Summit Fever

I finally got round to watching Us Now recently. Apart from making Ed Milliband look a bit of a tit, it hit on something that I've been particularly interested in for a while now; the problem of good ol' home-baked user generated content (USC).

It seems that on the whole, USC is generally viewed by marketeers and internet users as a ‘good thing’. Now, my guess is that this is down to four key reasons: first are the libertarian principles underpinning much of the development of the internet; second are the pleasing connotations of democracy; and thirdly, marketers, advertisers and producers predelictions for slotting it into almost every media project.

Fourthly, and most importantly, USC picks up on an element unique to t’internet: interactivity. You put something out there on the web and it’s almost expected that some part of it you’ll be able to comment on, post a picture or upload a video. Interactivity has understandably been a fundemental byaw to the internet from it's inception and as a result it's become one of the main features that internet marketing uses to define itself.

Fine, but why do we are restrict USC to these same old categories? Indeed, we are starting to see the effectiveness and welcome for these USC 1.0 wane:

Now Jeremy Paxman’s gripe with his producer is not unreasonable; a news outlet like Newsnight is a specialist programme that you expect to be well written and researched, i.e. trustworthy. This trust is the show's most valuable asset, (arguably this trustworthiness is the most valuable asset for the whole of the BBC). USC is notoriously inconsistent, for every insightful comment there is another from somebody painfully dumb.

Obviously if, like Newsnight, your brand or product relies on trust putting inconsistent and potentially damaging USC into your output is risking the foundations of the shows success. Newsnights producer exhibited a classic example of the urge to adopt technology for the sake of it. A sort of summit-fever for media professionals.

An arguably more sophisticated form of USC is now well established in the form of social media, and this is reflected in brands eagerness to adopt it. Cue, branded Facebook pages and brand twittering (does anybody apart from people who work in advertising and self promoting celebs actually use twitter?).

A few brands have done well out of this: Dell, Wispa and Apple come off the top of my head. Two technology companies (an industry that has traditionally enjoyed a huge DIY audience straining at the leash to interact with manufacturers) and a well loved chocolate bar (that just so happened to capture the nostalgia of the main generation of social media users). But many brands are just chucking up social media apps because their marketing directors son spends all day on Bebo.

My point is this: the adoption of USC should first of all not be considered necessary, but viewed with respect to the rest of the branding efforts. Once the informed decision has been made to use USC it has got to viewed as a concept not as a tool. I.e. In what way can people interact with our brand/digital presence rather than where does the forum or profile pages go.

There are plenty of websites (and brands) out there that employ USC in more creative ways (Last.fm, Nike ID, Vimeo etc...). Once USC is viewed as a concept rather than a tool, it opens up tremendous opportunities that I'm looking forward to investigating. So yeah.

Elementary Digital Marketing

A really well executed piece of digital marketing/general fun from Element skateboards via 

interactivemarketingtrends.blogspot.com/

Please watch it Fullscreen from Morten Halvorsen on Vimeo.

This is a pretty simple idea, not using any breaking technology, just linking existing applications already being used by skateboarders and adding a competitive and fun element. It nicely picks up on the strong traditions of filming and photographing, competitive one-up-man-ship and the strong connections with locations inherent in skateboarding. As a mountain biker and surfer those are things I can relate to quite easily, infact it makes me want to brush off my old skateboard and graze my palms all over again.

I'm not so sure how well some people are going to take their secret spots being published for all to see on Google maps but on the whole this is pretty hard to fault.

The Nature of the Digital Beast

In trying to pin down my thoughts on the job I'm about to take up, I noted out briefly how I see this tricky digital beast and its applications...

Digital as a communications channel that is offers more accountability, more accurate targeting and better value for money than traditional advertising, all sound (and popularly lauded), if rather bland, reasons for brands to use it in their marketing strategy.

Yet the advent of digital has the capacity for changing marketing much more profoundly. Previously, all marketing has been a one-way process, the consumer only present as an audience or, at best, sat in front of the one-way mirrors of research agencies. The opportunities offered by digital go way beyond just being another platform for a brand to commence another monologue. It presents a massive opportunity for creating broader and stronger relationships with customers.

Digital is unlike any other media; democratic, inconsistent and powerful but most importantly it is rapidly growing in popularity, ubiquity and size. This growth means that it is in a constant state of development, heading in a myriad of different directions at a dozen different speeds. This presents a big opportunity for us as advertisers; it gives us a huge degree of freedom when it comes to communicating with its customers beyond traditional methods. Social networking, mobile technology, and any other number of innovations in digital technology all offer their own unique advantages for brands. NikeID, Apple iTunes and BBC iPlayer are all old, well worn examples of innovative marketing tools that go beyond traditional digital banner advertising and branded facebook groups. It seems that to really succeed in digital, marketers need to not just adopt technology and methods they need to be at the forefront of their creation.

Google’s massive project to catalogue and open up the world’s information exemplifies another major point related to digital marketing: we are getting smart. We can log onto the Adbusters website and explore a brand’s dirty secrets; use product search engines to tell us where we can find a product for the cheapest price; and reading a friend’s opinions about a brand on his blog is more persuasive than a drumming gorilla. Brands have to acknowledge this and start to communicate more intelligently and openly to manage their relationship with their customers.

Change, the prospect of it, the pre-empting of it, the creation of it, is personally the most attractive aspect of a career in marketing. Advertising and marketing reacts to cultural, sociological and technological changes far more rapidly than any other industry. Indeed, good marketing pre-empts and creates change rather than just reacting to it. Digital is the area that is changing the fastest and offering the most exciting new opportunities for doing genuinely creative and innovative work and as a result is beginning not just to change marketing but to empower it.



top pic: darklorddisco bottom pic: mothmilk