Filter failure, ultra-niching, mobile strategies and your Ps and Qs are all things you should be mindful of in 2009. If, however, you too are suffering from information overload despite it only being January, read on.
Filtering: the issue of information overload has long been debated and the use of tools and applications such as RSS readers, Friendfeed, Google desktop and even Twitter, are fast increasing.
We all have trusted filters; be it our friends, a particular newspaper we read or radio station we listen to, or the trusted opinion of an industry leader. With the increased volume of information we consume daily, knowing and understanding how people filter information will be what sets brands and products apart in 2009.
Ultra niching: people want what they want when they want it.
The rise of free niche publications such as GetIt and BPM magazine may largely be attributed to two things:
The free model works
The content is focused, relevant and appeals to a niche market
Gone are the days of mass marketing. With ultra-niched content, the perceived personal value to readers/listeners is higher than articles in mainstream publications that write content with a mass audience in mind. Slinging mud at the wall and waiting to see what sticks no longer appeals to advertisers when targeted advertising campaigns both on (read more on Adgator) and offline are possible.
Mobile: integrating a mobile strategy into your marketing and communication campaigns in 2009 will be a given. And it's not about translating the web or television to fit the mobile screen. It's about creating sustainable content (no more burping frogs, please) that transcends cultural and language barriers, engages the user in a unique experience that s/he can relate to and internalise, and which should ultimately lead to behaviour modification.
Tools such as Semacodes (a form of 2D barcoding also known as matrix codes or QR codes which are all the rage in Japan) will facilitate this integration. “Technically, a semacode is an optical barcode that contains a URL Internet address. Practically speaking, it's a system that allows you to build applications that connect the real world with the virtual. A user can scan a semacode tag and then with a single click connect to the web page or other internet resource right on their portable camera phone.”
It's the perfect example of on- and offline integration using the mobile phone as the portal through which to achieve this. Click here, here and here to read more about the Sunday Times campaign that was launched in late 2007.
Another mobile trend emerging from the East is the creation of mobisodes. A recent campaign powered by Mobfest, Novel Idea, is an excellent example of on-demand content. In Japan, half of the top selling books are written on mobile phones, and according to a recent article by Matthew Buckland, mobile surpasses the traditional web in South Africa.
It is no secret that South Africa has very competitive data rates and as mobile penetration figures in Africa continue to rise, we simply cannot ignore the fact that the term mobile strategy will become as passé by end 2009 as web 2.0 was in 2008.
Triple play: online, offline and mobile - three inseparable terms that will shape the future of all marketing, advertising and communication campaigns. If you still think integration is a nice to have, you're in for a big surprise.
Community managers: new jobs with fancy titles are a dime a dozen, but if there is one that will stand out in 2009, it's the role of community manager. Jon M Bishop said it best in his recent article Your customer has evolved into a community. Have you joined?: “Basically, a community manager is a friendly, chatty person that is highly clued up on all things social and online and is well-wired into all communities and channels that may be talking about their brands and are usually the first point of contact for the community. So essentially positioning themselves as the online brand custodian.”
Measurement: I don't believe in AVE value and I definitely don't believe in multiplying the advertising value by a PR credibility factor of 3+. The way we measure both on and offline campaigns from a communication and social media perspective has been a bone of contention for some time with no definitive answer or tool that satisfies the industry's needs.
How, for example, does one measure the value of keeping negative press coverage out of the media (eg minimising the negative publicity around an oil tanker spill) or the power of word of mouth and the role that both personal and social media networks play in the overall success of campaigns?
Most clients demand to know the ROI for campaigns and although tools such as BrandsEye, that offer ORM, or the Canadian MRP model that incorporates factors such as tone (negative, positive or neutral) currently offer excellent measurement solutions within their realms, there simply isn't a holistic measurement tool for online, offline and mobile combined - a tool which is desperately needed.
That said, according to MediaPhilosopher.com, a standardised metric tool for social media specifically is simply not possible. “Social Media measurement is like gourmet cooking because the social web produces a vast and growing array of metrics that can be gathered and combined in various ways to extract meaning, insight, and measure the effectiveness of one's investments & efforts.”
Anti-advertising as a form of advertising: campaigns such as one that Doritos just launched are excellent examples of how using anti-advertising as a form of advertising will rock 2009.
Collaboration: siloed thinking is fast becoming a thing of the past and as more and more agencies cotton on to this fact, powerful collaborations between non-competing yet complimentary brands will emerge, with amazing results.
Back to basics: the fundamentals will always hold true. But as a reminder, when communicating in 2009, remember:
Be transparent.
Content should entertain, inform, educate and involve the audience.
Don't underestimate your reader/listener/viewer.
In a crisis, tell all and tell fast.
Plan. Nothing beats a good strategy with a solid implementation plan.
Catherine Luckhoff is founding member and joint partner at Mango-OMC (www.mango-omc.com), a Cape Town-based boutique PR and communications consultancy that encompasses web, mobile and conventional offline PR. Contact her on tel +27 (0)21 461 9244 or email .
Spotter #106
Anti Advertising Trend-
You know the Dorito's work is not real? It's a student entry. You can see for yourself just by clicking through to the website advertised in the youtube vid:
www.onlythegoodstuff.com
It doesn't exist.
And it's old-news-technology anyway. You can remove ads completely (ever since 2006) with a little app called Adblock Plus for Firefox. And it doesn't 'border' your new images with the very corporate colours / ID's you're trying to avoid. Posted on 16 Jan 2009 19:29
I absolutely agree with this article because some people ih the indusrty don't really know their what they are marketing/promoting out there. You need to know your product/brand and understand it so that when there's a crisis you can be able to resolve it immediately Posted on 19 Jan 2009 08:56
You may very well agree with the article you read, but given your comments, i'm pretty sure it wasn't the same article the rest of us read. What on earth is the connection between Cath's article and your statements? Posted on 20 Jan 2009 12:19
Great article Cath and thanks for the BrandsEye mention.
I can't agree more with your trends! In particular, the importance of measurement - it seems absurd that companies invest oodles in campaigns which they can't [or don't] measure. Especially now when there are so many tools which effortlessly do so.
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