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OMMA Mobile New York

  OMMA New York 
  Originally uploaded by joannapenabickley

OMMA Mobile ended with a big bang.  Alloy Media brought in a panel of 17 – 19 year olds to talk to us about their mobile habits and when would they listen to us if we had something to say.  Here are some of the most poignant quotes from the group.

    “I sleep with my phone underneath my pillow”
    “We’d rather text than talk”
    “I don’t use blue tooth for a headset I use Bluetooth to share files”
    “when I have something to say I text”
    “I use my phone to live conveniently”
    “I use it to get around with Google maps"
" I post to Facebook and MySpace from my phone"

For those of us who market to this age group, on some level we know that our target consumer wants more from us than we are currently giving. But I cannot honestly say we are giving them what they want. We tend to give them the sanitized version of it.

They want more than an ad.  What I heard today is that they want good products that give them an edge… in the mobile space they are willing to deal with us “dialoging” with them as long as there is a value exchange.  We have to answer… What’s in it for them? And more importantly.. Why is it relevant?

After the panel was over I realized that we as marketers are still talking to ourselves.  We need to think outside the: 30 second spot, the banner, the pre-roll, the UCG and the RSS feeds.  We need to be true to our creative selves and create!

We live in converged times with NO RULES… so when we sit down to create we need to forget everything we know and just create great stories.  A story that is worth repeating

The fact of the matter is that the marketing professionals who have put their egos aside and created a good story or come up with a good idea have been the most successful case studies revealed during the past 2 days.  With mobile and this audience, we need to think about what we are delivering.  A code underneath a cap or on your tin is not enough.

It will need to be a value exchange if you want to speak to them from underneath her pillow.

ON: Visualizing the Science of Viral Marketing

Using advanced analytics, PopularMedia’s patent-pending technology platform allows agencies and marketers to create, measure, and optimize online experiences that leverage the power of social networks and drive measurable business results.

They claim they can increase brand evangelism...

ON: OMMA Video

Sitting at OMMA (right now)  and what my clear takeaway from the morning sessions is that there are STILL NO RULES.  Now you all know I approach things from the creative view... I start by asking "what's the story i am telling and why am i relevant"...  We as Creative Directors still need to tell a great story, a relevant story.

Stop re-purposing the :30 second ad in a medium that it was not created for.  Remember people use TiVo to skip ads...so why re-purpose something that consumers have told us, through their behavior, they DO NOT want. 

During our break-out sessions a number of people have asked me how we the agency world should be approaching the NEW BRAND WORLD? 

So here are my words of wisdom from OMMA... We are experts at creativity and relationships (or at least we should be). 

In the instance of the :30 second ad...One might argue that people got TiVo to get to the content they wanted when they wanted (thus on demand) ...but the consumer behavior has told us that they skip the ads.  the :30 second ad has its place... but it is not the end all method of reaching the audience.

There is no definition...so do not try and define the space.  When you finally define it, you are irrelevant.

Just Create!  Create With Insight! Create with Purpose!

Be real, be honest, be confident, add insight and embrace the consumer's power to have a say in what you make.

We are in the business of appealing to consumers with big ideas that are relevant through strong client relationships.  Some would say entertaining... but entertaining is subjective to the people who are watching it. What is entertaining to me and my community cluster may or may not be entertaining to you and your community.

A true measure of success is when people choose you because you are you...
For a brand, your measure of success will be  because people choose you... because you an hold honest relevance in someones life.  Relevance that is worth conversing about.  Your story has to be one that is worth repeating.

More to come later....

ON: Mahalo My New Addiction

Two weeks ago, Jason Calacanis and I were watching the Sopranos and twittering... he then directed me to a live chat on his brain child... Mahalo.  I am addicted to yet another platform that allows me to converse with "friends" across the world and gets me search results that are more than relevant.

Mahalo (Hawaiian for “thank you”), is a search service with manually edited results. It started with several advantages: venture capital backing, 30 editors, systematic focus on the most commonly requested search terms, and the added idea of supplying Google’s search results for any search not covered by its own best-of-the-best lists.

Mahalo now has pre-prepared pages for 5,000 terms related to entertainment, travel, health, technology and other subject areas. The company plans to expand its coverage to 10,000 terms by year-end, and eventually to provide results for one-third of the most common search terms.

The company is financed by Sequoia Capital, which knows something about the search business: It was an early backer of both Yahoo and Google.

Get rolling on Mahalo today!

ON: Hermes on Wall Street

Last week I was rolling after work with Madam Leuzzi at the Food Bank For NYC's Orange mixer.  When we left to hit the Monday Room I got a shwag bag that contained a many new products (vodka, premium chocolate, beauty products) and more importantly it contained a great little Hermes goodie bag.  creamy goodness! 

Why I bring it up, is that the little orange bag had a great announcement that drove me to the Hermes site.  The site is nothing to write about (if it was you would hear about here). What is important is that Hermes'  the approach to localized marketing efforts (they were announcing a new store on Broad Street) as well as supporting a cause that is worthwhile drove me to their site to purchase a new bag and gift online.

If you can get my attention as a consumer who does not watch TV without fast forwarding commercials and I purposely tune out the majority interruptive advertising, you have done a smart sampling at a place where I am receptive to something new. Hermes' support of causes drives my purchases in a simple trend setter strategy!   

Marketers looking for a cause should consider this one.

ON: Candystand's Free Kick & Awesome Blossom

As most of you know I am an avid gamer... in doing research on one of our clients competitors (Wrigley) I have become a bit of a Candystand addict!  They have launched a few new branded games that are worthy of note....Fresh off the heat of that spiffy Vector game they recently put together, Candystand hits me with this Free Kick game that challenges you to bend it like a certain Posh-loving soccer player we know.

It's simple to play but just not as much fun as the Awesome Blossom. Plus before i played Free Kick I had to download a plug-in which is always not supervenient.

The there is Life Savers Awesome Blossom... Remember Dr. Mario?  Awesome Blossom is like that, except with flowers instead of pills. (Come to think of it, how did Dr. Mario ever get past the PC police?)

The blossom explosion is for LifeSavers. I could use some, considering my blood-sugar levels are low from concentrating on winning back flower petals for the last three hours. (Yah..the overachiever in me never sleeps...)

ON: Diageo's Buzz Launch Formula

I was perusing the blogs today and rolled across B. Bonin Bough's post on what I think is one of the best communication strategies I have seen in a long time. Enter the Buzz Launch Formula.

While it is not visually appealing (could use some art direction and sit in an Experience map format) it drives home a fantastic approach to the latest ways consumers consume media.  The above chart outlines the societal call to action to help America figure out the drink for them.

They are bringing together an expert panel of behaviorists, mixologists and tasteologists, who will survey the drinkers of America in their natural habitats: bars and liquor stores. They will also be our viral launch team, which will announce the creation of the new science. This will help people identify the drink for them and eventually drive people to take an online survey.

a combination of PR and social media outreach use a survey as a platform to discuss people's deeply rooted drink preferences.

The drink generator  is and overlay survey data on top of the simple 20-question algorithm format that has created successful campaigns like Burger King's "Ask Vader." From a development standpoint, it must be extremely flexible to have the ability to exist on mobile phones, in banners, on kiosks and other data sharing formats.

The tactical roll out seemed to be spot on for this audience....every touch point, allow consumers to discover "The Drink for You."

Point-of-sale:

• In store: a kiosk machine will be placed in areas where the target audience shops. When consumers have completed entering their data, the machine will allow them to email and/or text the drink to themselves and friends. Then a coaster -- that doubles as a coupon -- of the "Drink for You" will be given to the consumer.
• In bar: a similar kiosk will encourage the consumer to complete a short questionnaire and deliver the "The Drink for You" on a branded coaster that can be given to the bartender to serve the drink on. The machine will give the user the option of emailing and/or texting the drink to friend or themselves. He or she could also print multiple coasters for their friends and take them home with them at the end of the night.

Mobile: When someone receives a text from a friend -- which could be sent via online, kiosk or other cell phones -- the user will be prompted to answer a series of questions by texting back and forth. These questions will determine "The Drink for You." In the final response, users are sent their drinks. When users are finished, they can email it to themselves and/or friends. They will also be able to forward the drink text to friends, who will then be prompted to answer a series of questions. Diageo then interacts with consumers, literally wherever they are.

Banner/advertorial: Diageo will buy banner ads on target-specific websites. When the user rolls over the banner, it will drop down to have an aggregator of recently created drinks. The series of questions will also be housed inside. The user will then have the ability to develop the drink while remaining in banner.

Social media: To gain ubiquitous awareness, we will create a digital coaster of a chosen drink that links back to "The Drink for You" creator. This will become a consistently recognized stamp and proof of Diageo's commitment to drinkers everywhere. Users can post their virtual coasters to their blogs, use it as their profile pictures, amend their email signatures, forward it to friends and print it for use at their next outing.

Surround search and outreach: Focus on terms, from drinks to dating to recipes. Distribute/pitch content, stories, data and "TDFY" generator widget to top results

PR: Leverage the scientific nature of the questions with a Diageo behaviorist available for commentary on how tastes drive everything from behavior to success. As data grows, we get an aggregate insight into the taste buds of America and one day the world.

Pursue online partnerships and celebrity tie-ins: As the movement explodes begin to compile celebrity drinks. Hold drink compatibility parties. For example, a Match.com partnership may include a series of parties where matches are found based on tastes, a la "what does you next date taste like?"

all together this is a great way to approach an idea.  Weighing all the media options as I often do it is interesting that the above does not approach this from a TV-centric though process of throw up a commercial and get awareness... the engagement is baked in an knows that awareness alone is not enough to sell product.

ON: Google Docs - Whats Your Suggestion?

Google Docs will launch a new version of the service on Wednesday. There are no clues from Google on what it might include, but a peek at the code shows that Merriam-Webster’s dictionary and thesaurus have been integrated. You’ll also be able to call up articles from Encyclopedia Britannica (notably, not Wikipedia).

You might also expect further integration with more Google services (could go offline with Google Gears, suggests Garett Rogers), or even the launch/integration of “presentations”, Google’s PowerPoint rival. What would you add to the suggestion box?

ON: adidas + Do You Believe in 5IVE

For those of you who know me well..you know I am a basketball fan and you know that my home boys the San Antonio Spurs are inspiring enough... then you toss in one of my favorite online brands and then you have my attention!

"Do You Believe in 5IVE" was the strategic platform from which the entire adidas basketball campaign came to life online for the 2006 to 2007 NBA Season. The campaign combined the global adidas basketball movement of working together as a team with the notion that NBA players need a strong team unit to succeed on the court.

adidas has extended its campaign to a dedicated YouTube channel, driving online sales and reaching more than 2 million viewers.  I love i because it features Tim Duncan the leader of a  the quietest basketball dynasty ever.

This is such an immense body of work, it would take too many words to comment on everything. From a high level, however, I feel the site and its iterations are all very polished. They are designed well, and while featuring five different players, all feel part of a larger body of work.

The YouTube channel does social media right. It provides interesting content in the form of interviews and exclusive footage of the players outside of the studio and off the court. It provided a real benefit for visiting the site on a regular basis, and for the consummate basketball fan, the original footage would be a real draw. The wall of names of those who "Believe in 5ive" involves the audience, though I'm not sure how meaningful that interaction is.  It looks like no expenses were spared on creating the videos, and it shows. They are awesome, and load and run surprisingly smooth on the site.

This campaign was a success because it drove online sales and extending awareness virally.  The combination of Social media, online advertising and rich sites gave the consumer a reason to go to the site play then buy!

Click Here to see the Cannes review of creative.

So the question is... Do You Believe in 5IVE?

ON: Axe's BomChickaWahWah

While I am not a 16 year old boy trying to turn on my girl with my sexy smelling cheap deodorant... i do see the appeal of the BomChickaWahWah campaign from Axe.  Axe Body Spray came out with a new scent. Instead of listing the boring new ingredients, the agency created the New Axe "with added BomChickaWahWah" with an integrated approach to their marketing.

The site is smart. hitting the site, the consumer is asked to select one of three regions (Americas, Europe, Euroasia), appropriately you use a magnifying glass to roll over the scantily clad woman to choose your "region" which assists in audience segmentation and communication of messaging.

Keeping with the mantra, "content is king," there seems to be something irresistible about the many videos the AXE site has to offer (aside from the attractive women dancing in sexually suggestive ways, I mean).

The videos seem to be consciously aware that they are completely absurd, and I believe that viewers will appreciate that. Axe walks a fine line of offending women who might feel objectified, and turning-off men who might feel that they are being reduced to sex-hungry dogs. But by making the videos lean towards the absurd and campy, Axe shows viewers that they are smarter than that. The company succeeds in carving a positive brand image into the mind of the user, while at the same time profiting from the classic "sex sells" technique.

View the site @ http://www.axebcww.com