GPS Meets Mobile in New York Taxicabs

This video is a light-hearted look at a GPS-driven system for taxi passengers in New York City. Apparently the system has also been authorized for testing in a small number of cabs in Boston. I haven’t been exposed to it in either place, and I’d like to try it out. I’d also be happy not to have to be sure I have enough cash when I take a taxi in either city.View the video here.

GPS in our transportation systems has not been without controversy. New York taxi drivers initially threatened to strike over the system, which was viewed as costly and a potential invasion of privacy. The strike didn’t happen, but the drivers still don’t sound happy about it.

I was reminded what happened in Massachusetts last year when GPS systems were mandated for all snow plowing contractors. They also were not happy and threatened to strike going into the winter season—not acceptable to Massachusetts residents. So the state put off the requirement for a year, but as far as I know, the GPS systems are going to be required of all contractors this season.

As you view the video, think about the advertising opportunities it opens up. As usual in mobile, Asian countries are far ahead of us. I found another light-hearted look at taxis, with Japan and Singapore having especially interesting applications.

If this gives you an idea for a last-minute Christmas gift, CNET is keeping an eye on what’s available!
Sphere: Related Content

Creating Brands Online

I’ve been writing about online branding for quite awhile, in my textbook and some marketing encyclopedia articles. The chief point has been that we have a whole new set of interactive tools to use on the web, whether we are creating new brands or strengthening existing ones. The tools are:

•Personalization
•Co-Creation of Content
•Purchase-Process Streamlining
•Customization
•Dynamic-Pricing
•Brand Community

Many online marketers use several of these tools well. Amazon has pioneered some of them and uses most of them well; I’m not sure they engage in dynamic pricing. What I am sure of though, is that when you do it well it can become an information product. When I ordered Christmas gifts from Target online I was given a choice to use their checkout process or Amazon’s. That was a surprise, but no big decision. I have my account set up on Amazon, I trust that they take care of my data, and I’d use them whenever given the chance. Seeing Amazon in that context didn’t do any harm to their brand image either!

There are new branding opportunities inherent in Web 2.0, as the description of Verizon’s recent branding activities in today’s iMedia Connection suggests. And that article doesn’t include Verizon’s My Home 2.0 promotion I discussed earlier—different agency I think.

Having suggested a new media model that reflects that new reality, I’ve been thinking about branding. I posted my thoughts on the eBrandMarketing site. Hope you’ll take a look and tell me whether you think this is the way it can work in the Web 2.0 world.

Is It Content or Context?

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to hear a talk by Lisa Gregorian, EVP of Worldwide Marketing at Warner Bros. Television Group. She spoke about “Making the Old New: Marketing Television in the Web Age.” She had a lot of fascinating things to say but ones that particularly impressed me included her emphasis on professionally-created video content and the dominance of the ad-supported business model. I spend a lot of time thinking about user-generated content, so that was a useful perspective for me. I was also intrigued by the ability of the content creators to tailor content to the needs of the narrowcast channels. Think The Closer for TNT.

The next morning when I opened my inbox there was a link to a presentation by Andrew Heyward, entitled “Content Isn’t King Anymore.” He is arguing that context is king in the world of consumer-controlled new media. View video here.

Heyward’s “rules of engagement” in the new media environment are worth considering. They are:
•Value — beyond relevant content to the ability to serve many needs, perform many related tasks
•Affinity -- a chance to connect with like-minded people
•Simplicity — “ask little, deliver a lot”
•Recognition — reward consumers for interacting with the brand
•“Working the web” -- by giving up some control to users.

What’s interesting is that the content creator and the advertising advisor are both talking about the same thing. Consumers want content in many forms, through many channels. Sticking with video we can distribute content over broadcast, cable, Internet or mobile media--each of which has hundreds, maybe thousands, of channels these days. Making the same content work across multiple channels is no small feat but it’s absolutely necessary. Even though you may be reaching a smaller niche market with targeted content, some of your targeted viewers still prefer to sit on the sofa and watch TV while some want to watch on their laptops from wherever they happen to be. And with mobile coming into its own as a medium of communication, it will only get more complicated.

The marketer has to react by understanding that consumers are receiving the content on demand—consumers’ timing not the marketers—and in the context—medium and channel--of their choice. That puts Heyward’s rules of engagement front and center. Marketers have to provide value and the other kinds of meaning he talks about whenever and wherever the consumer chooses to interact with the brand.

Interesting hypothesis—does that bring us back to a core value proposition that we communicate in various ways? In other words, does it focus us on marketing basics, including our customers, not just on clever uses of all media, old and new?
Sphere: Related Content

Mr. Clean Makes A Video Splash

Here’s another contest to think about. Procter and Gamble’s Mr. Clean has a line extension of Magic Erasers. I’ve tried them and they really do work—to the extent that I’ve recommended them to friends. The warnings suggests they are full of some pretty strong stuff, but that’s another (important) subject.

The contest is similar to others featured in this blog. Create a video for the Magic Eraser line. The contest is now closed and the winner is to be announced on December 8. You can choose your preferred video if you like; they are all posted. It will take you awhile because the contest drew 96 official entries. There were a lot of daily prizes (Magic Erasers, I think) that kept the interest level high.
It also spawned some that can best be described as disgusting (I found 90+ videos on YouTube, many of which don't appear to be contest entries) and another that was too late to qualify but funny.

If my new media model is on track, these people are brand evangelists, most of them with a positive message. Does this kind of activity create a bond with the brand—a feeling of ownership, even? I think it might.

At the very least a lot of people have Magic Eraser samples. And Procter and Gamble has a lot of consumer insight for relatively little expenditure!
Sphere: Related Content

New Media Model

The Internet changed the way marketers interacted with their customers. Permanently. Irrevocably. The social media of Web 2.0 are doing it again. That’s the theme of this blog.

Don Schultz describes the old model of how marketers use media as “linear.” It looks like this.“Linear” is a good description, but we all know the old way no longer works. There are a lot of suggestions, successful experiments and terms like “engagement” floating around. As far as I can tell no one has yet successfully put it all together.

Here’s my perspective on how it works. Notice that it does not use the terms “advertising,” “promotion,” or even “communication.” That’s intentional. Those terms are becoming as irrelevant as the linear model. So here’s how I think it works. Note that the overall context is one of trust—trust in the brand, the message, and the company that sponsors the communications.
Attention. We first have to attract the attention of the prospective customer. Television has always been best at doing that because of its huge reach. Between ad zapping of all kinds and the fact that television simply doesn’t reach some consumers like young males, it has lost much of its effectiveness. Online often works. Marketers can use many techniques to attract attention, from video clips to relevant content on websites.

Engagement. The next step is to engage them in our content to the extent that they not only spend time on our site but return to it. Advergaming is one way to reach the young male and the constantly expanding universe of gamers. Videos and interactive content work. The interactive content ranges from “build your own ” to “comment” to “rate this product.” It keeps people on the site longer. Even more important it draws them and gives them a feeling of ownership.

Commitment. This gets to the attitudinal component that is key to old models of media use and branding. People need to form positive attitudes about products, brands and businesses. Continuing to interact with them in a way that is relevant to their interests and respectful of their time and intelligence is essential. It adds to the context of trust in which all interactions must take place.

Conversion. Attention and interaction are wonderful, but at some point marketers have to create a customer. Online marketers often follow the direct-response model, using incentives to convert the prospect. That works, but there are other techniques that are potentially more effective and perhaps less costly. They range from word of mouth marketing to product ratings to viral content of all kinds. These techniques have the common advantage of coming from trusted personal sources not from advertising or any obviously-marketer-sponsored communications. Marketers must also be mindful of the fact that much conversion still takes place offline and integrate their strategies accordingly.

Loyalty. Old models stopped with the exhortation that marketers must create loyal customers. That’s still true. A quality product is a large part of that but this is an age of mostly parity products. If the product is not the keystone for loyalty, what is? It is the customer experience—from a consistently user-friendly and customer-responsive site to all the elements of the offline user experience. Think JetBlue. A reasonable business model and outstanding customer service created strong customer loyalty. That loyalty allowed them to weather (pun intended) the experience on Valentine’s Day, but customers made it quite clear that continuation of major customer inconvenience was not an option. David Neeleman, JetBlue CEO apologized publicly and insists that he is listening to customers. A touch of humanity never hurts.

Evangelism. Loyal customers are likely to be evangelists anyway. Give them tools to be more active. “Post your,” “Share this with your friends,” “Join our community discussions” all leverage the incredible power of WOM.

Evangelism and social media tools complete the cycle. They attract the attention of new potential customers. The marketer has to be ready to start the cycle over again, not when it’s convenient to broadcast a marketing message, but at the moment the individual customer enters the process.

Inside the process circle are two elements that keep it going:

Content supplied by marketers is the “new advertising.” It is informative, relevant and available on demand. It is presented in ways that engage as well as inform.

Contribution by customers (and others) is the immeasurably valuable input from the previously-voiceless “mass market.” They have found their voice and it’s not going to diminish. The “voice of the customer” will only increase as time goes on and more people become comfortable with the interactive techniques of Web 2.0. It adds to marketer-supplied content—a highly credible addition. It’s the voice of the customer, spoken directly to the marketer. What more can we ask for?

Trust is both the beginning and the end. Without trust other marketing efforts will have little impact.

That’s the way I see it! How about you?
Sphere: Related Content