JuicyInfo

CannesLions Day One: Bright lights for TV, Mass customisation and why mobile really IS the big thing

The sun was shining and I was in the dungeon that is the Debussy theatre, snacking on pearls of content. After queuing for rather longer than anticipated to get my mug shot taken, the week kicked off with a seminar from the biggest brand of them all, Coca-Cola. This was followed by sessions from interactive digital agency Schematic, LinkedIn and Razorfish. Top tip: you can watch some of the sessions online here, or read on for my top line digest. 

Mobile is the [next] big thing: Although it has embraced mobile far more than many others, Coca-Cola highlighted that, to date, limitations on a global level mean there has been a strong bias to making use of text. Opportunities are changing fast, however, as the iPhone and other Smartphones provide the chance to be more creative and provide customised experiences to consumers. Moving forward, Coca-Cola sees mobile as one of the major opportunities in building customer loyalty and improving the purchase mechanism. The iPhone Happiness Factory app (one of its most successful campaigns to date) is one of its most recent forays. With the massive development of mobile apps in 2009, I've now doubt this will be a strong theme throughout the week. 

Tangible experiences: The Coca-Cola camp is also working hard to expand its experiential campaigns online ( Happiness Factory) into the real world. Collaboration between technology, marketing and design teams has given birth to the U-vend machine. In what could well spark a new genre of vending machines within the industry, it brings the type of interactive experiences we see online to transform what is currently merely a transactional one. In Japan, consumers have been using their mobiles to purchase a Coke for years now, giving them access to valuable consumer data. The U-vend offers up more than a bottle of coke, enabling consumers to download content and interact with the screen. 

Bright lights for TV: Schematic, a digital agency, provided an enlightening overview of how TV and the ‘ten foot experience’ will be taking cues from digital in the future. Citing research from Ball State University, TV screen activity remains high, but consumers are multi-snacking using computer, TV and mobile devices. In the future it will remain a key form of entertainment, but will become more personalised according to specific consumer requirements and in accordance with location. The touch sensory navigation that will be possible from the TV screen of the future, could well see The Minority Report finally come to life. 

Later on in the day, digital experts Razorfish echoed similar thoughts on the future of TV, delving deeper into the importance of the ten foot experience to consumers. Without one 30 sec spot to their name, Razorfish quoshed the notion that TV would die sometime soon. Showcasing some of their proprietary research on US consumers, they outlined how consumers still rely on the TV experience for entertainment for several key reasons (the DNA of TV). Reasons such as relaxation - zoning out, the watercooler effect, staying in tune with events, social elements: bringing groups together, stimulation and learning new stuff and escapism. It did make me realise how important TV is, but with the web offering so many similar and more exciting possibilities, how long will the halo remain?

It was clear from both Razorfish and Schematic that digital convergence is set to change and enhance the TV experience, bringing the interactiveness of the web to the original Tube screen. In doing so, it will open up the creative possibilities, moving away from the traditions of 30 second ad spot, and giving people greater control to construct their own 'on demand' channel. One wonders though are these developments all a little too late?

 

Cannes Lions Ad Festival: Stay Tuned...

Every year there are hundreds of award ceremonies celebrating creativity in all aspects of advertising and marketing. The Cannes Lions International advertising festival is arguably one of the largest, most renowned and international of these events. Lucky for me, this is my forth year at the Cannes Advertising Festival, where I’ve been coming as part of my quest to get under the skin of the media and advertising industry, to identify how the product and its ecosystem are evolving.

There’s always a fair amount of hype around the Cannes AdFest, the parties, drinking, the excess, the awards. Admittedly it’s all true, but what you don’t hear about so much is the impressive week of seminars, workshops and masterclasses that goes on under-cover of the Palais. Here, an array of creative, media and digital experts, both agency and client-side, will perform to a pensive crowd, sharing insights and informing us of what’s happening in their part of the marketing/media ecosystem.

With the world in recession, and the media and creative industries facing pretty seismic structural challenges, the festival is keen to push its content credibility. There seems a fair amount of people here, eager to learn and celebrate creativity in its many guises. And this year there is an even greater variety of content on show, with a lot more speakers from the digital/social media realm, and quite rightly so. 

Here, I’ll be recording some of the key insights from the weeks events, helping to connect the dots between the conversations. I will also be sending pictures, videos and the occasional pearl of wisdom via Twitter @juicyinfo. Please stay tuned. 

[Pic: Schematic catalogues the week's program using its digital 'touch gesture' technology]

Marketing websites I like: Mediapost.com

It never ceases to amazing how much great research you can find online these days so I thought I'd start sharing some of my favourites with you.

One of my regular pit-stops is Mediapost.com, a US-focused marketing and media portal. My reason for choosing this particular resource comes down to a few things:

1) Niche content: First and foremost it has a great collection of subject areas for people with specific interests. I particularly enjoy the women, online video and youth demographic trend sections.

2) Knowledgeable writers: The content is created by industry professionals with a fair amount of expertise in different areas expressing their own research and viewpoints.

3) Conversations/comments and trackbacks: Once you're set up you can happily browse and comment on articles, and then choose to receive a single email with comments related to that post.

4) Easily digestible content: For me, the email articles are just the right amount to digest with a good serving of insight and a handful of key takeaways. Very snackable.

I am now off to read about why women over 55 are the the fastest-growing demographic on Facebook...

Youth travel

I'm working on a great project right now all about youth travel. Of course, travel and tourism really does have its work cut out at the moment doesn't it. Not only a global recession to contend with, but also a global pandemic in the form of swine flu. I think that subject is being well-covered pretty much everywhere, so i won't dwell on that.

On my research travels, I came across this rather fascinating document from The Lonely Planet. It's very topical, looking at how consumers are embracing social communities, with a great comparison of how brands stack up in their approach. There's also some insight into how communities are feeding into the editorial process. I particularly like this stat: "In 2007, The Lonely Planet had feedback from 13,500 travelers, which, in turn, created over 30,000 useful bits of information. Pretty impressive.

If you're into social media and communities, it's definitely worth a read. Perfect for the bank holiday weekend.

Travel and Social Media. The Lonely Planet Story

View more presentations from opaline.

Google launches 'Survival of the Fastest' B2B channel on YouTube

Google's new video business blog on its own YouTube platform provides a useful tool in an engaging format. The video content features experts from a number of business disciplines, including Ogilvy's Rory Sutherland, Boris Johnson, IAB and London Business School.

Last month, Google joined forces with WPP to fund new research in the digital realm. As reported by the Wall Street Journal in this article, it includes a number of studies, using Harvard Business School, among others. Google already works as a consultant to advertisers, so this takes that relationship a step further. In addition, it showcases the ways in which businesses may also leverage YouTube from a B2B angle.  

Functions covered include Marketing, eCommerce and Finance & General Management. There are also themed videos around speed, agility and consumer insights. Altogether, a useful tool for businesses in  turbulent times.