“Innovate or die” will be (must be!) the mantra of all businesses and organizations during 2011. Innovate to deal with highly competitive markets, reinvent cost structures, create new and creative ways to communicate, and essentially go back to being relevant in the eyes of our consumers. If there is any thing in common in all the expected trends for 2011 is that they all meet the needs (functionality, timing, fiscality, experientialism and aspirationality) of consumers in order to meet, if not exceed, their expectations.

This will be the major focus of organizations in 2011: to create relevance for brands, innovating according to consumer expectations. The drivers of these needs are evolutions of the content already recorded in 2010. On the one hand, the fact that we live in societies accustomed to hyper-consumerism and increasingly accelerated communication, which reaches us through various sources of information, media, aggregators and “fellow consumers”, makes this company a true “expectation economy” where, regarding the marketing mix, everything that isn’t memorable to consumers doesn’t make sense.

On the demand side, the majority of purchases involve the current demand for products and services that provide us experiences, indulgences, excitement and satisfaction which, on the one hand, turn the purchase into a wise option and, on the other, generate stories about the brand and the consumer’s relationship with it. On the supply side, the battlefield is increasingly competitive, start-ups compete with players installed, global businesses compete with local businesses and innovation comes and goes quickly. One has to be, therefore, to be memorable.

This “memorable” component may however take several forms, depending primarily on specific markets and companies and brands stakeholders: only with this information in our possession can we interpret this month’s trendwatching.com briefing. “Random Acts Of Kindness” and “Emerging Generosity”, for example, are ways of adding incremental value to services which, given its unexpected component, have the power to make the consumer happy and grateful, giving them a reason to talk about the brand to their social network, online or offline. Just like Air New Zealand’s Airpoint Fairy: an online service that grants wishes to consumers, such as lounge access or upgrades to first class seats. Registered users can even ask the Airpoint Fairy service for specific perks via Twitter (@airpointfairy) but most services are offered randomly.

“Memorable” can mean creating benefits now (Nowism) on multiple platforms or just locally: the creation of local products and services (locality) provides, in a globalized and standardized world, a close relationship that brands can leverage to address consumers’ desires: authenticity, online integration (mass mingling) in oder to allow for more “real world” interaction (Foursquare) and the realization that yes, the world is still made of what is local – neighbors, parties, idiosyncrasies – and it has many stories to spread – 83% of US consumers prefer to support a small and independent business rather than a big chain (source: WebVisible, May 2010).

In October 2010, the “Native LA” brand was launched as online shopping destination that lets consumers buy exclusively LA-made products. Each piece is chosen according to its style and quality, allowing the sale of 100% Los Angeles products throughout the country.

“Memorable” may also be about price and value for money. Even in luxury markets, the huge lower-price selling of luxury goods that was forced by the economic tsunami of 2008 exposed the margins in these markets. And now, even this kind of consumer demands that, in order to going back to paying the premium price of such articles, brands increase products’ added value via design, quality and services (Luxury Institute). Moreover, the ever-growing community power dynamics, which is the result of the relationships created through social networks, may lead to the creation of increasingly relevant group promotions. Groupon is here to stay – and is now supported by Google.

There will be many ways to create innovative solutions for 2011, such as research and entering new markets, integrating brands with the online world and increasing the digital dialogue between brands and consumers. But, as always happened with brands and marketing, the important thing is to create real, relevant and unique solutions (as far as possible…). If this process starts by understanding these social and cultural movements, brands will certainly have the tools to create products, services and solutions that will be memorable for consumers and for shareholders. So there is no excuse for not having a good, innovative 2011!

(Published in Marketeer, January 2011)

I was talking to some friends yesterday about the internet’s latest craze, Old Spice Man. We all agreed the campaign is nothing short of genius, creating brand awareness the likes of which are rarely seen nowadays, with the information overload and all, and with a level of commitment and engagement towards the online world that is without precedent (they even created a video response to Anonymous). But we all agreed on one thing, while brand awareness and social media engagement are important factors, in today’s economic recession filled world what it really matters is the bottom line, product sales and ROI.

RIN in social media (or in general) has always been kind of a controversial matter, is engagement really worth the cost? Is brand value that important to increase sales? Some say yes, and some say no, but it seems there is still no definitive answer on that matter. I believe that now is a great time to find the truth, or at least to clear some doubts. If old spice sales don’t skyrocket, I believe companies will be much more suspicious of social media campaigns, and will perceive their ROI to be just not worth the effort. If, on the other hand, Old Spice starts to be an increasingly major player in the market via market share, then everybody who is anybody will jump on the social media bandwagon with even more money to invest, which will, probably lead to new and exciting ideas on public engagement and brand value.

I, for one, cannot wait to see what happens.

Cheers,
Francisco Duarte

Photo credit: Taylor Burnes

Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator) is producing a documentary based on YouTube videos made by people around the world about their everyday lives… in one specific day. The documentary will be shot in one day by director Kevin Macdonald (State of Play, The Last King of Scotland) and will be like a time capsule: in the future, people may want to watch Life in a Day to see how it was to live on July 24, 2010.

All the people whose videos make it to the final cut will be credited as co-directors and some of them will even be taken to the film’s premiere in Sundance next year.

Here’s the trailer:

Social networks and other online aggregation phenomena have become more and more relevant to brands, which, with smaller budgets due to the financial crisis, are turning to digital content creation in order to nurture relationships with their customers. When it comes to marketing, it is cheaper and more surgical than other mass marketing tools. If brands use it well, it has the possibility to generate communities around the brand’s story. They turn users into message carriers and users “update statuses”, “tweet” and “like” stuff in their friends/places/interests networks in a way that’s good for the brand. This is a great advantage for brands but there’s a catch: it is very difficult to measure these efforts, since most of the brands have their points of sale in the good old “reality”, even if they have online stores or create pre-sale relationships with clients through their websites. Social media efforts can’t be totally measured by the same criteria we use in sales (this is an effort which produces other advantages, such as the ability to listen to consumers and build relationships). So it’s only natural that brands want to transform these efforts in real life meet-ups, in order for them to generate impact to consumers in more tangible, measurable events. And here’s where mass mingling appears as a marketing tool – as a way to turn digital investment output (Facebook page, Foursquare profile, blog, LinkedIn group, etc.) into sales outcome.

This trend gets serious when you introduce geotagging, for instances, in which it is possible to aggregate different types of media to a local and real context. The expected growth in the sales of GPS-equipped mobile phones, fast mobile Internet connections, accessible price tables and the natural increase in the number of applications and platforms using local information will make it easier to activate the brand “offline” using digital media.  This is true whether you invite users to enter your stores or you develop promotional actions regarding a specific point of sale, through platforms such as Gowalla, Foursquare, Google Latitude or even Facebook and Twitter.

In April 2010, NBA’s New Jersey Nets launched a marketing campaign using Gowalla: users that checked in with this geolocation service at specific zones – sports bars, parks, gyms – would receive virtual items that could then be traded for tickets for a real Nets game. The Nets offered 250 tickets during this campaign. About 12.5% of Gowalla users went to the game.

North Face, a Winter sports clothing brand, partnered with Placecast, another geolocation platform. They’ve sent text messages with virtual coupon discounts to consumers who happened to be around their San Francisco and Seattle stores during February 2010. Consumers could then register to receive information and promotions regarding the brand and to continue receiving text messages whenever they pass by a North Face store.

It is predictable that this kind of actions becomes more and more interesting to brands because actions like these envelop consumers and help brands take their digital marketing to the real world, which makes use of the communities developed online. And it is another important step to create tangible brand experiences that may help turn the brand’s digital presence into a rentable action. The future of communications is more about understanding that the online and offline worlds only make sense if they’re planned as a whole, as sort of an allline world.

(Published in Marketeer Magazine, July 2010)

In fashion, one day you’re in, the next day you’re out,

Heidi Klum says, to the competitors of “Project Runway”. Fashion and beauty are areas in which the market has always paid attention to alphas and betas - creators and early adopters - seeking inspiration in that target  to steer the creation of concepts and ideas relevant to their businesses. However, in a market that is traditionally marked by aspirational values in its communication efforts, the emergence of different niches in consumers’ social spheres has created the possibility for each one of us to pursue our own personal concept of beauty and fashion. From the aesthetic oligarchy of the fashion industry, based on the advice provided by a few brilliant minds, emerges a democracy of tastes, where everyone can define and communicate their choices and those of their tribes - everybody can become an influencer. Today’s apparent simplicity to find and get in touch with people who associate themselves with our own niche values leads to a fragmentation of choices, making less relevant a particular image pattern - I can actually follow any image code, as I can, at all times, find people who relate to them. The 80’s have an proper aesthetic,  as the 90’s do - the aesthetics of today are characterized by a fragmentation of a common path and the pursuit of each one’s own beauty (while creating tribes between people who share the same values. I am myself and my network’s circumstance.

From “No Logo” to “My Logo”

There are no more ugly ducklings. If one is ugly, we can just aggregate ourselves into a niche of ugliness in order to fit in, as there are always ways to find individuals that share our beliefs, on and offline. Besides,  the apparent ease with which one masters a subject (by googling it) and the increasing disengagement on everything that involves commitment allow people to jump from tribe to tribe and style to style easily. From the “No Logo” movement of the 90’s, that reflects the counter-cultural McDonaldization, we move to a sphere of “My Logo”, where what matters is the search within and then the matching with others.

Following this patterns, fashion and beauty brands tend to bet on mechanisms based on the customization of its products, offer and facilitating the experiences with their consumers - moving much more into a consumer-oriented business than an innovation oriented one. Inviting them to become fashion curators themselves: in October 2009, U.S. online retailer ModCloth invited its customers to become the buyer of the collections that were put on sale. The initiative, “Be the Buyer” got fans to choose which  dresses, skirts, jackets got to be on sale, according to their tastes - there were 61 designs chosen, and fans that voted  got to buy the clothes earlier that the general public. 

The availability of fashion advisers and tools for product testing become more common, associated with new media platforms. Shiseido launched, in early 2010, a cosmetic mirror in Augmented Reality, allowing consumers to use their new products, experiment looks and provide advice about each one’s skin.

As the consumer becomes increasingly pampered, while brands dispute their attention and faithfullness, they are given increasing empowerment. Branded acts of kindness tend to appear, making the brand look much more of a “butler” in the hands of the consumer. In January 2010, Estee Lauder has offered its customers in Illinois a professional makeup, complete with a photo so they could share it online. The campaign extended to a standard offering for 10 days, and the event was later repeated in other U.S. cities.

By making the experience easier, include the consumers’ tastes in the strategy and providing them with tools and content in order to make them the carrier of the brand’s message, fashion and beauty brands can create better emotional bonds. Helping them tell their personal stories, wrapped around a brand that cares and respects their style. 

( Published in Marketeer Magazine, April 2010)

Here’s a fictional video from FITC , who host design and technology events, on the vanishing of advertising agencies from the face of the earth:

The Last Advertising Agency On Earth from FITC on Vimeo.

I’m sure they got the message already. I really don’t think ad agencies are going to disappear. Sure, they have to evolve. Become connectors and curators, design integrated campaigns and brands that belong more to consumers than creative directors.  I believe that’s the main issue here: in order to build “new” brands, the people that create them have to give up some control. And realize that narrative has changed and they really, really really have to “put up” with the fact that consumers are more creative then them - agencies are selling “viral” ideas, but no agency (that I know of) has topped any consumer generated video on Youtube. Still, there will always be space for good stories and ideas. They just have to be told in a slightly different way. Anyway, it’s just a matter of survival. Some will prevail, some won’t.

Jeff Jarvis thinks otherwise. Check out an excerpt taken from his interview with Steve Rubel: