Now that "digital has arrived" it's important that agencies and clients reconsider the ways that we interact with one another. Just a few years ago, digital didn't get much respect from either the full service agency world or most client companies. It was akin to cheap champagne -- something you served up when you cared, but not very much.
But now things are different, and clients and agencies are becoming increasingly dependent on the results that are achievable through digital platforms. And yet, in my "grandmother" research of about two dozen folks in full service and digital agencies, it appears that the ways in which agencies and clients interact haven't changed to reflect the increased importance of digital media. For far too many companies, digital platforms have become primary media delivered with also-ran development and communications processes.
The issues are not at all insurmountable. In fact, in many ways, they are dead simple. The focus of this piece is on things that digital agency teams want from clients. But they aren't intended to sound like sanctimonious demands; rather they are intended as five ways that we can quickly improve the impact of digital marketing efforts just by making small changes in the way that we work together. While the focus here is on what agencies want from their clients in order to forge these new ways of interacting, it'll be just as important to hear from brand marketers what they need from their digital agency teams.
Here, then, are five things agencies want from their clients to help improve digital marketing effectiveness.
1) A seat (and a voice) at the table
In its early years, digital was a tack-on, something you thought about after the campaign was developed and virtually all the media money was spent. Then you'd call in the digital folks -- whether on the client or the agency side -- and give them five days to slap together some banners and a schedule. In today's environment, in which many target audiences are spending a heckuvalot more time on Facebook than they are with Fox or Family Circle, it's clear that this approach needs to be revised.
Digital can play such a pivotal role for brands that its experts need to be sitting at the big people's table from the outset of planning. Why? Because we really should be involved in campaign development. Different campaign ideas can have very different relevance in an interactive environment. Digital can now be the starting point for a campaign, or the ending point, or the thread linking it all together. But truly taking advantage of the medium requires time to think and execute along with a concurrent development process.
2) A strategic mindset
Both agencies and clients often have highly strategic analog efforts, and then they assemble a potpourri of digital platforms and executions without considering what is best – strategically -- to reach and connect with a target. The fault here is absolutely on both sides. I'll be the first to note that we digital agency people have a habit of going straight to execution, in part because that is usually what has been demanded of us, and because time demands make people sloppy over time.
But when a client insists that there be as strategic an approach to digital efforts as for all other marketing efforts, we will all get far more out of our efforts and our careers. Clients need to demand a real examination of what target audiences are doing online, the likely times and places consumers will be open to brand messages, and whether deeper interaction with those banners might take a week longer to execute but deliver far stronger results.
I'm sure I will hear from both agencies and clients about this: "How dare you say we aren't strategic?" To which I can only respond: "Perhaps the point isn't about you." But just take one look at the blinky-blinky-click-now detritus that passes for creative online and you'll realize how many brand plans are fad-platform driven. See the point?
3) More open mindedness about quality and efficiency
Years ago, marketers typically fell into the quality bucket or the tonnage bucket. You and your company either believed in the power of high-rated, expensive programming to drive brand results, or you believed in barges full of the cheapest GRPs obtainable.
I make no comment on which is the correct way of thinking about broadcast, (other than I am certain that tonnage is the way to go ;-).
But in digital, both high-quality edit- and efficiency-oriented inventory have a critical role to play. This is because in digital, it's challenging to have both broad reach AND depth of interaction from a single set of executions. Brands need to be open to a mix of tools that collectively offer both, rather than simply demanding billions of the cheapest possible 728s, or approving only big, splashy deep integrations on elite publications.
Such a mix drives brand reach while also allowing deep brand experiences aimed at our best customers because the internet can be an incredibly powerful way to capitalize on the 20/80 rule insight. You can cover the waterfront to reach ordinary consumers while pinpointing the heavy users for deeper marketing efforts.
Many media companies offer solutions in both buckets -- portals, leading publications, and the best ad networks, just to name a few examples. All we need to do is capitalize on these dual opportunities more often.
4) A genuine interest in digital CAMPAIGN ideas
For me, one of the toughest adjustments I had to make as I moved from the analog world to digital was succumbing to the disparity in the meaning of the word "campaign." In offline, a campaign was built around a selling idea and was designed to live for years. Choosy mothers choosing Jif; Rolls Royce owners sharing Grey Poupon through driver-side windows; a lot riding on your Michelins; baking someone happy. That sort of thing.
In digital, "campaign" means some common element in a couple of pieces of creative that will be replaced in three weeks with another set of banners that have something different in common. A campaign in digital is essentially akin to what offliners call a flight, only it's even less than that.
Blue is not a campaign. Ditto Helvetica. Nor is a snake made of tiles labeled with state names. I am not saying that the snake doesn't get clicks, but for most of the readers of iMedia, there are goals other than immediate conversions to consider.
Identifying real campaign ideas is even more important today than back when Mr. Whipple was squeezing toilet rolls. As consumers are barraged with more and more marketing messages, the need for more integrated and enduring messages and imagery is even more pronounced.
I wish more brands were interested in identifying what works and sticking with it. Many of the same people who develop TV campaigns to last two years want entirely different banner looks every month. This is nothing short of marketing insanity.
Ideas and executional elements are just as much a part of building a brand online as they are in building one through 30-second spots. We all need to be more open to enduring digital advertising ideas.
5) Passion for data
Why are so few clients (and agencies) capitalizing on the tremendous resources and information available through digital reporting and analytics? Yes, yes, some are, especially giant brands and agencies. But many, many brands and agencies aren't.
Let's start with the basics. There is more to life than the CTR. Not every campaign objective can or should be measured by clicks. CTR is, of course, an easy metric to understand, and it's an easy one to measure, but a click does not adequately reflect the results of an awareness campaign, or a program designed to drive genuine brand interaction.
More to the point: It's time that all of us demonstrate real respect for data experts. So often, these information and analytical professionals have deep insights that could make a huge difference to businesses -- if only they were heard.
I want to emphasize that often clients have more respect for data than some agency people. But by demanding better reporting and analytics from us -- and by valuing it in both contract negotiations and with your time and attention -- you'll help unlock tremendous brand value and improve the actionable insights available from your agencies. Because ultimately, we care about what you care about.
Closing thoughts
Many of us are weary of quibbling with our client or agency side counterparts over process. And let's not even get started on the squabbling over fees -- that's a far bigger fish than I can fry here.
As I write this piece, it is apparent to me that we need to get past this he said/she said -- "You guys over there need to do…" -- thinking and figure out how to address all of these issues, and the myriad others we face, together.
There is a flip side to every issue, and while clients may need to give agencies a seat at the table, the agencies must provide value and insights that make their presence at the table valuable. And we must have the courage of our convictions, rather than be quick to acquiesce. Agencies need to demand strategic ideas from all of their teams, so that clients get strategic ideas to buy. And so on.
But clients do have a role in addressing all of these issues, because ultimately, agencies morph and recalibrate to reflect client priorities. We need to push you, and in turn, you need to push us.
My fear is that in a world of tightening budgets and limited people resources, we are all pushing each other the wrong way -- toward the illusion of an easier softer way, and that somehow we can standardize what we do to reduce time and effort.
Don't get me wrong, standardization has value -- just ask any buyer who used to have to buy "standard banners" in 92 sizes for a modest campaign. Just ask the designers that had to wrist all those versions of the same execution a couple of years back.
But standardization can only deliver so much benefit in our dynamic media environment. We need more and bigger ideas so that we can focus limited time and money on something better. Let's start coming up with them…together.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Interview: Robi Ganguly on The Fantasy Sports Phenomenon
While I am not a fantasy sports player, I have long been fascinated by the seeming iron grip these offerings have over the free time of millions of people. I am pleased to introduce you to Robi Ganguly this week, as well as to provide you with his perspective on fantasy sports and how to market using them.
Robi is a long time veteran of digital and a serial entrepreneur. His involvement in fantasy sports has been both personal and professional – he was once employed at Yahoo where he worked with Yahoo properties including their fantasy offerings to help define and implement the best inventory and offerings for publishers. Currently, he is a founder of a new site called DraftMVP.com, which he discusses in some detail below. Additionally, he provides consulting services to startup and major companies that seek to better communicate with their customers via digital.
Without further ado, let me hand the virtual mike to Robi to give us some insight into the world of fantasy sports.
1. Lots of us who are not involved in fantasy sports are nonetheless hearing a great deal about them. Can you tell us why you think they are so popular?
I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that a large part of sports fandom is about watching the decisions of the team management and applauding or criticizing it, as the case may be. Fantasy sports gives all of the "armchair quarterbacks" out there the ability to put their words into actions, managing a team of their own.
2. Why do you think fantasy players are so passionate about it?
Since real-life sporting contests tend to have very clear winners and losers, fantasy sports really extends that clarity of victory to an individual level. The fans can participate in feeling the exhilaration of winning as the athletes succeed on the field. Additionally, most leagues are made up of friends who like to taunt, tease and gloat throughout the season, which leads to a vibrant (albeit combative) community.
3. I know that fantasy has expanded well beyond baseball. What are the most popular sports? And is this primarily and American phenom?
Fantasy sports certainly have a large U.S. base (over 18 million players), but they are important to fans around the world, with the popular sports reflecting national acceptance. In the U.S., for example, the most popular (by number of players) fantasy sport is football. Basketball, baseball and NASCAR are also very popular, with fans of soccer, hockey, golf and other sports represented too. Internationally, soccer and cricket appear to be highly popular, reflecting their global popularity.
4. Your developing a new site and service for fantasy players. Can you tell us a little bit about it?
Sure. Our small team of 4 has created a fast and powerful tool located at www.draftmvp.com that assists fantasy baseball players during their draft. While the majority of players do a lot of research before their draft, identifying who they'd like to pick up for their team, there aren't any offerings that really assist that player during the draft. That's where DraftMVP comes in: we allow you to understand how your team's statistical portfolio changes with each pick in your draft and we help you evaluate each of your choices before adding them to your team. Our research about the methodology over the past few seasons has shown us that our approach outperforms those players who choose not to deploy it.
5. Is the service primarily for the hard core player, or is your target broader?
As a company, our aspirations are pretty broad. Our first offering, the draft tool, is focused on being as simple and easy to use as possible, so that we can help out the novice user. We've been hearing from many novice fantasy baseball players that it's exactly the thing to level the playing field for them.
(some Twitter comments:
http://twitter.com/mercinary/status/1398099935
http://twitter.com/uublog/status/1399138980
http://twitter.com/DrBlogstein/status/1404565718)
6. When I was younger, there was a hard core group of baseball fans who scoured Sporting News for stats and figures with an intensity I’ve seldom seen other places. Are fantasy sports built around the hard core stat head?
Most fantasy sports offerings are centered around content and league management. As such, it isn't really restricted to hard core stat heads. However, staying up to date on player activities can be really time intensive and as a result, many fantasy players feel pressure to be reading sports news every day in order to be competitive. Our team believes that there is an opportunity to develop powerful tools for fantasy sports managers, using statistics in order to make better roster decisions quickly. We believe that introducing tools to assist the average sports fan manage their fantasy team will make fantasy sports more enjoyable and hopefully, broaden the appeal of the industry as a whole.
7. Who’s making money in fantasy, and how?
The major providers of fantasy sports league management capabilities are Yahoo!, ESPN and CBS Sportsline, all of whom sell advertising. Additionally, they have premium offerings which cost money, providing them with the majority of their revenues. On the content side of the industry, there are literally hundreds of sites that offer fantasy sports news, insights, recommendations and player watch lists. These content providers tend to charge for their content and also sell advertising on their sites.
8. As you know, iMedia Connection is primarily focused on people charged with communicating brand messages. How does a sports brand participate in these communities? Are their opportunities for non sports brands?
To date, brands have used banner advertising and custom integrations with the larger sites to get in front of fantasy sports players. Importantly, the brands haven't just been sports brands, they've been brands like Coke and Subway. Brands who want to connect with players could sponsor paid features, content and tools in order to offer fantasy sports players services that they value. Additionally, they could organize specific contests, create communities for fantasy sports players to collaborate and work with the major sports leagues to extend the accessibility of the stats required by fantasy sports players (currently these stats are very expensive and tightly held). All of these actions would serve to associate the brand with clear benefits for the fantasy sports players.
9. In closing, what advice would you give to a marketer considering fantasy sports as a communications channel?
Brands have long considered sports as a good place to connect with passionate and highly engaged consumers. Fantasy sports players tend to be a subset of the sports category who are even more passionate and highly engaged. As such, experimenting with ways to get in front of fantasy sports players should be an area of focus for any brand that is already focusing on sports fans. Additionally, fantasy sports players tend to be highly connected individuals, managing their teams online, using their computers while watching sports and using their mobile phones to check scores, news and lineups. When brands think about communicating with customers digitally and experimenting with emerging channels, the fantasy sports market is a place where consumers can be readily found.
Thanks Robi!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
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