Surf over here and see a geat interview of Hollywood maverick Joss Whedon and his innovative plan to monetize entertainment content. Very insightful!
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Showing posts with label Interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Interview. Show all posts
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Thursday, October 23, 2008
POV Thursdays: Q&A with Carol Phillips, President of Brand Amplitude
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Carol Phillips, President of Brand Amplitude, is one of the people I most admire in marketing. Her instincts for helping brands better define their audiences and craft powerful brands through insights-based research have helped countless brands win in their respective categories. She sees things in data and consumer feedback that other miss entirely. As we enter an era where marketing dollars may well be less abundant for a while, it’s more important than ever that we unearth the facts and perceptions that will help our brands win. With that in mind, I asked Carol to give her thoughts on branding and segmentation in our dynamic digital marketing environment.
1. Can you tell us a little about your professional history?
Now that I am teaching college marketing, I realize how much of my career happened before time began. I started at Leo Burnett in the late 70’s, before Millennials were even born.
Hey! No fair. I’m the oldest living digital marketer. It’s my trademark! Anyway, you were saying…
So much has changed. What did we DO all day without a computer? (I am really not sure). I am very proud of the fact that I am still here practicing marketing. I advise my students that the job you will end up doing hasn’t been invented yet, so go study Theology or Theatre, not what BMW did 5 years ago. The elevator version of my career is market research (what we called Planning before there was Planning), Account Management for 5 mega-sized agencies, a brief dot com venture, Director of Communications for Whirlpool, and now President of Brand Amplitude. It is all going so fast.
2. What excites you about what you do for brands?
What I do for brands is help them understand who their best customers are, what they love about the brand, and how to use that insight to get more customers like them. Increasingly, this means I get to think about brands in the context of culture. The best brands don’t even seem like brands, they are a type of cultural ‘short hand’. The marketers may or may not have followed a strategy, sometimes the customer makes a brand their own without marketers even trying. Buzz marketing, viral marketing and product placement make it harder to tell what is an ad -- does it even really matter? Many of the best books on branding these days are not written by brand marketers, but by journalists and those in other disciplines. I am especially enjoying Buying In (Rob Walker) and The Culting of Brands (Douglas Atkins). The consumer has always ‘owned’ the brand, now they have more tools to claim that ownership. It is more challenging than the one-way conversation of years ago, but a lot more exciting and relevant.
3. What do digital marketers and traditional marketers have to learn from each other?
I really don’t like the underlying premise of this question. There shouldn't BE two camps. Digital marketers need to be grounded in marketing principles; they paint on a different canvas but human behavior hasn’t changed all that much. Traditional marketers know that the world has changed enormously; they have to be familiar with what consumers are doing now or they will become irrelevant.
4. What level of segmentation is useful for a brand?
Segmentation is one of those ideas that needs to be considered very carefully. It hasn’t reached the end of its useful life at all, but you need to take a fairly analytical approach. You can’t just guesstimate and divide the audience into three supposedly relevant groups and off you go.
Some have tried to ring its death bell, but there needs to be something between mass, which largely doesn’t exist anymore, and true 1:1, which still isn’t realistic for most situations. You need to be very careful -- most segmentation isn’t based on what’s really important, it’s based on superficial things we can easily measure and then translate into a media buy. The definition of a segment is a group of people who will respond differently to marketing. That’s always been a tough thing to translate into a media buy. I am beginning to think it makes more sense to market to the ways we are alike – commonalities are more meaningful to our purchase decisions than differences. There are still segments of discrete behavior, but the critical thing in digital is to recognize and strive for a sense of brand unity, while customizing messages in a cost effective manner. How’s that for a Millennial point of view?
5. What advice can you offer marketers that now have literally billions of data points available for examination?
Data is our friend, but it can only take us so far. Data is more useful in executing programs -- delivering the right message at the right time to the right person and measuring the result -- than designing them. I started out my career in qualitative research, where we used the rule of n=40. Assuming you have done the recruiting job right, after 40 people, you can be pretty sure you won’t hear anything new. That is still true in our decision-making research, 40 per segment. When setting strategy, I don’t think you have to deal with every bit and byte – go for insight. Then use data to make sure your execution is as effective as it can possibly be.
6. What are the digital platforms that will most impact peoples’ perceptions of brands in the future, like TV did in the past?
TV was (and is) a great medium for branding. Captive audience, full sight, sound and motion. High production value. Trusted source. How does it get better than that? I don’t think we will find anything to equal TV as a branding medium for a long time. That said, customer service may be on the way to becoming the big idea in branding. My friend, Lynn Holmgren, is charged with all customer service for Whirlpool. Whirlpool is approaching customer service as an investment in brand building communications. Zappos also spends deeply to provide differentiated customer service. I think these two companies have the right idea.
7. Why is there a disconnect between digital media investments and the time consumers spend with digital media?
See number 6. Seriously, I don’t think that digital media has the impact or reach yet to command TV-size budgets. Search is accepted as a ‘must’ have, as witnessed by Google's amazing cash reserves (why don’t they just go ahead and fund the bailout? They are sitting on $12Billion). But beyond that, everything else feels ‘experimental’. Social media isn’t really media yet, it’s just social.
8. Who is doing a good job of using digital media to build brands?
I think Red Bull is doing a great job. Also Victoria’s Secret PINK. There aren’t that many that stand out, and I am paying attention.
9. What advice can you offer to marketers anxious to build stronger brands through digital media?
My advice is to focus on getting the messaging right. If the message is relevant and likeable, it should not be that hard to find digital platforms that will connect with the audience. If the message is weak or not that compelling, you have a bigger problem than digital media. This has always been true; strategy and execution matter. I am reading Pat Fallon’s “Juicing the Orange: How to Turn Creativity Into a Powerful Business Advantage”. Every single one of the cases depends on an insight and brilliant creative execution. The BMW Films idea came out of an insight about the target, not a desire to leverage digital media. Sometimes it makes more sense to create a real world experience than a digital one. Marketers need to remain platform agnostic. It’s all about connecting with the audience.
Many thanks, Carol! I really appreciate it.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Interview Thursdays! Q&A With Content Creator And Expert Marc Ostrick
This week our Q&A is with Marc Ostrick, the creative genius behind many pieces of video content that you have doubtless enjoyed over the years. I was fortunate enough to get to meet Marc for the first time about two months ago, and have been a daily visitor to his blog ( http://onlinevideojunkie.blogspot.com ) ever since. He is a remarkably culturally perceptive guy, and his broad range of experience in so many different kinds of content makes him a great go-to person on the topics of creativity and the future of online video.
And with that intro, here's...Marc.
1. I like to start these by having people introduce themselves. Can you tell us a little about your background?
I was born the son of a sharecropper… Wait, that’s for another article. My background has always been arts-related. I went to a high-school of performing arts in Miami where I was a theater major. At NYU, I studied film and TV as well as English Literature. After graduating in ‘95, I headed west to Los Angeles and started working in the entertainment industry.
My first gig was straight out of the film SWIMMING WITH SHARKS. I was a Development Assistant at New Line Cinema, working for the Director. Even though I was psychologically abused, it was a tremendous learning experience. I was in the belly of the beast and get a deep understanding of how Hollywood worked. After about a year at New Line, I got an opportunity to travel the world, co-writing, producing and directing PRESERVING THE LEGACY, an environmental documentary series for PBS. That’s where I got to really cut my teeth making documentaries. Once that series wrapped, it was 1999 and that’s when I jumped head-first into creating content specifically for the Internet. From there, one endeavor led to the next. I’ve made feature documentaries, the first mobile phone series for the TV show 24, worked as a new media producer with David Milch on HBO’s JOHN FROM CINCINNATI.
I find it hard to talk about my background in interviews. I feel like I just ramble on… Is it cool if people just check out my bio online at http://ostrickproductions.com? It’s fun for the whole family.
2. How has online video changed the creative process in Hollywood? Our industry talks a lot about the money aspects of the change – monetization rights and all that. But I’d love it if you focused on how Hollywood is changing creatively?
I’m not sure that online video has changed the creative process in feature films. It has definitely opened the eyes of how features can be promoted or marketed to media savvy consumers. This can be done through websites that create communities, as well as through viral videos and social networking communities. I think the BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was the first example of how online content can create significant buzz. Also, the new BATMAN movie had some really interesting online video components.
But I think where we are seeing the evolution of the creative process happening is in the television industry. This is mainly because it is inevitable that these two platforms are converging into one medium. So, I think TV show creators and development executives are now experimenting with extending the narratives of their stories online. I am more interested in organic ways that these TV shows are breaking free of their constraints and creating original video content that helps get audiences to get a deeper appreciation for their characters and themes of their shows. It’s really about how these two mediums can interact with each other to create an engrossing story. Cross-platform programming is the very unsexy term that I've recently heard thrown out there to describe this type of content.
Finally, online video is changing the creative process in television through the development process of new shows. Instead of spending tons of money on a handful of pilots, TV execs are starting to make lower-budget webisodes as a way to test the waters. It’s more of an incubator model. I think this could work if networks give these online series enough monetary and marketing support. Production is still production. It needs to be done right and with good actors. Otherwise, if the rationale is only to save money, it’s the wrong motivation and the content will suck.
3. Has online changed the concept of celebrity, and what defines a celeb? Let me bait you a little here, and ask why in 2009 instead of Grace Kellys we have Paris Hiltons?
Here’s an SAT analogy – Grace Kelly is to Scarlett Johansson as Paris Hilton is to Betty Page. I think there were always various kinds of celebrities out there. It’s just that the Betty Pages of today are getting much more attention than they did back in the days of old. The reason for that is that our culture seems to be more interested (or obsessed) in scandal, voyeurism and salacious behavior than in class, elegance and intelligence. I blame George Bush. In terms of online, I also blame the incredible success of websites like Perez Hilton and TMZ. Kids just eat this stuff up because it is so easily accessible. And unfortunately, we all love watching train-wrecks. It’s just that in today’s world, we are much less ashamed to admit it.
4. I keep hearing people talk about the need to do more storytelling in online media. I get what a story is, but what do you think people are really yearning for when they say that?
This is a great question and I think it can easily become a topic for a much deeper conversation, but here’s my take – I think attention spans have been so destroyed since the advent of MTV, people are starting to wonder about how to find “meaning” in what they watch, read and hear. Stories have become so fragmented, people are yearning for something to hold onto, something that allows for deeper thought and emotions. It’s like cooking sauce. You have to let it marinate to really appreciate the flavors. Regarding online media, I also think it is harder to create deep storylines and invest emotionally in characters when you only have three minutes. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but you have to really have a compelling story concept, characters and visual style to get the audience to connect. One of my mentors, David Milch, would say, “Form predicts content, and content tests form.” Meaning, that if you are creating a web series, you know that the form is - usually - several minutes length, the screen is smaller than television, the audio mix has to be brighter, etc., right? The form is predicting the type of content you are going to make. But then, the content you create has to test the boundaries of that form. It has to push the envelope. That’s our job as storytellers.
5. In TV advertising, it seems as if the trend is to focus more on the idea and less on production values. Would you agree with that assessment, and are you seeing the same trend in content?
The tide is turning with that as well. As larger companies start to get into producing web content, we are starting to really see a jump in production values as well as the caliber of performances. It really is starting to feel like some of these webisodes could be shown of television. Check out DR. HORRIBLE’S SING ALONG BLOG for an example of what I am talking about. It was created by Joss Whedon and stars Neil Patrick Harris. Another great site that features high-quality content is Crackle.com. The site is part of Sony Entertainment so they got bucks to make sure the content is looking up to snuff.
6. I know that you have a passion for great ideas and great video. How do you find the best from the billions of videos out there?
Various ways – reading the newspaper, trade publications like Variety, searching out cool blogs that focus on video content, and YouTube is always a good way to waste time.
7. Perhaps the most ubiquitous trend in online is the concept of democratization – the triumph of the “wisdom of crowds” over a small cadre of culture defining experts. Is “democratization” a good thing for the entertainment industry? What can experts offer the wise crowds?
Democratization is always a good thing in whatever form it comes in. Sometimes it just takes a while for the “wisdom of crowds” to get up to speed on their newfound freedoms. For creating video, the most important lesson for the masses is learning the craft. Learning a craft takes time and patience, but anyone can do it if they practice. That doesn’t mean that the stories will be any good, which is essential in making engaging, dynamic videos. But at least people can technically deliver - learn how to light a scene, shoot coverage, get good audio while shooting, ways to work with actors, etc… This will help people prepare themselves for when the right script comes along. Which is a whole other discussion – making sure you have the right script or idea when you finally decide to push the record button is crucial. Without the right concept or script, you’re dead. But thankfully, there is also a ton of material out there to help aspiring writers learn their craft as well. Practice, practice, practice. It never hurts.
8. So, one really intriguing trend in entertainment to me is that more and more entertainment ideas are going global. We’ve got Sri Lankan Idol, an American The Office, and Ciento Mexicanos Dice (Family Feud). So here’s my question: are entertainment themes global? Could a Little Britain work in the US? Does Law and Order work in Singapore? Can the origin of Desperate Housewives be found in Venezuelan novellas?
Sometimes yes and sometimes no. There are certain subjects that are unique to the particular culture, but most great ideas have universal appeal. Is it a good idea for creative content to be treated like franchise restaurants? I’m not sure…
9. As a follow up, it strikes me that American entertainment gets exported a lot, and we sometimes import themes, but we rarely import actual programs for air on TV. Why do you think that is? Are we xenophobic or provincial?
Yes, I think we are, on the most part, a xenophobic nation especially when it comes to video entertainment. We really don’t care about other cultural forms of entertainment – or even other cultures for that matter. It’s sad but true. For the record, I am a huge fan of Manu Chao - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzgjiPBCsss. I also think there is a market for sophisticated crowds who really like foreign films and world music, but it’s sad it has never really caught on with the masses.
10. So, as my second to last question, can you give us a few videos you think rock the house? Feel free to set them up with a sentence or two. Or not.
You have to check out my blog for that one.
http://onlinevideojunkie.blogspot.com
11. Finally, is there an idea you can leave us with to help us foster greater creativity online?
For aspiring video and filmmakers, I just encourage you to keep making content for YOURSELF. Make sure that you love what you are making and that you are doing it because you have no choice. Making videos to become famous or rich is not the right reason to be spending all the energy needed to create stories. It has to be out of a true desire to express yourself and ideas.
For those who are seeking great content, just keep your curiosity alive and keep your eyes open. There is great stuff out there. Sometimes it just takes time to find it.
Thanks, Marc.
And with that intro, here's...Marc.
1. I like to start these by having people introduce themselves. Can you tell us a little about your background?
I was born the son of a sharecropper… Wait, that’s for another article. My background has always been arts-related. I went to a high-school of performing arts in Miami where I was a theater major. At NYU, I studied film and TV as well as English Literature. After graduating in ‘95, I headed west to Los Angeles and started working in the entertainment industry.
My first gig was straight out of the film SWIMMING WITH SHARKS. I was a Development Assistant at New Line Cinema, working for the Director. Even though I was psychologically abused, it was a tremendous learning experience. I was in the belly of the beast and get a deep understanding of how Hollywood worked. After about a year at New Line, I got an opportunity to travel the world, co-writing, producing and directing PRESERVING THE LEGACY, an environmental documentary series for PBS. That’s where I got to really cut my teeth making documentaries. Once that series wrapped, it was 1999 and that’s when I jumped head-first into creating content specifically for the Internet. From there, one endeavor led to the next. I’ve made feature documentaries, the first mobile phone series for the TV show 24, worked as a new media producer with David Milch on HBO’s JOHN FROM CINCINNATI.
I find it hard to talk about my background in interviews. I feel like I just ramble on… Is it cool if people just check out my bio online at http://ostrickproductions.com? It’s fun for the whole family.
2. How has online video changed the creative process in Hollywood? Our industry talks a lot about the money aspects of the change – monetization rights and all that. But I’d love it if you focused on how Hollywood is changing creatively?
I’m not sure that online video has changed the creative process in feature films. It has definitely opened the eyes of how features can be promoted or marketed to media savvy consumers. This can be done through websites that create communities, as well as through viral videos and social networking communities. I think the BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was the first example of how online content can create significant buzz. Also, the new BATMAN movie had some really interesting online video components.
But I think where we are seeing the evolution of the creative process happening is in the television industry. This is mainly because it is inevitable that these two platforms are converging into one medium. So, I think TV show creators and development executives are now experimenting with extending the narratives of their stories online. I am more interested in organic ways that these TV shows are breaking free of their constraints and creating original video content that helps get audiences to get a deeper appreciation for their characters and themes of their shows. It’s really about how these two mediums can interact with each other to create an engrossing story. Cross-platform programming is the very unsexy term that I've recently heard thrown out there to describe this type of content.
Finally, online video is changing the creative process in television through the development process of new shows. Instead of spending tons of money on a handful of pilots, TV execs are starting to make lower-budget webisodes as a way to test the waters. It’s more of an incubator model. I think this could work if networks give these online series enough monetary and marketing support. Production is still production. It needs to be done right and with good actors. Otherwise, if the rationale is only to save money, it’s the wrong motivation and the content will suck.
3. Has online changed the concept of celebrity, and what defines a celeb? Let me bait you a little here, and ask why in 2009 instead of Grace Kellys we have Paris Hiltons?
Here’s an SAT analogy – Grace Kelly is to Scarlett Johansson as Paris Hilton is to Betty Page. I think there were always various kinds of celebrities out there. It’s just that the Betty Pages of today are getting much more attention than they did back in the days of old. The reason for that is that our culture seems to be more interested (or obsessed) in scandal, voyeurism and salacious behavior than in class, elegance and intelligence. I blame George Bush. In terms of online, I also blame the incredible success of websites like Perez Hilton and TMZ. Kids just eat this stuff up because it is so easily accessible. And unfortunately, we all love watching train-wrecks. It’s just that in today’s world, we are much less ashamed to admit it.
4. I keep hearing people talk about the need to do more storytelling in online media. I get what a story is, but what do you think people are really yearning for when they say that?
This is a great question and I think it can easily become a topic for a much deeper conversation, but here’s my take – I think attention spans have been so destroyed since the advent of MTV, people are starting to wonder about how to find “meaning” in what they watch, read and hear. Stories have become so fragmented, people are yearning for something to hold onto, something that allows for deeper thought and emotions. It’s like cooking sauce. You have to let it marinate to really appreciate the flavors. Regarding online media, I also think it is harder to create deep storylines and invest emotionally in characters when you only have three minutes. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but you have to really have a compelling story concept, characters and visual style to get the audience to connect. One of my mentors, David Milch, would say, “Form predicts content, and content tests form.” Meaning, that if you are creating a web series, you know that the form is - usually - several minutes length, the screen is smaller than television, the audio mix has to be brighter, etc., right? The form is predicting the type of content you are going to make. But then, the content you create has to test the boundaries of that form. It has to push the envelope. That’s our job as storytellers.
5. In TV advertising, it seems as if the trend is to focus more on the idea and less on production values. Would you agree with that assessment, and are you seeing the same trend in content?
The tide is turning with that as well. As larger companies start to get into producing web content, we are starting to really see a jump in production values as well as the caliber of performances. It really is starting to feel like some of these webisodes could be shown of television. Check out DR. HORRIBLE’S SING ALONG BLOG for an example of what I am talking about. It was created by Joss Whedon and stars Neil Patrick Harris. Another great site that features high-quality content is Crackle.com. The site is part of Sony Entertainment so they got bucks to make sure the content is looking up to snuff.
6. I know that you have a passion for great ideas and great video. How do you find the best from the billions of videos out there?
Various ways – reading the newspaper, trade publications like Variety, searching out cool blogs that focus on video content, and YouTube is always a good way to waste time.
7. Perhaps the most ubiquitous trend in online is the concept of democratization – the triumph of the “wisdom of crowds” over a small cadre of culture defining experts. Is “democratization” a good thing for the entertainment industry? What can experts offer the wise crowds?
Democratization is always a good thing in whatever form it comes in. Sometimes it just takes a while for the “wisdom of crowds” to get up to speed on their newfound freedoms. For creating video, the most important lesson for the masses is learning the craft. Learning a craft takes time and patience, but anyone can do it if they practice. That doesn’t mean that the stories will be any good, which is essential in making engaging, dynamic videos. But at least people can technically deliver - learn how to light a scene, shoot coverage, get good audio while shooting, ways to work with actors, etc… This will help people prepare themselves for when the right script comes along. Which is a whole other discussion – making sure you have the right script or idea when you finally decide to push the record button is crucial. Without the right concept or script, you’re dead. But thankfully, there is also a ton of material out there to help aspiring writers learn their craft as well. Practice, practice, practice. It never hurts.
8. So, one really intriguing trend in entertainment to me is that more and more entertainment ideas are going global. We’ve got Sri Lankan Idol, an American The Office, and Ciento Mexicanos Dice (Family Feud). So here’s my question: are entertainment themes global? Could a Little Britain work in the US? Does Law and Order work in Singapore? Can the origin of Desperate Housewives be found in Venezuelan novellas?
Sometimes yes and sometimes no. There are certain subjects that are unique to the particular culture, but most great ideas have universal appeal. Is it a good idea for creative content to be treated like franchise restaurants? I’m not sure…
9. As a follow up, it strikes me that American entertainment gets exported a lot, and we sometimes import themes, but we rarely import actual programs for air on TV. Why do you think that is? Are we xenophobic or provincial?
Yes, I think we are, on the most part, a xenophobic nation especially when it comes to video entertainment. We really don’t care about other cultural forms of entertainment – or even other cultures for that matter. It’s sad but true. For the record, I am a huge fan of Manu Chao - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzgjiPBCsss. I also think there is a market for sophisticated crowds who really like foreign films and world music, but it’s sad it has never really caught on with the masses.
10. So, as my second to last question, can you give us a few videos you think rock the house? Feel free to set them up with a sentence or two. Or not.
You have to check out my blog for that one.
http://onlinevideojunkie.blogspot.com
11. Finally, is there an idea you can leave us with to help us foster greater creativity online?
For aspiring video and filmmakers, I just encourage you to keep making content for YOURSELF. Make sure that you love what you are making and that you are doing it because you have no choice. Making videos to become famous or rich is not the right reason to be spending all the energy needed to create stories. It has to be out of a true desire to express yourself and ideas.
For those who are seeking great content, just keep your curiosity alive and keep your eyes open. There is great stuff out there. Sometimes it just takes time to find it.
Thanks, Marc.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Inside and Outside the Box: An Interview With Box.net Community Manager Sean Lindo
Well, it's Interview Thursday here at Oldest Living. this week, we're hearing from Sean Lindo, Community Manager for Box.net.
Q1: For the benefit of people who may not have heard of you, can you give me an elevator pitch of Box.net? What you do and the need you meet?
Box.net is a service for people to store, access, and share files online and, more importantly, collaborate on them with family, friends, and colleagues. Whether those files are productivity documents, like Word docs, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations or digital photos, audio and video, Box.net provides individual and enterprise customers with a simple and secure service for storing and sharing the files that matter to them.
Q2: Lots of companies begin with a story. A catalyzing moment that made the founders know they had a real need to meet. What is Box.net’s story?
While he was a student at USC, Aaron Levie, Box.net’s CEO and co-founder, wanted to figure out a way he could access and share any file he had, wherever he was. He wanted to do it in a way that was easier than how most people accessed and shared files then - and, as a matter of fact, how many people still do today.
As Aaron says, Box.net wasn’t established to be a leader in online file storage and collaboration. He and his co-founders just wanted to solve a problem they experienced themselves. 2 million users later, it turns out a lot of people shared their sentiments.
Q3: There are several companies offering file sharing services right now. What’s unique about your offering? Are there new services we should be aware of?
Box.net puts an emphasis on collaboration. It isn’t enough that we provide a simple way to store files online. For us, the magic is in how people get to use, share and collaborate with their files. We make it really easy for Box customers let others, whether they’re a Box user or not, to view and edit files, contribute and track changes in a centralized place.
The cool thing is that a lot of people are noticing what we bring to the table. As you know, Dell recently announced a partnership with us, providing users of the new Inspiron Mini 9 netbook with free online storage and collaboration services from Box.net. The fact that one of the most respected leaders in the industry picked Box speaks volumes about what we offer.
We are also working on a Box.net application for the iPhone. I’m an iPhone user myself, so I’m especially excited about being able to access and share files on my beloved phone. We’ve already gotten rave reviews on our iPhone browser-based application. Users can expect an easier, more robust experience when the native app comes out. And in general, we update Box.net on a weekly basis to optimize performance and security and address customer requests.
The key takeaway in all of this is that Box.net provides customers with a user-centric experience - not a closed, application-centric one. We want to provide an open experience that lets customers use files with the applications, operating systems and devices they prefer, all in a way that’s fun, simple, secure and reliable.
Q4: Your site touts how OpenBox is integrated with some service platforms like Picnik. How does that work and what does that mean for the user?
We are especially proud of what the OpenBox platform brings to customers. Box was the first online storage service to provide an open API for third party developers to write applications that work seamlessly with files stored in a Box.net account.
For example, if you use Picnik to edit digital photos, Zoho to edit documents or Facebook to post files on your profile page, you can access files stored on Box.net right inside these applications. When you create or make edits to files using these apps, you can store them on Box.net and share them easily. Customers can do this with tons of other services and applications from iPaper, Zazzle, eFax, Wordpress and even Autodesk.
Q5: Ultimately, this is a blog about marketing, and your background is in marketing. What have you found are the biggest challenges of promoting an online service in this constantly changing marketing environment?
The web has given consumers an almost infinite amount of ways to learn about anything. In researching and evaluating a product, people put a premium on learning about something from a credible and trustworthy source. The challenge is knowing what those sources are and how to get your word out on them at the right time and in the right way, whether it’s an established site like TechCrunch and Engadget, or the blog that has a few dozen dedicated, but really vocal readers. While it is a changing environment, it poses the same marketing challenges that have been around forever. The web just multiplies them many times over. At the same time, you have so many more options and things you can try out, but it’s definitely a challenge.
Q6: Companies are ultimately about people. What made you choose to work at Box.net? What’s YOUR story?
It had long been a dream of mine to work for an exciting company in Silicon Valley. I worked for some great companies in Chicago, but I’m a tech fanatic. I read tons of books and watched a lot of documentaries on Apple, Steve Jobs, Microsoft and Google, which made me excited about working in a place where history is made and world-changing products are born. In Box.net, I came across a company that was young, playing in an exciting space and growing at a fast pace. It was just the kind of company I imagined joining once I was in California.
Just as importantly, I get to work with people who are fun, smart, hard-working and passionate about their work. It’s easy to get out of bed in the morning because I sincerely look forward to working with the people I get to work with at Box.
Q7: What is your role at Box.net? What does a Community Manager do?
I’m basically Box.net's main point of contact with the blogosphere. My job is to stay up-to-date on what’s being said about Box.net on tech news sites, journals, podcasts, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and so forth. We want to make sure we get our story out to the online community and effectively address the needs and concerns of current and potential users.
Q8: What excites you about working at Box.net?
I’m excited that Box.net gets to play a big role in this trend towards true cloud computing. I know a lot of people love to hate that term. But the move towards using files and applications that are web-based is undeniable. The market is looking for a simple, rich and secure experience in accessing information and content wherever, however and on any device, whether it‘s a PC on your desk or the phone in your pocket. I think Box.net is ideally positioned to deliver on a lot of what people want in this space.
Q9: Anything else you want to tell us?
If your readers haven‘t already, I would encourage them to visit www.Box.net to learn more, sign up and stay tuned! Oh, and pick up a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 - or two!
Q1: For the benefit of people who may not have heard of you, can you give me an elevator pitch of Box.net? What you do and the need you meet?
Box.net is a service for people to store, access, and share files online and, more importantly, collaborate on them with family, friends, and colleagues. Whether those files are productivity documents, like Word docs, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations or digital photos, audio and video, Box.net provides individual and enterprise customers with a simple and secure service for storing and sharing the files that matter to them.
Q2: Lots of companies begin with a story. A catalyzing moment that made the founders know they had a real need to meet. What is Box.net’s story?
While he was a student at USC, Aaron Levie, Box.net’s CEO and co-founder, wanted to figure out a way he could access and share any file he had, wherever he was. He wanted to do it in a way that was easier than how most people accessed and shared files then - and, as a matter of fact, how many people still do today.
As Aaron says, Box.net wasn’t established to be a leader in online file storage and collaboration. He and his co-founders just wanted to solve a problem they experienced themselves. 2 million users later, it turns out a lot of people shared their sentiments.
Q3: There are several companies offering file sharing services right now. What’s unique about your offering? Are there new services we should be aware of?
Box.net puts an emphasis on collaboration. It isn’t enough that we provide a simple way to store files online. For us, the magic is in how people get to use, share and collaborate with their files. We make it really easy for Box customers let others, whether they’re a Box user or not, to view and edit files, contribute and track changes in a centralized place.
The cool thing is that a lot of people are noticing what we bring to the table. As you know, Dell recently announced a partnership with us, providing users of the new Inspiron Mini 9 netbook with free online storage and collaboration services from Box.net. The fact that one of the most respected leaders in the industry picked Box speaks volumes about what we offer.
We are also working on a Box.net application for the iPhone. I’m an iPhone user myself, so I’m especially excited about being able to access and share files on my beloved phone. We’ve already gotten rave reviews on our iPhone browser-based application. Users can expect an easier, more robust experience when the native app comes out. And in general, we update Box.net on a weekly basis to optimize performance and security and address customer requests.
The key takeaway in all of this is that Box.net provides customers with a user-centric experience - not a closed, application-centric one. We want to provide an open experience that lets customers use files with the applications, operating systems and devices they prefer, all in a way that’s fun, simple, secure and reliable.
Q4: Your site touts how OpenBox is integrated with some service platforms like Picnik. How does that work and what does that mean for the user?
We are especially proud of what the OpenBox platform brings to customers. Box was the first online storage service to provide an open API for third party developers to write applications that work seamlessly with files stored in a Box.net account.
For example, if you use Picnik to edit digital photos, Zoho to edit documents or Facebook to post files on your profile page, you can access files stored on Box.net right inside these applications. When you create or make edits to files using these apps, you can store them on Box.net and share them easily. Customers can do this with tons of other services and applications from iPaper, Zazzle, eFax, Wordpress and even Autodesk.
Q5: Ultimately, this is a blog about marketing, and your background is in marketing. What have you found are the biggest challenges of promoting an online service in this constantly changing marketing environment?
The web has given consumers an almost infinite amount of ways to learn about anything. In researching and evaluating a product, people put a premium on learning about something from a credible and trustworthy source. The challenge is knowing what those sources are and how to get your word out on them at the right time and in the right way, whether it’s an established site like TechCrunch and Engadget, or the blog that has a few dozen dedicated, but really vocal readers. While it is a changing environment, it poses the same marketing challenges that have been around forever. The web just multiplies them many times over. At the same time, you have so many more options and things you can try out, but it’s definitely a challenge.
Q6: Companies are ultimately about people. What made you choose to work at Box.net? What’s YOUR story?
It had long been a dream of mine to work for an exciting company in Silicon Valley. I worked for some great companies in Chicago, but I’m a tech fanatic. I read tons of books and watched a lot of documentaries on Apple, Steve Jobs, Microsoft and Google, which made me excited about working in a place where history is made and world-changing products are born. In Box.net, I came across a company that was young, playing in an exciting space and growing at a fast pace. It was just the kind of company I imagined joining once I was in California.
Just as importantly, I get to work with people who are fun, smart, hard-working and passionate about their work. It’s easy to get out of bed in the morning because I sincerely look forward to working with the people I get to work with at Box.
Q7: What is your role at Box.net? What does a Community Manager do?
I’m basically Box.net's main point of contact with the blogosphere. My job is to stay up-to-date on what’s being said about Box.net on tech news sites, journals, podcasts, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and so forth. We want to make sure we get our story out to the online community and effectively address the needs and concerns of current and potential users.
Q8: What excites you about working at Box.net?
I’m excited that Box.net gets to play a big role in this trend towards true cloud computing. I know a lot of people love to hate that term. But the move towards using files and applications that are web-based is undeniable. The market is looking for a simple, rich and secure experience in accessing information and content wherever, however and on any device, whether it‘s a PC on your desk or the phone in your pocket. I think Box.net is ideally positioned to deliver on a lot of what people want in this space.
Q9: Anything else you want to tell us?
If your readers haven‘t already, I would encourage them to visit www.Box.net to learn more, sign up and stay tuned! Oh, and pick up a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 - or two!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
World Peace? Nope. Peace World. An Interview With Consumer Expert Steve Peace
So, this kicks off what I hope will be a regular series of interviews with industry leaders. One of the best things about digital is that there are many people who have such strong and often contradictory views -- because we are in an environment of constant dynamism. I hope you enjoy reading these interviews as much as I do providing them!
So...Steve Peace. What can I tell you about one of my favorite people in the biz?
Steve is a nosy opinionated guy, which works out pretty well for him
professionally since he is paid to understand consumer behavior and
develop communication strategies. His nosiness was bred into him by a
theologian father and author mother, then cultivated through his studies
in cultural anthropology.
It was not until Steve worked in the governmental sector that the opinionated part really blossomed. A career in International Development work, including stints at the Harvard Institute of International Development and the Peace Corps
taught Steve that the best way to influence policy is through strong opinions backed by fact.
Steve began an online marketing career in San Francisco in 1997 where
his talents for asking questions and crafting arguments were put to good
use. He has worked both on the agency and client side through the boom and
subsequent bust, gaining exposure to many different product and service
categories. Currently, Steve is the Director of Communications Planning
at Carat, a division of the Aegis group, and lives in Los Angeles.
1. For the benefit of those who don't know you, Steve, can you summarize
a little about your role and responsibilities at Carat?
As the Director of Communications Planning at Carat, my job is to
develop strategies that guide the placement of media. This includes
understanding industry dynamics, developing media-focused target
segmentation, tracking media behaviors, building allocation models, and
developing new methodologies to measure the impact of marketing programs
on sales.
2. One of my strongest memories of you is the breadth of categories in which you have led projects. Give us a sense of that range.
A key benefit that agencies have to offer is the ability to
cross-pollinate experience and ideas across industries and product
categories. For example, CPG companies do measurement platforms very
well and Entertainment companies do innovation very well. They could
learn from one another, and agencies can be the broker of that
information.
I've been fortunate in my career so far to work across
many different industries, including; financial services, retailers, CPG
manufacturers, consumer electronics, telecommunications, high
technology, entertainment, food services, online services, apparel, and
the list goes on. Exposure to the dynamics and drivers of growth across
a broad range of industries can be a catalyst for freeing one's mind
from well worn pathways by creating greater flexibility of thought.
3. So, this is a blog about digital marketing. How do you think the
principles of DIGITAL marketing differ from traditional marketing? Or do they?
The principles of marketing have always been the same, given the fairly
stable mechanics of persuasion. But our tactics in digital marketing do
differ quite a bit from traditional marketing. There are a couple of
key dynamics in the digital space that require the use of new tactics:
1. Interactivity
2. Accountability
Interactivity is well understood as a concept, but we've yet to tap out
the various ways in which this concept can be taken advantage of from a
marketing standpoint. There has always been a transactional nature to
advertising. Meaning, the advertiser provides something valuable (like
information or entertainment) and the consumer provides their attention
in exchange. This transaction can be more explicit and intricate in the
online space. Widgets are a good example of advertisers providing
actual utility in exchange for attention.
Accountability is the other game changer. Because we can track users
with cookies, we have far greater access to data. This allows us to
more finely tune the ways in which we attribute ad spend online to a
final sale. Lately, we've seen this methodology extended to the
traditional space. Google bought a company that automatically inserts
radio ads into a station's format, controlled centrally by a server.
They then correlate the time of insertion to volume of searches on
related terms to attribute spend. That's basically an online
methodology making it into the traditional world. It's exciting to me
that the digital space is now pioneering techniques that can make all
advertising spending more accountable and efficient.
4. How has digital changed consumers?
It has made them better equipped as consumers. For the people that like
to do their homework before they make a purchase, the Internet has made
the task of product research far easier. There are some holdout
industries, like mattresses, that have done a pretty good job of
continuing to obfuscate in order to protect their margins. But for the
majority of businesses, the increased flow of information requires them
to sharpen their benefits and be more competitive, since it is easier
than ever to comparison shop.
Some might argue that MTV is responsible for the degradation of
America's attention span, with the popularization of the jump cut. But,
digital must take some credit, as well, and YouTube is reaping the
benefit of that dynamic. Entertainment is now snack-sized.
Finally, consumers take on-demand access to entertainment for granted.
When I was a child people had to take money out of the bank on Saturday
morning and make sure they had enough for the week. There were no ATMs.
The dispersed computational power and interactivity of the Internet has
taught consumers to expect on-demand everything. This changes one's
relationship with the environment. The world, in general, requires less
incremental planning on a daily basis.
5. How do you see digital changing entertainment?
There have been a spate of important music deals lately that illustrate
a fundamental shift in entertainment. MySpace signed deals with most of
the major labels to launch an iTunes competitor and BestBuy bought
Napster. The MySpace deal is most significant, since executives on
either side of the table expect to monetize the new service through
advertising.
Filmed entertainment is suffering from a similar upheaval, but has yet
to react in any major way. Attendance at the box office has been flat,
or declining, and the number of major releases have been increasing.
The theatre owners have reacted by raising ticket prices - which has
helped maintain revenues over the short term. But, high-priced CDs
didn't help the music labels for very long...
The digital space has made it easy to pass content among consumers (aka
stealing content). But, it has also made it easier to publish content
(aka UGC). So, major entertainment companies are being squeezed on
either end. More consumers are unwilling to pay a higher price for
their product and there is increased competition in the entertainment
space, from consumers themselves.
6. One of the biggest challenges in entertainment is setting a prudent ad budget in support of a title -- and spend it in the right places. What advice can you offer in those areas? What's your approach to entertainment challenges like these?
Every movie is a unique entity, which makes entertainment marketing
challenging and also really interesting. It is possible, though, to
make some very high level generalizations. And, since 600+ feature
films are released every year, there is a rich set of data on which to
pressure test these generalizations.
For example, we've found that there is actually a sweet spot for the
volume of dollars to spend in supporting a new release. That sweet spot
is determined by the number of screens on which the release will open.
In general, the films that spend around $7,000/screen in advertising
reap the highest opening week return on ad spend (and opening week
revenues have a very strong correlation with overall success). The
trick, then, is determining how many screens a film should open on.
This is a bit trickier, given the complexity around how that gets
determined between studios and theatre owners. But, testing of the film
with a sample audience can help.
In terms of allocation of the ad spend across media channels, we've had
some success in using media time usage as a foundational principle. In
other words, we measure the percentage of time our target audience
spends with T.V., radio, Internet, etc., and use that as a starting
point for allocation. It ensures we'll be in front of the audience in
multiple forms of media (which has a demonstrated greater impact and
efficiency than achieving reach through only one form of media).
From there, we apply several filters on the allocation. Those filters are
related to how well a medium carries the creative message, and whether
or not our audience actively seeks out a medium to learn about our
product. Finally, we have an algorithm that translates the % of media
time we'd like to achieve in a medium into a dollar allocation. It's a
really flexible model that can be fit to any sort of film, since it's
sensitive to different audience types and different creative messages.
7. Can you give an example of a company that you think is kicking butt in digital marketing?
Compete.com out of Boston has been kicking butt for several years now.
They purchase click path data from ISPs and analyze it to uncover really
exciting insights about various industries. For example, they can
measure fluctuations in the overall pool of demand that exists for a
particular product (like cars) based on the number of people visiting
car related sites - then measure the ability of a competitive set in
attracting that interest and converting it. This means we can now not
just track the ad spend of our client's competitors, but understand who
is doing the best at converting that spend into prospects. This is a
really powerful concept.
8. I don't recall a time when you and I ever agreed entirely on anything. Which BTW was a very good thing in my view. It's because I think in terms of mass markets and you in terms of niches and segmentation. Why is my approach flat wrong? ;-)
Ok, I'm going to have to disagree with you Jim, you're not wrong. Mass
market products still exist, I agree with that. But, even a mass market
product must tap into niche communities to succeed in the current
market. A good example is pay T.V. Anyone in America can use the
service and 85% of Americans pay for some type of T.V. service.
But, what are the drivers of adoption for a television service? One big
adoption driver is moving. That's just the mechanism that gets a
consumer in-market. More interesting is how a service is selected once
a consumer is in the market. If you are a sports fan, you might take a
look at the available sports packages. DirecTV is a clear winner in
that case. Other folks, especially high HHI families, might be more
interested in the high speed Internet packages that are available with
the T.V. service. Cable has a distinct edge in this realm. To sell pay
T.V. services, it's important to understand these differences and market
to them.
The point is that the world is getting bigger and bigger. There are
more people in the world now and more segmentable sub-groups of those
people that represent attractive chunks of revenue to a marketer.
Because of increasing competition, we have to find ways to be relevant
at a more and more incremental level - relating to the specific
interests of a group of people in relation to the product we are
selling. This makes our job more difficult, but also fraught with
interesting complexity.
9. We talk a lot about start ups here. What are your favorite new companies in the digital realm, and why? This, of course, is your chance to shill for your favorites.
This company isn't all that new, but I haven't seen broad adoption of
their services, so I think they are worth a mention. Neurofocus. They
test creative by hooking their subjects up to electrodes and reading
their brainwaves. What they read are neurological indications that
something has made it into long term memory, and they can tell you
exactly at what point in the ad drove that happened. It's brilliant
stuff.
10. What do you think separates a great consumer insights person from the pack?
A facility with and sensitivity to both qualitative and quantitative
data - and an understanding of when to apply each. A consumer insight
might be related to a keen understanding of cultural nuance that gives
creative work greater relevance. Or, it might be related to addressing
a segment that has been overlooked by other competitors. The best
planners have symmetrical brains. The left sides are as developed as
the right.
Putting up with, even embracing, the process of culling through large
amounts of information is a critical skill as well. Everyone in
marketing has access to mountains of data. The trick to great planning
is finding the organizing principle, the golden nugget, within that
stack of numbers. For example, the credit card industry is completely
mature. Competitors beat each other up for share of a finite pie. The
nature of that battleground is the key to understanding the space.
People going through life events are more likely than the average
consumer to apply for yet another card (e.g. moving, getting a new job,
getting married, having a baby). You only know that fact by looking
through reams of data.
11. Ultimately work is...work. How do you keep your passion for the business and for consumers?
The fact that total ad expenditures in the U.S. are somewhere north of
$230 billion. That's a lot of money devoted to convincing America of
'something.' Our work has a definable impact on the culture around us.
That can be either hugely deleterious, neutral, or even positive. The
folks controlling those dollars control the outcome of that impact.
12. What do you love about this industry?
The innovation just keeps coming. And it's creating some odd dynamics
that are fun to think about. For example, let's take a look at
historical feedback loops as an illustration of one such dynamic. Jazz
is a great feedback loop. Slaves that were shipped to the United States
in the early part of the 18th century brought their own music with them.
That music went through a number of transformations - influenced by the
music of America, one path of which produced American Jazz, others
produced gospel and R&B. What's interesting to me is you have guys like
Yussef Latif rereferencing modern African music in his Jazz. The loop
has not just been closed, it's feeding on itself and producing something
new. The Internet industry is like that, as well.
New technologies produce new ideas, which then feed on one another and produce even more technologies and ideas. It looks boundless and endlessly interesting.
13. What chaps your butt about this industry?
It can make me crazy when folks confuse the application of subjective
vs. objective decision making in the industry. Yes, marketing is an art
and a science. But, we've got a firm grasp at this stage of the game on
exactly which pieces are art and which pieces are science. You confuse
them at your own peril.
14. Can you leave us with a final thought?
As Frank Herbert would say, "Fear is the mind killer." We cannot fear
continual evolution of our methodologies and must embrace innovation in
the marketing world, or risk irrelevance.
Many thanks, Steve.
-----
I am happy to be able to announce that Steve will be a weekly contributor to Oldest Living, beginning next week. I am certain the discussion here will be the richer for it!
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
So...Steve Peace. What can I tell you about one of my favorite people in the biz?
Steve is a nosy opinionated guy, which works out pretty well for him
professionally since he is paid to understand consumer behavior and
develop communication strategies. His nosiness was bred into him by a
theologian father and author mother, then cultivated through his studies
in cultural anthropology.
It was not until Steve worked in the governmental sector that the opinionated part really blossomed. A career in International Development work, including stints at the Harvard Institute of International Development and the Peace Corps
taught Steve that the best way to influence policy is through strong opinions backed by fact.
Steve began an online marketing career in San Francisco in 1997 where
his talents for asking questions and crafting arguments were put to good
use. He has worked both on the agency and client side through the boom and
subsequent bust, gaining exposure to many different product and service
categories. Currently, Steve is the Director of Communications Planning
at Carat, a division of the Aegis group, and lives in Los Angeles.
1. For the benefit of those who don't know you, Steve, can you summarize
a little about your role and responsibilities at Carat?
As the Director of Communications Planning at Carat, my job is to
develop strategies that guide the placement of media. This includes
understanding industry dynamics, developing media-focused target
segmentation, tracking media behaviors, building allocation models, and
developing new methodologies to measure the impact of marketing programs
on sales.
2. One of my strongest memories of you is the breadth of categories in which you have led projects. Give us a sense of that range.
A key benefit that agencies have to offer is the ability to
cross-pollinate experience and ideas across industries and product
categories. For example, CPG companies do measurement platforms very
well and Entertainment companies do innovation very well. They could
learn from one another, and agencies can be the broker of that
information.
I've been fortunate in my career so far to work across
many different industries, including; financial services, retailers, CPG
manufacturers, consumer electronics, telecommunications, high
technology, entertainment, food services, online services, apparel, and
the list goes on. Exposure to the dynamics and drivers of growth across
a broad range of industries can be a catalyst for freeing one's mind
from well worn pathways by creating greater flexibility of thought.
3. So, this is a blog about digital marketing. How do you think the
principles of DIGITAL marketing differ from traditional marketing? Or do they?
The principles of marketing have always been the same, given the fairly
stable mechanics of persuasion. But our tactics in digital marketing do
differ quite a bit from traditional marketing. There are a couple of
key dynamics in the digital space that require the use of new tactics:
1. Interactivity
2. Accountability
Interactivity is well understood as a concept, but we've yet to tap out
the various ways in which this concept can be taken advantage of from a
marketing standpoint. There has always been a transactional nature to
advertising. Meaning, the advertiser provides something valuable (like
information or entertainment) and the consumer provides their attention
in exchange. This transaction can be more explicit and intricate in the
online space. Widgets are a good example of advertisers providing
actual utility in exchange for attention.
Accountability is the other game changer. Because we can track users
with cookies, we have far greater access to data. This allows us to
more finely tune the ways in which we attribute ad spend online to a
final sale. Lately, we've seen this methodology extended to the
traditional space. Google bought a company that automatically inserts
radio ads into a station's format, controlled centrally by a server.
They then correlate the time of insertion to volume of searches on
related terms to attribute spend. That's basically an online
methodology making it into the traditional world. It's exciting to me
that the digital space is now pioneering techniques that can make all
advertising spending more accountable and efficient.
4. How has digital changed consumers?
It has made them better equipped as consumers. For the people that like
to do their homework before they make a purchase, the Internet has made
the task of product research far easier. There are some holdout
industries, like mattresses, that have done a pretty good job of
continuing to obfuscate in order to protect their margins. But for the
majority of businesses, the increased flow of information requires them
to sharpen their benefits and be more competitive, since it is easier
than ever to comparison shop.
Some might argue that MTV is responsible for the degradation of
America's attention span, with the popularization of the jump cut. But,
digital must take some credit, as well, and YouTube is reaping the
benefit of that dynamic. Entertainment is now snack-sized.
Finally, consumers take on-demand access to entertainment for granted.
When I was a child people had to take money out of the bank on Saturday
morning and make sure they had enough for the week. There were no ATMs.
The dispersed computational power and interactivity of the Internet has
taught consumers to expect on-demand everything. This changes one's
relationship with the environment. The world, in general, requires less
incremental planning on a daily basis.
5. How do you see digital changing entertainment?
There have been a spate of important music deals lately that illustrate
a fundamental shift in entertainment. MySpace signed deals with most of
the major labels to launch an iTunes competitor and BestBuy bought
Napster. The MySpace deal is most significant, since executives on
either side of the table expect to monetize the new service through
advertising.
Filmed entertainment is suffering from a similar upheaval, but has yet
to react in any major way. Attendance at the box office has been flat,
or declining, and the number of major releases have been increasing.
The theatre owners have reacted by raising ticket prices - which has
helped maintain revenues over the short term. But, high-priced CDs
didn't help the music labels for very long...
The digital space has made it easy to pass content among consumers (aka
stealing content). But, it has also made it easier to publish content
(aka UGC). So, major entertainment companies are being squeezed on
either end. More consumers are unwilling to pay a higher price for
their product and there is increased competition in the entertainment
space, from consumers themselves.
6. One of the biggest challenges in entertainment is setting a prudent ad budget in support of a title -- and spend it in the right places. What advice can you offer in those areas? What's your approach to entertainment challenges like these?
Every movie is a unique entity, which makes entertainment marketing
challenging and also really interesting. It is possible, though, to
make some very high level generalizations. And, since 600+ feature
films are released every year, there is a rich set of data on which to
pressure test these generalizations.
For example, we've found that there is actually a sweet spot for the
volume of dollars to spend in supporting a new release. That sweet spot
is determined by the number of screens on which the release will open.
In general, the films that spend around $7,000/screen in advertising
reap the highest opening week return on ad spend (and opening week
revenues have a very strong correlation with overall success). The
trick, then, is determining how many screens a film should open on.
This is a bit trickier, given the complexity around how that gets
determined between studios and theatre owners. But, testing of the film
with a sample audience can help.
In terms of allocation of the ad spend across media channels, we've had
some success in using media time usage as a foundational principle. In
other words, we measure the percentage of time our target audience
spends with T.V., radio, Internet, etc., and use that as a starting
point for allocation. It ensures we'll be in front of the audience in
multiple forms of media (which has a demonstrated greater impact and
efficiency than achieving reach through only one form of media).
From there, we apply several filters on the allocation. Those filters are
related to how well a medium carries the creative message, and whether
or not our audience actively seeks out a medium to learn about our
product. Finally, we have an algorithm that translates the % of media
time we'd like to achieve in a medium into a dollar allocation. It's a
really flexible model that can be fit to any sort of film, since it's
sensitive to different audience types and different creative messages.
7. Can you give an example of a company that you think is kicking butt in digital marketing?
Compete.com out of Boston has been kicking butt for several years now.
They purchase click path data from ISPs and analyze it to uncover really
exciting insights about various industries. For example, they can
measure fluctuations in the overall pool of demand that exists for a
particular product (like cars) based on the number of people visiting
car related sites - then measure the ability of a competitive set in
attracting that interest and converting it. This means we can now not
just track the ad spend of our client's competitors, but understand who
is doing the best at converting that spend into prospects. This is a
really powerful concept.
8. I don't recall a time when you and I ever agreed entirely on anything. Which BTW was a very good thing in my view. It's because I think in terms of mass markets and you in terms of niches and segmentation. Why is my approach flat wrong? ;-)
Ok, I'm going to have to disagree with you Jim, you're not wrong. Mass
market products still exist, I agree with that. But, even a mass market
product must tap into niche communities to succeed in the current
market. A good example is pay T.V. Anyone in America can use the
service and 85% of Americans pay for some type of T.V. service.
But, what are the drivers of adoption for a television service? One big
adoption driver is moving. That's just the mechanism that gets a
consumer in-market. More interesting is how a service is selected once
a consumer is in the market. If you are a sports fan, you might take a
look at the available sports packages. DirecTV is a clear winner in
that case. Other folks, especially high HHI families, might be more
interested in the high speed Internet packages that are available with
the T.V. service. Cable has a distinct edge in this realm. To sell pay
T.V. services, it's important to understand these differences and market
to them.
The point is that the world is getting bigger and bigger. There are
more people in the world now and more segmentable sub-groups of those
people that represent attractive chunks of revenue to a marketer.
Because of increasing competition, we have to find ways to be relevant
at a more and more incremental level - relating to the specific
interests of a group of people in relation to the product we are
selling. This makes our job more difficult, but also fraught with
interesting complexity.
9. We talk a lot about start ups here. What are your favorite new companies in the digital realm, and why? This, of course, is your chance to shill for your favorites.
This company isn't all that new, but I haven't seen broad adoption of
their services, so I think they are worth a mention. Neurofocus. They
test creative by hooking their subjects up to electrodes and reading
their brainwaves. What they read are neurological indications that
something has made it into long term memory, and they can tell you
exactly at what point in the ad drove that happened. It's brilliant
stuff.
10. What do you think separates a great consumer insights person from the pack?
A facility with and sensitivity to both qualitative and quantitative
data - and an understanding of when to apply each. A consumer insight
might be related to a keen understanding of cultural nuance that gives
creative work greater relevance. Or, it might be related to addressing
a segment that has been overlooked by other competitors. The best
planners have symmetrical brains. The left sides are as developed as
the right.
Putting up with, even embracing, the process of culling through large
amounts of information is a critical skill as well. Everyone in
marketing has access to mountains of data. The trick to great planning
is finding the organizing principle, the golden nugget, within that
stack of numbers. For example, the credit card industry is completely
mature. Competitors beat each other up for share of a finite pie. The
nature of that battleground is the key to understanding the space.
People going through life events are more likely than the average
consumer to apply for yet another card (e.g. moving, getting a new job,
getting married, having a baby). You only know that fact by looking
through reams of data.
11. Ultimately work is...work. How do you keep your passion for the business and for consumers?
The fact that total ad expenditures in the U.S. are somewhere north of
$230 billion. That's a lot of money devoted to convincing America of
'something.' Our work has a definable impact on the culture around us.
That can be either hugely deleterious, neutral, or even positive. The
folks controlling those dollars control the outcome of that impact.
12. What do you love about this industry?
The innovation just keeps coming. And it's creating some odd dynamics
that are fun to think about. For example, let's take a look at
historical feedback loops as an illustration of one such dynamic. Jazz
is a great feedback loop. Slaves that were shipped to the United States
in the early part of the 18th century brought their own music with them.
That music went through a number of transformations - influenced by the
music of America, one path of which produced American Jazz, others
produced gospel and R&B. What's interesting to me is you have guys like
Yussef Latif rereferencing modern African music in his Jazz. The loop
has not just been closed, it's feeding on itself and producing something
new. The Internet industry is like that, as well.
New technologies produce new ideas, which then feed on one another and produce even more technologies and ideas. It looks boundless and endlessly interesting.
13. What chaps your butt about this industry?
It can make me crazy when folks confuse the application of subjective
vs. objective decision making in the industry. Yes, marketing is an art
and a science. But, we've got a firm grasp at this stage of the game on
exactly which pieces are art and which pieces are science. You confuse
them at your own peril.
14. Can you leave us with a final thought?
As Frank Herbert would say, "Fear is the mind killer." We cannot fear
continual evolution of our methodologies and must embrace innovation in
the marketing world, or risk irrelevance.
Many thanks, Steve.
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I am happy to be able to announce that Steve will be a weekly contributor to Oldest Living, beginning next week. I am certain the discussion here will be the richer for it!
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
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