Crowd Accelerated Innovation

The rise of internet video is creating a new way for people to be innovative and creative. Chris Anderson, the curator of TED conferences spoke about this and called it ‘Crowd Accelerated Innovation’. I think this is a fascinating idea and means that anybody can be innovative and teach others. He discusses the evolution of dance through the internet and YouTube. Dancers can upload videos of them as well as watch videos of others. They can take different aspects from videos to create innovative new dances that they can share with everybody else. The crowd is pushing people further and forcing people to be innovative to make things new and interesting. It is an online community of teachers and challengers and everybody from all over the world can get involved. Anderson calls it a ‘self-fuelled learning cycle’. Because you can see what everybody else is doing you can learn from the best.

One such cycle that is happening at the moment is the tread mill dance! There are over a thousand videos of people dancing on treadmills on YouTube. OK Go’s music video has started this trend and has more than 6 million views. Many people have tried to replicate it and outdo it.  Tracy Anderson (fitness guru to stars such as Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow) has even turned into a type of workout!

Some people have even got their animals involved!

Before this people used to hold street dances and competitors would battle for social status. With the rise of the internet a world challenge has been made possible with anyone from any age or background challenging each other. There are no language barriers which makes it even more incredible. These people now get global recognition for their talents, however strange they might be.

Boulaire, C. et al. (2010) agree, explaining that the creative force is shown through imitation and diversification that connects people’s minds, imaginations and interests. They share their talents, abilities and skills with each other and people can learn from these. This is exactly what people are doing when sharing videos on YouTube. This is also what Tracey Anderson is trying to do with her cross trainer dance revolution.

‘We are a social species and spark off each other’. The internet makes this so much more possible. I believe that this form of many to many communication has the potential to be a massive source of innovation; discussing ideas with people from all over the world with different experiences who share common interests can only be a good thing for creativity, new ideas and innovation.

Mobile marketing: Creating opportunities for consumers or just an invasion of privacy?

In our technological society a lot of people feel like it is important to take advantage of this technology by getting the latest mobile phones. Gong et al. (2008) believe high GDP means a higher mobile adoption rate, which means most people in the UK should have a mobile phone. Unlike heavily politically controlled countries like Japan and China, we in the UK can use our mobile phones for anything. Gong et al. (2008) also believe that it is countries with higher median age that have higher levels of mobile phone adoption. I can see how this may be true because older people have secure jobs and can therefore afford the new, more expensive Smartphone’s. However, just because a countries median age is high it doesn’t mean that it is older people that are using mobile internet.  I believe that it is younger people who are most likely to adopt the mobile internet revolution as they have that such a strong connection with their mobile phone. They also want to keep up with trends by having the best phones. Mintel also agrees stating that ‘16-24-year-olds are the most likely to access the mobile web daily (31%) - double that of 25-34-year olds.’ It goes on to explain that this is because of the high adoption rates of Smartphone’s by young people and their reliance on the internet for social interactions.

Young people are constantly using their phones, whether it is texting, calling or using the internet. This is a massive opportunity for advertisers to reach such an unpredictable audience. Even though advertising on mobile phone’s can be annoying, the adverts can be beneficial to consumers. Using apps such as Google search, Google Maps and Google Mail means that as a consumer you are getting free use of these applications. You know as a consumer that in turn you will be shown a few advertisements but don’t really mind as you believe that the benefits outweigh negatives.

However is all this advertising an invasion of privacy? Do you know that Google is collecting information about you every time you use one of their apps?

But how much do marketers actually invade the consumer’s privacy? And who decides if they are? Whilst discussing this with my friend she said that she doesn’t like the idea of GPS tracking and people always knowing where she is. She doesn’t like the idea of Augmented Reality (AR) and believes that this is making people lazy and people are not finding their way around by exploring anymore. This has made the world a less interesting place. If you always know where you are going how will you bump into and find out about new amazing things and places?

I think that consumers can use new technologies such as Augmented Reality to their advantage. If you can see everything around you on your mobile phone you can find the best deals. You can for example compare menus and prices of restaurants and get the best deal for yourself.  This means that restaurants may become more competitive, offering the consumer better prices and deals than were offered before.

Even though this technology will be a huge benefit to consumers it will take a longer time to persuade them of the benefits. I believe that the early majority will be reluctant to adopt these technologies due to fears of control and privacy. Laws in the UK mean that companies can give personal information to ‘selected third parties’ however a consumer doesn’t know who these third parties are. They could be anyone! Japan has a specific law against this meaning that a company cannot give your personal information out. I think that this is why mobile internet is growing so fast there. My only real concern is that each time I use my phone companies such as Google are storing information about me ready to use or to sell to other companies. I think if laws were introduced people would feel a lot more comfortable using mobile internet. However, by the time the legislation has been passed, the technology will have moved on!

Global Mobile Awards

Best Mobile Advertising and Marketing Campaign 2011

Winner: Unilever Cornetto Multiplayer Interactive Wall Projection Mapping Game

Just wanted to add this to the blog because I thought it was really interesting example of interactive advertising and marketing. The main aim was to get young people to eat more ice cream. Last summer Cornetto joined up with Mobilera and projected a game onto the wall of Taksim (Turkey’s equivalent to Times Square). Leaflets were handed out and outdoor interactive screens were used to promote the event to get as many people there. When people were there they could text or phone in to play the game. They controlled the characters with the keys on their mobile phones. The aim was to collect three Cornettos in less than 45 seconds and everyone was trying to catch the same ones. If you won you got a free ice-cream! It created a massive Buzz and was all over the news. Even the mayor said it was incredible and said ‘we should even broadcast it live on TV’.

I love this way of advertising a product as it is so exciting and people can get involved. If people are involved in the campaign they are more likely to share their experiences and the brand name gets spread with all of the positive comments which create an awesome positive brand image.

The Interactive Consumer; Friend or Foe?

Communication used to be one-to-one or one-to-many but now it has moved to many-to-many where consumers from all over the world can discuss ideas with each other. This model shows new interactive media communication:

Interactive media and the power of web 2.0 means the convergence of everything, for example, wiki, blogs and social networking. The internet is not just a source of information any more; it is now used for communication and consumer participation. It has given the consumer a chance to talk back. ‘New Traffic Lanes’ have been made for the convenience of consumers however marketers are finding new ways to take advantage of these tracks. As a result of this many companies have jumped on the digital bandwagon creating blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts without really knowing why.

A good reason for brands to do this right is so that they can create awareness and ‘Buzz’amongst consumers online. One of the best ways of doing this is by creating a video advert, launching it onto the internet and hoping it will go viral. T-Mobile have done this really well with their flashmob at Liverpool street station and the one done at Heathrow in October last year. 

A good viral spreads so quickly and so far. This is a massive benefit to brands because consumers respond better to these viral adverts because they actively seek out to watch them. They don’t see it as advertising directly to them so are therefore willing to share it.

Having an online presence is hugely important for brands as they can use advertising techniques such as retargeting; when a consumer is browsing the internet, visits a retail site and moves on, a brand will know this and be able to target them later. Many consumers don’t realise this is happening; however this is extremely beneficial to the advertiser. All Saints revealed it had generated £21 for every £1 it had spent on retargeted advertising. As a result, many other retailers want to get involved with this type of advertising, for example; Game, John Lewis and French Connection are embracing the approach. 

There are challenges for brands in this new web 2.0 environment, such as competition with trading sites such as Ebay, Craigslist and Gumtree. These mean that consumers can buy from and sell to each other without the need for retailers at all. This could be problematic as people are buying second hand products from other consumers rather than buying new full priced products from the company directly. ‘Companies see resale as competitive with the first sale’.

Consumer’s online interactivity can also damage a brands reputation as they are becoming more in control of information. Brands need to remember that consumers are more likely to spread bad news that good news (REF) and with social networking sites, blogs and sites such as Twitter and YouTube, this means that information can travel faster, further and reach a lot more people than ever before. Consumers have a huge amount of power online as they outnumber brands by a huge amount. With sites such as Wikileaks, consumers are more knowledgeable than ever.

However I think the best way for brands to take advantage of consumer’s interactivity is to get them involved with their brand online. Make it fun for consumers to interact with your brand and they will spread the positive image of the brand for you. Brands that have done this well are the OfficeMax ‘Elf Yourself’ campaign who used an opportunistic marketing strategy to link into Christmas. Another brand which is doing this very well right now is Channel 4. They have created a multimedia campaign called ‘Twist Our Words’. People can go onto the website and click different words to create a sentence. Different channel 4 celebrities will then read out your message. I think this is a brilliant way of getting the audience to interact with and remember your brand. I have had a lot of fun with this already and have passed this on by word of mouth and now I’m passing it on to you. This is excellent free publicity for Channel 4- a great incentive for other brands to take advantage of the interactive consumer. CHECK IT OUT!

Has internet killed the video star?

Digital Convergence is when ‘TV, publishing and computer industries would combine to create multimedia hardware’ (McStay).  Old media is absorbed by emerging technologies. When convergence first came to be recognised it was seen to be destroying current markets as products could be compared a lot more easily and consumers have a lot more choice.  More recently mobile convergence had taken off with Android phones and the Apple iPhone. The internet, camera and video camera, face to face calls, music, maps, movies, books and games have all been made to fit into one phone which is an amazing feat.

Although more and more companies are moving online, some were sceptical of turning to the internet because of the dot.com bubble bursting. I think any that haven’t yet embraced the internet need to get their foot firmly in the door or they will be left behind. Although I can understand why they would be cautious; many companies lost billions and shut down such as Boo.com, Startups.com and Freeinternet.com who all went bankrupt.

New forms of media such as internet shopping and social networking sites have meant that the consumer has become more active. With media convergence, participatory culture and collective intelligence anyone can review, rate and give opinions on products and companies. Many consumers look to the internet for information on products before they buy anything, I know I do, especially when it is an expensive product. I want to find out what other people think of it before I pay for it. Consumer discussion about products online creates buzz and pub talk. This is where virals also work very well in creating brand awareness. Word of mouth is a lot more effective than any advertising campaign and it is free! Other consumer’s opinions are more trusted than adverts. In the electronic market online reviews have the most influence with word of mouth affecting 43.7% of purchases.

Digital convergence and the spread of ideas can create cult followings online. It is easy for one person to get their opinions out and for many others to agree, comment and spread what they have found. Adele is a good example of the benefits of internet cult followings. She created a MySpace page in 2004 and many people found her and loved her music. She also posted some of her music on Platformsmagazine.com which more people found. Through this she was spotted and later performed at concerts around the UK. Her first album got to number one in the UK charts. This is such a good story about how the internet and convergence has led to such an amazing artist being discovered.  

However, has Internet killed the video star?

Are The Limousines right? Is the internet killing TV viewing figures?

Morgan Stanley believes so. He believes that teenagers in particular (the digital natives) are watching less TV and are accessing everything online. This means that advertisers with a teenage target audience have had to think about new strategies to include online advertising. Coca-Cola have always been known for their adverts especially the ‘Holidays Are Coming’ Christmas television ones that are so successful, however their new ‘Open Happiness’ campaign has been shown online first to attract teenage consumers. An integrated campaign will be bought in afterward including TV, cinema and outdoor mediums (Marketing Week). Does this mean that Coca-Cola agrees with Stanley? They obviously do if they are using the internet to target teenage consumers before any other media. In the case of teenagers and young people I believe reaching them via the internet amongst other mediums is the best way. It would be for me anyway.