FRANKthoughts

This week saw the launch of Movember for 2008 which was held on Wednesday 15th Oct at the Forum theatre in Melbourne and across several other locations around the nation

Held during November each year, Australian men and women register nationally for Movember.  With a clean-shaven face from November 1st, participating Mo Bros spend the month growing and grooming their mo’.  Along the way, Mo Bros and their mo’ supporters, including Mo Sista’s, raise as much money and awareness for male health:

• Prostate cancer – every year in Australia 2,900 men die of prostate cancer – more than the number of women who die from breast cancer
• Male depression – One in six men are affected by depression.  Most don’t seek help. Depression can have serious effects on physical and mental health

In 2007, over 96,000 enthusiastic Mo Bros & Sista’s raised over  $15 million for Movember, supporting the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and Beyondblue

So get united and register!

According to Joan Warner, CEO of Commercial Radio Australia the answer is yes, and it will be here sooner than you might think.

Digital Radio  (DR) is due to roll out in all 5 metro markets in Jan/Feb 2009. Yesterday morning I was amongst 30 industry professionals who got to hear it first hand. In just over the course of an hour, we were taken through how it will work and what it means for both the consumer and the advertiser.  As a consumer, I am very excited! No longer will I be subjected to the static interference that corrupts my ears every morning, as I try and listen to my favourite FM breakfast show while on the train into work.  One of the main advantages to DR will be the strong interference-free signal, especially within built up areas. AM listeners in particular, will be jumping for joy with news of this.  Not only will the sound quality surpass current standards, but it will open up more choices for listeners with extra channels and new digital features. New technology means we will have screens to display dynamic text, images, data & multimedia channels.

For Advertisers, radio will no longer be just an audio touch point. DR introduces a visual element to complement the offering. From product shots to animated logos, contact details and even down-loadable electronic coupons for redeemable promotions. Phones will have the fastest capability to embrace digital radio and for many features will be the most practical hardware (electronic coupons for example) Despite these features you will not be able to display moving pictures; don’t get digital radio confused with Mobile TV.

Although a free service to consumers, an initial investment in a digital receiver will be required. Despite the onslaught of negative press out there I believe that DR will win the consumer over in the end, even if it takes 10 years. Remember Digital TV didn’t happen over night.

Its time to remove the scarf and hang up the beanie as spring is only days away and we all know what this means…warmer weather, Spring fashion, racing and much more!
Among these many loves is Melbourne Spring Fashion Week (1-7 sept) which we will see showcase the latest looks for spring/summer with more than 100 events to choose from including runway shows, panel discussions, workshops, luncheons, film, exhibitions, racing and parties.

To celebrate Melbourne Spring Fashion Week, Melbourne’s GPO will be racing into spring with a fabulous promote of shopping offers and fashion shows.  To help showcase these exciting events, we thought it would be a good idea to have a dedicated event page. There are some cool things to check out like special offers, competitions and the option to book tickets to some events in advance.

On WEDNESDAY 3 September join the Melbourne’s GPO “Racing Into Spring Fashion” Shopping & Shows, including:
- GPO Trading til 9pm  - Exclusive Retailer Offers & Specials
- Complimentary bubbly - 3 champagne bars - DJ Sean Wise
- 12:30PM & 1:30PM @ Alto Event Space located on Level 3.

SHOW 1: WEDNESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER, 12:30PM
AG Clothing, Akira, Ben Sherman, Fat, Hussy & Madame Marie, im, Leona Edmiston, Lisa Ho, Nicolangela
SHOW 2: WEDNESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER, 13:30PM
AG Clothing, Christopher Chronis, Digbys, Georgiadis, Gorman, Karen Millen England, Lella Smith, Max & Co Rodd & Gunn, Veronika Maine.

Entrance is free and seating is limited, so to secure your place please go to the events page and use the “Book Tickets” button on the right menu.

THE eternal challenge for “us” on behalf of our clients is to break through the surface of consumer indifference by being where they choose to be and manifesting the brand with the most appropriate and relevant face, creating moments of receptivity.

The concept of Nomadic media puts a brand’s message out there, traveling many different pathways, and dressed in many different costumes, all specifically tailored to certain groups of interested consumers. Crossing paths with the consumer now actually starts a relationship in which the consumer plays an active part. The consumer is not coming to the brand at the brand’s beckoning. The brand is not forcing its company on the consumer. The brand’s identity in the eyes of the consumer depends on a consumer’s interaction with it.

An excellent article “Unglued from the Tube” by Liz Tascio in this month’s US ‘Media Magazine’ introduces Nomadic media and breaks down the artificial distinction between online and offline reflecting the step-change from passive to active interaction and consumption. Enjoy.

As part of the WOTIF brand launch, FRANk and Leo Burnetts collaborated to deliver a unique media and creative digital placement. Using Ad Synchronisation, it helped achieved cut through in afternoon news placements throughout Fairfax, News Digital and Yahoo!7.

Here is a mock running up version (the M-Rec plays up so may need to reload/refresh) and below is a live screenshot:

From Springwise:

“Now, the US athletic shoe manufacturer seems determined to win over green-minded customers, too. In January, Nike introduced the Air Jordan XX3, which uses eco-friendly materials. Then in February Nike went a step further with Trash Talk. From the sole to the shoelaces, this shoe is produced not only from ‘environmentally preferred’ materials but also recycled waste, with much of the latter coming from Nike’s own production facilities—scraps that would otherwise have been discarded.”

It’s great global corporations are injecting green in to their products. As creators and drivers of consumer purchases, there is a social and ethical responsibility in what we do as marketers. We identify needs and wants, create a product, and market to the masses to purchase and discard at the end of its product life cycle. The end results could be packaging by products but part of the marketing process also sees large format outdoor billboards vinyls go to waste.

Where possible, we at FRANk encourage our clients to recycle their old vinyls to turn them into bags made by our friends at Haul. Not only you end up with a great bag, but it’s a great corporate buzz to give to your staff, sales team, etc.

It’s the second week of i-mate’s Ultimate Escape and we’re starting to see some action.

Applications are coming in every hour or so and our first participant is already locked in! (You can check him out here). We also posted our second “call for applicants” video.

How about putting your application in?

We’ve just launched a campaign for i-mate. It’s called The Ultimate Escape:

The Ultimate Escape is a five day experiment where five strangers, situated in a Byron Bay villa will be collaborating with their i-mates to promote the concept of working out of the office. During their time in the villa they will keep doing their work, create content and learn what it takes to work remotely. They will also try to create a national profile for working smarter and convince organisations and employees that you can work out of the office and remain highly productive. We are currently looking for applicants to go to the villa for 5 days in the week starting 31 March. We’ll look after all flights, accommodation & catering costs. All you need to do is continue with your normal working week, and enjoy the experience. So, if you think you’re the right person for the job, send us your stuff: apply@theultimateescape.com

Last week, FRANk sent 160 pineapples to client, partners, and suppliers as a Welcome to 2008 gesture (blog post). On the pineapples, all we attached was a link to our newly designed blog that was also launched last Tuesday. So here are the results after 1 week:

Cost of 160 Pineapples = $720
Cost of Courier = $380
Cost of Printer = $170
Total Cost = $1270

Result = 289 Visits (202 Unique Visits)

Cost Per Visit = $ 4.39

Not bad for a Cost per Click/Visit return on investment. A creative way to generate a bit of buzz with our clients/partners and a direct response to visit our new blog. And, the engagement with the FRANk brand from clients = Priceless!!

Thanks to Dion and the crew at Lifelounge

AdAge (you’ll need a subscription) published a revealing article basically stating that:

“Increasingly marketers are realizing that [offline and online] has to be integrated … but interactive agencies have not yet proven they have the capability to manage brand strategy,” said Brian Haven, senior analyst at Forrester Research and the author of “The Forrester Wave: Interactive Marketing Agencies”"

This comment effectively summarised the key challenges faced by most clients and agencies. Clients are demanding integration and a single stop solution to their marketing campaigns. After agency briefing, from response to post campaign reporting, we see a split in offline and online strategy, media planning and buying. Clients are wanting digital to be incorporated into their campaigns but are agencies delivering the “right” recommendation?

With the exponential growth of online, agencies responded by “attaching” a digital arm to their existing business. A great example are the numerous interactive “divisional” names / teams with the largest being Emitch being the digital company for Mitchells. These divisions are also structured separately sitting separate from the “offline” teams and in Emitch case…”down the road”. With such disconnection with online and offline, it’s no wonder “integration” does not happen in the level it should be…. despite how many times interactive agencies evangelise to their clients about “Web 2.0″, “integration”, “user generated contents”, “engagement”, but come back with the same seperate solution to offline and a banner “push” strategy.

So, with digital agencies being so separate from the early strategy planning process, they tend to play a role as buyers only. Digital agencies also lack the ability to outside of digital…. not everyone blogs, read 10 blogs a day, twitter, and have a huge life outside of Facebook. David Armano wrote a great list of “how to become a better digital agency”:

1. Speak in Brand
Brand agencies understand it is more than a logo, design and a website. It is understanding the emotional triggers that can deliver a rich and lasting relationship with their customers. Digital agencies have a wealth of knowledge of digital trends and tools to help create/foster/maintain that relationship. Problem = Digital agencies don’t speak or understand brand… they talk about engagement but don’t have a way deliver it in creating Facebook groups, creating relationships with consumers, etc. and are to data focus to think what actually engages a consumer to their client’s brand.

2 . Think Outside the Browser and the Banner
I’ve added “and the banner” too because 90% of agencies out there are thinking just that. Digital agencies are experts in their field. They know the trends, they know what is happening, they know where their users are. However, they can be to focus on digital and can discount things like TV… “TV is dead” .. only 1.5million watch Grey’s Anatomy every week. Digital agencies need to think holistically and offer their experience on a consumer’s digital experience. A great example of marrying digital and offline is Nike+ and iPod.

3 .Evangelize Digital To Broad Audiences
Working on digital campaigns 24/7 can isolate us from clients and offline teams. We are guilty of speaking in CTR, CPA, M-Rec, UB, UA, etc only helps in making you look good but clients/offline dumb. With all the CTR and CPA, what is it really doing to my campaign and business in layman’s term. It’s about understanding your client and to understand are they digitally savvy or digitally resistant? I’m sure most agencies come across “But I don’t see banners?”

4. Corner The Market on Talent
Digital talent is short. Reward and retain your staff.

5. Make Relationship Our Business
Like all business, create that relationship and help your client build ther business not a report on how successful you’ve bought a banner and delivered it with a good CTR. Without a solid relationship, digital agencies will be seen as “execution” vs “partner”.

6. Celebrate Our Strengths
Digital is so much more than users being online. It is understanding consumer behavior in how digital has evolved them to be more open, on demand, and creating relationships in a whole new level. Internet is just a tool. Digital are in a strong position in understanding this and should strongly promote this strength…. and go have a beer too.

7. Generate Big + Little Ideas
Digital agencies must come to the table with ideas that go beyond messaging but can live outside the browser. Little functional ideas and Big emotional ideas. This can only be done by understanding consumer insights, product, business and competitors. I strongly feel Nike has been performing strongly in this field globally with great insights in understanding the jogging community to deliver Nike+ and iPod, and the football community to deliver Joga Bonito.

8. Play Well with Others
Digital agencies must work with other agencies and consultancies while being more proactive in driving their own ideas. Media agencies must play nice to Creative agencies and vice versa…. (we’ll see how this works in reality!)

9. Think, Breathe and Live Strategically
Strategic thinking is mandatory… a challenge for digital media agencies to think more than media planning & buying strategy and Digital creative agencies to be more than a flashy website with a game.

10. Get Fuzzy
A great point to finish on. The ad industry is a machine in scaling up in dollars, people, mass producing messages and selling promises. Digital agencies have experience phenomenal growth and heavily shift focus to revenue to keep stakeholders happy. But perhaps at a cost?  Innovation is happening in the marketing world which is driven by smaller groups of people who collaborate in less unstructured ways of larger agencies. What do you think social networks really are? The start ups are developing digital products and solutions which are giving the blue chips a run for their money. Digital shops need to stay fuzzy while being professional enough to move large clients forward. It’s the best of both worlds but we must be both agile and persuasive.

Let’s now see how interactive digital agencies do in the 2008 report card. A+?