Thursday, November 13. 2008
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 . . .
Thursday, August 7. 2008
There has been a media flurry this morning. The FT went to press with a front page story claiming ‘Brown to be star of the show on Downing Street web TV channel’.
According to a spokesperson in the FT ‘The new online channel, accessible via the Downing Street website, will offer exclusive video of the prime minister’s speeches, press conferences, media appearances and news archives'
The announcement caused a little confusion this morning as Downing Street was initially keen to play down the ‘Web TV Channel’ badge.
Either way, this adds a little heat to an online battle that Cameron as been quietly winning hands-down for two years now, thanks to his rather well established weblog.
Despite the launch of his YouTube channel in April/May which encouraged the public to ask Brown a question, he has been playing catch-up in the online webTV arena, so this development can only be a good thing.
Of course, like many things, we’re light years behind the US where both presidential candidates have established webTV channels; Obama and McCain are waging an online video war, which makes for fascinating viewing even from this side of the pond.
An amusing aside, one of the first UK politicians to engage with her audience via the web, was staunch right-wing conservative Ann Widdecombe who’s Widdyweb, was mentioned in a rather toe-curling Louis Theroux show some years ago.
Wednesday, August 6. 2008
In the last week both the BBC and Channel 4 have announced their latest forays into multi-platform TV. Not surprisingly both have decided to target the ‘yoof’ market to test their propositions.
Hollyoaks ‘show within a show’ idea will see characters talking about, and watching a drama show called Runners. Runners will be about life working as an intern in the showbiz and fashion industries and will include sequences shot at events such as the Brit Awards. Thanks to Broadcast for the info.
As well as brief clips of Runners appearing in the soap, Hollyoaks fans will be able to watch a full three-minute online episode each weekday for the 10-week initial run. Episodes are planned to appear on C4's Hollyoaks website as well as on Bebo, MSN Messenger TV, Facebook and iTunes.
The BBC’s working title “‘Mouth to Mouth’ is a cautionary tale, following the highs and lows of the three members of girl-group Cat's Eyes through individual monologues.” The programme will be made available across selected web and mobile platforms prior to transmission on BBC 3. An un-specified amount of additional content will also be exclusively available online to “expand the narrative”.
This is all well and good, but as the BBC wisely points out
"BBC Three is committed to producing a steady stream of innovative and creative multi-platform projects. The latest of these, Mouth to Mouth, is all about powerful writing and great acting talent. The essentials of quality content are not going to change, whatever the platform."
This advice is totally correct and I really hope they both get it right.
Wednesday, July 30. 2008
I find it staggering that text messaging in this country continues to grow and yet that’s exactly what keeps happening. In their most recent report the Mobile Data Association shows that texting has grown by 30% in the year to May 2008. Despite the growth of mobile email we’re now sending an amazing 212,616,000 text messages per day.
MDA are also pleased to report that mobile web is maturing finally in fact; it has enjoyed 25% growth over the last two years. Over 16.5 million of us now partake of mobile internet and Steve Reynolds of MDA predicts that before long, mobile internet use could eventually supersede home internet use. Their next report will outline the impact 3g dongles are having, which in my opinion will play a bigger role in online mobile growth than any new iPhone.
Thursday, July 10. 2008
When I heard the news that rather than reducing my licence fee the BBC was going to give some of its record overseas profits to the directors in the form of a £100,000 per year pay rise, I have to confess, I considered cancelling the direct debit and tearing the TV aerial from my roof.
Then, I read a release on the fully convergent, new iPlayer and I fell back in love with our eccentric aunt. I’ve always thought the BBC was pretty forward thinking in their broadcast convergence strategy, their use of video on bbc.co.uk/news site set a new standard.
Erik Huggers at the BBC says of the new iPlayer. "The next generation of BBC iPlayer allows UK licence fee payers to catch up on their favourite BBC TV and radio programmes in one place – a completely unique on-demand service.”
The iPlayer’s got it all, in addition to TV and radio in one place you can ‘pop it out’ and continue browsing other pages, it has a better screen resolution, and in a nod to web 2.0, it suggests other content you may like. It will also be available on hand-held devices such as the iPhone and even the Nintendo Wii.
The biggest development of all for me (and many a discussion board) is Virgin Media’s announcement that they are working on implementing a version of the iPlayer on its cable TV network. This means Virgin Media’s already impressive on-demand service has received a significant boost, and it’s another step towards the inevitable standardisation of on-demand platforms.
With the new iPlayer I don’t need an aerial and it looks like the licence fee is safe for now.
