Co Creation! Can Market Researchers be Creative?
I believe Co Creation is one way to go forward in developing innovative ideas. In the past when focus groups were the norm - I always pushed Creatives and Designers to get involved inside the group. Now a new trend has appeared from market research agencies as an alternative to focus groups - Co Creation! Hurrah. Often it is the research people that are leading the Co Creation process from a market research company - moderating and developing within a series of different workshops.
If the researcher has not been trained as a copywriter or designer how can they grasp what areas to go deeper into for real insights that can inspire Co Creation. I believe it is not the function of the designer or creative to dig deeper for insights that will leverage innovation but it is great they add to the conversation.
So how do the researchers do it? Well I know how they sell it to the client - we involve everyone within the team - taking consumer insights and making decisions together. Sure sounds great - but it is still down to the researcher to engage the consumer and creatives down an interesting path.
Trust me no researcher is that creative to understand and steer creativity within an innovation workshop. They are good at moderation and facilitating the workshop but how do they know which rich zone of insights can leverage new innovative ideas.
Maybe we need the moderator to bring it all together but the creative brand planner who is an expert at leveraging insights must steer the way into new zones. This can then be discussed within the team of creatives, consumers and brand management.
So when a research agency say Co Creation make sure they have a moderator and creative brand planner on their team. I believe you need both because the planner needs to think and not steer all conversations. Also a real CREATIVE brand planner is not born overnight and needs to have true experience in leveraging creativity. I believe a true Creative brand planner can come from any background such as a psychologist, journalist, detective as long as they are creative and have ideas AND have the experience to understand how insights can be leveraged into new zones!
Validation or Imagination. What do we really want from Innovation?
innovate : live ™ NEW RELEASE
Becoming a true Viking.
It always impressed me how the real global players of history were the Vikings - who every Winter would leave Sweden and the dark behind to go on an interesting adventure in warmer areas of the globe.
I too have decided that I will mix it up a lot more, breaking up my Winters here in Stockholm but returning every now and again. I will look for adventure in Puglia and Buenos Aires during the Winter months. Also helping on some client led projects in the USA and Europe.
This time I will not be buying any candles unless they smell really nice - which Swedes somehow think make a six month Winter quite pleasant. I will now focus on becoming a true global Viking.
Recharge Creativity the Stockholm way.
One thing I find so refreshing about living in Stockholm is that everybody disappears for a month to the countryside or archipelago and just relaxes.
I find it is a time that you can really think with no interruptions - a great time to build plans and look where things are going.
I mix this up with my family and fishing and it becomes the perfect escape for me. When I come into the city there is actually no point because nobody is here and the offices are closed! I can’t imagine that happening in London or New York unless a riot is about to take place.
It must be about balance and I think for sure I was burnt out when I left New York many years ago. This balance gives me more Creativity and right now I feel so charged that I am full.
Well done Sweden!
Empower & Engage. No more pitches!
I believe the way forward is to take key decision holders within the brand team, turn up the heat and boil in an inspiring environment. Bringing in relevant experts and consumer guests as co creation stimuli.
The way agencies work with some progressive brand clients has to be challenged. Not all agencies have the same process but the basic result is that they end up pitching an idea within a drawn out process.
Instead of creatives thinking of ideas on their own within a traditional creative brief format - which can be disconnecting, badly written and uninspiring. The brief bad or good can also be inhibiting for creativity and go in directions that are flat for the brand.
Progressive brand teams are usually smart clients with a large amount of creativity. Leverage this within a great session which is empowering to the client and everyone involved.
The creatives become the guardians of the concept along with the planner who is responsible for relevant and motivating inspiration - so the workshop platform stays focused. Massaging out as a group team over the day a series of brand engagement ideas that can be chosen to be developed.
Having experienced this process in Stockholm working on global digital viral development concepts. I believe this is the way to go, everyone walks away feeling inspired and involved in the development of the ideas. Of course some areas still have to be ironed out such as digital production and special effects but the main concept and foundation for brand engagement are there.
A cold shiver goes down my spine when I think of a fresh cheesy account person pitching 3 ideas because they know one will get signed off?
Things have to change. The way forward for me is clear now. I hope that more brand teams can have the courage to try at least and roll up their sleeves to creativity.
Crash and Burn. When will the bullshit end?
It really amuses me when people in our business set out and start something new.
You can imagine it most of them ad agency/digital people sitting around a nice designed table, looking for a direction which will make them stand out.
Talented people with their own branding skill set and yet when starting new ventures for their own brand come up with positioning bull like:
We’re an advertising agency, but a hybrid between traditional advertising and digital. Fusing these disciplines together with our set of unique tools.
Does that mean it is a digital agency that wants to do tv ads?
This unique tool term is also very scary to me personally, as a brand planner I have come across all sorts of trade marked junk that uncovers insights on brands and concepts but I can’t remember any names right now because they are usually crap. Usually research agencies and brand consultancies are the best at this shite.
One insight is that ‘advertising agency’ is a dirty word right now with clients and agencies not wanting to use the description. It is a real pity that every agency brand is now trying to re-position themselves so they are not left behind in client perceptions for new briefs. Of course nothing changes within these large companies except a few key hires in Social Media, if they are smart.
Personally I like the positioning of :
Don Draper runs virtual talent team.
Maybe that is just too basic? If I do not mention global brands then we can only work for local? If we have no glass fronted office space then we must be mickey mouse? If it is not part of WPP or any other network - clients like Unilever will never give us a brief?
I still think the word agency has legs - but it needs to be motivating and relevant. That is a basic branding idea I learned at Chiat/Day.
Think I will do some workshops for the networks as agency management teams seem incapable to grasp insights and leverage their own brands!
Viral Death in 12 easy steps!
This is the way to organically grow a digital film into a hit viral and not killing the idea!
1. Interaction/personalization is key. Any technology used must be easy to use - duh! http://en.tackfilm.se/
2. Simple straightforward storyline which should run for no longer than 2 minutes. Some creatives get excited at writing such a long script and produce overcomplicated trite/shit. www.mymagnum.com
3. Don’t just add a logo or tagline to a really cool film idea if it makes little sense! VW and fun? www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw
4. Tonality of film should fit tonality of brand. Hello?
5. Leave the temptation usually from the client side to put their logo and product throughout the majority of the viral - including brand colours! Nobody wants to see a cheesy ad. www.mymagnum.com
6. Any personalisation or interaction must be shown in the right light - as a hero - friend - star- Not rocket science here, think Ben Hur.
7. Production values must look good! Give me a personalized 3D Avatar viral with a bag of chips please.
8. Let me repeat thisbecause so many clients think a viral is an application they can download for the same price as an iAPP! Production values mean filming, editing and special effects. these must be of the highest quality if you want your viral to spread. Otherwise don’t bother!
9. Any money goes into the production! Not the media to support it. Bite the bullet if you have the balls.
10. Make a viral that has a point of interest - this must fit with the brand focus - otherwise send your money to a good charity.
11. Support the viral - what do you want to achieve. If you just say brand awareness you are missing the boat.
12. Build a community supporting the focus with sites - think it through properly so it fits with the brand and you have the time to develop it.
Finally. Less is more - deal with key decision makers, the best work comes from small stealth teams not layers of management. Wake up Unilever!
Pepsico Co Creation. Collaborate Now?
This is the way forward in my opinion and a step in the right direction.
NEW YORK: PepsiCo, the soft drinks giant, is seeking to move away from marketing based on a “big brand” philosophy and towards an approach that connects with its target audience in a more direct way.
Frank Cooper III, chief consumer engagement officer for PepsiCo’s US beverage arm, argued that changing preferences and habits mean many traditional methods of advertising now seem outdated.
“We want to become a catalyst in the culture rather than act like a big brand announcing something,” he said.
As part of this process, the owner of Gatorade and Tropicana is trying to build stronger bonds with its dedicated customers, who can often be ignored in favour of attracting new buyers.
“One of the most valuable – yet underrated – assets any company has is the wisdom and passion of its most loyal consumers,” said Cooper III.
Stimulating online and offline conversations with, and between, brand advocates can help encourage positive word of mouth, a currency that is always at a premium in the FMCG sector.
PepsiCo estimates that 90% of shoppers place the most trust in recommendations from sources like friends and family, while 70% have a similar confidence in user-generated reviews on the web.
“We found that our consumers’ social relationships serve as the foundation for our most effective marketing,” said Cooper III.
One recent such effort was the DEWmocracy platform developed for Mountain Dew, which gave netizens the chance to pick between three potential brand extensions.
“This campaign resulted in Mountain Dew Voltage, one of the most successful product launches in PepsiCo beverage history, new consumers being brought into the Dew franchise and massive amounts of earned media,” said Cooper III.
PepsiCo recently rolled out a second phase of this co-creation drive, which empowered internet users to an even greater degree by involving them in every stage of the innovation cycle.
In doing so, it has leveraged sites like Twitter, Facebook – where Mountain Dew’s number of fans has grown from 150,000 to 800,000 – and a private online community, DEW Labs, which has 4,000 members.
In January, PepsiCo also unveiled the Pepsi Refresh Project, through which it pledged to give $20m (€16.2m; £13.7m) in grants to schemes conceived by individuals or groups aiming to rejuvenate local communities.
Social media has been the primary marketing channel for this initiative, which has seen three million unique visitors log on to RefreshEverything.com thus far, casting 16 million votes for 3,500 ideas.
“Rather than focusing on how to sell the product attributes to our consumers, we looked to add value to a community or a real-life social network,” said Cooper III.
“While DEWmocracy focused, in a sense, on the ‘wisdom of crowds’ the Pepsi Refresh Project celebrated the power of the individual.”
A major benefit of this strategy is starting a two-way conversation with shoppers, who are also able to take “ownership” of Pepsi in a way that was not previously possible.
Moreover, it has “expanded” the perceptions people had about the Pepsi brand, which has long been associated with pop culture and youth but now carries an extra “sense of purpose”.
In terms of the corporation’s long-running rivalry with Coca-Cola, Cooper further suggested that the rise of digital media has enabled Pepsi to take advantage of its status as a challenger brand.
More specifically, he argued that while Coke’s online programmes have pushed through “a clear message about what their brand stands for,” Pepsi has looked to exploit a “bottom up” model.
12 Secret Tips to create hit Global Brand Virals!
1. Interaction/personalization is key. Any technology used must be easy to use - duh! http://en.tackfilm.se/
2. Simple straightforward storyline which should run for no longer than 2 minutes. Some creatives get excited at writing such a long script and produce overcomplicated trite/shit. www.mymagnum.com
3. Don’t just add a logo or tagline to a really cool film idea if it makes little sense! VW and fun? www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw
4. Tonality of film should fit tonality of brand. Hello?
5. Leave the temptation usually from the client side to put their logo and product throughout the majority of the viral - including brand colours! Nobody wants to see a cheesy ad. www.mymagnum.com
6. Any personalisation or interaction must be shown in the right light - as a hero - friend - star- Not rocket science here, think Ben Hur.
7. Production values must look good! Give me a personalized 3D Avatar viral with a bag of chips please.
8. Let me repeat thisbecause so many clients think a viral is an application they can download for the same price as an iAPP! Production values mean filming, editing and special effects. these must be of the highest quality if you want your viral to spread. Otherwise don’t bother!
9. Any money goes into the production! Not the media to support it. Bite the bullet if you have the balls.
10. Make a viral that has a point of interest - this must fit with the brand focus - otherwise send your money to a good charity.
11. Support the viral - what do you want to achieve. If you just say brand awareness you are missing the boat.
12. Build a community supporting the focus with sites - think it through properly so it fits with the brand and you have the time to develop it.
Finally. Less is more - deal with key decision makers, the best work comes from small stealth teams not layers of management. Wake up Unilever! www.CraftofInnovationClub.com
