Honest bucks

As publishers find new means of diversifying revenue streams, there could be room for a consolidation model that serves both publishers and consumers. 


My ad agency self and consumer self sometimes clash, oddly enough frequently about advertising. At work I subject myself to all the ads that Facebook, The Straits Times, Rappler, etc. want to throw at me, but at home I'm all about ad blocking. A few sites have now told me that I have to enable cookies to use their properties which really bugs me (consumer self), and only if I really want to see the content do I turn my ad blocker off. But my agency self, and begrudgingly even a little bit of my consumer self, understands the business side of things and how the publishers need to keep the lights on to keep producing the content I love to read.

Recently I clicked an Entertainment Weekly link. When I got to the site, which I visit frequently, a pop-up informed me that I had reached my free article limit for the month. I considered paying because I visit regularly, and the pricing seemed reasonable. What ultimately stopped me was the larger implication of potentially having to move into a paid model for more and more of the sites I frequently visit.

Because, first of all, isn’t the internet supposed to be free? (Consumer self.) But if publishers all have their way, am I going to have to enter into subscriptions with several of them, which might seem affordable on their own, but will add up overall? Not only is that going to potentially end up quite expensive, but it will be tough to keep track of.


Existing Monetization Models

There are a couple of monetization methods that exist at present. (The list below skips a few ad streams such as affiliate marketing, native advertising, etc.; wanted to keep the list topline. This is also covering larger content publishers and not bloggers.)

(1) Direct Subscriptions:
Consumers pay the publisher a fee to access content. Payment for access + experience.
/ Ads: None
/ Payment required: Yes
/ Content access: Unlimited
/ e.g. Netflix

(2) Freemium, no ads upon payment 
Consumers can access an initial batch of content, but must pay a fee to upgrade usage.
/ Ads: Eliminated when users move to the paid model
/ Payment required: None initially, but option to pay for extra features or no ads
/ Content access: Unlimited access upon payment
/ e.g. Spotify

(3) Freemium, ads remain even with payment
Consumers can access an initial batch of content, but must pay a fee to upgrade usage
/ Ads: Present all throughout
/ Payment required: None initially, but option to pay for extra features and/or no ads
/ Content access: Unlimited access upon payment
/ e.g. Hulu, New York Times 

On Freemium models with ads: Once a user is paying for access, will they still want to see ads? This seems like a double-charge, once for access and again for agreeing to ad exposure. When you compare it to traditional newspapers or magazines, you are also in effect charged twice, but on digital it somehow doesn’t seem to make as much sense. I signed up for Hulu then agreed to pay for the premium tier only to be served with ads throughout the shows. That was a real deal breaker and eventually led me to cancel my subscription.

 (4) Ad Supported
Content is free, Ads abound
/ Ads: Present all throughout
/ Payment required: None initially, but option to pay for extra features or no ads
/ Content access: Unlimited access upon payment
/ e.g. Buzzfeed, Pop Sugar, almost everyone else. 


The new cable?

Consortium models, like cable networks, may be the next step for publishers. There could be the equivalent of TV cable companies that charge just one fee for a whole range of channels. Digital publishers could enter into these consolidated arrangements, in order to make it easier for consumers to pay. This might even create new opportunities to offer new trial channels or sites that could be charged for later on. Publishers would still be able to choose to eliminate or keep advertisements on their sites, as they do currently.

I don't know how many publishers would sacrifice their independent revenue generation, but it might be easier for users to comprehend and manage because at the end of the day the consumer should win out.


Can we all just get along?

I can understand both sides of the argument. Consumers don't want to pay, don't want to be intruded on or tracked. Publishers need to keep the lights on. Advertisers are happy to pay for eyeballs. In our former media ecosystsem everyone knew the rules of engagement - ads were a part of any content experience.

Two parting thoughts.

First - Go native? Monocle is a publisher I support. They oversee the entire reader experience, even the ads. To be included in their publication advertisers must allow Monocle to shape their promotional material. It's the very best native advertising. Consumers may complain that native ads aren't obvious enough about, but when materials are obviously intrusive and flashy, they also lead viewers to bring out the ad blockers. Native content is of course costly on the advertiser front - can they really afford to craft a unique set of advertising material for each publisher? But maybe that's the digital evolution that is supposed to happen. Save the buys for consumers who are in-market and for any awareness efforts, craft along with publishers. (Cue: Post on new media planning.)

Second - Is it realistic to think that the media evolution is that we transpose our exact existing model into the new digital? This is what we're trying to do, after all. Ads existed above-the-line so they must exist in slightly enhanced versions online. Ads are capsules of promotional material; yes, we're now doing content as well, but ads themselves must still exist to fuel the entire content and marketing ecosystem.

Perhaps the new disruption is a world where ads no longer exist and an entirely newer, more subtle and useful form or marketing will prevail. Wishful thinking.

Remarketing Overkill

Do you ever get the feeling that brands are stalking you? Like no matter where you go online, certain websites are following you? I've noticed this before, especially with travel or shopping sites, but the ads die down eventually.

Recently, one brand has been so relentless that I couldn't help but notice how unforgivingly present it is everywhere I go online. Narrative Clip is EVERYWHERE. I clicked on one of their sponsored ads on Facebook because I find the idea of personal surveillance interesting. However at a current price tag of over $200 it isn't something I'm ready to buy. I can remember going to the site only once but with the pervasiveness of the Narrative Clip ads that followed, I'm trying to recall if I maybe visited it maybe a million more times. In any case, ever since, the ads have trailed me all over the web and social.

I saw the ad many, many times before I started to take screen caps every time I saw it again. These were all taken within a few days:

 

    

Too much?

Remarketing is a common practice in digital advertising. The rationale stems from traditional media buying which recommends a minimum frequency required for an ad to reach saliency. We are less likely to remember an ad, or want to buy something it is selling, if we see it only once. But at, say, six to ten times later, you are much more likely to remember it and possibly even be ready to buy it.

Digital advertising has expounded on this thinking. A consumer who is exposed to an ad and doesn't click is may not be interested, whereas someone who clicks through to the website is hypothetically more keen on the brand or product. That said, one-time exposure to the content may not be enough to persuade him or her to sign up, buy, subscribe or register. However given their level of interest (versus someone who had never visited the site at all) exposing them to additional calls-to-action even after they leave the site might entice them to come back and ultimately convert.

Most of the media campaigns I've worked on that included remarketing as a tactic showed higher click-through rates for remarketed ads. So if someone had visited your website before, they are more likely to click, re-explore and convert. This leads to better efficiencies and happier agencies and clients.

Narrative Clip's remarketing efforts, on the other hand, seem extremely wasteful. I had already decided, based on the initial website review (and price point) that I was not going to buy. Yet continued to hit me at an illogically high rate and wasted media dollars. The case made me think of ways that marketers and end up mis-using remarketing.

Here are a few things they and other marketers can consider when creating and reviewing remarketing plans:

• Remarket based on the customer's journey. Level of interest should dictate how much to remarket, if at all. Do you want to remarket to everyone who visits the site, or just those who click through to an inner page? Are there certain calls-to-action that register deeper interest, e.g. A "Buy Now" button? In Narrative Clip's case, I did scroll all the way down the page to see the price, but as that was what turned me off, may not be the right filter to gauge whether or not to remarket.
• Remarket with alternative messaging. The same ad that drew a customer to the site is probably not be the best way to get them to re-examine the product. How about an offer? This doesn't have to be a price-off, and can even be an existing mechanic such as free shipping. Other slants can include press reviews, awards, testimonials, additional features.
• Activate frequency capping. When a customer has seen the ad X times and not clicked, they are probably not interested!

When we have these remarketing conversations at work, I have to remind myself to park my consumer self who still finds this level of "stalking" quite unsettling. It is an accepted part of the landscape though and brands need to go easy on the new capabilities so as not to alarm consumers and freak them out unnecessarily.

Multi-Funnel Digital Strategy

Have been thinking about a through-funnel marketing approach, and tried to have this ready in time for the YMMA Summit last year. Couldn't get the framework done in a simple enough way to present, but fleshed it out earlier this year. Happy to finally be able to share.

Digital Ecosystem Strategy via Marketing Funnel from Bea Atienza

Real-Time Marketing

I was asked to give a talk earlier this year on Real-Time Marketing. It is definitely a valid concern for many marketers, but I think it is more of a characteristic of the space rather than something to really strategize around. That said, it is an important consideration and can be cut up into many frames of thinking.

Real-Time Marketing from Bea Atienza

I've been published!

Miles away from my own book but I was contacted last year about one of my blog graphics being cited in a Marketing textbook. They credited me and sent me a copy.

social media tonality

Brands ride on trending hashtags to gain views and interactions. Participating in a high-traction topic increases their chances of getting attention from people who wouldn't otherwise have been exposed to their social presence.

This has served brands well in many cases. Oreo's spontaneous response during the Superbowl power outage and, a little closer to home, KitKat Philippines' tweet while Facebook was momentarily down both impressed fans and drove global PR pickups.

 

But not every hashtag is appropriate for brands to participate in. The trades were abuzz when DiGiorno pizza tweeted using #WhyIStayed, tying it to pizza consumption without recognizing that the hashtag was actually being used by people opening up about why they had stayed in abusive relationships.

John Oliver took note of this and shared his very strong feelings that brands shouldn't try to participate in every possible conversation, and that most people don't want them in regular conversations:

DiGiorno's hasthag use was obviously a mistake an oversight that the company has apologized for. There are lessons to be learned about thorough hashtag research as well as troubleshooting to see if they might be hijacked by trolls and with the brand eventually included in a thread of unsavory messages.

That's common sense though. Should, per John O., brands just shut up online?

In the Philippines and I suspect many South East Asian countries consumers have a much higher openness to brands and branded conversations. In one focus group I did with lower-SEC moms they described billboards and Facebook social ads as sources of information on important product news to pay attention to. Our consumers don't hesitate to like brand pages and interact with brand posts. In which case I think it doesn't turn anybody off to see KitKat commenting on Facebook being down. After all, KitKat's consumers are experieincing the same thing and in that context it tells current and potential consumers that the brand knows what they're about, that it has a personality and that it can be witty and have a sense of humor.

Still, it will be worth it to measure if consumers feel like brands are putting their noses where they aren't invited or shouldn't be involved. And even in the open web, maybe brands need to self-restrict.

Smart's Free Mobile Internet Offer

In a piece on Philippine mobile growth opportunities back in 2010 I said that telcos should let us surf for free. Smart has done just that!

Their announcement last week made headlines. Though they were criticized for having only a 30MB daily limit, they have updated their offer with "Unli Facebook" which I imagine is the service that many Filipinos want mobile access to anyway.

Is this a move that they hope will further quash Globe? (Who sounded like real sour grapes after Smart's announcement went out.) Or is it an attempt to lure more subscribers into the mobile browsing habit? Will Facebook give Smart a usage rebate after they see Philippine engagement rates surge even higher?

The offer is on until January next year. It would be interesting to see, from the Smart side, if this offer gets users into the paid data habit.

What's your problem?

Finding new ways to digital innovation

YMMA 2014: Digital Strategy is about Problem-Solving from Bea Atienza

Mobile Philippines: 2014 Update

Last Five Years: Re-examining mobile penetration and marketing 

Mobile is one of the most exciting digital arenas. I first wrote about Philippine mobile adoption in 2010. I spent a good chunk of 2010 in New York and mobile was the biggest buzzword. Everyone seemed to be asking, What's your mobile strategy? You end up comparing the digital trends in developed markets with our own situation. Everybody here seemed to be buzzing about the "killer app", but it didn't come, at least not from a local brand. Even for some of the clients I worked with who were ready to forge ahead with mobile, it was tough to strategize given the market gaps. New technology was mostly available on smartphones, which for a long time was Apple-dominated and limited to higher-income brackets and which excluded lower-income segments still on legacy phones. Despite our established mobile penetration, it has taken awhile to see significant numbers in smartphone penetration.

This year seems to be a tipping point. Digital and marketing experts are now asking local brands to ensure that their mobile strategy in place. We have some encouraging numbers – 15% smartphone penetration, still much lower compared to our Southeast Asian counterparts, but this is expected to surge to 50% in 2015.

In recent years we've seen stronger Pinoy adoption of global digital trends.

Major Developments
In 2010 I identified three key areas that were barriers to mobile adoption in the Philippines. Major developments in these areas have driven local penetration and usage.

Hardware: The Android OS accelerated the launch of local phone manufacturers and lowered phone price for lower-income segments, driving smart- and feature phone penetration. MyPhone, Cherry Mobile and Star Mobile have spurred smartphone growth with handsets priced in the USD 50 – 250 range. Even these lower-priced phones have cameras and can access the web, and through Android have access to the Play Store for apps. Android is the most popular operating system, with 91% of Philippine smartphones running on it. (Pinaroc, 2013)

Connectivity: Telcos have done their part! They've been offering data plans and products for prepaid users - such as standalone mobile browsing offers and social networking access bundled with Unli products - to make it easier to go online.

 

         

     

The next hurdle: Speed and reliability is still a big issue, however. Many Filipinos are not satisfied with their internet speeds on PC, let alone on mobile. This is definitely a gap area that needs to be addressed.


Content: With access to the Apple App store or the Google Play store, users now have so many apps to choose from. "32% of smartphone owners download six or more apps per month." (OnDevice, 2014) Social media sites Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, what I would guess are the most popular mobile apps in the country, all have mobile interfaces. Games remain to be the most popular type of app download, and music streaming services like Spotify or local Spinnr have become extremely popular.

The next opportunity: Locally-created, locally-contextualized apps and social/mobile content. We're using a lot of global social networks and apps but when will we find our clear voice in software content?

You're Up, Marketing!

There seem to be different grades of mobile strategy adoption. The most aggressive I've seen locally has probably been ABSCBN Mobile - an entirely new convergent product segment built with a bet on mobile and content.

Marketers certainly have more toys to play with now, depending on what is optimal for their digital strategy: Mobile Ads, Apps for Enterprise-level (e.g. pizza delivery), Apps for campaigns, Mobile content (e.g. Spotify for Coke or Spinnr for Smart), Mobile Commerce. On a more basic level much of the content developed for Twitter, Facebook and especially Instagram are accessible on mobile and can/should be considered part of a mobile strategy.

Local brands may not have maximized mobile yet, but it's encouraging that penetration is growing. The exact areas I identified in 2010 as barriers to mobile adoption have all been at least partially addressed. The landscape is ripe for innovation.

Sources:
http://www.zdnet.com/the-philippines-continues-to-embrace-android-7000024072/
http://www.slideshare.net/OnDevice/philippines-mobile-internet-trends 

Virality Lessons: Ice Bucket Challenge

Breaking down the #icebucketchallenge engagement drivers 

You've probably seen loads ofcelebrity Ice Bucket Challenge videos. I first saw my favorite late night host Jimmy Fallon doing it, after being challenged by his bestie Justin Timberlake. There are throngs of actors, musicians, athletes, even people from the tech sector accepting the challenge with their own content posts.



It started as a way to promote pet charity projects (Matt Lauer was one of the first to do it on the Today Show), but ended up attached to ALS awareness and fundraising after golfer Chris Kennedy challenged a cousin whose husband has ALS.

The trend caught on and "more than 15 million people have joined in on the conversation about the ice bucket challenge on Facebook, including posting, commenting or Liking a challenge post" (Mashable).

Besides the gimmick and content spread, the challenge has also led to conversion. "As of Thursday, the ALS Association, a national advocacy, care and research association with 38 chapters, had raised $7.6 million in donations in two weeks. That compares with $1.4 million raised during the same two-week period last year. The donations came from existing donors and 145,918 new donors" (WSJ)

#icebuckethcallenge engagement drivers

In the past couple of years we've seen the spread of user-generated virals like "Call Me Maybe" and last year's "Harlem Shake" videos. The #icebucketchallenge seems to have picked up faster and has proven to be effective at both awareness and conversion.

Different organizations have tried to use social to spread awareness for different causes, such as the cryptic messages for the "I like it on..." breast cancer awareness meme a few years ago or drives that ask users to change their status images to show support. I don't think we've seen a massive success of either type of campaign locally so this is an interesting case to learn from in terms of engagement drivers.

How the challenge works: You get challenged. If you accept, you fill a bucket with ice-cold water (may or may not have actual cubes, or may be mostly ice cubes ala Martha Stewart) and pour the water on yourself (it can also get poured on you by someone else as was done for the awesome Chris Pratt or by your own custom bucket-pouring contraption ala Bill Gates). You are then allowed to nominate another person to do it who must comply within 24 hours. If they refuse they must donate cash to support ALS.

This meme has several spreadability factors working for it

• It's simple to execute
• The result is visually compelling to watch and share, especially when done by celebrities willing to look stupid online (except for you, Justin Bieber)
• Most of all the mechanic of challenging someone else, of tagging them, fuels the spread. The call-to-action is one-on-one and when your name is called to do something, you are more compelled to answer and participate

Most interesting is that it hits two major marketing objectives at the same time, awareness and sales or conversion.

Social for good, highly participative, inherently viral, pretty brilliant.

Get Lucky

I won something! I got word late last year that I had been nominated for Mansmith's annual Young Marketing Masters award. After a few rounds of judging I found out I had been selected as one of nine awardees. For the award ceremony, each of us were asked to prepare a thank you speech that talked also about lessons learned. Here's was mine:

The one thing I’ve learned in my career is to get lucky.

I know Han Solo said “There’s no such thing as luck.”

But we can get lucky.

Getting lucky doesn’t mean waiting around for something great to happen.

It means searching to find that one thing you love to do – or at least something you enjoy,
enough to do it for 8 hours a day, or in our case in advertising, 10-16 hours! a day, and sometimes weekends, too.

It means knocking on doors, not giving up when people say no because you have no advertising experience, and trying until someone takes you in and gives you a shot.

Get lucky –

means always reading and constantly studying,

keeping up with what’s going on in our industry that changes so fast, to develop a gut feel for what’s up next.
And coming across things like digital and riding on, thinking that might be what’s up next.  

It means being ok with experimenting and failing, even when as the digital person nobody knows where you fit in the organization and you end up with seven bosses in three years because there’s never been a Digital Account person or a Digital Planner in the agency before.

Get lucky –

means finding like-minded teammates who also really enjoy the nerdy advertising challenge of identifying marketing issues and insights,
and who will spar with you to help you find the answer to the tough brief that was due yesterday – because everything was always due yesterday!,
or

Finding the dream digital team who will miss meals, dates, sleep, to get our best work out the door,
who always invite you for a drink when you’re stressed out,
and who also toast with you to the things that have gone brilliantly.

It means finding amazing mentors who teach, who coach, who say no, who shout yes.

Get lucky –

means getting older and getting to become a leader and hopefully getting to pass something on to the next generation whose turn it is to have no experience yet in advertising.

It means expanding horizons to be able to find the best new challenges, and coming to grips with getting out of your comfort zone to take them on because sometimes they turn out to be across the sea.

It means staying close to the awesome parents who told you it was ok, and that you should, do what you love – I was and have been very, very lucky.

Thank you again! 

Sociables

Creating a share-able space

  

Location: W Hotel, Bangkok

I was excited to come but there is a lot I dislike about this hotel room. The shower door doesn’t close completely (a major pet peeve). Air-conditioning can only be adjusted with a tablet app, and when you digitally adjust the temperature or fan speed it takes several minutes to sync with the actual air-conditioning unit. The same app controls all the lights in the room (except for bedside lamps and bathroom mirror). I accidentally unplugged the tablet in the middle of the night so it was dead when I woke up and I couldn’t turn the bedroom lights on until it recharged. There is a draft pointed right at the desk. Despite its loud, youthful vibe the hotel charges extra for internet access!

Bed and service have been excellent so far but generally, this hotel is too over-the-top and there are lot of things that turn me off of the room. But despite my negative reaction (that I haven’t had about any of the other three hotels I’ve stayed at this year), I’ve posted several photos about the W. Shortcomings aside, this room was made to be shared.

On the bed are a pair of ginormous gold-sequined muay thai gloves that read “lights” and “out”. The minibar holds a tray of childhood favorite candy, instead of the usual overpriced peanuts and chips. The alcohol tray comes with martini glasses and a shaker in case you want to mix your own cocktails. Cute signs are all over the room. Water bottles are captioned with a “Drink Up” sign. The extra toilet paper roll is encased in a bag labelled “Backup Plan”. The directory and room service menu is entitled “Everything You Want To Know.” Breakfast was served on a bright purple tray. You control the room with an app!

The taste level in this room can only be described as questionable (diamond sculptures and etchings on the wall?) and there are many UX limitations, but this W room is chockfull of iconic elements.

This should be a consideration in any space, product design and activation. What are people going to capture and share? What will be the subject of Instagrams and tweets? If I were a restauranteur I’d design table lighting to ensure that food will look delectable online, no matter how good/bad it actually tastes. I’d like to call these, at least for now…

new scenery

There's no way I could have predicted what was going to happen this year, the end of an era. When I look back the good times stand out, but there were things I needed to move on from and grow out of. After a few years discontent had started to seep into the everyday. There were always great challenges, inspiring mentors, awesome teammates. There was also more corporate haberdashery than I would like to have witnessed, the general advertising burnout, and the wear and tear that comes with building something new. The good times stand out the most.

It all came to a head this year, finally time for a break. On my last day I wanted to post as that I had ended my longest relationship - 6.5 years with M.E.

Who would have guessed that I would be re-adopted, this time by the mother ship. They took me to Singapore, Indonesia and Tokyo, but where I ended up was here in Shanghai.

From team lead to solo flight, from one market to fifteen, from internals to conference calls. From creatives just desks away to creatives miles and plane rides away. From my all-Pinoy AEs to the United Colors of Benetton account team. From beverages to cars, from the D to the R. From comfort zone to the great unknown.

Ni hao.

speech

This week our agency won gold.

It was 2010 when I returned from an in-depth digital immersion in New York. I had no idea where I was supposed to go next but Planning for MRM ended up that next move. I could never have imagined that I would eventually end up in Singapore at the Campaign Asia awards, shortlisted as SEA Account Person of the Year. (Despite its title the award is for both suits and strategic planners.) By some crazy miracle I ended up winning.

I never even aspired to this because only creatives win awards! Not planners. Especially not specialist digital planners. But what must have given me the edge is the hardcore education I've received from so many stellar mentors throughout the years.

This is my feeling-Oscar winner post but 
I absolutely need to thank these people who believed in me and taught me through the years.

MARICEL & DINO: My first mentors, and first set of advertising parents. They showed me that, in an industry that can be a little too cutthroat sometimes, absolute trust can exist in the agency as long as there is some hot pan de sal, some of Alex's sisig and as long as bosses are leaders, too.

BUDJETTE: My first-ever advertising boss! Remember? As an intern on his Globe Prepaid creative team I picked up an appreciation for ideas, art and copy. Through the years that I've been so lucky to have kept working with him, He has been the best example of a leader who will never abandon his team and the work. He will tirelessly search for truths and even creative articulations that properly convey brand role yet set his people free to grow. Replete with creative temper/ament yet devoid of cliche creative airs, he is the Madonna of creative - able to re-tool and re-invent through the evolution of our industry.

NANDY: I will never forget the day Nandy asked me to move to Planning. Through intense one-on-one internals, he tooled me up for (hopefully) a career's worth of briefs, campaigns and brand strategies. He remains the Planning bar to which I aspire - a masterclass in razorsharp problem-definition, insighitng and brand stewardship. He is the Fr. Dacanay of our discipline - the "tough love" teacher who will stretch each learning opportunity. Most importantly is he a leader who will inspire people to reach outside themselves in work, craft, grace and integrity.

GEN, VIBOY, BEAU & EZ (and later Jen!): Almost everything I know about Planning I learned from watching these guys work. I'm a baby in this discipline, only 2.5 years old! But I joined the best team in the country, and they took me under their wings. They were willing to partner with and teach me, and indulged me in many existential Planning discussions. My original planning family, who taught by example.

DONALD: Our fearless leader who inspires confidence from his hardcore marketing background, solid business instincts and slightly experimental management approach. He espouses ongoing education to sharpen our craft and has been so willing to take chances on young people with possibly ridiculous ideals. A man with vision and a personal roadmap to carry us to the top spot.

MY TEAM: I wouldn't have gotten through this insane year without Beau & El. They inspire me everyday to be the best leader I can be, and push me to create room for each of us to grow. Their crazy hard and awesome work assures me that our future is so bright.

TEAM MRM: The dedicated and tireless OT crew! Who sticks with each problem until it is solved, no matter how many hours and sleepless nights it takes. Accounts, creatives, community managers, production guys whose passion never seems to run out and who remind me everyday why it is more fun in MRM.

The sweetest part of all this is that our agency was also awarded gold, as Philippine Digital Agency of the Year by this regional body. This award succeeds a local Digital Excellence AOY award, which we won earlier this year.

Two years ago, and even last week, I would have laughed this thought off. But as I stream of conscious-ly posted in our MRM Manila page: We don't know what will come our way next year, but as of today, this week, this month, we are the best in the business. 

where do we go from here?

Facebook has been the king of Philippine digital marketing for the past two-three years. I don't think this will change drastically next year, but I think we will have to start moving past this gated community.


The Philippine digital branding ecosystem skipped a stage when brands went straight into social media and skipped building the "Web 1.0" assets - websites with sound SEO, e-commerce portals, etc. Most "motherbrand" FMCGs (the Nestles, P&Gs or Unilevers, even the San Miguels or Universal Robina Corps) do have properties but it is not rare to come across a brand without a local and content-rich dot.com. Many marketers we were working with in 2009-2010 were hesitant to build websites. There was no social ad equivalent back then, and banner ads were expensive to produce, optimize and place. So, many brands skipped building these sites. Luckily Facebook came along, and saved marketers from having to pay for programming, CMS, database management. Even social ads are much more cost-effective than the usual banner ads.

But I think that next year will one to go back to digital basics that we might have skipped in the rush and excitement to build Facebook communities.
Because for brands looking to create a deeper layer of utility and engagement beyond the Wall, apps may not be enough. Many clients have started to ask us to start think about what comes after Facebook. What happens to our community when people stop signing up or frequenting the social network? I don't think there will be another Facebook after this (just like nobody really succeeded Google), but there could be a new trend after social networking. And while we have the Likes, brands don't necessarily own the database of their hundred thousand-to-million fans.

*Note: This is completely based on personal experience and observation.

Ultimately the issue is one of ownership. Many brands don't necessarily own their databases, unless they've secured additional contact information through an app. Most of all, brands are subject to each of Facebook's changes and re-designs. We once developed an app for a client to give fans a feature missing on Facebook, only to have that exact feature launched as we were programming. So brands looking to be more content-heavy may start going back to the dot.com. Content will probably always best-propagated on social network sites but this doesn't mean that wholly-owned properties cannot work complementary to communities.

This might be too old school for brands and agencies in more developed markets. But a lot of us might have room and occasion to build and/or improve on these foundational assets.

our baby is two million fans old

We inherited the Nescafe page at a few hundred thousand fans and a few weeks ago it hit two million. We celebrated this milestone at a Fans Day event held two Saturdays ago.

Our community has a way of making those of us working on the page feel so deeply rewarded. We hit a million fans on Christmas day last year, a great present to the brand and agency teams. Our engagement rate has remained within a fantastic average, even as the page has grown enormously. And now over two million people have agreed to keep conversations going with Nescafe.

What we have been allowed to to right on this brand 

• Pay attention to BITE-SIZED. It is difficult to allow little bits of content to speak for a brand, especially for traditional agencies who are used to "pasabog", "bigness" and executions that draw "libog" (as our Chairman often demands). This is completely valid but it doesn't mean that individual status updates that are culturally-relevant and even brand-focused can't draw attention, generate participation and develop affinity. 
• Think LONG-TERM. Instead of focusing on app or webisode one-offs, we have been able to craft year-long plans that have continuously built up to our current standing. I don't know if I would ever be able to prove this, but I imagine communities can feel when they are being engaged in a "promo" or "campaign" rather than in an ongoing conversation. And this might make fans more or less willing to stay involved. But our community has seen the commitment to keep the conversation going for 2+ years, and understand that the brand is committed for the long haul.
• Be open to STRATEGY-led initiatives. Nescafe Points and Nescafe Insights are two efforts I'm so proud of having been the planner for. It is amazing that we have been able to keep trying to change behavior and learn from our community. We are so lucky that our internal partners and clients allow Planners to have our own point-of-view.

• Allow creatives to PLAY. At the same time, our creatives have gotten their own play time as well! The second iteration of Points, Kapihan, and two recent videos (one starring digital sensation Petra and another featuring Ramon Bautista & Frank Magallona) are proof points to this.

Exciting times - we are now in the process of mapping out 2013. Here is hoping we can keep fans engaged and happy for a third year and counting.

extracurricular activities

The case for continuing education


Our whole team is studying!
Beau, our Strategic Planner, is enrolled in Gamification on Coursera.com,
El, our associate, is reviewing Idea crafting on Skillshare.com, and 
I've just started graduate studies at The New School. 

Given our insane work schedules and frequent overtime, actually going back to school even just for one course at a time would be impossible. But because we're able to take classes virtually at the time and place of our choosing, we can keep studying.

I get a dorky kick out of how we're digital practitioners studying in such a digital way, but it really is exciting that it is now easier than ever to keep learning about practically any topic through self-initiated research and even formal study.

Being digital means constantly refreshing.

Ongoing learning is something I feel really strongly about, especially in the service of gaining fuel that will help us master our craft. And for people like me, there is joy even in the learning process alone :)

Throughout my career, connectivity helped me deepen my understanding of digital. Reading blogs and Twitter feeds keep me updated about marketing and tech developments. Online classes have allowed me to explore topics in-depth – HTML programming in 2008 to understand the building blocks of the web (on Sessions.edu), and a Certificate in Digital Media Marketing at New York University (partly in person and partly online) that exposed me to digital mechanics and "How"s of marketing in this space.

Now that I have people working with me on our digital team, I'm glad I can infuse their work paths with this same value. As strategic planners, we need to have a handle on new technologies and a working understanding of new behaviors created as a result of interaction in this space.

Digital is completely new and thus requires some amount of study and critical thinking - could be informal, could be at a school, but serious digital practitioners need to put the time in to understanding the space. And as things are constantly changing, we must study, re-tool and re-fresh continuously.

Planning detour

I often wonder how I got here. Planning was a detour within advertising, one I never even thought of pursuing. When I took advertising in college talked mostly about Accounts and Creatives. Planning was never really discussed, and if it was it didn't make an impact on me.

I was assigned to a big project with working our head of Planning during my first month in advertising. During a cab rides back from a client's office, he told me he thought I had a "planning brain" and asked if I'd ever considered working in that group. The honest answer was no.

I was strictly on the digital path and nothing was going to derail me, certainly not a group called "Strategic Planning" that wasn't on my radar. I wonder what would have happened if I'd known what he was talking about and/or if I'd taken him seriously. That was almost five years ago. And now I'm here. How do things happen?

ADVERTISING + EXPERIENCE

why Brands need to SAY + DO

HEINEKEN LIGHT STRATEGY: “Rather than settling for constantly mediocre instances and routines, the campaign celebrates consumers and their 'occasionally perfect' experiences. While every occasion is not right for Heineken Light, the beer is a perfect fit for those situations that call for something a little more unique, special and upscale.” (via)

ADVERTISING




EXPERIENCE




Getting people to experience what we want our brands to stand for is most meaningful in the real world. But because of digital media we can now share activations and real-world goodness the whole world over.

TV Hashtags, Part 2

TV shows use hastags to organize real-time word-of-mouth about new shows and new seasons.

(Click for TV Hashtags, Part 1)

Suits, a brilliant new legal show on the USA network, leads viewers to Twitter with a question + hashtag. In an episode where junior associate Mike decides to keep something from boss Harvey, the show asks "Have you ever lied to your boss?" and indicates #suits as the hashtag.

Project Runway, back for its ninth season, is inviting viewers to vote for their favorite contestants using hashtags. At the end of the season the show will award a Fan Favorite based on Twitter hashtag votes.

Hashtags can be pretty messy - I'm certainly guilty of making up my own hashtags even if I don't know (or care) if anyone else is using them. But mainstream media is one way to provide the common keyword that consolidates and unites conversastion on Twitter.