The JaffeBLEND Blog

Adweek Europe 2015: A Discussion on Women & Feminism (Grazia is 10 years), hosted by Bauer Media Group #aweurope2015

This panel was moderated by Angela Buttolph (Grazia) and featured Verrity Hardy (UK public policy for Google and worked for Nick Clegg), Polly Vernon (Columnist and Feminist) and Mary Porter (Portas agency and celebrity "Mary Queen of Shops").

Brought to us by Grazia, the introductory comments referred to the fact that people didn't believe a weekly glossy would success! Now even have achieved success through petition to House of Lords for equal pay for women for companies with > 250,000 employees

When did you know you were a feminist?

Mary realised at Harvey Nichols when seeing it was a business aimed at women was run by men. She said "I think it's important that we continue the debate for this generation and the next". She had to suppress the way she was and make it logical and rational because that's how men have made business. The voice of the women always had a little emotion and culminated with Cameron saying "Calm down, dear".

Are we moving into an era where words that put down women are unacceptable?

Verrity says there has been improvement in racism and homosexuality but women's rights are still lagging. Women still die from domestic violence and still can't vote in some countries.

In tech, is it more female friendly? Facebook and Apple offer egg freezing. Sheryl Sandberg and Marissa Mayer have done so well.

Verrity Hardy (Google): The tech companies were founded by men and there are still more men in engineering and tech because that's the talent pool. We are missing out on 50% of talent pool.

But do women really want to be in politics?

Current speaker has introduced changes like more family friendly hours.

Transparency is hugely important and Google have recently released their gender employment details.

What is hot feminism, Polly?

A book about being own type of feminist however you chose without rules. "I want to be hot for as long as possible!".

What about social media?

Mary Portas: The pressure with social media on young girls with instant pictures and projecting perfection needs to be broken!

Verrity Hardy (Google): It's more acceptable to say you are a feminist and social media is great for spreading these role models that like Caitlin Moran on Twitter.

Mary Portas: Women have such power in buying, 80% of buying decisions are made by women, and yet so underrepresented in advertising. Where are the women? It's like politics but women don't want to be put into the lair. (Polly Vernon) Recurring adjectives: shrill, vacuous, arrogant

Polly gets a lot of other women who have a go. A lot of misdirected anger. Because of social media there is the perpetual invitation to speak all the time.

The demise of the high street, is that a direct rejection by women?

No. Mary focussed on creating social infrastructure going beyond just the demise of the high street, given that libraries are also closing etc. The government with planning laws have pushed small businesses out and allowed big businesses to thrive. Across the country, town teams are being set up, especially by women, to bring the high street back. We have changed with the internet doing online shopping, we want to buy little, more often and local. Now the big supermarkets are dying out and trying to be local and on the high street. I think in 2025, brands will create experiential places. The bar has been raised. People go to Selfridges for the experience. It will be more about community groups and coffee bars where people with mutual interests can come together. The consumer will be king and the local high street will be around socialisation.

Adweek Europe 2015: The Future of Commerce is Brand Commerce – Isobar #aweurope2015

Presented by Jean Lim (Global CEO) and Nick Bailey (ECD/CEO)

This was one of my favourite sessions and I really learnt a lot from the case studies and examples. It was good to talk "shop" rather than the general opinions expressed in panels. Of course, branding and content is also a favourite specialisation and passion of mine and it all came together nicely in this Isobar session.

 

Nick spoke about legacy stores which have evolved well into the digital age with their concepts like Argos. They are now launching new concept stores (which look a lot like Apple stores, I thought). 46% sales are now online and there is now an EBay partnership allowing collecting in Argos stores.

 

The landscape of commerce is changing. L'Oréal USA is to make ALL ads, online and offline shoppable. Google have opened first shop in shop stores in the UK. Porter magazine is an example of an online business going into offline space. Disney invests $1 billion in the magical wristband where restaurant table allocation and ordering is done in advance changing the entire experience for parents linking physical and virtual world.

 

China is a significant market for e-commerce. In a single day: 11/11/14 $9.1 billion 43% mobile (last year 25%). We are in a world showing we need to embrace the combination and integration.

 

McDonalds, as traditional fast food chain, tried an ice cream experiment in China with Baidoo showing ice-cream icons with nearest McDonalds with time-limited coupon. It created 20 million transactions. Online delivery is $1bn/month. Shows how consumer behaviour has changed.

 

In the past we spoke about brand + commerce but key notion should be brand x commerce i.e. a well-connected experience bringing you to a place you never expected.

 

90% of us start a task on one device and finish on another. 65% start a commerce journey on one platform and finish on another. By 2020, there will be roughly 6 smart objects per human!

Technology connects the virtual with the physical. In China, people can order online in store. I recently found a pair of shoes at J-Crew and there was another colour available online. I had already completed the online transaction before the physical in store transaction had been done at the snail pace of the saleslady!

 

In China, they now have WeChat stores and vending machines allowing you to scan your WeChat.

 

We need to tell stories across screens and create connected experiences. This is what makes brand commerce a truly omnichannel experience. 82% of people still purchase in store, 45% purchase online and 17% on mobile. This means there isn't one central channel which should be first.

 

It is the power of brands, not technology that creates a pricing advantage. This is not new. Look at the difference between Android and Apple showing the power of brand. Apple is higher as it's aspirational.

 

Brand commerce increases sales. We now have a grey area of web-driven offline sales.

The ideal situation of a brand inventing itself is the example of "Everything is awesome" song from the Lego movie sung at the Oscars culminating in a Lego-made Oscar held up by Oprah Winfrey and viewed by 2.5 billion! Back in 80's both Lego and Kodak were facing threat from digital technology. Lego could be obsolete with gaming and Kodak could have been behind the next Flickr. Lego knocked Ferrari off its perch as world's most powerful brand with powerful product innovation and partnerships like Lego movie. Another example is Vero cool, a Lego fusion animating a design by taking picture with an Ipad.

A campaign is not something you deliver but something you run in order to be successful. Media agencies have long recognised this but creative agencies only now starting to recognise.

 

There is even a Japanese politician who hired Dentsu to give his team tools to be better in touch with electorates and he won!

 

Data is indispensable. Big data is just made up of bits of small data.

Just launched Kellogg's Silver spoon campaign, with 120 promotional packs in 30 markets in 12 languages. They created a platform that clients has access to and changed name from big and small to kids and adults. I must confess to have 6 boxes of cereal at home as both my kids needed to personalise a spoon (3 coupons per spoon required!).

Another good example from China is "Lyric Coke" with Inspiring lyrics on coke bottles e.g. Call Me Maybe. 50 lyrics and 50 expressions, and when you scan QR code you can share the song. Use the Musicon, musically emoticon, to share your feelings. Creative idea didn't come from data but the success was powered through a business case using data.

 

Where do agencies fit in? Creativity more important than ever. Need to become inventors, work more collaboratively.

 

5 key Takeaways

• A changing landscape
• Data is the red thread
• Driven by technology
• Connecting real and virtual
• Powered by creativity

 

New business models have been created! E.g. Fiat showing live store allowing real-time conversations and views of the cars in the show room from 10 am to 10 pm. It is a revolutionary way of seeing the car lives with a custom go-pro style headphone worn by sales person. Can even follow other peoples conversations or follow tutorials.

 

 

 

 

Adweek Europe 2015: What Makes a Good Brand Ambassador? #aweurope2015

This session was hosted by David Dinsmore (Sun Editor) and featured Rio Ferdinand, Lawrence Dallaglio, Rebecca Adlington and Simon Oliveria (MD Doyen Global and key strategist for David Beckham).

Rebecca has a swim programme called Becky Adlington's swim stars but doesn't feel like she is a brand. Lawrence says how most people on the panel start out loving sport and not knowing anything about brands. Because you retire young, you have to think about what you will do later. Rio had to focus on the game preparation, and only once he felt confident, he would do work with brands and his foundation (and was even asked why he has a restaurant at the time when he was playing). He didn't want to get into depression, boredom or gambling in retirement.

 

Simon, when do you want to get a hold of someone?

Most agents start early with their talent. Every great athlete can't become a great ambassador. The brand needs to be refreshed and developed after playing, like David Beckham has done because he had a vision beyond his sports career.

 

 

How do you cope?

Wayne Rooney had a punch up and it was captured on social media and spread. Rio said it was good that he laughed at himself by knocking himself out on the pitch. Rio went to the World Cup at 19 years and sat on the bench whereas Michael Owen became a global superstar. Rio said "we didn't even win it and he got loads of deals on his doorstep". Takes a special upbringing to be able to deal with it, you get invited to every restaurant opening etc. Rebecca had no preparation not even media training. Whole team had no clue what was going on. Took her 12-18 months to figure out how to cope.

 

What about the fit between a brand and an athlete?

Premier league and sport has the ability to draw large audiences which is why the broadcast channels are willing to pay so much. Rebecca liked working with Speedo and the ability to customise the swimwear for ultimate performance but it is hard to fit in the expectations and obligations. Lawrence says the best scenario is when there is a good fit and good creative ideas in the partnership. Rio says that the fit is essential e.g. he was once in a meeting where the creatives which were developed showed they don't know him at all and thus his input and performance in the photos etc. is not what it could be. For David, Adidas has always followed him but now that he has transitioned he works with Belstaff and Diageo for HAIG .

 

How do you use social media?

Rio says it gives you a platform, so after the World Cup South Africa injury, he went into social media and started interacting with online. This is something he realised you can take with you after your career is over. This key insight is a perfect example of the understanding of the power and value of audience.

Despite the abuse, Becky says the good outweighs the bad. It's so much better to be able to wish a little girl good luck then hear how she's done whereas it only takes a few seconds to block someone saying something nasty.

 

Who are the up and coming stars?

Rugby: brands still go for Wilkinson's but there are talented young kids coming through though brands want consistent success

Swimming: Allen Peety

Football: Paul Pogba has the personality that brands will want to be with.

Simon says some brands willing to be more ballsy in campaigns.

 

The session ended on the comment that brands have and will always continue to flirt with sports people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adweek Europe 2015: Jimmy Carr and Rory Sutherland “It’s the Way You Tell ‘Em” #aweurope2015

This session was presented by Annette King, CEO Ogilvy & Mather Group UK. This hilarious session turned me into a Jimmy Carr fan when I had honestly been rather neutral in the past. The speed and delivery of his wit had the audience in hysterics from the get go.

This session was a discussion debating the role of humour and comedy in advertising. Though David Ogilvy once said people don't buy from clowns, he did soften years later. Jimmy wondered if David Ogilvy was in McDonalds when he had that revelation.

Rory explained that Jimmy was briefly an advertising man but he decided to go into marketing as 'people were calling him up and asking him for shit like grand prix tickets etc.' He briefly worked for Shell in marketing which is easy as cars have petrol gauge. That's an easy sell!

 

Rory then discussed with Jimmy how comedy is disappearing from advertising because of right and left wing and political correctness. It should be ok to offend and be offended. Its bullshit to be upset on behalf of someone else. Jimmy's favourite quote is "a joke is the shortest distance between 2 people" so that's why a lot of men tell jokes rather than say "I really love you man". Comedy builds social cohesion and a group and that's the role of comedy in advertising. Being a comedian makes the world a friendly place and Jimmy is amazed advertising doesn't use it more. He then offered his services to the room which got more laughter but did raise a serious point why comedians are not writing more of the jokes in movies and ads.

 

Would you say that anything should be able to go in comedy?

Jimmy says you either believe in freedom speech or not. The Daily Mail makes a job out of being shocked. There is no universal comedy audience but rather smaller audiences for different types of humour. Best example is the cognitive dissonance of a very edgy joke… you get a reflex laughter first and then people put a hand to their mouth with a sharp intake of breath. The laugh is you at a very pure level. It's similar to sexuality but you don't choose what turns you on … Jimmy then told Rory he thinks he's a very attractive man (cue more laughs from the audience).

 

Comedy rewards linguistic skills, connects groups and notices things. Comedy creates tension and then provides release. The release is a laugh. All jokes work in the same way with a setup with a suddenly revealed fact which rewards us for noticing things.

 

Rory suggests that British humour is a competitive advantage. "Where would we be without a sense of humour? Germany" (roaring laughter). Not being able to take a joke is the worst thing you can say.

 

In a few places, including Jewish culture, there is a correlation between humour and intelligence. It's definitely an Anglo-Judaic phenomenon. Linguistically we are blessed with the English language using lots of words with double meaning and using words in different places. People really know they've learnt a language when they've understood a joke. (For me personally, when I arrived in The Netherlands from South Africa 20 years ago, my primary motivator to master Dutch was the awful feeling of people laughing and feeling left out of the joke).

 

Jimmy feels that advertising suffers from too much analysis. An audience member then clapped out loud to which Jimmy asked "Is that the planner who was recently fired?" (cue laughter).

 

Lenny Bruce said the audience is a genius. I don't know if it's a joke until the audience laughs. With advertising, it's such an achievement to get a funny ad out because of all the loops you have to jump through to get a funny joke approved. The audience decide what is and isn't funny. They are the best regulatory body by my definition.

 

How did Jimmy get started?

As comedians we are the lowest rung of the entertainment ladder. It's what dad's tell to entertain kids on long car journeys. When Jimmy was working at Shell he went out and did gigs. Comedy has boomed and with the change in media consumption, there is perhaps a greater desire for live experiences. Some people do a 45 minute show with a comedy arch but Jimmy describes his work as a Lego tower with lots of little jokes. His mother is the funniest person he knows.

 

Live stand-up is the aim not TV. "I look like this because my dad is Irish and my mum is Roger Federer". Rolling on the floor…

 

There is now more narrow-casting with advertising and media. With advertising and media the danger is producing advertising that is funny but someone doesn't remember the brand. Rory touches on how a lot of funny humour is also aggressive and nasty. Rory: if you tweet something controversial, you will get a lot of favourites but few retweets which is a form of cowardice.

 

Jimmy says that humour should be a big part of building brands with humour. John Cleese used to be in everything in the 90's.

 

Alas there wasn't much opportunity for questions however I did wonder the following. Since people spend so much time on social media and such a huge proportion of time is on video (and funny videos), surely comedians should be adapting their offering to connect with audiences in new ways beyond that of just a stand-up show? It seems the comedians are still lagging behind in this area. I personally follow South African comedian Trevor Noah on Facebook and discovered him through video clips which were shared on Facebook. I now have tickets to see him Live at the Apollo. I strongly feel a comedian needs to think about how to use their skill to connect with existing fans and find new fans in order to get more people to shows or perhaps find new channels for revenue. After all, a poor comedian is no laughing matter ….

 

 

 

 

 

Adweek Europe: An Exclusive interview with Sir Martin Sorrell presented by Bloomberg #aweurope2015

 

This jam-packed session had queues almost to Picadilly Circus! It really dawned on me what a privilege it is to have had 1:1 meetings with Sir Martin and to be supported by him. At 70 years old, he is around the same age as my mother, a woman who I admire the most. Read further about the people who most inspire him.

 

Who are the big spenders of tomorrow?

Probably the big spenders of today (cue laughter as the session would then be over). I do think we need to understand the power of Chinese technology. Spoke to Hugo Barra and XAOIMI mobile provider in China run by a 24 year old valued at $45 billion and is the brand leader in China with an Android platform. Bear in mind MSFT bought Nokia for $7 billion. Believe they have a superior product to Apple and now expanding into India, Indonesia and Brazil. Every Friday 500k software engineers suggest improvements to the software in a crowd-sourcing style.

 

It is remarkable that Chinese CEO's have a better understanding of the web. Suning is the leading retailer redoing their stores. We think they copy and steal but we should "watch out". Bloomberg is a new technology business but a legacy business like Reuters have had to adapt. The Chinese have gone straight to online. AS WPP, our third largest business is now in China with revenue of $1.6 billion. What we've done, is adapt.

 

Let's talk about French friends….

 

It's become an obsession which is unhealthy from his point of view. His attitude changed when he lost out on Cordiant. Last year was a really difficult year for him in that he lost out on a grand vision. Interestingly, if he had stuck out a bit longer it might have been successful.

 

WPP is not an agency or a conglomerate….

 

When GroupM does its incremental analysis of the market, it's still a G2 world. Whereas China is still bigger. India is the star of the BRICS with double digit growth. Russia and Brazil have trouble. The geographical thing is easy to figure out but the technology bucket is difficult. We are worried about the next garage startup (like how Google started). The potential disruptive change is the next big issue.

 

Advertising has changed…

 

They should change the name from Advertising Week to Communication & Marketing Services Week. Creativity is not just what Don Draper does but there are creative scientists. The driverless car was developed by 10 people in 10 years at Google, whereas at Geneva Motor show there is hardly any technology visible in cars. Maybe we should call this "Paranoia Week" – I lie awake at night thinking of the disruption to this approach. The worst thing is that someone comes up with a closed system that no one has access to. Our industry is a trillion $ industry – $500 million traditional and $500 million in digital. There have been 3 moments of disruption in the WPP history since starting 30 years (e.g. 92 dot com boom). However when there has been disruption, WPP grows BECAUSE we have had access to the disruption. This is why we invest in Flonet (?) in Sweden, Appnexus, Comscore etc.

We still haven't fully figured out mobile. There will be some brainbox in Bangalore or Sao Paolo that comes up with the next disruption. Israel is also an interesting place to watch. It's a tiny country but has a dense population of Russian PHD's.

 

What do we do as WPP to survive and thrive?

We have organic growth of 8%. At this point Sir Martin goes on to make a point: Our industry doesn't report transparently and it's about time that you as Bloomberg asked people to disclose. Bloomberg replies that 'people won't tell us' but Sir Martin says "It's your responsibility to delve deeper". We do this through acquisition, getting traditional business to become digital and also experiment in addition to organic growth which the market values most highly. Omnicom has a massive barter business and nobody knows how they account for it as they are trading inventory. How do they measure it and report on it? No disclosure! It's a serious issue.

At the moment, growth is tepid, clients don't have pricing power, there 0% inflation in UK and cost + efficiency are king. The key issue is that clients are looking at their boots and not the horizon. We have to shift the debate away from finance. Worst example is that we have been asked by several clients to accept unlimited liability for indirect breach of IP. I am not prepared to accept as the whole company could come down.

 

Business is …fun. Sir Martin wouldn't be doing this at the age of 70 if it wasn't. It's more interesting than ever. Our business has geographic and technological complexity. There is oversupply in the world, so we are about creating differentiation.

 

Do you take it personally that people go on about your compensation?

 

We have 180,000 who work in 111 countries who depend on WPP for their livelihood and I make zero apologies for that. That's what the system is about. I started this company. We have created $10 billion of incremental value.

 

Who inspires you?

My father inspires me and I had a deep relationship with him. My dad knew Jules Thorn, a holocaust survivor who created fluorescent bulbs and was behind colour TV. Also, Arnold Weinstock, who married the boss's daughter. He regrets having been too conservative doing lots of JV's and now we know that they fail. Of course, you can also admire Bill Gates, Cheryl Sandberg etc.

 

What's your Outlook on British economy after election?

I am not bullish post-election.

 

 

 

Adweek Europe 2015: Walt Disney Animation Studios – The Secrets of Storytelling #aweurope2015

This exclusive session (and one I thoroughly enjoyed) was with Andrew Millstein (Head of Disney Global Animation Studios) introduced by Trisha Wilbur (European CEO for EU, ME & Africa Walt Disney) and hosted by Jo Whiley (Broadcaster and host

Andrew has been responsible for many award-winning titles like Frozen, Wreck It Ralph, Big Hero 6 and Tangled to name a few.

How do you achieve such success?

We draw our inspiration from the animation division. It goes back 90 years. We look at our legacy as a starting point not an end point. "We look backwards instead of looking forwards". We are 9 years from 100 years of Disney and Big Hero 6 is 53^rd film.

 

Post Lion King in the mid 90's there was a dip in the company. In 2006, Bob Iger had the wisdom of acquiring Pixar with a wonderful approach to what is it that allows you to support, maintain and sustain a creative advantage. Tried to learn about elements of success for Pixar and weave into Disney. Closing Disney animation was even on the table for an extended moment. After the Pixar acquisition, the decision was to keep the animation studio side by side with Pixar. They decided that creative diversity was a good thing for the company provided they could turn it around. In theory makes sense but was very hard in practice.

 

The new method for Success post-Pixar

There is shared ownership for all films raising collective ownership of the films. They had to change their behaviour and thinking. There were talented gifted artists who weren't making relevant films. People had to embrace day in and day out about giving complicated feedback on each other's films. The story trust or brain trust is the directors and writers who are committed to giving each other feedback. Film screened 8-10 x before finish and it's like the movie being put on the operating table. You have to sit back and be completely receptive while putting ego aside without justifying the choices you make. Sometimes in the creative process you lose your way. This happens constantly. We have a 200 seat theatre and invite a cross section of 900 employees at Disney animation who attend. Everyone sends notes in and after a screening they break down into a smaller room with face to face feedback for 2-3 hours when the notes are given. Now we try to have a creative off-site for 1-2 days depending how bad the movie is. You deconstruct the film and try to rebuild every single time. The filmmaker's job is to listen, synthesise and apply. This happens every 12 weeks.

With Big Hero 6 there were 5-6 screenings in to a 10 screening process and we weren't happy with the way Baymax is introduced. Felt that it didn't resonate on a deep emotional level. So we ended up changing it. With Frozen, Elsa was originally more evil wearing fur etc. See below for some of the original depictions of 'evil' Elsa.

 

Ultimately we want a continual creative machine that replicates itself.

What is your favourite movie? They all resonate in different ways. As a child loved Dumbo.

What's your favourite non-Disney favourite? Toy Story 2, Up, with deep human emotional resonance in loss of a loved one which set up where the film went. It's important to find emotional truth.

 

 

 

Adweek Europe 2015: Business is Tech, presented by Bloomberg

Bloomberg introduced this panel in a series titled "Business is…" given that they are launching bloomberg.co.uk next month.

The panel featured L-R: Omid Ashtari (GM Citymapper), Jo Bertram (Regional GM Uber), Jonathan Forster (VP EMEA Sales Spotify), Nick Hungerford (CEO Nutmeg), Stacy Martinet (CMO Mashable) and Caroline Hyde (Bloomberg TV Anchor & Moderator)

How are your businesses disruptive?

Stacy Martinet (Mashable): At Mashable we grew up on the web and invest in own technology called Velocity that monitors 2000 URL's. We look for smart ways to bring tech into media.

Nick Hungerford (Nutmeg): At Nutmeg we help people manage their money with technology. Finance and healthcare are the last ones to change. For 600 years people have been managing money so we want to make it possible for everyone to manage their money on the web. Many people won't have pensions.

Jonathan Forster (Spotify): At Spotify we want to make it easy for people all over the world to listen to music and create revenue streams for music industry. Uber allows people to have music in the car even when they don't have a car

Jo Bertram (Uber): At Uber, technology allows traceability and trust while also bringing the cost down while keeping the driver busier and earning more. Now people use uber instead of own driver.

Omid Ashtari (Citymapper): Technology gives a fun and efficient way around modern transport. Covers everything even Uber and Barclays bikes. We are being cheeky in a space that is traditionally very serious. The app really focusses on solving the problem addressing all the aspects of a journey while nailing the user experience.

 

How are you marketing yourselves?

Jo Bertram (Uber): Uber does a lot through word-of-mouth. We need to reach riders and drivers. Give £10 to a friend and you get £10 in return because we believe that someone will re-use once they have tried. Same for drivers who are all private license drivers so also do some traditional above the line advertising. People all have heard about it through Twitter, Facebook and a friend. By building such a good app, the evangelists are spreading the word. We haven't spent a dime in London and have achieved successful market penetration.

Jonathan Forster (Spotify): At Spotify we obsess about Net Promoter score. The data is very useful e.g. Chelteham is the city with the most men over 40 who listen to Justin Bieber! Awareness goes through the roof when featured through partner advertising e.g. Vodafone in UK and KPN in The Netherlands. Just hired ex CMO from GAP so we expect new and exciting things.

Nick Hungerford (Nutmeg): Nutmeg used traditional marketing but need to attract people who will be valuable over time, get a lot of them but build trust. Traditional advertising allows us to gain trust as a bad financial experience much worse then poor Uber trip or downloaded music track.

Stacy Martinet (Mashable): Brand matters now more than ever, and Mashable recognise that. You need to be authentic but now the shift more towards relevance. Social media is word-of-mouth at scale, which has helped us grow our brand. We do a lot of work on social channels. We live in streams on our phones and brands need to be in those streams too. We do it with content marketing and video is one way to do that. There are new players in the video space as video is the closest thing we have to lean in engagement. We are more interested in Vine, Vimeo etc. that focusses just on that. With brands we can co-create offerings too. Nothing will be more different then real-time marketing with tweets which some brands have gotten right and others have had epic fails.

 

What is the big hurdle to consumer engagement and thinking outside the box?

Nick Hungerford (Nutmeg): For Nutmeg it's a big hurdle to engage around a boring subject. Must find a way to overcome that and reflects beauty and ease of use.

Jo Bertram (Uber): At Uber we offer different services in different markets. Only launched in London 2.5 years ago and now also a global brand. Have some exciting stories which now need to focus on how we get them out there.

Omid Ashtari (Citymapper): Citymapper emphasises need for partnerships, content and generally all stuff on scale.

Jonathan Forster (Spotify): Nick Hungerford asks: Is any PR good PR i.e. Spotify stealing music and Uber scandal. Yes, for Spotify as we see numbers increase.

Stacy Martinet (Mashable): Key factor for to differentiate is brand and user experience. There is no patience for faulty product and technology.

Jonathan Forster (Spotify): $1 billion market in digital audio in US but we haven't figured it out in Europe.

Citymapper: Wearables and new paradigms are essential to take into consideration and don't get distracted by the competition.

Adweek Europe 2015: Dark Social - RadiumOne

I attended this session as I had honestly never heard of Dark Social. Rupert Staines, from RadiumOne, presented on this topic, with a good explanation and obvious solution provided by RadiumOne. It would be good to have had a broader session on this topic.

What is dark social?

It refers to web traffic that comes from outside sources that are not traceable or trackable. It happens when someone shares a link by copying and pasting a URL into instant messages, emails, forums or local hub sites. When you then rock up to a site you carry no referrer data, retailers don't know where you came from, and can't track you. It's called the biggest intimate social network and is 2x the size of Facebook – 60% of sharing occurs in the dark. Rupert refers to RadiumOne's White Paper handout which was conducted across 900 million UU (I'm sure they will issue this readily on request).

 

Highest in automotive, finance, FMCG, retail and travel sectors where product recommendations most likely to occur.

 

The Power of Sharing

Sharing has always been around even with the early days of ICQ in the 90's. 82% of UK population share content online more than most other countries with 55+ showing great appetite. 91% sharers use any dark social platform.

Email is more important than social networks (77% vs 74%).

Pinterest is becoming very popular for sharing image-based.

 

Why is dark social a problem?

Since data is the most important part of a CMO's job looking to have a connected audience with different data points, there is clearly a large missing element. We need to understand how people are sharing across the different touch points.

 

Case studies

PaddyPower: RadiumOne tracked audience and found that 30% new customers came from social sharing.

Team Sky cycling: Keen to show which content attracts commercial partners to their team and efforts. 95% of the content they produce is being shared in the dark.

Universal Music: How do you keep track of users engaging with Sam Smith, Robbie Williams and Taylor Swift? They want to know how they build equity around their artists. RadiumOne enabled them to use branded post URL (like bitly) – 20% increase in engagement from branded shortlinks e.g, Pdy for paddypower. This URL can be used for ANY piece of digital content: image, video and text. Step 1 is intelligence, how is the audience collected? Also use sharing widgets on own sites. Step 2: define the artist fans e.g. for Sam Smith

Visit po.st to get more information.

 

Adweek Europe 2015: The New Mobile Metric

The title of this panel is not accurate as it was more of a general mobile discussion than a discussion about a new mobile metric. This is how it rolls when it comes to panels and I'm sure you will get some value from the discussion below as I definitely learned a thing or two.

The panel consisted of the following people: Ashley Friedlein (E-consultancy & Moderator), Neil Bruce (Head of Mobile UK Mindshare), Matt King (Head of Mobile AOL incl. Techcrunch, AdaptTV), Richard Morris (MD Vizeum, part of Dentsu), Lindsay Wiles (The Weather Channel), Peter Dille (CMO Tapjoy)

What excites you the most?

Peter Dille (Tapjoy): The role of mobile apps in distribution. Gaming pioneered free to play and the rest of the content community is now paying attention to freemium mobile apps. $20 billion has been spent in mobile advertising in the USA which will double to $60 million in 2017. Brand advertising will rise. Mobile video, rich media and the vast proliferation of content on devices will change distribution.

Lindsay Wiles (The Weather Channel): Personalisation on mobile as the connecter between physical and digital worlds. We would like to deliver more personal services e.g. offering weather conditions if running outdoors to guide for best time of day

Richard Morris (Vizeum): Majority of mobile usage actually at home and in office which is around convenience, rise in mobile pay, voice recognition as a means for search navigation. Most excited by the prospect for removing friction between brand communication and commerce. Second exciting area is around mobile and insights which will revolutionise the industry. Location paths will really help us understand how people interact with brands and that will be a big opportunity.

Matt King (AOL): Data, insights and targeting is the most exciting area rather than silo'd conversations across single devices.

Richard Morris (Vizeum): Use of mobile in developing markets will have huge implications, and the increasing use of functionality of the device.

 

Measurability Challenge

Richard Morris (Vizeum): Deterministic versus probabilistic data set? Will see deterministic players ramping up with Facebook and Twitter.

Lindsay Wiles (The Weather Channel): Smox from MMA (Mobile Marketing Association. (Note: The program, called SMoX.me, will scientifically assess the interaction of mobile channels and platforms in relation to the broader marketing mix (TV, radio, magazines, Internet etc).

Peter Dille (Tapjoy): We have a lot of data on conversion so mid last year we purchased mobile analytics company allowing better tailoring advertising experience based on a better understanding of what consumers are doing in the app. Need to be personalised without being creepy.

Ashley Friedlein (E-consultancy): Attribution is still tricky.

 

What's the view on privacy and protecting the consumer?

Richard Morris (Vizeum): I don't think privacy talked about enough but need to start always with the consumer.

Peter Dille (Tapjoy): Capability like location gives extra ability e.g. "I see you in aisle 7 of Walmart, how about some cereal?" is too far and we are very wary about going too far to respect the PII data.

Lindsay Wiles (The Weather Channel): Nobody wants to be followed; we don't need demographic data so we just look at sales data.

 

What areas do you want to highlight?

Richard Morris (Vizeum): Google with Nest acquisition and connected car will allow more data possible, interested in what our clients are doing e.g. Unilever and The Weather Channel where ice cream and deodorant sales increase with hot weather/humidity resulting in an actual increase with actual shift in brand perception. Nike partnering with Shazam to use audio watermarking technology to delivery content to people in store while amplifying in store experience without the cliché of iBeacon.

Matt King (AOL): More exciting creative executions using the mobile accelerometer and other mobile functionalities e.g. Transformers 4 had full screen interstitial with video in middle and if you shake the phone the dinosaur breathes fire. This differentiates the mobile from the desktop. Motionlead uses Loo (?) technology with transparent layer on screen allowing you to tap through the creative to the app.

Richard Morris (Vizeum): Paid social advertising on mobile example with IKEA, FB and EE data. FB helped to define 2 sets of people with control and exposed group, 10% improvement in visitation and 32% or young adults using data sets

Lindsay Wiles (The Weather Channel): Weather channel done lots of work around native advertising e.g. TUI had tear-away screen with advert for best beaches on background of bad weather; there is technology which allows a change in ad depending on weather e.g. Heinz see a 3 pt. change in sales when weather drops and they show Get Well ads (in addition to the personalised can of soup when someone not well). Last week the IAB mobile council said its being embraced more by agencies.

Peter Dille (Tapjoy): Rethinking technology and offering disruptive solutions in advertising. User choice, what advertising appeals them value exchange e.g. Dodge, people watched a video and were then retargeted results in 61% increase in purchase consideration and Dodge only paying for completed views.

Adweek Europe 2015: Facebook “Mobile Matters” Panel

L-R: Liam Brennan (Digital Strategic Director, Starcom), Simon Andrews (Addictive), John Mew (Chief Operating Officer IAB) and Ed Couchman (Head of Agency Relations Facebook & Moderator).

 

Simon Andrews (Addictive): Every industry has seen big changes from mobile and marketing needs to follow, though it's happening slower than expected.

Mobile only accounts for 1/5^th of digital advertising despite the large amount of usage.

Reasons? Liam Brennan (Starcom) says creativity which doesn't work on mobile is the biggest hurdle. John Mew (IAB) says agencies say clients don't have enough understanding. Another reason can be habit or inertia just doing business the same way it's always been done, and people not wanting to change. Simon Andrews (Addictive) says that the creative problem is routed in formats only having banners. Liam Brennan (Starcom) says Samsung is doing well with targeting people with Samsung phones whose contracts are about to expire. This is probably what creative agencies struggle with. Right-hand side of brain versus the left, art vs. science.

 

John Mew (IAB) refers to the Y&R quote from the Mobile World Congress (MWC) which says that good creativity gets people to do something, so actually search is creative. Mobile gets tarred with unpleasant shtick that the screen is too small. We are seeing a move to bigger formats and rich media.

 

No one is really it doing well, according to Simon Andrews (Addictive). Facebook is seeing a trend in the rise in visual communications away from text-based i.e. large use of emojis and emoticons in messenger, video and images. This offers challenges for brands. Simon agrees we are moving towards video and pictures where pictures are cheaper. Response rates to video and imagery are 10x according to Liam Brennan (Starcom).

 

Measurement

It's tricky to measure because cookies don't work. The other problem is that there is no single screen view as users are using multiple screens so how do you measure across multiple screens and cookie/proxy across that, asked Liam Brennan (Starcom). Simon Andrews (Addicitive) says cookies are over, it doesn't even work that well online. Think we should go back to brand metrics rather then click metrics. On mobile it can often be a thumb error. John Mew (IAB) agrees we need to shift from cookies as brands more concerned with attribution. We should be able to track from seeing an ad to going in store and there is the expectation that you can track everything but you can't.

Simon Andrews (Addictive) says that the average mobile campaign is the catering cost of a TV commercial! What a great quote.

 

Digital Video

Darryl Simm, CEO Omnicom, claimed that 25% of TV investment should move into online video. Simon Andrews says that the TV commercial is probably not the best asset for online but it is the first step for increasing reach.

 

What is the role for curated native content rather than pure display (300x50)?

There are opportunities for brands is to be more personalised and advertising will be more receptive in this space rather than just paid for banner ads.