11.23.2008

The Evolution of Online Shopping

One of the most fascinating things about the internet for me has been the changes that have occurred in the way we shop online. It used to be that we used the internet to research products before we bought them, and only the most brave actually used it to purchase items. As time went on, e-commerce became more sophisticated and we as consumers grew in our online shopping repertoire.

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Survey released in February 2008, 93% of Americans have at one point participated in e-commerce. Now 20% of us use the internet every day to research a product we're interested in buying. With the way the e-marketplace has grown, I'm almost surprised this number isn't higher, as we have so many ways to participate:

Ebay showed us a way to both buy and sell items in the familiar format of auctions.
PayPal calmed our fears about the safety of online shopping.
Amazon suggests content based on our preferences and the buying behaviors of others who have purchased similar items.
Pandora and the iTunes Genius Bar suggests new music (that we buy online or IRL)
Etsy created a mom-and-pop marketplace for independent artists
PriceGrabber.com and other sites allowed us to comparison shop just like we would in real life, but saving us the time, travel, and energy.

I think it is interesting to note that many of these changes reflect the way we shop in real life. We understood the concept of auctions and were able to integrate that knowledge into our online purchasing behaviors. We follow WOM to find the best products in the categories we're interested in. We trust the suggestions of our friends, family, colleagues, and other peers who share our same interests. More and more, we're seeing online shopping reflecting exactly the way we shop in real life.

An interesting iteration of this trend is the Epsonality website, created by Butler Shine Stern and Partners. It takes the real life experience of shopping in a store with the help of a sales clerk and translates it to an online experience. When you first come to the site, you are greeted by a charming voice who instructs you to select your various printing needs (price, job type, necessary extra features, etc). Once you've done that, it calculates which printer is best for your needs. It then introduces you to your printer and points out some of its special features (each of which are illustrated in a light-hearted, charming way). When you "Meet your Epsonality" it spews back to you what it's got and why it fits your needs. At this point you can either find a retailer or buy it on the spot. You can then download widgets to "inspire your epsonality."

While I love that it walks you through the process and helps with the ever-daunting task of shopping for tech hardware, I know myself and many others don't necessarily do their online shopping at home. We're taking the internet everywhere we go, and suddenly having a voice pop out of your work computer, iPhone, or laptop at the coffee shop isn't necessarily preferable. It'd be an easy fix to just do a title page that tells you to plug your headphones in or let you know sound is coming. A recent ISACA survey called "Shopping on the Job: Online Holiday Shopping and Workplace Internet Safety" noted that 63% of Americans intended to shop online at work this holiday season, while only 55% of companies allowed such behaviors (from an IT standpoint--productivity is obviously a whole 'nother issue). And truthfully, I  imagine that the number of folks using their time at work to do a bit of research is significantly higher than those who intended to make those purchases as found by the survey.

So while I love that the Epsonality website took online shopping to the next level of real-life reflection, it may have been a bit off-mark when it comes to where we're doing our shopping and what that means for the desired user experience.

11.19.2008

Location as Identity: Further discussions by the top dogs

Just watched this video from PFSK.com on Good Ideas in 2009. The very first idea discussed is right on with part of what I was talking about a few posts back.



"We're fascinated with how physical location is being blurred with virtual identity and virtual information." The ideas that follow are super cool, and though they have less to do with identity in "real life" than some of my examples, they discuss a lot about tying your online and offline lives and how GPS and location help support that marriage. The video is about 34 minutes but worth the time.

Also a great discussion of some really really cool applications that use GPS to provide you with new, better, and more relevant information. All exciting discussions because technology is starting to catch up with some of our ideas and now we can really push them forward. I wonder who's taking the credit for these innovations--the people who came up with ideas first, or the companies who are helping to realize them?

Love that they mention the importance of a meaningful brand communication, not just sending mobile coupons 24/7. THIS APPLIES TO ALL NEW MEDIA! More on that later.

11.15.2008

Toshiba puts its hat in the ring

Just found this ad by Toshiba-- I think it's a pretty good example of something I've talked about here before: in the tech industry, often times the best way to get consumers to consider you is by drawing them in emotionally and then supporting them with the rational and technical information instead of vice versa. For example, the Sony Bravia campaign "Color like no other." I watched "Balls" and "Paint" and thought "Yup, got it."  This commercial has a similar strategy:



Not only is it a cool ad visually, but it reinforces the message that things are changing, technology is advancing, so don't you want to be with the company thats making those innovations happen? Truthfully, I've never thought about Toshiba this way, but they've given me cause to think about it.

I will say that it's not quite as strong strategically as it could be...it talks about sharp, clear picture and the "timesculpture" doesn't necessarily demonstrate this in the way that the Sony commercials demonstrate color, but it's still worth taking a gander at. And who's to say every had has to be rationally strategic? Sometimes finding a way to get eyes on the screen is strategy enough if the product sells itself. But that's a whole 'nother topic for another day...

11.13.2008

A New Communications Model- Consumers are Changing the Conversation

In September I attended the Deepspace presentation on Modern Brand Building, where I heard from Paul Isakson, Adrian Ho, and Dion Hughes. During the presentations they each presented a number of different metaphors for brands and brand communications. But during the presentation a different idea came to me--a revised communication model, to reflect the way consumers communicate in this media environment.

I realized that oftentimes, we assume that the consumer is going to give us--the senders--feedback, when instead they're much more likely to share their thoughts with others, both good and bad. 


(Red lines are the traditional way, blue lines replace the bottom red line--these blue lines of communications result in WOM, blogging, Twitter posts, Facebook fan pages, etc)

Windo recently made mention here of these conversations, calling them "me-casting." He noted that these communicators may be influencers if brands come check out what these consumers are saying, but that's just the thing. I think that brands need to make an effort to seek out these opinions, and not just by giving them a place to share them. They're striking up these conversations with their friends, their peers, their co-workers and family. Comcast actually figured this one out and opened their ComcastCares Twitter account. I've personally benefitted from it and think it's pretty kickass.

Like I've said, I typically don't like brand metaphors and limiting models like these, but I think this added friction point needs to be added to the conversation around communication.


Sponsored Video Streaming: Is change a-comin'?

I mentioned in my last post of this series the lessons to be learned from the music industry, one of which was changing your mindset. I argue that this is absolutely critical, because consumers are already changing their ways. We need to be prepared to change with them, just learn how to corral their behaviors into ways we can also benefit.

Just yesterday I read this article from AdAge about how the cable networks won't be getting a site like Hulu anytime soon. David Sazlav, CEO of Discovery Communications, was quoted saying: "The cable channel business is a good business model, and we want to continue to be partners with distributors. We don't want to train [viewers] to watch our best shows on [free online] platforms. Most of our research shows if we move our content mostly in clips, we can create an environment where we can mostly satisfy our viewers with consumer content on other platforms but do it in a way that doesn't take away from our core business."

Just sayin', this is the most frustrating thing for people like me who really like to watch content online. I'll spend way too much time trying to find the whole thing only to discover my time was wasted.

Zaslav argues that the model doesn't need fixing just yet. But in this industry (and really any industry,) getting ahead means thinking ahead. Don't wait for necessity to force you into taking up strange bed partners. See this opportunity and grow with it.

Remember this? "The fundamentals of our economy are strong." Yeah. The people who hold onto the ship while it sinks are the ones that get sucked down once it finally submerges. Just jump.

11.12.2008

Location as Identity

I've begun to notice a common thread in a number of new trends across multiple categories. As technology progresses, fashion expands, and shopping behaviors become more diverse, one thing seems to keep cropping up: location. People seem to treat their community, their home, as part of their identity. 

Bright Kite: Here users can upload pics from their phone, write a caption, and put the link up on their Twitter or Facebook accounts. When they do this, their location is tracked on the GPS and uploaded with the picture, bringing the viewers right to where the user is and helping users connect with each other online and in real life.

Urban Spoon application: Pretty simple. It finds you on GPS. It gives you the restaurants in the neighborhood you're in, instead of making you leave where you're at. Helps you support the community you love. (Of course you can still just change the neighborhood, but you get where I'm coming from.)

My Urban Rabbit Hole: These t-shirts are printed with city maps. The purchasers marks five locations that have special meaning with red permanent paint, "telling their stories through urban geography." 

Social Souvenir: This is a project through the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denmark, where 300 shirts were created with text fragments inspired by 15 of the artists featured in the museum. When purchased, the new owner has to offer up their name and address, and the "work" is then mapped on google maps. This is supposed to both share the art with the community, but also strike up community between the museum-goers. (Thanks PSFK for the tip!)

Buying Local: Huge trend, for a number of different reasons. But there is a huge sense of pride amongst folks buying local and support local businesses. Many of these businesses have started producing community-based badges to let these consumers reflect their passion, such as pins and bumper stickers.

There are many other examples of this, but these were the first to come to mind.

So what does this mean for advertisers? I think it means that more than ever, we need to be looking at subculture, at the little stuff instead of the big picture. We need to stop making easy assumptions based on age and race. We need to see what really matters to our consumers, and I think what matters to our consumers is very close to home.

Sponsored Video Streaming: How the Music Industry is Coping

In the last post in this series, I made mention of Napster and the parallel issues the music industry has faced. They've had the benefit (?) of beginning these battles much earlier, with Metallica making noise in 2000, and thus have already gone through many growing pains to reach some degree of maturity. I recall a time when even though I knew it was wrong, there was no way I was going to pay when I could get it for free...and yet here I am, with nearly $100 in  purchased songs and episodes in my iTunes library. 

The industry as a whole has found a number of ways to cope. First, strong partnerships with online music stores like iTunes gave consumers the opportunity to get their music the same way they've become accustomed to while still supporting the artists and labels financially. Second, they focused on the sales opportunities of merchandise and concert tickets instead of relying on disc sales. And third, and definitely most difficult, they changed their mindset. The industry listened to what their consumers wanted and they made it work for both of them, looking for how it could work to their advantage:

Myspace became a place to support artists and get the word out, while informing fans and soon-to-be-fans about upcoming shows and giving them the chance to purchase merchandise instantly. Download sites offered bonus songs for free when consumers signed up. Sites popped up like Daytrotter to let you hear live performances from artists to get hooked, then drive you to buy the full CDs. Pandora streamed free music, purchased from the label, and suggested to consumers who in turn can go buy the tracks. And the industry keeps moving forward, using apps and other new technology to continue giving consumers what they want without compromising sales.

So now the question is, how can the video entertainment industry learn from these lessons? They've already begun with providing episodes for sale on iTunes, investing in video technology on mp3 players, and supporting themselves with ad revenue, but what new revenue streams can they find? 

RELATED UPDATE- I felt like watching some TV this afternoon but there was absolutely nothing worth watching, so when I found that TRL was on, I decided to go with the throwback--I was in middle school when it first came out. I switched over and discovered that today's show is the second to last episode EVER. Besides the fact that TRL has totally changed over the years, do you think being able to find the videos online are part of why the show has lost traction?

UPDATE 2.0: Just found this post by Ed Cotton--great thoughts on some of the same stuff. Love the quote from Techcrunch about the music itself being the marketing. 

Fine, I give in--thoughts on the Sprint Widget

I first heard about the Sprint widget a few days ago at about 2am from a Google alert (I'm a Goodby Silverstein and Partners fan and I have a GSP alert--no teasing please) and was excited to find a little late night entertainment. I regret to say, however, that my initial response wasn't much more than a shoulder shrug and I deleted the email. 

But since those early morning hours, I can't seem to stop finding people talking about it, so I'm breaking and joining the discussion.

In favor of the work, I think Mike Kellogg did a beautiful job and certainly made each tiny space a part of the experience, which ended up keeping me playing with the widget much longer than I would have expected to have done. And in favor of the strategy, it directly relates this idea of "now" to measurable and entertaining bits of information, even if they aren't actually accurate or are based on annual (or longer) averages instead of actual up-to-"now" updates.

But my frustration with the piece is that they were so close to bring their strategy to life, and yet they missed the opportunity.  As you all probably know by now, I'm a big fan of adding value to the consumers. Tweeting back and forth with Paul Isakson, we discussed how the widget was alright but would have been significantly cooler if the features were more useful, which brings us to the big missed opportunity: If it had more useful features that were up-to-the-minute, people would be more apt to want the product for on-the-go internet. This would take the idea of "This is Now" and make it much more relevant to the consumer and the product, supporting a much more direct path to sales. 

Some may argue that they didn't have to make it about the product, that reflecting the idea of instant needs and instant knowledge is enough to support the "This is Now" campaign, which in turn would drive the sales, but I think that both the sales and the widget experience would improve with more useful features on the widget. Besides, just using that insight can open you up to getting lost in the category; there are a number of tech products that could have been promoted using this widget, so Sprint should make sure they get the most out of this extensive project and do what they can to hit it outta the park.

11.10.2008

Sponsored Video Streaming: Comfort Inn- Good Work

In the last post, I talked about how Prudential sponsored the entire program by placing the same commercial in each break, much to my chagrin. In stark contrast, I found that Comfort Inn took the same opportunity and did something great with it. 

In each break, Comfort Inn had a different 15 second commercial from their campaign, "Get Back to your Comfort Zone," so although I had the same brand offering the same medium each time, I got to see the strategy in a new scenario each time, as well as get entertained (god forbid!) And the best part is that the ads themselves are great, minus some bad acting. Each has a scene where a normal situation gets incredibly awkward. Then it follows up with the tag, "Get back to your comfort zone." One of the best parts about these ads is the fact that the tag line includes the name of the hotel as well as what it stands for as a brand (clearly the point in the naming, I know). It connects the funny ads to the brand and has an easily memorable brand promise. It's witty and it's simple. I like simple. Simple is good.

I only wish they would have had a micro-site where they extended this idea. If you get people entertained, you don't want to let them down. I looked for one but came up with nothing except a really boring and intimidating-looking reservation site.

I can't find the videos on youtube at this time. I'll be sure to post 'em if I find them.

Sponsored Video Streaming: Prudential.com

Again on abc.com, I found an incredibly uninspired "campaign" for prudential.com. With every break during the episode, I found myself watching the same 15-second spot. Never changing. No option to pause it and get just a link to the site. Just the same spot...over...and over...and over. It was frustrating, because not only was my show being interrupted, but the ad did nothing to distract me, and each repetition only increased my irritation.

It reminded me of what a cool opportunity sponsored video streaming presents. If one company sponsored a real-time television show, it'd be considered an innovative media buy, especially if done well. But consider this: you'd never buy all the print ads in a magazine and put the same ad over and over (unless you're Apple and you want the world to know you're nano-chromatic). You'd never buy all the commercials in a television show and put the same 30-second ad over and over. While HeadOn proved that annoyance can sometimes work to your benefit, it generally isn't considered a great move to annoy your viewers.

So get with it, Prudential, and either produce some more spots or get on some interactive.

Sponsored Video Streaming: Florida Orange Juice- Good Work

While watching an episode of Grey's Anatomy online on abc.com (I've recently discovered I'm a girl) I found one of the first great examples of sponsored videos. The episode was sponsored by Florida Orange Juice, starting off the episode with a 30-second commercial. Having been disappointed and annoyed in past viewing experiences, I quickly looked to see if there was a pause button, which I indeed found. Instead of the commercial, the screen was replaced with a "Fast Fact" about Florida OJ. I read it, and was surprised to find myself slightly interested--it had taught me something and thus had added value, not to mention the filling orange juice glass made a cute loading image while I waited.

At the next commercial "interruption," it had a game with one orange and three bins. You had to follow which bin the orange was in as they moved around the screen, and each time you got it right, it got harder. Before I realized it, two minutes had gone by and my video was more than ready to begin. I played one more round because I actually had fun with it and then continued to watch the show. The next break had statements about orange juice for which you could guess true or false. Again, I learned some interesting tidbits. The last break was a choose your own adventure story type game about starting your day with or without orange juice. 

The weirdest part about all of it though was that I actually wanted to participate with the brand, and despite the fact that a lot of it applied more to category than the brand, I still remembered it was Florida OJ. By entertaining me and teaching me, Florida Orange Juice not only got me thinking about their product but actually stole the show. When I finished the episode, abc.com gave me the choice to look at all the ads again, which I did use to go back to watch the first commercial I initially passed over and play another round of Find the Orange. 

Needless to say, my standards for sponsored videos greatly rose upon discovering this campaign. Unfortunately, the bad just seems worse now. Here's to hoping the ad community picks up on these kinds of successful campaigns.

11.09.2008

Before it's terribly old news...

I read a post today in my Google Reader from the lovely ladies at Yaybia-- I admit I was a few days behind on my subscriptions. This post about the Starbucks give-away caught my attention because it was a great discussion of marketing from the price perspective and basic branding that pulled in so many things I've learned in school and beyond. And while I agree with many of the things Libby had to say and know that many of the ad community feel the same way, I wanted to throw my two bits into the pot.

Starbucks has always been a premium-price brand. We started using the price of coffee as a benchmark for how much money we spend. ("For the price of only four of your morning coffees, you could get a whole month of digital cable!") They raised the prices, and we complained. And yet as they lowered the prices, the ad community sang out "The alpha brand that was Starbucks is fading fast! They're pulling at straws by lowering their price now that McD's has cheap iced coffee! They're clearly losing it." I disagree. McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts are on a totally different price point, even after the price drops. And furthermore, as Libby points out, its unlikely that the same folks who used to drop into Starbucks every morning are now opting for some McDonald's cafe lattes. Though they seem to have missed the mark a bit with the random brand extensions with the breakfast foods and whatnot-- who wants to walk into a coffee shop expecting coffee and instead smelling omelets and bacon? Ew. --Starbucks ultimately has a brand experience that goes with the coffee (not to mention the whole status bit.) It's still the third space. It's still about the aesthetic. It's still about the music and the coffee and the feel. 

But the big to-do lately has been the coffee giveaway for voters. It seemed the ad community taunted them again with claims of losing their grip, but to me, it seemed a return to brand even if it didn't follow traditional pricing rules. Starbucks' brand personality includes music, philanthropy and politics--with the Ethos Water sold there and the distribution of Good Magazine and free music downloads, I find it hard to believe that anyone would think encouraging citizens to vote is a bad brand fit.


If anything, Starbucks found a way to be relevant again-- they recognized that the economy sucks and we're gonna love a little boost with some free coffee. They realized that getting out to vote was crucial for getting us out of this economic crisis (regardless of which candidate you thought was capable of doing so). Starbucks was there and I don't think we should have been surprised. And if I had more than $5 in my bank account (no, for real) I would go and buy myself a tasty hazelnut hot chocolate and curl up with a book at the Starbucks on Van Ness. Alas, instead I'll just have to stick to blogging about it and congratulate them on what I thought was a great move.

Well played, Starbucks. Cheers.


11.08.2008

Google Image Labeler

This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with branding, but I thought this was interesting. 

Google image is a great resource, but there's a number of ways it could be improved.  One piece that Google is addressing is the photo tags. To help give users better search results, they are improving the search tags through the Google Image Labeler. You and a randomly selected partner are paired up for two minutes and are given a number of images. You write as many tags as you find appropriate (with the exception of some "off-limit" tags that are more obvious). Once you and your partner come to the same conclusion for a tag, you get points-- the more specific the tag, the more points you get. After two minutes, you get a final score. 

I played a few times and had a good time, and I liked that I was helping Google help me. 

Good move on their part? Bad move? Lemme know what you think.

11.07.2008

Sponsored Video Streaming: A Series

It's no secret that there have been quite a few growing pains within both the entertainment and advertising industries with the overwhelming increase in online video content. It seems that the entertainment industry has tried a number of solutions, from trying to shut down anyone sharing the content (and this goes all the way back to Napster), regulating the content by sharing it themselves, and finding ways of using it to their own financial benefit. This final solution has certainly been met with its own roadblocks (we all grimly remember the 14-week writer strike) but it seems the dust is finally starting to settle and some truces have been called.

Many of the major networks began streaming some of their shows online with full episode players, including ABC, Fox, The CW, CBS, and NBC. Not all were as quick onto the train, but now most channels offer their shows in this way. Some only have a few episodes, while others have entire series. Some require that you be a registered member, and others let you flit in and out at your pleasure. And MANY frustratingly only will show you previews and clips, driving you to your television, however begrudgingly.

More recently, Hulu came out as a new hub with sponsored content much like the network sites. 

Even more recently, CBS has decided to take this further by finding viewers where they already are. In a new partnership with YouTube, CBS is sharing full-length shows on the site with ads before, during, and after the videos, allowing both CBS and YouTube to cash in on the online viewing trend.

But what about Surf the Channel, Ninja Video, and all the sites these hubs collect their content from? The world may never know...

...but until then, there's a lot going on with these sponsored episodes. Some innovative, some boring, some downright maddening--it's time we look at what works, and what's gotta go.