What will the internet look like in ten years?
An interesting video here from the Internet Society discussing the future of the internet.
From their blog:
The Internet Society engaged in a scenario planning exercise to reveal plausible courses of events that could impact the health of the Internet in the future. While obviously not intended to be a definitive overview of the landscape or all potential issues, we believe the results are interesting and, we hope, thought-provoking.
We are sharing them in the hope that they will inspire thought about possibilities for the future development of the Internet, and involvement in helping to make that happen in the best possible way.
The internet of things
A great chart on the the internet of things from a HBR article published last March.
The full article is here and there are some great examples contained within the text on different industries potential uses of ‘putting things to work’.
Russell Davies late last year in the Battle of Big Thinking conference, raised something which I thought quite interesting in that, if you look at a lot of the systems that exist within businesses, they’re actually pretty good, or perhaps don’t necessarily need ‘revolutionising’.
In the advertising world of hyperbole, where it is often within our interests (and indeed a marketing directors’ whose average tenure is approximately just two years) to ‘reinvent’ stuff, actually, a lot of true innovation could be brought about via ‘process tweaks’ rather than grand plans and ‘disruptive revolutions’.
It’s not sexy but understanding our client’s internal processes will be increasingly critical. Particularly in a world where a process can be exposed to millions in minutes. Understand supply chain. Get our heads round distribution. Really pick apart merchandising and raw material sourcing. And anything else that goes on behind the marketing manager’s desk. Because this is increasingly the place where we can really add value – not only being pseudo management consultants but then having the ability to communicate this new competitive advantage to the people that need to know about it.
Cracking find from Neil Perkin showcasing some of 2010′s successful and emerging business models.
If you’ve got a business idea in mind, make sure you also listen to online entrepreneur, (founder of Paypal and early Facebook investor – i.e. someone who knows his apples) Peter Thiel in this BBC World Service podcast.
He discusses many interesting ideas, one of which being his belief that businesses need to have a higher purpose above and beyond profit and their immediate category to succeed today. This idea has been increasingly explored by marketing departments and their agencies around the world manifesting itself in ideas like Levi’s ’Go Forth’ campaign, the Pepsi Refresh project and Dulux’s ‘Let’s Colour to name but three. I think his argument is bigger than CSR, community engagement and “Let’s create a movement” briefs however – more about businesses at their core having big ideals rather than big ideas which is driving profitable growth.
Once you’ve got that nailed, why not then submit your idea to Quirky (featured in the above deck) here.
Piece of piss this entrepreneur malarky really.
What do an Asda gondola end, a mannequin and ‘Not the Nine O’Clock News’ have in common?
I was lucky enough to attend a TV industry event called Promax this morning (not to be confused with the Maximuscle version - an entirely different kind of peacocking).
The day’s ‘leaders debate’ was a discussion amongst David Abraham, Chief Executive, Channel 4, Tim Davie, Director of Audio & Music, BBC and Richard Halton, Chief Executive, YouView.
Here’s the synopsis:
“The content revolution is here, and it’s ferocious. Search and recommendation, YouView and Google TV are changing how we watch television and ultimately how we market our brands. In a year of seismic change across the board, Promax invites key industry leaders to the stage for their views on what the future holds and how it will affect YOU.”
Grilling them on this was Media dude Steve Hewlett. One of the questions he posed to Richard Halton was something along the lines of ‘what role do you see for linear channels in this new on-demand environment?’ (Or something to that affect – my short hand is woeful). To which Richard Halton argued that linear channels had a massive role to play. He cited three reasons for his belief:
1. Channels have history and in that, endless miles of brand equity built up over time that simply couldn’t be ignored.
2. An increasing amount of consumer choice means that there is an increasing need amongst viewers for help navigating their way through the choice on offer.
3. The linear schedule in and of itself, creates brand value.
The last point stuck with me a little. And I’ll tell you for why.
In adland, context of delivery has been hyped for a few years now (it’s been the year of the mobile since 2003 after all) but until recently has never been fully nailed. With increasing location-based data being made available through applications like Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places etc, we’re beginning to see this part of the industry take off as smart brands are understanding how to use the context of where, when and how their messages are received to ultimately drive what they should be saying. However, in TV land, it is the time at which we view the content that has largely been TV land’s context currency.
For example, ‘Not the Nine O’Clock News’ said a lot about BBC 2. Not just because it chose to commission it but because they realised the value of how culturally significant 9pm had become in the schedule. The show was a channel defining bit of branding in its own right for its content and because of its scheduling. Knowing that “prime time” was the channel’s shop window when they expected most viewers to be tuning in, it was incredibly important that the show was something that the channel could be proud of, that they thought there was an appetite for, that they thought was current and that would reinforce the channel’s own brand values.
More recently, Big Brother has assumed the dressed mannequin in the Channel 4 boutique, occupying the 10pm slot every summer for the last ten years. In essence, the art of scheduling programming became an exercise in marketing strategy in as much the same way that retailers would take pain-stakingly great care in how they dress their shop window.
Carrying on the retail analogy, these ‘marquee’ pieces (of content/clobber etc) are what retailers and supermarkets have understood they need to dress their mannequins in or stock on their gondola ends for sometime. These key, visible moments in the retail experience have created the cues that have helped the ambling shopper define the brand in their head and draw people into having a closer relationship with them by not just saying, “hey, this is what we’re about” but also “hey, we thought you’d like this”.
Retailers and their buyers and merchandisers have been “curating content” for years, not just by what they choose to stock in store but where in the store they choose to stock it.
With the advent then of Youview, we may not need to jump straight to see what’s on at 9pm anymore, but we will still look to the channels we know and love to help us navigate our way through the choice by curating what’s out there for us. Today channels largely prioritise through their scheduling; if it is on at 9pm, we expect certain traits from the programme depending on the channel the programme was shown on.
Tomorrow, they’ll have to think of other ways to decide what should go into their shop window that define the channel’s wares, brand and values and not because people will stop watching shows at 9pm or window shopping. Which is why above all else, having a really strong idea behind your channel brand first and foremost will be more important than the medium the channel currently sits on.
Where are the spending cuts?
The Beeb recently launched a section on their site devoted to the impending spending cuts.Very informative and lovely it is too.
A new site called ‘Where are the Cuts‘ from the Open Foundation Project uses crowd-sourced and openly available data to display, in very real terms, the cuts that are being made and are going to shape the macro enonomy and, more importantly to most, your local area.
What’s particularly interesting about this application is that it enables people to compare and contrast their local areas like never before. “Why has Derby had 37 bus routes closed but Nottingham has had only 6?”
Local news will be able to deliver new kinds of local news stories on the spending review which could potentially lead to a more tribal mentality as the cuts really begin to pinch and we look to see how our neighbours are getting on.
With plenty of local and national government data now available in the public domain for activists to chop up and present as they see fit, not to mention hearsay and rumour travelling online, combined with the ease by which anyone can mobilise public support, we can expect to see plenty of these sites, Facebook groups and other online petitions making their way into the national and local news agenda in the coming months.
A fun theory applied to a big society
The Fun Theory is a campaign run by VW. In their own words…
dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better
They’ve done lots of lovely things leaping off from this core thought. Things like this;
But one of the really interesting projects that has come out of the initiative is this (as described succinctly byDanielle and Mark over at CreativeSocial…)
…“The Fun Theory Award” whereby the general public was challenged to suggest fun ideas which would either improve traffic safety or benefit the environment. A total of 700 projects were submitted and VW are now bringing the winning idea (see above) to life. They have collaborated with the National Society for Road Safety (NTF) in Sweden and launched the test of a road safety project in Stockholm which aims to improve both the environment and traffic safety. Instead of using a speed camera to detect and fine speeders, a speed camera will register drivers who keep the legal speed limit and give them the chance to win a cash prize of SEK 20,000. With the project, NTF and Volkswagen hope to encourage drivers to slow down the pace of vehicle traffic in Stockholm
Now then. This is interesting. This is a nudge.
Show people the carrot, not the stick. It’s a pretty simple thought.
Might be worth keeping an eye on the ‘Big Society‘ initiatives to see how much this is applied by the coalition suits.
As Dave points out, it takes two after all.
Where good ideas come from
This is rather good.
I guess preparation, research, excellent blood to sugar ratios and direct access to hot water, milk and tea leaves also help propel the idea forward to.
Check out the check in
I’ve always thought Foursquare was a bit gimicky and the language a bit, well, rubbish. I love the idea of location-based interaction and incentivising people for visiting a specific location etc but the ‘game’ element has never appealed. Just felt it a bit too wanky. Even for me.
The idea of ‘checking in’ though i.e. Demonstrating to a network in real time that you have shown an interest in something, I think could be just as powerful, if not more so than just checking into a place/ location – just because I’m in the same place as you, doesn’t necessarily mean we should be in the same mates. Similarly, just because I’ve checked in somewhere, doesn’t mean I warrant rewarding (or I even want to be there).
What about ‘checking in’ to interests or activities?
Events?
Music?
Films?
Football games?
TV shows?
Art exhibitions?
Being on your hotmail?
Bidding on ebay?
And in so doing, gathering people, in real time around an activity, a passion, a shared interest in one place, in one time. And incentivise them to revisit and enrich the group in the same way Foursquare does.
There are companies already out there who are focusing their attentions on the act of ‘checking in’ and TV content seems like the area many start-ups are focusing in on, probably due to the increasing number of folk who dual screen around the world and enjoy having a back channel as they view their favourite show. People like;
And think what value the content producers/ right holders can deliver to this army of fans
You’re a Manchester United fan. You’re watching the game on TV. Check in with other fans who are also enjoying the match, sharing transfer rumours and banter and get an extra camera view/ exclusive interview on your third fan friend referal
You’re a MadMen fan. You’re watching series 2 on boxset and you check in for the 10th time (making you the Mayor/ exec producer) and you unlock exclusive behind the scenes footage. You get some more gossip too from what’s happening in series three
You’re a music fan but couldn’t get tickets to Glastonbury or V so you’re watching highlights on the box. You’ve checked in having watched all highlights shows and now you’ve got a free gig ticket to your fave band as a thank you.
Could you even extend this principle of focusing on the check-in into customer service – get Sainsbury’s shoppers to guide each other round the local store?
We’re only just scratching the surface of the possibilities for who, how and wherefor a brand checks out the art of the check in.
The brand your brand could smell like
Lovely vid from W&K.
By the way. This isn’t a social media case study. This is a marketing in 2010 case study.
News dissemination before and after twitter
Some great social media infographics here that econsultancy has combined.
Particularly prevalent to PR and how stories are increasingly ‘broken’ are these two which look at the effect Twitter has had on news dissemination.
And after Twitter…
It’s been much discussed in PR land, where there is the flexibility to react and change tact quickly when massaging a story out into the public domain. For paid for advertising this is far more complex due to the fact that media is planned and booked often well in advance.
However, look at the charts again – both start with an ‘event’; something happening, something stimulating conversation. In our case, something often thought up in the head of someone paid by a brand to do so. There is a new type of planning that needs to come into effect – conversation planning. You’ve done your comms and media plans but who is thinking about how the conversation from your event may unfurl – particularly online? This can be planned and factored into your overall campaign plan and often used to great affect. For example, why not buy inventory which enables you to capture anticipated keywords in Twitter from your creative? i.e. if you know (or at least anticipate) you’re going to stimulate a conversation around a particular piece of creative you’re creating, why not give these verbatims a platform and pull them into paid targeted media spots? In so doing, you’re also bringing to people’s attention potential advocacy which previously would have been only seen by X number of followers.
(My true motive for writing this post is an indirect call to action for marketers the world over to come up with an antidote to those bloody Vuvuzelas…. they’re trending on Twitter for a reason!)
