brands and digital culture

7/28/2019 brands and digital culture

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Brands And Digital Culture:It Doesn’t Have To Suck

Washington University Olin School Of Business‘Brands And Social Networks’ Marketing Seminar

February 24th, 2011

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Hello,

I’m an Account



Simply said,I try to serveas a guide for brandand agency teams,

navigating an alwayschanging landscape.

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I help makeconnections that

enable people and

brands to createstories together.

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Spanning causes,

retail, automotive,

CPG, and financial.

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A few things I’ve learned:

It’s not easy. Or free. Or turnkey.

Or an intern’s job. Or a reason to freak Or a task to push to a silo-d ‘digital’ te



Source: David Armano, Logic And Emotion Dec 2010



My hope for todays discussion:

Provide some actionable lessons + ide

that you can implement for your brand

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5 things to consider for your approach.

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Being a social brand is about more than media.

Complexity is a marketers best friend.

Stop worrying about ‘digital’ vs ‘traditional’.

Rethinking the role of film.

Mobile lifestyles, not just mobile devices.




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We’ve been obsessing over platforms, rathan focusing on the underlying behavior

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Pre 2005 2006 - 2007 2008 - Present



It’s a natural reactionto technological disruption.

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Technology changes, but it’s still about pconnecting and sharing with other peopl

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“Communications

tools don’t becomesocially interesting

until they become

technologicallyboring.”

- Clay Shirky, Author And Futurist

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A key difference: being a social brand,vs using social media.

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VS



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Reinventing a dustybrand in a low-interest

category.

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What most people don’t realize is they spyears testing out different ideas, and refi

2007 2008 2008

Strange yet intriguing main characters, perfect comedic timing, odd situa

Source: Bud Caddell “The Art Of Repetition And Recombinance” Aug 6th 2010



Then they found the perfect person.The man your man...well, you know the r

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http://www.youtube.com/oldspice%23p/c/484F058C3EAF7FA6/4/_-fLV28SkZ8





An inherently social idea easilylent itself to transmedia storytelling.

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After that much media attention, and mopassed, the idea still draws people in.

Source: AdAge February 2011

Over 3.5 million views in the first week, a

even include millions more on bro



“It’s one of the reasonsanyone buys anything;not just to own aproduct, but to become

a part of the story.”- Jay-Z, Decoded

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Implications.

Technology comes and goes- don’t get caught in the technolust trap.

Just because a platform exists, doesn’t mean it’s right for your brand/product/go

Never underestimate how much you can learn by listening to what people expect

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Marketing, as marketers envision it.

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Marketing, as people experience it.

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Role For Brands That Bridge Intersecting Realities



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Things Real People Don’t Say About Advertising

T h i l d ’ ll



Truth is, people don’t really carewhether your ideas are digital or traditio

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Just make it useful, stupid!

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By the Summer of 2010, over 35% of all USAA cus

checks were processed via the banks mobile a

Source: Netbanker and Banking.com July 2010



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Source: FastCompany Jan 2011 Feature

Digital cno longeek



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Strateg force reappraisal of sa ings c



Strategy: force reappraisal of savings cuamong young Americans.

Challenges:

• Facing the worst economic recession in a generation.

• A culture already inclined to spend over save.

• Intense distrust and even hatred for the financial world (justifiably so).

• Despite knowing a change was needed in their finances, most were paralyzed

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Put savings into a familiar context.

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Rather than run ads talking about saving



Rather than run ads talking about savingit showed people the tangible rewards.

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“From saying things atpeople, to doing thingswith and for people.”

- Gareth Kay, Director Of Brand StrategyGoodby, Silverstein and Partners

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Implications.

Great ideas don’t have clear distinctions between ‘online’ and ‘offline’ elements.

Aside from the geek contingent, simpler is almost always better.

Focus on platforms that allow for fast iteration, refinement, and relaunch.

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6 out of 10 people nowown a DVR (or othertime-shifting device).

- Comcast Corporation Research August 2010

Source: MSNBC Today Show 8/17/2010



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And yet...



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Source: MediaPost Dec 2010



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Film itself isn’t in question, but when, wh



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Film itself isn t in question, but when, whand how it can be experienced has chang

Source: Morgan Stanley State Of The Internet Nov 2010

http://www.youtube.com/user/RearViewGirls%23p/u/1/xq0JcQ1dOwU



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Strategy: get teens to take action by high



Strategy: get teens to take action by highthe disrespectful behavior of Big Tobacco

Challenges:

• Limited paid media budget + timeframe.

• Highly sensitive legal issues.

• Toxic cultural and political environment dominated mass media.

• Perception among teens that tobacco is a ‘lesser evil’.

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Source: Arnold + American Legacy Foundation Strategy Development Summer 2010

Film was a crucial way to start a dialogu



Film was a crucial way to start a dialogu

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Shards Of Glass Announcement

Product Innovation

Deeper meaning came through robust ac



p g gacross all Truth social platforms.

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Let people discuss theissue together

Provoke and incite action Content + ente

Implications



Implications.

Technology has liberated film- identify the ideal role for your initiatives.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, shorter is not always better.

People don’t care about production value and perfect editing- just get it made, an

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Let’s take a breather In summary:



Let’s take a breather. In summary:

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Mobile is more than just ‘mobile’.

Overtime session



Overtime session.

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Problem: brands haven’t let go of an outd



gmodel for how people make decisions.

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Source: Forrester Technographics 2008



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Constant technological shifts have enabl



a more complex and non-linear process.

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Strategy: turn a concert series



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into a cultural pulse for (RED).

Challenges:

• No paid media.

• Under $250K production (start to finish).

• Small venues, limited total audience reach.

• A tanking economy squeezing even affluents disposable $.



Content creation came exclusively from fth d (RED) d t



on the ground- (RED) served as a curator

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We asked fans

If you’re tweeting, use

Tag your photos #re

Use #rednights and

DL the fan toolkit an



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Implications.



Implications.

Brands are far more interesting when they are multi-dimensional. Embrace your p

People are not stupid. Give them credit.

No one outside of the marketing department worries about ‘multiple messages’ o

schizophrenia’.

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Overtime session.



Overtime session.

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‘Social’ and ‘mobile’are increasinglyinseparable.

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Source: JeSS3 Strategic Consultancy August 2010

Culture is rapidly adopting the mobile we



p y p g

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Source: Morgan Stanley State Of The Internet Nov 2010

But marketers have responded by spendmore on intrusive ads people don’t want



more on intrusive ads people don’t want.

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Source: Nielsen “State Of Mobile Apps” Sept 2010

At the core, there seem to be two key pro



, y p

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1.

2.

Starting with the brand, instead of mobile beh

Lumping mobile into one amorphous blob

How can you best facilitate mobile decis



y

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1.

Incentive Info

Entertainment

Providing monetary value(coupons or promotions),

or an exchange of brand

currency (contests,

prizes)

Educating, pbrand, produc

news,or an

question

commen

Curating or developingcontent, ideas and platforms

for entertainment &involvement beyond brand

messaging.

Giving pemechanism

decision, find

accomplis



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Integration WITHIN mobile, not just OF m



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2.



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Implications.



Mobile behavior requires looking to new sources for inspiration. Get out of the ma

Get granular with ideas- plan for the tactical as well as the strategic.

Fast, simple, and clean UX are paramount. Don’t underestimate their value.

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OK. Done for real this time. In summary:



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Mobile is more than just ‘mobile’.



Depending on how you look at it, these

incredibly fun or incredibly scary times

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What kind of organizational culturalwill you shape and develop?



will you shape and develop?

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• Will you encourage experimentation? (you should)

• Will you embrace failure? (within acceptable limits)

• Will you refuse to use the phrase ‘that’s how it’s always been done’? (yes, pl

• Will you push folks like me and demand constant innovation? (I can take it)

If you’re interested in staying connected.



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avin.narasimhan

@gmail.com

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avin.narasimhan@avin_narasimhan

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avinnarasimh

avin_narasimhanavin.posterous.com nahmisaran avin_narasimha

mailto:[email protected]






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brands and digital culture