iWunder | Wunderman New York Blog

Do we all have marketing AD/HD?

As I walked the floor of the Cannes Intl. Ad fest this afternoon, I noted that the vast majority of the work was a display of digital objects. It's not that I think the work is bad.  There are some fantastic executions shortlisted. I really like the Ikea tagging project and the Nike Chalk Bot, but each is an example of a stunt. One trend that seems to be partly a result of the global recession is that most brands backed away from bold ideas and platforms for smaller marketing moments.  Could the the other reason for the lack of bold ideas and platforms be that we may have marketing AD/HD?

A branded experience requires time to build, one point of view, a coordinated team effort and most importantly... focus and consistency.  This year I have only witnessed 2 really bold and focused platforms. Pepsi's Refresh Everything is a long term platform that has turned the Cola wars into something deeper than star power.  I think Coke's platform for Happiness is an example that has the potential to deliver phenomenal results.

If our customers are requiring us to be more to them than an ad, how do we get focused to begin turning the tide towards branded digital storytelling?  Is there are a drug we can take for our marketing AD/HD?

Join Me On The Road @ The Cannes Lions International Ad Fest

Over the next week I will be attending the Global Creative Directors Meeting at this years Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival! If you will be there tweet with me #wmanGCDM! 

Here are a few hastags to follow: #CannesLions, #wmanGCDM! #wman, #jpbCannes, #wmanGCDM

I will be v-logging (video blogging) from the meetings, workshops and networking events.  catch it all here.

Why It's Finally the Year of Mobile

One need only look at the explosive coverage of wave upon wave of feature- and smart-phone related news and product announcements to reach the conclusion that the year of mobile has finally arrived. But it's once recent editorial comment I've read in The Hindu, India's National Newspaper, that sealed it for me:

There is a plethora of smartphones from international companies like LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson flooding the Indian market. In addition, local companies like Videocon, Fly, Zen and many others are entering the growing segment. The resulting competition could bring down smartphone prices.

Pretty obvious closing statement no? We all know that competition validates a market.  But what I think what we're seeing that the growing smartphone market, and the rise of the affordable smartphone will hasten the rise of mobile computing globally. The US is leading in mind share, sure, with efforts from Apple and Google gaining the majority of attention. But you now have a global market of devices across the cost spectrum that at their core go well beyond communications to actually enabling the equivalent of a desktop computing experience to anyone, anywhere, within the range of cellular tower. Coupled with the rise of app marketplaces, the burgeoning micro economies Apple and Google are nurturing, and moves by players like Facebook to attempt to drive online usage of their platforms by subsidizing not handset or service but actual airtime for access, you have what can be called a truly global mobile marketplace evolving faster than previous technologies, with sales rates of mobile devices and platforms, including iPads, growing faster than anyone could imagine.

So, in my opinion, and in closing, the Year of Mobile isn't the point at which mobile computing reaches near global ubiquity - it's the year when we finally realized that it wasn't just possible for that to happen, but when it became clear that it was inevitable, on a global basis. In my opinion,  that clearly makes this that year. 

We're surely in for as much change as we are growth, but I know that from our perspective, as digital marketers and technologist, we will all certainly enjoy what should be a meteoric rise.

The Rise of Productivity Apps Validates the Slate Form Factor, Creating New Opportunities for Established Players

Surprisingly despite all of the promise of the iPad and the excitement around all of the apps I’ve seen and gotten to play with, there really hasn’t been anything that’s become my preferred way of working vs. my traditional laptop from a professional perspective. The iPad always seems like a contextual compromise from a professional application perspective, something I’d use in a pinch or out of pure convenience, as a point of origination for an idea perhaps, or as a more convenient option vs. my laptop on during my daily commute. But my experience with one particular app, , represents the first time that I truly see the slate becoming the preferred form factor not just for idea origination, but as a preferred tool for execution.

 While you’ll immediately say that the nature of my work has something to do with it, as I sat on a recent late night flight where I actually had the aisle space to unpack my incredibly powerful and beautiful new Dell Latitude E6500, and fire up my trusty copy of Microsoft Visio 2010 (which actually introduces some incredibly useful experience improvements for placement vs. previous versions).  I instead reached for my iPad, and fired up a recently download app, OmniGraffle. OmniGraffle represents of the many existing OS X “professional” applications not simply being ported but actually “re-envisioned” for the platform.

This would really be the first time I would use OmniGraffle on the iPad for any length of time, and within the hour I not only felt comfortable, but was able to complete a process flow diagram due for a 10am meeting the next day. However, I was working in a manner that was absolutely frightening I’m sure for those sitting next to me, as I wildly tapped and gestured and dragged my fingers across the surface. But it felt very natural.

The point here isn’t simply to laud Apple and Omni, but to show how this use case validated for me the slate form factor. Existing desktop applications truly need to be re-through to take advantage of it, and this will take some effort; as sign of this, you’re seeing many early slate projects canceled or rethought. What you are already seeing are efforts from key players such as Dell intelligently leveraging mobile platforms such as Android, leveraging a mobile platform with momentum in the apps space for their new Streak slate. And this is the key; it’s the apps, and an easy way to sell/distribute/buy them, that will drive adoption. Existing platforms / operating systems aren’t relevant as long as application-level compatibility and interoperability exists, and in this area, the potential for Microsoft to be a dominant player in the slate apps space is clear. Just as it develops for OS X, Android and MeeGo versions it’s key applications, rethought from an experience perspective but seamlessly compatible from a data and functionality perspective, represents the future, even more so than the cloud and web-based apps. Why? The end of flat-rate data plans for mobile devices is around the corner, which will actually increase the need to run as much of an app locally as possible.

The most exciting thing about the rise of productivity apps for slate platforms is that it represents the true opportunity for mobile market dominance as people realize the ability for this form factor to complement their phone, but completely replace their desktop environment – which current no phone can truly do. What this also says is that the slates are here to stay.