Here is an example of the Strategy email updates I did while DOS at Saatchis.

I used formatted email to make the content stand out and kept the tone light hearted -most traditional agency account managers were not that interested in digital and new media at this stage.

strategy bullet

As an emerging medium mobile often ends up an after thought in the marketing mix. With a device often with the consumer 24/7, the opportunities are considerable. So what are the basic rules for thumbs when engaging on the mobile device, and how do marketers best use the medium to create persuasive customer dialogues?

Like any new place, an awareness of the environment is required however there’s no need for panic. Traditional media sensibilities still apply.  While the technology is new, the challenges are the same. Just remember  – we’ve been here before. Look at the first  TV shows. Most were  stage plays recorded with a fixed camera, complete with actors walking off and on stage with little or no editing. In no time at all agencies mastered the broadcast medium, placing images and sounds together creating compelling. Mobile is in the same infancy. Here are 5 tips that can help use the medium to best effect.

Make it 5 times simpler
Because everything you do with mobile has to be 5 times smaller. Every part of the user experience counts.  Put as little as possible between your idea and the user. Reduce all clicking, scrolling and loading required by users to share your idea. While it’s good to exploit the various mobile feature sets to best effect, it’s critical to accept and work to the constraints of the network.

Rule of Thumb – If you find yourself discussing technical issues in the concept stages, your idea is too complicated.

Be recognisable, relevant and above all rewarding
Unlike traditional media, consumers pay to use mobile. . Look for every possible way to create a more personalised engagement, be more relevant with what consumers like and don’t like. Personality is everything. The phone is an extension of our personality and the more organic and able to mimic your behaviours and patterns the more open and attached we will become to campaign content.

Successful campaigns encourage people’s natural instincts to be creative and to connect with people in the easiest way possible. With mobile, you just can’t personalise enough. Every piece of information a marketer presents to a consumer needs to be absolutely about that person. It’s a big effort to get content to a consumer and it’s a big effort for a consumer to accept and process any information you send.

Make sure what they end up is a valuable interaction.The human interface elements of the mobile are the limiting factors. You have to hold it up to your ear while you talk, you have a tiny screen, and the keyboard is more conducive to entering an alarm pin code than writing elaborate messages to your mates. Any function or service that remembers and reduces the amount of clicking tapping and scrolling users have to do to use it will succeed in attracting consumer interest.

Avoid trying to be next big thing in mobile  -you’ll end up building overheavy applications that consumers find unusable and quickly abandon. Look for ways to become as relevant and day to day as possible in the consumers lifestyle.

Rule of Thumb: Aim to be associated with everyday functions that can become part of consumers life.

Say one thing and say it well
Beware of the next big thing. Don’t let the technology bury your single proposition. Strip out everything irrelevant and focus only on the operations enabling the campaign objective. Continually evaluate how you will appear, communicate and engage. User test how you transact and how you fulfill.

Good mobile is not just about mobile
Take an integrated approach to your campaign. Think about the benefits of a device that is quite literally in the hands of the consumer 24/7. How can the mobile become the direct repsonse to your idea? Remember any mobile experience needs to reflect your brand values.
SMS continues to be the No 1 mobile revenue opportunity. This is unlikely to change in the short term, and marketers have the most to gain by looking for ways to push the boundaries of the current feature set to the very maximum. The technology need not be intimidating. Take the technology out of the equation and the basic rules of marketing can create compelling and effective campaign ideas.  Brand subsidised activity will work. However this is not licence for another channel of interruptive advertising.

Rule of Thumb: Mobile promotions enter a very personal consumer space. You must be usable, reliable and trustworthy every step of the way

Assume nothing and test everything
There’s much diversity in the networks that deliver mobile content and the handsets we use to receive it. If your idea relies on a new handset feature it is unlikely to  be a new feature by the time to realised the idea
Forget campaign cross over – digital content is always going to need a customised realisation cycle. Factor in the cost delivering any mobile content and then factor in again the cost of ensuring it displays on the majority of handsets.

Rule of Thumb: Assume nothing User test everything.

Constrained by a small keypad and screen,  it’s best to master the medium before looking for the killer app. We are continually waiting on the next big thing with the mobile platform, those that gain mindshare now will continue to own it as the network progresses, it’s better to avoid the gimmicky applications.
Author: Andrew Larkin  May 2007

Fake Boobs, Fake Tan. But Fake Blog?
It was only a matter of time before engineered truth emerged in the very personal trust circles of Blog.

A FLOG is basically a fabricated BLOG set up as a tease or reveal.

While the technique is well used in billboards, creative’s may need to do more than relying on the cross over to win over Digital Consumers.

Recent FLOG attempts from Sony, Walmart and McDonalds suggest the consumer backlash has the potential to impact negatively on how a clients’ brand is perceived.
So How do I Choose the Right Channels?
Digital introduces new places – blog, chat, newsgroups, ratings sites, social networking, social directories – entire virtual worlds like secondlife.com.
To this add Game, desktop and mobile placements – all exciting options for marketers. The constant is that the number of choices continues to grow.

Attention is vital but there’s no need to panic.   Brand credibility, accessibilty and audience remain the core building blocks of persuasive media.

A Digital Strategy Makes it Easy
A Digital Strategy is a process where we define and choose which channel best matches the Brand values and expectations of the customers. Basically – what are the most credible places to engage with the customer, and how should we act within it?

Do the Digital Strategy and every other decision become easy

Interactive technology reached a plateau in 2000.
Usage and adoption however has accelerated.  We are in stage of normalisation. More people now know how to publish and share content online.  We’re experiencing small enhancements to the browser, network and media tools however the level of  interaction is tied by the same constraints    -  we still  tap a keyboard and scroll a pointer .  Escape the mouse and keyboard and the next wave of experiential technology begins.

The technology is new however the challenges are the same.
It’s about fully realising the potential of the medium. The first TV shows recorded stage plays with a fixed camera, you saw actors walk on and off stage. Over time creatives began exploring and understanding the broadcast medium, experimenting with placing images and sounds together in a way which could create an emotive response in the viewer. Interactive is in the same infancy. It’s still directed by stage managers a bit, in what I call A4 thinking.  Building web “pages” reflects traditional publishing more than interactivity. TVNZ’s new online content platform for example. The opportunity is huge. Smart marketers will explore ways to engage online viewers in interactive experiences rather than just running banner ads.
Hyperfactory’s advertising platform adds mobile placements to the channel mix. The success point here will be making sure mobile is not just about mobile. Campaigns need to be immediate, easy and simple to succeed. Forget campaign cross over – digital content is always going to need a customised realisation cycle.

The Technology lesson is that simplicity works.
Google made searching easy. Myspace made building a web page easy. Place next will make anywhere community easy.

The digital consumer has a choice.
The challenge for marketers is having the process to determine which places best enable dialogues between their brand and it’s customer. Should we be in secondlife.com?  should we be podcasting? Ongoing  assimilation is required however there’s no need for panic. New places will continue to emerge.  Consistency is key. Each digital experience must realise your business objectives in a way consistent with the Brand values.  Digital collateral has in infinite half life. Mistakes float in the public domain. Google is a glass bottomed boat to your brand. Consumers will find your digital mistakes. Process wise- first steps count. Define a Digital Strategy and every other decision becomes easy. There’s no value catching the train if it’s going to the wrong station.

Digital puts us in the hands of the consumer 24/7 and in the eyes of the market forever. Successful campaigns encourage people’s natural instincts to be creative and to connect with people in the easiest way possible. With interactive, you just can’t personalise enough. Every piece of information a marketer presents to a consumer needs to be absolutely about that person. It’s a big effort to get content to a consumer and it’s a big effort for a consumer to accept and process any information you send. Make sure what they end up is a valuable interaction.The human interface elements of the mobile are the limiting factors. You have to hold it up to your ear while you talk, you have a tiny screen, and the keyboard is more conducive to entering alarm pin codes than connecting one to one with someone you like.?

Learning to look for the grail..

How can you keep the conversation with consumers going once the ad ends

Effectiveness is the Grail of online. Uncovering it requires an indepth understanding what the consumer wants and expects – and what the business wants to achieve and deliver.

A digital strategy is instrumental in enabling us to translate the business objectives, target audience and brand characteristics into creative ideas that acquire and retain customers

How do get people to talk about the brand when you are not there? How do you create a shared experience? What does the online personality of the brand look and act like

Lead with the digital strategy, commit to a plan for achieving agreed targets, own the plan and delivery.

If you receive a brief for a website you’re not leading the strategy

Every brand campaign has to have a web destination

Get the Digital Strategy right and every other online decision becomes easy

With so many options, it?s important to choose carefully.

The Gartner Hype cycle. http://www.gartnergroup.com

Digital strategy is ensuring every pixel of every online experience does everything possible to connect customers with brand experiences. Every feature and function, line and letter has to earn the right to engage with your customer

It’s as much about removing the clutter as it is about filling the void.
Andrew Larkin 2007

YouTube CEO Chad Hurley implies a shift toward paying users for YouTube content.  What are the implications for marketers?

http://www.youtube.com/share?v=JlYtu63_uDE&embed=1

While Hurley’s comments imply a shift in direction for the video community, commentators may be jumping ahead of themselves in assuming it’s pay day for the consumer.   Hurley’s announcement, made at the World Economic Forum following discussions with studios and artists, begins by outlining YouTube’s plan to develop digital fingerprinting technology.  Digital fingerprinting enables publishers to identify music and video uploaded by YouTube users.  

The announcement appears more business sense than consumer feel good factor. Upfront Youtube defends the rights of the publisher. However to publishers, YouTube have done little to actually enforce those rights.  

While publishers continue to lose revenue,  YouTube’s business will remain overshadowed with the threat of litigation.YouTube will see little merit in paying publishers for content uploaded by consumers, yet they will need to be seen doing something to placate Studios and Artists. The system and management requirements required to record and reward the 60,000 plus video uploaded to YouTube daily is immense. Planning such ideas in the public may just provide the feel good factor required to placate industries.Google set aside $500m for YouTube copyright litigation while acquiring the company. Arguably not enough to shelve up the business if the dam broke.

Make it 5 times simpler -Kevin Roberts sums mobile up as ” harnessing the intimacy of the small screen” to connect with and engage consumers. Mobile campaigns need to be hyper aware of their environment to succeed. Minimise clicks, scrolls and hits. Put as little as possible between you and the user. Assume nothing User test everything. Mobile is a great impulse medium. Campaigns need to be immediate, easy and simple to succeed. Forget campaign cross over – digital content is always going to need a customised realisation cycle.

Gen C consumers will adapt if the service is compelling enough

Be sure you understand your clients business objectives. Focus on a single proposition. You need to strip out everything irrelevant and focus only on the operations that enable that objective – across all parts of the campaign mechanic – how you appear, what you propose, how you engage, how you transact and how you fulfill. Test everything and assume nothing.
There’s much diversity in the networks that deliver mobile content and the handsets we use to receive it. Factor in the cost delivering any mobile content and then factor in again the cost of ensuring it displays on the majority of handsets. The only constant you can rely on with mobile marketing is that the network and handset is going to change.

mobile is not just about mobile -  it must take an integrated approach to any campaign and any mobile experience needs to reflect the brand values and present a consistent, trustworthy view of that brand. Think about the benefits of a device that is quite literally in the hands of the consumer 24/7 however don’t be obsessed and constricted with technical concerns. If you find yourself discussing technical issues in the concept stages, your campaign idea is too complicated.
There’s much to be said for a simple mobile campaign that works. There’s just as much said about a mobile campaign that doesn’t! Mobile promotions enter a very personal consumer space. You must be usable, reliable, trustworthy and polite whenever you enter it

SMS continues to be the No 1 use of mobile services. Until there’s a way to bypass the interface restrictions – ie the fact you have a tiny screen and have to type on a keyboard that is more suited to entering an alarm pin code than writing a message to your mates – mobile campaigns need to exploit the current feature set to the very best effect. Create a more personalised engagement, be more relevant with what consumers like and don’t like, remove the amount of clicking, scrolling and loading you have to do to share, act react with a campaign idea.
The temptation is to lose time and traction trying to develop the next big thing – often the next big thing is manifest as a content and feature heavy application or service that consumers find unusable and quickly abandon. The short and medium term success with mobile is likely to be finding ways to become as relevant and day to day as possible in the consumers lifestyle. Ideally marketers want to be associated with services and functions that become so important to consumers that consumers just can’t live without it.
If the marketing objective is to become more prominent and influential in a target consumers decision cycles, where better to become trusted and influential than on the device people trust the most with their everyday intimacies?

The technology is new however the challenges are the same. The first TV shows were basically plays recorded with a fixed camera, complete with actors walking off and on stage. There was no editing! Over time creative people began exploring and understanding the broadcast medium, experimenting with placing images and sounds together in a way which could create a compelling, emotive response in the viewer. Mobile is in the same infancy. Possibly it’s still controlled by the stage managers.

Creatives need to move into the medium and push the current feature set to the outer limits before looking for the killer app. We are continually waiting on the next big thing with the mobile platform, those that gain mindshare now will continue to own it as the network progresses, it’s better to avoid the gimmicky applications

Ensure it’s relevant. Being relevant means minicking how gen-c people like to converse. People are social beings and social companionship is a key factor in human life. People sort themselves into communities or social networks.
With a mobile device Gen – C can roam freely independent of parents. Virtual freedom is a key enabler for mobile devices. Quite literally you are in the hands of the consumer 24/7 and to reach and seduce the mobile consumer you need to extrapolate on that uniqueness.  People are social beings and social companionship is a key factor in human life. People sort themselves into communities or social networks. People are social beings and social companionship is a key factor in human life. People sort themselves into communities or social networks.

Google made search easy. Myspace made building a web page easy. Mobile X will surpass the keyboard and screen limitations and make mobile community easy. People are social beings and social companionship is a key factor in human life. People sort themselves into communities or social networks.

People are social beings and social companionship is a key factor in human life. People sort themselves into communities or social networks.Mobile commerce and EFTPOS is a key transactional space to explore for Gen-c. Their mobile account provides the only credit service they are likely to have approved. The wallet and phone were destined to be one.

People are social beings and social companionship is a key factor in human life. People sort themselves into communities or social networks.

There are some great community services evolving worldwide. As with most digital success stories, those who get their name established first tend to own the market.

Personalise the experience
Personality is everything. The phone is an extension of your own personality and the more organic and able to mimic your behaviours and patterns the more open and attached we will become to campaign content.

We are –  quite literally – in the hands of the consumer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Successful campaigns will encourage people’s natural instincts to be creative and to connect with people in the easiest way possible. With mobile, you just can’t personalise enough. Every piece of information a marketer presents to a consumer needs to be absolutely about that person. It’s a big effort to get content to a consumer and it’s a big effort for a consumer to accept and process any information you send. Make sure what they end up is a valuable interaction.The human interface elements of the mobile are the limiting factors. You have to hold it up to your ear while you talk, you have a tiny screen, and the keyboard is more conducive to entering an alarm pin code than writing elaborate messages to your mates. Any function or service that remembers and reduces the amount of clicking tapping and scrolling users have to do to use it will succeed in attracting consumer interest.

Involve your customers. SMS continues to be the No 1 mobile revenue opportunity. This is unlikely to change in the short term, and marketers have the most to gain by looking for ways to push the boundaries of the current feature set to the very maximum. The technology need not be intimidating. Take the technology out of the equation and the basic rules of marketing can create compelling and effective campaign ideas.  Brand subsidised activity will work. However this is not licence for another channel of interruptive advertising.


Mobile Advertising
Admob (Jan 29, 2007) reported that in 6 months (from June 2006 to January 2007), it had served 1 billion mobile Web advertisements to mobile community members (see Article 8 below)
In August last year Toyota partnered with the Fox network to produce video content for mobile phones. A series of 10 second mobile phone ads for the  launch of the new Yaris, produced by Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles. Saatchi & Saatchi LA and The Hyperfactory recently launched a cross-channel promotion for Toyota’s PT Cruiser
The campaign blends text, banner, mobile TV and video advertising, while making use of Hyperfactory’s recently launched Mobile Media Network–an integrated 3G branded mobile platform.

Leverage the strengths of the device. We are continually constrained by the network. People now converse like their jaws are wired shut due thanks to the 160 character limit set by the carriers. We can’t browse a webpage on our phone because the screen and keyboard are too small. The future will be the network letting go enough for creative services to push and experiment with the medium as it stands.