forward doing -...
TRANSCRIPT
FORWARDDOING
FOR
WA
RD
DO
ING
FORWARD DOING
There’s never been a better time
for brands to immerse themselves
in digital marketing than right now.
The rewards for those bold enough
to engage, embrace and encourage
the changes at play in our business
are astonishing.
However, there’s never been a
more confusing time to leap into
digital either. The landscape is
constantly shifting, audiences
are expanding and splintering
simultaneously, and the quality of
everything from tiny ads to giant
web sites is sorely lacking.
The purpose of these pages is to
inspire you to think broadly about
digital; to take risks, be compelling
and ambitious; to make the most
out of what is truly a historic
opportunity.
Think of this as rocket fuel for
forward doing.
BEFORE
WE
BEGIN,
A
FEW
QUICK
FACTS
Today there are more than 7B
people on the planet, half of whom
are under the age of 30 and have
never known life without the
Internet.
There are more than 5B mobile
subscriptions, representing
approximately 77% of the world’s
population; of these, 1.5B belong to
smartphone users.
There are over 2B people
connected to the Internet; 70% of
them read blogs, while 57% say
they talk to others more often
online than in real life.
The last truly new platforms were
Google, which gave us access to
content on the web via search;
Facebook, which reiterated the
web via the social graph; and
Twitter; which delivered a blogging
platform, news hub and social
network.
AND
A
FEW
QUICK
THOUGHTS
The web can be simultaneously
overwhelming – because there’s
so much to explore – and
underwhelming – because you
can’t always ind what you’re
looking for.
The newness of the social web
has been like a rush of people
to one big city. In the future,
however, there will be many big
cities, each made up of multiple
neighborhoods.
Forget swiping – the future is
all about gestures. Natural user
interfaces extended from gaming
will migrate to web and mobile
applications.
Unless brands improve their social
marketing, future interactions with
customers will feel less friendly
and more commercial.
In the future, online marketing
will move away from generic
advertising and toward inluence
marketing; behavior advertising
will move away from assumptions
and toward speciic actions. As a
result, consumer rights and privacy
will become more pronounced and
focused issues.
We will see more “megamercials”
– tightly integrated brand
advertising containted within
digital experiences. This is much
like the old soap operas, who got
their name because of Proctor
& Gamble’s Oxydol soap powder
sponsorship of radio dramas in the
1930’s.
As brand ambassadors, we need
to provide consumers with an
authentic online experience – one
that’s both more fun and useful.
WE HAVE QUICKLY MOVED FROM THE
INFORMATION WEB TO THE SOCIAL WEB
WE CAN DO IF WE REINVENT
AN DO IF WE REINVENT
The rise of social networks is not
a new phenomenon. If you look
at the timeline and the amount of
sites considered social networks,
they have existed for many years
now.
Fast-forward to today, content
is everywhere; blogs, feeds,
aggregators, and social networks.
These services exist to allow
people to have creative expression
and each service is distinctly
separate from each other.
The social graph has all these
themes: connectedness, openness,
community, conversation, identity,
self-expression and participation.
WE
ARE
THE
CONNECTED
GENERATION
DIGITAL
BEHAVIORS
HAVE
CHANGED
WE NEED TO ENTERTAIN,
INFORM AND PROVIDE
UTILITY, OR PEOPLE
WILL CLICK-OFF AND
SWITCH-OFF
ATTENTION
IS
THE
NEW
ECONOMY
The popularity of Google, lightning
fast Internet connections and
instant access to everything online,
it feels a lot like our brains have
become mushy. Meaning, we no
longer focus our time going deep
into a subject unless it is topic we
are really impassioned by.
We have become a skimming
culture, absorbing just enough
information to feel informed. So
perhaps it is time for us to rewire
our elastic brains and reengage
in all the beauty that digital has to
ofer and not just a subset of it.
People are treating their location
as part of their social identity.
They broadcast it as an extension
of their social behavior, showing
friends and acquaintances what
they’re doing as well as when and
where.
Naturally, a number of services
have grown up around this practice,
including Google Latitude, Loopt,
Facebook Places, Gowalla and the
category leader, Foursquare.
Sometimes, though, users may
only want a few people to know
where they are and what they’re
doing. That’s why apps which
allows users to share location
updates to speciic groups of
people – like Grouped{in} – are
becoming popular.SOCIAL
MOBILITY
Location-based services present
marketers with a number of
opportunities to interact with
on-the-go customers, like
sending them a brand message,
encouraging them to update
their status, or rewarding them
for checking in with a site or
completing a task.
Such rewards range from virtual
recognition, like Foursquare’s
Super Swarm badges, to product
redemptions, like Scvnger’s point
system which ofers real-world
goods in exchange for actual store
visits.
The latter, more physical rewards
– which put a value on a customer
being present in a store or other
location, interacting with your
brand or service – will be a trend to
watch.
LOCATION
BASED
CAMPAIGNS
The development of immersive
entertainment technology is
encouraging us to go from
passively consuming content to
actively participating in its shape
and direction. Put more simply,
we’ve stopped leaning back and
started leaning in. As a result,
every screen we face – TV, laptop,
tablet and smart phone – will ofer
marketers a chance to provide a
unique experience for each and
every viewer.
FROM “LEAN BACK”
TO “LEAN IN”
For example, you can be watching
a TV show on your big screen,
researching the actors on your
tablet while checking your smart
phone to see which of your friends
is tuned in as well. Or you may
pause the game you’re playing
on your gaming console, only to
resume playing it hours later on
your tablet while lying cross-
country.
Future programming which
engages users across multiple
devices in this manner becomes
more than simply immersive
entertainment – it becomes a
compelling experience.
DIGITAL – ESPECIALLY
SOCIAL MEDIA –
ALLOWS US TO BREAK
OUR
CAMPAIGNS DOWN INTO
VALUABLE, INDIVIDUAL
CONVERSATIONS WITH
CONSUMERS
OFFLINE,
MEET
ONLINE
Quick Response (QR) codes have
helped oline and online converge
in a quick and simple manner.
By scanning a QR code with a
smart phone, users are able to
complete a range of actions from
simple (opening a webpage or
downloading a coupon) to to the
sophisticated (engaging in full-on
e-commerce0.
For example, British grocery giant
Tesco “brings the supermarket
to you” by letting shoppers buy
produce and other food and retail
items by scanning images of their
purchases with their smartphones,
with their order delivered the same
day.
Not only does this create enormous
value for Tesco’s online shopping
service, but it also creates oline
awareness for the brand. Double
bonus.
In addition, the future of shopping
and brand interaction will likely
include Near Field Communication
(NFC). NFC technology enables
smartphones and other
compatible devices to establish
radio communication simply by
bringing them close to one another
or touching them together. The
possibilities of NFC have been
proven to provide real value, but
as of now, only a few brands have
adopted it. Look for this to change.
Although augmented reality has
been available for several years,
its real potential has only realized
recently, thanks to higher-quality
cameras on smart phones and
tablets.
Iconic sunglass brand Ray-Ban put
augmented reality to work by using
such on-board cameras to allow
cutomers to try on sunglasses
virtually, then purchase their
favorite pair instantly.
There are also really smart retail
examples activating “targets”
(however it can be sound, video,
graphics or GPS data) and retail
AUGMENTED REALITY
packaging. A retail example is a
digital mirror developed by Lego
that virtually showcases (in 3D) the
select product, providing instant
value-add for customers.
The combination of a smartphone
or tablet camera, a print ad and
an app can bring almost any ad
to life – anywhere and anytime.
Simply by scanning the ad with the
device activates the app, turning
the previously static ad into a video,
game or 3D experience.
JEAN COCTEAU WAS
ONCE ASKED
IF THERE WAS A FIRE,
WHAT POSSESSION HE
WOULD RUN OUT OF
THE HOUSE WITH?
HE SAID, “THE FIRE”.
Never underestimate the power
of a good partnership. Even the
simplest such arrangements
can help expand your audience,
amplify your brand and alter public
perception.
Instagram and Topshop teamed
up to provide customers with
makeovers from a professional
stylist. The resulting “after”
photos were immediately posted
to Facebook in real-time, with
the caption, “Wish you were at
Topshop.”
Nike and British singer-songwriter
Ellie Goulding have unique
partnership fusing her music and
with her passion for running. By
participating in Nike projects, Ellie
extends their brand within her fan
base.
The Intel and Vice partnership
brings together two diametrically
opposed brands for a common
purpose. Building the Creators
Project, combining art, music and
technology on a collaborative
sharing platform. Beautiful.
THE
POWER
OF
PARTNERSHIP
There were 5,000 tweets per day in
2007. Today, there are almost 250
M. Facebook has over 750 M users
Flickr has more than 3.6 Bphotos.
Foursquare counts 10 M-plus
members, plus over 250,000
registered stores on its business
platform.
The Huington Post surpassed
100M comments per month in
September 2011. And there are
approximately 27M pieces of
branded content passed around via
links every day.
Everything is social now.
SOCIAL ATTENTION
Whether it is a smart-phone app
that enables you to activate a QR
code, to a Facebook “like” on a
person’s wall or enabling people to
physically “like” objects through an
RFID Facebook card. These are real
examples of oline meeting online
and online meeting oline.
Twitter is now promoting
interactivity through Twitter
parties, think of these as old school
communities and Facebook is
banking on the wisdom of friends
and crowds. Soon both with be
encouraging real oline meet-ups.
When done seamlessly and
naturally it is an enjoyable
experience.
NO
LINE
BETWEEN
ONLINE
AND
OFFLINE
WE’RE
GETTING
COMFORTABLE
WITH
THE
COMPANY
OF
STRANGERS
Using the web to reinforce your brand and enabling the community to
feel loved is the value of participation. Shortly, the future of participation,
especially in publishing will move way beyond comments and into
pictures, audio and video in real-time.
PARTICIPATION
PLAYGROUND
It is amazing how many brands will
take an advertisement designed
for commercial TV and simply
repurpose it for the web. However,
the value of creating a web-speciic
advertisement or companion piece
is undeniable.
The latest Evian Live Young
campaign features adults wearing
baby t-shirts, dancing to Wordy
Rappinghood by French electronica
artist Uie. The digital piece isn’t
simply a repurposed TV spot;
instead it employs stop-motion
video to put users into the action,
involving an entire conusmer
community with the brand.
Uniqlo also found a way to call upon
its worldwide community of fans to
empower the brand. The company’s
Grid gave access to the same
grid of Uniqlo logos to customers
everywhere, allowing them to create
a mosaic similar to those used on
store shopping bags as well as in a
previous brand campaign.
By the end of 2011, 200,000 people
in over 126 countries updated
the Uniqlo Grid over 10M times,
proving simply that, if people love
your brand, they will participate in
shaping and recreating it.
Still, the ultimate example of the
participation playground is the
Johnny Cash Project. Directed
by Chris Milk, The Johnny Cash
Project contains more than 250,000
hand-drawn contributions from
individuals in 172 countries. All the
illustrations are brought together,
ultimately, to create a completely
crowd-sourced tribute to the Man in
Black, set to his otherworldly, “Ain’t
No Grave”.
The carefully researched content
and well-crafted opinions of
content curators may give them
a hint of omnipotence. However,
consumers are rapidly becoming
powerful news editors and
opinion-shapers through written
contributions on platforms such as
The Huington Post.
In a world of endless options, we
all need help in making decisions.
No longer can we rely on a handful
of suppliers to provide the media
we consume. Push to pull is all
about the rise of devices and sites
that help us manage our choices.
Curators and editors – either
professional or peer – are essential
to helping create a valuable,
manageable online experience.
FROM
PUSH
TO
PULL
SO
WHAT’S NEXT?
LET’S SPARK
IDEAS
FOR
THE
FUTURE
BEFORE
NOW
NEXT
This three-word trend describes
the ability to record – and perhaps
even predict – physical and online
activities.
Before – Before is a time stamp of
our past activities. For example,
posting a photo Facebook wall or
a video on Youtube are “before”
experiences.
Now – Posting photos via
Instagram is a “now” experience,
much like “checking-in”
on Foursquare or Gowalla,
or otherwise posting your
whereabouts at a given moment.
It’s a record of the very immediate
present.
Next – If there are services that
detail our before and now, why
not one that recommends where
we should go next? Predictive
technologies that refer to our social
graph for recommendations on the
next venue or activity can provide
a valuable method for reining our
physical experiences based on
where we’ve already been or what
we’ve already done.
As mentioned earlier, the web
may initially seem overwhelming
because there is so much to
explore. But it can quickly become
underwhelming when you can’t ind
what you’re looking for. Curation
is the key to ixing this dilemma.
Services that are efectively curated
ensure our time used eiciently, so
that we can enjoy the web and be
more productive.
Examples of curated e-commerce
enable a brand to provide new niche
opportunities within a category.
Many startups have identiied these
and have developed substantial
businesses in the process for
example Zaarly.com for local
money and Fab.com for discounted
designer products; both these
services.
CURATION CULTURE
FOCUS ON THE EXPLORERS
In the traditional bell curve of
adoption, the early adopters,
innovators and explorers are at the
head, followed in the middle by the
vast majority, with the laggards and
luddites bringing up the rear.
Innovative companies need to
focus on the explorers – the ones
who create the momentum at the
early stages of business. These
individuals are more likely to become
evangelists, the ampliiers for your
services, brands and ideas. Give the
explorers love, because they love
you.
“WE WANT TO
TAKE THAT STUPID
LITTLE BOX WE
WERE FORCED INTO
AS ADVERTISERS,
BLOW IT UP, AND
CHANGE THE WAY
WE INTERACT WITH
THE CUSTOMER,
AND WE WANT IT
TO BE AROUND THE
EXPERIENCE.”Jim Farley, the CMO of Ford
We are now seeing much richer – not
simply larger – ad formats, which
provide deeper, more engaging
experiences. In fact, they even serve
the same purpose micro-sites use to,
but don’t require the user ever to leave
the page the ad appears on.
Not surprisingly, these six new formats
also achieve much better results
than previous ads. It’s something of
a hallelujia moment for the display
business, thanks in large part to AOL
(Portrait and Pushdown), Google/
Youtube (Masthead), Microsoft
(Filmstrip), Unicast & Mediamind
(Genex Slider) and Unicast (Sidekick).
ENGAGEMENT NOT CLICK-THROUGH
There are multiple points of
social contact online: Facebook
and Linkedin proiles, Instagram
timelines, Flickr photos; YouTube
and Vimeo videos, Tweets and
Foursquare updates – your
digital footprint is complex and
unmistakable. And each part of it
serves a unique purpose.
So cross the social bridge. And
when you do, think of it as your
path across the web – a journey
that makes use of all your services,
and the design of which is yours
to control. Looking at it this way
makes it easier for you to inluence
the social graph, and decide what
information you share with others.
SOCIAL
BRIDGE
Encourage a remix culture – both
in how you market your brand and
how consumers interact with it.
Harness the power and resources
of pre-existing communities.
Find your ideal audience – the true
brand builders – by seeding and
connecting; seek out people with
real inluence.
Ensure that your products will
have a social life by giving all your
communications social features,
like ratings or reviews.
Talk to the individual, but aim to
change the whole community by
being compelling and ambitious.
Be transparent. Take down the
walls between producer and
consumer by allowing both to
create.
FINAL
THOUGHTS
“A LOT OF TIMES,
PEOPLE DON’T KNOW
WHAT THEY WANT
UNTIL YOU SHOW IT
TO THEM.”
STEVE JOBS
There are over 2B people
connected to the internet today, and
what they do online is changing our
lives – and our world – faster than
at any time in history. But how can
your business turn what appears
to be chaos and uncertainty into a
path to growth and proit?
You talk to a prophet, that’s how.
David Shing is AOL’s Digital
Prophet. He spends most of his
time watching the future take
shape across the vast online
landscape. The rest he spends
talking to people about where
things are headed, and how we can
get the most out of it.
Shing has spent most of his adult
life in the digital world, working
for creative companies both large
and small. He served as AOL’s
European Head of Media and
Marketing before taking on his
current mantle.
Engaging, witty and refreshingly
candid, Shing provides both
historical perspective and current
context as he lays out his vision of
the brave, new world of marketing
to come – one he believes will
belong to those willing to embrace
change and take risks now, and
that he dearly hopes will suck a
great deal less than it does at the
moment.
The opportunities are incredible.
The rewards are real. And Shing’s
here to show you the way. That,
after all, is what prophets do.
ABOUT
SHINGY
Disclaimer:
Thoughts and opinions within this book are
mine and not necessarily relective of my
employer.
Trademarks
Any of the trademarks, service marks,
collective marks, design rights or similar
rights that are mentioned, used or cited in
the articles of this book are the property of
their respective owners. Unless otherwise
stated David Shing is neither endorsed by
nor ailiated with any of the holders of any
such rights and as such David cannot grant
any rights to use any otherwise protected
materials. Your use of any such or similar
incorporeal property is at your own risk.
I would love to stay in touch, so
let’s connect through the usual
social circles:
Shingy.com
About.me
Skype
THANK
YOU
FOR
READING
MY
BOOK
FOR
WA
RD
DO
ING
D
AVID
SHIN
G
As consumers we’re entering a cleansing period
when the quality of influence trumps quantity and a
brand’s utility matters more than its ads. I have long
sounded the alarm that we’re headed to a reality of
showing, not telling; a place where if a brand is not
contributing and adding value, it’s just being annoying.
Let’s aim for “movements, not moments”.