there's no such thing as digital strategy : unilever for hyper island master class

HI, I’M ROB

FOUNDER / CEO, MATTER UNLIMITED@ROBMATTERSROB@MAKETHINGSMATTER.COM

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

- Mahatma Gandhi

Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

WHY ROB?

Here’s some of my professional bullets:

‣ 1996: Began digital career at The New York Times

‣ 1998: Opened NYC office for Silicon Valley tech company Commtouch

‣ 1999: Founded digital marketing agency, Syrup

‣ 2001: Opened Syrup Helsinki ...hired many Hyper Island interns too!

‣ 2007: Sold Syrup to LBi

‣ 2010: Left Syrup/LBi ...the day after my contract expired

‣ 2011: Thought, planned, schemed, traveled, met inspiring people ...and thought some more

‣ August 2011: Launched Matter Unlimited

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Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

WHAT ROB HAS LEARNED

Here’s some things I’ve learned ...professionally:

‣ We create our own success through hard work, determination, and consistent delivery of quality

‣ Us digital guys were right all along

‣ There is no such thing as digital marketing anymore

‣ There is no magic ‘big idea’ ...execution is everything

‣ Success comes from applying diverse brain power to a highly strategic approach ...before producing anything

‣ Working insanely hard at what you love does not feel like work

‣ Never stop learning

‣ Watch and measure your actions carefully - karma’s a bitch!

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Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

WHAT ROB HAS LEARNED

Here’s what I’ve learned ...personally:

‣ Purpose matters - having it makes us happier

‣ We don’t always see this ...but eventually we all face it

‣ Money is very useful, but it is not purpose

‣ The world is in significant transition and many people are beginning to redefine success and true happiness - at increasingly faster speeds - through our connected collective brain (sometimes called the Internet)

‣ Being ‘cool’ still matters ...everyone still yearns to be cool

‣ Its now ‘cool’ to have a purpose ...this can prove very useful

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Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

WHAT ROB HAS LEARNED

work + purpose = calling

Having a calling is the coolest thing of all

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What Matters

STRATEGY

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Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

STRATEGY

What does strategy mean to you?

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Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

STRATEGY

Requisite “definition slide” from Wikipedia:

A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a specific goal.

Strategy is all about gaining (or being prepared to gain) a position of advantage over adversaries or best exploiting emerging possibilities.

[I love this one!!] As there is always an element of uncertainty about future, strategy is more about a set of options ("strategic choices") than a fixed plan.

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Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

STRATEGY

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Strategy begins by stepping back and see the whole game board. From here we can make proper decisions on what we need to do.

Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

STRATEGY

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Transformative creative marketing emanates from a deep understanding of both strategic and brand context. Regardless of the immediate tactical challenges, everything should be rooted in a clearly defined, crisply articulated and overarching brand vision.

Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

STRATEGY

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This process starts with a few higher order questions ...so what are some really good higher order questions?

‣ Why do you do what you do?

‣ What do you believe in and stand for?

‣ What’s your true purpose?

‣ How are we relevant to our customers’ lives?

‣ How do we provide utility and enrich their lives so they care?

Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

STRATEGY

So what is digital strategy?

Nothing.

There is no such thing as digital strategy in today’s real world. Digital strategy is a silly concept.

Nothing is exclusively digital anymore

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THE ECOSYSTEM OPPORTUNITY

The essence of strategy is that you must set limits on what you're trying to accomplish.

Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it's about deliberately choosing to be different.

- Michael PorterHarvard Business School

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Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

THE ECOSYSTEM OPPORTUNITY

Its not about a website, an ad campaign, social media activation, content creation, data/analytics, Pinterest, etc.

These are particular tactics and tools.

Strategy is placing all marketing, advertising, content creation and data in the proper brand context.

An interconnected, networked ecosystem

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Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

THE ECOSYSTEM OPPORTUNITY

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From a defined strategy, you develop the ecosystem.

You evaluate what you put in, what you leave out based on your determined strategy.

And then you refine it, evolve it, and iterate.

Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

THE ECOSYSTEM OPPORTUNITY

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Its hard because it never ends. There’s no completion point any more and that’s tough ...but its more fun!

A well planned marketing ecosystem enhances the relationships between tactics, and avoids ‘one-offs’ that can’t exploit the network effect.

Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

THE ECOSYSTEM OPPORTUNITY

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Its hard because it never ends. There’s no completion point any more and that’s tough ...but its more fun!

A well planned marketing ecosystem enhances the relationships between tactics, and avoids ‘one-offs’ that can’t exploit the network effect.

So companies have to be very schizophrenic. On one hand, they have to maintain continuity of strategy. But they also have to be good at continuously improving.

The ability to change constantly and effectively is made easier by high-level continuity.

- Michael PorterHarvard Business School

Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

THE ECOSYSTEM OPPORTUNITY

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Exercise: Define a strategy for _______ and then define marketing ecosystems around this strategy.

Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

THE ECOSYSTEM OPPORTUNITY

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So ...how can your agencies partner with you and serve your ecosystem best?

Long-term partnerships are key ...but not sacred if needs shift.

Have the guts to change and shift partners as things evolve. Stay nimble.

WINNING(LIBERATION)

Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

WINNING (LIBERATION)

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These ideas are far from new.

Bhumisparsha Mudra

The union of method and wisdom, samasara and nirvana, and also the realizations of the conventional and

ultimate truths.

QUESTIONS

Private and Confidential • ©2012 Rob Holzer

Hyper Island: Unilever Presentation Date: August 23, 2012

QUESTIONS

Can we carve out the necessary time and space for strategy?

How do we create ecosystems?

What barriers do we face?

Silos? Different remits? Multiple reports? No time to think?

How do these ecosystems feedback to product/brand creation and development?

How do we implement agile marketing?

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THANK YOU.