Endless Innovation

This Side of Content Paradise: Experiential Content and the Future of the Web

It's almost a cliche these days to say that the Web is accelerating the move toward an attention-deficit disorder literary culture that celebrates the 140-character tweet but has a hard time digesting the 140-page book. We're constantly reminded that the Web is somehow making us stupid, but I'm starting to wonder if the next iteration of the Web - helped along by the explosion of new content experiences made possible by the iPad and the innovative programming capabilities of HTML5 - could actually lead to a backlash of sorts against short-form content culture and a renewed celebration of deep, experiential content.

I recently attended "Gatz," a seven-hour marathon production of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" at the Public Theater in New York and was simply blown away by the experience of hearing actors read aloud the entire book on stage before a rapt audience. During Gatz, the cast members literally read every word on every page -- 49,000 in total -- over a period of more than seven hours in a tour de force of narrative nuance that leads you deeper and deeper into the magical world of Gatsby, Nick Carraway, Jordan Baker and Tom & Daisy Buchanan. This was like an audio book on anabolic steroids.

In his theater review of Gatz, Charles McGrath of the New York Times described this phenomenon of "what happens when you get caught up in a book" on stage, compared to reading it in conventional format:

"When we read a book we don’t really watch or listen to a mental movie. We mostly imagine characters in a kind of shorthand, calling to mind only what’s absolutely necessary. This is what makes watching a filmed or televised version of a book... so pleasurable and sometimes so distracting: the blanks get filled in. But what “Gatz” captures so cleverly is the improvisatory quality of reading: the characters aren’t cast perfectly according to type, the way they would be in a film; they’re pressed into service out of the available office staff.

Our reading and listening imaginations do much the same thing. Reading in bed, riding the subway with the iPod plugged in, driving the car and feeding CDs into the dashboard slot, we’re not transported from this life to another, exactly, but to a sort of halfway realm. We’re partly in East Egg, or wherever, and partly still in that cluttered mental office, where the phone rings — literally sometimes. We look out the window and see, oops, that we’ve just missed our subway stop or, worse, that a state trooper has just pulled alongside and he has his lights flashing."

This is where the next iteration of the content Web needs to take people -- to new types of meaningful content experiences and away from throwaway, disposable (and dare I say it) junk Web culture. Imagine a content world where the experience of The Great Gatsby on your Kindle or iPad is richer and more meaningful than what is possible with a favorite, dog-eared, coffee-stained and annotated book -- even more engaging than what is possible with film.

I think this type of content experience will require more than just interactive content modules on the Jazz Age, hyperlinks to original book reviews of F. Scott Fitzgerald's works on the Web, or brief contextual video clips from previous film versions of Gatsby. These multimedia additions, while wonderful in and of themselves, would only encourage more sampling and "browsing" rather than deep concentration and focus. I'm thinking more along the lines of a live reading of the book by an actor in a different city via Skype as a way of immersing yourself in the dramatization of the text in a radically new way.

What's great about Gatz is that it has a lot of people talking about what they just experienced. Is the future of content (especially Web content) in these types of long-form experiences or not?

[image: Gatz]

"Provide the Platform of Ideas Wherever Ideas Strike": Bart Steiner of Bulbstorm

Since 2007, Bulbstorm has been at the forefront of smart thinking about ways that companies and brands can tap into powerful ideas online and then transform them into new products or services. In this exclusive interview with Endless Innovation, Bulbstorm CEO Bart Steiner shares his views on how brands must continually move to where their fans are, highlights a few success stories from Facebook, and gives a hint of what's next in the "online ideas" space. 

Endless Innovation: Can you talk a little about the way that Bulbstorm has evolved over the past 12 months in terms of helping brands bring their best ideas to light? Has there been any shift in focus from "online communities" to "social media"?

Bart Steiner: You have to be willing to go to where the people are. You cannot count on them coming to you. So, we want to provide the platform of ideas wherever ideas strike – whether that’s in our own online community or in communities on social networks like Facebook.

In 2007, we launched Bulbstorm.com, a social community where people could share their ideas for products and businesses and solicit feedback from other community members. Bulbstorm.com has grown to become one of the world’s most popular idea-sharing communities, surpassing combined traffic figures for idea-sharing sites owned by Starbucks and Dell.

As Bulbstorm.com grew, we recognized that consumers were aggregating on Facebook – and that brands wanted to engage them there. So, we translated our philosophy of ideas into Facebook applications that enable brands to engage fans around the fans’ ideas. Our flagship Idea Challenges application for Facebook provides a branded, game-like environment for the sharing and rating of those ideas and has yielded tremendous results for every company that's used it.

Endless Innovation: In what ways is Facebook becoming an increasingly important platform for brands to tap into the combined wisdom of their fans?

Bart Steiner: Today, the party is on Facebook. The party’s been on other platforms in the last decade. But right now, Facebook is where consumers are spending their time and Facebook is where brands are seeking to build communities of fans and engage them.

We've demonstrated that the best way to engage with your brand’s fans is to ask them for their ideas. And innovative brands are discovering they can tap into the tremendous passion fans bring when they contribute. We are seeing more and more brands recognize the value of Facebook as a platform for harnessing the power of their fans’ ideas.

Endless Innovation: What are some of the success stories from Facebook that brands have had by implementing the Ideas Challenge application? 

Bart Steiner: We recently executed our first idea contest for Intel, which sought to gather ideas for an upcoming phone product. The promotion attracted over 47,000 participants, who engaged in the experience for 7 minutes per visit. Fans submitted 5,200 ideas, which in turn drew 195,000 idea views, 108,000 ratings, 8,100 comments, and 2,900 wall publishes. The fan who submitted the top idea – as selected by community voting and Intel's judges – will actually visit Intel’s facilities to share her idea with Intel engineers.

Another example is our work with Ruiz Foods. We recently helped them crowdsource their 2011 product line for the Tornados snack brand. The company had already identified desirable flavor categories (such as breakfast and dessert), but wanted consumers to contribute specific flavor ideas. So, the top flavor submissions in those categories will actually hit the market next year. In just over a month, they received over 1,400 ideas for new flavors, plus 70,000 idea views, 48,000 idea ratings, 5,000 idea comments, and hundreds of thousands of valuable engagements with the brand.

[editor's note: There are more Facebook case studies on Bulbstorm's website]

 

Endless Innovation: Once brands are able to crowdsource ideas, what is the process for executing and implementing the most successful of them?

Bart Steiner: The process for implementing these ideas is as diverse as the ideas themselves. In the Intel example, they’re scoping the feasibility of implementing the best ideas around functionality. But they’re also mining the consumer ideas in aggregate for insights into how products can be developed on their platform by their partners. In the case of Ruiz Foods, the most popular Tornados flavors will move into their R&D kitchens and will actually be added to the product mix in 2011.

The marketing benefit in both cases is potentially huge. Intel’s partners will be able to develop and market a wide variety of solutions, each with audiences of consumers anxious to try them out. When Tornados’ new flavors are launched, they’ll encounter a market of consumers ready to taste what they helped create, and excited to tell their friends.

Endless Innovation: What are some of the things that we can look forward to in 2011 from Bulbstorm? What's next?

Bart Steiner: For 2011, we’re really focused on the concept of providing the platform of ideas wherever ideas strike. We want to be there when the light bulb turns on – and it doesn’t always turn on when you’re browsing photos on Facebook.

What that means for us is expansion of the platform into new channels such as mobile devices and corporate web sites. But the philosophy will remain unchanged. It’s all about the ideas!

I Drink Your Milkshake: Your Credit Card is My Mobile Phone

It's always fun to watch I Drink Your Milkshake moments play out in the corporate world - those dramatic moments when one company announces that it will take over another company's entire industry, and there's nothing you can do about it. Google does it all the time -- but it's usually directed at a company like Apple, Facebook or Microsoft. This time, however, Google has its straw pointed at the milkshake that belongs to the major credit card companies.

Suspend belief for a second and imagine Google CEO Eric Schmidt as Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. In his keynote address at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Google CEO Eric Schmidt laid out a vision in which Android-powered mobile phones would be capable of making payments:

"Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, showed off the company’s next Android-powered phone, which will contain a chip that will allow people to make payments via their handsets. Opening this year’s Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Schmidt showed off the new phone, which had the manufacturer’s label deliberately covered up, but is assumed to be the next Nexus device, following the Nexus One, and will contain a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip, that will allow people to use their phones like credit cards. [...] The latest version of Android, called Gingerbread, due to come out in the “next few weeks”, will power this new handset according to Schmidt, and will feature this new mobile payments system as a key tool. “This could replace your credit card,” Schmidt said." 

Moving from a card-centric view of payments to a device-centric view of payments is no longer a hypothetical what if? More companies are experimenting with innovative ways to transform mobile devices into a "digital wallet" capable of making and receiving contactless payments. The emerging NFC technology mentioned by Google at the Web 2.0 Summit makes it possible for a mobile device to wirelessly communicate with another device or object at very close range and exchange data. By doing so, the NFC chip has the potential to reshape the mobile payments space by shifting the payment experience from plastic cards to mobile devices.

Keep in mind that TIME magazine recently named the Square payment system - which threatens to disrupt credit card companies at the low end of the market - one of its Top 50 inventions of the year. The wildcard, of course, is Apple, which is rumored to be looking into integrating an RFID chip into the next iPhone 5 to facilitate NFC payments. Once customers are able to purchase NFC-ready smart phones, the market for contactless payments should really take off. 

[image: I Drink Your Milkshake]

Why Nespresso is the Next iTunes

When you look at how Apple completely disrupted the music industry with the introduction of the iTunes digital music store back in 2001, it's natural to ask: Which other companies or brands are capable of such wide-scale disruption? My current pick is Nespresso - and not just because I recently purchased a super-cool Nespresso Essenza espresso machine at Crate & Barrel.

Look at the structural characteristics of Apple iTunes -- and it's easy to see why Nespresso is on its way to becoming the next iTunes. Apple fundamentally created a "closed" system in which digital songs would only play on Apple devices (just try to transfer songs into or out of iTunes!); radically changed the way we think about buying music (a la carte, 1-song-at-a-time for $0.99); and created a "boutique" experience around the product ecosystem (the Apple stores with their Genius Bars and live events). On top of all that, Apple overlaid the impossible-to-define "hipness" quotient over the entire music experience.

Now, compare that to what Nespresso is on its way to replicating within the coffee industry. First of all, Nespresso has created a "closed" system where special Nespresso capsules are required to brew espresso - and these are only available online via Nespresso or at one of a handful of boutique stores in America. These capsules are not usable in any other coffee machine. Secondly, Nespresso has absolutely crushed it when it comes to the single-serve coffee market. Each capsule brews one cup at a time, and that's it. You buy little boxes of capsules on an a la carte basis. Thirdly, there's the growing network of Nespresso boutiques (two in New York City, one in Chicago, and several more planned around the U.S.), where Europhiles cluster around to drink really expensive espresso and then shop upstairs in a minimalistically elegant area. Finally, there's the whole Nespresso branding campaign that is centered around creating a new "coffee culture," complete with its own language and lingo ("grands crus" for coffee, anyone?).

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to brew a capsule of Arpeggio.

Does Branding Still Matter in a Digital World?

In a digital world, passionate consumers are taking on the role of online brand ambassadors, and nearly anyone has the ability to influence a brand’s reputation online. To explore the role that branding plays in a digital world, American Express OPEN - creators of the Project RE:Brand video web series - hosted an evening salon (Does Branding Still Matter in a Digital World?) in SoHo last night to discuss the issues involved in re-branding a city, an iconic cultural institution and a successful small business.

Panelists Willy Wong, Creative Director of NYC & Company, and Julia Hoffmann, Creative Director of Advertising and Graphic Design at MoMA, kicked off the night with a discussion about the ways that their respective organizations are approaching branding and marketing in a digital age. While the proliferation of digital tools means that even an iconic institution like MoMA can no longer control the conversation online, it does mean that they can shape, inform and contribute to the types of conversations that tourists and visitors are having. Word-of-mouth marketing, in fact, was cited more than once during the evening salon as still the most effective form of marketing there is.

Looking back at what worked well in 2010 from a marketing perspective, Hoffmann cited the phenomenally popular Marina Abramovic "The Artist is Present" exhibition, which combined a personal, one-on-one experience for visitors with an online webcam component that enabled potential visitors from across the Web to tune in and watch the marathon performance. Fans became so caught up in the Abramovic performance that they began remixing parts of the performance online in other digital formats - like the Marina's Chair Twitter feed.

Next, Lesley Horowitz and Dominic Sinesio, Co-Founders of New York branding agency OFFICELAB, discussed their brand makeover project with Iris & Elliot Schreier of Artyarns, a small business that recently extended their offline marketing into the digital space. What was interesting was the aspect of "self-discovery" that occurred when the Schreiers took a closer look at their company's marketing strategy. As they pointed out, you can get so caught up in your small business that you start to lose focus about the way your customers (and potential customers) perceive you. Answering the simple question "Why?" is one way to re-align the execution of your marketing campaign with the underlying purpose of your business. For example, too often, a website will explain what you offer, but not explain why you offer what you do.

If you haven't yet watched the series of videos from Project RE:Brand from American Express OPEN, check out how five New York-area small businesses embarked on a voyage of self-discovery and re-branding by partnering with five New York City branding agencies.

FULL DISCLOSURE: My employer Electric Artists co-hosted last night's event with American Express and worked on the Project RE:Brand web video series. (Congrats Cider!)

How Taylor Swift Hit the Target Bullseye

Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, because you have one of the bestselling albums of the past five years. Not to get all Kanye about it, but Taylor Swift's new record "Speak Now" just sold 1 million copies in one week -- only the second time that's been done in the past five years. So how did she do it? Not surprisingly, there was an extensive marketing blitz that included all the usual media suspects, a few non-traditional channels (e.g. a free concert at JetBlue's terminal at JFK), a cross-promotional tie-in (i.e. a new fragrance), and strong support from Starbucks and Target.

But there was also a lot of thought about creating the right channel strategy for Taylor Swift's new album. Billboard Magazine has one of the best breakdowns I've seen yet of Taylor Swift's sales numbers:

(1) Target - 350,000 units

(2) Apple iTunes - 220,00 units

(3) Walmart - 190,000 units

(4) Amazon - 40,000 units

(5) Costco - 40,000 units

(6) Best Buy - 35,000 units

(7) Starbucks - 28,000 units

More interestingly, Taylor's fans were willing to pay a premium for the new album -- and that meant that a race-to-the-bottom pricing strategy wasn't effective. The suggested pricing for the album was $18.98 -- nearly twice the $9.99 standard you'd encounter on Apple iTunes. (Currently, Apple iTunes is offering the album for $13.98). Target - which blew out the competition by far with nearly 1/3 of the entire sales - still is holding firm to the $16.99 price point by delivering additional value in the form of 3 original songs, 3 remixed tracks and 30 minutes of exclusive video coverage (as well as that "lady in red" re-interpretation of the album cover). However, the $18.98 price point was hardly a line drawn in the sand -- Amazon quickly undercut the pricing of the entire market, at $3.99 for the digital download of the entire album. On the CD side, Walmart led the race for margin compression with $7.78 pricing.

Heading into Week 2, it will be interesting to see how these retail channels - especially Target -- alter their strategy to maintain the sales momentum for "Speak Now."

[image: Taylor Swift Joins Forces With Target]

Gawking at the Future of Content

When the smartest guy (or gal) in an industry decides to throw in the towel on a business model, it's time to stand up and take notice. This week, the ever-controversial Nick Denton of Gawker Media - the most successful and well-known of all the blog networks that exploded in popularity over the past decade, declared to the Wall Street Journal, "I don't want to be the No. 1 blog network anymore. That's like being king of the playground."

At which point, the Wall Street Journal diligently rushed out and collected quotes from all kinds of social media insiders that compared the art of blogging to the ancient art of calligraphy. Denton pointed out that the nine key blogs comprising the Gawker Media empire would take on a radically new look and appearance in 2011 in an effort to maximize eyeballs and advertising revenue:

(1) Greater focus on original content and reporting (rather than breathless re-blogging and re-linking)

(2) One big "persistent" story per page, rather than a chronological updating of new content as it becomes available (in other words, say goodbye to one of the fundamentals of blogging. See-ya!)

(3) More video -- and more video-based advertising units that will be triggered after a certain number of visitors hit the page

These three major changes, of course, will impact the future of content as we know it on the Web:

"The coming face-lift, which is being tested publicly, is likely to attract the attention of a variety of bloggers and media organizations that have long admired Mr. Denton's technology instincts. Since the launch of the first Gawker site, Gizmodo, in 2002, a number have copied such features as his tools for comments and his elaborate back-end analytics system, which, in the new design, helps power a live visitor counter at the top of each site. [...] "He has been pushing this envelope in terms of using technology," said Om Malik, who has been blogging about technology on Gigaom.com since 2001. He has a talent for "nudging [users] along towards a new usage behavior."

What's fascinating is that within the WSJ feature piece, Denton likens the new Gawker format to a "newsmagazine." WTF? We went through a decade of rapid technological and content change, destroyed and left for dead scores of the most prestigious magazines and newspapers in the world, transformed the profession of "journalist" into something akin to a "social worker," and lopped off billions of dollars of market value of the world's largest media organizations... and we're back to the concept of a newsmagazine?

UPDATE: Ha! I just noticed that my calligraphy provider has a new option for me that I can toggle on and off when adding a blog post -- "keep this post at the top of your blog's home page."

[image (in lieu of video) via Wall Street Journal]