Our Thoughts

Digital Marketer Interviews: Sarah Robb O’Hagan of Gatorade

May 15, 2012 by Marian Schembari

Welcome to Digital Interviews – where we talk to people we admire about what’s hot in the world of digital marketing.

We could not be more honored to welcome Sarah Robb O’Hagan to the stage today. Yeah, that Sarah Robb O’Hagan. President of Gatorade. No big deal.

Sarah is not only La Presidente, she’s also a Kiwi! And she has some incredible things to share about digital and where it’s going. Enjoy folks.

What digital changes this year have you really loved?

Facebook timeline feels like a real game changer – not just in the here and now, but for future generations. When you consider it with a long term lens, it’s an incredibly powerful way to document the human experience and leave something tangible that helps tell your story. I recently started mine and would love to take a week off work to build it out, upload old photos and fill it out for my parents’ lives too. It will allow my kids an easy way to see these stories for themselves.

Secondly, the introduction of Spotify into the United States is the biggest innovation to hit the music business since iTunes. It totally changes the way you consume music and where you get recommendations. What’s interesting is how it dips into the past in a fresh way by bringing back the era of the album. With Spotify, younger generations can move past single hits on play lists into albums in their entirety. They’ll discover music in the depth their parents once did, but in a way of their own choosing. That’s exciting stuff!

What new tools do you think won’t catch on?

It may be too early to say certain things won’t catch on, but there are a number of niche social media services that I think are still settling in to their “space”. Eg I am currently experimenting with Pinterest and Path to try and see if they will fit seamlessly into my digital lifestyle.

What’s the biggest challenge for people (both consumers and agencies) to embrace digital marketing?

One of the biggest challenges is a really easy one to solve. A lot of people are reluctant to jump in and try new services. Nothing shocks me more than when I meet interns looking for an entry level position in marketing and find out that they’re not active on Twitter. What they don’t realize is the simple act of learning to get “followers” on Twitter helps you understand what it takes to convey ideas both as a brand and as a person in this new world.

Curiosity is the key, especially for marketers. You HAVE to jump in and try new things.

Related to this, there is still a problem with the “us and them” mentality between what some people still call “digital” and “traditional” marketing. That mentality shouldn’t exist anymore. Success is about meeting your consumer where they are and communicating with them in a meaningful way. Game changing brands and businesses have mastered seamless integration across marketing functions to give a powerful experience to the consumer.

My favorite recent example of this was something I experienced on my holiday vacation. Vail Resorts made their ski lift passes totally digital and intelligent. Skiers can “check in” on all of their progress on the mountain which can then be shared immediately through social networks. They never have to actually stop and do it themselves. Vail Resorts also uses Twitter and Facebook in a very smart way. For example, a skier can tweet real time while getting real time tweeted reports from other skiers. It’s a great example of seamless digital tools that really improve a real world experience.

What’s your favorite digital campaign at the moment and why do you think it’s a success?

Gatorade #WinFromWithin, of course! We launched the new brand campaign over the New Year’s holiday and I believe we are the first major brand in the U.S. to launch an entirely new positioning and tag line with a Twitter hash tag.

Our approach goes back to the idea of having no walls between the “digital” and “traditional” marketing tools. In the launch of this campaign, all our resources worked together to make a brand statement, explain it, drive buzz and engage athletes in conversation. We’re early in the campaign, but response so far has been phenomenal. People are truly engaging with our brand, our athletes, and their peers around this concept of what it takes to win from within.

Through this engagement, we’re getting our athletic consumers to think about our brand and its role in improving their performance in a different way. That’s huge for us and not necessarily something I think we could have achieved through more traditional communications alone. We plan to pull every lever to build that momentum throughout 2012.

To keep up to date, follow Sarah on Twitter.

Digital Marketer Interviews: Esther Goh of Idealog

January 25, 2012 by Marian Schembari

Welcome to Digital Interviews – where we talk to people we admire about what’s hot in the world of digital marketing.

Esther Goh is the web editor at Idealog, the magazine and website for New Zealand creative business, ideas and innovation and is one of the largest circulating business titles in the country. Esther was previously a news editor at nzherald.co.nz, and has contributed to a range of print and online publications, including the Western Leader, Whakatane Beacon, Verve, Cafe Philosophy, slynkey.com, varsity.co.nz, and nzgirl.co.nz, basically mean she’s seen and written about it all and has some incredible insights into the world of digital media.

What digital changes this year have you really loved?

Tools to help navigate the overwhelming amount of content on social networks. Think the likes of Summify and Flipboard – curation upon curation. You can’t read everything that’s shared (nor would you want to) but that FOMO (fear of missing out) can be soothed with some technical help.

What new tools do you think won’t catch on?

Anything overly complex. Don’t try to do everything; keep it simple and do one thing well. If you can’t sum up your core proposition in one or two sentences, don’t expect us to pore over it trying to understand it. We want to know what you do and why it’s going to make our lives exponentially better. And if it doesn’t make my life easier… well, I don’t need any more distractions.

What’s the biggest challenge for people (both consumers and agencies) to embrace digital marketing?

Creating a cohesive strategy across platforms. Not jumping on every new thing – yes, keeping up with new tools and constant change, but not deviating from the overarching goal.

For consumers, it’s about compelling, genuine and relevant campaigns. There’s so much noise that it’s easy to ignore marketing messages in an age of increasing personalisation.

What’s your favorite digital campaign at the moment and why do you think it’s a success?

The Stay the Night, Steal the Art campaign is great, in which Australia’s Art Series Hotels challenged people to find and steal a Banksy painting doing the rounds of its branches. @stealbanksy tweeted hints, updates and failed attempts, and the full story/videos of the first successful heist are showcased on the hotel’s website. It’s fresh and dynamic and really plays into that subversive Banksy philosophy.

I also enjoyed Air NZ’s recent take on Cluedo – it was sticky, well-executed and a nice example of gamification. Everyone knows the classic whodunnit board game, and turns out it translated well into the digital realm.

Like what you read? Follow Esther on Twitter.

Digital Marketer Interviews: Eric Rowe of APN

January 10, 2012 by Marian Schembari

Welcome to Digital Interviews – where we talk to people we admire about what’s hot in the world of digital marketing.

Eric Rowe has done everything from sell persimmons at farmer’s markets to running an online retail store. He’s also had jobs taste-testing celery and timing spider-mite copulations. As you do. After a 35-year OE in California, Rowe is now a Media Research Analyst for APN Online where he assists the commercial team at nzherald.co.nz. He also helps with industry education by passing along articles he finds interesting and relevant at eric says.

Check out his chat with us below….

What digital changes this year have you really loved?

Since I work in news media my focus has been on digital developments in this area, and the world hasn’t disappointed this year. Everyone is experimenting, from semi-porous paywalls like The New York Times to splitting your site into paid and unpaid versions like The Boston Globe. There are subscriptions for tablet apps, improved audience and location targeting for advertiser supported news, and Facebook integrated apps from organisations like The Guardian.

I can’t pass digital change without highlighting we’ve finally reached the tipping point for mobile. Now more people buy smartphones than feature phones. Mobile traffic is skyrocketing. This growth isn’t at the expense of traditional web but is a great additional user touchpoint if you do it right. It’s an incredibly exciting roller-coaster to be on.

There is no silver bullet or one solution for monetising digital news. Even in print there have always been multiple revenue streams and each media company has their own secret sauce. What’s fascinating is watching everyone experiment in the kitchen.

What new tools do you think won’t catch on?

Highly-financed digital pure plays. Many of these are being built around social or location, such as Oink (which is like FourSquare for topics and things rather than locations). The problem with these is that as user behaviour consolidates around profile-driven platforms, if you’re not part of a site with audience media time spent on it, you’re going to be ignored. Google is a great example of this as even they recognise they need to be a platform, not just a one-trick pony if they expect to dominate the next decade.

And of course I’m going to go with anything that doesn’t make your life easier. If I have to do something to get a reward or service, it better be the most amazing thing ever. I’m busy and lazy, and so is everyone else.

What’s the biggest challenge for people (both consumers and agencies) to embrace digital marketing?

In any disrupted or fast-moving market the biggest challenge will always be education. Technology such as digital formats and devices are evolving so quickly the infrastructure built into the advertising world can’t keep up. Fear and uncertainty around results mean that opportunities are being wasted in exchange for safe and comfortable old executions that won’t get anyone fired, but won’t produce the results more innovative solutions can.

And on the research and analytics side there are additional challenges like relying on ineffective metrics such as clicks (they might as well be counting hits) and not measuring the conversions, brand metrics and ROIs that matter.

What’s your favourite digital campaign at the moment and why do you think it’s a success?

The Tesco Home Plus supermarket chain in Korea has a brilliant digital campaign. In subway stations they have walls covered with pictures of their store aisles and all the products have QR codes commuters can scan and add to their cart. When they’re done shopping they click to purchase and the groceries are delivered to their door right after they get home.

This does everything right, which is why it’s so effective. The problem in Korea was not enough time to shop, so Tesco jumped on the fact that everyone carries mobile devices. They understood a key time to use mobile is waiting in queues like for trains and buses. By putting need, opportunity and execution together they hit the magic button of making the lives of their customers easier. And that kind of campaign will always be a big winner.

Connect with Eric on Twitter or subscribe to his blog.