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The Media Fad Syndrome: Short Term Thinking in Marketing

The investments committed to marketing are investments contributing to the short, medium and long term health of a business. 

The most common criticism of the marketing function from others within the organisation is what is seen by some as the near cult-like reverence to the long term ‘brand identity’, at the expense of 'present market realities'. In other words, stop the 'fluffy nonsense and let's just get out there and sell!'

All well and good having a fancy brand plan, they say, but if consumers are running away from the business right now, then a long term plan is just wasted energy. In other words, 'stop the fluffy nonsense and let's just get out there and sell!'.

There are many far wiser and far more eloquent than I to counter this prevalant argument.

It is true that a focus on the ‘brand’ can consume companies and the brand teams to the point of being unable to spot consumer shifts happening right under their noses, so a greater level of flexibility and agility is essential in any brand approach now.

However, I would argue that whilst in theory brands may be looking to the long-term, at an executional level there still seems to be a number of brands (and agencies) who are suffering from the short-termist disease that I call Media Fad Syndrome. 

This is simply the addiction to having whatever everyone is having.

I have been around the industry for a long time, and one thing is for sure. Conference companies make good business offering up the next ‘hot topic’. A few years ago, Second Life was going to be the new United Nations/social phenomenon/brand heaven. A little before, you could not move without hearing how the future was going to be in 'branded content'. 

Then came the widget. No self-respecting advertising or media agency could NOT suggest a widget as part of the marketing ideas for clients. then it was very much the rise of the Facebook Page. I was on a coach recently, and the coach company had a sticker on the side, inviting people to be the coach company's friend on Facebook. This might be a great idea, but for the life of me I am trying to work out how.

Then it was the turn of the iPhone apps, and then the iPad apps. (Sidenote: few are asking for Android yet, even with the massive smartphone penetration of Android...another style over substance discussion for another time perhaps)

What next in the MFS? What was the reasoning behind any of the above examples of the last few years? Was this based on rational business analysis, or a desire to 'do something that's hot'? Are we fearful of falling behind if we don't do what everyone else is doing? Is it all the fault of the Conference Organisers or Jounalists, or are they merely reflecting what everyone is talking about?

However, these are merely symptoms of The Media Fad Syndrome, not the root cause. Branded content can be exceptionally effective for brands, while Facebook pages can be extremely efficient in delivering to specific business objectives too.

All channels of connection mentioned in the visual have value (except Second Life).

BUt we are talking about an addiction, a fix for ‘something cool’, 'something on trend' with little clarity on the business objectives for the investment. 

Agencies sadly are particularly prone to MFS.

If the use of the ‘latest thing’ is for Marketing R&D, with proper measures of success locked to it, then great. That works for me.

But when the ‘latest thing’ is done more out of an emotional need for ‘cool’, then the Media Fad Syndrome needs to be treated fast.

As companies suffer from this virus, other companies have managed to steer clear of this, by worrying less about the short term and the long term. They focus on the evolving now, the EVER  PRESENT.

We have moved to a multi-sensory marketing landscape where the people's relationship with brands cannot be measured by 3 week 'campaigns'. The relationships are forever evolving, ever changing, and always happening. We have shifted to marketing that is real-time, always ON. On the one hand, delivery in this world is about as short-term as you can get, but equally it requires a vision that has long-term direction, yet one that has a fluidity not normally structured in company plans...

So time to get serious about MFS and stamp it out. Considering a fluid future, rather than a long-term or short-term one could be the start of the healing process

Conference Bingo at the Festival of Media 2011

Well, the Festival of Media is underway again.

Last year I had fun following it on Twitter, whilst playing Conference Bingo.

Here was my card of last year.

   

So I have prepared one for this year too.Here it is.

Some old ones (they just keep coming back...) Some new ones, and soem that will definately not get mentioned.

I particularly like the Angry Clients one, as I have met a few over the last 12 months where the gap between Agency Promise and Delivery has got wider in some client's minds...

I will also be following the event to see whether two words get much of a mention:

Sales            Trust

Am always an optimist.

Nothing really to say about sales. Pretty straightforward. With lots of talk at the conference about measurement, ROI and so on, I would love to know what a CFO would make of these conversations.

Meanwhile, at the conference, I would love to see a little time committed on how Agencies can build trust with clients and how Companies can strengthen trust with people...

Anyway, back to the Bingo...

curious about Great Mind-Mapping Tools Number 1: 3P (Pen, Pencils & Paper)



It started with The University of Greenwich. My friend and wonderfully curious person, Dr. Gauti Sigthorsson (@conceptbin), invited me to speak with his students at Greenwich University. His brief was for me to share my experiences on setting up my own business, networking and generally getting noticed.

So I started to create a powerpoint presentation of thoughts...then got bored...

I found myself switching to pen and paper, gathering my thoughts on my notepad the night before…

As I scribbled away, I soon realized I had doodled a nice little mindmap.

I then raided my son’s pencil case, sharpened the pencils...

and then colour-coded the lot.

I haven’t done this for a while, but it worked a treat…

Speaking with the group, I would briefly look at my notes, see my flow, check what I have missed, and come back to it.

Here are my notes...

 

I really enjoyed the session. No Powerpoint. No Keynote. No desire to show 1 picture or 1000. No concerns about infographics. Just conversation starters to generate discussion, rather than a lecture.

It seemed to work for the attendees too.

I think it was because the focus was on the CONVERSATION FLOW rather than the SLIDESHOW.

This Pen, Pencil & Paper combination might just take off…

 

Q: To regain people's trust, do brands need to do less marketing?

My friend and fellow curious citizen Dr. Gauti Sigthorsson put me onto a fascinating discussion amongst academics in the digital humanities space. I am still delving in and out of it.

One of the subjects touched upon was the relative value of Google NGrams to those in academia.

Which led me to do this...

 

Pointless? Meaningless? A fundamental truth?

There are so many things wrong with this chart, but the simplicity of it should at least stimulate debate about the importance of Trust in brand behaviour...

 

 

Mercator vs Peters Projection: A shift in the Marketing Map

I love maps. I love the sense of discovery, the names of places, and how they have evolved over time.

There was one map that dominated during my youth - the Mercator map, which has been around for a few hundred years.

Here it is.

And then I found out the world wasn't really like this at all.

The Mercator projection was created to help European sailors navigate the world in straight lines. It has also been the preferred map in schools. It provides a true reflection of the shape of the land masses, so that's ok...except for the fact that it distorts the size of land masses.

Greenland for instance, takes as much space as Africa, yet the area of Africa is 14 times larger. Compare Greenland to China too. Finland looks wider than India, but in reality, this is not the case. The Mercator map increasingly inflates the size of regions the further from the equator these regions are, while regions close to the equator seem smaller.

Then along came the Gall-Peters Map, which claimed to provide an alternative to the Mercator map.

 

On the Gall-Peters map, the areas of equal size on the map reflect areas of equal size on the globe. So Africa, Brazil, China and India loom larger, and Europe shrinks significantly.

In 1983, Arno Peters said of the Mercator map:

The European world concept...must give way to an objective global concept

He saw the Gall-Peters map as a way of helping to shift perception of the world.

As we now see the political, financial and economic power of Europe waning, and other regions growing in strength, maybe now is the time for the Gall-Peters map to be considered as a fairer representation of the world.

Shifting over to marketing, there are many parallels.

The 'western' perspective on marketing, which has dominated since the middle of the 20th Century, could be represented by the Mercator map. Meanwhile, Gall-Peters represents the dynamic re-alignment that has been occurring over recent years in marketing.

London & New York have always held sway as the key centres for marketing services. The Asia-Pacific 'regional HQ' was seen as the post to have before getting the big job. As for the job in Latin America, well that was something a European did prior to retiring.

Any European trying to secure a role in Latin America or Asia these days better be good. Really good. Because for some time, the talent from these regions is stunning.

Concepts. Ideas. Vision. All key elements for great marketing that is pouring out of Santiago, Sao Paolo, Singapore, Nairobi and beyond.

Another place where we are seeing a shift to a 'Gall-Peters' type marketing perspective is the Awards Ceremony. Once dominated by European and East Coast U.S, we now regularly see the confidence and swagger of Brazil, India, Australia, Argentina, South Africa, China and others at such events, both in the entries and on the judging panel.

Which leads to a third reason for the shift to a new Map of Marketing. Talent. I have met incredible people on my travels. A phemonenal creative director in India, a smart advertising guy in Kenya, a marketing dynamo based in Sao Paulo.

Marketing has been shifting to a Gall-Peters Map for a little while now, for more reasons than the three I mention above.

For those who are living in a Mercator Marketing bubble, it might be time to take a look at the Gall-Peters map and see the marketing world as it really is. Because the days of the old marketing imperialism are long gone.

 

 

 

How Big Business can learn from Small Business: Apple v Total Wargamer

Snow caused havoc this Christmas in the UK. Trains stopped, roads became chaotic, while airports failed to have enough de-icer fluid to function properly. (Nope, the UK is not very prepared for such weather).

Meanwhile, Christmas shoppers faced a challenge to do their shopping, and retailers struggled to open.

With more people in the UK shifting to online retailers for their seasonal shopping, the big question was whether the deliveries would get through.

Many companies, big and small, had to deal with shoppers concerned whether the gifts would arrive in time for Christmas day.

Two such companies were Apple (big) and Total Wargamer (not quite so big).

I had bought stuff from both companies before Xmas, both for the first time and both of whom had guaranteed delivery before Xmas.

As the big day loomed, Total Wargamer, a small business that sells Warhammer stuff, assured me that the parcel would arrive. When there was only four days to go, I chased a second time. Their response was phenomenal:

I am worried it hasn't turned up yet as it should have done by now. I will re send today by Parcel Force 24 hour courier and hope that you receive the resend or the original package in time. If you do receive both of them, please let us know and post one back. We will of course refund you for the cost of postage.

I hope you are happy with this, hopefully you will receive one or the other in time.

That response gave me the assurance that someone was really concerned about customer care, and that the company were going to do everything they could to make sure I got the package.

The package arrived in time, and my perception of Total Wargamer rose.

This small company was ready to take action to help me out. The outcome is that they have won a big fan and a customer who will come back again (Thanks to Vicky and Paul).

And Apple?

Well, I bought the photo album from them. On the site, they guaranteed delivery for Xmas if ordered by a certain date. My son and I took time to select the photos and did the layout together. I ordered (to find only then that VAT and shipping was on top of the advertised price - nice touch Apple). I then waited.

Needless to say, it didn't arrive. I chased a few days before the 25th. The customer service representative sent me nicely crafted responses with phrases such as:

It was a pleasure to assist you with this. Take care and have a wonderful day.

Take care, and please know we wish you only the best.

whilst pointedly failing to answer my concerns. 

They pointed me to the UPS site to track it - it was their fault apparently. Her hands were tied. Oh and the day before xmas, they blamed it on the weather.

They offered to refund the money, which is fine but my issues about delivering on promises were not addressed, and I am still waiting.

So two companies.

Both facing the same challenges at Christmas.

One company showed a willingness to take action to help a customer. One company shared platitudes and little else.

Apple, please go have a word with Total Wargamer. You might learn a thing or two about customer service.

 

 

Is this the first Planemob? GermanWings uses Eastjet to make their point...

 

 

My friend Philip shared this with me today, and I had to share it here with you.

 

You don't need to fully understand the german words, though it does add to the power of the storyline obviously.

 

The punchline is just fantastic...

 

I presume though that EasyJet will focus on the money that these people paid to fly on their airline...one positive for them I guess...

 

 

 

The Role of Media Owners in 'client' Brand Building and Business Growth

 

I was kindly invited to the World Media Group's ThinkTank lunch yesterday at L'Escargot. Great lunch. Challenging topics for discussion. Intriguing collection of guests that made for a lively debate.

Much discussion centred around the relationships between media/content owners, media agencies and clients.

For my part, I have always believed that the relationship between Media/Content owner and brand is nowhere near as strong as it should be.

A Media/Content owner is a brand. They have business challenges, a need to better understand their own consumers, a desire to grow this consumer base and a requirement to strengthen the ties with existing consumers...just like the clients that they and the media agencies serve...

So the business issues that Media Owner brands and 'client' brands are similar.

Yet 'client' brands all too often view the Media Owner brands through the lens of 'media' as opposed through the lens of 'business'.

Hence why many boardrooms around the world view 'media owner' brands as merely sources of advertising space and 'brand exposure' rather than potential business partners.

On our mondaymediachat blog, Bernhard Glock and I discussed how the Media Owner / Brand relationship might evolve in the future and how Media Owner brands need to be more assertive and confident about their contribution.

Here is the video:

 

One other thing that might help, and which I sense is improving dramatically with Media Owners, is a deepr understanding of the 'client' brands' business. There is nothing a client likes more than an agency or supplier company that builds their idea upon deep insights of the client's business - obvious I know, but not as common as we would hope.

Promise & Delivery - Carat wants to 'Transform Businesses'...not like this they won't.

I have been looking around the media agency sites recently to get a better grip on how they are all positioning themselves during these exciting yet tough times.

I came across the Carat UK site, which proudly states that they can:

help transform your business

Sounds good.

Then I spotted a section called Aca Demy, which is: 

designed as a shared space to understand the increasingly complex world of media and marketing communications. To arm us with the information we need to understand the media revolution. To provide a forum for debate, comment and advice, free to all.

Intrigued, I headed off there to find a menu that includes a section called 'Jargon'.

In this world of folksonomies, taxonomies, ARGs, BITs, GRPs, RABs and even DPSs, any help is appreciated.

So I clicked expecting a mass of jargon explained...and instead I got this:

 

 

Under A is Mediatel. Under F is FAME. Digital TV and JICIMS appear in 'View All', but don't appear under any letter at all.

And that  is it. Across the whole alphabet, Carat UK has managed to rustle up a total of 4 pieces of jargon that they thought worthy of clarifying, only one of which sits under the right letter.

Now there must be one of three reasons for this somewhat surprising result:

1    There is a temporary bug in the site, hiding the vast number of words/phrases laid out in the jargon busting dictionary (aka Academy JBD).

2    The Academy JBD is sponsored by the research/regulatory bodies mentioned.

3    Carat UK have not bothered to fill it in.

If the answer is number 1, then cool. Things happen. I will go back and check.

If the answer is number 2, then I clearly have missed the joke/point.

If the answer is number 3, then it is another example of a Media Agency failing on the Promise - Delivery Equation.

Delivery needs to equal or exceed Promise, if agencies are to build trust with clients. That's the simple equation.

Carat are a great agency doing fantastic work for their clients. However they promised to deliver a helpful resource to understand complex jargon, and then seemed to have given up on it before it really got going.

And that's a missed opportunity.

 

Making Sense of a Digital World: The Visualisation of Data

I recently saw one of the IBM Smarter Planet ads that has the catchy title: Data Energy - Analysing Data from Energy Sources.

The core message of the ad was about harnessing data generated from energy sources to help increase organisational efficiency and seek alternative energy sources. All good stuff.

However, what particularly intrigued me was the beautiful opening shot of the ad, which showcase a feast of colour, with the voiceover announcing:

"This Is Data"

 

The ability to visualise data was a theme that I covered in a recent presentation. I was invited by those nice people at Hyper-Island to be a Guest Speaker at one of their Master Classes, and speak about 'The Anthropology of Digital'.

So after I had looked up the word anthropology, I decided to frame my talk around its four pillars - the Cultural, the Physical, Archaeology, and Linguistics. Next step was to take a swim amongst the inspirational stories, insights and threads that I could access digitally.

But where do I start? There is so much inspirational and insightful stuff out there, how can I process all the information and inspiration to help me shape my story?

Sometimes, it feels like a huge struggle to keep our heads above the deluge of data, rather than a relaxing swim. When jumping in, we soon realise it's the deep end we've jumped into, not the shallow end.

 

Which is where the visual superiority effect comes into play.

 

Visuals help convey complex issues rapidly, as this example from 1924 does:

 

One favourite of mine is the genius in the simplicity of the London Underground Map. Here is a little video I filmed at the London Transport Museum, of how the London Underground grew over the years. Fantastic.

 

 

So it makes sense that we are seeing a rise in utilisation of data visualisation to help us make sense of the world, thanks in part to the celebrated Edward Tufte and his book The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.

 

 

One recent example that highlighted this trend towards Data Visualisation was the brilliant Sea Levels piece by the equally brilliant David McCandless (found in his engrossing book/blog: Information is Beautiful)

 

I am not suggesting that we give up the written word and just draw. It is that we are faced with a rising tide of data.

The visualisation of that data can be a powerful force to make us sit up and take notice...before we all drown.