FINALISTPRESENTER
AGILE ADVERTISING.Build, measure, learn.
GUSTAV VON SYDOW@vonsydow on Twitter.
I used to be one of you... my last gig was as a Planner at Daddy and for a short time at CP+B,
after they acquired Daddy last year.
But I decided to give up what was essentially my dream job to go work on another dream.
I’m now the CEO and founder of Burt, a software company helping marketers to do amazing work.
Gustav von Sydow
Gustav Martner
I founded to Burt with Gustav Martner (currently Exec. Creative Director at CP+B Europe) to adress
challenges we faced together on a daily basis.
Mid nineties.Big bang launch
Static contentArchivedOne sizeOne way
Fifteen years later.Iterative improvements
Rich applicationsReal-time
PersonalizedSocial
The founding idea was that we had seen the web change drastically in the last 15 years...
Mid nineties.Big bang launch
Static contentArchivedOne sizeOne way
Fifteen years later.Same, same.
But online advertising - at least on a large scale - remained pretty much the same.
Sure there were promising technologies, but they were complex to use so the tools and processes that were used on large scale were antiquated.
CopyboxThe writing tool for digital marketers.
www.copyboxapp.com
Meme MachineDead simple
ad personalization.
www.mememachine.com
RichCampaign metrics
that matters.
www.richmetrics.com
So we set out to create a set of tools that would make it easy for marketers to update how they made and measured their marketing activities.
TODAY ISNOT ABOUT
TECH/TOOLS.
It’s about the process enabled by technology.
TODAY ISNOT ABOUT ”DIGITAL”.
101001010010100101010010101001101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010010100010100101010011010100101010010101010101010100101001010010101001010100110101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101001010001010010
EVERYTHING WILL BE DIGITIZED. EVENTUALLY.
But I’ll be using ”digital” as an example.
MOBILEVIDEOBANNERS &RICH MEDIA
Or more specifically, ”online display advertising”.
TODAY ISNOT A
CASE STUDY.Case studies are often outliers. What makes them
gripping often also makes them irrelevant.
”YES. BUT DOES IT SCALE?”
Evaluating new opportunities in advertising, one should always ask - ”does it scale?”
SCALE ACROSS AGENCIES.
You should be able to apply new technology/methods across all types of agencies.
TECHNOLOGY IS RAW MATERIAL, NOT AN IDEA.
And beware of when technology in itself is the idea... great advertising technologies that scale
include ”color”, ”movement” etc.
REACH. REACH. REACH.
And don’t forget. It has to reach alot of people.
”MECHANIZED SALES”
Unless we have reach, our trade is irrelevant, since there are better ways to deploy small scale
marketing efforts.
TODAY IS NOT ABOUT
INSPIRATION.
To be unique, focus your sources of inspiration collection on other forms of expression.
TODAY ISNOT ABOUT
THE FUTURE.
”FRAMTIDEN”We love talking about the future. Everyone’s a
futurist/expert these days.
It’s very much a don’t-miss-the-train kind of mentality. All the time. Everywhere.
”FIRST MOVER ADVANTAGE”
WHO CREATED THE FIRST BANNER?
The concept of first mover advantage has been largely discredited in general business, why are we
still believing it in advertising.
AT&T, 1994
Besides the amazing viral effect ;) of being part of this deck, what have AT&T gotten in return for
pioneering the banner format?
TODAY IS ABOUT...
WELL. TODAY.Advertising is about getting massive reach today.
Not about predicting the future.
In this talk, we’re going to focus on improving what we have and tweak how already do things in
already big channels. Solve existing problems.
NOT LIKE THE OTHERS.
To sum up: this is not the average advertising festival speech. When I arrived I got to looking into
the conference magazine...
Apparently the $500B industry that is advertising is going down in flames.
Don’t miss the train...
In the future blablabla....
And more doomsday advice.
Blablabla...
HOW TO MARKET A MARKETER:
1. WIN A BUNCH OF AWARDS.
AND/OR
2. ANNOUNCE THE END OF THE WORLD.
Cannes Lions combines both, which might explain why it’s the premier event to land new business ;)
What I’m saying is that you can take it easy. Don’t worry too much about the future.
OPTIMIZE FOR NOW.
Great advertising connects with ”the now”. Advertising is tactics - don’t be fooled even if the
word ”strategy” gets thrown around a lot ;)
THAT’S WHAT WE GET PAID TO DO.
We get paid to get results now. Or at least in the next quarter. Very few good advertising activities
don’t achieve tangible result within 90 days.
YOU CAN DO IT.
What I’m talking about applies to everyone. Creatives, planners, account, devs, clients etc. And you can start using the ideas on monday.
TODAY:
1. LEARNING FROM HISTORY.
2. LEARNING FROM OTHERS.
3. LEARNING FROM YOURSELF.
TODAY:
1. LEARNING FROM HISTORY.
2. LEARNING FROM OTHERS.
3. LEARNING FROM YOURSELF.
IDEA PRODUCE
THE CREATIVE PROCESS:
Though the name implies something super dynamic and exciting, the creative process is a
very linear process.
”FINAL DELIVERY”
ME = BIG FAN BTW.
Even the best practices (I recommend checking them out btw) emphasize the ”final delivery”.
Traditional Product Development Unit of Progress: Advance to Next Stage
Waterfall
Requirements
Specification
Design
Implementation
Verification
Maintenance
Problem: known
Solution: known
Though every agency use different words to descibe their unique, amazing process, they’re all based on the same classic manufacturing model.
IT’S MANUFACTURING, NOT CREATIVITY.
”LEAN PRODUCTION”
Doing more with less.
But manufacturing has actually moved on to a model for creating more value using less work,
and so should we.
”Lean production” originated from Toyota, emphasizing to eliminate waste by removing all
activities that does not create value.
”Create continuous process !ow to bring problems to the surface.”
”Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the
situation (Genchi Genbutsu, 現地現物)”
”Become a learning organization through relentless re!ection
(Hansei, 反省) and continuous improvement (Kaizen, 改善).”
BUILT TO LEARN.
A process for learning is the key to eliminate waste in any kind of workflow.
BUILD
LEARN MEASURE
The process for learning is easy. Trial and error.
LESS WASTE.REDUCED RISK.
INCREASED OUTPUT.
1. $150B IS WASTED EVERY YEAR.
2. 19% OF ALL ADVERTISING FAILS OUTRIGHT.
3. 67% COULD GET SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT WITHOUT ADDITIONAL SPEND.
Source: What Sticks
And there’s a lot of waste, risk and potential for improvement in online advertising.
”LEAN ADVERTISING”?
The ideas have been successful in everything from cars to software startups (respect to Eric Ries and Steve Blank!!!). How do they apply to advertising?
IDEA PRODUCE MEASURE
Well, the first step is to add a measurement component to the creative process.
IDEA PRODUCE
IDEA MEASUREPRODUCE
CAMPAIGN 1
CAMPAIGN 2
LEARN
MEASURE
And then use this to learn for use in your next campaign.
BASIC MATHS:
10%, 10%, 10%, 10% = +45%
Consistent campaign drives compounded increases in quality.
Which is not a new idea of course. In advertising, it was pioneered by David Ogilvy in the 50s.
”I never skate to where the puck is, I always skate to where to puck is going to be.”
BLABLABLABLA... COMPETITION, CHANGE ETC.
The problem is that the Ogilvy way of doing things assumes a rather static media landscape, but it’s
now changing faster and faster.
0 sec? 2 sec? 13 sec?And no idea when it starts...
30 sec.From start to !nish, full screen.
The level of predictability makes it exponentially more complex to predict what will work.
30% of all ads are placed where users can’t see
Most ads aren’t visible long enough to make an impact
+10 ads share the same page
There’s just no such thing as average anymore.
WHO’S RESPONSIBLE?
MEDIA? CREATIVE? DIGITAL? PRODUCTION? RESEARCH? PUBLISHER? AD NETWORK?
THE AD NETWORK’S AD NETWORK’S AD NETWORK?
AND WHICH PERSON?
BLABLABLABLA...ROI.... MEGA DEEP
INSIGHTS OF INTRINSIC HABITS... SPECULATION...
GUESSWORK...BLABLABLA....
”EXPERT”
The way we usually solve challenges in advertising is to appoint experts. But experts doesn’t scale.
EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBLE.
Everyone has to be committed to improving. That is one of the key principles of the Toyota Way.
WANTED: A WORKFLOW OPTIMIZED FOR ADAPTING TO CHANGE, NOT FOLLOWING PLAN.
”AGILE ADVERTISING”
The process of being quick learn, adapt and improve.
So ”Lean advertising” doesn’t quite describe the high velocity dimension of what I’m getting at. So
”agile advertising” seems like a better phrase.
BUILD
LEARN MEASURE
It’s the same loop.
IDEA MEASUREPRODUCE
LEARNIDEA 2
IDEA 3
IDEA 4
IDEA 5
IDEA 6
IDEA 7
IDEA 8
But instead of waiting to measure and apply the learnings on the next campaigns, we change and
optimize the existing campaigns.
ALL ON BOARD?
TODAY:
1. LEARNING FROM HISTORY.
2. LEARNING FROM OTHERS.
3. LEARNING FROM YOURSELF.
IDEA MEASUREPRODUCE
LEARNIDEA 2
IDEA 3
IDEA 4
IDEA 5
IDEA 6
IDEA 7
IDEA 8
WHAT?
The first question is naturally:What do we measure?
Metrics is the number one pain for display advertisers.
Source: Forrester
Lack of proper metrics Ad quality is too low Other
IS ”ROI” THE PROBLEM?
There is usually a big focus on ”ROI” when metrics comes up. But is that really what hands-on
marketers should focus on?
$ $$$
INVESTMENT PROFIT
{”KPIs”
Our job is to understand the underlying metrics driving profit, rather than auditing the ROI.
$ $$$
INVESTMENT RETURN
{”KPIs”
FOCUS ON KPIs, NOT ROI.
EXAMPLES OF GOOD KPIs:
AUDIENCE REACH AND RELEVANCE - PEOPLE
”SOFT METRICS” - BRANDING
DIRECT USER BEHAVIOR - CLICK STREAM
SALES - NOT THE SAME AS PROFIT
THE THREE A’S OF METRICS:
1. ACCESSIBLE - THINK ”YOU TUBE VIEWS”
2. ACTIONABLE - OTHERWISE SKIP IT
3. AUDITABLE - METRICS ARE PEOPLE TOO
BENCHMARK.
The first step is to benchmark what you’re up to, to get a decent idea of where you stand.
3
2008 Year-in-Review Benchmarks
Flash Ads
Overall Click-through Rate (CTR)
Click-through Rate by Creative SizesFigure 3
Source: DoubleClick DART for Advertisers, U.S. advertisers, a cross section of major ad sizes only, January – December 2008
0.00% 0.05% 0.10% 0.15% 0.20% 0.25% 0.30% 0.35% 0.40%
Half Page Ad (300x600)
Wide Skyscraper (160x600)
Vertical Rectangle (240x400)
Large Rectangle (336x280)
Medium Rectangle (300x250)
Skyscraper (120x600)
Leaderboard (728x90)
Square Pop-Up (250x250)
3:1 Rectangle (300x100)
Vertical Banner (120x240)
Full Banner (468x60)
Rectangle (180x150)
0.22%
0.10%
0.33%
0.12%
0.12%
0.06%
0.08%
0.18%
0.07%
0.05%
0.05%
0.10%
Click-through Rate by Industry VerticalFigure 4
Source: DoubleClick DART for Advertisers, U.S. advertisers, a cross section of major industry verticals only, January – December 2008
0.05% 0.10% 0.15% 0.20% 0.25% 0.30%
Auto 0.12%
B2B 0.08%
CPG 0.09%
Financial Services 0.06%
Media/Entertainment 0.11%
Retail 0.10%
Tech 0.10%
Telecom 0.08%
Travel 0.09%
Wellness 0.09%
But benchmarks are a bit tricky. They vary greatly by advertiser category.
3
2008 Year-in-Review Benchmarks
Flash Ads
Overall Click-through Rate (CTR)
Click-through Rate by Creative SizesFigure 3
Source: DoubleClick DART for Advertisers, U.S. advertisers, a cross section of major ad sizes only, January – December 2008
0.00% 0.05% 0.10% 0.15% 0.20% 0.25% 0.30% 0.35% 0.40%
Half Page Ad (300x600)
Wide Skyscraper (160x600)
Vertical Rectangle (240x400)
Large Rectangle (336x280)
Medium Rectangle (300x250)
Skyscraper (120x600)
Leaderboard (728x90)
Square Pop-Up (250x250)
3:1 Rectangle (300x100)
Vertical Banner (120x240)
Full Banner (468x60)
Rectangle (180x150)
0.22%
0.10%
0.33%
0.12%
0.12%
0.06%
0.08%
0.18%
0.07%
0.05%
0.05%
0.10%
Click-through Rate by Industry VerticalFigure 4
Source: DoubleClick DART for Advertisers, U.S. advertisers, a cross section of major industry verticals only, January – December 2008
0.05% 0.10% 0.15% 0.20% 0.25% 0.30%
Auto 0.12%
B2B 0.08%
CPG 0.09%
Financial Services 0.06%
Media/Entertainment 0.11%
Retail 0.10%
Tech 0.10%
Telecom 0.08%
Travel 0.09%
Wellness 0.09%
Or creative sizes for that matter.
INDUSTRY, FORMAT, CONTENT, TIMING,
COUNTRY, DEVICE ETC.
And a bunch of other stuff.
INDUSTRY, FORMAT, CONTENT, TIMING,
COUNTRY, DEVICE ETC.
AVERAGES ARE (ALMOST) MEANINGLESS.
Besides using them as a sanity check, averages are pretty hopeless.
TODAY:
1. LEARNING FROM HISTORY.
2. LEARNING FROM OTHERS.
3. LEARNING FROM YOURSELF.
SELF DIAGNOSE.
Instead of just comparing yourself with others, you should become good at helping yourself out.
VS.
A
B
Source: What Sticks
Small tweaks can have an enormous impact.
0 %
5 %
10 %
15 %
20 %
25 %
Creative A Creative B
Intends to buy Colgate
+10x
Creative execution is by far the biggest lever for creating effective online advertising.
BANNER BEST PRACTICES:
1. MEDIA/CREATIVE INTEGRATION BIGGEST DRIVER.
2. SHOW THE LOGO. ALL THE TIME.
3. SHOW THE PRODUCT. IF APPLICABLE.
4. STATIC OUTPERFORMS RICH. THINK PRINT, NOT TV.
5. DIRECT. SIMPLE. OBVIOUS.
”SPLIT TESTING.”
Once you have the fundamentals right, it’s time to start learning from a live campaign. And the best way is to compare, not with others, but yourself.
ZYNGA AND THE USE OF DISCOUNT PRE-TESTING.
Social gaming and other viral products have pioneered rapid testing and optimization.
0 %
5 %
10 %
15 %
20 %
25 %
Creative A Creative B
Intends to buy Colgate
+10x
Split testing allows you to spot differences early.
0 %
5 %
10 %
15 %
20 %
25 %
Site A Site B
+10x0 %
5 %
10 %
15 %
20 %
25 %
Site A Site B
Creative A, performance by site Creative B, performance by site
But the problem is that - as we touched on earlier - different executions work different under different
circumstances.
Site A Site B
+10x0 %
15 %
30 %
45 %
60 %
75 %
Site A Site B
Creative A + Site A, performance by Geography Creative A + Site B, performance by Geography
And goes deeper...
You end up with a tree structure with all these different variations and outcomes.
0%
0,25%
0,5%
0,75%
1%
“Worst” Average “Best” “Bestest”
+10x
By using the best combination for each exposure you can create enormous ”lifts”.
Which has been well known, and talked about forever. But for different reasons, ”one-to-one”
marketing is not deployed on a very large scale.
CLOSING UP:PUTTING TWO AND
TWO TOGETHER
IDEA MEASUREPRODUCE
LEARNIDEA 2
IDEA 3
IDEA 4
IDEA 5
IDEA 6
IDEA 7
IDEA 8
HOW?
And then there’s that little detail of applying the ideas and lessons learned in practice...
SIMPLICITY.
The first thing to keep in mind is to start out with a minimal execution to test your idea.
SIMPLICITY = FASTER TIME TO MARKET EASIER TO TEST
BONUS FEATURE: LESS TO UNDERSTAND FOR CONSUMERS
Start off with one simple execution of an idea. In a banner for instance. One format is enough.
PACK SHOT EARLIER?WHERE’S THE LOGO?
ANIMATION NECESSARY?
TOO MUCH MESSAGING?
Self diagnose and make that if you’re breaking any rules and best practices, you should be aware of
what rules you’re breaking, and why.
A
B
Create variations for split testing. At this stage I recommend doing widely different variations. In
some cases completely different ideas.
A B
C D
Buy (or convince the publisher to give you) some media and run a quick and dirty split test, to see
how consumers respond to your variations.
0 %
0,3 %
0,6 %
0,9 %
1,2 %
1,5 %
Creative A Creative B Creative C Creative D
Click-thrus
Choose a proper metric (which is a separate workshop, I’m afraid) and eliminate the waste.
Focus your efforts in the stuff that seems to work.
START SPENDING ON MORE MEDIA,
FORMATS ETC.
Once you’ve condensed your basic idea, you can start expanding on the with more variations,
formats and progressivly increase media spend.
OPTIMIZE.
Monitor and switch on automatic optimization where it makes sense to personalize the
messages. With the right tool you can optimize against any kind of effect.
BENCHMARK.
Once you’re over and done with, do a quick followup and benchmark your efforts. Call in the
audit people if that’s your thing. Wait until the next campaign to make deep analysis.
IDEA MEASUREPRODUCE
LEARNIDEA n 4x
For those of you paying attention, ”agile advertising” puts four feedback loops into play.
LOOP 1:SELF-DIAGNOSE
LOOP 2:SPLIT TEST
LOOP 3:OPTIMIZATION
LOOP 4:CROSS-CAMPAIGN
THE FOUR FEEDBACK LOOPS:
WRAPPING THINGS UP:
1. THE TRADITIONAL CREATIVE PROCESS IS RISKY.
2. ”AGILE ADVERTISING” LOWERS RISK AND INCREASES OUTPUT BY TESTING IDEAS EARLY.
3. THE KEY TO SUCCESS IS IMPLEMENTING THE FOUR FEEDBACK LOOPS.
SPEED.The faster you learn the sooner people will pay
attention to you, and not your competitors.
IDEA MEASUREPRODUCE
LEARNIDEA n
Usability testingFunnel analysisCohort analysisReal-time alertingPredicitive monitoring
PM softwareScrum
JIT scalabilityMVP
5 whysCustomer archetypesSmoke tests
Flow optimizationWorking conditionsTime managementCreative leadership
Ways to increase your velocity thru the loop.
Thanks: Eric Ries and Steve Blank
LEARN.It’s really a simple idea. Spend time testing and
learning, not speculating.
YOU CAN DO IT.
And as I said, anyone can do this. It works better the more people are involved, but ”agile
advertising” allows even just one person to get a big influence on the end result.