Post 4/5 before end of year. And this time a realistic question: why is it that I often get the feeling that most companies are really only scratching the surface with digital? 
Or phrasing it positively: why is it that so few are really taking advantage of the power offered to them by the web?
Is everyone doing so well that it’s not necessary?
Is digital such an unproven business case? Or is it that most people don’t really know. And in which case why do we not get more inquisitive questions such as: what could we really do if we used all the power of the web, and therefore how do we get on that road, even step by step. The reason I ask that question today is double.
- First we finished this year with every other brief having a section called do a buzz. And a subsection ‘for 20 000 euros’. Or ‘build a facebook page’ with a subsection ‘that does not take time to run’. Well, doing a buzz needs a reason and a ‘thing’ only buzzes if it’s build to do so. And if it receives the right support. Best proof is looking at the top ten and you’ll get an indication of the budgets and efforts that went in them. And a facebook page that takes no time is a contradiction in terms. Again you need a reason and often that will be about relationships. And bizarelly relationships take time, or they go sour. And god saves you from that...
- Second is a client that is starting an online business and has asked us to build it from scratch having all the digital offers within. One of the most exciting things I’ve been involved with recently. And with a client that has accepted to get trained with us, and to learn it with us. Only now I cannot help seeing how shallow most digital approaches take, and how in fact they serve as alibi: offering the ability to say ‘we’ve done digital’ to your boss. Be honest, don’t waste your time on this for it will only bring proof that digital has not made a dent on your agenda, and will only send you 20 years back in time. Now what could I possibly mean by deep digital programs? I’ll take a humble stab at it here, illustrated by great examples knowing that this will be a continuously moving feast.
First and foremost this road will not be worth your time if you’re not genuinely interested in the people you sell to.If people is your 5th marketing P then welcome in. And to start digital can help you do exactly that. Getting insights. Wether you choose to use tools to see what people say about you or your subjects. Have you seen the Dell social media room? We ar ebuilding one in the agency, but this should be at the heart of every company for you’ll learn more than through most focus groups here. But beyond that, have you ever considered building your own community, one where you could ask questions, get answers in real time? You’ll find in most cases its there waiting for you. 2- business learning.
Same as above only this time, it concerns your bottom end. If you want a real live test of your npd strategy likely success digital allows exactly that. Online testing platforms are easy to systemize, but more importantly you can tap into existing media communities, involve them in your products, get them testing. How about putting your buyers/producers in direct contact with the audience? Entire clothes collections, or limited editions can be tested with a community before the entire production risks are taken. Not to mention the crowds of fans who will help push the products they help make...
Fiat went some way in doing this 2 years before the launch of the 500 by allowing people to play to customize their car before it even existed, allowing them to get precious data as to what they were going to want as choice once the car was built. 3- Social media inside
Notice how many tell you social media does not work for them? Well, when did they start to think about social media? Normally when they want someone to buy their product. Too late normally. Because social media needs to be built into the process. What will people want to share, when and why? How can the process of sharing improve their relationships? Unless you build social media right at the start, into the products, into the packs, into the sites it’s likely to fail. You don’t meet someone and reach for his wallet. Same here, you’ll need time to build a relationship, the tools to do that and something that will make it worth it. We’re now seeing the first attempts like the levis online store, but again it’s only a first step. Other great examples like Nike ID because showing of what you’ve made when it’s easily impressive is worth it. Same for Nikeplus the Apple/Nike chip that enables you to run against friends all over the world and to measure yourself in a group.
Skittles regularly does a great job at this: recently offering you to say your status on FB, but also using you to bury a man in skittles, always with a great sense of humour. 4- building relationships If there is one great crm tool, it has to be the digital world. It’s cheaper, more reactive, and allows for real discussions. We’ve built that for Nestlé Dessert, where people put in the code printed on their tablet to enter a program. The tools available are potentially fan-tastic here. Customized space, reserved spaces, testing areas, personalized services, limited offers, flash buying times, you name it it’s normally doable.
5- Linking with the real world Digital is always better because it’s real. Hear of twelpforce before? Great example. One new one this winter how AA reacted after one of it’s planes slid of the runway. Since phone lines got jammed they allowed to rebook seats through twitter.
6- forget web think platforms
One month ago the very serious magazine wired announced ‘the web is dead’.
The point they were making is that people did not go on the web, they go to apps, they go to videos. Meaning that having a website is ok but only gets you to 30% of your traffic. So what experience are you giving, and how/why will it live on other platforms: videos on youtube or your own channel there, knowing that videos are now potentially embeded with content making them true site, then Facebook: what will you offer there, how will it live, your Twitter account: how does the experience live minute by minute, continuing to mobile, knowing that by 2013 most people will access the web through mobile but how will you adapt your content to live on a small screen, and how can you improve people’s lives with mobile. Shazam is a good example of that for itunes, but how could that live for retailers making hte store a better experience with a mobile?
The point here is that it’s not one website and its extensions, it’s really about embedding your experience on all available platforms but adapting each app so that it serves the most effective purpose. 7- use your audience Because your audience has an audience that has an audience that has an audience....
But this rarely happens by chance. Offer them conversation starters, like skittle does, or like Domino’s did in their ‘turnaround’ campaign. Create work that’s easy to be brandjacked, get it started yourself. OldSpice did that by making spoofs of their original campaign responding to people on twiter, and inspiring other to do the same, I featured many of these of my blog in previous posts. 8- ever continuing. Because one thing is sure, the web will continue to change. Geolocalisation, gaming, all sorts of newthings will spring out, and take off in 3/5 years (remember Facebook is only 6 years old...). SO one thing you need to know is that whatever you build is in fact a constant beta. That you will need to monitor how well it does- and there are great tools to do so- while you will need at the same time to adapt it to the new possibilities that will open up for you.
So I beg you. Don’t pretend you’ve done the digital thing because there’s an afterthought in the brief. Take it head on, and give yourself the challenge to never just scratch the surface, but to make a deeper plan, and see how you will get there, step by step.
Because as everyone scratches the surface, the rewards lie beneath...
This transmission is intended solely for the person or organization to whom it is addressed and it may contain privileged and confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient you should not copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on it. If you believe you received this transmission in error please notify the sender.
Or phrasing it positively: why is it that so few are really taking advantage of the power offered to them by the web?Is everyone doing so well that it’s not necessary?
Is digital such an unproven business case? Or is it that most people don’t really know. And in which case why do we not get more inquisitive questions such as: what could we really do if we used all the power of the web, and therefore how do we get on that road, even step by step. The reason I ask that question today is double.
- First we finished this year with every other brief having a section called do a buzz. And a subsection ‘for 20 000 euros’. Or ‘build a facebook page’ with a subsection ‘that does not take time to run’. Well, doing a buzz needs a reason and a ‘thing’ only buzzes if it’s build to do so. And if it receives the right support. Best proof is looking at the top ten and you’ll get an indication of the budgets and efforts that went in them. And a facebook page that takes no time is a contradiction in terms. Again you need a reason and often that will be about relationships. And bizarelly relationships take time, or they go sour. And god saves you from that...
- Second is a client that is starting an online business and has asked us to build it from scratch having all the digital offers within. One of the most exciting things I’ve been involved with recently. And with a client that has accepted to get trained with us, and to learn it with us. Only now I cannot help seeing how shallow most digital approaches take, and how in fact they serve as alibi: offering the ability to say ‘we’ve done digital’ to your boss. Be honest, don’t waste your time on this for it will only bring proof that digital has not made a dent on your agenda, and will only send you 20 years back in time. Now what could I possibly mean by deep digital programs? I’ll take a humble stab at it here, illustrated by great examples knowing that this will be a continuously moving feast.
- genuine learning
First and foremost this road will not be worth your time if you’re not genuinely interested in the people you sell to.If people is your 5th marketing P then welcome in. And to start digital can help you do exactly that. Getting insights. Wether you choose to use tools to see what people say about you or your subjects. Have you seen the Dell social media room? We ar ebuilding one in the agency, but this should be at the heart of every company for you’ll learn more than through most focus groups here. But beyond that, have you ever considered building your own community, one where you could ask questions, get answers in real time? You’ll find in most cases its there waiting for you. 2- business learning.
Same as above only this time, it concerns your bottom end. If you want a real live test of your npd strategy likely success digital allows exactly that. Online testing platforms are easy to systemize, but more importantly you can tap into existing media communities, involve them in your products, get them testing. How about putting your buyers/producers in direct contact with the audience? Entire clothes collections, or limited editions can be tested with a community before the entire production risks are taken. Not to mention the crowds of fans who will help push the products they help make...
Fiat went some way in doing this 2 years before the launch of the 500 by allowing people to play to customize their car before it even existed, allowing them to get precious data as to what they were going to want as choice once the car was built. 3- Social media inside
Notice how many tell you social media does not work for them? Well, when did they start to think about social media? Normally when they want someone to buy their product. Too late normally. Because social media needs to be built into the process. What will people want to share, when and why? How can the process of sharing improve their relationships? Unless you build social media right at the start, into the products, into the packs, into the sites it’s likely to fail. You don’t meet someone and reach for his wallet. Same here, you’ll need time to build a relationship, the tools to do that and something that will make it worth it. We’re now seeing the first attempts like the levis online store, but again it’s only a first step. Other great examples like Nike ID because showing of what you’ve made when it’s easily impressive is worth it. Same for Nikeplus the Apple/Nike chip that enables you to run against friends all over the world and to measure yourself in a group.
Skittles regularly does a great job at this: recently offering you to say your status on FB, but also using you to bury a man in skittles, always with a great sense of humour. 4- building relationships If there is one great crm tool, it has to be the digital world. It’s cheaper, more reactive, and allows for real discussions. We’ve built that for Nestlé Dessert, where people put in the code printed on their tablet to enter a program. The tools available are potentially fan-tastic here. Customized space, reserved spaces, testing areas, personalized services, limited offers, flash buying times, you name it it’s normally doable.
5- Linking with the real world Digital is always better because it’s real. Hear of twelpforce before? Great example. One new one this winter how AA reacted after one of it’s planes slid of the runway. Since phone lines got jammed they allowed to rebook seats through twitter.
6- forget web think platformsOne month ago the very serious magazine wired announced ‘the web is dead’.
The point they were making is that people did not go on the web, they go to apps, they go to videos. Meaning that having a website is ok but only gets you to 30% of your traffic. So what experience are you giving, and how/why will it live on other platforms: videos on youtube or your own channel there, knowing that videos are now potentially embeded with content making them true site, then Facebook: what will you offer there, how will it live, your Twitter account: how does the experience live minute by minute, continuing to mobile, knowing that by 2013 most people will access the web through mobile but how will you adapt your content to live on a small screen, and how can you improve people’s lives with mobile. Shazam is a good example of that for itunes, but how could that live for retailers making hte store a better experience with a mobile?The point here is that it’s not one website and its extensions, it’s really about embedding your experience on all available platforms but adapting each app so that it serves the most effective purpose. 7- use your audience Because your audience has an audience that has an audience that has an audience....
But this rarely happens by chance. Offer them conversation starters, like skittle does, or like Domino’s did in their ‘turnaround’ campaign. Create work that’s easy to be brandjacked, get it started yourself. OldSpice did that by making spoofs of their original campaign responding to people on twiter, and inspiring other to do the same, I featured many of these of my blog in previous posts. 8- ever continuing. Because one thing is sure, the web will continue to change. Geolocalisation, gaming, all sorts of newthings will spring out, and take off in 3/5 years (remember Facebook is only 6 years old...). SO one thing you need to know is that whatever you build is in fact a constant beta. That you will need to monitor how well it does- and there are great tools to do so- while you will need at the same time to adapt it to the new possibilities that will open up for you. So I beg you. Don’t pretend you’ve done the digital thing because there’s an afterthought in the brief. Take it head on, and give yourself the challenge to never just scratch the surface, but to make a deeper plan, and see how you will get there, step by step.
Because as everyone scratches the surface, the rewards lie beneath...
This transmission is intended solely for the person or organization to whom it is addressed and it may contain privileged and confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient you should not copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on it. If you believe you received this transmission in error please notify the sender.
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