Hill+Knowlton Strategies

It seems like every other show being released around the world these days is a reality based concept where people are challeneged to complete big tasks in short amounts of time with the possibility of one of them taking home a large and exciting prize, possibly life changing to boot.

I have been briefed by media agencies across the board, explaning that younger mums are the bullseye for this show format. That they are engaged by characters that they can relate to, doubled down with subject matter that relates to love, cooking or home improvement.

Australian television seems full of reality shows, from Masterchef cooking challenges to renovate this place, they all seem to blend into one extremely similiar mass. It got me thinking, what can be learned by this rush into content by the braodcasters in Australia that we can learn from in creating new content for any platform.

Adding drama to reality makes it less real.

A ubiquitous cliffhanger at each ad break quickly becomes not a element of anticipation, but a cue to get up and finish the dishes.

Formulas make it much easier to make TV. An idea becomes a saleable franchise that can be produced by anyone. Results become repeatable and in evry essence, you get a show, something to tune into that delivers a relaible result week after week. It’s a programming maxim that has survived since the formats inception. People like the reliability of loving Lucy.

I think that the problem occurs when you start to notice the formula more than the content itself. When repitition frames an ad break it’s a good sign that editing for drama has superceded reality.

Context is key in content

When the drama of the show supercedes the content, it becomes less interesting to your core committed audience of fans.

When any correlation of attention in the media begins, it is led by a group of the most interested. They might be foodies, home handymen, seasoned travellers or even just like arguing about stuff. These folk are the committed core that not only talk about their topic of interst themsleves, they see it as their mission to convert their friends and families to become fans to. These guys explain the history, educate and editorialise, they’re a valuable asset to any person trying to grow an audience for an idea.

While it’s true that this pointy end of the audience tends to be the first to leave, moving inexorably on to find the next big thing to introduce to their friends and acquire social capital around, the writers and producers of many relaity shows don’t seem to understand that by moving the focus of the story away from the content topic to amplify drama alienates these fans. Sure, they might spend a couple of seasons trolling from the sidelines that the show does not now contain much of the subject it started out with, but the mass audience you’ll be left with once they’re gone are no where near as passionate about talking about things.

Saturation is not effective, it’s boring.

A slightly different take on what is currently playing on the other channel might seem like a sound strategic move, but which is likely to draw more attention and eyeballs: something similar but possibly better (or worse) or something completely different? If I am watching a show about home renovations,

The difficulty we seem to continually face up to as humans a desire to recreate things that have been successful before. If we copy something that is successful, innovative and attracts all important attention, then we seem justifiably entitled to believe that we will get a similiar result.

Flashmobs are a great example of this effect. The first t-mobile flashmobs to break out big online where great to watch. They showed that everyday life can throw up the unexpected and reasonably laddered to the brand benefit of t-mobile is a great way to share the everyday amazements with the people you care about. Unfortunately, everyone else thought they could get the same type of result. See for yourself where this type of thinking takes you.

As an adopted Australian, I was captivated last night by the TV coverage of the Tour de Fance and the procession that carried Cadel Evans towards Paris and the winner’s podium.

Australians love a winner, and it sometimes seems like golden celebrations are a bit of a national pastime here. Cadel’s win, and the way he has behaved in the minutes and day afterward shjwoed something a touch more unique. The sense of achievement tempered with no small amout of disbelief was written on his face for all to see.

It was a graceful, authentic victory that just seemed a joy watch and feel a small part of.

I can’t wait to see how the cycling movement in Australia uses this moment to galavnise a future.

Result.

Aisle Avant Garde with Sunsilk and Coles 2011 from HK Connect on Vimeo.

Our latest bit of experiential took Sunsilk out of the product pages and into the fashion pages, running models down the ailses of Coles in Moore Park.

This great little video tells the story of a great event, that drove a tonne of coverage for the brand.

Two sisters glided into Sydney this morning and put cruising on the morning news.

QE2, on her maiden voyage, meant that this was a first. The media, especially here in Australia, loves a first.

Perhaps the media’s second love is statistics. Cunard did not disappoint. The number of books in the lead lined library, the height of the QM and the relativity of the Eiffel Tower, the prodigious volumes of Champagne and fine wines being quaffed by those lucky (and wealthy) enough to be on this voyage.

There was another aspect too, the most important of all, i believe. These vessels have personality, they practically exude it.

Each and every presenter was not just speaking about steel and engines, they had fallen in love with the personification of regal elegance and everything, from the pictures to the sound bites were laddered up to reinforce that.

How are you adding personality to your message?

It seems these days that everyone wants to be making viral videos.

While it is sometimes hard to explain to a client that companies don’t make viral videos, consumers make videos go viral; there seems to be no end to the brands willing to jump into the content creation business.

More often than not, they’ll use some has-been celebrity, or make it look like they shot it all on a mobile phone.

Kudos to Staples, and the Works, for the video above for the Sydney launch of staples. Imaginative, creative and uses the product but not in a me too way.  I’m sure it has been done somewhere else, or at least in a similar fashion, but watching the video – i don’t care.

I’m a massive fan of the concept of popup. Be it the restaurant we ran here in Sydney on behalf of our client, Positively Wellington Tourism, or one of my idea’s from running my own agency up in Shanghai (albeit, executed in London), the idea of surprising people in their everyday lives with something physical in an unexpected space is one that obviously connects.

I guess that’s whay I’ve been so impressed by my friend, Jason Chan, and his involvement with one of the most ambitious popup executions I have seen, Greenhouse by Joost.

The Greenhouse started life two years ago, in Melbourne, with a large temporary gallery space nestled into the sharp and hard lines of the then new Federation Square. The project had at its core the concept of sustainability, from materials used in construction, to the re-appropriated jam jars from which you sipped your coffee.

Time Lapse – Construction of “Greenhouse by Joost” from Kapture Media Productions on Vimeo.

Last year, this time in Perth, Joost once again used a combination of found and sustainable construction materials to build a slightly more compact Greenhouse, with a stronger focus on food and beverage and locally sourced ingredients to match the construction.

Greenhouse St Georges Terrace, Perth – time-lapse update 29.11.09 from Kapture Media Productions on Vimeo.

Now in the third iteration, Greenhouse once again is providing Joost with a playground for his ideas on sustainable construction living buildings. This time though, the project is not a bespoke build for a single unique location, this time the Greenhouse can travel.

Three shipping containers provide the core of the structure, housing kitchen, convenience and storage. The framing of the two level restaurant and bar fits into these containers as it makes the trek from location to location. Plywood cladding and the plants that literally cover the structure will be sourced locally as the experience unpacks in Milan, Budapest, London and a long list of other prospective locations. The striking herringbone floor of the Sydney expression recently functioned as a set of factory conveyor belts, now cut down to rectangular tiles.

Food wise, local ingredients rule. Flour is milled and bread is made daily on site, using a wood fired oven. Milk arrives farm fresh in a bucket to be processed into cheese and yoghurt. Kegged mineral water forms the basis of house made lemonade and tonic. Cut down brown bottles serve the beer, jam jars the wine and cocktails.

Oil from the deep fryers powers the onsite generator. Local straw bales line the walls as insulators. The furniture all is made from something else, billboard canvas covers the tables. Some folk are calling this the greenest structure on the planet right now.

What all this adds up to, is something very special. It is this unique story that has given them access to the fantastic site on Sydney’s foreshore, with views of both the Opera House and the Bridge. It’s a multi million dollar site that if you were simply flogging a product, it would be near on impossible to secure and would eat up the budget. So unique is the offer from JAson and Joost, Sydney’s Harbour Foreshore Authority has come to the party with funds not fees. London is offering Trafalgar Square, it is quite simply amazing.

How do you build out and idea for a client that gets this type of support? Is it even possible to do?

That’s what will be ticking over in my head for the next week and year.

The Sydney visit of the Greenhouse by Joost last for six weeks, get down there and enjoy it.

Balls of Pride from Jacob Sempler on Vimeo.

Great little comms idea levering girlfriends into getting straight men to be open about being pro gay.

Also sets up a great headline for Pride week 2011 – “Neck deep in balls for Pride Week”

On October 30, 1938, a young actor called Orson Welles pulled off one of the grandest pranks in the history of our consumer media culture. His performance of War of the Worlds sent ordinary folk running into the streets and flooded the station with calls asking for more information on the imminent Martian invasion.

In a single broadcast, Welles redefined the way people thought about a channel and became an instant sensation.

What about if this happened today? My bet would be that an advertising agency would be pitching the concept to clients within minutes and turning out ‘inspired’ copies, based on the connection it had with the audience. PR Firms across Sydney would flood the radio with pranks just like this one until not one more person was interested in turning on their radio.

Just because an idea is successful once doesn’t mean it can be rolled out indefinitely. Just because a celebrity endorsement will garner coverage doesn’t mean it will deliver a real result for your brand. Just because a video got 200,000,000 hits on youtube doesn’t mean your copycat campaign is going to be as successful.

Next time you’re about to roll out a celebrity photocall-dancing flashmob-twitter/social media treasure hunt, take a couple of seconds pause and try to imagine how you might truly surprise people. How could marketing become something that captivates them, creates a connection between a real life person who doesn’t live in agency land and a brand. Maybe even think about pitching that idea first.

If the client won’t buy it you can always fall back on the same old ideas.

Marketing Mag pointed to some new Datamonitor research today. Apparently 74.2% of Australian gen-Y’s prefer to bank with one of the big four.

It seems that banks, like many brands, are finding that making themselves an easy choice can be effective in getting into the spending patterns of the Y’s, there is no guarantee of ongoing loyalty or commitment. The research also noted that Y’s are five times more likely to switch their main transaction accounts than older generations.

High value, low effort and making sure you market to the base as well as the white space seems like it might be the emerging doctrine on this segment.