From the SoDA Board ChairTony Quin, Chairman of the Board, SoDA & CEO, IQ

As SoDA enters its 9th year, the organization has gained unprecedented momentum. From a base of 13 founding companies in 2006, the organization has grown to almost 100 handpicked member companies, in thirty-four countries, with nearly 300 offices worldwide. SoDA has truly become a global network made up of the most respected digital agencies and creative companies in the world.

Getting into SoDA is still not easy. Only 14% of the companies that applied over the past 12 months have been invited to become a member. It’s a rigorous process. First a member must support the application of each candidate company. Then, based on their HQ location, the appropriate regional membership committee will review their work, reputation and culture. Those that pass this test go on to be reviewed by the board, which finally presents its recommendations to the entire membership for a vote. As a result, this rigorous commitment to the highest standards of excellence has produced a peer group that is unique in the digital world.

In the coming year, you will not only see more editions of The SoDA Report, but also SoDA’s expanded presence at major industry events around the globe, in addition to our own event series called SoDA Sessions. Later in 2015, we’ll debut The SoDA Academy, an invite-only conference that will take place in Brooklyn October 11-13. The event will bring together director-level leaders from digital agencies around the world, in 10 key disciplines, for a unique master class and collaborative peer-to-peer exchange. After the extraordinary success of the C-level SoDA meetings, the mission of The SoDA Academy is to bring that same remarkable experience to discipline leaders from across the industry.

I hope you find this edition of The SoDA Report valuable and enjoyable. Take the time to explore our website at www.sodaspeaks.com, where you can also sign up for our mailing list and keep informed about what’s coming next from SoDA.

Best wishes,Tony QuinChairman of the Board, SoDA CEO, IQ Agency

Thank you for viewing the first 2015 edition of The SoDA Report.

We are delighted that The SoDA Report has become one of the most viewed digital trend publications in the world, with over 300,000 views per issue. In this latest issue, SoDA’s elite membership, partners and other industry leaders provide their insights into digital innovation for brands and the blurring borders of digital marketing, customer service and product design.

From the Managing EditorChris Buettner, Managing Editor and Executive Director, SoDA

Our readership has continued to flourish. Over the last 12 months, The SoDA Report has garnered almost 330,000 views and downloads between the SlideShare and responsive (sodareport.com) versions of the publication.

The editorial theme for this year’s report is Spurring Positive Change. Effecting real change is not a formulaic process. As strategic design expert Anna Meroni underscores in her work, it involves interpreting situations where problems are open and ill-defined, tasks are unclear, processes are experimental and where knowledge is something that emerges step by step through continuous interactions with other players.

I want to thank Barcelona-based SoDA member, Vasava, for translating our editorial theme of Spurring Positive Change (and leaving behind that which no longer serves you) into a striking visual metaphor for the cover of this edition.

In this edition and throughout 2015, we’ll explore this topic through the lens of industry leaders who are creating the future of marketing and digital experiences.

To become a subscriber of The SoDA Report, please email SoDA and we’ll make sure you have priority access to the release of upcoming editions. We hope you enjoy this issue and, as always, we welcome your feedback, ideas and contributions for future editions.

Saludos,Chris BuettnerManaging Editor and Executive Director, SoDA

Welcome to the Volume 1, 2015 edition of The SoDA Report.

We are extremely proud of the growth and development of our biannual trend publication. We’re also humbled by the positive industry feedback we’ve received regarding the quality of our editorial content and the value of our annual Digital Outlook Research Study - conducted in partnership with Econsultancy.

The SoDA Report Team & PartnersContent Development

Editorial Team

Chris BuettnerManaging Editor of The SoDA ReportSoDA Executive Director

After a career on the digital agency and publisher side that spanned 15+ years, Chris Buettner now serves as Managing Editor of The SoDA Report. He is also the Executive Director of SoDA where he is charged with developing and executing the organization’s overall strategic vision and growth plan. And with roots in journalism, the transition to lead SoDA has been a welcome opportunity to combine many of his talents and passions. After living in Brazil and Colombia for years, Chris is also fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is an enthusiastic supporter of SoDA’s initiatives to increase its footprint in Latin America and around the world. Chris lives in Atlanta with his wife and two daughters.

Sean MacPhedran, Industry InsiderGroup Planning Director, Fuel

Sean is Group Planning Director at Fuel (based in Ottawa, Canada), where he currently works with clients including McDonald’s Europe, Nokia, Mattel and Lucasfilm. He specializes in youth marketing, entertainment & game development, and the incorporation of pirates into advertising campaigns for brands ranging from Jeep to Family Guy. Outside of Fuel, he is co-founder of the Ottawa International Game Conference, managed the category-free Tomorrow Awards and spent a good deal of time in the Mojave Desert launching people into space at the X PRIZE Foundation. They all came back alive.

Rob Thorsen, Modern MarketerManaging Director, Big Spaceship

As Managing Director, Rob oversees the development of Big Spaceship’s client relationships and the disciplines of the agency that drive them. Equal parts relationship builder and creative contributor, Rob brings over 15 years of agency building expertise to the agency. His work includes launching Unilever’s AXE at BBH NY, joining Mother NY as it’s first strategist stateside, to leading several flagship accounts at BBDO NY. When not in the office, Rob is either chasing down his two children with his wife, Sarah, or chasing after cyclists he so desperately tries to keep pace with. Also, he is from the Great State of New Jersey.

Zachary Jean Paradis, Tech TalkDirector Innovation Strategy, SapientNitro

Zachary Jean Paradis is an innovation strategist, professor and author obsessed with transforming lives through customer experience. He works at SapientNitro, teaches at the Institute of Design and lives in Chicago. Zachary works with companies to become successful innovators by utilizing “experience thinking” as a strategic asset manifested in better offerings, flexible process, and open culture. He works with start-ups and Fortune 1000 companies as diverse as Chrysler Auto Group to Target, Hyatt Hotels to John Deere, M&S to McLaren, and SAP to Yahoo! evolving service and product experiences across digital and physical channels.

Emily Wengert, TalentGroup Vice President UX, Huge

Emily Wengert leads the UX team in the Brooklyn office. Her emphasis on UX strategy pairs her with clients looking for genuine innovation and impeccable execution. Since joining Huge 6 years ago, Emily has successfully collaborated with some of Huge’s largest clients, including Google, Gucci, Target, Loblaws and Reuters. With a particular focus on the intersection of physical and digital, Emily specializes in digital engagement in commerce, restaurants and other social spaces. For her work, she has received an OMMA Award and been honored at the Webby Awards. Emily received a BA in English from the College of William and Mary.

Pauline Ploquin, AdvocacyChief Relationship Officer/Partner, Struck

With a background in communications and nearly 20 years in the creative industry, Pauline has mastered the art of left brain/right brain integration. As CRO, she is focused on developing satisfying relationships for Struck including current accounts, strategic partnerships and attracting new clients. Previously Pauline held the title of COO and she led the efforts to develop operational and strategic alignment for Struck. For the past few years that has meant evolving Struck’s offerings to deliver client-satisfying solutions. She holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from La Sorbonne, Paris and a degree in Communications from UCLA.

Kate Richling, SoDA ShowcasesVP of Marketing, Phenomblue

As Phenomblue’s Vice President of Marketing, Kate Richling oversees the agency’s marketing and social media outreach, as well as its inbound marketing efforts. Previously, Richling worked in public relations, creating and executing strategies for institutes of higher education and Blue Cross Blue Shield, as well as providing social media counsel to various non-profit organizations.

Jonathan Butler, Continuity EditorEngagement Coordinator, Deepend

With a background in both advertising and photography, Jonathan thrives when he combines his love of all things visual with creative and strategic thinking. As the Engagement Coordinator at Deepend, his role primarily involves liaising, researching and coordinating all departments in preparation for new business proposals. He also works in the strategy department, contributing to initiatives such as Deepend INDEPTH and conducting market research. Jonathan’s written and photographic work has been featured in both international and local print and online publications.

Jennifer Tucker, Continuity EditorStrategy Director, Deepend

As Strategy Director for award-winning digital agency Deepend, Jen uses her 10+ years of experience in transforming high profile brands and organization from traditional communication to digital platforms and helping them bridge the gap between creating something which is innovative and engaging but delivers results. Along with her 10+ years experience on both client and agency side, Jen also holds a BA and Masters degree in Strategic Communications from the University of Sydney.

The SoDA Report Production Team

Lakai Newman, Head of ProductionJessica Ongko, Designer

The responsive version of The SoDA Report was developed with a variety of solutions from the Adobe Creative Cloud

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The opinions and viewpoints expressed in the articles in this publication are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent or reflect the opinions or viewpoints of SoDA.

tracksA CCO U N T M A N A G E M E N T

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OCTOBER 11-13, 2015 PRATT INSTITUTE BROOKLYN, NY

For a select group of discipline leads focused on the future of marketing and digital experiences, The SoDA Academy (a

two-day, invitation only event) will foster radical collaboration, peer-to-peer learning and a network of professional

relationships unlike any other professional learning event.

Visit the website to learn more and request and invite.

Who we are:SoDA serves as a network and voice for entrepreneurs and innovators around the globe (in 30+ countries across 6 continents) who are creating the future of marketing and digital experiences. Find out more at sodaspeaks.com.

SoDA

Digital Outlook Study1.0 Introduction1.1 Respondent Overview1.2 Agency Ecosystems in 20151.3 The State of the Agency - Client Relationship1.4 The Outlook for Agencies1.5 Modern Marketers1.6 Talent & Advocacy

Introduction to the 2015-16Digital Outlook Study

Conducted by SoDA in partnership with Econsultancy, the 2015-2016 Digital Outlook Study reveals some intriguing – and challenging - trends wielding an impact on the future of marketing and the creation of digital experiences.

An increasingly complex ecosystem of brands, agencies and consultancies are issuing in a new era of disruption and change in the industry. The rise of consultancies in digital services and a more pronounced trend toward clients bringing digital work in house are just two of the salient findings from this year’s study.

Even the use of the word “digital” to describe this research study, our industry and our organization – SoDA – continues to incite debate amongst SoDA’s leadership and member companies around the world. As you may know, our organization is called SoDA and its letters originally stood for the Society of Digital Agencies. For the past few years, many of our members have been saying that “digital” is no longer a relevant word. In short, they argue that given the ubiquity of digital it’s now a distinction without a difference.

Our current name (SoDA - The Digital Society) was adopted in early 2014. It represents a move away from the use of the term “digital agency” to describe our membership and is a nod to the pervasiveness of technology in our personal and professional lives. It’s also a good compromise given that so many of our members no longer classify themselves as “agencies.” Yes, there are many amazing agencies in SoDA’s ranks, but also incredibly talented design studios, digital product development shops, experience design firms, elite production companies and the list goes on and on.

While the debate over the term “digital” ensues, one thing is clear. Senior business leaders have never been more interested in this global study. In fact, this year a record 88% of respondents were key decision makers and influencers (C-Level, Senior Executives, VPs and Directors) with annual marketing budgets ranging from US$5M to over US$100M.

In this year’s study, there was an uptick in the percentage of clients indicating they were decreasing their marketing spending on agency partners charged with managing and executing digital initiatives. That figure was up 7% in relative terms vis-à-vis 2014.

About one in seven client respondents indicated they were decreasing their marketing spends with digital agencies this year. The result is arguably due to three key trends:

• The commoditization of some types of digital work • The increasing prominence of programmatic media buying • The ongoing trend of client insourcing

The spending news, however, is not all doom and gloom by any stretch of the imagination. Two in three client-side respondents also revealed they were increasing their spending on non-marketing-related digital products (including platforms, applications and tools to better service their end customers and to facilitate the work of their employees).

Clients in 2015 are also feeling tremendous pressure to understand and leverage emerging technology trends in order to innovate their operations as well as the products and services they offer to their customers. In fact, expertise in emerging trends is now the No. 1 skill clients most value in their agency partners, up from a distant 3rd position in 2014.

Agencies and production companies – particularly those who invested early in innovation labs and product incubators – are reaping the benefit of clients’ acute need for emerging tech expertise. They’re also increasingly bringing their own IP directly to market.

For the first time, the 2015 SoDA Study segments the benefits engendered by innovation labs based on the number of years the labs have been in operation. Some extremely salient differences begin at the 3+ year mark.

In this year’s study, we’ve also segmented the results on a number of other key variables (by region, by size of agency and by ownership structure). Some fascinating findings emerged as we sliced the data in a more nuanced manner this year. For example, shops under 200 FTEs predominate for design and development initiatives, while larger agencies lead the pack in areas such as media and analytics.

As a non-profit organization, SoDA offers this research study to deepen the community’s understanding of macro-level trends shaping our industry and to identify potential windows of opportunity for companies to thrive within this era of disruption. We hope you find value in the insights revealed and we welcome your feedback on future editions.

Organization TypeKEY INSIGHT: • 2015 SoDA DMO survey respondents were more senior-level than ever before (9 out of 10 were key decision makers). • The share of respondents identifying themselves as consultancies nearly doubled this year.

The share of respondents identifying themselves as consultancies nearly doubled this year, arguably due to the larger role firms like Deloitte and Accenture (as well as other

Respondent Overview

innovation consulting practices) are playing in the industry. SoDA member companies (and other leading players in the digital services industry) have increasingly become M&A targets for the major consultancies who are seeking to build (or buy) end-to-end, integrated digital capabilities.

The shift allows those consultancies to better service their clients and capture a larger percentage of growing budgets – particularly the rising budgets for platforms, applications and tools outside of the marketing realm. Brands are desperate to redefine how they serve connected consumers and operate connected businesses. As such, building an integrated ecosystem of companies that provide end-to-end consultation>ideation>execution>analytics services is an increasingly prevalent trend this year.

Consumer Marketers by CategoryKEY INSIGHT:The share of client-side respondents in the Service Sector rose significantly in 2015. The growth trend was particularly pronounced on a year-over-year basis, but not out of synch with global macroeconomic trends. In fact, Services are projected to account for almost 50% of global job growth from 2010 to 2020.

The percentage of client-side respondents in the service sector rose substantially in our 2015 study, increasing 16 percentage points to 53% of the total client respondent base.

Albeit a sharp increase, this is not an unexpected trend. The share of the service sector in economic value-added* measures has grown steadily over the past few decades. For example, the service sector in the U.K. was responsible for 67% of economic value-added in 1990. By 2014, that figure had mushroomed to nearly 80%.

1 Source: The World Bank * Value added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs.

Job TitleKEY INSIGHT:C-Level executives are showing unprecedented levels of interest in digital marketing research and insights as evidenced by their dramatically expanded participation in SoDA’s 2015 DMO Study.

A record 88% of respondents (up from 82% in 2014) were key decision makers and influencers (C-Level, Senior Executives, VPs and Directors) with annual marketing budgets ranging from US$5M to over US$100M. The trend was even more pronounced when we isolate C-Level respondents. The share of C-Level client respondents swelled to 68%, up from 30% of all client-side respondents in 2014.

(continued on next page...)

C-Level Respondents

Geographic Region

While North American executives are still the single largest contingent of DMO Survey respondents, participants from Europe, Asia and Latin America are growing in numbers and importance.

We fully expect that participation from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa will continue to rise, based on global macroeconomic trends as well as the growth patterns we’re seeing within SoDA’s own membership base. Twenty percent of SoDA’s member company offices are now in Latin America, Africa and Asia*, up from 13% in 2014.

* SoDA members in Australia and New Zealand are not included in this figure.

Global Economic Input

By 2020, the economic output of emerging economies is expected to outpace advanced economies for the first time. Top players interested in international expansion should consider emerging markets for high-growth opportunities.

However, not all emerging markets are created equal. The A.T. Kearny Global Business Policy Council analyzed the 25 largest emerging markets, going beyond a simple comparison of GDP and related economic forecasts. They looked at structural factors that position markets to withstand unforeseen economic shocks and foster longer-term economic growth and stability. The seven markets that rose to the top among emerging markets were China, Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Poland, the Philippines and Mexico. To see the ATKearny research study, click here.

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KEY INSIGHT:The percentage of clients taking full responsibility for digital efforts at their companies grew significantly in this year’s study.

Those clients who are working with digital agencies are reducing the size of their rosters. Only 12% of brands had four or more digital shops on their roster this year, down from 21% in 2014.

Number of Digital Agencies (%)

Agency Ecosystems in 2015

In SoDA’s 2015-2016 study, there was a significant spike in the number of clients indicating they were not working with outside agencies on their brand’s digital efforts (27% in 2015, up from 13% last year).

In North America, the in-housing trend was essentially on par with the global average. 28% of client respondents in North America indicated they were handling all digital efforts in-house.

While no doubt an alarming trend for agencies, other research studies conducted by SoDA in 2015 underscore that the overall state of the business for top digital shops is strong.

For example, nearly 8 in 10 respondents to SoDA’s Q1 2015 KPI Survey indicated that their revenue grew or was stable during the last quarter of 2014 (vis-à-vis Q3 ’14). Over 73% reported that their profit margin rose or remained stable during the same quarter. And when asked to set their company aside and rank the health of the digital services industry in 2015 on a scale of 1-10, the average response was a robust 7.1.

We continue to see a clear trend of clients maintaining digital initiatives in-house and working with a select group of outside partners on innovation efforts. Many digital agencies are also diversifying their revenue models and bringing their own products and IP directly to market as a growth engine for their companies and as a hedge against the commoditization and in-housing of some digital services.

In fact, for agencies whose innovation labs are 3+ years old, one in four reported that their efforts had resulted in a company spin-off, VC investment or significant funding; four in five said their innovation lab efforts contributed directly to new business wins, and slightly less than one in three indicated increased revenue from their product incubation efforts. As brands continue to build their own digital capabilities in-house, it’s no longer as common to see crowded rosters of digital agencies servicing a single client. In the 2015-2016 study, only 12% of brands had four or more digital shops on their roster, down from 21% in 2014.

Role of Agencies & Consultancies in Client Innovation on the RiseKEY INSIGHT:The percentage of clients taking full responsibility for digital efforts at their companies grew significantly in this year’s study.

In last year’s DMO study, when clients were asked what they valued most in their primary agency relationships, the second most prevalent response was “product/service innovation.” While approximately 60% of clients handle innovation efforts internally, nearly two in five now work with agencies and consultancies to innovate their company’s product and service offerings.

What Types of Digital Shops are Clients Hiring?KEY INSIGHT:Two strategic approaches are emerging – one toward higher levels of specialization and another toward agency consolidation.

The percentage of client organizations working with a small roster of highly specialized agencies remained high in this year’s study (27.8%), and consistent with our 2014 findings (29%).

There was also a significant increase in the share of clients indicating they worked with one lead agency for digital and traditional assignments. That figure was 30.5% in SoDA’s 2015-2016 study. Clearly, two strategic approaches are emerging – one toward higher levels of specialization and another toward agency consolidation. In its 20 Digital Trends for 2015, Forbes seems to be squarely in the consolidation camp.

Marketing Mediums Merging. Content marketing, SEO, PR, social media are all blending into one skillset. No longer is there a need for numerous boutique agencies, as such disciplines are all inter-dependent upon each other with t oday’s techniques. Look for agency consolidation here. (Source: Forbes.com, 1/16/2015)

On the other end of the spectrum, there are highly specialized businesses in our industry that many clients are clamoring to work with in areas such as user experience, data and the use of technology platforms for built environments, among others. We’ll continue to track this trend in subsequent studies, but we fully expect the two approaches to co-exist in the short-to-medium term.

When we further segment the data, the 2015 survey shows a direct link between level of digital sophistication on the client side and the use of specialized / niche digital agency partners.

- Those clients who characterized themselves as “Very or Somewhat Innovative” with respect to digital initiatives were five times more likely to be working with highly specialized digital agencies or a mix of full-service and highly specialized shops. - Only 1 in 8 clients who characterized themselves as “Not Very or Not At All Innovative” with respect to digital initiatives were working with highly specialized digital shops.

Independents in the Majority on Client Agency RostersKEY INSIGHT:The percentage of clients taking full responsibility for digital efforts at their companies grew significantly in this year’s study.

More than 60% of client-side survey respondents indicated that they work primarily with independent shops on their digital initiatives. An additional 27% said they work with a mix of independents and holding company agencies. While M&A activity was strong in 2014 (and thus far in 2015), it’s clear that independent digital shops still have a bright future and a commanding position on clients’ agency rosters.

Size Matters... SomewhatIn this year’s survey, we also asked clients about the size of the agencies they work with and the types of assignments awarded. Here were the top three most common areas of engagement with clients by size of agency.

Q. Based on discipline, what size(s) of companies do you currently work with on digital initiatives?

For smaller agencies (0-50 FTEs and 51-200 FTEs), Design & Development are the most common areas of engagement with clients. The findings also suggest that clients are opting for small and mid-sized agencies to handle strategy engagements.

Client engagements in the area of User Experience cut across multiple agency size

1) Product Mania - clients are eager to jumpstart the way they interact with their target. No matter the vision, creating this “product” doesn’t usually require a cast of thousands or a budget of millions. This trend is paving the way for many smaller agencies to “break into” larger brands to demonstrate their wares. In turn, it places pressure on larger agencies to justify their strategic and design pricing.

3) Innovation Speed - speed is a large part of how smaller resources are able to be more strategic and impactful with data insights. I often encounter talented individuals who seek to work in smaller, more nimble teams to create products so they can not only deliver faster, but innovate and respond quickly once products go live. This approach appeals to clients who know that part of their inertia is derived from their size.

4) Media & Social Media - Like all digital activities, digital media takes a little more handwork. The bar for delivering effective social programs is not as high as for detailed paid acquisition media. Here, the client’s budget and program complexity determine how much demand from smaller partners there is for this category of services.

Agencies are consumers too. They’re naturally conceiving solutions that are aligned to the current digital media environment. Because a lot of this information is available in an increasingly automated fashion, there is less and less reason for an agency to “avoid” media as a daunting discipline.

- Jessica Pezzulo, CMO, Huge

categories. As SoDA member Ari Weissman from EffectiveUI points out, the agency’s (and client’s) ability to collaborate is arguably the most important selection criterion for agency-client collaboration on the UX front. “Working with a UX design agency is transformative for many client organizations and requires collaboration not just with the agency but across the entire client organizational structure, involving stakeholders who oftentimes have not worked together before,” says Weissman. “Your customers don’t care if organizations are siloed. They expect a cohesive and integrated experience,” he added.

Analytics and Media rounded out the Top 3 for client engagement with agencies in the 200+ FTE category. Larger companies – including consultancies such as IBM Interactive and Accenture Interactive – have developed extremely robust analytics offerings that are clearly resonating with clients who are under intense pressure to apply more science to the art of marketing.

On the media front, a sophisticated ecosystem has coalesced around programmatic buying. While specialized providers have enjoyed a certain first-mover advantage in this space, some larger agencies are coming on strong, building complex programmatic platforms in house.

The Changing Nature of Client EngagementsKEY INSIGHT:Half of all agency respondents report consulting with clients on new product and service offerings.

In last year’s DMO study, clients ranked “product/service innovation” as the second most valued area of expertise for their primary agency relationships. In that same

“We’re hearing a few consistent desires from clients: 1) Elasticity - clients are struggling inside their organizational silos and want agencies that don’t suffer from the same rigid structures and instead thrive on fluidity; 2) Chemistry - as the need for collaboration increases clients are increasingly looking at team chemistry as an explicit part of their selection criteria and small to mid-sized agencies are more likely to deliver on that; and 3) Velocity - many report having negative experiences in the past with large agencies not being able to move at the pace of the social consumer.” - Michael Lebowitz, CEO & Founder, Big Spaceship

study, agencies, however, ranked product/service innovation a distant fourth in their evaluation of what clients valued most.

Fast forward to today (12 months later) and it is clear that agencies have begun to capitalize in a major way on their clients’ interest in partnering on innovation efforts. In fact, 50% of all agency respondents indicated they were consulting with clients this year on new product and service offerings. Given the increasingly blurred lines between the agency and consultancy space, we will continue to monitor this trend closely in the coming months and years.

Estimation is Still a Sore Spot for Digital Shops

When asked to rank their organization from 0 to 10 on their ability to accurately estimate project costs, agencies left themselves quite a bit of room for improvement in 2015.

The average for all agency and prodco respondents was just 6.32 (up slightly from 6.09 in 2014), indicating that most digital shops continue to struggle with estimation – a core business requirement that wields a tremendous impact on their overall financial and organizational success.

This mediocre self-assessment underscores that some of the underlying causes of poor scoping and estimating still need to be addressed head on. Far too often (as SoDA partner AgencyAgile has highlighted in numerous SoDA roundtables on scoping), estimates are completed too late, with insufficient detail, by the wrong people, with too much acceptance of uncertainty and are poorly communicated to key stakeholders.

Campaign Spending on Digital Projected to Grow

In last year’s DMO study, the growth trajectory for digital marketing budgets was slowing considerably. While only 9% of respondents said they actually planned to decrease digital marketing budgets last year, there was a double-digit increase in the number of client respondents who indicated they would be maintaining the status quo. A wait and see approach was the name of the game.

While there is still a great deal of economic uncertainty in regions like Europe, the strength of the North American market is translating into larger marketing budgets overall – and for digital initiatives. Globally, in our 2015-2016 study, there was a surge in the number of respondents increasing their digital marketing budgets and increasing overall marketing spends. That figure grew 27% this year, with nearly one in four client-side respondents indicating they were increasing marketing budgets overall and allocating a higher percentage of that budget to digital.

Areas such as programmatic media buying are seeing the largest budget increases. In fact, almost one in three client respondents (31.5%) indicated they were increasing budgets for programmatic media buys in 2015.

Globally, 46.9% of respondents indicated they were either a) reallocating more budget into digital from their existing marketing spend or b) increasing digital budgets while also increasing their overall marketing spend.

In North America, the digital budget expansion trend was even more pronounced, with 55.9% of respondents falling into one of the two categories mentioned above.

In Europe, however, the story was decidedly less rosy. Approximately one in four respondents (28.2% to be exact) indicated they were increasing digital spends either through the reallocation of existing budget or by augmenting their overall budget. Meanwhile, 13% of European respondents said they planned on decreasing digital budgets (vs. 9% globally).

Increased Digital Spending Not Limited to Campaigns

Increased spending on digital is not limited to campaign buys. In fact, budgets are growing most dramatically for digital products outside of the marketing realm (including platforms, applications, tools and services). Agencies and software development companies who have expertise in digital product creation (both bringing their own IP to market as well as developing digital products on behalf of clients) clearly stand to benefit from the growing budget priority among clients organizations.

The Value of Innovation LabsKEY INSIGHT:The financial value of innovation labs & product incubators increases geometrically after Year 3. Those agencies that have powered through the initial challenges and steep learning curve associated with product creation are reaping strong rewards.

For the past three years, SoDA’s DMO research study has analyzed the proliferation of innovation labs and product incubators within full-service agencies and digital shops. We’ve focused specifically on the value generated by these efforts. While “Too Early to Tell” predominated in past studies, there were some clear benefits, namely…

- Happier, more engaged staff - New business wins

This year, we took the analysis a step further, analyzing the benefits engendered by innovation labs based on the amount of time the labs have been in existence. As the pie chart above highlights, the average “age” of innovation labs within our agency and prodco respondent base was fairly evenly divided this year (34% < 1 year, 37% 1-2 years and 29% 3+ years).

When the age of the innovation lab is not considered, talent retention and new business development tied as the two most salient benefits (both at 70%). When the age of the product incubator is factored in, some significant differences begin to emerge.

Clearly, moving from a service-based model to product development involves a steep learning curve for agencies and production companies. After 2-3 years, that learning curve begins to flatten and more financial benefits such as significant funding, revenue growth and new business wins begin to take root.

It could also be that after 2-3 years, agencies who do not see clear financial ROI on their innovation labs / product incubators choose to disband efforts and focus on their service-based offerings. When we compare the overall findings to 2014, talent retention and new business both showed strong gains, rising 19.0% and 9.8% respectively.

Q. What benefits has your innovation lab/product incubator produced? (select all that apply)

KEY INSIGHT:For companies whose innovation labs were 3+ years old, one in four reported that their efforts had resulted in a company spin-off, VC investment or significant funding.

KEY INSIGHT:While only 1 in 10 agencies cite revenue growth as a benefit of newly formed innovation labs (<1 year), that percentage nearly doubles for shops who have at least one year of product incubation experience under their belt.

KEY INSIGHT:Happier, more engaged staff (seeking a respite from client work) remains one of the top benefits of innovation labs and product incubators, regardless of how long they’ve been in place.

KEY INSIGHT:After just 12 months, innovation labs and product incubators are having a significant positive impact on new business development wins. The effect accelerates after Year 3.

The State of the Agency - Client Relationship

Agency and production company respondents in this year’s survey are decidedly bullish on their relationships with clients. A whopping 69.5% of agency and prodco leaders who chimed in with their opinion indicated that the dynamic of how brands and agencies are working together is improving overall.

This is arguably due to the fact that an increasing number of agencies are “walking the walk” of real transparency in their client relationships. SoDA members – and other top companies in our industry – are creating highly innovative collaborative workflows with clients that are paying quantitative and qualitative dividends. We encourage the readers of The SoDA Report to explore some of those best practices that are highlighted within our Industry Insider section in this edition.

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The Client / Agency Dynamic

Agency respondents at independent shops were even more optimistic about the state of agency-client dynamics.

• 72.3% of independent agency respondents who chimed in with their opinion on this question thought the brand-agency dynamic was improving • Meanwhile, only 62.5% of holding company agency respondents believed that to be the case.

What Clients WantIn contrast to the 2014 DMO Study, this year’s research reveals significant congruity in client and agency perceptions of what’s important to clients.

To gauge YOY trends, we once again asked both clients and agencies to rank the areas of expertise they believe to be most valuable for client organizations. Here’s what they said:

Q. (Agencies) What do your clients value most in their relationship with your organization?Q. (Clients) Generally speaking, what do you value most in agency relationships?

Our 2015 DMO study indicates that agencies are clearly more in tune with the needs of clients. While there was only one match between clients and agencies in 2014, the 2015 results revealed matches in five of seven areas as shown in the graphic above.

“It’s not surprising that clients are looking to agencies for expertise in emerging trends and digital innovation – agencies have a front seat for observing the shift in user behavior towards consuming more digital experiences on an increasing number of device types. There’s a great opportunity here for agencies to act as change agents by helping their clients take full advantage of this shift, creating improved ROI and ultimately greater brand advocacy and loyalty.” - Mark Asher, Director of Corporate Strategy, Adobe

The 2015 results, however, do reveal a missed opportunity by agencies in the area of data and analytics. Clients are clearly looking for more expertise and support from their agency partners in the mission critical area of data science than agencies believe to be the case. Clients nearly ranked measurement/analytics capabilities in their top 3, while agencies ranked it a distant 6th.

To view this infographic from last year’s Digital Outlook Study, click here (located in Section 1, “What Clients Want).

Why Clients LeaveIn last year’s study, we revealed significant discrepancies between clients and agencies in terms of their thoughts on why clients terminate agency partnerships. Like last year, the No. 1 reason cited by clients in our 2015 study was that their needs had outgrown the agency’s ability to deliver. Meanwhile, agencies continued to assert that changes in management were the number one reason they got the axe.

In this year’s study, however, there was direct alignment between clients and agencies when it came to the 2nd most cited reason that clients terminate – Cost Overruns. In last year’s study, cost overruns ranked a distant 4th in the eyes of clients as the primary reason for terminating an agency partnership.

This underscores just how critical it is for agencies and production companies to improve their scoping and estimation practices in order to boost client retention. Agency/prodco respondents in this year’s study are keenly aware of the need to step up their scoping game as evidenced by their self-assessment of their estimation skills.

Q. (Client) Thinking about your most recent experience with terminating an agency, why did that relationship end?Q. (Agencies) Thinking about your most recent experience with being terminated by a client, why did that relationship end?

We also allowed respondents to add color commentary around the issue of why clients terminate. Consolidation and insourcing also emerged as major themes among the respondents.

“Consolidation of brands under one agency.”“Agency personnel turnover too high.”“Cost structure too high”“Decided to create our own team [in-house].” “Desire to control services internally”“Shift to in-house”“Taking work in-house”“Thought they could accomplish cheaper/faster in-house”“Establishing in-house team.”

Our personal favorite. “No accounting for crazy.”

Clients on Their Agency Partners: A Lukewarm AssessmentKEY INSIGHT:SoDA’s 2015 study points to the acute need for agencies of all stripes to focus on client satisfaction in order to drive improvements in customer loyalty and to enable profitable growth.

While almost 7 in 10 agency respondents reported that the dynamic of how brands and agencies are working together is improving, clients are not yet strong advocates for their agencies to the extent that they would recommend them to other client-side colleagues. In this year’s study, we asked clients how likely they were (on a scale of 0-10) to recommend their agency partners to a friend or colleague. We inquired about those agencies primarily responsible for digital marketing efforts as well as agencies responsible for other marketing efforts at their companies. Here’s what they had to say.

Q. How likely are you to recommend the following agency partners to a friend or colleague?

On the whole, clients surveyed in this study can be classified as agency “detractors” based on Net Promoter Score (NPS) methodology. Any NPS score under “6” indicates that these clients are generally unsatisfied and can damage your brand and impede your growth through negative word of mouth. Agencies (and other companies in the digital industry) must reinforce efforts on client satisfaction in order to retain relationships and fuel future growth.

When we segment the results on a regional basis, agencies in North America fared slightly better (4.8), while agencies in the APAC region fared the worst (3.6).

When we segment the results based on the ownership structure of the agencies, independent agencies (5.4) performed better than the overall average.

A company’s actual NPS score is a percentage, calculated by taking the percentage of your “promoters” (i.e., those who rank you 9 or 10) and subtracting the percentage of your “detractors” (i.e., those who rank you 0 to 6). Based on that definition, agencies in our 2015 study had a significant negative double-digit NPS score.

In order to secure a positive, double digit NPS score, more companies in the digital service industry need to open up and have a candid dialogue with their clients. One way service is no longer acceptable, as customers want to be heard and involved in the discussion to find solutions. Emily Wengert of Huge and Jordan Eshpeter of Invoke both underscore this necessity in their articles within the Industry Insider and Modern Marketer section of this edition.

Those agencies who have the leadership commitment and businesses processes in place to monitor customer satisfaction and to act on that client feedback are likely to win in the medium-to-long term.

Are Clients Organized for Innovation?Clients and Agencies Opine.For the first time in this year’s DMO Study, SoDA asked both clients and agencies their opinion on clients’ organizational structures and whether those structures facilitate or hinder their ability to innovate and spur positive change. Here’s what they said:

Q. (Clients) “My company’s current organizational structure (facilitates, hinders, neither facilitates or hinders) our ability to innovate”Q. (Agencies) “Our clients’ current organizational structures generally (facilitates, hinders, neither facilitates nor hinders) our ability to innovate.”

The perceptions of clients and agencies on this question are diametrically opposed. More than two in five agencies see client organizational structures as a major impediment to innovation. More than 40% of clients, on the other hand, believed their company’s structure actually helped enable innovation.

From the agency’s perspective, organizational complexity in large client organizations is clearly seen as a roadblock that can suffocate innovation. The intricacies of developing a new product or service on the client side can also lead to missed market windows.

Many client organizations, however, are becoming much more agile and responsive to their customers’ needs – albeit perhaps not to the extent that agencies would like to see.

Clients and Agencies Assess Their Digital SavvyQ. How do you rate your organization on the following? 0-10 (Clients, Agencies and Prodcos were evaluating themselves on the three attributes listed below)

Sophistication with User-Center Design

Taking Advantage of Emerging Technology and Trends

Driving Digital Innovation within our Competitive Set and Incubating New Products and Services that are Transforming Categories

The capabilities analyzed above (user-centric design, emerging tech & trends and product incubation) constitute our Top Three Picks for growth areas in agency-client collaboration in 2015. While one could argue that agencies and prodcos simply have an inflated sense of their capabilities in these three areas, it is undeniable that a large and growing number of agencies in the digital services industry have developed a wealth of expertise in UX, technology trends and product incubation – both in their work with clients as well as through their efforts to bring their own IP to market.

In contract, the client-side talent gap in User Experience has been well documented in each of the last three SoDA Digital Outlook studies. This year’s study also revealed that expertise in emerging technology and trends is the area that clients value most in their agency partnerships – a finding that makes perfect sense based on their mediocre self-assessment in this area.

The potential to spur positive change across a wide array of industries has never been stronger if resources and agency ecosystems are aligned to stimulate innovation. Agency-client partnerships forged via a sober analysis of strengths in these three areas are likely to yield strong benefits for agencies, brands and consumers.

The outlook for agencies, production companies and consultancies in the digital services space is… drum roll please… unquestionably mixed.

The Good News - Forward-looking agencies and production companies who are diversifying their revenue streams through successful product and platform creation efforts – bringing IP to market themselves and working with clients on digital initiatives to transform their product/service offerings to customers – are doing well. - Firms that have developed a strong consultancy offering via a digital lens, or are providing training and education services to clients building in-house teams are seeing revenues grow. - Shops that are smart about taking advantage of the right types of emerging technology and trends –and working with their clients to do the same – are thriving. - Agencies that are sophisticated about user-centered design and the use of data to drive deeper levels of personalization are flourishing. - Those who are able to deliver strong marketing creativity and customer- centered marketing are prospering. - Companies that are pioneers in place-based digital experiences (things like architectural digital media, place-based mobile technologies, interactive installations and experiential technologies) are in high demand. - Agencies that are revolutionizing how they work as agency partners with clients through innovative, transparent and highly collaborative workflows are doing well.

The Bad News - Digital shops that are failing to embrace change and those that are failing to diversify their offering beyond digital deliverables that have become highly commoditized are – well – failing. • In fact, 38.1% of agency respondent’s in this year’s survey indicated that the rapid commoditization of digital work product is proving to be a serious problem for their companies. • Meanwhile, 29.3% said near-shoring or off-shoring is wielding a significant impact on their business.

The Outlook for Agencies

Agencies Say the Glass is More than Half FullWhen asked if the digital marketing industry is moving in a positive direction in 2015, nearly 4 in 5 agency respondents agreed that is was, while only 11% disagreed and another 9% remained undecided on the issue.

Additionally, the percentage of agency respondents indicating that agencies with digital roots are more likely to lead was up 10 percentage points YOY (from 66% in 2014 to 75.9% in 2015).

Agencies Believe They Are Spurring ChangeQ. Please rank your organization from one to ten on the following areas, where one is lowest and 10 is highest.

Effecting real change is not a formulaic process. It involves interpreting situations where problems are open and ill-defined, tasks are unclear, processes are experimental and where knowledge is something that emerges step by step through continuous interactions with other players. Despite that undeniable truth (and while also leaving themselves room for growth), agency respondents in the 2015 Digital Outlook Study do believe they’re making a positive impact both internally, with clients, and – ultimately - with consumers.

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Product Creation: Still the Best Route to Growth?

While 4 out of 5 respondents in the 2015 study affirmed that making digital products and platforms (both for brands as well as directly for consumers) was the best path to growth, the response was down slightly vis-à-vis 2013 and 2014. Product incubators and innovation labs are producing tangible results (as noted in the “Value of Innovation Labs” section), but some of those benefits are non-financial in nature, particularly for those agencies whose incubator efforts are less than two years old.

Additionally, a number of companies in our industry have begun to realize that operating a service-based and product-based business under one roof can be too complex to navigate successfully. The focus on digital product creation as the path to growth is still an extremely salient trend. However, we do anticipate a number of agency players who are dabbling in the product creation space to refocus on their service-based offerings given the tremendous complexities of bringing a product to fruition and sustaining it over time.

2015 Hiring Trends

One in five agencies is anticipating major growth in full-time staff in 2015. Another 56% of respondents anticipate minor growth.

In a completely separate study, SoDA asked its own member companies (a select group of top digital agencies and production companies around the world) about their anticipate staff growth for calendar year 2015. Most SoDA member companies fall into the major growth category. On average, the projected FTE growth by EOY 2015 for a SoDA member company was 21%. Only one in ten SoDA member companies anticipate single digit FTE growth (Study conducted Feb 2015).

While the in-housing trend on the client side is undeniable, it’s equally clear that agencies and production companies with a strong value proposition and a differentiated (non-commoditized) position in the market are showing robust growth.

Agency Specialization and Client Insourcing Emerge as Parallel

When asked specifically what types of companies (agencies, prodcos, etc) do clients work with on digital initiatives, two parallel trends become readily apparent in SoDA’s 2015 study:

1) Clients are working with more specialized digital partners – particularly in the realm of UX and Media.

2) Clients are taking more work in house, particularly in the areas of Strategy and Analytics. The insourcing trend is least prevalent when it comes to Media.

Agencies Still Give Themselves Mediocre Marks on Measurement / AnalyticsJust as in 2014, agency respondents were decidedly humble (or refreshingly honest) when asked to rank their organization from 0-10 on their ability to: 1) Identify actionable insights from increasing volumes of data (Avg. of 5.86, up slightly from 2014)

2) Use a variety of data inputs to drive deep levels of personalization (Avg of 5.69, down slightly from 2014)

Analytics is one of the areas in which insourcing on the client side is becoming more and more prevalent. Just under 35% of our client respondents indicated they handled measurement and analytics internally. Despite that fact, data and analytics still constitute huge opportunities for agencies who invest the time, resources and talent to flatten the learning curve and provide a compelling offering to clients.

And admittedly, driving deep personalization and gleaning insights from ever increasing volumes of data are still nascent skills for most marketers and digital shops.

Clients Leave Themselves Room for Growth on Innovation Front

Clients-side respondents in this year’s study were slightly more sober in their analysis of how innovative their digital initiatives are in 2015. This is likely a symptom of the growing complexity marketers are facing on all fronts. It’s harder to be confident that you’re creating groundbreaking work when the marketing and technology landscape is relentlessly shifting beneath your feet.

Modern Marketers

Additionally, many client respondents indicated their organizations are decidedly conservative, and will wait for technology trends to mature before adopting them.

And finally, some respondents pointed to a failure of vision and sophistication on the part of management to drive digital innovation within their organizations.

The verbatim comments from survey respondents underscore these realities.

“We are always learning, but are not cutting edge yet.”“We try a lot of new things, but I wouldn’t say we’re bleeding edge.”“We are constantly working to improve processes and generate new ideas.”“We are agile in our approach, trying our best to stay on top of all the latest marketing trends and emerging technology.”

“We follow the market – when a practice is established we adopt it.”“We adopt new technologies but only after they have been on the market a while and fully tested.”

“Management are luddites.”“We could do more, but don’t have the full support from leadership.”“A lack of creative leadership at the VP level frustrates our efforts.”

Where Clients Say They Are on the Learning Curve

Defining our terms: – Emergent Forms of Digital Interaction (ex. augmented reality, virtual reality, IoT) – Place-Based Digital Experiences (ex. architectural digital media, place-based mobile technologies, interactive installations, projection mapping, social media, and experiential technologies) – User Experience (research and testing) – ROI Analysis (measuring ROI on digital initiatives) – Innovative Engagement (engaging with agency partners in innovative and highly collaborative ways such as agile and co-development of new IP) – Data Use (use of data to drive digital marketing effectiveness)

The two primary areas where client organizations report making great strides over the past year are user experience and the use of data to drive digital marketing effectiveness. These two categories were the only areas where a greater percentage of respondents indicated that they are either “state of the art” or “ahead of the curve” versus being “behind the times” or “hopeless.” Despite the trend toward insourcing on the client side, there are clearly gaps in expertise within client organizations across all of the above categories that provide excellent business opportunities for agencies, production companies and consultancies to step in and fill.

Three in Four Marketers Say Early Adopter Status Key to their Brand Position

Nearly 75% (up from 69.5% in 2014) of clients believe that being seen as an early adopter is key or important to their brand position. Even for non-tech brands, being seen as having your finger “on the pulse” adds brand value.

In fact, “Expertise in Emerging Trends & Opportunities” ranked as the top priority for clients when asked what agency skillsets were most valuable to them – up two spots from last year’s survey and even surpassing marketing creativity. And unlike last year’s study, agency perceptions of what’s most important to clients were in direct alignment. Agencies also ranked emerging trends as the top priority for clients in this year’s study. See the “What Clients Want” infographic here.

Identifying and evaluating trends for use by clients has emerged as a significant revenue opportunity for companies in our industry. Agencies are starting to take notice. In 2015, just under one in three agency respondents (31.9%) say they are now providing direct training and mentoring to client staff on emerging technology as one of their paid service offerings.

KEY INSIGHT:While 2 in 5 clients affirmed that their company’s organizational structure facilitates innovation, many marketers still believe they have a ways to go before their processes are truly innovative and experimental.

Clients on Collaboration

Marketers gave themselves high marks on their ability to collaborate, interacting continuously across teams and disciplines.

In her piece “Show Your Underwear: A Case for Transparent Collaboration,” Emily Wengert of SoDA Member Company Huge makes a compelling argument for more open, transparent collaboration with clients in order to test assumptions and put requirements in context throughout the creation process.

“The focus on collaboration is also transcending intra-company workflows and becoming increasingly common in the way forward-thinking brands and agencies are working together.”

Level of Complexity Anticipated in 2015 - 2020KEY INSIGHT:Three out of every four marketers believe the growing complexity they will face over the next five years will be high or very high.

74% of all client-side respondents expect the level of complexity faced by marketing professionals will be “high” or “very high” over the next 5 years. Interestingly, the percentage of C-Level client respondents who thought the level of complexity would be “high” or “very high” was marginally lower (67%). While still a significant response, the finding does suggest that many executives in the C-Suite may be failing to grasp the growing level of complexity on the horizon.

Additionally, as the graph below underscores, less than one in three marketers feel prepared to handle that growing complexity, providing yet another opportunity for forward-thinking agencies and consultancies. Those agency partners who are able to help brands craft a progressive and agile strategic approach that can adapt to a marketing and technology landscape which is relentlessly shifting beneath their feet are well positioned for success. Easier said than done, without a doubt.

Are You Prepared to Handle It?KEY INSIGHT:Less than one in three feel especially prepared to handle the growing complexity.*

Staff TrainingExecutive Leadership and Staff Don’t See Eye-to-Eye on Education Initiatives

Even among those who indicated they receive staff training on emerging technology, perceptions also vary by staff level as to the types of training being offered.

Talent

POVs on Types of Training Made AvailableTypes of current and/or emerging technology training offered to staff

Talent GapsKEY INSIGHT:Agency respondents still point to User Experience as the No. 1 talent gap on the client side, but the gap is shrinking. The percentage of agency respondents indicating it was a major talent gap on the client side declined 17% on a YOY relative basis.

As in 2014, agency respondents ranked User Experience as the most significant talent gap within client organizations, but the gap is shrinking. The percentage of agency respondents indicating that User Experience was a major talent gap on the client side declined 17% on a YOY relative basis. In last year’s DMO study, we predicted this major gap would begin to close as the User Experience profession matured, as clients gained education on what UX is (and is not), and as brands began to hire UX professionals from the agency and start-up communities. Based on the results of this year’s study, it is clear that agencies believe the UX learning curve on the client side is beginning to flatten.

Agency respondents also believe that clients in the C-Suite and other Executive Management positions still face a steep learning curve when it comes to digital platforms and marketing initiatives. Technology rounded out the top 3 client-side talent gaps as identified by agency respondents this year, further reinforcing the need for client organizations to staff up and/or find agency partners to help them improve their operations focused on current and emerging technology trends.

Client EducationAgencies Step Up Education Offerings to Clients in 2015

Key:Thought Leadership = We develop and deliver thought leadership, research and analysis as part of our planning or client service offeringPlaybooks = It is a standard practice to create “play books” and other guidelines that help our clients effectively operate the campaigns, content and platforms we create.Only When Asked = We offer educational or training services only when clients ask for briefings on a topic, or help building a capability in-house

In 2015, almost two-thirds of agency respondents are offering thought leadership, research and analysis to clients as part of their formal service offering, building on the client education trend that has been gaining momentum over the past three years. Agencies are also being much more proactive in this realm. The percentage of agencies who provided education only when asked plummeted 24% in relative terms vis-à-vis 2014, declining ten percentage points in absolute terms. Client education and training still constitute a tremendous opportunity for leading agencies and consultancies as brands increasingly seek to build in-house digital expertise.

Talent Recruitment and RetentionQ. How do you rate your organization on the following? Choose a rating between one and ten, with one being the lowest score.

Education and AdvocacyWe also asked all survey respondents what they saw as a primary issue that requires education or advocacy. Here are a few highlights:

Education • “Client education. An educated customer is a good customer.” • “Education around the process and expectations for digital products.” • “Brand and client education on the importance of new technology and what qualifies as smart marketing. Why safe marketing is death. Risk is the only way to break through.” • “Emerging technology best practices.” • “Lack of knowledge about new technologies and the importance of user- centered design in improving brand strategies.”

Customer Experience • “Good old-fashioned customer service.” • “Focus on customer experience, not messaging.” • “User experience and the research and insights around it.” • “Addressing the omnichannel consumer -- agencies and brands are still focused on individual channel silos as opposed to the experience of the consumer across channels.”

New Business & Procurement • “Legal issues in a digital landscape. Contracts and insurance. Standard terms.” • “Running pitches on fair terms.” • “Compensation models.” • “Spec work..still a major problem. Don’t do it!” • “Pitching practices.” • “Structure and staffing for optimal relationship between brands and agencies.” • “Understanding and adopting new compensation models. Ability to share IP and pursue mutually beneficial risk / reward relationships. Client (procurement especially) tend to be set up to value T&M / rate card appointments, the popularity of which is declining in the agency landscape.”

Collaboration • “Effective client/agency collaboration.” • “More transparency and collaboration.”

Data Science • “Data-driven marketing.” • “Digital strategy as well as metrics analysis and campaign refinement.” • “Establishing relevant KPIs and expectations for ROI.”

Privacy • “Privacy issues.” • “Implications of new privacy legislation.” • “Customer privacy needs to be handled more responsibly. There is too much data being collected that do not materially affect the ability to target. I would strongly endorse an awareness effort reminding of this.”

Industry Insider2.0 Introduction2.1 Mission Possible: Process, Flexibility and Next Big Things2.2 Brief Strategy vs. Business Strategy: Where Good Creative Originates2.3 Show Your Underwear: A Case for Transparent Collaboration2.4 Agency ‘Game of Thrones’

Introduction to Industry Insider

Sean MacPhedranIndustry Insider Section EditorGroup Planning Director, Fuel

The Future is Finally Here, Now What?

This edition of The SoDA Report is being released at a time when many “technologies of the future” are finally seeing the light of day. We’re talking about the kind of stuff predicted by 1950s futurists.

The Apple Watch has launched, getting us (almost) to the point of the famous Dick Tracy watch phone. A wide array of Virtual Reality offerings are on the verge of coming to market, ranging from the augmentation flavors of Magic Leap and Microsoft’s HoloLens to the full immersion of Oculus to the simplicity and accessibility of Google Cardboard.

The private space flight industry continues to grow by leaps and bounds. SpaceX is testing reusable rockets with vertical landing legs. Virgin Galactic is building a new craft. Vulcan Aerospace is assembling the world’s largest plane (with six 747 engines and a wingspan wider than a football field) in order to launch rockets into space from an altitude of 30,000 feet.

3D printers continue to get cheaper and smaller. Facebook is bringing free Internet to emerging markets. Google is bringing it to the most remote places on Earth with balloons. And I just bought an HP tablet for $80 that runs a full version of Windows. Eighty bucks!

Unfortunately for our lot, this doesn’t mean we have the luxury of taking a break to sort out the meaning of these changes. More change will come.The next generation is growing up learning to code. As online education, cheap technology and Internet access become ubiquitous, we’ll see a new, global generation of entrepreneurs create a new wave of even greater change. And that’s fun, and why we’re all in this business.

In this round of Industry Insider, four great minds from SoDA’s membership help navigate these futuristic waters, with their scary robot sharks and hidden coves of opportunity. The articles touch on everything from our industry’s similarity to Game of Thrones to the importance of letting yourself be a little naked, metaphorically, with your clients.

Without further ado, please enjoy these articles from Nathan Moody of Stimulant, Jim McArthur of Mirum, Emily Wengert of Huge and Jonathan Tvrdik of Phenomblue.

Mission Possible: Process, Flexibility and Next Big Things

Nathan Moody, Stimulant

(from left to right)

• Josh Goldblum, Founding Principal & CEO, Bluecadet• Joel Pryde, Lead Developer, Stimulant• Don Richards, Executive Creative Director, Foghorn Communications

We all want clients with vision, who can imagine (and accept the risks and costs associated with) the “Next Big Thing,” the experience no one has seen before, and which no studio or agency has ever attempted. But once you land such projects, you may quickly find yourself with a whole new set of challenges. You can almost be guaranteed the client has seen those cutting-edge experiments and hacks that your own team draws inspiration from. The bar is set higher than is comfortable. Outcomes are uncertain. And yet your team needs to still design, develop and deploy a solution that’s on brand, business-right and user-centric.

We’ve built a strong business on projects of this nature for over six years, and have found great success with a highly plastic process, by stealing workflows from other disciplines, maintaining an org chart without creative directors, and holding mandatory cocktail classes. But just as one ‘Next Big Thing’ is launched, there are

a handful of others already queued up. We wanted to check in with others leading the charge in our industry – colleagues, clients and peers – about process and organizational lessons in the world of emergent interaction and place-based digital experiences.

Josh Goldblum and his team over at Bluecadet have launched some pretty incredible projects. We’ve had the pleasure of working with Don Richards of Foghorn Communications and have long been impressed with his approach to emerging technology and creative collaboration. And we checked in with our very own Joel Pryde for his perspective.

Q1: From grappling with new technology to managing client expectations, what has been your greatest challenge when tackling projects heavy in emerging tech?

DON RICHARDS: Feature-itis. These projects are by definition R&D. To focus our research and ensure a successful outcome, we try to develop clear use cases up front with tangible, measurable objectives. As the work progresses, it’s common for excited clients to want to see the projects do more. Can’t you just add this thing or make it do that, or wouldn’t this be cool? There is the obligation to say “we’ll look at that,” but it’s foolhardy to let it take your eye off the prize.

JOSH GOLDBLUM: We’ve found that the hype and promise of an emerging technology can often outpace the technology itself. What might seem to be even a basic implementation of a new technology can often be buggy, unreliable or simply not possible. More often, the technology might require a very controlled set of circumstances to function properly. Sometimes there is a way around the obstacles to using a technology, but whether that solution actually matches the production schedule or the budgeted hours can be an entirely different challenge. This is especially the case when the client is convinced that the technology should be as simple as plug-and-play.

JOEL PRYDE: It can be difficult to balance the desire to use the newest and shiniest technology with the need to rely on tools that are reliable, proven and that will work within the schedule allotted. In general, our strategy has been to spend time outside of normal projects working on lab experiments. This allows us to play around with new tech and test out viability so that we can make educated decisions on hardware before we deploy that technology on a client-facing project where the time constraints are more rigid.

Q2: We’ve all been there when a project doesn’t go according to plan. Can you share a “failure” or a sticky moment where a project or idea didn’t go so smoothly and how you managed it?

DON RICHARDS: We developed a traveling installation that demonstrated how large touchscreens could be used as ‘endless aisles’ in a retail environment. As the project progressed, so did retail sales technology, and the client wanted new technologies integrated that the project was not designed for and, more importantly, did not need. The result was a demo that was highly successful from a business standpoint

(traveling to over 300 locations) but which lacked the crispness and ‘wow’ factor we would typically expect.

JOSH GOLDBLUM: When we first started working with the Kinect Sensor, we pitched an implementation that – while seemingly simple based on the available documentation – was actually incredibly complex. Based on our initial assumptions, the client completely bought into the idea and we proceeded to develop a project scope that was completely wrong. The implementation ended up being a nesting doll of complexity. Ultimately, we made it work and the client was thrilled, but we burned a ton of un-billable hours.

JOEL PRYDE: I feel fortunate to be able to say that we haven’t had any outright failures. We have, however, gotten into a few projects where our initial assessment of the development schedule and the complexity of the technology implementation were woefully underestimated.

Probably the most extreme example of that was the Reunion Tower installations in Dallas. We knew that we were building three different pieces, but we didn’t realize how hard it would be – and how much time it would take – to meet with so many external agencies focused on deployment and infrastructure issues over the course of the project. Fortunately, having a great pool of contractors to rely on and a scheduled staging of the project helped us stay on track and allowed us to uncover and resolve a lot of the issues that could have proved disastrous at deployment.

Q3: It seems like the constant hurdle is managing client expectations. In such a rapidly changing landscape, how do you align client expectations and strike a balance between your aspirations and the associated risks?

DON RICHARDS: We set realistic goals and we work with very, very good people. Each group evaluates its own risk and bears responsibility for it. And in actuality, each group ultimately bears responsibility for the entire project since every element is needed for success. There is no contract that can substitute for knowledge, integrity, attitude and relationships.

JOSH GOLDBLUM: Whenever we take on a new technology, we set aside some time very early in the schedule to test and prototype. This allows us to determine the actual capabilities of the technology without committing ourselves to an idea that will take forever to implement or that won’t deliver on the promised experience. Outside of our client work, we also schedule time to play with a range of technologies. . This way, if we find something we think would be great for a client project, we can pitch it to that client knowing we’ll be able to deliver without exposing ourselves to the risk of failing or missing a deadline.

JOEL PRYDE: Managing client expectations has proved to be an incredible challenge as we move into working with real-time 3D graphics. I come from a games background, so I have a fairly good idea of the limitations of current real-time 3D hardware and how that hardware stacks up to products like Maya and Cinema4D that do not provide real-time rendering capabilities. Ultimately, we do need to comp something for the client, so we do end up using such tools. However, we try to

communicate that what they are looking at is a rendering (much like an architectural rendering) and not the final product. Fortunately, our skills with writing shaders and current GPU technology are progressing quickly so the gap does get smaller day by day.

Q4: In the past few years, there have been so many first-of-their-kind projects launched in our industry and technologies developed that are considered “successes.” When everything goes according to plan, how do you ultimately measure the success of an experience that’s never been seen before?

DON RICHARDS: By whether people voraciously engage with it. If they play with it for a minute, smile and say they like it, we’ve failed. If there’s a beaming line of people who can’t wait to get their hands on it, we’ve succeeded. The Connect to Life creature creator we did with Stimulant at CES was such a project. Over the four days of the show, attendees created a new, unique creature on average every three seconds!

JOSH GOLDBLUM: How we measure success depends on the industry and the implementation. For example, when we work with museums, we work closely with their in-house evaluators. These teams will provide us with a wealth of qualitative and quantitative data on how visitors engage with the experience. This includes dwell time, but also other metrics like how many people smiled, who invited friends to join, etc. Ultimately, we like to observe real people interacting with our experiences. We’ll test the experience with users well before we launch and will iterate until we feel the product is ready for the public.

JOEL PRYDE: The ultimate test is to watch people come into the space you have worked on and interact with what you have built. We have been lucky enough to work on a lot of playful projects and, in particular, it is a joy to watch children interact with a project we have worked on and experience it with open eyes. At the end of the day, success is defined by the story that your technology is able to deliver to the widest array of people and what they take away from that experience.

Q5: Creativity and innovation really need to be part of the culture and DNA of any company operating in this space. How do you maintain such a culture within your company? Are there any particular sources of inspiration?

DON RICHARDS: We build unique teams for each project where people of highly varied expertise and interests come together. Virtually no project team is ever fully replicated. It’s very much a film industry model. When you bring together the right “producer, director and actors,” you get a unique “film.” It’s the same for bespoke digital experiences. And every member of the “cast and crew” walks away energized.

JOSH GOLDBLUM: As a studio, we’ve found that it’s important to constantly keep a good frame of reference for who is doing the best work in a variety of fields. This includes expected disciplines such as design, gaming, typography, photography, video and motion graphics, but also less expected fields such as theater, art, film and architecture to name a few. At the same time, we try to approach each project on its own terms and to solve the problem directly. It’s important to resist the temptation to

“Success is defined by the story that your technology is able to deliver to the widest array of people and what they take away from that experience.” – Joel Pryde, Stimulant

replicate someone else’s solution to a similar challenge. Sometimes a tested solution is a good one, but we have to be sure to think it through methodically before deciding that is the best course of action. Also, while we are very process oriented, we also keep an open mind as to when to adapt our process to meet the challenges of each project.

JOEL PRYDE: We keep the normal internal mailing lists of cool things we see. However, I’d say the key thing that helps us maintain a culture of innovation and creativity is ensuring that we have employees with an incredibly wide range of outside interests and influences. Also, during brainstorming sessions, we’ve found that it’s crucial to keep an incredibly open mind to ideas. One thing I saw in the game industry was that when you have a lot of people who are into the same thing, you end up generating very similar ideas. At Stimulant, we have people who make noise music, make techno, play board games, play musical instruments, kayak, ski, photograph, build arduino projects…etc., etc., etc. I firmly believe that every one of those interests slightly colors the ideas we bring to the table and are as essential to what we do as designing interfaces and writing code.

Q6: Do you have any advice for others just starting in this space?

DON RICHARDS: Go to bat for both sides. Stand up for your client’s needs and desires, but also stand up for your own artists, designers and technical people as well. When they are doing amazing work, it’s my job not to let politics or poor communication compromise it. Good clients respect you for intelligently pushing back. The trust developed through that process is more than worth the risk. And the respect shown to your own people for their time and talent amplifies their enthusiasm and dedication.

JOSH GOLDBLUM: I am a big fan of basic chops and grit. For example, when we look for a designer, we want them to know the basics of color, grid, motion and type. I believe these fundamentals are an important basis for creating anything new. Further, I like to see a bit of determination. A designer should be willing to keep pushing an idea and a design. I love seeing a portfolio in which a bunch of good concepts are tossed out for something great. My advice is to get good at your craft and never be too impressed with yourself to stop pushing for something new and better.

JOEL PRYDE: Build projects. Lots of them. Don’t be afraid to make absolute crap as long as you are learning something new and can do better the next time (well, don’t build crap for your clients…). We build a lot of stuff that never sees the light of day and we design even more. Every one of these ideas or projects either evolves or at least influences something that does come to fruition.

Q7: What’s on the horizon that’s exciting you and your team?

JOSH GOLDBLUM: We are working on a number of large museum projects. This includes designing and developing mobile, touchscreens and projections, but also creating a series of interactive environments. I am especially excited to be using sensors, projection, lighting and spatial design in order to create experiences that are more theatrical, serendipitous and multi-sensory. We also have been playing with

“Get good at your craft and never be too impressed with yourself to stop pushing for something new and better.” – Josh Goldblum, Bluecadet

“Stand up for your client’s needs and desires, but stand up for your own artists, designers and technical people as well.” – Don Richards, Foghorn Communications

Oculus Rift, beacons and a bunch of different sensors and cameras.

JOEL PRYDE: We have lots of fun projects currently underway and a bunch more in the pipeline. In general, we are working hard on building our internal tools and methodologies so that we can have tighter integration between development and creative in order to iterate faster. A lot of what we do is very fine refinements and adjustments to get the look, motion and overall experience as magical as possible. Any roadblock cuts down on the number of ideas we can bring to the table and how refined those ideas will eventually become.

About the author: Nathan has designed award-winning interfaces, interactions, illustrations, motion and sound for two decades, in almost every digital delivery medium and communication channel, for some of the world’s best-known companies. His broad range of experience informs his cross-pollinated, holistic approach to the design, art and craft of experience design. Nathan is a published author, awards judge and frequent public speaker, and lives to explore what he doesn’t yet know.

Brief Strategy vs. Business Strategy: Where Good Creative Originates

Jonathan Tvrdik, Phenomblue

“Put your toys away and get ready for bed.” “Why?” “Because it’s time for bed.” “Why?” “Because you have school tomorrow.” “Why?”“Because you have to get a good education.” “Why?”“So you can get a good job.” “Why?”

At some point in our lives, the unrelenting curiosity of our youth eventually subsides and we become happy with status quo answers. As functioning and polite members of society, the importance of placating others in conversation is so ingrained in us that we fear our inquisitiveness is nothing short of rude – or worse – irritating.

“If the digital age was about building communication lines, the connected age is about linking and focusing them.”

However, agency folks, always keen to distinguish themselves from “normals” are quite aware of this developmental regression and thus nearly all employ the following mantra as their signature song:

“We’re different. When clients tell us they need [advertising tactic]… we ask why? Our creative comes from strategy. We are a team of strategists… blah blah blah.”

You get the idea. You’ve read it in the agency footer – next to the office location and the “made with love” tag.

Regardless of our declarations, I’d argue that as an industry we do not dig far enough into that echo chamber of analysis.

“We need a campaign.” “Why?” “Because we’re launching this new suite of products.” “Okay, good enough.”

Typically, the conversation ends there as creative tactics have historically come from a narrow view of strategy devised exclusively within the framework of a brief issued to the agency by the client. Therefore our strategic insight and recommendations have all the influence of the variables within that brief… but nothing beyond it. When told, “We need a campaign because we’re launching this new suite of products” our response needs to pry further:

“Why are you bundling your products in this new suite?” “Because we need the market to understand the breadth of our offerings.”“Why? What is your desired market position?” “To be the leading technology-focused solution provider in our industry.”“Why technology-focused? What business areas are you planning on growing in the next two years? Is a focus on technology something the CEO or board of directors want to develop? If so, why?”

What right do agencies have to ask such questions traditionally reserved for C-Level executives? Good question.

The decade-long gold rush that was “the digital age” gave rise to a 360-degree, digitally-united system of data points operating on push/pull strategies. That transformation is now complete. Now, in the connected age, the means to marketing are so democratized and coupled that our clients’ marketing efforts are an ecosystem of interconnected and interdependent tactical hits and misses.

Internal marketing departments are firing on all cylinders, making sure activity exists for activity’s sake because no one is quite sure exactly what is working. If the digital age was about building communication lines, the connected age is about linking and focusing them. Agencies can no longer relegate the impact of our creative strictly to marketing and advertising tactics. In the words of Tony Soprano, “Every decision you make affects every facet of every other f-----g thing. It’s too much to deal with almost.”

When asked to respond to a brief, it’s critical that our efforts to develop a clear

strategy extend out of the brief, out of the marketing department and up the ladder to what ultimately matters: why the business is doing what it is doing in the first place.

Beginning a strategy assignment at the true beginning allows you to accurately and responsibly choose the creative tactics that will generate the maximum positive impact on the business. What industry areas do you as an organization want to be focused on in two years? What position do you want in the market? What do you want the external and internal acuities of your business to be?

With the answers to those critical questions in mind, next you need to put measurements in place that gauge whether or not you’ve been successful. Then, and only then, can you decide what creative tactics are needed to move the needle on those measurements.

Despite the growing importance of data science, there is still a tremendous amount of dissonance, noise and uncertainty as to what is actually working in the connected age. Admittedly, the current complexity has been created in no small part by the digital age and all those communication lines we struggled so hard to construct. When asked to propagate that activity, it is our duty as communication experts to ask why. And then why. And then why. And then why…

About the author: Phenomblue VP and Executive Creative Director Jonathan Tvrdik is responsible for the overall creative direction of the firm, leading Phenomblue’s Creative team. With a portfolio of work for national clients, including Diet Coke, Samsung and Microsoft, Jonathan navigates Phenomblue’s top clients through strategic and tactical planning as part of its PTSApproach™.

Illustration provided by Russia-based SoDA member, Red Keds.

LearningInspiration

Radical Collaboration

BROOKLYN, NY

theSoDAAcademy.comVisit the website to learn more and request and invite.

COMING OCTOBER 2015

Show Your Underwear: A Case for Transparent Collaboration

Emily Wengert, Huge

It’s a Tuesday and I’m about to do something I’ve never done before: send our clients a photo of a hastily scribbled whiteboard to explain how we’ve been approaching their million-dollar ask.

After a day of debate, we’ve hit a snag. We get on a quick call with three clients, hoping they know something we don’t. Turns out, they do. Ten minutes later the call wraps and everyone feels good about the decision.

In the agency world, there’s a lot of pressure to be right. In the not so distant past, we only felt comfortable bringing clients the final answer that showed off our brilliant thinking. But the problems we face in digital today are exponentially more complex than those we were solving even half a decade ago, and there’s really no chance of getting it right the first time.

The clients – as the voice of the business as well as digital experts in their own right –

“Clients – as the voice of the business as well as digital experts in their own right – need a better seat at the table, not just as arbiters but also as creators.”

“Embracing transparency requires reinventing client engagement.”

need a better seat at the table, not just as arbiters but also as creators.

We believe the secret to making that possible is transparency – a “show our underwear” mindset that supports collaboration and produces the best products. Let’s shed the agency aversion to sharing mistakes and take the opposite approach: expose the wrong ideas, bad assumptions and delays in schedule, right alongside the good ideas, smart assumptions and efficiencies.

Shifting How We Work TogetherThere’s an old adage in the design community: don’t share with clients anything you don’t like in case they fall in love with it and pick the wrong option. This kind of thinking has to disappear. Embracing transparency requires reinventing client engagement.

That same client who got to see a picture of our whiteboard also attended our (normally internal) product scrums for several days every other week. We’d show all our work, including what we didn’t like, and talked openly about why something was broken, sometimes before we even had a better solution in place. We critiqued our work then critiqued each other’s feedback on the work, including (gasp!) the client’s.

We also used this kind of team model to redesign TED’s website, ted.com. We had frequent, direct access to key decision makers at TED. They worked face-to-face with Huge’s design team multiple times a week, which means they saw successes and failures in real time and collaborated with every team member, from the most junior to the most senior.

There were no formal presentations in these meetings. We printed some work, dragged JPGs into browsers or showed materials directly from our phones. We didn’t even book our “client-friendly” conference rooms. The TED team hung out in the war room, side-by-side with our entire crew.

None of this is an excuse to get sloppy. In fact, this much transparency will quickly expose if there’s a weak link on the team. It makes it impossible to put together a B team – something agencies should never do to begin with.

This kind of approach, which we now use for more than one-third of our clients, allows us to test assumptions and put requirements in context. We see problems sooner and know what the internal pressures our clients might be facing when they sell an idea. It allows them to feel confident in the process, the rationale and the micro decisions that make up the whole.

In essence, it lets us create faster and create better.

Transparency is an acquired tasteWhen transparency works, it works really well – especially for the most innovative projects, when the decisions are many and the implications big.

Of course, total transparency isn’t feasible with every client. A host of factors can hold us back: 1. A client must be interested in seeing incomplete thoughts. Some aren’t.

They have pressures to succeed and a manager, president, or CEO to please, and that can make for less tolerance for nascent ideas. So we adjust how we communicate and take time to add more polish. The more these clients can picture share something with their boss’ boss, the more positive the relationship will be.

2. Sometimes a client isn’t empowered to make the day-to-day decisions needed for this model to work. For them, the constant invitation to participate becomes stressful instead of exciting. We work closely with these clients to avoid a big reveal, but the partnership still won’t be as intimate. 3. One of the most unexpected insights from this model is that sometimes having a client next to you every day is not the most efficient way to work – even in the best relationships. Genius is lumpy. Product teams have good days when something takes a big leap forward and bad days when 12 tries doesn’t lead to anything better. Like any good relationship, a little space is a good thing.

In many cases, the benefits of transparency outweigh these qualifications. We need to rethink how we expose the progression of our work to clients. Not a single digital project in the history of the world has ever gone according to plan. Not one. And yet historically, agencies have felt obligated to pretend they can predict the future and then scramble to compensate when perfectly normal surprises come up.

This is where transparency becomes our friend. By openly acknowledging where things stand, we’re building trust. As long as we approach their problem with passion, smart planning, and an open mind to having that plan change, we can all make better things.

About the author: Emily Wengert is Group VP of User Experience at Huge in Brooklyn. She believes transparency is bad when it’s a shower curtain.

Illustration provided by US-based designer, John Starr.

“For a transparent approach to work, a client must be interested in seeing incomplete thoughts. Some aren’t.”

Agency ‘Game of Thrones’

Jim McArthur, Mirum

The ultimate battle for supremacy has begun. The great houses of Advertising, Digital and Business Consulting are at war, a battle both epic and intricate. But before we can make sense of what is happening today, we must look to our past.

The year is 1950. Digital means you have a thing for fingers and toes. The Big Four are more like the mid-sized 30; they all wear green visors and have hipster brass lamps. The era of Mad Men: Four packs a day and an unwavering grip on both the vodka bottle and the global economy was the name of the game for (metaphorical) Don Draper and his cohorts. Through the force of their creative genius, they (and Hollywood) became the tip of America’s Capitalist spear.

This unique position put yesterday’s (m)ad-men at the center of many of the West’s most successful corporations — not only handling above-the-line acquisition, but

additionally advising C-Suites of the day on a variety of “line of business” activities. A classic example is J. Walter Thompson being asked by Kraft foods to help them sell more processed American cheese. JWT didn’t stop at a catchy slogan or a cute slate of ads. They decided to pitch the grilled cheese sandwich. They transcended their charter by creating a product. Granted, the production of that product was outsourced to partners and the consumers themselves, but in the end, more cheese was sold and it wasn’t just advertising that did it. And so things went for nearly the next half-century, until, one day, the Internet showed up and began its inexorable march toward the future... our future. The year is 1995. I am about to leave the U.S. Military to join the work force, proper. It was a simpler time. After all, I was a web designer — or a “whaaaat?!” as my mother-in-law called it, and who could blame her? High-speed Internet was barely a thing, mobile was a glimmer in our collective eye, and the World Wide Web was a gimmick in the minds of most.

Thus, “Digital” started off like a lot of other grassroots technological movements: misunderstood & underestimated. Birthed as garage industry – on the backs of converts from other fields and hobbyists who loved it for what it was. Sure, websites were neat, but, in the end, they were below the line, (barely) marketing activities that fell far short of the importance of TV, Radio, Print, etc. They were not the sort of true business problems handled by our friends at the business consulting firms. In short, Ad men and the Portarian Trained B-School set still ruled – but the (soon to be) hipsters & hackers were there, albeit way back, watching… waiting. Fast-forward two decades to present day: 2015. Digital as both a term and an experience is ubiquitous. I have a hard time saying it without further qualifying which part of digital I am referring to — Platforms, Mobile, Digital Products, Internet of Things, Analytics, Social, Search, Marketing, and many, many more, are all part of this massive segment we now call “digital.”

Traditional advertising agencies are struggling to decide who they really are and what they really do, all the while acquiring as many pure-play digital specialists as they can. The Business Consultants/Strategists (PwC, Deloitte, Bain, McKinsey, etc.) are in full court press, going after jobs that they once would have laughed at. That and buying up data, design and development shops left and right. A great example of how all of this has affected our space is how major publishers and networks are now buying “large dollar” digital services.

In the past (1999-2008), large organizations like Disney, Time and Comcast/NBC would build websites and/or mobile apps using either their advertising or marketing agency (who would likely outsource it to a digital agency), or in some cases they would engage a digital agency directly. Individual divisions within these client organizations would (perhaps) coordinate with IT on the platform, like the CMS, but mostly they just winged it. They would deploy whatever system the vendor they chose recommended with little thought to the overall digital ecosystem they were, in fact, creating. Now, businesses (especially the aforementioned) know what’s up. They understand where the market is and what is important. The focus is increasingly on digital channels and tactics over the stalwarts of TV, Radio and Print.

This should all mean good things for digital agencies, right? Not so fast. Sadly, as the things digital agencies do become more and more important to the C-Suites of the companies we serve, all the way up to the CEO, the buying patterns of those customers have changed. Actually, more to the point, our actual customers have changed. So, now, when a company creates an app, such as HBO GO, the chances that a pure-play digital shop would win (even if they were considered) are low. Reason: the CMO no longer solely owns these types of initiatives. In the past, apps and sites were CMO driven all the way – regardless of whether it was a “line of business” supporting activity or not. These tactics were viewed as acquisition (or maybe CRM).

Today, this misnomer is gone. Apps and websites are often purchased by large groups of stakeholders. Other C-Level executives, such as the COO and CIO, are either joint-stakeholders or the primary customers for these initiatives. The reasons for this transition aren’t simple, but they make sense. COO’s don’t buy from ad agencies or even digital agencies. They buy from business consultants. So, even though a large news organization might choose to re-platform on Drupal, they would likely select a consulting firm that would not only select the technology, but also the partners. Which brings us to where we are now. Ad agencies are trying to become digital, digital agencies are trying to become business consultants and the biz consultants are trying to become cool by buying anything cooler than they are (aka almost anything). Terms like User Centered Design, Agile and Multi-variant testing can now be heard in the halls of PwC, Ogilvy and digital agencies alike. So, what does this all mean for your agency? I think the biggest move you can make as a digital agency is to get out of the “middle of the tennis court,” because it’s better known as no man’s land. In today’s increasing specialist economy, businesses are becoming more and more angular in their capabilities – offering what they do best and eschewing the things that their competitors/partners (yes, that is one thing) do better. The concept of a “digital agency” has evolved so much that companies who find themselves in the generalist position will struggle against specialists. Also, agencies that previously found themselves awash in things like platform builds will find more competition from the consultants – and ad agencies – as they acquire capabilities or develop off/near-shore operations to address this work. So what we have is a modern “Game of Thrones,” albeit with three kingdoms instead of seven on the virtual chessboard. But much like the epic fictional narrative, this real-life battle for business world domination will likely have several shocking and unexpected (company) deaths and may well end up being ruled by the little guys when all is said and done.

About the author: Creating digital solutions for global brands has long been Jim McArthur’s specialty. Jim led several business units within J. Walter Thompson (including Mirum, Digitaria and Big on Mars), as well as overseen the establishment & development of key vertical practices. Jim has been part of campaigns that have won Webby, Addy

“Ad agencies are trying to become digital, digital agencies are trying to become business consultants and the biz consultants are trying to become cool by buying anything cooler than they are (aka almost anything).”

“This real-life battle for business world domination will likely have several shocking and unexpected (company) deaths.”

and CommArts awards for clients including: Johnson and Johnson, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, NFL, Qualcomm, & General Motors.

Illustration provided by US-based designer, Tres Swygert.

For more information, visit unanet.com/one or call 703-689-9440.

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Modern Marketer3.0 Introduction3.1 Infusing Startup Culture into Client and Agency Relationships3.2 Measuring a Brand’s True Value3.3 Why Agency-Client Communication is Broken and What We Can Do About It

Introduction to Modern Marketer

Rob ThorsenModern Marketer Section EditorManaging Director, Big Spaceship

Over the past few years, the level of complexity faced by marketers has increased exponentially. As the ground relentlessly shifts beneath our feet, we’re faced with an unending barrage of questions. What trends should we be following? What trends should we ignore? What new platforms do we need to be on? What skills do we need to develop in order to remain competitive? What value does __ (insert marketing tactic) produce for the organization? Basically, what are the right things to invest in and what are the wrong ones?

In the early days of any innovation cycle, first movers who make the right bets get out front. Those who make bad bets fall behind. Meanwhile, the vast majority hang around and wait for some degree of clarity before proceeding. They forfeit the first-mover advantage, but also avoid the risk of imprudent early adoption.

In many areas of digital marketing, trends have reached a certain maturation point. For example, the value of social, content marketing and data science are well established. Now, getting ahead of the competition in these areas comes down to the “how.” One thing is certain. Marketers who deploy the right approaches will get to the best outcomes with greater speed and accuracy.

At our company, we’ve identified a few tenets that work well for us as we navigate this constantly changing landscape. Things like:

• Talent: Make sure you have the right team members for the task at hand. Native practitioners are infinitely more valuable than intellectual observers.

• Agility: Be agile and iterative in all facets of what you do and how you do it. For us, making 10 small decisions every single day vs. one big decision at the end of a long process has proven to be invaluable.

• Collaboration: Be leery of the “precious idea.” Nothing is sacred and every idea needs to stand up to interrogation. We build ideas as teams and we embrace them (or leave them behind) as quickly as we can.

Principles such as these are important because they help us focus on the things that matter most right now. They inform our processes, techniques, plans and approaches.In this edition of Modern Marketer, you’ll gain an appreciation for how some of our peers within SoDA are deploying their forward-thinking processes, tools and techniques to help their clients get ahead.

Jordan Eshpeter from Invoke writes about how agencies and clients can leverage

start-up principles rooted in user-centricity and iteration to reach their goals.

Nick Gower from Mentally Friendly talks about how to better understand the “true value” of a brand in today’s modern marketing mix.

And lastly, Chris Pile at TheFARM lays out how they collaborate with their clients to improve the age-old challenge of communication between clients and agencies.Please enjoy these excellent thought starters.

Infusing Startup Culture into Client and Agency Relationships

Jordan Eshpeter, Invoke Media

Startups scurry to solve new problems in hopes of creating new markets or disrupting existing ones. They strategize for aggressive financial and geographic growth, and strive for a ‘hockey stick’ trajectory. That’s what makes startups special: those that succeed really succeed.

Hockey stick graphs are also the ambition of every marketer. Thanks to the proliferation of the lean startup methodology, user centricity and iteration are quickly becoming entrenched principles at leading digital agencies. The opposite of reactionary, a startup-like culture and methodology enables clients and agencies to

“Successful agency and client relationships will increasingly depend on the principles of user centricity and iteration.”

maintain a purposefully responsive posture. It’s not part of the plan, it is the plan.

But agency work can be limited to a client’s predefined wish lists. While these lists are a good starting point, they leave little room for boldness. This unearths a tension in our industry – how can agencies raise the bar if a client already knows what they want? How should clients and agencies react when a campaign doesn’t achieve its goals? There must be a better way.

Successful agency and client relationships will increasingly depend on the principles of user centricity and iteration.

Meet your new boss: the userFor startups, customer validation is core to the development of a new and disruptive product. It proves (or disproves) the viability of the startup’s concept and helps validate its market.

For this to work, agencies and clients must agree on the primacy of the user. What’s more, a priority focus on user centricity should help agencies vet prospective clients. With user centricity established, agencies and clients are free to select persona-based users, co-lead user testing sessions and interview users qualitatively throughout product planning and development. Users are effectively embedded in the development of any platform or campaign.

As customer expectations for their digital experiences continue to rise, so too must the usability of every product and campaign agencies produce. Customers must be able to easily and effectively understand concepts, agree on their relevancy and accomplish the associated tasks — as frivolous or utilitarian as they may be — as quickly as possible. And typically, user centricity results in delightful simplicity.

Putting users first also fosters a necessary culture of humility and vulnerability. It enables data-driven decision-making where anyone can (and will) be wrong. Experimenting with low-fidelity prototypes, high-fidelity mockups, campaign creative and key features in code are just a start. Community managers can serve as a front-line sponge for no-holds-barred customer feedback. Balance that against the quantitative, collective behavior of an entire user base and it becomes easy to adjust features and creative accordingly. User centricity makes them the boss of both the agency and the client.

Failing your way to successCore to the lean startup methodology is the idea of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). What is the one thing a product does? If it provides value by just doing that one thing, then it’s an idea worth exploring. That one thing provides a platform to build on, and a user base that you can tap into to measure the potential value of future features. It is key to the agile development referred to constantly in startup culture.

This is a popular approach, but it can be extremely challenging to implement in agency and client relationships. There are two reasons for this. First, the majority of marketing campaigns are temporary with fixed budgets. Secondly, most branded websites and apps — while often products in the truest sense — are planned and budgeted based on short-term campaign norms.

To overcome this dynamic and to plan for future iterations, it is important for clients and agencies to have candid budget discussions. Agencies must set their client’s expectations for an iterative approach early on, and support their client with internal education as required.

Conversely, clients must plan for a comfortable amount of experimentation and testing. Structuring the Master Services Agreement and Statement of Work to accommodate retained cycles of building, measuring and learning is a vital starting point. Then, as the product develops, you will build an invaluable storehouse of hypotheses for future prototyping and creative. Not only will this create a better product or campaign, it will inspire optimism in both the client and agency to imagine 2, 3 and 4 versions ahead.

While traditional business culture abhors failure, progressive firms welcome the learning outcomes of failure as an integral part of their creative process. The success of a product or campaign hinges on a client and agency’s ability to close this culture-gap and embrace failure. Ultimately, failure begets a product’s and campaign’s continued evolution towards the user’s wants and needs.

It’s worth noting some key differences between startups and clients. Traditional agency clients are, in ways, more sophisticated and better resourced than startups. However, they can suffer from overexposure to their own messaging. They may experience intoxication from their internal cultural Kool-Aid. Bureaucracy may also keep decision makers at arm’s length from their customers. Another difference is impact. The stakes are higher when your user base is so large. So, bringing startup culture to agency and client relationships is often as difficult as it sounds.

Startups, on the other hand, are only too enthusiastic to learn about their users, to flex their messaging, products and experiences accordingly. In the future (heck, right now!), winning agencies will bridge this gap. They’ll foster collaborative creativity, user-centric product development, and constant, persistent iteration for brands. This requires of agencies and clients alike the brashness and bravery of the most disruptive entrepreneur.

About the author: In his day job, Jordan pushes the limits of the digital realm with the team at Invoke Media as Head of Client Engagement. Jordan’s forward-looking curiosity and event production background led to his status as Ambassador for Hyper Island and their world-renowned Master Class hosted in Vancouver in December 2013 and March 2015. Jordan is also Director of Programming & Events with the Association of Integrated Marketers.

Photograph provided by SoDA member, AREA 17, based in France and the US.

“While traditional business culture abhors failure, progressive firms welcome the learning outcomes of failure as an integral part of their creative process.”

Measuring a Brand’s True Value

Nick Gower, Mentally Friendly

Companies must take a broader bird’s eye view to truly calculate brand value.

Social Mention, Hootsuite, Trackur, Brand Watch, Icerocket, Topsy... the list is seemingly endless. The consistent introduction of social tracking tools means there is no shortage of ways to measure the social performance and value of a brand. The question is, do these new tools really make our lives easier or do they just create more confusion?

According to a recent IBM study “marketing specialists recognize that the world in which they now operate is much more volatile, uncertain and complex. 79% of marketing professionals believe that the level of complexity will be high or very high over the next five years. Only 48% feel prepared to cope with it.” That’s a staggering insight. There are more solutions for measuring the performance of a brand than ever before, yet less than half of us feel we can deal with the complexity.

This may be because most digital marketers spend their time analyzing performance at a micro, channel level. While there is a place for this level of analysis, brands must

“The world in which marketing specialists operate is now much more volatile, uncertain and complex than it was in years past.”

“While there are more solutions for measuring the performance of a brand than ever before, most marketers still feel ill prepared to deal with the complexity.”

take a broader bird’s eye view to truly calculate a brand’s value.

What does ‘true value’ of a brand actually mean? Put simply, it is a multi-channel view of a brand’s engagement performance online. It’s important to note here that acquisition alone does not give us an accurate or valuable measure of a brand’s true value. What is the point of 500,000 followers if none of them are engaged? If you have no influence over them? If you can’t convert those ‘fans’ to an action or goal conversion on your website?

Calculating the true value of a brand means looking beyond social media engagement metrics to include website performance. Your website, whether transactional or not, is where your potential customer will achieve the most in-depth brand experience. Social Media delivers your audience a ‘taste’ of your brand, but the ultimate rationale for social channels must be to drive the consumer into a purchase funnel. To eliminate the rank and performance of your website when calculating value is to eliminate the single most important engagement objective that you have online.

Finally, data needs context. Otherwise, it’s completely arbitrary. So calculating true value means appraising it within the context of other category players.

So, how can a brand’s true value be used?Understanding the significance of your brand allows more accurate benchmarking against your competitors. You are no longer comparing on a channel level, but comparing based on the overall performance of your brand online. It is also a terrific opportunity to identify best practices within a category.

But also consider this – staying within your category is limiting. When you understand the true value of your brand, you must also consider the performance of brands outside your category that are appealing to your customer. Nike doesn’t just look at what Adidas does. They’re paying very close attention to what Red Bull does given the energy drink’s high brand value score and direct appeal to the Nike audience.

The most strategic way to source and approach brand partnerships is to understand your brand’s influence. Having a true value score for your brand makes it clear where the greatest incremental gains can be made from an engagement perspective. You essentially end up with a brief or roadmap to vet potential partners.

The same can be said for sourcing individual influencers to partner with on content marketing opportunities. When searching for those influencers, measuring their true value means considering more than just the size of their audience. It means measuring the engagement of that audience to ensure that you are partnering with someone who actually has influence.

About the author: Nick Gower serves as co-founder of Mentally Friendly. His team has engineered an online tool called ‘BrandData’ that measures the performance of categories – and brands within those categories – across all channels.

Illustration provided by US-based designer, Tres Swygert.

Why Agency-Client Communication is Broken and What We Can Do About It

Chris Pile, TheFARM

When a brief is vague and lacks genuinely useful consumer insights, it takes a lot of time to work out what the client actually needs. We’ve road-tested a way to build a better brief right from the pre-engagement stage, reducing the time required to create a strategy from weeks to days.

The system that we’ve tested centers on the following two workshops involving the agency and the client-side team: 1. Discovery Workshop (2 hours) allows the agency to gain better clarity on client objectives, pain points and challenges, and to get a more complete picture of client-side team members’ varying priorities. This is a structured deep-listening exercise that rapidly extracts information from key stakeholders on the client side and builds consensus on priority audiences, objectives, etc. 2. Strategy Workshop (Full- or half-day) allows the agency to gain rapid buy-in

on digital strategy. A visual format similar to that of the Discovery Workshop is used, but new data, insights and tactics are layered in. The Strategy Workshop also includes a prioritization exercise that provides the management buy-in agencies need to go ahead and complete the go-to-market plan. Gaining consensus around priorities is important because client briefs are often a wish list that would cost far more than they have to spend. Therefore, managing expectations from the outset is key.

There are other steps in the process, but the two intensive sessions outlined above form the centerpiece. This workshop model focuses on the principle of visual collaboration. Using a tabletop visual canvas, clients and agency team members work step-by-step in a highly collaborative manner in order to gain a complete picture of priorities. Some of the broad inspirations behind the approach include lean startup thinking, design thinking, and the Business Model Canvas by Alex Osterwalder and others.

Running a Discovery Workshop with a prospective new client in Singapore.

Discovery Canvas is a two-meter visual roadmap for discussing an organization’s challenges and building a strategy. The overall layout is standardized and serves as a visual agenda for discussion questions. When we use this methodology, we add some of the elements to the canvas before the workshop based on our knowledge of clients and their industry, but we build on those elements throughout the session, based on what they tell us. Two facilitators from the agency ask questions and build the canvas, while at least one additional agency person takes detailed notes.

(continued on next page...)

Basic layout of Discovery Canvas 1.1 (Q1 2015)

Visibility ‘I don’t have visibility on that.’ It’s a phrase that is heard frighteningly often in large corporations that aren’t good at sharing information. Getting the broader team in the room (not just marketing) is how we start to alleviate this problem. Some workshops include Director-level, C-level and Board-level stakeholders. The tabletop canvas helps get everyone on the same page. We build up a picture right before their eyes of the challenges that need to be solved, and we start to explore solutions.

Collaboration Clients usually welcome the opportunity for better collaboration (click here to see results from this year’s Digital Outlook Study related to client collaboration), and this provides the platform to start changing how we do things, reducing from weeks to days the time required to develop and to gain buy-in around a digital strategy. Collaboration flows naturally from the visual & tactile format, and from getting the right people in the room with the right style of facilitation.

Rapid test & learn is key to effectivenessDuring the Discovery, we work together with clients to develop a clear picture of their challenges and objectives. The subsequent Strategy Workshop is where we map out in broad brush strokes what strategies and tactics we can use to address those challenges. This is a lean/agile approach that involves iterating ideas in a tabletop exercise that we can rapidly take to market for testing in order to learn what tactics work.

But rather than using unfamiliar terminology, we have devised an approach that feels safe and intuitive for clients. We also give a ballpark indication of how much they would need to spend. This allows us to identify what would be realistic for the immediate scope of work, and what would be more appropriate for the future phases of a strategy roadmap.

This approach has worked well for client-side teams that have varying levels of digital maturity, because the people most knowledgeable about digital have a chance to get their views across, and the higher-ups have a chance to ask questions in a facilitated session.

Strategy isn’t something that an agency can create inside a magic black box. Effective strategy requires a learning process on both sides, and methodologies like the one described in this piece provide a platform for such learning to take place rapidly.

About the author: Passionate about creating businesses where smart people grow good ideas, Chris has fostered a strong team who share a passion for connecting people with brands. Industry interests include Lean Start-up Methodology & the importance of results-driven work. Chris is now based in Singapore focused on growing TheFARM across Asia.

Illustration provided by Russia-based SoDA member, Red Keds.

“Strategy isn’t something that an agency can create inside a magic black box – effective strategy requires a learning process on both sides.”

Talent4.0 Introduction4.1 The Age of the Empowered Creator4.2 Fostering Agency Culture in Our Hyper Fast World4.3 Hiring Superstar Developers is Difficult. So Build Them4.4 Ditching the Performance Review4.5 Rethinking Performance Management4.6 Your People Before Your Clients and Investors

Introduction to Talent

Emily WengertTalent Section EditorGroup VP of UX, Huge

There’s an old agency adage that your product leaves the building every night. Talent. It’s every agency’s greatest vulnerability.

Under threat from glamorous start-ups, major tech companies, and clients building in-house teams, agencies can’t underestimate how important talent acquisition, retention and satisfaction are.

Consider this: 57% of U.S. millennials stay in their first job just one year, according to that nation’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compounding that are the visible and hidden costs of backfilling talent: Forbes reported that 87% of companies say it costs them $15,000-$25,000 to replace a single millennial employee.

This report explores all the ways talent can be supported – from establishing a clear internal culture to throwing out old assumptions around feedback and reviews.

I recently spent an hour with an industry peer bemoaning the reviews software our companies use. We both know the system is broken and, as creatives, feel compelled to fix it. But in the hustle and bustle of deadlines and making great products, we never pause to find a new solution.

Fortunately, Peyton Lindley at Effective UI and Peter Kang at Barrel have each done just that. In Lindley’s piece, he dismantles the manager-centric focus in reviews and turns to a more fluid peer-focused model.

And, as Kang describes, Barrel took the bold step of discarding the performance review altogether, replacing it with thoughtful and targeted management conversations throughout the year.

Sometimes, when the market doesn’t produce the talent you need, you have to cultivate it yourself. That’s what Cain Ullah explains as he describes Red Badger’s academy program that turns college students into superstars.

And finally there’s the intangible: culture. How do you create it? And how do you ensure it isn’t just words on a plaque in the entrance?

Pound & Grain describe how their 5 rules have influenced everything from hiring to opening a new office. Don Kurz talks about how his independent creative company can keep pace with (and retain talent in the face of) behemoths like 72andSunny and Google.

And Scott Belsky reminds us that creatives, as drivers of the industry, have a growing cachet. They’re fully empowered by tools and the market to become their own businesses.

Recognize and foster all of these things (better feedback systems and reviews, a truly unique culture, creative entrepreneurship), and more of your talent will leave every day truly excited to return the next.

The Age of the Empowered Creator

Scott Belsky, Behance

A look at the State of the Creative Industry in 2015

It’s an exciting time to work in the creative industry. The tools we use to create are rapidly (and finally!) more mobile and connected than ever before. Creative content – both quality and frequency – has become critical to brands in the era of social media. And whether your customers are businesses or end-consumers, they expect to be inspired and educated by the “advertising” in their lives. The creative industry needs to keep up with the demand for greater quality, frequency and relevancy. Here are a few positive forces helping empower creators to drive the industry forward.

1. The friction between creativity and expression is disappearing.

I’ve been at Adobe since Behance was acquired in December 2012 and have witnessed first-hand the company’s new focus on removing friction. A lot of the new innovation around here is in creative process - reducing the number of steps it takes to do something, rather than adding innumerable new features. The desire to simplify and make creative process more efficient extends from our desktop products to

our new mobile strategy. Rather than build a “mobile version of Photoshop,” we are building new products like the recently launched “Photoshop Mix” that make it easier for more people to perform certain Photoshop-like actions, yet still preserve full compatibility with Photoshop on the desktop. These efforts are helping more people – and companies – use creative tools to express their ideas. The truth is, we all have creativity. The friction that inhibits ordinary people from expressing their ideas is really the learning curve associated with so many creative tools on the market. Through better design and new platforms like mobile, more people will be able to create and contribute. 2. Technology is being used to engage creatives – and increasingly in a sustainable way. It is deeply disappointing to me when I see companies using technology to take advantage of creative labor rather than empower it. Crowd-sourcing initiatives and spec work are nothing more than a big insult to creatives – who should all be paid fairly for their work. These open calls for ideas and free labor hurts the industry overall. Given how low the odds of actually getting paid for work are, crowd-sourcing creative has sparked careless engagement by some members of the design community. They may just spend a few minutes on a design project and lob it in. Not surprisingly, the quality of creative output suffers. Attributing careless work to your name could also hurt your career.

The good news is that people are starting to catch on. Top designers now avoid these crowd-sourcing programs. New, more sustainable models are beginning to take hold. Quirky, for one, has revolutionized crowd-sourced product design by ensuring that every contributor gets paid. Our team at Behance is also experimenting with new models for “sourcing” groups of top talent and guaranteeing payment for contributions. Regardless of what new models emerge, the old and destructive forms of crowd sourcing will become obsolete as we develop more options and better judgment. 3. Creatives are increasingly managing themselves as businesses. Today, every creative individual has the opportunity to run his/her own business. The Internet has removed nearly all friction to sell work, market expertise, raise money, bill clients, hire a team, and more. Now more than ever, those with the ideas are empowered to take the reins on their own destiny. Products like TicTail (online stores), Kickstarter (financing), Harvest (billing), Behance (marketing your portfolio), among others, have made this possible. Consequently, creative people in larger teams and companies work with an entirely new set of expectations. Salaries have gone up, and top design talent is now as coveted as top engineering talent in Silicon Valley/Alley and the broader technology industry. There are now even venture capital firms that are focusing on design-founded companies, like Designer Fund and Kleiner Perkins (who named John Maeda, former President of Rhode Island School of Design, a Partner). Within successful companies, the creative team has moved from the periphery to the center. What began as a small group of design-led businesses has gone mainstream,

“Crowd-sourcing initiatives and spec work are nothing more than a big insult to creatives – who should all be paid fairly for their work.”

“Top design talent is now as coveted as top engineering talent in Silicon Valley/Alley and the broader technology industry.”

with creative teams becoming more influential over the entire business, in companies large and small. 4. More creatives are getting more opportunity these days, and for the right reasons. Of course, empowering creative careers starts with finding great talent wherever it may be. Relying on personal networks and headhunters won’t cut it. We need a way for the best talent to rise to the top based on merit. The greatest challenge we face is how to measure the quality of talent. The solution is clearly some form of community curation, using things like “endorsements” on LinkedIn, “Likes” on Facebook, “Appreciations” on Behance, and so forth. Anything from fashion design to written content to pieces of art can now be sorted based on consensus. But the insights of the critical mass aren’t enough. For example, when evaluating the quality of a photograph, the opinions of 100 seasoned photographers should matter more than those of 1,000,000 random people. This is the difference between the “critical mass” — how many people like something — and the “credible mass”— who likes something. The future of curation and matching talent with opportunity starts with tapping the credible mass through algorithms and new ways of understanding the correlation between online interactions and quality. At Adobe, we talk about the “creative graph” and track how the creative world is collaborating more than ever before. I hope the creative graph becomes a reality and helps emerging creators get the spotlight they deserve.

About the author: Scott is an entrepreneur, author, investor, and currently serves as Adobe’s Vice President of Products-Community and Head of Behance, the leading online platform for creatives to showcase and discover creative work.

Illustration provided by Russia-based SoDA member, Red Keds.

“The greatest challenge we face is how to measure the quality of talent.”

LearningInspiration

Radical Collaboration

BROOKLYN, NY

theSoDAAcademy.comVisit the website to learn more and request and invite.

COMING OCTOBER 2015

Fostering Agency Culture in Our Hyper Fast World

Jackson Murphy & Penny Norman, Pound & Grain

If you can foresee the future, you’re most likely applying your mad skills somewhere outside of the digital creative field. For the rest of us, we never know what’s going to happen next. We can, however, get our inner Nostradamus on and make a prediction that’s pretty certain – in our industry, change will be right around the next corner.

That’s the kind of forecast we can bank on. Our client base will change, we will welcome new staff into the mix, agencies will come and go, and Apple along with Wordpress will update and change things, forcing us to alter everything we’ve previously developed. These constantly shifting elements are usually where the blame lands when it comes to discussing the challenges of creating, developing and sustaining a strong agency culture.

It’s the consistency of change that inspired four partners in an office above a Burger King in a dodgy Vancouver building to create a simple concept as our cultural fuel.

Introducing our 5 rulesThese rules govern Pound and Grain, keeping our focus on what’s important. It has seen us grow from 3 to 21 people and from a single-city to a dual-city agency in just 4 years. Here’s how we use them:

Hiring and introducing new staffA culture lives through its people, so our 5 rules are a significant part of our hiring credentials. If one of these rules is missing from a potential candidate, we know the two of us won’t fit well together. We’ve seen some incredibly talented people walk through our doors, but if there’s

“In our industry, change will always be right around the next corner. ”

an indication that the value of a rule is missing, we just keep looking. Some of the benefits of this approach include us finding people from all over the world to work with, which creates an interesting dynamic. It’s a melting pot of Canadians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Australians, the Irish and English, as well as a Nicaraguan. So we’re a regular mixed bag o’ nuts.

Creating the right workWe also use our rules to assess work and guide us throughout a project. Is the idea big enough? Have we had enough fun with it? Does it work hard for our client and with the latest digital trends we all love? Is it nice to consumers? This brings a consistency to our work and ensures we maintain the expected Pound & Grain caliber across every project from beginning to end.

Teaming up with the right clientsWhen there’s a clear statement of intent in the very first meeting, it shows clients exactly how you like to work. This has often caused clients to fall in love with us, and also for some to realize we are not the right fit for them. And really, if a client is not into loving digital or thinking big, we probably wouldn’t be good working together anyway. So it’s a great way to attract and work with clients that are on the same mission as we are. We once took a brief from a client to create a flyer for their annual gala. We capitalized on the opportunity of having top industry decision makers in the audience and went bigger, creating an interactive installation that beat the pants off the flyer option and was a huge success. Some clients are braver than others and you get a sense of where and when to experiment.

Building new officesWe recently opened a new office in Toronto, and central to this expansion are our five simple rules. Toronto is obviously different than Vancouver. Nonetheless, our rules have been an excellent compass. They ensure we maintain a consistency across our agency despite the time and temperature differences. We’re also able to find Toronto clients that we know will be a great fit versus changing the type of agency we are. Clients, like us, want to enjoy a great working relationship and create awesome digital experiences for their audience, irrespective of location.

So how do you put something like this in place at your own agency? Start with a meeting that includes your senior leaders. Get them excited about what you’re aiming to achieve. Make sure everyone is aligned with a clear understanding and passion for your purpose. Share your thinking with the wider team to incorporate different points of view and dynamics. Think about how this can integrate with your current processes, staff reviews, hiring policies, work assessment, pitch process, staff inductions and agency credentials.

Lastly, if one part is not working, don’t be afraid to review, alter or optimize your mission. The goal is to ensure you create a solid foundation. Make sure your whole agency is involved in this kind of change, remembering “el pueblo unido jamás será vencido” (the people united will never be defeated). Make it happen.

About the authors: A Creative Director with over a decade of copywriting experience, Jackson is passionate about evangelizing innovative creative solutions and delivering results.

As Planning Director, Penny brings a laser sharp focus on great thinking and effectiveness. Her experience includes over 10 years at leading agencies both in Canada and the UK.

“When it comes to establishing the ground rules that form the foundation for your agency culture, it’s critical to share your thinking with the wider team to incorporate different points of view and dynamics.”

Cain Ullah, Red Badger

With a buoyant market and ever increasing competition for the best talent, how can you scale your business without reducing quality? The answer is to compliment your normal talent acquisition processes with a long-term strategic program that develops young talent from the start.

At Red Badger, a huge amount of investment goes into recruitment. Finding the best talent out there is difficult. As a company, we hang our hat on quality and are very fussy when it comes to hiring, but this poses a problem. After first being screened via a

Hiring Superstar Developers is Difficult. So Build Them

“How do you scale the business to service ever-increasing demands from a rapidly growing sales pipeline, without reducing quality?”

phone interview, job applicants seeking a developer role at Red Badger are then given a coding challenge. Out of every 100 coding challenges issued, only 2-3 make the grade. This is the environment everyone is working in at the moment. So, how do you scale the business to service ever-increasing demands from a rapidly growing sales pipeline, without reducing quality?

The answer is not an easy one and there are no short-term solutions beyond changing the recruitment process slightly (e.g. making our coding challenges easier). However, we do believe the long-term strategy is to improve our ability to develop from within. As a result, we are investing heavily in young talent to become senior leaders in their field.

Three and a half years ago (in November 2011), we took on our first intern. The key difference between our first foray into internships and most others was that we allowed the intern to work part-time over the course of several academic school years. He worked with us throughout his second year, just eight hours a week during the academic term. He then did a full 12-month gap year before returning to a part-time position at 16 hours a week during his final year.

In July of 2014, he accepted a permanent position. Upon graduation, he already had two and a half years of industry experience under his belt. He had been paired with senior developers throughout his internship and worked on real projects with our clients. As a result, he was able to hit the ground running and lead client projects right from the start after joining the company on a full-time basis. The benefits are plain to see:

• You create a sense of loyalty having trained the staff member from a very young age• You dramatically increase the likelihood that the employee becomes a cost- effective, industry-hardened resource• You ensure the fact that the employee is ready to go on Day 1 in ways a fresh graduate without the same experience would not be

After this first internship, we have had nine participants across multiple disciplines in what we have now formalized as “Badger Academy.” Four of these have taken permanent roles, four are still in the Badger Academy system and one has chosen to change career path.

Training young people is an ever-evolving experiment and we have learned a great deal. Until recently, participants rotated through a group of coaches, meeting with a coach one day per week. In practice, this meant that each coach saw the participant only once every four weeks. We have come to the conclusion that this doesn’t work because it takes the rotating cast of coaches too long to catch up with what has happened since their last interaction.

As a result, we are now evolving the Academy once more. This summer, we’ll launch a cohort of first-year students who will begin an intensive two-month internship with a dedicated full-time coach. The syllabus will also be much more structured, starting with the basics and evolving into more advanced, modern web techniques.

After the summer, you either pass or fail and enter into the portion of the program that takes place during the regular academic school year. A gap year will still be offered the following year. Our goal is to eventually have 10 students accepting permanent positions each year, all of whom will be immediately productive.

This will be a significant contributor to the growth of the company. Based on pure headcount, it will allow us to service more projects. It will certainly help with margins as well but, more importantly, it will bring a vibrant, young pool of talent into the company with great energy, fresh ideas and more experience than is typically the case with new full-time hires. Mix that with experienced senior-level staff and you have a winning formula for growth and quality.

The key takeaway, besides providing a great learning experience, is to maintain engagement. We work with the participants from the start, throughout every term, all the way until graduation. This approach has allowed us to convert a very high percentage of the Badger Academy participants to highly productive full-time employees after their studies are complete.

About the author: Founder and CEO, Cain is responsible for Strategy, Culture, Sales and Marketing at Red Badger (@redbadgerteam). He has been an advocate of Agile and Lean methods of Software Delivery for over 10 years, and has helped many large corporations reduce waste, innovate and build excellent customer experiences. Cain tweets at @cainullah.

“Training young people is an ever-evolving experiment and we have learned a great deal.”

Ditching the Performance Review

Peter Kang, Barrel

What if we did away with performance reviews?

This is a question that our management team debated last year after our latest series of performance reviews. We had introduced new changes to the format in hopes of stimulating engaging discussions and deeper feedback, but the overall feeling was largely the same. There were a few insights, but we were mostly glad that they were done and that we didn’t have to worry about them for another six months.

We work in an industry that prides itself on providing strategic thinking, crafting great designs, and building wonderful experiences. How was it, then, that we were content with having mediocre performance reviews that left both supervisor and employee exhausted and unenthused?

“We decided to try our hand at designing a performance management system that could keep pace with the way our team worked.”

Having tinkered with the performance review format for years with limited success, we felt that the review itself should be questioned. It had become a bloated experience. An hour-long conversation that took place twice a year was expected to include discussions about performance, professional development, compensation, and goals for the next six months. We had grown overly reliant on the performance review, and it was the dominant piece of our performance management system. We decided to try our hand at designing a performance management system that could keep pace with the way our team worked and could provide a better experience for both supervisor and employee.

The performance review, at its core, is a conversation between supervisor and employee. The problem was that the conversation wasn’t very good. We decided to design our system by using conversations as the building blocks. What kind of conversations would be most engaging and helpful to both supervisor and employee? What behaviors would help to facilitate better conversations?

We mapped the types of conversations that could happen between supervisor and employee:

• Timely conversations focused on specific performance feedback: If the supervisor, through observations or collaboration, notices an area for improvement, the conversation should happen right away so that the moment is fresh on everyone’s minds. The discussion focuses on what was observed, what could be done better, and actionable next steps.• Regularly scheduled check-in conversations: These regularly scheduled meetings, every 2-4 weeks, are for the supervisor and employee to discuss how things are going with projects, professional growth, and workload. It’s important for the employee to understand the goals of these conversations and for the supervisor to come prepared with good questions to prompt deeper insights.• Conversations about the company: These conversations can happen one- on-one or with a few other employees. It’s an opportunity for the employee to provide feedback about areas where the company itself can improve, and also a chance for the supervisor to answer questions or share information about company-wide initiatives and goals. We also supplement this with anonymous surveys asking employees for feedback.• Conversations about career and professional development: These can supplement check-in conversations with more focused discussions about skills development, career goals, and evolving responsibilities. Having these at least once a quarter helps us stay on top of the shifting landscape of our industry and ensure that our team is adopting new capabilities at the individual level.

A great conversation has powerful effects. It increases employee engagement and aligns both supervisor and employee towards the same goals. However, it’s also difficult to achieve and requires the right conditions and consistent behavior. Here are some things we’ve noticed:

• The ability to listen (truly listen) becomes a paramount skill for the supervisor. Listening is not something that comes easily for everyone.

• Supervisors cannot be burdened with too many direct reports, otherwise the whole system falls apart. Management needs to commit to a reasonable number of direct reports per supervisor.• Documenting conversations and following up on discussions ensures that these conversations build on top of each other over the long term.• Changing up the conversations so that they take place inside and outside the office can have positive effects. Some employees will prefer having conversations while walking outside or at a coffee shop versus being face-to- face in a conference room.• Clearly articulating the design, goals and deliberateness of these conversations helps the team understand that they’re not being burdened with random meetings. Also, giving employees the opportunity to give feedback on the conversations will help evolve and enhance the performance management system.

We’ve noticed gradual shifts in our team’s behavior through some of our changes. People are starting to get more comfortable about giving each other open and continuous feedback that is specific and actionable. We’re also having more productive conversations about professional development and setting realistic goals in 2-3 month increments. The real win is that we’re having conversations that energize rather than drain us.

We still have quite a bit of work to do on our performance management system. Moving forward, we’ll continue to assess and re-assess our efforts. Mirroring the way we work with our clients and on projects, we’ll ask ourselves a familiar question… Is this the best possible experience we can build?

About the author: Peter oversees the disciplines that deliver expertise and creativity to Barrel’s clients. He co-founded Barrel in 2006 after a short stint as an investment banker. Peter is passionate about exploring the intersection of design, content and technology to create impactful experiences for clients. He also enjoys thinking and writing about company culture and the forces that shape it.

“The real win is that we’re having conversations that energize rather than drain us.”

Rethinking Performance Management

Peyton Lindley, EffectiveUI

I’ve never really been a fan of the annual performance review. While I understand the intention behind it, I have always felt that there was a huge disconnect between intention and outcome.

To clarify, I’m referring to the process where, as a manager, you tediously hound five or six employees for candid feedback on the employee being reviewed, you craft a synopsis, and perhaps there’s even a rating scale. You then present the feedback to the employee and have a discussion around strengths and areas for growth, while also discussing goals for the upcoming 12 months.

As a manager, I left every one of these sessions with a feeling as though I hadn’t really served our employee well. I was a middleman for everyone else’s feedback. I also know our employees felt as though these conversations were fairly one-dimensional.

It’s the 21st Century, yet performance management practices haven’t really evolved much since the 1950s. As leaders of digital firms, we are managing and creating the workplaces of the future, and I – like my colleague Peter Kang from Barrel who offers another take on this topic in the previous article – believe that performance management is an area that’s ripe for overhaul. However, such practices often fall

“While constructive feedback is great, it’s important to make sure that insight turns into action.”

to the bottom of the priority list, as agencies require an acute focus on clients: developing business, servicing accounts, and delivering top-notch work.

Due to my discontent with the traditional performance review, I went searching for ways to reform and enhance this age-old practice. Sadly, I found few books and articles that could provide new models for constructive coaching and support. As is the case with many aspects of our dynamic agency, I (along with our Director of UX, Dan Saltman) took a DIY approach to overhauling our performance management. Ultimately, I sought to create a system that felt more congruent with our culture, supported a key company value of authenticity, generated active two-way dialog, and ultimately fostered employee career growth through rich insight.

Thankfully, ideas often come to us when we least expect them. I was sitting on a plane heading to a client visit when I cracked open Harvard Business Review’s magazine, focused on HR best practices and reinvention. There were several articles that sparked fresh new thinking, and ultimately shaped the process that we have today. To that end, I’ll share a few of the core tenets we’ve put together as the “backbone” of our feedback program:

1. Performance management is an ongoing, fluid practice that cannot live entirely with management. I recall reading a quote somewhere in my inquiry on this topic that stated (to paraphrase), “If you were a baseball coach, would you wait until the ninth inning to provide feedback to your pitcher?” While that seems like an obvious analogy, I often find that the business world relies on arbitrary deadlines (quarters, years) to discuss these events. While we haven’t perfected the system yet, we strive to make sure that our employees receive real-time feedback from both peers as well as management. Some of these events are scheduled and some are impromptu, but all conversations should be held with the intention of support, transparency, and growth. We’re also hosting training sessions on how to give better feedback. 2. Leveraging a common framework. We felt it was important to provide an underlying framework for self-awareness, and after many conversations and research, the StrengthsFinder system resonated with our culture the most. To simplify the concept, Gallup did a multi-year research study on the relationship between types of performance feedback and what feedback produced the greatest gains. Not surprisingly, the feedback and awareness that focused on one’s core strengths rather than fixing weaknesses produced dramatically better results. All of our employees now take the StrengthsFinder assessment and are empowered to explore how they can grow in the context of their core strengths.

3. In-person “roundtables.” We’ve abolished the one-on-one, manager-employee performance review. In addition to the real-time feedback opportunities, we set up annual opportunities for structured, peer-based feedback, and a forum for employees to articulate their strengths, desired career trajectory and areas of exploration. As such, they invite four to five cross-functional peers to the roundtable for a lively, open discussion. As a manager, I am merely a facilitator in this meeting, and the employee is really the driver of the session. While we have a repeatable structure for each roundtable, the content is fairly open-ended, and the employee is required to bring five key questions that will lead to further self-awareness and

discovery. Here’s a sample question from a recent roundtable: “Am I ever too open or straightforward? Has my candor ever become uncomfortable or unprofessional?” The dialog that ensued after this particular question was engaging, constructive and altogether inspiring.

4. Sharing knowledge. Let’s face it: asking direct questions of peers and having transparent conversations can be challenging. We’ve created a set of master Google Docs that are shared with everyone, and they capture the past questions that other employees have asked of their peers while preparing for their roundtables. In addition, there are documents that clearly outline what to expect, how to prepare and the overall intent of these sessions. The hope is that we’re dispelling some of the mystique (and anxiety) that can often come with a performance review.

5. Connecting the dots and moving forward. After the roundtable, I set up a separate session – usually a week later, after the employee has had some time to reflect. It’s during this session that we connect the dots and ask the question: “Based on the discussion you had with your peers, what concrete goals would you like to achieve in the next 90 days?” While constructive feedback is great, it’s important to make sure that insight turns into action.

To be clear, we’re continually tweaking this system and we’re far from getting all of the bugs resolved, but I can say with confidence that the concepts we’ve implemented are far more congruent with our culture and values. I now look forward to our roundtable discussions, and it’s my sense that our employees do too.

About the author: As Executive Director of Experience Design and Customer Insight for EffectiveUI, Peyton Lindley is responsible for providing leadership to the company’s user-centered design and research teams.

“Feedback and insights focused on bolstering one’s core strengths rather than fixing weaknesses produces dramatically better results.”

Your People Before Your Clients and Investors

Don Kurz, Omelet

Any service business – in particular marketing communications – will reflexively espouse a philosophy of “the client is our primary focus,” “the client pays the bills so we better smother them with service” or “the client is why our firm exists.”

Being a highly attentive organization that’s focused on its clients is essential in this increasingly competitive world and laser focus on the client is simply table stakes. But true competitive advantage comes from a passionate, committed, unencumbered and ethical workforce. Achieving that is a crucial step towards making your clients and investors happy.

Omelet has the benefit and disadvantage of being headquartered in the heart of LA’s entertainment industry and within close proximity to “Silicon Beach,” the new start-up scene. Our neighbors include top studios like Fox and Sony, as well as some of the world’s leading advertising agencies, including 72andSunny, Deutsch LA, Crispin Porter + Bogusky and TBWA\Chiat\Day. We’re also facing an increasingly major presence from entities like Google, YouTube, Facebook and multi-channel networks such as Fullscreen. In this, and many other situations, using compensation and benefits to lure top talent simply isn’t possible when competing against these

“True competitive advantage comes from a passionate, committed, unencumbered and ethical workforce.”

well-capitalized companies.

My advice? Don’t try to win this unwinnable game. Instead, focus on differentiating yourself by offering competitive compensation, substantial equity participation for senior management, and innovative benefits – for example unlimited vacation time and a dog-friendly work environment. Those decisions put you in the conversation and once you’re in it, you can change things up to compete on a playing field you can sustainably win on.

To grow a successful professional services company, you must focus on your people and that’s where Omelet puts its primary energy. Look for different types of folks, for the great “athletes” that hail from diverse and unconventional backgrounds. Those lovable misfits can be the building blocks for both your culture and your operating construct, allowing you to create an environment where outstanding people can thrive. Here are the principles of that operating model:

• Live Your Mission – define your mission in a way that lets your company remain uninhibited by industry definitions and conventions. As a result, you will attract the people who want an environment rife with both creativity and flexibility, which will then allow you to disrupt and challenge incumbents who have a vested interest in the status quo. Omelet’s mission is to “Break Some Eggs.”

• Embrace Radical Decentralization – create a structure that’s self-governing, because if your people understand the strategy, truly live the values, and operate without fear, traditional bosses aren’t going to be necessary. Mentorship? Yes. Hierarchy? No. Clients benefit from responsive team members who are empowered to make decisions in real time.

• Give Your People Room to Grow – If a person continues growing and learning, they’re far more motivated to stay with a company, even if a substantial compensation boost is offered elsewhere. Try to focus on continually providing a diverse set of assignments while also giving employees room to pursue passion projects. Clients create rapport with their agency contacts and ultimately benefit from having partners who remain throughout the relationship, instead of facing a revolving door.

• Accept Personal Responsibility – maintain responsibility to yourself and your team. No exceptions. Clients appreciate partners who can be accountable for their actions and results.

Looking forward, you must remain restless and continue searching for ways to attract and retain the industry’s best. The world is only getting more competitive but by keenly observing what the most innovative companies are doing, experimenting with alternative approaches and listening closely to your people, you’ll be able to stay on top.

There’s no perfect strategy, so I’ll leave you with this. When asked, I advise fellow CEOs that their job is to create an environment for the best people to thrive within the context of a strategic framework and a series of values they must clearly provide. How

“If your people understand your strategy, truly live the company values, and operate without fear, traditional bosses aren’t going to be necessary.”

to execute the strategy and how to adjust to the marketplace should largely be left to your people. If you hire and retain the right ones, they will know far better than you how to win the day-to-day challenges your company will increasingly face.

About the author: Don has over 25 years of experience in strategy, finance, marketing and public company leadership. Before joining Omelet, Don was the Chairman, President and CEO of EMAK Worldwide, a frequent company on the “top small companies” lists of Fortune, Forbes and Business Week.

Illustration provided by US-based designer, Van Jazmin.

5.0 Introduction5.1 Experience Prototyping: The Value of Putting Yourself in the Mind-Space of the Person You Are Designing for5.2 How Technology Will Continue to Spur Innovation and How It Can Bring Positive Change5.3 Positive Change in Technology Through User-Centered Design

Tech Talk

Introduction to Tech Talk

Zachary Jean ParadisTech Talk Section EditorDirector Innovation Strategy, SapientNitro

The purpose of “Tech Talk” is to “future gaze on the technology developments and trends impacting the industry.” This issue of The SoDA Report takes a critical view on the manner of creating new consumer-facing technologies as well as their intent.

Leading off is Paul Cloutier, of Method, who suggests experience prototypes might be more insightful in developing new technology-enabled consumer products and services than more traditional research or functional prototypes. This section concludes with two pieces – one each from Koombea’s Jonathan Tarud and PwC’s John Swadener – providing a call to action for innovators in the space to focus on positive change, not just “tech for cool” or “tech for tech” sake.

It strikes me as a good thing that we have multiple people from disparate companies and disciplines all contributing pieces with similar themes focused on questions of progress. Our work can’t just be focused on selling more products to more people. It must also push the discipline of innovation–and the development of technology–forward both in approach and in intent.

Experience Prototyping: The Value of Putting Yourself in the Mind-Space of the Person You Are Designing for

Paul Cloutier, Method

Every designer trades in empathy, our ability to see the world through another’s eyes is what allows us to successfully create new things. But increasingly our tools are mismatched with our needs.

We too often focus solely on the experience at hand and lose sight of how that experience fits into a broader context. When we think only of the thing, we miss out on the cultural impact, the practical needs related to its use, and the opportunities for it to intersect with the world at large.

As we create new types of things and respond to new behaviors, we also have to test these things in a new way. We are not just designing the thing. We are designing how it fits into the world.

“We are not just designing the thing. We are designing how it fits into the world.”

“Observation alone is not enough to create empathy. “Experience prototyping” is a way to test the overall experience rather than just the thing we are designing.”

A key part of the design process is putting yourself into the mindset of the person who is going to use it - you have to “use” the thing in context. We practice what we call “experience prototyping” as a way to test the overall experience rather than just the thing we are designing. We create a rough prototype and then go through the process of using it in its intended environment.

One recent example was an internal project we did called Method Money. We wanted to develop a better perspective on the future of money. One of the key areas we wanted to understand was what would happen if all of your purchases were publicly visible.

We quickly discovered that we couldn’t just design some solutions for this challenge. We had to experience the challenge first-hand. This was more than research. It was about getting close to the problem.

We realized that we should be designing not at our desks, but in places where the problem resides. Over the course of a month, the team leveraged several tools to truly experience the Method Money challenge as they crafted possible solutions. We used simple tools like Instagram to allow the design team to capture every purchase they made so that it would be visible to anyone. This brought everyone together in a way traditional research doesn’t allow. It helped us envision a number of new opportunities and issues we would not have uncovered otherwise.

Observation alone is not enough to create empathy. We believe that putting yourself in your users’ shoes is the only way to truly understand them. Experiencing a problem in context gives you a greater appreciation of what the users’ actual needs are, and it helps prime you for that creative leap to craft something genuinely new and innovative.

We believe the designer’s toolkit has to have more than boxes and lines in it. The world is more complex than ever before and designers are being invited to affect more of it than ever. While our clients are evolving and our ambition is growing, shouldn’t our tools grow and evolve too?

About the author: Paul is a Principal at Method who is working to help define the future of experience design. He has been a designer for 20 years, with work ranging from visual, interaction and service design, to programming, industrial design and architecture, as well as strategy and brand development. Outside of work, he enjoys vintage cars, making cocktails, cooking and travel. He owns a restored vintage RV and returned recently from a yearlong road trip around the US.

Illustration provided by Russia-based SoDA member, Red Keds.

How Technology Will Continue to Spur Innovation and How It Can Bring Positive Change

Jonathan Tarud, Koombea

Technology products are changing our world every day. From bracelets that track our health goals and prevent emergencies, to more accessible and targeted education on a global level, technology is getting more powerful by the day. However, as we’ve learned from every iteration of the Spider-Man saga — with great power, comes great responsibility.

People’s needs are powerful and technology is a powerful way to meet those needs, but we need to be cautious and make sure that the products and platforms we’re building are actually engendering a positive change for the intended audience.

Let’s look at three ways technology is bringing about positive change in the world around us.

“Technology is making it easier to learn, grow and spread ideas.”

A More Health-Conscious CommunityPeople now have all the tools they need to both maintain a healthy lifestyle and prevent health emergencies before they happen.

With the help of fitness trackers like Fitbit that sync with smartphone apps and websites, people can count their daily steps, track their sleep habits, and see how many calories they burn in a workout. With special features that allow them to share achievements and progress toward goals with friends, they have extra motivation to get active and stay healthy.

In terms of preventing health emergencies, there is some exciting technology on the horizon in 2015. ADAM (Asthma Detection and Monitoring) is a wearable, three-sensor monitor that will hit the market later this year. It will help the growing population of Asthma sufferers (over 25 million in the U.S. alone) detect symptoms of Asthma, provide alerts, monitor respiration and heart rate, and listen for wheezing.

A Greener Environment Technology — while sometimes damaging to the environment in the past — is now showing its potential as a change agent capable of wielding a tremendously positive effect. And there are big things in store for “green technologies” in 2015.

And much of it has to do with helping people form better habits.

You may be familiar with smart technologies like Nest, which help people track the energy they use in their homes and businesses and reduce their energy bills. Well, in 2015, apps like Think Dirty—which allows people to scan a product’s bar code to see whether any of its ingredients are known carcinogens, hormone disruptors, or neurotoxins—will take it to the next level.

Then there are apps like iRecycle, which lets you know the nearest location where you can properly dispose of almost any household item.

Technologies like these solve important needs. Many people want to be more environmentally conscious, and these apps remove the obstacles and make it easier for them.

A Learning RevolutionTechnology is making it easier to learn, grow and spread ideas. From artists to students, it’s never been easier to learn and build a new skill set, or grasp an idea.

Mobile technology allows for continuous learning. In other words, education is no longer a finite resource tied to school systems. With innovative online education platforms, shared information, and instant access to educational content at any time of day, the classroom can follow people wherever they go.

Want to learn how to be a drummer? There’s an app for that. Want to build your own app or become a developer? Codecademy makes it easy.

This is all leading to more customized education, where the focus will be much bigger than just digitizing current education systems. It will be more about helping people

choose their own paths and follow their passions by leveraging their talents. And that will set the stage for even more amazing new ideas.

People’s needs are powerful, and we can meet many of them through technology. Health, environment, education—these are just a few ways technology can be used to reinforce positive change. The possibilities are vast.

About the author: Jonathan Tarud serves as CEO and Founder at Koombea that specializes in helping companies launch new products and reach their product market fit. By focusing on big problems and engineering solutions, Koombea harnesses the power of technology for tremendous positive change.

“This is all leading to more customized education, where the focus will be much bigger than just digitizing current education systems.”

Positive Change in Technology Through User-Centered Design

John Swadener, PwC

As leaders in the digital services industry, we are all technology innovators. The pace of our innovations may vary to some extent. What should not vary is our commitment to ensuring those innovations transcend novelty and spur a real positive change for a group of people .

As Chris Buettner (Managing Editor of The SoDA Report) underscores in his introduction to this edition, effecting real, positive change is not a formulaic process. It is an interpretive dance where problems are often open and ill-defined, tasks are unclear, processes are experimental and knowledge emerges through continuous interactions with others.

In the months ahead, each of us can effect positive change across the industry based on a real understanding of others’ needs combined with our own appetite for technical innovation.

“If we make a positive impact on people, then business results will follow.”

Maybe it’s just us, but “it was the best of times; it was the worst of times” rings more true today than most times in the past. We believe the time has never been better for each of us to effect positive change through innovation.

Let’s start specific and broaden as we go along.

An example that touches most of us as consumers and practitioners includes the phenomenon of wearables. Based on forecasts, the number of annually shipped wearable devices is expected to proliferate, and the growth rate rivals that of tablets when they were introduced into the mainstream in 2012.

However, a number of wearable device makers are already witnessing a lapse in consumer engagement when they examine how early adopters are using the new technology. The “best of times” mindset leads us to believe that designers will drive better engagement in the next six months through innovation and the development of the next evolution of wearables. However, unless they focus on human-centered design -- rather than simply racing to make new technology available -- wearables will remain a mere novelty.

What about when we are challenged to identify new business opportunities? As leaders within a big firm, we’ve worked to instill a B2P mindset in our staff. Business-to-People. In other words, if we make a positive impact on people, then business results will follow.

As part of this mindset, we challenge ourselves to explore big ideas every 15 days across a wide array of industries. Using collaborative design sessions and combinations of “macro” and “micro” teams, we explore major challenges from a variety of perspectives, always focusing first on making an impact on people. Even if we ultimately decide that an idea we’ve explored as part of this process will not spur positive change, we still take pride in showing how our thinking played out. We believe this approach is much more valuable than keeping our recommendations at a highly conceptual or theoretical level.

What about those who work in industries that aren’t typically known for innovation? Let’s choose one. Insurance. From PwC’s 2015 Annual Global CEO Survey, we know that 69% of insurance CEOs are concerned about the disruptive impact of technological advances over the next five years.

That percentage is higher than CEOs in almost all other industries. Insurance CEOs know innovation can help sharpen data analytics, enhance the customer experience and strengthen efficiency. One global insurance CEO said, “I think you have to look at disrupters because they often come in with very smart innovations and different propositions.”

As you look to innovate, think about making even just one positive change. Even a small change can generate substantial benefits. In the next six months, can you hire six new employees with diverse talents and a broader range of skills than you would have normally done? Diversity is a known way to enhance innovative thinking. Unfortunately, we know from our own research that nearly 2 in 5 companies have no formal plans to seek out talent that is different.

Innovation and positive change.Revolutionary or evolutionary. People based or technology based. Big or small. Each of us can effect positive change. Start by understanding each other, combine that with looking to new team members for ideas, marry a dose of new ways to do work, and experiment. Results will follow.

About the Author: John Swadener leads the Marketing Transformation Practice for PwC US and is one of the architects and core leaders of PwC Digital, a team of over 2,000 employees from around the world. John is an active speaker on topics impacting Marketers today -- from mobile marketing to programmatic advertising. With 20+ years of experience, John has significant experience assessing and developing customer-facing solutions in diverse industries.

6.0 Introduction6.1 Fair Allocation of Risk and Liability in Industry Contracts

Advocacy

Introduction to Advocacy

Pauline PloquinAdvocacy Section EditorChief Relationship Officer/Partner, Struck

Risks and Liabilities: The Elephant in the room that cannot be ignored.

The risks and liabilities that come with running a digital business are the proverbial elephant in the room that we all wish we could ignore but can’t afford to. While in the US we are able to see a glimmer of light at the end of the patent-troll tunnel, a recent Wired Magazine article on the subject reminds us that it’s not over quite yet: “The nation’s legal dockets are littered with patent cases challenging everything from mobile phone push notifications and podcasting to online payment methods and public Wi-Fi.”

Obama’s patent reforms may soon alleviate some of the risks (in the US at least) but that doesn’t mean any of us are off the hook. On any given day something your team is doing may be infringing on someone else’s copyright, trademark or patent. Something your team is doing may also cause damages. Because what we do on behalf of our clients is often associated with transactions, the stakes tend to be disproportionately high.

It may seem dramatic to say that our very existence as a business is on the line, but unfortunately there is chilling truth to that statement. And yet many chose to simply sign the contract that their clients provide, no doubt, for fear that they will lose the deal or sour the relationship. It often feels like Sophie’s choice: stuck between complying with the client’s legal demands or standing up for the worst case scenario and the future of our business, we often chose to abide by the clients’ demands. But is it worth it when the risk and liability you just agreed to is greater than the value of your business? What are you doing to offset those risks?

The truth is that everything is negotiable. And the golden rule of negotiation is to understand your bottom line and your clients’ bottom line to reach a fair deal. What should your bottom line be? What about your clients’ bottom line? Who should carry the burden or responsibility and how much?

In this section, we discuss the key points that should be negotiated as you start a relationship as well as various ways to structure the SOW to limit the risks and liabilities associated with your deliverable. You will also find important tips on billings and collections well ahead of potential litigation. This edition of Advocacy also provides insights into what your peers are doing to protect themselves and to educate their clients. Finally, we discuss the pitfalls of “intellectual lawyering” and what

lawyers can do to serve digital businesses well.

Know your risks and liabilities, educate your teams, clients and partners, and make informed decisions. It’s just good business for all parties.

Fair Allocation of Risk and Liability in Industry Contracts

Interview

(from left to right)

• Jonathan Hawke, Executive Producer, Resn (NZ)• Tamir Scheinok, Chief Operating Officer, Fluid (US)• John Haggis, Partner, Sheridans (UK)• Berry Driessen, Managing Partner, IE (AU)

“We need to identify and apportion the specific risk that each party can control themselves, and what risk is in no-man’s land.” – Jonathan Hawke, Resn

“In 25 years of delivering on commercial contracts, I have only personally been involved in two kinds of issues: payment and patents.” – Tamir Scheinok, Fluid

Fair allocation of risk and liability in industry contracts, whether between a traditional agency and a digital shop or between brands and their agency partners, is a trending topic affecting all points of the digital spectrum.

Looking for lessons from past experiences, current best practices and a gauge for future growth, The SoDA Report editorial team sat down with four industry leaders to begin a much-needed conversation on this sensitive subject.

Q1: How can agencies and prodcos work better with clients (and/or other agencies) to avoid disproportionate amounts of risk and liability?

JONATHAN HAWKE (Resn): It’s important to clearly state your position on risk allocation and responsibility prior to engagement. However, as each project will have unique and specific roles, it is also a good idea to discuss your position further within the context of a specific project.

Discussions should tackle both the overarching risk allocation philosophy and the risk associated with the specific project. We need to identify and apportion the specific risk that each party can control themselves, and what risk is in “no-man’s land.”

No-man’s risk then needs to be negotiated/removed/mitigated proportionately between both parties. Yes, this requires some time and effort. Don’t be lazy.

TAMIR SCHEINOK (Fluid): Engage first with the client business stakeholders (not lawyers or procurement) to agree on terms related to scoping, payment, termination provisions and patent indemnity. Limit damages to direct damage (no consequential damages), and agree that liability limits should be proportionate.

In 25 years of delivering on commercial contracts, I have only personally been involved in two kinds of issues: payment and patents. That doesn’t mean the other stuff isn’t important as I’m quite certain lawyers have seen many other types of issues. Here are my recommendations in priority:

Payment Terms – Whoever has the money when a dispute arises usually wins.” This is the best legal advice I ever got (from Ted Wang / Fenwick + West). Litigation is time consuming and expensive. Unless the dispute is above a few hundred thousand dollars, litigation isn’t a great option. So, bill large percentages of the work upfront without blinking twice. And don’t let the client get behind on payments.

Termination Provisions – Agencies often have to schedule teams 30-60 days out. If the client suddenly terminates, it can take 90 days to close and kick off new work. That leaves agencies with the option of eating the costs or laying off that account team. Neither are good options.

I prefer to completely remove the client’s ability to terminate for convenience. Leaving a termination for convenience clause in your stock paper just prompts a difficult negotiation down the road. If it does come up later, I would ask for 90 days (as it’s easy to justify) and go as low as 30 days for smaller gigs.

“Prodcos should be treated as true partners.” – John Haggis, Sheridans

“Unless the dispute is above a few hundred thousand dollars, litigation isn’t a great option.” – Tamir Scheinok, Fluid

Patent Indemnity – Many of us have been dragged into patent litigation. The legal fees can put a mid-size agency out of business. It’s not practical to actually know if you are violating a patent (save for things like 1-click). We have tried many approaches to argue this. Usually, the business teams aren’t able to negotiate this successfully so Executive Leadership typically has to get involved. We have found the best practice to be: • Agree to broad patent indemnity language, but get aggressive about carve-outs. It’s a “yes, but” argument. One key exclusion we can typically secure (because it’s reasonable) is that we should not be held liable for a patent complaint that stems from following the client’s specifications, requirements or designs. From what I have seen, most patent cases are about the fact that the website or platform does something in particular. Very rarely do the cases focus on the details of how the work was done. So if the client’s requirements were to connect X and Y and you did, you shouldn’t be on the hook. • Limit damages to direct damage (not consequential damage). Our clients are almost always larger than us. Three hours of web sales for a large retailer could put an agency out of business. The argument here is that commercial services contracts are about fee for service, not to provide operating insurance to clients. You should only be liable for direct damages (cash the client has to pay someone else). • Agree that liability limits should be proportionate. The first step to avoid disproportionate risk is to get the client’s business team to agree that their US$30k discovery gig shouldn’t put you out of business if it goes south. Maybe you are liable for what the client paid, or perhaps two times that amount. Everyone can agree that a figure 100x the amount the client paid doesn’t make sense. So ask for liability limits. If the client is sensitive, go with different limits for different things. Avoid unlimited liability except for gross negligence or intention misconduct.

Scoping Issues - Make certain that you are on the hook for material conformance to specification rather than strict conformance. • Make certain that your acceptance procedure has objective criteria that you can manage. • Avoid ADA, PCI, PII obligations if you can.

JOHN HAGGIS (Sheridans): The parties need to share and be more open when it comes to how each party’s business and industry position works. Prodcos should be treated as true partners.

Too often, ad agencies or clients set out unreasonable terms with the prodco, perhaps because they do not understand the prodcos’ perspective on risk and how production companies actually go about creating the work.

By way of example, an ad agency may opt to sign a contract with particularly inequitable terms with their client. They may see the deal as worth it based on their own business priorities. Time and again they attempt to pass on those terms – including significant risk and liability –to their prodco partner who is actually executing the work. Typical arguments are, ‘we agreed to it so why can’t you?’ or ‘well you have insurance, don’t you?’

So I agree with Jonathan that it’s key for the client and ad agency to be engaged with the prodco early on so that they can come to a consensus on risk allocation and

“We have started to define a set of expectations that we have for our clients (resourcing, expertise and availability) and we share these expectations with them prior to project kick off.” – Berry Driessen, IE

“Lawyers can be a problem when they see the negotiation as an intellectual argument without understanding the project itself.” – John Haggis, Sheridans

responsibility.

It’s sad that Tamir seems to have had a negative experience with some lawyers when it comes to getting deals done. But, to be honest, we sometimes feel the same way with lawyers who are on the other side of a deal. They may hide behind arguments such as ‘it’s always been this way and this is how it will always work’ when in fact they are putting forward a position that simply doesn’t work for digital production. While their stance may make sense for traditional advertising production (such as a print ad or TV spot), we know that digital initiatives can be much more complex – involving not just software development, but also hosting, third party API’s, privacy concerns, personal data, retention of IP and a whole host of other issues.

Lawyers can be a problem when they see the negotiation as an intellectual argument without understanding the project itself. Rather than working together to make sure a contract is reached that reflects the project at hand, there are unfortunately times when the starting point for the agreement bears no resemblance to the work and services being provided.

Put simply, if the lawyer is causing problems on the deal, get another lawyer. Lawyers should be there not just to protect you, but also to facilitate – rather than hinder – the deal.

Also, if production companies could band together to adopt the same message and same position on liability points, then eventually the message will get through and industry positions will change. When we’re working on a deal, we create a checklist of about 10 key points for each agreement. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Ultimately, once the MSA is signed and the work is underway, the SOW will be the document referenced throughout the project. Meanwhile, the MSA terms and conditions will typically be put away in a folder and only looked at again if there is a dispute. So, when approaching agreements, take a look to ensure (a) it sufficiently allows you to do your job and get paid (after all, that’s why you’re doing it) and (b) doesn’t put you out of business if you do happen to go wrong.

I would also add that it’s essentially pointless for an ad agency or client to mandate that a production company sign an onerous and massively one-sided contract when it comes to risk and liability. Any payout by the production company is likely to require help from the prodco’s insurance company. Of course, the insurance company, for its part, will review the agreement and find any excuse it can to get out of paying. If the claims aren’t insured, then the insurance company obviously won’t pay. In such a scenario, the prodco will be put out of business and the agency/client won’t get the damages they are seeking. So, excessively onerous contracts actually serve no one if the insurance companies end up being able to deny the claim.

BERRY DRIESSEN (IE): We are heavily involved in ecommerce work, and what we have learned (painfully I might add) is that it is nearly impossible, and becoming more and more difficult by the day, to have a solid handle on the requirements and work required to create a new ecommerce / online platform for a client. A growing level of complexity coupled with dependencies on other systems – such as fulfillment, ERP, shipping, inventory and CRM, among others – have increased the scope and difficulty

of our work. Clients have traditionally tried to outsource these risks to their agency.

We are addressing this challenge from different angles:

1. The way we sell – We have stopped pitching fixed-scope, fixed-cost projects. We sell based on credentials, and we can provide a fixed scope and budget for a strategy / exploration phase, but not for the build of an actual platform or system. This fundamental change in how we work with clients goes hand in hand with client education and our delivery methodology. 2. Client Education – We are trying to get our clients to (better) understand the complexity of their requests. We are digital experts and know our stuff really well. We also want each and every one of our clients to have a better understanding of how their digital systems and platforms work together.

Clients cannot expect us to fully understand their systems and platforms at the beginning of a project. We have extremely talented people who are here to help our clients, but we also need our clients to provide the necessary expertise as required by the project. We see under-resourcing & lack of client-side expertise as two of the largest risk factors we face. We have started to define a set of expectations that we have for our clients (resourcing, expertise and availability) and we share these expectations with them prior to project kick off.

3. Delivery methodology – We have fully embraced Agile. It’s now the only methodology we use for software delivery projects. As part of the process, we are happy to agree to a fixed budget, but that means the scope needs to be variable (or vice versa).

4. Legal protections – Similar to Tamir’s comments, we have started to take a closer look at our contracts to ensure the legal framework backs us up. In such legal reviews, we focus on three key principles. a. As Tamir suggests, we work to limit the agreement to direct losses only and do not accept consequential losses. b. Liability can never exceed the total value of the account over a 12-month period. c. If we see the scope change, we have the right to deliver a variation note to the client which they must respond to within 5 working days

Q2: What are some of the biggest pain points you’ve experienced when it comes to the fair distribution of risk and liability?

JONATHAN HAWKE: Being asked to take on risk for things we cannot control. For example, we’re often instructed to come up with an innovative idea. If we do not deliver on that mandate, we will be in breach. If the idea infringes on a third party’s rights, we are liable.

We must take responsibility for what we can control, which is the way we execute instructions and ideas. If we are contributing ideas, we must take on that risk (one reason why creative needs to be priced accordingly). If we are executing someone else’s idea, we should not be liable for that risk.

On the liability front, another pain point is not being able to control our own defense. If the action involves our client (and the client wishes to control the defense), our insurance may be deemed null and void. Also, the client may arrive at a settlement out of court over which we have no control, but still remain liable. Sad face.

JOHN HAGGIS: The main issues we see are: (a) agreeing on what type of claim should be filed (i.e., an indemnified claim or a breach of contract claim) and (b) determining what the production company should be liable for.

When it comes to remedies for the injured party, there is a big difference between indemnified claims and breach of contract claims. All too often, the position of the ad agency/client is that the prodco should indemnify them for any breach of the contract as opposed to restricting liability to a limited and controllable set of factors. Patent infringement is also a major concern for prodcos if they’re simply delivering against the functional and design requirements of the agency or client rather than defining those requirements themselves.

Oftentimes, prodcos are expected to assume liability over matters completely out of their control, particularly when the ad agency or client doesn’t fully understand how the project is going to be developed. I was once told by a lawyer on the other side of a deal that they wanted our production client to sue Amazon if the hosting went down. This is a good example of lawyers completely missing the commercial and legal point in a deal and failing to understand how the industry works. Even lawyers can get frustrated by lawyers.

Candid discussions around the use of third-party service providers should take place during the pitch process. If the prodco establishes a relationship with a third party on behalf of the agency of client, that client needs to understand that the deal is being done on an “as is” basis. If the ad agency or client wants something better, they should ink the deal with that third party themselves. To be fair, prodcos sometimes oversell, telling their client that they will take care of everything without ever fully explaining what that actually means.

We’re normally able to get pretty fair deals on risk and liability that make the prodco and the client happy. Even if the liability terms look bad on paper, we explain to our clients how they can avoid the risk. We also add in mitigating steps in case the clause comes into play (i.e. insisting on a cure period for a breach, letting the indemnifying party take control over the defense to rectify their mistake, etc.). Our clients tend to accept the risk for liabilities that are directly under their control and that they are comfortable can be avoided. However, pushback is required if the other party is asking our client to assume risk for liabilities that are outside of our client’s control (or that are uncapped).

BERRY DRIESSEN: It’s obviously a problem that clients are pushing risk to the agency. In the past, we’ve made the mistake of accepting that risk by signing off on fixed-scope, fixed-cost projects. We often end up in client discussions around what’s in scope (or not), and have had disagreements around what the client believes ‘we should have realized & understood from the start’ versus the agency feeling that we could not have reasonably anticipated certain complexities.

“On a positive note, I recently received an RFP document that included the agency’s legal position on key issues such as IP ownership and risk allocation, so we could then make an informed decision prior to committing to the engagement.” – Jonathan Hawke, Resn

Additionally, we often negotiate with clients to reuse code we’ve developed previously for other projects. Clients are almost always interested in having us pursue this approach in order to save time on their project. However, reusing their code for other work they don’t like.

TAMIR SCHEINOK: Asking us to indemnity for claims brought by non-practicing entities, imbalance between deal economics and risk allocation (e.g. small deal, lots of potential risk), and asking us to cover consequential damages.

Q3: When it comes to the fair distribution of risk and liability, are there any recent wins or positive developments that hold promise for wider adoption as industry standards?

BERRY DRIESSEN: I think the universal trend toward wider adoption of agile is good.

TAMIR SCHEINOK: Patent Reform.

JONATHAN HAWKE: Not really. Unfortunately, we are seeing a regression from 18 months ago, with agencies seeming to take on greater liability from their clients, which the agencies then require the prodcos to accept.

On a positive note, I recently received an RFP document that included the agency’s legal position on key issues such as IP ownership and risk allocation, so we could then make an informed decision prior to committing to the engagement.

JOHN HAGGIS: Yes. On patent issues, the message is finally, albeit very slowly, getting across. I’ve come across at least one ad agency that has adopted a massively improved position on patent liability as its starting point for negotiations, rather than having to argue for a better position. While that might seem like slow progress, it is good news. Industry bodies – such as the IPA & APA in the UK – are also understanding more about the role prodcos play. They’re working to create new agreements that position prodcos as partners as opposed to ‘just another supplier’. SoDA is creating standard production terms for agencies to help create a unified position. Put simply, it’s very encouraging that the industry is talking about these things and starting to take action. Hopefully, we will continue to see movement toward a more standardized position rather than having to negotiate better positions every time.

Q4: In your opinion, what are the most critical things that need to change in order to make the allocation of risk and liability more just?

JONATHAN HAWKE: In our ecosystem, we are the definition of symbiotic (which can be a positive or a negative). We (agencies, prodcos and clients) need to think of ourselves as part of a shared whole. We need each other and we benefit when all the parts of that shared whole are healthy.

We also need to better understand what risk each party can and should assume and we must develop a willingness to help the other parties improve how they control their risk. I’m not talking about trying to ‘cover one’s own ass,’ but about genuinely being interested in the long-term health of your partners.

BERRY DRIESSEN: Agencies need to get better at selling time and effort, as opposed to committing to precise outcomes when there are so many unknowns.

JOHN HAGGIS: I would narrow it down to one thing – industry education (i.e., client/agency, prodco/agency, as well as legal and other types of advisors).

Some of these agreements (and the positions therein) have been around for years and don’t necessarily work for modern digital advertising or production. It’s not just about risk and liability, but also about commercial issues such as source code ownership. Once all of the parties understand this, the allocations of risk and liability typically become more reasonable.

It’s important not to lose site of the bigger picture. Parties come together because they want to work together, and that means understanding and respecting each other’s position in order to find common ground. Speaking purely about lawyers, I believe lawyers need to better understand how their clients actually work and provide their services so that they can then understand what is (and is not) important to them. By understanding the whole industry picture rather than one isolated aspect of it, lawyers can advise on agreements and legal issues from a more informed insider’s perspective. When they don’t fully commit to understanding the industry, lawyers often end up espousing an intellectual legal POV that is divorced from the reality of the project being developed. This is crucial since lawyers are ultimately the ones writing the agreements that allocate the risk between the various parties.

TAMIR SCHEINOK: Patent reform and keeping the agency and client/business/teams engaged in the process of allocating risk.

Illustration provided by Tres Swygert.

ShowcasesArray Interactive NJAHS

B-Reel B-Reel

Bluecadet Saint John Paul II National Shrine

Column Five Krochet Kids

CUBOCC Hellmann’s

Deepend Hardie Grant

Digital Kitchen Richard Sherman

EffectiveUI Honeywell

Energize PLUS Supermarkets

Enlighten University of Michigan

EVB JCPenney

Fuel McDonald’s

Google Target

Great Works Absolut

Grow EA Sports

GrupoW Volkswagen

Hungry Boys Wokker

HUSH American Express

IE Think with Google, Victoria

INDG Amikasa

Instrument Familiar

Intuitive Company Koshland Science Museum

Jam3 Orange

Koombea Dashable

Leopard Comcast Wholesale

Ludomade Gamestop

Made by Many Hackaball

MediaMonks Jack Daniel’s

Method Coda

Phenomblue HDR

Pound & Grain Pound & Grain

Rain Rain

Reactive Web Directions

Resn James Patterson and Mother New York

SapientNitro Lycra

Stimulant Decibel Festival

STRUCK Nickelodeon Animation Studio

Universal Mind Complete Genomics

Viget ESPN

Zemoga Men’s Journal

tracksA CCO U N T M A N A G E M E N T

A N A LYT I CS

B U S I N E SS D E V E LO P M E N T

D E S I G N & D E S I G N T H I N K I N G

F I N A N C E

I N N O VAT I O N & P R O D U C T D E V E LO P M E N T

O P E R AT I O N S & TA L E N T

ST R AT E G Y

T E C H N O LO G Y

U S E R E X P E R I E N C E

theSoDAAcademy.com

OCTOBER 11-13, 2015 PRATT INSTITUTE BROOKLYN, NY

For a select group of discipline leads focused on the future of marketing and digital experiences, The SoDA Academy (a

two-day, invitation only event) will foster radical collaboration, peer-to-peer learning and a network of professional

relationships unlike any other professional learning event.

Visit the website to learn more and request and invite.

Who we are:SoDA serves as a network and voice for entrepreneurs and innovators around the globe (in 30+ countries across 6 continents) who are creating the future of marketing and digital experiences. Find out more at sodaspeaks.com.

SoDA

WWII Exhibit

The Japanese American WWII exhibit leverages unique gaming strategies, motion graphics and thematic audio to emotionally move audiences and provide a deeper understanding and appreciation of these men’s sacrifice.

On November 1, 1941, Japanese American men were recruited into a clandestine language program designed to train them to be soldier linguists and translators for the United States as it rallied its forces against an advancing Japanese Empire. Fiercely loyal, these men not only risked their lives, but did so as the government imprisoned their families in internment camps.

Now, for the first time, their devotion, acts of bravery and dramatic stories are available through an interactive touch exhibit conceived, designed and developed by Array Interactive for the National Japanese American Historical Society’s museum in San Francisco, California.

CLIENT:National Japanese American Historical Society

MEMBER COMPANY:Array Interactive

The Japanese American WWII exhibit was a hallmark of the San Francisco museum’s one-year anniversary celebration. Attended by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the event honored the unique sacrifice and loyalty of Japanese American MIS Soldiers.

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Array Interactive Eps. Format Logo

FLAKES

A wintry WebGL experiment, combining animation and sound to create 3D snowflakes unique to each creator.

For the agency’s 2014 holiday project, B-Reel created FLAKES, a wintry WebGL experiment that combines animation and sound to create 3D snowflakes. Visitors to the desktop site can build custom snowflakes by simply typing on their keyboard. Each key triggers a different musical element and animation. On mobile, visitors can build their flake by simply shaking their device. Users can then share a custom image and a unique link that replays the creation of each flake.

FLAKES was built using the popular ThreeJS library for WebGL. B-Reel also created a simple interface that allows designers to fine tune the experience by mapping different shapes, sounds and animations to individual keys. Using this streamlined process, they were able to perfect the visuals of the snowflakes in real time.

Sound design was created by B-Reel’s friends at Plan8 and balances ethereal atmospheres with elements that give the experience’s musical world the same weight as the snowflakes themselves. FLAKES is a perfect example of how B-Reel’s multidisciplinary teams work together in parallel to meld design with cutting-edge development techniques.

CLIENT:B-Reel

MEMBER COMPANY:B-Reel

FLAKES won Site of the Day on FWA and an Awwwards award. It’s currently available on both mobile and desktop browsers at flakes.b-reel.com.

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St. John Paul II National Shrine

Canonized on April 27, 2014, Saint John Paul II is arguably one of the most important figures of the past century. Working alongside Gallagher & Associates – a museum planning and design firm – Bluecadet was charged with representing his legacy via digital experiences.

Gallagher & Associates and Bluecadet partnered to create two digital exhibits at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, DC. Bluecadet guided the interactive for the two exhibits, the World Travels touchscreen and the World Youth Day interactive table, from concept to completion. Starting with a thorough discovery phase, the team determined project goals, available assets and the most evocative ways of telling Saint John Paul II’s story. Then, they got to work researching and developing the content and creating multi-user interfaces that allow visitors to engage with rich media simultaneously. A custom software framework supports the wealth of dynamic images, text and typography.

The 14-foot-long World Travels touchscreen invites visitors to explore Saint John Paul II’s 104 global trips, which are brought to life by powerful video clips and photographs. Subtly cinematic transitions and animations unify the multimedia components and make the touchscreen experience both streamlined and engaging for multiple users.

CLIENT:Saint John Paul II National Shrine

MEMBER COMPANY:Bluecadet

Bluecadet succeeded in its mission to create an experience for World Youth Day that truly gathers and connects people from around the globe.

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World Youth Day was launched by Saint John Paul II during his papacy, and visitors can step up to the nine-foot-long World Youth Day interactive table to virtually travel to the cities which have hosted these massive gatherings. Small, circular discs indicate the cities that have drawn hundreds of thousands of youth, including Paris, Manila, Toronto and Denver. After selecting a disc and placing it anywhere on the interactive table, visitors are prompted to move it along a path, which unlocks engaging content such as archival images, videos and quotes.

Handcrafted Data Visualization

Column Five recently helped Krochet Kids Intl. produce its annual report, which featured unique data that illustrates the company’s impact on empowering women and their families.

Krochet Kids Intl. is a non-profit apparel company that empowers those struggling with poverty in Uganda and Peru by teaching them to craft handmade goods. Once they start participating, the women who produce their clothing are not only provided with a fair and consistent income but also receive education and mentorship.

For the first time ever, Krochet Kids intl. is releasing program metrics that illustrate how skills, education and basic resources can forever change a life. This data was used by Column Five to create a unique annual report.

Because Krochet Kids intl. conducts business through its online shop, a hyper visual and interactive report that reflects the company’s work and mission was the perfect means for presenting the work. Still, Column Five had the challenge of figuring out just how to visually present the information in an engaging and meaningful way. The answer? String art.

CLIENT:Krochet Kids

MEMBER COMPANY:Column Five

Using string as a medium allowed Column Five to translate Krochet Kids’ handcrafted feel to the company’s annual report. The result was both informative and eye-catching. The final product is a digital annual report that features video, an interactive data visualization and handmade works of string art to tell the story.

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Grow With Us

Led by CUBOCC, Unilever launched Grow With Us, a global project focused in showing each step of the cultivation process of Hellmann’s Ketchup tomatoes, in which people can interact directly with the farmers who harvest the crops.

For the first time ever, Hellmann’s invited everyone to join its connected tomato farm to follow the sustainable production process of the ketchup. During ten days, users were able to interact with the farmers and follow their process via a live-stream feed from cameras placed on the farmers’ hats.

As Contagious Magazine pointed out, Grow With Us is a response from Hellmann’s that addresses the Age of Transparency by openly showing customers what the conditions and growing processes entail.

“While Hellmann’s has long been known for its mayonnaise, the worldwide ketchup market is dominated by competitor Heinz. As a challenger, Hellmann’s needs to differentiate its product, and might have found its niche by promoting the human side of ketchup production, emphasizing the provenance and care that is taken when selecting ingredients.” - 2nd December 2014, by Contagious I/O

CLIENT:Hellmann’s

MEMBER COMPANY:CUBOCC

Over 30 million people around the globe were impacted by the campaign. The project helped the brand take a huge step forward in terms of brand consideration and advocacy. For those who engaged with the platform, there was a 47% increase in the percentage of people who believe Hellmann’s Ketchup comes from natural sources, a 30% increase in the number of people who believe that Hellmann’s is concerned with more than its own interests and a 78% lift in brand consideration.

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Cooked

Until now, the world of cookbooks has circumnavigated the tsunami that is the digital revolution – but all of that changed with the introduction of Cooked.

The recipe publishing industry has seen many changes over the past century. It saw the rise of the celebrity chef, photography take center stage and it begrudgingly made room for “masterchefs” (accomplished amateur and home chefs). The humble cookbook, however, had remained largely untouched. Hardie Grant came to Deepend to change all this.

Not only did Deepend want to offer a premium digital experience for cooking enthusiasts around the world, but the agency also needed to formulate an innovative business model for Hardie Grant to reward authors and leverage Cooked as a unique communications channel.

The differentiation between Hardie Grant’s concept and the plethora of recipe sites is content would be fully curated and reflect the same experience consumers had when they purchased a cookbook. Cooked houses over 20,000 recipes from the world’s leading chefs, including Nobu Matsuhisa, Gordon Ramsay, Stephanie Alexander, Gabriel Gate and Margaret Fulton, plus premium editorial content and e-commerce functionality in one flexible online environment. Users are also able to curate their own collections and share with friends.

CLIENT:Hardie Grant

MEMBER COMPANY:Deepend

With UK and US versions of Cooked well underway, the awards are streaming in, including Sitecore’s Digital Innovator award. Cooked is, without a doubt, shaking things up in the global publishing industry.

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Deepend’s design and development teams utilized the capabilities of responsive design to truly encapsulate the essence of the cookbook whilst significantly catapulting the recipe world forward.

Letters of Boom

Richard Sherman came to Digital Kitchen with a challenge to create a hard-hitting, extreme word game that would satisfy both casual gamers and word game lovers alike.

Digital Kitchen worked hand-in-hand with NFL Football Star Richard Sherman on creating all aspects of an extreme word game, from the core game mechanics to building and launching it.

In true Sherman form, the rules of past word games were thrown out the window to create Letters of Boom. The game comes installed with an updated dictionary full of slang, swagger and customized “Shermanisms.” Bonus Letter spins letters like a slot machine with the chance of scoring insane word combos.

The game challenges players to use smarts and speed to master fast anagramming, make strategic choices and leverage bonuses for high scoring.

CLIENT:Richard Sherman

MEMBER COMPANY:Digital Kitchen

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Honeywell eVance™ Services

eVance™ Services web and mobile applications designed by Honeywell and EffectiveUI help fire safety technicians manage on-site systems more efficiently.

For contractors who manage fire alarm systems within commercial buildings, Honeywell Fire Systems has created eVance™ Services – a set of desktop and mobile applications that make alarm system testing and maintenance a more precise and efficient process, helping ensure people stay safe.

The eVance™ Services offerings include two different applications. Service Manager is a web-based application for desktop, laptop and mobile devices that streamlines dispatching, scheduling and maintenance activities. Inspection Manager is a mobile application that assists in on-site systems testing. The company enlisted user experience agency EffectiveUI to help design both applications.

EffectiveUI collaborated closely with the Honeywell development team to architect the application workflows for the software system, providing detailed user interface specifications for both applications, and delivering visual designs for each. The EffectiveUI team focused on usability and task efficiency for each of the critical user roles to ensure that administrators and technicians can get their jobs done easily.

CLIENT:Honeywell

MEMBER COMPANY:EffectiveUI

There are currently thousands of buildings being kept safe because of the eVance™ Services applications, which have been honored internally within the company with a Gold Life Safety Human Factors Award.

Anyone Can Lend a Hand Christmas Dinner

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, PLUS Supermarkets encouraged Dutch families to join hands and create a truly unforgettable Christmas dinner together.

Christmas is all about spending time with the people you love. Sadly, Dutch consumers felt quality time with loved ones was under pressure – a viable reason for PLUS Supermarkets to launch the ‘Anyone can lend a hand Christmas dinner’ campaign.

The idea was simple: get families to prepare Christmas dinner together so they actively spend more time together during the holiday season. The Christmas magazine PLUS Created, which serves as the campaign’s key ingredient, focused on recipes, cooking and other activities to bring the family together.

Energize created an enriched, digital version of the Christmas magazine. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, new content was added to the magazine daily. Videos on how to divide chores, prepare recipes, decorate the dinner table, enlist kids’ help, entertain guests and much, much more were integrated. Content was also used in paid media and on PLUS’ social channels to create a truly integrated content campaign.

CLIENT:PLUS Supermarkets

MEMBER COMPANY:Energize

In the end, PLUS helped families spend more time together by giving everyone a way to help make Christmas dinner unforgettable - whether they were a cooking guru or not.

Athletics Recruiting

World-Class athletics program launches new site and concept to attract top student athletes to play and learn. Designed to engage a teenage audience of athletes, the site is loaded with video and social integration. Hail to the Victors.

The primary goal of the University of Michigan Athletics Recruiting website is to encourage prospective student athletes to consider and visit the University of Michigan. The site is designed to provide comprehensive information on athletic programs, world class facilities, traditions, campus, sports and academics to prospective student athletes and their parents/advisors. Enlighten’s primary and secondary research from prospects, current students, coaches, administrators and alumni informed the range of features and content developed. Of course, the site is completely adaptive and the content and features are designed to meet the variety of devices and screen sizes – from desktop to mobile.

One key differentiator for the University was to treat each team sport, no matter what its financial performance, as an equal presence with the same level of content and features. This is unusual in the current collegiate landscape where “money sports” garner the most resources and exposure. Enlighten created unique and comprehensive content, photos and videos for each team. Demonstrating its commitment to elevating all teams, the University asked Enlighten to produce short “sizzle videos” for each team landing page; an energetic and visceral presentation of the team in action.

CLIENT:University of Michigan

MEMBER COMPANY:Enlighten

University of Michigan Athletics Recruiting website is a comprehensive view into the life and experiences of current students and alumni. The site tries to answer the many questions a young student and parents/advisors might have before considering an academic institution in a culturally relevant and dynamic fashion.

From campus life and academic standards to practicing and competing at the University, prospective students can tour and learn about what’s it’s like to attend Michigan. Additionally, current student athletes will be encouraged to share their personal photos/videos of life behind the scenes. “Experience Michigan” also leverages student athlete social feeds to tell a more intimate story of living, learning and competing at the University of Michigan – something not yet implemented at any other major University.

Just Got Jingled

EVB and Victor & Spoils partner with JCPenney to prove once and for all that giving is better than receiving.

For the 2014 Holidays, JCPenney wanted to make the world a more generous place. To help them make it happen, EVB and V&S put together an entire campaign focused on whether it’s better to give or receive. To begin, both agencies built JustGotJingled.com and polled fans to see what they believed. In case fans needed some convincing, the site was filled with a variety of inspirations to give.

To cap off the campaign and prove once and for all that it’s better to give than receive, unsuspecting JCPenney shoppers were surprised with the opportunity to give anything they wanted in-store. The catch? They had to give to a complete stranger.

CLIENT:JCPenney

MEMBER COMPANY:EVB

The experience was captured on video and shared around the world to inspire more giving.

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McDonald’s Happy Studio

For almost a decade, Fuel has been working to innovate McDonald’s iconic Happy Meal programs, beginning with creating the very first digital Happy Meal in 2008.

Continuing its tradition, Fuel helped create one of Happy Meal’s first major forays into augmented reality, in-store experiences through the new Happy Studio app and its Magic Camera functionality.

Launching with Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon 2, and continuing into the Penguins of Madagascar program, the app allows families to activate rich augmented reality experiences in-store and at home, bringing beloved characters to life on mobile devices and tablets worldwide. Fun and immersive, it brings a digital layer to a real-world environment, linking interactive entertainment to a physical brand experience. Kids can scan glyphs on boxes, as well as scanning their very own Happy Meal toys to activate immersive games in their surroundings, collect points and continue the fun at home.

The app’s functionality acts as an extendable platform that can be applied to the hottest upcoming promotions from multiple partners, with fresh games, animations and educational experiences.

CLIENT:McDonald’s

MEMBER COMPANY:Fuel

During the initial How to Train Your Dragon 2 execution, more than half of the app’s users were in-restaurant, and the promotion led to a remarkable increase in Magic Camera app downloads.

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Bullseye’s Playground

Holiday shoppers use their mobile devices for all kinds of things. What if that phone could also offer a fun shopping experience that supports the retail brand? And what if that experience could be used to attract more shoppers to your store?

Google’s Art, Copy & Code team partnered with Target to create Bullseye’s Playground, an in-store gaming experience that starred Target’s bull terrier mascot, Bullseye, and some of the hottest toys. Guests could access the in-store mobile game experience through any mobile device. As they moved through the store, they discovered codes that unlocked new games, levels and characters.

In a select number of locations, Target pioneered an even richer in-store experience using Project Tango Development Tablets. The tablets, available only on-site, transformed the store’s aisles into an interactive 3D winter playground on the screen.

CLIENT:Target

PARTNER COMPANY:Art Copy & Code

Google and Target gave guests a fun experience on their mobile device that made holiday shopping a bit more enjoyable. However, it wasn’t just whimsy. For each game played, Target donated $1 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

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Drinks in Motion

With 100 million drink-related searches monthly, how can Absolut ensure it shows up in search results? One video for every recipe on absolutdrinks.com would be a good start. But that’s 3,500 drinks…

In order to create video tutorials for all 3,500 recipes in its catalog, Great Works conceptualized a sleight of hand trick that allowed Absolut to create thousands of unique videos – instantly, at the touch of a button. The campaign was launched on YouTube and as part of the redesigned absolutdrinks.com. These simple video tutorials show consumers how easy it is to make their favorite cocktails at home in a series of pre-filmed steps.

Great Works coordinated approximately 700 clips of every pour, muddle, shake, stir, strain and garnish that they could think of, and then cataloged each action into a custom-built piece of software dubbed Drinks in Motion. With all the ingredients indexed into the system, the engine is able to read the recipe and seamlessly cut together tutorials for any cocktail imaginable. The results are so convincing it’s nearly impossible to tell the drinks are not actually being made individually.

The concept for Drinks in Motion was created by a team at Absolut that is dedicated to developing tools that bring the Absolut experience to life through digital channels, including absolut.com and the recently revamped absolutdrinks.com, mobile apps like Drinkspiration, and custom built applications such as Drinks in Motion.

CLIENT:Absolut

MEMBER COMPANY:Great Works

According to Absolut Digital Marketing Director Fredrik Thorsén, “Since pioneering the continuous distillation process in 1879, Absolut has consistently looked at ways to enhance the vodka category. With the Drinks In Motion engine, we’re once again taking that spirit of innovation beyond the product itself, and using it to inspire consumers to explore making new cocktails at home.”

Madden GIFERATOR

Young gamers don’t know Madden like they used to, despite the fact that NFL ratings are higher than ever. To launch Madden NFL 15, EA Sports needed the popular franchise to regain its cultural relevance and connect with a new generation of football fans.

Grow created Madden GIFERATOR, a real-time NFL GIF engine to let fans celebrate winning moments and zing their rivals throughout the season with a live stream of animated GIFs triggered by the action unfolding on TV.

With each brag-worthy play, GIFERATOR dynamically combined relevant game footage, stinging headlines and dynamic stats for real-time delivery at the height of conversation. Fans could also take control of the GIFERATOR and create their own GIFs.

GIFERATOR ran as a second-screen experience for every NFL game, keeping Madden relevant all season long. Real-time ads, tailored to fans of each of the teams, were delivered on Google just seconds after events happened, reaching fans already looking for game and team content.

With its epic scale and targeted reach, GIFERATOR set a new standard for real-time marketing. Adweek called it one of the 10 most innovative digital ad products of 2014. GIFERATOR was created under Google’s Art, Copy & Code initiative, in partnership with Grow, EA Sports and Heat.

CLIENT:EA Sports

MEMBER COMPANY:Grow

GIFERATOR exploded into online and offline culture with massive adoption by fans, NFL teams, players and brands. Over 160 media outlets piled in, fanning the flames for what became one of the year’s top memes. With its epic scale and targeted reach, GIFERATOR set a new standard for real-time marketing.

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Volkswagen Configurator

Choosing a car can be fun and exciting, but customizing it can be complicated, and doing it online is not always a great experience.

GrupoW and Volkswagen teamed up to find a way to make the car shopping experience more enjoyable. With the Volkswagen Configurator, the process of creating the perfect car is now a fun, digital experience. Users are able to select accessories, compare prices and even schedule a test drive.

The challenge was to lead the user step-by-step to make the customization and shopping process more streamlined. The new, clean interface of the Configurator allows users to interact with the tool and focus on essential details.

CLIENT:Volkswagen

MEMBER COMPANY:GrupoW

The Volkswagen Configurator includes special features such as 360º views, live MSRP price preview and Facebook Connect so that users can save and share their favorite configurations.

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Dronevertising + Wokker

Office employees are sometimes so consumed with work that they forget or opt not to take a lunch break. What better way to reach and remind this audience than advertisements flying outside their office window?

Ordinary advertising channels are already congested. That’s why Hungry Boys developed an unusual way to fascinate the target audience by raising advertisements up in the air. The team attached posters for Wokker (a Russian-based restaurant chain featuring Asian cuisine) to drones and launched them near high-rise business centers.

As the first drone-vertising campaign in Russia, several unpiloted aerial vehicles were launched into the skies of Moscow with company posters – a stunt that did not go unnoticed. Flying past office windows, the advertisements drew immediate attention – successfully attracting potential customers and prompting an immediate spike in the number of orders from local business centers.

CLIENT:Wokker

MEMBER COMPANY:Hungry Boys

Russia’s first drone-vertising campaign successfully enticed customers to the Wokker Asian restaurant chain and established an innovative new trend in the Russian advertising market.

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Shop Small Hub

HUSH was asked to create an unconventional, interactive experience that further extends American Express’s Shop Small initiative.

The Shop Small® Hub connects shoppers to American Express’s exceptional, yet at times difficult-to-discover, network of local, independent businesses.

The installation takes the form of a fully contained, interactive retail product that can be easily activated in communities of varying sizes. Its series of large touchscreens framed in dark wood merge the natural design elements and tactility of boutique retail with the liveliness of digital interactivity.

The user experience is highly engaging and individualized. Shoppers use simple gestures to discover thousands of local, small businesses and their products/services based on personal preferences. Customized wish lists and city guides can then be instantly printed or sent to one’s mobile device, encouraging shoppers to go out and explore all that is offered by the surrounding independent business community.

The Shop Small® Hub is both functional and exploratory, immersing consumers in a fun, innovative way to build awareness of local goods and services. Central to this concept is exhibiting the essence of small business in the Hub’s both physical and digital forms – its human-scale and cordiality. It is important to accurately illustrate the breadth and value of local businesses within a community.

CLIENT:American Express

MEMBER COMPANY:HUSH

The installation debuted in downtown Seattle on Small Business Saturday, and remained active for the entire 2014 holiday shopping season. In the future, HUSH hopes to see the Hub set up in diverse environments – airports, markets, and arenas – in order to expand awareness of local offerings throughout the country.

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Street View Trekker

Google partnered with Tourism Victoria’s long-time digital partner IE Agency to collect Street View imagery at iconic tourist destinations across the state.

The Street View Trekker is Google’s newest Street View camera platform, a wearable backpack with a camera system on top. There are 15 lenses at the top of the mast, each pointed in a different direction to create a 360-degree panoramic view. Two of IE’s team members were on the ground with the Street View Trekker, using it to take panoramic photos as they walked through Melbourne’s best and greatest cultural, social and aesthetic locations.

The Street View Trekker is designed to capture imagery in remote places or places only accessible by foot, giving users the option to view ski-slopes, rocky-mountains and parks. By collecting the images with the Street View Trekker, Google plans to create beautiful panoramic tours that users can easily navigate through in the same way you’d navigate down a normal road on Google Maps.

By partnering with IE Agency, operators mapped famous Victorian destinations such as: The Great Ocean Road, Hanging Rock and The Royal Botanical Gardens. The imagery is in the process of being stitched into panoramic digital renderings of these walks and then published on Google Maps – allowing tourists around the world to take a virtual trip to Victoria online and better plan their trip.

The Shop Small® Hub is both functional and exploratory, immersing consumers in a fun, innovative way to build awareness of local goods and services. Central to this concept is exhibiting the essence of small business in the Hub’s both physical and digital forms – its human-scale and cordiality. It is important to accurately illustrate the breadth and value of local businesses within a community.

CLIENT:Think with GoogleVictoria

MEMBER COMPANY:IE

The technology has already captured renowned locations such as the Grand Canyon, Venice, Mt. Fuji, Galapagos Islands and the temples of Angkor. Australia is soon to be amongst these landmarks, through Tourism Victoria and IE Agency. Google is in the process of preparing the digital renderings based on IE’s work, and they’ll be up on Google maps soon.

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Amikasa

INDG was tasked with the project of creating an interior design app that will stand out in a design-saturated marketplace.

Amikasa approached INDG with a dilemma. There are myriad interior-design apps in the marketplace, but they generally look uber techy and the interaction feels decidedly stiff. INDG saw an opportunity where the marketplace was missing an app that could do this in a smooth, seamless way while looking great in 3D at the same time. Amikasa’s mobile app now allows user to build, restyle and redecorate rooms using furniture, flooring and wall colors from real brands.

With Amikasa, INDG hoped to serve interior design enthusiasts who want something that works well, but also looks the part. Next up is adding more content and building out the community, which is already sizable through purely organic growth and word of mouth. Ultimately, the vision is to develop Amikasa into a full online platform for interior design, connecting consumers, designers and brands.

CLIENT:Amikasa

MEMBER COMPANY:INDG

Since its launch in late 2014, the app has consistently been ranked in the Top 50 free Lifestyle apps for iPad, without any active marketing. From the user reviews, it’s clear that people love the UI/UX and are eager for more furniture content, which is the next focus of attention.

Rivals

Familiar, a fashion-based print publication, partnered with Instrument to launch its fifth issue called “Rivals.”

Released for the first time as an interactive editorial, this story merges high fashion and modern sport through the subtle theme of rivalry. Instrument saw this passion project as an opportunity for the company to explore a new style of storytelling and content creation, while expanding Familiar’s artistic vision into the digital space.

Fameless Magazine states: “Saying that ‘Rivals’ extends the boundaries of what an online editorial should be is an understatement, you must take a look for yourself.”

CLIENT:Familiar

MEMBER COMPANY:Instrument

Instrument views experimental projects and internal productions as imperative for procuring work in a new industry, platform or medium. Projects like “Rivals” and “This Place” (thisplacejournal.com) showcase their penchant for reimagining creative storytelling and content creation for lifestyle brands.

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Extreme Event

For this project, Intuitive Company was tasked with a digital project where technology takes a backseat and human-to-human interaction becomes critical.

Extreme Event is a role-playing simulation game for 12-48 players focused on the topic of disaster resilience. It takes about one hour and is played face-to-face in museums and other learning settings. Players take on roles in a fictitious community and experience challenges that help them understand the importance of coalition building and investing in short and long-term resources to become more resilient. A facilitator may use the Extreme Event digital tool (optimized for tablet, but usable across device types) to act as a puppet master throughout the game, pushing surprise events to player devices that sit at the center of each player table.

A key challenge in designing the digital tool was balancing the digital and the personal. Intuitive Company had a real concern that if it focused too much on the technology at the outset, the game functionality and interactions would overwhelm the human-to-human interaction. For the participant, they designed a digital experience that was engaging, but only commands their attention at specific times. By leveraging established patterns of interaction, straightforward data visualization and shallow workflows, participants would focus on each other rather than staring into glowing screens.

Intuitive Company thought carefully about how to scaffold facilitators’ experiences through a semi-linear experience with a script on one side of their screen and an action panel on the other. Its simplicity and consistency allows the facilitators to focus on their learners, rather than getting caught up in complex controls.

CLIENT:Koshland Science Museum

MEMBER COMPANY:Intuitive Company

FutureSelf

What if you could talk to yourself 20 years in the future?

In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Orange partnered with French agency Publicis Conseil and Jam3 to create a tool that allows users to travel forward in time and have a conversation with their FutureSelf.

Pulling together the latest technology from the game and film industries, Jam3 was able to bring to life an avatar version of the user to have a conversation via webcam and microphone. To make the impossible happen, Faceshift software was used on live actors and coupled with 3D rendering, aging simulators, Google speech API and WebGL. Jam3 combined face tracking, Faceshift and Three.js in a way that created a living personalized 3D avatar from a photograph. The avatar was not just textured from the user’s photo but actually morphed bone structure to match them, creating a surprising and funny version of the user 20 years down the road. With topics ranging from pets to future technology, the result was often funny, quirky and always interesting conversational narrative.

The interface was clean, easy to use and allowed users to share their images with their friends, creating online buzz. Perhaps the most exceptional part of the process was the seamless graphic design, which allowed the complex technology to fade in to the background for the user and place the emphasis on this entertaining narrative.

CLIENT:Orange

MEMBER COMPANY:Jam3

The project was considered a phenomenal viral success with users publishing articles, YouTube videos and tweeting their experiences.

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Dashable

Time tracking has been around for well, as early as humans could comprehend it. Yes, cavemen as well. It’s evolved from the sun clock to analog, to digital, and now – transformed online via web, mobile and even wearable tech.

Dashable is a digital product built by an agency, Koombea, for other agencies. Its purpose is to help digital agencies better manage their finances, track their team’s projects, give visibility to their clients, and generate reports to find and eliminate agency bottlenecks – which means more recurring revenue and time to handle more projects.

Koombea built Dashable for web, iOS, Android and tablet, making it accessible for everyone. Broad accessibility is just one of Dashable’s many positive attributes. Integration with the project management tools that agencies use every day – Trello, Github, Basecamp and Pivotal Tracker – is arguably its most valuable feature.

The product provides a very different outlook (and window) into the way time is utilized on client projects and across the agency as a whole. Teams can easily pull activities from the project management tools, and clients can see what is actually being worked on within a specific time frame or on a particular day.

And most importantly, agency owners are able to easily generate and digest data reports and information that allow them to make better decisions about how they structure their teams and allocate their most valuable asset – their human resources.

CLIENT:Dashable

MEMBER COMPANY:Koombea

Dashable has helped hundreds of agencies track their time with over 200,000 hours of web, mobile and advertising projects logged.

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Manifesto Video

After undergoing multiple acquisitions and name changes over the past several years, Comcast Wholesale felt fragmented internally, as well as in the market.

After attempting internally to rebrand for months, Comcast Wholesale brought Leopard aboard to develop a creative platform. Leopard’s job: reinvigorate the Comcast Wholesale brand, capturing the renewed energy and commitment to innovation for customers and unifying disjointed business units.

They worked side-by-side with Comcast Wholesale’s executives and sales teams in workshops, one-on-one interviews and town hall meetings to uncover the spirit and mission of the company and learn about its customers. Leopard then developed and refined a storyline and visual language for the brand. And, to debut the work, they developed a video to serve as a lightning rod to captivate internal and external audiences alike with the new visuals and message.

For the video, they paired the new visual language with a story that speaks of the pioneering culture at Comcast Wholesale. The animation is a beautifully fluid expression of not only how it feels to work with Comcast Wholesale, but also how it feels to be Comcast Wholesale. With the video, Comcast Wholesale’s new, stunning visual language was set in motion to serve the brand for years to come.

CLIENT:Comcast Wholesale

MEMBER COMPANY:Leopard

Leopard hit its mark. The video, when unveiled company-wide, received rave reviews. Soon to be splashed across walls at the company’s corporate headquarters, the artwork is also front and center on Comcast Wholesale’s new website. Leopard is now expanding Comcast’s use of the new creative platform, developing additional videos and an app for sellers.

GameStop Mobile App

The GameStop app has transformed the experience of buying and trading games, all from the palm of your hand.

Ludomade set out to design and develop a retail app for GameStop focused squarely on delivering new value to customers. With the iOS and Android app, GameStop customers can not only buy games, consoles, electronics and accessories, they can now sell and trade the ones they currently have right from the palm of their hand. Simply going to the apps “Trade” section, they can choose from one of four main product categories and drill down to a specific product. When the search is complete, a trade value for that product is given. With the saved Trade Estimate in hand, they can go to any of GameStop’s convenient locations to finish the transaction — all without the hassle of boxing, shipping and waiting.

On top of trading, additional functionality was developed – including personalization, customization and easier shopping techniques. Customers can choose a home store, specific platform like Xbox or PlayStation, and even a unique avatar. Customized information selected in their dashboard is leveraged to help narrow searches, which means getting customers to what they want faster.

Finally, the most loyal GameStop customers, called PowerUp Rewards Members, now have pertinent account information readily available. Customers get quick views into their member savings, earn Rewards points and see how much “Trade Credit” they have in their account. This all makes for a more informed and decidedly happier customer.

Along with new app features and functionality, GameStop is shifting their brand

CLIENT:GameStop

MEMBER COMPANY:Ludomade

image. Design elements were re-visited specifically for the mobile channel. A new brand font was introduced, as well as an updated color palette and much more — which of course includes a shiny new style guide to go with it.

Hackaball

Hackaball, a programmable ball and app for kids, was born from experimentation of physical and digital interactions at Made by Many.

Hackaball is a smart and expressive ball that children can program using an iPad to invent and play games.

Hackaball’s computer can sense motions like being dropped, bounced, kicked, shook or being perfectly still. Children get to hack the ball, from programming how the LED’s illuminate and choosing from different light effects, to configure the rumble pattern of the vibration motor. There’s also a library of child-friendly sounds that respond to motion. With visual access to the computer and sensors, children get to interact and familiarize themselves with how the hardware inside works.

A free iPad application introduces children, 6- to 10-years-old, to basic programming skills and creative game-play, coming equipped with a range of games to program onto the ball to get started. Once children have mastered those, they’re encouraged to edit them or make entirely new games. The ball is programmed over Bluetooth LE and children see their programming skills come to life instantly. There are challenges and different levels to reach each time they play.

CLIENT:Hackaball

MEMBER COMPANY:Made by Many

The concept and early prototypes have been tested with hundreds of children, parents and schools. Strong interest and demand for Hackaball led Made by Many to seek funding on Kickstarter. The company raised over $240,000, more than doubling the goal of the Kickstarter campaign. Production is moving full steam ahead and backers will be receiving their Hackaballs in time for the 2015 holidays.

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The Few and Far Between

A tribute to the stories that persist long after the last call.

The Few and Far Between is an interactive testimony to America’s time-tested bars and joints where great stories are told and transpire. The sublime scrolling site is an effort of Arnold Worldwide and MediaMonks and features a wide collection of stories as regaled by bartenders, bouncers and barflies from across the USA. The site brings these stories together in an animated collage that literally blurs the boundaries between the content. Topped with handmade typography, The Few and Far Between makes the stories of everyday people into a showpiece worthy of a stage bigger than a barstool.

To bring this project about, the team travelled the country for four months, hearing out hundreds of patrons in a coast-to-coast round trip. Every story MediaMonks chose to document for the site had to be intrinsically compelling as they wanted the stories to be told with as little makeup as possible. They made sure the setup and lighting were fitting and the story flowed, but other than that it’s the teller that carries the story.

CLIENT:Jack Daniel’s

MEMBER COMPANY:MediaMonks

With new and user-generated content created in partnership with VICE Magazine, The Few and Far Between is an innovative platform for authentic storytelling. The initiative has struck a chord with millennials and other bar frequenters from around the world because, ultimately, everyone loves a good bar story!

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Coda: Crisis Reporting

Method helped Coda to create a new platform for investigative journalism, reinventing how ongoing crises are reported and explained.

Over 6 weeks, the Method and Coda teams worked together to develop a new media platform that focuses on a single crisis at a time, with the aim of providing depth, continuity and understanding not typically seen in traditional reporting formats. As journalists and visual designers differ in using written and visual language, the collaboration merged the best of both worlds. Design and content both informed and influenced how content is navigated through and read. Customers also get a view ‘behind the scenes’ with real-time updates on social media and video content streamed live.

Coda approached Method as a partner to bring their idea to life based on Method’s previous experience in re-imagining journalism and publishing for clients such as Reuters. In the lifecycle of a major crisis, important events continue to happen after the spotlight has moved on. Method was intrigued by Coda’s idea to not only arrive at the scene during the height of the crisis, but to stay on the story after the world’s attention has waned.

The teams created a new structure for curating stories and media based on the concept of evolving themes or ‘currents’. The interaction model for the platform grew from this unique structure. The final output is a conceptualized and validated design system that has the flexibility to allow in-depth and investigative journalism tell stories through assets that have been collected locally where the story happens.

CLIENT:Coda

MEMBER COMPANY:Method

For their combined efforts, Method and Coda won the #GENSummit 2014, emerging victorious from a crowded field of 20 other start-ups at the Global Editors Network Summit 2014.

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Results Over Activity

You don’t want a consultant who agrees with everything. Phenomblue wasn’t afraid to challenge us and disagree to get our team to think differently, and consider other perspectives.

HDR, an architectural, engineering and consulting firm, has a global footprint with a portfolio of iconic work including the Hoover Dam Bypass, and more than 8,500 employees working in 200 locations across the world.

Characteristic of modern organizations its size, HDR found itself with decentralized communications. With each department executing its own plan, crafting its own goals and servicing its own internal clients, communications ran its own course throughout the organization. Seemingly lacking a central purpose and organizational impact, the Communications Department was drowning in siloed and fragmented efforts across different channels, each with conflicting messages and unique design.

Using the Rova® Method, Phenomblue worked with the Communications Department to identify a clear and measurable definition of success for the division. To ultimately unite and connect all HDR employees, while creating demand for services and new sales opportunities, the department looked to develop, influence and grow thought leadership in its markets. We restructured the division, creating a Global Communications Team to cultivate informed, empowered and engaged brand ambassadors – assigning the division ownership of HDR’s brand experiences across all touch points, including recruitment and retention, acquisitions and community, political and media involvement. We then distilled the Rova Method’s Plan into

CLIENT:HDR

MEMBER COMPANY:Phenomblue

“We’re in a business that employee collaboration is critical to our company’s success, and I felt like Phenomblue brought that to the table. Their team took the time to understand our company and our culture at HDR. That created an environment where we felt as comfortable working with Phenomblue as we would with anybody on our team or from within the company.” – Rex Fisher, SVP, Director of Corporate Communications at HDR

powerful and actionable creative briefs to help identify key areas for the division to begin work as a united front. The team’s innovation is now purposeful, informed by data and demonstrates ROI – and all ongoing efforts will align with the division’s plan for success.

Making Self-Promotion Loveable

Cutting through the clutter of more than 80 digital shops in Toronto, while still playing nice.

Pound & Grain has shied away from self-promotion in the past. The talented digital shop has considered itself a bit too nice to boast and has always prided itself on work that speaks for itself.

To cut through the clutter, Pound & Grain thought let’s “hijack” an event! To remain true to the agency’s affable culture, they then started to ideate about how to do it in the nicest way possible. They hit on two things. First, TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) was only two months away. Second, film buffs with niche tastes sometimes struggle to find friends who want to see the same films as they do.

One of Pound & Grain’s greatest passions is creating beautiful and simple experiences that solve human problems. They took this problem and created Filmhearts.ca, a web application to match up film buffs for TIFF. They simplified the complex film schedule, created an easy way for people to create profiles, find others and even developed a physical badging system to allow people to easily spot each other at the theatre. The team supported the app’s launch through public relations, street chalking, community posters, social contests and promoted posts. The unofficial effort was a tremendous success. VIFF (Vancouver International Film Festival) got in contact and officially

MEMBER COMPANY:Pound & Grain

The campaign was covered in examiner.com, Media Post, Adnews, Little Black Book, Shots and Strategy Magazine. Pound & Grain has been contacted by a variety of institutions to use FilmHearts.ca elsewhere -- including film, sports, arts and cultural events.

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partnered with Pound & Grain to do the same in Vancouver.

NYC English

Rain developed the NYC English learning app to give native speakers of several languages access to an intuitive training tool wherever they are.

NYC English is an intuitive English training tool. Through interactive video transcripts, audio and practice, users are able to complete a series of lessons that step through all of the most important aspects of English.

Rain has built NYC English using Xamarin as its principle technology which provides the ability to target iOS, Android, Windows and Mac with a single, shared C# codebase — while also using the same language, APIs and data structures on every platform.

MEMBER COMPANY:Rain

The NYC English learning application will launch in Q4 of 2015. It will be available in 3 languages, 5 countries and 5 platforms. The distributed and localized deployment process will immediately scale for thousands of licensed users.

People Behind the Pixels

Challenged with pleasing an audience of expert practitioners, Reactive jumped at the opportunity to impress at the Web Directions Conference.

The Web Directions Conferences have brought together the web’s leading experts from around the world to Australia since 2004. For its 10th edition, the conference required the most innovative demonstration of how powerful the web has become to educate and inspire potential attendees.

Presented with the challenge to demonstrate that Web Directions is still THE premier event for digital creative, Reactive had two factors to consider: the execution had to be a world-class demonstration of web technology, as well as a great story to tell to a demanding audience. The aim: to wow and inspire all attendees for the talks to come.

The in-browser title sequence “People Behind the Pixels” focused on simulating real physics to achieve a true 3D aesthetic and acceleration. This was combined with bespoke animation, all using WebGL and Three.js as the main underlying technologies.

“People Behind the Pixels” borrows grids, geometry and isometric lines from works like Disney’s TRON. While monochromatic in white, grey and black, it is ‘colored’ by the surprising and creative ways these pixels transition and harmonize with the bespoke music. The occasional ‘glitch’ affecting the type creates a sense of intrigue for what lies in our digital future.

CLIENT:Web Directions

MEMBER COMPANY:Reactive

3D computer graphics guru – Ricardo Cabello (aka ‘Mr. Doob’) – showcased Reactive’s work on his personal blog, proving that the animation had not only excited a local audience but also a global heavyweight in the world of 3D animation.

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The Self-Destructing Book

James Patterson is the world’s #1 best selling author. His latest thriller, Private Vegas, is set to self-destruct.

Resn, Mother New York, and James Patterson teamed up to create the world’s first Self-Destructing Book. Resn developed an iPad app that included animated thrills at key moments in the action, and destroyed each page upon completion.

Over the course of five days, Resn gave away 1,000 copies of the app to lucky winners. However, there was one catch: they had only 24 hours to complete the book before it digitally self-destructed. Visitors to the website could track the progress of readers and watch the countdown. To increase the thrill, visitors were also able to sabotage readers by stealing the time they had left.

CLIENT:James PattersonMother New York

MEMBER COMPANY:Resn

The Self-Destructing Book campaign was highly successful, gaining worldwide media attention and enthusiastic participation by the public. The fresh approach shows the way forward for marketing traditional media products in the digital age.

Lycra Moves You

SapientNitro brought the TV campaign to life with an evocative, balletic brand film, directed by award-winning Philippe André.

Working with director Philippe André, this SapientNitro film followed a young woman as she ballet danced through six highly stylized vignettes that represented the situations of her day. Wearing a range of LYCRA® infused garments throughout, each dramatic movement her body made was captured with a revolutionary 3D time-lapse ‘trail’ effect, heightening the visceral sense of fluidity and dynamism.

SapientNitro achieved these effects by partnering with Glassworks visual effects company in London, who used their multiple camera capture of the dancers movement to accurately track their movements digitally. Throughout four and a half months of intensive work, this movement provided the basis for a proprietary strand extrusion, cloth lofting and proximity triggered simulation software.

All rendered using a groundbreaking GPU rendering that enabled the team to achieve the refinement iteration cycles and ultimately finer quality final images. Once the images were finished they set the enchanting movements to a bespoke re-recorded version of Nouvelle Vague’s ‘Dance With Me’ track.

CLIENT:Lycra

MEMBER COMPANY:SapientNitro

Lycra Moves You is a powerful campaign that forces reappraisal by making people more aware of Lycra and its role in modern day apparel. The campaign received remarkable press from Adweek, Adhugger, The Drum and more.

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dBcube

A connected, 3D dance experience at the Experience Music Project for the 2015 Decibel Festival.

dBcube is a four-sided digital dance experience that connects dancers on opposite sides of The Cube, designed and built by Microsoft, with dynamic virtual ribbons. Dancers and their friends can see themselves in a whole new way, and interact with dancers on alternate sides of the sculpture that they might not know. When dancers arrive on opposite sides, their avatars link at the hands with flowing ribbons, turning their individual dance moves into flowing and twisting shapes, and creating collaborative visual expressions as they move along with the music.

Created by smart space design firm Stimulant, dBcube visualizes a collection of sensor data from the four Kinects in the Cube, reacts in real-time to the beats of performers in the venue, and cycles through a variety of virtual environments as the evening progresses.

CLIENT:Decibel Festival

MEMBER COMPANY:Stimulant

The campaign received signifcant press from PSFK, Communication Arts, Little Black Book and more.

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Recruitment Reimagined

Enticing the next SpongeBob SquarePants creator with a content-rich, responsive site and a beautiful user interface that reveals some very surprising behind-the-scenes experiences.

The competition for up-and-coming animators and creators is fierce these days. Where Nickelodeon once held a distinct advantage, they now compete with Adult Swim, Disney and other studios for new talent. Over the years, the Nickelodeon Animation Studio website proved too inflexible to meet the needs of each of the company’s key departments. To overcome these limitations, Nickelodeon had launched several disparate websites resulting in: 1) a fractured brand, 2) confusing and often redundant content and engagement strategies, and 3) an inability to quantify the results of their efforts as a whole.

Struck recommended consolidating these sites into a single property to serve as a one-stop resource for studio information and as the company’s principle recruitment destination. The recruitment section is engaging and immersive, showing what a unique experience it is to work at the studio with a clean and responsive design focus and robust content – all while highlighting the studio’s latest creations, opportunities within it and its culture and creativity in action.

Features include an interactive character and show timeline, translated from a wall mural that depicts the color patterns of iconic characters, providing a unique way to navigate show information and highlighting the interconnectivity between the shows and their creators. As recruiting events come up throughout the year, alerts reveal additional elements of content relevant to that event, simplifying the enrollment and application processes.

CLIENT:Nickelodeon Animation Studio

MEMBER COMPANY:STRUCK

“The new NAS website is a perfect representation of our reinvigorated studio and its ‘Creator Driven’ philosophy. The site is as beautiful, engaging and fun as our studio and the people who work in it.” – Russell Hicks (President, Content Development and Production, Nickelodeon Group)

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Additionally, creator interviews include a rare one-on-one with the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, his first in several years. Finally, a recruitment video is a branded twist on what is normally a bland recruiting tool.

Genome Voyager Simplifies Human Genomic Sequencing

Universal Mind tackles the extremely easy task of demystifying genomic sequencing.

The mission of Complete Genomics is to provide researchers and clinicians the genetic information needed to improve human health. The critical information they provide helps practitioners improve how they diagnose, treat and actually prevent genetic diseases and conditions.

The company sought to develop an application to enable analysis of genomic information in a more user-friendly way and for end users, who are not necessarily bioinformaticians with command line programming skills.

The project began with a discovery phase, where the Universal Mind team spent a week on site with Complete Genomics diving into the project’s objectives, as well as gaining a basic understanding of human genomics. Universal Mind worked closely with Complete Genomics’ expert back-end development team and in two months delivered Genome Voyager, a working iPad application that was ready to showcase at a major national medical conference.

CLIENT:Complete Genomics

MEMBER COMPANY:Universal Mind

When the application debuted, one analyst remarked that it provided “a glimpse of genomic medicine’s future with slick interfaces for data.”

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The team continued to execute in two-week sprints and released an alpha version of the iPad interface followed by the web interface. Universal Mind’s ability to make smooth course corrections resulted in rapid and efficient development of one of the industry’s first whole genome analysis and interpretation applications.

Anatomy of a Pitch

Viget created an interactive experience that gives fans an engaging way to learn about the incredible precision behind one of the most explosive movements in a baseball game – the pitch.

Every baseball pitch combines the same basic mechanics — the grip, wind up and delivery — but no two throws are the same. With its “Techniques” series, ESPN The Magazine uses high-speed photography and quotes from athletes to unpack high-performance moments in professional sports. This year, Viget worked collaboratively with the magazine’s editorial team to reimagine their traditional approach to the series and craft an immersive digital experience.

The result is an interactive full-screen video site that lets fans dig deep into the science behind the best arms in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ bullpen. Fans can examine seven throws from four unique perspectives, including a slow-motion video narrated by the pitcher, a frame-by-frame breakdown of the pitch’s mechanics that layers in compelling statistics, a strike zone heat map and a real-speed video that tells the story from start to finish.

CLIENT:ESPN

MEMBER COMPANY:Viget

The site launched in the weeks leading up to Opening Day and was widely shared by fans across the country before the first pitch was even thrown. Thanks to support from various ESPN channels, sports personalities and featured pitcher Brad Ziegler, the site ultimately reached 13.8 million unique Twitter followers.

Milos Raonic and the Future of Tennis

Men’s Journal engaged Zemoga to design and provide front-end development support for a feature on tennis star Milos Raonic.

Zemoga designed a rich responsive article for Men’s Journal, including a number of interactive blocks to enrich the information provided.

As Milos Raonic’ best skill is his serve, it was a priority for the team to convey that through design and movement on the page. One of the experience’s highlights is an interactive deconstruction of Milos’ serve, focusing on key moments in slow motion.

The visual style was based on the classic design of Men’s Journal, leveraging all the possibilities that web typography and CSS3 allow, including drop caps, asides, highlights and quotes.

“Milos Raonic and the Future of Tennis” is just one of five feature projects Zemoga has built and released with Wenner Media, and there’s more to come.

CLIENT:Men’s Journal

MEMBER COMPANY:Zemoga

The visual style of “Milos Raonic and the Future of Tennis” evokes a classy magazine design, but is in no way static. It’s a marriage of traditional magazine design and digital innovation.

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SoDA serves as a network and voice for entrepreneurs and innovators around the globe who are creating the future of marketing and digital experiences.

A Society is FoundedMiami, March 2007: 13 leading digital agency CEOs decided to meet up and have a talk about where our industry was headed. New friends were made, business problems and solutions were shared, and a society was formed. We were on a mission to advance this industry we all felt so passionate about. We made it official at SXSW in March 2008 and welcomed our founding partner, Adobe.

What SoDA isToday, SoDA is an international association of respected digital marketing leaders and entrepreneurs with a history and a vision for the future of marketing. SoDA remains an extremely selective association of the world’s most preeminent com-panies with digital DNA. Membership includes almost 100 leading digital agencies and elite production companies with offices in 34 countries on six continents.

SoDA provides leadership, platforms, infrastructure, processes and products to enable collaboration between member companies. SoDA’s Peer Collaboration Group Program, launched in 2011, now includes over 900 thought leaders from member companies sharing insights and best practices across 15 different disciplines. Click here to see the SoDA Reel.

SoDA Board of DirectorsTony Quin, IQ, Board ChairJulie Allen, FuelKath Blackham, DeependTim Fouhy, ReactiveSteve Glauberman, EnlightenWesley ter Haar, MediaMonksJoe Olsen, PhenombluePauline Ploquin, StruckTamir Scheinok, Fluid

SoDA StaffChris Buettner, Executive DirectorKendyll Picard, Operations ManagerNatalie Smith, Associate Operations ManagerLakai Newman, Communications ManagerUfuoma Ogaga, HR/IT/Finance SpecialistJessica Ongko, DesignerLior Vexler, Social Media Manager

SoDA Contact Informationcommunications@sodaspeaks.comwww.sodaspeaks.com

About SoDA

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