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Old Spice's advertising has been widely recognized as some of the best stuff out there and generated huge talk value, YouTube video views and the rest. It's been great, but it followed the traditional campaign formula, that 's until now, in the last couple of days, the campaign has made a dramatic turn into a conversation that has begun at such a remarkable pace

It's impossible to know how they can keep it up, unless the agency has a secret is a copywriter cloning program and has these outsourced clones placed in satellite offices around the world, to maintain round-the-clock coverage .

The idea has been to make bring the lead character to life in real-time and get him to respond using Twitter and YouTube. The big point of all this is how quick the content is being created and put out there, but also how relevant the conversation is; the character is responding directly to people and questions.

It's a great example of how a campaign property can be made real-time and conversational. It also forces us to ask some challenging questions:

Should you build a story arc for a campaign that includes conversations?

Is it something you can plan for?

How do you "game" the system without getting caught?

Do we need the talents of reality show writers and producers who can spot developing stories and create for them?

We wait to see what Old Spice has in store for us, will we just get bored of it and the campaign runs out of steam because we are over-exposed to the character or does it take on a new lease of life because of the conversation?


Posted by Ed Cotton The communication world works with development cycles that take multiple weeks/months.

They are the very opposite of real-time, we then insert these efforts into a real-time world hoping they can gain the benefit of real-time buzz. It's a hit and hope approach. We hope that all our insight gathering, intuitive understanding of the moment and perhaps of enduring human truths is relevant and pertinent to the real-time conversation that's happening right now. We hit and hope and then we go look and see what happens. We reverse engineer to prove that our insights and creative execution are "right on".

Brian Solis, one of the smartest minds on the "conversation" out there, makes a great point in a recent blog post.

"In the end however, nothing will help substandard, ordinary, or bland product and services. And the point of all of this is, if you continue to introduce objects into the marketplace that are not based on the readily available real-time information before you, then you deserve the fate you’re dealt. At some point, this becomes less about chance and more about destiny, with a little bit of luck thrown in for good measure. Twitter and other social networks are the crystal balls that present the intelligence as well as the influential voices, who can help us create and participate with purpose and significance."

Brian suggests quite rightly that you've got to get really smart at monitoring the dynamics of the real-time conversation and making sure you at that to your list of resources that you use to help build out your thinking and ideas.

Taking Brian's ideas to the next level, perhaps you need a two-tier strategy.

1. Ensure you get the conversation is heading when you create your initial brief- make sure that's in the mix

2. Find a way to ensure that you can shape and mold your communication around the real-time conversation. This is different from throwing it in and seeing if it floats, this is more about adjusting your narrative to insert your idea correctly into the conversation and finding away to add elements that are relevant to the real-time agenda of the moment.


Posted by Ed Cotton Influx and many others have been following and reporting on the Marketing 2.0 trend which suggests a new open environment of participation between brands and their customers.

The catalyst of the internet has made all the possible and brands now have the power and potential to engage in real dialog.

A few days ago I was struck by this stunning stat from the BBC News as reported by Robin Hamman, who was commenting on a presentation given by Peter Horrocks, Head of the BBC newsroom.

"BBC News can get 10 - 20,000 emails and messages a day, this still only, Horrocks says, represents around 1% of the audience..."

This suggests that we've only scratched the surface of consumer participation, obviously the BBC being a giant media company, is an extreme case.

It raises some interesting questions.

How can the BBC cope with that volume of participation?

How will it cope when it increases?

How does it or does it respond to the wisdom of the crowd, given that it's only 1% of its audience?

If we shift over from the media to the marketing world, it appears that most marketing departments aren't yet designed and organized to manage and cope with Marketing 2.0, most are still working and structured for a 1.0 world.

The Marketing Department is going to need to change radically, but there are some questions.

How do they make the transition?

When does the "tipping point" occur?

Marketing departments need fundamentally new skill sets, new positions/job titles and they are also going to need some smart technology to assist them.

Given how little bandwidth most departments have these days, it's safe to assume that there are quite a few brands out there who risk damaging their reputations because they simply aren't structured to cope with the new era of conversation and participation.


Posted by Ed Cotton 10 things I learned from and about IDEO from hearing them present

Jane Fulton and Paul Bennett of IDEO presented at yesterday’s Idea Conference

1.    They don’t do ego- self-deprecating and humble is their style.

2.    They are observers of the world and look for ideas in it- the way people do or don’t use things. My observation on this, planners in the ad business listen, but don’t look.  

3.    They aren’t afraid to talk to their own employees to glean insight.

4.    Observation doesn’t just lead to product solutions, it can also help services; seeing a woman round-up her utility bill was the inspiration for Bank of America’s “Keep The Change” concept.

5.    They believe people just want dialog- they are now willing to say anything to get a response, they just like having the power to speak. They wonder if marketers can help them.

6.    Dialog is the new optimism. Showed us an example of Sainsbury’s asking customers for product suggestions and warning them if products are about to be de-listed.

7.    They like Japan and Japanese creativity- especially the Panasonic battery campaign that encouraged people to build the first battery powered plane and the tie removal campaign to help save energy in Japan. Both by Hakuhodo.

8.    They believe communication needs to be playful, optimistic, enthusiastic and participatory.

9.    They see the world fragmenting into micro-communities of Pug lovers and Rat fanciers.

10.    Moments can become movements- lots of little actions can add up to something bigger.



Posted by Ed Cotton A few months back, I found myself included on an author list for the Age of Conversation. It's a brilliant concept hatched by Gavin Heaton and Drew McLelllan; 100 blogger authors each writing a chapter about conversation. At the time,  I wasn't sure what to think and what would become of it. Now it's alive and kicking and launches on July 16th. Most important, all the proceeds will be donated to Variety, the Children’s Charity.

Project info can be found here.

Formats/Prices:

Hardbacks $29.99
Paperbacks $16.95

Here's the list of authors- with a bunch of strategists/planners in the mix including- Emily Reed, David Armano, Mark Earls, Gareth Kay and Faris Yakob.

Gavin Heaton
Drew McLellan
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Mike Sansone
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich
Mindblob (Luc)
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Bob Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Kris Hoet
Kofl Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiels
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Ed Cotton
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Polinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Newlan
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Brian Reich
Becky Carroll
Arun Rajagopal
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
AJ James
Kim Klaver
Sandy Renshaw
Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman
S. Neil Vineberg
C.B. Whittemore 

Posted by Ed Cotton We are delighted to have been included on the list of 100 bloggers selected to write a "chapter" for the new ebook, The Conversation Age.

This is an idea developed by Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan.

The other contributors are listed below and includes a number of planners.

Gavin Heaton
Drew McLellan
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Mike Sansone
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich
Mindblob (Luc)
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Bob Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Mitch Joel
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Krishna De
Kris Hoet
Kofl Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiels
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Pollinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Newlan
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Brian Reich
Becky Carroll
Arun Rajagopal
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
AJ James
Kim Klaver
Sandy Renshaw
Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman