I'm Back!

There's a saying in the agency world - 'Always be pitching' - and that is just what I have been doing. So after a rather intense 4 months of pitching with a rewarding win and even a graduation speech back in Canada to 2000 people, I'm back and ready to start blogging again.

Just as these past busy 4 months kicked off, I read an amazing HBR article mentioning how stress isn't the enemy. It mentioned how, like physical training, it's important to push yourself out of your comfort zone and challenge your mind to feel truly engaged, but then intentionally take time after to rest and restore to then be able to amp your ability even further going forward.

So, this time, rather than to just keep going, I took two weeks to find time and focus on my daily projects, run, sleep through an entire evening, take in some exhibits and read. This restoration period was very intentional, and it has worked!

Yesterday, during my run, I found that my brain was suddenly full of inspiration and thoughts for blog posts. But these thoughts wouldn't have been planted had I not pushed myself so hard these past 4 months, and then took the time to rest and let all my thoughts subconsciously come together.

I really challenge anyone to push themselves to be uncomfortable and think hard about problems they haven't solved before, or try to solve a challenge in half the time. Then take time to purposefully relax and rejuvenate - let your mind wonder and have all the things you've been thinking about come together forming clarity of mind. It's rather nice.

Needless to say, I'm excited to start blogging again :)

Facebook, take credit for what you do!

Facebook - THE Social Network. It's used by 800 million+ people regularly. So regularly, that there are people who check Facebook first thing when they wake up, before they go to be and, yes, sometimes in the middle of the night! Facebook has made us realise and amplify our need to be social and remain connected. They have done this so well that its market value is around 100 billion dollars!

But I read an Interbrand article the other day that made me realise, that while Facebook satisfies people's connections today, this perfectly seamless utility isn't taking credit for the role it plays in people's lives.  You see, Facebook is continually inventing ways to make our lives better through sharing, connecting, etc., and while we use and benefit from these services daily, if not many times a day, we are building loyalty to those features, not the Facebook brand!

Unlike Google, Facebook has yet to give meaning to what they do - giving their brand a higher purpose than providing a utility that, as their homepage says, 'helps you connect and share with the people in your life,'

REALLY?! That can't be simply what Facebook does - it's not!  So I can't help but think after reading this weak role is, why does that matter?

Google helps organise the world's information making it universally accessible and useable - now that's a role. And it's a role, whether explicitly said or not, that allows Google to grow its business in new areas, and taking what's at its core, quick, easy and effective search, to new and exciting business areas (like email, maps, translation, mobile, etc.), while maintaining the trust of its users. After all, user trust is essential because it's our information and eyeballs that's at the heart of both Google and Facebook's revenue generation.

People are more trusting of Google having access to their information than Facebook, because, through its purpose and branded actions on that purpose, people know why Google has/uses your information, and how it benefits us!  

But with Facebook, on the other hand, we aren't explicitly shown in a branded way how its service and the use of our information is benefiting us, nor are we clear why it matters that we're using Facebook. This is opposite to Google, who, when I get to amazing things because of them, make sure I know it's them providing that killer service...thank you Google Maps, etc.

Being an organisation whose users are loyal to its features rather than the brand, as Facebook seems to be at the moment places it in a rather precarious situation. Because, let's be honest, we never know when the next revolutionary thing is about to pop up, and Facebook needs a strong brand to remain competitive.

So, although Facebook is incredible today, and winning because there is a critical mass of people on their site with high switching costs to move to another social network, if they don't articulate a meaningful brand purpose, which is demonstrated by taking credit for the amazing, and free, services they enable, trust in the brand will remain fuzzy and people will remain loyal to the service but not the brand. Additionally, once they establish a far reaching purpose they will be able to evolve the brand over time, with greater credibility, to ensure it's relevancy and revolutionise new areas as it has done with socialising the web.

Lets Play A Game

This past week, I participated in M&C Saatchi's first hack day, Game5hack, which was 6 teams building fully functional online based games over two days. It was the first time I had ever done something like this, and I'm certainly glad I did, and it won't be the last. What a great experience!

As a strategist, who believes everything an organisation creates should be dedicated to delivering the brand's promise, it was really great to be exposed to the world of play - something that doesn't necessarily have purpose other than to be fun and entertaining! It was wonderful to let brainstorming start from a blank slate and think of fun ways to engage people and immerse them in a world of fun.

This experience has made me realise the importance of fun and game play. In fact, I see great value in brands building more play into their customer experiences. After all people respond instantly to entertaining/engaging experiences, and games are just that. And with technology becoming more mobile and social, we're able to bridge the gap between online and offline experiences, which creates a marvellous environment to introduce game play to certain elements to the brand experience.

Although the wicked 1980's arcade style game, inspired by the classic Wall Street film, we built last week was purely a game, it got me thinking about how you can take a human action/behaviour, like trading stocks, and add playful elements to make the experience more entertaining and engaging. These then work together to motivate the user/customer/person to remain involved with the game, or the brand, in the case of an organisation.

Games seems like a great way to immerse people in a brand, involving them in the content. It goes back to that Benjamin Franklin quote I love so much:

"Tell me and I'll forget,
Show me and I might remember,
Involve me and I'll understand"

The more we involve our audience in the brand, through relevant and fun experiences, the more they will be able to associate with the brand, increasing advocacy.  The influential and highly motivating nature of games, makes them prime candidates to help change behaviour, teach new skills or simply maintain attention for a long period of time, which is ideal for branded experiences. However, brands must be sensitive to force the creation of games, or it seems contrived, and, frankly, people see right through this nowadays. A brand must have a relevant reason to build a game, and it should be rooted in insight based on existing human behaviour, which is relevant to the brand's purpose/role.

So for instance, McDonalds created Pick n' Play last year, which was a massive interactive billboard in Sweden where people could use their mobile devices to play ping pong on a giant billboard. This lived up to the brand's purpose of making people happy, but it also created a fun/positive way for people to engage with the brand for a long period of time, giving them a great story to share with their friends.

You can even build games into the way people interact with products, extending the brand experience beyond the tangible item. For this we can look at Lego's Life of George set. It's a lego kit that has you download a mobile app where you build various objects, take pictures of them timing how fast you are versus other players. It's another way to increase time spent with the brand, but it also creates a sense of achievement, which acts as another way to fuel brand stories furthering the brand conversation/story.

Lastly, we can look at games that are dedicated to positively influencing behaviour change like Nike+, which allows you set running challenges for yourself or even run against others. This has revolutionised Nike to begin looking at both product and service offerings. Nike+ has made the brand more relevant, defining its role and becoming a facilitator/motivator of fitness.  I personally think it would be interesting to see gyms build games into their offering. I mean we see this with some fitness equipment, where they place you on a track and you can race against the person exercising next to you! What a great way to distract you from the pain/boredom of riding/running in one spot for an extended period of time!

All-in-all, I'm excited to think more about gaming and how we can incorporate play in a relevant and meaningful way to stimulate fun and exciting brand engagement. Sometimes, in business, we think everything has to be so serious (I'm one to fall into this trap) and we often forget about our love of games, and that they can make simple things, like spelling words from a collection of random letters (i.e. Scrabble), a lot of fun!

So in the spirit of 2012, which I believe to be all about engaging experiences, lets talk less and play more!

Contextual Content is King

Note: This is the first program to air on TV, where people started to see a meaningful need for one of these big boxes in their home over a radio.

I've been thinking a lot about content lately, and how we've grown to be so dependent on it. But not only that, it has to be the right content on the right channel in the right moment.  Content is no longer king on its own. Rather, it's contextually relevant content that's king.

This concept isn't new in the slightest.

Just look at the TV.  No one could rationalise why they would ever need a TV over a radio for information and entertainment. That was until special TV programming was introduced in 1930s. It all started with a test to prove the medium's ability through its first ever television drama The Man With the Flower in His Mouth. The test was a success, and, well, the rest is history.


To prove the relevancy of this product, the TV, it needed to become the answer to a consumer need, even if that need hadn't been fully realised yet. By giving people content in a way that both satisfied their current needs and made them realise new ones (i.e. 'You mean I can see what people are doing while they speak, just like the cinema, but in my home?!"), you can carve a space in those people's lives for your offering. And the better a brand meets these needs, meaning the more relevant the solution is, the more it will be embedded in their daily routines.  


Clearly, by me using an example from 1930, this is not a new concept.  But what is new is that we're seeing this kind of thinking injected in the world of brand positioning and communications, blurring the lines between product development and marketing.


In the recent Most Contagious 2011 report, it talks about marketing as service design. With brands' ability to access and use consumer data, that's available because of people's digital lives, it enables brands to see gaps and/or unmet needs it can fill.  Additionally, because consumers are aware that brands know more about them, they expect more relevant and ultimately less company-serving marketing being presented to them.  


In fact, for people to stick with a brand these days, they expect to be to engaged in a relevant manner, which encourages their participation (collaboration in product/service/experience design) in both on- and offline arenas seamlessly, while still delivering what they want before they even have to ask. 


At the heart of engagement, which is seen as a branded service more and more, is the delivery of content beyond the product extending its value. This proves the brand's value in people's lives because it's demonstrating that it 'gets' you and why you buy its products/services/etc.

But it's not content alone. There's a lot of content out there - too much in fact! It's about contextual content. Contextual content has been curated by subject matter experts and delivered to you at that moment of need.

This is where the branded service comes into play. The brand can be the subject matter expert for a topic they are known for and deliver on based on their brand purpose and existing products/services/etc. They can then create and/or curate interesting and useful (aka relevant) content and provide people access to it during a moment of need.

Take Simple - the "Worry-free alternative to traditional banking" for example. Simple is not a bank. In fact it uses another un-named bank as its banking provider, but what it does do, which is the reason for all its popularity, is overlay a service on the banking experience. This service is providing content that people feel is missing. Like being able to see real-time transaction data or using natural language to search your  entire transaction history (i.e. "How much did I spend on lunches in July?"). By making this content not only more accessible but contextual, the brand is able to establish more loyalty from users because it creates an extremely useful experience.

Another example, featured in the Most Contagious 2011 report, is Sneakerpedia by Foot Locker. Sneakerpedia is a: 

"Wiki-esque website [that] enables users to create a profile and then upload pictures of all the cool kicks in their collection - complete with a brief history and info on the make, model, material etc. This tagging helps the site to then archive each model correctly, creating a vast and infinitely navigable database of every significant sneaker ever bought and cherished"

Here Foot Locker has created an environment where people can collect and curate their personal shoe data, while learning from a large body of other shoe data they wouldn't normally see, to see what other amazing kicks people have and connect with those who share their passion. So not only are they offering unique content, but they're also inspiring their customers to create their own content and foster their passion! Further embedding the brand into its customer's lives.


I recently read a great quote from Mark Addicks, CMO of General Mills, which I feel sums this up perfectly:

"In 2012, many marketers will start with content as a way to engage their best customers and grow their business versus advertising...They will realise the power of content to enhance the brand experience, deliver the brand's purpose and extend opportunities for the brand to serve"

So how is your brand going to get to know its customers and their behaviour to provide branded content in a way, and at a time, that provides value to their daily lives beyond the product?  
How will you make contextual content king?

Patagonia - Legally Bound to its Purpose

Finally, a brand, other than Apple, we can express immense admiration for, or as my flatmate tweeted this week, "open-mouth kiss" - hello Patagonia!

Last week, I wrote about its Common Threads initiative, where Patagonia clearly establishes its role/purpose within the global community - "to build useful things that last, to repair what breaks and recycle what comes of its useful life"- then asks its customers to do the same to help accomplish its purpose.


Now, Patagonia has asked the government to help it truly live by its purpose without boundaries, becoming California's first Benefit Corporation. This gives Patagonia's directors legal protection to consider social and environmental benefits over financial returns!


"This new legal status was designed to embed goals into companies’ missions that go beyond profitability"


For too long, companies have had to sacrifice their brand purpose - the big hairy audacious goal they set out to accomplish upon inception - to meet the short-term demands of shareholders when going public.  I'm ecstatic to see a brand who wasn't afraid to challenge the rules and ask for support from the government to ensure its ability to live up to its brand purpose everyday.


Often, shareholders are so concerned with short-term returns, that they forget to take a long-view perspective of the brand.  By Patagonia actively, consistently and, now, legally living up to its brand everyday, helping reduce unnecessary purchases and creating products that will live 'forever', it establishes immense trust and advocacy for the brand, which creates demand and sustained or even increased value for itself in the long-term.

It's a step in the right direction, having brands ask for and receiving support, to create, and be truly caring, responsible and sustainable brands.  I look forward to seeing more brands become Benefit Corporations or finding other creative ways to satisfy their big hairy audacious dreams!  The key is not to be afraid to imagine what isn't possible today and ask for it, so it can be a reality tomorrow!

Note: Image found here

2012 - Let's Say Less and Play More

Image Found Here

Happy 2012!! 

I think we're in for another exciting year, and I'm rather pleased where branding is going, maybe slowly, but it's in the right direction...let me explain...

With so much distrust and uncertainty - lots of skepticism - towards corporations and advertising, people are more receptive to brands that are consistent in their actions, transparent with information and good to everyone around them.

However, a consistent, transparent and good brand cannot be developed through an ad campaign any more. People are too smart and have endless access to information (thanks to Google searches and social network, SMS, etc. conversations). Rather, brands have to prove this behaviour and be truly recognised for it and its brand claim, which should be or be tied to its brand purpose.

So for 2012, rather than the 'x' number of things we need to be on our radar this year, I think there is only one to focus on: brands needs to think about long-term engagement programs not campaigns.

Campaigns are born to die, which don't lend themselves to the consistency people want, no demand from their brands. Programs come from the heart of the business, and are built to grow and evolve with purpose at the root.

For a program to be successful, it requires the support of various internal parties, along with engaging and collaborating with consumers. This creates a transparent and communal environment around the brand's purpose/essence.  

The ecosystem created from an initiative is beneficial for a couple reasons:

1. The IKEA Effect - being a part of something, either helping it take form or being involved in someway makes someone proud of their creation/involvement and, therefore, more attached to that brand stimulating loyalty and advocacy
2. Real-Time Consumer Insights - by having people involved enables the brand to learn more about their consumers in context with how they interact with the product, service, program, etc., creating a continuous learning loop to optimise, not only the experience/message but also the product/service being offered. This ensures your brand evolves in a way that is relevant to the market.

To encourage a deeper level of engagement, creating meaningful social connections within the brands community, created from the initiative, there needs to be a powerful motivating purpose exciting both internal staff and consumers to choose to be involved and, more importantly, stay involved.

To do this, the initiative has to be focused on something the brand actually cares about and has the ability to act on, both physically (you can actually do it) and mentally (it aligns with, or delivers on, your brand purpose).  This becomes the brand's opportunity to prove what it stands for while making a positive impact in the real world.

Initiatives are by far not new, just look at the Dove Real Beauty campaign, which is a long-term campaign aimed to do good. Or Threadless, which is a highly engaging platform, nay business model! But what we're seeing is these two elements coming together more and more. So it's becoming something with relevant do-good meaning at the heart, fusing with consumer involvement and engagement to provide some kind of relevant experience that defines a role for a brand in those people's lives.

Just look at Patagonia's Common Threads Initiative where it partnered with eBay to reduce excess consumption by creating a site where people can buy pre-owned Patagonia merchandise. This proves Patagonia's role as a builder of "useful things that last, to repair what breaks and recycle what comes of its useful life", while giving its consumers a role in aiding Patagonia's mission.  Consumers are asked"to buy only what [they] need, repair what breaks, reuse (share) what [they] no longer need, and recycle everything else". This initiative not only becomes a reason to believe in Patagonia's purpose, but gives its consumers the tool they need to hold up their end of the bargain, helping the brand sustain its purpose. I LOVE IT!

Consumers are beginning to expect these kinds of programs from their brands, which aids in re-building trust and loyalty, in addition to maintaining this as markets become over saturated and people spend less on things and more on life enriching experiences.

So this year, rather than just saying stuff to our consumers, let's ask them to play, hangout, share stories and build things together. After all, isn't that how some of our closest and most meaningful relationships, which we feel comfortable confiding in, are built? 

Let's do the same for brands. Lets help them build ways to play and engage with their consumers over the long-term creating an ecosystem that gives them a role in their consumers' lives that they will happily welcome you into because it offers them real meaningful value.

Happy 2012!! Let's play!

Happy Holidays

Note: Image from flickr

With another year coming to a close and an exciting 2012 just around the corner, I'm going to sign off from my blog while I travel back to Canada to spend some time with family and friends for the holidays!!

Thank you for continuing to follow my blog and challenge me to explore my great passion for branding and all that it encompasses and impacts! Although I would have loved to write so much more, this year was very exciting with many adventures, from making the difficult decision to leave Blast Radius, to volunteering in Tanzania for a month and then coming back to start an exciting role within the CSU (Central Strategy Unit) at M&C Saatchi!

I think next year will continue to see the importance of meaningful brands. Today's (and tomorrow's brands) will need to be delivering meaningful value beyond its products. In fact, everything it does must be built to satisfy a unmet need in its consumers' lives creating a role for itself in their daily lives. This will see a rise in the need to continually innovate to remain relevant to people, and this innovation won't be to create only new products, but rather how to evolve existing products or developing new uses and/or services around these products.

I'm very excited to see where branding is - rather than just being a branded identity, it's a branded behaviour and role in the consumer's lives!

Have a wonderful holiday season, and I look forward to chatting some more in the new year!