Big Picture Advertising

Have a Soulful Christmas

We're great fans of curating content, and so we've put together this playlist of soulful christmas songs from YouTube. It's an alternative to the rubbish played in every shop at the moment. Because it's a selection of what is already on YouTube we can't edit the graphics - so it's one to listen to rather than watch.

It's about an hour long and we find it's best enjoyed with a large glass of NZ Pinot Noir.

Have a good one.

The new gig

addictive! - my new company is now officially open for business.

As many of you will know, I left Mindshare in the summer to investigate opportunities in mobile. I've had a fascinating time, meeting lots of very smart people in the space (some old friends and many new friends) and I'm absolutely convinced that mobile is going to transform our business. If you have any doubts at all over the impact mobile is having, take 5 minutes to watch this Morgan Stanley video;
http://www.addictivemobile.com/blog/2009/11/19/mary-meeker-video-its-all-about-mobile.html

What I also realised is that, with some honourable exceptions, the space is not that well served by professional services companies. Brands just don't believe that their agencies - creative or media - get this space. And amongst those who do take it seriously there is too much emphasis on technology and not enough on consumer insight and creative thinking.

So I have decided to start an agency in this space. I've teamed up with my friends at Agenda21 - some of the smartest digital media people in the business - and we are launching addictive! - a full service mobile agency.

The team will offer everything needed to develop effective marketing campaigns that have mobile at their heart - strategy, creative, development and media. Clients can use all the services or just the ones they need at the time.

Whilst we specialise in mobile, we'll be working in areas like Facebook too, as we see the worlds of mobile and social as very close. And, just as we pioneered at DLKW Dialogue and Big Picture, we'll be working in an open source way; collaborating and partnering with our clients, technology providers, content producers, media owners and other agencies to produce big addictive ideas that define how mobile can be used to build business.

And of course if you, or anyone you know, need help determining how best you can use mobile to build your business do get in touch. I'll buy the cup of tea.

And if you still need convincing that moibile is the right place to be, listen to what smarter people than me have to say;

 

Google CEO Eric Schmidt: "The next big wave in advertising is the mobile internet"

WPP CEO Martin Sorrell: The biggest disappointment is that mobile advertising has not moved successfully as quickly as we'd like to see it. It's enormously attractive to clients. I

Publicis CEO Maurice Levy Perhaps surprisingly his view is that the prime digital medium will not be the internet as many predict, but the mobile phone. "In a couple of years, most of the information you share, most of the advertising you read, most of the messages you send, most of the music you listen to will transit through your cell phone," he states confidently.

 NB - I'll be cross posting mobile stuff here and at addictive. Big Picture will also continue to look at non mobile stuff

Its All About Mobile, baby

Over the years I have probably nicked more charts from Morgan Stanleys Mary Meeker than anyone else. Why? She is always right on the money and she supports her views with really good data.

In her presentation at Web 2.0 yesterday she nails it again - it's all about mobile.

The staggering Apple results, the momentum building around Android and the way people are embracing mobile as the remote control for their lives, tells us that mobile is the only game in town.

Enough people have smartphones ( and everyone else wants one) , the distribution through the burgeoning app stores now makes getting content and services out there easy and the built in business model offers great opportunity.

Now all that is needed is talent who can develop addictive content and services for this platform. Talent who can connect the mobile world with facebook and socialise this content and services. And talent who can find the right way for business to take advantage of this new opportunity; reducing costs, minimising churn, maximising profit and building a rich dialogue with their most valuable customers.

That's what we are focused on right now.

Product Placement going legit?

With all the speculation around product placement triggered by Ben Bradshaws speech to the RTS I thought it worth digging up some of my old posts on the topic.

My main thought though is that it won't be ITV or the other broadcasters who gain the most benefit - it will be the programme producers. They make the programmes and are closest to the opportunities for brand integration - they also increasingly recognise the value of their IP.

I can't see the smart people at Endemol, RDF or Kudos meekly handing over either the control needed to make this work - or the revenue.

Product Placement - part of the solution or part of the problem?

As Ofcom hints that product placement may become more acceptable in the UK we're seeing some talk in the US of tighter regulations. Product placement is well established there - with shows like American Idol including over 400 commercial messages! - and a large proportion of advertisers using it as a marketing tactic.

In a recent speech by one of the heads of the Federal Communications Commission there is a call for more explicit disclosure of product placement

"There is nothing inherently wrong with product placement – so long as it is disclosed as required by law.
Disclosures should also be meaningful. A disclosure that appears on screen for a split second
during the credits in small type that no one could possibly read without pausing their DVR-- and
pulling out a magnifying glass—could not possibly qualify"

Remember the old saying - if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem? We think consumers have issues with gratuitous use of product placement and it contributes to the general disillusionment with advertising.

I ran a very early product placement for Kenco Coffee in the early 90s - as an example of what could be done we had the new packaging featured in Coronation Street - Alf Roberts held the jar clearly as he chatted in the corner shop for around 50 seconds. It was very impressive but we couldn't see any real commercial value. At around the same time we proposed the use to Nintendo in a pitch - we'd pay for placement of the latest console in the episodes of Neighbours that would be shown in the run up to Christmas here in the UK. (Product placement is legal in Australia). We didn't win the pitch, so it never happened.

Ten years on we think there is a place for product placement but there are now smarter ways to engage with customers on TV; smart use of iTV will do a lot more for a brand as would exploration of ad funded programming. A conference in the US this week talked about some of the opportunities but makes the point that branded entertainment must resonate with consumers to be effective.

Original post (from June 2005) with working links here

Product Placement - ready for prime time?

Product placement got lots of coverage in the press this weekend.The Sunday Times told their readers what we all knew - that spending with the right middleman can get your product just about anywhere on the BBC (and the rest of UK TV as well). Suitably outraged, the BBC have announced an enquiry!

Peter Bazalgette the head of Big Brother production company Endemol wrote just a few days ago that product placement is the only way to save TV - pointing out that PVRs will erode the traditional ad spend. And John Pluthero, the former boss of Freeserve stirred up the RTS conference this week;

TV is under threat like never before, as viewer behaviour changes, he said. 'Accept it, [remould] your business to suit, or die on your arse

Citing the impact of technology, Pluthoro suggests TV companies should embrace product placement and work with advertisers to create content.

As we've noted before product placement isn't new and it isn't that clever. But we have seen some interesting new evidence that shows just how well it can work - take a look at this chart looking at the Coke involvement in American Idol - from a presentation at MIP by Simon Spalding of Fremantle. Coke recognition was significantly higher within the show -  where Coke had extensive product placement - than in other shows.

Given this sort of evidence - and the threat of PVRs we expect product placement to continue to grow. But with guidance from OFCOM due - and with calls for clearer labeling growing - we expect it to work on a rather more strategic level than the examples the Sunday Times discovered.

Original post (from September 2005) with working links here

As Ofcom hints that product placement may become more acceptable in the UK we're seeing some talk in the US of tighter regulations. Product placement is well established there - with shows like American Idol including over 400 commercial messages! - and a large proportion of advertisers using it as a marketing tactic.

In a recent speech by one of the heads of the Federal Communications Commission there is a call for more explicit disclosure of product placement

"There is nothing inherently wrong with product placement – so long as it is disclosed as required by law.
Disclosures should also be meaningful. A disclosure that appears on screen for a split second
during the credits in small type that no one could possibly read without pausing their DVR-- and
pulling out a magnifying glass—could not possibly qualify"

Remember the old saying - if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem? We think consumers have issues with gratuitous use of product placement and it contributes to the general disillusionment with advertising.

I ran a very early product placement for Kenco Coffee in the early 90s - as an example of what could be done we had the new packaging featured in Coronation Street - Alf Roberts held the jar clearly as he chatted in the corner shop for around 50 seconds. It was very impressive but we couldn't see any real commercial value. At around the same time we proposed the use to Nintendo in a pitch - we'd pay for placement of the latest console in the episodes of Neighbours that would be shown in the run up to Christmas here in the UK. (Product placement is legal in Australia). We didn't win the pitch, so it never happened.

Ten years on we think there is a place for product placement but there are now smarter ways to engage with customers on TV; smart use of iTV will do a lot more for a brand as would exploration of ad funded programming. A conference in the US this week talked about some of the opportunities but makes the point that branded entertainment must resonate with consumers to be effective.

Product placement got lots of coverage in the press this weekend.The Sunday Times told their readers what we all knew - that spending with the right middleman can get your product just about anywhere on the BBC (and the rest of UK TV as well). Suitably outraged, the BBC have announced an enquiry!

Peter Bazalgette the head of Big Brother production company Endemol wrote just a few days ago that product placement is the only way to save TV - pointing out that PVRs will erode the traditional ad spend. And John Pluthero, the former boss of Freeserve stirred up the RTS conference this week;

TV is under threat like never before, as viewer behaviour changes, he said. 'Accept it, [remould] your business to suit, or die on your arse

Citing the impact of technology, Pluthoro suggests TV companies should embrace product placement and work with advertisers to create content.

As we've noted before product placement isn't new and it isn't that clever. But we have seen some interesting new evidence that shows just how well it can work - take a look at this chart looking at the Coke involvement in American Idol - from a presentation at MIP by Simon Spalding of Fremantle. Coke recognition was significantly higher within the show -  where Coke had extensive product placement - than in other shows.

Given this sort of evidence - and the threat of PVRs we expect product placement to continue to grow. But with guidance from OFCOM due - and with calls for clearer labeling growing - we expect it to work on a rather more strategic level than the examples the Sunday Times discovered.

Apps - this changes everything

Those nice people at Contagious have allowed me to share the article on Apps I wrote for their latest issue.Download Apps - Contagious march 09
As with anything moving as fast as apps it's already a little outdated - the founder of Dodgeball ( which I mention) has now launched foursquare and a number of the gaps I discuss have been filled.
But I remain convinced that apps ( be they on Facebook, iPhone or anywhere else )are a major opportunity for brands and will be a significant factor for some time yet.

Nokia app store to launch Mobile Immersive Experiences

With the Apple appstore rumoured to be close to 1 million downloads since its launch last July, the other mobile players are getting in on the act - RIM have just launched the Blackberry app store, Nokia launches their version - called Ovi - next month and Microsoft have announced some of the apps they will feature when they launch towards the end of the year.

Most of the apps that have done well are either functional (Krafts iFood recipe tool, North Face ski weather guide and LiveStrongs calorie counter) or games (including the addictive Drop7 from the smart people at AreaCode). The games sector is really interesting as we are seeing evidence that the iphone (and the similarly functioning ipod touch) are emerging as a serious gaming platforms.

But much as we love branded utility, few apps are what you might call creative - whilst we like the ipint we have yet to see this new tool used for really innovative thinking.

It looks like Nokia are excited about the opportunity to create addictive content that builds loyalty to their products. Having made a big push with music they have now partnered with Heroes creator Tim Kring to launch TEVA - something he describes as a Mobile Immersive Experience - through their app store Ovi. The concept seems vague - variously described as a cross between user generated content and a ARG, and a multiplatform interactive storytelling project.

"It's a very real-world idea," said Kring. "We are trying to invent a new genre here."

The beta version allowed people to bring up info when their phone camera was pointed at say a movie poster - maybe the trailer or directions to the nearest cinema. This combination of mobile with the real world will be a major theme  in mobile marketing - and validates the decision to buy a Nokia proprietary

"That's why we spent $8 billion on Navteq," said Anssi Vanjaki, executive VP of markets, at a roundtable discussion. "It wasn't just to provide maps or directions. Imagine 1 billion mobile phones contributing their location, and then what types of databases and services can be derived from that."

We're long on mobile - and remain convinced it will be a major marketing medium. And with the distribution inherent in the app stores making it relatively easy to get content and applications onto smart phones, we think the key mobile marketing elements will be app related. But as TEVA suggests, this doesn't has to be just about branded utility - the topic of conversation can also be about entertainment.

As brands recognise that interruption is much less effective than involvement, we believe smart marketers will look at mobile apps as a fantastic way of building a dialogue with people. And the really clever ones will use that dialogue to make their brand more important to these people – and make the people more important to their brand.

New Brand Integration - Heroes & Sprint

Our US team have just launched the latest part of the partnership we have developed between our client Spring and the NBC phenomenon Heroes.

Having had Sprint customers choose new heroes earlier this year we're now producing 5 minute episodes around these new characters, which are available on Sprint phones (with some cool exclusives) and the NBC site. (If you're outside the US you can see it all on YouTube)

As  well as the Sprint distribution and the extras, the involvement includes Sprint sponsorship and subtle product placement  - but the big win is the brand affiliation; without Sprint this content would not exist. So its essentially brand curated content.

This type of spin off was pioneered by influential UK soap Brookside who created Soap Bubbles, where characters from the main soap featured in separate adventures. Mindshare pioneered the brand curated approach with the Rookie - a tie up between our client Unilever Axe and Fox's 24.

The full press release is here

Brand Curated Content on YouTube

One of the interesting people I met in LA was Oliver from Digisynd - and one of the most exciting things we talked about was their new approach to advertising in video. As a part of Disney, these guys have access to lots of talent and they have used the new video from the wildy popular Jonas Brothers to develop a very interesting marketing approach for Office Max.

This preview or trailer for the video reached 370k views within a couple of days - as well as 6000 comments - and the actual video is expected to get as many as 70 million views. Office Max have a presence on the trailer and on the video which feels more like brand curated content than advertising - and a call to action that will drive an awful lot of store traffic.

Is this approach better or worse than actual advertising? Could this be a way to get real scale on social media? And what's the view from YouTube - do they demand a revenue share?

Futurology

I came across this video from a project we did in late 2000 for Teletext. Ignoring the hyping of the client it's interesting just how much of this stuff is realistic - and there is even some stuff that feels like brand utility.

Other than the references to Leeds United, most of it still seems plausible.

ABC commissions In The Motherhood

I don't like to do too much self congratulatory stuff here, but even if this wasn't a MindShare project it would be worth a mention.
The big question mark over branded content is whether it is as good as the "real thing". We asked Kangeroo if they would carry the programming we create for our brands, and their response was - "if it's good enough."
The In the Motherhood property we developed for Sprint and Suave ( a Unilever brand) has been a big success by any criteria, so we were confident it was good enough. But we now have the ultimate accolade - ABC have finally announced what we've known for a while - they are commissioning 13 TV episodes based on the idea.

ABC has handed out a 13-episode order to a comedy series based on the online series that stars Chelsea Handler, Leah Remini and Jenny McCarthy as three mothers and girlfriends whose exploits are based on real-life stories of moms across the country.

MindShare's David Lang and Peter Tortorici will be Exec Producers and Suave and Sprint, which partnered with MindShare for the MSN-hosted Web series, will also be involved in the ABC offshoot.