I’m flattered that Jack Myers has asked me to join his group at the always-interesting MediaBizBloggers.
The people who blog there are people I have a ton of respect for — Shelly Palmer, Cory Treffiliti, Jim Louderback, Matt Greene and a whole bunch of smart people from Group M among others.
It won’t be easy to keep up with a group this smart, but I’m going to try my best.
My first post is here. I’m hoping to spark some discussion and so if you feel like commenting I’d be grateful.
Thanks!
UPDATE 2/21/10: New iPad demo from WIRED magazine.
==
When we got married 16 years ago, my wife and I subscribed to 7 magazines and read them all cover-to-cover. Plus, we’d buy more at the newsstand.
Today, we subscribe to just two.
Both pile up, unread, for months at a time. Even The Atlantic Monthly, which I find both brilliant and entertaining. I feel lousy for not keeping up, but at least I’m supporting great journalism with my subscription dollars.
A lot of very smart people are working feverishly to restore the magazine business back to health. Some friends passed me this intriguing video from a design house that has a slick-looking approach to the problem.
As good-looking as it is, for me it still misses the mark.
The problem isn’t that magazines aren’t slick enough or that they lack digital functionality. The problems is that magazines are a time-killing content medium in an age when we don’t have time to kill, and we’re already drowning in content.
My RSS feeder of free content is overflowing with stuff I can’t get to. I’ll bet yours is, too.
The Design Idea At 7:35
But just when I was getting ready to close the window and abandon the video, something cool happened. It’s at 7:35 in.
Now THERE’S something potentially revolutionary and useful: little intriguing chunks of quick, easily digestible content in a fun interface. That genuinely feels like a fun experience, and doesn’t fall into the trap of “but it has to feel like a magazine”. It reminds me, in a good way, of the Babelgum iPhone app.
The interface idea at 7:35, especially if some of the items were video, feels like it has the potential to be a winner. What do you think?
UPDATE: Micah Baldwin, a friend of mine from The Internet Oldtimers Foundation, had a smart observation about the design which he has agreed to let me share:
“(this design commits) what I consider to be the cardinal sin of any web app today. It creates a uni-directional relationship. Its between the reader and content, but doesn’t take into account other readers. Basically, the concept of social. The recreation of the water cooler online.
What if the reader allowed for communication and conversation?
Now, the NatGeo piece I read on pygmies could be shared and discussed with my friends that I know are into the subject. Time and speed are now on my side.”
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the day-to-day of our jobs.
But if we don’t stay smart about what’s happening in CPG, we’re not actually doing our jobs. Fortunately, there are a few billion resources out there to make it easier for us to make ourselves smarter.
Below is a completely spurious side-by-side brain scan of a marketer at a major CPG company.
The scan on the left was taken immediately before consulting these resources. The scan on the right? Immediately after.
OK, it’s time to feed your head. Dig in.
CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS: INTERACTIVE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS: ADVERTISING
CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS: NEWS
CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS: RETAIL
CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS: JOBS
FORRESTER: ALL THEIR FREE RESEARCH ON ONE PAGE
Are there great resources I’ve missed? Please let me know and I’ll update this page.
If you listen carefully these days, you can hear the subtle sounds of something very fundamental shifting.
It’s the sound of keyboards clicking, iPhones beeping, TweetDecks purring. Welcome to the Twitter Election.
The political debates are happening in real time, both on the stage and around the world. Opinions are being shifted on a Tweet by Tweet basis.
The Digital Back Fence and The Mainstream Media Are Merging
How it impacts your marketing depends a lot on whether your brand says “Hi, I’m A McCain” or “Hi, I’m an Obama” (more on that soon, I’m still thinking through exactly what I want to say on the subject.)
There was a time when print or TV pundits told us who won or lost a debate. Today, the Digital Back Fence (social media like Twitter and Facebook and YouTube etc) and readily available digital editing tools have made the gap between event and analysis, between gaffe and parody, disappear.
As Brandon from Octane Interactive notes:
“In 2004 Facebook had just launched and was open to college students only, and YouTube didn’t even exist! These two sites alone have totally changed the game…”
The Power Of Instant Political Parody
On September 25, Katie Couric interviewed Sarah Palin. 10 days later, this devastatingly funny political parody video mashing up Palin’s voice and video of Miss Teen USA’s famous flop answer hit YouTube.
Social Media, Meet TV.
And it’s not just online. Have you seen what’s happening with Hack The Debate? Current and Twitter are putting TV and social media together in an entirely new way. This radically alters expectations: we no longer expect to watch debates. We expect to be IN debates.
CPG Marketers: Watch Closely. But Don’t Draw The Wrong Conclusions.
John McClain and Mr. Clean may look alike. But from a new marketing perspective, they’re not exactly the same commodity.
People are more passionate about politics than cleaning products. And, the stakes are higher.
Still, I think 3 lessons can be learned:
It’s a new world. Very exciting stuff. How are you dealing with it?
Karl Greenberg reports in yesterday’s Media Post that Procter & Gamble will be launching the new Oral-B
Pulsonic toothbrush entirely through digital, PR, events, print and in-store. They’re giving TV the toothbrush-off: it’s not part of the launch at all.
It’s not a typical P&G move, but I think it’s very smart. Here’s why:
Don’t be surprised if the “TV is dead” crowd online trumpets this as incontrovertible proof that digital has at last killed TV once and for all. But, don’t believe the hype either.
This is the most traditional thing you can imagine: P&G being a smart marketer.
“If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.
Lao Tzu (570-490 B.C.)
An unusually useful article on mobile in today’s Ad Age: less “pie-in-the-handset” and much more “here’s what’s actually being done and how it’s working”.
Excellent, commonsense advice from Ogilvy’s Maria Mandel:
“A consumer is looking for one of three things. (…) information (…) entertainment (or) community (…) building interaction between people using their mobile devices?
Mark Baynes, CMO of Kellogg’s, recently made a pretty stunning announcement:
“analysis of the Special K initiative of the last 18 months showed digital media exceeding that of broadcast ROI”… “by a factor of well over two.”
Mr. Baynes offered no details about how ROI was calculated, which is too bad. Getting to a concrete ROI in
CPG in any medium is extremely difficult. (Believe me on this: I can show you the scars). I’m very curious how they got to more than 2x ROI vs. TV and hope more is revealed soon.
Nor did he say much about what they did right online. I have no inside information about what worked and what didn’t. But that won’t stop me from offering some educated guesses:
Secret 1: Give The Brand A Digital Mission
Special K is not just a bowl of crunchy cereal and a few line extensions. It’s a diet partner with an explicit, concrete promise: drop up to a jean size in 2 weeks. That’s compelling stuff, and it gives its digital efforts a digital reason for being. Few people are interested in going to a website that lays out product features. Many people are interested in visiting a website that can keep them from looking ginormous in their jeans.
Secret 2: Understand “View Vs. Do”
As I’ve said before, TV is a “view” medium: “I’ve got some time to kill, let’s see what’s on”. The Internet is a “do” medium: “I’ll check the scores on ESPN, return some emails, and post to my blog.”
Instead of a list of features and benefits, Kellogg’s Special K website offers customized plans for consumers, sign-ups for a Yahoo e-mail group, and tips from a trainer and nutritionist. They don’t just say “view our promises about your diet”. They help consumers do something that matters.
Secret 3: Integrate Brand and Search
Kellogg’s deal with Yahoo is genius: a search turns up a paid search ad that works more like a brand ad. It’s full of “what can we do to help you?” which is exactly what’s needed in this medium. Did they give up something by not going with Google, considering how dominant Google is in search? Yes. But, remember that if you do a search for “Special K” on Google you will get more results about ketamine than about the brand.
Secret 4: Don’t Get Suckered Into Either/Or Thinking
Kellogg’s ROI online is heavily influenced by their TV advertising. Kellogg’s ROI on TV is almost certainly influenced by what they do online. The guys in Battle Creek aren’t arguing over whether to do TV or online. They’re doing both.
Point two of this: you could argue that some of this is more PR than advertising, or more promotion than PR, or more display than search. But, while you were arguing your ROI would not improve by one tenth of one percent. The lesson? Focus on what works, not what tactical bucket the idea belongs in.
Secret 5: Test, Learn and Improve
Kellogg’s has been working digitally for years. Their ROI improvement didn’t come overnight. Neither will yours, or mine.
As the worlds of advertising and technology converge inexorably, it’s not just changing how we communicate. It must also change how we think.
In the Mad Men era, advertising was a closed system. PC Week defines this as: “A system in which (specs) are kept secret… It inhibits third-party software from being installed; it keeps third-party hardware from interoperating with it, and it prevents third-party enhancements from improving the product.”
The Closed System: Campaigns as Cathedrals
Advertisers had all the power. What digital consumers now take for granted: researching alternatives, reading reviews, comparing prices, giving feedback – was slow and painful, if you could do it at all.
Manufacturers built ad messages like cathedrals: massive, ornate, lasting forever. Consumers would worship there, if only because they had no alternative.
The Open System: Campaigns as Chameleons
Advertising is becoming a more open system.
PC Week defines an open system as one that “allows third parties to make products that plug into or interoperate with it. (…) the PC is an open system, (but) the fundamental standards are controlled by Microsoft Intel and AMD.”
That’s a pretty radical shift. What are the implications?
Perhaps the most important shift is that must abandon the idea that we can use rigorous market research to guarantee success.
Instead, we should borrow a management technique from the technology business. Let’s learn how to fail as quickly and cheaply as possible. That’s the open source way, and it works.
P.S. Think the true mark of a genius is that they always get it right the first time? Nope.
A good article in Discover Magazine says Einstein made a lot of mistakes. In fact, they list 23 big ones. If we’re not making mistakes, we should be asking ourselves if we’re pushing for progress hard enough. We should be making at least as many mistakes as a genius.
Chronology of Einstein’s Mistakes
P.P.S. Not to brag, but there’s no way I would have made mistake 22. I’d have to know what the Schwarzschild singularity is in the first place, and I don’t.
Fascinating, potentially important stuff going on in the browser wars. You can’t swing a computer mouse in the air without smacking into an implication for advertising, privacy, mobile web, etc etc.
Links here, if (like me) you’re still catching up after the Labor Day weekend.
Recent Comments