Instantly Obsolete

Above: Angry Birds Theme, covered by Pomplamoose — the VideoSong was filmed with a Samsung Infuse 4G phone.

Recently, I participated in SAY Media’s Create conference with an inspiring group of passionate people who are all creating amazing content and building culture around the things they love.

The event got me thinking about the future of media — and how brands can best position themselves alongside “passionate” content to foster more meaningful connections with their customers.

Media creation and consumption continues to fracture and expand into every conceivable space. What once were a few trusted sources has become an ever-expanding universe of niche players. Never before has there been more content available in more places. However, consumers and creators are often overwhelmed, finding it difficult to know what’s relevant, and to connect with others who care about the same things they do.

For brand marketers, this landscape has become frightfully convoluted, proving to be a difficult ground to find reliable tactics for consistent success — particularly when it comes to connecting meaningfully with their target audiences.

So, how are people discovering media today? What draws them in? What inspires them to engage and what compels them to come back for more?

One thing is clear; people aren’t waiting for it to be delivered to them from the same old mass media channels.

Consumers are actively, sometimes feverishly, seeking out content about their passions. They’re on the lookout for fresh thinking from people who share their interests and demonstrate like-minded views. Generally these passionate creators also foster a persistent exchange with their audiences — catalyzing communities that generate even more content for, and about their passions.

Their voices are authentic. Their platforms are open. And, in aggregate, they’re drawing profound, even massive audiences.

New jack media networks like SAY, are capitalizing on this phenomenon by aggregating and connecting the best independent content creators and their communities to provide simple ways for brands to engage with passionate audiences, at scale.

This new wave of media networks continue to experiment with opportunities for brands to get closer to the content and provide meaningful ways to engage with audiences.

It was in this vein that Odopod helped develop the Master of All Skills promotional contest for DonQ Rum earlier this year. A highly bespoke program that positioned their brand at the center of deeply engaging custom content from publishers with passionate interests, including Cool Hunting, Instructables and Good Magazine.

What’s more, it seems the individual creators don’t mind working with the brands either. In fact, when a brand shares their interests, they welcome collaboration, even earnest co-creation.

For example, during their presentation at Create, Jack Conte, of the musical duo Pomplamosse, discussed their collaboration with Samsung to develop one of their inventive YouTube video-songs (see above) in order to generate buzz an upcoming product launch.

And, that’s the kind of relationship can propel a brand out of the cluttered margins, and smack dab in the center of passionate conversations and cultural relevance.

PS. Thanks for the invitation Troy.

The Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the Atomic Age, the Jet Age, the Space Age and the Information Age — every technological era has brought about profound effects on socioeconomic and cultural conditions. They’ve reshaped human behavior and reset reality.

But, before the full effects of each of these technological developments have taken hold and fully permeated the collective understanding, people and businesses undoubtedly found themselves navigating a strange “in-between” time — a time where future visions are uncomfortably mingled with legacy artifacts and pre-existing expectations.

Today, in the Connected Age, technological innovations are bringing about seismic shifts in our reality every day. The dust is far from settled, and perhaps, it never will be. For businesses and brands this uncertain and unpredictable landscape is rot with danger. Red herrings, pitfalls and fruitless dead-ends surround us, while opportunity is elusive.

But fear not, Larry Johnson (Odopod’s Associate Director of Strategy) and I have been hard at work cataloging the common mistakes, collecting helpful techniques and distilling best practices to survive and thrive in today’s in-between times. We’ve compiled them neatly, into a presentation of course, and would love the opportunity to share them with you, our industry friends and peers at SXSW 2012.

But we need your help. Please vote for our SXSW session : Danger is Everywhere: Illuminating common pitfalls of marketing’s in-between times and take a peek at some example slides here.

This preview is just a taste of what’s to come. We promise to keep it short, sweet and useful so send us a vote and we’ll see you there.

In advance of my participation at the upcoming Storyworld Conference, I’ve found myself debating the meaning and usage of the term Transmedia. Sometimes with my colleagues and peers, and sometimes with myself.

Without a doubt the “T” word is frightfully overused—and with its growing popularity with marketers, and the like, it’s becoming increasingly misused. Or at least, contorted from it’s original definition.

In a recent post from Henry Jenkins, the Provost’s Professor of Communications, Journalism, and Cinematic Art at USC, the man who who first popularized the term, he outlines the range of uses, definitions and reflects on it’s continual evolution.

Transmedia 202.

I found it fascinating and thoroughly insightful.

More good reading on the “T” word:
Why Transmedia is Catching On — July 5, 2011
Transmedia Storytelling 101 — March 22, 2007

A childhood friend of mine, Xan McCurdy, is the guitar player the popular alt rock band Cake. Perhaps, you remember them from a their older hits, Never There or The Distance?

Obviously, you can imagine my excitement (and surprise) when a mutual friend of ours posted on Facebook that the band’s latest album, Showroom of Compassion, debuted No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Ousting Tyler Swift.

I thought, “I wonder how many albums you need to sell to climb to number one”, so searched the interwebs for the answer.

44,000 albums.

That’s the lowest amount of album sales to ever send an album to No. 1 on Billboard charts in the history of Nielsen SoundScan (which began tracking sales in 1991). Funny enough, the 44K just beat the previous low of 52K, set only the week prior by, yep, Taylor Swift.

Note: Both have more then a long way reach Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which sold somewhere between 70 and 110 million copies.

All of this is yet more indications of the seismic shifts we’ve been witnessing regarding media consumption in the digital age – and, well past the canary in the coalmine for the gasping music industry.

What is abundantly clear is that the CD, and the concept of ‘the album’, are all but dead. Today, it’s all about à la carte song purchases, singles, with digital distribution. Ironically, this is a bit of a return to the good ol’ days, when radio hit records were all singles, and everyone bought those vinyl 45s. I do miss the b-sides (at least now we have Jack White’s Triple-Decker Vinyl).

That said, I would venture to guess that more music is being consumed then ever before – both legally and illegally.  In fact, it’s not clear that Gen Z kids even care about ‘owning’ music (if they can listen to it on demand).

What’s so frustrating is that the music industry just hasn’t figured anything out.

If today’s ‘baby bands’ are finding an audience, it’s pretty much on their own. Some in fact have gotten extremely adept at using the social web to find, engage and transact directly with their fan base.

While MySpace is DOA, there is a glimmer of hope. Burgeoning online music discovery services such as Hype Machine, Grooveshark and Pandora are making inroads. And others like We Are Hunted and The Sixty One are offering a fresh alternative.

But back to Cake… As of right now, they have the No. 1 album in America. That’s pretty freakin’ rad. And what’s more, they self-produced the album and recorded the whole thing their own solar-powered recording studio in Sacramento.

Top that.

Successful marketing almost always involves telling compelling stories and crafting robust experiences for brands. That’s why I really enjoyed this model (and the animated illustration) shared out by the crew at Story Worldwide.

It’s fascinating to consider the sections (or story types) created between the axes then map those to audience types, specific circumstances and the given objectives of a program.

Thanks to @JoyceSolano for the nice find.

Want to create buzz? Then perhaps you should ask everyone not to talk about the subject matter in question. That’s what BMW is doing with their “don’t blog about this” blog for the new 6 series.

There is well documented research surrounding thought suppression and the health benefits of divulging secrets. Additionally, “reactance”, the emotional reaction to the elimination of behavioral freedom, is the engine behind reverse psychological – a powerful and popular persuasion technique, often employed by parents of young children. Myself included.

Some years ago, after winning digital AOR  for an automotive manufacturer, the client told us about how their previous agency’s staging site had been hacked by crazy enthusiasts and details of their upcoming vehicle had leaked out into numerous forums and images had proliferated the blogosphere.

They meant this as a cautionary tale, NOT to be repeated.

I promptly proposed we repeat the successful (be it unplanned) campaign, and in the weeks prior to our publicized launch we push up an unformatted index page with new images and a text documents containing the unreleased vehicle specs. For the conservative client, this wasn’t a viable tactic, but it didn’t stop me from thinking it was pretty genius.

Perhaps the next time your straining to be heard, stop yelling and try a well-placed whisper.

Throughout my career I’ve consistently hit my head against what seems to be the impenetrable wall of the big media brokers – agencies whose bread and butter come from selling highly commoditized advertising inventory. Their practices (and attitudes) can be stifling to more innovative and creative ideas.

However, I’ve begun to witness a shift in the conversation (and attitude). Much of this shift is due to the growing importance of earned media as a channel in the digital landscape. Impacting this channel requires the ability to navigate the complexities of editorial influence outside of the mass media and shaping conversations in the social graph. And, while you can seed this, you can’t buy it wholesale.

This condition is forcing the media buying companies to reexamine their practices and look to recast the relationship with their clients from transactional, to that of consultant. Easier said then done, me thinks.

On a side note, the video is from Think with Google – Business in Bites. It’s a nice program that features very, very short, yet often insightful clips from business leaders all across wide breadth of industries. You can sort videos by theme, industry, company or individual.

Only in New York.

On Wednesday night I hopped out of a cab on 10th Avenue and passed through a series of traffic barricades and found myself among a massive throng of people packed onto Little West 12th Street. Everyone was staring up at the Southern facing side of the The Standard Hotel in the Manhattan’s burgeoning Meatpacking District.

Symphonic dance music blared, as pulsing colors illumined 170 rooms of the hotel. The rooms were occupied with over 60 dancers, executing a carefully choreographed fashion show to visual program designed by Daft Punk’s lighting designers.

My jaw dropped, and this sometime jaded marketer joined the masses, giggling with delight at the awe-inspiring public event for the retail giant, Target.

Conceived by the crew at Mother New York, the event was streamed live (and lives on) at a custom Facebook app created for the event. Note: the show begins a little over half way into the videos.

Later that evening, as I marveled the beauty of the Highline Elevated Park from The Standard’s roof top bar, I couldn’t stop thinking about one of the best branded events I’d ever witnessed.

Hats off.

The evolution of Chris Anderson’s Three-Party Market (Free, 2009)

For marketers, building brand awareness and relevance is always top-of-mind. One popular tactic has been (and remains) product placement in narrative content. As we’ve all experienced, the execution is often brazen and forced. Hardly has it ever added any value to the stories or promoted real affinity for the brands.

The following post from Mel Exon of BBH Labs, A Perfect Storm The Social Web, Storytelling And Brands, examines this relationship. His HER proposal challenges brands and content producers to utilize the social web to fuel creativity and forge connections – proposing that the ensuing three-way partnership can infuse new meaning (and value) into the experience.
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Seriously, the internet has it’s fair share of kitten and porn videos. That’s why I appreciate YouTube’s ongoing commitment to raise the level of content on their platform.

In partnership with directors Ridley Scott and Kevin Macdonald, YouTube has recently launched UGC experiment that will take HD video contributions filmed on a single day (July 24th) and edit them into a film.

The film is is scheduled to premier at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. And no doubt will be available for online viewing as well. If you plan to submit an offering to the directorial legends, they’ve set no no limitations, other then it being personal and shoot in HD.

I hope the experiment nets something thought provoking. Or at least rivals “The OMG Cat”.
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