Archive for Strategy
My Column for Amsterdam Ad Blog: Strategy and Creatives still don’t listen – but they should.
April 12th, 2012 • 1 comment Columns, Social Business, Strategy
Tags: Adaptation Marketing, Amsterdam Ad Blog, Column, Creativity, Listening, Real time, Strategy
Every now and then I have the pleasure (or the duty) to write my column for Amsterdam Ad Blog. If you don’t know it: The platform is one of the best sources for anything marketing-related in Amsterdam. And the guys published my comment on why strategists and creatives should start listening more yesterday here. This is the article:
There is not one article on adaptive digital marketing that doesn’t start by saying that we need to listen to the consumer. If the industry only did!
Social media has generated an important technological opportunity for marketers – as billions of people worldwide constantly interact via social networks we have the great oppor
tunity to learn what they find relevant and what not. With tools like Radian 6, Viralheat, Lithium or Alterian we could exactly know what people share on Twitter, Facebook or Google Plus. But there’s still a great amount of brands that don’t like to listen.
In Spring 2011 60% of all CMO’s in a global KPMG-survey responded they would expand social listening efforts in the near future. Only 43% had already had positive experiences in this field. This is a bit astonishing considering the fact that Social Listening is the most insightful and least ’dangerous’ (read: least visible) brand activity in the social web. What’s more, social listening can support brands holistically. No matter whether it’s about measuring buzz, optimizing customer service, or co-create a new product with fans, listening tools should be the weapon of choice.
Imagine how many creative concepts could benefit from integrating sophisticated listening reports early on in the process. How much better and relevant would creative ideas become if they’d be conceived based on the end-consumer’s interests. Take for example the genius approach by EA Games 4 years ago which resulted in one of the greatest viral hits of that time: Tiger Woods, Walk on Water. The story is simple and beautiful. And the result of social listening.
The video is essentially a TV commercial – save the fact that it was exclusively shown on YouTube. A high-budget concept for a major brand. But the insight that led to it was based on simply listening to consumers. It was the glitch in an EA game, discovered by a consumer, that was used as the creative springboard.
Googopoly. The Future of Search and Social.
April 4th, 2012 • Intelligence, Knowledge, Media, Reports, Search, Strategy
Tags: Facebook, google, google plus, Insights, People, Prediction, Presentation, Report, Reports, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks, Study, trendstream, World
The problem with the artist formerly referred to as Social Media is – besides many other things – that it is in the agency business commonly understood as some crazy shit that you stage on Facebook to win a Cannes Lion in the end.
That of course is wrong. Specifically if you take a look at the rarely talked about opportunities of intertwining the worlds of search and social.
A while ago I had the pleasure to get to know Tom Smith, founder of Trendstream, the company behind the GlobalWebIndex and the great Wave studies conducted on behalf of McCann.
Tom’s following presentation, given at the International Search Summit in Munich, discusses the idea of what he describes as the ‘Googopoly’, where Google has risen to control most of what we see and do online.
Even though I doubt the relevance of google Plus I found Tom’s key takeaway extremely smart: It is not just about google+. It is about how google cements its position with a multitude of tools like Chrome, Android and many others in order to enforce search thinking into anything that’s social nowadays.
Great presentation. Thanks to We are Social for the link…
It is Happening. Stephen Colbert on Advertising.
Februar 26th, 2012 • Ads, Strategy
Tags: Advertising, Branding, Brands, Colbert, Funny, People, Strategy, Truth, TV
Stephen Colbert on advertising strategies. Take a minute to watch this. And let me quote Fresser: ‘This is real, this is happening. It happens every day, and somewhere in a midwestern cubicle, from nice people you might be friends with, it’s happening right now.’ (via Alt nytt er farlig)
Poets and Quants. How Brand People Can Learn to Love Big Data.
Februar 22nd, 2012 • 1 comment Brands, Data, Strategy
Tags: data, euro rscg, Ideas, Insights, Presentation, Strategy, Truth
Okay, I have seen a lot of bla bla on Slideshare. “Poets and Quants” is a great exception. Euro RSCG Chief Strategy Officer Tom Morton has created this extremely smart deck that tries to answer the question how Brand People Can Learn to Love Big Data. Thanks to Ben Malbon for the link.
“Big data is shifting the balance of power between the creative ’poets’ of the communications industry and the more analytical ’quants’. Yet there is still a big role for creative minded people in a Big Data world. A lateral, humanistic view on Big Data yields better, more insightful truths, and data can be fuel for creative development. Here’s how.”
Before you start: Slide 17 is officially the truest slide on the Planet.
New L2 Report. The Mobile Side of Luxury & Prestige Brands.
Januar 12th, 2012 • Brands, Reports, Strategy
Tags: Brands, l2, luxury, prestige, Report, Reports, Strategy
I think I can admit I am quite jealous of L2′s business idea. Providing digital business insights for the luxury and prestige industries is a good idea. But adding a sophisticated benchmarking that highlights the different facets of digital marketing, that adds specific (and needed) industry knowledge, and that’s probably even very very very well paid? High five.
I spotted L2 for the first time about a year ago when they first published their Digital IQ report on the most successful luxury and prestige brands in the digital space – the first compendium that I am aware of. And now they took the next step by publishing another extremely well founded report: The L2 Mobile IQ 100. A report on the mobile expenses, aspirations, and capabilities of the top 100 luxury brands worldwide. Well done L2 – you guys really understand your business.
Key insights
- Luxury & Prestige retail brands by far outperform luxury & retail brands mobile
- M-Commerce is nascent in the industry
- The majority of brands & retailers has no specific mobile strategy
- But: Per-capita revenues and searches in the industry by far outweigh more traditional means
L2 Prestige 100®: Mobile IQ — The Video from L2 Think Tank on Vimeo.
Agencies and Briefs. And here, Ladies and Gentlemen, you can see: The Problem.
Januar 6th, 2012 • Advice, Strategy
Tags: Agencies, creative briefs, Funny, Strategy, Truth, World
I cannot really figure out whether I am disgusted or fascinated. Clearly this fictional Creative Brief is a great example on why so many Creatives think these documents are useless.
via ibelieveinadv
Insights. TNS Launches Largest Global Study on Digital Behaviour.
November 30th, 2011 • Reports, Strategy
Tags: 2011, Business, Insights, Lifestyle, Media, People, Planning, Presentation, Report, Reports, Research, Social Influence Marketing, Study, target group, TNS, Trends, World
Research company TNS has launched its 2011 version of TNS Digital Life. Based on conversations with over 72,000 people in 60 countries this is the world’s largest global study into people’s attitudes and behaviours online.
I particularly like how they underline the necessity to think (before yelling Facebook or iPad or Flashmob):
‘Digital waste’ pollutes the online world as brands fail to listen to what people want.
It [the study] found that 57 per cent of people*** in developed markets* do not want to engage with brands via
social media – rising to 60 per cent in the US and 61 per cent in the UK. Instead, misguided digital
strategies are generating mountains of digital waste, from friendless Facebook accounts to blogs no
one reads. This is being combined with ever-increasing content produced by consumers – the study
shows 47 per cent of digital consumers now comment about brands online.
The result is huge volumes of noise, which is polluting the digital world and making it harder for
brands to be heard.’
Of course: This study does not at all say brands shouldn’t be digital. The opposite is true. But it repeats the one thing that I never get tired of to repeat: People are not interested in a brand’s content. And they are not interested in brand experiences. They are interested in stuff that is relevant for them – and sometimes this is a brand.
Check out TNS Digital Life here .
Thanks to Rubbish Corp for the link.
APG Netherlands. Shaping a new Home for Strategists.
Oktober 18th, 2011 • Strategy
Tags: Agencies, Amsterdam, APG, apgdigital, Article, Netherlands, new biz, Strategy, World
Most of you know that I live in Amsterdam for a while now – a city with many agencies, some Strategists but almost without connecting links between them.
A couple of months ago I wrote about an idea that some of my fellow Strategists and I carried around with us for a while: Founding an Account Planning Group in the Netherlands. I don’t want to go too much into detail here but all of us sensed that the small but very international Planner community in the Netherlands needed more exchange, progress, representation and also standardization. The result was one of the most pragmatic professional processes I have ever been part of. Yesterday we simply founded the Dutch franchise of the British (and Global) Account Planning Group – as guild of Planners here.
Our plan: to create a professional community for strategists that serves as forum for knowledge exchange, inspiration and networking for our little group of Strategists. We haven’t got many resources right now. But we are happy to welcome any brand and communications strategists in the Netherlands who want to help us shape this platform for the Strategists in the Netherlands (be they Dutch or not)
If you are one of them…
- sign up for our Linked-in group and spread the news
- join us for our opening event on Nov 17 at Strawberry Frog Amsterdam
- help us shape this group
A couple of weeks ago I have written an article for German magazine New-Business (which is closely connected with the German APG) about this process. I am looking forward to see us make the new APG NL become part of Europe’s Planner guilds.
The article (in German). Please click it to see it full size.
Facebook and I. Or: Doubt Creeps in.
September 27th, 2011 • 1 comment Social, Strategy
Tags: Facebook, Philosophy, Politics, Truth, World
Last week’s Facebook update has left me perplexed. I simply do not quite know what to make of what I see – what I perceive as the significance of their latest plans.
No longer do apps prompt you just to “like” something on Facebook. Instead, you’ll share that you “hiked a trail” or “rode your bike” or “kissed a girl” (and liked it). Any action can be shared via Facebook, and the only limit is the imagination of developers.
The second addition is the new permissions screen for giving apps access to your Facebook account. It’s more robust and explains exactly what an app will be sharing with it. The result is that the prompt will only appear once. Once you accept, the app can share exactly what you’re doing to your Facebook wall as you’re doing it. (Ben Parr on Mashable)
Oh…did we mention that Spotify for example forces all new users to login via Facebook? In other words, will there be any choice at all? And where will it stop? Are we accepting sensors in a year that share our location once we enter a club or shop? I am 100% sure you can turn such an application into a great CRM program.
From my perspective the key privacy problem does not lie in Facebook’s blurry analytics approach or the thesis that Facebook tries to track me even though I am offline. As my colleague Allan Chang pointed out, google is doing this for years while Intel has integrated unique Processor IDs in every PC since 1999.
This Morning’s Hot Shit. The new Facebook Features.
September 23rd, 2011 • 1 comment Experimental, Social, Social Business, Strategy, Tech, Tools
Tags: Facebook, Semantic Web, social network, Social Networks, Timeline
My new Facebook Timeline has arrived. After yesterday’s f8 announcement (great overview here) I really think we are about to see the ‘profound changes’ that mashable talked about yesterday morning.
Hacking Facebook to set up Timeline is a rather simple. Techcrunch has published a handy DIY guide this morning. But only I am currently able to see my timeline right now.
What it does is really to replace my profile with a nice, interactive biography on one page. The Timeline stops everytime Facebook identifies important steps in my life. My sister’s birth certainly was one of these events (even though at that point I didn’t necessarily agree). And I am invited to upload baby photos of her. Cheesy and nice.
Timeline is a new, pretty cool metaphor that really adds a new perspective to Facebook. Facebook as a lifelong diary – well actually…a living diary. Long term not just super-today.
But there is much more that I find interesting.
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