As more of the media we watch, read and enjoy becomes digital, more of the marketing community is taking up the digital mantel.  Welcome.  It is true that if the work is kept fairly straight-forward and the agency team have a good production partner they can deliver the banners, microsites and e-mails that check the “digital” box.

But is that really digital marketing?

One of my favourite tests for a digital marketing campaign is to ask if it is “interactive” not just digital.  Can the audience act and does the ad react?  Hard to do in traditional media.

A second test is whether it is impossible to run the work without using the computer that serves it.  Having a film or pieice of video call your mobile phone like our St. Mary’s Ghost campaign did is hard if you don’t have a processor behind it and the forethought to use it.  This is different then putting a film on YouTube or print piece in e-mail.

But really the real point is that digital marketing is different from traditional marketing at a more fundamental level.  Consider the article below.  There is a fundamentally different way of thinking when you do real Digital Marketing — It isn’t about campaigns, it is about programmes.  It isn’t about who (audience demographics), it is when (mindset and interest).

And it isn’t just about creative that needs a computer to run, it is about marketing plans that can’t even be organised, much less executed, without some very specific applications and very big networked computers behind them.

At Last, What Agencies Are Learning From Ad Networks Revealed

Posted November 6th, 2008 by Joe Mandese

“More and more we are starting to look like advertising networks,” Don Epperson, CEO of Havas Digital acknowledged during his keynote kicking off the OMMA Ad Nets conference in New York this morning. “I am here today to tell you what agencies can learn from advertising networks.”

And he did.

So what’s the main takeaway? Well, agencies are learning to target consumers based as individuals, not based on advertising placements. To illustrate that, Epperson showed a banner ad for Havas client Air France on the nytimes.com, and implied it may no longer be making such placements based on the context of the editorial content, but on the context of the user that happens to be on that page.

“That’s a very big change,” Epperson emphasized.

Before he went on, he added the obligatory disclaimer: That for all the power of Havas Digital’s super, hyper-targeted optimization capabilities, it’s still fundamentally a brand steward that relies on all the powerful consumer insights that traditional shops have always relied on.

“Regardless of what we talk about today, strategic planning, communications planning, brand planning are never going to go away,” he emphasized, adding, “They will always be very important. It will always be art and science.”

There has been lot’s of discussion in the creative agency world about the impact of digital marketing and how agencies should respond.  It appears every agency from advertising networks like BBH to traditional DM shops like OgilvyOne to creative hotshops have put “Digital at the Heart of the Agency.”

Only this past May Alastair Reid reported in Campaign a reasonably balanced article about the increase in digital awards being won by traditional agencies, and brought out the classic Goodby turnaround in the US a few years ago.

But whose really been winning?

Looking at the 2008 NMA Top 100 that was just released last week, we see that Digital agencies have seen another year of solid growth — averaging 20% across the list.  In his introduction Michael Nutley also makes a balanced argument for the state of the industry.

But maybe we are being too analytical — if one uses the simple measure of headcount over the last 5 years, we can see where the growth has been and inferr that this represents shifts in revenue.

The top digital agencies have had an amazing run since 2003.  I take 2003 because it is 5 years ago and it was solidly after the collapse in 2001-2.  From ad hoc conversations I think that agencies like AKQA have gone from say 120 in 2003 to over 350 today — that is 191% growth in London alone.  Dare was probably about 60 people in 2003, and now reports having 174.

I’ll need to do more digging to get good numbers but here is a basic table I’ve pulled together from industry articles and league tables and rough memory.  It will be interesting to check in another year’s time.

Just came across this article that was written back in 2000.  We were a year into having set up in the UK and the dot com boom was still expanding, although Boo.com had collapsed.  The amazing thing about this article to me is seeing how much of what we said then, we still say and do today.

Feature: Decoded: Organic - no call for booing

Decoded: Organic - no call for booing

Date: 25 July 2000

This is a video — or rather an ad in fact — that shows off some great use of smart digital outdoor and use of video in car and on mobile. It is really great piece of digital outdoor inspiration.

What is more amazing is that as the number of digital outdoor sites grows — we aren’t being more creative about how we use them. In most places (like the London tube) we’ve gone for video using the same 30 second ads formats that are being ignored or skipped on TV.

Or as this Thompson video shows, we’re using smart, internet-connected displays to cycle through static print!

Just a little bit of imagination and a motion sensor to make the signs at least a little bit interesting and — a key word that has been losing favour of late — interactive.

Taken to an extreme and by adding a touchscreen you have an kiosk or outdoor website or video wall as they are commonly called. Nice thing is — like using video assets in the Tube — you can repurpose web assets. And there are some great case studies of these being put in airports and trainstations where people have time and appreciate a brand giving them information or entertainment.

But in many of these examples we are still in brochureware.

Where is the live feed of relevant data? The personalisation of information that is relevant to the viewer who has been identified by RFID or their mobile phone? The tying together of a set of signs into an application that is both useful for the customer and reinforces the brands point of view?

Something to look forward to.

They say blogs are written for the blogger — I know I’m working too much and neglecting my blog when all I have is “ego posts.” That said, if you get an ego moment might as well share it.

Marketing Direct - Power 100: Top 10 Digital DM Players

Marketing Direct’s survey of the 100 most powerful people in UK direct marketing.

With recorded pre-tax profits of almost £6m in the 12 months to March 2008, the company has achieved a lot in a short space of time, winning Digital Direct Marketing Services Supplier of the Year 2007 at the Connect Awards.

2. PETER RILEY, FOUNDER AND CREATIVE PARTNER, 20:20 GROUP

Last year, Peter Riley ranked fourth in our list of 10 digital direct power players. Since then 20:20 Group has continued to innovate, and has been rewarded for its efforts. Laughing at comments about his “healthy ego” (”Well, my Mum says it’s true …”), Riley and his group has been courted by many large agencies in recent months.

Over the past year, 20:20 has won a place on the COI roster and led the digital strategy and creative work for the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ teenage pregnancy and safe sex campaign. It also won the brief to launch the Terminator TV show on Virgin 1, while its work for PlayStation has notched up awards including a Cannes Lion and two DMA Golds. Meanwhile, Riley converted a Grade 2-listed East End church to house the company, and says he has currently got his eye on another property.

3. MARK PATRON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, RED EYE

Veteran direct marketer Mark Patron is proof that data geeks can make the best digital gurus. As CEO of online marketing company Red Eye, he is championing the integration of traditional DM principles with digital approaches. His passion for bringing measurability and accountability into the online arena was pivotal in Red Eye sales reaching £4.4m last year, up from £1.7m in 2005. Red Eye was also listed in The Sunday Times’ Tech Track 100 league table in 2007, confirming its position as one of the fastest-growing new technology companies in the UK. After 14 years at Claritas, now Acxiom, and having launched DMjobs.co.uk, Patron always has his finger in numerous pies and is described as a “master of reinvention” and a “serial entrepreneur” by peers. “He just keeps coming back for more,” says one.

4. JOHN BAKER, JOINT MANAGING DIRECTOR, IRIS DIGITAL

There is no doubt that John Baker is a heavyweight in the world of digital DM. Previously head of digital at OgilvyOne, and now joint MD of Iris Digital, his unassuming manner belies enormous industry knowledge and know-how. At OgilvyOne, Baker was a member of the management partner team that won Campaign’s Direct Agency of the Year - in large part due to its strength in digital marketing. Not content with routinely winning business from digital pure-plays, he oversaw the introduction of an email marketing group and the hiring of Skip Fedura, ex-director of European operations at Digital Impact, to lead the initiative. Baker says he was attracted by Iris’s “entrepreneurial nature” - and that he is looking forward to “big growth”.

This is an email George sent around the other day that is a classic collection of links cranked out as a “last thing before I run” e-mail.

Amazing set of links around only one subject — imaging. Not that I’d recommend missing the Porter on a Friday night at 9 pm but it is great to see serious obsession shared.

From: George Nimeh
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:18:22 +0100
To: SEUK, Sony Ericsson Global, Planning
Cc: digitalgroup
Conversation: Thought for the day
Subject: RE: Thought for the day

> Ps anyone seen anything particularly interesting in the world of
> imaging recently? Please share, it seems to be Cyber-shot heaven round
> here at the moment
>

Below are a few “interesting” things that I’ve come across. Some of them may have already been sent around, but I think they’re all worth a review.

If any of you would like to chat about how iD could help SE understand/activate these ideas and themes to create buzz and traction around Cyber-shot (and thus help people buy), lemme know.

Have an excellent weekend,
~G~

Photosynth
I think this is spectacular.
http://labs.live.com/photosynth/view.html?collection=NASAColl/LaunchPad/index.sxs&st=coll <http://labs.live.com/photosynth/view.html?collection=NASAColl/LaunchPad/index.sxs&st=coll>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p16frKJLVi0
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/129
http://labs.live.com/photosynth/video.html
Photosynth is a software technology preview from Microsoft Live Labs and the University of Washington that analyzes digital photographs to build a three-dimensional point cloud of a photographed object. Pattern recognition components compare portions of images to create points, which are then compared to convert the image into a model. Currently, users can view models built by Microsoft or the BBC, but not create their own models.

Radar
Mobile/online imagery that create “conversations”.
http://www.smstextnews.com/2008/01/instant_picture_conversations_with_radar_-_the_application_of_the_week.html
This week’s application is Radar, a phenomenally well put together service that enables picture conversations online and on-the-go. If photo sharing site Flickr is Web 2.0, then Radar is Mobile 3.0. Or something like that… The entire service has been conceived to run from your mobile, not as a bit-part of the overall experience. Yes there’s an online element for those sat at desks, but Radar is all about mobility. You can easily upload photos from your handset and all your subscribed friends can instantly see — and crucially, comment — on the photo. You can then easily see who’s been commenting and reply back and, before you know it, get into a dialogue with your friends about the picture. All by phone. That’s the way to do it.

Flickrvision
Hypnotic global entertainment, all based on geo-located photos.
http://flickrvision.com/
Flickrvision shows realtime, geolocated Flickr photos. Just like Twittervision, it’s hypnotic to watch. The map moves around to show the location of the most recent tweet or photo. Both visualizations hail from David Troy, a VOIP consultant who has suddenly found himself doing a lot of geo work. See: http://www.i-boy.com/weblog/2007/05/site-of-day-flickrvision.html

Picnik and Fotoflexer
Two free tools that make photography easier.
http://www.picnik.com/
http://fotoflexer.com/
If you use Photoshop for basic photo editing, you’ll love ‘em. They’re simple, free, web applications that do the job very well. I love the Flickr/Facebook/Picasa/Photobucket/Webshots integration. In addition to being fully integrated into Facebook, both apps lets you pull in your Flickr photos, edit them, and then save them back to Flickr. Sah-weet! See: http://www.i-boy.com/weblog/2007/11/picnik-and-fotoflexer.html

Animoto
Incredibly easy to use … and creates fantastic content.
http://animoto.com/
Animoto is a web application that automatically generates professionally produced videos, each a customized orchestration of user-selected images and music. Using patent-pending Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology and high-end motion design, the result is a user’s own personal creation with the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer.

And finally … Interestingness!
http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/
Besides being a five syllable word suitable for tongue twisters, it is also an amazing new Flickr Feature. There are lots of elements that make something ‘interesting’ (or not) on Flickr. Where the clickthroughs are coming from; who comments on it and when; who marks it as a favorite; its tags and many more things which are constantly changing. Interestingness changes over time, as more and more fantastic content and stories are added to Flickr.

In classic fashion in the first week you start a new job, there is a pitch.

Can’t say it was a wholly digital pitch but it was more then digital in parts.

And we won which is always great.

It was also a case of seeing the power a great copywriter can bring to a creative solution.  So often in digital agencies “creative” is thought of as “design.”  It makes sense when you think of the importance of interface and craft in good digital work, but none the less when you see a strong idea with fantastic writing it shows.

Now the real fun begins.

http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/790246/Iris-Worldwide-lands-20m-Hertz-Europe-account/ 

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=59978&d=258&h=262&f=3

For some time now people have asked if people will get overwealmed by their e-mail. Personal messages, work documents, shopping confirmation, newsletters, promotions — they all are coming to a single mailbox and leaving us all glued to our inboxes trying desperately to manage the deluge of information like computer scientists or Dewey Decimal librarians with folders, tags, labels and the like.

An alternative is to imagine a segmentation of e-mail into different applications — Facebook for personal, work on the company system (most like an installed e-mail client), purchases to a banking tool, news to RSS readers. They can all send notifications to a primary e-mail address, but by being specialised they offer more functionality to keep us all sane.

Consider the report just published by Hitwise about traffic figures from last year in the UK. Basically it calls out that social networks are getting more traffic in terms of % of total visits then webmail sites.

Of course there is more to do on Facebook then hotmail, but if hotmail is primarily used for talking to friends, it isn’t hard to envision it becoming the primary e-mail address and hotmail dropping off even more.

As people take to communicating more, it gets to be too much for an e-mail client — rapid fire chats are better managed in IM, general comments to the world in wall posts, group party invites through e-vites.

Computers are here to make our lives easier — specialisation of communication tools will be a great first step.

Some other great social networking stats from an FT article, Business Woo Social Network Figures, 15 Jan 2008:

• 14,000 people signed a Facebook petition to bring back the Wispa bar for Cadbury’s
• The Primark Appreciation Society has 100,000 members and receives gentle guidance from the retailer’s marketing team.
• Screwfix.com, a retailers site, has an electricians forum with over 300,000 messages on it.

And of course last years favourite also from Hitwise siting that Topshop and ASOS receive more referrals from MySpace then MSN Search and Yahoo Search combined.  The figure was 5% of their traffic at the time in March 2007.

Throughout agencyland everyone is talking about what replaces the 30-second spot and standard print advertising to build awareness for brands, and for many marketers it is events and “experiential installations.”

While it is difficult to reach 2 million people with a festival, Innocent managed to get 120,000 people to attend its 2006 event in Regents Park, and if you consider only 10:1 people seeing press articles, interacting with online sites or simply hearing about it through friends you are quickly 1.2 million without counting any media used to promote the event.

Clearly the goal is to leverage the event and maximize the buzz or amount people talk about them. One great technique is to use technology and there are a host of great new tools being made available. Microsoft Surface has gotten a lot of attention but it is only the beginning.

Consider what HP have done for the WSJ D5 conference or what the entrepreneurs at i-bar are proposing.

It doesn’t take much extrapolation to see every festival, airport and trainstation having a line of interactive walls for people to play with — and in the process learn about a new product or service.

How will they work? Gesture computing and intuitive interfaces … we hope. Take a look at Perceptive Pixels vision on YouTube below.

I’ve always been impressed by the information that Dave Balter and the team at BzzAgent share through their BeeLog.

It makes sense — no confidentiality is broken and it allows people that are evaluating the company (clients, potential employees, partners) to educate themselves about their business and be smarter when working with the company. It also broadens the number of people that can give their input into what the company is doing — input which generally makes the company smarter.

It also a great tool for management — a forum for instant public recognition. Whether putting someone’s “name up in lights,” or “naming and shaming,” a company blog is a sort of a light-weight version of the more traditional atomic bomb, the press release.

Here is a great example BzzAgent did thinking about how they are working with their advisory board.

Basically the team at BzzAgent inserted a joke slide in their advisory board presentation entitled “Investor / Advisor Litigation Update.” Clearly a title that should get peoples’ attention. And of course under half noticed the slide or commented on it in their feedback to the company.

It is the bane of the world we’ve created that no one has time (or being busy has become fashionable?) and that business people don’t read, they only scan. Pretty soon we’ll need comment buttons on the bottom of e-mails and powerpoint presentations where people can indicate they actually reviewed them.

Advisors Advising

Posted by Dave Balter

August 21st, 2007

Since early 2003, BzzAgent has had an Advisory Board.

In the early days, before we had an official Corporate Board, we met a few times and we worked with a number of individuals to help us with specific projects such as patenting our WOM process and the best approach to certain partnerships. But as the company accelerated, and we’ve added board members, executives and staff, it’s been immensely difficult to utilize this group of experts. Individually, each would gladly help if we reached out, but as a whole this cluster is relatively distant. [more]