360DigitalInfluence

This week, we turned our weekly DI staff meeting into a digital show and tell. Our DC team of designers, developers, strategists, art directors and producers shared some of the videos, websites, digital experiences and apps outside of our own work that we think are cool, cutting-edge, inspiring or just fun to watch. So, take a break from online holiday shopping working and enjoy our Best of the Web picks.

Israeli rocker Yoni Bloch’s “choose-your-own-adventure” music video is a must-watch. Viewers can interact with the video, seamlessly changing the course of events as the song continues. Yoni’s  a rock star off the stage too. He’s the founder of Interlude, the interactive video technology company behind this video and may others.

For a little more music to your ears, Philips partnered with the Metropole Orchestra on an interactive campaign to showcase their audio products. Viewers can single out individual musicians, hearing each note in a track played by the entire orchestra.

Cute kids, pets, people that take awkward to a new level… We love a good montage of the year’s best viral videos.  79 all wrapped into one great restrospective.

If you’re in the mood for a more serious look back at 2011, watch this Google Zeitgeist year in review video. From natural disasters to political uprisings, see the events and people that shaped our year. (You might need a tissue. Just sayin…)

Indie band Arcade Fire wowed us last year with The Wilderness Downtown, a personalized music video experience that used HTML5 and Google Maps. This year, they have us dancing at our desks with Sprawl II. We enjoyed the sweet moves of one of our creative directors, as he demoed how the computer camera detects movement and incorporates it into the video.

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Reprinted here from the Cutter Consortium (full publication here), to which I contributed these words:

I, like many who have benefitted from the genius of Steve Jobs, can’t imagine what my life would have been like had he stopped pursuing greatness. What would the world be like today if he had given up after being fired from Apple? What if he chose to leave the technology space altogether after such a public dismissal? What if he hadn’t founded NeXT and created the core of the next generation of Macintosh computers? For a while, we had a taste of that alternate universe; a myriad of beige boxes from every corner of the universe and a flurry of Windows releases that were so far from inspired, I don’t know where to begin.

Apple’s innovations help me every single day. So frequently, in fact, that I have to force myself to stop and take notice. Just last week, I was working on a project and needed to brainstorm with a creative partner in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. I emailed him using my MacBook Pro and asked if he could do a video iChat. In a matter of seconds, he was showing me paper sketches and gesturing movements through our interface. He then held up his smartphone to the built-in iSight camera in his MacBook Pro to demo an augmented reality app he and his colleagues were developing. While chatting, I emailed him a PDF of my presentation made in Apple’s Keynote. A moment of silence suddenly came upon us. Looking into the camera, I said to him, “Do you remember when we were in college? What we’re doing right now would have been impossible!” He replied, “I know! This is Buck Rogers stuff!” Despite our collective imaginations, the thought of emailing presentations, easy-to-use live video chats, or powerful laptops that handled everything with ease was never in our wildest dreams. We laughed realizing that life was surreal — and real at the same time.

I collect rare Apple hardware. I own a prototype Apple Interactive TV set-top box, a Newton 2100 and 130, an eMate, and a developer edition of Pippin. I own those devices because they are beautiful reminders that life is about more than just “going with the flow.” These machines represent the embodiment of the idea that being creative is about trying something new. Something difficult. Something worthwhile. You’re right if you’re thinking, “Wait a minute, those weren’t created during Steve’s tenure as CEO.” People love to think of those products as failures or flops. I don’t. I see them as brilliant examples of Apple’s innovative what-if culture that Jobs created and, remarkably, endured despite his absence. To me, an organization that continues to push the boundaries in ways that redefine or create industries — without a fearless leader — speaks volumes.

If the time between his CEO tenure at Apple is any indication, I’m more than confident that his spirit will continue to inform and inspire Apple employees, Apple products, and legions of insanely grateful Apple customers for a long time to come.

On behalf of those who prefer the bar held high, thank you Steve. You will never be forgotten.

Sincerely,
One of the Crazy Ones

Sunrise over Marathon, Greece.

Even after the jetlag has subsided and you’ve had a few days to reflect, it’s nearly impossible to justly capture the sense of creativity, openness, innovation and playfulness you experience at WPP Digital’s Stream 2011 ‘unconference’.

An avante-garde mix of WPP agencies (think Ogilvy, Mindshare, Hill & Knowlton, Blue State Digital) and clients (think Ford, IBM, Unilever, P&G, Coca-Cola), communications thought leaders (think Sir Martin Sorrell, Ze Frank, Rory Sutherland) and technological innovators (think Facebook, Google, Spotify, Yoni Bloch, Innovid), the event was a shorts-and-flip-flop discussion of everything ranging from the malpractice of Dr. Google to the miner (Chilean) Twitter parody.

I had the chance to meet folks from Facebook and Google and was pleased to hear that they’re not only thinking about how to work with marketers, but also how to work with marketers in ways that make sense to their customers. The major social platforms are now putting greater resources into collaborating with agencies who they see as partners in unleashing the full potential of their platforms - not just on the media side, but now on the creative design side.

As Facebook’s Patrick Harris and Sarah Personette expressed it, Facebook is primarily a technology company - not a content company. Thus, they see agencies as the “evangelists, designers and curators” of effective social media marketing and integration.

And as we all anticipate what the Google+ platform will offer brands, Chris DiBona says they’re structuring the platform for smart, sensible, segment-able marketing that makes sense to consumers. (I swear it was just a coincidence he used one of my favorite clients, Ford, as an example.)

And because I’d love to tell you more about Stream 2011, but don’t have the time or space, here are some great recaps:

• Five-part series in the Huffington Post penned by the likes WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell, txteagle’s Nathan Eagle, SoundCloud’s Caroline Drucker, Ford’s Alex Hultgren and Y&R’s David Sable.
• TechCrunch video interview with Sir Martin Sorrell on content valuation and the “dreadful mistakes” we’ve made in giving it away for free.
• H&K’s (and die-hard Stream-er) Candace Kuss’ amazing Storify curation of #stream11 tweets.
• WPP Stream’s YouTube channel. Especially check out the Ignite playlist. Everyone should try to do a presentation with 20 slides that advance every 15 seconds for a total of exactly 5 minutes. My favorite: Esther Dyson on paying attention.

Remember the excitement you felt when your website finally went live? All the design, development, revisions, and debugging were finally completed. And with a click of a button, you launched your brand presence.

Getting a brand.com or corporate.com website off the ground can require a massive team effort. It can be so challenging that the mantra becomes, “Let’s just get through Phase 1.” For the moment, that makes sense.

However, content (and keeping it up to date) is as critical to the life of your website as the launch that excited you so much.

But when was the last time you reviewed and updated the content on your website? If you haven’t touched your site since the “let’s get through Phase 1” launch, you’re not alone. And if it has been more than six months, you may want to surf to the dot.com featured in your email signature and check things out.
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We’ve all done it. Some of us often and some only occasionally.

We’ve all been guilty of genericide at some point - or, when a trademark or brand name has become the colloquial or generic description for the product or service, i.e. when someone needs a bandage they ask for a BAND-AID® or they need a tissue but refer to it as a Kleenex®.  Or in the digital age, when people say, “Facebook me!” or “Tweet me!”

Last week the French TV regulatory agency Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA), determined that the French can no longer say the words Facebook or Twitter on television unless they are used in the context of a news story. The result of this is that the audience can no longer be asked to connect or interact via Facebook or Twitter to find out more, post a comment or ask a question.

Another example to consider is that earlier this Spring Twitter requested that one of its most used applications on Blackberry UberTwitter discontinue using the brand name Twitter in their brand name because of trademark infringement and privacy concerns. UberTwitter was quickly renamed to UberSocial and relaunched within days with new positioning that it is a broadened social communication tool.

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Late one night on Twitter last month, a tweet from Jane McGonigal- gaming advocate and researcher extraordinaire-caught my eye. “Only 8 more hours to submit your entry to STAY OVERNIGHT at the New York Public Library & play my new game! http://game.nypl.org” I was intrigued, to say the least. I navigated towards the site and ended up submitting my application to participate in an incredibly unique game and first-of-its-kind event. When I received my acceptance via DM a few weeks later to Find The Future: Write All Night, I was ecstatic.

On Friday May 20^th, 500 nerds, librarians, gamers, history buffs and maybe even a LARPer or two gathered at the New York Public Library to take part in an all night digital scavenger hunt throughout the library’s archives and exhibition halls. This multi-platform, multi-player game designed by McGonigal, served as the launch event for a larger media campaign celebrating the library’s 100 year anniversary.

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Egyptian Women Harassed on International Women's Day 2011

Oscar Wilde once famously proclaimed, “One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation.”

It goes without saying that at least once, if not several times in our lives, we have all experienced the negative backlash a spiteful rumor or an embarrassing truth can have, but it is often how we handle these imbroglios that truly define our reputations.

In 1997, according to Measures That Matter, The Center for Business Innovation (CBI), and Cap Gemini/Ernst & Young, about 35% of investment decisions were based on factors such as reputation and image.  Today, this percentage is considerably higher with the activity and immediacy of Facebook and Twitter.

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Lady Gaga is a phenomenon in the world of music and quite frankly, in the world of word-of-mouth marketing. With over 9 million Twitter followers, over 32 million Facebook fans and being recognized as an artist with the most digital singles in RIAA history (20 million sold), it is obvious that all brands can learn a few things from Lady Gaga.

Always acknowledge your fans: Besides lovingly calling her fans “little monsters”, Lady Gaga constantly validates her fans’ love for her music and personality by posting their videos, tweets, comments back to them and showing them that she is paying attention. She even invited a young Canadian fan to perform with her on stage - a video that has garnered over 3.5 million views since being posted a little over a month ago.

Establish partnerships that are an authentic extension of your brand: Lady Gaga is no silly lady at all. She understands in the shifting arena that is the music industry that she has to remain viable through brand partnerships. However, she only takes on partnerships that make sense for her brand, such as her digital camera, printer & glasses with Polaroid, her March cover on Vogue magazine, Vogue’s iPad app of her and her upcoming fashion column with V Magazine. These brand partnerships are believable because Lady Gaga is fully immersed in the fashion and digital worlds.

Content must resonate with fans: However people may feel about Lady Gaga’s music is irrelevant because she does not create content for everyone. She is very clear about who her audience is (ie: those who have been bullied) and creates content specifically speaking to her audience. Her content continues to be eye-catching, over-the-top and show-stopping while her Twitter & Facebook updates are all about her fans, her successes and upcoming projects — a balance that her fans appreciate & love. Her content resonates for her fans because she understands what they want from her & she delivers on it — when your content is strong, its that much easier for your fans to share & discuss it.

Ask for help: As phenomenal as Lady Gaga’s rise to fame continues to be, note that she didn’t get there by herself. She had help - and she was aware enough to recognize that she needed help within the social media space to reach her goals.

As brands continue to grow in the social media space, remaining authentic in fan interactions, brand partnerships, content creation and even self-awareness are solid ways to make true believers out of your fans — the ultimate goal of any word-of-mouth marketing effort.

Last week, first lady Michelle Obama explained that Facebook is not something her daughters need. More specifically, when asked if Sasha and Malia are on Facebook, Mrs. Obama joked that she’s lucky to be under a lot of constraints, noting the United States Secret Service as one of the obstacles preventing her girls from obtaining a personal Facebook account. I couldn’t help but wonder, how many people share Mrs. Obama’s sentiments? In particular, does parental disapproval affect the way young teenagers use social media?

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For many of us, the holidays bring more than decorations, parties and presents - they bring stories – everything from the classics like: The Christmas Story, and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas to the stories our families pass down through the years. About this time every year, my niece and nephews start asking us to tell them stories about holiday traditions and their parents, grandparents and others when they were their age. And the stories that are replayed or continue to be passed down from generation to generation are usually the ones that are told in a way that is compelling and entertaining.  It’s not just the story, or the ‘what’, it’s the way in which that story is told, the ‘how’ that makes it memorable and interesting.

As the year closes out many communicators find themselves planning engagement and even conversation strategies for the new year. This season is a great time to reflect on your brand story or the story you want to tell. The ‘what’ or the content is just as important as the ‘how’ or the way in which the story is told. Does your story resonate with the audience you are trying to reach? Is it more than a laundry list of features and benefits? Is your story or message easy to tell both online and offline?

In the digital world, a good story is not enough anymore to bring engagement and the plethora of likes we all desire; the ‘how’ a story is unveiled and the details are what breed engagement. So as you begin to think about your communication plans for 2011:

1. Stop and consider all the mediums that are available to you and use them to build wider reach.
2. Engage your advocates and invite them to participate in your programs - embrace their content.
3. Remind and invite your audience to spread your message both online and offline.
4. Participate in discussions about your brand generated by the community - not just the conversations you start.

So, whether you are planning for 2011, the next quarter or the next month, take a minute to reflect on your engagement strategies. Are you telling a story that is worth telling?