The day began with a series of very strong stories. I’ll hit some of the highlights. This is based on my reporter’s notes (a skill learned while working on the college newspaper), not recordings of the sessions.
The over arching theme I took away was “reinvent marketing” because technology has made it imperative and possible.
A secondary theme is the power of storytelling. Narrative marketing is on the ascendency — although nobody used the phrase “Narrative Marketing”
Visa’s Journey
The first story was the journey that Visa took from a traditional marketing to digit, from telling to socializing. Antonio Lucio shared this journey from when he took over marketing at Visa around the time the company went public. That change in company status was the impetus for his team to
“question our marketing equation”.
First steps included bringing digital “from the margins to the core” — knocking down the silos and cul-de-sacs of marketing. He also set about educating the senior managers and executive team on how marketing needs to change. To do that, his team had to educate themselves about the changes in the marketplace.
This led to creating a completely new model of marketing for Visa: “Audience First” Marketing.
The traditional model was “yell and sell”
The new model was “an army of advocates” creating a “loyalty circle”
They mapped “the traveler journey” as a way of better understanding the realities of the customer journey. The better understanding of the customer journey “changed the way we do advertising”.
Part of that change was the radical idea that “media plan then drives creative executions” and “turning the old model on its head”. The traditional model was all about coming up with the big creative idea first and then identifying the best media vehicles to execute it.
They set 3 social principles:
- Sharing
- Recommendation
- Participation.
They set up a media model that recognizes 3 forms of media:
- Paid (TV, search)
- Shared (Facebook)
- Owned (Visa websites)
The “Audience First” system required a lot of internal education. They created training modules and also brought it into key executive meetings through the strategic planning and budget process. That was one way to guarantee the attention of the senior management.
The big challenge ahead is that a new system requires new metrics. Currently all of the social media sites have their own metrics. There are no industry wide accepted standards. This is greater than a Visa issue — it is a challenge for the entire marketing community. Lucio called for an industry-wide effort, including academia, to create metrics for a cross-platform, multi-channel world. That is the next frontier.
Edelman’s Insights by Steve Rubel
Edelman digital next presented the top 11 trends that are reshaping marketing. By trends they mean larger movements, it isn’t a “who’s hot/who’s not”.
In the interest of time (I’ve got some sleep needs ahead of me), I’ll hit on a few of the trends that I find immediately compelling.
#1 Attentionomics: The old metrics of reach and frequency are empty metrics. It is more important to measure the value of the attention. It means thinking in visual terms since visual cues are more engaging. It means looking at engagement that is relevant by daypart (time of day).
#4 Transmedia Storytelling: “We love stories. Society is driven by stories…Technology advances the techniques of storytelling.”
The challenge is that marketing no longer unfolds in a linear beginning, middle and end.”There is a narrative disconnection of time…So we need to help the consumers.” Part of that is making is easy for employees and customers to tell and share their own stories. Another part is the the story needs to unfold in a way that is appropriate to the platform. What might be right for Facebook isn’t necessarily right for Twitter.
#6 The Integrated: For too long “social media has been isolated. You need to integrate it into holistic communications.” Until now social media has been fragmented, not formal. In the future it needs a central infrastructure, social media command centers to monitor, share and put information into the hands of executives across the company.
“The next brand crisis will erupt on Facebook or Twitter” (for example Kenneth Cole’s twitter about the Egyptian protests).
#7 Ubiquitous social computing: “All devices will be social media” Smart phones, tablets, will be the tools for creating and consuming social media, not just the PC. Therefore Mobility needs to be built into the brand strategy.
#8 Location, location, Facebook. What happens in Vegas stays…on facebook. The principles of this trend are a) local b) social c) photo/video d) mobile
Interestingly he ended by stating that traditional TV advertising is still incredibly important. It sets a foundation that the digital elements and social media can build upon.
Ogilvy’s Big IdeaLs by Tim Maleeny
All of the changes in the world mean that agencies need to change they way they hire, behave and “change the model of brands” Culture and context are more important than ever before. The work on Dove was one factor that actually opened a door of insight at Ogilvy and “really crystalized our thinking”.
The old model was: Ideas = Share of Mind
The new model is: IdeaLs = Share of Culture
When you find the overlap between “A brand’s best self” and “cultural tension” there is the opportunity for the big IdeaL Ogilvy labels this “the brand platform”
“Brand positioning is fine for a campaign but it creates disposable advertising.”
The Big ideaL is for creating a long term brand platform
The new approach is as focused on the internal audience of employees as the external customers. Tim gave the example of IBM, where the “the #1 influence on the perception of IBM is the IBM employee”.
Most revealing of the changing models is that Ogilvy has dropped the 360 degree approach.
“360 degrees is a myth. You cannot be everywhere. And only 10% to 20% of it really works.
That’s a big about-face for Ogilvy. It is a powerful statement for the ways companies recognize the need to reinvent marketing.
At the same time, Maleeny did recognize that change is anything but easy. While everyone sees the need, most companies are “scared” and in denial. Others marketrs are seeing the changes as inevitable and seizing them as opportunities to move ahead. As an outside agency, Ogilvy can educate and share the new Brand IdeaL models but they cannot dictate them to clients.
Okay, enough for now. More BRITE to come in future entries.
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