How excited were you when you saw Episode 8 and learned about the different types of audience?  We know; Earth shattering.  Keep it together because this week we’re going to astound you yet again with information you haven’t already heard a million times.  All this talk of social media this and new media that is a good thing for your business, but it’s not the only way to reach, entertain, and retain the modern audience.

In Episode 9 we’ll take a look at why it’s so important to embrace all forms of media in an effort to connect with everyone.  We especially  want to reach out and touch those who may be thinking of crossing over to the new paradigm, but haven’t yet taken the plunge.  Although you really should consider this bandwagon because it’s fun here.  Besides, we know you’re always looking for new ways to dissuade cognitive dissonance.  Holla!

Episode 9 features: Beth Diamond, Timothy Golden, Jason Feinberg, and Zach Jordan

Photo by: Travis Jensen

In our last episode, we learned that the power of a loyal audience today is due to quality not quantity.  This week we explain the three main types of audience and how the new, “lean forward” audience engages with content across multiple platforms.  How does one engage people when they are consuming across all platforms, including live events?   Ultimately, the best way to “defrag” any audience today is to weave a compelling story that relies on traditional storytelling maxims AND speaks with a unified voice utilizing only the appropriate platforms that apply to your story.

Episode 8 features: Suzanne Diamond, Timothy Golden, and Zach Jordan

photo by: TourettesWithoutRegrets

In Episode 5 we find out why it’s so important to have all the elements of the conversation in place in order to encourage audience participation and build a loyal following.  This week we take a closer look at crafting an authentic message.  You don’t always have to be good, but you do have to be interesting and there’s usually nothing more interesting than a little authenticity in your story.  In this week’s episode, we tell you why an authentic message is so critical during this paradigm shift and beyond.

Episode 6 features: Suzanne Diamond and Zach Jordan

]]> http://www.joedigitalblog.com/targeted-distribution/episode-6-social-media-hold-the-bs/feed 1 http://www.joedigitalblog.com/targeted-distribution/episode-5-the-conversation-equation http://www.joedigitalblog.com/targeted-distribution/episode-5-the-conversation-equation#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:18:59 +0000 Zach Jordan http://www.joedigitalblog.com/?p=787 Keep Reading]]>

The big scary paradigm shift in technology, entertainment and advertising (don’t worry everything else is converging too) is akin to the implosion of the music industry. We spent years building up obstacles between the music and the fans and trying to ignore the fact that they were always in control. When the dust finally settles this time around, we’ll all be able to see clearly that, in the crowded world of content, we need to provide as clear a path as possible between your music and your fans. Great content is like music; it might be brilliant but without anyone around to hear it, nobody will ever get to experience the greatness. Episode 5 explains the Joe Digital special formula we like to follow:

High Quality Content + Strategic Distribution = Loyal Participants

Next week, in Episode 6, we’ll take a look at why it’s so important to craft an honest story when starting  the conversation with your audience.

Episode 5 features: Zach Jordan

As we saw in Episode 3, there are several ways to track audience data.  You can find out, on a very granular level, who they are, where they like to play, and other important metrics that are required to make great content and distribute it strategically across the web.  In Episode 4 we find out why it’s so important to utilize this data and help you create a loyal bond with your audience.  We’ll also look at why it’s imperative to come from an authentic place when creating interesting and relevant storylines for your content.  Remember: the consumer bullshit meter is very sensitive!

Episode 4 features: Jason Feinberg, Suzanne Diamond, Timothy Golden and Zach Jordan

The other weekend, though, I was compelled to at least loosen my grip on the status quo and take a deep bow in the direction of the tsunami that is heading our way. Here’s the scoop. I looked in on my two girls (12 and 10, respectively) when I heard blaring music shaking the foundation.

I opened the door (without knocking because, well, I can). There they were, TV on full blast, watching some show where the latest quasi-pubescent heartthrob, Justin Beaver (I know his name is Bieber, but I do that just to mess with them), was guest starring. Each had their laptop (spoiled like you can’t imagine) on YouTube watching this kid “sing” really deep and meaningful songs. They also had him on their iTouches (is that the plural, or iTouchae?). One was on the phone talking to her friend, who was apparently watching / listening to the same Bieberpalooza and the other was texting about the same. In short, it was a platform agnostic, social networking, wireless, audio / visual, crowd sourced, simulcast of all things Beaver (again, just to make my kids nuts). The only thing missing was this kid live, in my house, rocking out (generous on my part) to my screaming girls and their digitally connected fan club. Of course, that came several days later when they saw him live (and, as we all know, Bieber live is like seeing The Boss live in the late 1970s—only the four hour set replaced by 3 four minute songs, primarily about school and gum). Told you they were spoiled.  By the way, while engrossed in their little BieberFest, they never even noticed I was there.  I hate Justin Bieber.

I think this is what Zach calls “living digital”.

The next day, I was telling this story to a bunch of folks at a charity event. A crowd gathered. I’d like to say that this occurred because I am a devastatingly handsome, social vortex creating, brilliant raconteur. Turns out, they all had their own recent digital life epiphanies. One 27 year old woman said her 22 year old brother thinks she is a digital dinosaur (by the way, this gal knows her stuff).

A youngish grandfather told me how his son’s 6 year old borrowed his Blackberry and asked Granddad how to make an exclamation point. Granddad’s direction to “look for the button with the black dot on the lower left side” was met with (six year old mind you) “Granddad, why didn’t you just say that I should use the ALT key?” Finally, when another youngish grandmother (do I kiss ass well or what?), told me that she saw her 2-year-old grand child “thumbing” a toy block as if it were a mobile phone while playing, the light bulb went off. If my girls and babies are doing all of this now, one can only imagine what is ahead.

Yes, Zach, you are correct. You win. The wave is a comin’, what we think is the future now will encounter obsolescence in moments, and thank the stars that we don’t “only make big splashy network TV shows anymore”. Tech will change story, story will change tech, our willingness to adopt the new will spread endlessly like the universe and alter, impact and dictate all of the above.

That said, a month or so from now when I can have things simply beamed into my head, thereby reducing my mind’s eye to a vestigial, outsourced, hunk of my gray matter, I think I am still going to want to go to the movies. Now if only everyone would stop with the damned cell phones glowing, ruining the moment and distracting me from the Academy Award winning acting dynamo known as Megan Fox.

Crackberry photo: nkpix

Transmedia Storytelling Explained

The story of traditional branding and marketing, set against the backdrop of this nerve racking, yet exciting paradigm shift, makes yet another exciting plot twist. “360 storytelling”, “Multi-platform storytelling”, or Transmedia storytelling, as it was coined many years ago by the great MIT/USC professor Henry Jenkins, is moving away from the fringe and into the limelight. While the nomenclature continues to evolve, the idea remains consistent: Great Story + Strategic Distribution = Loyal Participants.

Some of us have been reared on this type of storytelling, while others are realizing its power through sheer necessity. Right now there is more content being produced and distributed every single minute, from every part of the globe, and across multiple platforms, than at any time in history.  How does a brand or entertainment property reach out and retain peoples’ attention and create loyalty?

In traditional branding, (1) determining the customers’ journey and (2) identifying the number of touch points where your brand will intersect with peoples’ lives, were important first steps in successfully managing a brand’s message. We’ve moved beyond the need for a great idea and unrelenting brand messaging and into a new era where:

• a compelling story is the only way to guide customers through this new crowded landscape and

• a strategic and relevant distribution strategy is the only way to encourage engagement and ultimately create loyal participants.

When people watch their favorite TV shows, it’s very common for them to be engaged with another activity – they’re online or using their mobile phone to supplement their involvement with the story. This is yet another reason why it’s so crucial to have a strong narrative that holds on all organic platforms. There are simply too many entry and exit points for the audience these days to approach things any other way. Rest assured, this type of storytelling is here to stay. Coupled with emerging social media and mobile technologies, Transmedia storytelling techniques will become the spine of every successful branding campaign in the very near future.

Transmedia Storytelling Is Gaining Popularity

The born digital generation is accelerating the popularity of this storytelling trend in marketing because this demographic expects their branding and entertainment to be completely:

(1) on demand

(2) on their terms

(3) authentic

Transmedia has been popular in filmmaking and TV for awhile and it is quickly gaining popularity in other forms of branding and media. “The Lord of the Rings” franchise and MTV’s “Valemont”, are prime examples of large scale Transmedia projects. For example, the “Valemont” fan can watch the show and, to get their complete “Valemont” fix, can use their mobile phones or log onto the website for extra pieces of story and content. This evolution in storytelling creates the need to carry a narrative across multiple platforms and technologies, and sets the stage for an engaged group of people to interact, share clues and ultimately become communities of loyal participants.

If your story lives with them, they live your story. Later this week In Part II, we’ll take a deeper look behind the technology that is bringing this new paradigm to life and make some predictions about the future of Transmedia storytelling in marketing and entertainment.

Photo by: Sabellachan

The brand police are knocking at the door.  You can run but you can’t hide!

In today’s Ad Age, Jack Neff writes about Good Guide, a consumer brand rating site that has already put their scale of 1-10 on over 75,000 products.  While consumer watchdogs have been around a long, long time, this more recent entry highlights a rising note that we have mentioned in prior posts—in the digital age of massive choice, one of the biggest consumer demands will be authenticity.  GoodGuide highlights the fact that the engaged consumer will not tolerate the brand that mouths claims that are not demonstrably accurate.

Utilizing their academic backgrounds, UC Berkeley professor, Dara O’Rourke,  and his colleagues use the power of various databases, consumer input and the want / need for a reinvigorated policing source, Good Guide seems to have most of the modern marketing maxims in play.   They are delivering objective information on the authenticity of consumer brands—proving their own authenticity (the lack of ads helps).  They are creating a genuine partnership between their site, the brands, and the consumer by both utilizing consumer input and informing brands, very transparently, about how they can improve their scores and, thus, their standing with the public.  They are also delivering all of this in the mandatory personal way.  Within brand conglomerates, divisions can work on their own ratings.  For the consumer, O’Rourke says they will soon allow users to create their own personalized scales based upon how each of them weigh the various indicia of “good”.

It all seems to be working.  Awareness of the site is rising. Brands are actively engaging.  Aileen Zerrudo, the Director of Communications for Clorox notes that they are genuinely listening to what the consumer is saying via GoodGuide.  Moreover, the company claims that click to conversion rates from the site to Amazon.com are 5-10 times higher than most retailers’ traditional returns.   A well-known brand actually wanting to listen, improve and increase market share?  I’m betting that the smart brand begins to actively seek out these kinds of relationships.

So how does a brand fare well with GoodGuide and, presumably, turn the maybe consumer into a loyal participant?  According to GoodGuide: (1) Change Ingredients to meet the desire for natural; (2) Quality Management (avoid recall disasters); (3) Internal Policies matter (fair labor, CSR, etc.); (4) Green and Responsible (a clean record and sustainable production); and (5) Be Transparent (if you hide data, we will find it).

So let’s say a brand follows the rules and carries the day with a “10″.  Now they just need to pat themselves on the back and incorporate how they got there into every aspect of their marketing.  By following the same rules in their marketing (being authentic, delivering personal value, being transparent, and actually caring enough to engage), brands will ride the wave instead of ending up in the trough.  Tout your score (in the right manner of course—sorry nitpickers) and score big with the public.  In the end, quality and authenticity need to become key elements of a brand’s story.  Deliver that story to the audience on their terms and you end up with quality, loyal, and passionate participants.

In today’s WSJ online, Elizabeth Holmes, writes about how teen retailers like Aeropostale are starting to do a deep bow towards those with the purse strings.  They are adding chairs for Mom so she can more comfortably survive the teen shopping frenzy.  They are creating personal shopping programs, available at mom-friendly times.  Wow.  They understand that their consumer needs to (a) get to the store and (b) have money before they can make a purchase.  Hope springs eternal.

Now, all we have to do is broaden this marketing epiphany and start to apply this power-of-the-purse recognition to all aspects of branding and marketing.  Moms and Dads are as much part of the fragmented digital space as anyone.  They too have a ton of choices.  They too don’t want to be “sold”.  They too exist on line and in self-selected pods on the social networks and passion sites.  As I have noted in the past, Moms buy jeans, TVs, skateboards, cars, and the offerings under virtually every vertical.

If Mom is more likely to embrace Aeropostale thanks to a place to sit, imagine what would happen if they installed a Man Cave. A back room, flat screen, BIG chairs, etc.  I can see it now.  Saturday morning, I wake up, have my coffee and excitedly wake up my girls and say “Hey kids!  Let’s go to Abercrombie!”  I’d be loyal to that brand.

Your audience has always been in control of your messaging, but now they are equipped with the digital tools to demand everything be completely on their terms.  Understanding your audience, the way they speak, the terms they use and places they like to interact with each other is as important as a solid story structure.  Two key factors to remember about audience in the 360 story environment: (1) Every audience is different and (2) Audiences will continue to fragment across multiple platforms.  Here are three main types of audience today:

1. Passive, lean back audience

2. Engaged, audience

3. Active, lean forward audience

The traditional TV viewer is considered part of the passive “lean back” audience, as they enjoy a great idea or story, but don’t feel compelled to participate past the emotional involvement of the story.  The engaged audience will be watching and following along on a related website or checking Twitter and Facebook for related conversations.  The active “lean forward” audience (think LOST) is hungry for the opportunity to co-create your story.  They are participating with other fans, uploading content and providing your story with additional distribution.  In the 360 story environment it’s about audience loyalty. If you don’t supply your rabid fans with interactive tools like widgets, websites, mobile applications, and games, they will look elsewhere.  One of the great opportunities, with respect to the lean forward audience, is the ability to test different 360 storytelling elements to see what resonates with the fans.  Tomorrow we’ll look at the 360 FOCUS GROUP and how you can harness the power of your fans and deliver exactly what they need and want.