Thursday, November 13. 2008
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the IAB's Annual Engage conference and for the second year running was asked to submit a Digital Essay for their conference handbook - the topic being who is in control between brands and their audiences in terms of the world of Digital media.
For those of you who were unable to attend the Conference, here, as a markettiers4dc blog exlusive, are my 736 words. Enjoy!
Who’s in control?
To reassure brand guardians that they still have as much ability as before to influence the buying habits of their audiences, I wanted to refer to the words inscribed on the back of the book ‘The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy’ and remind you ‘Don’t Panic’. However, in a severe twist of irony, the place where I found out why those words were on the back of the book – which for the record, was partly because the device "looked insanely complicated" to operate, and partly to keep intergalactic travelers from, well, panicking - was in fact, Wikipedia(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Panic_(Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy), a website controlled by it’s users! So have I lost my argument already? Possibly not . . .
Now is the time for brands to win back control. Whilst our target audiences are more empowered than they have ever been, we still have the ability to influence what they watch if we embrace the new rules of engagement. In return, we will discover a highly responsive and welcoming viewer, whose mouse clicks could be interacting within our own content rather than away from it.
The online audience tend to want to be informed and kept up to date with latest news and gossip, be educated and taught about specific tasks or simply be entertained. If brands can provide touch points that tick at least one of these boxes, then there is a strong chance of engaging on a one-to-one basis with the viewer and strongly influencing their online habits.
One of the biggest opportunities for brands to influence the audience is through the use of video, the viewing of which now accounts for 15% of all our online time in the UK.(Comscore March 08) In fact, in June this year, 27.4 million UK Internet users watched over 3bn online videos.(Comscore 2008) Coupled with the fact that video increases purchase intention by nearly 50%, there’s strong evidence to show that video can engage an audience more effectively than static content.(Dynamic Logic 2007) The challenge, therefore, lies in providing video content that your customers are actively seeking out and want to engage with. This will enable you to create a meaningful dialogue with your potential customers, especially if it is viewed in an environment that they can trust.
A recent study identified three types of online video typologies.(Simply TV Work Research March 2008) The report revealed that viewers could watch either ‘Snippets’ (YouTube moments, 5 seconds to 5 minutes of user generated content shared in social networks that tend to be watched for entertainment and to kill time), ‘Catch-up’ (such as BBC’s iPlayer), and finally, ‘Boutique’ (needs based, task driven content that gets the full attention of the viewer as they have actively sort out the content). In the case of Boutique viewing, the content tends to be 2-5 minutes and professionally produced, and it is in this area that brands can take back the control and influence the audience. Once you have that captivated audience, you can engage with them to a level that will encourage them to carry out an action such as purchasing the products featured in the videos or opting in for more information.
One example of a brand that has achieved exactly that is Fashion retailer, Oli.co.uk. In this instance, HowTo.tv were tasked by the Otto UK Group to produce a series of videos featuring three of their Fusion range designers, Jasper Garvida, Jodie Kidd and PPQ. In each video, the designer talked through their new collection, and using HowTo.tv’s Interactive Direct Sales Tool(TM), viewers could click on featured clothes and accessories as they appeared on screen, and within one click, add them straight into their Oli shopping bag. Engagement rates (where users clicked on at least one item in the video) averaged 8.4% - a fantastic endorsement of how viewers wanted to interact with the videos. Whilst viewers felt they were in control, there is no doubt that Oli influenced their purchasing behavior.
So my message is ‘Don’t Panic’! Whilst users can control how, where and when they want to interact with our brand, as marketers, we still have the power to control the content, the message, and where we want to drive our audience. Just ensure you take into consideration how your audience want to engage with you and make them feel empowered in doing so.
Now, what else can the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy teach us? Oh yes, the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42 – discuss . . .
For those of you who were unable to attend the Conference, here, as a markettiers4dc blog exlusive, are my 736 words. Enjoy!
Who’s in control?
To reassure brand guardians that they still have as much ability as before to influence the buying habits of their audiences, I wanted to refer to the words inscribed on the back of the book ‘The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy’ and remind you ‘Don’t Panic’. However, in a severe twist of irony, the place where I found out why those words were on the back of the book – which for the record, was partly because the device "looked insanely complicated" to operate, and partly to keep intergalactic travelers from, well, panicking - was in fact, Wikipedia(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Panic_(Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy), a website controlled by it’s users! So have I lost my argument already? Possibly not . . .
Now is the time for brands to win back control. Whilst our target audiences are more empowered than they have ever been, we still have the ability to influence what they watch if we embrace the new rules of engagement. In return, we will discover a highly responsive and welcoming viewer, whose mouse clicks could be interacting within our own content rather than away from it.
The online audience tend to want to be informed and kept up to date with latest news and gossip, be educated and taught about specific tasks or simply be entertained. If brands can provide touch points that tick at least one of these boxes, then there is a strong chance of engaging on a one-to-one basis with the viewer and strongly influencing their online habits.
One of the biggest opportunities for brands to influence the audience is through the use of video, the viewing of which now accounts for 15% of all our online time in the UK.(Comscore March 08) In fact, in June this year, 27.4 million UK Internet users watched over 3bn online videos.(Comscore 2008) Coupled with the fact that video increases purchase intention by nearly 50%, there’s strong evidence to show that video can engage an audience more effectively than static content.(Dynamic Logic 2007) The challenge, therefore, lies in providing video content that your customers are actively seeking out and want to engage with. This will enable you to create a meaningful dialogue with your potential customers, especially if it is viewed in an environment that they can trust.
A recent study identified three types of online video typologies.(Simply TV Work Research March 2008) The report revealed that viewers could watch either ‘Snippets’ (YouTube moments, 5 seconds to 5 minutes of user generated content shared in social networks that tend to be watched for entertainment and to kill time), ‘Catch-up’ (such as BBC’s iPlayer), and finally, ‘Boutique’ (needs based, task driven content that gets the full attention of the viewer as they have actively sort out the content). In the case of Boutique viewing, the content tends to be 2-5 minutes and professionally produced, and it is in this area that brands can take back the control and influence the audience. Once you have that captivated audience, you can engage with them to a level that will encourage them to carry out an action such as purchasing the products featured in the videos or opting in for more information.
One example of a brand that has achieved exactly that is Fashion retailer, Oli.co.uk. In this instance, HowTo.tv were tasked by the Otto UK Group to produce a series of videos featuring three of their Fusion range designers, Jasper Garvida, Jodie Kidd and PPQ. In each video, the designer talked through their new collection, and using HowTo.tv’s Interactive Direct Sales Tool(TM), viewers could click on featured clothes and accessories as they appeared on screen, and within one click, add them straight into their Oli shopping bag. Engagement rates (where users clicked on at least one item in the video) averaged 8.4% - a fantastic endorsement of how viewers wanted to interact with the videos. Whilst viewers felt they were in control, there is no doubt that Oli influenced their purchasing behavior.
So my message is ‘Don’t Panic’! Whilst users can control how, where and when they want to interact with our brand, as marketers, we still have the power to control the content, the message, and where we want to drive our audience. Just ensure you take into consideration how your audience want to engage with you and make them feel empowered in doing so.
Now, what else can the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy teach us? Oh yes, the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42 – discuss . . .
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