Advertising is becoming more and more focused on the getting the consumer involved in the process, it’s no longer a one way broadcast model but a two way communication model where the audience play a vital role in any brand communication.
We might assume this spells the end for many traditional advertising channels such as billboards and TV, not if necessarily.
They just need to evolve.
Below is nice example of a billboard which is completely dependent on audience interaction. This digital billboard was recently installed at Brussels airport by the energy company Electrabel, and as people pass by it provides a thermal image of the heat energy given off by each person. A great idea based on what their brand is all about, and as the video demonstrates it clearly engages the audience.
Another great example of audience interaction in what is traditionally seen as a one way communication context will be provided by O2 in cinemas across the UK in the coming months. Prior to watching the latest ice age film, cinema goers will be able to participate in an interactive 3D game where their hand movements will determine the path of the spaceship O2 through an on coming 3D asteroid storm.
With the latest technology the audience can interact in communication channels that might never have seemed possible. The key of course is giving them the reason to do so. In the examples above the audience is drawn in by the new technology, but when this technology becomes established brands won’t be able to rely on the wow factor of the technology to engage the audience. This of course is true of all marketing using the latest technology such as Augmented reality and QR codes, it’s only so long the technology itself can be used to hook in the audience. Brands will either have to take the technology yet another step forward or they could concentrate on making the most out of the evolved channel and provide a genuinely entertaining or useful experience to engage their audience.
Once again using the magic of Hootsuite here are the most clicked links from the Trendplanner Twitter account for last month. For other useful Twitter links on similar themes, check out Qapture which collects links shared by various people on Twitter (including Trendplanner).
1. Agency site – made in YouTube – BooneOakley.com – Clever. http://ow.ly/altG
Just watched a great clip over on FreshCreation.com of Steven Johnson the Author of ‘Everything bad is Good for you’. Johnson is asking us to consider if games had been invented 500 years ago and that books had only just been invented and were gaining popularity amongst young people. He argues that books would come under the same amount of criticism that is currently facing the computer game. One point to take from this idea is that society tends to a have bias towards the traditional and show fear towards the new. Consider the invention of the printing press, people feared that it would reduce the quality of the written word as it allowed access to many more people, or the calculator which was feared to stop the youth building their numerical skills, and now the Internet with is apperently stopping us from thinking for ourselves and turing our brains to mush. Things that force people to think and act differently will always be met with fear and negativity, but it’s often the things that make us think and act differently which have the power to really change things, and more often than not change them for the better. It’s important to approach everything from every possible perspective and make sure we don’t let the fear of what is new get in the way of progress.
Qik is a great service that lets you use your mobile as a live webcam and create a live channel for others to see on the web. Of course it is already possible to stream live on the web, but allowing people to simply do this form their mobile makes it more accessible than ever before, the key as with so much new technology is that it takes away previous elements of commitment, effort and cost. Believe it or not this isn’t a particularity new service, Qik has been running since 2007. Furthermore, Qik is not the only mobile to live stream service there is a similar service called Kyte, but unlike Qik it is not free for all users. Up to now it’s been a pretty unheard of service, but it might not be long before the service starts to gain a bit of mainstream attention.
Of course back when qik was first released 3G phones and unlimited data packages were somewhat a rarity, so not many people could really make use of the service. But now 3G phones and unlimited data packages are much more accessible so is the possibility of using qik. Of course when we talk unlimited data packages, 3G, and mobile Internet we’re often talking about the iphone 3G, unfortunately Qik is not actually an app you’ll find in the apple app store. This is thanks to no video recording function on the iPhone 3G and various app store rules and regulations, however Qik is available to those who ‘jail break’ their iPhones. It’s also available (legitimately) for over 40 other phones, from manufactures including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Blackberry.
Qik has just announced a potential break through move that Qik will come pre loaded on the Latest Nokia smart phone the N97. This move could bring Qik to many people who would otherwise not heard of the service, and it also breaks down a major boundary for all mobile applications of actually making users find and download the service themselves (this has been a major boundary for technology such as QR codes). With the video enabled new iPhone 3GS release just round the corner, there is a chance it might even get an official iPhone release, this is far from certain but if it becomes disadvantageous to apple to not allow the app I’m sure they’ll let it through.
Of course making it effortless for people to stream to the web from their mobile will provide many issues, but also opportunities. For example people will be able to stream the content of live gigs to the web without even having to think about it. This brings up various copyright issues, and won’t exactly sit well with whoever has any rights to the live broadcast. Who knows we might no longer see that now familiar sight of hundreds of camera phones in the air if rights holders decide they want to try and stop people broadcasts their content. Another example would be live sport, currently a small minority chose to broadcast live content such as live premier league football to which they do not have the rights, due to their low numbers many can be stopped by the rights holders, and those that don’t are unable to get their stream to many people. But imagine when people can create a live stream by simply holding up their phone, think of the amount of potential streams, they can hardly stop an entire stadium from using a mobile, and as youtube have found that when you have such a high number of users, you take a video or live stream down but you’ll just find another two put in it’s place.
As we continue to see with issues such as file sharing resisting technological change is not a long term option, the right thing to do is to prepare for these potential future scenarios and look as to how we can embrace the opportunities that mass live streaming can provide.
Here’s a great quote I saw over on the DigitalAgencyBlog.com the other day. Taken from the blog of a managing partner at a US technology firm, it provides a rather interesting view on agency life. Funny for those of us who know better, but hardly surprising when this is the image so many agencies try to portray. I would expand on this but I’ve just fallen off my skateboard.
Here’s the latest TV ad for TV advertising, which I ironically saw on youtube.
Don’t get me wrong I thoroughly enjoyed the ad, it brings back memories of some great ad campaigns of the past and the context and comic timing does raise a smile. This ad would have been perfect before the emergence of digital media channels, but then of course back then there would have been no need for such a campaign.
The message of the ad is that TV can get through to your audience like no other medium, you can use it to push your message and it will get through. When the psychiatrist delves into the patients ‘deep subconscious’ he discovers nothing but classic TV ads. The context of this ad seems to represent the old way of approaching marketing, as a one way communication channel, where brands simply push their messages at their audience. However in our new digital world things are changing and as so is the model, the brand audience now have the option to communicate with the brand, and with other member of the actual and potential brand audience.
The audience will no longer be satisfied with one way communication aimed at them (they might not want to be a a gibbering mess on a psychiatrist’s couch). Furthermore, brands should not be satisfied with this approach. No longer are they limited to aim at simply trying to push their messages into the audience subconscious, they can now truly engage with their audience, and can aim at building a relationship with can be of benefit to both brand and consumer. I’m not saying TV advertising doesn’t have a part to play, just that its approach will have to change, and integrated properly with other mediums it can play a key part in many campaigns.
The evolution of communication channels means that the brand audience can easily talk to brands, and to fellow audience members, and with a bit of luck they won’t have to talk to psychiatrists.
I recently got sent some information about a very interesting marketing campaign in Brazil, for an online book store called Editoras. The campaign was looking to raise awareness of Editoras in Brazil, modernise the brand, and help the brand appeal to a younger audience. With these goals in mind DDB Brazil created a campaign that featured mobile, Twitter, crowdsourcing, and QR codes.
DDB set up a system that pulled in messages of love or hate from Twitter, they then put up QR code posters around Sao Paulo which when read by peoples mobile phones displayed one of the messages of love or hate. Their next step was to create an actual book full of these QR codes and sell it on the Editoras site, as with the posters people could use their mobiles to translate the QR codes to messages of love or hate. DDB made use of the fact that QR codes can simply provide links to online content and therefore you can change what information a QR code links to by simply changing the content at the end of the link. After every 7 days all the codes in the book provided different messages of love and hate, and ‘the living book‘ was born. (See video above for a better description)
By the sounds of it the campaign was a great success. The use of mobile, Twitter, and QR codes was perfect for strengthening the associations of the brand with modern and innovative traits, and in turn will have helped them connect with a younger audience. Furthermore, the campaign actually created a product that gave people a real incentive to visit the online store.
The campaign looked to the extremes in the use of QR code and this was appropriate in regards to their objectives and the fact that the use of QR is still regarded as new and potentially exciting outside of Japan. I don’t think we’ll be writing all our books in QR code but maybe if QR codes can establish themselves outside of Japan they can play some role in the enhancing the communication channel based on some of the principles seen in this campaign.
Perhaps QR codes could be placed on book covers so users can make a quick and easy check that the book is the latest version, or maybe QR codes could be placed next to various facts or figures to provide a quick link to the latest data. Taking things to the next level, print media could be produced before all the information is available, for example create a poster for an event before details such as the time or cost have been decided, simply put a QR code in place of this information and people can get the information when it’s available by scanning the QR code. Of course, the successful use of QR codes in entirely dependent on the content they deliver, after all the QR code is simply a link and a way of bringing that content to the audience. What ‘the living book’ campaign demonstrates is just how we can use QR codes to merge communication channels, allowing us to bring new types of digital content (i.e. updated information from Twitter) to various non-digital mediums (i.e. books).
Once again using the magic of Hootsuite here are the most clicked links from the Trendplanner Twitter account for last month. For other useful Twitter links on similar themes, check out Qapture which collects links shared by various people on Twitter (including Trendplanner).
