What's New in Marketing - Issue 54, February 2007
Internet Protocol Television - What it is and what it means to marketing
One of the buzzwords used everywhere at the moment is IPTV. This stands for internet protocol television and it is an exciting development resulting from the increasing convergence of television, telephone and internet technologies. Ask anyone for a definition of what it actually is and does though and the confusion starts. IPTV covers an enormously wide spectrum. This article will help clarify what is meant by IPTV and then look at the marketing opportunities presented.
Video has been transmitted using Internet Protocol (IP) for several years. This involves utilising existing computer networks to deliver video using packets of data. In the past, limited bandwidth and the cost of storage have both been limiting factors. Now though, thanks to rising broadband speeds, increased storage capacities and more efficient compression systems, it really is feasible to deliver broadcast quality television over the internet.
There are two key strands of IPTV or ADSL broadband television, both with very different applications, results and implications for marketing. At one end of the scale is the opportunity to have a web site that allows visitors to view rather than read its content thus increasing 'stickiness' and penetration. At the other end is a full-blown, digital TV service delivered to a TV set via an ADSL Broadband connection and set-top box in direct competition with satellite, cable and Freeview.
Video Websites
Addressing the IPTV website opportunity first, YouTube has of course been much in the headlines recently. Many, with their curiosity piqued by the price Google paid will have been disappointed by what they saw when they visited the site. There is no question it is popular but the anarchy and amateurism that is its strength is also its weakness for our purposes. Now imagine in contrast, a magazine website, specific, branded and clear but instead of pages and articles, bristling with video clips and TV programmes.
Many magazines and companies are starting to develop websites along just these lines. In November the dmg World Media group will be launching its new IPTV site, ERTV. This will be the IPTV site for its trade publication for electrical retailers, ERT Weekly. Many people today prefer to receive their information via a TV clip. Succinct and entertaining, television is the preferred medium for many of our target audiences. Combining TV with the ease and personalisation of the web produces a compelling marketing tool that enables us to deliver our message with power and clarity. In addition to the obvious benefits to a magazine title, there are many vertical markets that will benefit from a hub that provides information and entertainment. Training, products, services, debates, interviews and news are all improved with television.
Digital TV via ADSL Broadband
At the other end of the spectrum from a television website is broadcast quality TV to compete with other digital TV delivery methods such as satellite, cable and Freeview. There has been an incredible growth in digital television. According to OfCom1, in their Digital TV Progress Report for the fourth quarter of 2005, the UK has the highest digital penetration of any country in the world with digital television viewed by just under 70% of all UK television households.
For the statistically minded, satellite accounts for about 7.7 million subscribers, cable about 3.3 million and about 10.5 million Digital Freeview boxes had been sold by the end of 2005. Of note is the fact that in the cable figures are included two, tiny pioneering ADSL Internet Protocol-based digital television services (Homechoice and Kingston Interactive Television).
These figures beg the question: If we have such strong digital TV market already, why is delivering TV over ADSL broadband desirable or even necessary? This is where it gets exciting. Digital TV is expensive, very expensive. The cost of the satellite, cable and Freeview infrastructures means that anyone wishing to broadcast needs very deep pockets. Quite simply, as in so many other areas over the past decade, the internet has removed cost. With an infrastructure already in place, and the technology advanced to the point where television of sufficient quality can be delivered, barriers to entry have been shattered. Television over the internet will be like phone calls over the internet. Indeed, telephone companies already hit by loss of revenue due to internet telephony are the very companies investing in internet television as a way of broadening their offerings. Think of the convergence we have seen over the past few months with mobile phone companies offering free broadband. Now think of the pull of free broadband, free calls -at certain times- and free television. This is the much vaunted 'triple play offer.
Marketing Opportunities
So it will be cheaper to deliver and cheaper to receive. This will obviously have an impact on advertising with both rates and coverage from any one source reducing. But there is still one very key benefit of delivering television in this way. Think of combining the impact of a TV advert in a prime time slot with the stats you get from a website. Imagine getting an email from your IPTV broadcaster within seconds of an advert being broadcast telling you exactly how many viewers were watching and from their registration details, what their profiles are. Or perhaps an email to say that within the first few seconds of your new advert that x% of customers in category x switched channels. That is the power of IPTV. Finally, throw internet telephony into the mix and imagine your client watching an advert for pizza on the TV, pressing the 'call me' button and getting a call within seconds from the takeaway around the corner to take your order -the local branch because the internet protocol identifies geographic location. Or from the car company's call centre to arrange a test drive.
Now how far away is this? In order for full broadcast-quality television to be received on a broadband connection at home or at the office, you need an ISP who has invested in multicast technology. To be able to multicast, an ISP needs to invest in a process called 'local loop unbundling' (LLU). It is significant that Easynet, a multicast enabled ISP was purchased by Sky last year. Over the next year we will see fierce competition as Wanadoo, AOL, Sky, NTL/Telewest all begin to offer their triple-play – mostly to the same customers before BT weigh in with their nationwide coverage towards the end of 2007.
In summary, IPTV provides unprecedented new opportunities for marketing. Whether IPTV means to us digital TV delivered via an ADSL broadband connection to the home with its lower costs and more targeted delivery and follow up opportunities. Or if IPTV means a specific website using video to reach our targets in a more inclusive and interactive way, the opportunity for reaching wider, and reaching deeper have never been greater.
OfCom Q4 2005 Digital TV Report 'Communications Market: Digital TV Progress Report'
About the Author
Adrian Foster is business development manager for CRE:8 Multimedia Limited, specialists in video production and the development of IPTV solutions. More at: www.cre8mm.com
Playing the game
For many years, the outdoor digital market has been overlooked by media buying agencies and big name brands, as they have often sought the traditional route of television advertising. However, due to many technological advances, there has been a significant change in the way that consumers interact with the media.
As viewers have the technology to watch time-shifting television as well as new on demand TV services (Sky Anytime has recently announced the one millionth download just one year after launching), media agencies have sought new opportunities to reach their audiences. This has seen the rise in usage of various outdoor digital opportunities which, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association, is attributed to continued investment by outdoor media owners in new sites and innovations such as outdoor digital formats.
An out of home digital network allows brands and media agencies the opportunity to purchase advertising space in the knowledge that they are communicating with a highly targeted consumer, captured in their chosen environment.
September 2006 saw Logitech take out an advertising campaign on a digital network for the first time. Logitech needed to reach its target audience which was a demographic fitting the profile of a football fan. With research strongly indicating that the 21st century football fan consumes a high level of technology, Logitech was keen to reach this highly prized market as it is a vital consumer group for the brand. Linking its advertising to a football related network allowed Logitech to run a targeted campaign, aimed at technologically savvy consumers.
To get the maximum benefit from their investment Logitech worked closely with its supplier and utilised existing video creative initially developed for online and mobile viral marketing to form an integrated campaign, with digital banners and skyscrapers for the screens.
The adverts were highly targeted, relevant and engaging. This appealed to the football 'lads' audience because of the fun and quirky nature of the adverts on the concourses. The campaign was so successful that Logitech has booked two new bursts of digital TV advertising activity. This is a step forward for a brand that had not used a television network to advertise on prior to September. It also highlights the ability of the medium to engage an audience which is increasingly switching off to TV advertisers.
Digital TV networks ensure that that targeted markets, such as football fans, can be reached in their chosen environment whilst minimising the risk of waste associated with traditional advertising routes. Consumers are not able to time shift, change channels during advert breaks of their favourite soap or download online programmes without adverts when watching such networks.
As more brands adopt the increasing variety of out of home digital networks and media agencies understand the opportunities available, brands and marketers will be able to reach ‘lost' audiences as consumers engage with traditional advertising channels less and less.
About the author
Gerry McKenna is the CEO and co-founder of MDM.TV. For further information please visit www.mdm.tv
Future consumer behaviour:
The ‘me selling proposition' and the ‘broadcaster' generation
Ever heard of the ‘Back Dorm Boys', ‘JuHua Jie Jie', or ‘Tian Xian Mei Mei'? Without spending a dollar, each of the four teenagers represented by these names (two form a duo) have already been viewed by more than one billion consumers. In fact, these self-made web stars, whose escapades they filmed themselves on webcam and published on the net, were not even aware of their fame until Pepsi, Motorola and Sony Ericsson approached each of them. Are you curious to know why these mega-brands approached these unassuming mega-stars?
These days, a typical 21-year-old has played 5,000 hours of computer games; exchanged 25,000 e-mails, SMSs, and chat messages; used a cell phone some 10,000 times; and spent 3,500 hours online. Those statistics describe your future consumer.
When I conducted the research for my book one result that surprised me was the number of channels kids are able to handle simultaneously. Consider this: adults are able to manage 1.7 media channels at the same time — say, watching TV and reading a magazine. Kids, however, can pay attention to an astounding 5.4 channels. They can watch TV, send SMS messages, surf the net, chat on IM, listen to music, and even devote 0.4 of their simultaneous communications energy to homework.
More astoundingly, when I recently repeated the study, not only had the number of channels kids handle at once increased by 0.2, but the adult capacity for dealing with multiple channels had grown almost 0.1. The ever-evolving media environment, therefore, doesn't only influences the younger generation. It affects us all, and we're adapting to it. This leads to a question: what behavioural changes will we see in future generations, vis-à-vis communications strategies and media use? Let me tell you about two key developments you can expect.
First, there's the Me Selling Proposition (MSP) generation. This generation assumes personal ownership of their favoured brands, thus turning the power dynamic between consumers and corporations on its head. Rather than brands controlling consumers' power of choice, consumers demand their own input, even customisation, of products. You can see the MSP reflected in such concepts as Build-A-Bear and American Girl, both of which allow kids to design their own toys down to the last detail. American Girl Place, ‘much more than a store' as the website states, has a special girls' restaurant, a dolls' hairdresser, and you can even produce your own movie with your favourite doll. Kids, our present and future consumers, are in control of their own brands.
In the future, brands will have to give consumers the power to design their own products. If they don't manage to adapt to this power shift, the MSP generation, with the highest expectations of customisation — online, offline, and wireless — will be lost to them.
Second, there's the broadcaster generation. And here's where the ‘Back Dorm Boys', JuHua Jie Jie and Tian Xian Mei Mei return to the picture. These four Chinese kids have found fame more or less by accident by producing their own videos and uploading them to YouTube. Their fame spread from mainland China to the United States, where even the most-watched TV show — the ‘Today' show — made mention of the young guys whose mimicking of the Back Street Boys was their performance vehicle.
The reputations finally infiltrated the marketing departments of Pepsi, Motorola and Sony Ericsson where corporate brand-builders proposed that these young people produce their own TV commercials for broadcast on national Chinese TV. Soon two out of the four were offered the chance of producing their own TV show. And they grabbed it. That show is now among the highest ranking TV programs in mainland China. And it's all due to a video blog.
I recently received a link to a video promoting a brand of energy drink I'd never encountered before: K-fee. If you've seen the advert, you'll know what I mean when I say it's shocking. At first I thought I must have been one of only a few people to receive it. But after making presentations and speeches all over the world, I realised at least 25 percent of my audiences in any of the 20 countries I've been visiting have also seen the advert. Recently released information shows an estimated 45 million people have seen K-fee's ad. The production budget for this massive exposure? Roughly £5,000!
The key to its success is this. K-fee is a product that fits perfectly with the broadcasting MSP generation. Interacting with 5.6 media channels at once, these young consumers are simultaneously recipients and transmitters of the brand message. They relay it. They do the marketing for the brand.
So, these days, every brand must trigger broadcast responses in recipients. Of course, this can be a gamble. A fact of future branding is that playing with the MSP generation can be risky. You're dealing with a generation of confident, self-aware, critical, and canny consumers. You have to live on the edge to tackle this crowd. It's essential you take chances to meet the ultimate objective: having your brand stand out.
Sadly, most companies perceive and represent themselves according to values extracted from an MBA textbook. Tomorrow's brands must be distinctive to push the envelope of acceptability across a spectrum of socio-economic and political tolerances. Brands must even offend certain audiences to make their presence felt and their distinction from competitors clear.
The challenge of releasing and growing a successful brand is ever-greater, making it essential that brand-builders and their colleagues focus on narrow audiences. In doing so, a brand can reflect values that only this audience appreciates. Yes, you may offend a lot of people beyond that specific group, but in doing so you'll build your brand's relationship with its core audience.
This philosophy is a radical departure from branding in the past, in which everything - values, reputation, nuances - had to be acceptable to the vast majority. Mass-market audiences are a thing of the past. In principle, no brand can afford to be friends with everyone at the same time.
So is your brand MSP-ready? Are you factoring the broadcaster behavioural phenomenon into your platform? Do you recognise these key consumer characteristics by making your audience the centre of your brand? Have you revisited your brand values to ensure you're stretching its message and personality, voice and style, to the edge? If not, polish off your brand and arm it with relevance to the motivations and impulses of the MSP generation, before they discard your brand forever in just one click.
Online Branding: marketing democracy on the march
The online world presents new challenges to the marketer. The rules are different, so if marketers play by the offline rules, it is likely they are going to lose out.
Online branding has its own very distinct differences.
Online branding is about democratisation and interaction. Two key characteristics, which however hard brand managers might wish to emulate, they can never do to the same extent in the offline world. Indeed, many marketing HQs have all been about control of the brand. However, such institutions, like brand policemen, become as redundant as cold war secret policemen in the online world and as unwelcome. Online branding needs a change of mindset. The marketing cliché 'adapt or die' has real resonance here.
Democratisation and Interaction
So let's talk about how democratisation and interaction work. As with online PR, the flow of information is not controlled by one party. Opinions, comments and news are almost as much in the control of the intended reader or consumer.
If we focus on blogs for a moment to illustrate the point, an author can offer an independent opinion that can be distributed freely. Readers are free to confirm or challenge the assertions in the blog in the comments section or perhaps on their own blogs, websites, newspapers or magazines. They can promote the views of the author by linking their sites to the blogs generating a flow of traffic to the source.
Powerful tools: but how does it affect a brand?
Let's use a recent example from Dell, the very model of a successful and respected brand. Dell, the computer manufacturers, had earned a fantastic reputation for their products and customer service. In 2005, however, all those years of carefully building a brand image took a set back. It was not a rival. It was not a loose word in the Ratner style. It was a blogger: just one individual named Jeff Jarvis.
Jarvis had bought a Dell laptop, which had technical problems. Dell's customer support did not rectify the issue to the satisfaction of Jarvis. Through his blog – Buzzmachine – he detailed his complaints. Those entries were met with hundreds of responses and comments. The result, as analysed by three market research companies found the whole affair had a detrimental effect on Dell: 'It had sustained long-term damage to its brand image.'
Now, this one instance of negative feedback did not exactly bring down the company. It was buffeted, perhaps, but I believe it has now recovered from any severe damage. However, if a series of bloggers had attacked Dell then the cumulative effect could have been very serious indeed.
It can work the other way as well. One only has to think of the recent example of Snakes on a Plane. A film that generated more coverage on-line than it could have afforded if it had advertised, has changed the way Hollywood may promote its products in the future. The spread of ideas and comment about the film and the amount of engagement with the public was far more powerful than an advertising campaign. The phenomenal online coverage the film received made headlines on the broadcast media itself!
This leads to the conclusion that the sales force of the online brand is the customer. You could call it word of mouth. And just like the Roman Emperor they have the power to put their thumbs up (Google, You Tube, My Space) or down.
The online brand is essentially in the hands of the people. Try to manipulate it as L'Oreal did with their blog – a 'genuine' customer talking about their wonderful products – and you will be found out. In the L'Oreal case it took readers just a few hours to confirm their initial suspicions.
So what does it take to make an online brand work?
Online brands have certain characteristics that help steer them towards success:
Firstly, and this might or might not surprise marketers, they have a loose vision. There is no five year plan. Strategic direction will be adapted to meet opportunity and circumstance as dictated by change and the direction the directors wish to take the business.
Secondly, online brands do not have huge market research and analysis behind them as common sense marketing dictates. They very much go on instinct and vision.
Thirdly, online brands use their customers as their sales force. These are the best and most proactive of salesmen. Just think how Hotmail or Google spread across the web. Was it a brilliant advertising campaign? No, it was word of mouth and new users forwarding e-mail messages to their friends to join up. I, like most people found out about Google by recommendation. And do not forget the role of online social networking in providing new marketing channels: MSN, Forums and blogs.
Fourthly, they utilise below the line (direct marketing) channels to spread the word.
And lastly, they possess an engaging strong image. One that is backed up by offering a service that is not only appealing, but is also delivered efficiently.
Where we go from here?
The digital world is still a mystery to many marketers. Yes, we all have websites. Yes, we have e-mail campaigns to our credit. And yes, we have great design and an agency that delivers an image that gains plaudits from senior staff and clients alike. But confidence might ultimately self-delusional.
When we marvel at the power of online brands and wish to emulate, in our own small way their success, we must understand the dynamics at work. It requires time, thought and application.
The strength of the online brand is rooted in the strength of its interaction with its clients. Can we let go and work in partnership with clients? If we have the conviction and confidence and are open to change and learning we can share the power that an online brand can give.
About the author
Vince Holt is managing director of 11 Out Of 10, an Internet agency based in the North West. For more e-mail: info@11outof10.com
Organic search marketing is a real alternative to pay per click for online success.
Many businesses realise that they have to generate traffic to their site if they want to, at the very least, recoup the outlay invested in their Internet site. But all too often they accept the received wisdom that pay per click and paid advertising will give the return that is so eagerly sought without really fully considering online organic search marketing properly.
Pay per click and advertising on well-visited websites certainly has its benefits, I cannot and will not deny that assertion. Pay per click (PPC) is easy to understand and, unlike many marketing activities, the return can be calculated very accurately indeed – and those are the great attributes. It also gives the marketing manager or owner an immediate hit. The pressure to get results quickly is baring down and pay per click can certainly ease the pressure with immediate effect – a simple solution handed on a plate.
Yet, this singular approach is not fully justified. Yes, pay per click and paid advertising can be highly effective; we all hear the anecdotal examples of business acquaintances and their limitless praise for this approach. But the approach is limited.
I am not discounting pay per click or paid advertising: there is a place for both in combination with organic search marketing. Indeed, the best campaigns combine both approaches to stunning effect because both present different strengths which work well together. But if you have to choose there is a clear winner: organic search.
Before I explain further I really need to clarify what I mean by organic search marketing. I am referring to a collection of methods that includes using discussion forums, social networking sites, reciprocal links, identifying and utilising sites that Google and other prominent search engines use to rank websites and good old fashioned search engine optimisation: search engine ranking. And it is the last of these that I will concentrate on to demonstrate that there is another way of attaining the results you want from your online marketing.
So why do I have such believe in organic search marketing? What is my proof? Why, according to online experts E-consultancy, does 84% of online spend come in the form of paid placement and PPC and the small remaining 16% on organic search marketing if the latter has so much to offer?
Well, my first point is that organic search marketing has much to offer but is generally overlooked or underrated. Online marketing, as with so many disciplines, is not fully understood and if it is not understood by the buyer then they will often chose the option they can quickly get a grip of or feel comfortable with: PPC and paid placement.
We must remember as marketers that not everyone has the appreciation or understanding of online marketing. And we must remember that many marketers are experts in a particular field but do not have a full comprehension of the full marketing mix, at least not to the same depth as their specialisation.
But my proof goes further: various studies show that a prospective buyer will use organic searches 60% - 80% of the time. Moreover, organic search results gather up to six times more clicks than paid for advertising.
The reasons for this can possibly be attributed to a number of factors. Firstly, buyers tend to trust search engines. A brand such as Google fosters confidence; advertising cannot provide the same assurance as it is bought rather than earned.
Secondly, according to a study conducted by US marketing firm Enquiro and eye tracking technology company Eyetools, surfers follow an F shaped pattern of scanning. This means that the search results, on the left, are viewed more closely than on the right where the PPCs are located.
I would like to re-iterate that PPC and paid placement certainly have a role in a comprehensive online marketing plan. The F viewing pattern extends over to the PPC – but only the top ones.
Pay per click search company Overture's research has confirmed this viewpoint. A marketing campaign that secures a combination of a top three placement with a top placed PPC will generate a 93% chance of gaining a click.
The Advertising Association has found that Internet advertising is up 73% for the first half of the year. It certainly works for some companies. But its success is also its drawback. The more we use PPC and paid advertising the more its currency diminishes. I only have to think of texting and e-mails to back this point up: the more we use PPC the more we will all ignore it and the more the cost will go up for the most popular search words.
Online search marketing undeniably does not have the immediate hit of PPC and paid advertising. But whereas PPC and paid advertising's effects ware off quickly, organic search marketing has a real impact in the medium to long term and even after the campaign has finished it will still yield a return. Many companies will find its longevity and substance of organic search a real benefit.
Organic search marketing benefits from low costs, established reader behaviour and the trust of many commercial and consumer surfers in their search engines to provide the most meaningful search returns.
Consequently, online search cannot be discounted from any online campaign that really wants to give a substantial return. With organic search marketing technique rapidly evolving and being popularised and PPC becoming over subscribed it can only be a matter of time before clever marketers take heed and chose another way to do their online marketing.
About the author
Simon Wharton runs web build agency Virtuaffinity and its sister company PushON – a specialist online search marketing agency. For more please email: simon@pushon.co.uk
Bring on banner advertising 2.0
When I was a nipper I remember my grandfather telling me 'You can tell a lot about someone by the shoes they wear.' The phrase 'What did I tell you about him?' was one of his favourite replies whenever my grandmother complained about someone they knew. Clearly the loafer test worked well for him but in the online world we can't sneak a peak at someone's loafers to get the measure of a prospect.
Modern marketing demands an ever more sophisticated approach to targeting customers and thankfully the tools and technology at our disposal to assess people's aspirations, likes and dislikes online are the best yet. With e-commerce software we can capture every click of the mouse to give a complete history of interests, considerations and purchases. We can then use this information to make inspired suggestions that prevent customers buying their next product elsewhere.
Nobody does this better than Amazon who now have almost a complete history of every book I've purchased over the last 10 years. They certainly know how to use it, turning it into relevant recommendations that I regularly respond to. And it seems I'm not the only one, I understand that personalisation is believed to have a direct effect on 15% of all sales. But it's not just about the money, by making me aware of relevant information they are encouraging me to invest in a commercial relationship that will save me time.
Not everyone is in such a luxurious position as Amazon whose data is nothing short of a marketers dream. What products do you think I might be interested in when I stop buying cocktail recipes and buy the Readers Digest DIY bible? Or what if I get myself a copy of Fatherhood the Truth? If only they'd create some segments and let us advertise to them, they'd be able to recover all that money they spent on exclusive advertising deals back in the 90s.
Unfortunately such opportunities for targeted online advertising are few and far between, so it was great to see social networking site Bebo announce recently that it wants to give users the power to select areas they're interested in so they only receive ads that are relevant to them. It'll be a first for the industry and as a marketer I am delighted that this is happening.
In the UK, internet advertising now accounts for almost 6% of total spend on advertising and continues to grow. However, much of this spend is accounted for by search and banner advertising is somewhat trailing behind. With CPMs at rock bottom personalization can be the banners salvation and it's no surprise a Web 2.0 site like Bebo has recognised this.
But allowing people to select their own advertising is only part of the process and will not appeal to everyone. The next stage is to observe what interests visitors and use this behavioural data to present them with better-targeted banners and content. It's no wonder people zone out of advertising when all they see is the same ads again and again, whether they've already responded or not.
So, why aren't all companies with a web channel implementing this type of solution already? Costs have been a major factor – this kind of software has never been cheap and, until recently, was disproportionately expensive compared to banner costs. However, the technology is now finding its way into Ad Servers and thankfully banner advertising can now move away from simply throwing enough mud at the wall to see if any sticks.
We are about to see a step change in Online targeting and whilst I'm not sure whether my Grandfather would swear by it, I'm sure most marketers will. Welcome to Banners 2.0.
Harnessing new media: 'Be what people are interested in'
New technologies are continuing to have a rampant effect on how we consume media, buy things, communicate to each other and seek out information. But rather than be fearful of these changes - which seems to be the prevailing emotion among traditional agencies, broadcasters and publishers – this is the most exciting time to be in the creative communications industry.
Internet and mobile phone communications are at the centre of most discussions regarding 'new media' these days. There are endless and sometimes contradictory stats bandied around every day about declining TV audiences, number of MySpace users, global mobile penetration. (The most recent estimations scream three-billion by the end of 2007.) But one thing remains crystal clear – there are millions upon millions of people on the web and using mobiles with increasingly fast access. And they're actually spending a lot of time on these platforms.
So how do we reach these audiences effectively? There is pay-per-click, natural search marketing, and the traditional 30-second spot which hasn't been cutting it, no matter how much agencies try to shoe-horn it onto the web in the form of ‘virals'. Rich media banners are ok, but are really just another form of interruptive advertising.
No, we need something different. And it's really rather simple. Content. Just great content. Quality, long lasting content that builds brand equity and engages consumers is enough.
Case Study – The Wrigley Extra Venue
At the start of 2006 Yahoo! UK's editorial and advertising departments wanted to come up with video content ideas for a pitch to the Wrigley Company. The result was a branded destination on Yahoo! Music, one of the most highly trafficked music sites in the UK with over two-million unique users a month.
The Wrigley Extra Venue was born. Essentially a ‘Popworld on the web', it consists of several strands of programming all updated regularly throughout the year. The trick is to come up with content that works in short form (if you're in TV production) or long form (if you're in advertising) so no piece of video content is longer than about five minutes.
The Extra Venue strands include: Live and Upclose With… intimate gigs with artists like the Sugababes and The Zutons; All Back to Mine where artists such as The Charlatans, Matt Willis, The Fratellis and Corinne Bailey Rae take us back to their home towns to show us where it all started; and Re-Recorded, an unplugged format featuring contemporary artists doing a cover of a song chosen by Yahoo! users. Keane, Lily Allen, Ne-Yo, Dirty Pretty Things, The Feeling and Mika have all done a Re-recorded with us (my personal favourite was Keane's cover of Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence, filmed backstage just before their sell out gig at Alexandra Palace.)
It sounds a little obvious to say this, but whenever you come up with a content idea, ask yourself ‘would I actually watch this?' It is fundamental. So much content is made by people who have not asked themselves this very simple question – and it's evident in the final result.
The Checklist
The Wrigley Extra Venue is successful because it ticks the big boxes in terms of delivering serious value on a new media platform to a brand owner, offering far more than just spot advertising on linear TV.
Box 1 - Great content, free to consumers. There's nothing like the feeling you get when you are given something of value for free. I stress value here, and any brand that successfully does this directly enhances the relationship between brand and consumer.
Box 2 – Community Building. There is huge value in creating a community that people consistently return to again and again, namely invaluable brand development and loyalty, and genuine word of mouth publicity – a rare thing indeed!
Box 3 – Data capture. If you can build a community through content, you will also be generating data on those users, from e-mail address to detailed demographic information. And as all marketers can attest to, knowing your consumers is the key to developing a relationship with them.
Box 4 - On-going dialogue. JWT's worldwide creative director said this week 'Stop interrupting what people are interested in – and be what people are interested in.' This perfectly encapsulates the value of content and confirms its place in any web and mobile platform marketing plans. If you can be the entertainment, you can hold an on-going dialogue with your consumer. And as we all know, a two way conversation is far more fulfilling for both parties.
So there it is. The key to unlocking the full potential new media platforms is great content – a simple concept, rarely a simple task.