Digital Discourse

#FIRSTANDFOREVER at Frontrunner Gallery

Doc Maarten’s recently showcased their social media prowess by hosting the #FIRSTANDFOREVER event at Frontrunner Gallery in TriBeCa, NY.  The event featured a new media installation of projected video, instagrams printed to canvas, DJ, custom bourbon drinks and the new line of Doc Maartens shoes.  A fine assortment of downtown regulars and bloggers were in attendance and spirits were high.

Among all the great accouterments and creative uses of the Frontrunner space, the Instagrams printed to canvas felt particularly innovative.  The prints showcased the spirit of Doc Maartens and the evolving beauty of mobile photography.  Now I need to make my own!  Great for bringing some life to that undersized New York City apartment!

Inspired by the mobile photo installation, I captured Instagram portraits of the event attendees.

 

CrossLink: Crowdsourced Fundraising Nets $3K for Documentary

CrossLink’s second session, ‘Crowdsourced Fundraising’ covered the emerging opportunity on sites such as Kickstarter, ProFounder, CrowdRise, and JustGiving (see my presentation) - also shown below.  The focus then turned toward  two filmmakers, Ollie and Zach of Sent Productions, who are currently tapping into crowd funding via KickStarter for their project, ‘Breaking Trail.’  The film is about a father / son duo from Aspen who are starting a back country ski operation in El Arpa, Chile.  During the session, attendees donated $3000 and the project has now successfully captured $4,675 in funding.

Crowdsourced Fundraising

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CrossLink: Mobile Photography Installation & Meetup

On Thursday, August 4, colleagues from my team at KBS+P, in partnerships with Frontrunner Gallery hosted a Mobile Photography installation.  It was an effort to put on display the creative behaviors that have become common practice on the phone.  Hosting the output of serendipitous digital creativity in the gallery setting was somethign we saw as very similar to the Frontrunner mission - to support emerging artists and innovators.  The event functioned as part of the bi-monthly CrossLink meetup, which explores the connection between digital strategy and creativity.  Join CrossLink on Meetup.  Join Frontrunner Gallery on Facebook to see all of the photos!  The strategy presentation is featured at the bottomr of this post!

Official event description:

#MobileGallery explores the rapidly emerging behavior of connected mobile photography and the associated creative opportunities for artists, marketers, and everyday people.  The event showcases a selection of photos shot on iPhones by members of The Socialites, a group of social media strategists whose mission is to illuminate the frontiers of digital technology and creativity.  Some are practicing photographers while others are simply ‘cool kids with digital style.’   The combined presentation wrestles with the fine line between formal creativity and informal visual sharing among friends. Strategic points of view are offered regarding the space and directional trends that are making headlines today.  The show’s hashtag is #mobilegallery, on which a conversation, in both comments and photos takes place.

 

Mobile Photography at #MobileGallery

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The turnout at Frontrunner Gallery in TriBeCa for the CrossLink Event:

Details Matter - Spade & Partners say "Think Small"

Details matter.  They can be a real pain but when you get them right it makes all the difference.

Details matter in tedious areas like book keeping.  They also really matter in creative areas like art, experience and design.  And people notice details.  That's what makes them make the end result special.

Andy Spade and Anthony Sperduti discuss this insight in their presentation at PSFK.  Their thesis is that big brands can make a huge impact on how people percieve them by thinking small and paying close attention to detail.  

A great example that resonated with me is their work with J. Crew in creating the Liquor Store in TriBeCa, New York.  In the 90's J. Crew had no identity as a men's brand.  The solution was to simply fix up an old dive bar and make it a place to shop.  Initiatives such as the Liquor Store gave men a place to shop that felt authentic and comfortable.  Details such as the preserved bar, the gallery within the fitting room, and the sign outside the shoppe makes the larger experience feel authentic - i.e. - not global brand and generic.

Thinking about my own work in ad agencies, I've also learned a similar lesson.  When working with massive companies and many different teams, it's best to find a focus and do that REALLY well.  When you spread yourself thin with many different "one-off" engagements, you may very well help a larger group of people, but you likely won't be remembered for hitting the home run or changing the way people think and approach problems.

All of this thinking is inspiration for the partners at Frontrunner Gallery.  We're thinking about how to make the space feel more like a truly unique and brand experience.  If you have ideas, please shoot them our way or comment below!  We'd love to hear from you!

Setting Expectations for Digital Media

I'm here at the Pivot Conference listening to discussions about digital media, social media and "branding's next revolution."  One speaker effectively emphasized the importance of reflection by stating, “we are at the most important moment in advertising since the advent of TV… because the internet opens unprecedented ways to connect with people on their own terms.”  These conferences are really helpful for fostering important reflections about what we as digital marketers are doing right and wrong.  One of the major themes I've observed has been that digital marketers are not setting effective expectations with clients.  Expectations and business goals are where every program begins and how every program is judged in the end - so we better get the expectations right.  Unfortunately, many of us would agree that we're not getting the expectations and business goals right.

Some high level Pivot observations about digital expectations:

1. Embrace what’s different about digital and stop trying to make it fit into traditional conventions of marketing.  Awareness is not the specialty of digital (although it can play a role); facilitating opinion formation and purchase decision are far more relevant to the medium.
2. Stop focusing on the click!   The goal of brands for hundreds of years has been to build relationships with customers – and now it’s just about clicks (which means less and less than it did before).  We as marketers set expectations with our clients.  If we’re frustrated that CTR is overly emphasized, we need to set different expectations up front.  It’s different for everybody, but time spent, repeat visitation, engagement and influence are better insights to begin considering.
3. Don’t let the metrics muddle the long-standing goal: emotional connections.  Increasingly marketers will aim to establish emotional connections that are with the consumer all the time.  Digital is an “always on” and increasingly “always with me” channel.
4. Quality is better than quantity.  That doesn’t mean forget scale, but it means that we need to add deeper insights to the connections established with consumers.  Insights are what differentiate the digital medium!  Let’s bring more focus to digital insights and apply them to the overall process, which will show value through application.
5. Make marketing discoveries by testing, learning and asking/engaging your most loyal consumers.  Digital is the place to do this because it’s quick for implementation and you get direct feedback.  Feedback is what keeps all of us honest.  If you make mistakes that’s okay – just admit when you’re wrong.  Keep trying and focus on an iterative process.  If you stay committed, you’ll eventually get it right.  And if you’re trying to get into digital and social, the simple truth is that you will only learn by doing.
6. There is no such thing as a campaign – only a continuum.  Building a foundation for the long term will pay dividends when you really need it.  You may not need immediately need owned digital media channels and communities, but you almost certainly will find use in the future.
7. Measure what matters - sales and the bottom line are the first priority.  Response to promotions/discounts, loyalty, and continued engagement are great ways to prove value as well.

 

IAB Launches Social Media Framework

The IAB is a leading industry organization for marketers and they have recently offered an official POV on social success.  As social media become less of a flashy, fun tactic and is held more accountable, it's very reassuring to see that industry leaders are starting to take leadership on this subject of social success.  

• Internet Advertising Bureau’s Social Media Council (IAB SMC) launched a social media measurement framework in the UK
• The framework plays on the letters “I,” “A,” and “B” to stand for Intent, Appreciation, Action, advocacy, and benchmark
• Intent – all social media activity should be pre-empted by a set of objectives to help determine which KPIs are measured
• Awareness, appreciation, action, and advocacy – all KPIs should surround these four attributes of social media campaigns
• Benchmark – all activity should be based on the identified target, gleaned from competitor and industry data

What’s in it for Marketers:

1. Consider starting all social media tactics with “I,” “A,” and “B” in mind, beginning with benchmarks from case studies and industry best practices to determine the best objectives for the campaigns
2. Explore the different lifts due to social media and how it relates to awareness, appreciation, action, and advocacy to help determine the best set of KPIs to help determine success

 

#StreetClips: SXSW RVIP Karaoke Lounge

 

While shooting Flip Videos for Digitas during the Speed Dating Panel, #StreetClips connected with Kestrin Pantera, one of the content creators making a pitch to Miller Lite’s VP of Brand Marketing.  Check out her pitch at the Digitas YouTube Channel.   Based on the creativity Kestrin displayed on stage, it was a no-brainer to take up her invite to check out a her SXSW side-project, the RVIP Lounge, which was cruising around Austin non-stop during SXSW ’10. 

 

The RVIP is a karaoke lounge on wheels.  Anyone and everyone in Austin during SXSW is invited to join the lounge and you can stay and sing for as long as you like.  The only catch is that you track down the lounge with a simple #RVIP Twitter search and get to the latest pit-stop before the a new set of party nomads is enlisted and in motion.

I thought this was a novel idea because it connected well with the theme of networking and brought great serendipity into the mix.  Joining RVIP for the ride took a certain level of commitment to the party – because you were never quite sure where in Austin you would end up.  That brought a sense of “we’re all in this together” to the moment.  Too often the social media world seems to be about quick exchanges that last only momentarily.  When you hop on the RVIP lounge, you sign up for an uncertain journey with strangers – but by the end of the ride you’ve met some great new friends. 

One of my new friends (among many) from RVIP was Boston Phoenix Photographer, Kelly Davidson who created the shots for this #StreetClips post.  See Kelly below in Elvis hair.   Check out Kelly’s work at http://etchedonfilm.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

SXSW Speed-Dating with Miller Lite

Rising stars in the branded content space were given a golden opportunity at SXSW on Sunday to pitch Miller Lite’s VP of brand marketing.  The forum was hosted by Digitas Chief Creative Officer, Mark Beeching and the winning pitch was to be named on the spot as the idea that would be produced for Miller, in partnership with Digitas’ branded content group, The Third Act.

#StreetClips was there to catch all the action during and after the presentation.  Below, watch Digitas' Mark Beeching lay down the ground-rules and see the winning pitch by Austin natives Chris and Owen – it features Ninjas, Guns, Women, Secret Agents and Beer! 

Go to www.youtube.com/DIGITASclips to see all the video as it's posted.

 

 

 

Mobile Blog Posting

This is a big deal because it brings substance to instant connectivity and media capture.  Roles are changing everywhere.  The role of the witness or the audience member or the event attendee has never before had so much significance.  The pressure for immediate, nimble journalism has never been so great.  The ability to share and describe media on the go will have lasting effects on how moments are experienced, reported and remembered.