DCH Blog

Brands today need to deviate from the conventional Social Media marketing path if they want to keep the consumers interested. Article by our Planning Director, Nicholas Gill, in Technology Digital.

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Change is the only constant factor in life and in the world of Technology; the businesses which realize this sooner, can only gain from it. Article by Planning Director, Nicholas Gill, in Technology Digital.

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Article in Technology Digital by our Planning Director, Nicholas Gill, on why brands need to blend with other channels of interaction to create a bigger impact among their audiences.

I’m seeing a lot of boring and bland “engagement” from brands in social media. There’s far too much of “it’s Halloween, have a treat tonight with ” or “it’s the weekend, celebrate the end of another shit week with ” or “ so why not celebrate/make the most of/not worry about it* with ”as if our life revolves around . It doesn’t. It’s lazy and boring especially if it’s a stock “filler” in your social content plan.

The analogy of walks into a pub, shouts and walks out again without bothering to “engage” with your response holds firm. I don’t want a conversation with you about the weather – I can see what it’s like outside my window – unless you give me a reason to take advantage of it; e.g. give me a £1 off your tasty, winter beverage this cold day and then I may be interested. Otherwise, it’s just noise. Which is what social media was never meant to be.

It’s what Billy Connolly would call the attack of the beige. Be colourful. Be creative. Be interesting.

And I know this isn’t real (or is it?) but it’s colourful. Despite the product being beige.

[*delete as appropriate]

Orignally posted on Nicholas Gill's blog.

A fascinating article on privacy, advertising and the use of your data on social networks and the new alternatives such as Diaspora and Unthink to the accepted norm. Where Hugh once said if you talked to people the way advertising does, they'd punch you in the face. He was talking about traditional ATL advertising and the shouty nature of the traditional 30' spot. This quote from the article suggests that advertising in social media could possibly be worse; rather than just blurting at you in ad breaks, it snoops on you and brazenly flashes this in your face. Good food for thought to start your day with.

Imagine you're eating out with your lady or a loved one; the restaurant is completely free from 12pm until 2pm. Free. Trouble is, your entire conversation is being recorded and watched closely. Every time you both mention something that suggests an interest in a product or purchase or place - an ad rep/TV/radio ad/leaflet appears in front of you and pitches away. Mention you're interested in a mini break; cue the man from the travel agency peddling his wares. Your meal is free though, don't forget. You can always ignore the ad man. How many of us would appreciate that constant eavesdropping? Few. Remarkable then that the digital world doesn't quite suffer the same reaction. It all feels so remote and far way.

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Originally published on Nicholas Gill's blog.

This week I presented at the Knowledge Peers event: Technology – transforming growing businesses at the Design Council, Covent Garden, London. A lot of good presentations and discussions with a genuinely interested and intelligent audience asking some probing questions about cloud, social business and the changes required. And then I came on. I was the entertainment; the only one in jeans as far as I could tell. Certainly the only one in trainers.

The Google search algorithm has long been the dark art of digital. Here's a great video explaining some of what they actually do to it.

The second (it's made it this far) in our downloads of stuff we quite like that seems to have settled into four areas.

Campaigns

Orange continue to create things that delight. This time, tweet them what your Summer holds and you get back a movie-style voiceover to make even the dreariest plans sound awesome. Movie voiceover man is up there.

Perrier's Le Club is an interactive You Tube takeover where the more people who view the video, share it etc., the hotter the club gets. How hot and what that entails who knows. I doubt it's what's in our deviant minds.

Intel's Museumof Me. At first a lovely way of using your data in a visually stunning way. And then it clogged up your Facebook news feed. 

The music business has seen it's fair share of disruption in recent years and following Radiohead's "pay whatever you like" approach, Kaiser Chiefs let you create your own album and sell it.

Making of possibly better than the actual ad?

News

Facebook continue to roll out new things:

1. Facial recognition. Although they've said sorry for just rolling it out without informing people, this is an incredible piece of utility that makes the mind boggle and tagging easier. It knows what I look like. And my friends. Being a fan of nudge economics, personally I'm not fussed they rolled it out and it makes life soooo much easier.

2. Real-time targetting is now being released across the board to make your advertising more relevant and contextual.

An example: If I update my status “I am craving Pizza right now” I will immediately qualify to see ads from advertisers who targeted people who are interested in pizza and could be served such ad(s), in real-time.

Nuggets for your noodle

When it comes to UK social media stats, we're always a little harder to find than our US friends so this neat infographic will be rolled out in every presentation henceforth.

Super lovely animated video of digital life today and tomorrow.

Weird

Super in, super out.

Odd what people think a brand will be interested in.

Naked fat men sell.

Good chart providing examples and inspiration of how innovative companies are combining what is becoming the holy trinity of socal, local and mobile. Originally from here.