Just my opinion and apologies if any political allegiances shine through in this following blog rant (these are not the views of markettiers4dc) but our Chancellor is hardly a 'Darling' of the online world as he confirmed in this morning's Pre-Budget report that he will be introducing a new broadband tax next year of £6 a year

Whilst 50p a month may not sound much to begin with, the question is how long will it be before this new tax becomes an easy target to be increased in future budgets just like petrol or alcohol, should Labour win the next election? The alleged use of the money will be to help rural areas of the UK gain access to super-fast broadband with a target reach of 90% of the population by the end of 2017. However, this figure is estimated to fall way short of what is required to achieve that goal - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8403273.stm - and so it will surely be only a matter of time before Mr Darling comes knocking on our virtual doors for more cash?

Now I have no objection to my hard earned taxed cash going to help those in hard to reach parts of the UK connecting to the web in super fast time so they can join in this very blog debate, but didn’t he also announce today that our National Insurance contributions are going up, oh, and VAT is back up again too? Sure, these other increases are earmarked for other expenses . . . ah, there's a word we could debate too. I wonder if Mr Darling will expense his broadband connection so that he can work from home a little more - after all, what's an additional £6 when you've already been accused of claiming over £70,000 - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1145574/Alistair-Darling-accused-doing-Jacqui-Smith-lavishing-70-000-family-home.html

My letter to PRWeek got published in this week's issue but they edited it slightly, so here's the full version . . .

Before I rant, I need to confess to two things. 

1.       I wish I was Gary Barlow.

2.       I entered the X Factor with my colleagues Howard Kosky & Scott Jackson as the man-band ‘Redeemed’ (we didn’t get on TV!)

However, these two facts have not biased the following, which instead, is based on the fact that, as a father of two kids aged 12 and 9 who are both massive fans of the X Factor, I was dismayed and disgusted to see on the individual video page for Stacey Soloman’s audition on its official YouTube channel, postings that include graphic sexual references to what some men would like to do to her, or are already doing to themselves, and strong racist remarks too.

This is an official X Factor YouTube page from ITV, sponsored by Talk Talk.   I hope all three parties are proud of the individual that has been tasked with keeping it updated.

Aggregating content into social networks such as YouTube is a risky strategy for any brand but one that can be managed.  Leaving comment fields unmoderated is lazy and irresponsible.  I appreciate that moderating so many comments for one video is quite a task – Danyl Johnson’s audition has over 11,000 comments – but given just how much money the X-Factor franchise generates, would it be too much to ask the show’s producers to invest in a couple of moderators to monitor the comments?

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 . . .