ChaosScenario

A Monopoly on Good Ideas

AdAge published an interesting article today about the falling out between Starbucks and Wieden & Kennedy. The reasons W&K quit the opportunity to be Starbucks' agency of record, it seems, is they believed Starbucks was micromanaging, and also because Starbucks started soliciting the opinions of other agencies the coffee giant had engaged to do project work to "drive the brand forward."

From AdAge.com
"Wieden always felt like it was a one-way relationship," said an executive familiar with the matter. "They felt like they presented a way to drive the brand forward, and Starbucks wasn't receptive."

From that statement alone, it seems W&K woke up one morning and realized Schultz was running Starbucks without W&K's permission -- that they alone were capable of being right with respect to advancing the Starbucks brand.

Maybe that's not fair, though. It was Starbucks, after all, that solicited input from other agencies to do the job for which they hired W&K.

Look... I know what it's like to have difficult client -- to labor over and fall in love with an idea only to be either given information that forces me to rethink my earlier assumptions (Information I should have been given much earlier) or to be turned down outright because of circumstances beyond my control.

It is possible that the relationship between W&K and Starbucks just wasn't the right fit. If Starbucks is that involved with its own marketing, perhaps there's a good reason, and they need either an agency of record that drinks their proverbial Kool-Aid or they need to continue to engage agencies on a project-by-project basis.

That way, it would be perfectly acceptable and honorable for Starbucks to solicit input from multiple agencies on how to advance the brand.

Whatever the case, I would caution against publicly disparaging former clients and the way they work. That propensity may discourage other clients from engaging with you. - Cam Beck

Follow Me

Good things are coming as we gear up to release Age of Conversation 2 in the next month.

Stay up to date on recent developments by following AOC2 on Twitter, through the official Age of Conversation blog, and join the Age of Conversation Facebook group. - Cam Beck

Credit David Armano for the cover design.

Microsoft is Bringing Geeky Back

In the midst of a meeting with a client last week, two of the participants -- our chief point of contact and one of our business analysts -- broke out into a sidebar about some mind-mapping software. Several others in the room were sort of bewildered by this discussion and poked some fun at them.

"I fully admit," our client said. "I'm a nerd."

"But," he defended, "I do use a Mac at home."

Perhaps he should have waited a day to see that Microsoft was bringing geeky back. Their new ad embraces the caricature Apple made famous in their "I'm a Mac" campaign, but they take it out of the surreal and into the familiar. (Feed readers click through)

As far as advertisements go, it's pretty shrewd. Apple never intended to turn PC into a villain with its campaign. That would be an unwise way to address 95% of the market.

PC was always sort of a lovable nerd in Apple's commercials.

But Microsoft realized something important. A lot of people see themselves as geeks, and in the last 15 or so years, being seen as a geek has become a badge of honor.

At the same time, Microsoft took the wind out of the sails of the caricature Apple invented.

Not all geeks are of the pocket-protector variety. But realizing the entertainment value of Apple's version, Microsoft led off with a look-alike so that it could be recognized, but then introduced an army of new characters -- celebrities and everymen -- most having pretty cool jobs -- who don't claim to OWN a PC, but who claim to BE a PC.

It's a pretty smart move, but I have to wonder what motivated the effort. After all, in the personal computing market, Apple and Microsoft aren't even in the same category. Is Microsoft worried? Or is this just preventative? - Cam Beck

Would You Explore the Web in 3D?

ExitReality created a plugin that allows users to navigate websites in a 3-dimensional environment.

Supposedly there is a social component to this sort of browsing, as it should allow users on the same site to communicate with one another.

That may be an interesting feature around websites that have established internal communities -- particularly those communities that have a real-world component.

However, it appears from the video that each environment requires finding unique cues for orientation, making it cumbersome to actually consume the content on the site.

Company founder Danny Stefanic seems to realize this in some way but draws entirely the wrong lesson. 

"Users would normally spend no longer than a couple of minutes on a 2D website...In a 3D environment, this time can extend to half an hour, creating a huge potential for the website owner to maximise user engagement."

Well, yes. If you put barriers in everyone's way to get to what they came there for, that may cause them to take longer to find it, but that annoyance does not equal user engagement.

The social aspect to it is the most intriguing, though, and I hope they continue to develop the idea.  This has applications for games that can be loosely related to the site the user is on. Also, it may be both fun and fulfilling to integrate a web chat feature sort of like ooVoo into such an environment, so that it's not just avatar talking to avatar -- it's much more intimate and, yes, engaging.

For the anthropological reason why 2D interfaces generally work better than 3D, view Jakob Nielsen's analysis. 

What do you think? Would you ever browse this way? In what circumstances? - Cam Beck

Online marketing mix

Normally when people talk about a marketing mix, they're speaking of a mixture of media. TV, radio, print and online are the choices. With more and more eyeballs and brains going online, I think there is a need for an online marketing mix. Here are some of the important components:

Paid Search - At the very minimum brands should be buying their names and phrases related to their product. Not doing so is like throwing a party but not telling the people who are invited and interested to come the address of your house. Paid search is growing rapidly and has quickly outpaced display advertising, which isn't growing. If this is where you are spending your online marketing budget, however, your relegating online marketing to being only a direct channel and potentially missing opportunities.

Website optimization - I can't tell you how many companies I've worked with who build their website and expect for it to be "done" for the next few years. These days, with consumers and businesses using the web almost exclusively to find information, your website is never done. Looking at usability, search engine optimization and ways to attract and retain your audience should be an on-going process.

Online display advertising - What?? No one looks at those banner ads. That's not true. The problem with 90% of online display ads is that they are print ads with limited engagement. These same types of ads are then evaluated based on click-through or to sophisticated marketers leads or even sales. The best display ads take into consideration the audience, the right type of ad, and where the ad will be placed. The also incorporate ways to engage the target audience in ways that are consistant with the brand. It takes a lot more planning, designing and post-launch analysis but compared to the cost and measurable effectiveness of TV and print ads, it's worth it.

Email marketing - If people have the desire to receive communication from you, why would anyone miss this opportunity? This is a relatively inexpensive way to get your message out to the people who are interested. There is no media cost, the message can be tailored to the individual and like it or not email is still the number one way that people use the Internet.

Social media - There are social networks out there for almost any type of interest. Broader social networks like MySpace and Facebook are starting to have a broader audience. For virtually any brand there is a social network where you can have a presence.

Outreach - Blogs, groups and online outlets that are looking for content continually. If your not developing relationships with these outlets, your depending too much on paid media to do your work. Paid media is necessary but why not leverage earned media. It might just be better for your brand.

Developing and optimizing the online media mix takes a lot more time than traditional media. It's not the kind of marketing that you can just put out there and wait and see. However, there are definite cost advantages and no one can argue the results, whether they be sales or brand metrics, are much more measurable.

- Paul Herring

 

How to Design for the Fold

Anybody who has ever been involved with designing websites knows that all designs involve trade-offs -- some of which have the potential to antagonize or even enrage  certain people whose input has been solicited for feedback. Some of the most volatile discussions revolve around designing the home page and prioritizing the content that will go there.

Everyone wants their piece of the pie, and their vision for their slice, somewhat understandably, almost invariably is more grandiose than the actual circumstances call for.

Putting their pet content on the website isn't enough. It must be imminently findable, explicitly recognizable, and instantly accessible.

Given what we know about the hunting and scanning habits of Web users, this is possible more often than not, but to accomplish it most effectively, it's necessary to give up the notion that it can and must all be done above the fold.

What is the fold?
"The fold" is a term originally used by newspapers to describe the information that was visible when the paper was in the newsstands. Essentially it was a marketing trick editors used to encourage passers-by to pick up and buy the paper.

Back when people primarily got their hard-hitting news from newspapers at newsstands, this worked well because the weight of the physical paper provided a tangible clue that important information was below the fold.

Web designers have since taken the term to mean anything that requires scrolling in a browser window. Anything that exists "above the fold" doesn't require scrolling. Anything "below the fold" does.

Problems with the Web
The nature of the Web, the flat monitor screen, and the relative insignificance of the browser's scrollbar denies the sort of depth afforded by newsprint. As a result, most people (about 77%), upon coming to a navigation page (not a content page), don't scroll. They just click on whatever they can find above the fold that seems to them most likely to meet their needs.

If the content you have to cram into the browser window is just too great and you're hurting for space, though, don't be afraid to put some content below the fold. Just make sure you design the page in a way that lets people know that the content they're looking for may exist below the fold.

Since you don't know how large a user might have his browser opened, though, consider flowing some of the content from higher in the browser all the way below the fold. This won't work for all types of websites and content, so if you have a question in your mind that people will have difficulty (and you should, regardless), test the design in front of users.

That, above guidelines on best practices, conjecture of designers and CEOs, should be the ultimate proving ground for your decisions. - Cam Beck

Banking is a Bubble of Trust

When one person makes an agreement with another, successfully completing the terms of the agreement  is essential to maintaining trust in the system.

This is something 34 year-old Alexander Hamilton knew well when he became the first Treasury Secretary of the United States.

Fresh off of an unsteady victory against Great Britain, Americans (particularly farmers) were deeply in debt to British bankers, and several states were in general debt as a result of their efforts to fight the Revolution.

As if that weren't enough to cause division, the Congress of the United States, due to its inability to levy taxes under the Articles of Confederation, were unable to pay the army that helped to secure victory over Great Britain. Instead, they paid veterans of the war in IOUs, which the cash-strapped veterans then sold to speculators for pennies on the dollar.

Hamilton, later to be recognized as the defacto leader of the Federalist Party, with which George Washington and John Adams were also associated, proposed a plan he thought would restore public credit. It was absolutely loathed by two distinguished members of America's founding -- Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

The 3rd and 4th presidents-to-be (who later became known as "Republicans" by their supporters and "Democrats" by their detractors) wanted states to repay their own debts, and they wanted the debts owed to British banks canceled. Additionally, they believed the government should pay the original bearers or the IOUs at full face-value. They should not, they thought, pay the speculators who purchased them.

Hamilton successfully argued that failing to uphold the terms of the paper they issued would cause distrust in the system by those who observed the inability of the newly-minted United States to keep its promises. This would result in higher scarcity of capital and higher cost to service the debts they had.

The current banking crisis in the U.S. is related to similar characteristics that Jefferson and Madison advocated and Hamilton fought against.

When people stop living up to the terms of their agreements, and when companies habitually do business with those who fail to live up to their responsibilities, people begin to lose faith in the companies and the system. When people lose faith, they stop investing, and when they stop investing, capital necessary to sustain the system dries up. When capital dries up, investments that lead to certain kinds of innovation and productivity are impossible.

The entire system depends on trust. But in order to engender trust, one must first be trustworthy by not being cavalier with other people's money.

Thought it's going to be a tough pill to swallow, this is a good lesson for not only banking, but also other industries -- including marketing.

The Advertiser's Burden

Last month Seth Godin suggested that, for those content sites (like blogs) that have online advertising, if readers like the content, they might thank the content creator by clicking on an ad.

By ignoring ads, he says, "you're starving content."

Stop ignoring ads and just click on one. The writer will benefit and, as a result, keep putting out great content.

But in most cases, the user won't benefit.

That's why they won't click. It's asking a lot of users to stop whatever it is they're doing and not only click, but consider converting on the site they land on, when they had something else in mind when they landed on the page with the ad in the first place.

Instead, advertisers must find a way to transcend interruption. That is, clicking on a link has to be such a seamless part of the user experience that it actually fulfills or enhances the need that brought the user to the ad in the first place.

We're not going to win by wishing that users would just click on ads out of their own magnanimity.

We'll win only if we create value for the users in a way that satisfies the context of their behavior at a particular moment in time. - Cam Beck

What's the Point of Food Advertising at Grocery Stores?

Have you ever wondered why grocery stores advertise when you're already buying food? I'm not just talking about special deals, but also just those things that advertise food that you hadn't considered buying.

I usually go in with a list and ignore all the advertising, but recently I started a diet and, when I went this last time, I realized that the point of the advertising MUST BE to get people to break their diets.

I don't want to say that display ads like this were "effective" with me. After all, went about my business, bought only from my list, and didn't succumb to the temptation. That's one day down, 83 to go.

However, I do know now that Snickers ice cream looks really scrumptious. - Cam Beck

Image by ninjapoodles.

Hey, and what's the deal with Jerry's ad?

Microsoft released their first ad with Jerry Seinfeld today. The ad was a Crispin Porter + Bogusky effort with pretty high stakes especially after the PC vs. Mac commercials. RSS readers click to the post.

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Since it's the first of what's probably a series, the jury is still out. However, seems like it's more about Jerry Seinfeld than about Microsoft or it's operating system. This may have never been meant to be a response to those Mac ads. It needs to be at some point. Like it or not those Apple ads have made owning a Mac cool, and they seemed to be especially adept at highlighting all the different kinds of issues PCs have in a way that is funny and that people can relate to.

I recall reading an interview with one of CP+B's planners  where they claimed to "change pop culture". In this case, I think they're using pop culture from about six or seven years ago and ignoring the brand and the product. Jerry's cool but not as cool as owning a Mac is these days.

- Paul Herring