Adotas Posts - Views on Interactive Creative

I’m not sure why it took me so long to post this. But our Interactive Creative Director has been selected as a key contributor to the well known Adotas E-newsletter/blog. While some may have differing views of Ernie’s often strong opinions (even within our walls), we believe that healthy debate and dialogue is good, so in the spirit of transparency we thought that we would share.

http://www.adotas.com/author/ernie-mosteller/

The Year of Mobile?

One of the perks of this industry is the opportunity to go to the occasional industry conference. Besides the opportunity to connect with old friends, and meet some new ones, I’ve found it very typical to leave whatever conference du jour with at least 2 things –

1) Validation - validation that you’re on the right path, and staying ahead of the curve.

And…..

2) “THE phrase” that everyone keeps repeating over and over.

Site Design and Customer Satisfaction: A Simple Exercise

“We need a new site. The old one is ugly, buggy, and doesn’t do what we want. We want one that looks like ___________. That’s a really great site.”

I wonder how many times those words have been spoken in conference rooms across the country. Heck, across the world, even. It’s only natural. Each of us has a favorite site, or sites – we like how they look, we like how they work, we like the way we’re able to use them when we use them ourselves. So it’s only natural for us to want to re-create an experience we already know we like for our customers and prospects.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

Because your customers and prospects may be (probably are) looking for something very different from you than a duplication of your favorite website. And what your customers are looking for from you is, in the end, what you need to deliver.

Try this exercise:

My New Favorite Word

I have a new favorite word of the day: technologist. I’m not sure it should be my new favorite word so I’m on a mission to find out whether using it is appropriate or not. In most uses of this term, it is meant as someone who has specialized training in the world of technology. In academia and more international forums, this would include engineers and scientists, and it would often require specific accreditation for this label to be bestowed.

However at a recent AAAA digital conference, panelists from agencies and digital shops used this word to refer to a breadth of people working on the technology side of digital marketing, including some creative folks. So developers, programmers, IA, and the system admins were seemingly lumped into being digital technologists, if I heard this correctly.

Does this matter? It does when a panelist refers to the back-end programmers being outsourced to India as “oh those guys” instead of realizing how important it is to acknowledge everyone’s role in the building and creating of the technology we use daily. It does matter when creative designers are given props for skills and talent when the same respect is not accorded to the creativity offered by developers. And I’m sure it matters when pay raises are being sought and awarded.

But I like the word. I like the specialness that it signifies. And so I’m off to ask some of our own technologists on staff just what it means to them.

Am I An Anomaly?

A few days ago, I was sitting next to a partner of ours who works on our client’s business. He and I share a lot of similarities, including our love of technology. We were comparing each other’s laptops (I was impressed by the incredibly tiny screen on his Vaio), and we mentioned how much we love having our computers, and hence access to the Internet, with us all the time. Our conversation turned to his daughter, now a graduate with a baccalaureate degree who is learning the fine art of creative on the Internet. As he showed me her latest work, we oohed and aahed over the messaging and simplicity of design. We both agreed that we loved seeing this type of thought on the Web.

Then he said a strange thing. He said that his daughter thought of him as an anomaly. Here was this very smart gentleman, in his forties, obviously understanding and grasping how the digital world works (and playing very well in it), and yet his daughter (who has developed psychologically alongside the Internet) thinks of him as a rare species because he does. I was taken aback a bit…for I am around the same age as this suggested dinosaur and yet I am going on year 13 of actually working in this industry. Am I an anomaly, too? Is it just the cool kids out of school who really get it?

5 things you can do before 5pm today.

Being submerged in this industry, it’s easy to make assumptions about what people know and don’t know about digital marketing. Some recent conversations with clients and prospects have reminded me that while pretty much everyone has a website and knows how to use email, most are still just trying to figure out search and blogs, let alone Facebook and Twitter…

With that in mind, I thought it was a good time to step back and offer up 5 things that can be completed before 5 PM today. These are smaller parts of much bigger design and strategic picture, but they will at least get you started and pointed in the right direction; setting the stage for when it’s time to expand your digital marketing initiatives.

Let’s assume it’s 11AM…OK, go.

As GM goes, so goes . . .

Jean Halliday reported in the March 17, 2008 Digital Issue of Advertising Age that GM is shifting “fully half of its $3 billion budget into digital and one-to-one marketing within the next three years.” If there are still doubts that digital should be a substantial element of advertising and marketing plans, then let GM’s “roar” serve as a clarion call. As Halliday wrote, “as GM goes, so goes the entire automotive industry . . .” Hyundai is doubling its online spending in 2008. GM is dissuading their dealers from doing spot TV advertising and moving dealer efforts online. The Kelsey Group expects that by 2010 nearly 40% of auto advertising will be done via local online and directional media — an estimated $10.8 billion piece of the pie.

Marketers should not only take note of the dollars GM and the rest of the auto industry are shifting to digital, but the type of digital these dollars are buying. We’re not just talking banner ads here. Efforts include gaming, search, mobile and a broad array of applications.

And this trend goes beyond the automotive industry. Here is a list of facts from Jonathan Lemonnier’s March 26^th Ad Age article on alternative media spending increases. Alternative media includes online, mobile, entertainment and digital out-of-home advertising.

• Spending on alternative media hit $74.43 billion in 2007, a 22% increase over 2006
• Forecasts predict a 20.2% increase over next year, to a total of $88.24 billion
• By 2012, 26.6%, $160.82 billion, of all advertising and marketing dollars will be spent on alternative media
• Interactive marketing alone which includes e-direct marketing, word-of-mouth and e-custom publishing increased by 24.4% in 2007 to $11.9 billion

Of course, GM isn’t directing its entire $3 billion budget into digital and one-to-one. They understand that these are important communication modes in an overall, integrated marketing program. Broadcast, outdoor, direct, etc. are still and will continue to be warranted. Unlike many marketers though, GM realizes that digital must be given equal resources to have a measurable impact within a marketing-mix model.

Is it Time to Outsource Online Technology?

So Google is following Amazon and providing a scalable platform for web apps and web services development and hosting http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/07/google-jumps-head-first-into-web-services-with-google-app-engine/. In my role I am often caught between the need to follow the latest trends/support where advertising technology takes us, and the ever present challenge to make sure that security, loss of data and service reliability are taken care of.

I often find that many IT departments are in conflict with marketing because they are bound by the requirement to maintain systems and services. And to the IT group that often means keeping everything inhouse. The trend towards hosted apps, mashup sites, open source hosted sites, web service offerings, etc. continues relentlessly. These systems can be integrated and co-exsit with our mainstream online marketing activities. In fact by using the plethora of services available, we can not only reduce our workload, but significantly improve our product offerings, reach more people and drive sales — all while looking like technology hero’s.

I’m not saying that we should follow every trend but we must recognise that there are other solutions that we may not have full control over but do present serious opportunities to lower costs, improve time to market and meet the business goals that we all strive to achieve.

My New Favorite Online Ads - Part 2

In an earlier post, I sang the praises of the advertising model offered by Pandora.com. Another site that is taking an innovative approach to advertising within broadcast media content online is ABC.com.

As television networks continue to make more programming available on the web, they have taken different approaches to incorporating advertising into their online program streams. Most of the networks have basically created a video stream that mirrors their on-air model. They play a portion of the program, then switch to a 30-second advertiser’s spot, then continue on with the program.

But ABC.com has taken a different tact. Within ABC’s online video player, advertisers have the option to load in a branded web page or even a microsite during the commercial breaks. This branded page is completely under the control of the advertiser, allowing the brand to include a variety of content - video and audio streams, flash product demos, user polls, online games - whatever the brand want to provide. A countdown timer keeps viewers on the advertisers page for the length of a standard TV spot, and after that the user actually needs to click to continue with the program - it doesn’t just start again. This model is really forward thinking for a television network because of all that it offers both the advertiser and the viewer:

Lewis, Clark and the Internet

We’re always in search of new territory - some place that no one’s been before. The first one to stake a claim on “what’s next.” It’s in our DNA. Our culture has thrived on it. I liken it to the great western expansion of the 1800’s - the question is whether we will ever run out of land to explore - the pacific ocean of the interactive space if you will - and the answer is that we won’t. So where does that leave those that are not blazing trails and discovering new territory? How do we handle the influx of “what’s next” when some of us haven’t even figured out what to do with what’s old. The answer may surprise you. The answer is don’t worry about it. Don’t get caught up into it.