The Fire Escape Photo

Why is it that the usual form for advertising executive photo is to look rather moodily into the camera?

Is it cos we're trying to be cool when we're not?

Is it cos we're actually not enjoying it?

Is it cos we want people to think we're serious when we're actually jokers.

I wanted to put my friend Alex's photo up, but unfortunately he came out over-exposed...

Martin Smith

I had the good fortune to meet Martin Smith last week. He's a jolly nice chap, an ex-chief at BBH and after that Grey.

We talked about some interesting things, for example about how it seems that 20 years ago, advertising agencies were the thought leaders - palaces of innovation and creativity and way ahead of clients. But today the opposite is almost true. We're operating in structures built in the 1960's that have hardly altered at all. Martin suggested that the growth of big agency networks had put lawyers and accounts in charge of creative organisations - to the detriment of innovative and no-risk thinking.

I got the sense from him that the networked / open-source business he's creating in The Law Firm (with Andy Law) will be far more fluid and less compartmentalised than traditional creative agencies. The whole model is based on passing work across a nodal network and then taking in ideas in the same way. It means you can harness lots of small specialists under one umbrella - a kind of Creative Co-operative. Each node benefits from any business they put put to the other nodes. And each node gains by being part of wide-ranging network. It's a great idea.

We also talked a lot about the future uses of IPTV. The idea that IPTV channels will combine the best of programming, advertising, funded content and even merchandising - and bring them to niche audiences as specialist interest channels. He mentioned an ethical channel that were doing exactly that - and refusing advertising space to any non-ethical brands!

Integrated Thinking Prompt?

This is my tool, ('model' sounds too serious for something so simple), for developing totally integrated campaign ideas for brands. The point is that so often still, creative teams develop ideas that live in print or on TV but they seem to stop there.

So, the point of this is to encourage thinking in other dimensions. So a great creative idea might well be expressed in the written word and as image. But how about we also take it in the following directions;

Action: Let's get people doing something that expresses the idea. It could be as simple as a field force handing out samples, or as engaged as a flashmob dancing to the ipod beat. This one could also be called Person. Think Celebrity operating as brand platform. What Kate Moss does says a a lot about your brand

Music/Sound: This isn't new, but music and radio/podcasting is underused in taking a creative idea forward. From the Lynx single to a branded MP£ story.

Object/Place: Brands creating experience. What a great way to make an idea real. From 4x4 driving days to corporate sculpture. It's a sure way to get noticed, be involving and become a hot-topic.

Interaction: Yeah yeah. We're all doing it right? But the best thing about the co-creative world is that we can leave our idea unfinished and invite others to complete, alter and enhance it. So let's leave them some room. Wasn't that what great communications was always all about?

The proof of the pudding is in the eating though, so watch this space.

Give up the Analogue

Digital Assault Course

Today, all the Planners are sitting down for the Digital Assault Course. A galloping tour through
the latest web fads with some demonstrations of some of our better creative efforts to the team.

I hope we all find it useful and interesting.

The key will be to think about how it could impact our clients' business.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Leo

Working in 2010?

Talk of how advertising and marketing agencies need to shape themselves for the future seems to be a constant of agency-life. I sometimes wonder if it was always like that, people looking for something new, something emergent, something different?

What really surprises me, and I guess gets people talking, is how Direct Marketing and Advertising agencies seem to reject the opportunity to engage the public in new and more creative ways. It's not just putting the idea online as well as in print. It's thinking differently about how an idea can be shaped, transmitted, reversioned and magnified. We seem to intellectually accept that the 'consumer' is no longer 'consuming' in the way they used to, that control and co-creativity have been enabled by the web and that communities are connecting online. But still people fall back on print and TV.

There's no doubt that the structures of many of the businesses we work in can be resistant to change. But they seem resistant to the way the market is moving. And this has a commercial impact, the Ad agencies enjoy margins of less than 10%, whilst so-called Below the Line agencies can achieve 15-20%. You'd think that money would talk? That people might see that together something of far greater value could be created. Certainly it's true that web design firms are hiring old-world marketing professionals to beef up their offering, but why aren't the big firms really grasping the change by the throat?

Leo de Bono talks about how the mind is like water running over a rock. Slowly the water wears a groove into the rock and over time, the river can go no other way. This makes a lot of sense to me. People get stuck in ruts, often they don't know they're in one. But what is it that makes people so resistant to change? Perhaps its the comfort of knowing what you're doing. But you would hope agencies aren't so conservative. Perhaps it's the system - the awards, the management structures, the bonus schemes, the senior managment who grew up in an age before Instant Messenger, before Email even. Is the system inimical to the creation of new ways of working and new kinds of work?

I'm divided on what to DO about it though. Is it better tobe a fifth column working from within, or to stand outside the edifice and try to pull it down? If all this talk sounds a bit revolutionary, then you can blame the book I am reading, a novel on the French Revolution. What struck me in the book was how the Old Regime in France was unable to accept that the system in which people had operated all their lives was false, narrow and "wicked".

There is hope though. People are talking about the desire to create change. Surely that's the first step. My view is that a few of us together, even working on small projects can cumulatively create a bigger sea-change in the way agencies operate. Also, time is on our side; eventually the old order will retire and the new paradigm will be established.

There are a few businesses who appear to be trying to do things differently. To talk about new ways of engaging the public, new ways of interacting with customers. They aren't media biased. But they do hire media and craft specialists in as required. They aren't afraid to create intellectual properties that they can sell to their clients. They're forward thinking, brave and interesting. They are often modern versions of production companies (the people who already realised that you can run a successful freelance model).

It makes me think of Russell Davies' view of a marketing world peopled by Ronin-like planners (those Samurai hired hands) "It won't be long before groups of creative, strategic and executional Ronin become effective competitors to established agencies".

Anyway, have a look at these guys;

The Law Firm - Andy Law's new outfit, talking nodal networks and open source creativity
Anomaly - New York based agency moving beyond the stereotypes
4 Creative - Channel 4's in-house creative team
The Barbarian Group - US digital production outfit
Open Intelligence Agency - Russell Davies' mates operating virtually together

The Limits of Co-Creation

I'm all for the whole reversioning content and taking ownership vibe.

But then I saw this here.

V-Dubs Rock!

Another great idea from Crispin Porter Bogusky. The premise: buy a Volkswagen and we'll give you a guitar (which, just by the way) you can plug into the cars' stereos.

I love the sheer off-the-wallness of the idea. Its entertaining to watch. And it's not just for guitar freaks, it gives the brand some interesting associations of rock, rebellion, jamming and humour.

Oh and check out the ads on Youtube.

Top banana.

Gossip in the town square

It was only a matter of time before we saw the emergence of marketing companies trying to facilitate brands' conversations with people online.

This US business tells a good story, and it feels that new technology has allowed them to widen their offer. But its still all about listening to the latest farming tips in the market square, acting upon it and later gaining customer feedback on your efforts.

Same old same old huh?

Gigantic Optimistic Bravery

I attended a great conference today. The APG's Battle of Big Thinking. Good format in that every speaker was given only 15 minutes, which meant the good ones threw out lots of great ideas and the boring ones didn't go on too long.




I took a lot away about the brand-marketing-communications-creative-media-advertising'sdead industrial complex. But mainly I took away some inspiration and some refreshing perspectives. I guess I might revisit some of them in the coming weeks, but for what it's worth, here are a few I thought would be of interest;

1) The marketing industry can be a bit of a dinosaur. And the point is that the old way of engaging with customers at a mass level is under serious threat. So what should you do? There's no put in trying to evolve the best dinosaur you can if a new ice age is just around the corner. Far better to be little agile warm-blooded mammal.

I guess mammal-like things at the moment for me are harnessing the power of the web in a bid for brands to facilitate conversations, and recognising that by giving up control, brands can actually gain influence. (I'm pretty sure there's a judo reference in there somewhere).

2) I loved the idea of future planners as Ronin, hired hands adapting themselves to whatever mission they're undertaking. The idea that planners, like great online businesses, should always put their work out there in a Beta version was cool. The point is you've got to have a go. If you wait for the grand unified theory of marketing, youy'll never get anything done. This I think ties in nicely to the web aesthetic of hand-made, that I'm really interested in at the moment.

3) Actually it's not about 'big ideas', which are impossible to ground in reality, too precious to be messed about with and generally a block to doing good stuff. No, its actually about the little ideas, the little things we can do to make a difference. As Trevor Beattie put it, 'Every Little Helps but Every Big Hinders'.

PS. Russell Davies was really inspiring, Jim Carrol (BBH) was very plannerly and Ivan Pollard was very slick.

Stairs, they are your friends.

I've been pondering the interplay between the medium and the message for a while now.

It is clear that using media or connection opportunities can help shape the message and bring it to life. Showing that you've thought about the interaction between the message and where you see it, broadens the creative idea. It takes it into another dimension.

Think of the British Heart Foundation, exhorting you to take the steps (rather than riding the escalator) in tube stations, for the sake of your heart.

Or think about VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) who placed ads about life changing meaningful experiences on the London tube, where the depth of commuter despond is thoroughly plumbed.

I suppose the trick to coming up with opportunities like these it to start at the strategic end. What are we trying to communicate? Who are we reaching? Is there any way of bringing the thought to life in a physical way for the consumer?

One idea I'm keen to try out is the 'lost' car key.

Here's the deal; for a car client looking to get more test drives, why not drop a series of real looking car keys and fobs in pubs, or restaurants, the backs of cabs or even the supermarket. In short, wherever your target market goes. You spot car keys on the floor, of course you're going to pick them up. And that's when I've got you - with a carefully crafted and charming message on the back that exhorts you to take a test drive or win a car etc. Its interruptive I know, but I'm sure the copy can offset that. Plus its a new way to reach a market that might not view more traditional media. An even better idea would be to embed an RFID tag in the key fob offering you for example free public transport to the nearest dealership. C'mon... any takers?

I was motivated to write a little about this, having seen Cubemate's post here. Cubemate, aka Dan Ng, is one of the brightest stars in the Planning firmament and I urge you to subscribe to his blog.

Immerse yourself

We wanted to share the excitement and transfer some of the closeness that you get to powerful beasts of the sea at Sea World Florida. Both are concepts only, using outdoor to raise awareness.

Why Paris Hilton is Madonna 2.0

Read a great article today that argued that Paris Hilton isn't so much a modern celebrity as a marketing platform like youtube.

The point is that although every song or book she produces totally dies, her omnipresence in popular culture provides her with an inestimable market value. She constantly links to other brands (desingers, restaurants, night clubs, other celebrities) and they constantly link to her.

Guess its true of Posh and Becks too in a way. Though it saddens me to see their level of linkage dropping off, as their popularity wanes.

Tell me that you love me, that its not a one-night stand.

Its less glamorous than selling cars.
And it's hard to do customer service really well.
But After Sales is critical to the customer's experience of the product and therefore the brand.
This campaign encourages drivers of older Volkswagen cars to re-consider getting their servicing and maintenance done at the local Volkswagen dealership.

A chink of light in urban darkness

See more of Banksy's work here...

Malcolm Gladwell talks Chairs

Listen here to his lovely talk about the risks in taking what people say at face value. Another nail in the coffin of bad consumer research...
1) Preferences are unstable - think the Coke sip.
2) Beware the perils of introspection: making people explain what they want actually changes their preferences, and often kills innovation.
3) When people explain their actions, they often just make it up, because accessing the unconscious is very difficult.

More on Mass Creation

There's just something so compelling and fascinating about the idea of Mass Creation: The creation of content by the masses. Perhaps its because at heart its all about shifting the balance of power. From heavily controlled, high barriers to entry for the production and communication of the written word, pictures, audio and video to the absolute opposite. As long as you've got a computer.

But there's an interesting paradox at the heart of the freeing up of content creation, namely the desire of big media companies to get in on the act and make money out of it. Think of News Corp buying MySpace or Walmart's very own heavily-controlled 'Hub'.

For brands wanting in on the act, its critical to refrain from polluting public spaces. You wouldn't expect people to want to read papers totally subsumed by advertising - you've got to leave room for entertaining content. But its too easy to assume that brand associations with mass created content have to be negative.

If brands help create and sustain meaning and identity, if they FIT with the audiences' aspirations and fantasies, then they're playing a significant role in peoples' lives. And it won't feel like they're treading on toes.

Digital is a state of mind.

Digital is a state of mind. It is not a channel.

This is a perspective that radically alters the balance of power between producer and consumer.

Now the consumers are producers. We are in the era of Mass-Creation. In one day, YouTube uploads a Blockbuster outlet’s worth of video content.

Digital technology hasn’t so much created a fragmented multi-channel world as a one-channel world, yours. Think Google and Yahoo’s customised home pages gathering all your favourite feeds into one place.

Now the consumer has become a media owner too.

The barriers to broadcast (or more often narrowcast) have disappeared as teenage girls post their thoughts immediately into blogs whilst IMing their friends.

It used to be all about the big creative idea. And it still is. The difference is that now, the big idea can be reversioned and reproduced in myriad different ways. Instantly.

The age of creative ideas and campaigns owned by brands, their advertising and media agencies is ending. Today Chevrolet gets the public to co-create their campaigns. Sometimes with embarrassing results. Think suicide bomber in a VW polo.

Control has already been relinquished. Anti-McDonald’s websites were just the start.
Control was a myth anyway, convenient for marketing professionals but totally bogus. A brand exists in the minds of the public, it is ultimately devolved.

Yesterday, brand managers hoped that the stimulus they created would help shape perceptions positively, would encourage the right word of mouth. And ultimately sell their products and services. Today their hopes are the same, but the challenge is more complex. And more interesting.

All forms of traditional marketing agencies at heart are afraid and unhappy with the birth of a world where their favourite medium isn’t king by divine right anymore. But this is simply a fear of change.

What frightens them is not knowing how to reach large numbers of people with a well-crafted story anymore, when channels are fragmenting and stories get edited, twisted and reframed.

Perhaps they need to take a lesson from the martial arts? Don’t oppose your opponent’s energy, it’s wasteful. Use it instead to achieve your goal.

The best brand strategies are being designed to embrace the world of Mass-Creation and to harness the power of the one-channel media owner. Tomorrow’s successful brands already revel in the power of peer-2-peer review, seeing the customer as a channel on a scale that dwarfs the audiences of 1960’s TV stations.

When you look at it that way, you realise there are two ways of seeing the change. It’s either the death of the era of mass-marketing, as we descend into a dark age, seething with rubbish content, lies, confusion and chaotic extremism furthering personal prejudice. Or it’s the dawn of a golden-age, as significant as the Renaissance, a great flowering of creativity and the birth of new communities of interest that will change the World for ever.

So what about brands and their creative ideas in this brave new world?

1. Devolve ownership, become a brand Steward not a brand Director
2. Encourage co-creation with the customer in everything you do
3. Harvest the best of your advocates’ creative efforts and distribute it
4. See your consumers as a channel in their own right, remunerate them accordingly
5. Turn your brand from an artificial abstracted construct into a lifestyle channel for your chosen community…
6. … and facilitate the best Wiki in your category
7. Develop a deep and penetrating understanding of your communities of interest, do it by participation, not by remote observation
8. Segment your offer in manifold ways to make the most of the long-tail
9. Break down the walls of the firm and create a porous wall to encourage osmosis with your community
10. Don’t limit access to your business, products or people; make everything available everywhere all the time on every platform
11. Turn your brand story from a monograph into a participatory soap opera
12. Align formal partnerships according to the web of interests that your communities have created
13. Put as much creative effort into your analytics as you do into artwork
14. Make sure the content you create is enlightening and engaging, refresh it regularly