livingbrands

Creating a social media splash: fake it to make it

2013-04-04T12:39:35+01:00

Went to a very entertaining talk this morning by social media agent provocateur Jon Morter, famous for bagging a Christmas no.1 for Rage Against The Machine, helping save 6 Music from closure by the BBC and being part of the team behind the Justice Collective.

A few pointers I jotted down...

Whatever platform you are planning to use, whether Facebook or the Top 40, know the rules inside and out. Because then you can bend them to breaking point. For instance, RATM only secured the no.1 over Joe McElderry because, at the last moment, people who had already downloaded Killing In The Name Of were persuaded to do the same with an obscure live version. And chart rules say if it's the same artist and title, it all counts towards total sales.
To help your social campaign reach critical mass you may well need to create something out of nothing in the early days. You will have to be ready to blag it, embellish the truth, and grab every opportunity that comes your way (no matter how obscure, you can make something of it). Or you've got to fake it to make it, as Jon put it.
Don't just chase likes. Volume has a role to play. But fewer, engaged followers are more potent than large numbers who aren't that bothered. And the engaged will always engage others anyway.
Make what you want people to do very simple. And explain it very clearly. And simply. Don't be afraid to spoon feed, because if it looks hard people won't do it...and if it is complicated, they will make mistakes.
Although mistakes are not something to be feared. Actually, you should be ready to make them. Because it is better to do lots of stuff, even if it goes wrong. As long as you learn the lessons. So in 2008, Jon tried to make Rick Astley the Christmas no.1. The campaign tanked big time, as Rick reached the giddy heights of no.73. The problem was the campaign broke too many chart rules (see pt1), such as multiple downloads invalidating sales. But in 2009, they worked the rules to their favour with RATM.

So there you have it. Go out and play.

London Dungeon: fear is a funny thing

2013-02-28T15:46:48+00:00

Seems like ages since I last posted (4 months to be precise) - busyness is the social media killer!! I will try and do better.

Anyway, for those of you still hanging around, I just thought I would share our new work for the bigger, better London Dungeon.

This was developed with our friends at Inferno, who wrote the idea, with QS handling production and direction duties.

From a technical perspective it is full of filmic firsts apparently, and we are all rather pleased with the results.

London Dungeon 'Fear is a Funny Thing': a Quiet Storm production from Quiet Storm on Vimeo.

John Hegarty on creativity

2012-10-16T08:30:42+01:00

Business Shapers: Sir John Hegarty from Mishcon de Reya on Vimeo.

What's the right tone of voice for post-crash financial service advertising?

2012-08-23T12:14:29+01:00

My attempt at words of wisdom in this week's Adwatch (click to big up if you actually want to read it!).

Richmond Ham in the UK's Top 5 most liked ads for June

2012-07-25T08:40:56+01:00

Campaign run a regular feature that looks at the most remembered, most liked and most talked about new ads each month. And Richmond Ham is in the Top 5 for June's most liked. Which along with the big impact it has had on sales is a rather nice reward for all involved.

Just goes to show the power of a hunky naked guy!

Brand Ritual hot on Slideshare and Linkedin

2012-07-16T07:59:15+01:00

Well you spend a lot of time thinking about something, and writing it up, before punting it out online...a hostage to the whims of the internet.

So it's nice sometimes to find out others are actually interested in what you have to say.

The think piece I posted recently on creating brand rituals, was picked up over the weekend by Slideshare as one of their featured presentations. Which means a mention on their homepage - thanks guys!

According to Slideshare, it was also trending on Linkedin as well (not sure what 'hot' means in this context, but still sounds good!).

And if I got their homepage just right, I could see both my accolades at the same time :o)

The fickle hand of fame has already reached out to someone else, so had to grab it while I could!

Ritualising your brand: how establishing meaningful, ownable behaviour can create lasting loyalty and value

2012-07-14T18:12:38+01:00

Something new I've been working on. Inspired by the intersection of two areas of interest I have written about previously (stories & archetypes and behaviour change), it's a work in progress that explores the ways in which embedding ritual into your brand can build lasting loyalty.

Would be interested to know what people think.

View more presentations from Jon Howard

Just what is this thing called loyalty anyway?

2012-06-21T17:34:13+01:00

Was talking loyalty with an FMCG client recently, and their desire for a simple, sales-based metric that would be commonly-understood internally. Things like proportion of category spend, for example. Which is all well and good, and probably very important. But for me it missed the more important question.

What I have rarely (if ever) seen explored/quantified in any market, is why exactly people are loyal in the first place. Which isn't an especially profound observation. But there are a whole host of loyalty drivers out there, with most of us having more than one at play.

For instance (and I admit some of these may be the same thing in reality), I can think of...

Salience loyalty: brand is more front of mind (power of famous advertising);
Distribution loyalty: brand is available in more places (think beer in the on-trade);
Performance loyalty: brand works better (quicker, stronger etc.);
Emotional loyalty: brand is 'liked' more (we've all been there, even if we can't explain why);
Promotional loyalty: brand is on permanent offer (call it bribery!);
Inertia loyalty: brand is what you've always bought (when it's easier to not think about it);
Peer loyalty: brand is what 'everyone' buys (good old herd behaviour);
Pester loyalty: brand is what someone else asks for (and not just from kids);
Negative loyalty: brand is the least worst option (insurance anyone?);
Hassle loyalty: brand is just too difficult to sitch from (most utilities and financial services);
Compatibility: brand only works with itself (a lot of tech brands - see Microsoft/Apple)
Monopoly loyalty: brand is the only option (so you better just live with it!)

...and probably many more (thoughts welcomed).

Any of these could deliver the same top-line 'loyalty' in terms of a single, sales-based metric, but the 'how' of marketing will differ depending on the 'what' of the underlying (and potentially quite complex) web of loyalty drivers...especially if you are also want to change the nature of this loyalty as well.

So maybe that simple, one-size-fits-all metric (nice as this might seem) isn't the answer, and we need a range of measures that can differentiate between the type of loyalty a brand generates: because 'functional' and 'emotional' loyalty must always be preferable (because it is inherently sustainable and differentiating) to 'mechanical' and 'inertia' loyalty (which is unstable and vulnerable to attack).

Bored bored bored with Olympics ads

2012-06-19T15:08:43+01:00

Most (all?) have been bland, uncreative, bolt-on-the-brand, chest beating corporate vanity projects. But even if a bit cheesy, this I do like (and I know P&G have done similar before, but it's new to me).

So what do I like about it?

It's a bigger idea than "we are the Official Arse of the 2012 Olympics" (see the short film interviews with Athletes' mums on Youtube);
It feels true to the company and the role its brands play in people's lives;
It speaks to the buyer of these brand, rather than everyone/no-one (or worse still, its own ego);
It is built on real and emotive human truth (if you’ve ever done sport with kids);
It captures the Olympic spirit for this reason, in a way I don’t think any other work I’ve seen has;
It brought a tear to my eye (almost).

My only criticism, as someone who gets up at 5.30 3 mornings a week, and 6.30 on Sunday, to take my son swimming training? Where are the dads. We have children too...and buy P&G's products.

Richmond Ham: as nature intended (sneak peek)

2012-06-03T15:52:52+01:00

Breaks tomorrow (in Corrie I believe). But up on line already if you fancy a sneak peek.

How do you announce the arrival of 100% natural ham? Sing its praises whilst baring all...just as nature intended! Song is based on I've Gotta Be Me, written by Walter Marks, and made famous by Sammy Davis Jr, if you're interested...

A little tease of things as nature intended

2012-05-28T15:23:32+01:00

We are rather excited about our new Richmond Ham commercial, which will be hitting a TV and computer screen near you later this week.

In the meantime, the world will have to make do with these (they are over at Facebook as well)...

Dan Wieden on the role of TV in a digital world

2012-04-11T09:04:36+01:00

"Half the time people who think they know what the future is, they're just making shit up"

Some words of wisdom from the great man.

No matter how important community and relationship building is, and the vital part digital connectivity has to play in this, if no one knows who you are or why they should bother in the first place you have nothing. Yes, there's a lot of rubbish advertising out there, but what great TV does is create the context quickly and with a lot of people within which relationships can happen: startling, thought provoking, challenging work starts the conversation.

And as he says when railing against the hyper personalised one-to-one advertising that some pitch as the future, there is something to be said for the slightly one-step removed storytelling of (mass) advertising that that lets people come to their own conclusions.

Archetypal TV

2012-04-04T17:48:46+01:00

It was a pleasant surprise to be contacted by the BBC about presenting my thinking on Brand Archetyping to one of the channel teams.

Which I did yesterday. And a very enjoyable session it was too (for me at least - think they felt the same!)

Anyway, I've posted this before, but it was a good opportunity to update the presentation and give it a fresh lick of visual paint. So thought I would share again...

An introduction To Brand Archetyping: using the power of archetypes to create legendary brands

View more presentations from Jon Howard

This is broken

2012-03-27T15:53:09+01:00

Just came across an amusing and important talk of a few years ago from the man, Seth Godin.

Remember, if you (or anyone) say it's broken, it is.

Top Gear crowdsourcing a Facebook celebration

2012-03-08T08:41:16+00:00

I'm not normally a PR whore, with requests for write ups heading straight into the bin.

But I do like Top Gear, so hey ho.

To celebrate 10m Facebook fans, the Stig blew up a caravan...

Now, with an expectation of 15m fans, Top Gear are asking those fans how they would like to celebrate the next milestone.

So if you fancy setting the next TG Challenge, head on over to Facebook and offer up your suggestions.

Terrorism is uncool

2012-03-06T12:05:28+00:00

This short film, summarising the key points from last year's report by think tank Demos on combating terrorism (The Edge of Violence), is worth a view.

Their key conclusion: that most terrorist recruits are non-religious young men (who remain superficial 'converts' at best...rarely getting beyond parroting general [and often un-Muslim] platitudes), with few opportunities in life, who are initially attracted by the simple promise of fun, excitement and 'cool' (you can play with guns!).

Which is a classic 'change behaviour' strategy: get people behaving in a certain way and their beliefs will follow on.

And in light of this, Demos ask whether the best way to undermine this recruitment strategy is, well basically, to take piss and make terrorism uncool.

Which, interestingly enough, is pretty much the same approach we took here at QS with some work we did for Crimestoppers a few years ago, aimed at kids on the edge of criminality.

Carling Chrome: a great big steaming pile of advertising

2012-02-23T12:55:39+00:00

I don't like slagging off the work of other agencies in public. But there is something about a lot of modern beer advertising that particularly agitates me, given brewing was the market I cut my planning teeth on back in its late 80s/early 90s heyday.

But the launch work for Carling Chrome.

My word.

And all from a brand which once set the pace in UK creativity.

How the mighty have fallen (their last ad was equally wallpapery rubbish).

"Refreshment. Redefined" my arse. (Oh, and don't get me onto Stella's new 'heritage' direction either...altho maybe I Will)

Proof that Haribo are impossible to resist

2012-02-07T09:59:20+00:00

It’s always with great excitement that we announce a new TV commercial for Haribo. And that’s just what we have here.

Everyone knows Haribo’s Starmix are impossible to resist, and now there is scientific evidence to prove this fact!

Enjoy.

And just to ensure full disclosure up front, this was obviously inspired by Walter Mischel's famous Marshmallow Test.

I'm not usually one for commercials where someone has clearly just trawled Youtube for a technique to cover the absense of a proposition or idea. But in this case, the re-appropriation is justified I think: we wanted to dramatise the irresistibility of Starmix...and the original test could have just as easily been conducted with Haribo!

Quiet Storm gets into the research business

2012-02-02T11:03:04+00:00

It is with great pleasure that we welcome YouGov aboard the good ship Quiet Storm. Our first work for the cutting edge research company is a print campaign promoting its various innovative tools to the marketing community. You can have a look in a bit more detail over here.

Doing the right thing isn't marketing

2012-01-23T17:17:26+00:00

Being something of an anti-hipster when it comes to fashion, I have not previously come across Edwin, the Japanese jeans brand.

But Protein pointed me in the way of this rather lovely film. Read the commentary over at Vimeo to find out more: how all the technicians are also 'engineers' encouraged to customise their own machinery, or how the water used in the dying process is purified to such an extent that fish are able to swim in it.

For me, though, the most stricking comment was this: "these elements have been in place for many years, and yet never spoken about or promoted as a marketing tool. This is because Edwin esteems this to be a ‘standard’ process. It is simply the way of Edwin manufacture and not a simple ‘marketing’ idea".

A powerful statement at a time when much of the sustainability you see in business does just seem to be there for PR purposes. But doing the right thing isn't marketing...it's just something you do because it's right.

Oh, I love the music as well.

Red Letter Days say 'thank you'

2011-11-30T08:29:58+00:00

Our new commercial for the experience gifting pioneers at Red Letter Days. Rather than simply do generic shots of people enjoying themselves, we wanted to build on the emotional truth of gift giving: that we are desperate to do the right thing, something we can only be sure of when people say 'thank you'...and mean it.

Umair Haque: meaningful brands amplify human potential

2011-11-23T12:44:07+00:00

Via this Fast Company article

Recording the music for Blacksticks Blue

2011-11-18T10:46:03+00:00

Our recent and, if we say so ourselves, rather wonderful commercial for Butlers Blacksticks Blue was really brought to life through the music of Louis Barabbas. Thought you might be interested in a little insight into the recording process...

Certainty is the innovation-killer of our age

2011-10-19T08:56:29+01:00

Just finished reading an article by sci-fi author Neal Stephenson, called Innovation Starvation, on what he sees as the death of true, large-scale, paradigm shift innovation and problem solving of the kind seen in previous, on the face of it less technologically advanced generations; a stagnation he blames on the (perceived) 'perfect' information we have in the digital age, and how the 'certainty' this delivers kills risk taking - we know everything so do nothing.

As he concludes in his final paragraph...

"Today’s belief in ineluctable certainty is the true innovation-killer of our age. In this environment, the best an audacious manager can do is to develop small improvements to existing systems—climbing the hill, as it were, toward a local maximum, trimming fat, eking out the occasional tiny innovation—like city planners painting bicycle lanes on the streets as a gesture toward solving our energy problems. Any strategy that involves crossing a valley—accepting short-term losses to reach a higher hill in the distance—will soon be brought to a halt by the demands of a system that celebrates short-term gains and tolerates stagnation, but condemns anything else as failure. In short, a world where big stuff can never get done."

More Airbnb: selling the emotion not just the functionality

2011-10-12T11:40:50+01:00

So I go from knowing nothing about Airbnb to posting twice in a week.

PSFK have just written about the rise of 'community travel' which, not surprisingly, mentions the likes of Airbnb and Couchsurfing (to show no favouritism!).

They link to another Airbnb film, which sells the emotional benefit of what they offer alongside the functionality...something on-line businesses sometimes forget to do. Nice...

The Airbnb story: now to get from nothing to something

2011-10-10T14:28:02+01:00

Hadn't come across Airbnb before watching this from the recent PSFK conference in New York: a nice, simple, inspiring, and in places funny story of the journey from nothing to something...

And hree's a equally engaging promothey've done which explains the Airbnb offer: makes you wonder why you'd want to do anything else...

Jamie Oliver announces his new restaurant fly posting-style

2011-10-10T11:22:04+01:00

Jamie is launching his new chain, Union Jacks, in the new Central St Giles development.

Liked the fly posting-style recruitment ads, which double as an announcement and tone setter...

Yeo boys

2011-10-10T10:29:31+01:00

I know it was very popular, but I've never been backward in saying that Yeo Valley's Rap did nothing for me whatsoever. I felt it lacked the insight, humour and intelligence of Toyota's Swagger Wagon, which just preceded it. And suffered somewhat from apparently being a direct lift (scene for scene in places) of this Canadian ad.

It all just seemed a bit forced, and rather embarrassing as a consequence.

But the new boy band version? I'm liking that.

For me, it's everything the Rap wasn't - it's a funny, clever, charming, well observed, well cast, and well executed parody that hits the spot in the way the rap didn't...maybe because it's been developed from scratch, rather than bolted on to a pre-existing Youtube idea (which I do think was the problem first time round). So well done all.

Blacksticks: out of the blue and into the orange

2011-10-05T16:29:49+01:00

We have just started work with Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses: a family business, based in Inglewhite, Lancashire, who make premium, hand-made cheese from all-local ingredients.

Our first challenge has been to promote their flagship Blacksticks Blue brand (highly regarded by those in the know, but still unknown by most). Specifically, to get people who buy blue cheese to think beyond the boring old Stilton, and to consider instead something easier on both the palate and on the eye - Blacksticks is surprisingly smooth and creamy, and surprising orange, compared to other British blues...making it the perfect 'oh what's that' centrepiece of any cheese board.

And to do all of this on a very limited budget.

To help deliver the impact needed, and quirkiness that reflects both product and company, we first took inspiration from and then enlisted the help of musician Louis Barabbas, who has whipped up for us some musical excitement around this taste of the unexpected...

Is the Occupy Wall Street protest America's Arab Spring?

2011-10-05T11:06:37+01:00

The most important US news in the UK media at the moment? The acquittal of Amanda Knox.

Which just goes to show what is wrong with the world.

Because nearly a week in, the Occupy Wall Street protests have only just come on to my radar (and by the way, I've checked the BBC news website - not a mention to be seen). Maybe it's because rioting looters are interesting, but peaceful protests against capitalism gone wrong aren't.

And what started out in NYC now seems to be spreading across the country (and internationally) in what some (maybe prematurely, but hopefully not) are heralding as a Tea Party for the left.

More power to them I say - it can only be good for the rest of us that the populace of the 'World's biggest democracy' (sic) discovers that being to the left of Hitler doesn't make you Stalin...and that unfettered, uncontrolled capitalism is rabid animal that needs putting down.

Anyway, here's rather nice film on the events...