DigitalNext

Let's Try to Avoid Causing a Mobile-Marketing Revolt

Our Disruptive Nature Is in Danger of Killing Off Our Most Promising Opportunities

Posted by Freddie Laker on 10.07.09 @ 02:18 PM

Freddie Laker

Simply put, I'm excited about the potential of mobile marketing and particularly the convergence of social networking and mobile. New capabilities on phones are opening doors to limitless new marketing innovations and, simultaneously, developing countries are having entirely new segments of their population enter the digital world. I spend a lot of time in the day dreaming about how to bring entirely new digital experiences to people, but I think we need to proceed with caution. Marketers, the frequently reckless group of individuals we are, are in danger of screwing it up (again).

Consider the lessons from social media. One of the factors that caused so many marketers to fail in this space is they forgot basic web etiquette and lost sight that all successful marketing (on the modern web) is some form of value exchange. Consumers must be approached in a way that is not disruptive or disrespectful of their time. Social media was never free -- the buzz created around your brand or people's willingness to come together as a community was earned. They would tolerate a certain amount of advertising if it was a reasonable value exchange.

A Few Good Things to Come Out of the Recession

Five Accelerating Trends That Will Reshape Marketing

Posted by Freddie Laker on 08.26.09 @ 11:59 AM

Freddie Laker

I'm sure I'm not the first one to tell you: We're in a recession.

The doom has advertisers hanging signs along the lines of "Will Work For Food" on their agency walls, and marketers continue to face facts and figures like these, from Forrester's 2009 Global CMO Recession Survey: 71% of marketing budgets have been reduced this year, and more than half reported reductions greater than 20%.

Now here comes the curveball: I think this might be the best thing that has happened to our industry in decades. Yes, I said that. While I have empathy for those that have lost jobs and the extra pressure many of us are facing, it's also forced us to innovate, reinvent ourselves, think more strategically, and, most importantly, bring a level of sophistication and maturity that, in my opinion, has been desperately missing from digital advertising throughout most of the industry.

Creating Sustainable Conversations Will Define Success in Future

Why Dove, MasterCard, Nike Are Ahead of the Curve

Posted by Freddie Laker on 07.22.09 @ 12:51 PM

Every once and a while I will engage in a conversation with someone -- whether in the office, on the road, at Cannes, at the local eatery, you name it -- and they will say something that inspires a barrage of new thoughts. In each instance the statement's effect on me frequently goes unnoticed by the giver, while in my mind it sparks a very intense and enduring stream of thoughts which for weeks change the way I approach life or in this case marketing.

This is one of those instances, and I can't believe I was not able to verbalize this before.

How Xbox's Social Strategy Could Change Gaming Forever

It Creates New Ways to Market Titles and Turns the Console Into a Social Hub

Posted by Freddie Laker on 06.10.09 @ 11:19 AM

At the recent E3 Expo, Xbox fans eagerly anticipated news around their favorite gaming console. Expected announcements ranged from the unveiling of a new motion-control system to the release of several hot new games including "Halo 3: ODST." While each of these is a big deal for the gaming community, it was another announcement that might result in a "game over" message to the competition and a significant shift in the impact of gaming and in-game marketing.

Inexpensive Doesn't Have to Mean Less Intelligent

Use Free Tools With Open Architecture to Keep Campaigns Affordable

Posted by Freddie Laker on 04.29.09 @ 10:37 AM

The past year, although troubling and difficult for many people, has been a fascinating period in advertising. It has caused fundamental shifts in the balance of power between traditional and digital shops and, more important, changed the way that most savvy agencies approach marketing. Results are still king, but budgets are becoming more and more scrappy and if that wasn't challenging enough, the client is standing behind you with a pitchfork just to make sure that you stay on form.

This new marketing climate has businesses and brand teams embracing blogs and open-source content-management system (CMS) platforms to drive their new sites. While this shift is being viewed as a reaction to tough economic times, using tools like Drupal, Wordpress, Ping.fm, Twitter, Facebook Pages and others doesn't have to mean you're trying to take the cheap route. The fact is that these tools embrace open architectures that have a lot of work (particularly social media integration tools) already built into them.

How the Web Deconstructed Microsoft's Latest Campaign

The Biggest Lesson We Learn From 'Lauren'? Authenticity Rules

Posted by Freddie Laker on 04.02.09 @ 06:22 PM

Every day I'm reminded why I love the internet. Recently it was because Google Streetview caught some people LARPing but today it's because the wonderful denizens of the web have completely deconstructed the latest Microsoft campaign -- the one called "Laptop Hunters," created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky -- and in doing so have cried foul play.

What's Next After Skittles.com?

The Social Website Is a Step in the Right Direction

Posted by Freddie Laker on 03.03.09 @ 11:42 AM

Quite a bit of buzz has popped up around the new Skittles.com over the weekend and today. If you haven't seen the site, it's based on leveraging different social-media sites linked together by a very simple menu navigation that floats on any of the sites. For example, the home page and "chatter" section is the brand's Twitter page, the video media page is the brand's YouTube page, the video images page is the brand's Flickr stream, and the "friends" section is the Facebook fan-page profile.

Here Today, Here Tomorrow: How to Get More out of Your Ads

Hint: It's About the Ripple, not the Splash

Posted by Freddie Laker on 03.02.09 @ 11:42 AM

The Super Bowl, the highest-profile TV event in the U.S. and one where the ads are as much a spectacle as the game itself, creates an immediate splash, letting loose an enormous amount of chatter online and off. But now that a little time has gone by, let's look at how social media can be used to extend the life of, or create a ripple effect around, a Super Bowl ad -- or any advertising campaign, actually.

Creative Evolution: Making the Process More Relevant to Our Time

Group Decision-Making Tool Kluster Gives Everyone an Equal Voice

Posted by Freddie Laker on 02.06.09 @ 10:46 AM

Freddie Laker

I generally make a strong effort not to talk about the things we're working on at Sapient. Mainly because I loathe shameless self promotion, but also because I'm signed to so many client non-disclosure agreements that I'm generally relegated to limiting the details of my campaign work to "I make internet stuff."

Eek! How to React When You've Been Slammed on Twitter

And How I Saved Myself From Looking Like a Clown

Posted by Freddie Laker on 12.18.08 @ 12:05 PM

At best, people have ambivalent feeling about clowns.

On one end of the spectrum, there's the relatively benign Bozo the Clown, a historic television favorite whose name implied entertaining, well-meaning buffoonery. There's also the sad beauty of the crying clown of the opera Paglicci. Then, at the other end, the worst nightmare of anyone suffering from full-blown coulrophobia -- the "scary clown."

Pretty much any way you look at it, there's not a lot of upside to being called a clown. So imagine my feelings when my PR firm sent me this post they found on Twitter about my company's recent attendance at an Adobe trade show:

"I thought Sapient was a mgmt consulting co? They're the booth next to us at Adobe Max and they're complete clowns" --Message posted on Twitter by [name withheld], November 19, 2008