Squared Online Module 1 ‘A Connected World’ Best Bits
With the first module of Squared Online done and dusted, I thought it’d be handy to jot down what I thought were the ‘best bits’, as well as a comment or two; handy not only for myself but also for a) those interested in Squared Online and b) those interested in digital marketing in general.
Mike Berry claimed that we cannot “separate digital life from normal life”. Our dependence on digital perfectly illustrated by the fact that, for many of us, our phone is the first thing we see when we wake up and the last thing we see before we go to sleep.
“Everything follows you everywhere”
Perhaps a little too ‘1984’ for my liking: “Everything follows you everywhere.” Must admit, though, that the potential of this does excite me - it could lead to far more personalised adverts, for example, in which case everyone is a winner.
The ‘culture of immediacy’. We want everything and we want it now. Digital has leaded us to having exceedingly high expectations. Or perhaps digital was our solution for them?
With a little acceptance/success behind it, a concept can turn from a curveball into a game changer in no time. Google won’t like to hear it but the obvious two examples that spring to mind are both from Apple: the iPhone and the iPad. And that’s coming from somewhat of an anti-Apple fanboy (don’t ask).
The ‘always on society’
Again, a theory that both frightens and excites me: the ‘always on society’. Whilst I think a healthy work:play ratio is essential (life is not just for working etc.), the accessibility and data that results (and how it can be used) can only empower us. Whether it empowers us a little too much, we’re yet to see.
“If you’re not paying for it, you may not be the customer but the product”
The idea that “If you’re not paying for it, you may not be the customer but the product”. I think this idea is as interesting as it is humourous. The example that was given was Facebook. I’ve always thought that the social network is a service for the consumer but, when thought about, you realise that the consumer has just as much value to the social network. It is us that are making the likes of WhatsApp worth gastronomic sums like $18bn (and, for that matter, making social networks rich enough to propose, and follow through with, such acquisitions). A great scenario that illustrates this lack of realisation from the consumer and quietly knowing full well from the provider is this: one pig says to another about a farm barn, “Isn’t it great we don’t have to pay for this?”
Perhaps not as deep as the previous points but it was brought to our attention that an unnamed investment bank in the States actually writes the content of their employees’ LinkedIn page. Of course I was initially horrified (the amount of rights the policy will infringe etc.) but, upon reflection, I’m slightly growing to the idea. Of course there’s marketing/PR etc., but you wouldn’t be so far from the case if you were to suggest that, as the company is made up of employees, it’s the employees that represent the company. Yes, it’s a human rights nightmare but, at the same time, you get a PR dream in return. Of course in this case there’s a fine line between a PR dream and a PR nightmare, a line which has very much (unintentionally) been crossed by the investment bank by people finding out about aforesaid policy.
Why not try and cut through all the noise by offering the more silent treatment?
Most people retain 95% of the message in a video, compared to 10% in text. Although I think the multimedia approach in advertising will be sticking around for some time (no bad thing), I think an interesting route to go down would be the anti-multimedia approach. Everyone is producing visuals with plenty bells and whistles attached, so why not try and cut through the noise by offering the more silent treatment and resort back to simple text? Yes, the actual advert won’t make for great engagement but the PR that results from taking an unconventionally conventional approach might just do enough talking.
“One minute of video is worth 1.8 million words”
Not sure I’m entirely convinced but the proposition that if a picture is worth 1000 words, one minute of video is worth 1.8 million.
In a similar scary-albeit-fascinating vein to the ‘everything follows you everywhere’ line of thought, there’s the idea of an ‘Eternal Conversation’, that “everyone is continuously talking to everyone”. Again, I feel this can go ‘either way’ for the marketing/advertising industry (and will do so soon). With the likes of ‘big data’, adverts are soon to get seriously personalised - either consumers will embrace this relativity or consider it to be a step too far (I’m probably just about in the former camp). Though I think something the ad industry ought to be worried about is not so much social networks as they are, but the sense of power and entitlement they’ve brought to consumers. I attended a discussion recently where the one point I laid lots of significance upon was how social media has caused an rise in the naysayer attitude, as well as a medium to give it a voice. Or perhaps it was the other way around?
Alluded to earlier, a big talking point in Module 1 was ‘big data’. Previously companies who monetized through advertising had phone numbers and e-mail addresses as their hand of power, but now the detail is becoming much finer. Why this is the case is another point entirely, although I’d put much of it down to the recent emergence of and infatuation with consumer tech and mobile. I recently had a conversation with a member of the digital team at MHP Communications who suggested that with the rise of wearable tech being increasingly linked to health (fitness bands, heart rate monitors in smartwatches etc.), they thought the health advertising industry will be the one that will benefit the most when big data and wearable tech eventually come to fruition (if they haven’t already).
It was suggested that we are soon to see a huge upsurge from the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) in a whole manner of ways.
And finally, because no article about digital marketing is complete without a Mark Zuckerberg quote:
“Communities already exist. Instead, think about how you can help that community do what it wants to do.” - Mark Zuckerberg