I was browsing for a birthday card for my lovely friend Gina at the weekend and noticed this card. I really wasn’t sure whether I liked it or not. after some consideration I turned the card over to learn that the illustration is a Picasso. upon receiving this information, I immediately decided that I liked it.
and that – it occurred to me – is as clear a demonstration as any I’ve seen, of the power of brand.
Radiohead are giving anyone the chance to create their own version of the bands video for their latest release House of Cards. the video was made using structured light to create three dimensional images. but anyone can download the data – courtesy of Google – from here, manipulate it, and share the results of their efforts on a YouTube group created for the project.
its essentially an open-source video – anyone can down load the data from which it was made and then make their own version.
James Frost, who directed the video, comments that “In a weird way [the
project] is a direct reflection of where we are in society. Everything
is [computer] data. Everything around us is data-driven in some shape
or form. We are so reliant on it that it seems like our lives are
digital”…as quoted in the Guardian
in a digital world everything and anything can be remade all the time. nothing is set in stone. nothing is ever fixed, or finished for that matter. there is no definitive version of anything; only this version. which becomes your definitive version is yours to decide. its a fun world to be in.
here’s Radiohead’s version:
so I’m addicted already. only an hour playing with Spore’s Creature Creator and I sense the precious few hours I had remaining this summer evaporating. its a beautiful bit of software, allowing you to create and then test out creatures in a habitat – their mating calls, dances, moods and attacks.
its round one of Will Wright’s Spore, due for release in September. the game will see you navigate a species from single cell being to galactic conquest… and EA have pulled a blinder… one of the key elements is the Creature Creator, software that’s integral to the game as it allows you to design the species you’ll be taking care of – and EA have given it away for free.
a whole couple of months ahead of the game’s release a key component of it free to download from the game’s site… a million creatures have already been created (a video of my own little contribution – furdock – is above and a little pic below). the creativity you’re afforded is staggering, and the hardest part is coming up with a name for your little fellas…
its one thing to play the neat trick of getting millions of people addicted to a core element of your game before its even released. but it’s quite another to make sharing those creations so simple and intuitive. if this nugget is anything to go by, Spore will be a genuine milestone; not just for gaming, but for the whole of popular culture.
so I end up doing a fair bit of thinking on how broadcast messages can influence decision making at the point of purchase. here’s a great little solution from Tours in France that gets le barmen to suggest how people should mix their energy drink.
the barman makes the suggestion and the customer gets the opportunity to try something new without feeling the potential intimidation of having to ask a barman what he recommends… very simple, very neat and very based in a brand and consumer problem.
a lovely example of talking to your existing customers from Atlantic Gas and Electric who this week sent me two free energy saving light bulbs. I – like many people I suspect – get a plethora of items through the letterbox from brands with which I have an association; egg in particular is never shy of sending me an invitation to increase my ARPU.
so great to see Atlantic putting their CRM where there mouth is and sending me something which is tangible, practical and above all pertinent to the credentials there aiming to build. more of this please.
Amy has pointed me in the direction of a Guardian blog post by Keith Stuart which highlighted the extent to which online gaming behaviour generally bears the same habitualised and routine patterns as the real world.
he cites research from Northeastern University in Boston,
MA, that – thru tracking the movements of 100,000 people
using mobile phone signals – demonstrated that:
"Human trajectories show a high degree of temporal and spatial
regularity, each individual being characterised by a time-independent
characteristic travel distance and a significant probability to return
to a few highly frequented locations" source
Stuart observes that the same is often true in video games (such as the hotly-awaited Spore in the image above); in his post he comments that:
"It would be interesting, within a realm like WoW or Second Life, or
even one of the larger CoD IV maps, to track player movement and match
this data to the real-life research. I think there would be
correlations. People often make the mistake of thinking games are about complete escapism, but they're not."
I think as comms planners we're guilty of being nervous of planning in the online space because we assume that consumers will adopt a completely new set of motivations and behaviours. the reality is that they don't. what's true for Arnie in Total Recall (the title quote of this post) is true of consumers when interacting with brands in the online space.
the internet's greatest asset is also it's greatest challenge – the fact that the canvas is so big and blank… from ARGs to branded content via character blogs and gaming, there's a world of potential consumer engagement to explore and create. our media planning experience makes us more qualified than most to
integrate online experiences into schedules and communications plans.
Stuart's post reminds me that we shouldn't forget what we've learned about consumer motivations, desires and behaviours and translate them to the online space… the canvas has changed but the fundamental rules haven't. online is not a media channel and it shouldn't equal display and search as default lines on schedules. brands should go create with the confidence that they're able to more confidently predict online audience behaviour than they may think.
the above lovely quote is reported in Contagious Magazine by computer scientist Bill Joy in conversation with Peter Gabriel. the artist is launching The Filter – an entertainment portal that aggregates content around your preferences.
users set up a basic profile by rating a selection of genres
and artists in music and film – the Filter then
provides a range of relevant recommendations, and uses any further
selections you make to refine its service further.
add to this the obligatory social networking element that allows you keep tabs of what the coolest of your friends are up to and we have a great example of Andersen's third long tail behaviour.
in a world of plenty, the man who knows whats most relevant for you is king… The Filter represents the latest with their eyes on the throne.
so those observant people at Springwise have spotted the latest brand to cede control to its potential consumers. hot on the heels of crowdmanaged eco clothing company nvohk and MyFootballClub's purchase of Ebbsfleet United comes BeerBankroll.com.
for just $50 you get to join an online community for beer lovers where you can not only share your passion for beer but at the same time help create a brewing company. as Springwise reports, the site:
"…is currently recruiting a minimum of 50,000 members, each of whom
will contribute USD 50 in exchange for voting rights on ideas such as
the company name, logo, product design, product mix, marketing plan,
advertising and sponsorship … Assuming the concept goes well, profits
will be divided three ways: one part to members in the form of reward
points redeemable for products from the Beer Bankroll store; one part
back to the company; and one part to charity"
this potentially potent project is feasible because of tho things: (1) access to information and (2) the ability to share and manipulate that information within the context of a networked community. and it of course relies on Surowiecki's three requirements for Wisdom in a Crowd: diversity of opinion, decentralisation and independence.
I used to work with a small brewery brand and I acutely recall conversations about how they could, and should, more effectively and transparantely engage with those consumers who (we knew) loved their brand. but the old habits of deployment of planned branded communications won out (and still does – I observe – to this day).
that brewery and many other brands should be paying close attention to this space. how long before we all have a couple of side-interests in brands…? brands that will not only occupy a small – very engaged – part of our mind, but a considerable share of our wallet too. after all, if the brand was so good that you bought and continue to buy into it, why – when you get to the shelf – would you buy anything else?!
back in June of last year I wrote a post in which I quoted Tim Montgomerie who in the Spectator suggested that the next general election will be remembered as 'Britain’s first internet election'. He
notes that “in this new world [of internet communities] the campaign
staff of political parties and traditional media will have a much
smaller share of power”. I suggested that both brands and political parties needed to shift from 'send' to 'receive' mode.
either because of my post, or as a result of jibes made by David Cameron that Brown is "an analogue politician in a digital age", Downing Street has just engaged its 'receive' mode. it takes the form of a Downing Street Channel on YouTube, on which – in the above video – Gordon asks for questions from the YouTube community.
it's an interesting – if clunky – development, and a far-cry from the slickness of the WebCameron site. but this is part of it's charm. despite the fact that watching the PM ask for questions like "how globalisation's working?" or "what's happenning to Climate Change?" is a bit like watching a bad audition for Newsround, there is the clear ambition to not only let consumers set the agenda, but to go to an existing community. this should be applauded; Cameron's site may be slicker, but it's still effectively a walled garden.
what will be really intriguing will be the potential debate that this could start… Chris Crockers Britney video has been viewed 20 million times and has spawned a plethora of text and video responses. we should hope that a similar, if less emotional, post from Gordon on globalisation could instigate a similar response. we live in hope.
gotta love Honda’s efforts. having demonstrated their ‘Power of Dreams’ positioning thru several high-profile ads, they’ve taken the step of allowing their 4ft 3in ASIMO – which stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility – into the real world.
plenty of brands can talk at length about their positionings, but few get the chance to demonstrate it. fewer still allow themselves the effort and energy to demonstrate it with such panache… ASIMO is demonstrating Honda’s positioning for real, and that speaks volumes for their ambition to show rather than talk about the power of their dreams. watch and learn. watch and learn.
MEDIATION 