CHANGE MAKERS

MICHELE KIM I @MICHELEBKIM I MICHELEBKIM@GMAIL.COM

PLANNERS AS

MIAMI AD SCHOOL ACCOUNT PLANNING BOOTCAMP

FALL 2014

planners as change makers

day 1 BRANDSday 2 CREATIVEday 3 AGENCY

CULTURAL & CREATIVE DISRUPTION

1 being a creator of trendsdanger of data, testing & experience

2 how to create in a p2p world

the candle problem

1 candle1 book of matches1 box of thumbtacks

how do you fix the candle to the wall in a way so the candle wax won’t drip on the table.

the candle problem

low-drive individual: offered no prize

high-drive individual: offered incentive based on performance in competition with rest of group

BEING A CREATOR OF TRENDS

BEING CULTURALLY RELEVANT CREATING CULTURE

VS

CHASING TRENDS ENFORCE EXISTING BEHAVIOR

FOLLOWING THE HERD MOST COMMON DENOMINATOR

KEEPING STATUS QUO LOW HANGING FRUIT

PLAYING SAFE

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS CREATING NEW BEHAVIOR

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP INSPIRING CORE ADVOCACY

DRAWING IN NEW BLOOD FINDING WHITE SPACE

TAKING RISK

AS BRAND STRATEGISTS WE MUST BE THE CREATORS OF CHANGE NOT THE CHASERS

influencers subcultures masses

TRENDS VS NICHELONG TERM, MASSIVE 10 YRS,

GLOBAL REACHINGPOCKETS OF INFLUENTIAL

SUBCULTURES

TUPAC & MIKU HATSUNE

LOOK FOR THE WEIRD

A LOT CAN GET IN THE WAY OF CREATING CULTURE, DISRUPTIVE

CREATIVE & CHANGE

[NAMELY: DATA, TESTING & EXPERIENCE]

THE DANGER OF BIG DATA

data can only tell you what already exists

it can’t alert you of the white space

TARGET

[or only answers to the questions you ask.]

unlearning data

Bozoma Saint John Head of Music & Entertainment Mktg., PEPSI

to create influence

“The more digital we get the more human we have to be. Why would a normal human being care? Thinking like a human being is a talent in this industry.”

- Gautam Ramdurai Strategist at Google Creative Lab

Data connects things that didn’t know it was connected – meta data creates relationships for separate pieces of data, creates meaning.

We should strive to find ways to use data as part of creative solutions - not just for informing decisions.

Start with the most fundamental unit of your brand. Inherent metadata, transactional metadata, environmental metadata. Create something useful from it.

use data like a human

THE DANGER OF TESTING

pumpkin spice latte: the drink that tested “meh”

outshined by chocolate caramel, starbucks says fuck the tests. it’s gonna be big.

the influencer

“The flavor itself is now so popular that incidence of “pumpkin spice”—that distinctive mix of pumpkin, nutmeg and cinnamon—in food served by restaurants increased 234% from 2008 to 2012. It’s everywhere in the US, from air fresheners to tortilla chips, and the drink itself has been copied by Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s and home chefs.” -WSJ August 2013

TESTING LEADS TO MOST COMMON DENOMINATOR RESULTS

the office scored worse than women’s lawn bowlinga show built on silence, awkward pauses and to make you feel uncomfortable fails in testing.

the influencer

“When we first showed The Office to test audiences in Britain, we received one of the lowest scores ever – the only show that beat ours was one that featured women’s lawn bowling. That’s why you can’t judge these focus groups.” - Stephen Merchant, And Here’s The Kicker

RELYING ON TESTING CAN MISS OPPORTUNITIES TO BECOME AN INFLUENCER

SOME THINGS WON’T COME UP IN TESTING

“rational” bias - most people won’t bring up packaging or even admit

to being effected by it.

“When I did Legends of the Fall, I was always quite at odds with the romance in the movie, but that’s the way the film went. Then, after the movie was shot, the scene I loved the most was taken out of the film. They told me the reason was that, in market testing, the audience disliked it. This is when I first became hip to marketing tests. I said, ‘Show me.’ It was the second most-disliked scene. But it was also the most-liked scene. My argument then—and it would still stand today—is that what you get from testing people is a visceral reaction, good or bad. You’re asking them if they dislike it, when maybe it’s that they’re uncomfortable with it. And that’s a good thing.”

-Brad Pitt

what are you really asking & measuring?sometimes negativity can be a good thing.

testing art won’t usually make it more interestingTESTING CAN BE MISUNDERSTOOD OR MISUSED

THE POWER OF POLARIZATION

creates sides. creates passion. creates advocacy.

TESTING IS A NECESSARY EVIL. FOR SOME CATEGORY LEADERS, ESPECIALLY IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES, THEY JUST CAN’T AFFORD TO PISS PEOPLE OFF.

IMHO TESTING SHOULD BE USED FOR “DISASTER CHECKS” OR “EXPLORATORY” INSTEAD OF MICRO-DECISION MAKING. TESTING HELPS ENORMOUSLY IN THESE CASES.

AS PLANNERS, WE SHOULD STRIVE TO HELP ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS AND INTERPRET THE RESULTS TO USE TESTING TO OUR ADVANTAGE.

THE DANGER OF EXPERIENCE

we are in the business of creative solutions

so think less like an mba...

“Among the worst are recent graduates of business school. It's actually amazing to watch them: They fight. They cheat. They produce lame structures.”

“Business students are trained to create a single right plan, then execute on it. When they put a marshmallow on top and the structure topples over, there's no time to fix it and that creates a crisis!”

18 minutes to build the tallest structure

MBAsCEOsKindergartenersLawyers

think more like a kindergartener

“Among the better teams are recent graduates of kindergarten. Not only do they consistently produce taller structures, theirs look like trees, and elephants and spiders.

But why? Peter likes to say that none of the kids spend their time trying to be CEO of spaghetti inc.”

creativity takes less planning, more

doing, collaboration & is an iterative process

iteration is a start to finish process of going from suck to nonsuck

"My strategy has always been: be wrong as fast as we can," says Andrew Stanton, Director of Finding Nemo and WALL-E

"Which basically means, we're gonna screw up, let's just admit that. Let's not be afraid of that."

Instead of starting with a script, film ideas begin on rough storyboards until they work through thousands of problems throughout the process. The first pass is always shitty. They’ve had 11 straight blockbuster movies.

ask pixar.

the best planners should be creative and the best creatives should be

strategic.

as a planner, work throughout the process alongside creatives.

bring them in early. agree on the brief. visit while they ideate. sometimes

they have a better idea. sometimes it’s not in the original plan. that’s okay, as

long as you can back out a solid strategy for it. you’re all on one team

and at the end of the day, you’re trying to sell good work.

fight for your creative.

HOW TO CREATE IN A P2P WORLD

THE LARGEST CULTURAL SHARED EXPERIENCES USED TO HAPPEN

THROUGH MAINSTREAM CHANNELS.

“THE DEATH OF TV”

“Now, even TV, the holy grail of every 90’s kid’s childhood, seems to be on the way out. There is no more asking your parents to watch TV, you simply download an app on your iPhone, and you’re there.”

- 20 Year Old Intern at Fast CompanyOne Millennial's Conflicted Feelings About Plugging Into The Digital Revolution

WE ARE IN THE COMMUNICATIONS BUSINESS.

AS WE MOVE FROM A WORLD OF CONTROLLED COMMUNICATIONS INTO A WORLD OF CHOICE, BRANDS SHOULD BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY TO GET

THEIR MESSAGES SEEN AND HEARD.

DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNICATIONS & CULTURE

OLDEN DAYS OF ONE-TO-ONE

RECENT DAYS OF ONE-TO-MANY

TODAY: EVERYONE TO EVERYONE

THE IMPORTANCE OF SHARED EXPERIENCE SHARED EXPERIENCE CREATES CULTURE

MOMENTS OF MEANING

MIRROR NEURONS

SAME PLACE SAME MOMENT

+ SAME EMOTION= EMOTIONAL

CONCORDANCE

ENGAGEMENT IS ATTENTION TO SOMETHING THAT EMOTIONALLY IMPACTS YOU

DIGITAL MOMENTS OF MEANINGWE ARE MORE ENGAGED IN EXPERIENCES THAT ARE SHARED

PUSHES BON JOVI CLASSIC BACK INTO BILLBOARD’S TOP 100

THE VIRAL PHENOMENON

NOTHING IS GUARANTEED TO GO VIRALTHERE ARE LOTS OF THEORIESTHE WHEELHOUSE EFFECT BEING ONE.

BUT WHAT POWERS VIRAL IS GOOD TO KNOW.

A DUDE. A DANCE. A PRAYER.

VIRAL EXISTED BEFORE PIPELINES FOR VIRAL EXISTED

“Only 7% of word of mouth

is online.” - Jonah Berger

author of Contagious

POWERING VIRAL: THE PATH TO 1 BILLION VIEWS

SOCIAL NETWORKS HAVE

JUST ACCELERATED THIS

IT’S THE DESIRE FOR INCLUSION IN SHARED MOMENTS THAT

DRIVES THIS

SHARED MOMENT VS CONTENT VEHICLETHE PATH TO 1 BILLION VIEWS

VS.

BUT IT’S THE EXPERIENCE ITSELF, NOT THE PLATFORM THAT DRIVES

ENGAGEMENT

POPULAR VS VIRAL

EVERY MONDAYMAY 23RD

SUSTAINING RELEVANCE AND ENGAGEMENT

PEOPLE STILL WANT SCHEDULED TIME TO SHARE EXPERIENCES

THE FUTURE OF TV

what does this mean for the future?

AS THE CONTROL OF THE NETWORKS ARE REPLACED BY THE NETWORKS OF THE PEOPLE, PEOPLE ARE BECOMING THE DISTRIBUTORS - CONNECTING OTHER PEOPLE TO CONTENT. BUT TIMING CAN INFLUENCE HOW AND WHAT PEOPLE CONNECT.

TIMING IS IMPORTANT: CULTURAL UNDERCURRENTS UPCOMING EVENTS

BRANDS SHOULD SEEK TO CREATE SHARED EXPERIENCES PEOPLE CAN RALLY AROUND, AND THINK OF “WHEN” THEY CAN DO THIS AS A KEY COMPONENT, RATHER THAN HOW.

create moments of meaning through episodic experiences

GREAT CONTENT CREATION IS A FULL TIME JOB

AND THERE’S A LOT OF PEOPLE DOING IT

Shared Communication

Shared Knowledge

Shared Experience

Shared Creation

path of shared existence in P2P world

connectors are needed in P2P world& the new P2P frontier is in shared creation

rise of the helpful third party

CONTENT CURATOR

THIRD PARTY CONNECTOREBAY

CRAIGSLISTTASKRABBIT

WUNWUNSHOPPING APP

COLLABORATIVE CREATION

COLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION

ACT AS A UTILITY RATHER THAN THE ENTERTAINMENT ITSELF. BRANDS SHOULD HELP TO CONNECT PEOPLE TO OTHER PEOPLE AND THE THINGS THEY WANT OR NEED.

BECOME CONTENT CURATORS, AGGREGATORS AND HELP FACILITATE THE CONNECTIONS.

how can brands behave as connectors?

creative opportunitiesBRANDS AS CULTURAL INFLUENCERSBRANDS CREATING MOMENTS OF MEANINGBRANDS AS CONNECTORS

CURATORCONNECTORSHARED CREATIONCOLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION

CHALLENGE

HOW CAN WE APPLY THIS ?

HOW CAN WE APPLY THIS ?

APPLY SHARED PATH TO BRAND FOR IDEAS

FIND NICHE SUBCULTURE TREND THAT YOU COULD REPURPOSE

FIND NEW TECH/CHANNEL OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT OR

CURATE

CREATE INFLUENCE