The on demand brand

The On-Demand Brand 10 Rules for Digital Marketing Success in an Anytime, Everywhere World RICK MATHIESON AMERICAN MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION New York ● Atlanta ● Brussels ● Chicago ● Mexico City ● San Francisco Shanghai ● Tokyo ● Toronto ● Washington, D.C. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assis- tance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. All brand names and trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. The BURGER KING ® trademarks and advertisements are used with permission from Burger King Corporation. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mathieson, Rick. The on-demand brand : 10 rules for digital marketing success in an anytime, everywhere world / Rick Mathieson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-1572-6 ISBN-10: 0-8144-1572-5 1. Branding (Marketing) 2. Internet marketing. I. Title. HF5415.1255.M38 2010 658.8'27—dc22 2009040693 ©2010RickMathieson. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of AMACOM, a division of American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019 About AMA American Management Association (www.amanet.org) is a world leader in talent development, advancing the skills of individuals to drive business success. 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For details visit: www.amacombooks.org/go/specialsales Or contact special sales: Phone: 800-250-5308 Email: specialsls@amanet.org View all the AMACOM titles at: www.amacombooks.org For J & K, as Always !"#$%&'()%#*+)*+#,*'--.%-)/+%0-'*1% CONTENTS Introduction IX RULE #1 Insight Comes Before Inspiration .1 Q&A: The Klauberg Manifesto 21 RULE #2 Don’t Repurpose, Reimagine 31 Q&A: Alex Bogusky Tells All 51 RULE #3 Don’t Just Join the Conversation—Spark It 59 Q&A: Virtually Amazing: Sibley Verbeck on Building Brands in Second Life 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 RULE #4: There’s No Business Without Show Business .89 Q&A: Adrian Si: Rewriting the Rules of Branded Entertainment 107 RULE #5: Want Control? Give It Away .113 Q&A: “Obama Girl” Makes Good: Ben Relles’s Racy Videos and the Democratization of Digital Media 127 RULE #6: It’s Good to Play Games with Your Customers .135 Q&A: Mike Benson and the ABCs of Advergames 151 RULE #7: Products Are the New Services .157 Q&A: Agent Provocateur: Goodby’s Derek Robson on Reinventing the Ad Agency 169 RULE #8: Mobile Is Where It’s At . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Q&A: BMW and Beyond: “Activating” Traditional Media through the Power of Mobile .199 RULE #9: Always Keep Surprises In-Store .207 Q&A: The Future of the In-Store Experience, from the Father of Social Retailing ® .221 RULE #10: Use Smart Ads Wisely .231 Q&A: The Social Net—Privacy 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Additional Resources 261 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Acknowledgments 273 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 About the Author 281 Call it the digital generation. The websites are so twentieth-century generation. The iPhone toting, Facebook-hopping, videogame-fragging, Tw i t t e r – t a p p i n g , I - w a n t - w h a t - I - w a n t , w h e n - w h e r e - a n d - h o w - I want-it generation. By whatever name, today’s marketers are desperate to connect with an ever-elusive, increasingly ad-resistant consumer republic. And they’re quickly discovering that the most powerful way to accomplish that is through blockbuster digital experiences that say goodbye to “new media,” and hello to “now media.” Enter: The On-Demand Brand !"#$%&'()%#*+)*+#,*'--.%-)/+%0-'*1% INTRODUCTION You can a lw ay s b la me it on Bu rg er Ki ng . It was, after all, nearly three decades ago that the “Home of the Whopper” first introduced a simple, seemingly innocuous notion into popular culture that would have profound and unexpected repercus- sions well into the twenty-first century. As those around in the 1970s can tell you, consumers everywhere were told that, yes, they could “hold the pickles,” or “hold the lettuce.” With a song and a smile, TV commercials featuring dancing cashiers reassured a previously unrecognized nation of anxious fast foodies that “Special orders don’t upset us. All we ask is that you let us serve it your way. Have it your way—at Burger King.” Have it your way. A simple, refreshing, underheralded introduction to “mass customization,” the technological capability to personalize any order, on demand. Fast-forward to the present day, and you can see the workings of what has irresistibly and incontrovertibly become an on-demand economy. The medium that introduced us to that old-time fast food campaign couldn’t be more different. Where once there were three broadcast television networks, there are now literally hundreds of TV channels, seemingly niche-programmed down to subsets of sub- sets of consumer tastes. History buffs, homosexuals, gardeners, and gearheads all have their own TV networks. Programming is no longer a one-time-period-fits- all affair. Indeed, it is no longer a one-device-fits-all affair, either. [...]... about tracking the latest technologies and trends They lack the tools the philosophical framework—to create the kind of experiences consumers want and demand in the digital era This book is designed to change all that BUILDING THE ON- DEMAND BRAND This book is based on conversations I’ve had with hundreds of today’s top marketers over the last few years, as well as on briefings I’ve conducted for executives... but too often don’t It’s also important to note that these rules apply in both good times and bad With luck, you are reading these words in the comfort of a robust economy But as I write them, the nation and the world are still dealing with the repercussions of the worst economic downturn in generations These rules are meant to help you connect with consumers in powerful new ways, whether your efforts... One thing is clear: If you want to be in demand, you’ve got to be on demand or else THE ON- DEMAND LEXICON: (Some terms you’ll want to know as you read this book) advergames/branded games Video games (often, but not always, free) designed to promote a product or brand These games, whether played online or offline on consoles like Wii and Xbox, can be quite engaging, can reinforce the brand and, in the. .. INTRODUCTION In what the television industry often refers to as 360-degree programming the practice of making content available for consumption via any number of consumer devices—you can watch the latest episode of NBC-TV’s The Office or MTV’s The City either live or time-shifted on your TV screen, your computer screen, the screen of your mobile phone, your car’s built-in entertainment center, or the monitor... combine the real world with computer-generated content, often in the form of 3-D holograms that seem to float in front of the user when viewed on the screens of computers and mobile devices branded apps/widgets Onscreen utilities delivered via web or mobile interface These applications might deliver product promotions, sales countdowns, or other content provided by a brand to its customers branded online... phone’s camera screen Factor the $4.8 billion we spend on online games, from World of Warcraft to Tap-Tap Revenge,10 the $11 billion a year we spend on console games like Guitar Hero, and the endless hours we spend on multiplayer casual games like Lexulous, and it’s clear that instant, social gratification is here to stay In short, something cool, and truly profound, is happening in the ondemand economy... Toyota’s Scion brand; Mike Benson, executive vice president of marketing for ABC Entertainment; Derek Robson, managing partner of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners; and many others Each of them will share some of the lessons to be learned from their most successful digital initiatives, and some of the surprising ways they keep their organizations ahead of the pack As these industry innovators will demonstrate,... the 79 million people who have so far viewed some 3 billion videos there Meanwhile, nearly 4 million online Americans 9 regularly log onto virtual worlds like PlayStation Home, Second Life, There, and Vivaty Once there, they select and customize “avatars”—cartoon representations of themselves—and proceed to make friends, buy real estate, open businesses, join clubs, attend art exhibitions, go swimming,... the subjects of these rules are hardly discreet silos; rather, they represent a spectrum of approaches that, either on their own or combined with others, can make powerful contributions to integrated marketing communications initiatives While some of these rules seem rather contrarian—you won’t find much in the way of breathless cheerleading here—I think you’ll find most represent commonsense principles... on- demand, on their terms.” Klauberg’s not alone Around the world, brands and their ad agency partners are struggling with how to best reach out and connect with this generation Their approaches vary widely Some are well thought out Others, decidedly less so ON- DEMAND, OR DIGITAL DU JOUR? It seems that in every advertising agency across the land, if you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times