You Can Still Dunk in the Dark

I'm a huge fan of the Victorian time period. I love everything about it - the gowns, the jewelry, the traditions, chivalry and the pure romance of it all. When I read novels that are set in that time period, there's usually a heroine or a heroine's friend/sister who is involved in a scandal. We are told that their scandal will be forgotten once the next poor girl falls into a different trap and then that will become the talk of the town. The reality of it all was, those stories weren't forgotten quickly and new stories didn't replace it right away. News didn't travel fast and you could guarantee that the old ladies meeting for tea down the street were going to be talking about it like it was yesterday. 

Luckily, in our day and age, we are lucky if a scandal lasts a month or two - something is bound to replace it if not sooner. I am literally in awe of how fast news is made in our world today. In the blink of an eye, a whole subject matter can be reported on, discussed , and debated about to death. And the next day - it's old news until the next topic.

Brands can no longer ignore the virility of news today and either they can jump on the bandwagon or get lost in the crowd. This phenomenon that all brands are slowly starting to get a hang of is called newsjacking. Coined by David Meerman Scott, it's when a brand reacts to a current event in real time in order to create buzz about themselves and deliver on one of their main KPIs (whether you've defined that to be awareness or sales, etc.)

An amazing example of this being used by a brand was Oreo during the 2013 Super Bowl. After Beyonce's killer performance, the stadium suffered a massive power outage that actually took up a significant amount of time. To fill the air time, CBS ran a bunch of commercials as bonus. The event alone was highly anticipated and had millions of eyes on-air but it also had millions of eyes on second screen experiences such as online, mobile or tablet devices. Oreo took full advantage of this and instantly posted a response to the growing anxiety of football fans everywhere:

How incredible is that? Not only did they have amazing commercials on-air but their presence online was on point and just as clever. Within minutes, the image received over 19K likes, over a 1K comments and over 6K shares. 

Oreo does it YET AGAIN with the a more recent story line that I've been equally obsessing about it (ladies and gentlemen we are now coming full circle to my Victorian Era mention above) - the royal birth! Boy George was born on July 22nd to the real-life fairy tale couple, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Oreo's reaction:

Well played Oreo. Well played. Not as viral as the Super Bowl but still highly effective garnering almost a thousand retweets total. 743 of them on the same day! 

I definitely think that brands can no longer afford to sit in the wings on the metaphorical world stage. They need to take action and interact with consumers. For brands like Oreo that are already doing this, they already have a leg up on the competition and it's almost becoming like tradition now - what will Oreo do next?

-D

Digi Data Overload

I've been working late hours ever since I decided to become a Digital Planner. I love what I do. Digital is cool - it's constantly evolving and exciting and I definitely prefer it to planning TV. It's also a lot more complicated, frustrating and completely overwhelming.

Of all days to work late, it had to be on a Friday, on the hottest day of the year (so far), and on my mom's birthday. Sitting in the office when that's all going on because you have to analyze some data and work on media plans - a person can get pretty emotional. I eventually got home and stopped by to hang with mom for a bit when she point blank asked me..."Why are you so busy?"

..."Why am I so busy?" I started and then stopped. How do I explain to my parents, who aren't super tech savvy, why digital is so much more involved than any other media channel out there? The long and short of it is, digital is creepy - we know everything about everyone - whether the user has dropped off in mid-action, if they've purchased something, how much they purchased, and ultimately how much ROI that means for the client. You can't really do that with TV or print or radio. And that is why I have to stay late because that sort of information doesn't just appear out of thin air (okay maybe it lives in the cloud but that's just semantics).

I recently read two articles on big data and how it gives users what they want, before the even know it. Having been in the industry for a few years now, I've become a big fan of big data even though sometimes it makes me feel uncomfortable - uncomfortable because it can be intimidating just how much there is to work with. I personally feel that when I present to the client, I don't want to tell them I think it might be a good idea. I want to present to the client that based on x, y, z I KNOW it's a great idea and will help them achieve their ultimate goals. I love having back up information and its even better when I have facts based on cross-platform results that will ultimately help choose our strategy for the next planning cycle. I would feel naked if I didn't have data to support my recommendation.

Big data is basically data that is being collected and expanded over time. Marketers are (and should actively be) able to tap into this data to make key decisions on strategy. Something to note about big data is that I believe it can only be as good as the people who analyze it. If you are only using a data scientist to tell you what they think and you aren't able to contribute or take key learnings out, you are missing the boat. There's an argument in the Netflix article linked above that predicting whether a program will do well or not based on 30 million "plays" a day takes the creativity out of the show and starts making all shows look and feel the same. I personally feel like Netflix is doing it right - they used data to make a decision on whether a show may be popular based on director/actors involved but are leaving the creative producers free reign on story line. It turns out its working. People are hooked as Netflix KNEW they would be.

So what if maybe 99% of the data you collect is "useless" - that 1% that helps you make a key decision that could potentially differentiate you from your competitors - in my book that's #winning. Even if it overwhelms me and makes me stay late.

-D

Tying the Knot Across Platforms

Weddings are big, big bucks and it's probably one of the few industries that is still going strong. Sure, maybe brides are being a little bit smarter about how and where they spend their money - maybe it's fewer flowers or ruthlessly selecting only three bridesmaids - bottom line, what woman, or man for that matter, doesn't want to feel special on their very important day?

That being said, the wedding planning process, from what I've seen from some of my friends, and dreamed about for my very own wedding (one day!), can be very hectic and have a ton of moving parts. You need to have resources at the touch of your fingertips and woe betide the site with the poor user experience across multiple platforms!

It is good practice to implement responsive design - the same experience across multiple screens (i.e. web, tablet, mobile, etc.). This enhances the user experiences and yes, limits the amount of bride-zillas in the world.

A property that really does a great job of this is The Knot. The Knot is a one-stop wedding planning solution  featuring the latest trends, money saving techniques, you name it! And the best part is that the experience you get on the website is the same across both your mobile and tablet devices. Not only does the property conform to the device you are using (responsive design) but the login you use for the website is the same across the other platforms so you are able to access your checklist, budgeter, favorites, picks, guest list and vendors and never feel like you HAVE to have to your tablet on you or be near your computer. This makes wedding planning a lot more simple and convenient.

Take a look at the website itself:

It's got a pretty clean design, very easy to navigate and draws the user in immediately with top picks (Our Favorites) from a trusted source. The soft white background and the soft colors immediately put you in a wedding planning mindset (i.e. the white dress, the something blue, etc.) You've got an easy menu on the left side to get your planning started and on the top right, you can see whats trending, almost as if this website is your best friend, nay your maid of honor, helping you out with every step of the wedding planning process. At the top of the site is another menu that takes you to the hot ticket items - vendors, dresses, tools, photos and honeymoons. It even has a section for the bride-to-be to gain inspiration from real wedding stories that users submit. Talk about chock full of useful information and content that keeps the user in mind the minute they land on the site.

If you go to this very same website on your mobile or tablet device this is what you'll see:

Mobile Experience

Tablet Experience

The experience is consistent across the board and optimizes based on the device you are using. 

What's more, The Knot also has an app called My Wedding Planner which looks like this:

Mobile App

Tablet App

Again the experience is consistent for the user.

Finally, when I was on my tablet playing with the experience of the website, not the app, I got the following images:

Tablet App Download CTA

Beta App Download CTA

Here, The Knot's responsive design has detected that I'm using my iPad to view the website. They are asking if I'd like to download the accompanying wedding planner app shown above. The second image is asking me if I want to be a part of a beta of new apps that The Knot will be releasing shortly. Because I'm wedding obsessed, of course I signed up.

The one thing I would say about the Tablet App Download CTA was that I had already downloaded the app so I was a little annoyed when I saw that pop up. That tells me that The Knot doesn't have an API feed telling them whether a user already has the app downloaded. It's a minor annoyance but if it continues to happen every time, it could actually become a bigger problem.

Overall, however, The Knot is a great example of how to tying the knot all together across multiple platforms and not only providing the user a streamline experience but one that is full of extremely useful content thus making them a trusted source. 

-D