Innovation is the ultimate “corporate dream”. One about building new realities that are protected from competition thanks to unique factors included in the productive process, thus creating new markets and consumers only for us… This is one of the most important economic boosters nowadays and it usually tends to raise a lot of human and financial investment. Schumpeter wrote that innovation is one of the main drivers of long term economic growth (and, dare I say, development). Nowadays, the will to innovate is not only present in supply but also in demand – consumers (a word that will soon be out of the marketing jargon) are more and more used to being creative and innovative themselves and demand to be part of that movement.

Naturally, innovation is more noticeable when it’s connected to industry. It can be incremental (productivity increase, products competitive advantage, cost reduction, etc.) or structural (a different, unique, proprietary product). In a crisis environment, innovation makes more sense than ever but research and development budgets are commonly reduced in order to face the current financial and economic situation. There are, however, various innovation policies that can be carried out with relatively low investment. These policies are based on marketing tools that can direct existing brands and products to new niches, add new attributes to current products and create new communications channels, if they’re defined in compliance with consumer behavior trends and the evolution of society.

Last month’s trendwatching.com briefing about Innovation Insanity was about many topics already discussed here – statusphere, hyperlocal, infolust. Because these ideas are only meant to light your creative spark, they’re presented in a scattered way but there is some common ground. Firstly, because their strategic planning is based on consumer and society evolution. It has to do with the demand of generosity, skills development and emerging status fulfillment through product consumption (sustainable citizen, social and personal balance, etc.). It also has to do with what people get from content aggregation and localization, technological development and with the integration of consumers in the marketing and product development process. Most of those ideas come from quick communications decisions, directing existing products to new niches. These are marketing decisions – speed and agility, by the way, are essential marketing attributes to companies trying to get through the 21st century.

There are some Portuguese examples regarding industrial innovation. For instances, the “oon candlemaker”, a Portuguese invention that allows people to create scented candles with cooking oil. Its design and the company’s communications efforts pass on a sense of sophistication that may well lead the candlemaker to a spot in the kitchen or the living room right next to the Nespresso machine. Although Portugal has a number of patents produced annually rather low compared to other countries, there are many good examples of innovation to be implemented by SMEs and startups in the country.

(Published in Marketeer Magazine, August 2010)

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

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)

Interesting. I’ve been discussing with some folks the intrinsic value of social media and how to turn that outcome ( the FB profile, the blog, the twitter profile, etc.) into outcome ( sale!).  Which is pretty difficult as many companies only have “real life” points of sale. Hopefully some Foursquare kind of mechanic will make it easier to integrate on and offline, with all the geotagging and mapping going around. And sure, it creates brand recognition, dialogue, market intelligence features, influence with consumers and opinion makers, SEO improvements, which are must-have features in today’s world,  but all companies in mature markets are feeling extremely pressured to SELL. Most marketing departments are now kind of “softer sale departments”… marketing directors and becoming financial directors… so  right now, they want to sell, sell sell! Can Social media promise that?

Best,

Pedro

The need to show our values – by developing a relationship with brands or products that represent an idea – isn’t new. From the moment that sumptuary laws – which made it impossible to someone to dress or consume “above” their social status - were gradually abolished and after we witnessed the evolution of the monetary economy, the fragmentation of work and social mobility, our consumption patterns became exclusively dependent of how much money we have (Appadurai, 1986). This is one of the reasons that explains the success of the industrial revolution: as more and more products and services of that time were being supplied, the bourgeoisie felt the urge to consume “superior quality” goods, that go beyond what is really necessary, to get them closer to the noble way of life (Sombart, 1967). In order for them to mimic the nobles’ status, the bourgeoisie used cash holdings and luxury products consumption to compete. Sociologist Werner Sombart explains in his work Luxus und Kapitalismus that luxury has this special ability to create markets through status. Desiring these goods and managing luxury by creating and taming fashion trends is one of the main drivers of commerce, stabilizing capitalist processes in its most mature phases.

In more mature consumer societies and, in this specific time, in societies that are affected by a cyclical (if not structural) economic crisis, other forms of status can rise, directly related to cultural and social changes. New ways of broadcasting a message about ourselves other than money or wealth. This shows that we, as a society, are dealing with wealth in a more mature way and also that we’re seeing a decrease in “possession” as a way of acquiring status. Apart from that, it’s becoming obvious that, in some fashion brands, there’s a more discreet approach to luxury and a lot less “bling bling” culture, which was everywhere in the latter years of the 20th century and the first few years of the current one.

The democratization of “experiences” is a good example. As brands try to get consumers to prefer them to other brands, they treat them as “unique”, providing them with experiences and also by allowing them to see their status needs satisfied, so that they can go home and tell a story about themselves to everyone – offering an additional dividend, a complement to the act of consuming, in the shape of a story.

Urban Wine, a company founded in 2008, collects grapes from several oenophiles, located in London and in the Southeast region of the UK, in order to process them collectively (according to each type of wine) every October. Consumers with more productive vineyards can join the company as member winemakers and are entitled to six bottles of collectively produced wine. Wines are produced in partnership with professional vineyards, but consumers can choose the label they’d like on their own bottles. And, of course, they bring a great story home, allowing them to tell anyone about this specific experience, but also about their newly obtained skills.

The Atlantis hotel group is offering families who decide to stay at its Bahamas development an opportunity to improve their… Lego skills. A master in this subject teaches families how to build advanced structures using these toys, providing them with great family time, and the ability to take a new skill home to show off to our friends.

The new Silvertree building, expected to be ready for the London Olympics in 2012, is a 24-store skyscraper with an environmental conscience: an internal biomass generator, photovoltaic panels and a vertical forest. Amongst other advantages, it allows consumers to tell their peers that they are sustainable citizens, without even having to constrain certain behaviors. Promoting the status for “sustainable citizen”.

What turns a product into a status symbol is, above all things, how the brand communicates its “experience”. For Louis Vuitton, it’s about their handbags and luggage. For Fnac, it’s about providing consumers with the opportunity to show everyone how they love “culture” through their branded shopping bags, that show off our purchases on the streets. For Toyota Prius, it’s about being an icon – both visually and functionally – of the environmental awareness of it’s driver. Design and strategy can put the “iconic” quality into goods. Taking into account that the ideas to which we want to be associated to evolve, brands should try to satisfy these new emergent consumer needs. But always making sure that our peers notice our tastes too…

Pedro

(Published in Marketeer Magazine, May 2010)

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)

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:

MTV droped the “music television” from it’s logo. Now, this is a redesign that actually makes sense, as MTV’s entertainment spectrum is no longer intrinsically attached to music and (pretend) reality shows have taken over the channel. MTV has successfully adapted itself to changes in the entertainment landscape throughout the years. But the formats and platforms  in which music is consumed and communicated have changed a lot. Too much for the actual television platforms to handle, so I understand why they have opted for “trashier” TV programs, which by the way seem to endlessly come up with new kinds of themes, forever based on the “reality” argument.

But. I don’t think that they should give up their music heritage entirely. According to a press release, “The logo is part of MTV’s re-invention to connect with today’s millennial generation and bring them in as part of the channel”. OK. Fair enough. But the platforms will change once more. TV’s will become interactive, so we can sing and dance to their shows (”So you think we can dance” in which you can actually imitate the choreographies in real time? Or sing a long’s to “American Idol”?). New platforms to download and share music will emerge - probably legal ones. “Offline” live music events are becoming more relevant, exclusive and experiential, and offer a great alternative to the democratized VOD stuff. Gaming and music will be tied together ( think Dance Star and Guitar Hero with augmented reality, and kids singing a duet with Beyoncé “inside” the TV).

And how can MTV push aside it’s history, appeal and top of mind regarding music if there are so many opportunities in that market for them to capitalize on and associate their brand to? Connecting with the millenial generation is just fine. But disconecting with music will make them lose their relevance. So a new, really interactive music channel can come up and take the throne which MTV chose to gave up.

These are just suppositions - I don’t work with the company ( hey, if you guys are reading this, we are available and we rock:). Neither I am aware of the new strategies that are probably connected to this redesign. Hey, I even like the new logo. But. Short term strategies don’t usually work well in the long run…

Cheers,

Pedro

Photo taken in Porto, 2 weeks ago. Weird.