Open House

Media Neutral Planning

Some of you may know this, some not. Media neutral planning is all about putting the communications idea at the centre of everything and making sure it is communicated consistently across all channels.

Like this:

This stops a great idea on TV just being shoe horned into other platforms. But people are now questioning whether this model leads to a "shout loud enough and hopefully people will listen" approach.

For another view, check out Talent Imitates Genius Steals where he talks about transmedia - basically using each channel to tell a slightly different story, as opposed to above, which is the same story across all channels. Having different, tailored stories is designed to promote consumer engagement with the brand.

But what happens if your brand is fairly low interest? Like toilet paper, or cleaning fluid? How do you engage consumers emotionally with your brand?

Could be a load of hot air. Have a good weekend,

Steve

Power to the consumer

This is a quote I found on Open about the strength of brands:

"...brands are slowly waking from this almost slumbering sleep and recognising that they are themselves bigger networks than all of the television networks combined. Whether it is a can of Coke, whether it is a store front, the amount of people that are exposed to brands directly... is absolutely breathtaking. But more importantly brands are recognising, especially with digital new marketing that they can go directly to consumers..."

The quote is actually from an agency called Crayon.

It's true that digital media now allows brands to communicate and engage directly with consumers and by pass us lowly marketers. However, it also works the other way. AdAge named "The Consumer" as the Agency of the Year (article here). If you haven't seen the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment, hit Youtube and see it.  It led to a 15% increase in sales of Mentos. Top stuff, not a penny spent by Mentos or a marketing agency.

If you also look at blogging and how much consumers can influence brands just by talking about them openly and honestly - and how much consumers heap abuse on brands that try and manipulate them. If you're interested in a few of these cases, check out this article at the Guardian about the fake Wal Mart blog. Sony also did a Playstation 3 fake blog and got slated for it too.

Enjoy

Steve

Shiny new iPhone

Apple yesterday unveiled its new iPhone to the world - iPod, phone and internet communicator all in one. It's been in the pipeline for a while now, and it's finally here. Check out some of the articles written about it by Wired here but below is a quote from one article about the reaction to the iPhone from reporters:

"In the press section, reporters actually gasped in awe a couple of times, or laughed at the delightful feats of technology Jobs was showing off"

Looks like it might be quite a good piece of kit to have then. It's due to hit Europe late next year.

The only issue is that in the States, Apple have signed an exlusive deal with one network, namely Cingular. Which means it's likely they'll do the same in the UK/Europe, so the revolution comes with conditions.

Only releasing the phone through one network will limit sales of the device - it can't be the long term plan to restrict the phone to one carrier. You can find more gripes about the iPhone here

What I love is that Apple insists on sweeping the carpet out from themselves - they are their own best competitor. Launching the iPhone as a combination of iPod, Phone and Internet they are raising the bar and paving the way for the death of the iPod (which won't happen until the iPhone can hold more than 8GB - the maximum memory they are talking about at the moment). They are years ahead of their competitors but still out-innovating themselves.

Putting this in a brand perspective, I can't help but wonder - Everything Apple does feeds into its brand, supporting it, building it, growing it. Every product is a complete and total reflection of the brand. There are no gaps.

Hope 2007 has started well for everyone,

Steve