I'll just come out and say it: Friday's GEN WOW Mobile Marketing Roundtable was nothing short of awesome.
Three of my favorite people in mobile marketing teamed up to answer questions on the quickly evolving world of mobile + social + local + retailing + pop culture and more.
On hand: Julie Fajgenbaum, vice president of brand and social media for American Express; Rachel Pasqua, director of mobile for New York City-based digital marketing powerhouse Organic; and Dorrian Porter, CEO of mobile marketing phenom Mozes, a longtime sponsor of this blog.
All this week, I'll post excerpts from this wide-ranging new roundtable, which spans mobile apps vs. mobile web; Facebook's prospects for monetizing the mobile channel; the future of social television and much, much more.
Up first: Fajgenbaum, who gives us the scoop on AMEX Sync, which offers card members discounts for tweeting advertised hashtags; strategies for fighting "show rooming" - the dynamic where consumers go to stores to see products but then order via mobile phone - and how mobile + Jay-Z = astonishing success.
MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE (PT 1): JULIE FAJGENBAUM: HOW AMEX BANKS OF MOBILE MARKETING
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
In part two, we hear about how Hubba enables brands to literally customize the message being sent to mobile users based on location, CRM data and other criteria, right at the moment they seek product information.
As Ben Zifkin, CEO for the Toronto-based startup, tells us in part one of our interview, Hubba is a new cloud-based dashboard solution that enables ad agencies and brand marketers to shape what a mobile user sees when searching on Google, checks-in to Foursquare, scans a QR code, activates Shopkick, logs onto Facebook, or otherwise engages with the mobile medium - in real time.
Q&A: BEN ZIFKIN, CEO OF HUBBA (PT 2): ONE MOBILE MARKETING DASHBOARD TO RUN THEM ALL
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
If it delivers on its promise, the word Hubba may soon be on the lips of marketers everywhere.
I recently met with Ben Zifkin, CEO for the Toronto-based startup, as he was making fund raising rounds in Palo Alto. We'd chatted via Twitter on-and-off for months and it was nice to finally get a read on what he's been working on. It sounds very promising.
In short: Hubba is a kind of cloud-based dashboard solution where ad agencies and brand marketers can literally shape what a mobile user sees when searching on Google, checks-in to Foursquare, scans a QR code, activates Shopkick, logs onto Facebook, or otherwise engages with the mobile medium - in real time.
So imagine marketers at a retailer like Macy's or a brand like Coca-Cola deciding to run a promotion just for the next hour, to anyone activating Foursquare Radar, or conducting a Google search, or checking-in on Shopkick, or scanning a Coke bottle within a certain geographic location.
Marketers post once and publish on every platform. All from a single dashboard, in real time. No special apps for the end user. No special tools - other than a cloud subscription - for the marketer.
In fact, it even gets better from there - including mcommerce and social media components.
Over the next few days, we'll talk to Zifkin about this intriguing new solution - now in beta - and what it could mean to how marketers and media teams run their mobile marketing operations.
Hubba, indeed.
Q&A: BEN ZIFKIN, CEO OF HUBBA (PT 1): THE ULTIMATE MOBILE MARKETING DASHBOARD (PT 1)
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
In part three of our Fall 2011 mobile marketing roundtable, Jeff Hasen, CMO of Seattle-based HipCricket, illustrates the power of this dynamic in campaigns for Ford and Arby's.
You'll be impressed with the results generated - and you'll see how social+mobile+commerce can work seamlessly within fully integrated communications campaigns.
FALL 2011 MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE (PT 3): DRIVING TRADITIONAL MARKETING SUCCESS VIA MOBILE
TOMORROW: We'll talk more on mobile's role in traditional campaigns, and how it may effect 2012 Super Bowl advertising (hey, is it ever too early to talk about the Ad Bowl?)
PLUS: Don't miss the other installments from this exclusive roundtable:
In Part 1 of our Fall Mobile Marketing Roundtable, we talk to Julie Fajgenbaum, VP of Brand Marketing & Social Media for American Express about how AMEX is going social+mobile+commerce.
In Part 2, we talk to Adam Broitman, CEO of Circus about ways this equation will play out over the next five to 10 years (Let's just say the conversation includes NFC embedded in our skin) - and what it means to the world of advertising.
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
Red Bull is riding the mobile wave - and Adam Broitman, CEO of New York City-based digital agency Circ.us, is there to help them do it right.
While not strictly a mobile marketing agency - Circ.us is complete transmedia - the firm has been highly active in the medium, having spearheaded initiatives for Ben & Jerry's, A&E and many others.
But one of my favorite projects from Circ.us has been the Red Bull 'Augmented Racer' Game, which you can hear much more detail about here.
In Part 1 of our Fall Mobile Marketing Roundtable, we talked to Julie Fajgenbaum, VP of Brand Marketing & Social Media for American Express about how AMEX is going social+mobile+commerce.
In Part 2, we talk to Broitman about ways this equation will play out over the next five to 10 years (Let's just say the conversation includes NFC embedded in our skin) - and what it means to the world of advertising.
FALL 2011 MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE PART ONE: RED BULL & WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR M-PAYMENTS & ADVERTISING
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
With apologies to VISA, it's really AMEX that's everywhere you want to be.
At least that's the contention of Julie Fajgenbaum, vice president of brand, marketing and social media for American Express, in a special Fall 2011 GEN WOW Mobile Marketing Roundtable.
Joining Fajgenbaum: Adam Broitman, chief ringleader for New York City-based digital marketing agency Circ.us, and Jeff Hasen, chief marketing officer for Seattle-based mobile marketing firm HipCricket - who we'll hear more from over the next few days.
In part one, Fajgenbaum offers insights into AMEX's mobile+social+local strategy, which includes new promotions with Foursquare and Facebook, as well as an initiative with Verizon and Sprint to enable you to make mobile payments using your phone using a prepaid account maintained by AMEX.
As you'll hear, AMEX has adopted "mobile first" design principles - meaning it now designs brand experiences for mobile first, because it will necessarily work on other devices.
Among our questions: What social+local+mobile might mean for AMEX in the next five years - and whether mobile payments spell the end of physical credit cards.
FALL 2011 MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE PART ONE: AMEX'S MOBILE STRATEGY
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
Looks like Glamour magazine's readers seriously "Like" social barcodes.
On the heels of part one of my interview with Nicole Skogg, CEO of SpyderLynk, the New York Times posted a story on how her company's "social snaptags" are generating buzz for 25 advertisers in Glamour's big September "Friends" issue.
These tags, which are comprised of a "code circle" around a recognizable logo or icon, enable readers to automatically "Like" a brand on Facebook and get a discount. The reader enjoys savings, and advertisers - Rihanna, Lancome, Gap, Zappos, Niveo, Skinny Cow and others - secure a way to reach out to those readers with future offers.
Best of all, even readers without the appropriate app can participate, simply by using their camera phone to snap a photo of the tag and send it to a short code.
According to the Times, there have been 100,000 interactions with content since the issue hit stands August 9. Of those, 25,000 interactions occurred within the first 24 hours. And so far, Glamour's own Facebook page has seen fans or "Likes" increase 18 percent, to 385,000.
In part two of my conversation with Skogg, we hear more about Glamour's "Friends" issue, how snaptags work, how Office Depot is using them for their back-to-school campaign, and what it will take for 2D barcodes like snaptags to really take off.
Q&A: SPYDERLYNK CEO NICOLE SKOGGS: RISE OF THE 'SOCIAL BARCODE (PT 2)
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
Leave it to Glamour's big September "Friends" issue to do the job, with 25 big name brands running advertising that feature "social barcodes."
As I mentioned on the Jim Blasingame Show/Forbes.com the other day, these social barcodes enable readers to automatically "like" a brand and receive instant discounts.
In truth, social barcodes are really less QR code than they are a new take on SnapTags, the flavor of 2D barcodes put forth from Denver-based SpyderLynk. Here, instead of a funky looking square, you have a code that encircles an icon of some sort, often a company logo.
Now, with social barcodes, SpyderLynk is working with Condé Nast to enliven print advertising in a whole new way.
I caught up with CEO Nicole Skogg to find out more.
Q&A: SPYDERLYNK CEO NICOLE SKOGGS: RISE OF THE 'SOCIAL BARCODE'
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
In the conclusion of my conversation with Visible World CEO Seth Haberman, I ask about the privacy implications of targeted TV commercials. Will consumers feel put off with Internet-style advertising on their television sets? And what does it mean that we've reached the end of one of the last bastions of anonymous media consumption?
Along the way, we hear advice for marketers looking to (very carefully) capitalize on the technology.
Q&A: SETH HABERMAN, CEO VISIBLE WORLD (CONCL): ARE TARGETED TV SPOTS TOO INTRUSIVE?
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
In part two of my conversation with Visible World CEO Seth Haberman, we hear about how companies like his are targeting TV spots down to not just the zip code level, but to the individual household.
It's the latest in "addressable advertising," and it's starting to bring Internet-style ad targeting into the living room like never before possible.
Q&A: SETH HABERMAN, CEO VISIBLE WORLD (PT 2): TARGETING TV SPOTS FROM ZIP CODE TO HOUSEHOLD
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
It's been the holy grail of television advertising for decades: the ability to target commercials to individual viewers.
It's called "addressable advertising." And its day may finally be here.
In my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, I look at how organizations like Canoe Ventures - a consortium of cable TV operators that include Time Warner, Cox, Cablevision and others - have been actively working to combine cable zoning technologies with, for instance, data from Experian and other sources, to allow advertisers to target campaigns down to specific zip codes.
In an age when advertisers demand accountability, such efforts may need to go further still - down to the household or individual level. As Tracey Scheppach, svp/video innovations director at Starcom, recently told Brandweek, "Addressability is probably the single biggest factor that's going to save television."
One company at the forefront of the effort is Visible World, which recently won a Technology & Engineering Emmy for "development and implementation of automatically assembled dynamic customized TV advertising."
In short, Visible World enables advertisers to deliver different ads to different households using information aggregated from set-top box viewing data.
I recently caught up with Haberman to get his insights on the state of addressable advertising, and if it truly delivers on the promise of targeting TV advertising to markets of one.
Q&A: SETH HABERMAN, CEO VISIBLE WORLD (PT 1): TARGETED TV
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
That's the question I post to the Gen Wow June 2011 Mobile Roundtable panelists, Sarah Ortman, senior group manager for consumer and shopper promotions for Clorox, Peter Cole, technology director for digital agency R/GA, and Dorrian Porter, CEO of mobile marketing firm (and longtime GEN WOW sponsor) Mozes, Inc.
Along the way, we'll get some advice to CPG marketers how to make the most of mobile marketing.
JUNE 2011 MOBILE ROUNDTABLE (CONCL): MOBILE APPS: NATIVE OR WEB?
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
Is location-based marketing really a trend, or just a fad?
As our roundtable conversation expands, I broach a hot topic to our panelists - Sarah Ortman, senior group manager for consumer and shopper promotions for Clorox, Peter Cole, technology director for digital agency R/GA, and Dorrian Porter, CEO of mobile marketing firm (and longtime GEN WOW sponsor) Mozes, Inc.
The line of questioning: How do you maintain relevancy with location-based services over the long term? And when folks get bored with "checking in" at every restaurant or retail establishment to get a dinky discount they ought to be getting anyway, will LBS be SOL?
The answers weren't quite what one might expect.
JUNE 2011 MOBILE ROUNDTABLE (PT 4): LOCATION-BASED MARKETING & A FUTURE BEYOND FOURSQUARE
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
Our June 2011 GEN WOW Mobile Roundtable continues with a conversation with Dorrian Porter, CEO of Mozes, Inc.
Mozes, of course, was just named one of AlwaysOn's Top 100 Emerging Companies 2011 - which is just the latest in a string of AlwaysOn accolades the mobile marketing companie has earned over the last few years.
In Part 3, we expand the discussion with Sarah Ortman, senior group manager for consumer and shopper promotions for Clorox, and Peter Cole, technology director for digital marketing powerhous R/GA, to talk to Porter about what it means for Mozes (a longtime GEN WOW sponsor) to get the AlwaysOn nod - and how mobile + location (in this case, concerts and other events) can make for some powerful fan engagement for bands and brands alike.
JUNE 2011 GEN WOW MOBILE ROUNDTABLE PT 3: MOZES FUELS FANDAMONIUM
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
R/GA, of course, is one of the digital marketing world's most important - and most secretive - agencies. And it's seriously into mobile.
In part two of our June 2011 GEN WOW Mobile Roundtable, we talk to Peter Cole, R/GA's technology director, who discusses his general perspective on providing utility to consumers through the mobile channel.
Along the way, we hear about an augmented reality app R/GA developed for Wal-Mart - and we touch on "reverse search," which will shape the discussion with Sarah Ortman, senior group manager for consumer and shopper promotions for Clorox, and Dorrian Porter, CEO of longtime GEN WOW-sponsor, Mozes, Inc. (both also pictured here) over the next few days.
JUNE 2011 GEN WOW MOBILE ROUNDTABLE PT 2: R/GA'S APPROACH TO MOBILE APPS - AND THE FUTURE OF 'REVERSE SEARCH'
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
Clorox wants to clobber its competitors using a new wave of mobile apps.
In our June 2011 Mobile Roundtable, we talk to Sarah Ortman, senior group manager for consumer and shopper promotions for Clorox, as we talk about the CPG giant's aggressive foray into mobile apps - including a new Ingredients Inside App coming this fall, new grilling and cooking apps, and its very popular myStain app.
Along the way, we'll hear about the company's perspectives on location-based services, QR code marketing and mobile coupons.
Over the next few days, we'll hear from Peter Cole, technology director for digital agency R/GA, and Dorrian Porter, CEO of mobile marketing platform company, and longtime GEN WOW-sponsor, Mozes, Inc., as they join Sarah in a discussion on capitalizing on the power of mobile for CPG marketing - along with some astonishing new possibilities in what we'll call "Reverse Search."
JUNE 2011 GEN WOW MOBILE ROUNDTABLE PT 1: HOW CLOROX MOBILIZES CPG MARKETING
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
Where are the biggest opportunities for retailers to capitalize on mobile marketing?
I went to Matt Harris, CEO of iLoop Mobile, to get his perspective on what's happening in the space - where it's been, where it's headed - and how to move beyond simple mobile coupons to create rich relationship with customers through the mobile channel.
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
The announcements on new mobile marketing solutions have been flying fast and furious over the last several weeks, from mobile commerce capabilities through Digby to QR code solutions and even location-based advertising.
I went to Rob Russell, head of mobile marketing for AT&T, to get the scoop on the company's game plan.
Along the way, I ask about what the company views as its value proposition in terms of differentiators - and why brands and ad agencies should be so trusting when consumer perceptions of the company's capabilities aren't always quite so promising.
“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"
Jordan Atlas Vice President, Group Creative Director Digitas
In part two, we see how digital out-of-home like the effort for Perrier above span social, mobile and outdoor in memorable, unique fashion. What's your view? Is DOOH a must-have viral component for today's integrated campaign? Or a cool-but-limited-value proposition?
JOSH COHEN, PRESIDENT, PEARL MEDIA (PT 2): PERRIER
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
You gotta love this projection mapping initiative for the Lexus CT, projected on the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles a bit over a week ago. A couple of days after the event, I caught up with Josh Cohen, President of Pearl Media, the company behind this initiative. Suddenly, it seems, digital outdoor like this is the hottest thing in marketing. Cohen couldn't agree more.
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
If Near Field Communications (NFC) does indeed supersede QR Codes in retail and other applications, what of print, direct mail and television advertising? You need an embedded chip in the piece of communication, and a reader in the phone, to use NFC.
While not quite ready for prime time even on that front (you've got to have the right app, turn it on and then carefully scan the code), QR Codes can supercharge the effectiveness of traditional advertising by making them completely interactive (and by extension, measurable), without a chip. Ultimately, it's a matter of how easily QR codes - or something like them - can make get consumers to making usage more common.
In the conclusion to this interview, eMarketer Principal Analyst Noah Elkin (pictured here), asks me about that - and I talk about some of the best practices today for using QR Codes in advertising.
(Approx 5:31)
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
Word's out today that the QR code is dead, thanks to Google moving away from the tech in favor of Near Field Communications (NFC).
Add that to Apple's decision to focus on NFC for iPhone 5, and it's easy to buy into the notion that the QR Code revolution may be over before it really ever gets started.
Except that may not be the case.
This last week, eMarketer Principal Analyst Noah Elkin (pictured here) interviewed me as part of a report on QR Code Best Practices. In parts one and two, we talk about how QR Codes and/or NFC - or whatever these technologies evolve into - will have important implications for both advertising and in-store communications (if the technology can catch up to the concept).
In part three, we tackle retailing specifically, an arena that is very likely to be transformed by NFC. But do keep in mind that NFC requires a chip for the reader built into the handset to communicate with. Which means QR Codes - or something like them - could still play an amazing and powerful role in print, direct mail and television advertising. We'll touch more on that tomorrow. But today: A look at QR Codes (or NFC) in retail.
(Approx 5:31)
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
In part two, Elkin (pictured here) asks if I see standards emerging for QR codes and/or NFC, and my thoughts on some of the best ways marketers and retailers should be using them now.
(Approx 5:48)
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
eMarketer Principal Analyst Noah Elkin interviewed me the other day for an upcoming report on QR code best practices.
In part one, Elkin asks for my perspective on the adoption of QR codes, to which I talk about some of the pros and cons - and how these little mobile markers can supercharge the effectiveness of traditional advertising.
(Approx 2:53)
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
Red Bull turned to a real ringleader to run its latest digital initiative.
Adam Broitman, one of the creative forces behind hot New York City-based agency Circ.us, has a long history of marketing innovation. But the agency's latest effort - Red Bull's "augmented racer" iPhone game - even involved a little help from NASA.
As the video here shows, users are able to use Red Bull cans to design their own racing track, which is then replicated inside the mobile game.
Which, let's just say, had the virtue of being not only cool, but practical at the bottom line.
I went to Broitman for details.
INTERVIEW: ADAM BROITMAN, CHIEF RINGLEADER, CIR.US (PT 1): INSIDE RED BULL'S 'AUGMENTED RACING' IPHONE GAME
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
Ready for feature-length augmented reality movies and games?
In the conclusion of this follow-up to a source interview for the new book THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, Omelet co-founder Steven Amato talks about how AR will impact the film industry, and, of all things, the surprising and the unexpected cross-platform power of Fox-TV's megahit "Glee."
Along the way, we'll get some sound advice for marketers hoping to capitalize on branded entertainment in the digital age.
STEVEN AMATO, CO-FOUNDER OF OMELET (CONCL): AR MOVIES & THE FUTURE OF BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
Social branded entertainment may be, quite literally, where it's at.
In part one of my conversation with Omelet co-founder Steven Amato, we learned about a new mobile "micro-series" his team is developing for Post Cereal, and a feature film project for Harley Davidson.
Omelet, of course, has been a leader in branded entertainment for some time, having spearheaded initiatives like the online serial "Brainstorm," which spoofs the world of advertising, for Altoids and Fox.
In part two of our conversation - a follow-up to a source interview for the new book THE ON-DEMAND BRAND - we talk about how location and augmented reality are shaping the emerging world of social branded entertainment experiences.
STEVEN AMATO, CO-FOUNDER OF OMELET: BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT 2011 (Pt 2)
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
As former MTV COO Michael J. Wolf once put it to me so well, "There is no business without show business."
It's a dictum, of course, that has always been true for all forms of advertising, which live at the intersection of art and commerce, that mythical crossroad at Madison & Vine. Advertisers have long sought to capitalize on, and hope to embed themselves within, popular culture - using celebrity pitch people, memorable jingles, and indelible images tied to what's hip, hot and happening.
In the age of the DVR, that mandate is taking on new importance, as marketers work to engage consumers who fast-forward through commercial breaks.
Obviously, those efforts are increasingly digital - and go far beyond just product placement - to entertainment experiences where brands play the starring role - in games, online "TV" shows, viral videos and more.
"'Branded content' is an extension of a brand, speaking a language that its consumers know and love, and actively seek out in a non-passive way," Steven Amato, co-founder of Los Angeles-based advertising-and-content studio Omelet, tells me in the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND.
Amato should know. Omelet has been a major player in branded entertainment for the better part of a decade, helping craft captivating experiences for Samsung, NBC, USA networks and numerous gaming companies.
I recently caught up with Amato to get his view on the state of branded entertainment in 2011 - and some exciting new projects Omelet's serving up for clients these days, including a mobile "micro-series" for Fox and Post Cereal, and a feature film project from Harley Davidson.
We'll also hear about the evolution of branded entertainment into social branded entertainment experiences.
STEVEN AMATO, CO-FOUNDER OF OMELET: BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT 2011 (Pt 1)
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
Jim Blasingame was gracious enough to host me for a new visit to his show (on-air and at Forbes.com) this morning for a wide-ranging interview that touches on Google's Groupon bid, Foursquare, location-based marketing and top trends in social media for 2011.
His show focuses on small business - but the lessons here apply for any brand hoping to make the most of social media in the year ahead.
(Approx. 16:46)
And be sure to check out my other appearances on the show, here.
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
Here, in a second source interview recorded just after his site, Barely Political, was acquired by Next New Networks, we learn about how Relles launched a companion site, called Barely Digital, where Relles and others skewer the world of high tech and pop culture.
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
The lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas, Am entered briefly into presidential politics during the 2008 presidential election cycle with his "Yes We Can" music video endorsing Barack Obama long before that seemed anything like a sure thing.
But Relles, a then-unknown, thirty-two-year-old account executive at Internet advertising firm Agency.com, had his own ideas for an online video - one that would titillate the electorate in unexpected ways - and become a pop culture icon in the process.
Indeed, unless you've been living on another planet - or have an unnaturally healthy aversion to political news - you no doubt recall the viral video sensation "I've Got A Crush on Obama."
The video stars actress Amber Lee Ettinger as "Obama Girl," who gyrates provocatively as she lip syncs to lyrics (which include such brow-raising lines as "You tell the truth, unlike the right/You can love but you can fight/You can Barack me tonight/I've got a crush on Obama") from Leah Kauffman, and set to music from Rick Freidrich.
The video, posted on YouTube, was within ours the subject of reports from ABC News, MSNBC and Fox News. At this writing, the political spoof has been viewed over 21 million times via YouTube, and countless other times on news programs.And it gave Relles enough traction to found political humor video site Barely Political.com and create several sequels and spin-offs.
While we have yet to see "I Heart Huckabee" or "I've Got a Crush on Kucinich," we've reveled in everything from "Romney Girl vs. Giuliani Girl" ("I'm going to be wife four/He warms my heart just like Al Gore") to "The Ann Coulter Song" ("Dad says she's starved for attention/She's got the hottest Adam's Apple at the Republican Convention"). In short order, the start-up site was acquired by Next New Networks, which creates online "micro-television networks" for targeted communities, where Relles has also launched a spin-off channel called Barely Digital.
As it happens, "Obama Girl" was was Relles' first foray into user-generated content. He and friends Kauffman and Friedrich first made waves last year with “My Box in a Box,” a spoof of the “My Junk In A Box” skits on Saturday Night Live.
In this first of two source interviews with Relles for the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, (this one recorded about a week after "Obama Girl" first went viral) we hear about the origins of "Obama Girl" and how it helped showcase a new reality taking shape in online media that Relles believes will have a transformative impact on our culture.
Tomorrow, we'll hear about the birth of Barely Digital in 2009 and Relles' take on the myth of the consumer-created Super Bowl spot we've been talked about last week and the trajectory of user-generated video since "Obama" first broke big.
'OBAMA GIRL' MAKES GOOD: BEN RELLES INTERVIEW (PART 1)
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
For 2011, it's out with the gimmicks and in with the good stuff when it comes to mobile augmented reality.
At least that's the word from Jeff Arbour, SVP of The Hyperfactory, in a follow up conversation to a source interview we did for the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND.
In this conclusion of our conversation, we talk about how QR codes and other forms of 2D barcodes msut overcome some considerable challenges, and about how mobile augmented reality will take off as marketers get past the silly stuff and start getting more purposeful.
Along the way, we'll hear about some of his favorite existing AR apps - including IKEA's (shown here) - and what it will take for AR to really take off;
INTERVIEW: JEFF ARBOUR, SVP, THE HYPERFACTORY (Concl) - GETTING REAL WITH MOBILE AR
The future of traditional advertising may lay in mobile.
In the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, and also in my first book, BRANDING UNBOUND, I argue that the real power of mobile lies in supercharging the effectiveness of traditional advertising.
Simply put, mobile makes everything interactive. Our television ads become interactive. Our radio ads become interactive. Our print ads become interactive. Our direct mail becomes interactive. Our outdoor signage becomes interactive. Our storefronts become interactive. Our point of purchase becomes interactive. Even our products themselves become an opportunity to have an interactions with consumers that is really quite unprecedented.
The other day, I was talking to Hyperfactory SVP Jeff Arbour about some of the conversation he and I have in THE ON-DEMAND BRAND about this dynamic, and we continue it here. In part two: How mobile can supercharge traditional advertising - a proposition that has been much more prevalent in other markets around the world, and is only now catching on the US in a very big way.
Along the way, we discuss some of the promise - and peril - of location-based services and how to keep them relevant for the long term.
INTERVIEW: JEFF ARBOUR, SVP, THE HYPERFACTORY (PT 2) - THE TRADITIONAL/MOBILE CONNECTION
For those out of the know, The Hyperfactory has been the force behind a number of the world's most innovative mobile initiatives, several of which are featured in the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND (available everywhere books are sold). Among its recent hits: The "Big Fork, Little Fork" iPad app for Kraft, shown here.
What may further distinguish The Hyperfactory is the fact that it was recently acquired by publishing giant Meredith - pointing to potent synergies bridging content, database marketing and mobile.
The other day, I touched bases with another friend from Hyperfactory, North America SVP Jeff Arbour (a mobile marketing dynamo in his own right) to talk about these synergies - and how they might come into play in branded apps to come.
INTERVIEW: JEFF ARBOUR, SVP NORTH AMERICA, THE HYPERFACTORY (PT 1) IPAD APPS THAT ROCK
It got me thinking about a conversation I had the other day with Matthew Rosenberg, the co-founder of Fast Society, a hip new start-up that enables you to instantly connect with specific friends for nights out on the town, via group text messaging, calling and location.
So instead of texting or calling each member of the posse with details, locations and so forth, you use Fast Society to get everyone in one place at one time - and to share images and moments from the good times. None of which will live on to embarrass you on your Facebook page, which, let's face it, has pretty much morphed into a public, rather than intimately social, platform.
As for the opportunity for brands? Already MTV is using Fast Society to promote its new show "Skins." And as you're about to hear, that's just the tip of the iceberg.
INTERVIEW: MATTHEW ROSENBERG, CO-FOUNDER, FAST SOCIETY
Just got word this morning that Orabrush has just passed Sims and Apple to become the second most subscribed YouTube Channel.
And today, Orabrush is launching an interactive video featuring Morgan the Dirty Tongue that enables users to make Morgan dance using the numerical keys on their keyboards.
If you ask Salar Kamangar, co-head of YouTube, these are both just indicators of why Orabrush is the kind of brand custom built for YouTube success.
As he recently told Brand Channel, Orabrush is “the type of product you can’t sell with search, you can’t sell with display, but it’s uniquely able to sell because of the power of video’s medium. These are user-choice ads, things that people are choosing to click on.”
In the conclusion of my recent interview with CMO Jeffrey Harmon - the man behind Orabrush's ridiculous (and by "ridiculous," I mean "massively successful") YouTube channel, he shares his perspective on Kamangar's contention.
And he shares how other marketers can start tapping into the power of YouTube videos, too.
TAPPING THE POWER OF YOUTUBE: THE JEFFREY HARMON INTERVIEW (CONCLUSION)
In part three of my conversation with Orabrush CMO Jeff Harmon about the grassroots, social media efforts that Ad Age has placed among the top 10 of the last year, we learn that the popular iFart app inspired Orabrush's own iPhone app - The Bad Breath Detector.
Here, we'll learn more about this app, the brand's Facebook integration, and most important of all, what Orabrush's 24-year-old CEO Jeff Davis - another Jeff - calls "Reverse Branding."
CMO Jeff Harmon is talking "Dirty" - and the secrets to success in online video marketing.
In part one of our interview, Harmon talked how his little social media campaign for Orabrush - a product nobody had ever heard of - came to inspire Ad Age to name it one of the best campaigns of 2010.
Now in part two, he talks about how he has kept the effort alive with "Diary of a Dirty Tongue" - a series of hilarious house-made videos featuring the misadventures of an obnoxious misfit named Morgan that has been viewed 31 million times, and helped generate over $1 million in sales directly from the Orabrush YouTube channel.
In short, the initiative embodies the principles put forth in the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND (available everywhere books are sold).
None of which is to say it's also not wonderfully repulsive at the same time.
TALKING 'DIRTY': THE JEFFREY HARMON INTERVIEW (PT 2)
I'm just going to come out and say you're going to going to get a kick out of Jeffrey Harmon, the 28-year-old CMO at Provo, Utah-based Orabrush, and the lively, behind-the-scenes story of how his little social media campaign for a product nobody had ever heard of came to inspire Ad Age to name it one of the best campaigns of 2010.
On its face, none of it seems like a forgone conclusion.
Let's just say it involves a device for scooping out the halitosis-causing germs from your mouth, a video about testing your breath; a newer series of YouTube videos featuring the misadventures of an obnoxious misfit named Morgan, called "Diaries of a Dirty Tongue," which has been viewed 31 million times, and a Facebook page about halitosis.
This week, the company even released a paid iPhone app called "The Bad Breath Detector Pro" - to compliment the free version released a few months ago.
This after 76-year-old inventor Robert Wagstaff had almost quit trying to sell his product after spending a fortune trying to market it. Then he discovered Harmon, who was just finishing up school at BYU. Harmon challenged a key assumption about online marketing, prompting "Dr. Bob" to give this kid a chance to show him how it's done.
Since the launch of the campaign - created almost entirely by Harmon and his friends without an ad agency or professional videographer in sight - Orabrush has sold over $1 million worth of its tongue brushes through its YouTube channel, called Cure Bad Breath, instead of being overtly branded to Orabrush.
And today, Google routinely flies Jeffrey out to meetings to help other brands grasp the power of YouTube video marketing.
What's more, drugstores around the world are beginning to stock the product, and now even the guy in the original halitosis video - a friend of Harmon's who performed for about $100 - has a stake in a small company that may be valued as high as $50 million.
In short, it's exactly the kind of digital initiative that embodies the ideals explored in the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND.
Here's Harmon in his own words - which include some great secret strategies for video marketing and branded entertainment - as well as a bigger picture perspective on what he calls "branding in reverse."
A BRUSH WITH FAME: THE JEFFREY HARMON INTERVIEW (PT 1)
Name a successful digital marketing initiative for Toyota's Scion auto brand, and Adrian Si is likely the man behind it.
Second Life? Been there, conquered that - by way of Scion City, where residents can test drive, customize, purchase and drive virtual versions of the Scion xB. But Si certainly didn't stop there.
Working with social media firm Millions of Us, Scion created a sit called WhatIsScionCity.com that features six short films that use the technique known as machinima - cinema staged and filmed within Second Life's virtual world environment, using avatars as the film's characters - with each film providing clues to the history of Scion City. Newer efforts, like an augmented reality game promoting the new Scion tC have only polished Scion's reputation for success.
And then there's the crown jewel of Scion's branded entertainment portfolio, Scion Broadband, which finances and showcases short films, music videos, animation and other creative work - with a heavy emphasis on music - designed to connect with the brand's target consumers in potent new ways.
Of course, for many brand marketers, a number of questions immediately come to mind. In this exclusive source interview for the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, I ask Si to explain just how this portal is paying off for Scion.
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
Final excerpts from my source interview with Prinz Pinakatt, head of interactive marketing for Coca-Cola Europe, for my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND.
In this final segment, Pinakatt describes building what he calls "brand love" through integrating traditional and digital marketing - including the hugely successful "Happiness Factory" campaign, an age-old favorite that spanned television, radio, online games, branded videos, mobile and much, much more.
Along the way, you'll hear some important insights on Coke's expectations for ad agency partners.
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
In part one, we focused on text-based campaigns and augmented reality. In part two, more on Coca-Cola Europe's perspective on iPhone apps, ad targeting and consumer privacy.
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
It’s no secret Coca-Cola Europe has been at the forefront of the mobile revolution, long having turned the nascent channel into a major sales tool. But more recently, the beverage giant has been launching branding initiatives via mobile to astonishing effect.
Two notable projects: The Fanta Stealth Sound System, an iPhone app that enables teens to make fun of grownups using audio clips that are broadcast at frequencies too high for anyone over the age of 21 to hear; and an augmented reality tennis game that you play using your mobile phone as a racket.
In a source interview for the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, Prinz Pinakatt, head of interactive marketing for Coca-Cola Europe, shares his insights on Coke’s perspective on mobile in general, and then makes a blockbuster prediction about mobile augmented reality.
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
In Part 1 and Part 2 of we learned about social retailing pilots for Nanette Lepore and Bloomingdales that resulted in a 3x increase in sales.
In Part 3 we learned about how social media can get shoppers into stores - and keep them there.
And in the conclusion of this exclusive source interview for the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, we get advice on how to start implementing social retailing ourselves.
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
For all the attention check-ins and badges get for trying to lure people into stores, high-end cosmetics retailer Sephora is quietly using something comparatively simple - mobile customer reviews - to enhance the actual in-store shopping experience.
Indeed, it's no secret that reviews are now a key part of shopping - and in building confidence in purchase decisions for everything from L'Oreal lipstick to Lamborghinis.
According to Nielsen, eight in 10 shoppers now routinely read online produce reviews before placing purchases. And 40% cite online customer reviews as one of the primary reasons they have bought from a retailer, online or off.
The beauty, if you will, of Sephora's solution, is that the service is primarily accessible when the consumer is in the store or mall, as they access the reviews by looking up a keyword or the UPC on product packaging, via Sephora's mobile site.
You'd be surprised how many people can get supremely passionate about, say, Philosophy brand's "Cinnamon Buns" body wash, for instance. And yet a quick look at the mobile site reveals 132 different reviews, featuring comments ranging from "Kinda smelled like cardboard," to "Smelled so good my husband wanted to drink the bottle."
The capability began as a feature on the Sephora traditional website, where it became an instant hit. In this source interview for my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, Julie Bornstein, senior vice president for Sephora Direct tells me the migration to mobile was an absolute no brainer.
Along the way, she offers a glimpse at how Sephora sees mobile - and its possibilities for supercharging the in-store experience.
In Part 1 and Part 2 of we learned about social retailing pilots for Nanette Lepore and Bloomingdales that resulted in a 3x increase in sales.
In part three of this exclusive source interview for the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, Tom Nicholson - the father of social retailing - talks about the dynamic of using social media to lure shoppers into stores, and then keeping them there - longer and more profitably.
Part 3: Social Retailing in the Age of the Empowered Consumer
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
In part one of my interview with Tom Nicholson, we learned about an amazing augmented reality-cum-social media initiative designed to supercharge the in-store shopping experience.
In part two of this exclusive source interview for the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, I ask Nicholson - founder of Icon Nicholson and more recently, Nicholson NY - what kind of results this initiative has generated so far.
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
If Tom Nicholson has his way, teenage girls will no longer wait until their home from the mall to ask the eternal question, "Do these jeans make me look fat?"
Nicholson, founder of digital agency LBi IconNicholson, and more recently, Nicholson NY, has personally led a technological revolution in retailing, having spearheaded efforts to transform the shopping experience at Prada, Nanette Lepore and Bloomingdales by enabling shoppers to use touchscreen interfaces to connect with runway video and information on cut, color and accessories related to the clothing they care into dressing rooms.
In this source interview from the new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, we see how Nicholson is taking fashion a giant step forward - mashing up social networking, in-store technologies and yough shopping habits to delight customers as never before possible.
Part 1: What Is Social Retailing - And Why Do Retailers Need to Know About It?
“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."
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