I did a great course 'Design for Entrepreneurs and Hackers' at General Assembly when I first arrived in NYC. The course was run by Jack Cheng and David Cole from Disrupto and I have finally got around to doing a write up on it.
They have got a solid framework on what makes good design. The basis of their theory is that good design is making and breaking patterns to achieve desired outcomes. A large portion of the course was talking about patterns. Patterns are recurring solutions that solve common design problems. They are shortcuts that people understand, similar to schemas. They had a number of great resources on patterns for mobile and web;
Mobile
Pttrns
Mobile UI Patterns
Web
Pattern Tap
Welie (User need patterns)
Yahoo's Patterns
Here is a great site on Dark Patterns, they are patterns that deceive the user, if you have ever had that feeling that a design is being tricky, then there is probably a case study on this site of where it has hurt a company online.
When designing anything for online they suggested there were three layers that designers needed to think about - Product Strategy, Product User Interface and Visual Design, within these you want one of these objects to be remarkable and then the others to be patterns that people are familiar with.
On a side not, on a scale of 1 to mind blowing how good is the K-Swiss/Kenny Powers entertainment????
Digital Strategy Training Guide - Using Social for Insights Mining
This is the second chapter of my MacGyver Digital Strategy Handbook
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Introduction
One of the oldest forms of Marketing Research is Discourse Analysis, the study of the written word. With the advent of Social Media it has given marketers, the opportunity to capture real time conversations. Understanding how people will talk about your brand/product/category can be very insightful and help to uncover new territories for the brand.
Tools to be used
Keywords Discovery
List all the names for the product and the category, using Google Search Insights (Similar Search) you will also uncover other words that people use to search for you product. Create a list of these words.
Social Media Mining
Once you have worked out your keywords it is now time to mine Social Media sites to find out what people are saying around these topics. The important thing here is to look out for common themes, start transferring all the data to an excel spreadsheet, using common theme tags to highlight the theme.
There are a number of great tools that you can use to do this.
OpenFacebook - Allows you to see what people have been writing in their Facebook Status Updates, it is estimated that about 3% of the FB population have open accounts, this still gives a good idea of how people are speaking about the product.
Example – Pens
Twiter Search - Check the search terms in twitter, the great thing about Twitter is that it shows the most tweeted tweets using those key terms. This will help uncover the common themes.
Example – Pens
Facebook Search - One of the great things about Facebook is that anyone can set up a Page/Group, what has happened is that a number of people have set up what is called 'Statement Pages' which are small everyday truths. Understanding what people agree on around a topic can be very insightful. Use the search bar and then narrow the search by looking at ‘Groups and Pages’ for those keywords.
Example – Pens
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Introduction
One of the oldest forms of Marketing Research is Discourse Analysis, the study of the written word. With the advent of Social Media it has given marketers, the opportunity to capture real time conversations. Understanding how people will talk about your brand/product/category can be very insightful and help to uncover new territories for the brand.
Tools to be used
Keywords Discovery
List all the names for the product and the category, using Google Search Insights (Similar Search) you will also uncover other words that people use to search for you product. Create a list of these words.
Social Media Mining
Once you have worked out your keywords it is now time to mine Social Media sites to find out what people are saying around these topics. The important thing here is to look out for common themes, start transferring all the data to an excel spreadsheet, using common theme tags to highlight the theme.
There are a number of great tools that you can use to do this.
OpenFacebook - Allows you to see what people have been writing in their Facebook Status Updates, it is estimated that about 3% of the FB population have open accounts, this still gives a good idea of how people are speaking about the product.
Example – Pens
Twiter Search - Check the search terms in twitter, the great thing about Twitter is that it shows the most tweeted tweets using those key terms. This will help uncover the common themes.
Example – Pens
Facebook Search - One of the great things about Facebook is that anyone can set up a Page/Group, what has happened is that a number of people have set up what is called 'Statement Pages' which are small everyday truths. Understanding what people agree on around a topic can be very insightful. Use the search bar and then narrow the search by looking at ‘Groups and Pages’ for those keywords.
Example – Pens
Disrupt Something And Do It Now - Guest Post from James Aviaz
James Aviaz is a Community Manager at Uber NYC
The new darlings of the tech world, and rightly so, are so-called 'disruptive' companies. Heck, New York just played host to a 3-day conference called Techcrunch Disrupt.
So, what makes a disruptive company? Essentially, these disruptors are taking old, broken industries and using innovative tech to fix their problems. Along the way, most of these companies come up against regulatory issues, requiring them to show serious cojones and nimble thinking.
These companies are also revered for their revenue models - they take real money for real services. Something most startups only dream of when asked: 'So, how are you going to monetise this thing?'
Here's a selection of disruptive companies to check out:
1. Square
Founded by Jack Dorsey (Twitter), Square turns any iPhone or iPad into a mobile credit card machine. With a card reader attachment plugged into your audio jack, you can literally take card payments anywhere / any time. Square takes 2.75% of each transaction. Yep, it's fucking genius.
2. Uber
Ever tried getting a yellow taxi in San Francisco? It's a nightmare. Two entrepreneurs Garrett Camp (StumbleUpon) and Travis Kalanick (Red Swoosh) took the challenge on-board and turned a dormant, disparate network of luxury cars into a fully-functioning yellow taxi alternative. Now in NYC, Uber has Seattle, DC, Boston and Chicago next in its sights.
(Disclosure: I'm the Community Manager for Uber in NYC).
3. Airbnb
Starting as a marketplace for finding air mattresses to crash on people's floor, Airbnb founded by Brian Chesky has in the last two years become a genuine hotel alternative. Apartment owners list their cribs online for short-term rentals, and then savvy travellers snap up the awesome rooms. Just raised $100m with a valuation of $1bn. NBD.
4. Skillshare
Americans pay a shitload to go to college with diminishing returns, so Mike Karnjanaprakorn decided to 'start an education revolution'. His contention is that college success does not equal long-term job success, so he's building a learning marketplace where students take take highly-targeted classes at competitive prices.
Now ask yourself: What makes you facepalm each day? What industries are broken? What can you fix?
At a time when the tech world is on the verge an IPO bender, disruptive companies are poised to make a lot of noise. Disrupt something and do it now.
The new darlings of the tech world, and rightly so, are so-called 'disruptive' companies. Heck, New York just played host to a 3-day conference called Techcrunch Disrupt.
So, what makes a disruptive company? Essentially, these disruptors are taking old, broken industries and using innovative tech to fix their problems. Along the way, most of these companies come up against regulatory issues, requiring them to show serious cojones and nimble thinking.
These companies are also revered for their revenue models - they take real money for real services. Something most startups only dream of when asked: 'So, how are you going to monetise this thing?'
Here's a selection of disruptive companies to check out:
1. Square
Founded by Jack Dorsey (Twitter), Square turns any iPhone or iPad into a mobile credit card machine. With a card reader attachment plugged into your audio jack, you can literally take card payments anywhere / any time. Square takes 2.75% of each transaction. Yep, it's fucking genius.
2. Uber
Ever tried getting a yellow taxi in San Francisco? It's a nightmare. Two entrepreneurs Garrett Camp (StumbleUpon) and Travis Kalanick (Red Swoosh) took the challenge on-board and turned a dormant, disparate network of luxury cars into a fully-functioning yellow taxi alternative. Now in NYC, Uber has Seattle, DC, Boston and Chicago next in its sights.
(Disclosure: I'm the Community Manager for Uber in NYC).
3. Airbnb
Starting as a marketplace for finding air mattresses to crash on people's floor, Airbnb founded by Brian Chesky has in the last two years become a genuine hotel alternative. Apartment owners list their cribs online for short-term rentals, and then savvy travellers snap up the awesome rooms. Just raised $100m with a valuation of $1bn. NBD.
4. Skillshare
Americans pay a shitload to go to college with diminishing returns, so Mike Karnjanaprakorn decided to 'start an education revolution'. His contention is that college success does not equal long-term job success, so he's building a learning marketplace where students take take highly-targeted classes at competitive prices.
Now ask yourself: What makes you facepalm each day? What industries are broken? What can you fix?
At a time when the tech world is on the verge an IPO bender, disruptive companies are poised to make a lot of noise. Disrupt something and do it now.
List of Australians in NYC Ad Agencies
It feels like there is a lot of Australians over in NYC doing interesting things. I decided to give a little bit more visibility to who is over here and created a list of Australians who were working at Advertising Agencies over here.
George Gallate, Global Chairman at Euro RSCG
Nick Law, EVP and Chief Creative Officer at R/GA
David Droga, Founder and Creative Chairman at Droga5
Julie Atherton, Global Digital Leader at WPP Team Colgate
Jane Barratt, President of Young and Rubicam
Matt Eastwood, Chief Creative Officer at DDB
Mark Pollard, Director of Planning Innovation at Saatchi and Saatchi
Jonny Baeur, Head of Strategy at Droga5
Neil Heymann, Interactive Creative Director at Droga5
Matt Donovan, MP at McCann
Matt Turnbull, VP of Mobile at Tigerspike
Alexander Chung, Senior Strategist at Undercurrent
Aisea Laungaue , Planning Director at Anomaly
Kat Wong , Senior Strategic Planner, BBDO
Melanie Wiese, Senior Planner, Grey
Andrew Boal, Creative Director, Digitas
Sammi Needham, Creative Director R/GA
Paul Dery, Associate Creative Director, R/GA
Lauren Bugeja, Senior Interaction Designer at R/GA
Pon Kattera, Senior Interaction Designer and Digital Strategist at R/GA
Glenn Rogers, Interactive Senior Producer, Razorfish
Alex Bodman, Associate Creative Director, Razorfish
Kate Gwynne, Community Inspirer at McGarry Bowen
Coco Caspersz, Associate Director at Ogilvy Interactive
Andy Catchaturyan, Interactive Designer
Alex Trevor, Account Director at The Barbarian Group
Lexi Peters, Communication Specialist at The Barbarian Group
Ben Clare, Copywriter at Johannes Leonardo
Gemma Pollard, Global Communication Manager at JWT NYC
Karl Stanton, Senior Developer at HUGE
Tom Markham, Digital ECD at Lowe and Partners
Julian Cole, Strategy Director at BBH NYC
Michaella Solar-March, Splendid
Leo Premutico, Co-founder at Johannes Leonardo
Matt Jones, SVP Strategy and Creative at Jack Morton Worldwide
Michael Canning, Creative Director/SVP at Leo Burnett
Kieran Antill, Creative Director/SVP at Leo Burnett
Robertino Zambrano, Art Director at RGA
Anthony Moss, Group Creative Director, Managing Partner at Gotham Inc
Laura Agricola-Moss, VP Management Supervisor, USA at MRM Worldwide NYC
David Ahrom Hong, Sr. Art Director at Saatchi & Saatchi New York
Brad Cohen, Design Director at BBDO NY
Lara Abelsohn, Business Manager at Saatchi & Saatchi NY
Thorsten Hayer, Experience Design Director at AKQA
Hana Nguyen, Senior Producer at Rapp Collins Worldwide
Gully Flowers, Account Supervisor at Berlin Cameron
Mark Davies, Technical Lead at mcgarrybowen
Cameron Dunnet, Copywriter at Interbrand
Dani Simpson, Account Director at Berlin Cameron
Media Agencies, Client Side and start ups
Ed Sanders , Global Marketing Manager, Creative Lab at Google
Nat Ma, Director of Digital Marketing at Burberry
Emily Butler, Associate Director of Digital Marketing, Sony
Mitchell Holder, Insights and Planning at Sony Music's Global Insights Labs
Sarah Fitzgerald, Digital Account Manager at Sony Music US
Paull Young, Director of Digital at Charity Water
Gary Hardwick, CEO of Ikon3
James Aviaz, Community Manager at Uber NYC
Fiona McIndoe, Client Sales Manager at Specific Media
Sarah James, Associate Media Director at Mediacom
Richard Christiansen, Founder and Creative Director of Chandelier
Amelia Trumble, Executive Director at Mac Cosmetics
Ross McNab, Director of Global Business Development at MediaMind
Mick O'Brien, VP Sales & Client Service North America at MediaMind
Annabel Rawson, Global Smirnoff Experience Director at Diageo
Malcolm Carfrae - Head of Global Communications, Calvin Klein
Matt Sproul, Director of Marketing at Redken 5th Avenue
I have made it into a Twitter List which you can follow it is called the 'E3 Winners', 30+ Australians working in Digital/Strategy at NYC Ad Agencies.
Let me know if there is anyone I have left off the list and I will add them
George Gallate, Global Chairman at Euro RSCG
Nick Law, EVP and Chief Creative Officer at R/GA
David Droga, Founder and Creative Chairman at Droga5
Julie Atherton, Global Digital Leader at WPP Team Colgate
Jane Barratt, President of Young and Rubicam
Matt Eastwood, Chief Creative Officer at DDB
Mark Pollard, Director of Planning Innovation at Saatchi and Saatchi
Jonny Baeur, Head of Strategy at Droga5
Neil Heymann, Interactive Creative Director at Droga5
Matt Donovan, MP at McCann
Matt Turnbull, VP of Mobile at Tigerspike
Alexander Chung, Senior Strategist at Undercurrent
Aisea Laungaue , Planning Director at Anomaly
Kat Wong , Senior Strategic Planner, BBDO
Melanie Wiese, Senior Planner, Grey
Andrew Boal, Creative Director, Digitas
Sammi Needham, Creative Director R/GA
Paul Dery, Associate Creative Director, R/GA
Lauren Bugeja, Senior Interaction Designer at R/GA
Pon Kattera, Senior Interaction Designer and Digital Strategist at R/GA
Glenn Rogers, Interactive Senior Producer, Razorfish
Alex Bodman, Associate Creative Director, Razorfish
Kate Gwynne, Community Inspirer at McGarry Bowen
Coco Caspersz, Associate Director at Ogilvy Interactive
Andy Catchaturyan, Interactive Designer
Alex Trevor, Account Director at The Barbarian Group
Lexi Peters, Communication Specialist at The Barbarian Group
Ben Clare, Copywriter at Johannes Leonardo
Gemma Pollard, Global Communication Manager at JWT NYC
Karl Stanton, Senior Developer at HUGE
Tom Markham, Digital ECD at Lowe and Partners
Julian Cole, Strategy Director at BBH NYC
Michaella Solar-March, Splendid
Leo Premutico, Co-founder at Johannes Leonardo
Matt Jones, SVP Strategy and Creative at Jack Morton Worldwide
Michael Canning, Creative Director/SVP at Leo Burnett
Kieran Antill, Creative Director/SVP at Leo Burnett
Robertino Zambrano, Art Director at RGA
Anthony Moss, Group Creative Director, Managing Partner at Gotham Inc
Laura Agricola-Moss, VP Management Supervisor, USA at MRM Worldwide NYC
David Ahrom Hong, Sr. Art Director at Saatchi & Saatchi New York
Brad Cohen, Design Director at BBDO NY
Lara Abelsohn, Business Manager at Saatchi & Saatchi NY
Thorsten Hayer, Experience Design Director at AKQA
Hana Nguyen, Senior Producer at Rapp Collins Worldwide
Gully Flowers, Account Supervisor at Berlin Cameron
Mark Davies, Technical Lead at mcgarrybowen
Cameron Dunnet, Copywriter at Interbrand
Dani Simpson, Account Director at Berlin Cameron
Media Agencies, Client Side and start ups
Ed Sanders , Global Marketing Manager, Creative Lab at Google
Nat Ma, Director of Digital Marketing at Burberry
Emily Butler, Associate Director of Digital Marketing, Sony
Mitchell Holder, Insights and Planning at Sony Music's Global Insights Labs
Sarah Fitzgerald, Digital Account Manager at Sony Music US
Paull Young, Director of Digital at Charity Water
Gary Hardwick, CEO of Ikon3
James Aviaz, Community Manager at Uber NYC
Fiona McIndoe, Client Sales Manager at Specific Media
Sarah James, Associate Media Director at Mediacom
Richard Christiansen, Founder and Creative Director of Chandelier
Amelia Trumble, Executive Director at Mac Cosmetics
Ross McNab, Director of Global Business Development at MediaMind
Mick O'Brien, VP Sales & Client Service North America at MediaMind
Annabel Rawson, Global Smirnoff Experience Director at Diageo
Malcolm Carfrae - Head of Global Communications, Calvin Klein
Matt Sproul, Director of Marketing at Redken 5th Avenue
I have made it into a Twitter List which you can follow it is called the 'E3 Winners', 30+ Australians working in Digital/Strategy at NYC Ad Agencies.
Let me know if there is anyone I have left off the list and I will add them
MacGyvers Digital Strategy Training Guide
So this break between jobs has been really good, I have been able to really have a think about the processes that I use in my job and what the hell I actually do and how I articulate that.
One of the good things that I have started to do is map out the insights mining process that I go through for a brief. I am actually going to write an e-book on the process and I am also thinking about making it into a course, I presented some of this thinking at Strateday, but there is heaps of courses like Skillshare that I am thinking I could teach this through.
Anyway I am calling it the MacGyver's Digital Strategy Training Guide.
The aim is to be able to come up with killer insights using only free tools that are at your disposal (including your brain). I have got three pillars – Discourse Analysis, Relationship Mapping and Capital Auditing.
Here is a small excerpt to the Relationship Mapping chapter, every chapter is going to be based on one of my favourite marketing/sociology academics and then have two to three exercises with how you can draw insights. This chapter is based on Susan Fournier.
1. RELATIONSHIP MAPPING
Introduction
Marketing academic Susan Fournier came up with an interesting discovery in 1998, she found that people have relationships with brands the same way that they have relationships with other people. She suggested that there were a number of different styles of relationships that people had with brands from seeing a brand similar to your best mate to being your father.
What you need – Target Market Profile
Tools to be used
Relationship Peaking
Think about the target markets life and the major life moments that they have, what role does the brand play in these interactions. Map from life to death what role does that product or service play with the target market.
Relationship Mapping for BIC pens
In this example I take the product of a pen. As you can see there are a number of massive times in a persons life that they share with a pen. From getting your pen license, to signing your first job contract. This should help give you some ideas going into a brainstorm of territories you might want to go down.
More about Susan Fournier
While Associate Professor at the Harvard Business School Susan wrote her seminal paper on Brand relationship. Prior to that Susan was a VP and Director at Young & Rubicam Advertising; she also held positions in marketing research at Yankelovich and marketing/advertising at Polaroid Corporation. She now is currently the Associate Professor of Marketing at Bsoton University.
Read Susan Fournier journal article 'Consumers and their brands - Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research'
Any thoughts? Ways that I could make it better or things I should think about?
One of the good things that I have started to do is map out the insights mining process that I go through for a brief. I am actually going to write an e-book on the process and I am also thinking about making it into a course, I presented some of this thinking at Strateday, but there is heaps of courses like Skillshare that I am thinking I could teach this through.
Anyway I am calling it the MacGyver's Digital Strategy Training Guide.
The aim is to be able to come up with killer insights using only free tools that are at your disposal (including your brain). I have got three pillars – Discourse Analysis, Relationship Mapping and Capital Auditing. Here is a small excerpt to the Relationship Mapping chapter, every chapter is going to be based on one of my favourite marketing/sociology academics and then have two to three exercises with how you can draw insights. This chapter is based on Susan Fournier.
1. RELATIONSHIP MAPPING
Introduction
Marketing academic Susan Fournier came up with an interesting discovery in 1998, she found that people have relationships with brands the same way that they have relationships with other people. She suggested that there were a number of different styles of relationships that people had with brands from seeing a brand similar to your best mate to being your father.
What you need – Target Market Profile
Tools to be used
Relationship Peaking
Think about the target markets life and the major life moments that they have, what role does the brand play in these interactions. Map from life to death what role does that product or service play with the target market.
Relationship Mapping for BIC pens
In this example I take the product of a pen. As you can see there are a number of massive times in a persons life that they share with a pen. From getting your pen license, to signing your first job contract. This should help give you some ideas going into a brainstorm of territories you might want to go down.
More about Susan Fournier
While Associate Professor at the Harvard Business School Susan wrote her seminal paper on Brand relationship. Prior to that Susan was a VP and Director at Young & Rubicam Advertising; she also held positions in marketing research at Yankelovich and marketing/advertising at Polaroid Corporation. She now is currently the Associate Professor of Marketing at Bsoton University.
Read Susan Fournier journal article 'Consumers and their brands - Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research'
Any thoughts? Ways that I could make it better or things I should think about?
Zagging NYC – My new job in NYC
So one part of the NYC puzzle has been solved. On Friday I signed on with BBH New York. My new role is Strategy Director and I will be leading the Digital Strategy for Sprite, Axe (Lynx), British Airways and Baileys. There were three things that attracted me to BBH, the people, the clients and the company.
People
I will be working under Saneel Radia who is the Chief Innovation Officer at BBH. He had the idea for the new role which will make me a mixture of both Strategy and Creative working very closely with the creative teams for the different brands.
There is a number of really smart Strategy people at BBH that I am really looking forward to learning from, a few that I have already met that are on the Twitters – Griffin Farley, Heidi Hackemer , Dating Brian, Colleen Leddy and definitely follow BBH Labs
Clients
I am really excited to be working on Axe, I think they have done some really great stuff in the past few years. The other massive positive is that Old Spice has brought a lot of digital creativity to the category and no doubt Axe will probably be looking to really hit back with something great this year.
The other big one for me is Sprite, I loved working with Coca-Cola at TCO and one of my favourite projects to date was at Naked, 'Sprite Truth Hunters'. Also I am a sucker for hip hop music, I was a massive fan of their work with Drake. So heres to hoping Mac Miller is the next face of Sprite!
They are also doing some really great work on Google Chrome at the moment.
Company
I had always admired BBH for the innovation that they brought to the Advertising Agency model. One of the things that I was most influenced by was BBH Labs and their Internship program (BBH Barn). I took the idea of their labs and brought it to TCO with TCO Labs. They also have a great business called BBH Zag, which is a brand invention business. They create and launch brands that they think are awesome. Almost like a small venture capital company.
So as you can probably tell, I am stoked to start working at BBH.
Learning the Social Principles of an Idea
I am seeing a lot of Digital/Creative Agency structures now being set up so that graduates come into the business as Community Managers and then work on to being Social Media Strategist/Account Manager. I think that there is a ceiling for anyone who is going to work in Social Media at an Agency however I think that employees who have worked at the coalface in Social Media have a real edge when it comes to being a full service Strategist.
Whether they know it or not, working in Social Media helps you to have a greater understanding of the Social Principles to an idea. The Social Principles of an idea is the understanding of how people react to ideas, content and media not just consume it. Releasing small ideas everyday to the target market and gauging their reactions is an invaluable learning curve (E.g status updates and the reaction in comments and likes to that ideas). These learning then better inform the next idea you go with.
That response model from your consumer is something that is sometimes missing from traditional ideas where you can make a whole campaign and the only persons reaction you are after is your internal team and the client.
So when the next generation of Community Managers start flexing their strategic muscle over other forms of media, I believe we are going to see really strong social ideas that are taking into consideration the reaction from consumers not just the way they will consume the message.
Whether they know it or not, working in Social Media helps you to have a greater understanding of the Social Principles to an idea. The Social Principles of an idea is the understanding of how people react to ideas, content and media not just consume it. Releasing small ideas everyday to the target market and gauging their reactions is an invaluable learning curve (E.g status updates and the reaction in comments and likes to that ideas). These learning then better inform the next idea you go with.
That response model from your consumer is something that is sometimes missing from traditional ideas where you can make a whole campaign and the only persons reaction you are after is your internal team and the client.
So when the next generation of Community Managers start flexing their strategic muscle over other forms of media, I believe we are going to see really strong social ideas that are taking into consideration the reaction from consumers not just the way they will consume the message.
Another phase of Social Networking
This is a guest post by Grace Gordon who is a Social Media Manager/Strategist at Soap Creative
Much is often speculated of ‘the next phase’ in social media: what comes after Facebook. We’ve watched previous social networks rise, experience a glory period and then a decline. I know everyone has their 2 cents on when and if this will happen to Facebook, but I thought I would throw my view out to the world and see what comes back.
In the last 6 months I have observed a radical shift amongst my peer group pulling back from social media. They still use it heavily, but there is a stronger emphasis on privacy. Many of my close friends have turned off their Facebook walls and opted to password protect their twitter accounts. The networks have become less of an exhibition and sharing space, and more of a necessity to stay in touch with people.
What is being picked up in lieu of the all-encompassing Facebook is a tighter-knit alternative to social networks: my creative friends interact via comments and ‘likes’ on Instagram. Other friends socialize via matches of Words With Friends and playful accompanying banter in the Chat box. Instead of texting, Facebook chat and messaging or otherwise, we’ll have private group chats on WhatsApp. It’s a return to a smaller, more engaged network rather than the beast that is Facebook.
What does this mean for brands? Probably not to rely simply on being involved in the space with the greatest reach, but to ensure you are active in smaller and more relevant networks to your niche.
Is anyone else noticing a shift away from the larger networks?
What do you see being picked up in your peer group?
Much is often speculated of ‘the next phase’ in social media: what comes after Facebook. We’ve watched previous social networks rise, experience a glory period and then a decline. I know everyone has their 2 cents on when and if this will happen to Facebook, but I thought I would throw my view out to the world and see what comes back.In the last 6 months I have observed a radical shift amongst my peer group pulling back from social media. They still use it heavily, but there is a stronger emphasis on privacy. Many of my close friends have turned off their Facebook walls and opted to password protect their twitter accounts. The networks have become less of an exhibition and sharing space, and more of a necessity to stay in touch with people.
What is being picked up in lieu of the all-encompassing Facebook is a tighter-knit alternative to social networks: my creative friends interact via comments and ‘likes’ on Instagram. Other friends socialize via matches of Words With Friends and playful accompanying banter in the Chat box. Instead of texting, Facebook chat and messaging or otherwise, we’ll have private group chats on WhatsApp. It’s a return to a smaller, more engaged network rather than the beast that is Facebook.
What does this mean for brands? Probably not to rely simply on being involved in the space with the greatest reach, but to ensure you are active in smaller and more relevant networks to your niche.
Is anyone else noticing a shift away from the larger networks?
What do you see being picked up in your peer group?
NYC bound, Miss u Sydney/Melbourne
In early May I am making a move over to NYC. I am super excited as in my eyes it is where a lot of the culture that I am influenced by comes from and in terms of work it really feels like I could get some amazing opportunities with a number of smart people in the city and the chance to work on global accounts.
It will be hard leaving Sydney, I have had a great 2 and half years here and really love the city. I am a sucker for the amazing weather and all the different beaches. Thanks to everyone who I have worked with over the last two years. It was not easy moving to here and it was all thanks to the people I met through Social Media Coffee, Gutter Club and around the traps that made it so easy.
If you have any tips or people that you think I should meet, shoot me an email julianwcole@gmail.com
What site does Google predict after one letter?
With Google now predicting as you type, I thought it would be interesting to see what comes up after one letter. This is for an Australian search, I am having a guess when I say that I think that it would be based on traffic to these websites as opposed to SEO (I looked at Google Insights on search traffic but that did not support the findings). It is interesting to see that Lasoo got up there for the letter 'L' it would suggest that you should probably look for a starting letter with not much competition if you were choosing a brand name which obviously would have low awareness.
A - ANZ
B -BOM Bureau of Meteorology
C- Centrelink
D-Domain
E-Ebay
F-Facebook
G-Google
H-Hotmail
I-iTunes
J -Jetstar
K-Kmart
L-Lasoo
M- Myer
N-Netbank (Commonwealth Bank)
O - Optus
P-Paypal
Q-Qantas
R-RTA (Road and Traffic Authority)
S-Seek
T-Telstra
U-UAC - University Admission Centre
V-Virgin Blue
W- Wotif
X-xe
Y-Youtube
Z -Zmail - UNSW Email
Canv.as - The ultimate tool for young creatives (Part 2)
Another strength of Canvas for creatives is the way that it reflects the ideas process within agencies. Ideas are usually thrown around at agencies and are built on and changed a number of times. The backbone for Canvas is that you can consistently remix ideas.
The system of contributing is very easy too, working on a very similar system to MS Paint which means that most people can get involved with the system. Here is a great speech from Moot explaining Canvas at SXSWi.
TCO's Rhys Edwards has already had success with one of his images Hipster Libyan trending on canv.as and getting over 110,000 views on Reddit in 24 hours. I have two invites for Canv.as so let me know if you are looking for one
The system of contributing is very easy too, working on a very similar system to MS Paint which means that most people can get involved with the system. Here is a great speech from Moot explaining Canvas at SXSWi.
TCO's Rhys Edwards has already had success with one of his images Hipster Libyan trending on canv.as and getting over 110,000 views on Reddit in 24 hours. I have two invites for Canv.as so let me know if you are looking for one
Canv.as - The ultimate tool for young Digital Creatives (Part 1)
Canvas is the new project from 4chan founder Moot, It is a SFW version of 4Chan and heaps more. The best thing about it is that they have a reward system where people can vote for their favourite pieces of content by giving them ‘stickers’.
This feedback system presents a great opportunity for future Digital Creatives. It helps to give feedback on their ideas/remixes. I believe this will help to sharpen the brains of Creatives to be more on point. Canvas has a specific audience – a conservative 4chan audience, so it is the job of the creative to work out what is going to trigger this audience.
7 killer examples of online to offline campaings
The other week IdeaWorks launched Improve your plant/life balance, this is a great exmple of offline to online action integration. I love when there is a clear role for both online and offline within a campaign and when one area can affect the other. One of the areas of interest for me is where we can have online actions that impact offline events. The following is a list of 7 such cases;
1. Selector3000
A lot of great ideas happen on company time here is a great one from DTDigital, every present you picked up and transported into the sack, $20 was donated to charity.
2. Vodafone Pinata
People got to choose what move they used to smash the piñata, great execution that got people coming back to the Application waiting to see if the damn thing had burst.
3. Sydney Festival Your Names in Lights
People could sign in and ask for their name to be put up in lights. This seemed to have big traction with people posting photos to Facebook of their name in lights. A simple idea that worked well because the value of having your name in lights is quite high on the novelty factor.
4. Mentos Intern / Kit Kat Desk Jockey
Two very similar campaigns, where you could get a man to do anything for you, from making a restaurant booking to singing you a song.
5. David on Demand
Leo Burnetts sent Recruiter David along to Cannes. The only catch is that he would be completely controlled by the Internet. He would do absolutely anything that you wanted him to do, he even got a Fail Whale tattoo.
6. Nike Bot
7. Old Spice
Token entry
1. Selector3000
A lot of great ideas happen on company time here is a great one from DTDigital, every present you picked up and transported into the sack, $20 was donated to charity.
2. Vodafone Pinata
People got to choose what move they used to smash the piñata, great execution that got people coming back to the Application waiting to see if the damn thing had burst.
3. Sydney Festival Your Names in Lights
People could sign in and ask for their name to be put up in lights. This seemed to have big traction with people posting photos to Facebook of their name in lights. A simple idea that worked well because the value of having your name in lights is quite high on the novelty factor.
4. Mentos Intern / Kit Kat Desk Jockey
Two very similar campaigns, where you could get a man to do anything for you, from making a restaurant booking to singing you a song.
5. David on Demand
Leo Burnetts sent Recruiter David along to Cannes. The only catch is that he would be completely controlled by the Internet. He would do absolutely anything that you wanted him to do, he even got a Fail Whale tattoo.
6. Nike Bot
7. Old Spice
Token entry
Selling clothes through Facebook
Vintage Marketplace is a Facebook Page of 24,000+ fans which is selling vintage clothes online. The admins post up photos of items they have for sale with punters being able to put a ‘sold’ in the comments under the item they want.
This is the first time I have seen this style of e-commerce through Facebook, I can imagine it probably contravenes some Facebook guidelines (probably the one about contacting people directly) however I think it is awesome what they have done here. It also makes for an interesting predicament because Facebook have been allowing Ads from Vintage Marketplace so they would probably be liable for the money they have invested.
With the idea of posting items up as photos and seeing all the items which have been commented on as ‘Sold’ it creates a feeling of scarcity with the items. Hence people feeling like they have to rush to get the purchases.
Check out Julian Lee’s succinct wrap up of the whole topic here.
Branded content without the brand
Rear View Girls is such a great idea. However what is the point of making a clip like this and getting 5 million views if you cannot even talk about the brand?
According to Colenso BBDO ‘Levi's tells us it's the fastest, most successful viral campaign Levi's has ever done, and it's only just started, so we're pretty chuffed.’
I cant see how this is the most successful campaign when there is no talk about the brand. The thing about Youtube is that no one uses the ‘subscribe’ functionality so that they will no longer come back to hear the full story when the brand is revealed.
A great way of integrating the brand into the clip is with the latest clip for Nike’s Black Mumba clip where they even suggest that product placement gives us a bigger budget. Bigger budget, bigger explosions (1:38). In the clip it seems to work with the style of narrative that they have chosen to tell the story with.
I dont think that people care if it is branded content as long as it is entertaining.
Five point Social Media idea checklist
A few questions to ask yourself before going ahead with that Digital/Social idea
1. The real pass on question
The usual question people ask themselves with online content is, will people pass this on? The question should really be what are the people going to write/say when they pass this on. What will it look like in a status update.
2. Working off schemas
Using Schema as shortcuts. Use things that people are familiar with.
3. Is it tapping into a tension points
Try to find something that will raise a debate/engage the audience. Will talk more about this in another blog post
4. 10 second rule
Everyone suffer from ADHD when it comes to online, you need to capture their attention in the first 10 seconds. If they don’t get the idea by then, you have probably lost them.
5. Insurance policy
As Social Media evolves the risk of having an idea that bombs is less and less likely or harder to detect as brands can now buy media to make sure that the idea get seen by the target audience. Make sure you have the insurance policy on the table when signing off the budget.
1. The real pass on question
The usual question people ask themselves with online content is, will people pass this on? The question should really be what are the people going to write/say when they pass this on. What will it look like in a status update.
2. Working off schemas
Using Schema as shortcuts. Use things that people are familiar with.
3. Is it tapping into a tension points
Try to find something that will raise a debate/engage the audience. Will talk more about this in another blog post
4. 10 second rule
Everyone suffer from ADHD when it comes to online, you need to capture their attention in the first 10 seconds. If they don’t get the idea by then, you have probably lost them.
5. Insurance policy
As Social Media evolves the risk of having an idea that bombs is less and less likely or harder to detect as brands can now buy media to make sure that the idea get seen by the target audience. Make sure you have the insurance policy on the table when signing off the budget.
Cultural Touchstones and ImMrTeddy
Cultural touchstones are moments and objects that define a generation of people. Online is playing a large part in creating new cultural touchstones for Australian teens (here is a great post on memes as cultural touchstones).
The latest hype in the Australian Vlogger community is around the 17 year old boy Im Mr Teddy, he is on the observational humour train, doing rants. However what I like about his content is that he is has gone around talking about the cultural touchstones for teens in Australia e.g Facebook, Public Transport and High School. Whether he is funny or not is debatable but what he is good at is giving great insights into 13-17 year olds in Australia.
The latest hype in the Australian Vlogger community is around the 17 year old boy Im Mr Teddy, he is on the observational humour train, doing rants. However what I like about his content is that he is has gone around talking about the cultural touchstones for teens in Australia e.g Facebook, Public Transport and High School. Whether he is funny or not is debatable but what he is good at is giving great insights into 13-17 year olds in Australia.
The theory of nostalgia and Australia's biggest Page
The biggest Australian Facebook Brand Page is Bubble O'Bill Ice Cream with over 850,000 fans, maybe a little surprising at first as they do not seem to have a strong brand or digital leaning. However one explanation for this is nostalgia.
According to the great blog Psychology of video games which looked at nostalgia in videos games,
So it is good news for you if you have a nostalgic brand.
Soap Creative who look after the Bubble O Bill Page just came out with a great Dummies guide for Facebook Pages that is well worth a read.
According to the great blog Psychology of video games which looked at nostalgia in videos games,
‘Research suggests that we engage in nostalgia because it has psychological benefits. It makes us happy and improves our state of mind, especially when we need that kind of mental pick-me-up.’
We seem to engage in nostalgia specifically to make us feel better suggests that we may be unconsciously biased towards remembering things that make us happy and against remembering the things that don’t. We have a remarkable propensity towards that kind of thing.
An additional wrinkle in memory’s landscape is that the emotional footprints of positive memories tend to fade more slowly than those of negative ones.'
So it is good news for you if you have a nostalgic brand.
Soap Creative who look after the Bubble O Bill Page just came out with a great Dummies guide for Facebook Pages that is well worth a read.
Facebook Brand Pages For Dummies
View more presentations from Soap Creative.
The rise of the Digital Cypher
I love Youtube Highest Rated Comments.
One interesting side effect to this is the increase in “digital cyphers”. A digital cypher is when Youtubers freestyle rap in the comments section over the music video clip that is playing, usually these are over instrumental beat to a famous song (examples here here here). Highest rated comments motivates people to rap comments as the best ones will be ‘liked’ and go to the top of the page and showcased to everyone else who is viewing that video.
One interesting side effect to this is the increase in “digital cyphers”. A digital cypher is when Youtubers freestyle rap in the comments section over the music video clip that is playing, usually these are over instrumental beat to a famous song (examples here here here). Highest rated comments motivates people to rap comments as the best ones will be ‘liked’ and go to the top of the page and showcased to everyone else who is viewing that video.
4PM is the best time for a Facebook Update
TCO Labs came out with their first report on Facebook the other day it has some great findings for anyone who is looking after a Facebook Page. One of the things that was always surprising to me was the lack of industry benchmarks around Facebook Pages. Hopefully this goes some way to providing some.
So here are the highlights of the research;
The industry benchmark for the number of responses (likes and comments) to a status update is 0.15%, however what we noticed was that it changed depending on the category. Alcohol brands got the highest response with an average of 0.21% and Entertainment clost behind on 0.20%, the worst performing category was Food and Beverage which was 0.07%
The best time to go out with an update was 4-5PM however this changed depending on the product, alcohol was better with night updates 6-9PM.
You can download the report here for free from The Conscience Organisation Facebook Page.
So here are the highlights of the research;
The industry benchmark for the number of responses (likes and comments) to a status update is 0.15%, however what we noticed was that it changed depending on the category. Alcohol brands got the highest response with an average of 0.21% and Entertainment clost behind on 0.20%, the worst performing category was Food and Beverage which was 0.07%
The best time to go out with an update was 4-5PM however this changed depending on the product, alcohol was better with night updates 6-9PM.
You can download the report here for free from The Conscience Organisation Facebook Page.
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