.” (Phil Johnson, Ad Age, ‘Creating the future of Adland’)

2. Creating engagement not just advertising : Agencies like ours are now are creating acts, not just ads. We therefore must be able create a large type of different brand experiences in different media, but that all speak with one voice.

That means a marketer and their agency should be able to offer everything from a branded web site, TV campaign, mobile promotion, package design, software applications, PR buzz, online games, branded events, email stream or retail experiences that are all integrated and work together seamlessly.

To do this agencies become more like content super-producers, managing the dozens of technology production and content streams, to come together as one. As Allison Mooney notes, agencies need to think like software companies to survive.

3. Managing the social media experience: Social networking does give more power to our customers – but any marketer will know there is a real challenge in getting a social media project balance right. Just setting it up is not enough, nothing will happen. Spend all your time maintaining it and it will drain your resources. And how do you turn the noise into sales?

An agency is crucial to understand what a brand’s role is in this social media conversation, when to contribute, when to listen, and what tools we can give our consumers to be useful. Ad Age Editor Jonah Bloom said it best: “Social Media isn’t a box to be ticked or a department to be manned or even a campaign to be launched. It’s about thinking differently about marketing, customer service, the entire company.”

4. Helping change the business not just the marketing: This leads to perhaps the biggest revolution has been taking place for marketers: by understanding our changing customers' lives better, we are now better positioned to provide advice on real customer utility. That is, not just better communications – but better products ideas, better services channels, and better ways of being useful in people’s lives.

Look at all the work that’s being done in an agency now, so much of it is about addressing the core issues of the business. In this way, as Wayne Arnold says in this article, we stop being an agency and start being an agent of change.

Welcome to Agency 2.0

Cheers

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

How Location Changes Digital Marketing Pt. 2

2009-09-23T04:43:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Apologies for the late post this week – so I’ll make it brief.

Following up from last week, I wanted to talk about the ways in which marketers are using digital in retail environments.

While we can’t yet do what GAP did in the film Minority Report, there are some big changes going on in the way we can enhance the retail experience and drive sales.

It’s important because research shows that up to 70% of purchase decision are finalized at the point of purchase. If we can use digital tools to deliver more engaging, more customized and more compelling product experiences this can have a big effect on our sales outcomes.

Let’s look at 2 areas that are making a difference at the shop store.

1. Digital Signage/ Product displays: Whether it’s in the shop window to attract people inside, or as part of the signage within the store, digital enables us to localize and customize the content depending on customer type, time of day or seasonal changes. Add to that interactivity, and it starts to become an interesting sales tool.

I love what Samsung are doing in the UK, and you see that digital retail is evolving from just pretty pictures, to far more interactive product experiences that enable people to control what they want to see, even before they get into store and feel the ‘sales pressure’.

Equally powerful but more communication specific is digital signage, like this example from Tesco Europe. The beauty of this signage is its ability to not only give information about products, but give customer/time/location specific offers or information throughout a retail environment, and connect to mobile devices as well.

2. Digital Interactive Sales Tools: Take the above examples and make them even more customized, more sales driven, more involved and you end up with something like this from Nike ID at the Nike store in Fukuoka in Japan.

A great concept which makes the most of a branded destination, by providing and customized sale tool to really put fun back into buying shoes. And isn’t that what we’d love shopping to be all about.

This type of marketing simply evolves from the interactive web site search and explore model that customers already understand. They are in control, and that’s the way they want it.

No matter what industry you are in – technology, automotive, fashion, you name it – there is a relevant retail application that can draw traffic and fast-track the retail sales process for you.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

How Location Changes Digital Marketing: Pt. 1

2009-09-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

One of the fastest growing and most important areas of digital marketing is based on providing ‘distributed digital experiences’.

That is, reaching out to people in the real world with digital experiences and communications, not just trying to reach them at our branded space online.

Mat Honan from Wired wrote in this article recently about how important location is to people’s decisions, and the impact digital services can have. “Simply put, location changes everything. Where we shop, who we talk to, what we read, what we search for, where we go – they all change once we merge location and the web.”

For marketers that means if you aren’t building location-based digital marketing into everything you do, you will lose them, because their choices are increasingly being dictated by their location.

The social networking tools people use, the mobile applications they choose, the stores they visit – are all influenced by digital location specific content and it's changing the way people behave.

This week I want to look at what marketers are doing with digital marketing installations and location-based mobile marketing experiences.

1. Digital Installations: One of the most visible ways of reaching out to customers is through large scale digital installations, often event-style communications, where people can not only experience visual/video/audio communications, but interact with them as well.

HBO’s Voyeur campaign was a great example of this type of communication, and interesting to see they will follow up with a new campaign called HBO Imagine to be launched soon. The reason why this was so powerful was it used the visibility of an installation medium embedded into everyday life, then led people to explore other mediums to interact with the idea further. Using these installations to excite and inspire further exploration is a key to success.

Other interesting examples of different real-world digital installations the fascinating Nike Chalkbot, Puma’s engaging installation Lift, and the interactive billboard experience Nike ID. This last, mobile digital experience we’ll describe further below.

2. Location Based Mobile Experiences: I’ve spoken about mobile a lot lately, and the reason why it is becoming so important – as highlighted in this excellent Ad Age article – is the realization by most markers “that mobile isn’t an ad play, but an extension of the services and products already on offer. And location is one of the most important contextual clues a mobile phone can provide”.

I’ve listed 4 of the most popular ways that marketers are using this added layer of location to enhance services and communications to customers:
- Mobile Applications: This great mobile real estate app from Zillow allows you check out home prices on houses from where you are
- Social Networking: Location specific social networking communities like 4Square add another layer of utility to online relationships
- Interactive Destinations: Combining the attraction of a digital installation and mobile interactivity, Nike ID campaign a good example
- Location Aware Communications: RFID, Blue-tooth, augmented reality and mobile web are allowing us to communicate with customers at a specific location.

Next week we’ll look how digital experiences are transforming the retail environment, creating unique branded destinations and digital shop-fronts.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Facebook, Twitter & Social Context Marketing

2009-08-31T04:42:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Try this, it will only take a minute.

Click here and enter your Facebook login for this Prototype Experience. Then watch the video.

Pretty cool, huh? This is the direction social networking marketing is going, and it is important for 2 key reasons.

1. Context drives engagement
In the future, the Era of Social Context will mean we are able to serve personalized content to users based on their social networking information. And this ‘contextual’ content will not to be limited to just ads or marketing like the Prototype example, but also include all media sites, e-commerce, corporate sites, and TV.

Every brand will adapt, at some level, to this model.

We are moving quickly from fairly static and one-way social marketing model, for example using just a simple Facebook page, to far more engaging applications using features like Facebook Connect that allow us to create a rich, interactive experience and far greater personalization.

The beauty with this approach is that you don’t have to ask people to enter any details, they just log in to Facebook, and you use things they’ve already shared.

Imagine how we could use this data in a campaign? We could use a customer’s personal photos to create personalized marketing with just them as the hero, as with the Prototype example.

Another good example of this is this case study from Doritos called iD3, where coming up with a new flavour has rarely been so socially connected.

2. Engagement drives sales
Importantly, we can also help a customer with an online purchase decision by asking them to connect with Facebook/Twitter so we can give our recommendation/suggestion on what they should buy.

As we all know, customers are far more likely to be involved and interested in a purchase if the message is just right for them. And that’s just what Volkswagen has created in this cute little ad which looks at the info from your Twitter stream and recommends the car most relevant to you.

Test it for yourself here (Volkswagen Rich Media Twitter ad), and if you still do not have a Twitter account, why not try a celeb Twitter name instead!

This is a simple, but totally engaging tool, with huge sales potential. In this interesting article, The Future of the Social Web, Jerimiah Owy explains how the movement towards Social Commerce is quite simply inevitable.

Of course there will be significant hurdles for brands to address in terms of privacy issues. But these will be overcome as people learn how better to filter their social information, and when they see the personal benefits this marketing can deliver them.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Virtual vs. Augmented Reality

2009-08-17T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

This week I wanted to mention 2 areas that hold a fascinating future for marketers - virtual and augmented reality.

To put it simply, virtual reality creates a whole new digital (virtual) world for people to interact with, while in augmented reality we add a digital layer over the real world (via PC, phone or other digital device) to enhance our view of the existing world.

It's the difference between Second Life virtual game for example, and this fascinating TATS augmented reality phone application.

Virtual reality was the hot topic a few years ago when talking about digital marketing potential, but it rarely gets a mention now.

But this recent overview in the Guardian article notes, virtual worlds are alive and doing very, very well - especially among younger audiences. Online world for kids Habbo has 135 million registered users alone, that's more than the population of most countries!

In virtual worlds brands are able to hold meetings, openings, have launch parties, create virtual showrooms, have exposure at different events - the possibilities are enormous. However despite all this success, you won't find a lot of marketers investing much there.

As the Guardian article says about Second Life: "Only a small fraction of its 19 million registered users are active, and it is still the creative laboratory of the genre."

Quite simply, the virtual experience is not interesting or immersive enough for most adults, yet. Until then, most marketers will keep their budgets on hold.

Augmented Reality, to me, is another story. AR has recently been highlighted in various marketing campaigns as a cool way to show your product via PC or mobile phone, such as in this concert launch by the BBC. But it is much more than just a gimmick, and the potential to change product and brand communications in remarkable ways:

- Create virtual maps/marketing information via phones: Check out world's first augmented reality browser, from Layar
- Connect you with social networks: An incredible augmented ID system from TATs to enhance your social and business networks
- Create digital shop fronts: Check out how we could all be buying clothes soon, in this digital shop front from Zugara
- Bring gaming to life: Want to see the future of gaming - how about a virtual pet on iphone?
- Change the way we teach/learn: How cool would it be if we all had school books like this?

There are endless possibilities to add useful and interesting information onto a world we, and marketers, are already in.

If you want a marketing reality we should start thinking about now for our products and campaigns, this is the one to watch.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Our Mobile Marketing Future

2009-08-10T04:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

For a long time mobile phones have been both the great hope, and the great disappointment, of digital marketing.

But with the launch of the iPhone, and development of smart phones like the Blackberry & Pre, things are getting really interesting for marketers. For the first time our phones are becoming a primary source for many to access the web and communicate with each other.

And this is driving a huge growth in mobile marketing opportunities in Asia, beyond just the usual mobile 'hot spots' of Japan and Korea.

Thailand in particular has a fast growing smart phone uptake, and one of the highest uses of mobile phones in Asia, so the possibilities here are tremendous.

But before we can realize these opportunities, it's worth highlighting the top mobile marketing mistakes . Too often in the past, marketers have done a poor job at adapting digital to mobile environments. The main points are:

- Design for mobile not PC: Customers want fast access to relevant information. So they need services that recognize they are on the move. They also want location-aware, activity-specific experiences. So thousands of words, massive images, slow downloads, and lots of clicks are NOT the answer.
- Don't ignore mobile's limitations: The phone can't replicate the PC experience. Remember that the screen is smaller, there’s no mouse, no printer, the keyboard is limited, bandwidth may be restricted, and megabytes cost money. But creative marketers can still overcome all of these to deliver fast, fun, fantastic experiences designed just for mobile handsets.
- Do exploit mobile's capabilities: The best mobile experiences take advantage of mobile's strengths. Remember It’s a phone, a camera, a video camera, it sends text messages, It’s location-aware, it’s a micro-payment device, it sends email, has a music player, a video player, a calendar & a browser . If all this doesn’t inspire you and your campaigns, nothing will.

Okay then, so what are our options? Below is a list of mobile marketing tools, and recent best practice examples, that show the beginning of the new mobile marketing revolution:

1. Mobile Web (WAP) Sites: These are great for everything from online retail utilities, to campaign supported sites. But the best sites don't try and do everything, but keep it simple to serve the specific needs of its users. The Bank of America mobile site is often given as an example of a site that does a great job. Find other great WAP sites here.

2. SMS/MMS Campaigns: It's perhaps been around the longest of all mobile marketing desciplines, and is still the most powerful tool for mass interactivity, and continues to evolve. Great SMS campaigns now are about opt-in, two-way involvement and immediate reward. Here's a good example of a campaign to launch an album from the popular Gorilaz band.

3. Mobile applications: With nearly 100,000 iPhone applications now developed, this is now a massive growth area which some people think could rival mobile web access for mobile marketing budgets. Mobile apps range from the fun, to the useful, to the silly. But if done right they can really provide a new way to interact with your audience and drive sales. My favourite branded apps at the moment are Barclays Card app, Grolsch beer fun and Pizza Hut ordering!

4. Mobile Advertising: One marketing tool which has promised much but rarely delivered has meen mobile advertising. The nature of the media and user reluctance to engage rarely makes this a compelling experience. Even advertising supported-mobile models such as Blyk have failed to really catch on. Having said that there is a place for mobile advertising with the right audience and as part of a more integrated mobile approach, as this campaign from K-Mart shows.

5. Mobile Video: As I discussed last week, video is exploding on the web, including on your mobile phone. Consumer generated mobile content, video sharing sites and even specialised video channels for mobiles - such as this mobile TV show from Sony Ericcson - are taking off.

6. Mobile Retail: It's not just marketing, our mobile phones are allowing us to search/shop/buy online like never before. Anything you can do on the web you can do more conveninetly - and often more simply - on your mobile. As this article shows, there are so many ways that creating shopping opportunities via mobile can be used effectively by brands.

7. QR/Short Codes: These so-called 'URL Killers', that allow you to scan a code on your mobile and get immediately connected to a mobile (WAP) site, have been around for a while in Japan and Korea - but not much elsewhere. All that is changing with smart phones and WAP access becoming popular, and you can see here that brands such Green Day, Firefox and Louis Vuitton are just some of the companies getting in on the act.

8. Location Based Services: The best thing about mobile is it's always with you - which means doing something out and about where you are is so relevant when done well. I've always loved this Hong Kong Airport campaign from Motorolla, but what really caught my imagination is how location marketing and social networking are combing to create some really interesting possibilities, such as this service from Four Square. Compelling stuff.

9. Future Mobile: I'll discuss more on this next week, but the integration of digital technologies to 'augment (add to) reality', such as giving you information overlayed on the real world when seen through your mobile, will be a really exciting area for marketers in future. To see what may be possible with this concept of augmented reality , check out here how we could use it to enhance our social networks!

But more on augmented reality vs virtual reality next week...

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Video on the Web Takes Off

2009-07-28T05:06:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Last week was the 40th anniversary of man's first landing on the moon. To help remember the event an incredible web site project was launched called We Choose the Moon.

In it you'll find 44 NASA archival videos covering the whole mission as well as 11 mission-critical events rendered in stunning animation. A timely reminder about how far video on the web has come.

And why is video so important? Well, moving pictures are now by far the most popular way way we tell stories about ourselves, and our products. They are the defining visual form of our time. First it was the Hollywood movie and the small TV screen, but now it's just as likely that YouTube that will attract our attention..

Online video enables us to tell our stories in simpler, more engaging ways than ever before.

But it is not just TV on the web. It is something far more compelling than that. And here are just some of ways companies are using it to great effect:

1. Be clear: I love the way retailers are incorporating video into we sites to show us, rather than tell us, about their products. Here's a great example from Nike called Sportswear stories.

2. Be simple: I heard a lot about the iPhone last year, but I didn't consider buying one till I watched this guided tour video on their site. Suddenly everyone is creating video demos of their products rather than boring old words and pictures. Who has time to read all that anyway?

3. Be interesting: As I mentioned we choose the moon allows you to follow the whole trip from lift off to splash down. A compelling story where you decide what's important and interesting for you. Brilliant and so engaging.

4. Be involved: Best job in the world is just the latest campaign in an idea that has still got legs - customer creation of video content. Done right it has the twin success factor of being fun to do and fun to pass around. No wonder it got so much buzz.

5. Be inspirational: I watched this Microsoft Project Natal video and was totally convinced it was possible. Is it real, will it happen? Don't know but here's one gaming and interactive experience I would love to buy.

6. Be informative: The great thing about video is that allows you learn stuff in an easy, and yet interactive, way. This online video series from MacAfee software about understanding hackers and how to protect yourself became compulsory viewing for me, it really got me hooked.

7. Be Different: FedEX have got a reputation globally as always trying something different and great to hear they are doing it again. Instead of TV advertising, the company has decided to do a Web-video advertising campaign, five three-minute films that feature the actor Fred Willard done in mock info-mercial style. When you've got something to say in an interesting way, why not do it longer form, and in a place your customers are increasingly spending their time?

8. Be real: My favourite team Man U and Nike have teamed up on the team's Asian tour to provide a web site packed with videos, many taken behind the scenes by and about the players, to enable fans to track their every move at the Man U Asian Tour 2009 site. It's the latest in a trend of sportswear sites that use their stars real experiences and behind the scenes action on video to bring fans closer to the brand.

9. Be mobile: Last but not least, it's worth noting that digital video does not have to be on your laptop. Pocket TV from Sony Ericsson is a TV series on You Tube designed in short form to be watched on your mobile, with interesting stories on music, fashion, the arts - you name it. Increasingly, mobile is where video needs to be at, and good effort to design something just right for the medium.

I probably could have listed another 20 ways to use video in our marketing, and so could you. And that's the point really.

We are only limited by our imagination and our bandwidth, and thankfully the latter is becoming less and less of an issue.

Which means we've only just seen the start of what will be possible. Exciting stuff.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Digital in a Travel Downturn

2009-07-17T01:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

I've been away in Australia on holiday, where like everywhere these days, business and agencies are suffering from the effects of the Global Economic Crises.

During these times digital marketing can drive a message in a more interactive, engaging, measurable and cost effective way.

But too often it seems to me, we are simply using digital to talk about lower prices and cheaper deals.

In the end the cut-price approach only damages our brands, so perhaps this is a good time to re-think our approach. After all, when times are tough, our customers don't always choose the cheapest option - they simply become smarter about their behaviour.

This discount mentality afflicts those in the travel industry more than most, so while I was in Australia it was interesting to see a travel campaign that looked differently at the challenge to kick-start tourism again.

The campaign is called 'No Leave/No Life' and the insight behind it is quite fresh. Often during an economic downturn, many people feel the need to take less holidays - even though they are actually not as busy and there are more people out of work & retrenched that could take a break.

But this guilt about tough times, combined with the fact many Australians often don't use their annual leave, is stopping them from going. The prevailing mood is often, 'Things are tough, I shouldn't be holidaying.'

What this campaign does is try to overcome this guilt with the idea that, actually, this is the perfect time to address the 'work/life' battle we all have. How about when you were busy and never took annual leave? Why not redress this imbalance by taking leave now, and get your life back?

The integrated campaign works across many different media, but online is where it really comes alive. It includes:
- A video (bottom left of link page) about the issue and how you can win the work/life battle
- All the reasons why it's good for you, your company and your country to take a break
- All the tools you need to plan your getaway, including holidays deals, handover templates for colleagues and out of office screen savers
- Holiday ideas and inspiration, that make you feel good about travelling now

A great campaign that uses all the digital tools, but more importantly, has some great thinking behind it.

And a timely reminder that even in a downturn, we can still create ideas that go beyond the discount clutter.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

The importance of PR in a social media world

2009-06-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

As you may have heard, the excellent 'The Best Job in the World' campaign picked up the inaugural PR Gold Lion at Cannes last week.

It's a ground-breaking campaign for a number of reasons. Firstly, it wasn't won by a stand-alone PR shop, but by an integrated ad agency.

Secondly the campaign didn't fit neatly into any category but combined a range of marketing disciplines in an integrated effort. And finally the success of the campaign was driven as much by consumer buzz as by mainstream media.

In many ways this campaign highlighted why PR has become arguably the most important tool in making our brands famous in a globally connected, consumer driven, social media world.

So what can we as marketers learn from their success? Here's a few important lessons:

1. Accept that media is in every one's hands : To see the impact of the change in media landscape, you only need to take a look at what's happened with the influence of social media in the protests in Iran this last week. No longer can authoritarian governments (or brands) control the message anymore. It's in the people's hands now. Look at this fascinating overview by Clay Shirky about the new media landscape and its implications.

This social media power really hit home to me in the 'Best Job' campaign when I received video entries like this from my Thai friends, long before I heard about it from other media.

2. Let social media and other media to feed off each other: But that's not to say that we should forget about the influence and importance of 'mainstream media'. Major newspapers, blogs, twitter feeds and cable news all live side by side and play a role in getting the message out. In many cases the influential bloggers are also journalists, or the mainstream news site is getting its updates from Twitter.

'The Best Job in the World' created the virtuous circle of online feeding offline PR (Osama Bin Laden video entry), and offline news reports feeding online entries (News reports of competition).

What is important in this environment is that we have a plan to cover all media to allow this cross fertilisation and spreading of the message. Given this, It was worrying to read in Asia this week that many APAC PRs are ignoring bloggers. In a social media world, where Twitter can have as big an influence as CNN, that's a major mistake.

3. Embrace a human idea to generate buzz: The fact that people could create video applications for "The Best Job in the World' meant that the core idea for the campaign was also the main way of spreading the news around the web. Creating consumer buzz is not just a media choice, it's a creative choice. And that means now more than ever, your idea has not only got to be newsworthy for big media but also interesting enough and 'human enough' for everyone to want get involved.

At the heart of the success of the 'The Best Job' campaign was NOT the fact that it's Queensland, but that everyone dreams of a job on a tropical island getting paid to relax and have fun. Without understanding this human truth, the best use of social media ever would not have helped this campaign.

Many tourist organisations will rush to replicate this success, but most will fail for one simple reason. They will rush to push their brand first and forget about the very motivation people travel in the first place. They do it for themselves.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

End of the Lion?

2009-06-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

This week is the Cannes International Advertising festival, the pinnacle of global advertising and marketing award shows.

And it's interesting to note that the festival, this year more than any other, is under attack. This is typified by Bob Garfield's article this week saying that Cannes no longer matters. In typical Garfield style he's a bit over the top, but he does make some important points.

In an age where advertising and marketing is undergoing a massive revolution, many award shows are simply not keeping pace with these changes. Actually they are trying to evolve, and Cannes more than many others. But they are definitely behind the times.

And the fact is they need to change because award shows should still matter. Because the best in the industry still needs to be acknowledged. Because these creative campaigns, which has been proven time and again, drive disproportional sales success for our clients. And because they light the way for the rest of the industry on how we can improve and do great work.

But to keep that flame alive, to save the lion, I think we need to start to evolve shows to better reflect the changing environment of the times. Here's my thoughts on how:

- Change categories: Yes, separate categories have already been created for digital and integrated work, but there are simply not enough of them. So much great integrated work is confined to so few categories. Print and film are still dominant in most awards, yet they are becoming less relevant in the real world. This must change.

- Change Judges: While of course some of the greatest advertising minds in the world are the judges, I don't believe there is enough young and integrated minds also involved in the judging panels. Most award shows still venerate the old school of marketing and these judges are, no matter how esteemed, part of this school. Judging needs a radical shake up.

- Outside Influence: One way would be to invite non-industry judges and clients into the process. Already we are increasingly influenced by areas such as fashion, design, computer animation, etc.. so why not bring their insights into the process? And why not include major global clients, with an understanding of creative effectiveness, for their input as well. Yes we want to be judged by our peers, but I think the idea of who these peers are needs an overhaul.

- People Power: I think one way to make the awards relevant again is to open up the festival to the people, to our global customers. Yes the awards are about peer recognition - but there is a perception we are out of touch. Introducing a series of 'people's choice' awards alongside the main awards, and a global campaign to introduce this concept, will bring some much needed PR and relevance back to the show.

Ok, that's my view. Now let's look at some great work. I've chosen 5 campaigns, highlighted from 50 shown at last week's Leo Burnett Cannes Predictions, which I think show the best of what we can be and hopefully will win at the show. Watch all the You Tube campaign presentations below:

1. Whopper Sacrifice: For me this was the campaign of the year, a great way to show a love of the burger and have some cheeky fun with your friends. The fact it got shut down made it even more powerful in terms of positive PR.

2. Oasis Street Launch: A wonderful approach to launching music for the people, by the people. Watching this actually made me buy my first Oasis album in 10 years.

3. Share our Billboard: A brilliantly simple idea to involve people in the brand, offline, and made possible online. And it does what all great campaigns do - it sells.

4. Best Job in the World: The most buzzable campaign of the year, a great example of giving the tools to people and enabling them to sell the story.

5. Obama for America: Perhaps the greatest integrated campaign ever created, a landmark in political advertising that will set the scene for similar campaigns from now on.

What's your favorite?

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Don't make an ad, create a movement

2009-06-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Recently there's been some different integrated digital work that stands out because it's communicating more than a product benefit, it's creating a cultural movement.

Below are major examples of this from brands like Coke, HP, Doritos, Dove, Microsoft and Virgin.

Why are more brands getting involved? Well as Carlos Ricardo notes here talking about the Doritos campaign, when a brand creates a a cultural movement "it plays a strategically important role as an enabaler in bringing a memorable experience to consumers. And that message (if done right) is a spark that can transform into something very big."

Yes, we must ensure that the 'cause' is relevant to the brand - even if this link is just the irreverence or fun of the product - but we should also remember that this relevance doesn't just have to be to about corporate or social responsibility.

A movement is simply something real that a customer can care about, take ownership of, share with others and feel a part of the solution. Whether that's saving the planet or saving slow dancing - every brand can find a movement that is right for their audience. Here at Leo Burnett we call it creating ACTS, not just ads. Here are just a few:

Types of Movements:

1. A fun movement: Doritos created a movement shown here that connected with something authentic and real that their young digital audience related to. Bring back slow dancing!

2. An educational movement: McAfee software decided people would love to understand how hacking works and created a great movement to stop H*Commerce.

3, A fantasy movement: To launch Halo 3 last year Microsoft created a wonderful story and memorial to the chracter from the vidoe game, Master Chief, called'Believe'. It helped create the biggest entertainment launch in history.

4. A real memorial movement: Back to reality, this new campaign for Victoria Bitter (beer) created a movement about remembering, and raising a glass to, Australia's war dead. Watch the TVC and see the website and campaign review here.

5. A social progression movement: Dove is famous for its campaigns about changing attitudes to beauty, which everyone has seen, but worth looking at this one again.

6. An environmental movement: Following on from our Sydney office's effort with Earth Hour, our colleagues in Singapore have teamed up with our client HP to create a movement about saving power and the planet, just by turning off your PC. Visit https://h30470.www3.hp.com/

7. A celebration movement : In China we created a movement around celebrating the Chinese New Year with people you love, in First Coke of the Year.

8. A whacky movement: Virgin mobile (who else) created this hilarious and silly movement to 'stop wrong music' with apologies from past artists who created some pretty bad music.

There are so many movements to create that can connect with our customers. Any others you care to share?

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Keeping up with the digital revolution

2009-06-02T00:28:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Every generation thinks they are at the crossroads of history, that the changes going on NOW are the most important ever. I guess our present generation is no different.

But it would be hard to think of another era when so many changes were happening in the marketing landscape all at once.

And of course it's our job to try and keep up with how these changes that are effecting our customers and our brands, both in Thailand and around the world.

But how do we manage this tsunami of new marketing information, and make sense of it for our particular needs?

I am often asked - how do you keep up? And while it isn't easy, it's vital to find a way to understand and utilise all these developments. In providing these information sources though, I'd suggest 3 things to help to tailor this approach to suit your own particular needs:

1. Commit to learning: Accept that part of our jobs must be to learn more from others. The nature of our work these days means we are all time poor, but my theory is we should invest at least 30 minutes a day to updating ourselves on new learning. We need fuel for ideas, and food for inspiration, not just from within our company but also from beyond our own walls.

2. A starting point: Take these sources below as the beginning of finding out where right information is for you. Then tailor them to your particular client or industry or product. Whatever industry you are in there is a wealth of important, practical and up to date information that is ideal for you.

3. Get involved: While we can read all we want about Twitter or Facebook or gaming or iPhone apps - there is no substitute for actual experience. My best advice is just to jump in and start using all these technologies - they are easier than you think and it's only through their use that we truly understand their power and their limitations. And you'll be better informed about the marketing decisions you make.

With that in mind, here's my digital marketing resource list:

Marketing News: You can visit these sites or better yet sign up for the e-newsletters sent to your email. Just don't overdo it and skim read for what's important.
- Digital Advertising Age: http://adage.com/digital/ Sign up for the daily newsletter to keep track of things on a industry wide scale. Good for big issues, if a bit US-centric
- Click Z News: http://www.clickz.com/news Sign up for a range of industry news letters, depending on your interest. This is a bit more technical so good for the geeks amongst your team.
- Media Asia: http://www.brandrepublic.asia/Media/: More for advertising and marketing industry news across Asia, including Thailand. Sign up for e-newsletter
- Positioning (Thailand) http://www.positioningmag.com/: One of the local Thai marketing mags that does a reasonable job of keeping up with digital. Review this weekly for updates.

Marketing Research: Keep track of all the latest in digital marketing research so your insights remain fresh
- Emarketer Daily: http://www.emarketer.com/Welcome.aspx: Sign up to daily news or review the web site for the latest research
- Synnovate: http://www.synovate.com/ I personally find Synnovate's observations and insights on Asia invaluable, in particular their yearly digital review

Marketing Presentations: Rather than just read, sometimes it's more engaging to watch and learn
- Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/: This awesome site lets you search just about any subject for presentations on all industries. Highly useful, try it
- TED: http://www.ted.com/ Riveting talks by interesting people, there is no better place for watching great digital marketing presentations
- You Tube http://www.youtube.com/ : Still the best source for finding archive of past great campaigns and current case studies

Marketing Campaigns/Insights: To be truly inspired we need to keep track of ideas that are happening now
- Contagious: http://www.contagiousmagazine.com/: get the weekly newspaper and the best, by far in my opinion, insight into what is happening in terms of global digital/integrated campaigns
- PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/: More trends than campaigns but very interesting look at what is hot and not, across many different fields
- Award Sites: http://www.webbyawards.com/ : Keep an eye out on award sites to see the latest and greatest examples of work

- Digital Thinking: http://www.wired.com/: An old favourite, for some understanding on why these changes are happening and the latest geek viewpoint

Blog Sites: Find a blogger that's right for your industry and that you like and trust. It may take time but usually very practical and personal insights and you can interact with the author to learn even more. Here's two I like, but do yourself a favour and Google "Best xxx Blogs 2009" or check out lists like this. Also click on my profile and you'll see 6 other blogs I follow.
- Viral Blog http://www.viralblog.com/: Updates on trends and inspiration for digital marketing
- Seth's Blog http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ Straight forward opinions by a straight forward thinker

Twitter Feeds: Twitter is a fantastic new way of getting a ongoing dose of marketing insight, if you take the time to track down people worth following. Here's your task now - sign up for Twitter, then use Twitter Search for 'digital marketing' and see where it takes you. Get involved and give it time, it will be worth the effort.

Any of other digital marketing resources you'd care to share?

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

It's time for digital to measure up

2009-05-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

It was interesting to read this week that many Chief Marketing Officers are unhappy with digital. And especially to read why.

"Respondents to the survey found their current ability to access ROI and metrics on their digital marketing lacking, and rated their companies behind the curve".

During these tough economic times, it's more important than ever to measure and assess every marketing activity we do. But while digital marketing enables us to measure like never before, as the latest research highlights, it's become our own worst nightmare.

It seems many marketers, while having access to greater amounts of marketing data, are drowning in it and therefore actually using it less. The study notes that "time after time in the survey, marketers expressed an awareness of digital’s potential, along with a recognition that they weren't close to tapping into it."

What's going wrong folks? Well, some people are happy to blame clients for trying to expect short term results from digital rather than a longer term objectives, but I think that misses the point. The frustration tends to be understanding what and how to measure, not that the results themselves are bad. If you don't know what to measure, how can you ever be satisfied with the outcome?

Most of us have faced this data dilemma at some point. We're not sure what to measure, so we measure everything, or what we've done previously, in the hope that some figures turn out okay.
We don't think hard enough about what we want up front, so are frustrated when we don't see positives in every outcome. Or we think we don't have the budget to measure properly, so we go with the status-quo.

But really, getting the basics right is not about money. We just need to be more realistic about what we measure, and why. Here's a start on how:

1. Align objectives: Know what you want to achieve
- First we need to make a very clear and early choice about the outcomes objective of the campaign, and make sure it aligns with the overall integrated campaign (if there is one) objectives. What's the point of creating a brand banner ad when we need to drive people to a campaign web site for a promotion?
- In identifying these objectives we need to consider a customer's digital behaviour, their user personas, to make sure we know how digital fits in with their overall purchase journey. If you can't do detailed research, do a quick online survey or interview. It will really help focus your thinking.

2. Choose your metrics + tools: Different horses for different courses
- - If we are doing qualitative measurement - like brand impact- be sure we have the measurement in place such as surveys, contextual observations, buzz tracking, usability testing and/or customer interviews.
- For quantitative measurement, many digital campaigns can be measured just with the metrics supplied by basic reporting tools from web sites or media companies. It's worth exploring the usual metrics, but also some we should use more often. But if it's a major campaign, invest a small % of the campaign in the right digital tool for the job

3. Set a baseline: Focus on only the metrics that really, truly matter
- Choose the one metric that matters above all others for your particular campaign. Is it CTR, average viewing time, registration rate, time on game, interaction rate..? You should know from step one
- Choose the one metric that aligns most with our objectives as your benchmark KPI so as we change variables for the campaign, as this is the key measurement we need to monitor that matters

4. Assessment: Put some meaning to the numbers
- Data analytics is often what is missing in all of this. That is, making real meaning from all of the numbers. Too much of the time what we produce is a report on the numbers, and perhaps highlight the key outcomes, but often there is very little insight on the implications of the data
- For complex CRM and data campaigns you need the right people for the job. But 99% of digital marketing campaigns - given we've followed the steps above - can be done ourselves. Many of us are afraid of numbers but as this digital creative points out in this article, it is a vital part of the creative process. "Data itself is meaningless. But data grants insight, and it is only with insight that we can create something meaningful".

5. Test & Optimize: Change your creative variables to improve performance
- Digital marketing allows us to vary elements in a campaign relatively easily and see the results almost immediately. From the CMO research discussed though, few of us do this
- User pre-testing for online ads, prototyping for web sites, etc. are rarely done but are possible. Of course we can and should change elements after launch to optimize as well - but as Kristen Berg says in this article (I stole her title) - for larger campaigns we can save a lot of time and money seeing what works before-hand.

Every single activity, from an email to banner ad to mobile app to web site to widget - we can follow this process and achieve meaningful and measurable outcomes.

This isn't happening though because we're afraid of the outcomes, afraid people will be scared from using a medium we have worked so hard at building trust in. We're worried we won't compare as favourably with other campaigns or benchmarks.

But that fear is stopping us moving forward. Most marketers understand that we can learn as much or more from failure, and that every meaningful piece of data is a weapon for future success.

Cheers, Rob

Where the hell is your idea?

2009-05-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

You may have heard about Matt Harding from his 'Where the hell is Matt?" videos.

You may recall he travels around the world, doing crazy dances in different countries and creates a video of his journeys - but you may not have seen his latest 2008 video.

Please watch it - you won't regret it. It runs for about 4 minutes, although most of my friends said they played it all weekend.

Fantastic huh? In one short video he makes an incredibly bold and risky statement for these cynical times, but with a big dose of understatement and bundles of pure joy. As Matt himself says, "Everybody knows that we (humans) can all be small-minded and petty. But we also like to be reminded once and a while about what we can be, at our best."

Of course, producing this latest effort wasn't easy - 14 months in the making, 42 countries and a cast of thousands. I've said before I'm no fan of viral marketing for viral sake, but this was the opposite of that. Meticulously thought out, planned, produced and edited - resulting in something fresh and incredibly inspiring.

Can we all say that for the campaigns we are working on now? If not, how can we learn from Matt?

Lesson 1: Whether it's from our brands or not, these campaigns are being produced - Unless we convince our brand's to embrace this type of work we won't get 20 million visits, dozens of interviews, a lecture series, a web site, millions of fans and even imitation videos . We won't become cultural icons that are embraced globally unless we too embrace new ways of doing things.

Matt's latest campaign was actually sponsored by Cadbury's Stride Gum - but the campaign could have equally, or perhaps even better, have been sponsored by a global clothing brand, camcorder maker, travel company, airline or global beer brand. The message is that universal. And that powerful.

Lesson 2: We won't get there by formulaic strategies - Great campaigns are not just a matter of looking up the digital marketing checklist and including (a) user generated content (tick), (b) web promotion (tick), and (c) social media integration (tick).

It actually comes back to creating insight and meaning around our work. And it comes back to realising that following a load of brand guidelines, insisting on inserting the product at every opportunity, having the idea pass through 6 layers of change committees, and then using every avenue to avoid perceived risk (and reward) - will not result in great work. Whether that's within an agency or a client.

We need to ask honest questions - are we in marketing to create bold and hugely successful work that will make our brands and us famous? Or would we rather tick the boxes but never really strive for greatness. Aren't we all in this business to produce the kind of passionate and inspirational work that Matt has done?

Hell, yes.

I can't put it any better than how Matt describes the choices he has made. "Sometimes other people limit our options for us, sometimes we limit our options and we create the boundaries for our existence and say, 'I can only do this, this is the job I’m cut out for, this is what I can do.' I think it’s really important when you realize that you’re the one creating those boundaries and you have control over them, there’s no lock on the cage, and you can open up the door, go outside and do whatever you want."

Lesson 3: Playing it safe is the biggest risk of all - As marketing guru Seth Godin often states, that in the Web 2.0 world the only, THE ONLY, safe option is to embrace change. Because as lesson 1 teaches us this work is out there, being produced and watched and loved and embraced. There is no going back for our brands - because someone else will do it better and brighter and we'll just be ignored. And as for our jobs, well, the same rules apply.

As Seth puts it in this blog, "At least once a day, I get mail from people worrying that if they are too remarkable, too edgy, too willing to cause change and growth... they're risking getting fired. I almost never get mail from people who figure that if they keep doing the same boring thing day in and day out at their fading company that they're going to lose their jobs in a layoff."

"50 ad agencies lose accounts for being boring, static and unprofitable for every one that gets fired for being remarkable. 50 employees lose their jobs because the business just faded away, for every one who is singled out and fired for violating a silly policy and taking care of a customer first. 50 readers stop visiting your blog (or your web site or your magazine or your TV show) because you're stuck in a rut and scared, for every one who leaves because you have the guts to change the format or challenge the conventional wisdom."

Work like this inspires us to push ourselves and our clients beyond what is bland, and into what is brilliant. And reminds thus that the effort it takes, while never easy, is ultimately hugely rewarding.

And it reminds us that if Matt can do it, so can we.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

The future of search marketing

2009-04-27T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

In contrast to the grim state of online advertising we discussed last week, search marketing is going from strength to strength, and rightly so.

As the web exploded we needed a way to navigate through the maze of information and Google's unique search algorithm made it simpler, faster and better than the rest at finding the stuff you wanted.

Sure, there are other search engines out there, but Google dominates the game in most markets. And it's not hard to see why.

By ranking results based on popularity, it made the web more meaningful to most people, so much so that Google became synonymous with the entire concept of 'search'. The smart people at Google also realised that most companies would love to advertise to Google customers based on how targeted this audience would be, and so created the most powerful online advertising model ever via their paid listings. Newspapers were dead, long live Google was the mantra.

So much so that search now dominates many discussions about digital marketing media. Search Engine Optimisation strategies ensure we have the right key words, and links, so our web sites rank highly on Google so customers can find us easily. Getting the right pay-per-click advertising on Google drives most Search Engine Marketing strategies. And this growth has fueled an entire industry of marketers specialising in this field.

No other strategy can impacts your online traffic to the same degree. So you'd be a fool to want to change the search tool right?

Perhaps not as foolish as you might think. The name of the web 2.0 game is about what users want, and it's been nearly 10 years Google has used the same search engine process. And many customers, including me, think we deserve something much better. Here's why:

1. Ranking by popularity is often not enough: The basic issue is the 'most popular ranking' may not be the most relevant to you. We've all experienced it - the site or information we're looking for is swamped by the big spenders and larger sites earlier in the rankings. As asked in this Time Magazine article on the frontier of search, 'who needs 14,120,000 results in response to a single question? People don't want a list - they want an answer'.

2. The growth of community search: In the blog 'the future of search is not google' and in this ABC news article recently, they both chart the fact that search is becoming more of a dynamic search experience, one in which the community will be able to shape, refine and organise searches so they are much more relevant to you.

Already sites have sprung up like http://www.mahalo.com/ that combine different elements of social media and rankings for a much different experience. Type in 'pig flu' in Google and you get the usual, disparate lists of information. Type it into Mahalo and you get a completely different, I think better, inter-connected experience.

3. Does Google really want to change? It's easy to beat up on the big guy I know. But hey, the reason we hated Microsoft wasn't really Bill Gates (or was it?), it's because they stuck to a shitty bit of software and wouldn't evolve it (much).

Google are on a good thing, but they haven't really been very open in their listing methodologies and policies - so how accurate or fair are they really? And yes, while they have tried something different with SearchWiki, it seems half-hearted. Don't tell me the smart people who brought us Google Maps and Google Earth couldn't do an improved search engine. Of course they could, but why would they spoil their cash cow??

4. Social media may become a search driver: One of the reasons Google may have to genuinely start to move forward are tools like Twitter. It may seem odd, but as this blog notes actually Twitter may genuinely evolve into something of search phenomena itself. The reason is this - search via Twitter is based on immediacy not popularity, and in the age of immediacy news sites like Digg rule the day.

Google has pretty fast updates on news from the big media and big sites but it’s not real-time, there’s at least 1 minute delay for even the most world-breaking news. On the other hand, Twitter search can give the user real-time responses, with every Tweet literally becoming a new search result.

So what of these changes? One thing for certain, Google will not be replaced over night, and will continue to have a significant role to play in our marketing in the near future. But if Web 2.0 has taught us anything it is that we must listen to what people, real users are saying, and be open to the change they want.

Search is evolving and it wouldn't surprise me if we were all Mahalo-ing some time soon. Brilliant ad model or not, Google, there go the customers.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Dog days for online advertising

2009-04-21T04:28:00.000-07:00

Hi there

If you've been keeping up with the digital marketing news lately lately, you'd know that online display advertising - mainly banner ads on web sites - are going through a bit of a rough time.

The tougher economic climate, and the increasing number of other digital marketing options, has meant a slash in online advertising budgets. The latest research shows it slowing dramatically and perhaps even going negative by the end of 2009.

While this may mean better availability in online media for our ads, it unfortunately also fuels the argument that online advertising is not reaching audiences effectively. The crises in all media, documented by Bob Garfield in his Chaos 2.0 Scenario and updated more recently in Apocalypse Now, highlights that online media cannot yet match the reach/frequency hole left by a fast-dying old media dinosaur.

Add to this the plethora of other social media options in terms of earned rather than paid media, and the growth in search marketing, and it's easy to see why online display advertising is starting to be viewed as an option rather than a requirement for 2009 campaigns.

That's not the way it should be - and agencies need to shoulder some of the blame for that. Because many the banners we're producing just aren't in the same Web 2.0 league as the rest of the work. Not even close.

Most online creative I've seen lately is at best uninspiring, and at worst intrusive and damaging to the brands. It's unfortunate that while I've been banging on lately about the incredibly high standard of digital and integrated creative work this year, looking around it's really hard to come up with banner ad campaigns locally and regionally that are something different and effective.

As Advertising Age highlighted this week in this article, most online display ads 'remain the safe haven for traditional one-way communication'. Online ads aren't taking advantage of the incredible opportunities available to them, and aren't even getting noticed, let alone starting conversations.

They have become the bland hand-luggage that accompanies other media suitcase campaigns - too easy to ignore because they lack relevance and engagement. It's as if we've accepted online advertising requires a lower standard of creativity, but somehow believe it will still perform well.

Clearly it won't, and here's my take on how we need to get online advertising back on board again: (Thanks to IDGM site for some of the quotes below)

1. Use rich media: When producing online display creative these days, we need to start utilizing rich media as our main tool. Basically that means creating far more sophisticated banners capable of housing video, games and other interactive elements. This has been talked about for several years, but mass broadband penetration is now making it an everyday reality. In response to increasing demand, ad-serving companies such as DoubleClick and Eyeblaster are focusing more and more resources on pushing the boundaries of rich media.

Check out 'Eye Blaster Creative Zone' to see what's possible. We can create ‘Social ads’ that allow users to post content to the social network of their choice. Video, branded games or other content can be pulled from ads and transfer-red to Facebook or MySpace, allowing it to spread vi rally. Other developments include ‘Talk-Back’ banners, which enable consumers to give feedback via an ad, and ‘Chat’ ads, which allow users to have questions answered via an ad in real time. What this means is that advertisers of all shapes and sizes can adapt display technology to suit exactly their own purposes.

This can even apply to conservative sectors such as financial services or airlines, where people can actually order tickets or services from within the banner. Static banner ads - broadcasting one-way messages that have little impact, relevance, and often under perform - need to be killed off.

2. Broaden our measurements: The growth of rich media and other new online display formats raises questions about the usefulness of click-throughs as a measure of the success for all campaigns. In a recent post Nicolas Zurstrassen, associate director of digital at Nike, believes that click-throughs are still important as a means of gauging interest in an ad. “However, as brands move away from a focus on destination sites and toward integrating themselves into the environments where their consumers interact, it is essential to have another level of measurement on top of the click-through. The past few years have seen the rise of this metric – engagement.”

This point is important. Traditionally, digital display campaigns sought to drive consumers away from a website and onto a brand’s site. In the case of direct response ads, this made sense, as it would be the brand’s site that would convince them to make a purchase. Brand-building campaigns were, on the other hand, limited in what they could show on a banner, and were often forced to pull readers to the brand site where they could enjoy a fuller experience.

The promise of the latest rich media formats is that brands can bring their content to consumers, rather than vice versa. David Prideaux, executive creative director at Publicis Dialog notes that “This is the big creative opportunity. There’s more content and the next creative opportunity is the ‘widgetisation’ of banners. Rich media now allows for messages to be turned into applications, so instead of having to click through to a site, the banner can deliver much more information and a far more engaging experience on its own.”

The result is that has noticed that rich media has helped campaigns buck the trend of declining clicks. “The average click-through rate is 0.2 per cent and falling. Contrast this with rich media, where you can get two to three per cent if you have a really strong execution.”

These metrics can be anything from viewing time on a video, playing time on a game banner or level of completion on an interactive order form. The key is to define what the objectives and measurement aims are up front prior to creative production - as it's an important part of the creative process.

3. Utilize better targeting: Web sites and media agencies are getting much, much better at targeting customers - not just through demographics but through profiling and behavioural targeting. Basically now we can pinpoint individuals who visit sites and track where they go to build a better idea of our target customers based on their actual behaviour.

This revolution in online advertising highlighted here, means we can reach more people on more sites and move beyond just the big portals to reach out directly to every one of our customer segments. Not only that, but it can means reduction in costs as well.

4. Throw away the matching luggage: The final point is perhaps an important one to discuss with our clients. There is a perception among some marketers and agencies that online advertising creative in an integrated campaign "should look like the rest of the campaign. For consistency, look and feel, to make sure we re-enforce the same message". Perhaps that may be true with some static online ads of the past, but we've already seen how effective these have been.

Well here's the counter-argument to that matching luggage philosophy. Customers really don't care if your ad looks the same as a TVC or print ad. The web is built on engaging people and getting them to interact with your message. Great integrated campaigns DO NOT force the online ad to look exactly the same as the print ad, because they recognise it is a different medium and customers have different requirements and expectations. Yes at the end of the day the overall message should be the same, but the execution should play to the media's strengths. And it's need to have a strong creative idea that's right for the environment.

Despite the tough times, the future for online ads can be bright, but we have a bit of catching up to do to get to the same level as other digital marketing efforts.

Hope to hear your thoughts on this.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

HumanKind ideas in action

2009-04-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

Hi there

First, sorry for the delay in this post!

Second, I'm NOT usually writing this blog to 'sell' Leo Burnett/ARC, but this week, I'm doing so unashamedly.

Last week we had our Global Product Committee in town reviewing Q1 2009 global work, and it was fantastic for Leo Burnett Bangkok to host this event.

There was truly some inspiring work, in particular in the integrated area, that I thought was worth sharing.

Our HumanKind approach is all about putting people first - getting beyond just saying what our products do and starting to show what our products/ brands can mean in people's lives. As we say, we're more interested in delivering real purpose through creating acts, not just ads.

For me personally, what defines our new type of HumanKind work, in particular in the digital and integrated area, includes the following key elements:

- Real human insights: These campaigns have looked at what people really feel/think/do/react and have come up with something fresh and relevant.

- User at the centre of the experience: They have all gotten people involved in creating and involved in the experience. Not just speaking at people, but getting customers to participate.

- Relevant brand utility: The campaigns are about providing the brand's purpose as something practical and useful for everyone. This way the brand becomes truly involved in what people want.

- Tools for re-imagination and sharing: The campaign has not stopped at just telling a story, but actively getting people to interpret the story and add to it in the way they want. Across every media, not just online.

- Star-reaching ambition: All of these campaigns are ideas that can be as big as they want to be, can be applied globally, and extended almost indefinitely. Great campaigns are not afraid to be hugely ambitious for the products or brands they represent. They really do want to make our clients famous - in all the right ways.

Here are just a few of my favourites,

1. Earth Hour Campaign - WWF: Last year we took on Sydney, this year we've taken on the world! A campaign to help increase awareness for global warming by turning out the lights. Reached an estimated 1 billion people last 28 March. If you can think of a campaign with bigger ambitions, I'd like to know about it. Here is the site

2. Ephemeral Museum - Pampero Rum: A fantastic way to help unearth the city of Lisbon's culture and make people a part of that experience. See the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooscH571RAA

3. The Shop - Red Cross: A wonderfully simple way of making the intangible more tangible, selling 'hope' in a retail environment in Madrid. Check this great idea here, and we'll see if we can make it happen in Thailand! Stay tuned..

4. First Coke of the Year - Coca Cola: Humanity and optimism, the central themes of this integrated campaign from China. The campaign invites the public to participate, sharing their own personal stories about who they chose to share their first Coke of the year with and give their First Coke of the Year to the person of their choice, both on-line and in-store. Great use of Liu Xiang, especially given his failure during the Olympics. Apparently the site attracted more than 20 million visits. See the TVC here.

Look forward to sharing many more ideas with you, locally and from around the world, throughout the year.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Marketing storytelling is alive and well

2009-03-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hi there

Great stories, my old creative director would say, are what lie behind every great marketing campaign because they connect us with something bigger than ourselves.

But in this digital age, many would argue that storytelling is dead because the short-form communications like Twitter and MSN simply don't allow us to tell big stories "in this digital, impersonal world".

I couldn't disagree more. Just this article in Ad Age this week shows how brands are telling stories, using data visualisation, in new and unique ways. But if stories are still thriving in campaigns, and I think they are, there is no doubt that something has radically changed about how we tell them.

The most powerful aspect of Web 2.0 is putting the user at the centre of the experience, and this has meant that stories no longer focus on JUST the brand's story, but has instead shifted to you, the user.

Marketers can no longer just try to push out a single, fixed, defined brand story for mass consumption and expect success. Instead campaigns now look at how to enable users to take our stories and create their own - through blogs/ photos/ tweets/ profile/ films/ art/ music - then share and mash and enjoy these with other people.

Below I've described what I see as the main changes in how we tell stories, and examples of companies taking advantage of this digital storytelling revolution.

1. Create a new story: User generated content was one of the first big changes in storytelling a few years ago. Since then we've had fabulous campaigns, for example the recent Doritos Crash the Superbowl Campaign , which open up brand communication to the user in new and entertaining ways. We can all be movie makers. Writers. Reporters. Photographers. Artists. Musicians. Money Managers. You name it. That's why sites like YouTube and Flickr were created.

Of course UGC can be done badly, I mean who really wants to see people talk about how good your tea is, and it can leave your brand open to criticism as in this automotive nightmare. In the end you need to balance the freedom of the user to create how they want, with the need include and manage the brand's story as part of the campaign.

My most recent favourite was The Best Job in the World campaign, where people submitted multi-media entries on why they should be chosen to work in an Australian resort. Brilliant.

2. Make your story mine: Brands haven't stopped telling stories, but they are realising that to relate to people's lives now you need to be able to open up the story to interpretation, re-imagination, to mash-ups and users contributing to the story. My favourite from last year was the HBO Voyeur campaign. This brilliantly allowed people to dig deeper to find out more, and contribute to, all the stories within the campaign.

A great example of this happening is through something called ARG - or alternative reality gaming. This is where brands provide an real world component to an online game, such as treasure hunts, quizzes, hiding clues, etc. in offline media. Check out the great campaign to promote last year's hit The Dark Knight and watch the videos here (bottom right of page) to get the idea. This is one of the biggest developments at the moment with many brands creating ARG campaigns to combine the best of online and offline storytelling in all media.

3. Be part of something bigger: The idea of crowd sourcing, collaboration and wikis - people contributing together to create something just for the sake of it - may well be the most powerful driver of content and stories at the moment.

Allowing users to all contribute towards something bigger - for example the community within the Pepsi Optimism campaign and the Earth Hour Website Tools - lets people really feel a part of the campaign and to generate a life of its own. Whether that's a cause, an event, a game or a campaign.

Some current examples we're doing here are for Tourism Thailand and Heineken. For TAT we created a site where people can add real stories and blogs to their favourite Thai destinations, which can then be found by other people looking for packages online.

For Heineken's current UEFA campaign, the main idea is that people can add their own 'Hieneken can' to a stadium we are building made of cans here in Bangkok. We've created a site for people to create their personalized can for their favourite football team, and build it with fellow team supporters, adding a bit of competition along the way!

The exciting thing I think for marketers and agencies everywhere is that to make great stories nowadays, we can give people the right tools and inspiration, get out of the way, and let them do it for themselves.

Interesting times indeed.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

2009 Digital Creative Favourites

2009-03-09T06:12:00.000-07:00

Hi there

A couple of months into 2009, I thought it was worth looking at what my team think are some of the digital campaign highlights so far.

Looking at the work out there, it seems pretty clear digital campaigns are really evolving quickly, which is exciting and inspiring for everyone involved.

But before we go through our top 10, let's look at some of the common elements in all these campaigns:

- User at centre of experience: Having the customer learn, create or share content in many of these campaigns is not just an 'add on' feature any more. It now lies at the heart of the digital campaign.

- Beyond digital: Many of these campaigns combine web, mobile, email, social networking, TV, video, newspapers ads, you name it - together in a seamless message. But they don't try and create 'matching luggage' in every medium - each campaign element is created in the right way for the right medium.

- Simplicity & utility: To connect with people you have to make it simple, users don't have the time or patience for complication. And you need to ask what is in it for them. Answering 10 questions just to discover your 'brand message' is not useful. Give them something of value and then link this back with the brand is. It's not just about you anymore.

- Enjoyment & discovery: Is it fun - and genuinely interesting? Are we taking ourselves and our message too seriously? Are we allowing people to explore a little deeper (but not making it too difficult) so they can look, learn and play. As long as the campaign is reflective of your overall message- enjoyment and discovery are powerful tools for creating a better experience. Creating a game, a site or brand experience that they can engage with for 30 minutes rather than 30 seconds is the powerful result of these campaigns.

- Every brand goes digital: Some people still believe digital is only for high involvement, high value products. But when the web becomes about the user - it opens it up to every brand and those myths are shattered. As you can see from the examples below - FMCG, galleries, confectionery, travel - you name it. Every brand can engage their consumer now in a very powerful way.

Here's my TOP TEN for 2009 so far:

1. Dorito's Crash the SuperBowl: A wonderful campaign where people were offered 1 million dollars to create a Dorito's commercial which was then shown during the Superbowl. Watching all the finalists kept me amused for ages, and the way they linked all media and online for this was superb. A great integrated, fun campaign which has really stood out so far this year. http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/

2. The Best Job in The World: I first heard about this on CNN after Osama Bin Laden had reportedly 'applied for the job'. A great PR stunt, but when my friend from here in Thailand sent me her video application, I knew this campaign had really taken off. What a brilliantly simple way to get people to promote your destination. And from Australia too!! Onya ozzies. http://islandreefjob.com/

3. Skittles Social Web Site: This is an interesting and quite new approach to building a campaign site, as detailed in this Digital Ad Age article. Put it fully into the consumer landscape but them give them the tools to discover about the brand. I'm still not sure about this one (more a media rather than a creative idea?), but a unique and different approach to build a 'social web site'. Check it out http://www.skittles.com/

4. Earth Hour 2009: This brilliant and important campaign has evolved from one city turning off it's lights, to getting the globe to turn off it's lights, in the name of encouraging us all to think about global warming. The campaign integration and scope are pretty amazing, hope to see lights off in Bangkok too! http://www.earthhour.org/

5. Pepsi Refresh Everything: I love the way Pepsi linked the change in American politics with the new optimism of their brand, and instead of just saying it created a real event and interactive experience to demonstrate this belief. To date one of the real 2009 highlight campaigns for me. http://www.refresheverything.com/

6. Adidas Basketball: Interesting campaign that follows the lives of real NBA players via the players own blogs, videos, photos...an inside look for lovers of the game at http://www.adidasbasketball.com/. Also noted that Nike in China have followed in a similar vein with Kobe launching a website portal and blog to his huge fan base there yesterday. Definitely a sign of things to come.

7. Kraft iFood Assistant: Okay maybe it's because of my new iPhone, I'm a bit application crazy, but I thought this one from Kraft was a practical and useful way for a brand to get involved. Check out the review here, and I'm going to download and road test it. Yes I need plenty of help in the kitchen!

8. Fritos Made for Each other: A delightful campaign about promoting the bond between chips & dips, which leads to the “Made for each Other” campaign name. There is some great animation, illustration and 3D work across three worlds and a multitude of quirky characters that you interact with in an attempt to match them with their soul-mate. Also some great games, check it out when you have time, plenty of discovery going on here. http://www.madeforeachother.com/

9. Tate Modern - The one that spoke to me: It has been inspiring to see what the art world is starting to do online, with galleries and museums making art more interesting and accessible to everyone. This interactive campaign from one of the world's great galleries, let's you watch videos/upload your own/share about people's opinions about different works of art. http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/theone/

10. GT Academy: Okay, we finish with a campaign that blends two brands (Nissan and PlayStation) in a seamless way. Players from across Europe registered through Gran Turismo Prologue’s online game on PlayStation 3. The fastest gamers competed in national Gran Turismo championships for a place at a rallying academy at Silverstone. The academy then selected two drivers who underwent professional training to take part in the Dubai 24 Hour endurance race in January 2009. 450,000 people entered - awesome. Read more about it here.

Well that's our list. But I'm sure there are others we've missed right? Go on, we'd love to hear about your favourites via the comments below.

Seeya next week

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

What's the chatter about Twitter all mean?

2009-03-01T03:47:00.000-08:00

Hi there

When I first saw details of the micro-blogging service Twitter about 12 months ago I thought, like many people, that it was a pretty silly way to waste time.

I mean, what can you say in 140 characters, and why the heck would people be interested in other people's moment-by-moment accounts of what they were doing??

This funny video pretty well sums it up, that Twitter just seemed an endless stream of ridiculously trivial information about people we don't know. Even if it was faster way to find out what's really happening during a crises.

But I kept following it - because I remember not so long ago when blogs were laughed at and people thought Facebook was just be 'a phase'. Well wouldn't you know it, Twitter has exploded onto the scene in the last couple of months, with twitter and tools like it also starting to become a hit in Asia. And I think I've finally it figured out, and why it'll mean a communication revolution for marketers.

1. Why is Twitter Different?
The idea finally dropped just before Christmas when I saw what some bloggers were doing with Twitter. Instead of twitter being used to write the most unimportant every day action (e.g "I am drinking coffee"), it was used to write the most important thing they thought or had learned that day. (e.g "Here's 40 of the biggest brands using Twitter")

All of a sudden, Twitters' open communication platform that lets everyone sees your comments - not a walled garden like social networks - becomes a pretty interesting tool for communicating to and learning from others.

2. How Brands can use Twitter?
Twitter is an evolving communication channel, but most of the early adoption by marketers is focusing on its speed of response, its possibilities for open communication to big groups of people, and the personal nature of the medium. In this article you can see how companies like Dell, British Airways and Starbucks are using twitter to contact customers, provide services and even to make sales.

While it is early days, Ann Handiey nicely sums up 7 ways brands can use Twitter, which are copied below:

- Extend the Reach of your blog: Deepen or further your network and ties. Good examples: Carnival Cruise Lines. The ScienceNewsBlog’s weather tracking updates. Andy Carvin’s PBS blog on education and technology.

- Retailers announcing sales and deals: Good example: Deals on Dells. Blue-light specials at Amazon

- Increasing the ability for frequent updates to blogs or web sites or news: Examples: The NY Times, CNN, BBC, Adrants, and those at MarketingProfs

- Building consensus or a community of supporters: Good examples: Presidential candidates John Edwards or Barack Obama

- Building buzz. Example: Scott Monty and CC Chapman introduce a new blog.

- Updating breaking news at conferences or events: Example: Jeremiah at the Web 2.0 Expo. Forrester seems poised to use it to update happenings at its upcoming Consumer Forum.

- Updating your network to shape your own personal branding: Example: Oh boy... there are zillions. Pick a face on Twitter. Or try it out for yourself.

3. Where to from here?
Before jumping in to Twitter, you need to understand and respect how it works. The biggest mistake you could make is to use it as just another media to blast our offers and advertising from your company - because on Twitter you can still get blocked.

In fact, it pays to understand how not to abuse Twitter. I think the most most important thing to remember in marketing for Twitter is that, in Marketing 2.0 your customers want to speak to real people, not a corporate Twitter Account.

Perhaps the first step is to try it http://www.twitter.com/, and sit back and listen. Something different is going on and it's coming to a brand near you.

P.S. I have just started my own Twitter account at bangrob@twitter.com. Strictly for digital marketing only I promise :)

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

There's more to life than viral marketing

2009-02-22T21:44:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone

Can I share a bit of a secret? I don't really believe in "viral marketing".

Don't get me wrong. I'm a big fan of a fantastic campaigns that people want to spread around to everyone they know, because they are so useful, fun, or just so damn cool. But that's not what I'm talking about.

The Viral Myth

The viral marketing campaigns I dislike are, as Paul Kedrosky says, "not the end result of an actual idea or strategy but are born of a desperate desire to do something, anything, in the new-media space." It happens when we see something like Moonwalking Bear, Nike Next Level or BudTV Swear Jar - and we all think wow, that's cool.

They got high viewing numbers, great buzz on the web and they have every marketer and agency licking their lips about making a big splash for a relatively small investment . Yep we all think , I gotta "Get me one of those".

Hey after all, as Jacob Wolfsheimer asks in his post, internet marketers goal is to create downright viral content, right? "Wrong. Content going Viral isn’t necessarily the goal, it’s often a by-product of well positioned content. The goal is to create well positioned content and prep it for at least some viral success."

So here is the issue. Are we so obsessed with producing the next big viral hit, that we are deluding ourselves that this is where the focus of our next digital marketing campaign should be? Especially when it seems we can get such a big bang for a relatively smaller buck?

I think we are, and I think this viral logic is like an amateur gambler riding their luck in Las Vegas. Actually , I think the gambler has a better chance of hitting the jackpot than many viral campaigns have of taking off. Here is my personal opinion why.

What's wrong with Viral?

1. Successful viral content often doesn't equal great marketing content: Look at the top 10 viral campaigns last year and what you generally see is that in order to succeed you need to tone down (or remove) the brand or product and play up the entertainment value. Sure I am a huge fan of fun, but most brands want to focus more on the core message than just give entertainment value. Look at this popular viral Amazing Catch from Gatorade recently. Cool, well shot, and fun. Did you see the Gatorade tie in? No, neither did I.

2. Viral marketing is often a one-hit pony: I'm sure I will annoy some ad people when I say I really didn't like the Gorilla Cadbury on principle. Sure it's fun, but as marketing I thought it was lazy and gratuitous, I just didn't get the brand connection strongly. So any kind of enjoyment = Cadbury? Not for me. And now after seeing the follow up campaigns for Cadbury it just re-confirms my view. A one off bit of fun. Most virals have a brand or product message as an add-on, they are not front and centre. People barely realize the brand made it in the first place.

3. Viral success is often by chance or a cynical numbers game: Which brings me to my next point. Really what is popular virally is original and unbranded content. That's what media like YouTube were created for in the first place, so the problem is the need to make it viral by minimizing the brand elements. Its success is then based on its ability to entertain rather than provide a message. And after reading this cynical article, 'the secret strategies behind many viral videos' on how many brands boost their viewings on YouTube, success often comes from manipulating the system to get the highest number of views anyway. Shameful marketing.

4. What do you really get from your viral campaign?: Even after all of this, if we produce a great campaign that gets millions of views on YouTube, what does that mean for our campaign? I mentioned the great swear jar campaign for Bud TV at the beginning. Well BudTV just closed down. The fact is the maximum viewings doesn't mean better metrics for the product or service, better awareness or better sales.

In Content Gone Viral, Jackie Peters argues that rather than hitting 5 million of everyone, shouldn't we be hitting the 50,000 people that really matter to us with an engaging, relevant message? At some point, especially in digital, quality content matters.

Content Matters

In Joseph Jaffe's great ADWeek article ' Why most viral marketing amounts to lazy, clueless chatter ' he is brutally honest about viral marketing when he writes: " I'm not terribly sure that it's predictable or reliable to plan for this kind of spreading of the word and, even more troubling, I'm not convinced that it actually works."

"Here's the thing: In this day and age, all content has the ability to be wildly viral, that is, embraced, internalized, evangelized and disseminated. Rather than plan with the end in mind, might I suggest instead that we focus on the idea itself and the means to achieve that end. In other words, getting back to basics to generate compelling, relevant and engaging content and then liberating it to be embedded, hacked, mashed and showcased accordingly."

I couldn't agree more. Let's get back to creating brilliant content, knowing who our audience is, defining success and yes making it easier to share. And let's worry less about hitting the YouTube jackpot in the hope that somehow, that will translate into success for our brands.

Do you agree? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

The end of email marketing?

2009-02-16T07:08:00.001-08:00

Hi there

Compared to sexy digital topics like blogs, social networking or gaming - talking about email marketing seems a bit like watching paint dry. Not very exciting.

Often first thing email marketing reminds us of is SPAM and the irrelevant hard-sell messages filling our inbox. In other words, the same old interruption marketing that is being left behind in favour of Web 2.0's conversational marketing.

But the fact is email marketing has been the backbone of digital and CRM programs for over 10 years. Email has enabled us to deliver customers requested content such as e-newsletters and product updates, tailored offers for particular customer segments, and where would our 'sexy' viral campaigns be without the ability to send our content to friends and colleagues via email.

So what is changing in the email world that has so many marketers asking if email marketing is dead?

A Tougher Environment

There are a few major developments influencing the negative perception of email marketing right now;

- Younger people (under 25) rarely use email: As highlighted in the Slate article The Death of Email, the growth of IM, twitter, SMS and blogging/micro-blogging means that the next generation of users think that email is too formal and too slow. And while some think that these younger users will change back when they get in to a work environment, I think they will bring these habits with them and that email will fundamentally need to evolve to suit them. Technology usage does not go backwards.

- Customers are harder to reach: Our inboxes are getting fuller, so our attention span for checking email shorter . That also means your more valuable customer segments are less likely to opt-in to your list, leaving it harder to find/build/maintain the right target databases. New opt-in laws, busier lives and more communication channels mean that it is harder than ever to reach customers. The ability of email to influence online/offline purchases has dropped up to 10% in the last year alone.

- Social media has changed the messaging environment: New survey results show 22% of email users said they are using social networking sites instead of email. The ability for more instant and open platform communication - something Twitter will become common for - makes email seem slow and 'not as connected'. As a result many people see social email , which allows recipients to easily share their emails in any environment, as a way of making email become more relevant for broader audiences.

- A tough economy impacts email marketing effectiveness: As pointed out in this article from ClickZ, tough times make it harder for email campaigns to work. That's because email is often cost effective so everyone wants to use it in a downturn, making it even more difficult to stand out. And in tough times people change jobs and contacts, so maintaining good data becomes even harder as well.

How Email Campaigns are Changing

Despite the challenges, fantastic email marketing campaigns like this from Career Builder and from Columbia Sportswear continue to be created and drive great sales returns. But as these examples show, email is evolving and integrating with other media and channels to be part of a much bigger picture. The era of 'spray and pray' is definitely over.

In this presentation from email service provider Silverpop, one of our regional marketing partners, they highlight the need for real change to how we create email campaigns moving forward. The key points are:

#1. Embrace customer power: Customers now expect to be able to choose to opt-in and determine when, where, what and how they read their mail. They dictate all of their preferences and get exactly what they want. Think of the external emails you regularly want and do read - from your airline, bank, telco provider, entertainment site or a trusted news source. Like these ones from travel provider Kayak. And think about how they link with all your other campaign and communication elements. This is the new price of entry for getting consumer attention.

#2. Focus on Converting Long Term Prospects: Most prospects are long term so build programs that reflect their needs throughout their life cycle and don't continually harass for sales at the wrong time. Sign people up, give them added benefits, always keep the option to buy open but consider their needs first. The growth of emails that have all the functionality of micro-sites reflect the trend of giving value before you can expect a return.

#3. Focus on relevance not frequency: Frequency is out, behaviour is in. Concentrate on giving people what they need based on their purchase behaviour, purchase life cycle, event triggers (birthday or purchase anniversary) and actual needs. Just emailing all customers all the time will kill off even your brand evangelists. The increasing elements of personalisation and customisation in emails is what will drive return and loyalty for email.

#4. Minimize list churn and inactives: Use welcome programs, create unsubscribe preference centers, implement re-engagement programs. Most of your email success comes from the right list and in a tough economic environment lists will change constantly. Give people a reason to keep engaged or come back on board.

#5. Design for multiple devices: Your emails are being viewed in a growing number of environments, via PC and mobile, and can be delivered via RSS as well. Are your emails iPhone and Blackberry friendly? Is the content compelling in these environments, and easy to read and use? The creative and production challenge now is to deliver the customer experience that renders well on multiple environments. Email campaigns specifically for smart phones like the iPhone are proving they can work well.

#6. Dive into the social world: If you look at the best social sites, they have enabled communication to become more layered, more open and faster. Perfect for friends and community. If you look at email it allows more detailed, and more trackable, and more formal communications. Perfect for most work environments. But as the two blend, shouldn't your email be able to connect seamlessly to your social network and visa versa?

It's early days but it's already starting to happen. Tools now allow marketers to place links within an email allowing recipients to easily post the message to their profile page on Facebook or MySpace, where friends can see the message, make comments and even post your email on their own profile pages.

Email is not dead, but it's undergoing a pretty radical upgrade. The exciting thing is that the email campaigns of today are looking a lot like other digital campaigns - more relevant, engaging, and yes, even sexier. But to produce these campaigns we need to understand social email, mobile email and integrated email fast - because everything else is going the way of the dinosaur.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Marketing using online social networks

2009-02-10T01:34:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone

As I've mentioned, not a day seems to pass without one of our clients asking how to better use social networking to their advantage. The answer in short is that while there are plenty of options, making it work is not always easy.

And one simple reason is because people have traditionally used these networks simply to interact with other people. Unlike other mainstream online media they are either not used to, or have not been wanting to, engage with advertising messages.

As a result some marketing chiefs are questioning the value of marketing on these networks. So what then, are our options?

What are online social networks?

Well first let's define online Social networks. Social networking has created new ways to communicate and share by providing a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail, photo and video sharing, and instant messaging services. The main types of social networking services are those which contain directories of some categories (such as former classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages), and recommender systems linked to trust.

Popular methods now combine many of these, with MySpace and Facebook being the most widely used in North America; Nexopia (mostly in Canada); Bebo, Facebook, Hi5, MySpace, Tagged, Xing; and Skyrock in parts of Europe; Orkut and Hi5 in South America and Central America; and Friendster, Orkut, Xiaonei and Cyworld in Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Hi5 is the biggest social web in Thailand, with around 8 million Thai users, although the fastest growing appears to be Facebook now with over 400,00 users. I'd note the difference between social networks, and the wider area of social media.

Why do people use them?

For a more comprehensive view on why people social network you should read Groundswell, but undoubtedly the movement is part of a broader cultural shift whereby "People create, share and discover new content on their own. They create vibrant and rich cultures across online networks and use the social tools provided to stay connected."

People are social beings and given the tools will keep finding better and more meaningful ways to stay connected. And perhaps even more of interest, 65% of users are above 18 and the fastest growing segment is in above 35 year olds.

How does our marketing approach need to change?

The growth of these networks has mean that communication that was once dictated by a brand has now moved to be far more customer controlled. This has forced marketers to incorporate conversational marketing and customer advocacy into the overall marketing plan.

Conversational marketing is a participatory type of marketing that require observation and interaction at the individual level (See my post on blogs in January 08).

Marketers must engage customers on their turf, in their way, in order to help them solve problems, find information or simply engage them in valuable dialog. The above approach and approaches below are detailed in a great mini-book by Jesse Torres freely available online which I'd suggest to everyone to read, entitled "Community Banker's Guide to Social Network Marketing".

What are our tactical tools for current social networks?

1. Profile Centric Marketing: Create a profile within the social network, then customize that profile page with functionality to attract and retain members. An example of this would be the Bangkok Airways Facebook Page, where the company created a Facebook profile where people can become a 'fan'. Once they become a fan - people can receive updates and offers, connect with other members and participate in special events for members only.

This approach is good for building community when you have genuine and consistent offers and events and values. The warning is that it requires plenty of effort to maintain the content and the keep responding to members needs in a timely and appropriate way.

2. Ad Centric Marketing: A more traditional approach where companies can place advertising within an individuals profile page. At the moment Facebook is offering multiple marketing platforms: Facebook Pages, Facebook Applications, Facebook Connect, Facebook Events, Traditional Facebook Ads, Facebook Social Ads or Engagement Ads.

Facebook ads and social ads are described in detail here, but essentially allow you to place different types of banner ads depending on the context, behaviour or demographic of that member. The strength of these ads is the wealth of customer data available on these sites. With that in mind Facebook just launched Engagement ads, where it can target and pose specific questions based on all this data.

As Bob Garfield pointed out in this great article, this is where the real future of advertising via social networks is likely to be heading.

3. Widgets and Applications: Up until now a lot of the interaction on social networks is via widget or applications, as these are the applications beyond the usual email and messaging, that enable you connect and have fun with others. Whether it's a Funwall or iLike application, these programs developed for networks have been hugely popular. And unlike ads don't cost anything to run on the sites.

But with over 10,000 applications created, and the effort required to make them popular, you have to wonder whether creating one now is worth the effort. It seems most are just installed and forgotten about.

Create your own social network?

As discussed in this paper, sometimes a brand will have a big enough user base and interest level to create their own community. There have been successful efforts by companies such as Fiskars, and P&G's efforts have been commendable despite the challenges. But the reality for most companies is that unless you can create a more compelling fundamentally different social network from than one that already exists - don't bother.

In most cases it makes sense to engage where the community already hangs out and affiliate with them, instead with trying to compete with them. A good example is how Tivo engaged with a vibrant community that was already in existence.

The last word is, think carefully about how you get involved. There is great potential here for the right campaign, but there's also a reason why many social networks aren't making money. They haven't all worked out to market well to their users. Yet...

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

10 ideas driving digital marketing

2009-02-02T07:25:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone

Someone asked me last week why social networking was taking off, which got me thinking about the BIG ideas driving marketing change at the moment. So this week I'd thought I'd list my top ten most influential digital ideas:

#1. Permission Marketing: About 10 years ago Seth Godin wrote a book called Permission Marketing which highlighted a new marketing approach, particularly online. The idea is that consumers provide marketers with the permission to send them certain types of promotional messages. For example, they ask permission to send advertisements to prospective customers. Many marketers felt that this was a more efficient use of their resources because advertisements are only sent to people that are actually interested in the product. And people feel better about the messages because they actually want to see them. This has had major impact on areas such as direct, email and mobile marketing - including the formation of opt-in & opt-out databases and other permission-based marketing strategies.

#2. The Long Tail: I'll quote from Wikipedia here: "The Long Tail was first coined by Chris Anderson in an October 2004 Wired magazine article to describe the niche strategy of businesses, such as Amazon.com or Netflix, that sell a large number of unique items, each in relatively small quantities. The distribution and inventory costs of these businesses allow them to realize significant profit out of selling small volumes of hard-to-find items to many customers, instead of only selling large volumes of a reduced number of popular items. The group that purchases a large number of "non-hit" items is the demographic called the Long Tail." What this idea implies is that online there is often a niche for your business - in almost any business that you're in. Including now social networking sites, finance, travel...you name it.

#3. The Tipping Point: Not just a digital marketing concept, but online is where this idea really seems to have taken hold. The Tipping Point is the moment at which a niche idea or product becomes mainstream. A popular idea from Malcolm Gladwell's book, it explores the reasons why some ideas take off and others don't, and also the role the internet has to play in reaching that point. For example, the iPhone has now definitely reached the tipping point (even before its recent launch by True here in Thailand). My prediction for something to reach the tipping point soon is twitter. It has yet to really catch on here, but I think it will, very soon.

#4. Buzz Marketing: Most people will know this one, but it is never the less an important idea worth repeating. With the transformation to a Web 2.0 (see # 8) world, customers are the ones controlling and driving the message because most people believe in what other users say rather than what brands say. Often referred to as word of mouth marketing, and spawning other ideas such as viral marketing and influencer marketing, buzz marketing relies on producing content and communications that allow the message to be viewed, shared or even mashed up by customers to maximise its impact and pass-on-ability. Check out this great example. The challenge with buzz marketing is in the measurement of a campaign's success, which is the focus of a lot of conversations now.

#5. Wikinomics: The BIG idea here is problem solving, creating or sharing by using mass collaboration. Evolving from the IT sector and concept of open source programming, it is grown into a phenomenon that covers everything from the online encyclopaedia http://www.wikipedia.com/ , online clothing from Threadless or even online social movements. The beauty of this crowd sourcing concept is that it often relies on many people with a shared passion to cooperate and improve a situation or solve a problem - for the joy of it. The idea of wikis is now being applied to almost every project that requires ongoing improvement and user input.

#6. Collaborative Filtering: Collaboration again - only this time the issue is not creating something but finding out what I like. How can I find what's right for me, easily and reliably on the internet with so much information? The answer is by listening to other people just like me.This idea has fuelled the development of taste recommendations on books or music sites (Barnes & Noble, http://www.ilike.com/) and is behind things like 'favourite articles' on online news sites like http://www.digg.com/ or critic review sites like Epinion. It's what users want that matters, not what editors or owners guess they might like.

#7. User-Generated Content: Moving in the same direction, the production of online content is now also shifting from companies into the hands of end users. The growth of consumer content - in the form of digital media technologies such as digital video, blogging, podcasting, mobile phone photography and wikis is in line with the development of two-way conversational media. That is, people wanting content which they feel is more unique, relevant and participatory then one-way corporate communications of old. Sites like http://www.tripadvisor.com/, http://www.wordpress.com/ and http://www.reddit.com/ are great examples. And most marketing campaigns and sites now as well rely on the relevance and impact of this content to keep them fresh.

#8. Web 2.0: Some people hate this word but I don't - I think it is a good way to summarize the movement (quoting Terry Flew) "from personal websites to blogs and blog site aggregation, from publishing to participation, from web content as the outcome of large up-front investment to an ongoing and interactive process, and from content management systems to links based on tagging." Check out more here, but every idea in this list encapsulates the movement to Web 2.0. Interesting to note how each industry now applies this new web evolution to their business using terms such as as Travel 2.0, Finance 2.0, Automotive 2.0, Telecommunications 2.0 - even Charity 2.0 and Mothering 2.0!! Okay, maybe I do understand why people do think this idea is over-hyped.

#9. Folksonomy: Folksonomic tagging is intended to make a body of information increasingly easy to search, discover, and navigate over time. For example a site like http://www.delicious.com/ . What it does is take all your bookmarks, all the pages on the internet from web sites to key pages, and puts them all in one place. Then it classifies them so it's easy to find. So you type 'marketing' or 'art' or 'cats' and all the information based on that area are in one place. You can also follow what other people are tagging and learn from them. Yet another idea that is making the web easier, simpler and more fun.

#10. Groundswell: I've put this in because it's an idea from a book I've just read of the same name. The Groundswell is simply another way of talking about explosion of social media - from Myspace to YouTube, Cyworld to Flickr - and it describes the phenomenon as something happening from the ground up. Like most things, us marketers are always trying to catch up with the developments that people are exploring online. In my next post I'll tackle some ways marketers are trying to deal with these social networking developments and create more connected marketing campaigns.

Speak to you then

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Why gaming matters to every brand

2009-01-27T05:12:00.000-08:00

When we think of gaming, hardware like the Xbox, video games like Grand Theft Auto IV or role-playing games World of Warcraft often come to mind.

So often our first impression of computer games is just young kids killing time - or killing aliens or pedestrians - which seems to have little to do with most of our customers or marketing plans.

But maybe it’s time for a rethink. Gaming can be as relevant to our campaigns as social media or mobile marketing – we perhaps just need to broaden our perspective.

First let’s re-think 'who' is actually gaming. The global video game and interactive market has grown dramatically to become a $47 billion market globally this year, and this growth is not just driven by kids. While we know most kids spend more time online then watching TV – it's worth noting that 60% of all game users are over 18, and that women make up 40% of gamers.

The point is that as people grow up they don't give up gaming. Their tastes just evolve to things like civilization building in Spore or to family fun with the wii Fit. And Asia is again leading at the forefront with some of the biggest participants globally, and young Thais are Asia's biggets gamers.

But realising that gaming has a broad audience is just the tip of the iceberg. The true impact of gaming is in how it's infiltrated our marketing campaigns:

- Online Advertising: The new online advertising is about interactivity and engagement. If you can get people to play a video, click a mouse on a game or enter their email - then they are more involved in your message and brand. The move from clicks to interactivity has revolutionized online advertising. They are some great examples of this here.

- Social Networks: Most online social sites are driven by applications that are fun and get other people playing along too. So whether it's a simple poke, buying them a virtual beer or playing Little Farm - games are what drive activity on social sites.

- Widgets: The rise of the desktop widget is driven by our need for fun distraction - relevant distraction of course! Thousands of widgets have been developed to give us tools that are both useful and entertaining, whether it's the weather, your Nike+ running schedule, the latest hit song.

- Viral Campaigns: The most popular viral campaigns are sometimes simple games. Check out this year's version of Elf Yourself for a great example.

- Main Campaign Ideas: With the success of the brilliant Get the Glass campaign for Milk, people are realising a game can be at the heart of their campaign efforts.

- Smart Phone Applications: Do people buy iPhones for 3G capabilities (still coming to Thailand soon...) or for all the great iPhone applications? My personal favourite would be the iBeer or pocket guitar :)

- Retail: People love incentives, and what could be a better draw then a branded video game such as this incredibly successful campaign from Burger King.

So if you are on Facebook, use an iPhone, have visited a campaign web site, passed on a funny email, clicked on an e-card for Xmas, interacted with an online ad or downloaded a widget – chances are you’ve been gaming, and so have our customers.

And why do we do it? Because since we were kids we've known play is a wonderful way to explore and learn. And it doesn’t stop as we grow up, it just changes to suit our different needs. So if you're a brand that wants to really interact with an audience online – gaming is often a simpler, more entertaining and more successful way to go about it.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Evolution of websites

2009-01-19T07:47:00.000-08:00

What are your favourite websites?

At the moment mine include Slideshare and http://www.digg.com/, and the movie review site http://www.rottentomatoes.com/. Looking at the most popular ones in this list, it's clear most of our top choices tend to be sites that are online destinations only, rather than online sites of major real-world brands.

So what about corporate web sites? What makes a great company site, and how do we develop these to become as interesting and useful as our other online favourites? Below are some of the evolutions that have been happening in corporate web site development, changes worth thinking about when looking at your next web project:

- Transaction sites become a journey not just a sales destination: In the early years when the Web first took off, over 10 years ago, most companies wanted transactional e-commerce sites. Many of these didn't survive, but the ones that did like http://www.ebay.com/ and http://www.amazon.com/ did so by realising they had to do more than include a product listing, sales engine and payment system. By providing everything that different types of customers wanted on their sales journey - from personalised recommendations, real product reviews and places just to hang out and have fun - these sites changed the idea that to sell hard, you had to hard-sell.

These days traditional industries like banks and airlines, as well as many B2B business sites, are learning these lessons and radically transforming the purpose and architecture of their company sites. Check out http://www.easyjet.com/ for a good example of how corporate transactional sites are taking a different approach.

- Consumer content and engagement rule: For years companies have said 'customer first', but have done the opposite online. Trying to navigate through these brochure ware sites was a nightmare, so bogged down were they in product and sales information. Truth is, many still are. But a few years ago this started to change, as sites began to include blogs, web boards, reviews and places for customers to share with other users. Marketers realised that unless they made sites more accessible and relevant and engaging - people would simply go elsewhere.

The title of this article says it all - the future of the corporate site involves people. That means every industry is transforming their approach and including the user and communities in their plans, and making the sites a rich and interactive experience. For example travel sites like this one in New York, financial sites like Mint, iconic brand sites like http://www.apple.com/, insurance sites like YouCovered and agency sites like this from http://www.leoburnett.com/ (Sorry, couldn't help the plug!)

- Company sites get a micro-focus: One of the biggest changes in the last few years has been the shift from the all-purpose corporate site to the product + campaign specific micro-site. People don't have time to wander around your big corporate site trying to find what they're looking for. These new sites allow companies to focus on the needs of a particular audience and drive traffic directly from the relevant campaigns.

Micro-sites such as these from Audi, Coke and this slightly naughty one from Lynx Effect show just how much you can give customers, when you focus on a single idea. Interestingly, this has also made for better corporate sites as well, allowing them to communicate with less clutter and more customer value.

- The web site gets personal and mobile: The future of digital is to go where customers are, not build it and expect them to come. And the experience will be different for every user. This quote from the future of corporate websites says it all: "A webpage will not start with the assumption anymore: I don’t know who is coming and therefore try to solve everybody’s needs, but that it will work with a lot of technologies to provide everybody a very personal real-time user experience, to deliver him what he needs." And it will do this as much on your mobile device, as anywhere else.

The growth of WAP mobile internet sites along with introduction of 3G and broadband internet services in Thailand will start to see the transformation of people's internet habits to more mobile computing. In Japan, since 2006 more people have been accessing the web through cell phones than through PCs. Pretty soon we'll all need to be developing exciting mobile web solutions, like this one for Nike.

These developments are transforming the company web site, with some truly fantastic work, and much of it from Asia. If you have a chance, spend a few minutes looking at the latest and greatest sites from your industry via the Webby Awards for 2008 . Seeya next week.

The Blogosphere

2009-01-12T07:43:00.000-08:00

For our second instalment of Digital Monday, I wanted to talk briefly about blogs.

By now most of us read or write blogs on a daily basis. These online web logs (blogs) are changing the way we write, consume media and communicate with each other. Why? Because they combine some very simple human truths. People want to share their thoughts; they want to contribute to the thoughts of others; and they now have a singular connected place to do both. The blogosphere, or all the blogs linked and easily found via the web, now makes this possible. For a longer and more intimate explanation, check this recent article out from the New York Times.

And it's really gaining momentum, even in our neighbourhood. It's now estimated in Asia that over 50% of people online have a blog. A quick review of the world's most powerful blogs and it's easy to see why - the 'long tail of blogging' means no matter what your interest or niche, you can find an opinion on what you want and the best of them make for compelling reading. I love marketing blogs - so these were interesting for me. But whatever your interest, sites like http://www.technorati.com/ or http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/ will help you find your niche.

The problem is though, for all this blogging going on, it's hard to find one used well by companies as part of an integrated marketing effort. Part of the issue is that many marketers go against the basic principles of blogging, instead of using the power of blogs to create something compelling. This is not a definitive list, but below provides a good starting point when considering blogs in our marketing efforts:

1. Blogs are written by people, not companies: People read a blog because it's another real person giving their opinion about what's going on. The writers are knowledgeable, interesting and honest. No one is will read you unless you have something interesting and honest to say - there are too many other options! If you do it well, then you can come up with a great company blog that people will listen to because it's by people and for people, such as Patagonia's The Cleanest Line or Coca-Cola Conversations. Otherwise don't waste your time.

2. Blogs are a conversation: The key to blogs is that they are just the beginning of a conversation with the reader. The comments that come at the end of the blog, and the blogger's further feedback, really bring alive this media as a conversation that benefits from the collective input of everyone. You can get as much from the comments as from the blog. But if the blog is not written for comments or feedback, or the comments aren't replied too, it's not really making the most of the blog. It's just an opinion piece. To see what I mean look at the comments to one of my favourite marketing blogs and see how much more you can learn here.

3. Blogs are an opinion not a sales pitch: Too many blogs are people selling you something, full of jargon and leading of course to their product/service as the solution. This betrays the reader because blogs should be about what the reader wants, not what the writer wants to sell. The new digital marketing is not about your company, it's about my need. Otherwise what's in it for me?

4. Blogs lead you to other places: Blogs are a fantastic learning resource, because of their ability to link you with other information, sites, blogs etc. from within the post. As an example, I've provided a good article on marketing blogs and what works here. Because no one has all the answers.

5. Blogs are about letting go: The hardest bit about blogs for marketers to understand and accept is that they are out of their control. Yep, other people will write about us and we can't stop them. They'll actually say bad things about us, on our company site! Welcome to the new world. To use blogging you have to have the confidence and belief in yourself or your company, so no matter what, you can answer or deal with any challenge. That even if there is a problem, you will listen and answer it. Because that is what people expect. Dell had the courage to do just that with it's direct customer blog, and the result is excellent.

Like I said, there are still some great marketing going on using blogs - but many of these are about utilising real bloggers and blogger communities rather than trying to create your own.

Happy hunting and enjoy your blogs for 2009.

Welcome + Best Of Contagious

2009-01-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

Hi there

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year.

This year I'm starting something different. Every Monday I'll be sending around an email with my blog regarding something new & digital that's happening in the marketing world. It's called Digital Monday, and the idea is to stimulate your knowledge and interest about what's possible, for us as an agency and for our clients.

There is a lot of exciting things going on and hopefully this will provide you with some guidance on what's new and interesting and relevant out there. I will try and keep it short and simple, with links so you can explore more on your own.

This week to kick off, I wanted to look back at the last 12 months in digital marketing, so I am attaching a PDF (see at www.contagiousmagazine.com/pdf/MostContagious2008.pdf ) of Most Contagious 2008. It shows the best digital work of 2008 from around the world. There is a lot to enjoy here from technology, social media, mobile, viral, outdoor, gaming...you name it.

Read it by section, or just skip to what interests you. And follow all the links to see what they are talking about. It's a great, interactive, way to learn.

Our aim is to have ARC Bangkok appear in here next year!

Talk to you next Monday...