RICK MATHIESON: GENWOW.COM

Interview: AKQA CEO Tom Bedecarré (Conclusion) - Alternate Reality Games, Location-Based Marketing & Targeting

In the conclusion of this source interview for my book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, AKQA CEO Tom Bedecarré offers his view of alternate reality games (ARGs), social media, location-based marketing and that most controversial of issues: targeting.

CLICK HERE to listen to: Tom Bedecarré, CEO, AKQA (Conclusion): ARGs, Social Media, Location-Based Marketing & Targeting

 

 

(Approx. 5:45)

Digital Marketing: 5 Top New Year's Resolutions

 

It's 2013: Do you know what your digital marketing's up to?

Here are five quick resolutions for the new year. Like lots of behaviors, these are practices we know we should keep - like eat less, move more - but rarely do. All of us are guilty of bypassing these common sense rules from time to time.

So if we do just five things this year, let's resolve to:

5. Not Ask How - Ask Why

I said this in a recent post on social media trends for 2013. But it's really true of anything we do. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a million times at agencies and client-side brands throughout the land: Let's do "X" - insert your digital buzz word du jour here - not because "X" is central to a brand's objectives, but because it's considered cool. But saying "we need a mobile/social/viral strategy is akin to saying "we need a brochure strategy," or a radio strategy, or a signage strategy. These are channels & platforms, not strategies. First figure out what you have to accomplish, then decide which approaches and channels will get you there. It's so simple, yet we all get caught up in coolness from time to time.

4. Know thy customer - and thy channels

On that note, as I write in my book THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, insight comes before inspiration. Today's most successful digital marekting initiatives typically don't come from a great idea for some hip new experience, or a me-too approach to major trends. Instead, they start with consumer insights culled from painstaking research into who your customers are, what they're all about, how they interact with consumer technologies, and what they want from the brands they know and trust. Just look at the work Unilever's done over the last few years with the Dove brand's "Campaign for Real Beauty" and all its crazy ass work for Axe - including everything from QR code peep holes in bathroom bars to faux "Shower Together" PSAs. These marketers have a firm read on their customers and the channels with which to reach them. In 2013, look for social + mobile + local to be a key to accomplishing this.

3. Always commit multi-plat-fornication

Innovate through as many channels and platforms that make sense for your strategies and audience. It's what MTV calls "multi-plat-fornication." As I show in the book, MINI USA has made an art form of this, using insights on its "fun-tech" loving audience and how they congregate online to use numerous approaches - branded games, especially, but also things like RFID-based key fobs that enable roadside billboards to call out to passing drivers by name - to actually enlist customers to market the cars for them. And Coca-Cola has raised the bar over the last year, with everything from branded iPhone apps to the Polar Bears' social stunt at the Super Bowl to its Kinect-Powered Vending Machine, to a magazine-ad-turned-mobile-stereo-speakers and much, much more. Small wonder the brand has been named "Creative Marketer of the Year" for the 2013 Cannes International Advertising Festival. 

2. Honor traditional as the sizzle to digital's steak

It's heresy these days to point out the obvious. In a fragmented media universe, the channels that still attract any semblance of "mass" are more powerful than ever - with TV being exhibit A. For all our gadgets, we're watching more TV, not less. And whether it's "Walking Dead" or "Dancing with The Stars," TV has communal power like nothing else. As a result, many of today's most innovative integrated campaigns use traditional advertising - old school TV, print, radio, etc - to build awareness and then point consumers to deeper, richer, more meaningful experiences online, or via mobile and other digital platforms. Again, Coca-Cola's Polar Bear stunt at the Super Bowl immediately comes to mind, attracting over 9 million consumers who spent an average of 28 minutes with the brand. And Doritos has effectively done all this in reverse every year, with its Crash The Super Bowl user-generated ad contest - with the chance to work with director Michael Bay at this year's bowl.

1. Never put "buzz" before "business"

Obviously digital marketing is about endless and innovative experimentation. If it were as easy as creating any old viral video, branded game, or mobile app to generate enough buzz to bring in business for our brands, we'd all be rich. For many lifestyle brands, this kind of experimentation is enough - especially in categories where an aura of hipness is a prerequisite for sales success. But while there is obviously a lot of fun and games in all this fun and games, it's important - critical - that we approach digital initiatives with specific objectives in mind (see resolution #5).

As Harley-Davidson's global CMO Mark-Hans Richer puts it to Ad Age, "This is a new gold age for marketers. The shackles are off, and the possibilities are nearly endless. If we aren't conducting radical experiments, trying new ways to engage our targets and adding value to them, then we're not doing our jobs."

But, he adds, "It's not about chasing the buzz; it's about chasing the biz." Marketers who get this formula right - by fueling innovation through substantive consumer insights - weill thrive in the on-demand era.

Those who don't will have to settle for some fun - but ultimately fruitless - experiments.

Here's to a blockbuster 2013 for us all.

Social Media Street Fight: Duke It Out for Your Dream Mustang (Video)

 

Mustang's not horsing around when it comes to social media.

In an innovative new social game, consumers can use the very cool Mustang Customizer to design their dream Mustangs, and then compete to win the car by spreading their creations as early and often as they can through social channels.

This works on a lot of levels. As I write in my book THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, in the digital age, it's all about "Accentuating The P-O-S-itive." That is, creating experiences that are Personalizable, Ownable & Sharable.

In the on-demand era, the Web is no longer merely about content retrieval. It's about real-time content creation, participation, collaboration and exhibition. And this effort embraces all of these notions within a gamification dynamic that's sure to catch on with the brand's most avid fans.

Hat tip to Adverblog for the very cool find. 

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Can't Miss Webinar: Coca-Cola's Mobile Team Reveals Secrets of Mobile Marketing Success

 

 

 

 

BECOME BEST-IN-CLASS IN MOBILE MARKETING

Thursday, August 16, 2012

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PDT

(Sponsored) Digital is clearly key for Coca-Cola, and they do it right. As a mature brand, they understand consumer behavior and see the need to adopt innovative marketing technology and approaches to bring value to the consumer, customer and organization. One of the major reasons the Company has been so successful in connecting the physical to the digital world is their Mobile Center of Excellence (MCOE) which has developed key strategies, identified gaps and opportunities. This continual process accelerates development with key vendors, partners and constituents to help drive initiatives using mobile.

In this webinar, members of the MCOE will share the vision, mission, method and results of the Mobile Center of Excellence, as well as discuss the needs that Mozes, a mobile engagement partner, helps to fill through supporting events like Essence Music Festival, NASCAR 600, Coca-Cola Beach Spring Break, and College football games.

Attendees will learn:
- How to approach cultivating an in-house mobile expert or team.
- How mobile is transforming the event experience.
- How to convert participation into long-term relationships.
- Best practices for building a successful mobile engagement strategy incorporating audience engagement.

Moderator:
Michael Becker, Managing Director, North America, MMA

Speakers:
Tara Scarlett, Senior Manager, CRM and Mobile Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company
Chris Bigda, Connections Planning & Investment, Media & Interactive, The Coca-Cola Company
Dorrian Porter, CEO, Mozes Inc.

GET FULL DETAILS AND REGISTER NOW

 

Q&A: Jeff Hasen, Author of 'Mobilized Marketing' (Pt 1)

Jeff Hasen is one of my favorite people in mobile marketing today - and as you're about to hear, it's easy to understand why.

Hasen serves as CMO for mobile marketing powerhouse Hipcricket, and is the author of the new book MOBILIZED MARKETING: Driving Sales, Engagement, and Loyalty Through Mobile Devices.

I'm amped about the book, and not just because I'm featured in it.

As you'll hear here, Hasen is a fount of interesting stats and insights on the mobile revolution, and is always at the ready with information on compelling ways marketers are using the mobile channel.

Listen to what he has to say here, and then check out the book here.

Q&A: JEFF HASEN, AUTHOR OF MOBILIZED MARKETING: DRIVING SALES, ENGAGEMENT, AND LOYALTY THROUGH MOBILE DEVICES

Read more here.

(9 min, 26 sec)

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Author Rick Mathieson Takes on Top Digital Trends At Visual Media 2012 in SF

I'm looking forward to my talk at Visual Media 2012 next week in San Francisco.

It looks like a fantastic agenda, and I'm amped about being invited to speak

Read more here.

 

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“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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Author Rick Mathieson to Talk Digital Marketing at Marketing Edge 2012, Feb 14

Can't wait for next week's big Marketing Edge 2012 in Houston, where I'll be talking trends in social media, mobile marketing, branded games, augmented reality & more!

If you're in the area, this is one event you won't want to miss - not just because of me. Take a look at the great line up here, and get your tickets today.

Top 10 Favorites for 2011: Branded Games

 

A growing number of companies are realizing they can do some very serious business through branded fun and games.

Case in point: The branded game our agency developed for network securty player SonicWALL - and for which we just received the physical Platinum Award from this year's International Summit Awards: Marketing Effectiveness Awards.

The game has has led to an astronomical number of downloads and seriously well-qualified leads for the company. It technically didn't fall in 2011 or it'd top my list here for personal and very selfish reasons. 

Another note worth making: I didn't realize it until I started putting this round-up together that many of my favs in this category are also on my list of favs in mobile marketing and faves in social media for the year.

Definitely something to recognize (and yes, we're aiming to develop a mobile version of the SonicWALL game in 2012).

My top 10 favorites for 2011, not in any particular order:

10. Letting the Audience Drive: Ford's interactive cinema experience

9. McDonald's Billboard Game: Did somebody play McDonald's?

8. Nike Runs Into Augmented Reality: If you've got a cool idea, run with it

7. Honda's 'Experiment': A branded game that makes you 'The Cog'

6. Domino's 'Pizza Hero' Game for iPad: Gamifying the process of ordering a pizza

5. Mercedes Wants You to 'Escape the Map': Using mobile, AR, social and more

4. Can You Outrun This Asics Ad? An ad that encourages you to run away from it.

3. Universal Pictures 'The Thing' Mobile App: Movie may not done so hot, but the app is cool

2. Red Bull's 'Formula Face' Racing Game Your face has never been so fun

1. Catch A MINI & Keep It: The world’s largest outdoor reality game

 

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Red Bull 'Formula Face' Game (Video)

 

Your face has never been so much fun - thanks to this face-tracking branded game from Red Bull, called "Formula Face."

Here, your facial expressions steer your car - tilt your head to turn, activate special powers by smiling, and get a speed boost by blinking. And you can challenge your Facebook friends for bragging rights, if not pink slips.

As I talk about in my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, Red Bull has a long history of branded games. And you'll definitely want to catch my recent interview with Adam Broitman, CEO of Cir.us, the company behind Red Bull's recent Augmented Racer Game (Part One, Part Two, and Part Three).

Tell us hear your thoughts - Is this the new face of branded games, or just a minor speed bump?

Then try it yourself, here.

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“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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Cadbury Turns Chocolate Bars Into Augmented Reality Games (Video)

 

Now snack time can be play time, too.

I'm digging this new augmented reality game from Cadbury and Blippar that turns product packaging for candy bars into augmented reality games.

Adidas has done much the same with shoes, of course. But lets face it, candy bars make for a much better form factor.

Now if they could just figure out a way to do this after you've opened the package, you could play and munch at the same time.

What's your take? A Wii-bit of candy? Or too sweet by half?

Read more here.

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  "... EXCELLENT ..."

 

“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."

Publisher's Weekly

 

>>> IN STORES NOW: ORDER YOUR COPY HERE <<<

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