Hello :) What's on your mind?

The nature of marketing, and in particular campaigns, has always been one of smoke and mirrors. The big story, the adventure or experience more often sits on top of sometimes complex technical solutions. These nuts and bolts are hidden away from the audience, and with good reason.

But what if there was an opportunity to expose these inner workings, to give it meaning within the bigger picture? You could use the comparison of a video shoot where cameras, lights and rigging forms part of the aesthetic; a post modernist take on it.

On the 29th of April a not so small wedding (in fact, of Royal proportions) took place in the United Kingdom. Of course, almost any brand with some tactical chutzpah tried to capitalise on the hype by offering from printed table ware to Kate & Will bed & breakfast specials and eveything inbetween. Inevitably one gets approached by a client (with some tactical chutzpah) to come up with a concept around the theme.

But what’s so original about a campaign built around a royal wedding? How can one differentiate it from the snowstorm?

Well, what if one takes the inherent mechanics of a viral campaign and expose it to provide a fresh, open view of how things progress and evolve. What if the trails and hierarchies, part and parcel of any viral mechanism, becomes an living visual organogram - a royal family tree. What if everyone participating in the campaign gets given their own Royal Title , with certificate, and are able to view their “family tree” at any given time, seeing it grow and evolve as the campaign matures? That sounds interesting…

It also segueways nicely into the following presentation by Aaron Koblin
at TED, where data visualisation and the analogy of the user interface is highlighted as a powerful tool in the modern craft of storytelling (showcasing a few good examples to boot).

Recently, I’ve had a increasing amount of run-ins with the mention of  “story” and the relevance of ”storytelling” to the brand. It’s almost as if there seemed to be a feverish overuse of these, very broad and universal concepts. Although the importance of any brand to have a story and tell it well is quite obvious, I found most of the conversation around the topic to be missing a deeper thread of thought - that there’s a logic ; an organism or intelligent structure facilitating the life of a story.

When I tweeted out my frustration, I had a brief conversation with one of the biggest proponents of storytelling :

marcelrsw: You can’t scan Twitter or Google Reader without stumbling over the “storytelling” analogy. #storytelling #saturationpoint ?
12:34pm, Apr 04 from HootSuite

getstoried: @marcelrsw it’s just the prima materia of reality. About time we woke up to see the matrix. And start reshaping the stories. #storytelling
5:24pm, Apr 04 from TweetDeck

marcelrsw: @getstoried agreed. ref to #storytelling w/o substance blunts the debate. Let’s explore the underlying cultural systems/triggers (matrix)
5:46pm, Apr 04 from HootSuite

getstoried: @marcelrsw Agreed: culture/context/meaning/identity is where it gets juicy. #storytelling          5:53pm, Apr 04 from TweetDeck

So, agreed then - that IS where it gets juicy, or is it? I think most people don’t want to start to delving deeper because it’s way more fun (and less effort) skimming the surface and throwing fluffy and comfortable words around like “story” .  But then, if and when one so decides - how and what is it that one does start to delving into ? What are the deeper social and cultural mechainsms that drive storytelliing, or more acurately , the sharing of experiences?

In this article by Steve Rubel he primarily points to the value of the generalist and systems thinker in an increasingly fractured and spceialised modern business and marketing landscape. It inherently supports the idea that it is precisely the study of underlying systems that would give the insights needed to effectively steer movements and seed ideas or experiences within social systems and organised cultures.

Then, the following adress from John Seely Brown (thanks BBH Labs) to students at Illinois Institute of technology. John speaks to systems and seeing the bigger picture; of being able to step out and contextualise a situation and the people within it. But I think the biggest point he was trying to make, is that as a new generalist, one needs to listen. Listen with humility and an openness “across disciplines, across cultures and across different world views”

So what does all this have to do with “story” ? Well, in an attempt to close the loop, here’s one to chew on: For brands, in order to effectively tell their stories, they need to have abroad understanding of their brand culture, and the ecosystem it inhabits; it’s forever changing form. For that , one needs systems thinking and a honest, open, generalist approach that is inclusive, adaptive and focused in directing any particular activities within the various channels.

In the very end of this article, the J.M. Ledgard finishes with the following observation:

“       Finally, digital Africa will become a spoken tradition. African cultures are among the most oral in the world. Storytelling under the tree is still commonplace. Speaking is still preferred to writing and Africa happens to have timed its digital age to coincide with new voice-activated technologies. The generation gap between those who were trained to guide a fountain pen with their fingers, those whose kinetic memory is dominated by their thumbs, and those even younger who are used to the sweeping movements of the touchscreen, will give way to the return of voice—Africa’s voice.    ”

It’s a view that struck a chord with me, partiularly on the African tradition of the spoken word and how storytelling will be carried into a digital Africa.

Storytelling in Africa doesn’t just happen under shady Acacias or bulky Boababs. It happens on the way to the spaza shop. It happens while at work, or while waiting for the traffic light to turn green. It is a tradition not reserved exclusively for structured and sober gatherings under leafy canopies, but is the woven into the chaotic and raw fibe of everyday life in Africa; and permeates through every action and gesture.

And it is for exactly this reason that transmedia storytelling is a natural carrier and enabler of the African narrative tradition. To me, the exiting possiblitiles do not lie in the promise of improved handsets or VOIP or IVR or USSD (although they’re all just pleading for some innovative and creative application). The real promise lies in the fact that Africa has the kind of imagination and adoptive nature that is fertile ground for new technologies, and with it, new ways of telling stories to infuse seamlessly with everyday life.

It is ultimately an understanding of the deeper cultures operating with and through these technologies that will enable one to fully actualise the sharing of knowledge and collective experiences. Facebook in itself will only go so far in achieving this. The rest is up to the imagination.

Take a chair. Any chair. Ok, preferably a nice chair. One that’s aesthetically pleasing and practical.  If you don’t have one to start with, why not make?  Place a couple of them on random streetcorners and arbitrary public areas in the streets of New York. Now deploy your covert recon team, all in position, equiped with cameras and two way radios… and wait.

Because what is about to happen next is the fun part. You see - hidden under each chair is a GPS unit that’ll track it’s every move. The urban scavenger has finally met it’s match! Now knock on the door of said chair hoarder and interview. “Why did you take the chair?” “What do you enjoy about it?” What are you using it for?” Bring it all together and you’ve got a fascinating journey of an inanimate object with tons of behind the scenes footage and interviews.

This is exactly what BlueDot did with The Real Good Experiment.

The story of a chair. And why not? Chairs are great objects! I would much rather design a chair than a car. There is an implied beauty and elegence in it’s singular purpose . But there are other things out there that we covet and interact with every day. Things we create or buy, and treat as our children. Each with it’s own life and little diary of adventures. If only those lost socks could write you a little postcard…

During the course of June 2010 I finally completed a long held ambition - I recorded the oral history of my family, along with some sparkling short stories,  as told by my grandmother. I grew up with these stories. Everyone in my family seemingly had their favourite. Whenever we got together, invariably someone would ask for the telling of one or other recollection, regardless of the fact that we’d all be hearing it for the umpteenth time. There is a basic joy and warmth in repeating and celebrating a collective memory.

The recordings happened over two sessions in June, and it took some part-time editing and mastering during the course of late 2010 before the final collection was given as Christmas a present to my family. It was one of the (if not THE) most rewarding exercises I’ve ever undertaken. The reward was a simple but resounding confirmation, one that left me determined to take it further and continue recording stories, as told by those neglected and forgotten sages amongst us, the custodians of our cultural sediment.

The skill and tradition of storytelling is something all should treasure and celebrate; it is this timeless tradition that I wish to excavate and explore within a South African context,  along with anyone that enjoys the experience of sharing a good story.

Part of the course is to team up with creative talent and allow the narrations to truly come to life using video and animation. If you have any skills or ideas to contribute to this project, please do not hesitate to contact us . More on this soon…For now here’s a fantastic humorous story as told by my grandmother, Juri Boëttger.

If your are interested in some great stories to sink your teeth into, there is the acclaimed THIS AMERICAN LIFE series, with Ira Glass as the host. It’s been going for a while, has set the benchmark in format and presentation,  and has a great archive. Another that was brought to my attention ( thanks Lisa Skinner)  is The Moth - live storytelling on stage. I’m sure there are plenty of other resources out there - if you know of any please send them in!

Africans love telling stories. It is what connects us to the land and each other. It has always been there, told with fervor and a intensity in expression that have provided me with a lifelong joy. I was blessed to grow up listening to legendary storytellers such as Oom Dana Niehaus, Jan Spies, PG Du Plessis, Pieter Pieterse. My Grandmother is also one of the best ( I recorded her oral history in June last year. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and I plan to publish some of her stories on this blog in the coming months , watch this space!)

One of the key realisations of my life has been that the strongest bond I have with the land and all it’s people is the collection stories we share; that this isn’t just an Afrikaner tradition, but an African tradition. I truly believe there is more stories dispersed over South Africa than anyone else can shake a stick at.

The prospect of trying to redefine such an ancient and intrinsically African tradition such as storytelling within a modern context is at once frightfully daunting and exhilarating. It is a challenge that digital content creators and marketers plying their trade on the continent cannot ignore, and one that immediately poses several questions.

How does a revolution brought about by a modern communication technology such as the mobile phone augment these traditions? Which new platforms are to be revisited and redefined (USSD), and which of the traditional media still hold true (radio)? Which uniquely African analogies and allegories are more adapt to modern communications? If one were to regard the concept of a meme or viral content piece, surely African values and socio - economic dynamics have impact when adressing questions of ownership, collective appraisal and influence?

Is it a romantic notion to think that the narrative tradition is somehow vulnerable to a foreign medium? Africans have always been wonderfully inventive in their adaptation of any foreign tool if it were to enhance their quality of life. Does this not also apply to stories?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Mail me, or leave a comment.

Stories - all cultures have them; it’s the collective memory that bind us around the communal table. Yarns that are carefully spun with care, preserved over generations. So what would stop a brand from exploring it’s own narrative? Afterall, a brand contains as much of a legacy as any culture, and like any culture,  it’s constantly evolving.

The sharing of the human experience isn’t confined to novels and bedtime stories; nor does the imagination of marketing stop at the pay-off line.

“A brand contains as much of a legacy as any culture”

It also doesn’t require the budget or resources of Hollywood productions or global brands to create a immersive  brand story.  It is more often than not about the little things, the understated but vital and ongoing storyline; the extension of your brand identity into something a little more tangible than the packaging, image treatment, or even tone of copy.

It’s this often fickle and complex terrain most brands (or brand managers ) are too scared to delve into. Often, the longer the brand is out there - successful, growing, changing with the market, these complexities become harder to unravel, and so it becomes easier to just simplify, to coin a phrase, to sum it up in a punchline.

How DOES one translate a brand , a monolithic, often overly simplified, all encompassing entity into something that’s all too human , close to home, and very understated? The most successful ones seem to do this very well. There’s a feeling of home, of identity that stretches beyond the tangible assets of brand. There’s culture, a collective experience.

“Where content and conversation makes up the social media fabric, the brand story is the thread woven throughout.”

Social media has forced brands to look again at their brand stories. It has necessitated a shift in focus along the trusted lines of reputable, consistent and detailed, but more importantly, human legacies. Where content and conversation makes up the social media fabric, the brand story is the thread woven throughout.

Once once you start working the land, fertile ground tends to breed new avenues to explore. Very often it’s the people that are immersing themselves in your story that give you the feedback , the little gems
that eventually  grow organically around the core / soul of your business.

To me, unraveling the storyline is the fun part. There’s nothing more exiting that finding that gold nugget; the insight that seems to make everything else make sense, the one that manages to open new gateways to new approaches and revive a long lost truth or steer things into a new but natural direction. It requires “flaky” things like analogies or metaphors - the creation of a kind of brand animism or folklore.

Brands should embrace the narrative as means to explore their core values and define it with their customers; and it doesn’t have to be take on the volume of a novel (or be novel, for that matter) to represent a greater validation, to generate value and have long lasting resonance.

Writing first

With content coming more and more into focus as a central part in your online communication strategies -  strategic definition, conceptulisation and production of content will need good writing, and good writers, to be included at every step of the way.

Why then, when it comes to discussions around content creation, are the importance of writing and good writers rarely emphasised?

Good writing is central to creating gripping and informative content. It literally spans across the board, from your one liner text ad to writing the next script for that viral video. It is so important that if the writing doesn’t work, the delivery is most likely to fall flat and the message lost on the audience. It’s key to articulating the idea, because it’s ultimately where it all starts , and the vehicle for getting to your audience.

Not all writing created equal

Besides the differences in approach to writing for TV vs online media vs print; and writing for a corporate client vs a retailer,  it may be fair to say that there are in fact as many types of writers as there are genres or mediums (arguably many more). Choosing the right writer then becomes a key consideration when approaching content creation. Here’s some questions that is likely to inform the decision:

1. What is the market ?

Every marketing vertical has it’s own requirements when it comes to communication and a content writer should be cognisant of the subtleties in dealing with these. As is the case, writers would usually specialise in a particular business sector. For instance, compared to a high end sports shoe,  financial products are often quite complex, and the sector is heavily regulated on what can, cannot and has to be said. Still, you’re talking to people and not brokers, and they need to be reassured in knowing their decision is the right one, without drowning in details. A writer needs to be able to do just that.

2. What is the medium ?

Blogpost? B2B whitepaper? Viral video ? Transchannel narrative?
Writing a script for an online video channel series is very different from conceptualising an advertising campaign, and the intended  medium and delivery channel is key in determining which writer would be adapt at producing the goods.

3. What is the creative approach?

A good writer can make or break the execution if he or she is not able to give the content a life of it’s own,  capture a unique view and enfuse the content with your brand personality - the subtle nuances, the small things that allows it to “make sense”, or give it an interesting slant.

Debate up front is critical in fleshing out the approach and understanding where the sweet spot lies. Every stakeholder should contribute and have buy-in before production commences, since any execution going forward will have to be measured against the criteria mentioned above.

As stated earlier, there really are a myriad of different writers out there, but in the disciplines applying to online marketing communication, one could look at the following:

a.) Copy Writing:

Typical ad / copy writing requires conceptual thinking and being adept at capturing a distilled and clear message. As part of the creative team (usually with their friend, the art director) the copy writer should be capable of articulating and delivering powerfull, clear and simple concepts and messaging around a product or brand that can live in any medium.

b.) Editorial Writing:

Your website should be the point of departure for any online communication, and set the tone for any ripples (intended or unintended) that may occur in the wider digital channels. Besides the incorporation of SEO practices, reflecting your brand, conveying the message, editorial content should be captivating. It should have a comeback / clickforward factor, and only good writing can deliver that. Of course, blogs are not exempt from editorial writing, and a good writer will know the subtle, but key considerations when approaching tone and composition for a blogpost.

c.) Instructional writing

The view of your site’s content should constitute every communication message , including instructional text, button labels and error messages. These messages are fundamental to enhancing the journey in helping your users find what they need, while they also provide the opportunity to convey some personality and brand character, and yet they are often last on the list when creating online experiences. The often omited error message is a classic example. If your design and copy is effective, is it necessary to add the phrase “click here” for each link? Consideration for good user experience design include the words that ultimately guide your users to conversion.

d.) Script Writing :

The craft of writing for visual narrative is probably one of the hardest things to do. How do you make the characters and their dialogue believable? How do you create atmosphere, comedy, suspense? With the aspect of time, rhythm and nuance becomes amplified - it all happens over a specific timeframe, and often that timeframe is barely enough to cover everything. A good script writer should be able to keep the audience captivated , and convey the necessary information, while aligning with the set style and pace. With video only increasing in prevalence as branded media vehicle, video pieces (meme or not) will always need the backbone of a good script.

All in all

A good writer can make your content memorable. A great writer can give it a life of it’s own and add true value.

The first Tech4Africa Conference held at The Forum in Bryanston last week proved to be a refreshing and vital addition to the conference circuit.

With several high profile international speakers mixing it up with the best of breed locally, it was always going to prove an interesting and jampacked two days of talk around the challenges and opportunities on the continent.

Some highlights included the lively discussion around social media (or “the social web” as listed in the itinerary); the hilarious QA session with, amongst others John Resig (jQuery creator) and Dustin Diaz , UI goto guy for Twitter; the shared insights around mobile content for the continent; and of course, Clay Shirky’s keynote on how, beyond “lolcats”, the power of technology can enable collective action .

Here then some key takeouts for me from the two days

1.    People first

It’s never been more important to have a genuine, honest and transparent relationship with your customers (a lengthy discussion of case studies BP and the new Cell C campaign proved how high the stakes are) while the importance of community and content with value was reiterated by panel and audience. On the business side, the necessity of a healthy network popped up in more than one discussion. Your competitors and industry peers should be one of your greatest soundboards.

2.    Start small

A classic Clay Shirky delivery hit home when he advised to keep it small but good, rather than large and mediocre. It will always be more difficult to turn around and try to fix things than it is to make something of excellence, on a small scale, and grow it incrementally.

3.    Use the Cloud

It’s daunting for any growing business to be lean and efficient with resources and infrastructure. The cloud (or “the web” , as one audience member insisted) has brought numerous tools to our doorstep, enabling the almost instantaneous access to virtual servers, disk space (Dropbox), eMailing campaigns (MailChimp), project planning (Bootcamp) , without having to invest in anything but nominal subscription fees.

4.    Bad product won’t sell

Maybe an obvious one at first, but a crappy product won’t have legs. Especially in an age where a community of consumers can just as quickly shoot it down as they can build you up. Any good product has good marketing built in. Apple’s polite decline to officially engage in the social media sphere proves the point. They don’t need to get involved, because their consumers are already doing the marketing job for them.

5.    True Love

Corny right? Yet it remains that key ingredient. The one that’ll see you through the good and bad times. Without genuine care for whatever it is you’re putting out there; there is no momentum, there is no meaning, and ultimately, there is no reason for anybody else to love it either.

6.    Low fi

I’ve always believed that through limitations one excels. It’s the age old “invention through necessity” rule; and Fritz Ekwoge is proving it. His simple and brutally effective SMS “app store” and business directory (iYam) is getting a lot of attention. Bright Simons’ mPedigree is literally saving lives by enabling people in Ghana to verify the expiry date and authenticity of their medicine by SMS’ing the barcode (buying medicine over the counter in this country implies the shocking statistical likelihood of 1 out of three chances of dying from the very goods supposed to cure you). It also benefits the pharmaceuticals by returning analytics on where and how their products are sold in the continent . One wonders when everybody else are going to start using technologies such as IVR or USSD to it’s fullest potential; and yes, you may get creative with it if you’re so inclined…

7.    …but what does it do?

This may be a harsh reminder for anyone who ever slaved away on building a technical solution, but to the customer, the most important thing is whether your service or product is making his life a little easier; not which technology was used in creating it. Over-engineering may be a good thing in the civil construction business, but consumer tech should always be dead simple. If it works, why complicate it?

————————————————————————–

All in all it was a very important and extremely useful two days and I’d like to thank Gareth Knight from Technovated for firstly putting a conference of such stature together, and secondly giving me the opportunity to attend (I owe you one!)

From the online ramblings around content , content ownership and publishing to the prevalence of transmedia as a media buzzword, here then a follow up on a previous post on the subject matter . It’s maybe true that each of these need a separate discussion, but I feel that they are closely related in that everybody is looking for some perspective and definition to online / digital content - whichever direction you’re coming from.

So…here’s maybe some thoughts / outtakes / outrageous statements:

#1 Advertising and Social Media don’t mix.
Should we rather say - traditional ad placement doesn’t sit well within the social network space. Besides interruptive advertising already taking blows from all sides, one would always need effective media placement to activate. One thing is certain - people don’t like your opinion in their personal space (the reason why mobile advertising is such a tricky field). Social networks operate on connections, and users respond to content that reflect both their individuality and collective human experiences, not blatant brand messaging.

#2 Viral video is a myth. You can’t bank on it as an marketer.
Again - the critique here is against the marketer that says : “Let’s create a viral video and send it out into the world.” That’s just not how it happens (well, in most cases). In my opinion, pay attention to your community and what they are saying, let them tell you what they’d like to see/read/hear/do, and then get creative.

Story…story… story (and more particularly - a human story)… creates viral.
Think Susan Boyle. Think baby Charlie…

#3 UGC is overrated.
Well, more a mystery in it’s current fruition (vague enough?). How many marketers have honestly asked themselves what the true definition is of UGC? Is it really as simple as a gallery of users’ photos? A true UGC engagement is a community expressing themselves as a collective and enjoying one another’s understanding of that cultural unifier. As a marketer, your extracted value lies in exactly that.

#4 Advertisers don’t know how to create content…
In many ways the formulas and methodologies of modern marketing has stifled us in relating the human experience. One can get nostalgic and reminisce about the good old days when TV ads were the source ofa collective laugh around the dinner table (dinner table?) - a moment shared (and at best they still are). Why is this so rarely translated onto our device screens? Did we allow the combination of marketing academia and our obsession with tech kill the human connection? We need to reclaim and re-recognise the human moment… For this reason,  marketers need to be in business with content creators (read storytellers, particularly good writers who understand a multi-channel world) to produce the right material, but also partner up with the publisher to ensure that there is reach.

Collaboration is needed to actualise these endeavours. Content creation can be an expensive excersise.
Ideally, it should be easy to build and easy to get initial traction.

#5 Content doesn’t imply the latest news
If there is one recurring phrase that irrates, it is “latest news”. Honestly - what value does that give to anybody coming to your website / portal / project page? People buy newspapers not to read the latest news, but they associate themselves with that publication for their particular brand of comment and analysis around events of the day or week, it’s cultural slants, crossword puzzles etc. It’s the peripheral (and personal) that give things unique value.

#6 Social networks are content distribution networks.
Maybe not a new one but an important one to state again. The power of spreading the word about your content through social networks can’t be overstated. But your content would still need a channel, or multiple channels to call a home. Having your content live on multiple channels doesn’t mean the same content on different platforms. Uploading your TVC to youtube doesn’t exactly give your users choice or added value, it just clutters the landscape. Build appropriate and paralell definitions that compliment each other… it’s called media modality - where content sits comfortably within it’s skin.

So what does constitute a valid vehicle to get your content out there? A desktop app? A mobisite? A podcast? Where does you content live? Where your users are, of course! And that, will always be the big question…

{ Note: took out #7 regarding measurement and true value of engagement - still have to think about that one - maybe it is soon to become a post on it’s own. }

In closing…
The renewed focus on content from the marketing industry is not surprising. Within a sea of information and media being consumed (let’s be honest, most of it really bad), and desensotised consumers getting tired of “the sell”,  it’s forcing brands to look at what unique value they are providing their customers, how they are building relationships without paying lip service, and how the message can come through without talking about themselves.

Some reading:

- Putting your content where it matters

- Rupert Murdoch on the future of journalism

- Four tips for Brands embracing new methods of storytelling

- Why we should kill “Socila Media”

- The Future of the Story