SoDa Report

Tony Quin

Intro
“ Six years after 13

digital agency leaders
got together over dinner
in Miami, SoDA has
grown into a global
organization with
members from New
York to New Zealand.

”

With over 65,000 readers in 2012, The SoDA Report
has become one of the most read publications in the
digital marketing world. But this is only one expression
of the remarkable community of digital pioneers,
creatives and executives that makes up SoDA. With
70 member agencies in 22 countries on 5 continents,
SoDA has become the leading voice of the digital agency
community, representing the top tier of digital agencies
and the most sought after production companies in
the world.
As you will see as you explore the pages of this new
edition of The SoDA Report, our members freely share
their latest thinking on everything from igniting an
innovation-ready mindset to the importance of usercentric design to humorous suggestions for horrible new
buzzwords that we pray never see the light of day. That’s
because sharing is the cornerstone of how SoDA works.
We share with each other and we share with the world.
Our Peer Collaboration Groups, for example, bring
together over six hundred members across 16 disciplines
in the search for best practices and new ideas. Regular
roundtables and webinars showcase critical thoughtleaders to our membership and beyond. And this year
our “SoDA Presents” panel program will bring together
the cream of our industry at major conferences across
Europe, North America and Latin America.
Six years after 13 digital agency leaders got together
over dinner in Miami, SoDA has grown into a global

organization with members from New York to New
Zealand, enabling us more than ever to accomplish our
mission to advance our industry through Best Practices,
Education, and Advocacy.
I hope that you find this latest volume of The SoDA
Report insightful and valuable, and I invite you to find
out more about our programs, resources and members
at www.sodaspeaks.com.
Best Wishes,
Tony Quin
Chairman of the Board, SoDA
CEO, IQ Agency

Angèle Beausoleil

Foreward
“We see the world, not as
it is, but as we are”
– Talmud

How agencies, production companies and brands
perceive their value to their respective customers varies
greatly. How one generation perceives value differs from
the next. Campaigns targeting one consumer segment
are not necessarily perceived the same way by another
segment. Facing these multiplying realities, how can we
build a better awareness of people’s perceptions of our
services, products and organizations? This year’s first
edition of The SoDA Report reveals new perspectives,
fresh ideas and real concepts of how organizations are
balancing the art and science of perception to succeed in
these fast-paced times.
From blowing up what you learned about data from
your not-so-favorite math teacher, to exploring how
forward-thinking companies are laying the groundwork
for a virtuous cycle of innovation, to integrating the
best of technology development processes with quick
marketing smarts, we suggest how you can change
your company from risk averse to courageous, creative,
authentic and agile.
Future shifts in marketing are discussed by top
executives of global brands, tech start-ups, agencies and
the leadership of top trade publications. Among other
things, they highlight the importance of humanizing
data, creating credible content, advocating for usercentric design, transforming business models, tribe
building and simplicity.

Our writers and editors ponder a broad range of
provocative questions. Are we responsive to responsive
design? If focusing on the creation of mobile optimized
content is akin to solving a problem from 2007, what
problems should we be focused on now? What is
the “next” Facebook? Are we living in a “Quantified
Society”? How can we become the Master of Design in
our organizations. And, does irreverent marketing lead
to effective consumption?
We propose the use of Improv to cut through
perceptions and expose the real people you are hiring,
and that whole-brained folks are truly the next killer
app. We suggest you pay attention to idea thieves, solve
real versus perceived problems and focus on becoming
exceptional – which is what innovation is about.
So, how can you increase your awareness of both your
own perceptions and the perceptions of others? Start by
reading this report. Enjoy.
Angèle Beausoleil
Editor-in-Chief

The SoDA Report
Team & Partners
Content Development
Angèle Beausoleil

Editor-in-Chief of The SoDA Report,
Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of Agent Innovateur Inc.

Angèle Beausoleil has spent the last two decades
working with digital agencies, technology companies
and consumer brands on identifying market trends,
leading research and development projects through
innovation labs and crafting strategic plans. Today,
she balances her graduate studies (MA/PhD in Applied
Innovation) activities, with teaching Thinking Strategies
at UBC’s d.studio, and a strategic marketing and
invention consulting practice. Angele is also the Editorin-Chief for The SoDA Report and is an advisory board
member for the Merging+Media Association, Vancouver
International Film Festival, Kibooco (kids edutainment
start-up) and the Digital Strategy Committee for the
University of British Columbia (UBC). Angèle lives in
Vancouver with her husband and son.
Chris Buettner

Managing Editor of The SoDA Report,
SoDA Executive Director

After a career on the digital agency and publisher side
that spanned 15+ years, Chris Buettner now serves as
Managing Editor of The SoDA Report. He is also the
Executive Director of SoDA where he is charged with
developing and executing the organization’s overall
strategic vision and growth plan. And with roots in

journalism, education and the international non-profit
world, the transition to lead SoDA has been a welcome
opportunity to combine many of his talents and
passions. After living in Brazil and Colombia for years,
Chris is also fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is an
enthusiastic supporter of SoDA’s initiatives to increase
its footprint in Latin America and around the world.
Chris lives in Atlanta with his wife and two daughters.

Editorial Team
Sean MacPhedran

Industry Insider,
Group Planning Director, Fuel

Sean is Group Planning Director at Fuel (based in
Ottawa, Canada), where he currently works with
clients including McDonald’s Europe, Nokia, Mattel
and Lucasfilm. He specializes in youth marketing,
entertainment & game development, and the
incorporation of pirates into advertising campaigns
for brands ranging from Jeep to Family Guy. Outside
of Fuel, he is a co-founder of the Ottawa International
Game Conference, managed the category-free
Tomorrow Awards and spent a good deal of time in the
Mojave Desert launching people into space at the X
PRIZE Foundation. They all came back alive.
Craig Menzies

Advocacy,
Head of Research and User Experience, Deepend

Craig is currently the Head of Research and User
Experience at Deepend, a digital and creative agency
headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Craig is a former
Forrester customer experience analyst, and has also held
positions with iCrossing UK and Vodafone Australia.

Zachary Paradis

People Power,
Director of Innovation Strategy, SapientNitro

Zachary Jean Paradis is an innovation strategist,
professor and author obsessed with transforming lives
through customer experience. He works at SapientNitro,
teaches at the Institute of Design and lives in Chicago.
Zachary works with companies to become successful
innovators by utilizing “experience thinking” as a
strategic asset manifested in better offerings, flexible
process, and open culture. He works with start-ups
and Fortune 1000 companies as diverse as Chrysler
Auto Group to Target, Hyatt Hotels to John Deere,
M&S to McLaren, and SAP to Yahoo!, evolving service
and product experiences across digital and physical
channels. Zachary recently relocated to Chicago from
SapientNitro’s London office.
Mark Pollard

Modern Marketer,
VP Brand Strategy, Big Spaceship

Mark is a brand planner who grew up digital. He built
his first website in 1997 then published the first fullcolor hip hop magazine in the Southern Hemisphere,
while working in dotcoms, digital agencies and
advertising agencies. He is featured in the AdNews Top
40 under 40, and won a Gold Account Planning Group
(APG) award for his McDonald’s ‘Name It Burger’
strategy. A NSW Government initiative listed him as one
of Sydney’s Top 100 Creative Catalysts. Mark is VP of
Brand Strategy at Big Spaceship in New York City.
Simon Steinhardt

Tech Talk,
Associate Creative Director, Editorial, JESS3

Simon Steinhardt is the Associate Creative Director
of Editorial at JESS3 in Los Angeles. He is co-author
of the forthcoming book Hidden in Plain Sight: How

to Create Extraordinary Products for Tomorrow’s
Customers (HarperBusiness), set for release on April
16. Previously, he was managing editor of Swindle
magazine, and has written and edited extensively on art
and culture, including contributions to The History of
American Graffiti and Supply and Demand: The Art of
Shepard Fairey.
Philip Rackin

Research Insights,
Director of Strategy, MCD

As Director of Strategy at MCD Partners, Philip
Rackin helps companies such as Samsung, E*TRADE,
Discover Financial, and Genworth identify and develop
opportunities to grow their businesses with emerging
technologies. Over the past 15 years, he’s developed
dozens of marketing programs, and digital products
for consumer and B2B clients, including Comcast,
Consumer Reports, The Port Authority of NY and NJ,
Computer Associates, NARS Cosmetics, Johnnie Walker
Scotch Whisky, and the University of Pennsylvania
School of Design.
Kate Richling

SoDA Showcases,
VP of Marketing, Phenomblue

As Phenomblue’s Vice President of Marketing, Kate
Richling oversees the agency’s marketing and social
media outreach, as well as its inbound marketing efforts.
Previously, Richling worked in public relations, creating
and executing strategies for a wide variety of brands and
non-profit organizations.

Partners
Research Partner

Econsultancy
www.econsultancy.com

Cover Design

Struck
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Tablet Edition/Prodution
Universal Mind
www.universalmind.com

Infographics Partner
Phenomblue
www.phenomblue.com

Content/Production
SoDA
www.sodaspeaks.com

Organizational Sponsor
Adobe
www.adobe.com

The SoDA Report
Production Team

Natalie Smith, Head of Production
Todd Harrison, Designer
Courtney Hurt, Production Designer

Digital
Marketing Outlook
Key Survey Findings
Respondent Overview
Marketers Self-Assess their Digital Savvy
Client Investments in Agencies Trending Upward

The SoDA Report 2013

The

SoDAReport

Section 1 : Digital Marketing Outlook

Chris Buettner
SoDA Executive Director
and Managing Editor of
The SoDA Report
After a career on the digital
agency and publisher side
that spanned 15+ years,
Chris Buettner now serves
as Managing Editor of
The SoDA Report. He is
also the Executive Director
of Operations at SoDA
where he is charged with
developing and executing
the organization’s overall
strategic vision and growth
plan. And with roots in
journalism, education and
the international nonprofit world, the transition
to lead SoDA has been
a welcome opportunity
to combine many of his
talents and passions.
After living in Brazil and
Colombia for years, Chris

SoDA’s Digital Outlook Marketing (DMO) Survey
results are in. The findings provide evidence that both
digital agencies and full-service agencies with robust
digital capabilities are taking an increasingly prominent
seat at the table with client organizations. In fact, many
not only have a seat, but also a desk and a few family
photos. More than 1 in 5 of our agency respondents
said they now have agency employees embedded as
specialized resources at client offices as part of their
service offering, highlighting a significant shift in clientagency engagement models.
Clients, for their part, are getting savvier as well. While
much of this digital acumen is home-grown within client
organizations, brands are also receiving help from their
agency and production company partners. Nearly one
third of agency respondents are providing education
and training services to those clients who have
developed internal teams to handle digital production
and maintenance.
So, do digital agencies have a dim future given this
apparent shift toward “in-sourcing” on the client
side? Quite the contrary. Forward-thinking digital
companies are finding that the best route to growth is to
make things…to be able to create innovative, effective
experiences for both consumers and brands. And this
year’s DMO Survey results underscore that brands
are increasingly looking to digital agencies to do just
that. We believe the trend toward clients innovating
“out-of-house” and maintaining their existing
digital experiences in-house will only become more
pronounced this year and into 2014.
To support this shift, leading agencies and production
companies are working to create a virtuous cycle of

is also fluent in Spanish
and Portuguese and is an
enthusiastic supporter
of SoDA’s initiatives to
increase its footprint in
Latin America and around
the world.

innovation and IP development at their companies
through the creation of innovation labs and product
incubators. A whopping 40% of agency respondents
have launched product incubators, with the most salient
benefits being happier, more engaged staff and new
business success. These are just a few of the trends
emerging from this year’s DMO study.
Conducted by Econsultancy, SoDA’s 2013 Digital
Outlook Marketing Survey had 814 respondents, up
25% from SoDA’s 2012 study. Marketers represented
approximately one-third of all respondents with a fairly
even split between companies who primarily market
products (33%), services (31%) and a mix of products
and services (36%).
Over 84% of respondents were key decision makers
and influencers (CMOs, senior executives, VPs and
directors) with annual marketing budgets ranging from
US$5M to over US$100M and whose key markets are
North America (50%), Europe (22%) and APAC (12%).
This year saw a growing multinational cross-section
of respondents, with 12% indicating that no single
continent accounts for a majority of their business
revenue.

ABOUT ECONSULTANCY
Econsultancy is a community where the world’s digital
marketing and ecommerce professionals meet to sharpen their
strategy, source suppliers, get quick answers, compare notes,
help each other out and discover how to do everything better
online. Founded in 1999, Econsultancy has grown to become
the leading source of independent advice and insight on digital
marketing and ecommerce. Econsultancy’s reports, events,
online resources and training programs help its 200,000+
members make better decisions, build business cases, find the
best suppliers, look smart in meetings and accelerate their
careers. Econsultancy is proud to be SoDA’s research partner
on this publication for the second consecutive year. For more
information, go to http://econsultancy.com/

The

SoDAReport


Respondent Overview

Organization Type
Q. Which of the
following best
describes the
organization you
work for?
Agency respondents
were evenly split
between digital agencies
and full service agencies
with digital capabilities.
See the Related Research
Insights within Industry
Insider for additional
analysis on how these
two sets of agency
respondents differ and
agree on key industry
issues.

Organization Type

%

Consumer brand (B2C) marketing

13%

Corporate brand (B2B) marketing

15%

Agency

35%

Digital production studio

7%

Vendor/service/independent consultant
serving the digital marketing industry

10%

Other digital marketing professional

20%

Respondent Overview

Consumer Marketers
by Category

48%

31%

9%

CPG marketers
represented
approximately 50%
of the 2013 sample of
consumer marketers.

12%

Q. Which of the
following best
describes your
category of
consumer brand
marketing?

Consumer Packaged Goods
Services
Other
OEM

Respondent Overview

Job Title
Q. Which of the
following best
describes your title?
Over 84% of
respondents were key
decision makers and
influencers (CMOs,
senior executives, VPs
and directors.

Title

%

C-level executive (e.g., CMO)

26%

Vice president (including SVP & EVP) of marketing

13%

Vice president (including SVP & EVP) of channel
(e.g., social media, mobile, e-mail)

4%

Vice president (including SVP & EVP) of technology

2%

Director/manager of market research

11%
10%

Customer segment owner or customer program manager

24%
10%

Director/manager of marketing services or operations

13%
23%

Other (please specify)

12%

Global Business Reach

By Continent

2%

12%

50%

2%
2
3%

North American
respondents represented
50% of the sample (down
from approximately
60% in the 2012 study),
with Europe and Asia
making up an additional
third. Just over 1 in 10
respondents (11%) hailed
from multinationals
with a diversified
revenue stream across
continents, up from 8%
in last year’s study.

11%

Q. From which
region do the
majority of your
business revenues
come?

North America
Europe
APAC
Less than half of our revenues
come fom any one continent
South America
Africa

The

SoDAReport


Key Insight:
Digital acumen on the client side is spiking.

Marketers
Self-Assess their
Digital Savvy
22
%

1%

5%

%
12

26%
%
34

Very Sophisticated
Somewhat Sophisticated
About Average
Somewhat Unsophisticated
Very Unsophisticated
No Opinion

Q. How would you describe the
digital marketing sophistication
of your organization? (posed to
client-side respondents)
Fifty-four percent of client
respondents describe their
organizations as “sophisticated” or
“very sophisticated” when it comes to
digital marketing, an assertion that
a large cross-section of agency and
production company respondents
support.
When agencies and production
companies were asked how they’re
seeing their clients evolve, the
increasing digital savvy of clientside organizations – as suggested by
clients’ own self-assessments noted
in the pie chart above – became even
more pronounced. While the pool
of client-side respondents to SoDA’s

survey may be more sophisticated than the general
population of brand marketers, we believe increasing
digital acumen on the client side is a trend that will
become more pronounced and pervasive in the years to
come.

A few highlights from agency responses:
“Many of our clients are bypassing traditional
marketing for digital marketing. That isn’t surprising,
but what is a shocker is that they’re clamoring for
digital experiences that are uber personalized.
Knowing a customer’s name isn’t sufficient. They’re
asking for higher customer engagement through
complex personalization. For example, aggregating
all user interactions (implicit and explicit) and serving
‘personalized’ content based on that data. In other
words, determining user preferences without directly
burdening the user for that information.”
“One of the savvier trends we’re seeing among clients
is toward custom behavioral marketing driven by
integration of data platforms to allow for real-time or
near real-time optimization and iteration (i.e., agile
campaign planning and performance management).”
“We’re seeing a real trend toward more digitally
experienced marketers being promoted to more senior
roles within client-side organizations.”
“In their quest to do more with less, clients are
acquiring more digital expertise, either through the
addition of digital agencies to their rosters and/or
creating internal digital teams, often by hiring former
agency professionals.”
“Marketing and Technology teams are working more
closely together on the client side. Such cross functional
teams are driving the delivery of innovative new

marketing abilities.”
“More technologies and technology skills are entering
the marketing department on the client side. We call it
the rise of the Marketing Technologist.”
“We’re finding that marketing professionals at
forward-thinking client organizations not only have
a strong holistic understanding of how their company
business operates, but also much more technical savvy
in understanding internal systems as well as customers
devices and touchpoints.”
“Clients who used to work in silos are now tearing
down walls between departments to integrate more
closely with teams who have consumer-facing roles or
are involved in product development.”

The

SoDAReport


Key Insight:
Digital marketing budgets and client
investments in digital agencies will grow at a
more intense pace in 2013 and 2014.

Client Investments
in Agencies
Trending Upward
14%

14%

28%

Q. Which of the following
best describes your
organization’s approach to
managing and executing
digital marketing with
agency partners?
44

%

We’re Maintaining the Status Quo
We’re Increasing our Agency Investments
We’re Decreasing our Agency Investments Over Time
Doesn’t Apply to Us

Nearly 30% of client respondents
indicated they were increasing
agency investments in digital
marketing efforts this year. This
is not only a testament to the
fact that the global economy has
shown signs of improvement
(albeit far from robust growth),
but also to the realization that
digital provides stronger value
than other channels as indicated
in the next table on budgeting
shifts.

Some of the reasons…
• Agencies are benefitting from clients’
reluctance to expand headcount. While many
clients are expanding internal teams focused
on executing and maintaining existing digital
initiatives, most are looking to agencies for
counsel and support when it comes to more
senior-level, strategic digital marketing
roles.
• The measurability of digital has given it
more clout, although – admittedly – mining
the avalanche of data generated by digital
efforts is still a major challenge for both
clients and agencies.
• More of the clients’ audiences are paying
attention to them on digital channels.

Budget Decisions
Shifting in
Favor of Digital
Projected Budget

%

We’re decreasing our digital marketing budgets

11%

We’re maintaining the status quo

34%

We’re increasing our digital marketing budgets without
increasing overall marketing spend (reallocating existing
budget into digital)

39%

We’re increasing our digital marketing budgets and
increasing our overall marketing spend

16%


0%

Q. Which of the following best describes your
organization’s projected budget for digital
marketing initiatives in 2013?
Almost 40% of clients indicated they are increasing
digital budgets without increasing their overall
marketing spend (reallocating existing budget into
digital). Another 16% say they’re increasing the overall
size of the marketing pie (increasing overall spend
and digital budgets). Any way you slice it, this is good
news when it comes to the value being placed on digital
marketing efforts.

Industry Insider
Section Preface
The Psycho-Dynamics of Experience Design
Putting Innovation to the Test
Agency Ecosystems That Work
Why Your Math Teacher is Killing Your Creativity
The Point of Awards
Recruitment Agencies: Breaking Old Perceptions
30 Seconds of Wisdom
The SoDA Buzz Word Launcher
Going East – Why Asia Should Be on Your Growth Roadmap
Related Research Insights


The

SoDAReport

Section 2 : Industry Insider

Sean MacPhedran
Industry Insider Section
Editor
Group Planning Director,
Fuel

One of the most challenging issues facing digital
agencies and production companies over the past
decade has been the lack of shared insight. As the
pioneers of 10 – and even 5 – years ago blazed their
way through new technologies and changes in media
consumption, the lack of good discussion, best practices
and news forums created an industrial cowboy culture.
Everyone alone together. Every challenge unique, twice.
Every day was trial by fire, and gut instinct was a better
path to success than a case study to follow.
SoDA has played a key role in elevating dialogue and
best practices in the industry by providing a forum for
industry insiders to share issues that are unique to the
new generation of advertising. It’s my hope as the Editor
for this section that it will remain “always in beta” and
that it presents the fluid sensibility of a discussion
- what makes SoDA unique. I welcome anyone to
contribute by emailing me at sean@fuelyouth.com
In this issue, Tony Quin, SoDA’s Chairman & CEO of
IQ, provides insight into the most critical, but often
overlooked, element of interactive – The Click. Joe
Olsen, CEO of Phenomblue, discusses what innovation
culture looks like in practice, and Matt Weston,
Copywriter at Soap, gives his perspective on the
evolution of the creative team from the trenches.
Controversy abounds as we address Awards Shows
and Recruitment Firms with Ignacio Oreamuno,
Executive Director of the Art Directors Club, and
Andrea Bertignoll, President of KANND Recruiting.
With interviews, we explore how these two areas are
critical to our industry.

Finally, we open the floor to members, with 30 Seconds
of Wisdom on a wide range of topics, and present some
amusing suggestions for horrible new buzzwords that
we’ll collectively pray never enter the lexicon.

The

SoDAReport


Tony Quin, Principal, IQ

The PsychoDynamics of
Experience Design
With a background as
a writer, director and
producer of network TV
shows and commercials
in LA, Tony Quin founded
IQ in 1995 as an agency
specializing in television.
In 1999, IQ began the
transformation to a
digital agency. Today the
agency counts numerous
Fortune 100 companies
as clients and has won
numerous national and
international awards. Born
and educated in the UK,
Tony is a founding member
of SoDA and Chairman of
the Board. He also serves
on the Board of the School
of Communications at Elon
University.

For years I have been preaching the strategy
of Click/Reward. The idea is simple, every time
someone clicks within a digital experience
something pleasant should happen. This idea,
while perhaps intuitive, flows from a number
of observations. First, we live in an instant
gratification society, and, of course, we are
all pleasure hounds. But, more importantly, it
comes from mapping buyer psychology to
the sales process.

Understanding the Buyer

How the unique dynamics of digital media connect with
the psychology of a buyer, on the path to purchase, is
the key to creating successful digital experiences. This
path today is often presented as a wonderfully busy
chart with a myriad of touch points and influences.
But in the end we all go through the same simple
process: first we are unaware of a specific need, then
we recognize it as a potential need, then we explore its
value. And then, if we continue, we evaluate our options,
finally make a choice and buy.
Yes, there are many factors and forces that influence
this along the way, but block out all that noise for a
minute and focus on the buyer’s basic motivations.
Through this process our motivation shifts from passive
in the early stages, and unwilling to invest much effort,
to active in the later stages once our intention starts
to crystallize.

Creating the User Path

Our earliest attempts at IQ to codify these psychodynamics, and create experiences that enable the buying
process, were expressed in the UX principles of Directed
Choice and Incremental Engagement. Directed Choice
essentially holds that unknown visitors to a brand site
should be assumed to be in marketing exploration
mode; passive and without formed motivation. At this
stage, it is the brand’s responsibility to make choice very
easy and intuitive, to reduce or eliminate work, analysis
and the number of choices. Of course someone with a
task to accomplish can always self identify at any time.
Next comes Incremental Engagement. This breaks
complex value propositions into steps where each step
requires a choice that takes the user closer to personal
relevance. This UX principle recognizes that most
value propositions are complex and require a time
commitment from the prospect in order to receive

“ Incremental

Engagement is also
based on recognizing
that the more personally
relevant something is,
the more compelling
it will be.

”

the whole story. The problem is that before prospects
are sufficiently motivated they won’t commit to an
investment of time or effort, so we make each step a
small commitment. Incremental Engagement is also
based on recognizing that the more personally relevant
something is, the more compelling it will be. Every
salesman knows this. If you’re looking for a truck and
the sales guy shows you cars…well, you get the idea, and
that brings us back to click/reward.

Rewarding the Click

So far we have learned that we should make things
really easy for prospects at first, we should make
commitments small and get them to what’s personally
relevant as quickly as possible. But this is all pretty
analytical. It assumes that people are pursuing their
interests analytically. Actually, evidence suggests that
people explore and make decisions more emotionally
than we think. As Charles Hannon, professor of
Computing and Information Studies at Washington &
Jefferson College, discusses in this excellent post, the
dopamine reward system produces good or bad feelings
based on what we do in the world.
The implication of this, as Jonah Lehrer explains in his
book How We Decide, is that rational decision making,
thought to trump the emotions since Plato, is actually
not how we do it. Recent neuroscience has reversed this
age old model of how human beings make decisions
by showing that indeed emotions, some stimulated by
the dopamine reward system, are core to the process.
It seems that we follow patterns instinctively and when
patterns are supported, and just to confuse things,
sometimes even when not, dopamine is triggered that
reinforces our decision-making.
That means every time we make a successful click or
get rewarded on our path to purchase we get a shot of
dopamine, which reinforces what we are doing. This

clearly tells us that we should be designing interactions
to understand and follow the emotional journey a
buyer makes on the way to a sale, and to study where
we are on the emotional/analytical continuum at every
moment of the path to purchase. This insight allows us
to focus our experience design so that we re-enforce our
prospect’s natural process rather than block it.

The

SoDAReport


Joe Olsen, President & CEO, Phenomblue

Putting
Innovation
to the Test
Joe Olsen is the President
and CEO of Phenomblue,
an industry-leading brand
experience agency. He
co-founded the agency in
2004, which has offices
in Omaha, NE, and Los
Angeles, CA. Phenomblue
has been featured in USA
Today, Ad Age, The New
York Times, Fast Company
and Inspired Magazine and
has received recognition
from the Webby Awards,
the CLIO Awards, SXSW
Interactive Awards and
the Favourite Website
Awards. He is a seasoned
entrepreneur, the creator of
the Drop Kick Platform and
a co-founder of Drop Kick
Ventures.

Today we see so many companies call
themselves “innovative”—whether or not
evidence exists to support the claim.
While you can’t become innovative just
because you say you are, you can easily
facilitate an innovation-ready mindset.
Like learning a new language, innovation
takes knowledge, risk, innate talent and the
willingness to try out new things with trusted
peers in private before putting yourself to the
public test. Above all, it takes belief in the
worthiness of the goal and a commitment to
work hard enough to get good.
Innovation initiatives can help build your agency’s
capacity for success. Like immersive language courses,

“ Agencies can start an

innovation initiative in
their office without too
much trouble. Get some
white boards, markers,
pencils, paper, beer and
Red Bull, and gather
your finest minds in a
room just uncomfortable
enough to keep everyone
relaxed but alert.

”

these initiatives are intense learning experiences
that generate results quickly. Put some passionate,
intelligent, curiously caffeinated people in a room who
are willing to devote their imaginative faculties to solve
a specific problem, and you position your agency to do
something useful nobody ever has before.
Agencies can start an innovation initiative in their office
without too much trouble. Get some white boards,
markers, pencils, paper, beer and Red Bull, and gather
your finest minds in a room just uncomfortable enough
to keep everyone relaxed but alert. Set aside a day for an
innovation exercise, so everyone takes it seriously. Then
let your team define a problem it wants to solve, and
leave them alone until they’re done or asking for help.
We call these Bonus Days at Phenomblue. Once a
quarter, our agency goes dark for 24 hours—meaning no
client work whatsoever—while we split into teams and
compete for Bonus Day glory. Each team takes a project
from start to finish in a single day. The only rules,
other than “no client work,” are that we all present
our projects to the company the next day and abide by
maritime law.
Phenomblue also implements large-scale innovation
initiatives, like Signature Reserve, a semiannual
experiment where we devote 200 billable hours to an
internal passion project—no strings attached, other than
a finished product that provides real utility.
Finally, Skunkworks takes our best ideas and puts them
through a rigorous vetting process conducted by agency
leadership. If the idea succeeds, it gets produced during
client gap time. It could then get financed, incubated
and spun off into its own business through Drop Kick
Ventures—a company I co-founded to help marketing,
communications and creative agencies bring ideas to life
(as featured recently in Wired magazine).

Phenomblue absorbs the cost of our innovation
initiatives because we know the payoff is worth it.
Whether it’s a new piece of technology we don’t know
what to do with yet, a super-successful campaign for
a client or a market-ready product, our innovation
initiatives keep our team prepared for the chance of
a breakthrough idea.
Like language, innovation is dynamic. If you don’t
push yourself to practice, you might lose it. Innovation
initiatives can help.

Image Source:
1. http://pbfcomics.com/197/

The

SoDAReport


Matt Weston, Copywriter, Soap Creative

Agency
Ecosystems
That Work
Matt Weston is senior
copywriter at SOAP
Creative LA. Born in the
UK, he has worked at
several ad agencies across
the globe in Sydney, Paris
and now Los Angeles.
He has created several
integrated ad campaigns
across digital, tv, print,
outdoor and radio. He
loves Marmite on toast,
DnB and butchering French
as a second language.
Preferably all three
together.

The experience of advertising creatives
has changed radically over the past decade.
We’ve moved from creative teams of two into
multidisciplinary teams, and, as often as not,
no two are ever alike.
Digital advertising is breaking down traditional
barriers between thinkers and doers - multidisciplinary
teams now rule the studio. As a copywriter reborn
in a digital agency, I now routinely bump brain cells
with technologists who would previously have been in
another room.

“ Whether it’s an

idea tailor-made for
a social network or
a piece of interactive
art that demonstrates
the product benefits,
technologists are part of
the creative process now
more than ever.

”

A couple of years ago I was reading a chapter in one
of the new creative bibles concerning an interesting
cultural change within one of the hottest digital
agencies. The agency in question had challenged
the versatility of the traditional copywriter + art
director creative team structure and had set about
creating new teams made up of creative technologist +
designer + copywriter.
Such change was radical for traditional ad agencies
maybe, but for many digital agencies it’s one that has
been far more organic in nature.
Why? Clients in digital are often looking for a big idea,
but one that ‘pulls’ their target market’s attention
within the constantly-evolving, multi-platform
digital landscape.
That requires great creative and strategic planning, but
just as importantly, technological literacy.
Whether it’s an idea tailor-made for a social network
or a piece of interactive art that demonstrates the
product benefits, technologists are part of the creative
process now more than ever.
And so it was, as the newly-hired ‘ad guy’ at a digital
agency, I found myself brainstorming in a room with a
social media manager, planner, designer and javascript
developer.
“Where is my art director?” my mind went. “Be quiet!” it
replied rather disturbingly to itself, “They just asked you
something and I have no idea what that guy over there
just said.”
I thought about what was bothering me so much.
It was this - being part of a traditional twosome creative
team with an art director is fun.

Your partner is your best mate in the agency. The
person you go into battle with every day against other
creative teams that want your brief. It’s the kind of
camaraderie that prevents you from tearing a printout
of horrible client feedback into little pieces and collaging
‘ASSHOLE’ on your CEO’s skydome of an office.
So how did I feel about sitting opposite a guy whose
inspiration came from Minecraft? Rubbing conceptual
shoulders with someone who writes PHP? What is PHP?
Sure, I knew what I was in for in the digital world. My
inner creative welcomed the shake-up of convention. I
just didn’t count on my inner adwanker sticking his ugly
head into the mix. But this room didn’t have time for ad
egos with a close deadline and a reputation to meet it
with a hot digital solution.
Of course, the next bit you already know. Our
brainstorming session worked its productive little butt
off. The social media guy had an awesome gaming
suggestion. The developer came up with a great angle
on how to execute it and I tied in the insight behind the
idea that was true to the brand.
Maybe there was something to this developer-designerwriter-whoever else thing after all.

Image Source:
1. http://www.atterburybakalarairmuseum.
org/Capt._Stratton_Hammon__Mrs._
Allred_Nov._1942.jpg

The

SoDAReport


Tony Clement, Head of Strategic Planning, TBG Digital

Why Your Math
Teacher is Killing
Your Creativity
Tony Clement is the Head
of Strategic Planning
at TBG Digital. Born in
Brooklyn, raised in Sydney
and now living in London,
he misses all things above
5 degrees Celsius. With a
background in Statistics
and a love for Converse,
he is a Strategist that
brings together data and
creativity to help ideas
find their purpose. He has
contributed to four AFA
Effectiveness awards and
has an APG award for
Best Use of Data. Recently
joining TBG, he has worked
as Strategist and/or Data
Geek for a number of places
including Wunderman,
BMF Sydney, Leo Burnett
and JESS3.

“I’m not a data person.”
What if by saying these small words you were
poisoning your agency and slowly choking
off your career? What if by accepting this
statement you were carving out corners of
measurement misperception and building data
prisons in your own creative community?
Let’s do a symptoms check. Do terms like
‘pivot tables,’ ‘recursive loops’ and ‘weighted
moving averages’ make you feel frozen with
indecision. If so, you need to take a breath,
think back to your high school days and curse
your Math Teacher. Pause. Do it again, and
then read on with teenage angst.
I blame Mr. Chin

My year 12 math teacher, Mr Chin, was a weird guy.
He had a bad beard, bad breath and spoke to the
chalkboard for 45 minutes at a time while his class
sputtered into oblivion at their rickety wooden desks.
You know the feeling. We’ve all had a Mr.Chin or two.
It was by far the most dreaded class to attend, the
anti-Christ to PE, the classroom where no one wanted

to be at any time of day. And unfortunately, the slow
torturous doctrine of mixing boredom with formulaic
memory tests didn’t come to an end at high school.
The truth is over your high school and university
years, you either avoided math and swayed to arts,
or you punished yourself by attending 30 to 40 hours
of lectures each week for years, just to emerge with
battle scars and emotional trauma so deep, it actually
hindered your ability to speak like a normal human.
Your agency and your career need you to leave Mr. Chin
at the chalkboard. And instead of coping with data, it
needs you to rethink how it can become a part of the
creative culture so the gap between science and creative
can begin to heal.
Could you help your agency see the beauty of science to
build ideas, and learn how to speak data without using
terms like ‘p-value’ and ‘Central Limit Theorem’ just to
get people nodding in synchronized misunderstanding?
Well if want those things, tell your Mr. Chin that he is
the one who has failed, because numbers are more than
formulas, suppositions and marks out of 100. Tell him
by:

Taking the power back from Mr. Chin
and giving it to your Inner Geek

Have you ever noticed that most people have a hidden
Geek within? But they are pushed down, kept quiet
and exist in fear. But what’s even more interesting, is
every now and then, you’ll see that person’s eyes light
up when they let the Inner Geek out to solve a ‘data’
problem, and the Geek rejoices.
Let your Geek out for a walk and take small Geeky steps
to make your Inner Geek stronger.
Try this - The next time you go to the data team, sit
with them and ask what they are doing, and how they

“ The collision of

data and design
is demonstrating
to the industry the
communication
potential of data.

”

are doing it. Or if you have a ‘how do you do that?’
question, like, ‘how do you create a pivot table and
chart’, just go to them and spend 15 minutes exercising
your Inner Geek. It’ll be time well spent.
I pick pivot tables as a simple example, because
managing the information is half the battle and if you
can do this, your Inner Geek will hug you.

Rage using the machine Use the open sources on the
net to learn at machine speed

Let’s face it. If you can remember more than a handful
of formulas from high school or university you are
doing extremely well. The human brain has an effective
memory loop of two seconds when it comes to digits,
which might explain why it’s so hard to memorize phone
numbers. Fortunately, the internet has more memory
than us all, and making the most of that collective
intelligence and openness with data is going to help you
become a data beast.
Try this: Ever wanted to learn how your digital
developers and producers build those web apps and
other cool digital stuff? Then Code Academy gives you
a very friendly and free start to understanding the
principles of producing digital experiences.

Open eyes with art, instead
of blinding them with science

The collision of data and design is demonstrating to
the industry the communication potential of data. And
no, I’m not talking just about infographics, that’s one
output. I’m talking about getting people to imagine
(yes, imagine) what data can reveal to them, why that is
provocative and how to communicate it.

During a data academy session I was doing, I held this up
and said, “That is all of my banking transaction data, and
I have a problem, but I never expected it to be this bad.”

My savings problem is something that I wouldn’t
have seen unless I put the information into this
different format. And that is the power of data
visualization, which I think is best said by an American
mathematician, John W. Tukey in 1977:
“The greatest value of a picture is when it forces us to
notice what we never expected to see.”
Often organic or manmade facts can propel us to places
of unexpected intuition and insight. And working for
those facts is just another form of applied curiosity.
Start to close the gap in your agency by learning a few
techniques and setting a reminder for Monday saying,
‘Let out the Inner Geek, Mr. Chin got it all wrong.’

The

SoDAReport


Interview with Ignacio Oreamuno,
Executive Director of the Art Directors Club

The Point
of Awards
Ignacio Oreamuno is
the Executive Director of
the Art Directors Club &
President of the Tomorrow
Awards. He is also the
founder of IHAVEANIDEA,
one of the world’s largest
online advertising
communities with 12
million pages read a year.
Interview conducted
by Sean MacPhedran,
Editor and Group Planning
Director at Fuel.

We caught up with Ignacio as he was enjoying
a mojito in Miami, surveying the location
of his next Award Show – the ADC 92nd
Annual Awards + Festival of Art and Craft in
Advertising and Design.
MACPHEDRAN: Why are awards important to
our industry?
OREAMUNO: It used to be that awards were mainly
about the winners. Creativity is hard to measure. Only
the best of your peers can really judge, because so much
of it is qualitative, it’s a craft. We need to collectively
be able to recognize quality. In an industry that is so
creative, we need some kind of benchmark, a goal to
work towards, otherwise how do you teach?
Some shows are more focused on metrics, but the line
of measurement is so fuzzy that a good analyst can make
a terrible campaign look like it performed amazingly.
Maybe there was 100 times more media dollars. Maybe
they slashed prices at the same time as a horrible ad
campaign launched.

The awards industry needs to be more about education.
What is that amazing idea that everyone needs to
understand? What are the 20 amazing ideas this year?
They’re all going to be different. Awards are important
because they are a forum where we can all share our
successes, and the rest of us can learn from them. That’s
why we are pushing to make awards more educational,
and not just about handing out trophies.
MACPHEDRAN: Do you think awards are relevant
to clients? Or are they more about self-congratulation?
OREAMUNO: Absolutely. People want to work
with winners because they’re more likely to win again.
Awards are an easy way for clients to recognize how
well-respected their agency is by its peers. Not every
great agency is going to be at the top of the Gunn
Report, but it tells you something that an agency has
been recognized. And clients are as much responsible
for awards as the agencies. Creatives always complain
that “Oh, I had a great idea, but the client didn’t like it.”
But that is as much about risk as it is about how good
the idea might have been. Maybe the idea was fun, but it
was completely outside of the risk tolerance the client’s
strategy allowed for.
Awards help bring clients into the fold of creativity.
When Old Spice wins an award, you know… Everyone
knows, that it was an entire team that worked to
make that kind of breakthrough campaign happen. It
can’t happen without the client. Not just because they
approve it, but because they’ve helped craft the strategy
to bring the brand into a place where it’s ready for that
kind of innovation.
And for clients who are looking to the future – when the
creative team has some idea that seems crazy - when
you can look out into the world and see other risky ideas
that worked, things that broke the mold, it starts to set

a precedent that the only way to win in the marketplace
IS to innovate. To do something different and
remarkable. Awards help showcase those successes in a
formalized framework.
MACPHEDRAN: On the topic of education, how are
you working to bring that value back to the industry?
OREAMUNO: Well, on Tomorrow Awards – the entire
program is designed around education for innovation.
Instead of judges hiding in a box and voting, everything
is filmed. Why did they pick that and not this? You
get to see the debate, and there is a lot of debate, that
happens over each choice. But even before it gets to that
stage, we make everyone a judge. If you are a technology
intern in London or a senior Creative Director in Egypt,
you have a vote. We wanted people to explore the cases
for themselves.
The point of the Tomorrow Awards is to tear down
all of the walls. There are no categories. It’s all about
the innovation of the idea – and no two are ever alike.
We need to train ourselves to think so differently than
before, and no one is really doing that for the creatives.
The Art Directors Club is currently experiencing a total
re-birth. We’ve gone back to our roots of art and craft.
All our programs have been updated to reflect this.
From taking our 92nd annual to the tablet to creating
a community for our members that is fun and relevant,
instead of preachy and old. The biggest thing we’re
doing this year is the 92nd Annual Awards + Festival
of Art and Craft in Advertising and Design which is a
completely new and different type of festival. Instead of
having creative directors speak, I’m inviting some of the
most inspiring artists from around the world to teach
us the skills of craft, creativity and art. We’re going to
be doing everything from photo workshops to legos to
creative brainstorming. And all this will take

place in Miami Beach, a great place for networking. It’s
a win win for the industry and for all those who attend.
We need to fall back in love with our craft, because the
only thing that separates us from a client is the fact that
we’re supposed to be creative artists.

The

SoDAReport


Interview with Andrea Bertignoll,
President of KANND Solutions

Recruitment
Agencies: Breaking
Old Perceptions
Andrea Bertignoll serves
as the President of KANND
Solutions. Andrea has an
academic background in
Technology and 20 years of
recruitment and business
management experience.
Interview conducted
by Sean MacPhedran,
Editor and Group Planning
Director at Fuel.

One of the most hotly debated topics is
the need (or lack thereof) for Recruitment
Agencies. We sat down with Andrea Bertignoll,
President of KANND Solutions, to get the
recruiters perspective on how agencies and
recruiters can work better together.
MACPHEDRAN: Why is recruitment treated as the
red-headed stepchild of services in our industry?
BERTIGNOLL: There are many reasons, but I think
most of them are linked to the bad apples of Christmas
past. A poor reputation has built up, I think mainly
stemming from the actions of older firms that aren’t as
consultative and haven’t adapted to the changing needs
of the clients and candidates. There are still too many
of the stereotypical “body shops” out there who are in
the game to place anyone into a spot vs. making sure
that it’s a good fit for both the client and the candidate
alike. There is more to it than matching a resume to a
job description and then charging a fee...which is yet
another bone of contention.
In addition to all of that, “recruiting” is often seen
as something that HR should already be capable of

doing in-house. Not always the case. As the number
of specialized roles keeps expanding, it’s next to
impossible to expect an HR Manager to manage
regular HR abilities and still recruit the right person
for the right role for multiple requirements. Seriously,
in some of the cases I’ve seen, they are juggling these
responsibilities and don’t have the authorization to use
a recruitment agency to help...something’s got to give.
All that said, it’s not that HR Managers are incapable
of recruiting, that’s the furthest from the truth, but
we see many of these people essentially trying to
hold down two full time jobs...daily HR management
responsibilities, and recruiting multiple specialized
mandates simultaneously.
MACPHEDRAN: It seems like a good analogy would
be Account Management vs. Business Development?
BERTIGNOLL: Absolutely, it’s a perfect analogy.
Many HR professionals that I’ve worked with pursue
this career path for the nurturing/farming aspect of it.
They are responsible for managing the company’s most
precious assets... its employees. An HR Manager or even
the Hiring Managers who sometimes have their own
recruitment mandates aren’t in the position of hunting,
but managing what they have.
No company would expect an Account Manager to
be in the mindset of hunting for new clients all the
time. That’s what Business Development does. It’s
not just a different role. It’s really a different mindset
and personality type. Recruiters are able to keep more
active databases. We hunt to find the best talent. We
develop relationships with talent and hunt to find as
much real information as possible. For example, my
new passive candidate “Billy” might have started a new
role a few months ago, but I know that he despises his
new supervisor and the commute time is already getting
to him. I know this because he tells me when I probe
for the right information and simultaneously create

See what respondents to
our ’13 Digital Marketing
Outlook Survey said were
key job satisfaction factors
for them. Spoiler alert…
it really isn’t just about
salary.

a relationship with him. I know what his key “must
haves” are and they aren’t usually the salary. They can
be anything from the work-life balance to the preferred
corporate culture or anything within... Everyone is
different. Our job is to hunt for this information, hunt
for the talent, and hunt for the truth... If we don’t, we
can’t make the right match.
At the end of the day, many of us are in it because we
LOVE matchmaking. I think we just thrive on getting
people to “hook up” with the right people. We all have
a friend who does that...usually the one trying to get
everyone married. They just get a kick out of helping
people connect. Just like your biz dev people who get
the adrenaline rush from closing a deal.
MACPHEDRAN: How would you suggest HR
Managers go about working with Recruiters then?
BERTIGNOLL: Mainly it’s got to be about fit with the
company. Obviously, from our perspective, a retainer
is the best thing. But a contingency-based service is
going to make your recruiters work a little harder.
After a while though, you’ll know what agency you
like to work with and which one is a waste of your
time... Whether it’s the quality of the talent, the follow
up, the service, etc. I’d recommend picking a couple
of recruiters that you’ve developed a comfort level
with... You know, the ones that you trust won’t try and
“squeeze a square peg into a round hole.” The ones
that you can say... “get this mandate off of my desk”
and they bust their behinds to get it done. The one
who understands your needs and then gives you a full
rundown of the needs of the candidate.
Essentially today’s talent pool is fluid and, as such,
recruitment is a full-time job. If you can use recruitment
help, find a firm you trust. If your company can do it,
build a dedicated team, but don’t assume that you’re
going to get the best talent if you haven’t allocated
the resources.

MACPHEDRAN: Is there any other advice you’d
want to give?
BERTIGNOLL: Most of us who go into business in
small recruitment firms are really just passionate about
the challenge. Making the right match for a client’s
needs with the ideal talent gives you the “warm and
fuzzies” for lack of a better term. To make that match we
need to have much more than just a job description...
We need to know details about the team, new projects,
the direct supervisor, soft skills that would be ideal, etc.
That said, I’d say always getting the hiring manager/
department head involved early and working with your
recruiters is a good idea. They’re the ones who are
going to be able to best describe all the nuances of what
they’re looking for.

The

SoDAReport


30 Seconds of
Wisdom
We asked SoDA Members what they’d want
to share if they had the conch for 30 seconds.
What came back was a deluge of thoughts
ranging from usability advice to insights into
client relations, as well as the occasional joke.
Innovation & Creativity

“ Look for three, big innovative wins and then be

relentless in delivering and making sure those
happen. Read Insanely Simple by Ken Segall
-- pretty good cure for the talk-it-to-death blues.

— David Rossiter, Creative Director, Enlighten

”

“ Creativity is being replaced by flexibility.”

— Dan Kennedy

“ Process can’t do the work for you. It’s provides

guidance, but it’s not a defined path to guaranteed
success.

”

— Anonymous

Teams

“ Put your people first and enable them to make
changes: both internally and externally. Then
sit back and watch the magic happen.

”

— Ranae Heuer, Managing Director, Big Spaceship

“ Don’t be afraid to pull in experts from outside your

own organization. We all want to believe we can do
everything, but, sometimes, pulling in a true expert
will not only end with an incredible result but will
also serve as a learning opportunity for your teams.

— Anonymous

”

“ Optimize your time and resources. First thing every
day, we regroup with our team and decide how the
day will flow. Now, we start working at 10AM and
stop at 7PM. And everything works.

”

— “The Most Amazing Producer in the World”

“ Developers and designers need to be more willing

to iterate when it comes to development. I still see a
trend where Project Managers (stakeholders), afraid
of missing a timeline, place pressure on teams to get
it right the first time. That just isn’t realistic.

”

— “Mysterious Mustafa”

Clients

“ Re-think who your clients really are.”

— Vassilios Alexiou, Founder, Less Rain

“ You’ll always get undercut by someone, so make sure
quality - not money - is your value proposition.”

— Matt Walsh, Director of Business Development, Resn

“ The focus on growing our business and our clients’

businesses shouldn’t be on selling. If we focus on truly
solving problems and providing opportunities, that
results in revenue growth.

”

— Kt McBratney, General Manager, Phenomblue

“ Preparation. To be prepared is not just showing up

10 minutes early to an engagement. Rather it’s the
assembly and construction of knowledge pertaining
to the subject. Whether this is researching a company
before a job interview or gathering vital credentials
from clients, you aren’t truly prepared unless you’ve
really done your homework.

”

— Lyndze Blosser, Interactive Designer, Terralever

“ Three-way partnerships (traditional agency, client,
and digital agency) are fraught with backstabbing
danger.

”

— Anonymous

“ Marketers say they understand how paid, earned,
and owned media work together, but most don’t
really.

”

— Dave Bovenschulte, EVP Digital Strategy &
Product Development, Zemoga

Consumers

“ Think just as hard about PEOPLE as you do

PRODUCT. In this world where everything is set
to formulas, segments, demographics, spreadsheets,
legalities and logistics, we have to remember that
PEOPLE (we call them consumers) are at the heart
of making this all work. These people are human,
and they don’t always do the logical things we’d like
to believe that they’ll do.

”

— Jon Haywood, Planning Director & Cultural Attache,
DARE

“ Content marketing is king. Embracing branded

content has been an important business tactic for
a long time, but it’s REALLY important now that
consumers have started to expect it.

”

— Tessa Wegert, Communications Director, Enlighten &
Media Buying Columnist, ClickZ.com

“ As we head into 2013, email haters will rise again,

proclaiming the end of this old school marketing
channel. My advice, don’t believe the hype people...
it’s alive and well, and here to stay.

”

— Andy Parnell, SVP, Client Services, Terralever

Usability

“ Use technology to create utility; don’t use it to make
things more convenient. If convenience is the goal,
our society is fucked. (And don’t let technology
replace good craft.) And... JUST BE HONEST.

— Erin Standley, Design Director, Phenomblue

”

“ Social media web toolbars that live at the bottom of

the webpage - these need to die a painful death and
go to their specially assigned rung in hell. Just about
the biggest annoyance currently in the web world.

— Andrew Hainen, Interaction Designer, Enlighten

“ Always do wireframes or sketch interfaces before

”

starting design. It’s easier to move around boxes and
shapes as you think about the experience than it is
to redesign parts as you’re working towards a great
user experience.

”

— Joe Branton, Design Director, Grow Interactive

Image Source:
1. http://cloudfront.inthecapital.com/
files/2012/08/dalai-lama-points-his-finger.
jpg

The

SoDAReport


The SoDA Buzz
Word Launcher
Ideation, Phygital, Viral, Interactive Video,
Gamification, Momversation, Phablet, Native
Advertising, Big Data, Monetization, Engage
and Social Currency are all words that SoDA
members suggested for permanent deletion
from our professional vocabularies. But
what should replace them? We received a
slew of suggestions for horribly unnecessary
buzzwords, and hope that you will begin to use
them in everyday discussion. Nudge nudge,
wink wink.
Qualitangible
Definition: Insights that ride the threshold between
qualitative observations and wild hearsay, but need a
good label to be taken seriously.
“It’s useful for those occasions when you need to
pass off a conversation with your mate at the pub
as a research driven insight,” suggests Amer Iqbal
from Deepend.
In use: “Most consumers will tell you that they
use their smartphone in the washroom. We had

a qualitangible insight that this pattern of behavior
carries over to urinals as well, but with a lower
adoption rate. It indicates that our Urinal Puck AR
Experience is going to be well received by our target
audience.”

Web 10.01
Definition: A level of digital integration so broad and
advanced that it encompasses all innovation for the
next 40 years, removing any need for further version
upgrades in vocabulary.
In use: “Your Xbox 720 fell in love with your Google
Glasses over Vine? That’s so Web 10.0. We should
leverage this for our online dating client.”

Corporate Bohemian2
Definition: An employee who follows the lifestyle
of a Key West transient while working for a large
corporation.
In use: “Oh yeah, Chuck is great. Total Corporate
Bohemian. He threw a killer brainstorm in his
office over drinks and a few of us just crashed
under his desk. Haven’t seen him in weeks, but the
presentation went really well.”

Moupon3
Definition: A coupon that works on your mobile
phone.
In use: “It’s like a coupon, but for your mobile phone.
We call it a moupon. I’m pitching it tomorrow as the
Grey Poupon Moupon. It’s got legs.”

Non-tourage4
Definition: A party of one. A term used to describe
non-social behavior within social networks, or an

individual so connected in the physical world to their
digital network that their “entourage” is invisible.
In use: “That guy over there at table 5 said he was a
party of 8, but he meant his non-tourage. He’s been
in a Google Hangout for 2 hours and I think he’s also
running Chatroulette.”

Egosystem5
Definition: A self-sustaining system of egomania only
tenuously connected to reality, but necessary for the
life of projects and its own livelihood.
In use: “It’s a great idea, but we need to incorporate
more pet concepts and buzz words or it will never
survive long enough in the egosystem to get to
market.”

Yak-a-demia6
Definition: The eye of the buzz word tornado. A
rarified group in which only theory and discussion,
never execution, is the currency of value.
In use: “I went to a workshop at AGENCY
REDACTED but it was total yak-a-demia. We were
supposed to learn about producing for transmedia,
but it was just a bunch of art videos and out-ofcontext Henry Jenkins quotes.”

Digitable7
Definition: A person who interacts so much with
technology they are rendered into a vegetable.
In use: “Wendy is really on top of all this social media
stuff, but she’s a total digitable in meetings. One time
I spilled a coffee on her and she didn’t even notice.”

Let’s get to bidness!!!8
Definition: A phrase used to spur a group into
action. Usually used after 2am or while suffering
from a head cold.
In use: “Let’s get to bidness!!! Our pitch is in 4 hours
and I think Phil might have been arrested. Did
anyone pay the bill?”

Term Contributors:
1. Andy Parnell, SVP, Client Services, Terralever
2. Anonymous
3. Tessa Wegert, Communications Director,
Enlighten and Media Buying Columnist,
ClickZ.com
4-6. David Rossiter, Creative Director,
Enlighten
7. Karl Reynolds, Creative Director, Deepend
Sydney
8. Matt Walsh, Director of Business
Development, Resn

The

SoDAReport


Ming Chan, CEO, The1stMovement

Going East – Why
Asia Should Be on
Your Growth Roadmap
As Founder and CEO
of The1stMovement,
Ming was named as
one of the “Top 10 Asian
Entrepreneurs” by Inc.
Magazine, and has led
the agency to numerous
accolades including:
three-time Inc. 500’s
“Fastest Growing Private
Companies in America,”
three-time “Best Places
to work in LA,” and “Top
20 Advertising Agencies”
in LA and Denver.
The1stMovement has also
created custom digital
solutions for some of the
world’s most well-known
brands including: AT&T,
Adobe, Cisco, DaVita,
Lexus, Pentax and USOC.

Having spent more than 15 years growing up
in Hong Kong (and still visiting every year), I
have always paid extra attention to the Asian
markets since I founded The1stMovement in
Los Angeles in 2006. In early 2012 we opened
our first Asian office in Hong Kong, and we
learned a lot from this experience. I wanted to
share some of the lessons we learned for those
companies who are also considering a move
into Asia.

“ China might be your

ultimate target market,
but there are still serious
challenges to setting up
shop there. The most
significant barrier is
simply fundamental
cultural differences
between East and
West.

”

But, first, let’s consider the following statistics:
• Four out of the top ten Fortune 500
companies in the world are headquartered in
Asia1
• 12 out of the 20 fastest growing countries in
the world are in Asia, and have an average
of 7% GDP growth in 2012 (vs. <2% growth
from US)2
• Overall advertising spends in Asia are
projected to grow at a rate of 7.6% in 2013
(vs. 3.8% in North America)3
• US-based, multinational giants like Apple,
Nike, GM, and others have poured over
US$49 billion worth of investment into China
alone each year since 20094
With that context, here are the most important things
we learned along the way:
1. Asia is enormous and diverse
Asia is the world’s largest and most populous
continent with 48 separate and unique
countries, home to 60% of the world’s
population and over 2,000 different spoken
languages. Firms in Asia increasingly and
regularly do business in more than one
country, as we did recently with a project
launched in 15 countries and in 7 languages.
All on the same day at the same time. This
required real on the ground local knowledge
and cultural understanding.
2. our entry point is critical
Y
Projected to become the largest economy
by the end of 20165, China might be your
ultimate target market, but there are still
serious challenges to setting up shop there.

“ Asia is the world’s

largest and most
populous continent
with 48 separate and
unique countries, home
to 60% of the world’s
population and over
2,000 different spoken
languages.

”

The most significant barrier is simply
fundamental cultural differences between
East and West. We chose to open in Hong
Kong because it is one of the most multicultural cities in the world. But Singapore
is also a good choice as it is a very Westernfriendly city for business. And, despite recent
economic troubles, Japan is still projected to
be top five in the world for digital advertising
spend. Not to be overlooked – Indonesia and
Malaysia – are two of the fastest growing
countries on the planet.
3. onsumer behavior is different in Asia
C
While there is some opportunity to apply
what we’ve learned in the US to the East, it is
important not to underestimate differences in
consumer behavior – and not only between
East and West, but between different
countries within Asia. For example, one
recent project taught us that consumers in
China spent on average four times more time
online than consumers in Indonesia. A fact
that caused us to adjust our campaign idea
and local country execution plan.
4. our existing global clients can help you
Y
Chances are your company is already
working with a client with global reach.
Their knowledge, experience and network
will undoubtedly help with your planning.
For us, what started as a pipe dream of
expanding into Asia quickly became a serious
pursuit when we began working with global
brands like Cisco, Pentax and Reebok. The
experience we had working with their teams
in Asia, and understanding how they act,
how they communicate and how they think,
made our transition into working with a
local Asia brand that much smoother.

Sources:
1. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/
global500/2012/full_list/index.html
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_
countries_by_real_GDP_growth_rate_
(latest_year)
3. http://www.jcdecaux-oneworld.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/04/OneWorldsGlobal-Adspend-Forecasts-Apr-2012.pdf
4. http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/20/news/
international/us_business_chinese_
investment_boom/index.htm
5. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/
nov/09/china-overtake-us-four-years-oecd

Image Source:
1. http://www.makino.com.sg/img/about/
about_worldmap.png

The

SoDAReport


RELATED RESEARCH INSIGHTS

Key Insight:
Top digital agencies and production companies are
becoming more proactive and are taking a larger seat at the
table with clients and traditional agencies, based largely on
the unique value and innovative IP they’re delivering.
Undoubtedly, this is a trend that we’ve witnessed in past SoDA research
studies, but it has become even more pronounced this year. Agencies
and production companies are offering more education and training to
clients, and developing labs and incubators to spur a virtuous cycle of
innovation and IP development. In fact, product incubators are growing
quickly in terms of their prevalence and importance for digital agencies,
production companies and full-service agencies with digital capabilities
– helping them win work and stay fresh.
The Innovation Lab Explosion

39%

61%

Yes
No

Innovation labs
at full-service and
digital agencies
are proliferating
Q. Do you have an innovation lab/product
incubator within your agency or production
company?

The call for digital agencies to have increased responsibilities with
respect to product / service innovations on the client side (Note: more
than 1 in 5 client respondents to the ’13 survey say their lead digital

agency will have primary responsibility for product/service innovation
at their company in the long term*), coupled with the fact that the vast
majority of agencies believe the best route to growth is to make things
(unique, effective experiences and tools for brands and consumers) has
led to the proliferation of innovation labs and product incubators within
the agency and production company space.
Finding and cultivating talent who can contribute to a virtuous cycle of
innovation for the agency and its clients is an arduous task. However,
the very fact that these labs/incubators are being created is generating
a very positive benefit beyond things like VC funding. The initiatives are
bolstering employee satisfaction. In fact, agency execs say the number
one benefit of innovation labs is talent retention (i.e., happier, more
engaged staff (47% of respondents).
* Most client respondents indicated that internal teams at their companies will
continue to have primary responsibility for product / service innovation (53% to
be exact), but lead digital agencies ranked second at 22%.


Key Insight:
Digital agencies and full-service agencies with digital
capabilities may disagree on business models and the best
path to growth, but they do agree on the need to focus on
innovation and IP development in order to thrive, and on key
advocacy issues.
Respondent Overview

Agency Type
Agency Type

%

Full service agency
(including digital and traditional)

45%

Traditional advertising or marketing agency
(no In-house digital capabilities)

3%

Digital or interactive agency
(no in-house traditional capabilities)

44%

PR or social agency

3%


5%

Q. Which of the following best describes the type of agency
that you work for?
In the 2013 survey, we saw a tremendous increase in the number of
respondents from traditional advertising or marketing agencies that had
both traditional and digital capabilities. In fact, agency-side respondents
were almost evenly split between digital agencies (44%) and traditional
shops with digital capabilities (45%).
While the two sets of respondents agreed in many areas, their answers
did diverge in a few key topics.

Different POVs on the Future of Independent Agencies

Do you agree or disagree?
-“Independent Agencies Do
Not Have a Bright Future”
Full Service Agencies with
Digital Capabilities

14%

6%

16%
26%

Digital Agencies

58%
80%

Agree
Disagree
Don’t Know/No Opinion

Agree
Disagree

Q. Thinking about the advertising industry broadly, do you
agree or disagree with the following statement? Independent
agencies do not have a bright future – the vast majority will
be absorbed by the major holdings.
In comparison to digital only shops, full-service agencies were decidedly
less optimistic about the future of independent agencies. Only 6% of
digital agency respondents agreed with the statement about the demise
of independent agencies, compared to 26% of full-service agencies.

Different POVs on the Best Route to Growth

Do you agree or disagree? - “The best route to
growth is through specialization.”
Full Service Agencies with
Digital Capabilities

Digital Agencies
5%

%
17
51%

%

39%

56%

32

Agree
Disagree

Agree
Disagree

Q. Thinking about the advertising industry broadly, do you
agree or disagree with the following statement? The best
route to growth is through specialization (either by industry
vertical or digital services offered) versus a general, fullservice approach.
A majority of digital agency respondents (56%) agreed that
specialization offers the best path to growth as opposed to 32% of
respondents from full-service agencies. While not unexpected that a
majority of full-service agencies would disagree with such a statement, it
was somewhat surprising that so many actually agreed. In other words,
almost one third of respondents from full-service agencies said they
thought the best route to growth is through specialization, suggesting
they are not particularly bullish on their own business model.
Both types of agencies were equally likely to have a product incubator
/ innovation lab within their company (roughly 40% for each type of
agency) and – as previously stated – they largely agree on key advocacy
issues. In short, there is a broad consensus across a range of agency
types when it comes to the types of issues we need to fight for in order to
drive the industry forward. A few examples…

Similar Stances on Key
Advocacy Issues
Full Service
Agencies
with Digital
Capabilities

Digital
Agencies

The need for stronger user experience standards and advocating
for user-centric design vs. technology as an end in and of itself

67%

62%

The need to disrupt current models for online display advertising

37%

30%

The need to define better and more equitable contracting standards
between agencies, production companies and clients

41%

43%

The need to influence and direct IP/copyright
standards and practices

12%

15%

The need to define and lead digital marketing literacy initiatives

37%

47%

The need to influence and direct privacy standards and practices

19%

18%

None of these

7%

8%

Q.Which of the following industry issues are most important
from your perspective? Please mark up to three choices.
For more information on how SoDA is tackling these issues, please
contact us at info@sodaspeaks.com.


Key Insight:
Most clients are migrating toward a roster of highly
specialized digital agencies, signaling that digital agency
ecosystems will likely become more crowded in 2013 and
beyond.

Specialization Rules!
Assignment Structure
We rely on one or more full-service digital agency
to handle digital marketing assignments

%
16%

We maintain a roster of highly specialized digital
agencies (search, mobile, social, etc.)

29%

We maintain a mix of full-service and
highly specialized digital agencies

23%

We work with a lead agency that handles
all digital and traditional assignments

11
11%

Doesn’t apply

21%

Q. How do you structure your digital marketing assignments
between agencies?
Digital is clearly seen as a unique domain. Only 11% of clients rely on
a lead agency to handle all traditional and digital assignments. The
remaining respondents rely on highly specialized digital agencies and
production companies, full-service digital shops, or a mix of the two.
52% of clients include highly specialized digital agencies on their roster.

Crowded Digital
Agency Ecosystems
No. of Agencies

%

Zero

13%

One

23%

Two

26%

Three

17%

Four

9%

Five

5%

Six

1%

Seven

1%

Eight

1%

Nine

0%

Ten or more

4%

Q. How many agencies touch
digital marketing efforts at your
company?
31% of clients use 3 or more agencies to
solve their digital challenges, a percentage
that is likely to rise as more and more
clients increase the number of highly
specialized digital agencies on their roster.

Modern Marketers
Section Preface
The Age of Agile
Top 7 Marks of a Great Client
The Logic of the New: Getting New Thinking Made
The Year of the Mobile User…Again
2013: Shifts in Marketing
How the Irreverent Approach to Marketing is
The Approach to Marketing –
An Interview with Dollar Shave Club CEO, Michael Dubin
Related Research Insights


The

SoDAReport

Section 3 : Modern Marketers

Mark Pollard
Modern Marketer
Section Editor
VP Brand Strategy,
Big Spaceship

The central irony in this issue’s Modern Marketer
section is this: the startup that’s earned some of
the most attention in the past year is simply doing
Marketing 101. The CEO wants to solve a problem
for a particular group of people, he’s able to tell the
company’s story in a captivating way, he tests and
iterates, and then rinse-and-repeat. Digital channels just
happen to be where the Dollar Shave Club has focused.
Sometimes small budgets make you work harder.
With that in mind, we wanted to stay away from digital
novelty and focus on the guts of marketing right now.
The past decade has seen marketing departments
shift in size and DNA. Companies are asking more
of marketers – to work faster, to work out the
confusing agency relationships their predecessors have
established, and to save money while working in a more
complex world. The noise, the noise.
What do you do when the world gets noisy? Turn it
down and get back to basics. Solve problems, explore
insights, watch behavior, and then test and learn. So,
in this section you’ll hear the very straight-forward
approach to marketing of the Dollar Shave Club’s CEO.
You’ll hear from Nando’s about the slow-to-evolve
restaurant industry, much of which still use PDFs as a
key content format. And you’ll hear from General Mills
about the challenges that new thinking finds in very
large organizations.
We also picked the brains of journalists and editors
from the likes of Econsultancy, Contagious Magazine,
and Marketing Week as well as CMOs and CEOs from
Adobe, Water for People and Fancred. And to top it off,

Econsultancy’s VP of US Research shares the agency’s
point of view on what makes a great client. It’s not as
self-serving as one might think.
Revel in the irony – quietly.

The

SoDAReport


Sandy Fleischer,
Managing Partner, Pound & Grain

The Age of Agile
Sandy Fleischer is a
15-year veteran of the
digital marketing space,
and currently Managing
Partner at Pound & Grain,
a creative agency built for
our digital culture. Sandy
currently sits on the Board
of Overinteractive Media
Inc, a social media gaming
company, and DigiBC, a
non-profit organization
with a mission to promote,
support and accelerate the
growth, competitiveness
and sustainability of British
Columbia’s digital media
and wireless industry.
In another life, Sandy is
known as DJ Pescatore
and on a good day, he can
juggle four tennis balls. For
more of Sandy’s thoughts
on agile marketing, follow
him @pescatore.

Agile Marketing is an evolving marketing
management framework. This article discusses
why and how you should implement it.
The last thing we need is another article about how
digital marketing and social media have transformed
everything. We get it. The relationship between the
consumer and brands has changed.
While most marketing departments are committed to
digital marketing, how to effectively execute on these
new opportunities remains a challenge. We are now
operating in a real-time environment where speed is of
the essence, priorities are constantly shifting, and there
are a multitude of fragmented touch points to think
about. The new age of marketing demands a new kind
of marketing management. Welcome to the world of
agile marketing.

What is Agile Marketing

Agile marketing, based on the agile software
development methodology, is about putting the
customer at the center of everything. It’s an approach
designed to capitalize on speed to market, and to thrive
in environments of rapid change.

“ Go to market with

many small campaigns
frequently on many
channels, and then
continually iterate to
improve campaigns
based on feedback
and data.

”

The principles of agile marketing include:
1. Talk trumps tools
People and conversations are more
important than process and tools. Open and
fluid collaboration on a daily basis between
people and departments is a must, and silos
are your enemy.What a perfect question!
2. umbers make opinions
N
Measurement and testing are critical, and
should guide your decisions over conventions
or personal opinions. Here’s your shot to
define your objectives, and continually
measure if you are achieving them.
3. ack what works
B
Go to market with many small campaigns
frequently on many channels, and then
continually iterate to improve campaigns
based on feedback and data. There is no need
to bet the farm on one or two major annual
campaigns.
4. air up with a customer
P
Bring your customers right into the
marketing process. Digital allows you to
listen, learn, and then enable your customers
to become the advocates of your brand.

How to live agilely

While agile marketing is a fairly simple concept, it may
require significant changes to how you and your team
(which may include your agency) are currently working.
Here are some key elements recommended to put agile
marketing into practice.
1. Sprints
Large project plans are broken down in to
smaller pieces or sprints, to enable frequent
and immediate feedback. Build fast, build

“ People and

conversations are
more important than
process and tools.

”

often, and learn from your mistakes. A Sprint
Planning Session can facilitate shared goals
between marketing, management, sales and
development and ensure priorities and tasks
are agreed to based on resource availability.
If you consider an annual marketing plan,
this can be broken down into sprints where
the plan is refined and updated on a monthly
basis. At the end of the sprint, Review and
Retrospective Meetings are held to discuss
what was accomplished and how things
went. These meetings are key, as they
facilitate continuous improvement.
2. crums
S
The sprint itself is managed by scrums –
daily 15-minute stand-up meetings to discuss
what people did yesterday, what they will do
today and what obstacles they encountered
along the way. An appointed scrum master
efficiently leads these meetings, tracks
progress and even bolsters team morale.
3. ser Stories
U
User stories are anything that a consumer
wants to accomplish. They identify the
various needs that any given customer
segment may have at various stages of the
buying process. They ensure that appropriate
marketing materials are developed in a
consumer-centric way.

Who is using agile marketing?

Many progressive companies such as Google,
Electronic Arts, and HootSuite have become advocates
of agile marketing.
“Given the broad range of customers we have at
HootSuite, we had already determined that it was

important for us to build intimate customer tribes
rather than large impersonal markets. That was the
business case for agile that I needed,” said Ben Watson,
VP Marketing for HootSuite.
“Now our marketing plans have shifted from laundry
lists of tactics to being focused on outcomes, KPIs and
(return on) investment, which in turn enables agility
from our customer marketing, content and demand
teams. Success in marketing is always going to be a
work in progress. The easy win here is that being agile
helps you try more things, learn from those outcomes,
as well as react faster to trends. This leaves you with
more awesome to choose from, and trains your teams
to be constantly applying data and learning in ways that
ultimately improve the outcomes.”
Agile marketing will usher in a change in mindset
and culture, enabling an organization to capitalize on
the opportunities made possible by rapid advances
in marketing and technology. It leads to better, more
relevant marketing initiatives, and it’s a lot of fun!

The

SoDAReport


Stefan Tornquist, VP Research (US), Econsultancy

Top 7 Marks
of a Great Client
Stefan Tornquist is the
Vice President of Research
(US) for Econsultancy.
His team covers a wide
range of topics related
to digital, from tactical
best practices to strategic
transformation. Stefan’s
research and commentary
have been featured in mass
media publications such
as the Wall St. Journal,
Business Week and Ad Age
as well as virtually every
trade press outlet. Stefan
is a frequent speaker at
industry events, including
conferences by the Ad:Tech,
the Direct Marketing
Association, iMedia, and
many others. Stefan began
his digital career as a
co-founder of rich media
pioneer Bluestreak.

Econsultancy recently asked agencies, “What
makes a great client?” The seven themes
that emerged are consistent and important,
especially as marketers look for answers in
a chaotic time and agencies seek to be true
partners in strategy, customer experience and
product development. Each theme is paired
with a representative (yet anonymous) quote.
So, here they are: the top seven marks of a
great client.
1. Open about where they are and where
they want to go

“ You need a client that’s

more in love with the
possibilities than they
are afraid of failure.

”

“Clients who are willing to discuss their
core goals and challenges on a business
level and are open to working together with
a strategic partner make the best clients.
Those who take more of a ‘This is what we
need’ approach are usually much more
difficult to work with since they don’t value
what we do as much. They tend to see our
service as more of a commodity.”
2. rave enough to take big steps
B
(especially if that’s what they
came looking for)
“You need a client that’s more in love
with the possibilities than they are afraid
of failure. Great creative is often risky,
changing business processes is risky…
anything that’s going to shake things up is
risky. If they want us to come in and make
sure their marketing looks good, that’s fine,
but don’t call it strategic.”
3. ransparent with strategy,
T
information and data
“If we’re going to be effective, clients need
to be transparent. You can’t give strategic
advice if you don’t know their real situation,
their strategy, their numbers. If the client
forces third parties to work separately and
sequester information from each other, none
of them can approach their potential.”
4. elf-aware about their own strengths
S
and weaknesses
“We have conducted several projects for
traditional companies with no digital
exposure trying to get new media products
launched that flounder because they don’t
get how much the game has changed. We
are doing more educating now than ever

See what respondents to
our ’13 Digital Marketing
Outlook Survey said adopt
training and education.

before. It can be a tricky environment to
navigate because you can paint yourself into
a scapegoat corner.”
5. Respectful of an agency’s skill and
of the relationship
“You have a bad relationship when the client
looks to the agency for commoditized services
they can get cheaper somewhere else.”
6. esponsive enough to make
R
decisions quickly
“If you have to wait at every turn for ideas to
be discussed, deconstructed and approved,
you’re not likely to produce good work.
Usually the mid-level people completely
understand that and sympathize, but so
what? Some types of marketing can go
through that process, but not genuinely
creative work.”
7. Focused on the people that buy
from them
“When the customer or end-user is really
at the center of the client’s strategy and
operations, it’s going to work for us.
That’s because we bring a deep, external
understanding of people - what they want
and what motivates them. That hasn’t
changed with digital. So if the client wants
to grow their business by being focused on
what their customers want, it’s going to be a
great relationship.”

The

SoDAReport


Jim Cuene, Director, Interactive Marketing,
General Mills, Inc.

The Logic of the
New: Getting New
Thinking Made
Jim Cuene is the Director
of Interactive Marketing
at General Mills, where he
leads the digital marketing
Center of Excellence.
The team provides
thought leadership
and support for brand
digital marketing efforts
and has strategic and
execution responsibilities
for centralized consumer
digital marketing
programs, social media,
e-commerce and mobile
marketing. When he’s
not at work, Jim is an
avid cyclist, a work-inprogress chef, and a hack
guitar player. He lives in
Plymouth, MN with his wife
Andrea and sons Cooper
and Eli.

How can challenging new creative ideas see
the light of day in the Matrix? By grounding the
new in a familiar, consumer-centric mindset,
bold ideas can seem like logical investments to
build great brands.
Great, new digital creative ideas want to live. They
want to be made. But, the likelihood of a truly bold
idea seeing the light of day is pretty small in large
organizations, which prefer low risk, high reward over
the bold.
Often, new ideas are presented breathlessly, with deep
passion for the execution or the technology that drives

“ Too many

‘innovative’ ideas are
based on a superficial
understanding of what
consumers really need
or want.

”

it. What gets sold is the excitement of doing something
new for the brand with some new technology or a new
partner. And, unfortunately, in many organizations that
excitement is like a blinking warning light, making it
clear that there’s risk with the approach.
We’ve seen the best success with a more pragmatic
approach, one rooted in understanding, utility, core
values and a future orientation. The approach isn’t sexy,
but when new ideas are presented, they’re more likely to
get made because they seem like the logical conclusion
from a rational and consumer-centric orientation.

Start with deep, deep consumer insights

Deeper than you typically would go. It’s obvious, but
too many “innovative” ideas are based on a superficial
understanding of what consumers really need or want.
The best examples of creative innovation we’ve seen
have come from deeper consumer insights, from a
creative team that didn’t stop with the brief, that went
deeper into the challenges, pain points, ambitions or
hopes of the consumers we’re connecting with. Doing
the hard work to uncover a unique insight – or at least a
unique interpretation of the available insights – is worth
it if the goal is to sell in a genuinely new idea.

Show how the “New” solves
longstanding consumer needs

Translate for the marketer how the idea will enable
the brand to meet consumers’ needs in meaningful,
legitimately useful ways. Show that there are old
problems, but offer new and better ways to solve
them. Even though it’s a new approach, it still has
to meet longstanding measures of value. The value
can be functional (time or financial savings, practical
knowledge) or emotional (inspiration, fun, trust,
confidence), but ensuring the new concept delivers
on serving the consumers’ ambitions will help drive
strategic “buy in.”

Consumer insights are better
than mere experimentation

Gain support by demonstrating how the idea can deliver
more than short-term market results for the team to
buy in. Communicate how the team will learn about the
consumer, about innovation in marketing techniques or
potentially even new business model opportunities.

Push the brand higher

Ground the idea in the core brand or company values
and demonstrate how the new approach or idea can
help elevate or deepen the brand. By demonstrating
how the idea is a natural extension of what the brand
(or brand team) believes, the idea becomes less a risky
part of a time-bound marketing effort, and more of
an imperative to establish and communicate the core
essence of the brand.
For the most part, marketers dislike risk. But, by
positioning your new idea against these points, you
can show how “the new” is just another logical step to
serving the brands end consumers.

Image Source:
1. http://www.cse.org.uk/pages/what-we-do/
piloting-new-approaches/

The

SoDAReport


Boris Jacquin, Head of Digital, Nando’s Australia

The Year of
Mobile... Again.
Boris has worked in
both large and start-up
organizations around the
world. He specializes in
helping companies design
and implement their online
strategy, and currently
heads up digital marketing
for Nando’s in Australia.

If 2012 was the year of mobile, it is clear
that with the rapid introduction of 4G on the
networks, and with less than 50% of brand
sites currently mobile-ready*, 2013 will once
again be the year of - drum roll, please - mobile.
Saying so, however, omits one very crucial
element of why the mobile experience is so
important – the User. Let’s therefore declare
2013 the year of the Mobile User and consider
these four simple tips to make our businesses
work harder for them.

“ The mobile, tablet and

desktop experience that
brands provide are a
reflection of how much
time a company has
spent thinking about
the digital customer
journey.

”

1. Put the user at the forefront
How and what your website displays on a
device says a lot about your brand and your
organization. The mobile, tablet and desktop
experiences that brands provide must be
considered an integral part of the overall
brand experience. It is a reflection of how
much time a company has spent thinking
about the digital customer journey.
Take, for example, the restaurant industry.
Too often visitors are faced with a website
that is not optimized for mobile at all, or a
slimmed down version of a website where
the most important information is difficult
to access.
2. ake analytics the building block
M
Before designing a mobile version of a
website, the first thing a marketer needs
to do is look at the analytics, where many
answers to the information architecture lay.
The most visited sections of your website
and the keywords that led to those sections
always give some serious pointers.
In the case of the QSR industry, three
areas come to mind: Where can I eat? (the
restaurant finder), What can I eat? (the
menu), How much is it going to cost? (menu,
offers, vouchers).
3. et to the point and make it easy
G
Mobile users browse on their mobile for very
good reasons. And one of these reasons is
not because they find it pleasant to crane
their neck in a train or at a traffic light and
browse with one finger. It’s easy to imagine
that users access your website on a mobile
because it’s the only device available to

them at that very point in time, or the most
convenient. Whatever their reasons, mobile
users need to access accurate information
quickly and in a way that works perfectly on
their mobile device, regardless of its size. As
a result, a mobile website should never be the
poor cousin of the “main website,”and any
decent marketing manager should declare
war on the PDF. Just think for a minute
what asking a mobile user to download a
menu as a PDF says about your brand: do
you really care about your customers?
4. void device prejudice
A
Think about the increasing variety in device
size across mobile phones, tablets, tablet/
laptop hybrids and laptops. iPad screen
sizes now range from 7.9 inches to 9.5 inches,
mobile smart phones start from 3 inches and
tablet/laptop hybrids start at 11 inches. The
only way to answer the screen size dilemma
is to deliver the same content to all sizes and
make sure that your website will respond to
the screen size of the device from which users
access it.
Device discrimination is no longer
acceptable. Just like today’s marketing
mantra where it is the customer that
dictates the demand, it is the user that
dictates the device – not the brand.
The Australian up-and-coming fast casual
chain Guzman y Gomez shows a good
example of such discrimination, asking
the user to switch to the full site to access
more information. In 2013, forcing your
customers to use a certain device to access
the information is just as obsolete as an ad in
the Yellow Pages.

Sources:
1. http://wallblog.co.uk/2013/01/07/the-fivetrends-every-marketer-should-be-aware-ofin-2013/

Image Source:
1. http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/
kolobsek/kolobsek1210/
kolobsek121000215/15562323-3dillustration-mobile-technology-happy-newyear-on-a-mobile-phone.jpg

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