Infomagination

Technology brands - what a bunch of Wonka's

Just a quick post to draw your attention to a comms trend that's been growing for a little while now:  technology as confectionary.

It began a few years ago, with Skoda Cake:

Then it flipped from documentary realism to musical theatre with Dell's Lollipop ad:

And now it's somewhere in between the two, with the Sky Supertelly ad:

These ads tell us two things.

The first is that we've reached a new stage with technology, where the latest gadgets are not just a tool to be used but a treat to be indulged in.

The second is that whilst an idea like "technology as confectionary" can be re-expressed effectively by different brands (as with Skoda and Dell), it's only a little while before the semiotic space starts getting filled up.  Part of the reason that the Sky ad feels a little lacklustre to me is that it feels like a dull rehash of the Dell ad.

That's not to say the code is necessarily worn out, it just means that any brands still looking to play in this space need to make sure they move things on sufficiently to stay fresh.

We've done the Wonka-esque sweet factory thing 3 times now, so let's look at confectionary from a new angle.  How about celebrating the sensory hit of sweets instead?  Or dramatising the way we snack on the internet throughout the day?   Perhaps we could even revel in the way we dispose of it, when the next flavour of the month comes along?

Up & the Power of Re-cap

I don't know if you watched Up at the cinema last year, but if you didn't you missed something amazing.  Not just the best, most hilarious, most poignant animated film of the year, but IMHO the best film of the year - from a creative, emotive and just plain human point of view.

With that in mind, something that's brightened my day so far has been the discovery of this lovely little film over on Hugh's blog.  As well as being an awesome piece of content in its own right, I think it's a great little lesson in extracting the maximum value from the things that we make and do with our brands.

My reasoning for this is the power of re-cap.

Think about it.  The classic rule of giving a presentation, AKA telling a good story, is "tell em what you're going to say, tell em, tell em what you told em".

Often, though, re-caps are neglected, because people think "well I've told them that stuff, I don't wanna go through it again."  Or "they'll want to see new stuff now, won't they?"

What we shouldn't forget, though, is that re-caps can be really important.  They remind you of all the stuff you thought, felt and loved along the way, cement your feelings around it and allow you to instantly feel that way again.  They're shortcuts straight back to the emotions.

Big Brother knew this for years.  The showing of the housemates' "best bits" were key moments in every series.

Friends knew it too.  Every now and again there's an episode where Joey, Monica, Rachel, Chandler and Phoebe would sit on the couch and reminisce about old episodes, interspersed with clips from each.  Just a box of old, happy memories, with a little bit of wrapping paper around it.

This gives me a couple of thoughts.

1.  Should long running, much loved campaigns think about creating montage ads, drawing on the highlights from their history?  Think Gary Lineker for Walkers, for example.  Surely a montage of his greatest hits could have much more impact than a fresh commercial along the same format, especially if there's no NPD etc. to talk about?

2.  How about providing content like this to people who attend experiential activity after the event, as a way of re-triggering those good feelings we gave them in the moment - and giving them material they can instantly (and enthusiastically) share with their friends who weren't able go?

I'm sure you can probably think of some more...  Let me know if you do!

Aleksander the Meerkat Vs Go ComPaverotti - find out who's winning with Google Insights for Search

I don't know about you, but I like a good fight.  And one of the biggest brawls happening right now is in the world of insurance comparison websites.

In the blue corner, we have Aleksander the Meerkat, saviour of comparethemarket.com and champion of 2009's royal insurance rumble.

And in the red corner we have a relative newcomer, the fat tenor from the Go Compare ads.  A man I call Go ComPaverotti.

Charming comic meerkat vs massive(ly) annoying tenor - who wins?!

Well, the nice thing about living in the Age of Infomagination, is that it ain't too hard to find out.  For these guys, winning means getting people to go looking for your website - and with Google's new Insights for Search tool we can find out roughly how many people are doing just that.  Just log in, enter the search terms you want to compare and you can find out how many people are searching for the brands/things of your choice wherever and whenever you're interested in.  I use it for monitoring the brands I work on - but you can check whatever you like with it.

This is the current state of play for our two opponents, looking back over the last couple of years.  It shows how searches for compare the market/meerkat (blue and red) increased massively since Aleksander came on the scene at the start of last year, but how appeal really waned on the run up to Christmas, leaving Go ComPaverotti to make inroads, which have dramatically reduced the gap between the rivals - so much so that they're now neck and neck once more.

So, whilst Aleksander's won almost every plaudit going in the advertising world, and ComPaverotti has only managed most annoying advert of 2009, it seems that both have been effective in their own way - and the ultimate prize of market supremacy is very much up for grabs.

This is one fight that's certainly not over yet.

How brands can help people have a genuinely happier new year

Happiness.  Everyone wants it.  Everyone's talking about it.

Just the other week "measuring happiness as a way to indicate economic prosperity" was listed as one of 5 top predictions to watch out for in 2010.

I like happiness.  And I want to make people happy.  Recently, though, it's become fashionable to knock marketing for making people unhappy - for trapping them on the "hedonic treadmill."  And that makes me sad.  Because that's my job.

Thinking about it, though.  I realised that wasn't my job.  My job was quite the opposite.  The best marketing can and does make people genuinely happy.  That's the kind of marketing I want to make and the kind I want you to do too.

So, when I was asked to write an essay about "people and brands" as part of the IPA Excellence Diploma, this is what I wrote.  Have a read, let me know what you think and then let's see if we can't make this new year a whole lot happier than the last.

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

By Matt Sadler.

Troubling times in the age of happiness

In the 4th century BC, the Greek philosopher Aristotle concluded that the purpose of life was happiness (de Chenecey, 2005). It’s taken a couple of thousand years for this idea to take hold in Britain but all of a sudden happiness has become a major issue, championed by psychology, parliament and the media alike (Keegan, 2007).  The question on everyone’s lips is why, despite average incomes doubling, our society is no happier than it was 50 years ago (Layard, 2005).

This question strikes at the very heart of consumer society.  Dr Sheila Keegan (2007) talks of “a growing acknowledgement that we are finally recognising the price we have paid for consumerism and the desperate race for material gain”. Professor Richard Layard (2005) blames advertising for spreading discontent amongst the population.  Marketing is under attack and I believe that it’s time for brands to come out fighting.  I believe that great brands can and do make people happier and that there is much more that brands can do to contribute to society’s pursuit of happiness.  This paper sets out to explore the properties and causes of happiness with the ultimate aim of discovering what marketing can do to help create truly happy customers.

What is happiness?
 
Happiness is defined as a state of wellbeing characterised by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy (Hoggard, 2005):

Fig 1.  The two dimensions of feeling (Layard, 2005)

In biological terms, happiness is a steering mechanism developed by nature to guide us in the choices we make. We are genetically programmed to seek things out things that make us happy and avoid those that make us sad, as our subconscious mind guides us towards the choices that it believes will help us pass on our genes (Evans, 2001). 

In marketing terms, happiness is the ultimate “end benefit.”  Whilst happiness is sought for its own sake, every other goal – be it health, beauty, wealth or fame – is valued only because we expect it to bring us happiness (Layard, 2005).  In this way, under Levitt’s (1960) dictum that marketing must focus on the needs of the consumer, understanding the causes of happiness is essential for our business.

The secrets of happiness

Layard (2005) states that “happiness comes from without and within.”  Whilst our genes and upbringing influence about 50% of the variation in our personal happiness, our circumstances (income and environment) affect only about 10% - with the remaining 40% decided by our outlook and activities, including our relationships, friendships and jobs, our engagement in the community and our involvement in sports or hobbies.  Thus, whilst each of us has a fixed base level of happiness, an awful lot can potentially be worked on by brands.

Before we get too carried away, however, it’s worth noting that, generally speaking, material goods do a poor job of making us happy.  This is firstly because our in-built habit for social comparison means our norms rise to match those around us and secondly because we are designed to need more and more of a good experience if happiness is to be sustained - hence the fact that our happiness has not increased with our prosperity (Layard, 2005).

So what does make us truly happy?  And how can brands contribute?  Professor Martin Seligman (2003), who founded the field of “positive psychology”, has identified three distinct components of happiness:

1.    The pleasant life (the emotional sensation of feeling good in the here and now through the savouring of sensory experiences)
2.    The good life (enjoyment of day-to-day living through engagement with family, friends, work, romance and hobbies plus freedom from pain and anxiety)
3.    The meaningful life (a feeling of fulfilment gained through the service of something bigger than yourself, such as politics, religion or community action)

I believe that brands can contribute at all of these levels and in the following section I am going to explore how, applying my thinking to brands that I work on throughout.

1.  Treasure the pleasure

Brands are, of course, perfectly placed to provide sensory experiences of many kinds – be it a glass of Jacob’s Creek wine, a stay at a Malmaison hotel, a trip to the Carling Weekend or just a really great ad.  The idea that brand owners should see themselves as “experience providers” is well established (Pine & Gilmour, 1999) - and happiness experts agree that experiences make you far happier than mere purchases, because of the way they stimulate the senses and thus our emotions (Hoggard, 2005). In this way, brand owners can also think of themselves as providing “sensory pick-me-ups” – and just thinking about how to excite all five senses can pose some interesting thoughts for brands.  Weight Watchers could play relaxing music in meetings to soothe stressed slimmers coming from work.  Boxes of Finish dishwasher tablets could be fragranced, so a scent of freshness is released upon opening.  Evian bottles could be made even more tactile, using textures and contours.

2.  Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative

Unfortunately, however, the happiness derived from pleasure is short-lived.  If brands are to offer longer-term happiness they need to look further up the ladder. The second level of happiness is about helping people to connect with each other, feel engaged with the activities they do and minimising their stress.

Psychologists agree that above all our happiness depends on the quality of our relationships with other people (Layard, 2005; Hoggard, 2005).  Thus brands that have a social element to them really do have the power to make people happier.  MySpace and YouTube have both shot to success on the back of their ability to develop relationships and build communities.  In this way, the real happiness value of the recent Cadbury’s gorilla advert (which states “making you smile” as its raison d’être (Cadbury, 2007)), is not in the pleasure of the film itself but in its status as social currency – being talked about, shared, remixed and spoofed by and between people.

I believe that brand owners can do much to increase the social utility of brands.  Weight Watchers could improve the community side of their online service to make it a social networking site for dieters, or encourage debate around the obesity and size zero issues – aiming to give people something to talk about, rather than just telling them about itself.  Yakult could produce educational wall charts about the digestive system that parents could use to bond with their children.  What it comes back down to for brand owners is thinking in terms of people who care about their communities, rather than consumers who want to purchase products.

When it comes to achieving happiness through our daily activities, brands have long played an important role in helping people to follow their passions – be it Nike for sport lovers, Harley Davidson for motorcycle enthusiasts or Linux for computer programmers.  Whilst not all brands can be involved in areas of life that people traditionally think of as “passions”, research shows that feeling truly engaged in any activity has been proven to generate a deep sense of happiness and satisfaction, achieved through a process called “flow” (Csikszentmihalyi, 2002).  Flow describes any experience in which you become so absorbed that you “lose yourself.”  The great thing about flow is that it can be encouraged by utilising personal strengths and transforming activities into games with goals and rules. This transformation of “work” into “play” was the genius of Weedol’s “no mercy” campaign (Huzzey, 2003).

I believe that there is much that brands can do to improve happiness levels by encouraging flow. The household cleaning products made by our Reckitt Benckiser client, for example, are associated with normally tedious tasks.  With a little reframing, however, cleaning the house could be transformed into a game to be enjoyed by the family.  Any product with a name like “Cillit Bang” was surely destined to be treated like a toy, after all? Why not give people cleaning challenges on pack, make the packaging more water-pistol-like, or even give away free CDs of “Now that’s what I call great pop songs to clean your house to” and help turn a chore into a chortle?

Brands can minimise stress in a multitude of ways.  As reported by Willmott & Nelson (2003), there is much they can do to assist consumers in coping with the complexities of modern living. With the information gathering capabilities of the internet, brands are also better placed than ever to respond to customers in a personal and relevant way (as recommended by Godin (1999)), helping to ensure expectations are met and where possible exceeded. 

3.  Spread some love
 
Of the three roads to a happy, satisfied life Seligman (2003) believes that working towards a “meaningful life” brings the most long-term happiness.  We humans, it seems, get a natural kick out of being nice to each other.  In fact, volunteering in a good cause has been shown to bring as much happiness as doubling our salary (Hoggard, 2005).  Furthermore, the psychologist Jonathan Haidt (2006) suggests that people witnessing good deeds experience an emotion called “elevation”, which encourages them to be more open, considerate and loving towards humanity – so being good creates a virtuous circle (which could perhaps help explain the continuing rise of ethical brands, thinking and TV programmes).

In a similar way, Pringle & Thompson (1999) demonstrate how aligning a brand with a relevant cause can not only bring happiness and pride for consumers and employees, but also generate great value for businesses.  I believe that there is a great opportunity for Yakult to raise the profile of gastrointestinal diseases, which receive little press attention despite the fact that bowel cancer kills more people than breast cancer (Cancer Research UK, 2005).  Yakult could organise - and dare people to take part in - extreme sponsored events (like abseiling down the Gherkin), under the banner “Have you got the guts?!”.  This could help them grab some headlines, bring people together and spread a little love both outside and inside of their organisation.

Happiness should be the output, but not necessarily the input

Having reviewed the ways in which brands can contribute to happiness, I think it’s important to note that many emotional levers can be pulled to get there.  After all, happy ads do not necessarily make happy people (see figure 2). 

Fig 2.  Happiness requires more than just cheerful communications (Smaller, 2001)

Successful brands use the entire gamut of emotion to induce happiness.  Yes, Coke’s optimism is infectious (figure 3a) but Nike’s Wayne Rooney poster (figure 3b) also provokes happiness - through confidence, pride and a sense of belonging - whilst many charity ads (like the one in figure 3c) create sadness in order to offer happiness in return for action.

Fig 3. The full range of emotions can be used to create happiness

As a final thought, it feels only right to end on a note of humility.  As Lidstone (2005) points out, the actual and perceived ability of brands to change people’s lives is small in most cases.  Brands must be careful not to overestimate their benefits and slip into hyperbole.  De Botton (2004) makes a similar point when he remarks that advertising often “stays quiet about the weak capacity of all material goods to alter our levels of happiness, as compared with the overwhelming power of emotional events.”  Our brands are small compared to people’s lives and relationships, although we can certainly aim to help with the big stuff – and raise a smile whenever we’re around. Creating happiness requires incremental improvements at each of the levels described above, a fact that is reflected by the behaviour of many successful brands.  Think Tesco - “every little helps.” 

Hope for a happy ending

As society increasingly places a premium on happiness, I believe that brands must do the same – especially since it is so easy to lay the blame for unhappiness at the feet of consumerism.  Through the creation of pleasurable experiences, helping people to enjoy day-to-day life more thoroughly and through being engaged in goodwill activities I believe that this is entirely possible.  Happiness will always be far bigger than brands, but if marketing can become dedicated to happiness then there’s no reason that the people who work in it shouldn’t be amongst the happiest of all.

References:

Cadbury. (2007). Drumming gorillas, Phil Collins and glass and a half full productions? A glass and a half full productions. Available from World Wide Web:
http://www.aglassandahalffullproductions.com/register.aspx

Cancer Research UK.  (2005).  UK Cancer mortality statistics. Cancer Research UK. 
Available from World Wide Web: http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/mortality/

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002). Flow: the classic work on how to achieve happiness. Rider & Co.

De Botton, A. (2004).  Status anxiety.  Pantheon books.

De Chenecey, S. (2005). Grow up: it’s time to play.  Young consumers.

Evans, D. (2001). Emotion: a very short introduction. Oxford university press.

Godin, S.  (1999). Permission marketing. Simon & Schuster Ltd.

Haidt, J. (2006). The happiness hypothesis.  William Heinemann.

Hoggard, L. (2005). How to be happy.  BBC Books.

Huzzey , A. (2003). Weedol – looking on the bright side of death. APG creative planning awards.

Keegan, S. (2007). The pursuit of happiness – gross national happiness in Bhutan: what can we learn for the UK?  Market Research Society annual conference.

Layard, R. (2005). Happiness, lessons from a new science.  Penguin.

Levitt, T.  (1960). Marketing myopia.  Harvard Business Review.

Lidstone, R. (2005). The need for brand humility.  Market Research Society annual conference.

Pine, B. & Gilmour, J. (1999). The experience economy. Harvard Business School Press.

Pringle, H. & Thompson, M. (1999). Brand spirit. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Seligman, M. (2003). Authentic happiness. Nicholas Brealey Publishing. In: Hoggard, L. (2005). How to be happy.  BBC Books.

Smaller, B. (2001).  New Yorker cartoon. The New Yorker.

Willmott, M. & Nelson, L. (2003). Complicated lives.  John Wiley & Sons.

Put down your bowling balls & get on the pinball machine

I don't know about you, but I love metaphors.  In fact, someone once told me that the secret to life was finding the right metaphors to live by.  And, if that's true, perhaps this one could come in handy. 

Metaphor of the week comes courtesy of Richard Rawlinson, Vice President at Booz & Co and co-speaker at this week's Financial Services Forum event.  Richard's take on things today was that marketing used to be a bit like ten pin bowling: you worked out of your message, lined yourself up and launched it at people down nice, straightforward channels.  And, if you were lucky, you might even get a strike.

 

Nowadays, however, things have changed.  Far from being nice and straightforward, marketing's become an increasingly complex affair where you lob your message into the chaos and it gets buffeted and passed around, with marketers giving it the occasional flick or nudge of control.  Less like ten pin bowling and more like pinball.

Getting good at pinball isn't easy.  It takes patience, luck and - every now and again - a touch of force.  Keep practising, though, and who knows?  Maybe one day you'll hit the jackpot.

The highest form is no form: what comms planning can learn from Bruce Lee

This week, I thought I'd take a couple of minutes to jot down a few personal thoughts on comms planning - both from myself and a man I think our industry can learn a lot from: Bruce Lee.

For me, it's no secret that marketing today operates in the midst of an intense tide of social and technological change. An explosion in the number of brands vying for our attention, the fragmentation of communication channels and increasingly brand-wise consumers all add up to a world in which building brands is becoming harder and harder. The net result is that marketers have to act smarter and spend more cleverly for their brand to get the edge. 

As such, I believe that comms planning within this environment mitigates against rigid structures and contained thinking and instead demands a free flow of ideas and information within a team that is itself primed for continual change.

Different challenges require different jobs - and now the key skill for agencies, clients and comms networks to develop is flexibility.  As a wise man once said, "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". 

Someone who worked all this out ages ago was Bruce Lee.   Whilst he wasn't much of an adman by trade, he did know a thing or two about the limitations of any one technique in tackling a problem.  That's why the martial art that Bruce devised, Jeet Kune Do, was not a fixed or patterned system but a philosophy with guiding thoughts, stressing the need to mould yourself to each unique challenge.

As Bruce said...

The highest art is no art. The highest form is no form
 
Any technique, however worthy and desirable, becomes a disease when the mind is obsessed with it.
 
When one has reached maturity in the art, one will have a formless form. It is like ice dissolving in water. When one has no form, one can be all forms; when one has no style, he can fit in with any style.
 
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.
 
The highest technique is to have no technique. My technique is a result of your technique; my movement is a result of your movement.
 
A good JKD man does not oppose force or give way completely. He is pliable as a spring; he is the complement and not the opposition to his opponent’s strength. He has no technique; he makes his opponent's technique his technique. He has no design; he makes opportunity his design. 

Stay flexible, my friends.  Stay flexible.

IBM: a clever campaign for a Smarter Planet

In the face of an ever-increasing tidal wave of data, companies today have two choices: drown, or learn to surf.  Now, whilst most of us are trying to keep our heads above water, the ones who got started early are out there pulling tricks.  One such company is IBM.

In a campaign that's just launched in the UK (although I think the States have had it for a while now) IBM have come out in force to celebrate the information revolution and showcase the ways it's changing our world for the better.  The message is that IBM are on a mission to create a "Smarter Planet" - and personally, I think it's a very clever campaign indeed.

As well as feeling fresh and engaging, whilst true to IBM's fairly corporate image, Smarter Planet is effectively a land grab around the clever use of information for the benefit of society - a positioning which should only become more powerful and relevant in the years to come. 

At a time when fear of information remains rife, the use of ordinary people and IBM employees is also smart, as their humanity and warmth should help conquer concerns that this data driven future will be mechanical and cold.  If I was an IBM employee it would also help me feel like a bit of a rock star - and proud, passionate employees are some of the best adverts you can get for any company.

Smarter Planet is a big, rich and interesting idea that IBM have already begun exploring in lots of ways.   Here are just a few to get you started - from the launch manifesto to the ways that information will revolutionise healthcare. 

Enjoy!

Eavesdrop on sex talk with Philips Sensual Massagers

Sex.  Everyone's talking about it.  And now, thanks to Twitter, quite of few of us are talking about it in public. 

In today's society of gossip girls and boys, that's just the kind of chat we love to eavesdrop - and now, thanks to this neat little site, promoting Philips "sensual massagers" (vibrators to you and me), listening in on other people's sex lives is easier than ever. 

The idea is simple: a clever little piece of programming grabs every tweet featuring the word "sex," then uses them to produce an interactive orgy of a word cloud, which you can browse through by theme - like birthday [sex], crazy [sex], kitchen [you get the picture].

For me, it's an engaging, relevant, smart, simple idea that should bring a bit of extra attention to Philips' sexy side, without contradicting their familiar, safe personality.  

The lesson for marketers out there, however, is that the idea works because sex is interesting.  I'm pretty sure that doing the same with "dishwasher" just isn't going to cut it...

  

Connection targeting: how to monitor friends & influence people

Birds of a feather flock together, so they say - and that's why a bunch of hot new media startups in the states have begun using data generated by sites like Facebook and MySpace to deliver ads based not on demographics, but on what your friends are interested in (says the New York Times).

Two companies in particular, 33Across and Media6Degrees, are leading the way.  They're not interested in basic friend lists, but in interactions on the sites, taking note when a user visits a friend’s page, sends a video or exchanges an instant message. In turn, they can identify people who are friends with a company’s existing customers and then advertise to them.

The approach is based on research about social groups, mostly from earlier this decade.  One influential paper showed that people in contact with clients of a telecommunications firm were more likely to respond to the company’s offer. 

“Instead of understanding all these things about people, you could understand who was connected to who,” said Eric Wheeler, the chief executive of 33Across. “The reality is, those people are very similar not only in socioeconomic terms, but in terms of what they click and buy, so it’s very valuable.”

Margaret Clerkin of Mindshare, agrees that “the theory feels strong that in this very social environment where people are influenced more by their friends than they are by advertisers and brands.” 

Yes, there are privacy grumbles and yes, the technique will suit some sectors more than others, but overall I reckon that the runaway success of social networking, combined with the news that reaching your audience through these guys could be "five to ten times less expensive than buying through premium sites" makes connection targeting a very interesting prospect for the future.

So, hey, go tell your friends!

The first ever online advertising science fair

Are you sick to death of bullshit masquerading as facts?

Are you tired of smarmy-young-things and their bounty of hyperbolic new-age marketing jive?

Then you, my friend, are ready for First Ever Online Advertising Science Fair.

Here's the deal.

The Editorial Board of The Ad Contrarian is looking for a few good facts. Not opinions, not bullshit, facts about contemporary advertising and marketing that are either interesting, not widely known, or misunderstood.

Here's what you need to do. Scour the net for interesting factual stories about advertising or marketing. No "expert" opinions; no tired "how to's", just the facts, ma'am.

Write a brief one-paragraph description and include a link. Send it to adcontrarian@gmail.com.

- c/o The Ad Contrarian. 

 

I've entered.  You should too.