ARE YOU IN CONTROLENOUGH TO LET GO?

2,000 DAYS OF ACTIVE ENGAGEMENTEngaging consumers today means embracing new ways of working.

In 2005 MEC created the concept of Active Engagement, a new approach to building relationships between brands and their customers.

The effectiveness of traditional communications had been in decline. Active Engagement was developed in response to a fundamental shift in the marketing universe: the rise of digital channels to challenge established media such as TV, print and outdoor. We recognized that digital would change the game by giving brands the opportunity to build deeper, richer and, ultimately, more profitable relationships with consumers.

Five years on, technology, data and the digitally-enabled consumer have indeed changed the game. Innovation in how we engage with consumers is not just an add-on, it is a critical driver of business success.

In the early days when digital was the new frontier, agencies and clients alike struggled with new formats and channels. But experience gained in the early years is now paying off. The fog has lifted, the new landscape is visible and we now have repeatable models for success.

In other words, we are now in control enough to let go of the old practices.

In this booklet we hope to inspire change with seven new approaches that will help enhance the presence of brands, increase the level of Active Engagement with customers and generate more effective results.

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Three things to help us deliver better integrated communications in the 21st century.

The rapid proliferation of communication options is challenging our industry to come up with combinations of media and message that resonate with today’s consumers. To achieve the goal of effective communication, we have to ensure our thinking and our doing are joined up.

Here are three questions that we should be asking ourselves:

Does our communications planning embrace paid, owned and earned channels?

Is our communication idea inspiring the audience to action, as well as building brand equity?

What does search tell us about how joined-up our communications are?

CHAPTER 1

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INTEGRATION 101

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IntegratIon 101

Paid, owned and earnedthe choice is no longer between digital and traditional channels or above-the-line and below-the-line. Instead, it is about balancing the combination of paid, owned and earned (Poe) media:

• Paid media: ex. a television spot or banner advertisement • Owned media: ex. an event, sponsorship, website or application• Earned media: ex. a positive post, blog review or journalist endorsement

the default position is to focus time and money on paid media – but in fact consumers have shifted their attention towards earned and owned channels. the Poe approach challenges us to understand what drives effectiveness across the new media spectrum, to recognize the legacy bias often present in our selection of paid media and to harness the potential of owned and earned media.

First identified in 1988 by Newsweek’s Jonathan alter and Howard Fineman, earned media has grown inexorably. this growth has been driven by two factors: consumer appetite for using opinion platforms provided by the digital environment and broader acceptance of word of mouth as an important driver of business.

they may not be aware of it but every brand or company possesses owned media: their websites, trucks, retail outlets, packaging and even their workforce can be viewed as owned media. the phenomenon of ‘pop-up retail’ exploits the owned media trend, as exemplified by the gap FitnessLab in new York and the Brandnew chain of stores in the netherlands, which brands can rent as their own pop-up space.

Smart companies work with their agencies to create vivid and engaging communication through their owned media, in the form of sponsorship, content production and event creation. Famous examples include nike’s Run city events and Stella artois’s long-term association with movies. these owned media events have proved to be effective drivers of roI and offer greater potential for active engagement than short-term rental of paid-for media.

Paid

Owned

Earned

Launching Windows to a challenging audienceCase study: Microsoft/Windows 7, USA

When launching three new products, including Windows 7, to It professionals and developers, Microsoft achieved customer engagement online by using a smart combination of paid, owned and earned media.

at the centre of its campaign was a digital aggregation point called Feeds, which allowed customers to share and consume authentic, unfiltered user-generated content (UgC) related to the launch (which resulted in over 500,000 UgC posts).

to ensure Feeds was discoverable via multiple channels, a range of earned-media tactics were used, including mobile SMS, influencer outreach, Twitter community-management (with 77% of Twitter posts resulting in traffic to Feeds), and at-event promotion via big screen, postcards and SMS.

all 65 live launch events were full within four days and after two months, over 10,000 qualified sales leads were captured through campaign registrations.

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IntegratIon 101

Engagement ideasWe have always believed in the power of an idea to inspire our communications and create value. It is ideas that drive business success and business effectiveness just as technology drives business efficiency.

Over the last decade we have moved towards the fluidity and dynamism of engagement (or activation) ideas. engagement ideas generate a physical response or a richer, longer degree of consideration in our audience. they are powerful drivers of earned media and the best ones not only encapsulate the brand proposition but also inspire consumer dialogue and action.

Start the searchBecause of its powerful role in the consumer decision-making process, many leading brands now view search as an important indicator of online and offline success, in relation to sales impact and reputation-building.

It is also an immediate measure of a brand’s ability to engage. When you type in a brand name, google delivers links from all three Poe media categories. at no other point is a brand’s skill at managing its Poe mix brought into clearer focus than on a search results page. Paid-for listings will appear, as will the brand’s own websites and the earned links that represent press coverage and blog references.

Joined-up thinking and doingthe importance of joined-up ‘thinking and doing’ cannot be over-estimated in a connected world where a company’s pay-per-click search campaign is impacted by its social media strategy, which is impacted by its CSr strategy, which, in turn, is impacted by its content strategy. agencies and brand-owners must get to grips with this new matrix and use it effectively to connect with consumers.

engagement ideas generate a physical response or a richer, longer degree of consideration in our audience.

the power of an idea to organize and inspire integrated communication is illustrated in our award-winning campaign for the UK supermarket, Morrisons.

Let’s Grow is a community initiative that encourages schoolchildren to create their own vegetable gardens, bringing alive the store’s ‘fresh’ proposition, based on the insight that you appreciate fresh food more when you ‘get your hands dirty’.

Partnering with government bodies and charities, a multi-disciplinary cross-agency team ran a campaign fronted by a celebrity

gardener. For every £10 spent at Morrisons, shoppers received a voucher, redeemable by schools on a dedicated website offering growing kits containing everything from seeds to greenhouses. Children could then learn how to grow their own fresh fruit and vegetables.

85% of UK primary schools participated, with 40 million vouchers redeemed, and an additional two million customers visiting Morrisons stores. the campaign represented a 4:1 return on marketing investment.

Case study: Morrisons, United Kingdom

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To engage today’s consumers, we must embrace unfamiliar ways of understanding and communicating with them.

The digital era has brought about two major changes. First, consumer behavior is more irrational than we used to think. Second, changes in the immediacy of media, use of the internet and the availability of data mean we can get closer to consumer decisions than ever before.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS...

CHAPTER 2

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Understanding human behaviorBehavioral economics is helping us understand the unconscious and established biases in our decision-making. We are learning why people regularly make decisions that appear irrational, why communication should focus on changing behavior rather than attitude and why the context in which consumers make decisions is so important.

Why, for example, does adding one highly expensive purchasing option increase average order value? Because people base decisions on relative, rather than absolute, information – context is everything.

Behavioral economics can help brands understand how consumers make decisions and inform their approach to product development, marketing and communications.

Here are some examples:

Chunking Parts are easier than wholes. The way a task is presented affects people’s willingness to take it on and complete it. Something presented as one long task to be conducted in a single act will be less likely to attract people than something ‘chunked’ into bite-sized stages. Think how much more inclined you are to fill in forms with clear divisions and directions or, when online, you can save and quit part-way through.

DECISIonS, DECISIonS...

People are more likely to do things they think others do and more likely to do something if they think they are being observed or monitored.

We are learning why people regularly make decisions that appear irrational, why communication should focus on changing behavior rather than attitude and why the context in which consumers make decisions is so important.

DECISIonS, DECISIonS...

Social herdingPeople are more likely to do things they think others do and more likely to do something if they think they are being observed or monitored. For example, governments are discovering that the most effective way to get people to reduce energy consumption is not to show them how much money they can save, but to show them how much more energy they use than the average.

Choice architectureChoosing is relative to what you can have, not absolutely about what you want. We are all ‘choice architects’ because there is no neutral way to present a choice. For example, presenting something first on a list can influence the likelihood of it being chosen (the ‘primacy’ effect), as can presenting it last (the ‘recency’ effect). Price framing is an example of this, where context is hugely important. In the US, response rates for a banner campaign selling $1,000 plasma TVs were highest when placed in upscale holiday and travel sites. This worked because if you spent $3,000+ on a holiday, a $1,000 TV seems relatively cheap.

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DeCISIonS, DeCISIonS...

the online environment is a rich arena for behavioral economists, as the web enables us to adapt content and change or create context at far lower marginal cost.

People’s tendency to engage less with future events than with the present can be harnessed in many ways.

London’s youth road-safety campaign, Don’t die before you’ve lived, prompted teenagers to think about their dreams for the future and realize what they would lose if killed in an accident. the campaign was emotionally powerful but audiences found it hard to accept the possibility of their own death – being at an age when most of us imagine we are immortal.

to address this, the new campaign confronted teenagers with the idea of a close friend being killed.

Don’t let your friendship die on the road is based on the understanding that people value current events (or friends, in this case) more than what might happen in the future.

Using the ‘power of now’ to save teenage lives

traditional market research, which relies mainly on people reporting their behavior and attitudes, does not reveal these types of insight because of the unconscious nature of many of the decisions consumers take.

In future, we will rely less on claimed attitudinal research and there will be greater use of ‘behavioral’ information – observational research, search and digital data which provide us with consumer ‘footprints’. We will apply ‘test and learn’ approaches more often and put greater focus on consumer data and consumer psychology.

New digital decision communities the online environment is a rich arena for behavioral economists, as the web enables us to adapt content and change or create context at far lower marginal cost. also, on the internet, opinion is no longer the preserve of experts. In many categories, the opinions of strangers carry far more influence than they would in the offline environment. Consumers are increasingly seeking others who have already bought or experienced a product to help them make a purchasing decision (ex. tripadvisor.com). Imagine how the increasing portability of the internet will accelerate this trend.

The way aheadembracing this new approach is both a challenge and an opportunity. Behavioral economics is particularly helpful when consumers are on the point of making a decision. It also helps us find better approaches to sway opinion. This builds on our already honed brand-building skills. In communications, we can explore both conscious and unconscious biases within a category. We can test out the principles of behavioral economics, particularly online, to see which are the most powerful. We can also find the decision communities, understand their role and, where appropriate, influence their opinions. With this knowledge, we have the potential to revolutionize the way we actively engage audiences in the future.

Case study: Transport for London, United Kingdom

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Thanks to advances in digital technology, it is now possible to connect multiple data sources regardless of where they actually sit. We no longer need to create unmanageable central databases.

Web analytics, for example, can be linked directly to a company’s inventory data, so that an out-of-stock product is given less visibility to site visitors and consumer search queries are directed to alternative products instead.

We can connect our data to third-party customer databases, panels and retail data which, when combined, will provide analysis of actual consumer behavior that is more powerful than ever before. This will enable us, for example, to create target audience segmentations anchored in behavior rather than demographics and attitude.

IF YOU LIKED THAT, YOU MIGHT LIKE THIS...

CHAPTER 3

Becoming data-centric will connect marketing, communications and sales, allowing us to shift the debate from media efficiency to business effectiveness.

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IF YoU LIkeD tHat, YoU MIgHt LIke tHIS... IF YoU LIkeD tHat, YoU MIgHt LIke tHIS...

Interconnected data will create greater visibility and enable faster, better decision-making. the results of a marketing campaign will be measured in hours or days rather than weeks or months.

Targeted TVPersonalization has long been a feature of the online sales environment. When a consumer clicks onto amazon, the site presents a list of items that might be of interest to the individual, based on their past buying patterns. Behavioral targeting has become an important part of our marketing armory.

the next stage is the imminent arrival of digital, addressable tV. online video and tV services are already here and growing fast. addressable tV, which can tailor messaging down to household or even individual level, is being trialed in the US, with tests scheduled in Canada, australia and the Uk.

as digitization becomes a reality for tV and other paid-for media channels like outdoor, the use of ad-serving technologies will expand.

Using data to drive value online

ZaaZ, a partner of MeC, worked with a US car manufacturer to define the KPIs that were critical to their online goals and to better leverage their website analytics data.

the program is in place across 50 of their online sites, as well as campaign-related and brand-specific sites. Multivariate tests are performed to optimize digital creative content, page layouts and website content. overall, the estimated value created by this program is in excess of $25 million.

Cookies as currencythe current impression-based digital-trading model will be replaced by a system in which advertisers bid for cookies based on their potential financial return. Technology platforms that enhance cookie value through data matching, together with optimization across vendors, will become important assets for agencies.

We are already working with ‘dynamic media optimization’ which uses machine-based algorithms to match clients’ audience and price needs with available inventory. the selection and purchasing of media happens in the time between the consumer loading a page and the delivery of advertising to that page. this approach can deliver significant additional value for clients.

Automated buying is a more efficient way of trading media but it is important to recognize that it changes the negotiation rules. access to the best technology and real-time trading expertize become more important – it’s not just about scale.

Privacy is paramount Cookies are a useful device for storing products in a shopping cart until checkout or for holding login information as people browse from page to page. their ability to record and store consumer behavior also allows accurate targeting and re-targeting of messages, without personally identifying the cookie owner.

However, there is concern about privacy issues in relation to cookies and it seems likely that future legislation will seek to restrict the use of cookie data. We believe that responsible use of cookies is paramount for the future of marketing communications. In the US, where consumers can opt out of providing this data, we are at the forefront of this debate, working closely with the Internet advertising Bureau to develop and launch a consumer education campaign.

Data into dollarsHarnessing the data challenge can create sustainable competitive advantage and move communications to the center of the client’s value chain.

Data and technology expertise will be key, either in-house and/or with partners like omniture. Hard-wiring critical data feeds and kPIs into decision-making processes will allow us to improve and track roI consistently, and provide a service to clients that can inform virtually every part of their business.

the selection and purchasing of media happens in the time between the consumer loading a page and the delivery of advertising to that page.

Harnessing the data challenge can create sustainable competitive advantage and move communications to the center of the client’s value chain.

From data to decisionsthe growing connectivity of data sources enables us to understand the contribution of individual media in much greater detail – and virtually in real time. What’s the impact of a particular tV ad; the online display ad; what search terms were used; did the person go on to visit the company website; what did they buy offline in the retail store? Products such as compete.com’s online-usage panel will be used to track consumer response to specific campaigns.

this interconnected data will create greater visibility and enable faster, better decision-making. the results of a marketing campaign will be measured in hours or days rather than weeks or months. eventually, it will also result in semi-automated business decisions – for example, switching campaign copy when response rates fall below a trigger point or re-targeting consumers who drop out of a shopping-cart process when they reappear elsewhere in real time.

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A more responsive way of planning and buying is emerging in which only the most effective brand communications will thrive.

The data revolution is not just transforming the speed and detail of consumer insight and audience targeting. It is also giving us the opportunity to develop a new model for planning and implementing brand communication: organic planning and buying.

This new approach is radically different from traditional methods. It requires teams to develop a range of different activities for engaging an audience, with resources being continually reallocated to the most effective ideas during the campaign, based on consumer response.

ORGANIC PLANNING AND BUYING

CHAPTER 4

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orgAnIC PLAnnIng AnD BUYIng

Out of the comfort zoneorganic planning requires few tools or new skills and no expensive training. But we must adopt new ways of working that may take us out of our comfort zone: willingness to change course; the acceptance of failure and flexibility in scheduling and budgeting.

Be willing to change courseWe must be prepared, both attitudinally and organizationally, to change the course of a campaign to reflect the audience’s response to our communications. Communication ideas must be designed with such dynamism in mind and engagement ideas will become more prominent.

Embrace failureThe nature of organic planning inevitably means that some of our ideas will not reach maturity. We must embrace failure as a natural part of the communication process and view it as a valuable learning opportunity.

Flexible scheduling, budgeting and buying For organic planning to work, four conditions are required: scale to help us change how we trade with media owners; technology to help manage the increase in data and transactions; the ability to be flexible with our investment and greater collaboration and fluidity in how we work with the client and other agencies.

When is organic planning and buying appropriate? rapid response to audience feedback is essential for organic planning to work but we can only act as quickly as the slowest-reporting measure of success. If the main measure of a campaign’s success is, for example, a quarterly-tracked shift in consumer attitude, organic planning will not be appropriate.

For organic planning and buying to flourish, we must agree a single, narrow, rapidly-achievable success measure for each activity. This could be footfall, EPoS data, clicks, buzz, or any other live or near-live score that indicates the activity’s performance against a target.

The principles of organic planning and buying may not yet be appropriate for all brands or communication campaigns today, but we expect it to grow in importance over time. We envisage that early adopters will be categories which are data-rich, such as e-commerce businesses, financial services, retail, entertainment and telecommunications. And, as behavioral data becomes more readily available and all media move to a digital format, we expect organic planning and buying to become the norm.

Case study: Orange, United Kingdom

Orange Wednesdays is a loyalty campaign run by the telecommunications operator orange, which offers customers a two-for-one cinema-ticket deal every Wednesday at any cinema. The campaign is very successful but levels of awareness and understanding had dropped, so it needed to be revitalized.

Alongside press and cinema advertising, six additional communication activities were launched. Their effectiveness was

measured using a combination of real-time digital tracking with cinema admissions. over a four-month period, audience feedback enabled the movement of resources to activity that created the best response, judged on participation, take-up of the promotion and reduction in churn.

The result was the highest level of redemptions in the six-year history of the promotion, up 61% from the previous year.

How organic planning reinvigorated an award-winning campaign

For organic planning to work, four conditions are required: scale to help us change how we trade with media owners; technology to help manage the increase in data and transactions; the ability to be flexible with our investment and greater collaboration and fluidity in how we work...

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In the age of the social web, the annual marketing plan has become a barrier to more Active Engagement with consumers.

As an industry, we persist in developing detailed twelve-month marketing and communication plans, which force us into fixed evaluation patterns and review dates based on a calendar that is driven by budget rather than consumer opportunities.

We need to escape from this outdated structure. In the digital era, we need to be able to evaluate communication continuously in response to market developments and to take advantage of the rich insights offered by the wealth of available data.

Fortunately, there is an alternative to the annual planning cycle: it is called 3-3-3.

3-3-3CHAPTER 5

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3-3-3 3-3-3

Creating new timescales for planning and evaluation3-3-3 is a way of reframing the time-periods we use for planning and evaluating brand communication. It stands for three minutes, three months and three years, and it forces us to consider different short-, medium-, and long-term goals for judging success.

In practice, the actual periods are specific to a brand or its category. For example, for an e-commerce client accustomed to receiving rapid feedback, we may look at the next three minutes, three days and three weeks. For an FMCg client, the plan might be based on the next three weeks, three months and three years.

The important point is that we must get used to tailoring the time-frames to optimize behavior change and effectiveness.

The next three minutesDialogue within the social web evolves so rapidly in a single day that what is being said on Facebook or Twitter right now can instantly change the relevance of tomorrow’s message.

In response, a growing number of companies are using social media tools like Twitter for immediate communication (and for revenue generation). This is as varied as bakers alerting their customers to what has just come out of the oven, to AT&T in the US providing a forum via Twitter for consumers to participate in the nCAA March Madness (college basketball) – talking with other sports fans about the progress of the tournament and creating a community around the event. Another example is to track paid-search clicks to optimize messaging.

The next three monthsWe still need to be able to structure communication with longer lead times (for example, product launches or point of sale) and to provide a relevant framework for evaluating campaigns. This would include tracking measures like weekly or monthly sales, rate of trial and traditional media metrics such as reach and frequency.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.Albert Einstein

3-3-3 is a way of reframing the time-periods we use for planning and evaluating brand communication. It stands for three minutes, three months and three years, and it forces us to consider different short-, medium-, and long-term goals for judging success.

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3-3-3

Case study: Venstre, Denmark

our task was to help the political party Venstre get re-elected in the Danish general election.

Media were selected to ensure top-of-mind awareness throughout the election period; but there was a major hurdle: getting the best placement for communication requires a long lead-time, but media could not actually be booked until the election was announced. The solution was to negotiate an extended period during which the precise media placement would remain guaranteed, then booking all media within minutes of the election being called. Seven minutes, in fact.

The nature of a political campaign means that messaging should ideally not remain fixed. Venstre TV, a vital part of the communication, gave us content to be inserted into website banners that were updated in minutes to reflect live issues – which happened nearly 50 times during the three-week campaign.

HELPING ELECT A GOVERNMENT IN SEVEN MINUTESBrand-owners and

agencies need to work out which timeframes are best suited to their category and then use them to structure communication and measurement plans.

The next three yearsFor the longer term, we need to be able to create strategic visions for brands, with success measures aligned to phases of the brand’s long-term development plan. We need to improve integration of messaging that is traditionally separate for many companies – for example, corporate Pr and tactical advertising – as consumers integrate messages wherever they come from. rather than setting fixed times, we use key measures as triggers to move communication into its next phase. For example, once market penetration of Product X is 25%, the brand will move into mass media. once brand awareness of Brand Y exceeds 80%, the focus moves to portfolio conversion.

The bottom line is that brand-owners and agencies need to work out which timeframes are best suited to their category and then use them to structure communication and measurement plans.

Persuading people to abandon tried and trusted methods is never easy. But the speed of development in our marketplace makes it all the more important to find new ways to manage and monitor brand communications and implement them as standard working practices.

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A much broader range of content opportunities are available today to help us actively engage consumers.

Consumers have rapidly become familiar with blogs, social media posts, widgets, gaming and apps. They are not uncomfortable with these new forms of communication; in fact, they welcome them, just as they welcome online TV access and other video-streaming opportunities.

LIQUID CONTENTCHAPTER 6

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LIQUID Content

Case study: Sony Ericsson, China

to launch its t707 handset in China, Sony ericsson worked with leading Chinese social networking site Kaixin001, developing a virtual ‘gift’ for members to send to one another.

the viral content featured a full-screen demonstration of the t707’s most attractive features – its stylish design and colourful notification and light effects.

over a million gifts were sent on launch day and within two weeks, it had become the most successful gift to date on Kaixin001, with more than 10 million virtual t707s sent between users.

When you want, where you wantWe consume much more content outside conventional live-viewing occasions – and indeed outside our homes – than we did in the past. according to accenture’s 2009 Global Broadcast Consumer Survey, 74% of us watch content on personal computers and 45% on mobile devices. With the launch of apple’s iPad, international availability of Sony’s e-reader and the growing prevalence of smart phones, this trend is sure to grow. Mobile publishing is already a phenomenon in Japan.

these technology developments will continue to fuel the introduction of new content formats. For example, publishers will be able to modularize content as is already happening in the music industry so it may soon be possible to buy and download all of the diving sections from each Lonely Planet guide, rather than having to buy all the books.

Three-screen convergence‘Three-screen convergence’ is finally happening: it is now technically possible to view similar content via computer, tV or phone.

the iPhone concept, in which consumers can select applications they want, is a glimpse into what future interfaces, whether in the home or on the move, could look like. Many of these applications will cross to larger screens like tV relatively easily – for example, iPhone’s weather app.

Consumer responseConsumers are comfortable with different formats and content types running on multiple devices, whether it is applications, games or online video. With an added boost from the recession, broadcast audiences are generally increasing, if you take into account multi-device consumption and we expect this trend to continue.

The power of gift giving

…the emergence of social communities segmented by interest or relationship means consumers are more actively passing content between each other. this creates new marketing opportunities for sharing engaging content.

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Broadband is the best friend Television ever had.Dr. Jeffrey Cole, University of Southern California

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LIQUID Content

Consumer expectations, in terms of technical quality, are also rising. It is likely that HD and 3D will become standard this decade, at least on our primary tV screens.

at the same time, the emergence of social communities segmented by interest or relationship means consumers are more actively passing content between each other. this creates new marketing opportunities for sharing engaging content. It also provides additional opportunities for behavioral targeting.

Pass it onThese developments have a critical influence on the suitability of the content we create for marketing and advertising purposes. engaging multiple communities in a way that is scalable means we must start lots of little fires in many different places, allowing people to discover, port or share content. our content needs to be more fluid, or ‘liquid’, to do this. The term ‘liquid’ denotes content that can be adapted for distribution through different channels and media formats.

each version of the content may address a different task and must be robust enough to be passed around. It will become commonplace to engage consumers via liquid content. In social media marketing, for example, most media companies already accept the necessity of creating multi-platform content that is easily shareable, downloadable and updateable.

Coherence is keyIn a world of liquid content, coherence is more important than consistency. In the past, communication has focused on ‘consistency’ – a compelling insight leading to a single idea, leveraged across all touch points in a similar manner (often referred to as ‘matching luggage’). But in the digitally dominated future, a brand may need several (engagement) ideas brought to life through a variety of content solutions that actively engage consumers. a more digital environment also lends itself to content co-creation and has re-energized storytelling as a creative technique – both increasingly popular among agencies.

Case study: IKEA, USA

In the US, furniture store IKea was concerned that its low-price self-assembly proposition might act as a barrier to some consumers. our task was to change perceptions about the brand, highlighting the product design strengths to drive deeper brand engagement, particularly with women.

Easy to Assemble was an irreverent web-based series featuring Jeff goldblum, which had a storyline that played against a backdrop of IKea’s quirky culture.

the webisodes were released to coincide with IKea’s marketing calendar and were supported with viral content, blogs and other web-based activity. the series attracted 1.2 million views and over 2,000 blog mentions.

Making a show of IKEA

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the term ‘liquid’ denotes content that can be adapted for distribution through different channels and media formats. each version of the content may address a different task and must be robust enough to be passed around.

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Content distributionDigital content management – the process of optimizing digital branded assets, managing asset distribution, tracking and measuring exposure and performance – will become an imperative. As we work with different formats across a wider range of platforms, opportunities to re-use and re-target certain formats will emerge. And some will work better than others, so we need the flexibility to shift budgets to optimize ROI through the formats that are performing best.

Content must be relevant, fluid and adaptable. If we can achieve these goals, liquid content will create greater engagement than ever with consumers.

LIQUID ConTEnT

Narrative Brand Planning, Frank otto Dietrich, ralf Schmidt-Bleeker, Arthur Schlovsky, germany

Simple messages rarely get brands talked about: quite the contrary, it’s a certain degree of complexity that does. Stories are well suited for building up this complexity…our (digital) world is a narrative world.

Case study: Paramount, International

The challenge for launching Paramount Pictures’ highly anticipated Watchmen was to engage both the fans of the original graphic novel and the larger audience who had never read it.

given the passion of the book’s existing fans, any communication had to let people make up their own minds about the film, without feeling like an ‘official’ promotion. The key was to provide enough social currency for different audiences to talk among themselves about the film.

During a three-month period, over 60 different pieces of content, including videos, games, screensavers, widgets, banners and iPhone apps, were spread throughout the web, resulting in what Total Film magazine called, “the best viral campaign ever”.

LAUNCHING WATCHMEN WITH LIQUID CONTENT Digital content

management – the process of optimizing digital branded assets, managing asset distribution, tracking and measuring exposure and performance – will become an imperative.

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ARE YOU IN CONTROL ENOUGH TO LET GO?

CHAPTER 7The absence of structure, leadership, and formal organization, once considered a weakness, has become a major asset. Seemingly chaotic groups have challenged and defeated institutions. The rules of the game have changed.The Starfish and the SpiderBeckstrom & Brafman Organizations must embrace radical

change if they are to capitalize on emerging opportunities to engage an audience that is in constant evolution.

If we are to thrive in the future, we must learn to let go of the certainties of the past.

As the value of earned media increases, it is clear that our control over brand communications is being diluted. Consumers have one hand on the reins and, to maintain our grasp of the market, we have to find ways to build a dialogue between them and brand-owners. And if dialogue is to be central to brand-consumer communication – and it must be – we must rethink how we work.

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Reorganizing to let goThe fluidity of the modern workplace requires a corresponding organizational agility that mirrors the networked communities encountered on the web.

online, people have become used to moving between communities with which they have different levels of engagement and types of affiliation. In the workplace, people also belong to multiple communities. organizational structures should change to reflect and facilitate a new concept of fluid working and belonging to more than one community.

Within multi-player online role-playing games, countless numbers of complete strangers successfully organize themselves to resolve problems, each playing to their strengths. Imagine how much more effective employees could be if we gave them greater autonomy, backed by the resources and intellectual capital of a well-run company.

there are many lessons to be learned from the success of companies like eBay, google, or Wikipedia, which are characterized by flat structures and trust in participants. Following the Pr disaster often referred to as ‘Dell hell’, Dell reorganized itself to revolve around its customers, placing social media at the heart of its organization, using it for customer service, retail, idea generation and internal/external communications via blogs and posts. Dell’s experience proves that, with a networked culture in place, even large companies can be as agile and flexible as small companies.

What does this mean for agencies?our response is to create two types of communities, each of which will have smaller constituent communities. The first is organized around clients, with client-specific communities. the second is based around skills, to maintain excellence in specialized areas that support the client community, whether those are traditional responsibilities such as media planning and buying or emerging disciplines such as social media, cause marketing or data analytics. It is perfectly normal for individuals to be members of more than one community.

ARE YOU IN CONTROL ENOUGH TO LET GO?ARE YOU IN CONTROL ENOUGH TO LET GO?

there are many lessons to be learned from the success of companies like eBay, google, or Wikipedia, which are characterized by flat structures and trust in participants.

The intention is to create flatter, less hierarchical management structures and to decentralize operational decision-making in order to improve fluidity of thought and speed of response. For this type of organizational structure to be effective, the overall objectives and strategies must be absolutely clear and the level of communication between and within communities must be exceptional.

It takes courage to adopt a new mindset and accept the need for change on this scale. But through their rapid uptake of digital platforms, consumers have already shown that they are not afraid of the future. We must do the same and embrace change. We must recognize the opportunities that the new landscape presents and develop new behaviors, structures and approaches to strengthen active engagement between consumers and brands.

We must recognize the opportunities that the new landscape presents and develop new behaviors, structures and approaches to strengthen active engagement between consumers and brands.

Learning to let gorapid evolution of media is changing the way we work with clients to develop the most effective communications. But we still need a robust strategic framework for ensuring collaboration, consistency and quality. that is where our new MEC Navigator approach comes in.

Over a 48-hour period, agency and client teams work together on live briefs within their client communities, being guided through the process of understanding the client’s business and target audience, creating innovative communication ideas and strategies, and measuring plans. Used in all our offices around the world, it’s how we bring the 21st century consumer and brand worlds together.

References

Chapter 3 Behavioral Economics: Red Hot or Red Herring? IPa

Chapter 7 The Starfish and the Spider, Beckstrom & BrafmanHere Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, Clay ShirkyConnected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, Christakis & Fowler

38 39© MeC © MeC

MECMEC

We deliver value by creating, implementing and measuring communication solutions that actively engage people with brands.

Media planning and buying • Digital media • Search • Performance marketing • Social media • Analytics and Insight • Sport, Entertainment and Cause • Multi-cultural • Content • Retail • Integrated planning

Our 4,000 highly talented and motivated people work with domestic and international clients in 84 countries. We are a founding partner of GroupM.

To find out more, visit us at www.mecglobal.com

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TEN NEW WAYS TO ACTIVELY ENGAGE TOMORROW’S CONSUMERS TODAY

To find out how we can help you actively engage consumers with your brand, please contact us – full regional details are available on the inside back cover. Find us at www.mecglobal.com

For further copies of this publication, please contact the global marketing team on +44 20 7803 2319 or +44 20 7803 2361.

Find the right balance across paid, owned and earned communications

Work with ‘engagement Ideas’

Switch the focus from changing attitudes to changing behavior

Identify important digital decision communities, and join them

Become a more data-centric organization

1.2.3.4.

5.

get ready for addressable media

test a more organic approach to planning and buying

escape from the annual marketing calendar; embrace 3-3-3 thinking

Create ‘liquid content’ that is easily shareable, downloadable and portable

Be in control enough to let go

6.7.8.9.

10.