Evolving into Immersive Consumerism

People are facinated about knowing what the future holds. This infographic video, “Digital Life: Today and Tomorrow" projects what life will be like in 4 years from now in 2015. It makes some interesting points about our daily lives being immersed with technology such as social media and mobile computing.


Digital Life: Today & Tomorrow from Neo Labels on Vimeo.
This made me think of how marketing will evolve in its application of geo-targeting of the publically available information we post up about ourselves on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. How will this effect the everyday lives of people when exposed to omnipresent branding? The video below explores coruption of the technology like we have already seen with Spam email and viruses.


Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

Then there's the scientific side of enabling technology and how we would go about if we could evolve to develop a Sixth Sense to access the meta data without using a smart phone. The next video is of Pattie Maes talking at Ted about SixthSense. Is this part of Homo Evolutis? as Juan Enriquez puts it that humanity is on the verge of becoming a new and utterly unique species.

The Social Technographics Profile Of Your Customers

Social Technographics by Forrester classifies people according to how they use social technology. Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly except Conversationalist who participate in at least one of the included activities weekly. The above graph shows the technographics as a percentage of Females in Australia aged between 25 abd 34.

Creators: make social content consumed by others. They write blogs or upload video, music or text
Conversationalist: voice their opinions to other consumers and businesses using Twitter
Critics: respond to content from others. They post reviews, comment on blogs, participate in forums and edit wiki articles
Collectors: organise content for themselves or others using RSS feeds, tags and voting sites
Joiners: connect in social networks like facebook and maintain a profile
Spectators consumer social content including blogs, user generated video, podcasts, forums or reviews
Inactive: neither create nor consume social content of any kind.

Check out your customer below

Automating Online Marketing

Online marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the web, including: design, development, advertising and sales. The digital marketing industry covers a wide scope of activity because it refers to the web, seo, sem, edm, social media and mobile and then all links back into customer and content management systems.

Given the complexity and increasing requirements of online marketing, software has developed to simplify these processes and automate repetitive tasks. Marketers specify criteria and outcomes for campain goals and processes which are then interpreted, stored and executed by marketing automation software to increase efficiency.



The Online Marketing Suite (OMS) by Sitecore is a solution for marketers to integrate web content capabilities, web analytics and automate marketing functionality. Sitecore’s Online Marketing Suite helps marketers easily track and better understand the impact of all online campaigns, create user profiles, personalise content and take action immediately. OMS provides the lead nurturing and conversion tools that align marketing and sales. In summary, OMS helps organizations improve the business results they receive from their Web properties.

OMS offers marketing automation out-of- the box. In the past these features could be implemented separately. Now with Sitecore OMS, marketing functionality including lead scoring, email campaign management and Web analytics are all part of one integrated solution. Sitecore is helping customers get faster, more effective results from their Web site and marketing campaigns with less complexity and less dependency on IT.

Foundry works the pitch

Last night on the Gruen Transfer the lawyers at the ABC banned half of the pitch segment in which two ad agencies compete to attempt to sell the unsellable, in this particular challenge it was meant to be about obesity. However the Sydney based agency, The Foundry, was found to be 'racist and discriminatory', and was not allowed to air their contraversial pitch on the show.



The Foundry's pitch was deemed to infrine ABC editorial guidelines. It proposed the concept of "fat pride" by positioning that if it was offensive to make jokes about "race, homosexuality and religion" then it should not be acceptable to make jokes about "weight. Gruen Transfer presenter Wil Anderson directed people to visit a dedicated website http://www.antiprejudicead.net/ to see the ad banned from TV.

I suggest the Foundry is doing exactly what good ad agencies do best, getting media cut through and generating a huge volume of free publicity bigger than the pitch and Gruen itself. By deliberately submitting a controversial treatment for the show it has given them a chance to stretch their credentials without having the repercussion of alienating a client. If you are the marketing team of a social cause with a small budget who are you going to call? Surely one that generates a lively discussion such as this?. The strategy is just brilliant and Aunty was simply used as part of the process to advertise the Foundry.



Some of the website comments included,

"I can definitely understand why it wasn't shown on TV. People have a right not to be confronted with offensive material - even if properly used - in their homes."

"An ad? I don't think so. It's just biased and bigoted trash,"

"I literally choked on that laugh, beer went everywhere and I had an epiphany about shape discrimination starting with laughing at a fat chick joke."

"Sure, in the abstract, 'discrimination is discrimination' but the difference in degree is so huge that the point is lost and members of the groups who have suffered real discrimination are very likely to be offended by the comparison."

At last count the comments on the site were well over the 1500 postings mark

Gruen Transfer Pitch features two Digital Agencies

Currently screened on ABC TV in it's second series the Gruen Transfer is an entertainment show about advertising, how it works, and how it works within society. Advertising industry, experts discusses the methods, science and psychology behind advertising. Panelists face a series of challenges designed to show the thought processes of advertising, as well as examine the tactics used to sell a particular product. Each week two of the advertising industry's leading agencies are pitted against each other and tasked with selling the unsellable in a segment called the pitch.

A couple of weeks ago rather then the usual ATL or full services ad agencies, the Gruen Transfer featured two digital agencies. This time the pitch reflected on the hard economic times of the global financial crisis, the pitch segment asked Sputnik Agency and Soap Creative to come up with a campaign that will make the general public donate money to the super rich CEOs now facing smaller payouts.



Soft Landings for Hard Times was pitched by Sputnik Agency The concept is you can visit a website that allows you to donate money to equip CEO’s with skills such as driving, boiling a kettle or carrying their own gold clubs. Sputnik’s pitch featured TV commercial style video featuring actors and a website call to action.

Golden Parachute by Soap Creative had the idea to donate to fund a retirement community. Featuring lines such as play monopoly instead of create one, ensure their retirement to stop CEOS from going back into the job market where they can bugger things even more Soap’s pitch h a TVC style as well featuring animation combined with actors

The results were

Sputnik won the TV Panel vote 4-0
Sputnik currently leads online opinion 69% to 31% with 550+ votes counted.

Twittervison at Mobile Monday

Mobile Mondays is a global network of people interested in the growth of the mobile content and applications. It's a NFP movement and has grown across the planet as people choose to begin coordinating events of interest and 'mobilising' the local industry.

The Mobile Monday chapter in Melbourne and Tourism V1ctoria put together a mobile strategy challenge to a panel of mobile industry experts. The 5 presenters only had 5 minutes each to impress Tourism Victoria and the audience with their mobile strategy pitch.


The pitch presenters included

• Ruwan Weerasooriya CEO CafeScreen


• Tim Beveridge the Strategy Planner from eServices Group


• Leigh Monti Director at Mdigital


• Mark McCormack the CEO at Loop9


• Dave King from the Royals




Organisers connected an internet enabled laptop to a projector and displayed Twitter on a screen for the audience. The audience then provided real-time feedback on the event, making comments and providing their own rating about the speakers and issues being raised. This discussion thread (ref search under #momomelb) continued the following day extending the life of the conference topic beyond the event itself.




Below is a profile of each of the company's represented,

CafeScreen is a digital out of home media company operating a network of 100+ large format digital panels in CBD cafes. CafeScreen also operates Australia’s largest network of free WiFi hotspots and all sites are capable of bluetooth broadcast. www.cafescreen.com.


eServices Group which is a division of Clemenger gave a interesting pitch
is an online marketing and digital services group which deliver a broad range of broadcast, analytics, technology and creative services. www.eservices.com.au

Mdigital is an independent mobile marketing and mobile advertising consultancy working with brands and their agencies in developing an understanding of the potential of mobile as a marketing and advertising medium. www.linkedin.com/in/leighmontimdigital

Loop9 is a provider of communications and messaging products designed to build relationships, loyalty and revenue between travel companies and travellers www.loop9.com/

The Royals are a modular collective of strategists, creatives, content makers, coders, artists and technologists www.theroyals.com.au/

Is Facebook Good For Your Business or a Timewaster For Your Staff?

On 30 October 2007 Digital Harbour hosted a Facebook for business seminar in the Innovation Building

Facebook the latest global social networking craze has swept the county over the past few months, becoming the social site of choice, especially when it comes to professionals in the digital industries. Does Facebook offer any value to businesses, or is it stealing employees time? Ultimately, is this a passing fad, like hula hoops and Twitter, or is it the shape of communications and communities in the future? The media recently reported that Facebook could cost employers up to $5 billion a year in productivity. There are more than 1.5 million Australian Facebook users, with reportedly more than 100 Australians joining the phenomenon each hour. Whether you are an active Facebooker, a frustrated employer watching your employees time trickle away, or a brand keen to infiltrate a new market, you are likely to have something to say and something to learn about Facebook. In this debate we aim to explore and challenge the various ideas currently being touted in blogs and mainstream media, as well as bring you an insight into the plethora of Facebook stories: brands who have worked within the Facebook walls effectively and those who have not.

Event Notes by James Portz

Speaker 1: Philip Phelan

Philip Phelan is Director of Glass, an inter-disciplinary research and communications planning consultancy, a Facebooker, and a slightly sceptical digital and mobile advocate.

Excessive Face Book (FB) is a symptom not a cause
Shift in advertising
Fosters innovation
Fosters greater interaction
One brand ambassador is better than Ten
FB may be like JUDGEMENT DAY
- Modern, Open, Transparent, Dynamic- You may not like what users say

Not everyone uses FB the same way

• Keep in touch
• Grab attentions
• Distribute information
• Shape opinion
• Operating System

Social Operating System

• Friendship
• Sex & Relationship
• Individual Creativity
• Personal Advancement
• Discovery & Exploration

1.5 Million Australian users per month

More mature than other social networks, more educated, white collarApplication to map network of contactsVisibility creates comfort

Tips for Marketers

• Use the social connections
• KISS
• Mimic the user experience features
• Post Organisation Events
• Join Groups
• Deliver a value exchange
• Personal space
• Sponsor or co develop application
• Plan to involve users all the way through

Eg 1. Summer Heights High Appreciation Society
Fan Site set up by the ABC 5,000 membersViral marketing Campaign for organisation with little marketing budget.

Eg2. We want funky little pubs in Sydney
Lobby/Activist Group 6,000 membersCreative grass rootsPetitionsTimelyFundraising

Eg3. Target
Sponsored groupUni Student focusDesign/affordabilityBack to school campaign increased sales in this segment $6.1 millionFacilitated party planning & redecoration Dorm survival guide
FB wasn't the ideal place for their traditional market.Be respectful of FB environment


When it goes wrong
Eg1. WalmartWas bagged because of its work place policies
Eg.2 McDonaldsCareers - negative feedback by former employees, company ended up switching off comments
View McDonalds FB Group
FB for business still in betamode.Business needs to embrace mess, variation and complexity
Marketing with FB is more like marketing communications than advertising



Speaker 2: Steven Johnson (Mosaic)

Stephen Johnson is Founder and Managing Director of Mosaic. Stephen is a brand and experience architect known for his conceptual and strategic abilities. He is an educator and public speaker in virtual communication and social media innovation.

It may be daunting for your company
Built on open API exposing it's closed social graph. Shield each of it's users behind a cloak of absolute privacy

Swam Intelligence

"Artificial Intelligence technique based on the
collective behaviour in decentralized self organised systems. Typically made up
of a population of simple agents i.e. FB agents interacting with one another in
their environment."

When Less becomes More

Often restricting options can have an amazingly positive effect on conversation. Enforcing structure can have a tremendously positive impact on innovation

Open Dialogue "Could be dangerous if you don't have a voice to answer back"
Are people tired of endless Choice? - Sounds counterintuitive

• Simplify
• Optimise
• Partly Restrict

"Closed is the new open" Does it restrict intimacy? Stops Spam
"Users don't care is an application is closed"
"Build a closed eco system on top of it's own social graph

Success 3 million users in 3 Months
Top Friends Network Decrease the barrier to adoption to lower the barrier to spread the word about an application

Popular FB Applications

• Circle Of Friends
• Kiss Me
• Fun work
• Poke Pro
• Friends Wheel

The FB gift store is a good way to raise revenue
FB Apps - easy load but are they any use?
Consideration Unless you are capturing some data from FB app is it worth it?

Broad Themes driving Change
1. Personalisation
2. Collaboration and Community
3. Visualisation (weighting of popular items and topics i.e. Tag Clouds
4. Ubiquity digital channels becoming more pervasive/holistic
5. Immediacy (instantaneous)
6. Digitisation of the inner circle

"Well, our first dip into Facebook was a bit of a learning curve! We set SlatteryIT up as we have set up ourselves personally, only to be kindly reminded by clever ones that the whole spirit of facebook is about linking up "people" and not linking companies with people. So, welcome to our second try. We are now a group! Hope this works! Thank you for visiting." - Rachel Slattery

Consumer Generated Media Social Networks are reshaping the context of marketing communications towards collaborative.
Digital is enabling new behaviourRicher levels of engagementIs becoming the dominant channel for consumer fulfilment

Giving the average Joe a voice
Baby steps to getting it right
Embrace Social Network for business is a shift in authority
Touch your target audience if you don't participate your brand may become invisible
Loyalty, Commitment, Advocacy
Use FB to build loyalty with existing users

Additional Reading

http://www.peoplesearchnews.com/social-networking-/how-can-social-networking-help-your-business-succeed/