Archive for the ‘Strategic Planning’ Category

Talking Heads: Not the Band, the Product Placement iPad’s Missing

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Okay, so we’re not in the business of giving away valuable ideas or anything here (unless there’s a new client pitch involved; then let’s face it, anything goes these days) but I had to point out a totally overlooked opportunity I keep seeing for the increasingly media-and-culture-ubiquitous iPad.

 

Namely: as an integrated prop and information tool for the countless hours of talking heads scrambling for content on TV daily.

 

The reasoning is simple: iPad has already made great hay of product placement in prime-time TV shows, often at no cost to them simply due to its hipness factor and what that confers to a program’s brand—or more likely the producer and staff of the show’s desire to get a few freebies. Regardless, it’s an established and successful buzz tactic already in place.

 

At the same time, you have the denizens of 24 hour cable news, late night talk shows and others of their ilk literally scrambling for content to fill the hours and channels. To this end we’ve seen everything from comically overwrought election coverage technology (remember the touch screens and holograms?) to good old fashioned new clippings and oddities held up on boards by even the biggest name talk show hosts. Heck, I’ve seen local morning news anchors literally reading the newspaper on-air.

 

late-show-with-david-letterman-emma-watson-7033967-1920-1080

 

So with all of that out there why not get iPads in all of their hands, stat? It would offer far greater reach and frequency muscle than sit-coms and movies with about the same halo effect and brand-alignment, if done properly. To say nothing of the ability to subtly position this strange new device as the sort of accessible, everyman necessity it’s designers intended it be. Show even the most behind-the-curve Luddite out there David Letterman reading Top 10 Lists off an iPad enough and the thing will become as commonplace as microwaves and DVRs to them.

 

It’s a true win-win I have to believe they’re already figuring out. But, if not, they can now send me a check when they finally do c/o MSI, 200 East Randolph Drive, Chicago.

 

Or, absent that, just a free iPad would be fine.  

Curated Crowdsourcing Creating A Conundrum

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

How about that title for alliteration. But seriously people, I recently read a few articles about the increasing popularity of curated crowdsourcing in relation to marketing projects.  My thought is that if curated crowdsourcing is the next big trend in the development of logo designs, ads, package design,TV spots,etc. then the ad community and our clients (who may looking at this idea) are in semi-trouble.

 

From what I can see, the argument for a curator approach (a web-based entity that manages/administers resources) is that they can reach out to dozens of art directors, writers and designers to develop and post their work based on a brief. Then the best work is screened, selected and paid for almost like it is done on spec. Not good and a little light on the strategic level, most likely.

 

The curator claim is that with an agency a client works with a limited number of people. That is hardly close to the truth. With an agency a client has the advantage of working with teams from different departments and marketing disciplines, with different perspectives, and a much deeper understanding of the client’s business and the target audience they need to reach…not just from the design side of the business. It is not myopic in any sense.

 

As a result, if you were to test the concepts/ideas/designs developed by the agency against those done by the crowdsource, my confidence (and money) would be on the agency – and it is not just because I work at an agency.

 

Curated crowdsourcing just seems like a cheap bicycle with a few parts missing.

 

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Living Blade Runner

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Bladerunner billboard Times Square

As MSI’s Director of Interactive Services, I love the part of my job that involves geeking out over technology. I was about 12 years old when Blade Runner came out and remember thinking, “Giant video billboards. Pfft. Yeah, right.” I pooh-poohed my way through the movie, scoffing at such impossibilities as video conferencing, in-ear communicators, tablet computers, and glowing umbrellas, among many other flights of fantasy.

Watching Blade Runner while sprawled out on the brown shag carpet in front of my father’s monster Betamax machine, I don’t think I could ever have imagined that so many of these items would have trickled into our everyday use within my lifetime. They seemed so far away as I would get up on hands and knees to flip the knob (”ka-CHUNK”) on our living room TV. I certainly wouldn’t have believed that only seconds after the birth of my son, I could wirelessly beam an image of his beautiful newborn face to my 95-year-old great aunt in Galveston, Texas from our hospital room in Chicago. I pass no fewer than 5 massive video billboards during my morning commute. People Skype each other regularly, Bluetooth devices pegged into random ears, and even the infamous glowing umbrellas are for sale on Think Geek. Now come developments like the iPad and Google’s response, the Chrome OS Tablet.

Maybe take some time today to think about the differences between the world that surrounded you as a child and the convenience and amazement that technology offers today.

MSI makes it our business to keep up with the monster steps that Interactive technology takes every day and how you can apply it to your marketing strategy. It’s not just our business, it’s our lifelong passion. If you think of your website as a static piece of brochureware, give us a call. I bet you’ll be amazed by what technology, and MSI, can do for you.

Clarity, focus and efficiency. Some things never go out of style.

Monday, December 28th, 2009

It’s funny how many meetings and arguments I’ve sat through lately about the merits or utility of brands in tough economic times: “Why are they needed?”. “Do consumers even care?” And of course the most ironic chestnut of them all: “We can’t spend money on that stuff right now.”

 

To which I will repeatedly say the same thing I’m going to here now: You’re already spending money on your brand, and very likely wasting a ton of it on things like errant purchasing decisions, misaligned innovation, bad licensing deals, and disorganized or uninspired personnel.

 

You’re spending it on the oft-overlooked other half of your brand: the functional and operational one that drives the engine. And while it’s the less sexy stepchild of logos and TV campaigns more commonly associated with ‘brands’ the past 10 years or so, it’s arguably the more important one as it tells you when to run that campaign, or if you should at all, what media to mix, or what sponsorships to cut or pursue.

 

Indeed, in tough times a strong brand actually becomes a vital corporate decision tool that helps allocate time and resources to keep everyone moving forward on a single, straight path. And last I checked that’s pretty much the point of any enterprise, isn’t it?

 

So sure: if you’re simply regarding brands as superficial image-driven entities limited to the province of wacky creative types, then probably do hold off on the re-branding for a bit longer. But if you’re looking to work smarter not just harder and truly leverage every dollar and hour in 2010, then strengthening and ensuring the fundamental health of your brands should be at the top of any to-do list. And there are a host of smart, resourceful ‘non-creative’ types like strategists, researchers and planners who can work their own magic to help you do so.

 

At their best, brands can provide a prism through which to view and manage every aspect of business operations, fostering focus and even providing yardsticks for financial ROI. Which–getting back to my argumentative client we started with—is probably the sole agenda of their next internal meeting after ours.  

The ‘Hyundai Effect’ & Other Lessons of Unintended Consequences

Friday, March 6th, 2009

officedepotpic3

As a retail-focused agency we’re always watching this complex industry for trends and insights. And the parade of major retailers either closing vast swaths of stores–or closing up shop altogether–have offered up some doozies lately.

Most notably regarding the potential impact of so many store closings on the actual retail brands. That is: what will be the long-term effect of boarded up storefronts and empty mall spaces on certain brands? Which will recover their stature, identity and equities, and which may simply never be the same even under different ownership or renewed growth? linensnthingspic3

We’re in the wake of a perfect storm really, borne of two convergent forces unique to the past decade or so, namely:

-Vast, inexpensive retail space built faster than it could be leased or sold and now left empty and unmarketable, and

-A surplus economy that favored ‘experiences’ over ‘goods’ and often used stores as mere de facto consumer marketing vehicles (e.g. Ralph Lauren and Mac flagship stores).

Banks built branded kiosks and mini-offices anywhere they could fit them. Coffee shops popped up on every corner, often within a few hundred feet of themselves. Luxury retailers created theatrical productions rivaling 4-star resorts….But as to the actual sales revenues to support them? Sure (yawn). Nice if you could do some of that old-school cash-register stuff too.

So what will be the result of all of this? What’s to be learned from theclosedstarbucks2pic1 brand detritus mounting daily in US strip-malls and gallerias? Only time will tell. But history dictates that, as with any major change, some will benefit and some will perish. And the resulting field will be more consolidated, focused and wise than before.

I’m reminded, in fact, of Hyundai and the lasting impact of its entry into the US car market in the late 1980’s, a record-breaking success story that turned into to brand-breaking cautionary tale: the fastest import ever to hit 1 million cars sold annually, Hyundai was the darling of the auto business—until about 900,000 of them began to experience serious quality problems and were pushed pulled or dragged back to dealers in droves by angry consumers. The market flooded with cheap inventory, the brand suffered massive damage to its reputation and Hyundai faded away as fast as it had arrived, taking nearly 20 years to fully recover in the US.

But the lessons it taught about brands–and the unintended consequences of their rapid, expansive or careless application–strongly influenced today’s strict QC philosophy for cars, electronics and most other branded products: that every interaction counts, every touchpoint matters and small mistakes are always easier to fix than big ones.

Will chain retailers establish similar new brand practices and controls from the current fall-out? We’ll see. But clearly there’s some valuable wisdom buried in the massive changes we’re experiencing. No matter how painful it may be to swallow.

A Warm Welcome from All of Us Nuts!

Friday, February 13th, 2009

Welcome!!  All of us nuts here at MSI just want to thank you for stopping by and let you know that we’re happy to have you.

 

We’re really excited to share our stories, ideas and opinions with you - both personal and marketing-related, and we hope you’ll give us a chance to get to know you by commenting and interacting with us!

 

Grab a handful, and feel free to just drop your shells on the floor!  We’re that kind of place.