Sunday, 4 November 2012
R/GA’S FLEDGLING MEDIA SERVICES UNIT FINDS ITS STRIDE
Here's a recent article from AdExchanger on the work I am doing at R/GA:
R/GA’s decision to launch a media division one year ago was an unusual step for an agency deeply associated with its creative product. The firm has always talked a good game about data, for instance using personal health data to support the award winning Nike+ and Fuel Band products. But that’s a far cry from executing media buys using first and third-party audience data and optimizing those campaigns on the fly.
Get the full story at AdExchanger
Friday, 28 September 2012
R/GA ADVERTISING WEEK TALK
If you are free on Monday at 3PM please join us for our talk at The Times Center, where we will present "Moving At The Speed Of Markets - A New And Creative Media Ecosystem" Here is the link to registration on the Advertising Week site.
BUILDING INTERACTIVITY INTO VIDEO
We know video is experiencing explosive growth across the web, which is good. But we don't want to ape the world of traditional media, and leave video as a purely passive medium.
Check out this very interesting, interactive YouTube video that is essential a tribute to London, my hometown. Very impressive. Hat tip to Lau Moyano. There is an interactive version and a non-interactive version. Click the buttons at the bottom of the video that says :Start Again" and then follow the instructions to select the track to add next (You will need to have annotations enabled.
Check out this very interesting, interactive YouTube video that is essential a tribute to London, my hometown. Very impressive. Hat tip to Lau Moyano. There is an interactive version and a non-interactive version. Click the buttons at the bottom of the video that says :Start Again" and then follow the instructions to select the track to add next (You will need to have annotations enabled.
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN AN ALGORITHM?
It's SXSW Interactive talks selection time. And I'm looking for votes for my SXSW talk on algorithms. If you find the topic interesting (or you just want to help), clickthrough to vote and share.
Here's the description:
Watson won on Jeopardy. Deep Thought beat Garry Kasparov at chess. Algorithms are everywhere. Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm drives almost everything you see. Google's success is based on algorithms – its original PageRank algorithm is arguably the most valuable in the history of man. Amazon and Netflix’s recommendation engines fuel their profitability and growth. There are countless other algorithms, ranging from those that guide what we see on YouTube, through to what's trending on Twitter, to what online ads you see or don't see.
Algorithms now govern the market and define whether you have a successful or unsuccessful campaign. Brands must respond to this reality. For now, these systems still lack deep intelligence and creativity, so conceptual creativity can outsmart the computational brute force of algorithms. If you beat the algorithms, you beat the market. If you don't, then you are at their mercy
Questions Answered
Here's the description:
Watson won on Jeopardy. Deep Thought beat Garry Kasparov at chess. Algorithms are everywhere. Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm drives almost everything you see. Google's success is based on algorithms – its original PageRank algorithm is arguably the most valuable in the history of man. Amazon and Netflix’s recommendation engines fuel their profitability and growth. There are countless other algorithms, ranging from those that guide what we see on YouTube, through to what's trending on Twitter, to what online ads you see or don't see.
Algorithms now govern the market and define whether you have a successful or unsuccessful campaign. Brands must respond to this reality. For now, these systems still lack deep intelligence and creativity, so conceptual creativity can outsmart the computational brute force of algorithms. If you beat the algorithms, you beat the market. If you don't, then you are at their mercy
Questions Answered
- How do algorithms rule the digital ecosystem?
- How do algorithms work and how does this effect brands?
- How will algorithms increase in influence in the future?
- How is creativity an antidote to the raw power of algorithms?
- How can brands outmaneuver the dominant algorithms?
Monday, 13 August 2012
A TALE OF TWO AUDIENCES: SOCIAL MEDIA VS TV
NBC achieved a 31.1 million average primetime viewership for its coverage of the Olympics. The best for non-U.S. Summer Olympics in 36 Years. This number tops Beijing by 12% and Athens by 25%.
If like me you were pissed off trying to watch live the most exciting parts of the Olympics in the US, you might be stunned at this number, but also perhaps grudgingly respectful at this media sleight of hand. The hashtag #NBCFail exploded across Twitter. Influencers across social media screamed out their disapproval to anyone listening. Check out some of the tweets here on #NBCFail.
NBC's TV strategy was simple, broadcast the 'tier 2' sports during the day live, and then rebroadcast during primetime the 'tier 1' events, when they could accumulate the most profitable advertising spend. If you really wanted to watch live events, and you had a cable subscription you could live stream it over the net. Few people were happy with this solution, including me. I got pissed off, others got even more pissed off.
You'll see below a timeline of the tweets, showing social media anger throughout the Olympics, topped and tailed by criticism of broadcasting of the opening and closing ceremony.
This starts to show two things for me:
- The social media audience is influential, but only amongst the social media audience. There are broken links in the social maps that connect society through social media. Not everybody can yet be reached and influenced through social media. And even when they are reached, it's not clear how influential that is.
- Winning in ratings isn't always winning. Their strategy was so transparently manipulative that it has damaged their brand. NBC rightly believed that if you have the content that people want, however pissed off they get, they'll still tune in and watch. Like me, people were pissed off with the time delay, and the fact you already knew the result before you watched, but you still just obediently tuned-in and watched NBC won, but it was a pyrrhic victory, that has left a lot of people very unhappy with them. But perhaps this is what it now takes to make money in these tough time for content owners.
If like me you were pissed off trying to watch live the most exciting parts of the Olympics in the US, you might be stunned at this number, but also perhaps grudgingly respectful at this media sleight of hand. The hashtag #NBCFail exploded across Twitter. Influencers across social media screamed out their disapproval to anyone listening. Check out some of the tweets here on #NBCFail.
NBC's TV strategy was simple, broadcast the 'tier 2' sports during the day live, and then rebroadcast during primetime the 'tier 1' events, when they could accumulate the most profitable advertising spend. If you really wanted to watch live events, and you had a cable subscription you could live stream it over the net. Few people were happy with this solution, including me. I got pissed off, others got even more pissed off.
You'll see below a timeline of the tweets, showing social media anger throughout the Olympics, topped and tailed by criticism of broadcasting of the opening and closing ceremony.
This starts to show two things for me:
- The social media audience is influential, but only amongst the social media audience. There are broken links in the social maps that connect society through social media. Not everybody can yet be reached and influenced through social media. And even when they are reached, it's not clear how influential that is.
- Winning in ratings isn't always winning. Their strategy was so transparently manipulative that it has damaged their brand. NBC rightly believed that if you have the content that people want, however pissed off they get, they'll still tune in and watch. Like me, people were pissed off with the time delay, and the fact you already knew the result before you watched, but you still just obediently tuned-in and watched NBC won, but it was a pyrrhic victory, that has left a lot of people very unhappy with them. But perhaps this is what it now takes to make money in these tough time for content owners.
Saturday, 4 August 2012
Monday, 11 June 2012
NIKE FOOTBALL: MY TIME IS NOW
I like the idea idea of the 'tunnels' in this anthemic spot for Nike. This is how I see digital TV going in the next few years. Tunnels of content you can disappear down depending on what interests you at that moment. Watch the video all the way, and then you open on a new version with the tunnel interactivity.
Perrier: The Drop
A beautifully shot, epic film - neatly wrapped into a long form 2 minutes or so. Lots of comments on their Facebook page, but they could have done so much more socially and digitally. Storytelling in the digital age should do and must do so much more. http://www.facebook.com/perrier
Sunday, 10 June 2012
WORLD MAP OF SOCIAL NETWORKS
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
CONVERSE DOMAINATION - UNCONVENTIONAL SEARCH STRATEGY Domaination
Converse uses paid search to connect their brand with consumers. The strategy isn't new, but having so much fun with the medium is fresh. Shows how versatile digital media is when you challenge orthodoxy. Clever.
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