The Future of Marketing Communications and Social Media
February 8, 2010
According to a new report from Gartner, companies will learn to embrace social media in the future not only for external marketing and brand-building but also for internal communications. Earlier this month, Gartner released its five predictions for social software in 2010 and beyond. They are:
- By 2014, social networking services will replace email as the primary vehicle for interpersonal communications for 20% of business users.
- By 2012, over 50% of enterprises will use activity streams that include microblogging, but stand-alone enterprise microblogging will have less than 5% penetration.
- Through 2012, over 70% of IT-dominated social media initiatives will fail.
- Within five years, 70% of collaboration and communications applications designed on PCs will be modeled after user experience lessons from smartphone collaboration applications.
- Through 2015, only 25% of enterprises will routinely utilize social network analysis to improve performance and productivity.
You can get more details about the Gartner predictions in this press release.
In terms of marketing and branding, the most interesting prediction from Gartner is the first one listed above — within 4 years, social Web tools will replace email as the primary tool for communications for 20% of business users. The shift is already happening as companies move marketing budgets from email marketing to social media initiatives. I’m actually surprised that the 20% prediction isn’t higher.
The third prediction, that over 70% of IT-dominated social media initiatives will fail through 2012, doesn’t surprise me though. I can’t imagine that anyone will fully figure out the perfect way to leverage the social Web from an IT, marketing, or any other discipline’s perspective within the next two years.
I also find the fourth prediction listed above to be very interesting, which states that 70% of collaboration and communications applications designed on PCs will be modeled after lessons learned from smartphone applications within five years. The move from computers to smartphones for an incredibly wide variety of tasks is already happening so quickly since the iPhone hit the market. The 70% prediction doesn’t surprise me at all. I wonder how many businesses are prepared for that shift? If it’s not already on your radar screen, it should be.
Gartner also predicts that companies will become more open to employees using both business and personal social networks for business purposes, but with that change in policy will come the need for companies to create specific guidelines for use. According to a study by Manpower (via eMarketer), only 20% of companies worldwide had formal policies for how employees could use social networking sites in 2009 (see the chart for a breakdown by region).
It’s amazing how quickly the social Web has caused the business landscape to change, and these predictions are just a small sampling of additional changes to come as more people and businesses around the world fully embrace the tools of social networking and collaboration.
What do you think of Gartner’s predictions?
History of the Apple Logo and Lessons Learned
February 4, 2010
The Apple logo has become an iconic symbol of one of the strongest relationship brands, but it wasn’t always the cool monochromatic, Web 2.0 logo that it is today. In fact, the Apple logo has undergone three major redesigns since the original was created in 1976.
1976
The original Apple logo was created by one of the lesser-known founders of Apple Computer Co., Ronald Wayne. It’s hard to even notice the apple hanging from the tree above Sir Isaac Newton’s head in this image. The text that borders the image (which is too small to read at any size) reads, “Newton… A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought … Alone.” It’s not surprising that this logo only lasted a year as the primary tangible symbol of the Apple brand. There is really nothing positive that you can say about it in terms of branding a technology company.
1977
The rainbow apple is the logo that most consumers saw in their introduction to the Apple brand. Apple brand champion Steve Jobs, himself, hired graphic designer Rob Janoff of the Regis McKenna Advertising Agency to design the new logo, and the final design chosen — the rainbow apple — worked. According to some reports, Janoff has claimed the bite taken out of the apple was intended to show people that the image was an apple, not a tomato, and it was a play on words between “bite” and the technical term “byte”.
1998
One year after Steve Jobs returned to the helm of Apple (after he was ousted from the company years earlier), he called for a logo update, and what came out of this redesign was a color change from the dated rainbow palette to a modern monochromatic version that was also highly web-friendly. The primary color for this Apple logo, which is still used today, is chrome, but it has appeared in other colors as well. In a word, the new logo was sleek and matched the new direction Jobs planned to take the company. The monochrome Apple logo has even been reported as stimulating the brain and making people who are exposed to it more creative (according to a 2008 study by Duke University). The logo redesign in 1998 was subtle, but very effective in repositioning the brand and moving it into a new century in consumers’ minds.
Companies spend millions of dollars on rebranding initiatives, often dropping millions on a logo redesign alone. While I’m sure Apple invested quite a bit in its two logo redesign efforts, the lesson to learn from this history report is this — if there is value in your logo as a tangible symbol of your brand, a complete logo redesign might not be the best strategy to revamp or rebrand. Subtle changes could make a better difference and yield better results. However, sometimes a complete redesign is warranted, as in the case of the original Apple logo, so don’t be afraid to admit when your tangible brand elements just aren’t working.
What do you think?
2010 – The Year of Brand Transparency, Honesty and Trust
February 1, 2010
Earlier this month, I wrote an article that was published on Entrepreneur.com where I listed 10 marketing trends for 2010. The top trend on that list was transparency and trust (which includes honesty), and that trend should define 2010 for brand strategy.
The question is – will companies actually follow the trend like they should? Some will, but unfortunately, more will probably not.
So why are transparency, honesty and trust so important for brands in 2010?
It’s simple. Consumers aren’t naive anymore. There was a time when consumers believed the marketing messages in ads. There was also a time when many people believed in political propaganda, but thankfully, with advances in communications and technology, more people than ever can see through those skewed messages. The same holds true with advertising claims.
Banks have collapsed, economies are faltering or failing, auto manufacturers took multi-billion dollar bailout packages, and many consumers have lost their last hopes that the pie-in-the-sky claims made in ads are even remotely true.
And that’s why transparency, honesty and trust are so important for brands in 2010. Give people something to believe in. Create expectations for your brand in consumers’ minds that they can believe and rely on. Then, deliver on those expectations every time and in every customer interaction.
Make them believe in your brand through truth, not veiled propaganda.
Yes, I’m a copywriter and I’m saying this. It might seem like a contradiction to say I’m a copywriter and promote a brand strategy of transparency, honesty and trust in 2010. However, successful copywriters, brand managers, and marketers understand that the world has changed thanks to communications and technological advancements like Twitter, social networking, online video, and more. Brands that stretch the truth are called out faster than ever and word of a brand’s dishonesty will spread faster and farther than you can imagine.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and you need to analyze your brand, audience, competition, and so on before you modify your own brand strategy for 2010.
In fact, that’s a great area for discussion here on the Corporate Eye blog. What brands, industries, categories, etc. would fare better to avoid embracing the transparency, honesty and trust trend? Can you think of any? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Image: Flickr
Introducing the Online Behavioral Advertising Privacy Icon
January 29, 2010
In mid-2009, U.S. advertisers came together in an attempt to ward off threats by the Federal Trade Commission and consumer advocacy groups against online behavioral advertising targeting claiming the process was a violation of individuals’ rights to privacy. A group of 12 companies that represent some of the biggest advertising spenders in the world, including Google, Microsoft, General Electric, and more, developed a document listing seven self-regulatory principles in an attempt to appease the opposition (you can view the 48-page PDF here).
Part of the plan those companies came up with was to create an icon that would be used in online ads that are served based on behavioral data to fully disclose to consumers why they were seeing these ads. This month, the icon was unveiled and reported by The New York Times. You can see the privacy “i” icon pictured above.
Individuals who see this icon in an online ad can click on it to learn more about the process used to serve it to them, including the use of behavioral data.
There are two sides to this story. First, consumers have a right to dislike behavioral segmentation. As a consumer, I can see how it can be construed as an invasion of privacy. On the other hand, marketers and brand managers are likely to become more dependent on behavioral targeting once they see the boost in conversions it’s likely to deliver.
The simple truth is that demographic segmentation lost much of its allure years ago. In fact, I wrote an article about that exact topic in November 2007 for branding and marketing expert Drew McLellan’s popular blog, Drew’s Marketing Minute. The post was called “Is Demographic Segmentation Dead?” and discussed how demographic segmentation was already being usurped by behavioral segmentation.
In other words, the shift from demographic to behavioral targeting in online advertising is not new. It’s been coming for years, and the question now becomes — will advertisers find themselves faced with regulations preventing them from doing the behavioral targeting they so desperately want to use or will self-regulation allow them to continue without interference from government regulation? Only time will tell.
What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Are All Brands Global in the 21st Century?
January 28, 2010
Are all brands global? That’s a question we could have answered easily a decade or two ago, but today, it’s not as simple. With the growth of the social Web, tools like blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and so on make the global conversation immediate. Could it be argued that because of the power of the social Web in terms of spreading information wider and faster than ever, all brands are global by default simply because they have the potential to get in front of a global audience?
It’s an interesting concept to consider. Brands that once had no intention of becoming global in the short term might find themselves on a global stage simply through a popular blog post or tweet. And that means brand managers have a global image and messaging responsibility, whether they want one or not.
Even small business brands can become global brands thanks to the conversation and sharing of information that happens on the social Web, so it stands to reason that corporate-backed brands shouldn’t just wonder if the same could happen to them. Instead, they should expect that it will happen to them and plan accordingly. That means your brand strategies should be positioned to speak with a global audience now. Consider how your brand promise, messages, and image will translate in front of a global audience now before you find yourself in an unfavorable position at the hands of a social Web conversation.
Many brand managers dream of the day that one of their messages goes viral and spreads around the world bringing more word-of-mouth marketing and online buzz than they could ever have hoped for. But what if that word-of-mouth marketing and online buzz happens and you’re not ready for it? What if your brand suddenly ends up in the spotlight of the global stage? It could happen. Are you ready?
Do your brand promise, image and message translate to a global audience? It’s time to ensure that they do.
Image: Flickr
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