Pictured above:

I went looking for the future in Las Vegas. From the moment I walked into the first hall of the Consumer Electronics Show I was adrift in a sea of 3D TVs, bedazzled iPhone cases, iPad wannabes and a myriad of lifestyle headphones. “Beats” by Dre have been popular for some time, but have you heard about “Street” by 50? Or, “Soul” by Ludacris? Perhaps you’ve heard of “Chambers” by Rza? Then there was the candy colored assortment from iWave, iLuv and Nixon. One thing is clear — lifestyle headphones are more than a fleeting fad.

We Like to Watch
By sheer quantity, you’d probably surmise that the future is all about TV. Ultra-thin and ultra-big — one was 84 inches! 3D in every flavor — including the new kind with no glasses required. (Speaking of glasses, I saw a TV that up to four people could all simultaneously watch different programs by wearing special glasses with built-in earbuds. I didn’t try it, but I can tell you that without the glasses it could possibly cause seizures).

The 4K and 8K TVs that offer four to eight times the pixel resolution were certainly impressive. Sadly, it may only be an alternate future in which the broadcast industry supports these formats.

For me, TVs that boasted facial recognition and took voice commands showed the most promise. I’m ready to ditch my many remotes and own a TV that knows what volume I like it set at and can pull up my favorite show, based on a verbal description.

“Hey TV, play that episode of 30 Rock when Jack talks to his TV.”

Continue Reading »

Pictured above, some of the passionate creators at SAY Media’s Create conference this year:

Recently, I participated in SAY Media’s Create conference with an inspiring group of passionate people who are all creating amazing content and building culture around the things they love.

The event got me thinking about the future of media — and how brands can best position themselves alongside “passionate” content to foster more meaningful connections with their customers.

Media creation and consumption continues to fracture and expand into every conceivable space. What once were a few trusted sources has become an ever-expanding universe of niche players. Never before has there been more content available in more places. However, consumers and creators are often overwhelmed, finding it difficult to know what’s relevant, and to connect with others who care about the same things they do.

For brand marketers, this landscape has become frightfully convoluted, proving to be a difficult ground to find reliable tactics for consistent success — particularly when it comes to connecting meaningfully with their target audiences.

So, how are people discovering media today? What draws them in? What inspires them to engage and what compels them to come back for more?

Continue reading »

The Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the Atomic Age, the Jet Age, the Space Age and the Information Age - every technological era has brought about profound effects on socioeconomic and cultural conditions. They've reshaped human behavior and reset reality.

But, before the full effects of each of these technological developments have taken hold and fully permeated the collective understanding, people and businesses undoubtedly found themselves navigating a strange "in-between" time - a time where future visions are uncomfortably mingled with legacy artifacts and pre-existing expectations.

Today, in the Connected Age, technological innovations are bringing about seismic shifts in our reality every day. The dust is far from settled, and perhaps, it never will be. For businesses and brands this uncertain and unpredictable landscape is wrought with danger. Red herrings, pitfalls and fruitless dead-ends surround us, while opportunity is elusive.

But fear not, Larry Johnson (Odopod's Associate Director of Strategy) and I (Director of Brand and Strategy) have been hard at work cataloging the common mistakes, collecting helpful techniques and distilling best practices to survive and thrive in today's in-between times. We've compiled them neatly, into a presentation of course, and would love the opportunity to share them with you, our industry friends and peers at SXSW 2012.

But we need your help. Please vote for our SXSW session: Danger is Everywhere: Illuminating common pitfalls of marketing's in-between times and take a peek at some example slides here.

This preview is just a taste of what's to come. We promise to keep it short, sweet and useful so send us a vote and we'll see you there.

Captions:

This year I attended my first SXSW Interactive. It was, in a word, overwhelming. However, even as a freshman, I did manage to find a few good hacks...

Continue Reading »

An Interview with Robert V. Kozinets

As section editor of the “Digital Consumer” in the 2011 SoDA’s Digital Marketing Outlook I had the opportunity to speak with Robert Kozinets about his unique brand of online ethnographic research – netnography. An anthropologist by training, Robert is recognized as a pioneer of contemporary consumer research and is published in countless industry journals and is Professor of Marketing at York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto.

Briefly, what is netnography and how does it differ to traditional ethnographic research?

Netnography is cultural research adapted to the unique contingencies of the online environment. It is a cultural look at social media. Online, there is surely culture and community, but lots of things about culture change. Conversations are archived, for instance. Bodies are not present. "Location" becomes rather malleable. Identity is in flux. That means we need new techniques specifically adapted to this altered state of reality, a new state of culture. Netnography was devised for this purpose.

Continue reading the interview »

Complexity requires fierce collaborators
The complexities of working with global brands in the digital landscape require Odopod to be a deeply collaborative company. We are often one partner in a large ecosystem of other agencies and internal teams, all servicing different aspects of our clients marketing and communication needs. For this reason, we have embraced our role as collaborator and strive to forge formidable partnerships.

Knowing our role in these loose confederates is paramount. Too frequently, overreaching agencies debate their area of ownership and jostle for the client’s favor, which can be a recipe for dysfunction and subpar work.

I’ve found that effective ecosystems surrounding a brand must demonstrate the attributes of any productive and successful team – specifically; mutual trust, mutual respect, complete communication as well as a shared purpose and vision.

Beyond merely accepting the idea of collaboration, the larger team must invite it. Desire it. Even, when required, fight for it.

Read the full article »

Throughout my workday as Odopod's Director of Strategy there are concepts (things) that come up over and over. The fact that they come up so often leads me to believe that they’re important. Needless to say, there are far more then five things, but I thought it was a good place to start.

A caveat: I’m not a big fan of definitive to-do lists. Often, I find them too simplistic, generalized and/or dogmatic for my liking. So, it’s with modesty that I put forward the following.

Check out some more of my thoughts on my new blog, Instantly Obsolete »

I’ve just returned from chilly, yet beautiful Boulder, CO where I was auditing a workshop called “Upgrade to Digital” at Boulder Digital Works.

As you may know, BDW is a unique program at the University of Colorado focused on digital business and creative, founded principally with the support of Crispin Porter + Bogusky. SoDA is also a sponsor and, Odopod’s President, Jay Wolff, has joined their board of advisors.

A few weeks prior to my trip, Allison Kent-Smith, Senior Director at BDW, approached Odopod about the idea of leading a remote workshop for the program in San Francisco. We enthusiastically agreed, and arranged to attend one of the current workshops in preparation.

The 2-day session, headed by notable CP+B employees, Scott Prindle and Joe Corr was an appreciable mix of presentations, group exercises and lively discussions on the state of digital marketing. The 40 or so attendees were far ranging – from senior level agency professionals and marketing managers to university professors, entrepreneurs and traditional media publishers.

After a round of introductions and a broad survey to kick off the day, an impressive line up of guest speakers took the group on deeper dives into a variety of topics including; Social Media, Mobile and Search. On day-2 OneRiot co-founder, Robert Reich, hosted a session on the Real-Time web zeitgeist.

The subject surfaced an interesting mix of anxiety and childlike zeal. During the presentation one attendee told the group that he had actually time-stamped his twitter posts to go live while he was at the workshop. And in fact, he was tweeting "now" as he spoke to the room, “without touching a thing”. Another attendee quickly countered that since it was prescheduled, it wasn’t really part of the Real-Time Web. A good point.

At the conclusion of the workshop it was clear that there’s a real appetite for the topics across a spectrum of professional vocations. All in attendance were very interested in reviewing the latest trends and fully understanding the ever-shifting digital landscape.

For it’s final exercise, breakout groups tried their hand at developing strategies and concepts for integrated cross-platform digital executions for a fictitious client. The results varied, but it was certainly a noble pursuit – particularly after just a day and a half of sessions.

Fig. 1 / Boulder Digital Works’ HQ is conveniently located in the heart of downtown Boulder. Nestled just above the Ten Ten Brasserie.

Fig. 4 / Matt Howell from Modernista! and Joe Corr from CB+P moderate a discussion on the digital production process.

More and more we see brands providing useful tools and services to forge connections with consumers. Additionally, the penetration of web enabled devices and the massive popularity of iPhone apps are playing substantial role in this new maturation – elegantly illustrating how branded utility can foster an ongoing relationship with people.

By providing frequent, helpful interactions with consumers, these applications can quickly become a meaningful part of their daily lives. This regular contact can be a supremely potent way to establish trust and build brand loyalty.

Odopod's Director of Brand and Strategy, Guthrie Dolin, examines how and why companies are developing these strategic branded utility programs to engage their consumers and fast track them into becoming loyal brand advocates.

Read the Article »

Last week, I attended the 99% Conference. Taking its name from the famous Thomas Edison quote, Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, the conference's theme was not about the big ideas themselves, but instead, what it takes to make them happen.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

The program boasted some unique speakers. Some of the most notable presenters included: Scott Thomas, Design Director of New Media for Obama for America, Ji Lee, Creative Director of Google Creative Lab and the The Bubble Project as well as Robert Hammond, Co-founder and President of Friends of the High Line.

Thomas’ metaphor of building the plane while in flight was apt for the work on Obama for America. It may have looked like a buttoned up and carefully orchestrated endeavor to us outsiders – but the campaign’s real genius was in its ability to sustain the high level of production with nothing certain except for the belief in their candidate.

One personal highlight was watching expertise theorist, Jason Randal. Beyond deserving the moniker of Renaissance Man, Randal has become an expert on becoming an expert. His freakish resume reads like pure fiction. Among other things, he is a PhD in social psychology, a recording artist who plays five musical instruments, a master hypnotherapist, master scuba instructor, a master certified flight instructor for both airplanes and helicopters, as well as a licensed contractor who built his own home.

In his 20-plus minute, rapid-fire (almost vaudevillian) presentation, Randal broke down how he has honed his almost superhuman ability to absorb and retain. The content – including a couple of magic tricks – was fascinating and his delivery entertained the attendees. Did I mention
he’s a master magician too?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The speakers came from radically different backgrounds, utilizing different processes that ran the gambit from “trash it out up front” (Seth Godin) to “fake it until you make it” (the Threadless partners). That given, there were some strong themes that emerged.

I’ve distilled a few:

» Keep it simple.
Don’t over design. Embrace the obvious. Originality is overrated.

» Tap into passion.
It’s not going to be easy, so you’ll need to have conviction and energy to push past adversity.

» Have a bias for action.
Just do it. Be scrappy. Take matters into your own hands if necessary.

» Use communal forces.
Partnerships are powerful. Being part of a community holds you accountable.

» Maintain maniacal focus.
Stay focused. Be organized. Write things down and check things off.

» Open source your execution.
Create a big tent for your ideas. Having a “platform” lets others participate. Fuel an idea with the strength and wisdom of the crowd.

A LEARNING PROCESS

The focus of the 99% Conference was fresh, and many of the speakers were very dynamic. However, the inaugural event was somewhat inconsistent. A few speakers had difficulty staying focused on “the how” and drifted into the “the what” – I suppose they were just slipping into that old habit of celebrating the 1%. And, while I absolutely commend and congratulate the organizers for the tremendous effort, neither the format design nor the hosts themselves seemed especially well suited to holding the presenters to the task at hand.

In the end, it was a valiant first go and is certainly something great to build on. In keeping with the conference theme, the crew from Behance and Cool Hunting took a bold idea and made it happen. That’s more than most can say.