Designability & the Source of a Good Idea

Having been immersed in a variety of client- and agency-side projects lately, it's really interesting to witness the evolution in interactive process and protocol. UX (user experience) folks are acting more like designers, designers are acting more like information architects, and creative directors are expected on many levels to understand delivery systems and technology nuances. Like the very tools we've built and been offered to mash up, we are now mashing up skill-sets at a quick pace and in considerably high demand.

Razorfish's Consumer Experience Report last year really summed up this new movement in design sensibility, or "designability", and addressed a real need to re-examine how we look at building imagery, writing code, or even processing information. The real takeaway in all of this, in my humble opinion, is that good ideas are no longer the responsibility of a copywriter, art director or creative director, but that of anyone who is a stakeholder in the development of a brand or its respective products. That means if you happen to be sitting in the room, no matter if you're the junior account guy or the big boss, then you're a stakeholder and it's your undying pledge to the client to speak up. Put it this way, if creative agencies, for example, are being paid for their creativity, then fee generation should be commensurate with access to more than just a few folks who have been deemed "experts" on an account.

John Sweeney's now famous book "Innovation at the Speed of Laughter" taught us about the acceptance of all ideas. When you've spent any amount of time in an agency conference room, it's funny to think about how easily ideas get killed by ego and insecurity in a matter of minutes. Lately, however, I've noticed a pretty profound shift in thinking, and while there are plenty of folks in the room that will tell you why they don't like something, at least they're presenting a fairly sound argument and then listening to the rebuttle. It's amazing what a little economic adversity will do to open our minds.

So, getting back to the development process - and more specifically, designability - we can look at things such as a website, microsite, application or community platform as a point of commonality for the creative process. This is not only where all brand marketing functions can build a voice, but where an array of media can build and share their own. We all face a new and fantastic challenge, which is too somehow marry a compelling esthetic with engaging conversational dynamics. Further, we have to think in terms of scale so that our beautiful work can be improved upon and adaptable to the conversations that ensue and give a brand's perception its rapidly morphing shape in the world.

Keep reading, keep learning, keep wondering and keep developing. You don't have to be artistic to be creative, or creative to be artistic. You just have to be open to new ideas.

Through the Looking Graph

Our friends at eCairn have coined a brilliant new term for SEO called "Social Ecosystem Optimization" (trademark). Basically, the theory looks at computers as networks (cloud computing) and networks as messages (delivery-intent parallel). What makes this really unique is that it approaches the construct of brand connectivity in terms of social graphs that make up the currency which is spread outwardly (or inwardly, if you so choose). So, instead of thinking of social currency as content that is passed back and forth between influencers, you now can see it as real human capital. If you can accept this idea, the possibility of developing spheres of influence in a continuum seem far more plausible. Let's examine.

A couple posts back we touched upon the notion that time (the measurement of intervals between events) has created a silo that forces the hand of campaign development, as opposed to an ongoing conversation. The associated end-points often run the risk of precluding someone invested in a brand from perpetuating their advocacy, or quite simply, keeping that conversation alive and building upon it. Take the Motrin debacle, for example, a scenario in which one false move, along with a suffocating call-to-action and an immediate switch-back in brand perception, turned loyalists into angry detractors. But if a brand ecosystem can evolve in which the individual has no perceived restrictions on participation or respective value, then several possibilities are imminent:

- Spheres of influence take shape whereby sheer numbers (or quality of associations) and equity represent the truth (not a fictitious glimpse) and can "outweigh" unfair brand perceptions, or, fairly debate startling truths.

- Brand equity is a shared risk that engenders responsibility and examines human truths that can be associated with both negative and positive perceptions, in effect creating a "balance".

- The overlaps between spheres - areas of commonality - present new opportunities for product or service development, and in turn, feed directly back into the cycle that strengthens a given brand perception.

- Further, the individual now sits in a place of parallel existence with brand ambassadors, particularly those who are revered as celebrities in one form or another; therefore, the brand is truly humanized. 

So, what we are ultimately left with is that big ideas are those that transcend time, place and even circumstance. They can't really be encapsulated in a tag line or a positioning statement. More importantly, they reside within us, are formulated by us, and carried on through us.

As for search, as we've discussed before, the semantic web is quickly coming into view, peeking out just over the horizon. And as such, we are now faced with the wonderful challenge of optimizing real experiences, not just the values we ascribe to them.

The 10 Business Tenets of Social Media

We were hoping to avoid the whole "list thing" (everyone has a list, right?), but we figure any of you reading this can expand on it in your own way and share it with the rest of the blogosphere. So we'll start with a list, and then generate separate posts that feature the listed case studies speaking to each tenet. So enjoy.

1. This is not a popularity contest (be humble).

Life has become an extension of high school, which is why there is so much dissension in the workplace, and so many disconnects between brands and people. How do you think we got ourselves into a global economic crisis?

Let's not forget the point of being social: commonality. It's not just about you, it's about all of us, and creating what some call a "background of relatedness". It's precisely how our new President was elected.

Example: The Obama Campaign

2. Be real (share your experiences).

We also can't forget the importance of accountability and authenticity. Take responsibility not only for yourself, but for others around you. And when you speak, speak from the heart.

That said, people are fed thousands of advertising messages every day. We don't need better messages, we need better stories.

"Experience sharing" is what this is all about. Attach a product to an experience that's real. That'll get people talking about your brand. And buying your product.

Example: Yelp

3. It's not about being first to market, it's about being best to market.

The days of the internet gold rush are over. The speculative market is bust. We are left with two undeniable truths: brands and the stories behind those brands.

There are only five real stories to tell in the world (at least according to Shakespeare), and they've all been told numerous times. So narrate one of them with all the passion you can muster. And own it.

Example: American Express

4. Learn from your mistakes and those of others. Then help one another to improve the marketplace.

Adversity and defeat give us perspective. When we have perspective, we are successful.

If your market sector is heading south, then chances are so will your business. Marketplace stimulation is your best friend.

Example: eBay

5. Competition definitely breeds excellence. And leads to collective innovation.

Think it's counterintuitive for a "cool" brand with its own retail presence to join forces with the biggest retailer in the world? What about for that retailer to effectively allow an eCommerce provider to have a significant presence in its own stores?

Think again. Unlikely pairings are those that can spawn great successes.

Example: Apple, Wal-Mart & Amazon (peripherally) 

6. You're only as good as right now.

Remember yesterday. Think about tomorrow. But show people the value of now.

And if you do more listening than talking, you'll be surprised by what you hear.

Example: Twitter

7. Do it with higher purpose.

If the intent is there, there is fulfillment in everything that we do. Even the little things.

Social media marketing is not only about experiences, but the common interest drivers that lead us into those experiences, things such as social, environmental or political advocacy.

Example: Target

8. As individuals, we are the sum of our parts.

If people are considered to be cogs, there is no removing them from the machine, since "it" operates autonomously.

So do your part and feed the machine. It might end up paying your bills.

Example: Wikipedia

9. Profit requires participation.

The Berlin Wall and Tiananmen Square were events representing incredible shifts in consciousness. These were not the work of one person, but many.

Business is no different. Allow each and every person - customers or employees - a voice, and enable him or her to share it. Then join the conversation and take action through equitable leadership.

Example: Dell/HP/Starbucks

10. Focus.

There are at least 22 specific channels of social media currently in use, with dozens more associated touch-points. It was only about 14 years ago that we were limited to print, broadcast and radio.

We've come a long way, but we've also managed to get in our own way as well. In reality, our experiences can mostly be recounted through a few specific details.

This is the challenge of any brand in its attempts to connect with people. As insightful as a brand experience can be, we need to be economic with the rhetoric that is used to bring people into that experience.

Example: Zappos

THE TAKEWAY...

Any successful business requires social responsibility.

Whether you're ready to admit it or not, who you are in life is who you are at work. Which means that if you can't get along internally and in "the outside world", your brand will suffer and therefore your business will suffer.

As rudimentary as this seems, it is still one of the most glaring issues in corporate America today.

That said, those who have chosen to hide behind computer screens or PDAs can speak in a variety of new ways. Of course, there is nothing more valuable than a smile and a handshake (or a Coke and a smile). Just that now, social media platforms might help lead people to get to the handshake. And a smile.

And a whole lot more...

Rethinking Celebrity - A Media Responsibility?

Last week I read an article on Darryl Flea Virostko, a big wave surfer who recently bottomed out due to drug addiction, and is fighting hard to stay on the road to recovery. While he has a steady stream of supporters, the thing that really struck me about this story was the lack of support from the surf industry itself. In fact, not one of his sponsors called him out when he was spiraling out of control nor did they offer to lend him a helping hand. It got me thinking about the notion of celebrity, and the dichotomous nature of how we relate to people who have attained "star status". The media is often blamed for creating stories that can deflate the esteem of struggling stars, but the real culprits are us, the folks who live vicariously through a star and turn away from them the minute they exhibit flaws that make them human like the rest of us. Sports provide a good anecdotal backdrop for this discussion.

There seems to be a golden rule as a fan of celebrities: praise separation. Stars like the late basketball prodigy Len Bias are a great example of "grooming ignorance"; in other words, we rear them, praise them, in some ways help cultivate their talents, and then lead them out to pasture, often times losing sight of their formative development, or, forgetting about them as humans altogether. In Len's case, here was a guy - like Reggie Lewis after him - who had a heart condition to accompany a healthy coke addiction, and few people bothered to take notice or keep tabs on the guy off the court. When you look back at guys like Lawrence Taylor - who battled drug and gambling addictions for years while he was an NFL star - it makes you wonder how any sports franchise could ever be responsible for putting someone in that condition out on the field and actually feel good about it, let alone tally the value of their "player acquisition". They had to have known that there was a problem. More importantly, they had to have known that an athlete can't be held responsible, entirely of his own accord, when representing an organization. But they let it happen anyway, and this type of irresponsibility is enabling the destruction of the relationships we as fans have with these celebrities.

Given the amount of controversy that's settled within its ranks over the last few years (and especially the last few months), baseball is probably the most glaring example of accountability lost (perhaps it was never really there to begin with). It's an interesting issue to dissect because baseball players, like most professional athletes, are incredibly fortunate in that they are well-paid and enjoy access to resources most of us wish we could have. Conversely, the demands on their time are great, and the pressures to perform are enormous. For one thing, baseball has more minor leagues than any other sport. For another, any major leaguer who hits the DL (disabled list) is vulnerable to being sent down to triple or double-A, meaning your career can be over in a matter of minutes. Now, it's doubtful that someone like Alex Rodriguez would suffer this fate, especially with a contract and endorsements that will net him more than a quarter billion dollars over the next seven years, but the point is that his recent admission in taking anabolic steroids could lead him down a much darker road to perdition: his self-worth.

What have we become as a society, what right do we have, to admire these people as celebrities, idolize them, and then practically within the same breath, castigate them as people who are suddenly undeserving of our respect, and ultimately, our forgiveness? 

Media can't forgive, they can only tell the story. And typically one side of that story. The sides of us that allow for vulnerability - and respective emotions that are commonly unreasonable - are what make or break those celebrities as people. And if they are the ones taking great risk to realize the fantasy elements we wish we had the strength to pursue on our own, then the responsibility is shared, at least as it pertains to the value we ascribe to them. 

With respect to social media, well, the conversations that take shape can certainly help buffer against these pratfalls, but until executives like MLB commissioner Bud Selig start holding themselves accountable in providing spiritual and emotional guidance for these star athletes who feed their $17 million-a-year salaries, we will see more and more celebrities die by the narcissistic vine and likely slip into obscurity, if not ill-fate. Narcissism, by the way, is a bi-product of loneliness. It should be our personal mission as fans to make sure that these men (or women) do not lead lives of quiet desperation.

I've heard too many stories of retired athletes (many of whom I know or have met) who have re-entered civilian life, wandering listlessly without the skills to assimilate and succeed in new business or family environments. How can this be? How can someone who has the extraordinary courage to surf 50-foot waves or the incredible ability to hit 50 home runs not possess the transferable skills to make a substantial impact in the private sector, or at home? Why wouldn't we want to help these people, if nothing else, for our own benefit?

Instead of embracing and celebrating the gifts they've given us, all too often we look for these exceptionally talented people to fail. It's part of the"eggshell ego" we've built up on a foundation of collective insecurity and passive entitlements. What we should be doing is helping these folks become who they really are: transformational figures who have the potential to inspire us all, and in immensely positive ways.

It's time we start building real relationships with the celebrities we've grown to love. We are as much a part of them as they are us. And they need us now more than ever. After all, they are people too.

The Psychology of Circumstance (The End of Campaigns As We Know Them?)

In looking back at some of the great forms of iconic media content created during my youth - everything from Life cereal's "Mikey", to SmithBarney's "We make money the old-fashioned way: we earn it", to Seinfeld's oddball scenarios (loved the "Frogger" episode) - the beauty of circumstance unfolds in such a way that challenges us to imagine how we can put ourselves in situations where even subtle things can produce extraordinary shifts in perception. It also calls into the question the means for engaging people in increments of time, as in the case of network programming or campaign constructs.

Media has created a pathology for us, and the content we identify with is the blueprint. After all, we do live vicariously through our favorite show characters, movie mavens and sports stars. What's changing now is not only the relationships we have with those icons, but the people behind them. Further, myriad new communications tools are leaving us to chance, so that our interactions are not so much scripted, but inspired and truly collaborative in nature.

When you examine the concept of an ad campaign - in which there are distinct in-points and end-points - this seems counterintuitive, and in many ways counterproductive to the idea that a brand should not be bound to a lifecycle, but rather built around affinities that give it immortality, or, a shared legacy. If we borrow from Heidegger for a moment and look at this from a metaphysical perspective, in which we accept that time is merely a manufactured device to establish intervals between events, then we can also assert that a brand's legacy is at great risk.  

Granted, we live in a world of convention, so compromise is important as well as something to be valued. So, we can't do away with time per se, but we can extend it and make it feel indefinite. Regarding content, as Faris Yakob recently stated, this function goes beyond a viral capacity and into a "spread" scenario. Which means that as marcom agents, we need to think about the legacy mechanisms of a brand in every piece of code we develop, every design we craft and every byline or storyline of copy we write. And we also need to think big picture: that these assets live in perpetuity as dynamic representations of the brand. There are a number of great agencies like AKQA, Razorfish and Tribal DDB who have built successful initiatives by paying close attention to this.

So let's stop thinking about media in terms of silos, and think about them in terms of scalability and adoption. Campaigns have been designed, in large part, to compartmentalize messaging. But when the functions of that messaging can live outside of time parameters and provide real utility and personalization, then we are creating a whole new world of possibility.

Nike/Livestrong's recent Hope Rides Again initiative is a great example of this. The effort is described as "building a grassroots movement to help raise awareness, fund research and end the stigma that many cancer survivors face". People are then inspired to show their commitment to this cause by "filling sidewalks, driveways" and other places within our everyday physical environment to show a statement of intent, in turn making the overall message individualistic and personal. The point here is that long after the little yellow boxes of chalk are distributed and the brand ambassadors are tasked with new jobs, the brand legacy will continue to develop and live on...or in this case, live strong. 

As for the psychological component of everyday circumstance, we need to remember that purchases, as well as the commitments we make to brand initiatives, are emotionally driven. The emotional self is loud and colorful, while the spiritual self is quiet and not rooted in language or rhetoric. This leaves us with an interesting quandary, which is to try to be in the moment so that the two parts of the self can communicate, and thus bring us into a state of enlightenment, where we are fulfilled in the choices we make. The key here is to examine behavior in such a way that we can identify some sort of context for "enlightened action".

It's time (pun intended) that we embraced this principle and deferred to human truth to lead the way, whether we are creating ads or simply going about our lives. So go out there and spread your message!

ChiRunning Across the Media Landscape

In thinking about the notion of transmedia planning (engagement marketing) and the thoughtful expositions drawn out in Henry Jenkins' book, Convergence Culture, it struck me that the delicate practice of developing sound brand strategy and successful tactics is sort of like running through a marshland. Danny Dreyer's ChiRunning concept seems to be an interesting analogy/discipline for how we can navigate the wild and wooly landscape and align consumers with touch-points that keep them in safe harbor from the pratfalls of technology inhibition or "message envy". Let's explore.

There are four primary tenets to ChiRunning:

- Run injury free

- Increase efficiency with a mid-foot strike

- Increase your speed while reducing the effort

- Finish a pain-free marathon and look forward to running again

So, starting with the first tenet, running injury free, let's take this to mean that we can remove or reduce any transgressions relating to past brand experiences, i.e. "brand baggage". This is the first real thrust into reputation management. With a new campaign or open-ended initiative, we have an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and establish new parameters for conversational development, primarily through full disclosure and transparency. Further, by allowing consumers to become stakeholders, a weight is lifted in having to prescribe messaging or push sales. A new story is about to unfold, and it evolves through channels that are organic to idea- and experience-sharing, off- or online.

Now we've re-entered the landscape, and in increasing efficiency with a mid-foot strike, we are effectively riding the wave of mid-tail content and respective utilities that are on offer for these consumer advocates. Text, video, photos and other forms of social currency are gladly created and bartered, and the brand is providing tools to enable these experiences. The groundswell surges. Opinions take shape. In some cases, new product ideas are being developed. Most importantly, brand advocates are creating communities that begin to dictate the ebb-and-flow of branded conversation, and the content being created in and around that conversation hits specific focal points within the tail that raise the bar on quality.

At this next stage, we're increasing the speed at which these dialogues are being had and reducing the effort in guiding them. The relationship with the brand is becoming intimate. Social rules have been implemented. Crowdsourcing generates new insights, yet keeps the rules in check, allowing the brand to mature at a steady pace. Most remarkable, the brand, in taking on this new life and perspective, is responsible for an invisible parallel that puts people who share common interests in line with one another. The balance is undeniable.

Finally, we find ourselves, as brand stewards, running a pain-free marathon, exploring different media avenues, and protected by enough brand equity to be able to experiment without great risk. We can stage that event, Tweet-Up or conference podcast, or form that Ning group; if nothing else, we can see where we stand within specific environments. Our humility and transparency keeps us alive and well. And we look further to the road ahead...we look forward to running again.

Having made the traverse, we can now sit back, reflect and plan the next adventure, knowing that we may not necessarily be able to predict outcomes, but that we can adapt to them and shift our perception within the landscape at any time, and at any given place.

 

Google Voice: Indexing Real Life Into Search?

This post is a collaboration with our friends and colleagues at eCairn up in San Francisco - Laurent Pfertzel and Dominique Lahaix.

Google's recent move to become the gateway for "shaping the share of voice" (Grand Central) brings about some possibilities that will not only challenge the conventions established around search, but introduce some progressive new forms of thinking. For one thing, most content isn't found through typical search indexing; it has involved into "nanosearch" or "microsearch" functions - just look at how utilities like Twitter are dominating and populating fields of content. For another, we are about to contend with the first real iterations of the semantic web (artificial intelligence). Yet ironically (and somewhat counterintuitive to this), what we must really now consider is that our lives as a whole - our real lives - are now being indexed into search, and in more ways than we can imagine.

As we all know, Google made a fortune with its now famous "we organize the world information" mantra. Facebook, and to a large extent LinkedIn, in combination with other social networks and utilities, are about to do the same with their "we organize the world of people". Granted, the actual methods for monetization will continue to be a sticking point, but if there isn't proof in the pudding, Marketing Vox ran an interesting data-point on how things are rapidly shifting.

What does this mean for the Google pagerank algorithm? For nearly a decade, it's been the invisible cog that the Google machine uses to decide the most relevant information for a search. But the definition of "most relevant" has changed, and continues to change. It's becoming less content-driven as people engage in social media, and more about exchange links, videos, music and so on. By Tweeting a link or adding it to their Facebook page, people tell their connections what's relevant. Further, new search solutions are coming in with platforms that pose a serious threat to Google's monopoly in the world of relevance. As Nick Arnett said, "Twitter is a people-driven, massively parallel headline organizer".

As a very anecdotal data-point, when eCairn published the top 150 social media marketing blogs into its monitoring platform, to no surprise of the group, most of the traffic came from Twitter, Del.icio.us, FriendFeed and StumbleUpon, and far less from other blogs' inbound links or even Google search. Here's the detailed summary provided by Dominique Lahaix:

- One top blogger saw our list and tweeted it

- Twitter stated to bring a lot of traffic, initially individual tweets, then Twitter search

- Del.icio.us came second, as the news spread to more and more bookmarked people

- Almost at the same time we got StumbleUpon traffic

- Early the next day, people started making "derivatives" from our list (OPMLs) and it made the front page of ReadWriteWeb

- We got almost no traffic from search engines (max 100) although we're on page one (#6) for a Google search on "social media marketing blogs", #2 for "top social media blogs" and #8 for social media blogs

So here's where we're going with all of this: if Google doesn't want to see itself outpaced in the race to organize our internet life, perhaps they've purposely, and very wisely, chosen to invest beyond our current social infrastructure. The company, which spawns and supports a number of rising verticals through highly effective open source technology, seems to be looking at a much bigger prize: everyday experiences, and those that are not necessarily designated to, or definable by, offline or online functions. Hence we circle back to Grand Central, it's new voice recognition platform that will likely upend Skype's 400 million-strong captive user base and change the telecom game...among many other things.

So what are we really looking at here? To start, three factors come to mind:

1. Pieces of our "phone" conversations - at least those don't initially violate IP or privacy issues - will flood search queries.

2. These pieces will overtake content indices (text, video, podcasts, etc.) by the sheer volume of conversations.

3. Behavioral analytics (via AI) will take shape in the form of "active capture" versus "active reach".

To clarify, the nature of these conversations will lend themselves to a delivery mechanism in which topical elements or points of commonality previously established through "normal" search parameters will now be verified though real conversation. Further, there are a slew of revenue opportunities linked to micro-targeted environments, and it's certainly not inconceivable that that in this very same way, you will be able to connect people with specific ad content and/or messaging at a precise moment within a physical environment.

Think about it: you and a friend or colleague (or someone you've never met before) are having a chat about cheese at a conference, and all this chat is being broadcast and monitored through the Grand Central platform. When sub-topics like "curdling" or "melting" are mentioned, these exchanges are indexed into search. When queries are run - both on the consumer side and ad network side, for example - you are then strategically fed specific micro-messages on kiosks and digital banners/displays within the environment. You might even opt in to short-code for that cool looking curdling instrument you saw on one banner, and through your PDA, you've made a purchase in a matter of seconds.

What this presents to us is the notion that everyday exchanges will become these fairly stealth (i.e. non-intrusive) engagement points that feed the larger search machine, and, provide a reciprocal framework for accessing the things we want, when we want them. And this is only the beginning...