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Rush, 2112, and My Missed Interaction In Mobile (Mediapost 2.1.12) 0

Creativity and insights can emerge from the most unlikely of places. 

Today is a unique date; it’s 2.1.12.  The numbers 2.1.12 immediately bring to my mind one thing, and that is the much-heralded Rush album 2112.  In 2112, a man discovers an ancient guitar, learns to play it, and his subsequent enthusiasm and excitement are crushed by the ruling classes of this dystopian future where technology is routinely abused to control the society and repress its inhabitants. 

While I was thinking of this album, I was also at dinner with my family and in front of me was the familiar visage of a red Heinz ketchup bottle (you know – the new ones that are stored upside down so the ketchup comes out even faster).  On the plastic bottle was a QR code, and one of the people I was with had not seen one of these before and wanted to know how they were used.  Being a technology and marketing geek, I immediately extracted my iPhone from the pocket of my jacket and commenced taking a scan of the QR code to see what magical wealth of information it surfaced.

I held the phone still, waited patiently for the “click” of the scan, and the delivery of the content, however my pay-off was sub-par as it returned a message “Sorry, the sweepstakes ended 9/30/11”.  To me, that wreaked of a missed opportunity and one that could have been avoided with some basic planning.

In that future world imagined by the members of Rush, technology was used for repressive purposes, whereas in our world it is used to provide more information and create more connections.  The entire advent of social and mobile media are intended to create faster connections between people, as well as between people and brands.  The use of the QR code exemplifies that connection, making it possible for brands to provide more detailed information, and an experience for their consumers that they could not have otherwise had.  That being said, when you employ these tools you need to make sure you plan through the consumer interaction carefully and fulfill on the implied promise of that interaction.

Upon further review I noticed that the Heinz ketchup bottle said there was a contest and I could enter by scanning the QR code, which was obviously outdated.  Either the restaurant was holding onto the ketchup too long, or the decision to run the content message on the packaging wasn’t thought out well enough.  I checked the ketchup bottle, and the date was still far enough in the future, so I return to the missed opportunity for the mobile interaction.  If you promise a contest, you need to fulfill upon the contest. 

In a dystopian future, technology can be used to lead along the masses, and create a singular vision that allows for the government to mold and shape the minds of its inhabitants.  Of course, a contest can be used in the same manner, but hopefully with more positive benefit!

Or it might be a stretch to try and unite the two into a common theme.

Either way, its fun to be inspired to think about a mundane occurrence (like a QR code) from a new perspective and that is what the Rush album had me doing.  In the case of the Heinz QR code snafu, why not rotate in a new contest, with regular winners and more information to keep the QR code active and fresh?  What about having the contest initially printed and placed as a sticker on the bottle, so it could be removed after expiration?  More than 3 months after the contest had expired, do you think Heinz would have replaced the contest with something better than the “trivia game” content they placed there?  There’s no pay off to the new trivia contest, and that left me kind of bummed.  I took the time to interact with their bottle, and got nothing in return for it.  Not even a coupon.

CPG companies tend to try things in the digital space, and only invest half way in them.  If you are going to commit, you should commit fully to driving that engagement to ensure the return is a strong one. 

All that being said, I got over being bummed about the lost interaction.  I went home, kicked up my Spotify account and listened to 2112 for the first time in a long time.   

Here’s to hoping that my next social/mobile interaction is a good one!

Posted on: 02-5-2012
Posted in: treffiletti.com

9 digital campaigns to learn from 0

Behold some of the best that digital marketers created in the last year. Some are integrated multi-execution efforts, others are simply powerful one-offs. But all of them signal the beginning of a new era of creativity that includes platform and format as part of the effort to move the needle.


Ford did a nice job “relevantizing” Ford Focus’s appeal to younger drivers with the “Doug” puppet campaign. In addition to videos like this, the presence in social media was funny, tight, and popular. Ford’s digital marketing manager, Scott Kelly, says he acts as a liaison of decency between Doug and the public, as well as letting us interject some vehicle features in a natural way. Results are good. Mashable reports 36,000 Facebook fans and some 1.7 million video views, strong conversions to sale, and a brand image that markedly improved among target buyers. Not bad for a puppet!
Google: The web is what you make of it
There are so many things to like about the new campaign for Chrome, which encompasses traditional, online, mobile, and social. This particular “viral” execution has so many things going for it. It is how you do celebrity in an era of consumer participation. The effort shows how Chrome empowers such amazing experiences that wouldn’t have been at all possible even a few years ago. And it puts Google squarely at the center of the best of what digital has to offer. Yeah, yeah, Google does TV now. But it’s Googly, and in the process, takes ownership of the things people love about our new media era.
McDonalds: Pong
The great thing about “I’m lovin’ it” is that it is a concept that can encompass so many fun things. That breadth is great for a brand that needs to be about a lot more than the best fries ever! This MickeyD’s campaign from Sweden featured an enormous billboard on which two passersby could play Pong. If you successfully played it for 30 seconds, you were sent a mobile coupon for free McDonald’s food. I admit that I have no transactional results to show you here to confirm its immediate business impact. But as a means of generating buzz and cementing the company’s fun and hip credentials with young people of all ages, this effort was “magnifik.” In my view, mega brands need to create special experiences like this to create lasting consumer impact in an era of media fragmentation and change.

Paramount’s Twitter sneak peek

It’s often tough to tie sales to social, but this interesting campaign for the Paramount theatrical release of “Super 8″ drove $1 million in theater tickets and strong buzz for a modest budget title. The program offered a combination of official announcements and what they call a “Promoted Trend” to flag pre-release showings. The effort contributed to opening weekend box office sales that were higher than expected.
Audi’s A8 Klout campaign

The luxury market is incredibly crowded these days, so I liked Audi’s use of influencers as a means of generating bottom up buzz. Just one of the tactics was the Klout perks offering to encourage people to test drive the car and discuss it with their networks. The effort generated loads of tweets and great reach for people-originated endorsements of the Audi standard of luxury.
BK’s Channel 111



When BK changed agencies, it signaled a philosophical shift from lifestyle messaging to product front-and-center. What better way to do that than placing it smack dab in the middle of DirectTV’s channel 111. By staring at the Whopper for long periods of time, you could earn coupons for free sandwiches. But if you looked away, you might miss a demand that you press a button on your remote. Miss an order, start over. What makes this such a great interactive digital campaign is how it put interactivity at the center of a TV focused campaign — a media rarely known for its participatory side. The buzz from this effort was awesome, and I would imagine that all that time staring created internal dissonance in many a cynical viewer. I call it Flamebroglio – I want to deny my personal susceptibility to advertising. But look at those perfect grill marks!



Barbie takes Ken back


Years ago, the world was stunned when Barbie dumped Ken for some Australian McConaughey clone named Blaine. I’m guessing it was an effort to make her a little more trendy in a world of loose Bratz. But things soured with the Aussie (I’m guessing too much beer was part of the problem.) In 2011, Barbie saw her error thanks to a massive publicity campaign asking America if she should take Ken back. My favorite piece was this little video showing Ken finding Barbie using the powerful algorithms of Match.com. But there were loads of components to this effort. Tens of millions of impressions, several million Facebook fans, lots of votes, and for the first time, millions became part of the brand and actually cared about America’s favorite anatomically incorrect doll. This sort of voting isn’t new, but the massive multi-dimensional nature of the digitally centered effort made it feel fresh.



Brand Harry Potter and Pottermore

The HP books created a literary sensation that the world arguably hasn’t seen since Twain and Dickens serialized their stories in newspapers. But J.K. Rowling told us that the saga is over. How do you keep the excitement and revenue coming from a completed franchise? Why with Pottermore, of course, a groundbreaking interactive environment in which fans of all ages can read new content and participate in the stories. And while they are there, buy unique electronic content and the first ebook editions. Will it work? I think so, but what really matters is that it offers a really remarkable new model for the book business that leverages the static stories in uniquely participatory ways. This, while continuing to sell stuff.

JC Penney personalized QR codes
I was really taken by this innovative use of QR codes as a means of delivering personal audio messages on holiday gifts purchased from JCP. Buy the item at Penney’s, get a personal QR code card, record your message, and make your gift recipient smile! What a brilliant way of making goods purchased at Penney’s — which are often precisely the same goods that you could purchase somewhere else — and make them uniquely valuable. What a great way to get people to shop Penney’s first, and buy the item where they first find it. QR codes are often used by consumers to find lower prices online. In this case, Penney’s has flipped the model on its head and in the process, driven incremental sales!

Posted on: 01-19-2012
Posted in: Oldest Living Digital Marketer

Start-Up Watch COD: With Zoove, Everyone Can be a Star (Star) 0

Remember when short codes were, like, the coolest thing out there? The idea that you could ask a consumer to only dial 5 numbers to be connected to your brand call center ? Well, five digit short codes were certainly an improvement on dialing ten digits, but only by a certain degree. There’s still a significant degree of consumer friction inherent in “Text ENTER to 24437.”

Then there were the executional issues inherent in setting up short codes across carriers. There were service providers to make it easier, but it was never a doddle.

And then QR came along. While QR codes make things simpler than short codes in some ways, they actually add complexity in others. They need to be arranged cross carriers, require that the consumer download a QR reader, and also necessitate the consumer having a device with a camera. None of these prerequisites requires an effort analogous to completing a triathlon, but they do present friction, scale issues, compatibility issues, and drive up consumer and marketer complexity. Not good things.

Zoove is a start-up Hellbent on making mobile easier for BOTH consumers and brands by leveraging ** + numbers. The idea is to replace a broad range of mobile action types with memorable ** + vanity numbers that can drive a host of desirable actions at the consumer’s request. What kinds of actions? How about:

•Coupon Download: Dial ** + vanity number to get a text that provides a coupon url
•App Download: Dialing the ** + apps number activates the Zoove platform, which detects your device type and redirects your phone to the appropriate page for the download in the appropriate app store (Apple, Android, etc.)
•Video View: Dial ** + number and your phone automatically displays the desired video content, using a player appropriate for your device type.
•Website Visit: Dial ** + number and have a url appear on your device
•Purchase: Dial ** + number to visit a store or begin a transaction
•Sweeps Entry: Again, ** + number spawns the entry form
•Voting: Dial ** + number to have your vote recorded
Oh, you get it. By performing the most ubiquitous phone action – dialing a number — the consumer can receive a host of resulting experiences. You can also communicate a ** + number in any medium. That’s cool. After all, QR don’t work on da radio…

Here’s the flick:

So why care? Rather than my telling you, why not experience just one of the reasons first hand. Quick, without looking, try and remember the short code I mentioned in the first paragraph. If you had any difficulty doing so, the reason why a ** + vanity number might be preferable should be rather obvious.

This is all about making the desired consumer action easy to perform and remember. Brands can choose and register branded terms OR generic terms that denote the type of experience that will be spawned by the action. So, **PEPSI, or **CONTEST. But with the right vanity number, I cannot imagine that response rates wouldn’t explode.

To ensure that they do, Zoove manages the logistics across all major US carriers (ATT, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint,) and ensures your content works on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Win Phone 7, HP/Palm OS, and Symbian.

The costs for ** numbers are quite reasonable, but it is a first come first served marketplace. Zoove makes its money on the ** number registrations and a cost per action on client programs. Based upon the insider info I saw, the prices are very reasonable.

Drop dead simple. Powerful. Performance enhancing. Hard to imagine a world where that combination isn’t a winner. Expect Zoove to do very very well in the months and years ahead.

Thanks to ad:tech for publishing this first!

Posted on: 08-2-2011
Posted in: Oldest Living Digital Marketer

Start-Up Watch COD: Atmio makes developing mobile landing pages good/fast/cheap 0

We’ve all heard the expression…”Good, fast, cheap. Pick two.” The idea of course is that it is impossible to purchase a service that is simultaneously high quality, inexpensive, and ready to go now.

Well, a company called thinks it has a solution to improving consumer experience and conversion rates for mobile web users — a solution that delivers on all three. They see a huge opportunity in providing software that solves a host of the problems that have slowed companies from making the most of mobile web opps.

Atmio is a software company that makes products specifically to improve the mobile web shopping, learning, and buying processes. When customers seek to consider and purchase items through their mobile devices, Atmio improves their experience by offering easy to use tools that empower online marketers to make powerful and effective landing and shopping environments.

There are three components to their solution:

Mobile landing page generator that is very easy to use.

Behavioral targeting engine that enables dynamic changes to the landing page based upon visitor characteristics

Analytics that can be delivered through their Business Engine or Google Analytics.

The opportunity for developing better buying experiences on the mobile web couldn’t be clearer. By 2014, more people are expected to be surfing through mobile devices than through PCs. They’ve already crossed that threshold in a number of Asian countries. And the advent of tablets is only accelerating the trend. What’s more, the enormous range of phones and associated capabilities can make it difficult and expensive to deliver good mobile web experiences consistently and economically.

To use the Atmio page making platform, the marketer simply logs in and starts laying elements out onto a page. When they have a design they are happy with, they can test it on a phone and then deploy. The platform ensures that pages properly render on the full range of smart phones, which further reduces development costs. It works for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows 7 phones, and more.

The company serves up a long list of use cases where the companies offerings can drive better metrics:

Landing pages for mobile ad campaigns

Offering a mobile landing page alternative for CRM programs, to accommodate that that are reviewing emails over their phones

E-Commerce Mobile pages can enable you to capture buyer information to simplify the buying process for consumers

Event marketers can offer up a simple mobile landing page experience tailored to eventgoers

Retail QR pages: Instore displays can bear QR codes that take shoppers to specific info and offers online

Print and direct mail campaigns can bear a mobile url as an alternative, to accommodate people who prefer going online via phone.

Salesforce-Create pages that collect lead and other info and transfer it directly into salesforce

Santa Clara based Atmio offerings are SaaS services, and has four different grades of capabilities. You can see a comparison of these services here.

There’s no question that mobile web browsing will continue to grow rapidly, and that the need for improved transactional and other metrics for mobile web browsers will become more and more acute for online marketers.

Thanks to ad:tech for publishing this first.

Posted on: 05-14-2011
Posted in: Oldest Living Digital Marketer

Start-Up Watch COD: Emdigo’s Get-It simplifies and streamlines mobile app distribution efforts 0

Once a brand or publisher has an app, the real battle begins: getting it in enough hands to deliver the impact it was intended to provide. But with hundreds of thousands of apps available, it can be hard to capture consumer attention. Brand use a variety of marketing channels to promote apps. But that breeds tremendous complexity into marketer efforts. Until now, according to Emdigo.

Emdigo’s “Get It” platform gives brands a simpler way to deliver app promotional messaging across a variety of consumer touch points. With Emdigo, all of these roads lead to a mechanism that lets the user download the app to virtually any mobile device. And do it quickly and virtually effortlessly. Let’s take a look at the many avenues in that Emdigo empowers brands to provide for their users:

Brands can use the Get It button on their web pages. A single click delivers the consumer to an interface that lets them type in a mobile number or send an email to their mobile device of choice. From there, the install process can begin. The screen even lets brands market other apps that might be of interest to the consumer.

Emdigo also offers online ad products including a Get It button that takes the user to the same downloading environment.

Users can also “Get It” from a Facebook page through the company’s social media offering.

For Print and TV, Emdigo can arrange for a brand to get a short code that gets the process rolling as well.

Get It emails can link to a web page that sells the app and allows one click start of the process.

Emdigo can also provide a QR code for additional consumer touch points where the format can be very powerful.

Here’s the how it works…

Emdigo and Get It are giving you more than just a set of links. Rather, they are facilitating better consumer and brand experience by automatically detecting the consumer device and checking to see if the app is compatible with it. If it isn’t, the platform can take them to a page with more information about the app, and how they might be able to get access to it from another device they own.

In addition to simplifying the dispersion of App marketing messages, Get It also offers a unified analytics platform that aggregates all activity from across your plan. No more cutting and pasting from separate reporting environments in order to get the complete picture. You can still analyze by distribution vehicle, but you can also take a macro cross platform view.

I’m glad a company is working to make this aspect of digital marketing simpler. One of the big reasons that mobile has not captured a greater share of marketing dollars is that execution can be so time consuming and labor intensive. If Get It does everything Emdigo promises, things just got a lot easier.

Thanks to ad:tech for publishing this first.

Posted on: 04-30-2011
Posted in: Oldest Living Digital Marketer