Advertising Evolves. You Should, Too.

ADVERTISING
EVOLVES. YOU
SHOULD, TOO

Edward Boches
Chief Innovation Officer
Mullen

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Nothing stays the same. We make different things, work different ways, use different media.
It takes an open mind, an endless curiosity and no fear of change.


That is, after all, how you survive for 35 years in a business ﬁlled with 20 and 30 somethings.


I’ve been doing this a long time. Since before the days of the Commodore 64. Launched a
computer show for Puma 25 years before Nike + came along.


Feel that old some days, too.


Mullen. The Manor House. Filled with ghosts, stories, history.


You build an agency in the middle of nowhere by doing work that gains notoriety. Great work
is self perpetuating and deﬁnes a culture.


Both inside and outside the agency.

Agency no where
dotcom crisis
monster.com

Text
move to boston
ad age
fast company
gary vee and lee


But the industry -- advertising, marketing, digital, social, brands and how to build them --
was changing.

UNBOUND


We decided we needed to change as well. Our vision was to be great. Our mission to get there
by being unbound in our thinking and work. Became our mantra.


We started a social media practice before most other agencies and became social AOR for a
number of clients.


We made more radical changes moving from the Manor House to the city.


Made investments in talent, especially in the digital space.


Stayed focused on our core work as well -- advertising.


And all of that combined with new business wins led to momentum and recognition.


And little by little, we, and even I, evolved.

EVERYTHING IS
SOCIAL, OR...


So where are we today?

There’s nothing in
this presentation that
you couldn’t learn
on Twitter.


Social media and consumer involvement changes everything. For us, for clients, for brands,
for marketing. We all know that.


Television is social. We can’t watch it in isolation. We have to connect, share, comment with
others. Ironically, after all the predictions of TV’s demise, at least as an ad medium,
appointment TV is back thanks to Twitter. At least until we all cut the cable.

If you're not watching live – and reading
the comments from friends, your favorite
celebrities, and even total strangers via
Twitter – you're missing half the show.

November, 2010



Advertising is social. We may still receive ads or even sit through them, but not without
playing armchair critic and sharing our opinions.


Fashion is social. Are we inﬂuenced or inﬂuencing on Art of the Trench, the remarkable
Burberry site that has attracted fans, photographers, even singles in search of attractive
mates.


Burberry has nearly 25,000 followers on Instagram where they share and engage.


Shopping is social. And not just in the Groupon way, but in the idea that even we go
shopping by ourselves we’re never more than a click or a button away from our friends and
posse. Does my ass look too big in these jeans?


I bought a shirt on Twitter. You can read this on my blog. But the point is the power of
employees to represent a brand and the company they work for.


Working out is social. Nike + launched this a few years ago, but now we have Garmin
connect, Run Keeper and dozens of platforms and apps that leverage not only personal data
but our desire for community, connection and sharing.


Digital cigarette lighters are social. I met with the Smule team at SxSW and learned that what
makes all of their apps so popular, from Sonic Lighter to the Ocarina aren’t just the features,
but are the fact that they connect users to each other all over the world.


Music is social


Brand relationships are social


We have a tendency however,to think of this as social. Platforms.


So what do brands do? Focus on the media, not the social. We try and get friends and fans
and followers and send them updates and offers. We push out messages. We do it for less
money. Cause it’s “free” media.


Rushkoff claims brands don’t belong in social media. It’s not for them, it’s for us. In fact, we
invented brands because of end of the marketplace and the industrial revolution, no longer
knowing who we did business with. Hence the Popping Fresh Dough boy, and the Keebler
Elves, and Mr Quaker Oats.


But now that the world is social and we can connect with people and companies rather than
symbols, this shit won’t work anymore.


Because here’s the deal. It’s not platforms that are social, it’s people. Which by the way is
nothing new. We’ve always been social. It’s why you’re all here. It’s why we have cities. And
social media breakfasts.

eight trends

consumers want to participate


No doubt tech has reignited this. It’s enabled us to all connect again to ﬁnd like minded
tribes to share and help each other. If you look across the landscape, there are these 8
trends.

eight trends

we have complex relationships with media


tribes to share and help each other. And if you look across the landscape, there are these 8
trends.

eight trends

we join forces to exert inﬂuence


trends.

eight trends

we want to do business with human brands


trends.

eight trends

community is our new source of content


trends.

eight trends


there is no such thing as perfect


trends.

eight trends


we have a new deﬁnition of quality


trends.

eight trends


we have a new deﬁnition of quality
attention is the new scarcity


trends.


But look at some of the newest mobile apps. They’re about connecting us, sometimes to
people we know, but other times to strangers, folks in the same location, people with the
same interests. They not have achieved scale yet, but we are creating them for a reason.

We overestimate the value of
access to information while
we underestimate the value
of access to each other.


A key point to keep in mind. It should drive our thinking.

what has to change:
mindset

audience
messages
target
media plan
penetrate


So here are the things that I believe need to change for us to stay successful and relevant.

what has to change:
mindset

audience community
messages experiences
target engage
media plan interest plan
penetrate collaborate


So here are the things that I believe need to change for us to stay successful and relevant.


It might lead to this: Project Bread Art

what has to change:
definition of creative

user experience and
engagement are the
new art and copy



It might lead to this: Skype Teacher’s Directory

from:
what has to change:
the brief
who is our target?

what is our insight?

what is our message?

where do we reach them?

how do we measure success?


to:
what has to change:
the brief who is our community?

where do they hang out?

what value can we add?

what should our content be?

how will people get involved?

what platforms, tech, APIs should we use?

what will make it ongoing?

how will we measure success?


Tommee Tippee


Should generate ideas that are more inclusive.

what has to change:
the team

CW CW CW Design
AD Design AD UX
UX Social Tech
Social Mobile Mobile



Non-traditional teams invent experiences, not simply messages. Put another way, it takes UX,
dev, and digital design ( as well as CW/AD ) to create “ideas worth advertising,” rather than
advertising ideas, as Gareth Kay likes to say.

what has to change:
the process



Check this out: http://edwardboches.com/inventin-rudeless-the-anti-iphone-app


Or hear the story behind Crowdtap: http://edwardboches.com/an-ad-agency-gets-into-the-
software-business

what has to change:
the business model

Introducing COMMON:

Common purpose,
common goals, common
means, and common
values. A common brand
to encompass products,
businesses, and ideas of
the common community.

©2010 FEARLESS. CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY. 41


The future of business will be doing good for the community, not just making more money
for stockholders.


My bet is that this approach will eventually lead to more business as well. Check out Simon’s
new book.


The Uniform Project was an early experiment in this space. But there are many others on
Kickstarter.

what has to change:
our pace of change

kudos


what has to change:
our pace of change

kudos


Spend time on college campus and not only do you see the future when it comes to social
use, mobile dependence, etc. You get a sense that these kids think differently. They invent in
new ways that seamlessly connect utility, users, digital platforms, community, etc. They
don’t make ads, they make big ideas, like this digital currency that rewards support of


Someone will emerge as the new forward thinking agency, brand, individual. Why not you?

Thank you


Advertising Evolves. You Should, Too.

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