Mr.
Matt
Spangler

Apple’s Big Missed Opportunity?

I published an article on the Huffington Post today. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Apple’s Big Missed Opportunity?

Thanks to Colin Nagy for his editorial guidance.

Innovation 101 by Baggu

I stumbled upon an ad yesterday for a new shopping bag.   The company is called Baggu Bag.   The difference between it and all other “reusable” shopping bags defines the type of innovation that we should all be striving for.

For the last year or so, we’ve seen a big push towards reusable bags at the grocery to replace plastic.  Its been bolstered by celebrity endorsement, PR campaigns, and the grocery brands themselves, such as Whole Foods, manufacturing and offering them for sale right by the checkout.

But is the current bag design actual working?  Is it something shoppers are using consistently, and beyond that, do they buy just one…and continue to use the same one over and over?  The challenge, and why I always scoffed at these bags, is that this innovation is following a “build it and they will come” model rather then looking deeply at how consumers already act.

Women carry purses (most of them at least).  In major urban areas like New York, Boston, Chicago etc most of your purchasing is not “appointment” shopping like it might be in the suburbs, where you get into your car and head to the grocery store making sure to bring your cloth bags to fill up with groceries.  Instead, in most cities its more the “drop in to the store on the way home” to pick up something for that night or a snack etc.   And in this moment, its extremely rare that anyone would be carrying their extra “reusable bag” just in case they wanted to purchase something.

Knowing this, Baggu bag has created a satchel that folds up into a size that could fit in your purse.  Its always there.  So no matter when the mood strikes you.  You can have the bag ready for use.

This innovation in reusable shopping bags solves that issue and is the first product in this niche market (that I know of) that has taken this into consideration.   Add to that a visually appealing design and you have a product that is a game changer.

Sure the “this is not a plastic bag” satchels had good branding and PR, but the Baggu product is one that actually lives up the mantra that all product design should follow: usability and utility at the forefront, with design and style being key components that amplify the products core innovation.  In addition, this is an attitude that any smart strategic planner should consider when looking at new campaigns, products and the like.  How does what we are creating fit within the construct of how people live their lives and how can it work to improve their everyday.

This is part of my frustration with the iPhone market as well, as everyone and their brother comes up with a new iPhone app to release, but few think about how those apps fit into the existing structure of the a person’s daily routine…but thats an article for another day.

Update 7/22/09…My friends at Cool Hunting were ahead of me on this one (no surprise there) so you can check out the great video they did about Baggu here.

The Death of Display?

It seems like every year or so there is an groundswell of sentiment that the internet advertising display business is destined for a crash.  Noah Brier puts the point in the context of Federated Media and their shift to focus more on Conversational and Social media.   He references the article from Nick Denton back in November that has taken on mythical proportions at this point about how the online advertising should brace for the worst this year. 

Mike Shields cover piece at Mediaweek last week titled the “Death of the Display” was a good use of a clever title to draw attention, and delivered the typical industry fervor around this doomsday claim.  Mike’s response is tempered and fair and he addresses the issues and also gives credence to the industry insiders who have plenty of evidence to back up that fact that we’re heard this before and its simply not true.  I really like his idea on scarcity and believe that kind of Upfront mentality - where the “best” content is up for grabs early and limited makes sense for the future of the online.

That was our belief when we put together Largetail.  Its all about the quality of the brands and content in the publisher group.  You would rather place your ad during Mad Men, then the Tyra Banks show and likewise, we believe quality brands like BMW would rather place their ads on sites like Cool Hunting and Refinery29 then they would on Bill’s Blog.  The question then becomes more about curation then it does about impression.

I will agree with Chas Edwards from Federated that they are more of a publisher portfolio then they are a network.  That was the goal of Largetail as well.  The scale of a true network is in technology innovation and billions of impressions.  For a publisher portfolio it becomes about an audience and fullfilling the needs of the publishers.  So what do they need?  They need the collective voice of a more powerful entity representing and negotiating for them, they need sales people who understand their audience (who ARE their audience) and they need reps who will fight for them on the frontlines with media buyers and marketing directors to push smarter programs then just display.

Chas discusses how their decision was driven by talking to advertisers about their spending patterns for this year, but I don’t feel that what you hear from them is that surprising and a demand for such drastic measures.   They basically say they are gonna explore other options for advertising to make sure they get the best returns.  duh.  Isn’t that what a good online marketer should be doing at all times anyway.  At the end of the day the move by Federated is more buzz building then it is reality in how they will be operating their business.

Its unfortunate that this kind of buckshot planning is permeated throughout the advertising community during economic downturns.  Statements about the sharp move away from display are tossed around by people with limited understanding of its proper use and often times by those who haven’t been building effective plans in the first place.  The key is not one thing or another.  A smart media plan should have a good combination of conversational, display, and other interesting ideas that are custom for the brands and work well with the audience.   Display should be seen for what it is: highly useful for brand recognition and impulse purchase.

thehappycorp recently did a campaign for VH1 that performed better then any rich media campaign they had run. The success of that campaign was about the overall plan - quality media placements, interesting content, a good concept for the campaign and good execution of the ads.  The humor of the ad created conversation and the space it lived in did not limit is effectiveness.

The fact is, the current infrastructure that supports the IAB standard display advertising is going to be a tough one to change.  Standards have been set for years, millions of sites have designed around them, rich media companies like Pointroll and Eyeblaster have been setup to support them, designers have been trained to design for them and the pricing model for ad production doesn’t support the ability to create additional sizes for limited placements.  I argue that a dramatic shift from the current display model is something that needs to be explored, but it needs a well though out plan and industry leadership driving the innovation rather then a site by site, or network by network, solution.

One inherent mistake that I still see media buyers and journalists make when considering display is its purpose.  Display is for brand re-inforcement and impulse purchase.  Its not for direct response.  Never was and never will be.  But it does serve a purpose and that is getting you to hear about the stuff you didn’t even know you needed.  Its for awareness, not for drive to purchase.  There are plenty of options for direct response, but if I want a specific audience to know about my product, and the ads are designed well, then the campaign can be highly effective. I align display advertising with that impulse purchase rack in the super market when you are about to check out.  You notice it and if you find it interesting, you think to yourself for a fleeting moment that could be something you might like to purchase.  Whether that happens then or 2 days later is less important and harder to track.

I realize this all may not satisfy the unquenchable thirst of the metric mavens who demand statistical data , but from past experience, I have seen first hand that successful brand advertising is not just about clicks and that online display advertising is destined for long term growth in one form or another.