Are you bored yet? – the importance of quality content
In the modern day, the consumer has become a creature that desires and expects high levels of digital stimulation and becomes bored easily. As media culture becomes increasingly integrated into their lives, the consumer continuously plug themselves into activities which they feel enrich their lives somehow and to prevent ennui from settling in.
Have you ever experienced a moment when someone is rifling through a media platform only to discontinue their efforts with the muttering of a single word – boring? But what does this mean to them? Surely there are just as many pictures, words, visual and audio stimulus’ present in any media fixations; at a glance these days, nothing technically looks boring. But they are quick to dismiss in demand of more.
The PR and media industries however should not take this to mean that their audiences lack enough stimulation, but should instead consider that their consumers are lacking quality stimulation, because ultimately, boring doesn’t hold the same meanings as it once did.
What boring means now is a product’s inability to connect with its targeted demographics; to provide something of quality that they can relate to and identify with, as the consumer starts to seek deeper relationships with their products and medias. They want to feel understood and comfortable in themselves, and products that monopolize the airwaves with what they are not familiar with or interested in can cause discomfort; they annoy you, they repel you, they bore you.
A prime example of this is if you think back to Femfresh’s social media backlash, which caused women from around the country to stand up for their “hoo has”. They didn’t relate and instead felt offended and uncomfortable.
After all, let’s be honest, human beings are selfish creature. In the consumer space, everyone lives for themselves. Media industries should take care to ensure their content relevantly links to their targeted demographics. If you can’t get across to your audience, to engage with them, to make them feel enriched, then boring is what they will find you and boring you will stay.
It’s an Infographics world: The good and the bad of Infographics in marketing
Infographics seem to be the new trend of information sharing, the big cheese of statistics contribution. In just a few months, the scourge of infographics have become viral, thrusting a spectrum of colours, words, numbers and percentage signs at your monitor from all directions.
They are everywhere, and a main concern with their increasing popularity is if maths has taught me anything, it’s that numbers do not always tell the truth. When one is an incredible analyst; data can be manipulated to any direction of point. This distortion of data can mean the oversimplification of important information. For example, the infographic How to Train your Employees in Social Media gives a break-down on “everything” worth knowing in social media, because why waste your money on expensive consultants when your employees can be your best workforce? But oversimplified information can result in serious lapses of knowledge in which could set you up for potential failure. Therefore to me, infographics seem to be an initial preview to be explained further rather than relied on to make significant changes.
However, when done right, infographics can be an incredibly effective strategy to increase visibility and gain attention and influence in marketing. A best practice is to target your marketing efforts and get your graphics featured on popular social platforms such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, which converts traffic into traction for your business or a client’s. In regards to this, it is also important to produce exceptional content which links your graphics to relevant information on yours or your client’s sites and not just link-baiting to optimize irrelevant traffic. Through this, you can make sure that your traffic works to your best advantage.
Nevertheless, don’t be fooled in thinking that creating a noticeable infographic is an easy feat. You have to remember that there are hundreds, thousands, dare I say millions of infographics out there, all aiming for the same thing, to grab attention, which means yours has to be more informative, unique and aesthetically stunning. To get you started, take a look at this blog post which illustrates what makes a good infographic and this website to learn how to create your own.
Because while we’re not children anymore, all we seem to still want is to read the book with all the pretty pictures.
Do too many Union Jacks spoil the broth?
It’s been just over a year since William and Kate’s Royal Wedding celebration, and the UK has once again dusted off their slightly creased Union Jack flags, their bobble head Queen’s and their ridiculous memorabilia’s; don’t lie, I know you all have at least one of these or at least these (I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but post two links, because… well, they’re just too good), all to reinforce the fact that it’s great to be British this year, and the marketing industry would have it no other way.
There’s no question that this year is a highly attractive platform for brands to jump on the patriotic bandwagon. I mean, what better opportunity to promote your brand than with the support of the national emblem itself to commemorate the Royal Wedding, the Jubilee, AND the Olympics. It’s like a marketing dream! And since the Union Jack has no usage restrictions, it seems like a fast and free way to boost literally any brand packaging this summer. But are these brands really doing themselves any favours by shoving patriotic packaging at their shoppers who at this point I can only imagine, should have already developed attuned union flag antennas.
So many patriotic designs have crowded the shelves recently and while was colourful and eye-catching at first, has now become so generic, it’s enough to make you think…”wait a minute, have Britain always been like this?” But the question brands should ask themselves is; is jumping on the Union flag bandwagon going to benefit them or would it just fade into the background with all the other garish and tacky products?
Premier Foods brand Hovis have since May 14th, captivated the nation’s heart with their new advert supporting their new British Farmer Loaf product. The TV spot portrays a heart-warming relationship between father and son, underlining the hard-work and effort that goes into the daily routines of producing Hovis British Farm Loafs.
While it is both unsurprising and predictable to see the company launch its pure British product amidst the commoditised sea of buntings and flag waving, it is an inspirational piece of uplifting British pride which focuses on the hard labour that goes into the pure British produce rather than just the nation itself. It also gets an extra small hurrah and a pat on the back for its commendable restrain on over “Union Jacking” their packaging - a small subtle bunting on the front is enough for them.
Another quite clever use of the union flag is Finish dishwasher detergent. The product cleverly embellished its already red, blue and white design, promoting their product through chances to win champagne flutes to toast the Queen. Interlinking the use of the product itself with the occasion, I thought, made for an excellent use of beneficial branding as it reminded people of what the product was still about while celebrating the joyous occasion.
However, nothing will outdo the most perfectly placed branding of Mr Kipling’s mini Victoria sponges and French Fancies (renamed Great British Fancies for the occasion), which lined itself nicely with the upcoming Jubilee; featuring their products in mini scenarios eliciting the warmth of Britain, captured both the creative relevance and their “exceedingly good cakes”. Why do cakes always look so much more delicious when surrounded by little people having a good time?
While these products have managed to pull of the Union Jack with a bit of tasteful class, other brands have not been so successful, having shamefully indulged in a bit of packaging prostitution at the cost of their core brand values. I mean, what is the significance in slapping on a Union Jack on the front of Tabasco Sauce when the not so fine print next to it reads not made in Britain after all? If you’re going to fly the flag, you fly it with pride and British products…or at least a credible story behind it. Tabasco is about as appropriate as putting the Queen in the middle of a mariachi band with a sombrero and a pair of maracas. While that would be quite an amusing sight to behold, it would most definitely NOT be appropriate.
However at the end of the day, it seems that the best way to fly the flag in branding is to not fly it at all. Both Heinz and Kellogg are prime examples of this and have gained my admiration as well as their consumers with their intelligent execution of Jubilee styled packs that are just spot on. When these launched, I heard about it at least 15 times within the space of a week.
For these brands, the Jubilee wasn’t an implementation in flag supremacy, but was a chance to uncover something inspiring and historical, to announce – “Yes, we’ve been here since the beginning of our Queen” – the real products of Britain which captures their legacy as real heritage brands and underlining the importance of their familiar place in our basket and homes.
What they have shown us is that going against the grain pays. While some products have done well in establishing the relevance of their Union flag branding, not being branded by it at all picks you out from the crowd. It gives you propounding depth, warmth and soul. It gives you the why to the what, especially on shelves packed with the same whats. These brands have proved to capture the attention of Britain by having the confidence to place their own brand first ahead of Brand Britain, and it pays off.
These are dark times indeed
What is this blank imageless content you may ask?
It is the image of censorship; a representation of many websites that shut down and went black January last month.
The blackout occurred at midnight on Wednesday 18th through to midnight Thursday as a protest against the proposed anti-piracy legislation in the US. In this included big internet database moguls such as Wikipedia, Reddit, and Twitpic; symbolizing what will happen to content accused of copyright infringement.
This legislation is currently known as SOPA. Now, most of you would have heard of SOPA by now and that SOPA equals bad. But how many of you actually know what it is?
In a nutshell, SOPA, or “Stop Online Piracy Act” is a new legislation which gives power to both major corporations and the government to pull the plug on websites that they accuse of copyright infringement with neither a trial nor court hearing – just like that *snap*. You can read the bill in detail at this handy website because it’s worth giving it a read to know what we’re all protesting for once.
Obviously the legislation is aggressively backed by Hollywood and record labels. I mean, why wouldn’t it be? Let’s be honest, the movie and music industry have never been particularly pleased about losing their business to sites such as Limewire, Napster, Megaupload and its sister website Megavideo, which have both been shut down since.
Just last week did I try to access Megavideo (not that I stream videos against Hollywood legislations) to no avail, only to be greeted with this very official notice
Most will know what Megaupload and Megavideo is, and if not, *tut tut* you were not using the internet to its full capacity. They are file sharing sites best known for hosting one of the biggest online library of movies and TV shows appreciated by most and especially those without the luxuries of television. Although walking a fine line between enabling piracy and profiting from it, they have always been quick to the mark when taking action in response to piracy accusations by taking down any relevant files. However sadly, this will not be the case anymore as Hollywood media companies urge the FBI to seize it along with adjacent websites. Nevertheless, will this actually limit the number of internet piracy?
According to this very “official” chart, computer says no.
In retrospect, should we be pleased with Anonymous, the last bastion of digital anarchy for their hands on retaliation strategies? At the end of the day, for the ones who protest, it’s not about losing a legacy of free movies and data but about how big corporations can shut you down and condemn you to jail time without warning. It’s about a future where the internet is not a free space to roam and learn. Wikipedia stated on their “blacked out” webpage – “imagine an internet without free knowledge”, and the reality is pretty grim.
Thoughts?
