(MSc) Sebinomics

Yesterday, I took part in a panel discussion on trend marketing and one of the presenters said that the way marketing is made would not change because of demographics in the future. Only the tools will be different. My opinion is that marketing will definitely change because of demographics.

It is obvious that Net Geners are the customers of the present and the future. The first Net Geners entered workplaces, which means they’re making money they can spend on different things and are influencing consumer behavior excessively. The interactivity of the Internet and of video games brought a crucial change in the neural wiring of the brain of Net Geners and affects the way they notice and—even more important—perceive marketing campaigns. Here an excerpt from Don Tapscott’s book Grown Up Digital (p. 97–100):

C. Shawn Green, a premed student at the University of Rochester, had stumbled onto concrete evidence that interactive technology—like action video games—can change the brain, and in particular, the way we perceive things. … [Video] games can make you notice more in your field of vision and speed up your processing of visual information. … The brain is particularly adaptable to outside influences in the first three years of life and then during teenage and early adult years, which is just when most Net Geners are immersing themselves in interactive digital technology 20 to 30 hours per week. … Not only do video game players notice more, but they have more highly developed special skills that are useful for architects, engineers, and surgeons. … By the time Net Generation kids reach their twenties, the typical Net Gener has spent over 20,000 hours on the Internet and over 10,000 hours playing video games of some kind. Recent studies show that the brain continues to undergo significant structural remodeling throughout the adolescent years and into early adult life.

Don Tapscott focuses on the characteristics of Net Geners, and I think it is essential for companies to understand that they do not only have to change their marketing channels for future customers, but also the message and the way it is being broadcasted.

I have talked to many Baby Boomers, who are educated and literate, and many of them do simply not understand the Internet and the software they have to use to create content for their blogs, websites, and virtual social networks. The worldwide web is like to a new country—let’s call it the Webosphere—to them, where a different language is spoken and a different system influences the Webosphere’s culture. It is very easy for Net Geners to mingle, because we grew up in the Webosphere and we learned the language and customs when we were young.

The book talks about research that shows that if Baby Boomers play action video games the neural wiring of their brain changes. This helps them to notice different things in a different way. A great example was that Baby Boomers usually start checking out a website by reading what stands in the top left corner, because they’re used doing that from reading newspapers, books, and so on. Net Geners search for icons, starting in the middle of the screen.

All these examples show that there is an immense gap of how Baby Boomers and Net Geners perceive and notice marketing campaigns and that is where marketers have to understand that crucial changes have o be made in the future when campaigning for a new product.

Obamamania

President Obama is writing history. Wherever we look, whichever channel we watch, whatever newspaper we open, Obamamania is omnipresent. An American friend told me on November 4, 2008, the night Obama was elected the 44th President of the USA, “I guess you have to be American to understand this.” He meant, to understand the euphoria surrounding the (most probably) biggest superstar the world of politics has ever seen. But on January 20, 2009, the day of Barack Obama’s inauguration anyone across the globe understands the euphoria! 

It’s amazing how many people the Obama team is able to reach. Obvjously, his team is very tech savy. CNN teamed up with Facebook to bring the inauguration event also the Net Geners, who do not really follow CNN. And before that, Barack Obama was on countless covers of all kinds of magazines. Even teen magazines like the German Bravo, put on hold their popstars-only rule, and included a poster of Obama in one of their 2008 issues. Many marketers ask themselves, “How did he do it?”

The book BARACK, INC.: Winning Business Lessons of the Obama Campaign by Barry Libert and Rick Faulk, discusses three pillars of Obama’s successful campaign strategy: 

BE COOL. 
Leadership requires focus. Barack Obama built a widely recognized brand by staying focused on the main issues, remaining constantly on message, and always keeping his composure- lessons that can benefit even the most seasoned executives.

BE SOCIAL.
Barack Obama created a nationwide community, using social technologies to develop his own team, increase brand visibility, and generate unprecedened revenue for his campaign. Learn how your business can do the same.

BE THE CHANGE.
He embodied the change he professed, and thus persuaded Americans that he could lead the nation in a new way. Leading any successful business requires the same commitment and innovation.

Today, I was watching Larry King on CNN and saw Will.I.Am performing his song “It’s a new day,” one of many songs written for and inspired by the first Afro-American President of the USA. Let’s not forget that other artists wrote songs to and about presidents before. But the change here is that  songs written for Obama actually praise him and motivate to support him. And there is a lot of support in Europe and in Asia for President Obama. It seems to be “cool” (again) to be American.

A woman attending the inauguration said on TV, “The world is changing. This is unbelievable!” It really is. And besides his political views, President Obama is changing the way companies will do marketing.

CNN and Facebook

It is just a few hours away – After the longest and hardest presidential elections in history, Barack Obama will finally be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America.

Jem Aswad and Jennifer Vineyard write on mtv.com, „The is an event that’s about as close to a royal coronation as American government gets. It’s a day filled with ceremony, guards, salutes, parades, speeches, a party that’s actually still called a “ball” and, of course, symbolism: of new beginnings, rites of passage, of change.”

The Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland says, „Today a magic spell will be performed. A man who 12 weeks ago was a mere political candidate will be transformed with the incantation of a few words, before a vast crowd and a television audience in the hundreds of millions if not billions, into the head of state, even the embodiment, of the most powerful nation on earth.“

BBC News reports, “Events across the UK will be held later as Britons share in US celebrations marking the historic inauguration of US President-elect Barack Obama.”

But what really made my jar drop was that CNN and Facebook teamed up and passed another milestone, as TMCnet Editor Michael Dinan writes:

„Today, it appears that Obama, our most tech-savvy president (to be), has passed another milestone: More than 1 million Facebook (News – Alert) users have joined a group on the social networking site that’s agreed to watch a live stream of tomorrow’s ceremony online.

At last count, the “Obama Inauguration on CNN.com Live with Facebook” group counted 1,077,673 attending members – as well as 152,105 “maybes.”

“What will your Facebook status say when Obama becomes President? CNN.com and Facebook are partnering to enable you to update your status, and follow your friends’ updates, while you watch the inauguration live online, all on http://cnn.com/live,” the group’s message says. “On Tuesday, January 20th, watch President-elect Barack Obama become the next President of the United States on http://cnn.com/live. You can watch the live video online from anywhere with broadband access.”

This is revolutionary, and I’m very glad that the most powerful man on earth and his team figured out that this is the most effective way to reach the Net Generation.

 The University of Lausanne (UNIL) is the first Swiss university offering handouts and other documents from lectures on iTunes U. Students and everyone interested in what the UNIL is teaching, can subscribe to audio and video podcasts from seven different faculties—and there is already a lot of material around!

This is a great move to market the university. Anyone can see what the UNIL teaches and it makes it easier for prospective students to get an insight into the UNIL. I think schools in general should make use of iTunes U, since individuals might get interested in what the institution has to offer. Some people might even consider going back to university for a part-time master’s program or just for a fresh-up presentation design workshop. No institution should be afraid to show how good their lectures are, and the Internet is the most efficient and the easiest way to make that information accessible to anyone who wants to know about it.

MUST READ

It is no secret. With broadband Internet connections and peer-to-peer technology, downloading music and movies from the Internet without payment is something the music and movie industry has simply to live with. I am reading Don Tapscott’s new book Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is changing your World and would like to share the following passage with you:

72 percent of file-sharers age 18-29 say they don’t care about the copyright status of the files they share, according to a Pew Internet and American Life Project. Most don’t view it as stealing, or they justify it in different ways. They see the music industry as a big business that deserves what it gets, or they think the idea of owning music is over. Some even think they’re doing small bands a favor. (p. 86)

When talking to my friends, opinions are very diverse. In Grown Up Digital, Carolina, a 27-year old consultant said, “I believe that [downloading music without payment or to borrow tunes from friends] promotes new types of music that I wouldn’t have otherwise been exposed to.” This is why bands and artists such as Prince and Radiohead, started giving away MP3s (and even CDs) for free (read here). One of my friends, a very active 27-year-old guitar player and music producer, once told me that only crapy music is free. Especially, musicians that don’t get to tour much and are simply relying on CD and MP3 sales to make a living cannot give away their music for free. But as Morris (23, Marketing Manager) said in Grown Up Digital, “Yes, I’m a thief. And so is everyone else I know. I do believe however that the definition of music ownership (and the transfer of ownership) is outdated. It just doesn’t fit our generation.”

Fact is that the music and movie industry will not be able to fight this. Metallica fought Napster, won the fight against Napster, but lost the trust of many of their loyal fans (read here), me included! So, do you steal music?

Banana: Just Do It!

I was browsing through a daily commuters’ paper and saw Nike’s Swoosh in the form of a banana. That really got my attention, because I thought it was simply a great idea! But it wasn’t a Nike ad, it was made for Gesundheitsförderung Schweiz (Health Promotion Switzerland). 

Many of you might know of all those funky shirts that look like they’re having the logo of a popular brand stamped on, but it is actually something way different. Adihash was very popular years back, and everyone who has come to Switzerland has surely seen all those Swiss tourist shirts, like these:

Adihash vs Adidas

Puma vs Cow

The Zurich-based Jung v. Matt/Limmat agency did a great job with the Gesundheitsförderung Schweiz campaign. Looking forward to more of their work.

And when it comes out I want to have it — it is already legendary!

Larry Weintraub’s blog post on Brand Sponsored Music got me thinking about how much artists will be willing to sell their own brand out in the future. It is old news that CD sales are going down the sink, and labels and artists are trying to find new ways to make money. One way is to get a big brand on-board. Larry describes a very interesting hypothetical scenario on his blog:

U2 has a new album due out in 2009. I know the economics of the record business and my estimate is that U2 may make $10 Million on the release of their next album. And that is generous. Figuring they have one of the old-school deals where they get a bunch of money every time they deliver an album, it is worth on the high end $10 Million.

Microsoft and U2

Steve Ballmer from Microsoft comes knocking on U2’s door. “Hey U2, we have a proposition for you. We want to give you $20 Million dollars and everyone who buys Windows ‘09 will get a free copy of your album. What do you say?” 

Bono says something like, “Hey Steve, thanks so much for the offer. We’re going to turn you down because we don’t want to make all of our fans have to buy your product to get ours.”

But then The Edge chimes in and says, “Wait Bono. The reality is that most people don’t buy music any more. And most of our fans are going to need to upgrade to Windows ‘09 anyway. Microsoft is going to do more advertising than Interscope Records will ever do, remember how much Apple did for our last album? Within a few days of Microsoft releasing our record and their product, all of our fans will have our album because they’ll have copied it from their friends. We’ll be perceived as the biggest band in the world because we’ve just done this groundbreaking event. Our music will be everywhere, we’ll have made more money than we would have if the album was available on iTunes, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy, and everyone will want to see our live show.”

Larry Mullen, Jr. and Adam Clayton will each stare at each other and in unison say, “Yea Bono, it is a no-brainer.

And there you have it. The new model is created.

Nonetheless, there are other ways for brands to get attention, and in my opinion even better ones, since they are free! Just think of all those great products that became cult overnight just because a few stars started using them. Sigg Aluminium Bottles are one example (read my article about Sigg here). Or artists wearing a certain brand and making it popular without even getting paid for wearing it. Wale is one of those pop artists promoting a brand unintentionally. Greg Rollett writes in his Nike Realizes a Brand Advocate blog entry,

Brands are reaching out to hip-hop stars by the dozen to help them shell out products and 2009 will be no different. 2008 saw its share of good hip-hop branding (Boost Mobile) and its so-so (Common and Zune) and then awful (the Holiday Inn freestyle). … Brands that accept their position with youth culture and use brand advocates as marketing tactics have a supreme upper hand. Getting word of mouth promotions from high profile spokespeople, at no cost for the brand, will always have more authenticity than a big budget attempt at reaching kids and wallets. 

So how does a brand find a Wale?
Wale is an exceptional talent. He is young, has the heart, desire and swagger that will make him a superstar within the next 365. For the most part he is clean and not trying to cause trouble, except for the credit cards of kids on iTunes.

Brands looking to find a Wale are in for a culture shock. You can’t. You can’t force a trend on an influencer. They seek it out. Brands need to be authentic to their culture. Nike has the luxury of being a basketball powerhouse, ad having a strong hold on urban culture. This makes hip-hop a great influence on the brand. It is not a stretch.

For something like an energy drink, playing into the extreme sports realm is a no-brainer. The problem is they know nothing about the culture and throw a hot chick in a bikini and give out free samples at events. Kids read right through it.

Seth Godin has influenced me in many ways and especially in the case of a Tribe for a Purple Cow. For me this means: Create a remarkable product or service in collaboration with your tribe and hand over the (obviously catchy) story to your tribe (which consists of innovators and early adopters). They will tell their families and friends and your product or service will take off by itself.

Greg’s and Larry’s strategies are already being applied in the music business. It is yet too soon to know which one will be more successful in the long-run. In my opinion, the scenario where an artist decides to promote a brand without getting paid (at least in the beginning) will define our marketing landscape and will therefore be more sustainable. If people decide to promote something, they do not do it for the money, but simply because they like the brand. If some artists decide to go with a brand only for the money, they have already lost. 

I suggest, Don’t do it for the money, or just for the sake of doing it — do it because it feels right and because you want to do it!