I have just returned from three intense days at Hyper Island, a digital immersion program that affirms the shifting sands for brands in the digital space. Based in Sweden and dubbed the “Digital Harvard,” Hyper Island has offices in New York, London and Sydney. The program’s sessions revolve around open discussions and workshops with inspiring and informative speakers.
Here are some goodies that I snuck back through customs. Fortunately, a lot of these points are already instilled at our agency, and if you are also doing these things, great. If not, well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Always be in constant beta
A project is no longer over once it is out the door. With all the analytics we have to work with, every project should always be updating and optimizing. When you are in constant beta, you are never wrong – you are nimbly correcting your mistakes and making the consumer experience better.
Everyone is lost and that’s a great thing
You don’t need to know exactly what is coming. You just need to be able to respond quickly. Your ability to respond to change will be your brand’s greatest asset. And of equal importance, if you don’t dare to make mistakes you’ll never come up with something new. As Woody Allen once said, “80% of success is showing up.” So do stuff. Try stuff. Think of stuff. Don’t wait for permission. Do the do. Your brand will be successful for it.
Stop trying to be first to be second
Fear of the unknown means that many of us want to be first to be second. In other words, we want someone else to be the innovator and sort out the bugs before it’s safe for us to copy and jump in. And this is a tough hurdle for many of us to get over. Get your brand to become an early participant rather than a traditional interrupter. Consumers will like you for it. They’ll even forgive the bugs.
Solve a problem, then tell everyone about it
Or as I like to say, don’t overshoot the runway. When it comes down to briefs, we often get so caught up in the specific task at hand that we forget about why we are all here in the first place – to use our brains to solve a business problem. So instead of looking at the media plan (this shouldn’t even exist yet), get to the root of the problem and try to solve that. Then figure out how you are going to tell everyone about it.
Don’t try to be viral, just be useful
Attention is a diminishing resource. One must earn consumer engagement. So while everyone is trying to be viral, the quickest way to consumer engagement is being useful. Useful is the new cool. Domino’s Pizza Tracker (check it out) is incredibly useful. And because it is so useful, customers might forgive other potential shortcomings. So forget viral. If what you make is useful, it will become viral. The simple formula for success: Solve a customer problem, then tell everyone about it. And never say the V-word again.
You don’t own your brand – people do…
What was once a media landscape that was operated by a small group of individuals is now a different animal that includes over 2 billion participants. The democratization of information has meant that brand ownership has shifted from the marketing departments and ad agencies to the people. People now have the ability to control the brand through social media. Yes, the hoi polloi now has more of a say on the success of a brand than the CMO. You need to get used to this shift and learn to thrive within it. Get over your ego – you are only a part of the conversation. You can’t change it on your own.
…So stop making ads. Instead, create movements.
Brand communication is no longer a one-way conversation. It is a dialogue. Do not try to convince people to buy your brand. Rather, give them reasons to join your brand. Consumers want to participate. They want to do business with human brands. A great example is Boston Pizza changing its name to Montreal Pizza to support the Habs in the NHL playoffs. Brilliant and so incredibly simple. Once you do things like this, the buying will follow.
Mark Biernacki is vice-president and creative director at Lowe Roche
@mpbiernacki
