Blog360 - The Blend360 Agency Blog - Advertising, Branding, Web Design, SEO and Web Analytics

Consumers: The New Breed of Ad Agency

Natasha Lewis

It wasn't long ago, that creative advertising dictated what you watched, bought and played with. However, everything is different now.  In today's advertising world, it is the innovators that set the pace and dictate which brands will come out on top. Changes to the communication landscape have put the consumer in the driver's seat.

Since the advent of the Internet, companies can no longer market at their consumers. Instead they are required to work along side their consumers in order to create impact messaging and garner strong relationships, in hopes of gaining a realistic visual window into the consumers buying behavior.

Just as consumers have a choice in the products they purchase they also play a huge role in the creative thinking process. Which poses an interesting question: Is the consumer the new breed of ad agency?

Many creative agencies might argue no. Although in an environment where the consumer now has control over the medium they consume, it’s not too far fetched. It is possible that soon company brands will hire groups of consumer communities to come up with answers to complex brand strategies and creative questions as oppose to hiring a high priced agency.

Since the dawn of the first ad agency in the U.K in 1812, ad agencies have been dedicated to creating, planning and even handling the promotion. However, it could be this very ability to come up with "The Big Idea" that over shadows the agencies inability to evolve with such emerging trends such as: user-generated content, social networking, and word of mouth marketing.

The pertinent information hasn’t changed, it’s the way we collect it. In the past consumer information was collected through expensive market research studies. Companies have learned the hard way that spending thousand of dollars on traditional media with the intention of creating something clever and witty does not always yield instant brand impact.
 
These days, it doesn't take a group of creative directors and account service managers to come up with the “Big Idea” or solve a problem. Just build or become part of a consumer community and ask them the questions; you'll have all the answers you need. This type of communication advertising not only helps companies, but helps creative agencies to provide their clients with their needs and wants.

"Smart marketers have discovered that the old way of advertising and selling products isn't working as well as it used to, and they're aggressively searching for a new, enterprising way to increase market share and profits."  Seth Godin – Permission Marketing

Online relationships that have been forged are now becoming more meaningful. They give marketers an open access card to the once closed micro-aggregate community. The power of consumer communities has changed the traditional way of advertising because the only groups who know what makes the consumer tick are the consumers themselves.

The minds of the many will contribute to great changes. However, it’s minds of the producer in combination with their consumers who will sprout new concepts and processes. Only companies willing to evolve with this new way of brand innovation will be on the road to developing a successful & strong brand imprint.

Privacy Concerns are Standing in the Way of a Personalized World

Jon Cogan

 I recall sitting at a breakfast group meeting at the Marshes in Ottawa ten years ago almost to the day. I can not for the life of me remember who was speaking, but the topic of the discussion has stayed with me all these years.

That morning all in attendance gasped and ooh'd and aww'd about the promise of data mining. We were told that in a year or two we would experience some wonderful things as consumers. You would stay at a Hilton, and during your stay, you would order and orange juice to our room in the morning. At your next stay at any Hilton, a call would come from the front desk in the morning to ask you if I would like your orange juice like your last stay. You would be able to walk into a bookstore like Chapters and as you paid at the cash, and they recalled your customer information, the cashier would list off some new releases of your favourite authors or music artists. This is simply not happening in the real world. It is barely happening in the virtual world. And there really is no excuse for that.

If I go to any shopping site and buy a product, when I return to that site I should see some offerings from the category I shopped from on my last visit, shouldn't I? What is standing in the way of this happening? I have a theory, and I would love to hear yours as well.

I believe we are all way too concerned about privacy. - Look, I think there is reason to be concerned about how your private data is being collected and used by any website you visit, but the concerns of the day are misdirected. The internet was never promised to be a private experience. Ever. When did the onus of privacy fall upon the website owners themselves? How did that happen? The internet was supposed to be just like anything else in life that you do in front of others - public! If I take an action in the real world, others will probably see it. When did it become so very shameful for a company to try to personalize my experience with them based on these actions? Why is that taboo? What is everyone worried about? That someone might try to sell them something? We're all adults here. We can make grown up decisions. The internet would become a lot more personalized a lot quicker if we took responsibility for our own actions online.

Do the shop owners on Yonge street give us a private room to make our own purchase decisions and then escort us discreetly out the back door after we're done? No! At the same time, they don't shout out to the world that Jeff just bought very large lingerie for his very large wife! And neither does the internet shopping experience! You may be given the option to have your purchase appear in a Facebook news feed every now and then, but that's your choice.

Granted, Facebook's recent unleashing of Open Graph and Likes caused some confusion on how to properly set privacy settings around it. They took care of that quite efficiently by the way. But still I hear complaints all the time about privacy this and privacy that. Take responsibility for it yourself or suffer the consequences. If you post a picture on Facebook, if you Tweet something, if you like a product or brand, others will see you.

Disclaimer - If you are one of those who worry that your actions on a website will allow the government to start reading your private emails, this article is not for you. And I urge you to grab some Alcan Alluminum Foil and start making your hat. Just don't buy it online, someone might see you!).

The point is, there is so much potential for the internet to make our lives better. To make our shopping experiences more enjoyable. To be served the content we want to see. The personalized experience is right at our fingertips and has been for years. We see glimpses of it every now and then, but really it should be much more prominent in our every day lives.

I believe the reason I don't get my orange juice sent to my room anytime I stay at a Hilton Hotel is because when figuring out the dollars and cents of creating that personalized experience through basic data mining, the concern that the gesture could backfire into a privacy complaint is enough to put any project of this nature on hold or kill it altogether. I believe the businesses that ignore the privacy hype and take this next important step, both in the virtual world and the real world will benefit from offering the personalized experience before their competitors do.

Web 3.0 Please God ... make this stop.

Peter Mosley 

<rant>
This article appearing in Now Toronto which speaks about the arrival of Web 3.0 is rife with sensationalism, trite snippets and sound bites. Sadly, it has no relevant connection to the Net.

I will not denigrate NOW Toronto  regardless of their political views nor their chock-full-of-escort-ads section and ad revenue - what I will put down is this search for something to say about the future of the Net. Oh and for all you folks who read NOW Mag denigrate means to put down (Borrowed from Bob Newhart!)

Ok, I am old. 59 years old, in fact.

The Net has been around as long as I have. It was created in 1951. So was I.  And since 1951 it has done just fine regardless of the Web 2.0, Social Media and now Web 3.0 labels folks want to create. If you were not there since the beginning, trust me, everyone and their brother, sister, cousin, wierd old Uncle and son-in-law has tried to port over Shovelware online. It is a virtual mall, it is a magazine, it is DM, it is a record label, it is cheap TV etc etc etc etc (Notice 4, count em, 4 etc!) It is none of these. It is the Net. If ya want to see someone NOT getting the Net, watch someone spouting these tired, hackneyed terms.

In this article, for the record, lets just point out that there is no such thing as Web 2.0. The underlying intent of Mr O'Reilly's coined phrase was that the web had changed. The best explanation I have heard was that when the web came along we put our word docs there. We hyperlinked to them. Then we got fancy after a while and put up all sorts of jumping bunnies and throbbing gristle in these docs. But we were simply serving up documents.
When the Web changed it changed fundamentally. We were able to have all your your data talk to all my data. Think Excel vs Word. Google is the best example of this. Hold on, I must stop and sigh. I do love Google.
Anyway, je digress ...  this new Web NOW talks about - in the guise of Apple and the iPad is so not new. AOL did all this in the 80s. A closed-circuit-go-to-my-server-dial-up-thing and we will pretend it is the Net (Don't ya just love a tmesis?) On AOL you are not really online. Just like a Bulletin Board System was not online.

Apple is an amazing company - the digital centre of your life. Hell, I know it's mine. My iPhone, my iPod, my MacBook Pro, my desktop iTunes, Logic  etc etc - Oh, I want an iPad, and will get one. Not right this second, mind you, but I will get one. I look at it as the ultimate interface and control device. Imagine controlling Logic with that device. [le sigh ... ]

As for the Net - it is still wonderfully simple and elegant and slightly broken. The Cluetrain written in the late 90s really spelled out all of this - please have a peek  http://cluetrain.com/. Sadly, most new-comers have neither read, nor heard about this. When folks mention the net as a conversation The Cluetrain coined that BTW, they say this with absolutely no concept of what an online conversation really is. It is not the real world modality of you in a mall chatting with your friend. It is much more. It is a way for you to be at one end and me at the other. And the plain truth is that the more shit we have in the middle the more the conversation is devalued. Apple is not building a conversation tool. They are building a digital interface. Avec neat apps.

The idea that Apple is, or will, take over the Web or make something that emulates an 80s AOL is laughable.

If it wasn't for Apple there would not have been the proliferation and wonder we saw online. Most folks built all the early sites on Macs. I was part of MAGIC - the Macintosh Awareness Group in Canada which turned into one of the very first ISPs. Apple was and is the easiest way to get online. Full stop.

Apple is doing what Apple does best. Increase shareholder value. And if they could do that supporting gambling and porn they would. But they don't. They have amazing products - I use em daily - and their closed-circuit culture is just that.

iTunes arguably the best music delivery system. Their stores, real and online, the new bookstore and all of the wonderful stuff they put out, well ...  le sigh encore.

Stop with the BS!

</rant>

Holiday Sales Looking Up

Corey Ng, Blend360 Communications

Good news retailers, sales this holiday season are estimated to increase after last year's steep decline - the biggest decline in at least several decades. Chicago-based retail research firm ShopperTrack, which tracks customer traffics at more than 45,000 stores, predicted the total holiday sales in the U.S. will rise 1.6% compared to last year's 5.9% decline. The firm also expects a 4.2% decline in foot traffic in comparison to last year's 15.4% drop. Take note retailers, if you don't have an online store, maybe you should start considering it.

ShopperTrack offered a more positive forecast in comparison to others estimate over the past few weeks; The National Retail Federation predicts a 1% decline in total sales this holiday season. Regardless of the different opinions, it's safe to say retailers won't be suffering from a hit as hard as last year. Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrack, claims last year decline is due to consumers' avoiding the unnecessary purchases on themselves; but this holiday season, consumers are tired of the negative news and looking to refill their closets. Yes - holiday shopping isn't only about spending on others, but yourself too! While consumers are expected to be more tempered with their spending, at least they're shopping. So attention shoppers, you've just been granted a green card to gift yourself this holiday!!

“News consumption isn’t just with your breakfast anymore…”

Corey Ng, Blend360 Communications

According to the latest Newspaper Audience Databank (NADbank) study, the growth in online newspaper readership has become a significant force in driving newspaper readership. Over the past year, there has been a 10% increase in weekly online readership in Canada’s six major markets: Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. NADbank credits the newspapers developing their products online as more readers prefer accessing the news all day as oppose to the traditional morning read. If the past month is any indication, I predict next year’s NADbank results not only credit online readership but also your mobile phone.

During the past few weeks, more and more Canadian newspaper publications are promoting their new mobile services – a platform to reach readers quickly and easily with the most recent news events. Yes, I’m a slave to my Blackberry and the chances of me reading a headline on my phone before online or print are very high. Last month, The Globe & Mail partnered with Spreed Inc., becoming the first Canadian newspapers mobile application to deliver daily news and content to the Apple iPhone, Palm Pre and BlackBerry devices.  Last week, CanWest launched their mobile-optimized version of all their newspaper websites, specifically designed for iPhones, BlackBerrys and other smartphones. And have anyone noticed the amusing and witty Metro advertisements – if you ride the TTC, you’ll notice them.  This month, a $1 million+ campaign was launched in Toronto to promote Metro’s newly enhanced mobile site, which even allow readers to scan 2D bar codes in the paper and be directed to more content on mobile site! In a matter of weeks, it seems the Canadian newspaper industry has gone mobile.

This has had an effect on the survival of the daily newspaper. Ironically, while it seems the web is what is killing the newspaper (along with a sluggish economy), newspapers going digital and mobile is exactly what is maintaining their precarious survival! By moving to new mediums, their advertising products grow exponentially thus presenting new value to the advertiser.

For consumers, if you’re not tech-savvy and these mobile services mean nothing to you, at least you can always read the news the traditional way. But to all my smartphone users, here’s another contribution to your addiction.

Craigslist Could Mean The Death of The Advertising Headhunter

Over the years I have hired hundreds of creative people. In the days before the web, agencies spent hundreds of dollars in print ads to find the right people.

Headhunters also made a handsome profit from all the Agencies seeking the best talent.

Then came the specialized sites like: Talent Zoo, Creative Hotlist and of course Monster, Workopolis and CareerBuilder.com.

But for me, the deal breaker was Craigslist. During the growth of our agency, I have constantly depended on Craig’s List. Why? Well to start off with, it’s free. That low cost entry means that you can find the people you are looking for without the cost associated previously with creative hiring.

In addition to affordability another benefit to advertising on Craigslist is the potential to reach a large audience. Craigslist receives approximately four billion page views per month from approximately ten million website visitors. This is appealing because it allows users to reach a large audience with only minimal effort.

Craigslist already has a large following and many Internet users already turn to Craigslist for whatever they are looking for before searching other resources. Having such a large audience means half of the work is already done for advertisers. They already have high traffic to the website, now they just need to write an eye catching and engaging advertisement that will attract the best in creative talent.

In my experience, there is a bit of additional time needed to sort through resumes, websites and PDF’s. It is a bit like finding a diamond in the rough, but for my money I’d rather have a large choice of potential hires than be left to choose between one or two from a pricey headhunter.

 

Google Will Hear You Loud and Clear

The announcement that Google is premiering Google Voice has been met with both excitement and skepticism. Touted as “The coolest thing ever”, this new service allows you to centralize your multiple phone numbers through a single Google number.
Now you simply route all of your calls through to this number so it becomes your home, office, sms, mobile… all your numbers are sent to your Google number.

Beyond that, Voice adds all kinds of cool little bonus features for example: - you can selectively ring calls thru to multiple destinations. 
- You can selectively block and screen calls
- You can send, receive forward and store SMS text messages
- Check your voicemail online, read it via email or text (you can even forward it)
- You can create personalized voicemail messages per contact
- You can group your contacts and manage their preferences on a group level
- Conference calling, call recording, call switching, 411 info -- all that kind of thing is in there.

So with all this technology at your fingertips, what could be stopping you?

For many the main stumbling block is the security of their data. With that in mind, many are taking a wait and see attitude.

One thing is for sure. Google will be using this data to their advantage. By mining through your messages, the Google robots will learn all about you and even your plans for the evening. Leaving a message about going to a restaurant for dinner? Google will pick up the keyterm "restaurant" and link it to your locality, and boom - you have ads being served to you with different restaurants to choose from in your city.

When you compare this to what social networks such as Facebook are doing, it really is not that different. Facebook uses information stored in your profile to allow advertisers to reach specfic audiences based on that stored information. As Facebook users, we don't seem to fear sharing what we are doing right now, or what's on our mind.

So what Google plans to do with your information and your conversations is really none of your business!!

Is your Blackberry hearing Nature's Call?

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a little tired of the Blackberry. Sure it’s a game-changing device and aficionados are totally in love with this finger flinging apparatus. The question is, “do we really need to be that in touch”?

I was at a client presentation the other day and as we all gathered around the client’s boardroom table, I noticed that everyone carefully positioned their Blackberry in front of them. Most gingerly set the little fella down on the desk, giving it a final forlorn look to make sure no message had been missed.

As the meeting started, I requested that everyone in the room turn off their phones and Blackberries. I watched as each member of the team cradled their little “fruit phone”, checking back messages, calendars and notes…each more reluctant than the next to let go of their personal assistant.

The strategy session began with a short introduction by the client's president. Within a few moments I noticed the young lady next to me rolling her fingers back and forth nervously. Was it a twitch? The outbreak of obsessive-compulsive disorder? A nervous habit?

I watched carefully as her fingers danced up and down and then I realized she was actually “ghost” rolling her Blackberry. He finger muscles had obviously learned to roll up and down all on their own from her many hours of messaging. It was a bit reminiscent of the older Greek men I had seen with their worry beads.

After his introduction, the president excused himself presumably to use the washroom, but as he slipped out of the boardroom, he grabbed his Blackberry. Obviously, he had “heard the call” not of nature, but of the ubiquitous Blackberry. He was suffering from “Blackberry withdrawal” and the bathroom ruse was just another excuse to keep in touch.

 

MIXED RESULTS FOR BLACK FRIDAY WHILE CYBER MONDAY GOES BOOM!

The results are in from Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2008. First to online traffic - softer than 2007 for bricks and mortar stores. This was somewhat expected. However, online traffic for web-only storefronts increased from year ago. In fact, Black Friday e-commerce sales were up 1 percent or $534 million from one year ago.

But a closer look at the web statistics tell a different story. According to Coremetrics, the number of pageviews across online retail sites was down 8.55%, while product views saw a decrease of 8.29%. Coremetrics.  An 18% drop in average session length was also noticed. Conversion rates also sagged by over 1.5%, showing an online consumer base hesitant to purchase on retail sites struggling to engage.

And while sales were up 1%, there were some great deals online, deals which would have one speculating that a severe drop in profit margins were absorbed by online retailers across the world wide web. In other words, just because sales increased marginally doesn't necessarily mean profits increased along with it. In fact, one could argue that Black Friday profits may be down from a year ago.

Cyber Monday was a completely different story. According to ComScore, the Monday after Thanksgiving, 2008 represented the second-heaviest online spending day on record. Online sales climbed to $846 million, a 15% increase from a year ago. Again, agressive discounts were a major factor in the increase, but at this level, profits surely increased from 2007.

Offline sales mirrored the success of the web, showing an 18% increase in Thankgiving Day weekend sales from a year ago. But while it was a banner weekend for the retail industry, the bigger picture is a lot uglier. Retail sales are down 2% for the season, the first decline seen since the internet became a significant sales channel.

Canada's Privacy Commissioner Investigating Facebook

A formal complaint against Facebook has been filed by the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) to Canada's Privacy Commissioner. The complaint was filed on Friday, and an investigation is now underway.

Prepared by law interns, the complaint details 22 separate violations by the Palo Alto, California company, with the practice of collecting personal information in initiating downloads of application being the most notable. PIPEDA, Canada's Privacy Act, states that companies should not collect more information than is necessary to provide the product or service to the end user.

Facebook has already responded by claiming that the complaint contains "factual errors", most notably that Facebook users willingly share their personal information.

My take - When you choose to download an application, you are informed that your personal information will be shared, and you have the option to not download the application. No one is forcing anyone to share the personal information. The applications do not cost the end-user any money, but the personal information is certainly valuable. Personal information has long been a currency on the internet. At least Facebook comes about it honestly. As long as measures are in place to safegaurd this information, I don't see a violation here. But that is a critical question that needs to be addressed.

I pulled this exerpt from Facebook's Terms and Conditions:

"The Facebook Platform does not give Developers access to your e-mail address, personal website, instant messenger ID, telephone number or street address ("Contact Information"). Facebook will only disclose your Contact Information to third parties in accordance with the Facebook Privacy Policy."

Here is how the Privacy Policy addresses this:

"We let you choose to share information with marketers or electronic commerce providers through sponsored groups or other on-site offers." ..."We may offer stores or provide services jointly with other companies on Facebook. You can tell when another company is involved in any store or service provided on Facebook, and we may share customer information with that company in connection with your use of that store or service."

My biggest concern here is how these third parties are using this personal information. As a user downloading an application, you are not made aware of these third party policies. Here is where I believe Facebook may have a problem, and I'm honestly not sure if they can be indemnified should one or more of the application developers illegally share personal information.