Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Prior to our Demystifying Digital conferences, we survey our client delegates to measure interest in online platforms. Google+ always ranks in the top three results. Launched in June 2011, in the now familiar invite-only to build buzz mode, G+ opened up to everyone soon after. Brand pages were officially added in November 2011, although early adopter Ford famously got to keep their Page. Last month’s redesign and last week’s new mobile app, show the love and importance of G+ to Google overall. Admittedly a fan of the Circle concept, I think now is a good time to highlight some key points about the platform. Perhaps it was inevitable, but imho it was a major PR mistake to allow Google+ to be defined by the media as a competitor to Facebook. I believe it is something quite different.

1. Google+ is not ‘another Facebook’ — it is a social unifier for all Google products

Googler Paul Coffey, speaking at D2 Energy, officially described G+ as a layer, not another channel. Altimeter analyst and Twitterati Jeremiah Owyang agrees, “…all of google is one product.” Google’s recent move to reduce more than 60 privacy policies for their products (like YouTube, Gmail, and Search) down to one main policy is part of their stated intention to ‘treat you as a single user across all our products’. For brands, clearly this helps Google show more relevant search results and ads. And the social layer of G+ means I can look at a Search result page in ‘regular’ Google and see which products my connections have +1 or linked to. Another just announced integration is the ability to engage with G+ content (view, comment, +1, etc) through a Google+ notification email in Gmail. Destination sites are so old web. Google products with G+ functionality will be anywhere on the Internet a user is likely to want or need them.

2. The creative possibilities of Hangouts are ever expanding

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With almost 30 million users and major buzz for closing a $30 million financing round, Viddy lets users take and share bite-sized videos of 15 seconds or less. Viddy was launched one year ago and gained attention for its celebrity backers like Jay-Z, and celebrity users like Snoop Dogg. Available free for the iPhone and iPad, it is the iTunes app of the week for 12 May 2012 and one of the fastest growing apps around. Promises of an Android version will be under increased pressure to come true, although if I was Google, I would just buy them now.

Inevitably referred to as the Instagram for video due to the easy to add visual effects, soundtracks and other features in their Production Packs, Viddy got a huge boost last month when Facebook began highlighting them (and rival service, Socialcam). No post fails to mention that the fairly private Mark Zuckerberg uploaded a viddy of his dog. Even without the FB love, acquisition as a business model seems more lucrative right now than potential millions from in-app sales of premium Production Packs. I think someone will buy them soon.

So why should brands care about Viddy? First, I think the 15 second format has a lot to teach us. Like Twitter, it enforces message discipline. Plus, it is another wide open focus group to follow what what users are doing with video.  Southwest Airlines ran a contest around Sundance Film Festival time. Early adopter General Electric has also hopped on. For Mother’s Day today in the USA, Viddy teamed up with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to encourage users to post a ‘Thank You’ viddy for their moms, similar to their support for Movember. Celebrities as early adopters doesn’t hurt a start-up, but also reminds us that brand ambassadors have never been more in control of their own image, for better or worse. Add Viddy to the list for VIP social media training. While adult content is an au naturel risk with any video platform, there are lots of G-rated possibilities. Clean cut newscasters like Katie Couric are trying the platform and American TV icon Bill Cosby seems quite at home on the tiny screen. Even Disney partnered with Viddy to promote The Muppets. So grab your iPhone and your cat and give Viddy a try.

Today is the seventh in our series of Demystifying Digital conferences. I’m really proud that D2 (as we affectionately call it) has grown from our London 2010 launch event into an ongoing platform to educate and inspire our clients. For 2012, we’ve added sector specific days, like D2: Healthcare and D2: Energy.

The concept for this conference grew out of the educational work the Interactive Lab does with brands. I talk with a lot of clients who just want straight talk on what the different platforms do and why their brand should care. The cult aspect of social as the solution to everything doesn’t help communications executives tasked with leading integrated strategies for multinational brands. So we launched the private Demystifying Digital conference as a fun event to showcase what we do with our bespoke workshops and hands-on training for clients and their staff. Understanding how the tools work functionally, overlapped with the knowledge of how real people are using these platforms as part of their lives, makes it much easer to cut through the hype and figure out just where our energy and resources need to focus. Resources, sadly, are always limited, but creativity, thankfully, is renewable.

Will be posting more of the content from today later on. Many thanks to our amazing speakers and all our energetic delegates. We ♥ you.

Even bigger UPDATE: Facebook Inc. said it is acquiring Instagram. $1 billion in cash and stock. Wow. I think most users will hope that Facebook keeps its promise “to building and growing Instagram independently”.

1. The Appeal of Instagram: Instant Creativity

Smart phones have turned everyone into a photographer, but Instagram turns our average snapshots into artistic images people feel proud to share.

This adds a layer of ‘Frictionless Creativity’ to the ‘Frictionless Sharing’ term Facebook wants to own.

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Launched as a closed beta in March 2010, Pinterest is a lighthearted niche platform getting serious amounts of mainstream attention. It even made it to the Channel 4 News tonight in a well rounded report by Benjamin Cohen who compared it to one of my favourite places in London, the amazing John Sloan Museum. So via popular demand, I’m posting the briefing email I wrote for our clients on the top three things that make this growing platform important for big brands.

UPDATE: Pinterest is addressing use of copyrighted material and other issues. They’ve updated their Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Acceptable Use Policy. Considering that over 80 percent of content is currently re-pinned rather than original content, I think there is a huge opportunity for brands to offer legally pinnable, aesthetically pleasing content to their users.

Pinterest self describes as a Virtual Pinboard and their wonderfully simple interface is as intuitive as tacking postcards on a bulletin board or pasting images in a scrapbook. One of Time Magazine’s 50 Best Websites of 2011, data from comScore shows Pinterest recently hit 11.7 million unique monthly U.S. visitors, crossing the 10 million mark faster than any other standalone site in history and had a 55 percent gain in unique visitors between November and December 2011. A hot site indeed.

1. A niche network for a heartland audience
Especially for all brands courting the 18-45 female consumer demographic, the reports that 97% of users on Pinterest are women are music to a social marketers’ ears. Fashion, food, and family milestones like weddings lend themselves to visual image Boards made easy by Pinterest. But don’t discount this site as an addition to your social strategy just because your audience skews male or your brand is B2B. I think we’ll see use of the platform from all sectors. Check out a macho Board from GE titled Badass Machines or our own Duncan Gallagher’s Race and Rally Car collection.

2. ‘Frictionless Creativity’
We all want to be creative, but not everyone can be a famous artist or a Martha Stewart. The stats around Pinterest rocket ship growth are interesting, but we can learn more studying the reasons why people love it. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been enjoying the entertaining farewells to 2011. Videos, memes, and pretty much anything digital. But I think the more important part of any happy new year reflection is gazing forward at 2012. I won’t detail my theory on the future of agencies in general, or give advice like this. Instead, my crystal ball shows very clearly the immediate future of my own agency. Because — as with any business based on talent — our fate is clearly written in our open job opportunities.

PLEASE PASS THE LINKS BELOW ON TO SUPER SMART, NICELY AMBITIOUS FRIENDS. While the specifics are all about H+K Strategies 2012, I truly think you’ll find this list serves as an accurate prediction of the marketing and communication industry as a whole. Happy New Year.
Stay with me after the jump, or go straight to the job specs:

• Head of Digital Studio
• Senior Digital Strategist, Consumer Packaged Goods
• Director, Change + Internal Communications
• Director, Issues + Crisis
• Intern, Food & Drink

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I always regret not going home for Thanksgiving, as it is one of the my favorite days of the year. No gift pressure. Just food, family, friends and football. I’ve resisted the urge to spray some pepper on the turkey below because today is about the best of America and my country’s roots as a nation made strong by immigrants from all lands. Now that I am one myself, this really hits home. I did however balance the sweet sentimentality of this Rockwell painting with an old favorite Thanksgiving theme video embedded below. People here in the London office didn’t quite get the appeal, so it might be an American thing. You’re welcome.

Norman Rockwell: Thanksgiving

Well, Internet Week 2011 is over and from what I can tell, it was jam packed five days with a diverse array of events. Although hashtagged as #IWE (E for Europe), it seemed fairly London media industry centric, to the extent that the Hospital Club was the official HQ. In unconference style, anyone can hold an event during the week. Simultaneous offerings mean you have to make choices as to what to attend (as you somehow squeeze a few sessions into your work week). It also means we are extremely grateful to all the folks that flocked to the WPP Stream London breakfast, hosted here at H&K. Titled Always on Events: How the Internet can help you build a year round community for your real life event, our theme seemed a natural for both IWE and Stream.

It is not always easy to hold a true Discussion, vs a standard presentation where the speakers do all the talking. But I was delighted that many of our participants jumped right in to debate the different aspects that help a community stay together after an event is over. Because it is the interaction between attendees that is the real secret to any event’s success. My co-leader was Rob Blackie, the MD of Blue State Digital London. His five tips for events that rock made a great wrap-up. Let us know if you have any to add. Lots to think about for Stream itself, IWE and your special event as well.

Trying to prep my bit for the WPP Stream London IWE event in our bar tomorrow, I got totally side tracked. Google launched brand Pages on Google+. Hurrah.

Have been waiting and watching for this since forever. Well, since G+ itself launched. There are many feature-led business reasons I think this is so important for brands. But, in my gut, I really really want all the people working on the brands we represent to feel the rush. To beat their competitors off the starting blocks. To be an early adopter brand.

Those are my emotional reasons. The top practical ones include:

• Hangouts
  • The much touted live video tool you can use for everything from a user focus group to a press briefing (video)
• Ripples
  • A lovely visualization of how a post is shared (video). Clearly, identifying top contributors and influencers is key for our clients and Google knows how to provide tools to help. And it’s free.
• Direct Connect
  • This is huge. Users can type +BrandName in Google Search and get a direct link to that Brand’s Google+ Page. It’s not just great for users, it is a reminder of the real power of Google overall.

There is nothing better than to learn by doing. And early adopters learn more, faster. Facebook is almost eight years old; Twitter launched in 2006. Neither was built for brands and, to be honest, many brands are still not sure what to do there. That’s ok. Have a play with Google+ and it just may help your company get serious with an overall social strategy. It’s not a zero sum game and I think the future is a multi-platform place.

We have been doing Workshops on Google+ (and other things) so ping us if you want to know more. And please do circle me.