Best Practices: SS+K: Building Brands + Opinion in a Fractured World

1 BUILDING BRANDS + OPINION IN A FRACTURED WORLD 23may07

2 OUR PREMISE YOU CAN!T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT … Traditional agencies [ad, PR, marketing] not giving clients what they want Communications challenges increasingly complex, requiring multiple disciplines Clients rarely need straight ad or PR solutions, but rather integrated communications that cut across numerous functional areas BUT IF YOU TRY SOMETIMES, YOU JUST MIGHT FIND YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED Most agencies have roots in, and thus biases toward, one type of solution Ad agencies think in terms of ads, PR shops generate PR ideas, etc. SS+K offers a more strategic, collaborative and media-agnostic approach born in political campaigning and raised in the world of creative branding Strategies based on sound research linked to an organization!s objectives Campaigns unbound, ﬁnancially or professionally, to one tactic or another OH YEAH, WOO-WOO! Our approach often creates buzz and news and, more importantly, exactly the types of big ideas that resonate in today!s fragmented media environment

IT!S HARDER THAN EVER TO REACH TARGET AUDIENCES 3 AND CAPTURE THEIR ATTENTION

4 NEW TECHNOLOGIES GIVE CONSUMERS MORE CONTROL

BRANDS THRIVE WHEN THEY!RE IN POPULAR CULTURE 5 AND CONSUMERS CHOOSE TO ENGAGE THEM

BRANDS MUST NOW BE BUILT NON-TRADITIONALLY: 6 STORYTELLING + EXPERIENCE > MEDIA

7 A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO SS+K FOUNDING FACTS Opened doors in 1993 Roots in politics, creativity + technology Integrated since Day 1 CURRENT FACTS 100 people in New York, Boston + Los Angeles Haven for refugees from ad agencies, p.r. ﬁrms, design shops, interactive companies + political campaigns $70 million in billings Partnership with Creative Artists Agency [CAA] and the Intelligence Group [IG] Still independent after all these years

EVERY AGENCY HAS A PHILOSOPHY. 8 HERE!S OURS. ASYMMETRIC COMMUNICATIONS™ The art + science of building brands + opinion in a fractured world

COPYCAT THINKING CREATES A SYMMETRIC 9 PLAYING FIELD public relations public relations online online If unoriginal thinking didn!t work very well in a yesterday!s media environment, imagine print print how ineffective it is in today!s media environment. direct mail direct mail event event

10 HOW WE DO IT: ASYMMETRIC COMMUNICATIONS public relations + invent a clandestine organization + stage an urban game + start a movement online + launchtour a music create stealable + print ads + writeathe brand into TV script + brand a wristband direct mail + place the product on quot;Letterman! + light up a building event + ﬁre the icon brand!s

HOW WE WORK [ PART 1 ]: 11 RESEARCH AND TREND ANALYSIS Online ﬂash-polls Telephone studies Brand tracking Online trendsetters The Cassandra Report™ Industry insiders Latino Intelligence Trend immersion Secondary Research Studies Focus groups Interviews Ethnographies Custom blogs

HOW WE WORK [ PART 2 ]: 12 NOBLE PURPOSE CONSUMER TRUTH BRAND TRUTH What experience, behavior, belief or What single fact is + always has problem do consumers have that relates to been unique + central to this brand? the brand or category? To create a magnetic north for everyone involved with the brand. NOBLE PURPOSE

HOW WE WORK [ PART 3 ]: 13 ASYMMETRIC COMMUNICATIONS BRIEF WHAT IS THIS CLIENT’S NOBLE PURPOSE? [1.] WHAT’S NEW? [3.] This is the client’s raison d’etre. It’s why it’s on the planet. A brief description for this communications effort. This may be It’s the client’s magnetic north. No brief should be written that the brand is launching a new product or service. It may without a Noble Purpose. be that the competitive or cultural situation has changed. TARGET : WHAT IS THE PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED? [4.] [2.] What is the brand’s big issue? How can communications A brief description of who we need to talk with. help? Be realistic. Communications should not be sent to do jobs it cannot do. INSIGHT [7.] What human emotion or cultural fact will make this catalyst relevant + potent? CURRENT STATE [5.] BIG IDEA [8.] DESIRED STATE [6.] What does our target think or What’s the catalyst that will change What do we want them to think do now? their mind? or do? ASYMMETRIC AVENUES [9.] What are our target’s media consumption habits? How and where can we start a dialogue?

HOW WE WORK [ PART 4 ]: 14 CONSUMER TOUCHPOINT MAPS WHERE THEY LIVE GADGETS ONLINE THEIR MEDIA HABITS SHOPPING WHERE THEY WORK COMMUNITY OFFLINE

15 WHAT WE!RE ESPECIALLY GOOD AT INJECTING BRANDS INTO CULTURE CREATING BUZZ + MOVEMENT VS. ENGAGING AUDIENCES IN NEW WAYS SUCEEDING WITH COMPETITIVE CATEGORIES

16 WHO WE WORK WITH [CLIENTS]

17 WHO WE WORK WITH [PARTNERSHIPS + ALLIANCES]

ASYMMETRIC COMMUNICATIONS IN ACTION WHAT WE!VE DONE … AND LEARNED 18

QWEST COMMUNICATIONS ENGAGING A CYNICAL AUDIENCE IN A SLEEPY BRAND 19

20 HOW DO YOU MAKE A BRAND LIKE QWEST RELEVANT TO TEENS?

21 UNDERSTANDING THE TARGET AUDIENCE Youth Ethnographies The Cassandra Report™ Youth Deep Dive Qwest Youth Survey Expert Symposium

22 GEN Y LIKES TO DISCOVER THINGS ON THEIR OWN Give them the tools + opportunities. Don!t force feed. Let them close the loop.

23 GEN Y IS READY FOR ANYTHING They see life as an adventure + thrive on experiences. They!re conﬁdent + comfortable with themselves.

24 Nalgene bottles North Face jackets The Urban Outﬁtted MAINSTREAM ADOPTS THE EXTREME LOOK ... ... not the whole lifestyle. The look of quot;rugged preparedness [the extreme gear, the SUV, etc] is sufﬁcient.

25 QWEST ASYMMETRIC COMMUNICATIONS BRIEF INSIGHT [7.] Young people gear up to project conﬁdence with SUV!s, North Face jackets, and Timberland boots, etc. CURRENT STATE [5.] BIG IDEA [8.] DESIRED STATE [6.] Preparing for life in the Getting the right mobile RUGGED real world means having phone is about getting PREPAREDNESS reliable, rugged, the latest bells and advanced cell phone whistles. Qwest is part of getting service. ready for anything.

RUGGED PREPAREDNESS APPLIED 26 CONQWEST

THE NEW YORK KNICKS RECONNECTING A BRAND WITH ITS FANS 27

28 KNICKS ASYMMETRIC COMMUNICATIONS BRIEF WHAT IS THE PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED? To overcome the fans! apathy + cynicism about a new coach + rookies after several lackluster seasons. CURRENT STATE DESIRED STATE THE BIG IDEA I love what the Knicks I almost forgot how much A GREAT SPORTS used to be but I’m I love the Knicks. FRANCHISE IS THE frustrated with the SUM TOTAL OF ITS way the players + Win or lose, PAST, PRESENT + management have I’ve got to be there. FUTURE. performed in the last few years.

29 THE WORK

LANCE ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION IGNITING A MOVEMENT 30

31 LAF ASYMMETRIC COMMUNICATIONS BRIEF WHAT IS THE PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED? Phase 1: get cancer on the national agenda Phase 2: turn the yellowband wearers into a community + eventually, an army THE BIG IDEA CURRENT STATE DESIRED STATE Phase 1: I!m going to buy Phase 1: Somebody must be + wear a yellow working on something as Phase 1: LIVESTRONG™ LIVESTRONG wristband. deadly as cancer but I don!t really know who!s doing what. Phase 2: If we band Phase 2: SHARE YOUR together, we can make a Phase 2: I!ve been wearing STORY difference in the ﬁght the LIVESTRONG wristband in support of someone who against cancer. has/had cancer, but I!m willing to do more.

32 THE WORK

MSNBC.COM DRIVING BRAND DIFFERENTIATION THROUGH CONSUMER INSIGHT 33

34 MSNBC.COM ASYMMETRIC COMMUNICATIONS BRIEF WHAT IS THE PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED? MSNBC.com needs to drive more people directly to the MSNBC.com site and view more pages during their visits. INSIGHT Don’t just show me what I’m looking for, I find joy in the process of discovery CURRENT STATE DESIRED STATE THE BIG IDEA My online news routine Dive in. MSNBC.com captures gives me the info that I Swim around. my imagination. need.

35 THE WORK

36 COMING SOON: SPECTRUM WALL

37 MSNBC.COM RESULTS msnbc.com moved to #1 in Nielsen!s Netratings for April more users turned to msnbc.com than to any other online news source 33 million unique users an all-time high [prior was ~29 million] First month of the campaign [April] saw substantial increases vs. March 1.3 billion page views, +17% 99+ million unique visitors, +13% 285.4 million visits, +11% 102.3+ million video downloads, +37% Early click-through analysis indicates the online campaign is performing above expectations and industry averages More than 100,000 visits to the Newsbreaker game with an average visit length of 49 minutes High volume of positive buzz in print and blogs domestically and abroad

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Best Practices: SS+K: Building Brands + Opinion in a Fractured World

by Cathy Bogaart

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Best Practices: SS+K: Building Brands + Opinion in a Fractured World Presentation Transcript