5 Fantastic Digital First Campaigns

Muchos besos for running this first, iMediaConnection!

Broadcast vs. digital-first
What is the role of TV in the new media environment? Most brands continue to see TV as a one-way broadcast medium -- a platform by which we can deliver marketing messages that consumers should simply absorb and remember. In this world view, digital is an add-on -- a means of overlaying an interactive element onto what is primarily an old-school sledgehammer-to-consumer-skull effort. Little more than checking a box. You know the drill. Or perhaps I should say mallet. The brand blasts away a nice "strategic ad" over the airwaves, but spends 7 percent of the budget pushing some "viral" or "social" effort that essentially asks consumers to spit back the broadcast message.

Fortunately, a few brands are leading a transition. They understand that TV is no longer a broadcast medium so much as it is a mass distribution channel -- one that establishes awareness for a larger campaign effort that gives consumers a real role in shaping and communicating the brand essence. These are "digital-first" brands. That doesn't mean they necessarily spend a larger proportion of dollars on digital. Not at all. Rather, they use all media -- traditional and digital -- to seek out consumer participation. Participation that is channeled through digital platforms.

It might sound like a nuanced difference, but it really isn't. A good digital-first campaign has participatory experiences that consumers seek out; TV simply grows the awareness for such efforts and uses its unique experiential qualities to make the larger campaign more vivid and impactful.

We all know a little prime-time can blow the doors off awareness and seed an idea to a broad audience. With such a foundation, literally millions of people seek out interactive experiences that make the campaign and brand a vivid part of their lives.

Here are five brands and their efforts that showcase the power of the digital-first model, along with one brand that really needs to embrace this approach.

Axe

Those who read what I write regularly (Hi Mom!) know that I talk about Axe a lot, and it's because the brand is a leader in so many digital areas. And digital-first marketing is no exception. While TV certainly communicates the "get Axed 'n get laid" message, the best bits of Axe marketing always take place online. In part, no doubt, because broadcast standards wouldn't let them do this stuff during the family hour.

Need an example? Oh good Lord. Everything Axe does is digital-first. Check out the Axe Undie Run, proof positive that even dirty birdies can care about their fellow woman:



In short, the people at Axe are geniuses, and part of their wisdom is in always being digital-first.

Pepsi

While charity is a small overlay for Axe, it's a big deal for the new Pepsi.

We knew to expect significant changes in Pepsi's marketing approach when it broke with BBDO after something like 2,000 years of partnership. The old Pepsi sought to create TV epics that associated the brand with the hottest celebs of the moment. It was a subtle-as-a-nail-gun effort to link the brand to the next generation. And it worked like a dream until people became the new brand marketing engine.

Here's the "before" vid:



The new Pepsi connects with youth by relating to one of their deepest held values -- community and social responsibility. Pepsi fronts a portion of the marketing budget to help charities, and asks Pepsi drinkers to choose the recipients of blue largesse.

Extended across all traditional and digital media, the effort puts the brand in service of user desires instead of treating their brains as sponges for "we're young and hip and cool like Britney" messaging.

Kia

Auto advertising is perhaps the biggest creative ghetto on the planet, but the Kia hamster campaign for the entry-level Soul stands out as a shining example of how being different and digital-first can drive big dividends.

Let's face it: Most Kia advertising is pretty much invisible. It's the usual shiny car doing the usual things in the usual places making the usual claims, with a bit of value thrown in for differentiation. Not so with the Soul ads.



There's message in all that fun. About juxtaposing the attractive Kia with its toaster-like competitors. That the brand went digital-first for a car targeted primarily to younger and more venturesome buyers is a natural. What isn't is how well the brand delivered this idea across popular forms of digital and traditional media -- and did it in so many ways that consciously invite consumer participation.

It starts with the 60-second viral bait commercial, but there's also a lot more. From "making of" videos to Facebook apps to dedicated social sites in support of the hamsters, this brand clearly understands that attracting attention through TV advertising is only part of the opportunity for this campaign. Rather, TV was simply the catalyst for getting people to seek out and take ownership of other brand experiences featuring the furry spokesrodents.

The side scroller Go Hamster Go app is an example. The user fires up his or her webcam to enter the hamster world and drop hamsters into the Kia as it rolls by.



Kleenex

I think it was two years ago that Kleenex began its Let It Out campaign with TV ads and interactivities inviting consumers to share their feelings.



Of course, feeling has both physical and metaphorical meaning, so it's a nice way to tie up tangible and emotional benefits.

But this is by no means Kleenex's first digital-first effort. From promotions like Choose Your Mom to an interactive application that lets you upload photos and design your own Kleenex box, this brand is way ahead in interactive and marketing evolution in general.

Bing and Yahoo

One of the most interesting things to watch is how digital companies approach traditional media campaigns. Portals can be fascinating on this score because their offerings are, by their very nature, participatory.

Let's start with Yahoo. Forgive me, my fair purple sweet, I have used these pages to confess my love for you before. And I am well aware you have replaced this effort recently with something far better. But your old effort was a good example of what not to do.

Here goes.

You and Yahoo was a classic broadcast-style effort. It had some other layers. But ultimately, it was about delivering a message for us to remember and regurgitate. Me: individual. Yahoo: for individuals. Ergo. Me likey Yahoo. C'mon. I don't even know where to begin. Oh, yes I do. How about with what Yahoo called its anthem spot?



The campaign seems to have evolved into something a little less ether-y with new efforts titled "It feels good to feel." A combination of TV, print, and online is seeding the idea, but the centerpiece appears to be a host a ways that consumers can share their own feelings and memories.

Not "new" ways. "You" ways. Get it?

Yahoo -- Je t'adore. Let me say that again. Je t'adore. But good grief! It strikes me that this was an ideal time to let people experience how Yahoo can be the center of their online lives. Or to let people like me tell the world how Yahoo is the center of our lives. Je t'adore, Yahoo, but those jeans did make your butt look big.

Meanwhile, in Redmond...

Now, obviously Bing's challenge was different. The company needed to make people try a new search engine, not communicate the site as the center of an online life. But Bing could have done the broadcast thing and promised us the most unbelievably unbelievable search experience. Ever!

And oh my god, can you imagine the 60-second spots packed with vignettes of Sydney Opera House and Tuvan yurts and tea parties in the Sahara and people on Melrose just being in-di-vi-du-als that Bing could have served up? And a sort of whitewashed anthem, "If search is your thing, now try Bing (brand search engine)."

Instead, Bing's campaign really hinged on a variety of placements that made it easy to try Bing and see how the results are different.

I can look up words in in-text ads. I see Bing's stab at search results as a supplement to site search. I get to start the process of using Farecast in an ad unit.

Oh, and there was broadcast as well. But these TV ads made you ache to try Bing and see if it was really different. Cuz you've been there. We all have. Wanna see what it's like to be somewhere else?



Conclusion: Is digital-first best?

It's tough to imagine a brand that wouldn't be well served by inviting its users in -- as a central part of its marketing efforts. But perhaps even more than choosing such a campaign idea is inviting the consumer into all aspects of a brand.

Digital companies have unique opportunities to do this. That they sometimes don't makes me wonder if they understand that so much of their brand power comes from the minds and hearts and mouths and typing fingers of consumers -- not 1-inch tape or however TV ads get distributed these days.

Now, there's nothing like TV and those tapes to get the word out. Nothing. But brands that decide to use their TV to invite consumer to participate are going to fare better. It's time that we drop our sledgehammers and start sending out engraved invitations to join us in our brands.

White Paper Wednesdays: Obama And Digital

An amazing deck about the digital aspects of the Obama campaign is available below. From Rahaf Harfoush.

Yes We Did: Strategic Insights from the campaign that redefined modern politics

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: organizations politics)

Amobee: Keeping Money With The Carrier

One of the big differences between the cell phone environment in the US versus Asia and Europe is the extent to which revenue and commerce have been controlled by the carriers versus other businesses. In the US, carriers have been more successful at retaining greater control over their customers’ purchases.

Now, talk to two people in the industry and you’ll likely find out that this is a good thing and a bad thing. Carrier lovers point to lower relative cell phone service costs in the US, while carrier haters will tell you that it stifles innovation.

Whatever you believe to be the truth in that debate, it’s clear that Amobee, a start-up based in the Valley, is an intriguing way for the carriers to capture a healthy chunk of ad revenues from their customer bases.

What Amobee offers is a telephone company quality ad serving and monetization platform that lets carriers offer a broad array of ad and sponsorship options to marketers. This can take a variety of forms, from standard CPM and CPC stuff to ways that marketers can cover or at least subsidize phone based services.

Let me give you an example: a travel web site could offer users free access to a cool new mapping functionality simply by asking users to interact with a branded experience. Another example: a company could give users free access to premium content, like a movie or TV show, in exchange for viewing/participating in a marketing experience.

The quality, security, and reliability of Amobee have to be high for them to create lasting relationships with carriers. Carriers are extremely protective of their users’ experiences because a good experience can drive loyalty while bad experiences will ratchet up churn. Advertisers that want to ensure a positive consumer experience may find that sort of reassurance a plus as they search for an ad platform.

A gillion studies have demonstrated the consumer appeal of such a model, and Amobee offers carriers a way to get in on the funds. Their rev share model enables carriers to benefit from marketing activity of their users while also giving them important access to user information that will help them better customize experiences in the future. Such knowledge will also be critical in helping to drive down churn, which is inarguably the biggest impediment to carrier sub and revenue growth today.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to write.

7 Ways To Increase Advertiser Uptake of Your Emerging Media Platform

The following ran as an In Focus feature on iMediaConnection a couple of weeks ago. But in case you didn't see it...

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Lots of emerging media companies have difficulty making those all important first sales. Here are seven steps to improving your luck.

Some of the most exciting aspects of our media environment are the number and quality of “emerging media” platforms that are being launched – new media with the capacity to drive real change in the way brands connect with audiences and tell their stories.
But if one of these incredible new opportunities is your brainchild, or if you work on the team of one of these platforms, you know it can be a real challenge to get the people with ad dollars to engage with you. Indeed, whenever two or more people from emerging media companies get together, there’s usually some discussion about how difficult it can be to make planners and buyers break old habits – and try new things.

• “They want innovative, yet proven.”

I’d like to offer a different interpretation of the buying environment. When I talk with people in the planning and buying community, I hear that they are very anxious to experiment – what they find challenging is that most emerging companies expect them to do the “heavy lifting” of creating a business relationship. I asked a few buyers about this issue, and the comments I heard back were very consistent.

• “They expect me to accommodate them. It’s like they are trying to make it difficult for me to work with them.”
• “They pitch AT me instead of listening and responding to what I need.”
• “Many try to change the chessboard, introducing some weird new way to buy, or a new payment model, or a proprietary reporting platform. It’s not that I don’t like ideas, but it shouldn’t be my job to make their job easier. They are selling to me.”

Naturally, it is any buyer’s responsibility to capitalize on great opportunities as they become available – that’s why clients engage with agencies. But it is also critical that an emerging media company understand buyer needs, and accommodate those as part of the selling and account management processes.

With that in mind, here are seven ways that emerging media platforms can succeed in getting more consideration and business from the folks with money to spend:


1. Do Some Homework on How Media are Planned, Purchased, Reported On, and Optimized.

Many emerging media companies are led by people with technical backgrounds – folks who may not know how the RFP process works, what measures matter to planners and buyers, how agencies contractually engage, what’s sorts of out clauses are necessary, etc.

Even if your platform offers incredible opportunities for a brand, you need to understand that planning and buying from you needs to meet the basic parameters by which marketers and agencies make purchases. Purchasing processes in most companies are precisely defined, and deviating from those processes may take you out of consideration immediately.

Similarly, most major brands use a third party serving and reporting solution like Dart for Publishers (DFP.) Be sure to make your trafficking, scheduling, and reporting compatible with the major platforms like DoubleClick, Atlas, and Mediaplex before you hit the ground running. A lack of such compatibility will stop you in your tracks with the vast majority of brands.

In today’s environment, it is not at all unusual for a buyer to be spending millions on behalf of three, or five, or eight brands simultaneously. They do not have time to accommodate your special needs.

Further, an unfortunate reality of the digital media business is that there is still a lot of manual reporting and optimization going on. You do NOT want to add to that time suck with obtuse processes.



2. Be Prepared with a Well Honed Elevator Pitch

In an environment where your prospects have many time and attention demands, you often only get one brief “shot” and telling your story and making people care. In an emerging media context, you have the dual challenges of explaining what you are and what needs you meet in the first 20-30 seconds people give you to make your case.
There’s actually a formula to this that works for emerging platforms. Essentially, your pitch needs to include three things:

1. Context: A message that tells the prospect how to categorize you in their head, before they hear what’s unique. Are you…
a. …A social media platform
b. …A mobile application
c. ...A widget
It’s important not to get too cute here – you need to explain yourself in the context of the buyer’s current world view. Use their language, not newspeak. For example, you are not a “cross site ad vending and distribution platform,” you are an ad network. It’s not a distributed communication platform, it’s a widget. Many emerging media companies try so hard to be different that they make themselves unintelligible.
2. Tell them what’s different from an attribute standpoint: Is yours a social media site especially for beekeepers? A mobile ad network focused specifically on iPhone applications? An embeddable game platform focused on women 35-54? Make that clear. In plain English.
3. Tell Them What It Means For Them: There is a reason why your platform exists, right? Is it to create high quality branded experiences? A way to improve conversion rates by letting people buy in a widget? A better way to provide a completely brand safe UGC video experience for mothers and children? Tell them why they should care.
By sticking to the formula of context…differentiation…meaning, you will tell a concise and coherent story that prospects will understand and value.



3. Target Truly Likely “Innovator” Prospects

If you spent a few hours researching the “charter” advertisers for emerging media, you would quickly find that a small cadre of companies dominate. There are certain brands with both the money and the orientation to try truly new things – and there are many brands that don’t.

As an example, Procter and Gamble often leads the CPG pack in media innovation. In auto, foreign automakers often move more quickly into emerging media than Detroit, which focuses more on proven DR techniques. By defining the right set of target companies you’ll be able to focus your time on A prospects.

Another consideration is budget. Many emerging media companies target “cool” brands instead of “rich” brands. In most (though not all) cases, a brand with $10 Million to spend online is a lot more likely to sign than one with $500K. The cost to participate in your platform is also a factor. Smaller brands can swing $5K, but only major brands are likely to cough up $50K on an unproven platform.

You may also wish to consider a “charter” buying program to entice brands to participate with a lower initial pricepoint. A charter program can also set appropriate expectations about reach and other metrics while you build your market footprint.

Oh, but do make them pay something. Even just a little bit. People value things they pay for. Once you start giving things away, it’s tough to rebottle that genie.


4. Make An Effort to Understand a Prospect and Their Circumstances Before You Dial or Email.

You can boil most brand needs down to one (or more) of three things – awareness, trial, or repeat. By doing even a couple of searches on the brand and category, you can ensure that when you connect with a marketer you can tailor a message more likely to resonate. In an environment where resources are at a premium, planners and buyers must focus on those opportunities most likely to address specific brand needs.

Now, it is possible that the actual needs for a brand may be different from those you surmise. But the thing is, generally people are appreciative of “homework” whether or not you reach the same conclusions as they have. Getting it right can be a welcome surprise to the buyer. But what REALLY matters in the end is that you cared enough to try – it will set you apart from about 90% of the cold calls a planner gets.

5. Deliver Selling Materials That Answer the Likely Buyer Questions – in 12 Slides or Less.

Selling materials should be concise and clear. Now there’s a chocking statement, huh? But it is truly amazing how many emerging media companies offer seemingly eternal sales kits. I recently saw a deck of 73 slides for one. While the deck truly did answer every question one could possibly have about the platform, it is absurd to expect anyone to review it all.

Another problem: many sales decks tell stories inductively versus deductively; they offer a lot of data points and then the conclusion, versus postulating the rule and taking people through examples. An inductive deck may take people through 6 to 12 “the problem” slides before getting to what they offer. Problem is, in our ADD culture, people may never get to slide 12.

Instead, it makes sense to define what you are first (first slide,) and then explain the implications through examples.

Additionally, it makes sense to provide data to back up your story. Planners and buyers expect “proof”, not suppositions. That’s not to stay that you need case studies before you launch ;-) but rather that data in support of your reason for being make your offering more compelling.

Naturally, buyers will also need to understand creative specs and requirements. Visual examples, even spec examples, go a long way here to dimensionalizing the potential appeal of a new platform.
Finally, providing next steps and contact info is critical. On more than one occasion I have seen emerging media opps lose consideration because these basic elements were omitted.


6. Make Your Buying Model “Fit” The Spreadsheet

Don’t making buying your offering difficult. Agencies and brands gain approval of resources, often with formulaic Excel spreadsheets. The models that “fit” in these spreadsheets are CPM, CPA, and CPC. That’s not to say that another model cannot be sold but rather that unusual buying model s are harder to sell.
Brands typically care a lot about impressions, clicks, and buys. Naturally, some really good ideas may not be best measured in these three manners, so don’t rule OUT serving up a new model. But only do so if it necessary, because making things harder is never a good idea.
Some emerging media offerings have introduced novel buying and reporting methodologies as a means of differentiation. While I can’t say it NEVER makes sense, I can say with certainty that a new model makes you harder to deal with. Easy = good. Hard = bad.



7. Respectfully Stay On Your Prospects’ Radar

As an unproven emerging media opportunity, you’re not going to be a top tier priority for planners and buyers. They will naturally gravitate toward spending and managing large proven programs by which they can make progress toward your goals. Now, you can tut-tut over this, thinking it demonstrates a lack of vision. Or you can recognize that the planner’s job is not to help you. Your job is to meet their needs.
As the seller of an emerging platform, you have the onus to keep the dialogue going, to answer the prospect’s questions, and drive the sale. They aren’t going to “close” themselves.

That’s not to say that you should be calling five times a day every day but rather that emerging media are likely to fall to the bottom of to-do lists. It’s ultimately on you to cultivate and grow interest politely.

Once you’ve made the sale, it’s doubly important to meet and exceed your responsibilities. Many emerging companies, for example, wait to hire operations teams until they have a bunch of charter clients disgruntled by the service they aren’t getting. When you are just beginning your relationship with a marketer, it is even more critical to ensure smooth operations. In a new relationship it’s not about responding when the chips are down but rather ensuring that the chips stay up.

Nine Reasons…Not To Panic About The Economy And Its Effect On The Ad Biz

Gloom and doom have taken over the blogosphere. Here are nine reasons not to panic.

9. The Digital Advertising CW Always Overshoots Everything

The conventional wisdom in our business is always ridiculously polarized. We don’t like things, we love them with the very fiber of our being. And then three months later we despise them like child molesters. The bipolarity of the CW is absolutely absurd in our business. People are totally overreacting.

8. Panic Doesn’t Help

To succeed in this kind of environment, you need your wits, you need to be rationale. You can’t be rational if your head is filled with metaphorical scythe blades.

7. You’re In The Right Sector

Digital advertising is going to be less negatively impacted. That’s an absolute certainty. Brands still need ways to connect, and TV/Print aren’t getting any better at that, while digital is.

6. There Will Always Be a Need For The Best And Brightest Of Our Industry

If you’re good at what you do, the industry will need you. It doesn’t mean that smooth sailing in your career is guaranteed, but if you face setbacks, you’ll get back on your feet quickly.

5. By Working Together, You and Your Team Can Win

Collaboration is the secret to success in our business. There are lots of prerequisites to success in the business, but they pale in comparison to the ability for teams to come together and create better marketing experiences together. A jittery economy makes us all need each other more. Those that take that need and put it to healthy use are going to make great things happen.

4. This Ain’t 2001

The dot bust of 2001 was much deeper for digital than any possible downturn now will be. Why? Because back in 2001 very few companies/brands with money actually understood or believed in digital. Heck, most didn’t even acknowledge the potential of digital. Now digital is recognized by all as the future of media and marketing. If the lines on the eMarketer charts only go up 12% instead of 40% a year, they’re still going up. Now, you tell me any other business that has lines going up for the foreseeable future.

3. Use This Period As An Opportunity to Reconnect

Too many people in digital (and in many other businesses) sacrifice personal lives and relationships for the work. It can be tempting, given that we’re in the most exciting and remarkably dynamic industry around. But environmental changes such as this give us an opportunity to reassess what’s important. And the people in our lives are more important than our meteoric career plans or the next social media opp.

2. A Little Media Opp Culling Isn’t Necessarily a Bad Thing

There are a lot of dumb ideas out there masquerading as media opps. 400 ad networks? I’m guessing that our industry can make it with just 300. ;-) Thousands of social media networks? I’m guessing 900 will do just fine. ;-)

1. The Digital CW Always Overshoots Everything

Did I mention this already? ;-)

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to write.