The Future is here
THE FUTURE IS HERE - By Riyadh Makdessi
( This article is a reproduction of what is published in Qatar Today, May 2008 issue - www.omsqatar.com )
I disagree with marketers who believe that the “digital marketing” is the future. Because, the future has already happened!
Let’s think for a moment. Our mobile phones are no longer phones alone. How long do we spend everyday on our hand sets, talking, sending text messages, reading emails or surfing the web while sitting in a waiting area? Most of us frequently review our contact list, write notes, listen to music, or use one of the other amazing features today’s handsets offer us. We prefer our mobile to landlines because they are interactive, personalized and support us with great audio visual capabilities. How many digital screens do we see everyday? Our home TV, the GPS navigation screen in our car, and the internet browser we use everyday on our PCs at work, and at home.
Can this reality add value to our customers and brands? Here’s good news. If we go back to the basics and choose to be where our customers are, as marketers our mission has been made a whole lot easier. With internet, GSM, and Bluetooth people communicate quickly, efficiently and most importantly with high audio visual capabilities. Yet we still use streets, millions of papers and magazines are read everyday, no one will stop watching movies and TV shows, people still need to know news. So those mediums are open to us too.
It’s no secret that ‘our world’ as we know it, has been changed by the internet. Not only has the internet changed the way we communicate but it has actually changed us; entirely. We have become more communicative, more open. Simply, we share more. We share our photos (http://www.flickr.com), our videos (www.youtube.com), what we believe, what we love, what we hate, who we are (blog.com), we connect with friends and family (www.facebook.com) and the list can go on. Most things, if not everything about us is already online. May be some of us still attempt to maintain ‘internet immunity’ but the numbers are in favour of the internet. For instance, at this precise moment of writing, we have 19.2 million internet users in the Middle East alone and over a billion users, worldwide. That number keeps growing, round the clock, by the second.
CASH IN As marketers, today’s tools, the internet and telecommunication technologies offer us great opportunities to be innovative and grow our businesses. The web offers direct channels to reach our customers. If we so choose, we can target only the customers whom we are interested in talking to, our campaigns can be analyzed simultaneously, we can get accurate behaviour analysis of our website visitors. The data can be measured and better still it is cost efficient. Adding to that, customers can talk to us one to one and we can spot negative perceptions or bad brand experiences as soon as they express them on the web.
Time is the new currency of our age. If we have the time we will watch all TV programmes or all the movies we like. We’ll spend all the time we have with friends and family, read all magazines and books play all games and watch all sport matches. Well the thing is, we have (all!) woken up to the reality that we can’t do every thing! Our time is limited to only 24 hours 7 days a week. That simple truth has a profound impact on marketers because here’s what it means. If we are watching a particular TV channel we can’t watch the thousands of other available TV channels. The same goes for newspapers and websites and friends. Since people have more choices today, they are in complete control of who or what they want to see. Knowing that people don’t have the time see, hear or read everything, as marketers how can we connect to our target groups? How can we influence perceptions? How can we market our brands?
Where is the consumer and what is he/she doing?
The Conversation
As marketers we need to understand, a shift has taken place. The traditional, one-way ‘I’m a brand and I’ve got a message’ approach is now obsolete and has been replaced by the truth that the consumer, is in control of self-service. That reality recommends that we transform our contact with consumers into a ‘conversation.’ To be part of the conversation marketers can’t just stick their foot in the door and shout out their message at consumers. People often use the term ‘traditional’ to describe the mediums of press, television and radio. With today’s changed environment, the term traditional shouldn’t be used to refer to a type of media but rather to describe the way marketers approach their creative strategy and marketing. You can either go for a traditional approach and risk being tuned out, or seize the moment, and rethink the conversation. If we choose to cling to the one-way talk we will deserve the traditional label but if we engage with our customer in a conversation or two-way discussion, we won’t. Watch this (http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkOHsjZKBB0).
WHERE TO START? Well, with a conversation of course; first with ourselves. What exactly do we want? What is our objective? More sales? Building brand loyalty? Evolving or innovating our brand? The clearer our answer, the closer we are to achieving our goal. Then and only then, should we talk to an advertising agency, marketing consultancy, branding agency or have discussions with interactive and digital experts or even hire an independent consultant. When we know what we want, we can find someone who well help assess the reality of our brand, product or service and jointly formulate a game plan to react fast and compete effectively in today’s digital age. Clarity is the key.
Go ahead - sneak a peek
Advertisers in the likes of Levi’s have acknowledged the importance of the conversation and made room for their consumers voices. UGC, is one of the global languages used by consumers to engage in conversations with brands. (UGC in ‘digital-speak’ stands for user generated content.) Levi’s started a conversation by incorporating user generated content, into their online banners. The brand ran a banner on their website asking “What did you do last night?” Users could upload their response to the question, which then instantly appeared in the copy of the banner ad, for all to see. The giant brand Levi’s suddenly became about the consumer; what they did, where they went. That type of reaction from a brand cements the engagement and sets in motion, the ancient adage ‘one shall tell another and he shall tell his friend.’ The end result? More conversations, more sharing, more people in jeans! Click here to check the Levi’s campaign.(http://http://awards.lateral.net/moonbathing/)
Give value, get value
Giving real value to get value reverses the usual way of doing things. The offer isn’t based on advertisements that sing the praises of a product in the hope that customers will be convinced. The focus is rather on the value that customers stand to gain.
Blyk is a mobile network designed for 16-24 year olds. When someone joins Blyk they get a free SIM with 217 free texts and 43 free minutes, per month to any UK network. What’s admirable about Blyk’s conversation is that they were open and transparent with their customers from the word go. To get the service they said customers will have to sign up to receive ads on the screens of their handsets; and not just any ad - only relevant ads. Blyk went the extra mile and got to know what the customer likes. If they are interested in fashion and sports, the deal is, they will only get ads related to those interests. Showing remarkable restraint and great business sense Blyk has also chosen to send only 6 messages per day. That’s it. The customer isn’t overloaded, the advertising is relevant and the end result? Success. Find out more about Blyk at http://www.blyk.co.uk. Who knows? Perhaps a few visionary investors in this country will bring winning ideas like this to this region.
A QUICK PREVIEW OF MOBILE MARKETING
Mobile marketing types we can adopt:
A: Text to Win
B: Mobile Couponing
C: User Generated Content campaigns
D: Location Based Promotions
E: Viral Activities
F: Product Information
G: WAP Sites & Storefronts
H: Voting
PS – Let’s be careful not to overdo SMS or MMS marketing. Unsolicited messages in a customer controlled world aren’t welcome anymore. As a matter of fact it only leads to a backlash. Irritated customers are dangerous! Let’s not forget the claim that a satisfied customer tells an average of three people about a product or service he/she likes, and eleven people about a product or service which he/she did not like!
The wonder of virals
Today, thanks to technology, millions of individuals have opportunity to become broadcasters, journalists and photographers. With millions of videos and blogs published every day the need for innovative ideas becomes more essential and more challenging. So how can we make a successful viral campaign in our fragmented, noisy, competitive world? Let’s keep our formula simple. Let’s choose to create simpler campaigns. Simple ideas that are easy to understand. Simple ideas with a short production time and simple ideas that are easier to throw out. A vital thing about simple ideas is that they are faster to test and measure.
VIRAL MARKETING Viral marketing is based on a simple principle. If you get it, you give it! Viral ads are branded content that is so contagious that people who get it simply cannot resist passing it on. The medium uses any form of digital media audio video flash feature that facilitates and encourages people to engage and pass along marketing messages voluntarily because they are irresistible! Virals may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages. The viral phenomenon is a great example of how marketers have creatively combined information with entertainment.
One way forward is to combine entertainment with advertising. When you make a conscious choice to entertain your consumers while informing and create space for interaction with them, you achieve that magical balance. The balance of selling your brand experience without yelling! That’s a fantastic, powerful way to get your target’s attention and give them something they enjoy. When they connect to your brand in that way, and it’s time for that all important buying decision, they will remember your brand. Check out - http://www.ffk-wilkinson.com/fr/ or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSQvTa05cD4
THREE F WORDS THAT WILL BOOST YOUR BUSINESS Joakim Borgsröm has said something worth remembering, “Brands need fun, fast and forwardable thinking to get noticed in an always on, all-in-one world.” When we create experiences that are easy to understand and can be quickly consumed, people love it. Because those engagements become fun stuff that makes people want to share that experience. So there’s the three F’s that can boost your business. Ask yourself, is your digital marketing: Fun, Fast and Forward-able?
Who knows how far it will go?
You’ll never know how far a conversation can go till you begin one. While celebrating the huge success of Dove’s real beauty campaign, it is easy to forget that it all started with a viral. Click (http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFPGa0pKyTg) A viral that made space for a conversation. A conversation that challenged perceptions and values. A challenge that led to a social phenomenon. A phenomenon that brought out the public to vote. Votes that eventually launched a huge, positive, community based self esteem fund that supported self confidence and acceptance and real beauty. Go to (http://http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com). Also watch http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaH4y6ZjSfE
Note how many times the clip has been downloaded and therefore, presumably, passed on.
Networked world
Networking is another powerful digital frontier that started with conversations. When internet chat rooms and forums began they paved the way for networks like Facebook and Myspace. The result was an explosion of virtual connectivity. Each of these networks were simply designed to connect people. Well, at some point people began to realize that networking is also a valuable tool in another major aspect of life, business. A moment of reflection will remind us that the powerful business tool of networking was a practiced by politicians, businessmen, and entrepreneurs since the beginning of human commerce. Today’s businesses can network throughout the web, gaining leads, partners, advice, and an abundance of other useful ventures. Check LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), Fastpitch (www.fastpitchnetworking.com), Ryze (www.ryze.com), and Tribe (qatar.tribe.net). These are all social networking sites specifically designed for the professional world and might quite possibly become the most valuable business resource on the net.
So what’s our bottom line? Let’s face it. Business, relationships, society, entertainment and commerce have got to exist in our always connected, individually controlled, culture. If we are beginning a conversation and we want to use digital channels let’s be committed to offer real quality. Let’s offer content that’s engaging and provide a good experience. It is a great thing to have our brands associated with content that has a high perceived value. This brings back the relevance issue. As advertisers and marketers we must choose to be associated with content that is relevant to our consumer and therefore to our brand. Also, let’s fight to keep it simple. Consumers find it difficult to navigate through complicated Internet or mobile services; they want something that provides instant gratification. Finally, let’s choose to react, to respond to our changing world. Because the truth is, our future depends on it. To conclude, let me agree with Rupert Murdoch. When it comes to successful marketing ‘it’s not big beating small anymore; it’s fast beating slow.’