I can think of few for whom this quote, which is often mis-attributed, is more appropriate:
“We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours.”
—John of Salisbury
Fast Company’s Co.Design site has a very nice remembrance.
Big data is a rapidly growing trend that cannot be ignored. From IBM, we know that we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day, which is equivalent to 57.5 billion 32 GB iPads! To top it off, 90 per cent of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone(1).
With the mass adoption of social media and the rise of tracking technologies, we are no longer able to ignore the untapped potential of how brands can leverage these large amounts of data. There are obviously opportunities as we can see from the mashups(2) of different applications and Internet services to make life more effective and efficient for all of us.
Uncovering multiple data points can be painfully messy
Big data and new technologies pave the way forward for us as marketers, but before we jump onto the bandwagon of the big data trend, I would like to propose that we take a step back and look at our existing data. At XM, the analytics team has analysed and seen the common mistake that many organisations repeat when preparing report. This stems from trying to combine multiple data points from individual silos to make the best sense of the data. A common example in our field would be for teams to look at email marketing data, search engine marketing campaigns data, CRM data and web, app and mobile data. Looking at the plethora of data points, someone (a team hopefully) is then tasked to combine all the data together (oftentimes in excel) and try to make sense of what’s happening to their bottom line. Multiple data points have become a huge pain point for many because it is difficult and time consuming.
This is however, necessary and important because it allows us to form the big picture and see how each data point affect and influence another, and what impact they bring collectively to impacting the bottom-line, as well as other milestones we set and measure. We will be able to better segment our target audience and formulate a more focused marketing message based on the data. We can even go into one to one, relationship marketing if we can string all the data together to form a one-customer view; this is the holy grail of direct online marketing. In this day and age, it is possible to do all of the above. After all, if Target can understand that a girl is pregnant before her Dad does, we should all strive to be this laser focused on our data.
How do we automate and simplify data collation from multiple disparate sources so that we can focus on adding value by deriving insights from unified data, rather than spending precious time combining data on a weekly or monthly basis? At XM, we do this through coding via libraries of APIs for our clients and some of these are made readily available by our vendors. If you are on Adobe SiteCatalyst, an easy way to do this will be through the use of Adobe Genesis where you will be provided fuss-free integration without any technical coding required.
Whichever way you choose, integrating data and forming the big picture is no longer a choice, but a necessity. Collating and combining data effectively and efficiently forms the basis of quick data-driven decision-making.
Let’s look within before looking out.
Our industry has been fascinated with the conceptualization of ‘The Big Idea’ and we celebrate the success of it with an abundance of award shows. However, with the euphoria of celebration, many of us take for granted the skills or traits that are needed to bring these ideas to life and flawlessly execute them.
As mentioned in this blog post by Cliff Medney, while everybody tries to codify the creative process, the best ideas are usually borne from the people with the right set of emotional or functional competencies.
And one of the critical skills one can possess is empathy.
Empathy is an (if not the most) important trait in creativity
Whether we are aware or not, empathy plays an essential role in what we do. From the ideation process, to the selling of the idea, to working with a team to make it happen, to designing the right user experience for the audience. It is ingrained in our day-to-day work.
In fact, I would go so far to say that empathy fuels our ideas. While statistical data is valuable, the key nuggets of information buried in the data, is best translated by the ability to relate with the target audience through empathy.
Human insights usually come from us being able to empathise with the particular audience, by being able to listen to them, and truly understanding their base desires, thus allowing us to come out with insights driven by empathy.
In an industry where creative egos thrive and creativity is the most desired asset, an unassuming trait like empathy does feel a little out of place. But if you look at the best work that is garnering attention and bringing in results, the recent titanium winner Nike Fuel for example, proves that an idea does not need to be just smart, clever or witty to win something. It just needs to start from a human insight, which is usually borne out of empathy for the audience.
Empathy is the human trait behind T-shaped people
In XM, we’ve always believed in the right balance of creativity & technology to create the best solutions for our clients. As we start to look at the people we want to bring in to join our family, we always look out for T-shaped individuals. Individuals who are pretty strong in one discipline yet have a good understanding of a breadth of other disciplines to be able to collaborate well with others.
Tim Brown, IDEO CEO describes it pretty well here.
“T-shaped people have two kinds of characteristics, hence the use of the letter “T” to describe them. The vertical stroke of the “T” is a depth of skill that allows them to contribute to the creative process..”
“..That can be from any number of different fields: an industrial designer, an architect, a social scientist, a business specialist or a mechanical engineer. The horizontal stroke of the “T” is the disposition for collaboration across disciplines. It is composed of two things. First, empathy. It’s important because it allows people to imagine the problem from another perspective- to stand in somebody else’s shoes. Second, they tend to get very enthusiastic about other people’s disciplines, to the point that they may actually start to practice them. T-shaped people have both depth and breadth in their skills.”
If you noticed, empathy is seen as the dominant trait found in T-shaped individuals and rightly so. We feel that for us to be able to create work that resonates and has an impact with our audience, we need to hire people who possess empathy.
Hiring people with empathy
As the creative lead in XM, I’m constantly on the lookout for creatives that has it in them. It’s definitely not easy being able to spot such individuals, but these are a couple of example of hints I look out for during conversations or interviews.
This is not an exhaustive list obviously but you get the drift. At the end of the day, I feel that empathy deserves a little more recognition in our industry, simply because it drives so much of what we do. And it’s time we openly acknowledge and embrace it.
Facebook introduced Timeline for Pages and it’s the largest, most significant design changes for brands. From now till end of March, brands get to preview and curate their Timeline in a safe environment that is only visible to its Page admins. This curation period allows brands to get familiarized with the features and to understand what works best for them. Brands can publish their Timeline anytime until March 30th 2012, after which it will automatically become visible to all.
Facebook Brands Timeline Video
So, why did Facebook introduced such radical changes for Brands? Well, there is a host of motivation driving this change – from creating a consistent design for personal profiles/brand to enhancing brand experience, to setting a more potent ground for its advertising revenue – we think the changes are a great step ahead for marketers to create richer brand experiences and deeper connections with its fans.
Overall Look and Feel
You will notice from the first glance of the Timeline that it is highly visual. The Page is no longer just a news feed providing timely updates. Rather, it’s a brand’s storybook – offering depth and richness in content that is visually driven. From the cover photo to larger posts, brands can truly create their own stamp of presence with clever and consistent use of imageries.
Summary of Changes
Here is a quick summary of the key features and the implications to your Facebook strategy.
Cover photo – As Facebook Product Director of Ads Gokul Rajaram says, “its goal is to symbolize what an organization is all about. For a restaurant it could be a popular menu item, a band could display album cover art, and a business could show a picture of their customers using their product.”There are specific guidelines on what should NOT be in the cover photo as recommended by Facebook.
· Landing Page – There is no default landing page when an user arrives at your Page. However, according to our partners at BuddyMedia, you can still “likegate” but moving forward it will be less of a strategy.
· Page Apps - Apps have been relocated from the left navigation sidebar to the right side of the About section. While they appear with thumbnail photos instead of as text links, they’re overshadowed by the massive cover above. Marketers need to figure out how attention can be drawn toward the apps as well as the content on the Timeline. That being said, apps will own a bigger space on their own page allowing marketers to fit in more than the previous constraint.
· Messages – This function enables users to send direct, private messages to the Page. This can be used as a new customer service channel where you can address users’ concerns without having to discuss issues publicly on your Page’s wall. Pages cannot proactively send messages, you can only respond to users that have already contacted you.
· Pinned Post – You can select any post (old or new) to be pinned at the top left spot of the Timeline feed for seven days at a time. Pinning can be used to direct users to an important promotional app, show off a special photo, or display a timely status update. The feature gives you significant control what visitors to a Page see first
· Friend Activity – Located at the top right of the Timeline, visitors will see the faces and number of their friends that have liked your Page along with one most recent Friend comment of your brand. Since the post is prominent and content relevant (friend’s opinion), you want to ensure that negative comments are addressed and controlled.
· Milestones – You can select to publish special Milestones stories such as founding date, product launch dates, or achievements such as getting your 1,000,000th fan. According to TechCrunch, “these updates are likely favored by the EdgeRank news feed visibility algorithm, and may receive more impressions in the news feed and more prominence on Timeline than standard posts”
· Reach generator - Today, content posted to Facebook Pages reach only 16 percent of fans. It allows Brands to pay money to guarantee that your posts get to at least 75 percent of your fans each month, doubling average reach. This means that engagement will more than double as more fans are engaging and exposing these Posts to their friends (who are not fans of the Pages).
· Premium Ad platform – On top of the old Marketplace ads, brands have an extended menu to buy the attention of their users. The catch is – the ads pieces are based on the Page posts. This means that brands need to strike a balance with their content value of postings with a “ad friendly” copy. It works well for both brands and fans as the main focus is on fan engagement with the value of the content in these ad-post pieces.
To further deep dive into the details of each of these feature such as the mechanics, dimensions requirements and case study examples, download our Facebook Timeline Updates presentation.
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In 2006, Mark Skaife drove around Australia and broke a World Record with Mobil 1. In 2007, Scott Brady roared across Arctic with Mobil 1 defying the -40degC conditions. In 2008 and 2009, F1 winners Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button sped to championship with Mobil 1. In 2010, will you be the one to make your mark with Mobil 1?
Register now at http://www.mobil1.sg/willyoubetheone/index.aspx
