It may be a little obvious by now that I have neglected to maintain The Digital Think Tank over the past year and for that I am sorry. I have been too busy making sure I don't neglect my clients, my employer and indeed my family and friends!
So on that note, The Digital Think Tank is still very much open for business but will remain content 'lite'. If you feel like following my media musings, social media prognostications and general love of all things digital then please follow me @michaelsjessica and you will find a more content 'heavy' stream of information there - and it will be less 'stream of consciousness' that you have witnessed here...mainly due to the 140 character limit that is placed on us all.
Hope to see you over in Twitter Land....
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Augmented Reality....Just For Fun?
There are a lot of fantastic experimental innovative marketing initiatives that are getting tried and tested out in the market place today. I have to admit, I was sceptical when I first heard about augmented reality a few years ago - I almost wrote it off as a fad. However, the following execution from Olympus and this fantastic iPhone iButterfly app launched in Japan last year has proven that augmented reality can be both fun and functional.
Check out these videos below...
Also, for those recently engaged or just want to have fun trying on high -end jewelry check out what Boucheron have recently installed on their website...
https://www.boucheron.com/
Check out these videos below...
Also, for those recently engaged or just want to have fun trying on high -end jewelry check out what Boucheron have recently installed on their website...
https://www.boucheron.com/
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
MediaPost: Why Marketers Shouldn't Give Up On Twitter
Feel free to click on the link above or read the article below...either way it will take you to a little piece that i wrote recently around the need for marketers to persist with Twitter as a branded multi directional communications channel.
Its not an easy platform to get your head around as a brand, and Twitter certainly haven't made it easy for brands to drive revenue from their service - but perhaps this is a good thing. It makes us marketers think creatively, come up with solutions that we may not have done if it had been handed to us on a silver platter. I have to say that's one part of my job I love....finding new ways for brands to become part of a useful and profitable value exchange with their customers and prospects.
Would love to know your thoughts/comments on this article. Cheers!
MediaPost: Why Marketers Shouldn't Give Up On Twitter
There has been much debate recently about whether or not Twitter is a meaningful tool for brands.
But there's no doubt that consumers and marketers are having real, two-way conversations through Twitter that are producing measurable results for brands like Dell and Best Buy. Consumers want to communicate with brands -- and with the recent proliferation of participatory digital platforms, access to them and other consumers is easier than ever before.
Beyond a doubt, social media is now mainstream. Facebook, just over six years old, recently hit 500 million users. To appreciate just how fast that is, consider that it took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users and broadcast TV 13 years to reach that same number. Marketers are recognizing social media's value and putting more money toward it: Borrell Associates predicts that worldwide social network ad spending will increase 68% from $4 billion in 2009 to $7.5 billion in 2010, and continue to grow every year to about $38 billion by 2015.
But connecting with consumers using social media means more than just posting an advertisement on YouTube, updating a Facebook status or keeping a corporate Twitter account current. Marketers must utilize these platforms strategically and focus more on relevant content creation and less on interruptive messaging. Dell and Best Buy, for example, have found success on Twitter and other social media by being genuinely interested in and responsive to consumer input.
Dell began using Twitter in 2007 as a cost-efficient way to advertise deals from Dell Outlet, which sells refurbished equipment. But Dell soon noticed that consumers embraced the Twitter account as a direct link to the company, using it to ask questions, register complaints and praise. So Dell broadened its Twitter approach, using it as a forum for listening, not just pushing out messages.
Today, Dell has more than 80 Dell-branded Twitter accounts that offer everything from videos of new technologies to promotions for Asia-Pacific customers. Not only has Dell's presence built brand loyalty, it has helped the company's bottom line: Dell has booked more than $3 million in revenue attributable to its Twitter posts, according to Twitter101 CaseStudies.
Best Buy has leveraged Twitter just as effectively via the Twelpforce page -- a digital take on the blue-shirted members of Best Buy's Geek Squad and technical support service. Members of the Geek Squad and corporate employees staff Best Buy's @twelpforce account, fielding questions from consumers using an @reply to the customer. Best Buy has employees tag their tweets with #twelpforce, sending the answer through the @twelpforce account and allowing anyone searching the feed to find topics of interest.
According to Twitter101 CaseStudies, the Twelpforce has provided over 19,500 answers to customer inquiries, over 2,300 Best Buy employees have signed up to answer questions, and complaints to Best Buy were reduced by 20% in the first year of the Twelpforce program.
These are just a couple of notable examples of strategic use of social platforms to deliver against the objectives of a marketing campaign. As these illustrate, connecting with consumers via new and popular media like Twitter can deliver customer- and investor- pleasing results: Dell attributes more than $3 million in revenue to its Twitter activity and Best Buy reduced consumer complaints by 20% in the @Twelpforce program.
To be sure, some marketers are taking advantage of social media's potential: 22.4% of B2B marketers and 24.6% of B2C marketers globally are using Twitter successfully to drive sales by linking to companies' promotional webpage's as well as helping to boost SEO rankings.
To take that activity to a higher level, as Dell did, requires investment in exploring the medium's potential, creativity, and a commitment to creating and optimizing content that will fulfill your customers' needs and spark a dialogue.
Given the relatively low cost of establishing accounts on Twitter and other social media outlets, sales driven from these platforms can result in low cost per acquisition and high return on investment. Certainly, a worthy investment.
by Jessica Michaels, October 12th, 2010
Its not an easy platform to get your head around as a brand, and Twitter certainly haven't made it easy for brands to drive revenue from their service - but perhaps this is a good thing. It makes us marketers think creatively, come up with solutions that we may not have done if it had been handed to us on a silver platter. I have to say that's one part of my job I love....finding new ways for brands to become part of a useful and profitable value exchange with their customers and prospects.
Would love to know your thoughts/comments on this article. Cheers!
MediaPost: Why Marketers Shouldn't Give Up On Twitter
There has been much debate recently about whether or not Twitter is a meaningful tool for brands.
But there's no doubt that consumers and marketers are having real, two-way conversations through Twitter that are producing measurable results for brands like Dell and Best Buy. Consumers want to communicate with brands -- and with the recent proliferation of participatory digital platforms, access to them and other consumers is easier than ever before.
Beyond a doubt, social media is now mainstream. Facebook, just over six years old, recently hit 500 million users. To appreciate just how fast that is, consider that it took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users and broadcast TV 13 years to reach that same number. Marketers are recognizing social media's value and putting more money toward it: Borrell Associates predicts that worldwide social network ad spending will increase 68% from $4 billion in 2009 to $7.5 billion in 2010, and continue to grow every year to about $38 billion by 2015.
But connecting with consumers using social media means more than just posting an advertisement on YouTube, updating a Facebook status or keeping a corporate Twitter account current. Marketers must utilize these platforms strategically and focus more on relevant content creation and less on interruptive messaging. Dell and Best Buy, for example, have found success on Twitter and other social media by being genuinely interested in and responsive to consumer input.
Dell began using Twitter in 2007 as a cost-efficient way to advertise deals from Dell Outlet, which sells refurbished equipment. But Dell soon noticed that consumers embraced the Twitter account as a direct link to the company, using it to ask questions, register complaints and praise. So Dell broadened its Twitter approach, using it as a forum for listening, not just pushing out messages.
Today, Dell has more than 80 Dell-branded Twitter accounts that offer everything from videos of new technologies to promotions for Asia-Pacific customers. Not only has Dell's presence built brand loyalty, it has helped the company's bottom line: Dell has booked more than $3 million in revenue attributable to its Twitter posts, according to Twitter101 CaseStudies.
Best Buy has leveraged Twitter just as effectively via the Twelpforce page -- a digital take on the blue-shirted members of Best Buy's Geek Squad and technical support service. Members of the Geek Squad and corporate employees staff Best Buy's @twelpforce account, fielding questions from consumers using an @reply to the customer. Best Buy has employees tag their tweets with #twelpforce, sending the answer through the @twelpforce account and allowing anyone searching the feed to find topics of interest.
According to Twitter101 CaseStudies, the Twelpforce has provided over 19,500 answers to customer inquiries, over 2,300 Best Buy employees have signed up to answer questions, and complaints to Best Buy were reduced by 20% in the first year of the Twelpforce program.
These are just a couple of notable examples of strategic use of social platforms to deliver against the objectives of a marketing campaign. As these illustrate, connecting with consumers via new and popular media like Twitter can deliver customer- and investor- pleasing results: Dell attributes more than $3 million in revenue to its Twitter activity and Best Buy reduced consumer complaints by 20% in the @Twelpforce program.
To be sure, some marketers are taking advantage of social media's potential: 22.4% of B2B marketers and 24.6% of B2C marketers globally are using Twitter successfully to drive sales by linking to companies' promotional webpage's as well as helping to boost SEO rankings.
To take that activity to a higher level, as Dell did, requires investment in exploring the medium's potential, creativity, and a commitment to creating and optimizing content that will fulfill your customers' needs and spark a dialogue.
Given the relatively low cost of establishing accounts on Twitter and other social media outlets, sales driven from these platforms can result in low cost per acquisition and high return on investment. Certainly, a worthy investment.
by Jessica Michaels, October 12th, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
The 8 Success Criteria for Facebook Page Marketing
Worth a read. Let me know what you think and please share if you think there is a better document out there.
The 8 Success Criteria For Facebook Page Marketing
View more documents from Jeremiah Owyang.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The New Advertising Agency
I recently worked on a social media campaign for a rather large technology company.
The campaign was a B2B focused initiative targeting those folks in an organisation that are responsible for IT. IT people have shown an unflinching propensity to dislike advertising and our prognostication during the early stages of the campaign was that what they really wanted was useful, intelligent 'conversation and content' that helped them solve specific business problems.
So we did something we usually don't do - instead of using all of our media buys for performance based advertising we used it to distribute relevant content, targeted at various segments of our audience. We became, in essence, both an aggregator and a publisher of content. We wrote and produced our own content, we corralled an army of bloggers - and no we didn't pay any of them - to help us shift perception of our clients products in the digital marketplace and answer any questions from our target audience as and when they arose.
We familiarised ourselves deeply with our clients products and services so we could become part of the conversation and indeed help drive solutions to the problems our clients customers were experiencing.
And then we measured every action and reaction.
Media planning and buying, transferring value from the owner of inventory to our clients, is our core business. However this campaign showed us that ad agencies have evolved and have the core capabilities to be a valued partner in content creation and a significant component of the distribution chain.
The data we were able to pull from this campaign was phenomenal.The insight gleaned from analyzing this data is already driving major shifts on how we will be planning, buying - and creating media - for our clients future campaigns.
Pretty exciting stuff....
The campaign was a B2B focused initiative targeting those folks in an organisation that are responsible for IT. IT people have shown an unflinching propensity to dislike advertising and our prognostication during the early stages of the campaign was that what they really wanted was useful, intelligent 'conversation and content' that helped them solve specific business problems.
So we did something we usually don't do - instead of using all of our media buys for performance based advertising we used it to distribute relevant content, targeted at various segments of our audience. We became, in essence, both an aggregator and a publisher of content. We wrote and produced our own content, we corralled an army of bloggers - and no we didn't pay any of them - to help us shift perception of our clients products in the digital marketplace and answer any questions from our target audience as and when they arose.
We familiarised ourselves deeply with our clients products and services so we could become part of the conversation and indeed help drive solutions to the problems our clients customers were experiencing.
And then we measured every action and reaction.
Media planning and buying, transferring value from the owner of inventory to our clients, is our core business. However this campaign showed us that ad agencies have evolved and have the core capabilities to be a valued partner in content creation and a significant component of the distribution chain.
The data we were able to pull from this campaign was phenomenal.The insight gleaned from analyzing this data is already driving major shifts on how we will be planning, buying - and creating media - for our clients future campaigns.
Pretty exciting stuff....
Monday, July 26, 2010
Fortune Brainstorm:TECH 2010
Just got back from Aspen after a fantastic Fortune Magazine Brainstorm: TECH 2010 conference.
Brainstorm: TECH is a gathering of the world's top technology and media leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, and visionaries who come together to explore the trends that are changing the future of business.
We were given digital media prognostications from industry leaders such as Irving Azoff of Live Nation, Bobby Koitck from Activision Blizzard and Irwin Gotlieb from GroupM. We also attended or participated in deep dives around key topic areas such as "Hyperpersonalization" and "Mobile Advertising". The panel I spoke on "Building Brands Online" was a lively discussuion with co panelists Tom Bedecarre, Chris DeWolfe, Brian McAndrews, Barry Salzman, Mike Volpi and moderated by Wes Nichols.
More to come from Brainstorm TECH, so watch this space....
Brainstorm: TECH is a gathering of the world's top technology and media leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, and visionaries who come together to explore the trends that are changing the future of business.
We were given digital media prognostications from industry leaders such as Irving Azoff of Live Nation, Bobby Koitck from Activision Blizzard and Irwin Gotlieb from GroupM. We also attended or participated in deep dives around key topic areas such as "Hyperpersonalization" and "Mobile Advertising". The panel I spoke on "Building Brands Online" was a lively discussuion with co panelists Tom Bedecarre, Chris DeWolfe, Brian McAndrews, Barry Salzman, Mike Volpi and moderated by Wes Nichols.
More to come from Brainstorm TECH, so watch this space....
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Surrealism and Social Media
Surrealism changed my view of the world. I was first introduced to Surrealism around 14 years of age by my art history teacher. She took us through the Dada and Surrealist movements in great detail and took care in pointing out all the symbolism and meaning behind those magic masterpieces.
Some of the paintings that had maximum impact on me were The Lovers and Son of Man by Magritte and the Persistence of Time and Metamorphosis Of Narcissus by Dali.
I loved the exploration and discovery that would take place when we were introduced to a new painting. The questions that would be asked such as; Why is the clock melting? What does the apple mean? Why do those people in the paintings have cloths over their heads? Sometimes our teacher would have the answer and sometimes not, but I often preferred to derive my own meaning from the painting and allow my imagination to run wild. Wonderful stuff.
When the Surrealist Manifesto(s) was written by Andre Breton, in collaboration with other writers and artists of that time, their main philosophy was based around the fact that rational thought was, by in large, the source of all problems in the world and that change would only occur through the shedding of the rational mind and leveraging the subconscious. The Manifesto(s) delved deeper into that philosophy with the idea that simple, everyday things, objects etc could have deeper meaning when viewed within the subconscious.
As with all art movements Surrealism was no doubt and expression of a period in time and a rebellion against the status quo. It asked, above all else, to look at the world a little differently and allow yourself to question why and how you have always viewed the world and the things within it. Perhaps, it challenged, you could solve a problem though approaching that problem from a different angle.
Although I am not suggesting that Social Media or indeed Digital Media is by any means an artistic movement – although I have heard some people argue that point well – I do believe we are at a moment in time where we are finding ourselves challenging the status quo and finding solutions to problems by approaching a problem from a different and usually, more creative angle.
Creating something beautiful, engaging, shocking even is needed today in order to get attention. I think that Social Media and the plethora of tools and technologies that now exist provide us with carte blanch to paint a brands picture on the digital canvas a little differently. A strong Social Media strategy with deep creative integration can take a brand from the mundane and forgettable to the extraordinary and remarkable. Being less prescriptive and allowing discovery and interpretation to happen a little more subconsciously is a hugely powerful movement that is swiftly picking up speed.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Relevant Creative
Lots of discussion is happening right now around content strategies and how there needs to be integration between paid, owned and earned media channels. Creativity and innovation is still, and always should be, at the heart of everything we do. However, it is not good enough anymore to spend months coming up with a great creative strategy / idea - no matter how mind blowing the creative may be if you have missed your opportuntiy to be relevant. Brands need to target audiences when they are open to being targeted with relevant content - not content that shouts about the product or brand benefits alone. Media is no longer about negotiating the lowest price for the broadest reach. This thinking just doesn't work when it comes to the incredibly fractured media market we all now work in.
So yes, inegration is key, as is relevant creative and many brands are figuring this out. For agencies, the role that we play when it comes to faciliating our client needs is changing and its important that we keep up with our clients demands and their customers needs.
There is - and should be - shared accountability in every campaign you deploy. For those of you who work in social media on a daily basis you will know that the agency of now and the agency of the future will not be held accountable for just reach metrics, or flashy mind blowing creative but for real KPI's that map back to real business goals and objectives such as sales. Thoughts Digital Think Tankers?
So yes, inegration is key, as is relevant creative and many brands are figuring this out. For agencies, the role that we play when it comes to faciliating our client needs is changing and its important that we keep up with our clients demands and their customers needs.
There is - and should be - shared accountability in every campaign you deploy. For those of you who work in social media on a daily basis you will know that the agency of now and the agency of the future will not be held accountable for just reach metrics, or flashy mind blowing creative but for real KPI's that map back to real business goals and objectives such as sales. Thoughts Digital Think Tankers?
Monday, March 22, 2010
@Zara78
As a digital media strategist statistics are always going to get me a little bit excited - especially those pertaining to my own social relevancy. TweetStats is a neat little tool which lets you track - for free - your twitter profile statistics. (See examples below) It has great charts and word clouds to visualize and report on your Twitter activity, and although it is not as sophisticated as some of the proprietary tools available in the market, it definitely does a good job for analysing your own social currency when it comes to Twitter.
By the way - my twitter handle is @zara78 so follow me...and i will follow you!
By the way - my twitter handle is @zara78 so follow me...and i will follow you!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Brands Are Going GaGa for Gaga
The much anticipated music video collaboration between Lady Gaga and Beyonce - Telephone - has been finally released on Vevo. The video - which is all about Gaga going to jail only have have Beyonce bail her out and then run a deadly rampage through an American Diner - is full of fantastic choreography and costumes and all the drama you would expect from both artists. However the twist here is that the video also has a phenomenal amount of product placement....in fact i stopped counting how many brands i spied about half way through watching the video. Is this the resurgence of the music video which as a creative platform has all but fallen off the map due to the financial fall out of the music industry? Will advertising and product placement save the day? Or does this damage the authenticity of the 'art' behind the process of making a music video? Thoughts please......
Thursday, January 21, 2010
2009 Agency Innovator of the Year
I realise it's a little late to be updating my blog for the first time in 2010 on Jan 21st, however already 2010 is shaking out to be a pretty busy year. Many of my clients who in 2009 were still a little hesitant about exploring the possibilities that social and emerging media can provide, have in 2010, no doubt in their minds. An exciting and somewhat daunting process as we ramp up on resources and look for great partners to work with.
Innovation is going to be one of my keyword mantras for 2010 and I promise to post regularly on all things innovative, cool, exciting and new in the digital space. In the meantime check out a pretty cool magazine that really focuses on driving innovation within the global media industry. The Internationalist Magazine. I was fortunate enough to be named one of their Agency Innovators in 2009 and if your interested in reading the bios of all the named innovators click on the above link. As always, would love to know your thoughts and feedback on innovation - what do you think is the next big thing in digital?
Monday, November 16, 2009
Canada Media Day
Had a great couple of days in Toronto last week at the Canadian Media and Digital Conference. I presented the 'Evolution of Media' on behalf of GroupM / mediaedge:cia which was somewhat of a prognostication on the state of industry and the trends that will define us over the next couple of years.
I really enjoyed MediaVest's Brian Terkelsen's "Effective Product Integration" presentation and it was good to see that all of us speakers were singing to the same tune: creative, media, data and technology all need to be integrated work streams in order for companies and their agencies to be successful in their marketing endeavors.
If you were there, I would love to know your thoughts on the day and the content of the event...
I really enjoyed MediaVest's Brian Terkelsen's "Effective Product Integration" presentation and it was good to see that all of us speakers were singing to the same tune: creative, media, data and technology all need to be integrated work streams in order for companies and their agencies to be successful in their marketing endeavors.
If you were there, I would love to know your thoughts on the day and the content of the event...
Monday, October 19, 2009
Canadian Marketing Week
Looking forward to speaking at Canadian Marketing Week next month. I am speaking on the Evolving Media Landscape and how we - all those involved marketing today - are being affected by this change. You can read more about the Digital Day and Awards Ceremony at the CMA Website. Let me know if you will be there and feel free to follow me on twitter as I will be tweeting from the event. My handle is @zara78
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Love Good Statistics
I'm a sucker for good statistics - especially those game changing social media stats that are popping up all over the Internet. One of my favourites at the moment is "Do you Know 4.0" which has now had over 500,000 view on YouTube. Definitely worth a watch. Would love to know if you know of any other stats videos out there that are worth sharing?
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