Some of the best advice I ever received. Freshman year in college from one of my acting coaches, Larry Hovis. He was a simple man and this is simple advice.
Be on time, be prepared, and be sober.
It’s stuck with me ever since. Regardless of what I do (no longer acting), I think about this often.
If you show up day in and day out, do your homework before you show up, and have a clear mind, more good things will happen than not.
I’ve passed this tire many times over the past few months. Every time I pass it, I wonder what it signifies. So, finally on Friday, as I was passing by it again, I had a conversation with a friend who is also a local. It uncovered something interesting as it relates to the ‘experience’ of anything-out-of-home. Can the experience – in this case, the unique execution – actually be counterproductive to a brand? Here’s the conversation that leads me to question:
Mike: “What is that?”
Friend: “A big tire.”
Mike: “Right. But what does it signify?”
Friend: “I don’t know.”
Mike: “Is Uniroyal’s factory there or something?”
Friend: “No. I don’t think so. I think it’s just a billboard.”
Mike: “Hmm.”
Friend: “One of those crazy billboards.”
Mike: “Yeah.”
This is the first time, after months of passing it, I ever thought of the notion that it was an advertisement (more than a landmark). I carried on.
Mike: “I guess the problem with that is – I don’t ever remember Uniroyal.”
Friend: “Oh, yeah, you forget that part. It’s just the big tire.”
It’s just the big tire. I wonder what Uniroyal would say about that. If it is, in fact, a billboard, it’s the thing that is the most memorable. Not the brand who is bringing the thing to you.
So, this makes me wonder about big, awesome, whiz-bang things that catch our eye – and even make us stop and engage – when we’re outside of the home, captive or not. Could be that those big, awesome whiz-bang things are so big, awesome and whiz-bang that the brand either gets lost or forgotten, or even worse – not associated with the thing altogether.
At first, it took technologists. For the networks and the hardware and the software.
Then, came the creatives. For the design and content.
After that came the strategists. For the right things to say to the right people at the right times.
And here we are now.
Already behind for the needs of today.
Top 2 on my list are:
1. Storytellers. For telling the right part of the story on the right screen at the right time.
2. Data interpreters. For understanding how to do #1 better.
How quickly it all happens.
I am willing to admit when I am wrong. I have not been as in-tune with the DSE as I should be. Yesterday, I posted about an NFC bootcamp and how the ‘industry’ does not focus on the right things. I still maintain that there is not education enough around or willingness to learn/adapt social media into the content mix of digital out-of-home solutions (but that’s for another day and for time to only tell). However, the DSF (group behind the DSE) has gone to great lengths to educate those within and outside of the industry around important tenets of communication and connections, of which social media and emerging technologies like NFC fall within.
Geri Wolff, member of the DSF board of directors, rightfully posted a comment to yesterday’s blog pointing out all of the efforts (through sessions) they are making at DSE to educate attendees on the value of social media. While I think the session titles do not necessarily lend themselves to be visible “social media” sessions, it seems like it is clearly a focus. Her response has good session information in it:
——
Hey Mike, In case it was not previously clear, DSE 2012 will offer a variety of educational opportunities on how social media can help ignite DS messaging to better engage audiences. In case you did not see it, there is a half day session on Tuesday, 3/6 entitled “Mobile Models You Can Believe In” (See http://www.digitalsignageexpo.net/new-mobile-models-you-can-believe).
On Wednesday, 3/7, Session 11 “Mobile Campaign Integration with DOOH” also addresses social integration with DS, along with other options. Also on Wednesday, Session 6 “Creating a Multi-Screen Strategy: Connecting DS to What Matters,” also deals with mobile convergence and ways to leverage social media with DS.
As a matter of fact, mobile strategies and the whole issue of convergence is a common thread that runs through most of the seminar sessions.
See the entire DSE 2012 Conference Schedule at http://www.digitalsignageexpo.net/schedule
Digital Signage Expo (DSE) is the largest digital signage show in the U.S. and in a couple of weeks, people are going to converge on Las Vegas to attend. I just read something touting an “NFC Bootcamp” – a half-day educational session centered around mobile’s (specifically, NFC’s) impact/integration into digital signage.
The title of the half-day session is ‘Near Field Communication: Changing the Digital Signage Value Proposition.‘
My first thought – when talking about changing the value proposition of digital signage, why are people so concerned about the latest, greatest technology and not concerned about how people actually communicate now through social media? Seems like that has a greater impact on the value proposition.
I’m one for exploring the latest emerging technology like NFC, particularly as it relates to maximizing the potential of digital signs/place/things around us. But to me, this is yet another example of the ‘industry’ focusing on what it wants to vs. the actual need. The thing that’s right in front of them.
I would dare say, without knowledge or experience in social media – by anyone involved in bringing digital/interactive out-of-home solutions to life – the solutions will always be unattainable at scale. Because they’ll be driven by technology whosits and whatsits and not the connections that the technology can enable.
I took my boys to see Star Wars today with one of my dad friends. We had to travel ~45 minutes away to the theatre we wanted to go to. All along the highway were traditional and digital billboards.
My friend is a CFO – he’s not one that likes to think that he thinks like a marketer or even a connector, whatever those two might mean. He’s a very practical thinker and self-proclaimed non-creative. But all of that really doesn’t matter – he’s a person who’s in tune with the effect of technology on our lives today.
So, we were talking about – as a brand – connecting with consumers through technology. And he said, “look at these – (pointing to the billboards on the side of the road) – will you remember what you saw a mile back? Much less ten minutes ago?”
We riffed on that and then he said more that stuck with me.
“I mean, they’re just not…personal. Even when you want to mass market to people, it’s really critical for it to be personal nowadays.”
This, from someone who doesn’t breathe this every day, someone who doesn’t try to solve problems around this very thing, someone who could care less, at the end of the day, how or what is done, as long as it’s profitable. But even this kind of someone understands the simple tenant to creating engagement – it’s got to be personal.
So, we can throw all the technology in the world at any sign or billboard or poster or other real-world object, but that technology is not realizing its full potential if it’s not doing something to create personal engagement.
What’s wrong with this picture?
What if I told you that this is the back of a pizza box?
As in, typically not the side of the box you look at when deciding on what pizza to buy.
Can you guess?
Well, before I get into it, I do think this brand is on to something with a couple of compelling pieces of content that might affect someone’s decision when buying frozen pizza:
1. “Consumer” reviews
2. Access to more information about their fresh ingredients (through the QR code)
To what extent either of these are actually drivers in the frozen pizza decision making process, I have no idea. But what I do know is that people are much more likely to make that decision based on what they see on the front of the box. Maybe the little bitty side, too, where all of the healthy (or not) ingredients are. But not the back.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you want someone to use an enabling technology like QR codes, then they have to be accessible. Especially in this instance, they must be in a convenient place where it’s not hard – much less not visible – to interact with. This is a simple rule.
But I think the biggest thing, beyond enabling technology or QR codes, is hiding what could be powerful word-of-mouth recommendations, which could definitely change purchase behavior. If no one reads them, how good/effective are they? (Nevermind that these aren’t particularly glowing recommendations.)
What this box teaches me is that despite how good your ideas are, if you’re not doing everything you can to make them visible and easy to interact with, then they will likely have 0 impact.
What. A. Week.
In fact, what a year. But we won’t focus on that right now.?!?!
This was a quintessential agency week. One filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. One where you have moments that you know, without a doubt, this is why you do this, and you have moments that you question with every ounce of your being, is it worth it. One that in the end, reminds you, through magic moments, that you were born to do something.
Through a couple of extraordinary circumstances this week, I found myself locked in a room with my college filmmaking buddy (who actually runs our production studio at the agency) ideating and writing scripts for one of our largest clients. It was a high pressure situation, timing was tight, and in a matter of 3 hours, we had concepted and written multiple scripts, were coordinating with the clients and legal and making arrangements to shoot one (or more) of the chosen concepts. Laughing, cursing, thinking, riffing. We were totally and completely in the mix, doing what we do. None of it felt like work.
In the end, we made a video. It’s a really good video. But that’s not my takeaway for the week. That’s not the magical part.
The magical part was actually the doing. Everything that went into making that video. It began with the belief that, against numerous odds, we could do this within the parameters we were given. It included taking a few risks through some of the concepts that we presented. And, most of all, it was about operating in our sweet spots – those zones where there’s 0 thinking about how to do it, you just do what you do, and something comes out as a result.
Work, no matter what business your in, is a grind at some point or another. It’s easy to grow complacent and go through the motions. For creators, this is death. Whether it’s you or one of your staff, recognize those things that enable you to operate in your sweet spot. It can be concepting and creating something or it could be organizing an event or it could be figuring out an enterprise-level network installation. Don’t be afraid to take risks, and above all, don’t be afraid to take on a challenge.
Magic just might happen.
Are connections today’s currency? Technology has enabled connections to be made quicker and farther and easier. When sitting in front of your TV, you can instantly connect with those watching the same exact thing. When shopping in a store, you can connect with the brands or products you love. You can even connect with strangers to get real-time opinions. Driving in your car, it’s now simple to safe(r)ly connect with your family or share your thoughts with your friends or get pointed in the right direction.
I’m just wondering how much value there is to something (be it a standard billboard or poster or even a digital version of either) that doesn’t enable quick, vast, or easy connections.
Seems like those are becoming stable stakes.
It is simple – if you want to make a touch screen anything, for it to be successful, the experience must be intuitive. And if you want to make it intuitive, here’s a few suggestions:
1. Look at what Apple has done
2. Look at your mobile device(s)
3. Look at your favorite websites
4. Watch children interact with them
That’s right. Children. The key to making successful touch screen experiences might just lie in the children.
Watch how my daughter (6) works through this experience that we came across at the Dallas Zoo:
And, now, watch how my son (3) works through the same experience:
Both, intuitively know what to do – press a picture or a button. In my daughter’s case (who has had computer training), her first instinct is to look for the pointer and drag it to the button or picture. Im my son’s case (who has only had phone/iPad training), his first instinct is to press the colorful thing(s) on the screen. This particular experience was laid out in a very simple format and flow. Simplicity certainly helps.
I found it interesting that they both instantly wanted to interact with these screens. I did see a few adults interacting with the screens, but the children that I saw just wanted to touch it and play with it. I think they might liken anything touch screen to games, but their curiosity drives their wish to interact.
Isn’t it funny that our curiosity becomes much more selective as we grow older, specifically around new technology? How can we capture the curiosity of a child for an everyday, grown-up experience? We have to continue getting creative, continue pushing. But we also need to get back to basics and create things that are simple and intuitive.