Mobile Fix: Getting digital right, big data and how Tumblr sold out
Dan Ho of ad agency Weiden & Kennedy has written a great piece on Tyranny of Digital advertising – essentially blaming media agencies for pursuing formats that reach a gazillion eyeballs if they happen to look at it.
He goes on to point out that the more interesting things in marketing are around making products and services – something that traditional agencies don’t really get. Well worth a read.
Now, we get some flak for our constant riff around clients now wanting more than agencies can/do deliver. To some friends (many of whom work in traditional agencies) it looks like a new biz tactic.
The danger to ad agencies is that if they can’t convince clients that they offer a short cut to such thinking, then brands will find it elsewhere.
Digital is of course the key issue here. As Dan Ho points out, the response to digital has often been to mould analogue thinking to make it fit digital – such as the banner. The other week we heard a senior marketer lament that her traditional agency was only interested in making big budget TV ads – that weren’t going to be shared by anyone – whilst her digital agency didn’t have the insight to do more than push the latest online fad.
Still not convinced? Accenture have published a fascinating report into marketers thinking called Turbulence for the CMO. With lots of data on what CMOs think the issues are its an interesting read.
- Fundamentally change the marketing operating model.
- Build new skills internally.
- Get the right set of partners.
- Drive digital orientation throughout the enterprise.
That doesn’t sound too comforting if you are a traditional agency – media, creative or even many digital agencies.
There are some brands who are well equipped for this new climate and the Economist has taken a look at some people doing it well – including Diageo and Nestle.
We believe this is an Alice In Wonderland moment for marketing – clients and agencies. Do you take the Red pill and go off and immerse yourself in the adventure of modern digital marketing – or take the Blue pill and stick with the world you understand?
Mobile
At Mobile Engage last week Richard Eyre made a very eloquent case for mobile as the catalyst for marketing, rather than just another channel on the bottom of the media plan.
Richard makes the case for brands needing to be trusted, as that is the only way to get the permission from customers, that will unlock the value of mobile. We also loved his quote urging brands to make their sites mobile friendly;
“Mobile fluidity isn’t creativity. It’s hygiene.”
Forrester have a new way of emphasising the importance of mobile – the Mobile Mind Shift Index where they use data from their Technographics study to see how mobile ready people are. They blend data on the devices owned, the frequency they use them and the diversity of locations.
The results are surprising. Across Europe the average score is 25 out of 100. As with nearly all Forrester data it’s terribly complicated but our take is that, despite all the momentum in mobile, there is still huge upside as mobile crosses the chasm and goes truly mainstream.
Mobile Money
Following the Google announcement that US users can make payments by email, Square has announced a similar service. With more banks mimicking Barclays Ping by rolling out payment by SMS in the UK, it’s clear that payments are being disrupted.
A smart banking analyst told us a while bank that payments aren’t really about banking – it’s just logistics, albeit focused on money.
iZettle seems to be doing well in the UK – in the last few days we have seen Hackney’s finest cupcake vendor using one and you can pay for your Shiatsu massage with one too. But Square doesn’t seem to be getting any closer – they have chosen Japan as their first overseas market.
An Australian ex banker thinks we are just at the start of banking disruption, making the point that the network effect of these peer to peer payments methods will make them ubiquitous.
Big Data
We draw a Venn diagram when discussing big data. One circle is people who talk about Big Data and the other is people who actually know about Big Data. There isn’t too much overlap.
Deloittes have published a useful paper on the subject and McKinsey have a good piece on using data in FMCG companies. In the Richard Eyre talk mentioned above, he makes impact of. And David Edelman of McKinsey reminds us of the value of insight and intuition when using data.
This look at Google data centres shows just what is behind big data.
Tumblr sells out
The Yahoo purchase of Tumblr is going to be interesting to watch. Is it another case of a old(ish) player buying something new in an attempt to recapture youth? News Corp ended up regretting the MySpace purchase and AOL had a similar experience with Bebo.
But Yahoo does seem to have a better take on the world with Marissa Mayer so this may be different. But all those extra young eyeballs are only valuable if they can be sold to advertisers. So we think the future of native advertising will be made or broken on Tumblr.
Their most recent sales deck suggests that advertisers are very welcome – it remains to be seen if users feel the same way. And Yahoo will need to be careful to keep brands well away from all the porn on Tumblr. (Someone suggested that Yahoo was now a major player in porn – but the only people not making any money out of it.)