Wednesday 20 June 2012

✔ The Best Way For Brands To Use Photos And Image-Sharing Social Networks?


News of Kodak’s demise in January saw even the most dispassionate publications turn to the warm filters of nostalgia to cover the story – from rose-tinted references to Paul Simon’s 1973 song Kodachrome, to sentimental evocations of the brand’s 50-year-old ‘Kodak moments’ tagline. Then, only a few months later, Facebook bought Instagram –an app that lets people capture images through digital filters that evoke Kodak’s legacy, with a logo that references its Instamatic camera – for a cool $1bn.

Kodak’s fall and Instagram’s rise coincide with a period of explosive growth in our obsession with the photograph. At the end of 2011, 1000memories, a site that helps people get their old printed photographs online, estimated that 10% of all of humankind’s photos had been taken in the previous 12 months. Partly, that is down to the falling cost of digital imaging technology and the proliferation of mobile – even cheap feature phones now include cameras, turning pretty much everyone into an amateur photographer. But it’s also due to innovations in how we store, publish and share photographs: many of the fastest growing and most engaging social networks are primarily image-based, namely Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram.

The emotional and memorial power of the picture – whether rendered in film or pixels – is timeless. Yet the digital age has given the photograph a new, social currency. ‘Images allow us to visually “staple” ourselves to places and other people – call this social and locational collation,’ says Grant McCracken, author of Culturematic. ‘This is critical not just to memory but to network building. Facebook beat Friendster because it allowed us to post photos, name people and circulate the image.’ Indeed, Facebook is now officially the world’s largest library of photographs – by quite a long way.

Following the people
As people have flocked to Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram, brands have dutifully followed. And perhaps with good reason. Online intelligence firm Convertro has found that Pinterest is the fastest growing source of referrals leading to purchase for online retailers: in Q1 2012, the site represented 17.4% of social media revenue for ecommerce sites, up from 1.2% a year earlier. The company predicts that the figure will reach 40% by the end of Q2 2012, bringing Facebook down to 60% from 86% a year ago. Now approaching its third round of funding, the site is rumored to be itself at more than $1bn (perhaps even $1.5bn).

It is somewhat inevitable then, that Pinterest has been quickly swamped with a deluge of marketing campaigns. Airline BMI partnered with London- based social media agency Rabbit, for instance, to launch its Pinterest Lottery, a competition centered around six boards related to different destinations: Beirut, Dublin, Marrakech, Moscow, Nice and Edinburgh. Each image across all the boards has a unique number. BMI has a weekly prize draw; people who have repined that image have a chance to win free flights.

It’s a similar story on other new platforms, too, with brands like Tiffany & Co, Ford and Neutrogena flocking to Instagram with similarly tactical and attention-grabbing initiatives. For example, Levi’s used Instagram to find the stars of its next advertising campaign (with Wieden+Kennedy, Portland). Using the hashtag #iamlevis, people were invited to upload their photo to the site. The faces of the campaign for the next Levi’s collection, due to run in September, will be selected from these entries.

Content not campaigns
But whilst many brands have been admirably quick to turn up to the party, is this really the best way to fit in? Competitions and campaigns don’t necessarily play to the fundamental truths about why people care about image sharing. Pinterest, for instance, has a fairly straightforward purpose: to curate and share visual content discovered on the web. Short-lived novelty campaigns are great ways to generate a quick burst of buzz, but most users are after new images that are in some way visually engaging. Brands should therefore be focused on providing content that people genuinely want to Like, Pin, and Note.

GE has done an admirable job in this respect, using Tumblr to share GIFs and Instagram shots of factories, turbines and engines – all recontextualised as beautiful, intriguing artworks (via Barbarian Group, New York). Adam Senatori, winner of its ‘Be the Next Instagrapher’ challenge, snapped many of the more recent pictures. It’s amazing to see the brand pull back the curtain on its operations in this way, providing new content that fills a particular niche, all in a visual language appropriate to the platform’s own users.

Fashion house Oscar de la Renta turned to Pinterest for a campaign (produced in-house) to build interest in its bridal fashion catwalk show, highly appropriate given that the platform has become a popular tool for brides-to-be as they gather inspiration and create moodboards for their own weddings. During the immediate lead-up to the event, images began to populate a designated bridal board on the Oscar de la Renta page, allowing fans of the brand – and weddings – to follow all the behind-the-scenes action.

Amazon has also made a significant investment in photography, specifically as part of its drive to conquer the luxury fashion market. The retailer now shoots 3,000 fashion images a day in its Kentucky photography studio and images of new items are posted online daily. Amazon has also developed a patent-pending technology where instead of using static images, models move around to show off the clothes. This is a smart strategy: by presenting products in a beautiful way, Amazon is setting itself up as a primary place to find shareable images of high fashion – again, perfect Pinterest fodder.  

The upshot is that brands need to start taking images seriously. ‘We are all hungry for content,’ says McCracken. ‘Photos give us the most content for the effort.’ One factor holding brands back from getting more deeply involved in image sharing has been the questionable legality of posting photos that one doesn’t own (a common use for Tumblr, and Pinterest’s raison d’ĂȘtre). Which itself raises a bigger question: once a brand or a person puts an image out there, is it possible to truly own it? All the more reason for companies to make the effort to create great original images for others to share, rather than trading in other people’s creativity.  In a recent blog post (on Tumblr, naturally), Rabbit suggested that organizations ‘need not only a social media strategy, but a visual social media strategy as well’.

But should brands turn to Pinterest, or Tumblr?  Facebook or Instagram?  In many ways, the platform is irrelevant. It’s still all about capturing those Kodak moments. 

[ Original article by John Ridpath on Contagious ]









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Tuesday 19 June 2012

✔ Getting Creative With Your Mobile Campaigns


It is often said that a mobile screen is too small to be worth spending advertising budget on. But it's not about absolute size, it's about relative size and the amount of attention it can garner.

While a typical mobile phone screen is around 4", it is held around 18" from a user's face. This compares to a typical home TV screen that might be 32", but is typically 15" away. Now, I haven't done the precise math here, but if you were to look at how much of your field of vision a 4" device takes up, when it is 18" inches from your eyes, and compared it to a 32" device that was 15' away, I'm pretty sure that the 4" screen is going to take up a bigger percentage.

So what does this mean? Quite simply, it means there is less chance of you being distracted by something in your peripheral vision. It means that you are more focused on that smaller device than you are the larger one. Sure, you could sit closer to the TV but how many of us do that once we get past the age of about 6?

We also develop emotional attachments to our mobile phones that we don't have with other devices. If somebody wanted to borrow your laptop for a couple of hours to work on an important document, you'd probably let them without too much hesitation. On the other hand, if somebody wanted to borrow your mobile phone for a couple of hours, you might acquiesce but you would feel panicky and disconnected. No other media device engenders this level of emotional attachment, and certainly not your TV that you probably never even touch.


Another thing with holding a phone is that you're doing just that: holding it. You are physically connected to it. You're not just watching your mobile phone from the other side of the room, you're actively engaged with it. Tapping. Swiping. Pinching. Typing. This means you're paying far more attention to that tiny little 4" screen than you are any other screen that you use.  So, is it worth spending advertising budget on a 4" screen? Absolutely! No other device takes up as much of your customers' attention, and no other device offer your customers the same level of emotional involvement with your brand.

The key to ultimate success in your mobile campaign is to be creative. That tiny device - with technology more advanced than many laptops and desktops - offers you ways to be more creative than any other existing platform, or through any other channel.  If you start by building a creative concept for mobile and only then cascade them into other media, there is a much higher chance that your overall campaign will be a roaring success.

[ Original article by MEC UK's Justin Taylor on Contagious ]










 
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✔ Brand Purpose, Earned Business, and Post-Commercialism


Why Purpose and Earned Business are set to become central to marketing over the next couple of years
 
Tech Innovation and Earned Media - the twin kings of marketing for the last couple of years - are now being challenged for their title. They will undoubtedly remain strong players for years to come, but the new kings of the hill are likely to be Purpose and Earned Business.

Earlier this year we presented 1,000 Swedish consumers with the hypothetical choice of buying an expensive and exclusive piece of clothing: only one in ten preferred a clearly visible logo. Among the rest of them, half preferred a discreetly visible logo and about 40 percent no logo at all. In the west, the term brandalism coined by Banksy, is on its way to becoming mainstream and individual.  In emerging economies however, you are likely to find a more materialist value-system. This notion was supported in a large survey of urbanites performed globally last year. About 15,000 consumers in 30 cities across six continents were asked if brands are important when buying clothes. In Beijing and Mumbai only about a tenth of respondents disagreed with the statement, whereas in Stockholm the figure was over 50%.

The Logo rises in the East and sets in the West
In short: The eastern world is rapidly becoming commercial, while the western world is entering post-commercialism. And it's tempting to draw up the Bell Curve of commercialism - logo size is growing in the east and shrinking in the west; i.e. growing in the early phases of commercialism and shrinking in the later ones.

Post-commercialism is a consequence of the age of transparency resulting in informed consumers empowered by media to impact businesses and markets. Central to post-commercialism is the question of who deserves to earn your money, and that consumers reward corporations that take stands rather than building brands. In the post-commercial society, consumption becomes one of the most important ways of expressing views and values, in contrast to the commercial society where consumption primarily expresses lifestyle. Buying a product is no longer a result of identification with a brand but rather a vote on the stand point of the producer resulting in a growing demand for products and services that not only meet a consumer need but equally important develops the industry and benefit society.

That's why it's time for the communications industry to stop helping our clients talk the talk and start helping them walk the walk. And walking the walk means focusing more on stakeholders, rather than just shareholders - and focusing on the society in which the company operates.

From earned media to earned business
Marketing thought leader Porter recently told Harvard Business Review that the world is running out of new consumer needs, but that society's needs have never been greater. The only natural conclusion from this is that social good is the new potential comparative advantage for any business. So consequently it's not just media that you have to earn these days, it's business itself. Media is not the message - business is the message. This means that the marketing industry should probably focus less on tech innovation and more on the mission-driven promise of its clients. Because earning media doesn't necessarily mean that you're doing the right thing. Actually, in our industry it tends to mean doing an unexpected, funny or techie stunt. And that's all good. But not as good as doing good. Legendary businessman and entrepreneur Jan Stenbeck, founder of Modern Times Group and Metro, once said that politics beats money but tech beats politics. Today there is a new king of the hill - purpose beats tech.

This notion was quite apparent when I had the opportunity to judge TED's Ads Worth Spreading in the category Social Good this fall. We have come a long way since CSR. Responsibility today is not something you add on top; it's the foundation you build from. It's at the very core of your business. It's the reason why consumers choose you and not the others. It's how you earn your business. The term Prosumer was coined by futurologist Alvin Toffler in 1980 describing a future where consumers also are producers. Today, that idea is a reality and the term is gaining a new meaning - prosuming meaning supporting through buying. Supporting businesses that deserve it, businesses that serves a purpose.

The Buzz
Purpose also happened to be a major talking point at Cannes Lions 2011, possibly best presented during WPP intelligence agency Landor's workshop. And late last year this focus continued throughout international forums and dominated the World Economic Forum in Davos.  But what will be the buzzword in Cannes Lions this year? My bet is that people will be talking about getting political. And not in the sense of backing political parties, but by taking stands for issues with societal dimensions.

Not only because it's election year in the US, and not only because we've witnessed a year of uprising and occupying. Not only because the Time's 'Person of the year' issue compared 2011 with game-changing years like 1989 and 1968. Not only because we are the 99 percent. Not only because W+K rightfully (hopefully) will receive a bag of Gold Lions for their social and political orientated work for Chrysler and Levi's. Not only because the struggle to keep the national economy together has reached Western Europe. Not only because Al Gore and Sean Parker kidnapped SXSW in Austin, causing the tech community to scream 'occupy democracy!' Not only because Americans Elect won the prestigious people's choice award at the same festival. Not only because Clinton speaks at Cannes.  But perhaps mostly because of the key insight from the TED Social Good-work - that the sustainability agenda has switched from THE environment to YOUR environment.

Don't create advocates - be an advocate
This means more focus on the local society and less on countries far away, more focus on rights and less on catastrophes. And local rights have a tendency to become political. During the last year we have seen projects and campaigns about bullying, about gay rights, about homelessness. We have discussed local child poverty, unemployment and CEO bonus programs. With this backdrop it's funny that businesses over the last decade have been talking about transforming their customers into advocates. Honestly, if you want me to stand up for you, you'd better stand for something yourself. Don't try to create advocates - be an advocate. Take a stand. Get political. Earn your business. Like Heineken that says that 'The sunrise belongs to the moderate drinkers' or Disney that recently introduced the idea of nutrition guidelines for advertisement in their channels. Poetically enough, the expression 'bottom-line' means both profit/loss and final statement/purpose.

[ Original article by Tom Beckman (ECD at Prime PR, Stockholm) on Contagious ]











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