Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 366

TV Everywhere

If screens become ubiquitous at every turn, does this change TV and what it means to our society?

We're no longer talking about PVRs and the ability for people to zap through the commercials (which is a bigger deal than most people think). We have to remember that the point of TV was not to provide entertaining content. The point of TV was to run ads and to keep people watching those ads by putting something in between them that would hold their attention. When we allowed people to skip those ads, everything changed.

Everything is about to change again.

While many television executives attempt to figure out how to grow audience by making television more interactive (whether that be tag-teaming it with online functionality or providing more services like on-demand viewing and more niche/specialty programming), it's the ubiquity of screens everywhere and the access to the content on almost any screen that's going to force television to take a much colder/harder look at itself.

Where isn't TV?

Flat screen TVs for the home are affordable for most. You can watch television on every device - your smartphone, tablet and computer. Applications and hardware allow you to now stream TV content from your home to wherever you are, and services like Netflix and Hulu give you the type of on-demand viewing that seemed like an improbability just a few years ago.

But just because you can, does it mean that you will watch TV everywhere but on the screen in your living room?

MediaPost ran a news items titled, Non-Traditional TV Viewing Surges (March 11th, 2011). The title caught my attention. Especially the words, "non-traditional TV viewing." It's almost hard to imagine that everything the television networks were about: creating a solid line-up of content, figuring out the best days to run these shows and how one show would flow into another to capture and maintain an audience worthy of the advertisers with the biggest budget evolves at such a rapid pace. "Nearly one-third of urban media consumers watch TV on non-traditional platforms - well over the average for the U.S.," states the news item. "Larchmont, NY-based media researcher Horowitz Associates says 31% of city consumers watch TV content on computer/laptops, mobile devices or tablets, or streamed from the Internet to the TV through so-called 'over the top' devices, such as Apple TV, Xbox or blu-ray DVD players. Horowitz says those who use alternative platforms for TV spend, on average, 15% of their video time on platforms other than traditional TV - in addition to time spent viewing other traditional digital TV platforms: DVRs and video-on-demand services."

Pushing beyond broadcasting content.

In a world where TV is everywhere, it starts getting even that much more interesting when the platforms that distribute and publish this content also start delving into original content programming. For years, there were rumors of platforms like Xbox, PlayStation and the like looking into either producing unique TV content or to take on traditional shows that were being cancelled but still had enough of an audience to make it profitable for a smaller player.

Don't discount the lazy.

I've said my peace about how television should not discount their power as a passive media by trying to become super-interactive (you can read that rant here: Television At The Crossroads), and the truth is that there remains a majority of people that like to sit back - at a specific time - and just let the TV airwaves waft over them. But, it's clear that how we watch TV is changing radically, which means many things: the types of shows we watch will change and the way we are advertised to will change as well. Along with that will come many new networks, channels and yes, even new platforms for television.

Will you be watching?

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #39

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, iambik, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

Hidden In Plain View - Stories, Etc... . "In World War II, the Army Corps of Engineers needed to hide an airplane factory in plain sight in Burbank, California. They went to some pretty serious lengths to create a realistic cover for their factory, even going so far as to pay people to walk around above it. This site has some shots of the cover-up from the 1940s. In an era where everyone has access to detailed satellite imagery, it's fascinating to see what we did to hide from above 70 years ago." (Alistair for Hugh).

The Algorithm That Beats Your Bank Manager - Forbes . "Maybe we don't need better regulations. Maybe we just need to get the humans out of the process entirely. The US bank collapse was triggered by complex bundling of risks, and a bloody-minded conviction that house prices couldn't fall. Other countries with stricter regulations didn't face the same challenges. But with thousands of data points about potential borrowers, maybe lenders can make smarter decisions about who to lend to. This Forbes piece looks at Wonga , a lender that rejects 70 percent of applicants -- but makes money on those it approves, because it knows more about them. Perhaps your next loan will depend as much on your Facebook wall and your Twitter feed as on your credit history." (Alistair for Mitch).

Q. and A. on the Nuclear Crisis in Japan - The New York Times . "'May you live in interesting times,' is (supposedly) an ancient Chinese curse. Well, we live in such times. The world seems like it's been turned upside down in the past few months: Northern Australia under water; protests, revolutions and counter revolutions in Egypt, Tunisa, Bharain, Lybia and elsewhere. Hundreds dead to an earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Unimaginable Tsunami in Japan. And then nuclear meltdown. For whatever reason, the nuclear meltdown is the news event that has most captivated my attention: what's going on now? Is it better today or worse? What's being done? Does it have a chance of succeeding? What's the worst case scenario? This NYTImes blog piece answered more of my questions than any other piece of journalism (though nothing beats Wikipedia for comprehensiveness). (Hugh for Alistair).

Just send the goddamn email - In Over Your Head . "Mitch hosts a podcast called Media Hacks (or, he used to) [Blogger's Note: I'm happy to keep it going - we just need a few people to confirm a date ;)], where a few of us get together and talk about the things that interest us. Julien Smith is one of the Hacks, and he swears like a sailor. For a loudmouth trouble-maker, though, he's sharp. I loved this post, because often in my life, I let some uncomfortable bit of communication simmer and get stale, until it terrifies me. And I should just send that goddamn email. No matter how uncomfortable it is, everything is always better when you just send the goddamn email. Suggestion: whatever that goddamn email is that you are avoiding sending: go send it now." (Hugh for Mitch).

The Digital Pileup - The New York Times . "The more data we use, the more tangible, physical resources we use up as well. It's something to think about, and this op-ed piece in The New York Times does a good job of waking us all up to the reality that even if you're just grabbing a song from iTunes and there's no more CD, plastic being used or a truck to ship it, it doesn't mean that there is no impact. Data centers are both costly to run and use up a tremendous amount of energy. Beyond that, storing data or having a need to reference old data is costly too. It all adds up. This piece will get you thinking differently about data, how we use it and how we store it, along with the cost and impact of it." (Mitch for Alistair).

YouTube Video of the Day: Mister Rogers Visits the Crayon Factory - Mashable . "I can get lost in YouTube for hours. One video leads you to another and the next thing you know you're watching videos you have not seen since you were a kid. As amazingly powerful as clips like this are, it's also fascinating that people have them, share them and put them out there. We're quickly learning that the Internet is one of the best archives in the world... much better than a dusty shelf in some television studio that no one has access to." (Mitch for Hugh).

Now it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

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Why We Should All Respect The Internet (Just A Little Bit More)

The debate about the value of the Internet swells up every now and again.

People like Nicholas Carr argues that the Internet is making us stupid (see: The Atlantic - Is Google Making Us Stupid?). Malcolm Gladwell does not believe that online social networks are changing our world (see: The New Yorker - Small Change). The argument seems to delve too deep into the minutia of networked markets instead of looking at it from a more holistic perspective: when anybody can publish anything in text, images, audio and video for free to everyone else in the world (and in a place where people can share, collaborate or mash-up that content), the ability and opportunity to change the world is (very much) present.

Watch this...

I've been following Salman Khan and the remarkable journey of his Khan Academy since 2009. If you're looking for a quick shot inspiration, creativity, innovation and hope, look no further:

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Being Digital

How does a Marketing Professional (or any media professional) bridge the gap between the traditional marketing channels to where we're at now?

There is an opportunity now for marketing and media professionals to cross the digital divide. To better understand the many changes that have come into our industry because of the Internet, mobile and now, touch. For many they're being forced to do so while others continue to "stay the course." That being said, I also see many professional in the Digital Marketing space not truly embracing the power and opportunity that is now in front of our faces. They fall back on trying to use traditional tactics in the digital world (with varying degrees of success). On a personal note, I cant remember how the transition from a more traditional marketer to a digital marketer took place. I can say that when I first connected to others through both BBS systems and then the first Web browser, it was an epiphany that this new-found interconnectedness would change everything. And, it has.

Here are 6 ways to become more digital: 

Learn it. Education used to be expensive. It isn't for Digital Marketing. Every day thousands of people are sharing what they think about this space. If you don't know where to begin, try any one of the top Marketing Blogs over at the Advertising Age Power 150 list. You can also check out the type of people I follow on Twitter. There are many smart Podcasts that regularly attack the topic of Digital Marketing (The Beancast, Marketing Over Coffee,Jaffe Juice and For Immediate Release immediately come to mind) and they're all free. Just head over to iTunes, go to the Podcast section and look for the marketing Podcasts (audio and video). 

Read more. It's not just about reading Blogs and following people on Twitter. Get in the habit of reading... often... all of the time (more on that here: The Most Important Thing You Can Do...).There are lots of brilliant business books by people like Don Tapscott, Seth Godin, Clay Shirky, Joseph Jaffe, Avinash Kaushik, Bryan Eisenberg, David Weinberger, and many others that can get you started. It's amazing to think that for well under two hundred dollars you can buy the most cutting-edge thinking. Most of these books offer the kind of content that they don't teach in university.

Create more. One of the things that makes Digital Marketing so fascinating is the ability for anybody and everybody to create content as well (in text, audio, images and video). It's critical that you spend some of your time formulating your thoughts and publishing them online. It's not about creating an online resume or becoming famous. It's about critical thinking and gaining a better understanding of what it means to make your thoughts shareable and findable. The act of creating in these channels will give you a better understanding of how these channels connect.

Love it. Passion is an over-used term. But, it also happens to be the right term. You have to love this stuff. I can't imagine doing anything else. I get hundred of email newsletters, Google Alerts, Blog posting and tweets about all things Digital Marketing and New Media. When do I find the time to consume all of it? I don't. But I try to get the highlights and dig in deeper when I can. Right now, there was a choice in front of me: chill out and watch some TV or chill out and play with some thoughts about the Digital Marketing space. It's a no-brainer for me. I love what I do so much that this is my leisure (and pleasure). I get more pleasure writing these Blog posts than the things that the majority of people do to forget about the day they just had.

Live it. I am reminded of something that Avinash Kaushik (the analytics evangelist at Google and author of Web Analytics - An Hour A Day and Web Analytics 2.0) said at last year's Canadian Marketing Association National Convention: "The Web has been around forever and yet it is not in the blood of the executives who staff the top echelons of companies. Make no mistake, they are smart, they are successful and they want to do better. But the Web is such a paradigm shift that if it is not in your blood it is very difficult to imagine its power and how to use it for good. How do you demand innovation and creativity and radical rethink if you can't imagine it?" You have to live it. It has to be in your blood.

Practice it. Try things. Think about a Digital Marketing strategy... how does it connect to the other pieces of your branding and marketing strategy? What can you do today to make your consumer's experience better through these connected channels? As you dig deeper into Digital Marketing, you'll find many people talking up a good game. While what they say may be impressive, try to find the people who have their hands dirty. The ones who are neck deep in these channels and platforms are the true visionaries and people worth being connected to.

What's missing?

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F-Commerce - Rise Of The Facebook Consumer

What the Facebook?

While visiting Florida last October, I noticed a wall of gift cards near one of the checkout counters at a Target store. Gift cards are big business these days and many retailers are getting in on the action. With all of the options available, one brand really jumped out at me. It was a gift card for Facebook. The current incarnation of these gift cards assigns Facebook Credits into your Facebook profile, which can be used to buy stuff like virtual tractors in the popular online game, Farmville, or toward other virtual goods. These are the early days of the virtual goods economy (you're already taking part if you've ever bought a song on iTunes or an app for your smartphone), but this is also the very early stage of F-Commerce, or Facebook Commerce.

Facebook is huge and continues to grow at a staggering pace.

With more than 500 million members, if Facebook were a country it would be the third largest by population after China and India. Last month eMarketer reported that Facebook reaches the majority of Web users, saying that 132.5 million Americans will use the site. Facebook will reach almost nine in ten social network users and 57.1 per cent of all Internet users, eMarketer added. Soon after that, an Ad Age/Ipsos Observer survey of digital media habits reported that 75 per cent of Facebook users have "liked" a brand as well. When you put these pieces together, it's clear that should Facebook look at creating a currency within its network, it could become a dominant global force in monetary transactions.

The arrival of Social Commerce.

For the past few years, many media pundits (including me) have lauded the arrival of Social Commerce. Once online social networking took hold, it became apparent that people liked talking about the brands they use and they respect the opinions of those in their social circle when it comes to making purchasing decisions. Shopping - by its very nature - is a social act and it was only a matter of time before social media-like tools became prevalent throughout the e-commerce world. Now, it's hard to sell anything online if you don't let your customers rate, review and share their collective experiences. In fact, at the end of last year, Facebook allowed its now infamous "like" button to be placed on anything online - from pieces of content to products and brands. Imagine the data and information that Facebook now has from all across the Web and mobile channels about what people like (along with who they are, where they live and who they are connected to).

The arrival of F-Commerce.

It seems like the last mile - actually having commerce take place within the Facebook domain - is under way, and this is a huge deal that every business should pay attention to. The conversation around social media was about building loyalty, trust and chatter around brands by using platforms like Facebook where people like to engage with one another. The challenge was in figuring out the analytics to link those social acts back to a sale in order to create a semblance of proper retail attribution. Now, all of that changes.

Now, there is actual commerce taking place within Facebook.

Have you seen the Best Buy Facebook Page? If you look at the navigation, you'll note a tab titled, "Shop + Share." The antiquated Internet strategy of two years ago that insisted brands drive consumers back to their website is slowly dying. Why force people to leave Facebook to have a great Best Buy experience? Best Buy understands this new world of consumer engagement and if consumers use Facebook as the primary way that they stay connected to loved ones and friends, who is Best Buy to break up that party? Now, you can buy from Best Buy and even share your experience with your online social network without ever leaving Facebook.

It's not just Best Buy.

P&G also entered the F-Commerce fray last year with Pampers. Parents no longer have to leave Facebook to buy Pampers online. The brand choice of Pampers for P&G is interesting as the CPG giant constantly leverages its own data and analytics to develop the most ideal marketing outcomes. It's a clear indication that those who think that Facebook is just a bunch of university students trying to hook up are sorely misinformed.

Let's do the math...

Facebook has close to 600 million members. It has its own currency system in place, called Facebook Credits. Facebook Credits is the default monetary exchange system used on the Facebook platform. Brands are being talked about and engaged within the Facebook platform. Some of these brands are paying a premium to sell within Facebook. As Facebook extends its platform into any and every digital space (websites, blogs, smartphones, etc.) and people have a level of trust in the security of their Facebook Credits, it's not out of line to think about what the major implications of F-Commerce might be on the future of business. Think about the money being exchanged on iTunes in terms of gift cards, etc. . and take another look at Facebook's statistics.

In a globalized economy where exchange rates fluctuate based on geo-local politics and economics, how do you think this will affect our world when everyone (everywhere) is also using the same monetary system and virtual credits?

The above posting is my twice-monthly column for the Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun newspapers called, New Business - Six Pixels of Separation . I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original versions online here:

Montreal Gazette - F-Commerce: Rise of the Facebook consumer .

Vancouver Sun - not yet published.

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How To Be A Social Media Jerk

You'll read a whole bunch of different perspectives online about what you should and should not be doing when it comes to Social Media.

I'm a big believer in doing what works best for you and ignoring what most of the Digerati think. Seth Godin often says, "your mileage may vary," while Chris Brogan is always smart with his, "you're doing it wrong," Blog posts. Still, there are some pretty obvious faux-pas that take place online and - for the most post - I think this happens because individuals feel like there are less ramifications if they're hiding behind a keyboard or a smartphone than if they were standing face-to-face with you.

It's a bit of a trick... but it works.

The easiest way to improve the on-ramp success of your Social Media efforts is to always imagine that the person you're connecting with is standing right in front of you. Think about it this way, if the person were standing there - right in front of your face, would you...

Cover your face? Imagine speaking to someone but they kept their identity unknown. How awkward would that be? Show your face... post a real (and recent) photo of yourself.

Use a fake name? Do you think you're going to build trust with someone if the other person is using a nickname, fake name or the name of the company they work for? Imagine someone asking, "what's your name?" and the response back from the person is, "my name is Local Marketing Guru!"

Give your business card to everyone? Does anyone like the person at the local chamber of commerce event who runs around the room throwing out their business cards as if they are ninja stars? It's not important to connect to as many people as possible in one shot... it's much more important to connect to the right people by taking your time and really getting to know people.

Be so pushy? Someone just asked to connect to me on LinkedIn. The second I accepted the request, I was immediately emailed a very long sales pitch email about what they sell and how I could buy it. On top of that, the email included a two-meg attachment PDF brochure. This is the in-person equivalent of walking up to someone, introducing yourself and not letting them get a word in edge-wise as you suddenly begin to ramble through a twenty-minute sales presentation without their permission.

Call them out in public? I see this a lot on Twitter. People are loosely connected and then one person calls the merits of the other individual's online activities out in public. Can you imagine being in a small circle of people you just met (or sort of know) at an event, when someone turns to the entire group and says, "you see this person standing in front of you? I heard them speak before the event and I think they're completely stupid?" That would never happen in person... why do it online?

Ask them to do something for you without really knowing them? The next time you're at an event, turn to the person you just met and ask them if they would mind writing a reference letter for you. How did that go? I'm amazed at how quickly individuals will ask for something of value (for themselves) from someone they do not know without giving first. There's nothing wrong with asking for help, but the way you ask for help that returns a more positive result is by giving first. By being valuable to others before asking them for favors. By giving abundantly and being helpful.

I'm being a Social Media jerk... or snob.

I'm sure some of the comments below will attempt to turn me into some kind of snob or jerk. The truth is simply this: I do my best to connect and build my online relationships the same way I do when I'm not online. My way of building a professional network may be different from yours. Your mileage may vary (as Seth would say). I may, in fact, be doing it wrong (as Chris would say).

What do you say?

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In Conversation With Gary Vaynerchuk

Episode #244 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Welcome to episode #244 of Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast. You can't help but not like and respect the personal brand that Gary Vaynerchuk has created. In just a few short years, he's converted a successful local liquor business into both a retail and online sensation (Wine Library). In the process, he's also managed to turn himself into the person that brands want to speak to when they're looking to understand these many new media channels (his Social Media agency, Vayner Media, continues to grow). His first book, Crush It, was a massive best-seller and his sophomore effort, The Thank You Economy, looks positioned to do the same. Ultimately, Gary is the kind of person that you meet once and then are convinced that you're friends for life. Who better to talk about the new economies where money isn't the driving force? Enjoy the conversation...

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #244.

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #38

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, iambik, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

Shell energy scenarios to 2050 - Shell . "Peak Oil is a scary thing. When someone like Shell Oil paints a bleak picture, it's even more frightening. This study describes two scenarios of an oil-addicted world going through the sweats and shakes of rehab: 'scramble', where we ignore the future; and 'blueprint', where we plan for it. Neither is particularly nice to our comfy Western way of life." (Alistair for Hugh).

Cultural Exchange: A porn star at 76 - Los Angeles Times . "In a country where the elderly get some respect, Shigeo Tokuda gets more than that -- he's a geriatric gigolo, a septuagenarian sexpot, a late-live lover, a... okay, I'll stop now. Anyway, this LA Times piece looks at the life and work of a Japanese porn star with more experience than most." (Alistair for Mitch).

Why Angry Birds is so successful and popular: a cognitive teardown of the user experience - Pulse UX Blog . "What is it about Angry Birds , that all-pervasive tablet/smartphone game? Fluke? Or something more? Consider: 'The total number of hours consumed by Angry Birds players world-wide is roughly 200 million minutes a DAY, which translates into 1.2 billion hours a year. To compare, all person-hours spent creating and updating Wikipedia totals about 100 million hours over the entire life span of Wikipedia ( Neiman Journalism Lab )...' Charles Mauro deconstructs the Angry Bird experience to figure out just why it's so addictive." (Hugh for Alistair).

Mother Jones web traffic up 400+ percent, partly thanks to explainers - Nieman Journalism Lab . "In this confusing media era, its always nice to read about companies that are doing well." (Hugh for Mitch).

Forgotten 80s Nintendo Games - College Humor . "A great idea/video like this could never have been made prior to the Internet. As a teen during the eighties, there is no chance that this little clip won't put a smile on your face. I'm also impressed with the ideation behind it: what inspired it? That kind of thinking, creativity and the drive to execute it really does fascinate me. A side tangent: I miss the simplicity of the video games of yore." (Mitch for Alistair).

Latest Geminoid Is Incredibly Realistic - Automaton . "While it's not quite Blade Runner , you have to see these robots to believe it. What makes us - as a society - so interested in creating non-human versions of ourselves? It is videos and articles like this that are both creepy and truly inspiring. Technology continues to disrupt... I just didn't expect it to be knocking on my front door and asking to borrow a cup of sugar this quickly. I can't imagine what would happen in mixed IBM's Watson with these Geminoids." (Mitch for Hugh).

Now it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

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The iPad Won't Save You

How were the line-ups today outside of the Apple stores?

You're going to read, see and hear non-stop coverage of the iPad 2 today (and for the next few days). The bigger news is this: the iPad won't save you. I'm talking to advertisers, publishers, media professionals, marketers and professional communicators. No device is going to save your industry or act as a savior to where your current business is running.

The disruption of technology and new media will only fuel more disruption.

On February 28th, 2011, PaidContent ran an article titled, Sir Martin Sorrell: Apple iPad Won't Save Us. Sorrell is CEO of WPP and widely regarded as one of the go-to people when it comes to gauging the temperature of both the advertising industry and the general economic health of the world (because WPP handles so much media and advertising, their performance in the market tends be a leading indicator of the economy's performance). Here's what he said about the iPad: "[The iPad's] not regarded as being the thing that's going to save us, the panacea to the problems of converting to a digital world. It's going to be more difficult."

Nothing will save you.

That's not (totally) true. There are many things that can save your marketing business, but none of them will be related to some new piece of hardware or platform that millions of people will want to connect with. As always, it comes done to (and back to) the basics:

Vision. Do you see things that your competitors do not see? Do you have a way in which you feel your industry should be? What is the one thing you do that your peers cannot touch you on?

Strategy. Once you understand your business objectives and goals, what are the other dots that you need to connect to create a full picture? Don't worry about the tactics here, but define the overall strategy for your business.

Collaboration. Your team and the people you work with and collaborate with are critical to your survival. Jim Collins said it best: get the right people in the right seat on the bus. Everything else flows from there.

Creativity. None of this matters in Marketing unless you are working with some of the sharpest and most creative minds. Creativity wins both clients and attention.

Technology. I once heard Faris Yakob say that, "coders are the new creative." Whether it was his line or someone else's, I couldn't tell you, but it's spot on. You can't be in Marketing and not have the technological firepower to back it up. We have arrived at that moment in time when some of the best advertising agencies now look a whole lot more like a software start-up. Embrace technology and everything it can do.

Execution. If you're not getting things done, then what is the point? As the saying goes, "execution is everything."

Measurement. Welcome to the real-time world where you can mount a campaign and start analyzing your results instantly. If things aren't working you won't find out at the end of next quarter, because you can find out in a quarter of an hour. Embrace analytics and ensure that you're leveraging this data to pull out "actionable insights," as my good friend, Avinash Kaushik, likes to say.

Optimization. Knowing why something is (or isn't) working is one thing, doing something about it is a completely different story. As you can measure everything in real-time, so too can you optimize it. Nurture a testing and learning environment and you'll see a completely different type of organization develop.

Innovation. Most companies never innovate beyond their initial conception. Instead of creating the future (as they did when their business first got off the ground), they're now in the business of mitigating risk and minimizing mistakes. Here's another famous saying, "innovate or die." 

Learning. Never stop learning. Read everything. Read everything about your business, your industry and then keep on reading anything and everything of interest. Learning doesn't only come from consumption. Learning also comes from creating. Write, Blog, Podcast, Tweet, create YouTube videos... put your ideas out there as an act of critical thinking and be open to the comments (the good and the bad). It will make you a stronger and better player in this game.

See, I told you. The iPad won't save you.

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Innovation And Talent In The Marketing Industry

When was it the business of a Marketing agency to do anything but service the needs of the brands it serves?

Times have changed. Times continue to change. The business model of the advertising or marketing agency of yesteryear continues to morph. In a past life, the agency would protect and covet its most senior resources, only to unleash them on the client work. These marketing professionals rarely had public personas and they most certainly were not Blogging or tweeting out their every thought and strategic insight. The business of the agency was to take the back-seat as the work it produced vaulted the client into the public conscience. At its most radical, some of the more progressive marketing agencies would invest in a lab-like environment where new business models and marketing strategies would be developed and tinkered with. As a service-based industry, moves like this were considered radical because the core revenue of the agency came from the ability to sell each team member as billable time, or to grab a percentage of the revenue generated on the media side of things.

Talent has become an issue. Innovation has become an issue.

There is still not shortage of talent in the Marketing industry and it continues to innovate (sometime through its own doing and in other instances through the success of newly introduced channels and platforms). While the Marketing industry did not invent Google, it certainly helped Google (and other channels like it) to develop and nurture their Marketing capabilities. The same can be said about YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc.... The challenge is that the Marketing industry continues to grow by leaps and bounds - and this is especially true on the Digital Marketing side of things. As brands shift more dollars to the Web, Mobile and Touch, there continues to be enormous pressure on the marketing agencies to produce high caliber strategies and campaigns. Us agency folk are not going to be able to capitalize on this shifting trend unless we have the right professionals in place and the right innovation happening (more on this here: Advertising Age - Holding Company Chiefs: We're Woeful When It Comes to Talent).

The challenge.

The challenge is not the marketing agency's desire to accommodate this shift. The challenge comes from a lack of growing resources. While many of the better agencies are staffed well, there is an overall shortage of talent and it's not something that the next generation of university graduates are going to be trained to fulfill. There have been a number of news items in the past month or so that point to a new/interesting trend. The modern marketing agency is not just about services anymore. The modern marketing agency is about turning themselves into a university and using its own revenue to stimulate innovation.

What does it look like when a Marketing agency becomes a university? 

"It's a reaction to an urgent need," said John Boiler, a founder of 72 And Sunny in The New York Times Media Decoder Blog post, Los Angeles Agency to Start an Ad School. "Finding like-minded people to work in a culture like ours... We're trying to build the kind of people who would flourish in our company, people who will be effective, well-rounded marketers." Instead of trying to poach the talent from another agency or hope that some university figures out the right curriculum and nurtures the right kind of graduates, Boiler and his team are investing their own money to build a school. Their internal communications school, 72U, offers, "10 months of projects, coursework and hands-on learning for tuition of around $10,000. The goal is to begin classes in July," says the Media Decoder post. They're not the only ones. Recently, MDC Partners announced that the winner of their "Million-Dollar Challenge" for innovation in the Marketing industry was a proposed launching of an interactive media school called the Digital Works Institute. A new agency model didn't win this challenge, a school to fuel the future marketing geniuses did.

What does it look like when a Marketing agency becomes an early-stage investor in innovation?

Marketing agencies like Rockfish Interactive and kirshenbaum bond senecal + partners have both recently announced the creation of new venture funds to help start-ups interested in developing innovations within the marketing and communications space. It's not only a great way to get a peak at what's coming next, it's an incredible way of getting actual skin in the innovation game.

What's the lesson?

So long as the clients don't see these activities as taking energy and focus away from the development of their business (which - make no mistake about it - can be a huge issue), we're beginning to see enough announcements like the ones mentioned above to see a trend towards an industry that is interested in much more than self-preservation. It's becoming abundantly clear that the marketing and communications industry has a desire to not only evolve, but to thrive as our industry continues to fragment and digitize. It's going to be interesting to see if these agencies can truly deliver on the promise of real education and practical innovation.

I'm keeping my finger's crossed.

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