Peaceful Moment Away From Information and People

It’s Day 4 of Monaco Media Forum week at everythingcommunicat.es.

OK. Here is one of my truly favorite moments from Monaco. It was jam-packed-wall-to-wall with goodness. But sometimes I needed a break. Click the photo if you want to see more over at Flickr.

Behind me the conference. In front of me, beyond the trees, the Mediterranean.

One Generation’s Halo Effect Is Another’s … Or Disrupt Yourself Before Some 18 Year Old Does it For You

It’s Day 3 of “Monaco Media Forum Week” at everythingcommunicat.es. It’s a generation thing. And one day my generation will have to yield too.

I was struck in Monaco when adman-oligarch Maurice Lévy of Publicis Groupe said he has yet to find a new digital media that gives his clients the “halo” effect of being associated with media like the New York Times or Wall Street Journal.

Another generation's halo effect. Photo credit Jeremy Burgin.

t was unclear to me whether he was referring to a halo he achieves by getting his clients covered in these pubs (Publicis owns PR firms) or buying his clients ad space in them. Either way…

Consider this homegrown research (it’s a busy day today.. so no time to go searching out refs to actual research that validates this.. but it exists): My kids (7 and 11) give young, disruptive media brands a very different “halo profile” (should I TM that?) than older people do. They don’t give more credence to Disney than they do to YouTube. They’d actually rather go to dinner with a YouTube star than a Disney Channel star. Certain YouTube stars mean more to them than Miley Cyrus. And I’m deliberately not putting “stars” in quotes… YouTube stars are stars.

YouTube is an example of a disruptive media in the true Christensenian sense (”typically cheaper, simpler-to-use versions of existing products that target low-end or entirely new customers”).

And some companies that provide halo effect today are too blinded by it to see the disruptive halos of tomorrow.

And those darn disruptive companies — as they begin to feel their power, they start to move in. In fact, just last week, YouTube put a lot of effort into “hollywoodizing” (you could say “halo-izing”) itself and it’s stars… check out this page for an archive of their YouTube Live event.

Their branding is interesting. In a smart bit of positioning they put stars like Fred and Akon on equal footing. They’re borrowing from Akon for Fred. And they’re borrowing from Fred for Akon. And they’re borrowing from both for themselves. Feel the glow.

A screen grab from YouTube Live. Akon and Fred are giving equal billing.

The Name is Murdoch, James Murdoch

It’s day 2 of Monaco Media Forum week at everythingcommunicat.es. I’m sharing the parts I found most interesting — now that I’ve had some time to let them sink in a bit.

James Murdoch — Chairman and Chief Exec for Europe and Asia of News Corp. — was actually pretty inspiring to watch.

It seems he’s not one to gently stir around his media a bit.. he likes it SHAKEN. And since he oversees almost EVERY kind of media imaginable, it was interesting to hear his perspective.

Shaken. (photo credit Beadmobile)

Murdoch, spoke eloquently (he was interviewed  by Rich Greenfield, co-head of Pali Capital’s media and cable systems equities research) of NO LONGER DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN OLD AND NEW MEDIA.

Murdoch isn’t the only one to express this idea. Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC described it in his own (Murdoch might say “subsidized”) way.

It is a good sign that people are starting to think like this — and make decisions based on this thinking.

As an example, Murdoch spoke of a strategic decision he made while running BritishSkyBroadcasting to get as many PVRs (Tivo-like devices) in the hands of customers EVEN THOUGH it would negatively impact their own advertising business.

Why? Because it made the television viewing experience better for customers. And they sell a TV experience. He actually spoke a lot of the customer experience… and improving it as much as possible.

To hear him talk, News Corp. seems pretty OK with itself when it comes to shaking up their analog and digital businesses into one integrated media business.

News’ MySpace is an interesting example. They have something like a 16% share of the online display ad business vs. Facebook’s 1% (eMarketer, Nov. 2008). And MySpace has fewer users and less buzz amongst the so-called “technorati”. I think this has everything to do with MySpace being part of, well, a media company. News Corp. is filled with people who know how to actually sell an ad. And then they do things like buy huge social media joints and the technologists who build them.

That said, of course, Facebook is trying…(please see this post from last week and this really interesting piece by Brad Stone in today’s NY Times) and they might actually create a totally new form of advertising that even News doesn’t yet see.

But I suspect the Murdochs’ openness will bring this thinking into News as well.

If you’re interested, here is Murdoch’s interview.

Seeking a New Kind of Genius … Mashing Up the “Ultimate Insider” and the “Ultimate Outsider”

A couple of weeks ago I attended one of the most interesting conferences on media (media writ large, not the narrow ad-agency definition) that I have attended in some time. I have written a bit about it since (just poke around the blog).. but I wanted to devote a week of blogging to it now that I have had some time to digest. So… welcome to Day One of “Monaco Media Forum Week” at everythingcommunicat.es — a highly-subjective kind of Cliffs Notes.

One of my favorite panels featured two people. One was billed as the “ultimate insider” — Maurice Lévy of ad agency conglomorate Publicis Groupe. The other was billed as the “ultimate outsider” — Niklas Zennström of Kazaa, Skype, and now Joost — and his venture firm Atomico. The two were interviewed by Financial Times editor Lionel Barber.

After setting up the insider-outsider schtick, Barber said: “Mr.  Zennström, as we know, has helped to destroy the music industry, the telecoms industry and he is now trying to destroy the network television industry… and Maurice and I are here to…”

Almost without missing a beat, Lévy said “stop him.”

Barber finished: “you said that without my lips moving.”

(BTW.. I’m not sure Barber is quite as old-school as he made himself out to be in this exchange. The FT’s digital coverage is some of the most solid (and least breathless and hyperbolic) that I have read.)

I was interested in what Lévy and Zennström had to say, of course, but actually more interested in what they didn’t say — what you might call the “negative space” of the panel.

I really wanted to know what each secretly wants to know about the other — what he feels the other has that he does not — even if this is totally subconscious.

Each of the two is clearly brilliant in his own way. Levy speaks of the sensual.. of feelings that communications can evoke. Zennström speaks of platforms.

Zennström’s platforms, of course, carry very sensual, emotional material. Kazaa carried songs, Joost carries video, Skype carries voice and video data and, as such, is the new way to “reach out and touch someone.”

And Lévy knows a thing or two about platforms. His emotional/sensual communications have been pushed over platforms — like TV networks — and made consumers on the other end laugh, cry and buy. Plus.. he actually started at Publicis as an IT guy!

But still…

Communications, branding, advertising and media today needs leaders who are, in effect, mashups of these two guys. People who are A NEW KIND IF GENIUS– a genius that understands both platforms and emotional content.

This hasn’t been the case for a while. Platforms (like TV networks) became so established that the underlying technology became basically irrelevant to content creators. And that made sense.

But  we are in too crazy a time right now characterized by emergent platforms/technologies.. each different.. each with very (or subtly) different characteristics. … a time where the platform cannot be separated from what is carried on it.

As emergent forms of media settle down and achieve scale, there will again be a time for people who understand one half really well. For now though… we need people who know both.

If you wish.. the panel is here:

Happy Thanksgiving To You and Yours

No more blogging this week… yesterday’s post on Facebook advertising is ENOUGH to digest. Plus there’s the turkey. Stay tuned for next week… five days of reflections on the present and future of digital media/communications based on my time at the Monaco Media Forum — now that I’ve had some time to digest that info-and-people-packed experience. It’ll be kind of a Cliffs Notes for you.

Where’s The Media in Social Media? Facebook’s Innovations Begin to Show the Way… PLUS, How to Speed Up The Process

Facebook could ultimately become a really interesting — and truly new kind of — media property.

Right now it’s a property, but not a media property. From the perspective of advertisers Facebook is undeveloped land (though there is A LOT of it).  When Facebook figures out how to let advertisers take advantage, it will become a media property. And from the perspective of investors then, Facebook’s abundant traffic will be “monetized”.

A Digital Version of Cheers
Facebook, like many “social platforms’ is a digital version of  Cheers — not the show many people used to watch on TV (that was a media property!) but the bar the show was based on. In Facebook everybody does know your name. Not all of Facebook’s gazillion active users know your name, of course, but the 20 or 60 or 400 you hang out with inside know your name, know what you’re doing right now, know who your other friends are, know what you’re reading and sharing, know the last comment you made to another friend. They know a lot.. as if you were all sitting around a bar, having a drink and talking. And this bar-room get-together (or dinner party if you prefer) can happen in real time or over time — usually a combination of both as different members are around and cross with each other at different times.

This “social platform” is not unusual now. Many sites offer means for a bunch of friends or colleagues to interact in real time or over time. What IS unusual is that Facebook is trying to create a new form of media to sell that leverages this — to become a social media property.

Facebook’s Innovations Are Important … Most Companies Abdicate to Google
It is very good that Facebook is taking on the important and difficult work of creating a new media platform to go along with the new media they offer. So many other web 2.0 companies abdicate this.. they don’t invest in turning their compelling properties into compelling media properties. They drop in a few lines of code from Google, use Google’s ad technologies, and  get some revenue flowing in — but develop no real value beyond their traffic.

With any new medium this is a tricky business. A balancing act between outright, short-term revenue maximization and a respect for the overall experience and long-term value of a consumer — or viewer, user, end-user, member … pick your term.  (BTW.. one of the smartest people to articulate the need for the balancing act is indeed an architect of online search advertising. Check out Tim Cadogan at Monaco Media Forum here.)

If Facebook Succeeds the Net Result Will Be a Totally New Form of Advertising
Facebook hasn’t had the easiest time with this.. But don’t write them off.. they are iterating, testing, trying… And if they figure it out,  the net result WILL actually be a totally new form of advertising.

Facebook’s Engagement Ads Create Micro Tiger Woodses (Or Whatever the Plural Is!)
Facebook is now (literally now.. if you are a Facebook user you are just just starting to see them) rolling out a form of advertising they call “Engagement Advertising.” This is a smart name because it incorporates the biggest idea being bandied about in ad circles now — how to engage with customers. So they have got the jargon/naming bit down.

Another Engagement Ad... for Papa Johns Pizza. This one lets Facebook members become a fan of a brand. This fact can show up in their profile, and therefore spreads across their network of friends who can comment on this fact. This actually generates a proto-form of a measurable "brand conversation".

These ads so-far take a few forms. They let members become a fan of brand — a fact that (if a member allows) becomes known to members’ friends — essentially inviting friends to become fans too. This tying of advertising to conversations is interesting and potentially powerful. People with social influence who associate themselves with a brand become de-facto endorsers. This works on a grand scale for, say, Tiger Woods who influences millions. Why shouldn’t it work on a micro scale too. Let’s say I have two or three people who  find my taste/way/life somehow interesting … if I associate with a brand, I bring along a few others with me.

Add to this idea the fact that Facebook has one of the most interesting targeting systems for online advertising already. Their hyper-hyper targeting means it is possible to serve unique ads based on where people work, what their major in college was, etc. This level of targeting might not be valuable to all advertisers today — but it presents some powerful means for near “total-personalization” of ads.

How to Speed Up The Process
I love that Facebook is pushing on developing a new media.

That said…

Facebook should make building a compelling social media platform based on the unique and powerful idea of weaving advertising into social interactions and conversations HALF their job. They should make the OTHER HALF about making it possible for advertisers to get more noticed in general — and focus on some more core concepts of DISPLAY advertising.

Right now, all Facebok ads are very, basically, hidden away. That is an exaggeration, of course. But they ARE tough to see/notice. No matter how targeted or social they are.. Facebook needs to make it possible to create more visual ads.  RULE ONE about advertising  is standing out — and Facebook needs to let people create ads that will actually pop out of the page. Because Facebook’s content is so compelling (highly personal information about one’s friends and colleagues) the ads need to be even more compelling. Facebook should allow for larger, richer, more compelling ad units.

Here is one basic mockup of how an ad could be more prevalent– yet sensitive to Facebook’s members. This is a quick idea based on a print ad for Martini made by Italian agency Armanod Testa in Turin.

Now imagine this ad backed by:

-targeting (of any sort.. behavioral, contextual, semantic, demographic)

- social .. allow users to become a fan, comment, etc.

- interactive.. Make the woman standing on the bottle move around the screen. Make her interact (visually, audibly…) with the interactions members are having with their friends.

Now you’re talking a new media platform!

October 2008 Comment Prize Awarded

This blog’s first most-interesting-comment-of-the-month prize (October 2008) goes to Hans Peter Brondmo, CEO of social-technology firm Plum. He commented on a post about consumer needs in tough economic times in which I discussed Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. Hans Peter said:

Glad you’ve got “social” on the list ;-)…

I happen to believe that connecting with people becomes a need and perhaps in some cases a rediscovered virtue and value in times of turmoil as well.

For his prize, Hans Peter can choose between Lego-style iPod speakers or a Moleskin notebook. Soon I’ll decide on the prizes for November’s most interesting comment.

BTW… even in this month’s comment prize there is a something to think about for digital communicators… Hans Peter’s comment didn’t actually appear right here on this blog.. but on a “distributed” version of it on Plum itself.

I find it  effective to push the blog beyond it’s own pages to other sites with quite a bit of traffic of their own. Depending on the post, I “syndicate” the blog  to Facebook, StumbleUpon, Plum, AlwaysOn, Fast Company… all of which have their own set of people who comment either there or by linking back here.

And I salute Hans-Peter for promoting his own platform by commenting on Plum.

A Very BIG BMW… Advertising You Can Play With

In the Munich airport…

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