Daily Deals Dilemma

Daily deals roll out like clockwork, and not just because they’re daily. At work I get emails directed at the person who came before me, and some of those are Amazon Daily Deals. Some are appealing, some are not relevant, all of them are extras. That’s because they aren’t deals for things that I need. This is inherently part of the current problem with daily deals, and it extends to more than just Amazon. Just last week Groupon fired its CEO Andrew Mason over fourth quarter earnings that didn’t meet expectations. These kinds of results are not an overnight thing, rather they’re a symptom of a much larger problem that’s produced a steady decline for some time now.

Reuters reported on a Raymond James survey that speaks to some of the problems daily deals companies have been ignoring
http://bit.ly/ZqjbzB
. The survey involved about 115 merchants that used Groupon services during the fall. 39 percent said they weren’t likely to run another Groupon promotion over the next couple of years, and the top reasons cited for why were high commission rate and low rate of repeat customers. 32 percent reported losing money on promotions and about 40% said Groupon was less effective for them than other types of marketing. Instead of making changes that impacted these core concerns, they glossed over them by appealing to merchants with new features and benefits. Ingrid Lunden wrote about one of these, which is Groupon Payments
http://tcrn.ch/Y7jlhr
. This Square/PayPal competitor feature was added to its Merchants app for Android handsets early this year. Although Androids are over 50% of all Smartphones in use, this was not the main problem Groupon needed to fix.

What daily deals sites are now struggling with is finding a new model. USA Today’s Hadley Malcolm points to what some of that might entail
http://usat.ly/Y3dDuU
. Offers that stand out is her first suggestion. Adding to that would be my own suggestion, which is to do that by making deals into longer range deals. How about a discount off of a series of visits or purchases, a coupon that’s good for an unlimited amount of visits in a week, or discounts on vacation experiences? My point being that if it’s encouraging repeat business people are more likely to be repeat customers to get their money’s worth. One of those visits just might turn them into long-term customers too. Her second suggestion is find other ways to make money. My suggestion on how that could be done would be delving into related services. For example, leveraging deals via social media or Constant Contact ™ for their merchant customers. No one vehicle is the surest route to a consumer after all. Her third suggestion is realizing who your customer is and this goes back to my first point. Daily deals are extras, they’re wants not needs. If they could tailor their offerings to people’s needs then they might see more business. This could be through using their own hits and misses to determine what certain people seek out the most. People might not be repeat customers of merchants but they are repeat customers of Groupon and that data could be utilized.

Although this series of events spells the demise of the current model of daily deals, it doesn’t mean they’re going extinct. Or that they have to. Instead, it’s an opportunity to revamp and revitalize their offerings, and their business, into a more profitable model. One that creates the type of results the survey shows are missing. I really hate the phrase ‘think outside of the box’ so I’m going to say that daily deals companies need to expand, strengthen and redefine what they are all about. Being open to this, listening to consumers and customers, and following through with what they learn are the best tools for the road ahead.

Marketing Lessons: Super Bowls Past and Present

Super Bowl may be about ads, but for marketers there are underlying factors and opportunities there that last beyond game time. What works in the Super Bowl is a takeaway lesson for practices the rest of the year and beyond. Sometimes it’s static, as its relevancy maintains. Other times, it evolves. Most Super Bowls are a mixture of the two, capitalizing on past successes while bringing about new ones. This one was no different. The power outage created a unique situation and what happened there extended to the game’s ads as well. Most people in any spot of the game where they become disinterested turn to conversations, food and the Internet. In fact, most turn to the Internet. Specifically, social media. Whether they had TV ads or not, social media became the second ad arena for brands in this year’s game. Everyone was drawing connections to their brands in an attempt to claim a slice of the pie for themselves.

Forbes’ Jennifer Rooney notes the various examples in her article
http://onforb.es/YknR9F
. A few of them are mentioned here. During the power outage, Walgreens tweeted “We do carry candles. We also sell lights.” Oreo tweeted “Power out? No problem” along with an ad that ended with “You can still dunk in the dark. Tide tweeted “We can’t get your #blackout but we can get your stains out.” A clever capitalization on a popular hashtag to draw attention. All of these brands capitalized on the situation to draw an audience, others took it a step further and involved their competition. Audi tweeted “Sending some LED’s to the @mbusa Superdome right now,” drawing Mercedes-Benz into the mix. Others commented on other advertisers and drew connections between them and their brand. Right after Mio ran its spot, SodaStream tweeted “@makeitmio is delicious in SodaStream! Try it sometime.” This new trend of real-time marketing shined in this year’s Super Bowl and is one of the this year’s takeaway lessons.

Bloomberg Businessweek’s Steve McKee notes 10 others to keep in mind
http://buswk.co/YPDlEE
. My interpretations and applications of his points are below.

1) Put strategy first: Think about what you’re putting out there, its placement (before the game, during the game, etc.) and how it represents you. Good creativity is nothing without strategy.

2) Be relevant: For example, draw connections between your brand and what’s going on in the world. However, do it tastefully and not like that 2011 Groupon ad that tried to connect itself to Tibet.

3) Keep it simple: I’d say this year’s example of that is Dodge Ram’s ”So God Made a Farmer” combination, Paul Harvey and a series of still frames featuring pictures of farmers. A powerful but simple combination. It’s what some of the best ads are made of.

4) Show don’t tell: Actions speak louder than words, and that statement applies to ads too.

5) Invest in production values: ‘Go big or go home’ and ‘anything worth doing is worth doing right’ come to mind here. If you’re going to do it, you’ve got to do it well.

6) Provoke thought: It’s a unique angle and it stands out and engages customers. An example being the classic Apple “1984″ ad.

7) Strike an emotional chord: This year’s example of that was Budweiser’s Clydesdale ad. It tugged at heartstrings and won fans. These kinds of ads get remembered.

8) Don’t rush the sale: Continue it by expanding it to online, social media and additional spots. Tackling it from all angles is necessary. You can’t close all deals in 30 seconds. Or, even in a minute. Good things take time.

9) Reward engagement: Customers are always going to be asking “what’s in it for me if I support you?” Bring some closure to that question with contest rewards or other perks.

10) Take risks: Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you fail. You never know if you don’t try.

Some people might see this and think to next year. The smart ones will think about this year as well. These marketing lessons are not just for next year’s Super Bowl, they have applications throughout this year too. How you apply them to your brand, is up to you.

Best and Worst Super Bowl XLVII Ads

This year’s Super Bowl was an interesting one. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a power outage during a Super Bowl. In fact, I’m willing to bet that’s a rare occurrence as far as Super Bowls go. A power outage is forgivable, what I can’t forgive were all of the lackluster ads this year. Usually it’s hard to choose my favorites. This year it was hard to choose my worst because there were just that many of them. Thankfully, there were some that redeemed all of the rest. Without further adieu, my third annual best and worst ads of the Super Bowl: version XLVII.

Top Two Worst Super Bowl XLVII Ads:

 2) Samsung: My second worst pick was the Samsung Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd ad. How is it creative to mirror something that goes on everyday in real life? An ad about pitching ads? This whole ad was a snooze fest. Even if it did end up with them finding out that neither of them would be in the ad and LeBron James would be. They spent the whole ad sitting at a table talking. Boring. It failed on so many levels. Also, don’t even get me started on the lame joke about being there to meet someone named Sam Sung. After this ad, I’m ashamed to admit that I own a Samsung cell phone currently.

1) GoDaddy.com: The Samsung ad may have been bad, but it’s no match for my top worst ad. Every year GoDaddy.com fails worse than the year before. This year was no exception. There are more creative and funny ways to symbolize how you merge smart and sexy as a brand. There just are. Instead, GoDaddy choses to go with an over-the-top disgusting kiss between a nerd and Bar Rafaeli. Which lasted forever. The only positive I saw, and this is a small positive, is that they didn’t go so racy that they had to cut it short and direct you online to see the rest. That got old fast and who really wants to see something worse than they already saw anyways?

Top Two Best Superbowl XLVII Ads:

2) Budweiser: It’s Clydesdale ads never fail to deliver and are a Super Bowl standard. This one was also a great example of using storytelling and emotion to connect with consumers. A Clydesdale is raised by its owner, goes off to be a Budweiser Clydesdale, represents Budweiser in a parade, sees and remembers it’s owner who’s standing on the sidelines, and even goes after him down the street? Priceless. Another cinematic gem of an ad. It even connects to all ages. Perhaps more ads should take a clue from this tried and true format (adapted to their brand of course).

1) Doritos-Eating Goat: I know I just wrote an entire post about how everyone’s out for their 15 seconds of Superbowl fame. Usually these don’t beat the regular ads for me. Yet, again, there were so many horrible ads this year that sadly this became one of the frontrunners. It was clever, it told a story, and it kept my attention. It’s one of the best fan ads I’ve seen. Yet I have to wonder. What does it say about creatives when normal people make better and more entertaining ads? I think it should always be the other way around. Perhaps people are getting lazy. This seems to be the easy way out of creating an ad, having someone else do the work. By no means am I glorifying this type of ad, but perhaps the ad world needs more people like the person who created this one. With this year’s showing, I’d have to say it couldn’t hurt.

There you have it, my top two worst and best ads of Super Bowl XLVII. Additionally, honorable mention for worst goes out to the VW Jamaican accent ad, because that was pretty racist. Honorable mention for best goes out to the Dodge Ram’s Paul Harvey God Made a Farmer ad. Perhaps I’m biased because it relates to my current job, but this one gave credit where credit was due and in the best way possible. In the same way, I’ve done that here. I hope you enjoyed this year’s selections. Be sure to join me next year for more!

15 Seconds of SuperBowl Ad Fame

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Especially if one of your favorite teams is playing in next Sunday’s SuperBowl. Me, I don’t really have a favorite team. I like football much more than I used to, but my primary draw is still the same as it was in the beginning. The SuperBowl ads. Some might even claim there’s a dual SuperBowl going on because the SuperBowl is also the SuperBowl of ads. One of the biggest trends in the last 5 years has been the 15 minutes of fame type ads featuring consumers. Usually they’re competing for prizes. The other type is those “celebrities” who are cashing in on their 15 seconds of fame in other areas of entertainment. Both will be at this year’s SuperBowl.

A familiar one that was one of the originators of this trend is Doritos, who is again hosting its “Crash the Superbowl” contest with 5 finalists
http://bit.ly/UvwZKQ
. As per usual, most of them feature children or animals. Familiar ploys of creativity. Only two of them will air during the Superbowl and be eligible for additional prizes based on their USA Today Ad Meter Ranking. $1 million for an ad that scores or ranks #1, $600,000 for an ad that ranks #2 and $400,000 for an ad that ranks #3. The finalist whose ad scores the highest in these rankings will also get to work with film director Michael Bay on the next “Transformers” movie installment. Keep in mind that each of these 5 finalists has already won $25,000 and gets flown to the SuperBowl to watch the game from a private luxury suite.

Pizza Hut is also stepping in with a fairly creative approach
http://usat.ly/112g5HK
. Much more so than Doritos’ approach is anyways. It’s relating the ‘Hut’ in its name to the familiar football chant before a ball is snapped to the quarterback. My first question is why didn’t they capitalize on this concept earlier? Although I’m sure they had more important trains of thought to follow. Yet, I digress. Football fans were asked to submit clips no longer than 15 seconds featuring their best, silliest or most creative usage of the word ‘hut’. The word has to be mentioned at least once, because it ties Pizza Hut to football and vice versa. Really, that’s the whole point. Making these two ideas as synonymous as a Pavlovian response tactic. There could be as many as 5-10 winners, each sharing a spot in a commercial scheduled to air a few minutes before kickoff. Pizza Hut is also banking on this increasing its social media connection.

Then there’s Psy, renowned for his “Gangnam Style” that people will probably soon tire of because they’ve heard it everywhere. I personally like the song and I’m sure there’s plenty of others who still do. However, the fact remains that most 15 minutes of fame people don’t last that long and supersaturation is one of the reasons for that. Psy is being featured in Wonderful Pistachios’ ad as part of its “Get Crackin” campaign
http://bit.ly/Ya51DY
. The ad will be a 30 second spot slated for the 3rd quarter. Wonderful Pistachios is also banking on its social media connection, urging YouTube creators with the most views to film their own parodies after the SuperBowl ad debuts. Ultimately they are banking on Psy’s 15 minutes of fame, as Pizza Hut and Doritos aim to do with consumers.

15 minutes of fame is really 15 seconds in the SuperBowl. These ads are funny and relevant, yet the reason they are is that they stand out. Not every ad is like this. A much higher percentage of ads are generated by public relations agencies for their clients. These ads are just as creative, if not more so. Yet, more and more consumer-centric ads are making it in. At some point they’ll probably fall prey to the same supersaturation as those they feature. Don’t get me wrong, originality is important but these ads don’t really stand the test of time like ads featuring the Budweiser Clydesdales do for instance. True creative still comes from creatives. Not just anyone can make an ad, just like not everyone can sing. 15 seconds of SuperBowl fame is fine, as long as it doesn’t take over and push other creative completely out of the picture.

Blurring the Line: Content Hybrids

You are flipping through a magazine, and the article you’re reading contains an ad that’s designed to look like it’s part of the article you’re reading. Deceptive? Perhaps. Clever? If you’re an advertiser. By the time your brain realizes it’s an ad you are already engrossed in the page. This is how advertisers design their ads. Is this approach strictly for magazines? Hardly. In fact, it’s a concept that’s becoming increasingly common in other areas. One of them is TV, which now shows ads that resemble your favorite content.

An Ad Age article discusses a few examples,  beginning with Target and Neiman Marcus’ partnership on a series of ads like these in October
http://bit.ly/10eoO4J
. Working with the creators of ABC’s “Revenge” they developed a series of five ads, known as “The Gift of Revenge”, showcasing the limited edition holiday collection from Target and Neiman Marcus. Pepsi is also creating a 30 second spot for the Super Bowl where it’s urging consumers to send in photos of themselves in specific poses
http://bit.ly/10eoO4J
. Chosen photos will be stitched together and made into a 30 second introduction for Beyoncé’s Super Bowl halftime show. Not surprisingly, these spots are not the last of their kind. Target also has its new series of “Everyday Collection” spots featuring its items in a high-fashion context
http://bit.ly/Xr7qb4
. Exploding boxes of cake mix sit on pillars lining either side of a runway supermodel walking with whisk in hand. The line? ”Dominate that PTA bake sale.” Then there’s the supermodel with the high pressure hose spraying at an exploding box of Quaker Instant Oatmeal. The line here being ”Just add water.” These commercials’ takes on fashion makes them a great fit for fashion programming, especially reality fashion programming.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see these inserted into Project Runway commercial breaks. Perhaps they already have been.

Most, like Pepsi, don’t call their’s a commercial, they call it content. Others may soon follow suit if they haven’t already. I doubt that people will start referring to this as a “showmercial” but that’s the context it creates, seamlessly blurring the line between programming and commercial. Even apps have a similar effect, as they now interact with every facet of a consumer’s daily life. This is an example of blurring the real world with the virtual, something whose roots go back to the advent of virtual reality video games. Much like the overlaps in a Venn diagram, all of these pairings create content hybrids. It’s not just an editorial, it’s an advertorial. It’s not just a commercial, it’s a showmercial (my own coining phrase). I’m not sure if there’s a phrase to describe the collision of apps interacting with the real world, other than real world apps, but you get the idea. This is a trend that is sticking around for a while for better or for worse. It might dilute or it might bolster the original content but it definitely cuts through the clutter. Much like the brain creates new pathways, it seems advertisers will forever be cutting new pathways to consumers. The only question is when people get to the point where they can identify and tune out this hybrid content, what will they think of next?

Social World Meets Real World

The barrier between social world and real world is quickly fading away, as consumers increasingly see real-life benefits for social world actions. You could say it started with deals programs on Foursquare and other similar sites. There, just by checking in at physical locations, customers received discounts on real world items. Adding to that are elements like Facebook’s social games and Facebook’s virtual gifts; which drove the type of interaction needed for this trend’s current developments. What you have is a history of role-playing interaction that’s being taken beyond the social world into new interactive formats with increased value.

For example, take Facebook. In May Facebook bought start-up company Karma, whose mobile app allowed people to send gifts to friends on the go. Sounds familiar right? Their union brought us Facebook Gifts, which now allows Facebook users to send real gifts to their friends in response to birthday, wedding and anniversary reminders
http://yhoo.it/PNs0BC
. This is a new dimension of e-commerce, and one that could potentially generate money for Facebook. Facebook would take an unspecified cut from each purchase. All that’s required is a shipping address and credit card information, and you too can select from cupcakes, Starbucks gift cards, a teddy bear, socks, gourmet ice cream, Andy Warhol prints, flowers, organic dog toys and spa packages to name a few.

Another social media site that’s getting in on the action is Twitter, except in London. Recently it let customers at a central London pop-up store pay for Special K Cracker Crisps with a tweet
http://bit.ly/QoWTL7
. Kellogg’s new Special K Cracker Crisps are its new low-calorie potato chip snack available in three flavors, sea salt and balsamic vinegar, sweet chili, or sour cream and onion, and usually each retails for $1. Every stand was staffed by Special K girls to tie in with TV advertising, and featured display boards showcasing real-life #tweetshop tweets as they happened. Not only did Kellogg promote a new product, they turned social currency into real-life currency.

Target is the big box store example of this trend, with its “Falling for You” shoppable film that plays off of their new fall commercial
http://bit.ly/QA7o1z
. In the commercial, a group of actors, clothing and baguettes are falling from the sky. The actors start out in summer clothes with summer accessories and fall into fall clothes and accessories, eventually landing at an outdoor dinner table. A creative way to signal changing seasons, but this goes beyond a commercial. Online it’s a shoppable film where you can click on an item while watching the video and purchase it without disrupting the video. Shopping directly from a video is certainly innovative and drives interaction in more ways than one. Exactly what each of these examples is about.

The duality of driving interaction in the social world and the real world is a novel concept that now goes way beyond discounts. With Facebook people are interacting online, between friends, and receiving real life gifts. It also serves the purpose of collecting more user information for Facebook. Twitter and Kellogg promoted a new product online driving word-of-mouth and trending #tweetshop hashtags, while turning tweets into redeemable currency for real-life samples of the product. Target produced a video that acts like a virtual catalog, driving clicks, views and real world dollar amounts as generated purchases are the result. Social world actions have real world implications, and that has never been more clear than it is now.

Pinterest: The New Catalog

It’s back to school time. What does that mean? New clothes! While school supplies are the must-haves, new school clothes are the got-to-haves, and that drives families to stores in search of the latest and greatest at the best prices. Sure there are catalogs and ads in abundance showing up in mailboxes across America, but research shows that mom’s are more tuned into sites like Pinterest for inspiration. According to Nielsen Wire 61% of moms are more likely to visit Pinterest than the average American
http://bit.ly/NSWj7P
. iQuarious Media also notes that 83% of US Pinterest users are women and fashion is one of the top audience interests
http://bit.ly/PkiVhQ
. Clearly this is the venue to reach mom’s at back-to-school time. Mom’s like to have a game plan and most would rather avoid the crowds. Enter Pinterest. Not only is it a source of inspiration but it’s becoming the new catalog and a destination for online shopping.

As users catalog their own fashion interests, it’s only natural that stores should do so too. Pinterest provides users with a list of “best practices” for creating catalogs and gives Target as an example of a store that utilizes catalogs on Pinterest
http://bit.ly/OeHAF3
. Time to compare their tips in the context of how Target does things. 

1) Pinterest’s first catalog tip is to use natural setting product photography, or to show a product used with other products to create more incentive to buy. I believe that gets too overwhelming and not all viewers may gravitate towards the combinations. Target uses stand-alone images mostly (it’s about the product after all) and this seems to work well. Especially since clicking on the image opens up a new window where that product can be purchased. 

2) Thoughtful product descriptions are next on their list and Pinterest allows up to 500 characters for each image, recommending keeping it clear and simple, yet creative. Their example of a company with thoughtful product descriptions is J Peterman Company. Looking at that company’s product descriptions I have to disagree. Their descriptions start out with a cute fictitious story or situation and end with basic product details. I find this rather long-winded. Instead, Target keeps it short, simple and snappy. A much better example.

3) Consistency is their next tip, pinning images that make the “who you are” message clear to your customer. Pinterest goes on to say that one way to do this is by putting your logo in the background. I disagree with this because I think it looks cheesy and unprofessional. Target images on Pinterest all have blank white backgrounds. This not only looks better, it puts the focus where it needs to be: on the product.

4) Most importantly, its last tip is categorization or organizing your product presentation. Once again Target does a great job of this. They have 11 pinboards and only two are company-geared, the rest focus on products with categories like Back to College, Target Baby, Target Home, Target Style, The Shops at Target, Living a Healthy Lifestyle, Food for Thought, Big Honkin’ Summer and Kids These Days. Catchy titles, a variety of categories, lots of products, and direct purchase links. Overall, a great presentation.

Perhaps the only problem with Pinterest catalogs like this one is that they are brand-based. Ki Mae Heussner, in discussing other apps that function like Pinterest (but more mobile-based), mentions that brand-generated content can be a turnoff because it detracts from Pinterest’s user-generated allure
http://bit.ly/PexWGg
. Meaning customers might be less likely to buy. Although there’re pitfalls with user-generated content too, in that a brand adding content is a better guarantee that an item is available. A brand can also remove content that’s no longer available and link item pictures to the point of purchase on their website with one click. Bizrate Insights notes that 1 in 4 people have made a purchase based off images on the site
http://bit.ly/OeHQ7h
. Among the reasons for not buying? Didn’t take me to retailer site, couldn’t find item, and didn’t take the time to look for the item. Hence the importance of making it convenient and that’s something a brand has the advantage of doing. Pinterest as a catalog has a lot to offer. A brand that strikes the right balance, and makes shopping convenient, stands the best chance at proving Pinterest really is “The New Catalog” and will secure its place in the virtual commerce space.

Market Research Gets Personal

Gone are the days of focus groups as a market research method. What once seemed like the best way to get to know your customers is now an ancient practice that’s losing value. It’s no secret that product testers unconsciously seek to please researchers conducting the tests. According to marketing and psychology professors, people often don’t realize what truly draws their eye in or how they really feel about a product. Thus focus groups, with their psuedo-relaxed conversational sessions about products and attitudes towards them, are more for show than true research data. In order to get to that instinctual response, that gut reaction, market research is getting more personal.

1) Marketers Track Retinas: Proctor and Gamble Co., Unilever, PLC, Kimberly Clark Corp. and other similar companies now combine 3D computer modeling of product designs and store layouts with eye-tracking technology
http://on.wsj.com/MIcSmp
. By using computer screens with retina-tracking cameras, companies can see where customers are looking, for how long, and how often. Information it collects can be used to form a “heat map” that uses color to show where people looked on a simulated shelf. The effects? This technology has affected package design, shelf placement, product displays and prototypes. Ultimately new products are rolling out faster, designs and shelf placement are better, and the result is increased sales.

2) Social Media Reveals Preferences: Consumers choose Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare to interact with friends and post status updates. Marketers choose to monitor social media to gain insight into what customers prefer
http://nyti.ms/RLCq2Z
. Wal-Mart used Twitter to decide whether to stock lollipop-shaped cakes in its stores, Estée Lauder’s MAC Cosmetics had customers vote on which discontinued shades to bring back, Squishable used Facebook feedback to reach a final version of its toy and Samuel Adams used votes to create a crowdsourced beer. Wal-Mart even owns its own social media company Kosmix, because of its ability to extract trends from social media conversations. Then there’s the fact that Facebook users are often young, fad followers and old-style focus groups are not. Focus group or social media? No brainer.

3) Web Ads Target Based on TV Watching: Data company DataLogix created a product that will let digital ad buyers target ads to people online based on what they watch on TV
http://bit.ly/OFxVcE
. For this, DataLogix has partnered with TRA, a firm recently acquired by TIVO, which has TV viewing data for cable boxes in more than 4 million U.S. households. TRA delivers TV viewing data to DataLogix and DataLogix combines it with demographic and purchase-behavior data about those TV households. Then DataLogix tries to match up those audiences with what it knows about them from a pool of 50 million cookies collected online. Additionally, it adds in cookies that represent people with similar attributes to those who have watched a given show or regularly watch a particular genre to create the scale needed for reach ad buys. In the future, they envision TV programmers using the data to target ad buys that promote TV networks or shows. I can only think of two problems for this new technology: those who have cookies turned off and privacy constraints. If they can find ways around those then opportunities exist.

All of these methods cut through the clutter of human data to reach the subconscious instinct, preferences and habits of the modern-day consumer. A feat that market research has been unable to achieve up to this point. In doing so, they elevate market research to a new plateau, one that’s more refined thanks to technological advances. Perhaps the only thing standing in the way of any of these methods would be a concern for privacy, as it’s possible to argue that any of these is an intrusion of privacy. Yet whether that issue will even come up remains to be seen. In the meantime, these methods of market research are changing the marketing landscape two retinas, many social media channels and millions of computer and TV sets at a time.

What Comes First, Strategy or Creative?

In the media world there’s an ongoing debate. That debate is which should come first, strategy or creative? It comes down to what’s more important. Although content is king, the vibe is shifting towards strategy first. Antony Young gives us six reasons why strategy should come before creative. The first is that advertising’s a numbers game
http://bit.ly/HORihk
. He states that one of the biggest factors for failure is not matching the right budget with the right goals or even having the right plan. His point? Figuring out elements like budget and channel distribution are key first steps in any campaign. Another reason why strategy should come first is that smartly placed, relative ideas are the new big idea. Young’s point is that today, customized messages in different media at the right time, location and environment spark the engagement. A universal message is a thing of the past. Speaking of the message, Young also believes that the right media determines the right message. As for the message, content is king but content can and should take on many forms. His idea is that the media plan comes first so that the right mix of content can be determined and developed. Adaptive marketing is another reason Young thinks strategy should come first. Adaptive marketing is defined as adapting and personalizing campaigns in real-time by responding to audience data collected from web behavior and social graphs. As TV is becoming more social, Young also notes the trend towards TV becoming more interactive and brands using social media to engage their real-time audience.

A real-life example of why strategy should come first is the success of Columbia Sportswear’s “Great Moments In Trying Stuff” videos. Larry Dobrow notes the genius of their campaign in building upon a past concept and hitting the right balance of humor, while showing off what their products can do
http://bit.ly/J8ipnK
. Past ads involved Ma Boyle testing their coats in comical, extreme weather conditions. Current ads apply this concept to other products and scenarios. One of which involves draining a five-bean salad in a Columbia shoe. The strategy obviously came first, because their viral videos actually promote their products rather than bury them under special effects and humor. In order to be successful you have to know your audience, know where they are, and know how to reach them. It’s obvious that Columbia knows all of these things and developed a media plan and strategy that receive the right kind of response. Bottom line, the creative speaks because the strategy does.

Ok, so we know that strategy is important to determining creative and that it’s often tied to real-time events, especially in the case of social media, which is a strategy in itself. With that said, John Squire points out that April is the time when plans for the days and weeks leading up to and including Black Friday, and continuing on through Cyber Monday, should be developed
http://bit.ly/HRnoJX
. Why? Well, just this last year more stores emerged with midnight deals, moving the event up by a day. Every year it seems as though the holiday push comes earlier and earlier, and last year’s move makes an early game plan even more essential. Squire points to QR codes, social media and mobile as key focal points for strategy this year. QR code use is growing as more mobile shoppers catch on to its presence and use. Social media is important as social shopping is on the uptick, as are social channels. Evaluating your social channels, your social media and how to reach your audience with QR codes could be the key to unlocking big sales gains this holiday season. It’s similar to selling a car in that you assess its impact on the audience and how that can be improved before you start sprucing up the car. In advertising, strategy gets the ball rolling and delivers the right creative and the best scenario for your clients. That old joke about which came first, the chicken or the egg? That applies right here and now, and the answer is strategy.

Media Metamorphosis

As winter turns to spring, media forms morph into hybrids and evolve. Change is everywhere, and 10 and 20 years from now media and the ways we consume it will reach new levels. Take the evolution of music. First there were records, then there were tapes, then 8-tracks, cd’s and now iTunes and iPods and storing music on a cloud…things have changed a lot. Every type of media is experiencing  its own metamorphosis, and there are always a few more on the horizon.

Hamish McKenzie came up with a method that could transform the way magazines are digitally consumed
http://bit.ly/Hcnxpc
. Currently digital versions are an exact copy of the print version and each magazine has a different app, some issues come in at 500 MB. McKenzie’s version turns magazines into an a la carte offering, with issues broken up into stories. His model follows the Spotify model and uses a ’Mag Reader’ app. When it opens you are met with a list of latest works from your favorite publications and stories that align with your interests. Each story has a relevancy rating, clicking on it gives you a preview, shows recommendations, provides links to similar stories and lists other stories by the publisher. Additionally, this app has a social media element. Users have profiles displaying their recently read and recommended stories along with their favorite magazines, writers and interests. Readers can follow other readers and discover news stories through those connections. Each writer has a profile too, so readers can see new stories and make contributions to future suggested stories. Publishers have brand pages, similar to Facebook, where you can view content and subscribe to bundled content. ‘Mag Reader’ would host third-party apps with curated reading lists and the reading experience would be Kindle-style. Readers can highlight passages and look up words, authors can update their works and readers can post comments. Ads would be placed in individual stories for more targeted approaches, and magazines would make money from $10-a-month buffet-style subscription models where revenue is split between platform owner and publisher. An interesting concept, but what portion of the money from each story would the writer get? Would there be specialty groups and forums based on readers with common interests?

Another hybrid focuses on the Facebook newsfeed emerging as a personalized newspaper
http://dthin.gs/HQR1EO
. Interest lists are soon to be the newest thing to hit Facebook. Similar to Twitter Lists, where users can organize their feeds to follow other users based on select criteria, Facebook appears to be following and pushing it up a notch. Facebook recently streamlined its Friends list, which determines newsfeed content, and has made it easy to subscribe to someone’s feed without friending them, unsubscribe from their feed and even unfriend them. Facebook’s interest lists are more focused on organizing newsfeed content related to a user’s interests at the top of the page. It also appears to be another way to find out what users are interested in without seeing their liked content. This allows for more targeted approaches, while allowing users to customize their newsfeed into more than just a friends feed. A model like this would be highly competitive with newspapers, as print editions are far less flexible and broad than an individual user’s newsfeed. Facebook’s interest lists build on the transformation of news from a stagnant fixed copy to a constantly shifting, evolving medium. With this concept, even the way we define news becomes highly individualized. If news shifts to this format, would reporters and news organizations see any profits other than viewership? Also, its broad scope heightens the risk of incomplete and incorrect information. How will companies and brands protect themselves?

Both of these models offer up unique hybrids to familiar media formats.  Media metamorphosis has the potential to save outdated, dying mediums and breathe life into them. However, it does not come without a price. Each faces the challenge of merging the old and new into a revamp that adds new fans while keeping old ones. A delicate balance for anyone to achieve. Striking that balance is like finding gold. Yet, as gold seekers abound, media metamorphosis will continue.