People often ask me 'how do you come up with ideas?' It's a tough question. Ideas just come to you, right? I disagree. Learn from our successes and failures at producing online content for our clients. Use these lessons to give your content the best chance of success.
15. 755 likes 67 LRDs
LRDs = Linking Root Domains, i.e. the number of other websites
that linked to this piece of content
http://www.rasmussen.edu/resources/what-career-should-i-choose/
16. 755 likes 67 LRDs
we track more meaningful metrics than just likes and linking root domains,
but for the purpose of this presentation, I will take these 2 metrics to
indicate whether or not the piece of content was compelling
http://www.rasmussen.edu/resources/what-career-should-i-choose/
28. 37 likes
that’s me plus only 36 other people!!!
http://www.thomson.co.uk/blog/infographic/superbowl/index.html#2011
29. 37 likes
trial and error is a great way to learn but it also sucks
http://www.thomson.co.uk/blog/infographic/superbowl/index.html#2011
30. 37 likes
we’ve learned a lot along the way, and this presentation
aims to help give your content the best chance of success
http://www.thomson.co.uk/blog/infographic/superbowl/index.html#2011
32. an idea is a novel combination of
previously unconnected elements in a way that adds value
33. what they are and how to find them
what they look like and how to make them
the elements:
the connections:
which means the 4 things you need to know are…
37. Daaad, why’d they
build the Great Wall
of China?
it was to, erm, to keep
the rabbits out... too
many rabbits in China
(teacher – off screen)
now, Daniel’s going to
give his talk on China
http://www.bwm.com.au/category/work/bigpond/
39. the ad agency identified a barrier to their objective
at the time, a lot of people didn’t see why they needed broadband
http://www.bwm.com.au/category/work/bigpond/
40. if your audience doesn’t care about what you have to say,
you need to find something they do care about
42. customer insight product truth competitor insight
parents want the best for their children and worry about them being
left behind at school
http://www.bwm.com.au/category/work/bigpond/
43. customer insight product truth competitor insight
broadband gives you faster access to a wealth of information
http://www.bwm.com.au/category/work/bigpond/
44. customer insight product truth competitor insight
competitor messaging at the time was focused on coverage and price
http://www.bwm.com.au/category/work/bigpond/
45. customer insight product truth competitor insight
resonant relevant different
http://www.bwm.com.au/category/work/bigpond/
49. customer insight competitor insight product truth
a lot of small business owners still wanted to know what they
should be doing with social media
50. customer insight competitor insight product truth
the (content) competitors had guides which were too long, so unlikely
to be read, and often left too many decisions up to the reader
52. we produced a series of visually concise guides
for small business owners, which has been a very successful campaign
http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/microsites/guide-to-social-media-success/
54. the advertising industry uses focus groups to mine for insight
in one focus group, a woman spoke of eating ice cream in
intimate settings with her partner. the rest of the group gave a knowing
giggle. that was the insight that launched an entire brand.
57. “love [your brand]”
“hate [your brand]”
“love [your competitor]”
“hate [your competitor]”
“love [category]”
“hate [category]”
this is just one example. there are loads of ways you can use search and
social media to find out how people feel. think creatively about it.
60. it’s not about the product
Red Bull does not make content about caffeinated drinks.
the content is about energy, adrenaline and pushing life to the limits.
61. It’s not about the product
you need to think laterally about your brand
65. Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
map out associations with your product and brand
66. Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
you should separate creative and analytical mode.
creative mode is fast and intuitive.
analytical mode is slow and deliberate.
if you try to do both at the same time, it can lead to writer’s block.
67. Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
at the time, I had no idea where to go next from ‘simplicity’.
rather than get stuck, I just hopped onto a new thread and kept moving.
68. Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
you don’t want your content tied too closely to your product,
but you don’t want the link to be tenuous.
don’t worry about this while you’re free-associating.
you want to keep creative mode and analytical mode separate, remember.
69. Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
wait, how did we go from soap to hair? isn’t that wrong?
when you’re doing this, don’t think in terms of right and wrong.
you can come back and edit later.
70. Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
possible opportunity?
women in business is a hot topic
71. Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
consciously, I wasn’t sure why I made this leap,
but it’s these unexpected connections that could lead somewhere
72. “of course, I’ve always taken a
lot of notes…
I mean you never know what the
things going to be, do you?
a little detail, somewhere down
the line, makes you say [gasps]…
…cracks the case wide open.”
Rust, True Detective
78. what if you had taken 10,20, or 100 cars apart?
79. what if you had taken 10,20, or 100 cars apart?
it would significantly improve your chances of putting it together, right?
that’s why it’s valuable to understand how great content
(e.g. advertising) is constructed.
80.
81. we’ve all seen this ad, but what were the insights that led to it?
82. customer insight competitor insight product truth
a lot of customers were actually girls buying for their partner
83. customer insight competitor insight product truth
the leading competitor focused on the unlikely guy getting the girl,
but the customer (the girl) doesn’t want the unlikely guy, she wants A MAN!
84. customer insight competitor insight product truth
Old Spice was something your Dad wore. but what do you associate
with your Dad? he comes from a time when men were men!
86. wolf in wolf’s clothing
this was the headline on a billboard I saw in London recently
87. wolf in wolf’s clothing
how would you deconstruct this ad?
88. competitor insight product truth customer insight
BMW’s main competitor is Mercedes, who make high-performance cars,
typically with an elegant or stately image (a wolf in sheep’s clothing?)
89. competitor insight product truth customer insight
the new BMW M3 is a very muscular high-performance car
(a wolf in wolf’s clothing)
90. competitor insight product truth customer insight
but what do you suppose was the customer insight that led to this idea?
91. competitor insight product truth customer insight
hint: huge billboards of this ad were placed on the main roads
to the financial district in London
95. ever wracked your brains trying to remember someone’s name,
only to have it pop into your mind when you’re having a shower?
http://www.amazon.com/Technique-Producing-Ideas-James-Young/dp/1477428690
96. there is a natural process for making connections
that we can use to our advantage
http://www.amazon.com/Technique-Producing-Ideas-James-Young/dp/1477428690
100. saturation
you need to actively force connections.
doing this physically is faster, and it gets the elements outside your head,
freeing you up to focus on the connections between them.
101. saturation
you will hit a wall. push through it. you’ll get a second wind.
when you hit another wall, it may be appropriate to stop.
103. incubation
you need to actively disengage.
go and do something that fully absorbs your attention.
104. incubation
I experienced this recently when I got absorbed in a conversation in the pub.
it genuinely wasn’t the beer that led to the breakthrough (sadly).
112. verification
you need to verify your ideas.
the easiest way to do this is to tell people and watch their reaction.
113. verification
we were thinking of doing a grammar quiz.
we emailed our colleagues for input. it turned into the longest email
thread in our company’s history. we figured we were onto something.
115. verification
if you’re met with confusion or indifference, that means one of 2 things.
you don’t have an idea or you haven’t articulated it in the right way.
you have to judge which it is.
117. product truth customer insight competitor insight
our client sold a large range of products for going back to school.
when we thought of going back to school, we thought of exams, and different
subjects like English, which led us to grammar.
118. product truth customer insight competitor insight
content about grammatical errors like this piece from the Oatmeal,
can do extremely well online.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling
119. product truth customer insight competitor insight
we thought about a quiz, so checked what had been done. the Guardian &
Telegraph both had popular quizzes, but they weren’t brilliantly executed.
http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/quiz/2013/feb/04/grammar-punctuation-quiz-test
122. yes, but only in the sense that the more you practise (and prepare),
the luckier you get
123. and yes, ideas are serendipitous, but you can manufacture serendipity
124. and, yes, sometimes you just get lucky!
http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/25/the-age-of-acquisitions/
125. we were working on this content when Facebook acquired Whatsapp
http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/25/the-age-of-acquisitions/
126. we quickly included the new dataset and launched it
http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/25/the-age-of-acquisitions/
127. we secured a front page exclusive with TechCrunch
http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/25/the-age-of-acquisitions/
128. remember the grammar quiz we spoke about?
we launched that on national grammar day without even realising!
http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/25/the-age-of-acquisitions/
140. 10. practise
brainstorming once a month and saying you’re not creative
is like going to the gym once a month
and wondering why you don’t have a six pack
141. if you practise, practise, practise,
you’ll give yourself a much better chance of success