Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/21561
Mindshare created this campaign for Unilever which features a fake competitive agency to Mad Men’s Sterling-Cooper. It ran on AMC. on television,we can either drive consumers to view our content with a :15 or :30 pro- motional spot.We also can buy a pod buster on TV that’s two minutes long to show some of our content. Or all of our content could live on ITV, which is another great way for us to reach consumers in a setting in which they are open to seeing longer-form content.” THREATS: “I don’t know if there are threats, but one of the things to avoid is a tendency to apply the lessons of the old world to the new world that results in over branding. By that I mean turning things that should be content or engagement pieces GREG MANAGO Senior Producer/Executive Director of Development Mindshare Entertainment www.mindshareworld.com New York Mindshare is a global media and marketing services network consist- ing of 115 offices in 82 countries. Mindshare is part of GroupM, which oversees the media investment management sector for WPP, a commu- nications services group. STRENGTHS:“There are a lot of great opportunities out there right now.With the fragmentation of the marketplace and today’s consumers turning to so many different places to get their infor- mation, it really has become quite an opportunity for people like us to do things differently than they’ve ever been done before. It’s a great time to create new things and move the needle in this marketplace.” WEAKNESSES: “It’s kind of like the wild, wild West out there right now.There are a lot of people who say they engage con- sumers by creating long-form content, but not all of them truly have that capability. So one of the problems for a brand is figuring out how to choose the right partner.There are so many people out there offering these services, it’s hard to discern who actually knows what they are doing, versus, someone just throwing up a shingle. They might say, ‘If you build it, they will come.We’ll create this 50- episode Web series, sign on the dotted line,’ and then they’re unable to drive consumers to actually see it.The best way to learn is look- ing into their track record and the people they have.” OPPORTUNITIES: “A lot of clients and brands are looking to connect with consumers in a new way, and that’s an opportunity for us because we’re experts at gauging consumers and using story- telling to engage and entertain them. In this new media world there are so many different ways to use technology to reach consumers. As part of Mindshare we have access to the agency’s research capa- bilities and that’s a big advantage because we’re able to construct engagement platforms based on insights that will get consumers in- terested in what we’re doing. “We use a combination of media to reach consumers in different places. For example, we will create content that airs online and pro- mote it with print ads and mobile ads in addition to a mobile app that is promoted by a banner ad. Sometimes content will live in a banner ad.Then via ITV or some other kind of new media platform into something overly commercial or putting the product in the center of something that really should be entertainment. One of the potential issues is that some brands might hire people to do things like that and then get completely turned off to new media based on flawed results, which isn’t really using new media in the proper way.” OUTLOOK ON 2011:“2008 into 2009 was a tough time for the business. Marketing budgets get cut first in any corporate situation. What we noticed is that a lot of people that had money were just keeping it off the table.They didn’t know if they needed to hold that money in reserve or do something else with it.When the economy started going again, that money came back. Everybody was busy all at the same time. I think that has continued through 2010.” DAVID LAI CEO/Creative Director Hello Design www.hellodesign.com Culver City,CA Hello Design is a creative digital agency that de- velops interactive strategy and Web experiences, implementing projects in mediums that include the Web, touchscreen, interface design, e-com- merce, mobile, social media and gaming. STRENGTHS: “Digital is expanding into so many outlets, which opens great opportunities for agencies to go beyond duplicating an experience on the Web to exploring new components that digital provides for activities like reading, paying bills or shopping.This shift is a strength that allows us to further push for interactive and rich experiences integrating features such as realtime conversations, gaming and social networking into activities where they wouldn’t normally have existed.We’re looking to incorporate these features and build experiences across many platforms, thereby creating a more meaningful way for people to interact and connect.” WEAKNESSES: “Within the digital space there are success rates you can measure accurately and some that you can’t.Tracking how many visitors a site receives and time spent on the site are quantifi- able ways to measure success. However, the metrics we currently use have lots of room to evolve. New tools and platforms are being developed at a rapid rate; tools where an exact science for measur- ing success do not yet exist. For example, it is difficult to gauge the success of a brand’s presence on a social network like Facebook. Is it more important to have one million random fans on Facebook, or 100,000 die-hard fans? There isn’t one solution to this question be- cause each brand’s goals may be different. www.postmagazine.com December 2010 • Post 35 NEW MEDIA