We joined the throngs at the 2014 Social Media Week conference in New York to hear the latest and greatest best practices in leveraging the hyper-social phenomenon to inspire customers and make the world a better place for brands and people. You can read about the five key social trends for marketers in our latest white paper: 1. Everyone is a content creator and that’s a good thing 2. Relevance and responsiveness are the new gold standard 3. Storytelling will never go away 4. No one is reading anymore 5. Innovation is at the heart of content creation

1. SOCIAL MEDIA WEEK 2014:
5 WAYS
FOR BRANDS TO WIN
IN THE SOCIAL SPACE

2. Remember when “What happened in Vegas
stayed in Vegas?” Today, with just under
2 BILLION SOCIAL NETWORK USERS AND
OVER 4.5 BILLION MOBILE PHONE USERS
worldwide, what happens in Vegas gets
live-tweeted as it happens and the photographic
evidence is broadcast to Instagram and Facebook
audiences around the world.
To understand the impact of this hyper-social
phenomenon and what it means for brands today,
we joined thousands of marketers at the 2014
Social Media Week conference in New York.
Together, we examined how brands can use the
scale and virility of social media to influence
customer decisions, spark revolutions
and change social consciousness.
Source: eMarketer, April 2013 (http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Social-Networking-Reaches-Nearly-One-Four-Around-World/1009976),
eMarketer, December 2013 (http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Smartphone-Users-Worldwide-Will-Total-175-Billion-2014/1010536)
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3. HERE’S WHAT
WE LEARNED AT
SOCIAL MEDIA WEEK
Beyond the hype of social media
and its evolution across apps,
channels and devices, one
underlying theme holds true:
at its core, social media
is and always has been
a natural human behavior
and not just a medium.
These five trends can help marketers create
and evaluate social media content:
1
EVERYONE IS A CONTENT CREATOR
AND THAT’S A GOOD THING
PG. 4
2
RELEVANCE AND RESPONSIVENESS
ARE THE NEW GOLD STANDARD
PG.6
3
STORYTELLING WILL NEVER GO AWAY
PG.8
4
NO ONE IS READING ANYMORE
PG.10
5
INNOVATION IS AT THE HEART
OF CONTENT CREATION
PG.12
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4. EVERYONE IS A
CONTENT CREATOR:
IF YOU CAN’T BEAT
‘EM, JOIN ‘EM
At one time, marketers and publishers were the sole
proprietors of media messages. Today, thanks to platforms
like Vine and YouTube, everyone is a (viral) content-creator.
And this democratization of social content brings with it both
challenges and opportunities for brands.
Consumers have become increasingly jaded toward
marketing messages, especially online where they head for
the close button as soon as a banner pops up. The rise in
mobile-based social media consumption has made this even
more challenging.
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5. Armed with the “four C’s”—collaboration, co-creation,
curation and crowdsourcing—marketers can empower
consumers to talk about their brand:
1
EVERYONE IS A CONTENT CREATOR:
IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘EM, JOIN ‘EM
At Investing in relationships with bloggers the sole
2 one time, marketers and publishers wereand influencers
is the new celebrity endorsement. Not that to platforms
proprietors of media messages. Today, thanks David
like Beckham’s H&M-brief-sporting-days are content-creator.
Vine and YouTube, everyone is a (viral) numbered,
Andbut marketers might be better served CO-CREATING
this democratization of social content brings with it both
WITH BLOGGERS to drive deeper
challenges and opportunities for brands. engagement
with fans.
60% of social users create and share images on their social
channels better balance of curators than to have shifting.
3 Whatand theway to involve users, vs. creators isthem
help CROWDSOURCE YOUR CREATIVITY? For
Consumers have become increasingly jaded toward film
example, Airbnb’s “Hollywood and Vines” short
marketing messages, especially online where users head for
invited users from around the world to submit their
the close buttonvideos and each of thepops up and hover over
six-second as soon as a banner Vine directors whose
the “skip this ad” button on YouTube before the coupons.
content was selected received $100 Airbnb ad even
plays. To add to it, the rise in mobile-based social media
consumption has made this even more challenging. Platforms
like Facebook have eliminated a designated ad space and
brands are forced to compete for newsfeed real estate.
EVERYONE IS A
CONTENT CREATOR:
TIPS FOR MARKETERS
IF YOU CAN’T BEAT
‘EM, JOIN ‘EM
Image Source: Jerry Wong
In business and in content marketing,
COLLABORATION IS THE NEW COMPETITION
aiding brands in content discovery.
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6. BE RELEVANT.
BE RESPONSIVE.
THE AVERAGE CONSUMER CHECKS HIS OR HER
PHONE 150 TIMES A DAY. This new cultural attachment
to mobile devices even sparked the genesis of the word
Nomophobia, or the fear of losing one’s phone.
In this new reality of the “always on consumer” and the
tremendous data mining fueled by smartphones, it’s all about
context. And with location-based technology, marketers can
target contextual messaging to a consumer whether he or she
is in line at the grocery store, watching TV, or even watching
TV on an iPad while eating dinner.
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7. 1
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. Brands that
understand and respond to the micro-cultures of their
target audiences get the most out of their media
spend. Take Visa’s NFL sponsorship campaign on
Facebook; by glorifying the NFL Steelers culture using
its symbol, “the terrible towel”, the NFL forged an
authentic connection with fans.
2
BE RESPONSIVE. By now, you’re probably familiar
with Oreo’s real-time lightning in a bottle epitomized
by its Super Bowl “Dunk in the Dark” tweet. But
beyond the real-time war room, effective marketing
responsiveness is more about an always-on ethos
that’s committed to customer experience (think
moments of surprise and delight) and quality service.
3
BE RELEVANT. BE RESPONSIVE.
HARNESS THE POWER OF NOW. In our instant
gratification world, consumer priorities are shifting
from where products are from, to when they can be
delivered. Popular new apps are driving Amazon
Prime’s two-day delivery into extinction with premium
one-hour delivery options. Brands that can bank on
this growing appetite for urgency in content and
service will get ahead.
TIPS FOR MARKETERS
Image Source: lkurnarsky
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8. With content generation on the rise and attention spans on
the decline, social engagement has never been more
challenging. But regardless of the medium, the common
denominator across successful content marketing will always
be great storytelling.
LESS
SELF-PROMOTION.
MORE
STORYTELLING.
A truly great story captures emotion and transforms a brand
from a simple transactional machine into a multi-dimensional
living, breathing thing—from something people buy into, to
something consumers join and even befriend.
Brands that have mastered this have taken a truly
transmedia approach—recognizing the increasing
possibilities of a seamless, online and offline world and the
multiple canvases it provides. In its ideal state, this kind of
storytelling unfolds new experiences across different devices
while harnessing the unique functionality of each medium.
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9. 1
LESS SELF-PROMOTION.
MORE STORYTELLING.
CULTIVATE PURPOSEFUL STORYTELLING.
This requires an experiential approach to set stories
in motion. Stories that entice consumers to celebrate
moments of discovery and claim bragging rights by
sharing that personalized excitement online.
2
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE. To maximize the impact
of content marketing, often a cost- and labor-intensive
production, marketers should ask themselves how they
can “atomize” a story across media channels to engage
diverse audiences.
TIPS FOR MARKETERS
3
BRAND-TERTAINMENT. As brands follow a more
purpose-led storytelling approach, we’ll see the rise of
more media like Chipotle’s critically acclaimed
“Scarecrow” film. A piece that associates the brand with
social consciousness around food sustainability, versus a
self-promotional cry for more burrito-buys, giving
consumers a reason to share.
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10. LET’S GET VISUAL
The phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words” may
actually be an understatement. The average person
processes an image 60,000 times faster than text and at the
rate that we consume and share media it’s no wonder that
people are reading less.
70% OF SOCIAL MEDIA IS COMPRISED OF
IMAGES, and with the rise of so many visually-led
channels consumers have become both creator and
curator in our increasingly visual culture.
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11. 1
2
VIDEO TAKES OVER. If you want attention for your
brand these days, research shows you’ll get far more
eyes and ears on it with moving images than with
static ones. In fact, the average user spends 88% more
time on a website with video.
3
LET’S GET VISUAL
THE NEW VISUAL VOCABULARY. Memes are
spontaneous, relatable pictures and their short
captions are entertaining glimpses into recent cultural
shifts. Look up “Bad Luck Brian” for an example of a
really popular meme.
SPEAK AND LISTEN VISUALLY. Brands should be
judicious about images they use and prioritize being
visually literate, versus just pushing content; things like
using emojis for customer reviews.
TIPS FOR MARKETERS
Image Source: AnatolyV
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12. WHEN BRANDS
INNOVATE
The stamp of successful content marketing will always be its
quality, but as social media undergoes enormous shifts,
marketers must always keep their eye on the next frontier.
Whether that means optimizing content consumption for
wearables, or creating apps that go beyond promoting a
brand and its products to actually provide content that
engages their core target. Smirnoff’s "Mixhibit" app allows
users to pull photos from their social networks, arrange them
artfully, add a custom track and then share their creation
with their friends.
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13. 1
2
WELCOME TO THE SHARED, COLLABORATIVE
ECONOMY. An economy where consumers want to
share products and content. Airbnb does a good job of
embracing this new model by enabling peer-to-peer
communication, increasing the transparency and
reliability of customer reviews.
3
MIND THE CULTURAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL
SHIFTS. We’re moving to the “internet of things” with
complete interconnectedness of products and the
omnipresence of smart technology. This will enable far
greater collaboration and a whole new consciousness
about consumption. For example, the popularity of
Zady.com reinventing conscious consumerism for the
digital age.
4
WHEN BRANDS INNOVATE
INNOVATION CAN COME FROM ANYONE
AND ANYWHERE. The world of e-commerce has
been socialized with face-to-face selling experiences
powered by products like Google’s “Shop the Hangout.”
GOODBYE “MATCHING LUGGAGE.” There’s an
easy, not altogether surprising tendency to translate one
form of media into its matching luggage in another
medium. But it’s an unsustainable tendency because
every medium carries its own functionality. Case in
point, the mobile-enabled social movement comes with
its own constraints; brands must replace abstract
functions like “clicks” for the tap and swipe gestures
that to a degree define the mobile ecosystem.
TIPS FOR MARKETERS
Image Source: tinkerbrad
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14. • Content is king
• Mobile has changed everything
CONCLUSION
• Democratization of content has
changed everything, again
• It’s not quantity but quality—where
you are and what you’re saying
• It’s about creating an experience
that people want to share; from
rich storytelling to innovative new
content-consumption experiences
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15. ABOUT JACK MORTON
We're an award-winning brand experience agency that turns
brands into verbs and transforms customer experience into a
competitive asset.
TALK
TO JACK
We make brilliant things happen for our clients. We do that by
bringing together brave, creative, collaborative people who are
true believers in the power of experience to transform brands
and businesses.
We’re experts in brand experience strategy and activation. Our
clients look to us to define and understand how their brands
should behave in the marketplace, and create experiences that
bring their brands to life. Our portfolio of award-winning work
spans 75 years and clients like GM, Subway, Samsung and
Verizon in areas like event marketing, sponsorship, employee
engagement, shopper and retail, sales enablement and training,
digital and social.
CONTACT:
Liz Bigham, EVP Brand Marketing
liz_bigham@jackmorton.com
Read our blog at blog.jackmorton.com
Follow us on twitter @jackmorton
Visit us online at jackmorton.com
Our team of 750 works together all around the world. We're
also part of one of the world's leading marketing holding
companies, Interpublic (NYSE: IPG), and experienced
collaborators with a global network of best-in-class partners.
2014