Ideas, thoughts and stories from the frontlines of marketing. Dedicated to brand and customer champions worldwide who are making a difference from the client side.
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Neat little site to tag brands found through Seth Godin (who gave a great speech at the CMA - Canadian Marketing Association National Convention and Trade Show on Tuesday May 13.)
Brand Tags is "A collective experiment in brand perception." Quite an interesting concept. Check it out.
Come check out what promises to be a great day at the second annual Word of Mouth Conference put on by the Canadian Marketing Association. This year's conference line up is a fantastic roster of content with speakers including:
- Douglas Rushkoff - award-winning documentary film maker and author ("Merchants of cool" and "The Persuaders", "Media Virus" and "Get Back in the Box")
- Richard Bartrem, Westjet's VP Culture & Communications
- David Usher, award-winning musician and social media experimenter
- Julie Cole & Tricia Mumby, Founders- Mabel's Labels
- Chris Matthews, Specialized Bikes
And, my buddy William Azaroff will be in town as well to share the story behind VanCity's ChangeEverything.ca.
Last year I had the opportunity to moderate a panel at the inaugural Word of Mouth Conference. The panel included David Jones of Hill & Knowlton, Steve Osgoode of Harper Collins Rob Cottingham of Signal to Noise (you can listen to it here on Episode 16 of The Client Side Podcast). The entire day was teeming with great discussions and information that you don't want to miss out on this year.
Put it in your calendar now..
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 8:30 - 4:30
Atlantis Pavillion at Ontario Place
I'll see you there!
PS. Facebook fans of the conference get a $50 discount on the price of registration! But only until May 1st.
When we last left the folks at Glass and a Half Full Productions, they managed to bring a little bit of viral marketing to the confectionery business for Cadbury. I often use the example of the Gorilla drumming to show the power of online video and how smart, funny and whimsical content can attract an audience and spread.
While it may not have been strongly aligned with the brand (i.e. what does a drumming gorilla have to do with a candy bar?) the video was unexpected, entertaining and memorable. It certainly gave Dairy Milk it's Fifteen Megs of Fame. It was so off the wall I actually wonder if recall was stronger for Dairy Milk versus weaker.
Anyhow, since the gorilla drum solo to Phil Collins "In The Air Tonight" made it's online debut a while back, a new online video has been made by the same folks called "Trucks". Check it out below or on the Glass and a Half Full Site. It seems a lot more went into the production of this follow-up but I expect it will not have anywhere close to the result of it's predecessor, Mr. Gorilla. My thoughts on this new video are summarized with a resounding "meh".
What is new and interesting is the site that has been created from Glass and a Half Full Productions to house the content. It is a fun distraction to explore and they have even linked to the YouTube riffs and take-off on the original video. There are a few interesting remixes to check out.
My only problem is that on the original site, which housed only the Gorilla video, there was a form asking for email addresses so that Glass and a Half Full Productions could keep you in the loop when new content was released. I signed up, but didn't get anything. I wonder what happened there?
I will continue to use Gorilla Phil Collins in my presentations and may now even include "Trucks". If I do, it will be to illustrate how difficult it is to create content with viral potential, even on the heels of a success. Wouldn't life be easier if everything were that predictable?
Leo Burnett's London based Futures Editor, Ben Hourahine, created a nifty little video titled the "Trends Predictions Report".
Here is how the YouTube video content is described by the authors:
"The key dynamics in culture, communication, advertising and marketing:- Mass is back (Say hello to the Swell Society).
At the turn of this year online downloads were included as part of the UK Christmas pop chart for the first time ever. This trend of online popularity being institutionalized shows that mass appeal will once again define marketing attitudes. The goal is the same; reach a mass audience, the difference is how to achieve it. Say hello to the Swell Society.
- Community Commerce.
Community connections will become more central to business practice. Retailers will seek to bring the community further inside the store, with more coffee shops, banking services and pharmacies within supermarkets. On the other side, community connections are being used to create new businesses for established brands.
- Screen Saturation.
Moving forward we will see the explosion of screen-based media, with screens on the side of buses, in petrol stations, supermarkets, the home and the pocket. While the medium may remain the same, the reach, context, audience and role of the media will be tweaked. There will be more broadcast screens than ever in 2010 and things are only going to get bigger: According to Sharp, the electronics manufacturer, the average television screen size will be 60" by 2015.
- Gender Reversal.
More women in work and the increasing role played by men within the family will see marketers change their focus. Men's interest and investment in the family will continue to rise as well, morphing the gender balance and changing the advertising context. Expect to see more and more campaigns aimed at women at work and men in the home.
- Brand Guardians.
The role of brands is evolving and will enter a new phase. With growing concerns over how to be healthy, safe and environmentally friendly, mixed with a real confusion about how to achieve this, we will see brands increasingly attempting to take on a guardian role.
- IP Idols.
Artists are grabbing control of their creative product. Intellectual Property (creative works -- ideas, songs, movies, TV shows) used to be owned and licensed by studios, record labels and other commercial institutions, but we will see artists back in the driving seat.
- The Data Awareness Era.
The public will be more aware of their data exposure than ever before and privacy concerns will be a defining issue in the future. Expect this trend to accelerate with the introduction of GPS location based information, the explosion in online information storage and social networking increasingly reflecting real life...
- Social Networks Get Real.
Social networks like Facebook -- once just virtual playgrounds - will now start to plug directly back into the real world. Increasingly we will see these networks beginning to dictate everyday life, influencing who people do business with, which parties, movies and gigs they go to, where they meet and with whom. Accelerating this shift is the advent and take up of mobile social networking: 14m people did it in 2007, and forecasts suggest it could hit 600m by the time the Olympics hits London in 2012."
Interesting stuff. Lots of things to think about. And, a nice little advert for the folks at Leo Burnett. An "A" for effort and presentation style. That said, these are themes and riffs that many of us have been kicking around for a while in other forms but, it provides a good view of things and where they might be headed.
Some of the points remind me of one of my mentors from back in my early days of marketing, Jerry Reitman who, coincidently, used to head up Leo Burnett's Direct Marketing division. He was a big influence on my career and is a hell of a nice guy. I spent a lot of time in the 1990's working with and getting to know Jerry. One of the smartest direct marketing people I've ever come across.
Back to the video. What I like is the idea of swells, but I'm not so sure "mass is back". In fact, I'm not so sure it ever went that far away. We just look at it through a different marketing lens these days. Call it an enlightenment about what mass represents in today's world and how we choose to categorize and deal with it.
Now for social networks plugging back into the offline world. That is a huge trend worth watching and figuring out how to apply it to your brand and marketing efforts. What is critical is how it can be done with a non zero-sum mentality and approach. Further, the notion that communities and commerce can coincide is the focus of many currenet conversations in my world. Although, I have a much different way of thinking about communities and commerce than outlined above - we'll leave that for another post.
And finally, the idea of Brand Guardians is interesting but fails to go far enough for my liking. I kind of agree with the angle taken, but wholeheartedly believe that the role of brand guardian is being diffused more so than ever before. Increasingly, we are seeing smart CMO's and senior level marketers who are understanding that it comes down to a balanced mix of passionate employees, empowered front-line staff and customer service people that are truly the guardians. They are the tangible part of brand delivery in the consumer's mind and cannot be undervalued. In many cases, unfriendly consumer generated content against a brand is the result of a guardianship slip in a front-line, human-to-human, moment of truth.
Following that line of thinking, the torch of guardianship can be effectively passed onto the consumer through consistent positive encounters. Bad product issues can be rescued by a great person who shows empathy and is genuine in the help and solutions they provide. Let's face it, the product is often a commodity. It's the person-to-person element forges the brand identity with the vast majority of consumers. This is the context for creating a remarkable moment-of-truth where consumers become a defender or guardian of the brand (i.e. the Nordstrom's employee who gift wraps an item that was bought at another store.)
When a customer knows you are worth defending, they become your most credible advocate. I like to call it the 360 Degree brand guardianship model. Makes one rethink where to invest marketing dollars when you ask yourself if your customer service is doing your marketing for you in that regard? Deep thoughts before the Easter long week.
With that in mind, enjoy the video:
I was asked a question recently related to search results and it made me think about (big surprise) reputation. The question was "what if you are Brand X and have decent organic search results for your name and keywords/phrases but, directly below you are results that say 'Brand X sucks'. What can Brand X do to get rid of the result below?"
My response: "Don't Suck"
It was not meant to be flippant, I was being honest about the difference in today's digital age that brands face. Awareness and credibility are now totally separate items. It used to be that you could buy enough awareness to become credible. That time is gone. It is more about being credible that will increase your awareness.
What shows up in search is your reputation. Google (or other search engines - there are others out there ya know!) could care less about whether you suck or not. Google only cares about serving up what is relevant to what people are searching for. If "sucks" is relevant to you, you have a suck problem, not a search problem.
Sometimes, one crank with a lot of Google juice is all it takes (please know the restraint I just exercised in not linking to someone on that phrase!). You may not be too bad off as one person's rants are often just that - one person's rants. However, if they have enough influence to affect search, they likely have some influence outside of the online space as well and that is what is more important to remember. That is where it gets tricky.
In Meatball Sundae, Seth Godin has a couple of brilliant quotes around this:
"No one visits a Web site's home page anymore -- they walk in the back door, to the page Google sent them to." And, "New Marketing treats every interaction, product, service and side effect as a form of media"
Understanding that and acting accordingly are important to keep in mind. Which brings us back to the question of how can a brand eradicate the result below theirs that says they suck? Well, there is really only one way: Don't suck.
Frank Palmer, chairman of DDB Canada, sure knows how to get the headlines. In a case of shifting moral high ground at DDB, a week after Frank took a stance on the use of Blackberries in meetings, his team went for broke on the other end of the spectrum with a horribly tasteless campaign that is gathering buzz for all the wrong reasons.
The ads, created and designed by DDB for Running Free (who currently have an announcement about the campaign posted on their home page), were supposed depict hypothetical injuries resulting from females who go jogging without wearing the appropriate sports-bra. The images of women with black-eyes, bruises and swollen-faces in pursuit of a punch-line is wrong. I don't think I need to explain why.
Some ideas should never leave the white-board (or even make it to the white board). Read full story from Marketing Magazine - Running Free calls DDB ads a ‘hoax’.
I'm tagging in The Mose on this one!
I'm already a huge fan of BBC (the documentaries and history programs are a personal obsession) and am rapidly increasing my brand fanaticism as I dive into their newly redesigned site. So far I like what I see - a lot.
The approach for the new site design was crafted with users in mind by, go figure, involving users in the process. BBC went about actively requesting, receiving and integrating ideas while in the Beta phase. The BBC Internet Blog explains the open source nature of their redesign process. The blog itself added a nice dimension of communication around the project and undoubtedly generated more interest and credibility along the way. The new BBC home page is now live and I encourage you to take a look and play with it.
While they are not the first large company to adopt a user input/feedback mechanism and model, it is reassuring to see a globally known and respected brand open up this way. This is an approach my team at Scotiabank took with the launch of MyVault last year and, although ours differed in terms of being a private beta invite for users, it was a phenomenal opportunity to learn from the community and deliver a superior product and experience at the end of the day.
Quite timely as this will make for a good discussion at tonight's Canadian Marketing Association's eMarketing Professional Certificate Course. The session is all about Web Site Best Practices, Design and Usability.
Hat Tip to Steve Rubel - picked via Twitter.
Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester writes about the The 3 “Impossible” Conversations for Corporations. It is quick and informative read on the conversations that companies typically shy away from, but should embrace to have them become a bit more human.
His three points are:
- Ask for feedback
- Say positive things about your competition
- Admit when you are wrong
Hopefully, brands will see the upside in terms of having more opportunity to exercise conversations around the first two-items. That said, the third kind of conversation Jeremiah lists becomes much more palatable for all involved (reader/consumer, writer/brand) when you have some experience with the first two.
Last week I posted a piece titled "Social Media Is Always On". I believe, as many other do, that social media is a continuum. When explaining social media in that manner to those who are newer to the space, I have sensed an immediate acknowledgment that it follows a different stream than the campaign-based model of print, radio and TV.
Reinforcing the notion of "always on, Shel Israel of Global Neighbourhoods (via Jeremiah) has a terrific take titled Two Social Media Camps in the Enterprise which looks at what may happen inside an company. The issue he looks at is when one person in the company gets the social media space and is a "white hat" in their approach but, the guy/girl down the hall doesn't get it and merely attempts to exploit a perceived marketing opportunity using social media. How does that reflect on those who "get it" and have been champions for the same brand? I like Shel's take on the issue and it made me think about which type of "marketers" are at fault.
It boils down to understanding that those who look to game the system don't get it. Never have, never will. They bank on cheap tactics and let the other "saps" do it the right way while they act in a deceptive and self-interested manner. These are likely the same folks who asked you to borrow an essay in High School or University. Social Media is just the latest area they can try to pull a fast one and cut corners.
The thing is, it used to be a lot easier. Today it is harder to produce results without spending effort to understand what's is really going and how to succeed. Realizing true power means investing in the underlying potential. Many will try to get it right the right way and may stumble a bit on the road. We like those people. However, many enter the gates looking for the quickest path with all the wrong intentions. They will quit when it gets to the point of having to actually work at it - even a little bit. Why? That is what they always do. And, when they do, it becomes a better place for all of us.
Darwin was right.
When I see a brand in campaign mode, in this case Hasbro's Monopoly, and it reaches me in a variety of places I would not expect and through people I know, something is up. And, it seems to be a well engineered something when it's reach, in terms of grabbing my attention, was not bought.
Hasbro, fresh off the Facebook Scrabulous situation is doing a smart bit of marketing that I dare say is going viral as they bring out the World Edition of Monopoly. In a controlled bid to involve consumers in the brand, people are voting to have their home city included in the new World Edition.
Here are a bunch of reasons I think it this works well for Hasbro:
- People love Monopoly - it is an imprint of my youth. This effort successfully extends the brand into the online world by involving players, fans and city proud people across the globe. Everyone has a "move" in this exercise.
- This story has tremendous pass-along value.
- They were smart in terms of collecting voter email address in an very efficient manner. This is a move to limit ballot box stuffing and likely to pull voters back into the site with updates. I wonder if they have plans to use the email down the road after this exercise? There is so much potential in terms of extending the relationship with the collected data.
- The end product is, to a certain degree, user-generated. It fits snuggly into today's online model.
- It has broken through in terms of a Facebook group (courtesy of Angelo Cerase), a bit of blog buzz and even people passing it along via email (Thanks Rudite.)
- Multi-part engagement: First there is a vote for the major cities which ends on February 29th. Then, a second round vote on the wildcards and write-ins. (Yes folks, Toad Suck Arkansas still has a chance.) Finally, there is the release of the game itself. I'll bet there will be great word of mouth around this product when it hits stores.
- Traditional marketing was bypassed. Now, just because I have not seen any advertising or marketing around this is not to say they did not conduct any (I'm curious if anyone saw any?) . However, over the past week I could no longer ignore the Monopoly story - it hit me on several credible fronts.
- Nice site design that, although a bit visually noisy at points, stays true to the reason you visited in the first place.
- There is even an offline component with a poster that you can download. Cute.
So, while the social media world was quick to judge Hasbro and Mattel with regard to Scrabulous and Facebook, I felt it was time to point out where they are getting it right. There seems to be a lot of good planning here and it shows.
Now, my call-to-action for you is to VOTE FOR TORONTO. Bottom line: we need a game to play that involves our city in the spring. We keep hoping that spring time games would involve the Maple Leafs, but we'll take Monopoly at this point. Seems to be more of a sure thing. Only 9 days left! Giddy up.
That was the lead of a story reported in Ad Age that shows a downturn in employment figures in the media industry. While the media industry was on the decline, lead by a decrease in newspaper related jobs, the marketing services sector (agencies, consultants etc..) showed an increase in employment growth.
Steve Rubel points out that, the direct-to-consumer model is beginning to take hold. What we are seeing is that, as distribution channels no longer require a broker, agent or other middle-person, the change we have heard of, and expected, is being quantified.
The Ad Age article states:
"Here's the reason behind the disparity: Marketers still invest in marketing, but they have options far beyond paid media: digital initiatives, direct marketing, promotions and events, just to name a few. That creates more opportunities for consultants to help define strategies."
The landscape where brands like Smirnoff, Coke, Dove, Sunsilk and others experiment and see the power of a focus on content versus one where you spend against mass media distribution is shaping up .
Looking a little further into media and distribution trends, the direction taken buy the likes of Radiohead with the release of their latest recording, In Rainbows, (as well as artists like Jane Siberry) show an active embrace of the direct to consumer distribution strategy. The shift taking place is aligned with channels of congregation - not ownership saturation. The implications are not subtle.
However, my belief is that this is not a zero-sum proposition. As online and digital grow, bright minds from the media fold will be brought on board and add talent and ideas to the evolution taking place.
Proof of this can be found in the stats:
"Internet media companies, a sector that includes search engines and web portals, is a bright spot, with a 13.4% jump in jobs last year. Still, internet-media employment remains 31% below its dot-com-bubble peak." Although that last statistic may not be such a bad thing.
Picked up via Greg Verdino's excellent blog, Seana Mulcahy's post at Online Spin calls it as many of us who care to know the difference see it:
"...social media marketing is not just throwing up a page on MySpace, Facebook or any other social media site for that matter. You’ve seen some of the biggest U.S. agencies do that for their clients over the past year or so. These folks have patted themselves on the back for being trailblazers.
Newsflash: That is not trailblazing, that is ignorant."
Love it! Bang on.
Graphic "liberated" from Greg.
First, we have a nice little ad for Blockbuster that, no matter how well crafted, is not likely rescue them from their business model. I'm not sure this one reached viral status as it was added on November 22, 2007 (before the Holiday Season - note the guy in a Santa costume) and has approximately 18,000 views. More like early onset Altzheimer's than viral. No matter, I had fun trying to identify all 35 movies referenced in the spot. Hat tip to Buzz Canuck Sean Moffitt.
Then, we have Mitch Joel's collaboration with David Usher that points out the sexy new MacBook Air is really form over function when compared to the Sony Viao. The parody was added on February 12, 2008 (today) and has 398 views so far.
I am only halfway through Seth Godin's latest book, Meatball Sundae, but immediately thought of it when I saw this article from Wired titled "Camaro Enters 21st Century - With Hybrid?.
If you don't know what a Meatball Sundae is, the concept is described as "the unfortunate result of mixing two good ideas".
For other takes on the concept, check out Jackie Huba's gross out video over at the Church of the Customer blog, or right from the source via Seth Godin's blog.
Read the comments left on WIRED article and let me know your thoughts. Meatball Sundae or good idea?
Bryan Eisenberg of Future Now, friend and fellow preacher of using direct and conversion marketing methodologies applied to your digital efforts, points to the top retailers over the holiday in terms of website conversion.
Bryan's book Call To Action (co-authored with brother Jeffery) is mandatory reading for the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) Professional Certificate Course in eMarketing which I have been teaching since last September.
One of the themes I try to reinforce throughout the course is that the internet is built for database and direct marketing applications. They can make all the difference to your online performance. Understanding them and applying the principles can work overtime for you everyday of the week, including holidays. Something tells me that the list of retailers below know something about how it works.
The Popcorn Factory - 29.50%
L.L. Bean - 23.60%
Abebooks - 20.60%
Amazon - 17.60%
Hollister Co. - 17.60%
Lands End - 17.20%
QVC - 17.10%
Coldwater Creek - 17.10%
Cabela’s - 16.80%
Gymboree - 16.00%
[Source: Nielsen Online / Marketing Charts]
Jackie Hubba of Church of The Customer Blog and co-author or the book Citizen Marketers has a great post today about the retail experience at Whole Foods. It is based on her spending a week on-site at the Whole Foods flagship store in Austin, Texas. I had the pleasure of meeting Jackie and hosting her at one of our Geek Dinners last year in Toronto. Very nice and very smart individual.
Being a foodie, I totally get what she is saying. Whole Foods has many interesting and unique products to offer accompanied by knowledgeable and enthusiastic employees. The Whole Foods retail presentation is a theater where food is on stage. It is a unique shopping experience that has all of the details covered nicely. They are aware of what will help them spread their word-of-mouth. As Jackie puts it "too many American businesses are culture-less shlubs." So true. Same up here in the Great White North. Very few exceptions.
Target does retail quite well too. Target stores feel different when you are inside. People notice and talk about how it is fun and unlike other bigger box stores (at least the Canadians I know who cross the border to shop there have noticed and talk about it). However, the last time I was in a Target store one of the employees spoiled the experience. It was enough to detract from the theater feel. All of the sudden the curtains closed and it became very much like everywhere else.
I bring Target into this post/discussion on the point of being aware of how word of mouth spreads. I saw this story by Warner Todd Huston (hat tip to C.C. Chapman) about how Target reacted to a complaint by a blogger concerned about Target's advertising.
Whether or not you agree with the issue that Target's ads are "sexualized" which was raised by Amy Jussel of Shaping Youth, the response from Target seems to lack any sort of knowledge of the digital world in 2008 (or 2007,2006, 2005). The flippant response is more than likely to overshadow the original issue. One wonders what they are thinking when they alienate the online world by stating that they "do not participate with non-traditional media outlets". The details of today's consumer conversations are clearly not very well understood at Target.
Non-traditional media outlets are today's media outlets. It is where real customers are searching, where real information is being gathered, where real reputations are being made or destroyed. And, it is where real word of mouth is taking place.
Will this hurt their bottom-line? Likely not. If they are smart they'll learn. My takeaway is that we just witnessed the uninformed and not-so-impressive man behind the curtain in the theater of retail.
Fresh off his interview with Lesley Stahl on CBS's 60 Minutes, Mark Zuckerberg is being asked to remove the very popular "Scrabulous" app from Facebook. An article from the wires this morning cites copyright claims by two of the worlds largest toy companies.
I don't think it is coincidence given that the 60 Minutes piece that aired recently showed the Scrabulous application. Perhaps I am wrong on this, but is seems rather suspect.
Aside from getting into a discussion over copyright, I wonder if the folks at Hasbro and Mattel could have approached this in a different manner? The application is quite popular on Facebook. Is this not likely to do more damage to the brand than good if they get their way and it is removed? Perhaps this is a move to supply Facebook with a "legit" version of the game. Or, perhaps it was the only thing the toy execs could do having been caught off-guard to the opportunity unfolding in the digital world to extend the brand. Instead of unleashing a killer app, they are opting to become an application killer.
Two things are clear to me. First, when it comes to bringing a game to life online, it seems like a lay-up in terms of moving off the shelf from Toys "R" Us and breathing new life via the digital world. The transition of content offered up as widgets, Facebook applications or whatever are sitting right in front of people's noses. Webkinz and Club Penguin have been effective in mixing up the online and offline worlds, so is it really a stretch for established offline games to rethink the model?
Second, I am not a big Scrabble fan, but "Scrabble" has been talked about a lot lately. This is undoubtedly due to the popularity of the application on Facebook. Before this legal wrangle, I had no clue this was not the "offical" version of the game and I'll bet you didn't know either. So, the Scrabble brand has benefited. If I am Hasbro and Mattel, I'd like to find out who programmed the application and put them on staff.
Perhaps Zuckerberg and Co. should try out an angle with select brands (or their agencies) where brand managers and application developers team up to build branded content/games like "Scrabulous" that people will use and love - where the advertising is in the game itself.
It is less likely to create the furor seen with Beacon and Social Ads. I mean, if a fast-food giant like Burger King can do advergaming, why can't the game people? 
UPDATE: My friend Shel Holtz of For Immediate Release fame and the blog A Shel of My Former Self has a great post explaining the rationale behind the lawsuit. He worked for Mattel, worth a read.
Let's say you don't read blogs. Let's pretend for a minute that you are Joe or Jane Average. You are not into following the tech scene and don't care what Scoble, Arrington or Rubel are saying or doing. Or, have even heard of these guys.
Here is the email I received today from Apple. It works, doesn't it?. One of the most important things in marketing is to get the fundamentals right. Yes, Apple does the innovation part to the nines. Yes, they ooze cool in everything that they produce. They have nailed down the sex appeal in technology. Yes, they have changed the game several times over. And, the marketing communications just make you want to buy the product in a heart beat.
Below is the timely email they sent. Look at how they do the right thing in terms of ensuring the message is clear, concise and in your inbox at the same time the world is exploding with the news that they have done it all over again, just in case you've been in a cave and missed the hype. All this via the "antiquated" mode of marketing through email.
Good job Jobs.
One of the first questions I've been asked when people have found out that I am moving over to the agency side is "Does this mean you will be re-branding and changing The Client Side blog/podcast?"
Well, aside from changing the header description and bio page to accurately reflect my status and new gig, the answer is no.
Here's why:
What happens if I go back to being a client one day? What if that is my master plan? What then?
So there you have it. Although it will not likely change my decision, I would love to hear your thoughts if you agree or disagree with the rationale.
Great news just in. I received word that the MyVault website has won a Grand Prix Award at the Boomerang Awards last evening in Montreal. This a combined win for Scotiabank and our agency partners at Twist Image.
The Boomerangs are the largest interactive communications awards in Quebec and are presented by InfoPresse Magazine -the French language equivalent of English Canada's Marketing Magazine. Scotiabank and Twist Image took home the award for Best Website - Services for Scotiabank's My Vault. There were so many other excellent sites from a wide range of industries that we really feel special for being voted at the top of the class. I believe it is a first ever win for a bank in this category.
All this within the first six months of our public launch! Even more significant is the fact that the site is currently only available in English - the French language version of the site has not yet launched (look for it in early '08)!
While our focus is adding value to relationships with Scotiabank customers and winning new business from prospects, it is a huge honor for all of us and for our partners at Twist Image to be recognized this way. We are very proud of the win for MyVault as it was a real labor of love for all our teams. And, this is a sweet follow-up to a previous award win at the Digital Marketing Awards back in October.
Aside from the awesome team at Twist Image, I'd like to recognize the work of Michelle Tampoya, David MacLeod and Yinka Osidien who are on my team at Scotiabank. They are behind making the site work and this award is a direct result of their diligent efforts to provide an excellent user/subscriber experience. Way to go! Now get back to work ; )
Here we go. Ad Age reports that digital agencies have not yet done the required work to claim any sort of prowess in the area of leading brand strategy.
The article states:
"Increasingly marketers are realizing that [offline and online] has to be integrated ... but interactive agencies have not yet proven they have the capability to manage brand strategy," said Brian Haven, senior analyst at Forrester Research and the author of "The Forrester Wave: Interactive Marketing Agencies
Do we believe the folks at Forrester? Well, I think they make a valid point. David Armano of Critical Mass and the Logic and Emotion blog thinks so too. David has made a list of suggestio
