Building a Billion Person Brand

Gurval Caer, Blast Radius, CEO

(continues)

What can we learn from American Idol? • Anyone can get involved- democratic ‘open’ platform for participation

• Fulfills the spectrum of participation from ‘creator’ through to ‘spectator’, appropriate ways for me to be significantly involved (contestant) to voting to just watching

• Human storytelling- celebrates our inner dreams and ability to shape our future

• Socially engrained- a critical mass of users fuels discussion, debate and fun

• Altruistic, a feel good factor– I’m helping someone achieve their dream

• Entertainment – all the elements of a good soap opera: humor, drama, suspense, tragedy

• Experts- provide the ‘fire’ additional source of debate, credibility and entertainment

• Instant gratification- end of the show there is always a result, my contribution (vote) has been recognized

• 1 winner/judgment day- a call to arms, the finale, an end goal that keeps me enthralled to the very end

Keys to the Shift…

1. Interruptive marketing tactics hitting the digital wall

– Consumers listen to one another not to one-way corporate communications

– Consumers don’t want more interruptions

US Survey…68% say “a person like me” is the most credible source of information. Compared with just 20% in 2003. Marketing Week

Keys to the Shift…

2. Customers not looking to market for you

– Savvy about detecting “astroturfing” – companies that seek to create the impression of being spontaneous and genuine

Keys to the Shift…

3. Products are better yet more and more the same

– Internet has put products on equal footing

– Ads not as effective for creating a sense of difference

– Consumers unable to appreciate “negligible” differences (ex. TVs and household goods)

How do we build A Billion People Brand?

Social platform + Social media +Social data

What is social networking?

Another view

Media

Platform

Data

Shared Cause

collectable

buyer/seller

Seller rating

article

citizen editors

edits, citations, inbound links

eBay

Examples

Collectable

Buyer/Seller

Seller rating

Great deals

blog

casual community

“Friends”

profile

professionalcommunity

“Connections”

Dove

Examples

Testimonials

Self Esteem Fund

Friends

Real Beauty

blog

casual community

“Friends”

profile

professionalcommunity

“Connections”

Nike Jordan

Examples

Training Program

Breakfast Club

Peer reviews

Greatness

Enable Shared Passion

• At the core of a modern brand is not a promise, or a story, but a shared passion, a shared cause – the fuel for sustainable customer engagement.

• Together brands and consumers create content (the media), tools and services (the platform) that serve the shared cause.

• Brands become the connective tissue between people with like-minded interests – a source of inspiration and empowerment.

Explore how customers participate

• What needs does your social initiative fulfill?– to validate

– to educate

– to engage

– to disrupt and create change

– to connect with someone / group

– to fill silence

– to find support

– to empathize

– to grow

Explore how customers participate

• Understand the social media profile of your target audience

• Recognize that there is a spectrum of users- where do yours fall and what are the corresponding tool and experiences we provide them with

• Map out how users will participate both today and tomorrow, the joiners of today will be the creators of tomorrow

People:-don’t want to market for you-want to share their experiences-so that they can live richer lives

In Other Words…

Maybe something here about social sharing/tools?

So, How does this work again?

So, How does this work again?

Product level: find triggersto export “social media”

1

Product level: find triggersto export “social media”

1

Network level: enable sharing on the browser…

2

…and create platformto aggregate

Product level: find triggersto export “social media”

1

Network level: enable sharing on the browser…

2

…and create platformto aggregate

Social level: the social media evangelizes the product…

3

…and sharing it reinforces the native product experience.It’s not “viral marketing.”It’s an augmented brand experience.

Electronic Arts (2)

/need for speed open brand campaign

Gamers are helping build EA’s brand

• Opening EA’s brand helped EA to deliver an innovative approach to a product launch coupling social networking with a core product

• Campaign used interactive tools in a visually rich environment for the release of EA’s popular street car racing game, Need for Speed: Carbon

• The community elements made this innovative campaign a success

Pre-launch:

• site introduced car classes

• enabled visitors to select a car as soon as they arrived

• “show” rather than “tell” approach

• Gamers affiliated with car classes initiating a sense of loyalty and rivalry

 

Launch:

• The site extends the game with community services

• Leader boards build rivalry by integrating in-game racing results with the site

• Top racers are showcased with links to their history, car and they’re added performance bundles

 

Post-launch:

• Focused on fueling rivalry between car classes to keep gamers engaged

• Territory map took on a new and dynamic life, becoming a visual representation of the results

• Players saw territories being won by others, and were inspired to keep playing  

Results & ROI:

• This campaign proved that EA’s decision to shift focus away from multi-million dollar ad campaigns in favor of online campaigns paid off. The cost-effectiveness of this strategy outweighed a traditional campaign.

 • For a cost of hundreds of thousands the site delivered an

estimated value of $6M+ during the peak launch period • This ROI was calculated based on the dollar value of the

‘impressions’ the campaign generated plus the value of online sales.

 • The average visitor spent 7.93 minutes viewing the site. 

Thank you!