My first trip to CES in Las Vegas feels more like the sandstorm that overtook Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: it came on suddenly and I left blinded, coated with bits and pieces of silicon.



I have only begun processing the whirlwind of flashing lights called CES and though fortunate to have an opportunity to immerse myself in the future of consumer technology, those 48 hours left me with just as many questions as answers.

Yesterday I posted Part 1 of my Top Viral Video picks for 2011, which was a great trip down memory lane.  And here is today's list, for the Top 10 Branded Online Videos.  There are some excellent videos here like the Kia hamster dance and Coca-Cola's Happiness Truck, and I applaud the brands that made my list, as their creativity and bravery produced memorable, shareable content. 

So again, in no particular order, I present the best of the online video best:

Top 10 Branded Online Videos

• Zombies: The Ramifications of Yes (Toshiba)

   

Way to capitalize on the Zombie Apocalypse, Toshiba! Rancid milk can do terrible things to a person.

• Party Rock Anthem-Kia Soul Hamster Commercial (Kia)

There’s no way around it; this song is catchy and those hamsters are kinda cute.

• Imported from Detroit (Chrysler)

   

There is no better way to celebrate American work than the 8 Mile king himself.

• The Force (VW Passat)

If you didn’t want to be that kid, if even for a second, you are dead inside.

• Kenny Powers – K-Swiss CEO Video (K-Swiss) (NSFW)

This ad had people changing their business cards all over the office. MFAD, people!

• Angry Birds Live (T-Mobile)

A gaming sensation plus an actual catapult in the middle of Barcelona? Awesome.

• Go Beyond the Cover (Dermablend Pro)

Obviously, this is the best way to cover up that drunken tattoo you got after the company holiday party.

• Jennifer Aniston Sex Tape (Smartwater)

Even Brangelina was curious enough to watch this one.

• Immortalize Yourself (True Blood) - **disclosure - client of Definition 6

Whether you were a True Blood devotee or a Truebie, you totally squealed when Eric left you that message.

• Happiness Truck (Coca-Cola) - **disclosure - client of Definition 6

Getting a surfboard out of a delivery truck almost guarantees the best summer ever.

So folks - there you have it.  Awesome video work from our clients and others.  Looking forward to more hits in 2012!  Leave a comment below for your favorite either on this list or not!

Has this ever happened to you?  The woman next to you in line at the grocery store -- the one with the full cart standing next to an empty conveyor belt, holds everybody up while she chuckles at her iPhone.  Or the guy in the sedan in front of you who missed the light turning green because he is reading responses to a post he made in a gardening forum -- and will check 19 more times today. 

But let's face it -- it's not him. And it isn't her, either. It is you. And it is me. It's cliché to say we are a distracted people. It is cheap to complain about how our digital lives can lay waste to our personal ones. And it is a sine dicendo to say that when we can't get what we want, when we want it, at the price we want, and where we want it, we are prone to hysterics.

I elaborate more on this in a recent Mediapost article "Why Your Friendly Neighborhood Mobile Technologist Needs a Swift Kick in the Ass."

With the proliferation of tablets, smartphones and other connected devices, we are acccessing content more than ever on the go. So why aren't there more innovative mobile apps or mobile sites that "wow" us? Haven't we come so far that we can at least deliver something that won't make us leave the second we get there because of a fail to load or clunky navigation?

This is not a rant - but simply a call out to mobile technologists and developers to get excited. Get innovative. And to deliver something spectacular.

I’ve always wished there was an interactive marketing version of the reality TV show Shark Tank, or something akin to a digital marketing version of American Idol or X Factor. I’ve also always wanted to be a rock star even though I have absolutely no serious musical talent apart from my claim to fame of briefly appearing as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady and Action in West Side Story while in high school. Pretty far from Rock Star status. But I recently had both wishes granted and it was an awesome experience.

Last week I had the incredibly interesting opportunity to journey to Taipei to co-host an annual event called Interactive@Taiwan. This event brings together leading interactive agencies in Taiwan to host a meeting featuring select speakers from abroad whose companies have gained some degree of international recognition for their work in order to learn from them. Each agency participating sends a cross-functional team that then competes over the course of three days to ultimately present the best concept based on a Challenge Brief. The featured speakers work with each agency team in workshops to refine their ideas and concepts in a near crucible-like environment to arrive at a final presentation, which then is judged by the speakers, with awards granted to the best concepts.

While previous years they focused mostly on the creative aspects and invited speakers like the ECD’s of companies like AKQA and W+K, this year they wanted to focus on the importance of technology in combination with strategy, marketing and creative… they looked to companies who have really brought technology and creative together in a unified manner to make a difference.

I was pretty honored when they reached out and invited me based on their awareness of the great work we’ve done for Coca-Cola on their Open Happiness campaign and the work we’ve done for HBO’s True Blood.

It was also pretty cool to be in the company of the other speaker, Nathan Martin, the CEO of Deep Local which brought the world the Nike Chalkbot and Nog Pong. I can say that in the course of the week I gained a tremendous amount of respect for Nathan and the work Deep Local does.

We set the stage for the event talking about how our agencies marry the fields of creative and technology, art and engineering, marketing and digital, all while staying true to the importance of understanding the brand, the personas of the target market, the desired business results, and the importance of the insights and big ideas. We talked to them about our different models for how we do this to come up with truly innovative ideas and then be able to execute on those ideas. From there we issued them a challenge that basically involved them coming up with concepts for one of their current clients or prospects that involved both digital and post-digital executions that were “outside the box” and leveraged technology beyond simple basics or common approaches.

For two days straight we met with every team in succession, one after the other, several times a day. They brought concepts for brands like HTC, China Trust Bank, FamilyMart, Heineken, Giant Bikes, Samsung and more. It felt like Shark Tank with the weird aspect of being one of the judges and critics. I’m definitely not always right- just ask my wife, my boss, our CMO, or our ECD. But it was amazing to see how much they valued my input and commentary on how to improve their ideas and executions.

Not every idea was great, and many took a long time to work through to something really cool and viable. But in the end, 10 teams from 10 different agencies presented amazing ideas and concepts. There were a few that were fantastic, others that were great, and others that were good and just needed some work. I definitely learned things. I learned how agencies on the other side of the planet are thinking and operating. I learned areas where they are well ahead of the West like RFID/NFC, QR, and mobile gaming. I learned how they operate against very different demands, budgets, and cultures. I hope they learned a few things from me too.

Lastly, my hat is off to the people and culture of Taiwan. I did not deserve it, but they treated me like a rock star while I was there. They are some of the most hospitable people on the planet, I have rarely felt so welcome and well taken care of, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I only wish everyone back here in the U.S. thought I was as smart as everyone over there did.


Added bonus: While I was there it was Taiwan’s 100th anniversary. Fireworks abounded. Very cool to see. Watched it from the top of a building in Taipei thanks to a guy named Mouse and his company Webgene .

Last week Definition 6 threw a wildly successful soirée in the trendy Virginia Highlands area of Atlanta, GA. Located at The Warren City Club, one of the few members only clubs in the city, the location deemed to be a perfect setting matched with the amazing southern weather that comes along in the beginning of October. If your dying to see pictures head over to our Facebook page to view!

It was a great evening to celebrate another year of supreme work with our clients over drinks and some delicious food prepared by the amazing staff of The Warren. 

The buzz of the night was the brewing excitment over Dad's Garage Improv comedic performance. The party would not have been the same without the fine gentlemen from Dad's Garage. The Marketing team was fortunate enough to attend a show several weeks earlier while in preparation for the party and after all the laughs, they knew the right crew was found for the gig. Shout out to Lucky and the rest of the guys!

We also want to thank the great sports for going up on stage and interacting with the show: Jeff Katz & Paul McClay from our Definition 6 family and Amy Pedersen from Coca-Cola. You guys were great!




We are so thrilled that everybody was able to come out and have as much fun as we did. There is nothing better than getting together with our favorite clients and sharing a night of laughs among some of the best people in our business. We're on the edge of our chairs waiting for the next Definition 6 Party... and we can't wait to see you there!

The Apple IIe to my current array of Apple devices are just a few of the things my mind ran to when I heard the news of Steve Jobs passing early yesterday evening.  From an irony perspective, I was in the midst of finally upgrading my MacBook Pro to Snow Leopard so that I could go to Lion when the news came across.  I sat back and had a chance to reflect, as the disc whirred in my optical drive.

My first computer in the early 80’s was an Apple IIe.  My mother was a Math teacher at the time and she was on the forefront of the technology curve and was embarking on her own path that would turn her into a Technology Specialist.  Besides writing ‘go sub’ routines my favorite pastime in Computer Class was opening up the CPU and pulling the audio cord so we could play “Hard Hat Mack” and “LodeRunner” without the teachers knowing.  From the IIe I moved on to the Macintosh SE.   For those of you that don’t remember, that was the first ‘all in one CPU/monitor’ package, and it was fairly popular in the schools.  At this time, I was also introduced to Apple Talk and the ability to network 5 or more computers together and even add in a shared printer!

As I entered the business world I drifted away from Apple at about the same time that Jobs drifted away from Apple.  But, as my business world changed so did my ability to experience the change of Apple’s market strategy, which included Jobs re-entry to the company.

I have been an early adopter ever since.  I remember ‘spinning’ the slide wheel on that first, bulky iPod and
realized how much the world was about to change.  With each successive release it seems like I have upgraded until I moved over to the iPhone and was able to integrate my phone and audio devices together.  I was on the original list for the iPhone4 and waited in line to pick mine up on day one.  I am typing now on my MacBook Pro and am the proud owner of not just an iPad but also the new iPad2.  I have also spread the ‘Apple fever’ to my children.  My girls, 11 and 9, both have iTouch 4’s and our favorite thing to do is FaceTime at night before bed as we live a 1,000 miles apart.  That smile I get from them and the ‘live’ kiss sums up for me what the mind and spirit of what Mr. Jobs means to me.  He, and Apple, have helped ‘connect’ the world in ways that we only dreamed about less than one generation ago.

 
The above image is from www.Apple.com

The days of an artist continuously, if ever, going platinum and multi-platinum are behind us, but that doesn’t mean the people aren’t listening. Existing and emerging platforms continue to help shape the music business every day.  Take for instance a young new hip hop artist out of Pittsburgh who at the tender age of 19 has over 135,000,000 YouTube Views on his channel… and he is not signed to a major label, but has stayed loyal to his independent label Rostrum Records.

So, you've been downsized or made redundant. But you're certainly not ready to throw in the towel.

You've been paid lots of money over the years by some big company where you learned and refined the exact skills they needed you to have in order to make their business work.

Now it's your turn to do it for yourself. But where do you start? You've always had the company to give you business cards, cell phones, laptops, desktops, probably an office or a cubicle, and maybe an assistant and an expense account.

Now it's all gone!

But it's really not if you know what to do.

The most important thing to remember is...Your Name is your Brand!

Your skills are still there and your experience has taught you how to hone them.

Here are 5 practical starting points to get your personal brand going.

1.  Register yourself as a company or a partnership (first name last name company) This is easy to do, but you may have to wait in line at City Hall for a while.

2. Get your own URL. (You can lock that down at any number of place like name.com. Own your name if you can with your first name & last name.com (joeschmoe.com). Make a basic web page (you can do that a places like use.com).  Make it simple and use your new URL as the title (JoeSchmoe.com)

3.Get your own e-Mail address appropriate to your URL. firstname@firstnamelastname.com (you can do this for your business at google Apps) (Joe@joeschmoe.com)

4.  Print business cards that are very simple. Your name, your URL, your e-mail address, and your mobile phone number

5.  Start a Facebook fan page and a Twitter Page for your company. Show links to them on your website. Make a Linkedin page and get someone to do a Wikipedia page for you.

After you have populated your sites and pages with your expertise, experiences and some examples of your work (make sure you use video), get out there and network.  

Hand out your cards, talk up what you can do for a potential client.  Get their card....and then...Follow-Up.

A great example of personal branding is the recent campaign by Matt Epstein called "Google Please Hire Me" where he created a website and a video all focused on landing a job at Google.  He even worked his personal brand into the URL playing up the double entendre of "ME" to reference his initials.



TalentZoo also released an article last week entitled, "10 Strategies to Reinvent Your Personal Brand" which outlines many of the topics I touched on above.  In fact, it even further discusses ways in which you can improve your personal brand by being a catalyst or being a source of great knowledge.  In this day and age, you need to market yourself even more to differentiate yourself from the ever-growing talent pool.

Of course you need a strategy and you must understand how to use all of these tactics...but you've got to start somewhere.

Now let's get this party started.

Jamie Christner, our Director of Analytics, took to the podium last Tuesday with the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) to speak about data. Being my first event as a Definition 6 employee, I was truly psyched to take it all in, including the Maggianos. 

So what exactly IS sexy about data once your strip it down? As marketers, we see a lot of data ranging from click through rates and conversions to engagements and social media ROI.  But what makes that data "sexy," Jamie says is when that that data in turn produces an appealing body of facts which call out applicable and actionable insights. 

And once you have collected the data as it relates to your business goals, the real gem is what you can forecast with that data.  But, NOT all data is sexy. Poorly tracked, lost, incorrect, un-trusted by users and knowingly repurposed data skews results and is of no use in trending actionable insignts. Keep the reigns tight on what exactly your analytics should be tracking, always referring back to your client's KPIs. Some key takeaways include:       

• Every business rates “applicable” or “actionable” in a different way. Sexy is in the eye of the beholder
• In this economy, announce your successes.  Let the numbers tell the story. Company budgets are being slashed left and right, so speak up on the positive effect you are bringing in
• Budget justification must be sexy enough to catch the interest of stakeholders
• Start pulling data out from analytic software applications if you haven't already 
• Web analytics can help close the gap between cross-channel marketing tactics
• Data reports should be short & sweet
• Don’t provide the client with unnecessary information but if you need more reduce your KPI’s   

Data isn’t going to be beneficial or attract the listener if it focuses on one single feature. Evaluate and measure performance across all brand interactions and your client will feel more like you slipped them a Maxim Magazine than a data report.

Most marketers are now beginning 2012 strategy and planning sessions, as well as budget reviews.

However, given the economic situation these days, it may also be prudent to take a look at your current media mix and spend some time to adjust your plan that will actually affect business for 2011.

Our CEO, Michael Kogon, wrote a great blog post on 6 Marketing Steps You Should Take Before October 1st, with insights into tactics that will be beneficial to your company's revenue.

Are you adjusting your marketing strategy this year?

A few weeks ago, I shared some insights from a report I had written on Seven Conflicting Trends in Corporate Social Responsibility.

The second part of this two-part series was recently released on Vault.com.  Key topics the article touches on include rising expectations, shareholders pushing harder than ever, and supply chain engagement. Part two focuses on the increase in shared knowledge, winners arising from clear leadership, greater localization, and the trend of greater transparency/accountability and integrity.

These days, a plethora of new media opportunities—interactive, experiential, social, mobile, etc.—amplifies every action. As each company looks inward examining the corporate social responsibility strategy and tactics of the business, it must also have a greater understanding the archetypes of all screens—mobile, tablet, laptop and desktop—and develop integrated communications strategies to share their efforts and their story.

You can also read the report in full on Forbes.com.

On July 19th, Definition 6 in New York City hosted a great event for the Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) group out on our patio where we gathered to hear Katia Beauchamp, CEO/Co-Founder of Birchbox and Gwen Flamberg, Beauty Director of Us Weekly talk about how the online beauty retail marketplace is changing rapidly and what "subscribing to beauty" means to this new brand.

Birchbox is a gift that just keeps on giving. I think that whether you’re a male or female, we can all agree that there is nothing better than getting a present every month that is chock full of surprises. And, believe me when I say that Birchbox is a fantastic gift.

So, just what exactly is Birchbox you ask? (No, we’re not talking about trees or shrubs here.) We’re talking about a gift that comes in a neat little package to your doorstep every month, and inside this box you’ll find an amazing selection of beauty-related products that are tied to the things that you desire. For a mere $10/month, consumers get 4-5 deluxe samples of high-end beauty products. But, before you get your first box, you will be asked to fill out a beauty profile where you can select the types of products you’re interested in. Birchbox wants to get to know their customers better so that they can help increase the amount of products that are purchased on their site.







All of the great brand partnerships and products they offer are tied to an online Birchbox Magazine, so that everything matches an editorial calendar with monthly themes to create further Birchbox community interaction online; things like hair issues during the summer, or how to’s for travel.  They’re in the “business of delight” as CEO Beauchamp indicated. They came up with the idea for this kind of online beauty business model because they felt that beauty can’t completely live online. There is a tangible aspect that needs to happen at some point because people want to get their full five senses involved when choosing beauty products.  At first, the founders had to knock on high-end brands’ doors to get them involved and try something new, but now brands are knocking on their door, with a growing client base and over 16,000 likes on their Facebook page. The Birchbox business model also uses social media channel activation, but has that “retro” feel since their product is sent through the mail (that thing called USPS we all forget exists).


Rich media and editorial content about every product and brand they work with is a gold mine of information that sits within Birchbox.com:

 

The products included in the monthly box range from skincare items, to makeup, hair / body products, and fragrances. They’re sometimes full-sized items or they’ll be sample-sized items, but the best part is that if you absolutely adore any of the items you receive, you simply go to Birchbox.com and buy them there. I need to mention as well that they have developed a great loyalty rewards program. As you buy and share Birchbox with your friends, you see $10 gift cards come your way.  

Personally, I’ve been a Birchbox subscriber since January 2011, and they had officially launched only in September of 2010, so I guess you could say that I am an early adopter! Their first year anniversary is coming up here in September, and what a year it has been for Birchbox execs.

Let’s face it. At the end of the day, brands want advocates. Having a strong base of people who love a brand keeps their ideas fresh, alive and moving forward to help drive further adoption. And who doesn’t love samples??



As mentioned, Birchbox was built through strong social media activations, and the Birchbox brand has been growing because customers get their friends involved, and then their friends get their friends involved. This type of crowdsourcing platform is creating a strong momentum for Birchbox that is keeping their acquisition of new customers going up and up. The buzz Birchbox has received all happened organically, and through this organic growth they can now offer the brands they partner with global access to consumers. This is obviously something they couldn’t be happier about, so Birchbox is truly changing the way consumers shop for beauty products online, and I think that we can expect great things from them. I personally trust the Birchbox brand, which is the key to building long-term, loyal customers.

On Monday of last week I had the (mostly) pleasurable experience of speaking on an IAB mobile advertising panel in New York. I say mostly because, technically, 10% of me burst into flames on the subway and never actually made it. 

Panels like these used to be the stuff of software geeks, carrier overlords and some gnarly, unholy combination of the two. The conversations were invariably technology focused as people scrambled to make sense of a fragmented industry growing at a bewildering pace. It took a few years longer than it should have, but at some point walled gardens, WAP decks and SOAP APIs gave way to use cases, ROI and sound design principles. 

The conversation has shifted again, and now people are beginning to contextualize mobile as part of a branding continuum, where digital, traditional and emerging media converge to tell a story that engages people in motion. Simon Bond, CMO of BBDO, pointed to a study his firm had done which found people are more likely to wake up and reach for their mobile device rather than their lover (or themselves, for that matter). Razorfish is doing really ground-breaking stuff in mobile advertising, working with publishers and networks to create dyanmic new ad models. Michael Collins of Joule talked about how the metrics mobile provide are on par with - even exceeding in many cases - the analytics available on the desktop web. 

At Definition 6 we are bringing serious innovation to our mobile clients. From mobile websites that predict behavior and present contextualized experiences, to mobile marketing applications that leverage unique combinations of variables like speed, distance, orientation and time of day, we are helping our clients deploy mobile marketing strategies that transform their businesses.

Check it out:
 


It begs the question - how is your firm using mobile marketing and advertising to build your brand? If you aren't, somebody else is. 

It seems that everywhere I turn, Americans are going green: Recycling cans and bottles, carpooling with friends and co-workers, and using reusable cloth bags. As someone who has carried cloth bags for over two decades, the change in mindset fascinates me.

For some it is a concern for the next generation, while others are frustrated over the rising cost of raw materials and food (remember when ice cream came in half gallons, not pints). As the world’s population approaches 7 Billion (ETA October 31, 2011) I wondered what are America’s largest corporations doing to address who they are and what they do through a lens of corporate responsibility and sustainability?

As big as annual reports were in the 80’s and 90’s, we are entering the age of the CSR. And though integrated reports may eventually replace annual reports, 52 percent of Fortune 100 Companies included statements of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in their 2010 annual reports and 10-K.  The push for non-financial reporting comes from a combination of the current economic environment, public demand for transparency, the rise of social media, website integration and third-party verification.

In my two-part series on Vault.com, I discuss – and analyze - seven main trends that impact every company going forward, whether they already report on non-financial goals, or continue to put it off for a variety of reasons, but mostly, for fear.

Check out: Seven Conflicting Trends

One week later and we are still hearing great things about our after party held here last Wednesday night during the PromaxBDA conference in NYC.  Mainly, we are being asked, where are the pics?? Well, the wait is over my friends...the photos are posted!  Thanks to Kelly Samardak, our amazing photographer, we have almost 500 pics posted to our Facebook page. 

We had 20 people receive free tattoos from Daredevil Tattoo, thanks to our sponsor PointRoll, and many others having fun with some temporary D6 tattoos, as well as Henna body art (although Jeff - I'm not sure this actually counts if you just get your dog in Henna!)
 

Our other sponsor, Avid, held a raffle and gave away a FREE license for its media composer software! 


Guests also enjoyed hanging out in the Bob English Pub where we were serving Pimm's lemonade drinks and varieties of British beers like Boddington's and Newcastle.



Some may even remember seeing Gilbert Gottfried, who made an early appearance and enjoyed some great photo ops! 



And the party wouldn't be complete with a surprise appearance from the Toxic Avenger, who seemed to get his groove on the dance floor quite a bit!




It was amazing to host this party as a way to say thanks to our clients and to celebrate the amazing work we are able to produce together. We look forward to hearing your feedback - we hope you enjoy the pics!  Can't wait to see you all at our next shindig!

Last night's Definition 6 PromaxBDA after party was one of our best events to date. Special thank you to Avid and PointRoll for sponsoring our party and making this all possible.  Everyone had a great time getting inked with real tattoos, henna body art for those less brave, raffles for a free software license for Avid technology, posing for photos with the Toxic Avenger and dancing on our roof deck disco to the sounds of DJ Elle.

Here are some early pics below. Look for all the photos from our party on the Definition 6 NYC Facebook Page.

And tonight we are up for 4 BDA awards... here's hoping the party continues!

It's not every day you have the opportunity to work on something that screams cool from almost every aspect. Let me see if I can summarize this particular opportunity: vampires, witches, werewolves, Alan Ball, Anna Paquin, Alexander Skarsgard, Ryan Kwanten, Kristin Bauer, Deborah Ann Woll, HBO, Social Media, Facebook, complex Flash layering, detailed motion design, great creative, great script, personalization in full motion video, high availability, cloud farms, CDN's, open source, high performance where every millisecond in processing counts, and integration with multiple SaaS providers and their API's. 

That pretty much describes what Definition 6 recently had the opportunity to work on and launch with the hit HBO show True Blood that premieres season 4 this Sunday, June 26th. We helped them launch a Facebook application called IMMORTALIZE YOURSELF that takes a piece filmed exclusively for this purpose featuring many of the famous cast as a bridge between season 3 and season 4 and using Facebook connect you'll find you and your Facebook friends are a part of the video. Some go missing, others apply to be Fangtasia dancers, and you get to be an assassin. You're all featured in the show's famous credits and opening. And when it's all over you can re-do the whole thing but pick which friends you want to be in which roles. And while the concept of using a bespoke video with social aspects may not be entirely new or unique, I feel pretty safe in saying that the level of detail we achieved in the personalization is pretty rare. Everything looks far more a natural part of the video than almost anything done previously. A lot of love went into that effort. The same goes for attention to detail in the performance of the application for something involving so much Flash, video and detailed interactions.

Plus it's just cool. It's also pretty rare in this business to do something that achieves a 99.9% positive sentiment rating with less than 0.05% technical failures in application delivery. You can check it out for real yourself here. And you can see an example of one of the videos below, this one featuring many of the team members at Definition 6 that worked on this project.

And as an added benefit, I and many of the team members had about 45 days to immerse ourselves in the brand by watching 3 seasons of a show with brilliant dialogue, and a great story that's chock full of fantastic effects, great actors, and plenty of hot vampire sex.

Our thanks to a great client. The True Blood team wrote a great script, and all the video production work and editing was done by HBO Creative Services. As always the cast and crew of True Blood were fantastic in their performances. The marketing team at HBO continues to push the edge with great ideas and non-traditional campaigns. What they have done on True Blood previously and with this piece shows how they combine innovative thinking with creative brand authenticity.

We're lucky at Definition 6 to enjoy a long-standing relationship with HBO, spear-headed by the Managing Partner of our Post-Production division, Rob Ortiz, who has been working with HBO for over 25 years. Rob, our team at Definition 6, and the great Creative Services team at HBO, especially Becca Schader, Chris Denniston and Chris Spencer, all combined to concept, POC, flush out the idea, and drive this piece with Marketing and Interactive. It's fantastic working with people like these who continue to show they are thinking well beyond the traditional 30-second spot on how to engage fans and grow audiences in a rapidly changing landscape. True Blood is rapidly approaching 8 Million fans on Facebook, and it's pieces like this that can change how you reach and interact with those fans.

Waiting Sucks. So go check out the app. And don't miss the season premiere this Sunday on HBO, 9PM EST.

Background: It’s almost impossible to describe the smartphone market accurately without sounding overly prone to hyperbole. Worldwide, nearly half a billion smartphones will be shipped in 2011. By Christmas of 2011, one in two Americans will have one. Gartner predicts that in 2011, 85% of all handsets shipped globally will be able to access the mobile Internet.

In Q1 of 2011, Android supplanted Apple as the #1 smartphone OS in the U.S. While smartphone manufacturers jockey back and forth with one another for frontrunner status, swapping places with every latest hardware entrant, only feature phones (where the OS is proprietary firmware, and NOT a third-party development environment) are left in the starting blocks; there is little churn in the segment. In fact 2011, according to Nielsen, will be the year smartphones overtake feature phones in global mobile shipments.

For brands looking to build or maintain a mobile presence, the smartphone onslaught simply cannot be ignored. Nor can it be oversimplified. Too many American marketers think mobile is merely a stripped-down digital experience, a checkbox extension of their digital initiatives created automatically through the advent of rich smartphone browsers. The reality is that, worldwide, more people access the Internet through mobile devices than personal computers. It is the first screen, not the third. That over 95% of domestic digital marketing budgets are earmarked for non-mobile initiatives is an unpardonable lack of imagination, courage and good sense.

Smart brands and advertising agencies must consider several factors when evaluating how to create a mobile presence for smartphones. First the upside of browser-based mobile applications:  

• Write once, run anywhere: This is the siren’s call of mobile that promises cost efficiencies by keeping the time spent creating, maintaining and updating applications to a minimum through the utilization of a tool-based multi-platform design paradigm.

• Universal browser availability: A rich browsing experience is all but universal in the smartphone market. If a brand presence can be defined and made accessible through a mobile web browser, it reduces the number of headaches to resolve for platform-specific nuances as long as you stick to the lowest common denominator.

 

• Support of advanced features available in HTML5: There are some components of HTML5 that will be a boon to mobile devices. Unlike mobile browsers of old, HTML5 promises offline support. Also, video in HTML5 is standardized, which will make adding video content to websites much easier. HTML5 also supports a GeoLocation API, allowing web developers to capture critical location data.

• Layout standardization: Web browsers depend on a layout engine at the presentation layer. While there are myriad mobile browsers available, WebKit and Gecko are the layout engines used by most, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome.

Unfortunately, there are also downsides to a browser-only approach, including:  

• Browser diversity: The most prevalent smartphone browser in existence is the Blackberry, which has its own layout engine used by precisely nobody other than RIM. At the very minimum, creating a browser-based smartphone application that works on a majority of devices will require at least two completely separate development efforts.  

• Limited HTML5 support: When Steve Jobs lambasted Adobe’s Flash in 2010, he pointed to HTML5 as the author of its death spiral. Somebody forgot to tell RIM, who supports the Opera browser while remaining ambiguous about HTML5.  

• Hardware-specific amenities: Downloadable applications are typically able to access many features baked into the hardware that a browser-based application simply cannot. From the iPhone’s popular “shake” feature to other phones cameras and GPS chips, in order to unlock the richest of features from a mobile device, you have to think thick-client.

While the debate continues, what is certain for brands is to contemplate the merits of downloads vs. browser-based applications on a case-by-case basis. Mark Donovan, comScore SVP of Mobile concludes, “with mobile media consumption on the rise, the discussion of how consumers are accessing content -- whether it is via application, browser or both -- continues to be an important factor for companies looking to invest further in their mobile brands.” In every scenario, however, it is important to consider what will not work, and that, specifically, is to think that just because an HTML-based application works on a personal computer, it is sufficient for a mobile device. Mobile users have limited and hugely variable display capabilities, awkward and difficult input mechanisms, and the mobile mindset differs vastly from the PC user’s mindset.

In future posts, I’ll talk about mobile application design principles and dissect smartphone platforms in an effort to provide color for brands contemplating including them in mobile marketing strategies.

You know, I’m a big believer that the most important thing we do is deliver work that creates measurable results for our clients.  That’s why we do this...to drive our clients towards their business goals. But when we are able to create that kind of positive impact AND be recognized by the industry for our creative achievements, well, that’s even better!

I am once again thrilled to be a part of this great company, a company that was just named one of the best places to work in Atlanta.  From Emmy nominations to Clio finalists and Webby awards, we love to share this news with our clients.  Creating great work, award-winning work, is our mantra here.  Don’t believe me?  Just take a look at this list for awards coming up over the next 30 days:

• 2 Daytime Emmy® Award nominations for Sesame Street

• Clio Award finalist for Coca-Cola’s “Happiness Truck” campaign

• 2 Webby Awards
  • “Best in Show” for Online Commercial for Coca-Cola’s “Happiness Machine”
  • “People’s Choice” for Online Commercial for Coca-Cola’s “Happiness Machine”

• National round of the ADDY® Awards for Coca-Cola’s “Happiness Machine” (after already winning a Gold and “Best in Show” ADDY® in the Atlanta competition and another Gold ADDY® at the District 7 gala earlier this year).

• 4 Promax BDA awards
  • David Foster Inspiration - Art Direction & Design: Special Events Promo - General Entertainment
  • Coca-Cola Happiness Machine - :30 - On-Air Commercial Advertisement
  • Definition 6 Journey - Self Promotion/Show Reel/Company Image
  • Spike Re-Brand Pitch - Salon de Refus

• 3 American Business Awards (Stevie Awards):
  • Coca-Cola’s “Where Will Happiness Strike Next” Campaign: Marketing Campaign of the Year – Food & Beverage
  • Mitsubishi Electric Website: Web Site or Blog Awards Categories: Manufacturing
  • Bliss Flooring Website: Web Site or Blog Awards Categories: Consumer Products – Durables

• 2 Telly Awards
  • Coca-Cola "Happiness Truck" Silver Telly
  • Coca-Cola "Happiness Truck" People's Choice Telly Bronze

It’s so exciting to see so many components of what we do for so many clients recognized.  Definition 6 is fortunate to work with such great, collaborative clients that partner with us to create great work together.  Win or lose, we truly appreciate the recognition from our colleagues and peers. 

The phrase "the more things change, the more they stay the same" has been on my mind lately. Computers have become such a part of our lives that we can’t imagine life without them. Just a few years ago it wasn’t uncommon to hear that Blackberrys called "Crack-berrys," referring to the addictive nature of having email readily accessible. Today we even have a thing called "Computer Addiction" that people can get treatment for.  The children coming of age in this era they are the most informational connected generation we have seen.  Considering the architecture changes, the changing expectations, and rate of adoption the future definitely has a more interactive and mobile look to it from a computing perspective.

I recently read where mobile devices have outsold traditional computers for the first time in the 4^th quarter of 2010. Apple has been reporting sales growth while companies like Microsoft, Intel, and other companies are reporting lower than expected returns for the same period. With certain product releases coming in 2011 the anticipation is the sales trend will only continue to grow the gap.  As we see the sales trends change and more companies trying to capitalize we look to anticipate its direction and build products viable for today’s market and tomorrows.

To anticipate the direction we can start by focusing on a brief history of the mobile devices. Consider that Microsoft was an early player in this market. Compaq iPaq’s, HP Jornada’s, and others were touted as Pocket PC’s. Toshiba had one of the first tablet PC’s I remember. It even had a built in camera but the unit was very heavy. Microsoft envisioned "smart devices" and for a while had produced marketing as such. I remember they envisioned the device could be replaced and your configuration auto-magically restored. They had great vision and they dominated the early market. But while they were an early endorser and participant in the mobile field a couple of miss-steps and lack of innovation later they were behind.

It’s arguable that widespread adoption started to change with the acceptance of the Blackberry. Users were getting email connecting in ways they really hadn’t before. It wasn’t long before next up were the expectation to be able to review attachments to email. Having the internet on a mobile device wasn’t far behind that and the expectations began to speed up.  Why? because the adoption rate improved. Users saw immediate value in the functionality of these devices. But devices had different purposes. Blackberry’s did email while pocket pc’s handled calendars and other basic functionality.  I remember at one point having so many devices I felt like a techno-nerd version of Batman. While this was going on Apple envisioned the iPhone. Apple developed the iPhone in quiet and when they released it changed the market.  The change was significant enough that the carrier they worked with to support the device was overwhelmed for a time with new customers. It seemed like overnight they met and exceeded user expectations, and made a giant leap forward. Others began to follow the trend.  

User interface expectations are certainly being affected by changing expectations. How long did companies toy with keyboards until the iPhone changed the game with the popularity of its touch interface? A touch interface for a mobile phone had not been accepted until then.  Apple tried to compensate for users comfort by adding "clicking" sounds to the iPhone. But the hardware wasn’t the only innovative aspect. They innovated software are delivery as well.

The layout of the Apps wasn’t entirely new. Icon short cuts on a desktop have been around in the Mac and Windows worlds for years but the operation or implementation around the apps was. Users were able to use the devices to quickly check what they deemed the most important things.   Another expectation is the speed that these devices are expected to operate at. Long load times are not acceptable.  In addition to load times connectivity has become a key factor as well, a key contributor to the onslaught of the battling ‘G’ advertisements and related devices.  

Delivery handled through iTunes and working directly with the Apple company remains the only way to deploy applications. With the combination of hardware, software and deployment the entire platform was innovative and users liked it.

With a great rate of adoption and renewed interest in the market other players have been working to be more competitive in this market. For example, the Droid and Microsoft’s Metro concepts are two emerging or re-emerging market competitors.  With all the various players history in some ways begins to repeat itself. As they have gained more market share and their sales increased as well technical complexities re-emerge.

We still have a familiar challenge though, remember the old Mac vs PC days? Well we are there with mobile. We see different operating systems, different carriers, lack of interoperability and different devices. Consider that Adobe’s flash won’t run on iPhones. These types of complexity have a strong feeling of déjà vu for some of us. Only now we have added the extra complexity of Different networks carry different devices and different operating systems.

The innovations in both the hardware and software will continue in the space Apple has defined for a while. We are also seeing a repeat of some of the same hardware and operating system issues that have plagued IT for years.  What is different is that the adoption rate is continuing to grow. Watching over the last several months I see more executives and other carrying tablet PCs to meetings instead of the traditional notepad.  

Innovative development on the mobile platform will remain costly in some respects. Developing for multiple operating systems and different devices presents many challenges. What’s different today is that there is more of a drive than in years past to build these solutions. There are and will be tools that enable development for devices as well as across multiple platforms. However, those tools will have limitations and it will be a challenge to truly innovate through them. While working in the native system means developing different code for the same app to work on the different systems. Architecting a solution in mobile has to take into account the various considerations. Companies have to decide if they want the expense of creating an innovative app for the mobile platform or just have an app for the platform. This has a significant cost difference especially if the app has to be deployed to multiple devices.  

As customers decide their goals and directions in the mobile space it will be important for architects to use the tools available to them. The use of design patterns and object oriented techniques will be of paramount importance going forward for the software side of solution.  Creating a scalable solution for the growing functionality needs of mobile users will be critical. Considering that the hardware of the PC has evolved at a much slower pace scalability will have additional challenges in the mobile platform.

Creating a scalable solution is more challenging with the frequent release of devices and the secrecy surrounding them. Many of the tools on a mobile device have been tools available on a traditional PC. Going forward the hardware is starting to move into truly new areas.  For example, talk of the iPhone 5 and the capability of it having Near Field Communication capabilities have been going on for months. Talk has already started about functionality of the iPhone 6. Architects will be able to help customers prepare for not only the next deployment but the one after that.

The mobile environment is a market that companies cannot continue to avoid as it has passed the tipping point of adoption. But those same companies have to realize where mobile is in it maturity. Companies will not be able to build an app, deploy it, and then forget it. These apps are living in an every changing world and will need maintenance to continue operating effectively.  The architectures supporting the apps and contained within the apps must be able to scale to meet these needs.

The mobile environment is changing frequently and stepping forward in leaps we haven’t seen in a while. Developing solutions for customers means considering all the factors and leading them to understand the environment. Bobby Knight is probably as polarizing a figure in college basketball as there is. For all the negative about him later in his career, he is regarded as a great teacher of the game. It’s one of those lessons that really apply here. He said, I am paraphrasing, "we have to focus, by focusing it allows us to notice trends, recognizing trends allows us to anticipate, and that leads to action."