FRANKthoughts

Ok so this is it….the thing about the digital gold rush is that you don’t have to be ensconced in the West Coast of the USA to prospect for golden nuggets. As aficionados of Deadwood will understand we’re all fucking, fighting and swearing in the mud at the moment.

We are in a formative era where the barrier to succeeding is nothing about economies of scale rather all about smart thinking coupled with the ‘appetite’ for digital-exploration. 

Admittedly there is more collective digital-energy in places, like San Francisco, in the guise of talent, $$$$$’s and companies who are willing to get stuck in on a large scale compared to Australia, but there is also this larger ‘appetite for risk.’

How often do we bemoan the chance to think beyond 6-12 months? This is an irrelevant digital time frame, in the scheme of things, as the rate of change and return accelerates. Here’s a segment…”An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense “intuitive linear” view. So we won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century — it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate).”

Tamir Levin captures the potential so beautifully on his site digital seed …an important read.

Let’s deal with the mud whilst we have to, but i say seize the day.

Next week I’ve been invited to run my user centric workshop (2001 views) at the Marketing2.0 and beyond conference in Sydney. It’s the second time I’m running this workshop so I have a few new things to talk about. Should be interesting. If you’re in the area twitt to say hello and maybe we can catch up for a drink. (Thanks to woordenaar for the great photo under creative commons)

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.

On Sunday 31.08.08 myself and a million other runners in 25 countries participated in a 10k run organised by NIKE+. NIKE+ started with a product - A small chip in your shoe that talks to your ipod nano, tracking your distance, time, pace and calories burned. The product led itself to a community of runners with NIKE offers support, tools and coaching.

Nike plus is a business/product/marketing solution that proves you can achieve great results with an holistic cross business approach. NIKE is so good at that, building an experience that extends marketing buzz words, leaving you searching for new ones to describe it. All elements work seamlessly together supporting one strong mantra: help the participants kick ass.

This is how I felt and my feelings, memories and experience were brought to me by NIKE. How strong is this bond? Wondering how this whole thing came to life (going back to some behind the scenes boardroom) I find it hard to believe it started from a strategy line like: “we want to sell more shoes”. I believe the single thought that started this project was more in the line of: “how can we make our users happy?”. Nike proves that putting your users in front of the bottom line will pay dividends.

Being part of the human race made me think again about the power of brands.

This time Nike pulled off the world’s biggest race. What will they just do next? Here is one answer:

OK, to call this a blogger campaign is a bit of an overstatement. All NAB did was submit comments with a promotional message to 5-6 blogs. The blogs involved didn’t like it. Crikey was on it. Marketing mag followed. Duncan Riley called to boycott the bank. Jim Stewart interviewed NAB’s spokesperson. Julian Cole spammed back.

Let’s quickly take the spam test. Comments not related to blog posts? check. Comments promoting a product? check. Comments are copy/paste job from a company? check. Yep, this is most definitely spam. Now, the responsible PR agency Cox+Inall don’t blog. I will be surprised if they comment or even read blogs. That’s why they should have done research or ask someone who blogs before executing.

Here’s the number one rule when going to do anything involving social media: make sure the company you’re using is a participant not a watcher.

Social media is sometime described as the magic solution. Simply get a facebook profile/blog template/twitter account, start talking and voila - your target audience is now talking with you and about you, commenting, sharing and providing you with endless amounts of free word of mouth.

Hmm… it’s actually a bit more complicated then that. “The social media fallacy” is a new video presentation from David Spark (spark media). It shows the right way to approach building your online strategy - from the beginning, with research and planning. Take a look - it’s worth it.

Thanks to Shana Albert from social desire for the cool diagram.

Finding your online communities ROI can be tricky for brands and “measuring it” brings a up a debate anytime. This post and links from Three Minds are so educational I thought I’d post it here.

“Is Corporate Social Media A Failure?

It started with a post last week on the WSJ entitled, Why Most Online Communities Fail, which stated that less than 25% of corporate online community have over 1000 members and that 60% of them cost over $1 million dollars. Follow-up posts exploded all over the blogosphere from ReadWriteWeb to Social Media Today, each with their own explanations why the sector is underperforming.

At the same time, many articles were published about how White-Label Social Networks are exploding and lists of the corporate social networks that are succeeding (on Social Media Today and Mashable). So is the sector really failing? What are the biggest mistakes being made? Does it have anything to do with a need for a community manager that possesses the essential skills to get consumers involved with the brand?

Later the Wall Street Journal came back and announced that the 60% figure was really 6% of communities over $1 million, a pretty big typo. But the discussion still rages on… is social media succeeding or failing for brands?…”

Does anyone know about companies in Australia who employ a community manager?

Here are some important questions to ask before you decide what to do online. Even if you answer half of them you’ll find some insights, focus on your goals and might even come up with a great plan to promote your business.
Your brand:
What are you doing online? Do you have a website? Do you have a place where you engage consumers on your website? Are you doing all the talking or do you encourage conversation and feedback? Do you have any audio/video on your website?
Your competitors:
What are your competitors doing online? Have they already worked out how to have a conversation with their audience? What are the advantages of your competitor’s online profile and what will you need to do to beat them?
Your industry/community:
What is your industry doing online? Are there any online trends you should be aware of? What are the ideas you like? How can you play a bigger role in this industry?
Your audience:
Who are you talking to and why? Who are your evangelists? Where are they online? What is your niche audience? What do they like to do? How can you help make their lives better?
The creative concept:
What will get people talking about you? How can you be different? If your brand can produce a show - what will it be?
Production:
What is the scope, time line and budget? Who’s going to manage the team? What are the software requirements? Who will be doing the programming, design, audio/video production (if needed) and testing?
Marketing:
How will people know about it? How can you spread the word? What is the launch plan? What are the PR opportunities? Do you have a seeding plan?
Maintenance:
Who’s in charge of the following: data entry, linking to content, comment moderation, email list management and measurement.

This is based on a post I’ve written about a year ago at digital underwear.

 A thought of the day:

Influencers broadcast and advocate a brand or product to their friends and peers. It happens at home, it happens at work, and it happens online. They have an active role in influencing your customers in purchasing your product.

Influencers are typically hungry for information… more so than your average joe. They seek the latest news, to be first in the know, and consume information continuously. They also enjoy sharing this information… proudly in social gatherings, emails, blogs, among peers…. they are great story tellers of your brand or product.

So, there must be a need to feed the influencer’s hunger. Why not give them a story to tell through content (eg. blog or video) and experiences (eg. online and in-store). Help them share their stories with utilities and tools (eg. social media and mobile).

1. Because your website is a marketing tool. Many think that building a website means people will visit it. The truth is that a website is like a store. You still need to advertise the fact that you have one. So the best way to start building a website is planning. Not only where the buttons go or which information we need. We want to find out how we can differentiate from our competitors, give our customers what they want and keep them coming back. Think about it this way: A website without a strategy is like a building without an architect.
2. Because a website is not enough anymore. The internet has grown a lot in the last 3 years and today we know that having one touch point online is not enough. There are many things you can do online and your strategy should have a mix of them. This can give you a few touch points on the first page of google and will make sure you’re catering for first time visitors as well as people who already know you.
3. Because your audience is not the same. Today’s audience is savvy, time poor and used to advertising. And if attention is the new currency we need to make sure people will pay attention to our offering. Another flash website won’t do it. How about regularly updated content or some sort of community or social game? These are things we need to think about before the website functionality.
4. Because of money, time and your goals. There is no point building a website for $30,000 and then find out it’s not achieving your goals. The first thing we need to do is to come up with a plan that will save you money and get you to where you want to be.
5. Because its not done when it’s done. Building a website is only the beginning. How will you market it? Who will contribute to it? How will people engage with it? How easy it is to change? Will it be out of date in 2 years? There is no point building a website until you can answer these questions.