Digital Utility or Branded Experience

A rather large conversation on the creative side of digital advertising is which is more important and effective, utility/marketing or branded/experience?

I feel the best way to illustrate the differences is through examples. Below is a brand experience video for the band Devo created by Mother Los Angeles.

The Devo site and film give off a wanky, dharma initiative vibe that is very distinctive and memorable. Although it doesn’t immediately discuss the product (music) it created a point in the mind of the consumer to make the gradual perception change of that music brand. It inspires the consumer to find out more and potentially purchase it; but, more importantly, it gets the consumer to continue using the brand if they liked the advertising.

Here is an example of a marketing micro-site for Clorox Whiten Your Whites.

The site is paired down to getting as many emails as possible, to the point that it ends up not feeling genuine or interesting. It shouts at the consumer a potential to win something if they give over their email (to be distributed Clorox coupons via email). Although the consumer may or may not use this product from the coupon, the likely-hood that they would be interested in learning more about future products is not likely.

In the end what is more important and effective, utility/marketing or branded/experience? Ultimately it would depend on the goal of the campaign/product; but, for any brand be it a band or a massive retailer, developing a long term relationship with a consumer will potential yield much higher returns and for a longer period of time.

Blog Post Number 50

I made it, this is blog post number 50.

I started this blog not really knowing for sure where it was going. I knew I wanted to write about advertising, my views on it and sprinkle in some of my own journey as a young art director trying to make it in the rapidly changing ad world. All in all I'm fairly happy with the content that I have been able to put out.

Yet I’m surprised with the effect I’ve had through my blog, website and single day facebook ad campaign. My blog currently stands at having had a little over 400 unique hits last month alone primarily in Minnesota, Arkansas, Texas, California and New York. Through my digital efforts, I got the job I have now at Rockfish Interactive, have had the chance to chat with a number of people at some cool agencies and more surprisingly, to me, was having an effect on other people with my posts.

A number of my posts inspired conversations with coworkers at work, friends & agency people in other states and even inspired an old classmate from MCAD to blog about my blog. Yet I think the thing that I’ve learned the most is the power of digital and social media along with how to maximize the effect of it.

I’m excited to continue to see where this goes and look forward to any and all new conversations it will inspire. Feel free to start a conversation with me through twitter or through email: taylor.snyder@me.com

Agencies That Make Stuff

One of the biggest discussions in the ad world is what the future ad agency will look like.

Will it be media agnostic or specialize in an area, will the creative partnership survive, will it be small & nimble or large & loud? More importantly, will the agency rollercoaster of hiring and firing with each client remain the norm? I think one thing is for sure, as time goes on agencies more and more will make stuff.

Since the inception of the ad agency it had been our culture to not just spread messages but to make things, starting with the creation of the magazine. Agencies more and more are being hailed for their originality when introducing their product lines such as BBH’s line of quick prepare food, Rockfish’s Silver Joe’s & Tidy Tweet and Mother New York’s Target bags and rock concerts.

It’s not just a fad of “look what we can do.” It’s a tangible way to generate extra revenue for the agency and hold onto valuable creatives by absorbing the blow from the loss of a client. I also believe that as agencies are able to take daring steps with their own product lines in the marketplace, they’ll have the chance to directly compete with the big name brands.

The question than becomes, in the future, will we simply shrink away when we lose a new business pitch or simply create a product to directly compete with that brand.