Great ethnographic studies from Flow and BBC

I just found this cool little rap up from Flow Interactive about some research they had done on teenagers and how they find new music. Have a look. It is nothing you wouldnt have known instinctively and they have limited the amount they give out (I dont know why...BBC is government not commercial). But Im posting it to have it on file.

Can we get over the Big Idea already

two ideas are better than one!, originally uploaded by big bozo.

So growing up in the old style of advertising and in recent years moving closer to digital. I am starting to loose my patience with everyone always talking about the big idea concept. I realised a while back the fact that a lot of what we do in our industry is more so as a communications or reference point internally with all the stake holders in the marketing process, more than the right thing to address the objectives of the problem at hand.

With all the specialisation that has happened over the years. There is a huge amount of people involved in the entire process from agency side (how many agencies sit at the table now) and even more so client side. The confusing thing is everyone wants to put their two pence worth in. Have a look at this example here where a marketing department creates a stop sign.

So why do we use the big idea concept. Because having a clear linear direction that everybody in the process gets behind makes it an easier concept for multiple companies and people to get behind. Client can say in the hallway to the finance director....

'hey chuck (I know very american) we have spent that £15mill on a great BIG IDEA.... its all about ......., '

in response

'Well done Dav, thats a great big idea, that I can tell all my friends at my dinner party on saturday night about . Im not going to cut your budget next quarter' .

It also is about big brands doing big things.... big TV ads... outdoor sites, homepage takeovers etc. But we kind of missed something that I think its really important. People are not linear. We are in a world were people want personalised and customisable experiences. Even BBC is getting onboard with the upgrade of the site and iplayer. The digital world has blown this way of working apart.

I am going to turn to someone I really admire, David Armano who has addressed with in a great presentation about Microinteractions . He explains the power of a microinteraction on slide 43 and his view that every little thing counts. This is where communications planning began I thought, but it seems to have gone back to the big idea concept. But this isnt right in the digital world and in the new world of brand building.

Why dont we look at the No.1 brand to check it out.... Well Google is now the number one brand in the UK. How did they get there. Making a great simple product....an awesome search algorithm... a Big Idea. But that didnt get them to number one straight away. It got them a long way but its the recent work alongside that big idea which is the rest of al the little ideas they launch constantly that pushed them up there.... look at slide 46.

I still think there is a lot of legs in big ideas like Sony and Gorilla. But what will really drive it into the next realm is the little interactions that are personalised and customisable experiences for different audiences, that will take your brand even further than just the Big Idea concept.

So we need to start adjusting the way we work with clients. The processes we have, our structures and remuneration. Its going to be hard work.... but easy jobs are no fun

Joost is struggling in the UK

It seems like the iPlayer is taking over and Joost is struggling to get the right content deals in the UK, so it has decided to pull out. I saw this article in the paper on the weekend. There are two interesting things here. I have been working with some entreprenaurs in the tech space and it seems like the model is to PR the living lights out of yourself, hire a lot of big name people. Then sell out or get out within a year or two. Seems like the model here other than the lack of content deals.

Secondly, I have often thought that BBC was the weirdest thing in the world. No one from any other country would get it. I have been here a while and struggle to get the commercial side..... as does the rest of the nation. But I suppose they need to create revenue to reinvest into new technology like this. Seems to be working.

Intelligence - How do you define it ??

I saw a great program on BBC last night about 'how do you define intelligence ?'. I find this subject very interesting, as I have always believed that there is a complete difference between someone who can read through the books at school and who can get great marks vs people who I believe are 'worldly intelligent' .They really learn from what is going on around them. Its the same reason I work in what Mr Huntington calls a trade not a profession. Which I completely agree with. Its because we learn from doing something and whats around us.

The idea of multiple intelligence, that Howard Gardner has created is also quite interesting. Its linked to lateral thinking and expanding from what society has deemed intelligence.

Its a really interesting program and the results are interesting as well. Check out the videopod