SXSW 2012 lacked a big breakout star. But that’s a good thing. Because digital should never be just the next bright shiny object.
What we believe is absolutely critical for brands in the digital space–everyone, right?–is to build their digital strategy through the lens of experience. Because experience is what consumers remember, it’s what differentiates and endures after Austin.
We looked at digital trends out of SXSW (and beyond) through an experience lens and made some bets about what we think will shift the digital marketing space this year.
From UX design to mobile to gamification to Big Data and beyond, we think the best digital answers the question "Am I making people love my brand?"
HomeRoots Pitch Deck | Investor Insights | April 2024
Insights on brand experience across digital, social & mobile marketing
1. BRAND EXPERIENCES IN THE
DIGITAL WORLD:
BIG IDEAS & RELEVANT TRENDS FROM SXSW AND
BEYOND
2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
DIGITAL EXPERIENCE: A POV
THE WEB IS READY FOR ITS CLOSE-UP
THE NEXT BIG THING? CONTROLLING CHANCE
GAME ON! AND THEN YOU DIE, AGAIN & AGAIN
MOBILE PAYMENTS: FIX THIS EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE THIS! SOCIAL+LOCAL+MOBILE+LIVE
THE BIG DEAL ABOUT BIG DATA
CREATING SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
LEARN MORE
3. DIGITAL EXPERIENCE: A POV
“Loyalty counts more and costs less than awareness.” I read What we believe is absolutely critical for brands investing in
that in the Harvard Business Review in 2001. At the risk of the digital space—and that’s everyone, right?—is to build their
snarky comments about aging HBR readers, I’d like to use it digital strategy through the lens of experience. By
to set the stage for the following articles on key trends in “experience” we mean creating something that stands out,
digital brand experience in 2012, at SXSW and beyond, that’s special and memorable. It could mean a compelling use
because it still gets at a fundamental issue. of a digital platform to enhance consumers’ experience of the
brand. It could mean designing a new experience in the digital
When Kristen D. Sandberg wrote this 11 years ago, I believe space that’s never been done before.
she meant that marketers would get more bang for their
buck by making customers love them than by spending lots But it shouldn’t
just mean creating a video or attempting to “go
of money to generate awareness. It’s an argument for depth viral”. In a world where consumers’ time and attention is more
of engagement over breadth of impressions. precious than ever, it is more important than ever to treat every
touchpoint as special. Our own research shows 75% of
Lots has changed in 11 years. In 2001, “awareness” meant consumers globally say “if a brand wants to get my attention it
traditional advertising, which was and still is expensive. In has to do something special”.
2001, there was no Facebook, YouTube or Twitter; Google
was still a private company run by 20-somethings. Mobile So yes, what I read all those years back is still true—though I
devices—fundamental to most of what we talk about at might tweak it to say “Engagement counts more and costs less
places like SXSW—were simply something to call home with. than awareness”. It’s even more true now, in a more digital
world: making people love you not only keeps current
Now, in 2012, “awareness” has become seemingly cheap- customers sticky but also inspires admirers to talk about you.
thanks precisely to all these inventions. P&G, the world’s
biggest ad spender, announced it will reduce billions in its Ultimately, digital brand experiences—and every brand
marketing spend by shifting its emphasis to digital marketing. experience is at least partially digital now—should be an
The perception is that if brands just go digital they can tick answer to the question, “Am I making people love my brand?”
off the awareness box at a discount. It’s tempting to simply
replace one form of awareness with another and move from Liz Bigham is SVP, Director of Brand Marketing.
an expensive traditional model to an inexpensive digital one.
But that would be a mistake.
4. In a world where consumers’ time
and attention is more precious than
ever, it is more important than ever
to treat every touchpoint as special.
5. THE WEB IS READY FOR ITS CLOSE-UP
“We need an app.” If there's one phrase that throws me Everything we do digitally has to play out across all our
into a tizzy (like Madelyn Kahn in "Clue") it's this. devices, therefore it has to be simple and visual. I won't
Because 90% of the time you don’t (see footnote). take the time to read 100 words of copy on my phone, but
I will get sucked in by clean design and powerful graphics.
But while this app craze has at times made my job
harder, I do think it has done something that is Another exciting aspect of the beautification of the web: it
fundamentally great for the web: It has made people levels the playing field. My (cough-cough) year-old mom
used to—nay, come to expect—simple, elegant and easy- and my four year-old daughter both use Instagram. They
to-use digital interfaces. And it is spreading into the have different creative takes on the world, but it doesn’t
platforms and sites we use on a daily basis. matter. The beauty of this and all increasingly visual web
experiences: it doesn't reward the most savvy or those with
Look at the most recent web success stories. Pinterest: the most time on their hands; but the most passionate. And
visual, elegant simplicity. Instagram: it makes everyday isn't that what we should always strive to do?
moments look like high art with the simple touch of a
"tree". About.me: it gives everyone an online portfolio Leesa Wytock is VP, Digital Director.
Tyra Banks would smize over. Even Facebook, arguably
one of the most non-aesthetic places on the web, added Footnote: Instead of saying “I need an app,” what you
a timeline that puts the photos in your life at the really should be saying is “I need a mobile strategy”. An
forefront. app is just one component of a larger campaign.
As a person who follows the KISS approach to UX
design (keep it simple stupid), this is an exciting time for
the web. I feel it must be like when (insert smart yet
relevant analogy to architecture or art).
Out: gradient metal sheens on over-animated sites. In:
understated simplicity that allows people's lives and
stories to take center stage. If you think about it, this is
such a natural progression for our hyper-connected,
global world. Not everyone speaks the same language,
jargon, nomenclature, but we can all understand and be
immediately affected by a photo.
6. Everything we do digitally has to
play out across all our devices,
therefore it has to be simple and
visual.
7. THE NEXT BIG THING? CONTROLLING CHANCE
There’s a lot of buzz around the app Highlight coming out Think about the experience, not your silos. It may be
of SXSWi. It’s a clever combination of location-aware logical to organize content based on your internal
services tapping into social networks to help you see people organization, but it limits the breadth of the experience.
physically nearby you might know or have something in Find ways of encouraging the cross-pollination of ideas.
common with. Other than abetting your voyeuristic streak, Create the space and opportunity for chance encounters.
it’s trying to help you connect with other people, digitally Physically and digitally in your marketing programs, create
and in-person. the space for the chance encounters to happen. If every
minute of your program is mapped out in advance, you’re
It taps into a larger trend around managing serendipity likely missing the opportunity to enrich the experience.
that’s relevant online and at in-person events. We all love
chance encounters with interesting people, or insights into Use the tools that make sense for your audience. Not
our own world we get from learning about something everyone has digital phones, nor is willing to give some
totally unrelated. These chance encounters and connections app total access to their Facebook account. Let the interests
are at the heart of innovation and creativity. and profiles of your audience guide which tools you
embrace.
Where Highlight succeeds is by helping to manage and
encourage those chance encounters. With a critical mass of In short, we need to celebrate the context. Content is
socially-networked, app-downloading people (like at everywhere, and chances are your content could be
SXSW), you can use the app to meet new folks and have accessed in other ways than your event or experience. The
interesting conversations. context around the content is what makes an experience so
powerful—those chance encounters with new people, or
Some of the frustrations around this year’s SXSWi different ideas. By incorporating serendipity into your
conference itself were precisely due to the feeling that there planning, you’ll be taking advantage of the real
were fewer opportunities for chance encounters. For opportunity your experience and program represents.
example, with so many focused “campuses,” it was much
harder to jump from a session on user interface design to
one on the neuroscience of marketing, without walking for
20 minutes and hoping you can get in. Tom Michael is a Senior Strategist.
We can’t control serendipity, but in our programs and
experiences we certainly can embrace it.
8. Physically and digitally in your
marketing programs, create the
space for the chance encounters to
happen.
9. GAME ON AND THEN YOU DIE, AGAIN AND AGAIN
For as long as I can remember, games have been my Marketing can’t ignore what some of us have known all
reason to be. Now, finally, I feel vindicated: a recent set of along: that games are good for business. Now it’s a multi-
studies (covered in the Wall Street Journal) suggest that billion-dollar industry. Some of us have been competing our
gaming improves creativity, decision-making and perception. whole lives, and now it’s cool to be caught playing Words
with Friends. We can point to large-scale studies to defend
So games are good for you. What took so long? these once deemed “waste of time” activities.
Maybe it’s that nobody was paying much attention until And what about Minecraft, the amazingly simple block-
Mark Zuckerberg came along with the biggest gameboard building experience which has grown massively due to word
ever. Gaming is the new black and all marketing must be of mouth? Underlying the success of Minecraft is something
gamified. Is gamification even a word? that we marketers have to keep in mind, and that’s the
power of good storytelling. Some game experiences like
These new studies tell just half of the story. Those of us who Minecraft can tap into creativity, and innovative thinking. As
traded GPAs for capture the flag back in the analogue days a brand experience marketing engineer, those are the
can tell you that gaming impacts more than meets the eye— games we get excited by.
not just creativity and decision-making but also leadership
and entrepreneurialism. What's happened with gaming, as with photography, music
and publishing, is that it has become totally accessible. All
And here’s my beef: what's missing from most of the recent the pieces are in your pocket. Gaming is finally cool. We
wildly popular games is invention. We've lost the chaos of will soon have the study that proves that World of Warcraft
having to dream up a game from scratch. Technology staves-off early on-set dementia. That will be the day
makes everything too easy. Where's the iPad game where someone will have to shoot me, for real.
players have to invent the game first, and then play it? We
hear about professed improvement in laparoscopic surgical Our world is one big game, and we're all playing to win.
technique due to pushing those buttons. But what happened
to picking teams, devising a winning strategy, and dealing
with changing situations like when Billy quits because his Steve Mooney is Managing Director of Jack Morton’s
sister schooled him? Black Ops and Red Dead Redemption Boston office.
have nothing on a five-hour marathon game of Risk.
10. Gaming is the new black and all
marketing must be gamified.
11. MOBILE PAYMENTS: FIX THIS EXPERIENCE
After almost 20 years of minimal consumer-facing innovation statement credits start rolling in when you check-in to
in the payments vertical, all the recent buzz has centered places. No special phones and special readers at the point
around the notion of mobile payments. Why carry a wallet of sale. No slowing of the check-out process. Just a great
full of credit cards when your phone can do the same job customer experience.
and also incorporate loyalty points, coupons, and send real-
time offers from Macy’s the minute you walk into Which brings us to another very important issue: until all
Bloomingdales? Near Field Communication (NFC) solutions merchants accept mobile payments, mass adoption will
like Isis and Google Wallet and Cloud-based products like never happen. Brands need to take away pain points for
LevelUp are making big bets that consumers agree. merchants, not add to them. Asking a local merchant to
invest in NFC or some other modification to their POS just is
So, then, why is that mobile payments technologies have yet not realistic. And until all dry cleaners and coffee shops
to take off? It was almost two years ago that Verizon, T- take mobile payments, customers won’t care.
Mobile, and AT&T announced that they were forming the
joint venture known as Isis. Arguably the most important So, what are mobile payments brands to do? For one,
reason: mobile payments brands have yet to clearly leverage the power of experience and one-to-one
articulate a real value proposition to consumers to drive marketing. Empowering early adopters (like all of the
adoption. What’s the experience consumers are truly hipsters at SXSW) to share their experiences with the
looking for? It’s not convenience; they’re bringing their masses not only helps to make consumers aware but also
wallets with them anyway. breaks down adoption anxiety. People listen to nerds,
especially when they have something interesting to
The real opportunity for mobile payments brands is to make say. Give early adopters a platform to become evangelists
their experience absolutely simple, intuitive, and easy for a for mobile payments technology and watch consumers and
consumer to adopt offers, pay for something, and get credit merchants hop on board.
at their favorite merchant. Asking consumers to take their
phone out, open an app, select a card, and then pay is too
much—especially if you factor in the guy standing in line Doug Wilber is Director of Business Strategy.
behind you at Starbucks who just wants to pay for his
morning latte with cash.
Companies should look to Amex and foursquare. Simply link
your Amex to your foursquare account and the
12. The real opportunity for mobile
payments brands is to make their
experience absolutely simple.
13. EXPERIENCE THIS! SOCIAL+LOCAL+MOBILE+LIVE
“SoLoMo”—AKA “social + local + mobile”—is not only a It wasn’t a hard sell but a genuine experience with a
great buzzword, it’s a hugely valuable phenomenon for product that solved a problem. Online response was
any brand seeking to engage people through live events tremendous, with thousands of tweets, photos and check-ins
and experiences. (I think that includes just about every posted from in and around these mobile brand experiences.
brand.) In most cases, people at events are already on
their mobile devices snapping pictures, tweeting and If you want to make your live experience resonate SoLoMo
checking in. By adding social + local + mobile to these style, think about how your activation fits a customer’s need
experiences, we have a chance to engage in a or interest at a particular place and point in time. Facilitate
conversation with attendees on multiple platforms, the conversation: let it be natural and in your customer’s
combining the in-person experience with online in real time voice, but make sure you are giving them compelling
and beyond any single event. reasons to talk beyond your brand or product message.
Use technology to help measure and monitor the
Social makes it easy for your customers to broadcast any conversation, and participate in the conversation to
message in their own voice, but they have to have maximize the impact and turn a point in time into an
something to talk about. Think about your event in terms of ongoing relationship.
telling your story in an interesting way, and what an
attendee might see or want to share. Is there something Madelyn Varella is VP of Digital Strategy.
remarkable or compelling about your product that is “must-
share,” or could it be the activation itself where people to
talk about a great experience they had?
One of the stand-outs at SXSW 2012 was Chevy, which did
a great job of amplifying and extending their reach by
offering attendees a brand experience that addressed a
real need: finding a ride around town. SXSW is spread out
over dozens of Austin locations, and getting back and forth
between venues can be a challenge. Brand ambassadors
drove branded Chevy vehicles around the streets of
downtown, offering free rides to any attendee. Attendees
flagged down available cars and were taken wherever they
needed to go.
14. Think about your event in terms of
telling your story in an interesting
way, and what an attendee might
see or want to share.
15. THE BIG DEAL ABOUT BIG DATA
The old adage goes, “I know half my advertising dollars are #2: Accurate multichannel analytics
wasted; I just don't know which half.” If you are ready to As marketing channels continue to fragment across owned,
get a better idea, get ready to embrace Big Data. Slated to earned and paid media, marketers are seeking new ways to
be a $50 billion industry by 2017, Big Data represents the show ROI. Big Data, when analyzed properly, provides a
unthinkably vast but now vastly less unwieldy mass of data clearer picture of which brand experiences contribute the
available to companies to better understand their business, most to the brand’s bottom line and long term viability.
their customers and how to optimize their brand experience.
Accurate multichannel analytics can also help brands be
That, in a nutshell, is why Gartner predicts that by 2017 more strategic in their marketing spends based on profiles
CMOs will outspend CIOs on information technology: audience’s initiatives resonate with most. Such analysis can
because data can help them design better customer determine key metrics regarding customer value: how much
experiences and derive better marketing ROI. Smart it costs to acquire customers and what budget must be
marketers and their partners can turn mounds of data into allocated to retain them.
actionable insights.
#3: Predictive analysis
Here are three ways brands can leverage Big Data to Between sky-high distribution costs, an increasingly
design a better customer experience: competitive market, and a digital landscape that enables
consumers to make more informed decisions than ever,
#1: Personalize to profit there’s never been a better reason for brands to get ahead
Grocery stores and online retailers have long used of their consumers. Leveraging predictive analysis through
purchase history and basic demographic information to Big Data is helping Walmart anticipate demand for water
generate tailored offers for customers, but today’s targeting bottles before tornadoes hit and ADP call its business
can go far beyond straightforward suggestive selling. customers when the time is right to close a sale. Beyond
Brands can personalize in-store experiences by providing increased sales and reduced operating costs, Big Data is
sales associates with guidance to recommend products to helping companies like Walmart and ADP provide more
shoppers. Facial recognition technology can trigger a relevant and value-laden brand experiences that consumers
customer’s favorite music to play in a dressing room. will seek out.
Purchase history can trigger outbound communications to
customers with personalized offers. New information Ben Grossman is a Digital Strategist.
captured ensures that brand experiences get more personal
every time.
16. Smart marketers and their partners
can turn mounds of data into
actionable insights.
17. CREATING SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
No one has ever said, "I'm in a relationship with your brand." Brands must create true social experiences in order to
But the truth is, they are. activate relationships with their audiences. These
experiences can range from brilliant hands-on product
Psychologist Robert Sternberg identifies eight kinds of love introductions to excellent customer service interactions. No
based on three elements foundational to human relationships: one ever bought a multi-million dollar business solution
Intimacy, Passion and Commitment. I hypothesize the because of a billboard. The same holds true for simply
relationship between a person and a brand can range from creating a Facebook page, Youtube channel or Twitter
"Nonlove" (the absence of all three elements) and feed.
"Companionate Love" (which includes Intimacy and
Commitment) to “Loyal Brand Advocates” (the best kind). Social media is a relationship building platform.
Experiences are different. Effective experiences tell a story,
Psychology also teaches us that both human and brand they are immersive, engaging, interactive, intimate,
relationships—good ones, that is—are based on similar values: personal, authentic, the list goes on. Make sure your
transparency, communication, engagement, interaction, brand's social media presence is experience-based, not
respect and authenticity. Interestingly, these same elements broadcast-based.
are applied to the social space by the most effective brand-
driven experiences. Those brands that fail at activating the Finally, think in terms of ecosystem, not singular
social media channel largely ignore these principles in their destinations. The tools and platforms available to us are
approach. incredible. Each one of these gives us a new way to
engage with our audiences to build experiences which
Getting social right is imperative to brand success. Why? result in relationships. How are you using the latest
According to recent research (from Chadwick, Martin & Sharing, Playing, Networking, Buying and Localization
Bailey), "50% of consumers will purchase your brand after tools in your ecosystem to create social media experiences
'Liking' it on Facebook" and "51% of consumers will for your audiences? In the words of Deb Schultz,
recommend your brand after 'Liking' it on Facebook." "Technology Changes, Human's Don't." Remember this as
According to Erik Qualman's “Socialnomics,” only "14% of you build and manage your ecosystem. It's not about the
consumers trust advertising" whereas "90% of consumers trust platform. It's about the experience and ultimately, the
peer recommendations". relationship with your audiences.
Relationships are also based on experiences. Social media Ian McGonnigal is SVP, Client Strategy and Brand
isn’t one and done. Performance.
18. Brands must create true social
experiences in order to activate
relationships with their audiences.
19. SXSW: LIFE’S A BEACH
Like anyone I’m constantly changing the lenses through As a brand experience agency, we collaborate with our
which I view brands and experiences. Expectations—what I clients to help them understand it’s not always wise to try
think an experience is going to be like—are a massively and boil the ocean. At whatever level brands want to get
distorting lens. If I’m expecting something to be great, and
involved, they should do it with strategy and purpose and
it’s merely pretty good, I see it through a lens of
make the most of it. It’s unwise to come to the beach
“disappointing”.
without the right bottle of SPF tanning lotion.
I had high expectations visiting SXSWi for the first time in
2012. I’ve attended scores of massively large-scale global- Robb Trost is Director of Client Services.
sized events in my time, so I felt well equipped to make
assessments of the SXSW experience. I landed and was
reminded I haven’t experienced everything.
Visiting the festival to see what brands were doing was the
equivalent of people watching beach-goers at the first sign
of spring. The spectacle was overwhelming. From the
moment I landed, brands were clamoring to be the first to
greet and welcome me to the beautiful city of Austin. I came
prepared with my SXSW app along with the tech tips-and-
tricks to finding what I needed while visiting. Even on my
smartphone, brands were sneaking their way into the titles
of sessions. It was apparent brands were desperately trying
to be everything to everyone, everywhere.
Chevy did a great job at activating their sponsorship by
tying their objectives to what attendees need; power stations
everywhere for their electronics and free transportation in
and around Austin. On the other hand, I knew that Miller
Lite was a title sponsor, but I saw very little on-the-ground or
technology-inclusion from their activation. And AMEX’s Jay-
Z concert was amazing, but under-promoted (really).
20. [At SXSW] brands were desperately
trying to be everything to everyone,
everywhere.
21. Learn More
JACK MORTON WORLDWIDE is a global brand experience agency. We create experiences that strengthen
relationships between brands and the people who matter most to them–thereby helping our clients become talked-
about experience brands. Rated among the top marketing service agencies worldwide, we integrate live and online
experiences, digital and social media, and branded 3D environments that engage and inspire consumers, business
partners and employees. Jack Morton has a staff of 500 employees in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific that drive our
idea-led agency culture and is part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE: IPG).
To join our conversation about how experience brands behave in the digital world, please connect with us online:
Web site: http://www.jackmorton.com/
Blog: http://blog.jackmorton.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jackmorton