Facebook changed to the Timeline motif. Everybody bellyached except creative people in ad agencies.

Timeline gives the creative professional a little more room to be, well, “creative” and develop more of a memorable brand on Facebook. Now a good concept can be expressed creativley in a story. One of the agencies doing a great job of this right now is McCann Digital, in Israel. They did an amazing job with an anti-drug authority campaign, using timeline as a palette to show a life on drugs and one not on drugs. It’s powerful and memorable and received millions of likes. Yes, it was brand storytelling on Facebook!  It can be done. Creativity is starting to catch up to technology. Or, in this case, with Timeline, technology is starting to adapt to creativity. Doesn’t matter. As Nir Refuah, the VP Creative Director of McCann Digital in Israel points out, when stewardship of Facebook brand pages moves from social media “experts” and firms to the hands of the Brand team (copywriters & art directors), some good things will happen to brand communication with their customers.

At Scarlet Heifer we are always looking for new ways for our clients to interact with consumers. Timeline provides a bigger canvas to paint brand ideas on.

Fanta uses Timeline in a creative way by creating characters who go back in time to old Fanta ads and have to be rescued by users (they actually use timeline).  Almost 3 million people  like this page and Fanta is forcing tens of thousands of conversations about the brand.

Is there hope for Facebook to move past “likes” and closer to sales if branded stories have the ability to be told creatively? Maybe if it involves some  serious creativity powered by people who know how to conceptualize powerful brand ideas. Not a social media “guru” depending on statistics alone to motivate action. At Scarlet Heifer, we believe getting consumers to fall in love with a brand takes a lot of hard work and creativity. Quite simply, you get the amount of love you put in, like in any relationship. And more room to convey a conceptual brand story sure doesn’t hurt.

What another conundrum we face in the business of influencing the human heart & mind on behalf of a brand. Yeah, that’s a mouthful. And it should be. There’s a lot going on. You see, in the one place where we know our target audience is easily found, is also the same place where it’s hardest to touch them emotionally, and therefore persuade them about a particular product, service or brand.

What we’re saying is that Facebook — although it unquestionably has the ability to reach specific target audience better than almost any other medium today — as a medium for ads and marketing communications, may be one of the  worst places to actually motivate a sale or generate brand love.

What? Are you saying Facebook is a waste? Not exactly, but we are saying it may not be all it’s made out to be, either. Take the article Matt Creamer wrote in Ad Age last week. http://bit.ly/yov6la

Matt hits on a very important principle that is being avoided or too often forgotten today: That creativity is still what drives an emotional response for a consumer purchase! Yes, a creative story, told memorably. The thing we used to pay Creative Directors big bucks to produce. The thing we used to hold them in awe for. Are we all so blinded by the power of new technology that we have forgotten the golden rule of persuasion? We believe we have, but we also believe we will learn from our mistakes and get back on track as well, as we always have when a new technology was introduced and used for communication.

There is nothing new here. it’s just that an entire industry is still learning how to adapt to a new mode of communication and how to maximize its potential. We have the science and metrics side of it down pretty well, alright.  But that’s only one side of the story. What’s so difficult here, is that the technologies are also always adapting and changing making it more of a challenge to get a grip on. But, we will. We always do.

Where the creative message and the targeted medium converge, you find the X.

What we mean by that is, once the ability to emotionally reach the audience on a level that induces a feeling, which leads to persuasion, is brought to an audience through a medium that sits in their lap (or in the palm of their hand) all day long (Facebook), then we will have found the formula to really make a difference. Right now we have the medium, without the story. We found the gold vein, but nobody brought the shovel.

It is not easy to persuade on Facebook. No copywriter ot art director can tell a creative story in a static ad the size of a postage stamp with fewer characters to work with than a Haiku. None. Not Howard Gossage, David Ogilvy, or Neil French.  Even if that ad succeeds in attracting a user to a Brand Page, and they are “fan-gated” into Liking it…what’s going to keep them there, let alone make them come back?  A contest? and Offer?  Some insider “content”?   What’s the reward?  What is going to make a consumer think about dropping by or acting on a campaign come-on when there are so many other friends – real and virtual – to check in on?

It is this lack of creative product that leads to, as Creamer says “people doing nothing” even though they like a Page on Facebook. They are not enthralled by the message. They are not moved. They are not touched. They are not intrigued, or convinced or even curious. They simpy click and like. Why not? The real problem is getting them to buy. And Facebook, even with its latest updating of Pages, will never be the perfect medium to do it. Yes, you can find your target audience there. You can probably get them to click. No doubt about it. But, finding them and cajoling a click is not the same thing as influencing them. And we are in the influence business, after all.

We influence how an audience feels about the brand we represent. We do our best to have the audience fall in love. On Facebook, we will only get them to like.

Staying current with new modes of communication is very important to us at Scarlet Heifer.  Keeping up, isn’t really enough. We choose to actively pursue innovative ways to deliver brand stories on behalf of our clients.  So, upon a recent study of communication modes populating the webisphere these days, we found something interesting: the increasing use of infographics to tell stories or present concepts. These infographics contain meticulously designed visuals with imaginative graphs, colorful palettes, interesting fonts, and a creative flow of information.

Hey, wait a minute! Haven’t we seen much of this somewhere before?

Let’s not start patting ourselves on the back for being part of a dynamic disruption in communication. We take far too much credit already for supposedly creating the first interactive advertising mediums, in the past decade. We did not! A fellow named Howard Gossage did, in the 1960′s, by asking his target audience to participate in written puzzles and sweepstakes in print ads to draw consumers closer to the brand he was representing.

As for infographics, I vaguely remember an anthropology class, where we studied prehistoric hunters and how they told the stories of their kill. It was told with drawings on a wall, in a cave. Was this the first infographic? Has our technology brought us back there, already? I guess infographics are a combination of hieroglyphics and cave paintings,  done on a computer. But, I’m not knocking them. On the contrary. They do tell stories, clearly, visually, with a dash of entertainment value, which we all know needs to be sprinkled in to hold an audience. Even 30,000,000 years ago.

So, welcome to the world of infographics! Even though it’s been around for a little while. It’s evidence we are becoming more and more of a visual culture. Or going back to a more visual culture. Yes, it’s a head-scratcher. You see, as the web continues to spiral into uncharted pixel places, new modes of storytelling will creep into pop culture.

But, there’s something eery about this infographics stuff, for me. Are we heading back to the future? Is the advance of technology driving us backwards, as well as forwards? Do all roads lead to the same destination? Yes, these are some deep concepts to explore, but there are myriad books written by philosophers, scientists, teachers and religious scholars talking about the quest of man really being about finding himself. Many modern thinkers believe web technology will somehow bring us to this path of self discovery, and help push our search further and quicker.

So, lets hear it for infographics. I have a feeling they’re going to be around for a while.

We’d love to hear what you think about infographics.

Came across a fascinating study from eMarketer and picked up on Mashable, breaking the news that this year, online ad spending is expected to surpass that of the print space – magazines and newspapers:

http://mashable.com/2012/01/19/online-advertising-surpasses-print-2012/

To which we say…what took so long?

We’ve been hearing about the death of print and other forms of “old school” communications for years now.   If you add up the amount of time and ink (digital or actual ink) spent trumpeting the primacy of all things digital, that contest was over long ago.  So here we find out that 2012 is the year the worm has finally turned?  It’s almost hard to imagine, the way print has been written off and buried long before now.

We’re not here to say this is wrong, that digital is a fad, or that ink on paper is poised for a comeback,  or anything like that.  Far from it.  But what the article fails to point out is that a good amount of what is being counted as digital spend is no doubt being funneled into online brands that have an offline media counterpart.  Thinking of obvious players like  nytimes.com, wsj.com, and some stunning digital editions of mainstream consumer magazines across a wide variety of categories.  The point is, advertisers are buying access to specific audiences and brand franchises; the media form they appear in matters of course, but the key for marketers is — where can I get my brand involved with that audience?  The best and most vibrant “print” properties have their brand extended into multiple media form “buckets,” including of course digital and social media.

So, before we start chiseling the headstone for “Print,” let’s take a moment to remember that there are some fantastic brands that, way back in the days before Al Gore bestowed the internet upon us, developed followings and nurtured passion among their readers.  That their readers can now access those brands via battery-powered tools can only enhance a great brand’s ability to engage its audience.  And the really good ones have already figured this out.  Have a look at some of them, and make sure your clients aren’t missing out.

This week one of our clients, and contributing companies – Targeted Social, was recognized by Mashable for entering the social media advertising milieu for politicians by harnessing a new product for their new division called Socialitical. And we couldn’t be happier for them. The company is run by Corey Gottlieb, a friend and favorite Scarlet Heifer contributer, and they are on to something big here. As politicians try to embrace voters in a muddled field, they need to be smarter than ever before and reach untapped groups in new and imaginative ways. To do this they need new and imaginative channels. Enter, Socialitical. Catchy name, huh? (Yes, we developed it, if you must know.)  They harness the power of super targeting software for Facebook to reach prospects for politicians with unprecedented value and insight. Pretty cool, right? Difference makers. We’d say. So, we feel honored to have not only have helped shape their brand through website development for both their companies, logo design, name creation and strategic insight, but we’re excited to be a small part of this new and game changing product.

It’s truly an honor to have contributed to their brand’s success. Way to go Corey!

Steve Jobs, with the Apple II, 1984

At the risk of adding to the already massive volume of (well deserved) words on the legacy of Steve Jobs…let me first acknowledge that as an agency (and we are not alone in this), we often invoke the names Apple and/or Steve Jobs in conversations and meetings with clients.  Have done so for years.  I can’t even count anymore how many times I’ve copied and pasted that apple-with-the-bite out of it icon onto a Keynote slide, as a visual touchstone make a point about something done right, or well, or in truly integrated fashion, or all of the above.

The creative industries have always been the core of the Apply buyer base, so our affection starts there.  Art people love Apple for its spare yet elegant design motif that runs so strongly and consistently through everything the company makes, says, or shows;  Strategy people love the way the Brand, going all the way back to “1984″, has never really bothered to sell itself as a technology product, when its competitors were locking horns in RAM and GigaByte scrums. What made Apple special was Jobs’ understanding that he had to have both of these  - art and science (so to speak) – walking the same path, locked in unbreakable embrace.

Usually when we invoke the Apple or Jobs name in a client setting, we get one of two responses:

“yeah, they sure know how to do it right”

or

“but I’m not Apple…I dont have 20 gazillion dollars to spend on marketing and I don’t have super-awesome technology like they do.”

Our point is, if there is anything that Steve Jobs left as a legacy for marketers, it is this:  you really DO need to Think Different.

What Jobs understood is something that applies to anyone involved with sales or marketing communications:  he was selling dreams come true, or at least that possibility.  He was not selling chips and gizmos.  He was the master at taking it to the next level and connecting with the emotional cortex that no amount of research or segmentation studies will ever truly be able to define (let alone adequately measure).  Sure, it helps to have truly differentiated products that deliver.  But Jobs had at least as many failures as successes on that front (anyone remember the Lisa?)…what never changed was the way he went about connecting his products to The People.

A good example from the annals of Jobs:  as the story goes, the name “iMac” was created to solve a very specific communication objective — to communicate that this new Apple product was “internet ready” (back when that was an emerging important feature for a computer).   So, adding the “i” prefix to that product and others that Apple had in the pipeline was a clever, elegant solution to getting the “internet-ready” message across.

What Jobs understood was that it had to be so much more than that.  What did “internet-ready” mean to the person who was going to buy this product?  So when he introduced the line to an audience, there he was, calling out the power of the “i” branding.  The “i”, he said, stood for things like inform, inspire, imagination, individual…and oh yes, it signaled internet-ready.

He wasn’t blowing smoke.  He knew that what internet connectivity was really all about was opening up a world of possibilities – of magic –  that even he could not fully envision.  Apple was enabling access to the dream of having magic at your fingertips; this is what he sold.

That is the lesson of Apple and Jobs, for marketers and advertisers.  It is not just about great products, breakthrough features, beautiful ad campaigns, and tens of millions of marketing dollars spent.  It’s about understanding what you are really selling to your prospect or customer when you pitch them your product or service.

And for that, you don’t need tens of millions of marketing dollars.

But you absolutely do need to Think Different.

The first print ads were novel, just for being produced, regardles of their content. They were, in fact, interesting because they existed. That’s it. Content didn’t matter until the use of print ads became common.

Now, the ads needed to outsmart each other. So, the content mattered, only after the medium became ubiquitous.

Next was radio. Wow, radio took us by storm. Brands advertised like crazy on radio, this incredible new medium, where families gathered around a brown box and listened to programs as their imagination danced and their bellies filled with laughter. The radio commercials were, at first, just product announcements, but soon, as radio took off,  brands needed differentiation, so the radio spots needed to be more distinctive and therefore more enaging. Yes, radio, like print, started with content that didn’t matter, because what was thrilling was the medium itself.

Like a cosmic renaissance television hit the market. What a major breakthrough for marketers to reach audiences! Folks gathered around “the tube” for hours, completely engrossed. At first, when the medium was novel, brands advertised products during the television shows themselves, with a character describing the benefits right to the audience, but before too long, marketers realized they would have to be more inventive than that to really convince someone their soap was better. So, television commercials became more interesting. More moving. More “creative” if I dare say that word! There, I said it. Television commercials needed to be creative to influence audiences only because the medium became trivial.

And here we are today, with a different type of magic box. This one containing information that can also be manipulated by the actual prospects the brand is trying to influence  -  the net. Now, it’s a stange bird. Or is it? At its inception, like all the other mediums, messaging was less important. All that mattered was that a brand had a website and a banner ad. Now, the internet is on almost everyone’s lap, so the content, the “message” has to be the thing that influences prospects. It’s the same as it was with print, radio and TV, really. Content is king now that the medium is ubiquitous. Of course, this medium keeps evolving, however, and will do so until micro chips are implanted into babies the same time they get their feet and hands scanned for record keeping. Point is, the medium is king only until it becomes necessary for the message to climb to the throne. It’s happened over and over again and is happening today the same way. So, sharpen your pencils, put your thinking caps back on. The creative content revolution is here, and once again, there is a new and wonderful canvas to paint on.

Scarlet Heifer is currently engaged in helping start-up compression gear company 110% break out of the pack. We are lighting up the athletic world with social media and re-doing a website to maximize e-commerce. We have done e-mail blasts and designed sales programs, too. We love the message of this brand – pushing yourself further than you’ve gone before. 110% enables athletes, through their innovative compression gear, to play harder and recover faster. This race is heating up. Don’t bet against them!

Sorry for not blogging more, but we’ve been swamped on the ING Financial Markets project we’ve been awarded. Please visit www.scarletheifer.com to see our latest case studies. Frank says it will be up soon!

At Scarlet Heifer we were amazed to see the Chanukah Ham sale. Understanding what motivates a consumer is paramount to delivering results, yet many brands spend little time really digging into this. Like all relationships a thorough understanding is necessary for a deep connection. Brands need to know their audiences, that’s no baloney. Sorry, couldn’t help it.