If you're a brand guardian, you're likely worried about your
digital marketing. You've read the news about how aggressively some
brands are following and engaging people in their digitally led
lives. You see the headlines about the "next hot technology." You
attend various conferences on the subject and, in a hushed corner
at one of these events, you might confess that the subject keeps
you up at night.
You're not alone if you constantly worry about the following
questions: Are my competitors living and learning? Is my brand
falling behind and becoming less relevant? Am I missing a huge
opportunity?
At Leo Burnett/
Arc Worldwide,
we know that one of our roles is easing the confusion and
frustration a marketer might feel when approaching the digital
domain. We call it the "70/20/10 Rule," and it's meant to map all
the things you could do with your brand and put those possibilities
into a structured approach that drives business. Specifically, it
aims to help a marketer roll out "the next new thing" from a
testing environment to a sophisticated marketplace.
So how does this really work? First off, take your
digital-marketing budget (not your overall marketing budget) and
divide it into three buckets: one with 70% of your money and two
others with 20% and 10%, respectively.
70% BUCKET: REFINING YOUR RECORD
The first (and largest) segment of your budget should be applied to the meat and potatoes of your plans -- the things you most likely have been implementing for one to two years. These include digital activities such as broadband video, rich media/video-based ads and search marketing. These activities enjoy a proven record of results, and this is where you can continue to refine your record of success.20% BUCKET: LEARNING OCCASIONS
Apply the next 20% to media that have just gone mainstream or are on the verge of doing so. This category includes mobile marketing, social networks and certain types of gaming. These activities are valuable because they provide a good intellectual-growth opportunity to try new areas -- even within tactics you may already be running. They may not drive huge outcomes this month or even this quarter, but they will set up your future plans and keep you ahead of the competition.10% BUCKET: MARKETING INSURANCE
What about opportunities that pop up frequently and quickly attract media attention? Virtual worlds immediately come to mind. With the last 10% of your budget, we suggest not focusing on ROI or any real sense of outcomes that will drive your business forward today. Set the stage for future investments and marketing plans by testing digital areas that even consumers themselves aren't quite sure about yet. It's a learn-while-they-learn approach -- or, as we'll call it, a "real-time marketing opportunity" assessment.If you invest in these types of technologies early on, you'll benefit from increased flexibility if and when they rapidly emerge as the next hot thing. Consider this 10% marketing insurance, if you will.
Leo Burnett/Arc saw an opportunity for Nestl? Purina PetCare to partner with Joost -- a company with an innovative approach to TV, video and the internet -- to test specific areas where video-based messaging meets addressable or direct marketing. We took available TV content from the Purina Incredible Dog Channel and made it into a branded channel on Joost. This was a great way to reuse existing professional content, and it added to our two-year test of placing video content on iTunes and mobile channels.
So there you have it: all of your digital marketing dilemmas solved so you can rest easy. Hardly, but if nothing else, the 70/20/10 approach provides a framework for where to invest your time and money in the digital space. By using it, you can quickly bucket opportunities and ideas and apply them to your overall marketing and business goals.
It also gives you a unique way to answer that inevitable "What's your digital strategy?" question.
