Matt Slaybaugh sent us off to lunch, the airport and the highway with a fun re-cap of events.
Thanks to all our presenters, coordinators, participants and amazing guests!
Resource's Tip Rose spoke to Pam Gillikin from Sherwin-Williams about the brand's success in mobile, which started with the insight that when customers have a paint swatch in hand, their purchase intent goes up. So they focused on getting more swatches in hand. Brilliantly simple.
Leveraging that learning and the knowledge that color selection is stressful, Sherwin-Williams created a mobile app, ColorSnap, which helps people choose colors through color complements.
Before I gush over how great the app is or how well it's done, I'll disclose that RI worked with Sherwin-Williams to create it. But now that that's done, wow it's been a hit! Specifically getting ranked in Ad Age's list of top 10 branded apps of 2009.
But of course the competition was fast on their heels, so they had to think about raising levels of awareness. And of course Apple's App Store has so many thousands of apps, there's competition everywhere.
While the application is just one piece of Sherwin-Williams' larger ecosystem, Pam said ColorSnap has opened them up for doing more, for more data, more content and more conversation.
RI's Anne Marie Thomas shared the stage with Pete Blackshaw from Nielsen Online and Jon Vein from MarketShare Partners to help us close the loop of the iCitizen content -- understanding what all this real-time activity means and what it's worth.
Jon started off by pointing out that part of measuring is looking at the right time. It's not just about annual planning, we'll need to be more nimble and make decisions more than once or twice a year.
And beyond timing, Jon added, it's also about variety. While engagement measures are important, now you can use analytics to connect it to what consumers are actually doing. Pete added that you need smart people too, to connect all the dots, reinforcing the notion that it is indeed an art and science.
While real-time is crucial, both cautioned about getting lost in real-time data, digital or otherwise. Jon said the manager of the future filters the data, especially when a brand gets in trouble. Early radar should be coupled with folks who know how to translate that on the radar for long-term ROI.
We have lots of great tools, Pete said, but the premium on us exercising good judgment on the data is as important as ever before.
What data do we need to watch? Jon said we need tools to help us look at the entire ecosystem and that "loyalty is no longer enough--advocacy is the real key to brand success in an era of conversation."
Who do we listen to? Pete said we need to know which segments are really important to you. Pay attention to "core metrics, key segments and stay really close to the data and adjust accordingly."
In this morning's keynote address, technology visionary Kevin Kelly shed a whole new perspective on the web when he reminded us that it's only 7,000 days old. Still just a baby.
Setting the tone with a quote from the Mad Hatter, he got us all thinking about "impossible things."
The web is certainly not just a different, better or more powerful version of TV. It's a whole different set of metaphors. One way to illustrate that notion is a project Kevin mentioned where he asked people draw a map of the internet.
One of the new metaphors we are moving into is streams. We are producing countless streams of data--not just people, but things, too--that are getting pulled into the web. First we were just making the data, but now we are sharing it in streams.
And this is where the cloud comes in. The cloud is where we share data. And, as Kevin described, we are in the cloud. The cloud is made of us. All our different devices are the windows we use to look into the same cloud.
The Quantified Self. Kevin shared the concept of life loggers -- people who are tracking tremendous amounts of data about themselves -- and, again, sharing it, not just holding it privately. There are about 170 self-tracking web sites for people who share everything from their daily activities, moods, reading and movie watching, to weight, heart rate, sugar level and medications.
"People will share anything because there is value in sharing. Sometimes information doesn't have value until it's shared."
I also appreciated his perspective on real-time. Obviously we are all a little focused on that here at iCitizen and in general, but he reminded us about its importance. "Real-time doesn't mean there is no value in history or future. By logging everything you're doing you are making your now more valuable."
The Metaphor Shifts
"The new regime is about streams, cloud, now, we and data."
And while our streams are in the cloud, Kevin pointed out that gestures (think iPad) are how we talk to the cloud--not just fingertips on the keyboard.
So what about the next 7,000 days? Not just a better web. Something completely different. A different metaphor. A different framework.
I can't believe I wrote that headline. Sorry readers. Sorry Griffin. But a fantastic performance! Great way to close out a full day of smart people and great ideas. I've got content flowing out of my ears.
Off to the Wexner Center for food and culture and ... well, you better go and see for yourself.
If you didn't get to hear him in person, check out Griffin House online.
Capping off the content of iCitizen Day 1, RI's Chris Berk shared the stage with Jennifer Taylor from Adobe. Jennifer gave a nod to our new nation of videographers that has burst out of the dropping cost of video cameras. It's a whole new world of content creators, she explained, who can contribute to a brand's pool of content.
Adobe's working to help give users more ways to edit and share their videos across platforms. But what do you do with all this content? "The underside of user-generated content is that it takes quite a bit of curation. Either let your brand into the public domain or put in place a curation strategy."
RI's Rob Pettit and Paul Vraciu, brand manager for Gain detergent had the great fun of sharing with all of us the story of Gainiacs, the amazing people who can't live without the wonderful scent of Gain detergent.
Paul talked about the deep love that the brand's fans have--and their desire to express it. He said his team pores through the letters, emails and Facebook comments (read: love letters) to really mine them for insights.
Gain is currently thriving on Facebook, with fans offering lots of comments and approvals to status updates, yet Paul talked about the challenge of truly finding the best ways to encourage brand loyalists to share with each other. Paul and his team at P&G continue to follow their fans, look for the best ways to give them the Gain they crave and share it with the world.
From zombies to LEGOs, augmented reality (AR) is here to entertain us, inform us and, of course, help us spend our dollars.
From the RI LAB, Christopher Barcelona spoke with Noora Guldemond, head of marketing for metaio, Inc. Noora brought AR to life (and death, yes, there were zombies) for us with a few great examples. Noora didn't disclose any numbers, but said LEGO was, let's say, pleasantly surprised with the connection between Augmented Reality and the cash register.
Our very own Klay Huddleston took the stage with:
Brian talked about how The Limited is making e-Commerce work in the social space because it's not about being a volume driver, but about exclusivity. The Limited can play out its role as a fashion adviser--exclusively for people who Like the page--giving fans a reason to Like/like them.
Adarsh explained how Justbought.it evolved as a social experiment stemming from our desire to tell everyone what we just purchased. Go to Twitter Search and type in "just bought it," or just go to Justbought.it and get the full experience.
And not only is the social web driving commerce in new ways, but it's changing commerce. Kevin talked about the "staggering projections" of applications on Facebook and other networks and platforms selling virtual gifts -- not advertising. People will spend a dollar for a virtual Happy Birthday balloon or even $100 for a pair of virtual Diesel jeans for their avatar.
My favorite quote (from Kevin) "There is a very nice business to be made just selling virtual cows." Yes, you Farmvillers know who you are. Marketers, pay attention.
Adarsh pointed out that another great change will occur when geo location ties into social shopping.
Lots of interest from the audience in the power of Facebook and a good question about how Facebook monitors the cool factor -- making sure it doesn't lose its coolness and its members. The question was met with a good answer from Kevin--a great answer, in fact. Facebook doesn't try to be cool. Paraphrasing Kevin, he said Facebook is such a utility in people's lives. It's the first site they check in the morning and the last one they check at night. "That's beyond a coolness factor -- it's much more about functionality and that is more important."
Back from Bob Johansen's future, Dan Shust, our Director of Emerging Media, shared trends we should be seeing and doing right now.
1. Location Matters -- Checking in -- everywhere, for points, for competition, for something good. And increasing the relevancy of the content we get as consumers and the analytics we get as marketers.
2. Social Commerce -- Platforms that can be delivered in social, mobile and imedia (just for starters) reach people where they are, doing whatever they are already doing.
3. Interactive Products -- We're becoming conditioned to having digital interactions with products, an additional layer onto TV, magazines and products themselves.
4. Your Reality will be Augmented -- Even the United States Post Office is doing it. Put an object on the table in front of your webcam, see if it fits in the box.
5. The Rise of the Tablet -- A new era of computing, mixing what we love about print design and what we love about interaction into one device.
What can you do? Jump in! Get involved in location-based services (LBS) like FourSquare or Gowalla. It's easy to set up an account. It's not hard to add Like buttons and additional ways to view your product. These types of activities are going to drive commerce.
Now is the time to be involved because it's going to blur quickly.
Hope you got some during the break. Don't worry, we got plenty.
"I am helpless about the present," started Bob Johansen, from the Institute for the Future. But he gave us an exciting and somewhat daunting look at what to expect 10 years from now.
I'm not going to make you wait 10 years to see it all, but will squeeze some of the juiciest bits from the top.
**The real question is not "What's new?" because then it's already happened. It's what's ready to take off. Most of the present is noise. So we need really good filters.
**This world is a new normal, defined as a VUCA world -- Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. Volatility leads to vision.
**Clarity gets rewarded, even when it's wrong. But in the end the truth or real answers are revealed, so fail early and fail cheaply. In digital communication, clarity is about making things simple without being simplistic.
**Don't fret about gaming because it's everywhere and it's how we learn. The digital natives (who are now barely school-aged but will soon be the greater population) can reverse-mentor the rest of us about the benefits of gaming. Gamers experience excitement and connectedness -- what brand doesn't want that?
**Today we are in a transaction mentality, but reciprocity is the currency of the future -- giving things away with the faith that you'll get something in return. Studies show that the more you give away, the happier people are.
What are we going to do with the collective dynamism of the web? Kelly shared a few ideas. For starters, we need new maps. The world is more complicated than ever before and we need to create new maps and not rely on the old way.
Kelly pointed out that, in comparison to the real-time web, brand sites are lonely places. But they aren't going away. Brand sites and the real-time web need to co-exist. It's an "and," not an "or".
So, knowing that you need to embrace the real-time web, what do you need to do?
The amazing Nancy Kramer, founder and CEO of Resource, took the stage and talked about some of the remarkable things we are doing in the real-time web and the role it plays in our lives.
Beyond all our own Facebooking with our families, friends and colleagues, we're seeing huge opportunities for brands. Millions of us watched Obama's inauguration online with our friends through Facebook Connect, we learned about and witnessed massive, disruptive news events through Twitter (the above twitpic from the Miracle on the Hudson), and we are constantly discovering new ways to do everything with the 3 billion apps we've downloaded. Kramer referenced the app for the old Bic lighter and pointed out, "There is a consumer interaction for every brand."
Couldn't put it better than Matt Slaybaugh did: "We've found the flow." The tables here in the Blackwell ballroom are packed and the Tweets (#iCitizen) are flying.
Slaybaugh, a performance artist, was riffing about the real-time web. He spoke about how "mix tapes are curating the fragments of my identity. Now we write our autobiographies one status update at a time." Love that line. (Just for fun, go back and read your last 20 updates.)
Slaybaugh was nostalgic and funny and smart. Yes, we all poke fun at how many gadgets we carry, how connected we are, "sometimes it's mundane but sometimes you come across a ragged edge and see something and know that that is you too."
"Don't just go with the flow, ride the flow." Watch the performance!
The sun is shining. Music is pulsing at the Innovation Stations. And the coffee is flowing. Grab your badges, programs and don't forget your WiFi password/info sheet (located conveniently at the registration table). Then meet us upstairs!
Ohmygoodness we can hardly wait. The digital decor is coming to life, both at the Blackwell and here at the home office. The swag is spilling out of boxes everywhere you turn. Presentations are getting their final touches and, most importantly, our amazing clients are starting to flow through the halls and conference rooms.
It's a warm, sunny, gorgeous day in Central Ohio so make sure you give yourself time to make it to our opening reception from 5-7 tonight (at Resource) for some quality hydration and delicious bites.
Other than that, just a friendly reminder about getting your QR code reader onto your phone and you're set! (If you have any trouble with the reader, nudge one of us and we'll help you out. We've been QuickConnecting with each other since we got our own name badges this morning.)
I don't want to give anything away, but make sure you're ready at the Blackwell bright and early. Registration is a breeze--we promise!--but you'll want to leave yourself time to get some great food, make a few QuickConnects and snag a spot up real close to the action.
