Session agenda | 60 minutes
- Meet your mentee/mentor | 8 minutes
- Discuss 2011 in Review | 25 minutes
- Complete the MentorUp 2011 application challenge | 25 minutes
- Conclude your session & declare MentorUp 2011 victory! | 2 minutes
1. Meet your mentee/mentor
Kick-off the session by getting to know your mentee/mentor. Here are a few questions to guide the conversation.
- Personal background | hometown, college, etc.
- Professional background | work experience, organizations involved with, etc.
- Best career or life advice you’ve ever received.
-
2. Discuss 2011 in Review
Below we have streamlined the main topics from this year’s MentorUp program. In addition, we’ve included some new branded examples relavent to the topics featured. Enjoy!
April 2011: Event Enhancement & Communication
RFID/NFC
While these two technologies aren’t exactly the same, they operate very similarly. RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification, and NFC stands for Near Field Communication. The only real significant difference between RFID and NFC technology is that RFID is only able to transfer information from one object to another, while NFC is capable of two way communication between objects.
So how can these technologies affect consumers in a realistic, everyday way? Imagine you’re at a store. Instead of going to the counter to check out, you take what you need and leave; your bank account is debited the appropriate amount and you don’t even have to talk to a sales associate. RFID/NFC can be assigned a value; the context of how we behave at events like conventions, concerts, performances could all be fundamentally changed with the proper application of these technologies. Check out this real life examples of how RFID/NFC can add a digital layer to an event or a product that didn’t exist before.
New branded examples of RFID/NFC:
NFC and X-Men: First Class
To promote the lastest movie release in the X-Men franchise, smart posters were distributed around central London with NFC chips attached to the back, enabling NFC phone users to tap the poster with their phone to download an exclusive trailer and connect with the movie’s Facebook page.
Samsung NFC Olympic phone
It was rumored for a while and confirmed just earlier this month– Samsung unveiled that is has been working on an Olympics phone for the 2012 Olympic games in London. The phone will be aggressively priced, include NFC capabilities, and have special Olympic themed content.
Past branded examples of NFC/RFID:
WeSC Shoes
WeSC shoes released a prototype shoe that connected with the wearer’s Facebook account. When they would step onto sensors placed around the city certain actions would happen; they would receive a free drink, be checked into the location on Facebook, or friend request someone wearing a similarly connected shoe who was also on a nearby sensor.
Mobile Photo Sharing & Photo Check-ins
Mobile photo sharing & photo check-in services straddle the line between being platforms, communities, and applications. Built around the idea of easily sharing photos between users, these applications have a host of other features (such as location, social sharing, etc.) that make them as open or closed of a system as you want them to be.
The genius and addictive nature of mobile photo sharing apps lies in their simplicity. Think of them as a visual Twitter; Instagram allows for #hashtags to categorize your photos and for @replies to tag your friends. And just like Twitter, most of the activity on these applications takes place in the stream. The stream is where you’ll find your photo and your contacts’ photos, and also where you’ll be able to like, comment on, and share photos with your networks as you see fit.
Services
Instagram
If any iPhone app is on fire right now, it’s Instagram. Instagram focuses on just one thing: easy photo sharing between users, with the option of enhancing the photos with a number of cool filters. While the idea may seem simple at heart, Instagram has seen a ton of success. In less than one year the service is now up to 11 million users, an amazing number for an iOS only app. Compare its growth to Foursquare, which took over a year to sign up its first million users.
New branded examples of mobile photo sharing:
UK rock band The Vaccines used Instagram to crowdsource photos for their latest music video.
-
General Electric showcases the interesting things produced in GE factories that we rarely think about but effect us on a daily basis.
Past branded examples of mobile photo sharing:
Instagram & Brisk Iced Tea
Brisk teamed up with Instagram for a promotion at SXSW that would give people a chance to have their pictures featured on a series of limited edition cans. By tagging their photo with the hashtag #briskpic and tweeeting their photo, users were automatically into the contest. And since Instagram’s API is public, everone could see the pictures entered into the contest whether they had Instagram or not by going to briskpic.com.
—–
May 2011: Digital Investment & Adaptation
Back in late April, AdAge released a report saying that digital services accounted for 28% of gross agency revenue in 2010. A month before that, the New York Times published a story on how large investments in digital have paid off for a large advertising holding company. It has never been more important to consider the benefits of investing in digital and the risks of failing to do so. Whether we like it or not, everyone will have to fully adapt to the digital world. That adaptation can occur now, or later… my vote is for now.
Marketing is adapting
The shifting of traditional advertising & promotion dollars toward digital has not occurred overnight. Years back, as digital & emerging technology campaigns were gaining awareness, marketers still often viewed them as experimental rather than as a viable medium. Now that their success has been proven, budgets are beginning to shift in accordance.
For example:
How are marketers spending their media dollars?… major media ad spending only increased 1% from 2010 to 2011, while online ad spending increased 10.5% in the same time period.
Marketers are beginning to understand the adaptations necessary for the digital world. And it’s not all about impressions, whether made traditionally or digitally. The CMO of a major cola brand, Joe Tripodi, recently stated that their brand has begun to monitor consumer expressions in addition to impressions. Through monitoring these expressions, which are defined as any level of engagement with our brand content by a consumer or constituent, the brand can apply what it learns to local and global activations. Why wouldn’t brands monitor and listen to what consumers are telling them?
Brands are adapting
Brands are all at different stages of adapting to the digital world… many of which are transitioning quite well. Leading the charge is a short list of brands universally respected for their willingness to take risks & use emerging technologies strategically. Here are a few of those brands:
Starbucks
Time and time again, Starbucks has taken initiative to figure out how new technologies best work to their advantage. Some examples of their pioneering initiatives include: Foursquare mayor specials nationally across all its stores, crowdsourcing (and implementing) customer suggestions and solutions via My Starbucks Idea, allowing customers to pay via iPhones, and creating their own digital network.
Levi’s
Whether it is in extending a contest to find a new spokesperson, streaming live concerts on Facebook, or creating a documentary YouTube series on workers, Levi’s is the master at extending their brand into digital when and where it is appropriate for their audience. They’re experts at social integration too as each product in Levi’s online store has its own Facebook like button, allowing shoppers to easily push items to their Facebook page for all to see.
Uniqlo
Innovative Japanese clothing company Uniqlo is always thinking outside the box, creating promotions that use social media features in fresh new ways. Recently it launched Uniqlooks, an online site where each week users vote to determine the winning look of the week. Prior to that they created a unique fall promotion, the lucky counter. As each person tweeted and retweeted their favorite items, the price was driven down.
—–
June 2011: Digital and the sport experience
Before and after the sport experience
In the past, the excitement before and after a sporting event was something to be shared in small groups or alone. Interaction was limited to those in your immediate vicinity.
But now digital technologies have amplified the before/after game excitement to new levels. Whether it is playing a game, using an app, or engaging in a social network, brands can combine the sports fan’s passion with new technologies to provide a greater experiences. Why would they want to do that?
- They can tap into a much larger conversation of pre-game and post-game chatter.
- The wall between fans and athletes has been torn down.
- Real time communication is possible with digital.
During the sport experience
“If you build it they will come” doesn’t just refer to baseball fields but also technology. Whether taking photos and posting them to their social networks, checking-in to venues using location based services, or simply broadcasting their experience via status updates, fans are sharing the action around their favorite team/sport using digital means of all kinds. Give fans the opportunity to engage with their team and they will; just this year the creation of a Super Bowl Sunday venue on Foursquare garnered 200,000 check-ins and special discounts.
While all that activity accounts for the live experience at the stadium, not everyone can be in attendance. With that in mind, how is the broadcast sports experience evolving?
It’s changing relative to the way we consume media.With the number of Americans who watch TV while using the Internet at a record high and with 72% of home viewers using their smartphones while consuming media, our attention is split between screens. Keeping that top of mind, what is the best way for brands to take advantage of this, whether at home or at game?
Call it co-viewing. People are already viewing games with another screen on hand– whether it’s their tablet, laptop, or smartphone. Networks are already beginning to create apps for people to use during the broadcast of shows. How then can digital provide something enticing during a live experience as exciting as sports? Rather than talk about it, let’s discuss an example– Heineken’s Star Player.
This iPhone game is meant to be viewed in conjunction with the live game. The mechanics of the game are simple: throughout the match players are given a chance to choose which team will score in the next 30 seconds. An early guess that is correct scores more points than a late guess, and players have the opportunity to win bonus points for answering trivia throughout the match. Facebook Connect allows users to publish their score to Facebook and brag accordingly.
What other digital ideas can be dreamed up? Imagine live betting games, better deals, and a number of great sponsorship opportunities for brands to steward. For your inspiration, below are some fantastic digital & sports programs…
New branded examples of digital and the sport experience:
Speedo Pace Club
Hoping to capture some of the lightning in a bottle that Nike+ was able to do with running, Speedo Pace Club is a site and mobile app that gives you swimming workouts, allows you to get support from your friends, offers tips from pros, and helps you to find local pools.
Past branded examples of digital and the sport experience:
Heineken Star Player
Heineken’s Star Player is an iPhone app designed for fans to play an interactive game with each other while simultaneously watching a champion’s league soccer game. It’s a good example of a brand being a conduit between the sport and the fan by facilitating a game that adds depth to the experience.
Kobe Bryant Black Mamba Campaign
Nike ran an integrated campaign for Kobe and the launch of his new shoe that featured an 8 minute video released on YouTube and a socially enhanced website. The site worked by employing an algorithm on Twitter; if enough people talked about Kobe within an hour, the conversations would trigger a “Mamba Moment” and the appearance of the site would change dynamically and new videos would be released. Nike also offered a few fans the chance to win a shoe with a hashtag contest that ran simultaneously.
—–
July 2011: The Role of Curation
One of the many advantages of digital and social channels is a seemingly endless stream of content. And when we say endless, we mean endless– the amount of content created on a daily basis is truly massive. To get a sense of its magnitude Eric Schmidt, Chairman of Google, revealed last year that “every two days now we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003.”
With all this information readily available at our fingertips, how can we hope to manage this firehose of information? More importantly, which information is important and which can be dismissed? One of the best solutions to information overload… information Curation.
Curation can be defined as the process of finding and presenting the best information available. Implicit in the idea of curation is that it is important to filter and leave out a lot of information. After all, why would you care about things that aren’t significant?
Ultimately, the goal of curation is to bring together a collection of different items under a common theme to illuminate a point. It is in pointing out the main idea that curation finds value– no matter whether it is for a celebrity, topic, cause, or brand. Why would a brand want to spend the time curating? Engagement, providing them a valuable service, and generating sales are just a few reasons, but here’s Seth Godin on the subject…
“The thing about information is that information is more valuable when people know it. There’s an exception for business information and super-timely information, but in all other cases, ideas that spread win.
New branded examples of curation:
The GE Show
Much like IBM makes its mission clear via Smarter Planet, GE humanizes its brand via a channel called the GE show. The GE show’s purpose is “to help us understand the technologies that are changing our lives,” and they accomplish this by providing compelling content across a number of platforms.
-
The Creators Project
The Creators project is a joint venture between Intel and Vice that is attempting to redefine the future of creativity and culture for the twenty-first century through art, film, music, and digital technology. In addition to art exhibitions, free concerts, and demos on Intel based projects at events held all over the city of New York, the Creators Project showcases the same content on its site and sister site Motherboard.TV.
-
Park & Bond
Flash sale site Gilt Groupe recently launched Park & Bond, a specially selected full-price collection of goods aimed at the 400,000 males that use Gilt.
Past branded examples of curation:
IBM – Smarter Planet
Staying extremely consistent with its campaign of empowering a smarter planet, IBM’s curation engine extends itself onto a portal, a tumblr, and a twitter– even iPhone and Android applications. But aside from providing top-notch information on a wide variety of subjects, IBM has done a great job of making a company that provides an esoteric service human. Imagine if a telecommunications company or an energy company co-opted this strategy to make itself relevant to their customers– it would be a huge win for them.
KickStarter
Kickstarter is a place where people who create new ideas or products go for funding; the idea being if the crowd likes an idea, they’ll fund it. Now, the company has invited brands to participate via curated pages. In giving brands their own space to bring awareness to projects relevant-to & supported-by them, customers are able to participate with the brand in new ways that are both relevant and meaningful.
An example of a celebrity extending their influence into new fields, Life and Times is Jay Z’s lifestyle guide where the man himself is the executive editor. While the sites content (music, art/design, culture, and style) can be found at other destinations, Jay Z’s vision and brand is central to the success of the site– if you’re. So if you’re interested in what’s on Jay Z’s mind, you’ll likely be interested in what Life and Times has to offer.
Intel’s Museum of Me
Probably the coolest use of the Facebook API to date, Intel’s Museum of Me is a microsite that curates your individual life on Facebook– be sure to try it if you haven’t before.
—–
August 2011: Loyalty and Deals Evolved
As the world becomes increasingly used to digital services, brands and business are trying to figure out how to partner with them in ways that make sense to their customers. Years ago, it would be unlikely that a brand would experiment with loyalty programs on top of services like Groupon or Foursquare. Now, it’s becoming more and more common.
Previously, customer loyalty programs were something that happened after a certain task was completed– for example, if you visited a coffee shop 5 times, your punch-card was complete and you got a free latte on the house. With consumers now actively seeking deals in all spaces and using digital and mobile services to find them, loyalty has evolved. Forward thinking brands and retailers are finding ways to take advantage of these spaces, spurring growth while rewarding digitally savvy loyal customers.
How do these programs work? When we speak of building a program on top of a service we are referring to connecting a customer’s existing loyalty account with their personal account on these emerging platforms/networks. By linking these accounts, brands are able to enhance their existing rewards programs and serve up additional deals relevant to the customer… ultimately increasing loyalty.
New branded examples of loyalty evolved:
Shopkick and Giant Eagle
Shopkick recently announced its first grocery store partnership and a new product in the form of Kickbuys. Now when consumers purchase specific products at Giant Eagle, they will be rewarded with additional kicks, Shopkicks form of currency that can be redeemed universally across a number of retail partners.
Past branded examples of loyalty evolved:
Foursquare and American Express
During SXSW this past year Foursquare and American Express tested a program; if you linked your AmEx with your Foursquare account and spent at least $5 at a local merchant and you would see a credit on your monthly statement. The program was a success, prompting Foursquare and American Express to expanded it nationally.
Foursquare and Groupon
Foursquare has now partnered with Groupon in a partnership that has huge implications for marketers. Now in additional to seeing different Foursquare specials, Foursquare users will be able to purchase Groupon and Groupon Now deals (real-time offers based on your current location) all from within Foursquare.
Facebook and American Express
Seeing success with Foursquare’s pilot program, American Express is now testing special offers on Facebook’s platform. Thus far, the company has signed deals with Whole Foods, Dunkin’ Donuts, Virgin America, and Sports Authority.
Groupon and Big Y Stores
Groupon is testing a pilot program that allows members of a grocer’s loyalty club to load offers via Groupon directly on their card by linking the two accounts. When shoppers go to the checkout, the deal is automatically loaded onto their card and accounted for on the receipt. Call it Couponing 2.0.
Punchd
Punchd is a smartphone application that brings the old school loyalty punch card into the digital age. In the past month the company has been acquired by Google, so expect to see them put to use as Google expands its Google Wallet program in the next generation of smartphones.
—–
September 2011: 2D Barcodes
At this point you’ve likely heard or read about 2D codes, or had a client ask about them. Although 2D codes have been around since 1994, they are just now becoming more common in the US. A recent study by ComScore found that 14 million US mobile phone users (6.2% of Americans) have scanned a QR code. While that may seem like a small number, 2D code usage has already exploded in many regions across the globe. In this section, we’ll look at the growth of 2D codes– what they are, how they work, best practices– and how brands are using them effectively.
2D barcodes 101
2D barcodes are a matrix barcode designed to be scanned/read by smartphones. QR codes are a proprietary format of 2D barcodes. While there are a number of platforms for 2D barcodes– Data matrix, Microsoft Tag, and others– QR codes are the most popular format of 2D codes, which is why people often use the two words interchangeably.
The mechanics of a 2D barcode is simple. Once the user scans/reads the code via a smartphone application, the phone is then directed to take some action: visit a URL, play a video, download content, etc. Because 2D codes are a blank canvas of sorts, it is up to the designer to decide what they want to do with it.
The use of 2D codes is exploding, consistent with the huge growth of smartphone ownership. With their newfound popularity many marketers have been experimenting with them in ways that only confuse the customer or give them little value once scanned, providing for a poor brand experience. We’ll examine some of the best practices to ensure your use of 2D codes is effective.
* For more information and statistics on the breakdown of 2D barcode use, download the ScanLife Mobile Barcode trendreport for Q2 2011 here.
Best practices
1. Optimize the content for mobile.
2. Have a 2D barcode content strategy.
3. Track the analytics and measure the results.
4. Provide instructions next to or near the code itself.
5. Test to make sure the code scans across multiple platforms.
6. Disclose if the link is going to download content to the phone or post to someone’s Facebook wall.
New branded examples of 2D codes:
eBay Inspiration Shop
eBay teamed up with designer Jonathan Adler to create an experience with a 24 hour shoppable storefront. By scanning QR codes found on the “always-open” store windows, shoppers were able to browse and buy the items showcased using eBay’s mobile technology.
Past branded examples of 2D codes:
Homeplus Subway Virtual Store
We showed this as an example during In tha’ Know and in a past MentorUp session, but it still exemplifies one of the best use cases of 2D barcodes to date. Winning big at Cannes this year, Homeplus was able to turn an often overlooked media space into a fully usable virtual store. By scanning a code customers could add an item into a virtual grocery basket and see them delivered at the end of the day.
I Like Diesel
Diesel strategically placed 2D barcodes around each product they have in-store. If a customer scanned a 2D barcode, it would take them to a mobile optimized site where they could see similar styles and “like” the specific item, which would show up on Facebook and share that they were shopping at Diesel.
-
October 2011: Livestreaming
Many folks have begun to experience livestreaming… Whether it’s a concert halfway across the country, a giant conference such as Facebook’s F8, or a promotion as we did with Frito Lay’s flavor kitchen, consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with watching content online.
So what does the future of streaming look like? Does a move to a streaming world require that we all be near a laptop computer at all times? Not exactly. While browsers may have been the first place that we experienced streaming via Netflix and Hulu, it’s far from being the only place we’ll watch streaming content. As the Internet of things continues to grow every year, we’re seeing more and more products with streaming capabilities; smart TVs, game consoles, tablets, and media centers like Boxee and Apple TV, to name a few.
Why do we expect livestreaming to continue its growth in popularity? Aside from an inevitable switch from broadcast content to an a-la-carte model using streaming, live events are something that has yet to be socialized. Whether you’re watching Sunday football by yourself on the couch or watching the State of the Union with your family, there is something compelling about watching a live event with an audience. It’s the magic of shared experience. Livestreaming is the digital bridge between a social online experience and live events.
-
-
Best branded uses of Livestreaming services:
Frito Lay Flavor Kitchen
Earlier this year Frito Lay used livestreaming to set the Guinness world record for most Facebook likes in 24 hours. By only allowing users to see the livestreamed content after liking the page, Frito Lay was able to boost their Facebook presence to almost 2 million likes.
Facebook’s F8
This year Facebook partnered with Livestream to deliver the keynote for F8 live on their website. As expected with Facebook the site was fully integrated with your profile via Facebook Connect, which allowed users to chat with each other, update their status, and post directly to their wall all from within the page.
-
2. Complete the MentorUp 2011 application challenge
Having just reviewed a year’s worth of MentorUp material, it’s clear we’ve all learned quite a bit. It’s also clear that (as learned in May’s session on digital investment and adaptation) the landscape is changing faster than ever and it’s essential to “keep up” (or attempt to at least)… that’s where MentorUp continues to come in handy.
Our goal is to provide you, the senior leaders of TMA, with the education needed to compete effectively in the digital world. Learning for the sake of learning is great, but ultimately, our collective mission is to apply what we’ve learn every month in creative ways, resulting in top-notch work for our clients.
For this month’s closing action item, we’re going to ask mentees and mentors to directly apply some of the lessons learned in 2011′s program to their business. For the remaining 25 minutes of the session, we’re asking both of you to work together to create an idea snapshot for your mentee’s client. There are a few ways this can work:
1. Download the Idea Snapshot document here.
2. Going through the list of topics we covered in 2011, find one that is relevant to the mentee’s business.
3. Brainstorming as a team, applying your knowledge to create an idea the mentee could take to the client.
4. Write up the idea in Idea Snapshot form, and send it to share@themarketingarm.com.
Or if your mentee is currently working on tackling an existing project:
1. Download the Idea Snapshot document here.
2. Have the mentee brief you on the current project they are working on.
3. Brainstorming as a team, view the project through a digital lens. See if one of the items covered in the review fits appropriately as a tactic and apply it.
4. Write up the idea in Idea Snapshot form, and send it to share@themarketingarm.com.
Hopefully at the end of this you’ll have a working idea that the mentee can polish-up and bring to life!
And just like that, that’s a wrap for 2011! Stay tuned updates on next year’s program in early January. Cheers!
