MARKETING IN A TOPSY-TURVY WORLD: SEND UP A LARGER ROOM

The art of priming

2010-07-28T09:44:00.008+10:00

Advertising agencies stress the distinction between message inputs and what people take out of communication. The message needn't be too literal. Take the audience on a journey and let them draw their own conclusions; don't beat them over the head with a blunt message.

The subtlety of good advertising and the art of priming an audience to be receptive to communication is perfectly captured in a scene from the film Inception.

If you haven't seen the film, stop here!

In Inception, a rational message needs to be delivered to the heir to a great business empire - that he should dissolve his father's business. But, this is a message he simply won't buy. Only through tapping into the emotional power of the bond between father and son, in a way that delivers a positive emotional outcome, will the message ever have a chance of success.

The way forward is to convince the heir that his ailing father didn't want his son to be like him, but rather find his own way in life. The young man could not be forced; he needed to come to the realisation himself.

The rise of Twitter

2010-07-19T16:04:00.004+10:00

With vast quantities of data at our disposal and the need to make sense of it all, data visualisations, from tag clouds to timelines, are more in evidence online than ever.

The Blog Herald has published a nice infograph on the rise of Twitter. Click here for a larger view.

Using Twitter to predict the future

2010-07-19T15:53:00.006+10:00

Following on from "Google flu", a project initiated by employees at Google in 2008, which aimed to monitor flu outbreaks through search, now we have "Twitter flu". Twitter and Facebook status updates are potentially more effective as predictive tools because people enter more words than they would typically do for a search query, so you can get a better idea of context.

Scientists at the Intelligent Systems Lab at Bristol University in the UK collected a database of over 50 million geo located tweets and, by identifying which words were associated with higher incidences of flu, used the data to generate a predictive model.

Any sort of viral effect could be predicted in this way - not just flu but contagious ideas, films or anything that generates chatter in the social space.

Isaiah Mustafa, prince among men

2010-07-16T08:34:00.003+10:00

Isaiah Mustafa, having created hundreds of personalised videos for his fans, bids us farewell. There's only so much one ridiculously handsome man can do.

See this Mashable article for the numbers, showing how ridiculously successful the Old Spice campaign has been. And here's a sample of the best personalised videos.

London's helpful transport

2010-07-14T13:53:00.000+10:00

When I was in London recently, I noticed that the transport system has gone awry. Instead of the usual delays without warning or explanation, pre-recorded and even real voices are now taking great pains to explain the cause of the problem and reassure passengers that they'll be on the move shortly. It's quite disconcerting. I was half expecting a "have a nice day".

England - the spoils

2010-07-12T21:40:00.003+10:00

The English are not usually a flag-waving nation, but they do make an effort once in a while. The World Cup, for example. But, following our inglorious World Cup defeat (again) by Germany, the spoils are in evidence on motorway hard shoulders the length and breadth of the country. Here's a sample out of hundreds of flags thrown out in disgust from cars on the the M11, which runs through Essex and Cambridgeshire.

iPad - putting the magic back in magazines

2010-06-21T14:34:00.000+10:00

Harry Potter - The Daily Prophet

One of the most exciting things about the iPad for me is the way it's revolutionising publishing, magazines in particular. A few years back, magazines had a lot of trouble moving from hardcopy to online and most of them failed dismally. They lost all the lustre and power of the magazine format in the translation, forsaking big, glossy pictures and straightjacketing themselves into copy heavy, image poor formats. Now the iPad is giving those with imagination a new lease of life. The hybrid format, both tactile and virtual - and big - allows publslishers to make magazines magical again. Magical enough - dare I say - to pay for them.

Harvey Norman's mystery shopping

2010-06-08T09:38:00.002+10:00

I happened to turn on Sunrise this morning and there was Gerry Harvey doing some mystery shopping - in fact, highlighting poor customer service in his own Harvey Norman stores. While some might say he's taken leave of his senses, it suggested a level of transparency and bravery that most retailers wouldn't dare to match. It was also quite amusing to see Gerry Harvey with a prosthetic nose and to witness the responses from his sales staff to the "customer's" queries, such as "Well they're all for sale".

In order to solve a problem, you first have to acknowledge it exists. This was a public act of recognition of bad customer service with an implicit promise that things would change. And on Today Tonight this evening, Gerry Harvey will be giving his shopping tips for getting the best price.

We talk about "branded utility" - brands providing some useful tool or service to consumers. It's normally used in the context of the digital or social media space, for example, the Nike + training system that lets runners record and share their running data. But Harvey equally displays branded utility - he's championing a consumer cause of better customer service and sharing a useful skill of negotiation.

Samsung Shakedown

2010-06-07T09:05:00.007+10:00

I love this Samsung campaign. It gets people involved with the product from the offset and taps into their innate sense of fun and playfulness. It uses technology to create nostalgia - I'm reminded of those dodgy fairground games of my youth.

Revenge of the Torture Test

2010-05-20T09:00:00.002+10:00

When I were a lass I remember stumbling upon a U-matic (that's a non-digital, big bloody video cassette) of "torture test" advertising (extreme product demos) through the ages, or at least the last few decades. I'll never forget the image of a live chick(-en) being placed in a container and thrust into some boiling water. The material was so heat resistant that the chick emerged alive and well to die another day. If ever I needed super heat resistant container, I'd have bought that one.

For years, the torture test was relegated to the archives, but it's back and bigger than ever. Now that the zeitgeist is all about authenticity and substance, it's return is timely. People love seeing proof that something really works. Plus they like seeing things smashed and blown up. Take a look at the Google Chrome Speed Tests.

Divide and Conquer

2010-05-19T09:49:00.000+10:00

This is one of the most abused expressions, usually used in a happy clappy collaborative context to mean "let's split up responsibility and all do our bit to get the job done."

What it actually means is "let's increase our own power by breaking up the minions into isolated groups (so they can't link up and threaten our power base)".

Divide and Conquer or "Divide et impera" is all about power and control. It's a great phrase. Use it acerbically.

Value of a 'Fan' on Social Media: $3.60

2010-04-20T08:50:00.000+10:00

Social Media ROI: Useful analysis of the value of social media fans.

Value of a 'Fan' on Social Media: $3.60

Design by Committee

2010-03-23T13:50:00.000+11:00

Nokia's "Design by Community" initiative gets punters to vote on aspects of their ideal concept phone. It's an interesting exercise, but I suspect it may be doomed to mediocrity, or at least inconsistency. It brings to mind the book Painting By Numbers, by Komar and Melamid, which tells the story of an experiment to create the perfect picture, purely by listening to what viewers wanted. The "ideal" painting was a preposterous mix of classic and new, rife with inconsistencies.

Facebook trumps Google

2010-03-19T12:09:00.001+11:00

Facebook became the most visited website in the US last week. According to Experian Hitwise, Facebook had 7.07% of US visits in the week ending 13th March 2010, compared to Google's 7.03% of visits.

That 0.04% may seem trivial, but it's monumental. The Web has always connected both information and people. Human connections - not only social but informational - are now coming out on top.

Coca-Cola's approach to social media

2010-03-15T13:10:00.002+11:00

Coke's 'fans first' approach in social communities

View more presentations from iStrategy.

Perpetual Love from Old Spice

2010-03-10T08:57:00.008+11:00

Having attracted around 5m views on YouTube within a month, Old Spice goes from strength to strength. Now it's offering ways to woo your woman through continuous Twitter feeds at myperpetuallove.com.

If by any chance you haven't seen the man your man could smell like:

The Marmarati

2010-03-10T08:50:00.003+11:00

Staying true to its "You either love it or you hate it" ethos, Marmite has always attracted devotion from ardent supporters. This is the latest installment.

To promote their extra strong XO variant they created a secret society, the Marmarati. Privileged "1st circle" members, who were active bloggers, got to test the product. Naturally they spread the word, building hype before the product launch.

It's one of the best examples of a social media "ambassador programme" that I've seen.

See marmarati.org.

Pepsi Refresh

2010-03-10T08:40:00.002+11:00

I like what Pepsi did instead of blowing $20m on a Superbowl campaign. This campaign is massive. US citizens, businesses or not for profit organisations can submit ideas, rally support on Facebook and Twitter and get funding for a social project (see refresheverything.com).

The campaign has limitations: it only takes 1,000 submissions per month and it's not global. While this makes it more manageable for Pepsi, it makes it less inclusive. It also potentially limits how much they can promote the project in Bought media. Driving too much demand will lead to more dissatisfied customers.

George Patterson Y&R - Picnic It's No Picnic

2010-02-26T12:56:00.000+11:00

I think George Patterson Y&R's Picnic campaign is fantastic.

Can you eat one in 30 seconds? If so, upload your video here and you too could be a TV star.

In the specific, the universal

2010-02-26T08:34:00.004+11:00

I was listening to a podcast of an interview with novelist Graham Swift the other day. Something he said particularly struck me: that, through conveying specific details of people's lives, he connects with mass audiences. Even if readers have very different lives to those of the characters portrayed - living in different countries, with different circumstances, at different times - they relate more to the details than they would to a broad description that attempts to be universal.

This relates to advertising: if you try to speak to everyone, you often end up speaking to no one. On the other hand, illustrate the small things that are meaningful to individuals, and you may well capture those elusive universal insights.

Neil Gaiman's Interactive Story

2010-02-26T08:22:00.000+11:00

One of my favourite authors, Neil Gaiman, has been experimenting with interactive storytelling on Twitter. He tweeted the first line and the rest is fan fiction.

The full story- soon to be a BBC audiobook - can be read here (bottom up of course).

I love the idea, but I'd probably rather read a book that's actually written by Neil Gaiman - you can't beat the quirky genius of Anansi Boys, which relays the antics of Anansi the Spider God and his sons.

Play it safe

2009-12-27T20:47:00.000+11:00

Promoting personal safety is not an easy task. On the face of it, it should be straightforward; it's only rational to preserve oneself. But safety is also very boring. That's why it's often more effective to take a lateral approach to safety communications.

I came across a good example of a saftety promotion in the Westfield mall in Cairns recently. Instead of hectoring people to watch their step on escalators, blue "feet" were painted on each step - turning escalator safety into a game.

Social Media ROI

2009-11-19T11:01:00.001+11:00

Worth checking out - Social media ROI: Socialnomics video by Socialnomics author Erik Qualman. (Thanks to Salvador at Pure Profile for passing it on.)

People buy a story

2009-11-17T10:35:00.000+11:00

It's amazing how much people will pay for a litte piece of history. When the property of former chairman of NASDAQ, now jailbird Bernard Madoff, was auctioned on Saturday, his personal property was much in demand.

A personalised New York Mets jacket, worth $720, sold for more $14,500. A set of golf clubs went for thousands of dollars above their intrinsic worth.

The Madoff "brand" is imbued with infamy and scandal and the history of the GFC. People clearly want a piece of it, at a highly inflated price.

It's a demonstration of the value of brands: people buy a story, not just a product.

It also goes to show that there are people more shallow at large in the world than the perpetrator of what's been described as "the biggest fraud in Wall Street history".

Worldview

2009-11-16T18:38:00.002+11:00

To clarify my earlier post, I don't actually feel that our trade press misrepresents us. It's quite a candid reflection of what our industry likes and is like. It's also an indispensable read if you want to be involved in marketing conversations.

What does concern me is that I also read and watch enough of the things my clients and consumers are into. I think some of the most useful questions to ask a client are: What do you consider indispensable reading/viewing? Where do you go for inspiration and entertainment? It helps me see how they frame the world.