Search results matching tags 'digital' and 'branding'

Is Purefold pure gold for brands or pure confusion?

2292853 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:14:00 GMT

Coming soon from Free Scott, the new entertainment venture of Ridley Scott and his brother Tony, is a trippy new sci-fi entertainment project called Purefold that plans to let brand’s sponsor the content, and let the audience drive the plot line using social networking platforms.

Produced by Ag8, the concept will see participating brands “…take an alternative route to brand integration than traditional product placement and embrace invention within a narrative framework.” The project explores transmedia entertainment and will launch off of cross-platform channels. What? Purefold just might represent pure gold for brands looking to reach audiences in an extremely interactive format, but as of now, it has a lot of people baffled as to how it will work, what it will be, and if branded content is a good idea or not.

Discussions about Purefold on Friend Feed, the main resource planned to “harvest” story ideas, are already brewing about the question of what it means to be human, the driving theme behind the story that will be loosely based on Blade Runner. Ag8 is getting people to explore the idea of what “transhumanism” is in the Purefold discussion group on Friend Feed, but the project is often met with confusion, with participants trying to understand what is happening, and what role they will play. For insight as to what people think of Purefold, I’ve been asking around.

A few entertainment insiders were willing to go on the record to share what they think of the project and here is what they had to say: Jenifer Hanen, a blogger from Los Angeles, was wary of the idea of brand’s sponsoring content based on projects she has seen fail, but likes the DIY media side of the project and the idea to have the plot line driven by the audience. Listen to a conversation I had with Jen about Purefold here.

Film Production Designer Tema L. Staig, who is based in Los Angeles, first reacted to the idea of Purefold saying “The project sounds almost like virtual mad libs for content and advertising.” She also had this to say: "Universally, people have always needed to create visual and/or verbal stories and have a cathartic experience through those stories, either through the telling or the viewing. This is what makes us human. This is what connects us across the globe. Historically, unrelated cultures share similar myths and stories, suggesting that we all have a desire to explain the natural, unnatural, and supernatural. It’s our most primal of needs.

It will be interesting to see how Ag8 takes story telling to humanity’s next level. The idea of us, the greater audience being involved directly in the story is compelling in that it creates (in theory) even more empathy for the characters – those characters are a part of us. It’s our baby, even if just a little bit. How will it effect society? Will it bring us together around a global campfire? What new brainstorms might it spark? The possibilities are endless."

Here in London, I asked Mervyn Lyn, who is Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for Sony Music and often gets involved with branded content for the entertainment company, what he thinks of Purefold. At first reaction, he said it reminds him of MTV’s Dubplate Drama that turned to the audience to drive the story line, a show he enjoyed because it made the viewers feel part of the show. As for letting brand’s sponsor the content, he was cautionary about the idea because so often people are suspicious when a company attempts to sell them something through a new medium. “It depends how it is done and if it is trying to lean on branded content then they will have to strike a balance between the brand and the content so that each side doesn’t feel they are losing out,” he said.

They need to be very careful in making it driven by advertising because people see this as being railroaded and people will be cynically asking ‘what are they trying to sell me?’” The approach Purefold is using will be ground breaking in entertainment, according to producers, and it will be distributed according to the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license, giving both audiences, brands and platforms equal use rights through their participation.

According to Ag8’s Tom Himpe, Purefold will be broadcast across a variety of media platforms and spread virally across the Internet. “Most brands are aware of the fact that social media has changed the dynamics of the conversation, and they can't just spell out their message in the same way as with one-way advertising methods,” he said. “We are giving brands the opportunity to create stories over an extended period of time, in collaboration with their audiences and relying on top industry talent in both writing and directing. That's quite a unique package, especially in view of the fact that they can use the audiovisual assets freely across all their platforms and channels, from retail to mobile, from cinema to television.”

For now Ag8 is not revealing who the brand sponsors will be, but based on Friend Feed discussions the writers are already compiling what the story line will be, all set in the near future. The question many have is how brands will fit into the discussion, and for that, Himpe had this to say:

“There are two ways in which we are "guiding" the conversation. First of all, the brand is setting up the framework of the conversation, by defining one or multiple brand propositions they want to explore and picking a story line through which they want to explore that proposition. This sets up the framework within which we harvest online conversations.

So we're not just harvesting random conversations across the entire web, we set out specific parameters with the participating brands. Secondly, while we're listening to what the audience wants to see within the episodes, the ultimate creative control still resides with our editorial team and the Free Scott Directors, who are making creative sense of the audience's input. So there is another level of control there. However, it's very important for brands to understand that Purefold is about creating top quality entertainment, and not about extended the length of their tv commercials.

There's a different balance here, and sure, that's something they might have to get used to.”

Still confused, but ready to watch Purefold unfold,

-Lisa

How can digital brands compete with heritage?

2628063 — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:39:00 GMT

It starts with a little scamp in a flat cap purchasing a loaf of bread from a bakers. A near miss with a horse drawn cart and a healthy dose of sepia tells us we’re somewhere in Victorian England, and a midland dialect is thrown in to make us feel all warm inside. As the boy dashes home through the cobbled streets, loaf in arm, he dodges a march of suffragettes, salutes some First World War soldiers and skips past a Model T Ford. And so begins last year’s 122 second advert from Hovis, designed to chart how much Britain has changed since the company was founded, presumably in a bakery much like the one in the opening scene, 122 years ago.

The advert was the centre point of a £15m rebrand of Hovis, and proved hugely successful in attracting both sales and plaudits. Although undoubtedly the most high profile, the advert is one of a series of campaigns launched in recent months designed to evoke nostalgia and remind consumers just how long brands have been around. In difficult economic times, heritage equals reliability, quality and trust. If Hovis can soldier through two world wars and still make its way into the nation’s lunchboxes, what’s a little global economic meltdown?

You only have to switch the TV on at the moment to see just how much companies are looking backwards to go forwards. There’s M&S celebrating 125 years since beginning life as a market stall in Leeds and Sainsbury’s boasting 140 years of trading. Robinsons is keen to remind us all how its association with Wimbledon dates back to 1935, and never one to miss a trick, Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic launched a rather slick campaign to celebrate 25 years in the air. When marketed effectively, history clearly sells at the moment. As people become increasingly concerned about the future, and witness high street staples such as Woolworths collapsing, they become keener to revisit brands that were around in less troubled times.

This is all well and good for those brands that are able to flaunt their heritage, but where does this leave newer, more digitally focused businesses? If consumers are attracted to products that have stood the test of time, how are digital brands going to deliver this reassurance? What brands are aiming to do when shouting about their heritage is to play on the loyalty of their customers. If new businesses aren’t in a position to claim a historically loyal customer base, they need to go about creating one. One way of doing this is to clearly demonstrate that the brand understands what the customer needs, and set about providing it. If the customer’s needs are traced and matched in the product or service offering, the business has already laid the foundation for enduring customer loyalty.

To achieve this a clear emphasis should be placed on customer service – an area where many new businesses often fall down simply due to a lack of experience. When customers use a new business for the first time it can often be regarded as a trial purchase. If treated well and satisfied, there is no reason for them to not come back for a second, third or fourth time. Simply supplying a good product is not always enough, and the sale should never be regarded as the end of the relationship. At times like this the service invariably sticks in a customer’s mind longer, so those brands investing the necessary time and effort will be rewarded with repeated purchases. With less money to spend, consumers are looking for the very best value for every penny, and good customer service can often be the deciding factor.

Brands that fail to value their customers in difficult times will be usurped by those that do, regardless of heritage. Customers are savvy, and they know when a business values their custom. If a customer engages with a brand once and leaves satisfied, they will develop a certain expectation, and it is in the brand’s interest to meet these expectations. For digital brands especially, the risks are too great to not be taken seriously. The community aspect of the internet means that any negative experiences can quickly be shared amongst a potentially worldwide audience through blogs, Facebook groups and so on. Conversely, when negative publicity does spread through these channels, a switched on brand has the opportunity to act fast and turn this into positive publicity, demonstrated with the recent M&S bra story.

As integral to a brand’s success as great customer service is, the business needs to attract those customers in the first place. This message of quality needs to be evident through every stage of the customer’s journey, from the first piece of direct mail that lands on their doormat through to what they are greeted with when they first log on to the website. Consistency of messaging is vital, and encourages the customer to buy into the brand’s culture as soon as possible. By achieving this the business is ensuring that the customer’s experience goes beyond simply receiving the product, and greatly improves the chances of them returning. In the current climate it’s also vital to remember that people don’t necessarily want to spend less. In truth, they want to maintain their current lifestyle, just at a more reasonable cost.

A good recent example of a brand that has recognised this is value supermarket chain Aldi, and it’s ‘don’t change your lifestyle, change your supermarket’ campaign. Although not a new brand, Aldi cannot begin to compete with the likes of Sainsbury’s when it comes to heritage, and as a result has provided a great example of how intelligent messaging can help attract new customers.

There are always competitors out there looking to attract the attention of your customers, and right now businesses are scrambling for custom like never before. Pushing heritage to the front of marketing and advertising campaigns appears to be the favoured strategy of late for many brands. But for those businesses unable to point to history, going that extra mile to encourage brand loyalty right from the very formation of the brand is the smartest way to success. Brands that do will enjoy not just the immediate profit that comes with pleasing a first time customer, but they will also maximise revenue in the long term.

Crossing borders with email marketing

2423968 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:50:00 GMT

It really amazes me that there are still so many sloppy emailers that think they can apply the same strategy to their international campaigns as they do their UK campaigns, and use the same content and creative. Just last night I received an email from an Australian winter sports travel company telling me it was ‘dumping with snow and to come skiing this weekend’. It also thanked me for my previous booking OR enquiry. Firstly, they should know from their data capture form that I’m in the UK, where it’s not snowing (ok it might be raining constantly but it is our summer time), and popping off for a quick ski down under just isn’t feasible. And secondly, surely they should know if I’ve booked a trip with them before or if I’ve simply enquired with them so they can tailor the email accordingly?

Communicating to customers on a global level requires more time and thought than simply translating your campaign and firing it out. The other day this article reminded me just how dangerous sloppy translation is. If your brand has global reach, or you want it to, then some thought needs to go into how you make it relevant to different markets. Personalisation is key, and tailoring to local changes isn’t difficult if you use sophisticated but user friendly email broadcasting tools available such as eC-messenger, followed by testing (and more testing) to see which generates the best response.

On top of this brands need to be aware of both serious issues like abiding by foreign laws, and simple ones like being aware of different time zones and when emails will be hitting inboxes, to create an effective global campaign that resonates with a global audience.

Too many brands make the mistake of just seeing the global picture when in fact they should be thinking local whilst acting global. And whilst there are a few brands that champion this approach, there are still far too many culprits of the ‘one size fits all’ campaign, and this is what is bringing the industry under the spotlight, for all the wrong reasons.

Thousands download Skyfire's new 1.0 version for smartphones

2292853 — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:30:00 GMT

This week the mobile browser Skyfire released it's long awaited 1.0 version, for use with smartphones, taking the company out of a hugely successful beta period that has seen 1 million people downoad the free service.

Skyfire is free to download at: www.get.skyfire.com

The service is currently available in the UK, USA and Canada, and runs on Windows Mobile (smartphones and PPC) and Nokia N and E Series (Symbian S60, 3rd Edition) phones. With its release yesterday, thousands of people lit up on fire with excitement for Skyfire and have been reporting their experiences on Twitter, with many tweeting that the service is the iPhone for other handsets. Skyfire is feeding the strong popularity and desire people have to get connected to the internet by their mobile phones, for instant access to social networking sites, viewing videos and reading their RSS feeds, among other features. Skyfire describes its service as bringing the full web experience to handsets, and it is the only mobile browser that supports Flash, Silverlight and Ajax, technologies that normally crash when attempting to access the internet from a handset.

Skyfire's 1.0 release means millions more people will be able to catch up on Facebook, Twitter and watch YouTube, BBC iPlayer from their mobile, and this rich-media content experience bodes well for brands who are increasingly using the mobile internet for advertising and marketing. The excitement for this new milestone in technology captured the attention of mainstream media and bloggers, who have given the service rave reviews. Here's what some have said:

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“You see, Skyfire isn't a 'proper' browser, more of a content viewer, with all the serious processing handled by the company's proxy servers, the pages then being 'rendered' onto your phone. Just like the Opera browser in fact, but with more whistles, bells and streaming video.” – T3’s David Walker

“The release brings with it a host of improvements, such as improved navigation, zooming and interaction and a faster launch, lower power consumption, and new search functionality. Also, while the new version of the browser starts up, you can begin typing URLs or search queries into the box at the top, saving time. The company is operating a closed alpha for the BlackBerry platform, so that'll likely be next for release.” –Pocket-lint.com’s Duncan Geere

“Their browser is fast and responsive, and Skyfire’s goal is to give a faithful representation of web pages that is equivalent to the desktop browsing experience. One important focus for Skyfire is in the area of video rendering… Skyfire’s approach is to introduce their own video-crunching servers between, say, YouTube and your Nokia N95. These servers take full Flash (Flash 10) and then video transcode the signal in real-time, giving a lower frame rate (8 frames per second), and a smaller screen rendering for mobile. The result is that the Skyfire browser can render an original YouTube page or Vimeo page, or even blogs with embedded video, so that you have access to the entire video catalogue, live on line.” –Martyn Davies, The Really Mobile Project

Watch The Phones Show hosted by AllAboutSymbian.com's Steve Litchfield, for an interview with Skyfire’s VP of Business Development Raj Singh, who offers extra insight to the browser’s features and hints of what’s to come.

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CNET was among the first outlets to announce the news yesterday, and just prior to Skyfire’s 1.0 launch, The New York Times named the browser as “App of the Week”.

My consultancy the Hai Media Group handled the UK/EU media outreach for Skyfire, teaming up with our fantastic US media partners VSC Consulting to orchestrate this highly successful PR 2.0 outreach programme.

Still finding more and more coverage results for Skyfire,

-Lisa

Customer service and brand reputation. Ah-haa!

2460092 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:04:00 GMT

Apologies for not blogging over the last couple of weeks, but we’ve got builders tearing my house apart - and finding a temporary home for the family has been taking up a lot of time (outside of work of course)!

I’m writing this from my 'Travel Tavern,' where we’re currently living Alan Partridge-style until the builders complete their business - or we find another house - wondering what all these other sad people are doing in a Surbiton hotel without access to Champions League football on a Wednesday night. My kids are screeching and screaming - rather than sleeping - next door, which leads me to believe that perhaps they too are becoming increasingly irritated by the broken air-conditioner noisily blasting chilly air around the place. I’ve complained several times about this to the manager, but to no avail. Of course, each time he has quoted from the customer services handbook, assuring me that they’re "looking into it," that it'll be fixed "as soon as possible," but it's been four days now... Yes, he can placate me this way in the knowledge that I’m probably not going to go through the hassle of moving the whole family to another hotel mid-week, but it doesn’t really solve my problem.

Which of course got me thinking... brand reputation and customer service are even more important now that the world is digital. Opinions, views, reviews, comments – both positive and negative – can spread like wildfire across blogs, networks and websites (see Mel Carson’s post about Ryan Air for a topical example of this). As most of the web is open, this kind of information is no longer locked inside 'walled gardens'; these points-of-view can be searched for, linked to, and replicated very easily.

Taking that concept a step further, even if experiences happen offline, they are quickly written about online. In other words, even offline brands have nowhere to hide from a modern consumer. If the air-con issue isn’t sorted tonight, perhaps I’ll add my name to the list of disgruntled bloggers seeking redress for bad customer service... and if anyone has a couple of spare rooms they want to rent out, do give me a shout.

Data is the new black

2460092 — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:30:00 GMT

This week I was at an industry event chatting with a couple of old mates – one from a traditional media background who now works on the client side, and one from a media agency – about the use of data in our industry. While my agency friend, perhaps unsurprisingly, was up to speed with most of the huge amount of data now available to advertisers and agencies, this was in stark contrast to my other friend who was unaware of the wealth of information at the disposal of professionals in the industry today. I guess my point is that there are still plenty in media who don't yet utilise the huge amount of data-points available to all businesses. It almost feels like a failure on our part when we realise that the message has not yet permeated throughout the whole industry, especially when there are so many easy to use tools and analytics packages out there. The web analytics industry has come a long way in recent years. What used to be a techie subject for tracking server performance and website hits (which clearly went over my head) has evolved into a dream for webmasters, marketers and media planners. Conversions, geography, off and online media and a host of other areas can be measured and cross-referenced. This can be combined with powerful tools like Insights for Search, or Google's keyword tool, to give a snapshot of what people are searching for and interested in. As the digital industry has grown, there seemed to be two extremes in terms of the way marketers have been using data: those focused on direct response and e-commerce players who had data at the heart of their strategy on one side, and more traditional brand marketers who were yet to engage with the hard stats online (either through choice, or lack of understanding) on the other. But the good news is that more recently there's a new breed of media and marketing industry professional coming to the fore, predictably a mixture of the two extremes: the data-driven brand marketer and comms planner, with appreciation of traditional brand values, but with a mind hell-bent on data to prove success (or failure). It is these people who increasingly need to be at the centre of business and media decisions as clients and agencies alike become rightly obsessed with quality, value and ROI in these cash-tight times. It's up to search engines, media owners and the analytics industry to make sure all my mates are data-driven and better versed in the power of numbers in the months to come.