The SoDA Report (Volume 2, 2014)

1. From the SoDA Board Chair Tony Quin, Chairman of the Board, SoDA & CEO, IQ Over the last 18 months, The SoDA Report has garnered nearly 450,000 views and downloads worldwide. This reflects the importance that the global digital professional community places on the vision of SoDA and its elite members. SSooDA, The Digital Society, is in its 7th year and is made up of the cream of the world’s digital agencies, production companies and digital design firms. Representing over 20,000 employees, the 86 member companies of SoDA have over 200 hundred offices in 28 countries and 6 continents around the globe, and include the most

2. Introduction to The SoDA Report Chris Buettner, Managing Editor and Executive Director, SoDA Welcome to our 2H 2014 edition of The SoDA Report. The Editorial Team here at SoDA has been incredibly humbled by the response this publication has received over the last 18 months. We’ve heard from readers around the globe who have underscored the value our content has delivered for both individuals and teams who are creating the future of marketing and digital experiences. AAss aa nnoonn--pprofit organization working to serve as a voice for entrepreneurs and innovators worldwide, SoDA’s leadership, staff and volunteers are incredibly proud of this response and are

3. The SoDA Report Team and Partners Content Development Editorial Team Partners Lead Organizational Sponsors Founding Organizational Sponsor Chris Buettner Managing Editor of The SoDA Report SoDA Executive Director AAƜƜer a career on the digital agency and publisher side that spanned 15+ years, Chris Buettner now serves as Managing Editor of The SoDA Report. He is also the Executive Director of SoDA where he is charged with developing and executing the organization’s overall strategic vision and growth plan. And with roots in journalism, the transition to lead SoDA has been a welcome opportunity to combine many of his talents and passions. AƜer living in Brazil and Colombia for years, CChhrriiss iiss aallssoo fflluueenntt iinn SSpanish and Portuguese and is an enthusiastic supporter of SoDA’s initiatives to increase its footprint in Latin America and around the world. Chris lives in Atlanta with his wife and two daughters. Sean MacPhedran, Industry Insider Group Planning Director, Fuel Sean is Group Planning Director at Fuel (based in Ottawa, Canada), where he currently works with clients including McDonald’s Europe, Nokia, Mattel and Lucasfilm. He specializes in youth marketing, entertainment & game development, and the incorporation of pirates into advertising campaigns for brands ranging from Jeep to Family Guy. Outside of Fuel, he is co-founder of the Ottawa International Game Conference, managed the category-free TToommoorrrow Awards and spent a good deal of time in the Mojave Desert launching people into space at the X PRIZE Foundation. They all came back alive. Rob Thorsen, Modern Marketer Managing Director, Big Spaceship AAss MMaannaaggiinngg DDiirector, Rob oversees the development of Big Spaceship’s client relationships and the disciplines of the agency that drive them. Equal parts relationship builder and creative contributor, Rob brings over 15 years of agency building expertise to the agency. His work includes launching Unilever’s AXE at BBH NY, joining Mother NY as it’s first strategist stateside, to leading several flagship accounts at BBDO NY. When not in the office, Rob is either cchhaassiinngg ddown his two children with his wife, Sarah, or chasing aƜer cyclists he so desperately tries to keep pace with. Also, he is from the Great State of New Jersey. Zachary Jean Paradis, Tech Talk Director Innovation Strategy, SapientNitro Zachary Jean Paradis is an innovation strategist, professor and author obsessed with transforming lives through customer experience. He works at SapientNitro, teaches at the Institute of Design and lives in Chicago. Zachary works with companies to become successful innovators by utilizing “experience thinking” as a strategic asset manifested in better offerings, flexible process, and open culture. He works with start-ups and Fortune 1000 companies aass ddiiverse as Chrysler Auto Group to Target, Hyatt Hotels to John Deere, M&S to McLaren, and SAP to Yahoo! evolving service and product experiences across digital and physical channels. Kate Richling, SoDA Showcases VP of Marketing, Phenomblue AAss PPhheennoommbblluue’s Vice President of Marketing, Kate Richling oversees the agency’s marketing and social media outreach, as well as its inbound marketing efforts. Previously, Richling worked in public relations, creating and executing strategies for institutes of higher education and Blue Cross Blue Shield, as well as providing social media counsel to various non-profit organizations. Jennifer Tucker, Continuity Editor Strategy Director, Deepend AAss SSttrategy Director for award-winning digital agency Deepend, Jen uses her 10+ years of experience in transforming high profile brands and organization from traditional communication to digital platforms and helping them bridge the gap between creating something which is innovative and engaging but delivers results. AAlloonngg wwiitthh hheerr 1100++ years experience on both client and agency side, Jen also holds a BA and Masters degree in Strategic Communications from the University of Sydney. Cover Design Web Development Content/Production The SoDA Report Production Team Lakai Newman, Head of Production Jessica Ongko, Designer The responsive version of The SoDA Report was developed with a variety of solutions from the Adobe Creative Cloud. The opinions and viewpoints expressed in the articles in this publication are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent or reflect the opinions or viewpoints of SoDA.

4. Section 1 Industry Insider Table of Contents: Introduction to Industry Insiders The Connected Age: Connecting with the Industry’s Best Micro Video Changes Everything We Know About Brand Storytelling

5. Introduction to Industry Insider In the Second Issue of 2014, The SoDA Report continues to explore the theme of Value. In the Industry Insider section, two great articles with 5 big thinkers explore everything from the emergence of micro video storytelling to the continued importance of risk-taking in building brand value and connections with consumers in the digital space. Rather than trying to cleverly tease their insights, I’ll use the introduction for this round to touch on an idea that seems to be trending all over - the notion of Purpose, the value of marketing with meaning and its role in the Transformation Economy. The word “purpose” seems to be creeping into more and more conversations, articles and creative briefs this year. In some cases, it presents itself as a force that aligns an organization around meaningful intent – a company like Tesla eschews most traditional marketing activities and focuses completely on radically innovating their industry. In other cases it presents itself as a communication idea, as with Dove’s Real Beauty giving the brand a purpose – to reshape cultural notions of beauty and improve esteem issues. MMaaxx Lenderman of “Purpose-driven” agency School aptly identifies the nuance of the term noting that, “Cause marketing is, for the most part, against something. Purpose, on the other hand, tends to lean into support for something.” While it’s not a new pattern of thought – it feels a little like the Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) from Built to Last – it seems to be presenting itself more articulately in the startups and upstarts who are forming companies around a clear purpose, and managing to behave in ways that make it apparent that these organizations aren’t just paying lip service. Accomplishing that requires an internalization of the brand values within the organization itself. Something that’s easier to accomplish when the brand values are driving towards something meaningful – an observation made well through considerable research in Daniel Pink’s Drive. Employees crave meaning more than money (aƜer a point). A brand that is able to instill a sense of greater purpose amongst their employees will have a happier, more productive organization. It’s trite to say that consumers crave meaning. Humanity as a whole craves meaning, and much of advertising thought is built around the foundation of providing symbolic meaning through brands. NNoott to reference too many books (this section introduction isn’t part of an Amazon affiliate program, I swear…), but The Experience Economy, lays out an interesting framework for the economic value provided by marketing activities that maps well onto Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Coffee is a clear example of how each step in the value chain works. It’s a bean. It’s a bag of grounds. It’s a hot cup at Dunkin’. But it’s also a hot cup at Starbucks. And in that gap between the brands, people are paying more for perceived quality, but they’re also paying more for the experience. AAƜƜer the added value of experience, the authors outline the interesting idea of the Transformation Economy. Personal transformation through brand value. Just do it, you’re a Real Beauty in your emissionless Tesla Roadster. Actualized yet? In this space, Consumers are moving towards Actualization, Brands are moving towards Purpose, and the additional Value is Meaning. As we maintain our flat-out run to keep up with emerging technologies and the impact they’re having on how we all relate to one another, it’s important that we don’t forget to keep our bigger ideals in front. IIff we’re lucky, the next major innovation is going to make the world better, not faster. Sean MacPhedran, Industry Insider Section Editor Group Planning Director, Fuel Section 1

6. Kate Richling, Phenomblue Looking for insight on today’s top trends, brands and the current communications landscape, The SoDA Report (TSR) editorial team reached out to four of the industry’s best. (from leƜ to right) • Stephen Foxworthy, Strategy Director, Reactive • Michael Lebowitz, CEO & Founder, Big Spaceship • Eric Moore, Managing Director, Huge • Joe Olsen, CEO & Founder, Phenomblue Here’s what they had to say. Question 1: What does the “connected age” mean to you, and how would you (or your agency) describe today’s communications landscape? JJooee OOllsseenn:: Until the late ‘90s, we participated in one-way discussions with brands at a cadence they controlled. Technology exploded, seeping into every crevice of our existence – fundamentally, and irreparably, changing human behavior. The digital age was about mass creation. Then we evolved, and our ecosystem became a conversation that happens at the will of people – drastically changing our communication patterns and interaction models. Today, everything is connected, and everything is on. There are more ways to interact with everyone and everything, and infinite patterns of information exchange. Interactions require intent and purpose, as every interaction with a company or brand is a chance to increase, or decrease, the value of the brand or the success of the business. But in the connected age, brands and companies are struggling to focus, to choose, to produce activity with results. MMiicchhaaeell Lebowitz: Everything will be connected before too long as all of our objects start to have some sort of basic intelligence and internet connectivity built into them. The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon has given way to the six degrees of separation between everyone and everything. We’ve talked about it for a long time, but I think the web has finally been rewired to revolve around people – moving away from a long-standing focus on pages. Companies are connected to each other in new ways. I think the challenge for the longest time was how to get things connected. Now, the challenge is how to make sense of it, how to bring strategy to it, how to organize it and how not to drown in it. We’re in an age of abundance. We’re no longer looking for ways to break out of a very limited number of methods for communicating with people. Now, we have a seemingly endless amount of ways to communicate, which forces more strategy … more thoughtfulness. It forces brands and organizations that want, and need, to communicate to be more intentional and to have real purpose. Purpose drives strategy, strategy drives decision-making, and decision-making leads to everything you actually do. I think it has to be an incredibly intentional time. But at the same time, we must balance that intentionality with new ways that allow us to experiment like never before – lighter weight, less eexxppeennssiive ways to see what works and then act on those opportunities as you see them resonate in the world. Or, if they don’t resonate, you can pull the plug on them without investing a huge amount of effort or money. Stephen Foxworthy: Now, more than ever, a holistic view of customer touchpoints, both digital and offline, is required to ensure a seamless customer experience. Digital may be disrupting whole industries, but it’s still important to understand the customer journey and lifecycle in order to add value. The ability to manage customer experiences across a range of platforms and touchpoints allows us to provide a more personalized, timely and relevant experience. EErriicc MMoooore: To us, the connected age means we have the opportunity to connect multiple 'things' to each other in order to create more valuable experiences for people. More oƜen than not, it's about connecting a user to data to understand context and to drive personalized experiences like never before. It's forcing us to evolve what we do in terms of the number of devices, interfaces and scenarios we design for. More importantly, it's also allowing us to bring so much more power to bear in creating more contextually relevant experiences that can truly be helpful in people's lives, and make users love using a brand or product. QQuueessttiioonn 22:: What’s the most important thing to a brand’s success today? Joe Olsen: A strong brand is an insurance policy – it doesn’t ensure that every choice will be successful, but it’s a great hedge if things go sideways. That insurance policy provides the foundation for market position, outside perception and inside perception – three key areas of brand building. A good brand can aid in the effectiveness and efficiency of brand building and a poor one can hinder the process or prevent it all together. I think the most important thing for success is to design and implement a focused, efficient and effective effort for building the brand … one handshake at a time. MMiicchhaaeell Lebowitz: Being extremely aware of the disruptors in your category. If I were a rental car company, I would pay very close to attention to Uber and LyƜ, but also SilverCar, which is an upstart rental service where you can reserve nice cars for reasonable prices through your mobile phone. Brands need to pay attention to these disruptors not because they are suddenly going to reach a level of scale, but because they’re driving a lot of the innovation happening today in the area of customer experience and in the equality of customer services. Big companies haven’t really been challenged to provide that lleevel of personal and frictionless customer service. Meanwhile, the disruptors are building brand loyalty by doing so. Every interaction I have with a brand, whether it’s an interaction with a digital product or service, whether it’s a social post, a website or campaign of any kind – all of those interactions ladder up to what a brand really is. Our philosophy is every interaction matters, so how do you behave according to your purpose and your goals in every interaction you can control. Eric Moore: Staying true to who you are. Today's successful brands recognize their true brand capabilities, which ensures two things: elasticity and authenticity. Brands like Google and Uber know who they are and have a clear vision and purpose that allows them to both grow their business and their audience, all while staying true to themselves. Stephen Foxworthy: Brands only succeed through their customers, so customer satisfaction remains one of the most important determining factors for brand success. Digital media, and particularly social networks, make a poor customer experience so easy to share. Brands need to be more vigilant about poor customer sentiment, and respond quickly to avoid service disasters quickly going viral. Question 3: How would you describe “digital” within the context of today? Stephen Foxworthy: I believe that digital technology now underpins so much business communication and transactional activity that ‘digital’ is now simply business. Our approach to digital strategy has always been to identify the role digital technology plays in delivering a business strategy, or transforming it. EErriicc MMoooore: Digital is like the air we breathe. It's as essential to our lives today as electricity. We take it for granted, but we can't live without it. We used to call things 'digital' to differentiate them from physical products and experiences, but that boundary is increasingly being eliminated. Digital is an experience, a product, a tool, a language, and an extension of ourselves, permeating almost every part of our lives. It's more a way of being rather than a project or thing, and in many cases, distinguishing something as "digital" is becoming less and less relevant. JJooee OOllsseenn:: Digital is our behavior. It’s the way we interact with each other and everything around us. Saying we need a “digital plan” is no different than saying we need a plan for how we interact with people and how people interact with us. MMiicchhaaeell Lebowitz: There are agencies that are focused on digital and social, but we’re not because we see it all as a series of interactions that have to create value for customers and potential customers. So why is there a mobile agency vs. a web agency vs. a social agency? What you really need is a partner who can understand your business goals, and how you really exist in the world. You need a partner who can leverage those things, starting with digital and social, but extending out from there. Ultimately, I think what people are talking about is a combination of channels, media, platforms and – more importantly bbuutt lleessss uunnddeerstood – types of human behavior that lead to more meaningful engagement with customers. Question 4: What related trends do you see affecting your clients this year, this month, right now? Eric Moore: The conventional answer is social, mobile, responsive design, blah, blah, blah. But the underlying 'trend' is the rapid change in expectations users have for brands. Digital is the medium that is accelerating the change, driving the shiƜ in expectations and transforming the fundamental nature of the customer-brand relationship. Joe Olsen: The single biggest challenge right now is lack of strategic clarity and tactical effectiveness. Today, every experience matters and there are no silver bullets. The economics of the connected world are crippling many brands and businesses. They’re struggling to keep up, while implementing as much technology as possible at every turn, trying to find that silver bullet for success. But there is no silver bullet. Established players and upstarts in the technology world will continue to create a dizzying array of bright shiny objects for consumers. As the connected age settles in, I think the most important thing you ccaann ddoo aass aa mmaarrketing, advertising and communications leader is put relatable goals down on paper and then devise a strategy and identify the tactics that will allow you to keep your head down and see the forest through the trees. Michael Lebowitz: The big trends that affect every client I speak to aren’t really trends at all. They center around the pain of being stuck inside of silos. Our clients use us a lot of the time to be the horizontal to their vertical. We’re not designed to mirror the organizational structure of a typical department based company We’re much more elastic and able to help cut across those silos – let us figure how to siƜ through it all and bring things together to create maximum value for customers. Stephen Foxworthy: The biggest trends we’re seeing are an increased focus on holistic customer experience across channels, with personalized communications and content becoming much more important. Lifecycle marketing, marketing automation and personalization technology are now allowing us to deliver different experiences to individual customers more effectively. AAlloonnggssiiddee tthhiiss ttrend, the rise of easily accessible business intelligence and analytics tools for marketers are allowing much greater insight to be extracted from digital platforms. The ability to generate insights, hypotheses and strategies from this data is now a critical skill that needs to be developed within all businesses. Question 5: If you had one mantra to give the people in charge of brands today, what would it be? MMiicchhaaeell Lebowitz: When thinking about your customers, always give more than you expect in return. From a very simple, micro level, if you look at it interaction-for-interaction – ask yourself are you saving people time, are you asking more of their cognitive resources than what you’re giving back in value. It’s not a strategy, but a paradigm to live by. If every person in your company thought that way, you’d be an extremely successful company. Stephen Foxworthy: Digital acumen is the life-blood of modern business. If you don’t have skilled and experienced people in house to drive digital transformation for your business, look to partner with agencies or consultants. Their role should not just be to do the work for you, but to help you and your people skill-up. Things are only going to change faster. JJooee OOllsseenn:: Results over activity. It’s important for brands to remember that almost all agencies operate from briefs, and their “strategy” will assume the challenge or task at hand is a bonafide ask to begin with. This work is rarely tied to clear and concise measurements and goals. It’s execution and tactics, essentially the last step in the process. Skipping to the end is a sure-fire way to create false positives, and unsustainable success. Be fair to your internal partners, your employees and your agencies. Set goals. Define measurements. Identify and prioritize tactics, then issue briefs. EErriicc MMoooore: I would have answered this question the same way 20 years ago, and the answer's still true today: take more risks. About the Author: As Phenomblue’s Vice President of Marketing, Kate Richling oversees the agency’s marketing and social media outreach, as well as its inbound marketing efforts. Previously, Richling worked in public relations, creating and executing strategies for institutes of higher education and Blue Cross Blue Shield, as well as providing social media counsel to various non-profit organizations. “Digital is our behavior. Saying we need a “digital plan” is no different than saying we need a plan for how we interact with people and how ppeeooppllee iinnteract with us.” - Joe Olsen “The ability to generate insights, hypotheses and strategies from data is now a critical skill that needs to be developed within all bbuussiinneesssseess.” - Stephen Foxworthy “Ask yourself are you saving people time, are you asking more of their cognitive resources than what you’re giving back in value – it’s not a ssttrategy, but a paradigm to live by. ” - Michael Lebowitz “Take more risks.” - Eric Moore The Connected Age: Connecting with the Industry’s Best

7. “In micro video every second counts, every second must be a hook.” Amber Horsburgh, Big Spaceship Micro Video Changes Everything We Know About Brand Storytelling Micro video creators are coming up with incredibly creative ways for the traditional three-act structure of all great brand storytelling to work in a new format. Micro video was made popular via platforms such as Vine, Instagram and Snapchat and differs from that of traditional online video in that the writer’s script is limited to less than 15 seconds. This prevents storytellers from following the linear three-act structure. Instead the functions of storytelling – set up the scene, introduce the characters, build drama and deliver the punch line – must happen instantaneously. OOnnee mmethod of getting around such a condensed timeframe is by using all the peripheral elements of storytelling such as the title and hashtags associated with the story. The title of the video now helps to set up the drama in the story. The hashtags provide immediate context for the storyline. This is seen in the widely popular trend from Viners to spin-off stories with titles such as ‘When you get...’ and ‘When you’re trying...’ and ‘When your mom...’ The title has already set scene, added context and introduced the protagonist. AAnnootthheerr technique commonly used by brands in micro video is to play off existing schemas like famous movie scenes, pop culture and sporting events. Since the audience already has an understanding of how the scene plays out and the character roles, there is less of a need to set up the scene, thus allowing the story to start straight at the drama of act two. A great example of this was GE’s widely successful 6-second Science Fair on Vine, which builds on what we already know of school science fairs. Dunkin Donuts also executed a successful Vine series during this year’s Super Bowl XLVIII where the brand recreated existing plays from the playoffs with their coffee cups as players. OOnnee llaasstt key-differentiating factor in micro video is the need for the content to be social. Micro video platforms exist in the social ecosystem where the content competes for the viewer’s attention. This places greater emphasis on the content itself. There is little opportunity for a slow, subtle build of a story when the viewer can click away at the first sign of boring. In micro video every second counts, every second must be a hook. TThhee tthhree-act structure still pervades advertising and is a solid method. However, we are now observing the rise of creative ways to tell that story in a shorter format. Micro video offers exciting new vehicles for brand storytelling through quick, playful interactions. Brands will be successful when they get creative with the new opportunities that these platforms present as they are adopted by more and more audiences. AAbboouutt tthhee Author: Amber Horsburgh is a Senior Strategist at Brooklyn creative agency, Big Spaceship where she has worked across various brands including AXE and YouTube. Her digital roots come from the music industry, namely the MTV and EMI Music worlds. She has taught strategy and analytics at Skillshare, writes a weekly column that demystifies digital strategy at Skillcrush and mentors budding planners at SheSays.

8. Section 2 Modern Marketer Table of Contents: Introduction to Modern Marketers Why Clients Really Fire Agencies Divisible Content 101 Marketing and User Experience Aren’t Compatible WWhhaatt IIss tthhee Value of Real? Wiring Your Enterprise for the Post-Search Era

9. Introduction to Modern Marketer The interconnected nature of all the touch points the Modern Marketer has to master constantly reminds us how each and every interaction matters. AAllll tthhee pproducts, communications and content we create, and the tactics and techniques we deploy on their behalf, answer to a common end goal. What’s most critical is to understand the relationships between each of those interactions and the dynamics that drive them. In this edition, our contributors explore a variety of relationships that wield a major impact on the success of modern marketing initiatives. Darren Woolley, Founder and Global CEO of TrinityP3 explores the nature of Client/Agency relationships. More specifically, how and where those relationships sometimes come undone. A valuable lesson for everyone to be sure. Next up, Ross Crooks, Co-Founder of Column Five takes time to break down the relationship between the whole and its parts in his piece on Divisible Content – a must read for the burgeoning number of brands currently ramping up their content marketing efforts. From there Anthony Franco, Founder of EffectiveUI, examines the relationship between the art of selling and the art of serving and, interestingly, shows us that these seemingly complimentary pillars may actually be at odds with one another. JJaacckkssoonn MMuurrpphhyy aanndd Penny Norman from Pound & Grain make us stop and consider the relationship between what's real and what's not, landing on a provocative question of their own - does it even matter? Lastly, Andrew Delmarter from HUGE explores the relationship between the content we create and the sprawling context in which that content must appear to be effective across the modern marketing landscape. Enjoy these excellent and thought-provoking pieces. Rob Thorsen, Modern Marketer Section Editor, Managing Director, Big Spaceship Section 2

10. “It is all about the relationship. Anyone that tells you otherwise is lying.” “The problem is that the agency will respond to specific client feedback and will not address the underlying cause that goes largely unstated bbyy tthhee cclliieennt.” Darren Woolley, TrinityP3 Why Clients Really Fire Agencies Human beings are notoriously emotional and oƜen irrational. But we want to think we are totally rational. Clients are no different. In fact, rational feedback and reasons are oƜen provided to justify what is largely an emotional response to the relationship. Being able to read between the lines of what is being said takes incredible emotional intelligence. IItt iiss aallll aabboouutt tthhee relationship. Anyone that tells you otherwise is lying. You see, marketing, and especially marketing communications, tends to attract professionals who are very people oriented. This means that relationships are important to them. So when a client tells their agency “We have outgrown you” it is usually code for we have fallen out of love. Proof of this is seen in the reverse situation, when a new CMO is appointed. If they do not instantly fall in love with the incumbent agency, oƜen one of the first things they will do is fire the incumbent and appoint a new agency. Of course, this will be perfectly rationalized by stating that they need a fresh team aligned to their fresh idea for the brand, but this happens before the incumbents have had a chance to prove themselves. IInn ddiissccuussssiinngg tthhee nneeeedd for a pitch, we will oƜen hear a litany of perfectly valid reasons for undertaking an agency review and one of the key areas we explore is the relationship with the incumbents. With probing, here is where you find that the sum of the parts equal an underlying whole… which is they no longer feel the love and commitment. TThhee iissssuuee for clients is how to articulate this in a professional business environment. Saying “I feel like you don’t love us anymore” or “I don’t love you” or even “I love someone else” feels more appropriate in a daytime drama than in a corporate office. Therefore, feeling constrained having these conversations, clients will resort to more rational (and acceptable feedback) for the agency. The problem is that the agency will respond to specific client feedback and will not address the underlying cause that goes largely unstated by the client. While this is understandable on the part of the agency, it oƜen exacerbates tthhee cclliieenntt’s feelings of dissatisfaction because they are now leƜ feeling misunderstood. In other words, if the agency was truly aligned to the needs of the brand / business (and could read the client’s needs) the agency would know what to do. It is interesting that these situations occur at very specific points in the client / agency relationship. First, as mentioned, is the appointment of a new lead. Here the agency must rely on having the person fall in love with them. This can be hit and miss as you already come with the baggage of being the incumbent. But some research and the appointment of the right staff on the front line of the account can help. The next critical time is following appointment. AƜer about a year or so, unfortunately sometimes less, the honeymoon period will end. This is a critical time and one that can be minimized by entering the new relationship the way you want to continue it. Rather than rely on the good intentions of the honeymoon, start the relationship management from day one with reviews, feedback, proactivity and openness. The next critical time comes when there are quiet periods, when there is little or no work on the account. As an agency, you need to stay in touch to stay top of mind and relevant, but not look like you are wasting time and money. AAnndd tthhee llaasstt ccrriittiical time is when a result is bad and the client is under performance pressure. Any weakness in the relationship can leave the agency open to becoming the scapegoat for the poor performance. Ultimately, it is about setting up the relationship for success and realizing that nothing stays the same forever. Agencies need to be able to read between the rational statements clients make in order to understand the deeper emotional relationship. But of course there is a time when even that is not enough. AAbboouutt tthhee Author: Darren is called a Pitch Doctor, Negotiator, Problem Solver, Founder & Global CEO of TrinityP3 - Strategic Marketing Management Consultants and a founding member of the Marketing FIRST Forum. He is also an Ex-scientist, Ex-Creative Director, Husband and a father of three. And in his spare time he sleeps.

11. “The more comprehensive the content, the more opportunity to create divisibles.” Ross Crooks, Column Five Divisible Content 101 As brands ramp up content marketing, they oƜen find it challenging to produce enough content for the many publishing platforms and audiences they need to reach – efficiently and at scale. The Divisible Content approach is an efficient strategy that allows brands to produce large volumes of content while expending minimal time and resources. DDiivviissiibbllee CCoonntent is a strategy for streamlining content creation. You create one core asset that comprehensively covers a topic. This asset serves as your foundation, which you break down into smaller “divisibles,” publishing in a variety of formats across different platforms. Benefits of Divisible Content Economical: By repurposing core content, you extend the life of the work that has already been created, saving you time, money and brainpower. Efficient: By focusing on a single theme, all content helps support and deliver a strong central message. A divisible content strategy also provides a clear structure and schedule for content creation and distribution, streamlining the process for all departments involved. Effective: You can tailor each “divisible” to a particular audience, helping deliver your message more effectively. Additionally, all content created maintains visual consistency, helping to preserve and promote your brand identity. How to Create Divisible Content 1. Identify a Single Messaging Focus: Each core asset you create should cover a single topic, with the aim of delivering a focused message. Look for topics that will help achieve your goals. 22.. CCreate a Comprehensive Piece of Content: The divisible content strategy hinges on the creation of a core asset that covers a topic thoroughly. The more comprehensive the content, the more opportunity to create divisibles. This asset can come in many forms (i.e. e-book, motion graphic, interactive slideshow). 3. Break Out and Reformat Divisibles: Identify the pieces of your core asset to repurpose in various formats. Find as many opportunities as possible. Many divisibles, such as infographics and blog posts, can be broken down even further into micro-content primed for social sharing. 44.. PPuubblliisshh CCoonntent: Content can be distributed through both owned and earned channels, then amplified with paid media. All publishing is strategically coordinated to maximize reach. About the Author: Ross Crooks is Co-Founder/CCO of Visage, a data visualization platform, and Co-Founder of Column Five, an agency specializing in the creation and distribution of infographics, data visualization and other visual content.

12. “Since both marketing and UX advance their goals through understanding human behavior, it is easy to see how the two are becoming ccoonnvvoolluuted.” “CMOs have the responsibility to create separate marketing and UX divisions that equally provide value to the brand from different ddiirections.” Anthony Franco, EffectiveUI Marketing and User Experience Aren’t Compatible The first volume of The SoDA Report revealed a disturbing survey result earlier this year. When asked about talent gaps, 77 percent of agency respondents identified user experience (UX) as the biggest shortfall on the client side. One possible explanation might be that the UX discipline is still a “field in evolution.” While the report offers UX infancy as a cause for this glaring talent gap, another answer could be that UX and marketing have fundamental core values that are in direct opposition to one another. The primary function of marketing is to sell to the customer; the primary function of UX is to serve the nneeeeddss ooff tthhee ccuusstomer. One campaign, one application or one digital product simply cannot do both. Sell “Marketing is a question of persuading, seducing and attempting to manipulate people into buying products and services.” --Wally Olins Wally’s description might seem unflattering, but we can’t deny that marketing is the art of persuasion. Marketing serves the company by getting people to buy or do something. It doesn’t build better products or experiences, and it’s not a service philosophy. It is a strategy for positioning and advancing products and/or services in the world of consumers. Examining their business goals will make this evident. Serve IIff tthhee goal of marketing is to create value for the business, then the goal of user experience is to create value for the customer. The functional word in the UX discipline is empathy, and there are a variety of techniques employed to achieve it. UX practitioners do things like create user personas and journey maps, constantly testing digital creations with users to discover their needs and help them accomplish tasks in the most convenient and effective way possible. The ability to serve customers requires deep understanding of their needs and goals at the point of engagement, and that insight is gained through research. CCoommmmoonn GGround Since both marketing and UX advance their goals through understanding human behavior, it is easy to see how the two are becoming convoluted. Recently, several articles have been written on the convergence of marketing and UX. Some suggest that UX should be a subset of marketing. And of course there are many advice pieces on how to use UX design for marketing purposes. History has shown, however, that customer applications fail miserably when they try to perform marketing functions. While there are many examples of this, we need to look no further than the failure rate of branded apps. Overview of Apps and the Statistics Fact: Eighty percent of all branded apps are downloaded fewer than 1,000 times. Fact: One percent of all branded apps reach one million downloads. Branded apps are performing poorly for one distinct reason: they cannot simultaneously serve and sell. Branded apps that do succeed do not ask the question, “How can we use this app to increase conversions or brand affinity?” The question they ask is user centered: “What do our customers need, and how can we best serve them?” The difference between these two questions highlights the differences between marketing departments and UX design departments, and core values again come into play. Marketing is the art of persuasion; UX is the art of service. Marketing departments must come to terms with one simple fact: a branded app cannot – and should not – be a marketing campaign. SSoommee would argue that all apps must be utilitarian; they have to serve a need or they shouldn’t exist. The questions UX departments ask when tasked with building a branded app are twofold: 1) Why is someone going to download this app, and 2) Why would someone continue to use it? If the answer to either of those questions is not service based, then there is no need to build the app at all. In fact, market research has shown that launching an app for marketing purposes will damage the brand and do the opposite of its intent. An app will not create brand affinity if it is not completely service based during its ffiirst three versions. The only metrics that matter are how many stars it receives and how many downloads. It’s no wonder that branded apps with a marketing emphasis have turned to gamification. Tale of Two Visions Harvard Business Review (HBR) published an article identifying the features of a successful branded app: • Add convenience • Offer unique value • Provide social value • Offer incentives • Entertain Forrester Research, however, identifies a different set of features that define a successful branded app: • Useful • Usable • Desirable TThhee lliissttss aare similar in their desire to serve customers’ needs, but that is also where they diverge. The HBR list includes features (social value, incentives, entertain) that are driven by marketing needs. The Forrester list is utility centered, and the focus is squarely on serving the needs of the customer. A look at two branded apps, one conforming to the HBR features and one to the Forrester features, will make the differences clear. Pampers vs. Dominos Pampers released a branded app called Hello Baby, which had been touted as a great example of a branded application under the HBR definition. But if you looked at the app’s ratings and performance (measured by download numbers), they were abysmal. One major cause of the app’s failure was it required a connection to Facebook, which was an attempt to create social value. Unfortunately, many women don’t want the details of their pregnancy plastered all over their social feed. The Hello Baby app was clearly a marketing campaign to drive brand affinity and tap into new markets. In reality, the app hhaadd aa nnegative impact on their brand due to the poor ratings and negative comments in the reviews. One reviewer even commented, “this app must have been designed by a man.” The app is no longer available. On the other hand, Dominos Pizza embraced the utility perspective when they created their mobile app for ordering pizza. To date, the Dominos app has been downloaded more than six million times and accounts for 35 percent of their revenue, according to Mobile Commerce Daily. The app’s average rating in the App Store is five stars, and the review comments are very positive. The Dominos brand is enjoying unprecedented growth and success. Granted, this is an oversimplified analysis, but it is clear that they each approached their branded applications from very different viewpoints and with very different end goals. Pampers, already doing well in its industry, was trying to sell to its users through a marketing campaign disguised as a helpful application. Dominos, performing poorly in its industry, placed its efforts in service and delivered an application that provided a useful, usable and desirable experience. In the end, it succeeded. Advice to CMOs WWhhiillee mmaarrketing and UX are not core-value compatible, they are powerful assets to a company if managed wisely and held in proper balance. They will inevitably be required to work together because they share the common interests of understanding human behavior and building brand loyalty. CMOs have the responsibility to create separate marketing and UX divisions that equally provide value to the brand from different directions. They each need their own leadership, and they must maintain a healthy tension. A very good argument could be made that they even need equal budgets. Where marketing ggeenneerates revenue for the next two quarters, building a digital application that provides great service will generate revenue for the next two years. In short, great user experience is its own marketing. About the Author: Anthony Franco is best known for founding the Denver-based firm, EffectiveUI in 2005 with the core belief that technology lives up to its promise to humanity only when it is well designed. A thought-leader in the UX field, Anthony has spoken at numerous industry events held by MicrosoƜ, O’Reilly Media, Adobe, SysCon and Forrester Research.

13. “Hollywood has long been able to stretch the boundaries of our imaginations to show us what might be real, if only our eyes can be deceived. It’s now bbeecoming possible to use technology to play with our understanding as to what constitutes a truly authentic experience.” Jackson Murphy and Penny Norman, Pound & Grain What Is the Value of Real? When technology can create anything our wildest dreams can imagine, what is the impact on the changing value we place on real life and authenticity? Whether it’s Facebook stitching your life together via Lookback videos, exploring the Japanese Vocaloid movement, or the use of celebrities long aƜer they are gone (Michael Jackson’s holographic performance at the 2014 Billboard Awards or Audrey Hepburn dancing her way through a Dove ad), we are looking to find the im impact of reality on brands. It’s increasingly hard for consumers to know exactly where reality ends and virtual reality begins. Hollywood has long been able to stretch the boundaries of our imaginations to show us what might be real, if only our eyes can be deceived. It’s now becoming possible to use technology to play with our understanding as to what constitutes a truly authentic experience. As we look to build brands that stand for something and create meaningful interactions, can we put a price on real? It’s common to play the nostalgia card. Don Draper has made this a signature move; and everyone from Jockey underwear to Ore-Ida’s Tater Tot brands are trying to bring back the real of a bygone era. Physicists at Illinois’ National Accelerator Laboratory are even running an experiment to test whether our reality isn’t just some 2D hologram. I guess we aren’t sure anymore. Real or not, most of the next generation of consumers might not want to buy anything anyway. Instead, what they crave are “sensory experiences” above all else. According to JWT Intelligence, over 70 percent of respondents said that “they increasingly crave experiences that stimulate their senses, and more than half feel increasingly disconnected from the physical world.” What they want now are physical experiences over material items and will pay top dollar to get them. MMaarriillyynn MMoonnroe, who died in 1962 is currently selling hair care products for Sexy Hair, launching a new strawberry vodka for Three Olives, launching a line of shoes, and a Macy’s collection. She has 13.4 million fans on Facebook, and over 200,000 Twitter followers. For a celebrity gone for over 50 years, she has more of a following than Academy Award winning actresses Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Lawrence, combined. Sure, Emma Watson, Megan Fox, and Selena Gomez outpace the 87 year old in terms of fans on Facebook, but how long until a fully rendered, computer generated Marilyn MMoonnroe returns to the big screen with new content and catches up? Authentic Brand Group, who controls her brand, hints that the time is probably sooner rather than later, given that some of her contemporaries like Audrey Hepburn have been popping up in television commercials. Making digital characters come back to life in print, television and film is easy. The real Holy Grail and money is in live performances. Ever since Tupac played 2012’s Coachella, music has been trying to figure out how to make holograms really work. For musical acts like The Rolling Stones, which still command large dollars for performances, but increasingly are about as exciting to watch as your grandparents singing karaoke, holograms could transform their tours into must attend events. MMiicchhaaeell JJaacckkssoonn took this to a whole new level when he made his posthumous concert and TV debut as a digital 3D character created by Pulse Evolution with a new song at the Billboard Music Awards last May. This capped off a hot 2013 where he earned $160 million, making him the highest earning celebrity dead or alive. Hot on the King of Pop’s digital heels, is news of Elvis doing four night shows in Vegas and Macao, and talk of Frank Sinatra and Bob Marley making their returns to the big stage. Welcome to the world of digital resurrection – a place of infinite brand servitude. Taken a step further, in Japan, the Vocaloid movement, more or less uses a fancy voice synthesizer made by Yamaha to create purely virtual characters like Hatsune Miku. She has performed live since 2009, has nearly 2.5 million fans on Facebook, opened for Lady Gaga’s World Tour, has teamed up with Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs, reportedly has over 100,000 unique songs in her library, and has even appeared in Japanese Playboy. She is also 100% fake. Everyone knows she is a fake, it’s just not clear if that matters. Imagine a pop star that doesn’t do drugs, get DUIs, has none of the gossip or headaches, and nneever ages. Gisele Bündchen earned $47 million last year, could she digitally model in print and at runway shows without having to resort to some real plastic surgery for basically all eternity? Can these live digital experiences be authentic and truly entertaining? Will people pay $50, $100, or $200 or more to see a completely computer generated performance? Will the digital abilities of brands to utilize long deceased singers, performers, and talent undermine their ability to capture audiences in an authentic way? Or do we even care? About the Authors: A Creative Director with over a decade of copywriting experience, Jackson Murphy is passionate about evangelizing innovative creative solutions and delivering results. As Planning Director, Penny Norman brings a laser sharp focus on great thinking and effectiveness. Her experience includes over 10 years at leading agencies both in Canada and the UK.

14. Wiring Your Enterprise for the Post-Search Era While it’s too early to say that search is dead, it is looking long in the tooth. Search – paid or organic – is no longer even remotely the only game in town. New traffic and content engagement contexts arise almost daily, each with their own specific requirements and optimization strategies. Brands that seek to align their organization, technology and content to connect to these new platforms via APIs, semantic strategies, partnerships, or paid inclusion will be the winners in this new and more complex post-search era. Examples of how the classic era of search is drawing to a close can be found everywhere, with many innovations coming from search engines like Google. SSpplliinntering referral sources Leading mobile discovery apps like Google’s Field Trip proactively present location-specific “Search – paid or organic – is no longer even remotely the only game in town.” “It’s no longer enough to publish and optimize a blog post. Now that post needs to be a piece of compelling content able to work across a mmuullttiitude of places for a multitude of audiences on a multitude of devices.” recommendations to users on Android devices, no search required. Add in web content discovery platforms like Pinterest, and users have lots of new options for finding inspiration, getting recommendations or connecting with the information they need. OOnn tthhee hhaardware side, gadgets from smart watches to dashboard devices of all kinds use GPS, embedded Internet connections, and natural language processing to connect users with information seamlessly far away from any search results page. From search first to user first Over the past 10 years brands and digital publishers have developed, published and restructured digital content to align with the needs of search engines (‘SEO’). Entire business strategies evolved and revolved around ranking well on search engines. Many continue to do so. WWhhiillee eennggiinneess lliike Google have always pushed webmasters to ‘put users first,’ the age of the user has only recently dawned. And it has come about not just from the increasingly sophisticated nature of search engines themselves but also from the incredibly diverse set of contexts in which content is now being consumed. Andrew Delamarter, Huge The Field Trip Android app connects users with content and information, no search required. Will your content be there? Companies like Single Platform thrive by supplying the plumbing for local businesses to push key information out to users and platforms like Facebook, Yelp, Foursquare, and Google.

15. Section 3 Tech Talk Table of Contents: Introduction to Tech Talk 2015 – The Rise of the Location-Specific Experience A Web of Every Shape and Size How Staying Up-to-Date on Front-End Tooling Provides Value to Clients

16. Introduction to Tech Talk The intent of “Tech Talk” is to “future gaze on the technology developments and trends impacting the industry.” It’s getting harder to have a discussion about the future of any industry without tying it to technology. In many ways, this discussion is similar because consumer-enabling technology is forcing a connection between what were discreet functions and disciplines in companies. Want to focus on product but don’t care about sales? Good luck. Wish you ccoouulldd bbee tthhee “ad guy” and not worry about messy customer service? That’s old mode thinking. Tech Talk continues to introduce ways in which technology can enable more effective and meaningful connections between brands and people. The section begins with Ratio’s James Senior, breaking the oƜen jargon-filled discussion of iBeacons and location-based experience down in simple terms. Next, Adobe’s CJ Gammon outlines how the nature of the Web itself is changing to address the multiplicity of contexts, touch points, interfaces and screen sizes. Tech Talk concludes with a call-to-action, by Enlighten’s Michael Behnke, inviting agency technologists to increase the value of their work by staying up-to-date on front-end technologies. AAss mmaarrketers in a technology-enabled, connected world, we need to widen our aperture to include the whole experience. Expectations raised and demand-driven through great creative becomes a costly misstep if not aligned with the service that is actually being delivered. As so many industries mature and more of our clients need to focus on lifetime value over acquisition, we must see the bigger picture. This includes technology underpinning the communications, products, services – and yes, overall experience – our clients exchange with their customers. Zachary Jean Paradis Tech Talk Section Editor DDiirector Innovation Strategy, SapientNitro Section 3

17. “Despite all the coverage, beacons remain one of the most talked about, yet misunderstood technologies of 2014.” James Senior, Ratio 2015 – The Rise of the Location-Specific Experience In twelve short months since the word “iBeacon” showed up on a slide at WWDC 2013, this location-based tech – using Bluetooth low energy (LE) - has sucked all the oxygen out of the location-tech room (yes, it is a real room). Despite all the coverage, beacons remain one of the most misunderstood technologies of 2014. As a digital agency, Ratio cares about multi-endpoint solutions that seamlessly connect clients with customers. That's why we've been experimenting with beacons to understand this exciting, yet shiƜing ecosystem and opportunities for location-specific experiences. Your location toolbox Are beacons the be-all and end-all in location technology? Not by a long shot. Instead, think of iBeacons as one tool at your disposal when creating location-specific experiences. The larger toolkit includes iBeacons, near field communication (NFC), WiFi, GPS, Cellular, etc. Each flavor has its own advantages and limitations depending on the situation. Let's be clear, there is no one silver bullet for location, which is why mobile platforms are providing all of the technologies in many devices, capable of adapting to the situation in which a user finds themselves. If successful, location-driven experiences will work seamlessly no matter which sensor input is used. TThhee ssmmaarrtest, dumbest device In its purest form, the iBeacon is a device with a watch battery and a Bluetooth LE stack that emits small amounts of fixed data. In the simplest iBeacons, this data is a unique identifier and is transmitted on a regular interval, say ten seconds. That’s it. TThhee real magic is in the soƜware, where the mobile operating system intercepts the message and checks if any installed apps claim ownership for the iBeacon (based on the ID). Everything else – content, beacon configuration & setup etc. – is managed in the cloud. Now of course, there are beacon manufacturers that are innovating beyond the original spec, adding different sensors like temperature gauges and accelerometers – all designed to differentiate from the crowded (and low margin) beacon market. The interesting intellectual property is in the cloud where business owners, marketers and IT ddeepartments will manage and maintain their beacon infrastructure and tie it in with other consumer and business ecosystems. Location-contextual experiences In our work with iBeacons so far, we've pushed the user experience hard with respect to providing entirely different views and screens for varying locations. For example, should a shopping app behave differently if the user opens it in their kitchen? Should it behave differently in the supermarket? The answer is absolutely! This is an exciting proposition because the core experience has the opportunity to evolve beyond the standard app and existing design paradigms today. Location-based technology has been in a state of maturation for the last few years, with iBeacons rounding out a toolkit of boasting capabilities that encompass indoor, outdoor, near and far. To infinity and beyond! As we move into 2015, the stage is set for these new technologies to shiƜ location-sensitive experiences into the forefront of app developers’ minds. For publishers, brands and marketers, the evolution means greater opportunities to engage with customers in new, more relevant ways in order to provide more value for everyone involved. AAbboouutt tthhee Author: Working closely with clients, James helps them build long-term digital strategies that drive growth and positive outcomes for the business. His experience across web, desktop & mobile platforms in business, design and technical roles allow him to provide a unique approach to experiences and innovation.

18. “With the rise of applications making their way to the web it’s become useful to utilize the entire viewport for full screen interfaces.” CJ Gammon, Adobe A Web of Every Shape and Size With the huge variety of screens that support the web today it can be challenging to ensure your content looks great on every device. It’s easy to imagine the issue of developing content for an increasingly complex array of screens becoming more difficult as new hardware appears. Fortunately, the platform of the web continues to evolve, making it easier to adapt to these changes. MMoobbiillee ddevices introduced the need to view content produced for large monitors on smaller screens. Media queries were added to CSS as a way to adjust layout based on the device. This can involve using the device’s width to hide or reveal content, adjusting the complexity of the layout. With the rise of applications making their way to the web, it’s become useful to utilize the entire viewport for full screen interfaces. New layout abilities are empowering how people build web applications across screens. Viewport units allow you to use fractions of the viewport to size elements within your page. This enables views and UI elements that maintain the same aspect ratio across screens. Flex-box is a new feature that allows application layouts that morph easily to different sizes. WWiitthh nnewer devices appearing, some with circular displays, we can imagine that the web may be viewed on screens of different shapes. The CSS Shapes and Exclusions specifications allow wrapping content inside defined shapes. Because it’s in CSS, media queries can be used to add or remove shape definitions to content. Headsets introduce new potential ways of viewing web content. Virtual Reality devices like the Oculus RiƜ combined with 3D content produced in WebGL could be used to make immersive virtual experiences. There are already libraries out there allowing for the display of content in a way that is suitable for these devices, but in the future this functionality could be built into the web itself. The web is an amazing resource that continues to deliver new ways of sharing and communicating. As web-enabled devices continue to adapt to the world around us, the web itself needs to continue to change in order to simplify the process making content that works on every screen. AAbboouutt tthhee Author: CJ Gammon is a Creative Technologist at Adobe whose goal is to showcase the creative potential of the web and inspire the community through innovative applications and experiences.

19. “As developers, one of the best ways we can provide value to both the client and our agency is to always evaluate both the tools we are using and tthhoossee coming out to decide which are best suited for the job at hand.” Michael Behnke, Enlighten How Staying Up-to-Date on Front-End Tooling Provides Value to Clients

20. SoDA Showcases Penn Museum Nike Natrel Hellmann’s Brooks Running PepsiCo Americas Beverage KPN SocialWellth YouTube Hurley & Nike SB Quick-Step The Guardian IHS TED Prize MicrosoƜ/Skype Sugata Mitra and Newcastle University 72andSunny Amsterdam for Google Coca-Cola Intel & Toshiba University of Nebraska CMT's "Mom's a Medium" Tennis Australia “Office Mood Check-In” Section 4

21. Native American Voices: The People – Here and Now / Penn Museum / Bluecadet AƜer collaborating with the Penn Museum on Maya 2012: Lords of Time, a critically acclaimed exhibition, Bluecadet was thrilled to further contribute by helping conceptualize and create custom interactive experiences for the museum’s long-term exhibition Native American Voices: The People – Here and Now. NNaattiive American Voices features more than 250 objects from the Penn Museum’s expansive collections. Over the course of five years, nearly 300 objects representing 85 tribes will be rotated for display. To help interpret these artifacts, Bluecadet created 12 Interactive Object Touchscreens that, with the tap of a finger, offer rotated views and dynamic, in-depth artifact information (history, geography, language). In addition to exploring the nearest object case, museum visitors can use the touchscreens to view the entire collection or even sort the objects according to personal interests — curating their own unique exhibition experience. To introduce and anchor the space, Bluecadet designed a motion-activated Central Projection that offers a narrated, cinematic exhibition overview. This authentic recorded footage, complemented by natural landscapes and original soundscapes, captures the diversity of contemporary Native Americans and their distinct stories, histories and identities.

22. Phenomenal Shot / Nike / Grow, Wieden + Kennedy, Google Real-time reactions to sports are happening all over the web, and not just on social. How can brands tap into this energy to provide experiences of real value? CCeerrtain things about sports, and the experience of being a fan, will never change — like the rituals, the drama, the did-you-see-that shots and the can’t-believe-it calls. Sports fans are using technology like never before. Google research shows that 77% of people now watch TV with a laptop, mobile device or tablet. In 2010, about 18% of related Google searches during the World Cup final were on mobile, compared to 2014 in which 70% of searches were on mobile. GGoooogglle’s Art, Copy & Code team partnered with Nike to create a new way of tapping into the real-time energy of the World Cup across the web. Google used animated avatars from Nike’s short film created by Wieden + Kennedy, The Last Game. Then, seconds aƜer a goal was scored by a Nike footballer, an ad would run across the web featuring that footballer’s stylish avatar in his signature celebration pose. Fans picked angles on the shot by panning around a 3D version of the image, and customized it with headlines, filters and stickers to create their own digital poster celebrating the ‘phenomenal shot.’ According to technology partner Grow’s CEO and ECD Drew Ungvarsky, customization was vital: “People want to share their own perspective, and not just one that’s been pre-made for them. The experience gave people a way to do that. It’s why we take our own pictures when we could just buy the postcard. We want to share and remember how we uniquely experienced something.”

23. Natrel.ca / Natrel / CloudRaker This online experience developed by CloudRaker for premium milk products brand, Natrel, used online research to discover the needs and preferences of women in the area of health and nutrition, and helped deliver a customized experience. CloudRaker transformed the Natrel website, Natrel.ca, into a fully responsive resource, toolkit and community that women can take with them anywhere. BBuutt CClloouuddRaker didn’t do it alone. They worked with local Natrel-loving bloggers to create compelling content. In just three months, the team published 18 inspiring stories, 75 delicious recipes and 12 unique contests.

24. WhatsCook / Hellmann’s / CUBOCC CUBOCC develops the first live recipe service via WhatsApp to engage a Brazilian audience through mobile. Hellmann's may be Brazil’s longtime, market-leading mayonnaise brand, but it still had room for growth, as most Brazilians only use mayonnaise on sandwiches. While Hellmann’s engages heavily across various media channels to inspire new uses of its mayonnaise (like CUBOCC’s Recipe Cart, last year), the mobile platform remained an untapped opportunity to engage with consumers. WWhhaattssCCooookk iiss tthhee ffiirst live recipe service via WhatsApp, in which consumers can chat with a specialized cooking team and learn new recipes in real time. People submit their numbers on the website, and real chefs get in touch with them – it’s as simple as that. Through a conversation with chefs, users can learn how to cook something they want, either step-by-step, or by taking a picture of their fridge to show which ingredients are inside to let the WhatsCook’s chefs devise a recipe. TThhee nneeeedd for real-time interaction to address everyday life is constantly growing given the accelerated pace at which today’s world is changing. When talking about the advertising industry, CUBOCC built a tool that does more than improve lives; it works in sync with the immediacy of its users’ needs.

25. Mt. Sac Relay SnapChats / Brooks Running / Digital Kitchen To help Brooks Running Company bolster their digital presence at running events, Digital Kitchen created a series of Snapchat campaigns, merging digital content with real-world experiences. Brooks Running Company has been a pillar of the athletic community for the last century, but truly found its stride when the brand focused on one sport and one sport alone: running. As category experts, the brand carved out its niche both in product and personality. Poised for breakout success, Brooks identified the need to amplify its presence in the digital space. In an effort to increase the number of Brooks runners, as well as fuel runners’ love of Brooks, the brand partnered with Digital Kitchen, their first Digital AOR. For the 2014 Mt. Sac Relays outside Los Angeles, DK and Brooks reached out to high school and collegiate runners using their language: Snapchat. To make this unique first impression count, DK quickly built out a robust Snapchat community to flirt playfully with new runners. Creatively working around the limitations of Snapchat, a flirtatious shoe engaged with runners throughout the three-day event – even responding directly when it got snapped back!

26. Harnessing Real-Time Sentiment During Super Bowl XLVII / PepsiCo Americas Beverages / EffectiveUI & TNS A collaborative solution created by EffectiveUI and TNS collected in-the-moment feedback for immediate display and guidance for future marketing strategy. TNS, a global research consultancy, and EffectiveUI collaborated to create a real-time, customized polling application that helped executives from PepsiCo Americas Beverages understand real-time sentiment on advertising campaigns, as well as customer insight regarding the value of the halƜime show it sponsored during Super Bowl XLVIII in February. TTNNSS hhaadd aallready been working with the company to capture real-time brand sentiment and behavior for PepsiCo Beverages through an app called IBEV, and leveraged this work to create a program that focused specifically on the Super Bowl. EffectiveUI developed the solution using a live-polling platform, adding customization and additional capability beyond traditional polling. The application design customized for PepsiCo Beverages allowed for aggregation of the results, including the ability to compare the answers from multiple questions, as well as categorize and rank them – a capability not offered in standard polling soƜware. AA team of experts from TNS and EffectiveUI were on-site with PepsiCo Beverages executives, both at the stadium and in a nearby “war room” location to manage the process. Questions about the ads, the halƜime show and the game were created and asked on-the-fly, including the perceived value of certain advertising strategies as well consumer perceptions of the status of the game.

27. Feel Free with KPN / KPN / Energize The rollout of KPN’s 4G network sets everyone free – free to watch live TV, share movies and stream music anywhere and anytime. Energize created an interactive video starring Jett Rebel to amplify this liberating feeling. Following in the footsteps of Nina Simone, Muse and Michael Bublé, Jett Rebel – Dutch musical omnitalent and Radio 3FM Serious Talent winner – covered the famous song “Feelin’ Good”. Energize then asked the Dutch audience to upload their ultimate ‘feel free moment’ in celebration of KPN’s nationwide 4G-coverage and to serve as the backdrop for the interactive video. As Jett Rebel played all of the instruments himself, he invited the viewer to select an instrument for him to play. Thanks to some special video and clever programming, users could instantly switch between instruments and enjoy many #feel-free-moments. TThhrough a mobile app, the website and social media, people could share their photo or video to become an instant star in this interactive video. Thousands shared their moments with pets, family, friends, sunsets and… lots of happy selfies.

28. mExperiences / SocialWellth / Enlighten Transforming how consumers connect and interact with their healthcare sponsors through the power of hyper-personalization & social engagement. WWoorrkkiinngg together with SocialWellth, Enlighten built a digital health social engagement company, offering a digital health curation gateway to enable Sponsors (health plans and self-insured employers) to connect and deliver best-in-breed healthcare and balanced living digital interventions. Sponsors and third party health and wellness application providers can leverage the HIPAA-compliant marketplace gateway to swiƜly deploy and scale their programs and health apps via the web or mobile network, creating trusted and engaging connections with consumers. TThhee SSoocciiaallWWeelllltthh mmEExxppeerriieennce platform provides users with a variety of curated apps, activities, challenges and incentives – all within a highly personalized and tailored experience – to make living healthy fun and rewarding. BBuuiillddiinngg oonn tthhee ssttrengths and experiences of healthcare, technology, and the gaming Industry, SocialWellth has demonstrated the power of harnessing consumer profile data into captivating relationships. SocialWellth’s hyper-personalized Consumer Health Connection Network will leverage social and health data, localized community resources, social media tools and gamification to create a trusted connection between consumers and their healthcare sponsors.

29. How Video Gets to You / YouTube / Grow Grow worked to help people understand the issues around slow or choppy Internet video by putting a deeply technical issue into a familiar context. Poor YouTube video performance is a complex and at times sensitive issue. It can be extremely frustrating for viewers, and people oƜen incorrectly blame YouTube rather than their connection to the Internet. To explain this issue in simple and relatable terms, Grow created an experience that lets viewers watch the journey their video takes as it travels from YouTube to their laptop. The experience is a companion to Google’s “Video Quality Report,” an innovative test of your Internet provider’s end-to-end video delivery performance.

30. Australian Open of Surfing Pop-Up Store / Hurley & Nike SB / IE Attracting 200,000 Australian Open of Surfing goers to a co-branded pop-up shop. Hurley and Nike Skateboarding (Nike SB) share a focus on product innovation, and are currently working together to reinvigorate Australia’s in-store experience. Working closely along the way, Hurley is creating shopping experiences to surprise and delight their loyal customers. Having ddeessiiggnneedd aanndd ddeveloped a variety of digital campaigns, in-store interactive retail experiences and event activations for Nike SB, IE Agency was engaged to implement a retail and brand activation experience at the Australian Open of Surfing (AOS), an annual event on Manly Beach in Sydney that brings together top athletes from action sports around the world. To enhance the space, Hurley and Nike SB worked with IE Agency to create interactive touch screens and video wall experiences that linked brand stories, told through hero athletes, to highly engaging and educative product information. IIEE aanndd HHuurrlley focused on promoting the key products and the Hurley mobile app in the retail space. IE produced a space that created a sense of theatre through ambient and consumer-controlled content – a shopping experience never before seen within this category. The space included a multi-screen video wall, individual video screens, audio and a central touch control panel. All content was edited and curated to suit the event by IE. AAddddiittiioonnaalllly, IE created a Nike SB App and Product Activation station. The app display featured an instructional video demonstrating the iOS app features, functions and a how-to guide, with the video content itself produced in-house by IE.

31. Style My Floor App / Quick-Step / IQ To simplify the floor shopping process for Quick-Step, IQ created a mobile app using augmented reality that shows how floors will fit their space. With the Style My Floor™ app, homeowners can view virtual floors in any room. The app simply accesses a device's camera to capture the existing room and superimpose styles over the current floor in real time. Users can test hundreds of floor styles, save their favorites and share photos of floors with family and friends — a social element that makes it even easier for homeowners to get a second opinion on potential floors. Once they’ve narrowed down their favorites, users can then order up to five free floor samples right from the app. They can also use the app to locate Quick-Step floor retailers near them.

32. Seven Deadly Sins / The Guardian / Jam3 An exploration of our digital morality, exposing how we sin online. A voyeuristic review of our sinful behaviors in the digital realm, Seven Deadly Digital Sins explores how the iconic seven deadly sins translate in a technical age, asking us to reflect on how we feel about these questionable behaviors online, and confess if we too engage in them. TThhrough videos, custom illustrations, elegantly written stories and interactive polls with real-time infographics, this variety of content hovers weightlessly in an organic, faux-3D environment. Related content reorganizes itself upon interaction, allowing the user to explore and consume content thematically based on each sin, from the gluttony of Instagramming food to the lust of extramarital online dating. The taboo nature of each story and video begs for self-reflection, allowing users to ruminate on the digital age and how we each contribute to it within a highly interactive digital piece. JJaamm33 bbuuiilltt aa ccuusstom 3D rendering engine that uses CSS 3D transformations, rendering entirely in the DOM. Additionally, all of the infographics were custom built on canvas for maximum performance. Built fully responsive, the experience delivers a seamless site across devices achieved with HTML, JS and CSS. A custom video player was built, and UI to handle all of the video content.

33. Risk and Compliance Video / IHS / Leopard What can a grain of salt tell you about your business? IIHHSS nneeeeddeedd aa ssiimmpplleer, bolder way to say, "Hello! This is what we do." AƜer numerous acquisitions over the last several years, IHS delivers cross-industry data and market insights that, literally, no other company can. But those acquisitions have also led to a general lack of message cohesion across target markets, scattering brand equity and leaving IHS' value vulnerable to being misunderstood — or underestimated. Current pressures from niche competitors and the increased demand for data insights and analysis prompted IHS to take action to claim its leadership across global industries. Leopard’s strategy was to create a simple, yet engaging animated video series that clearly communicates the critical value IHS delivers — the big-picture insights customers need to make the best, most informed business decisions in the most mission-critical areas such as risk and compliance. Beginning with a tiny grain of salt, a two-minute animation uses simple visual metaphor to evoke a complex, connected ecosystem of cause and effect for global business. IHS wants business leaders worldwide to first ask themselves, “What else aren’t we thinking of?” and then conclude, “We need IHS to help us see the big picture.”

34. School in the Cloud / Made by Many Made by Many transformed a dispersed network of educators and researchers into a global, scalable platform for communication and learning to help Sugata Mitra, TED Prize Winner 2013, build his vision for a School in the Cloud. SSeellf-organized learning environments (SOLEs) allow students the opportunity to conduct their own Internet investigations to answer big, open-ended questions set by their educators. Sugata Mitra suggests that SOLEs are an exciting new way to let learning happen and is currently researching the impact of SOLEs on participating young people. SScchhooooll iinn tthhee CClloouudd iiss aa gglloobal platform where educators and children from around the world can run their own sessions and contribute to Sugata's global learning experiment. Sugata's many experiments have revealed that groups of children can learn almost anything by themselves when given Internet access and the ability to work as a community. The aim of SOLEs is to spark creativity, curiosity and wonder in children and inspire them to take control of their own learning. For eight months, Made by Many embarked on a co-design process with children, educators, researchers and partners, including MicrosoƜ, TED, University of Newcastle and IDEO. Working in rapid cycles of learning, the team developed a minimum viable platform and launched to a small group to start testing what tools and resources were truly useful to its users. TThhee core functions of School in the Cloud are to create a central place to share practices in self-organized learning environments (SOLEs), to enable educators to join the global SOLE experiment and – for the physical spaces of TED Prize SOLE labs in India – to connect with Skype Grannies. The challenge was turning everything Sugata and his team learned into a cohesive, scalable and accessible digital service to create a global movement in self-organized learning.

35. Night Walk in Marseille / MediaMonks Night Walk in Marseille is the first-ever Google Street View, by night, combining the power of storytelling with the genius of Google. For this project, MediaMonks teamed up with 72andSunny Amsterdam to cram three kilometers of urban nightlife into an immersive, pocket-sized experience. Embodying the first-ever Google Street View, by night, the experience lets people stroll through the streets and back alleys of Cours Julien. During this nocturnal tour around the city’s best-kept secrets, tap into Google’s genius to learn more about Marseille and its nighttime neighborhood. To capture the creative melting pot of Cours Julien, MediaMonks went out at night to shoot around 200 high-definition photospheres that allow people to explore the neighborhood from every angle. Leveraging the gyroscope and accelerometer, the mobile website even lets users look around by moving their phone or tablet. As users explore, integrated Google products such as YouTube videos and Knowledge Panels enhance the experience with bespoke content and information about the places and people encountered — demonstrating the power of Google in real-use contexts.

36. Real Time Mkt / Coca-Cola / Mutato As Coke's AOR for digital, content and social in Brazil, Mutato delivered an entire suite of content marketing aimed at engagement and buzz when every brand was struggling for share of voice. Today, brands simply cannot be relevant in big events, such as the World Cup, if they’re not analyzing, planning and executing in real time. Each game and each result can inspire the most unexpected moods amongst audiences. But social listening was just one discipline Mutato had to put together in order to achieve the most engaging results. MMoore than 400 pieces of content were produced during the World Cup. Each piece of content, including the format for each channel, was optimized every day based on its performance. “Data driven creativity” was Mutato’s mantra during the event — with the agency learning in real time through other people’s content as well as their own. Mutato acted on two fronts: • A content squad, formed by a group of influencers, was trained to produce engaging content. Their objective was to create from teens to teens, Coke’s main target. •• AA sstudio was built to produce photos and videos by the creative team before, during and aƜer each game. The team at Mutato learned the most effective times, formats and frequencies for posting in each social network. They adapted the creative’s tone of voice in order to achieve the best results, and understand that learning will change again in the next big event.

37. The Power Inside / Intel & Toshiba / Pereira & O’Dell Sometimes you have an idea that seems so ridiculous, so silly that it will never be greenlighted into production. The client will never say yes. And then they do. Enter “The Power Inside” for Intel & Toshiba, a social film that begs the question, “Is your moustache possessed by an alien race that is trying to take over Earth?” With Pereira & O’Dell’s target being millennials, they wanted to provide an experience that was smart, witty and action-packed. IInntel & Toshiba launched "The Power Inside," an episodic social film that imagines aliens have invaded Earth in the form of mustaches and unibrows that attach to humans. Upon discovering that he is the only man who can save the world, Neil, assembles a team to take on the aliens. They are aided, of course, by technologies like the Toshiba Ultrabook with Intel inside. TThhee ffiillmm was directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon (“Blades of Glory”), starring Harvey Keitel (“Reservoir Dogs”), Craig Roberts (“Submarine”), Analeigh Tipton (“Crazy, Stupid, Love”), Reid Ewing (“Modern Family”) Zack Pearlman (“The Inbetweeners”), and the audience. The campaign launched on July 18, 2013 with the launch of the official trailer, followed by six weekly episodes. In this original web series, filmmakers, brands, technologies and the audience collaborate to fight against earth’s greatest threat that is hiding... right… underneath… your… NOSE!

38. University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Arts and Sciences / Phenomblue Centralizing the efforts of 18 departments, 38 majors and 57 minors to deliver a world-class, connected experience, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College Arts and Sciences used Phenomblue’s PTSApproach™ to focus efforts, drive better creative and achieve measurable goals. TThhee UUnniiversity of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Arts and Sciences is the school’s oldest and largest academic college, empowering more than 5,000 undergraduate students each year with a world-class education. LLiike many universities today, the College of Arts and Sciences found itself fragmented by a dizzying array of stakeholders, including staff, brand management, channel strategists and technology professionals. Additionally, the college was in a transitional time, searching for a new dean and hiring a marketing director, while attempting to unify siloed departments and streamline communications. Lacking a central, driving strategy, the college struggled to differentiate activity from results. PPhheennoommbblluuee worked collaboratively to establish an overarching plan to enhance the college’s competitive position and achieve the Chancellor’s goals of recruitment, retention, research and reputation. Through onsite discovery and interviews with key stakeholders, Phenomblue established a Future Picture Statement to ensure brand governance and establish long-term goals and benchmarking. The most urgent tactical solution was to centralize the college’s web strategy. Phenomblue started by creating a unified and concise content strategy and converted the old design using the university’s updated web template and design components. Phenomblue overhauled 28 websites within the College, ccoonnverting more than 15,000 webpages into 900, while remaining customizable at the department level.

39. Mom Knows More Than You Think / CMT’S Mom’s a Medium / Pound & Grain Pound & Grain was asked to create a digital experience to help promote CMT’s Mom’s a Medium, a new show about the life of a psychic. CMT’s newest show, Mom’s a Medium, is about the giƜed medium, Carmel, a mother of 6 who performs psychic readings in Edmonton, Canada. Central to all Carmel’s readings is her reading room, which is a specially created environment with symbolic objects and mediumship tools. Pound & Grain proposed to create Carmel’s room as an interactive web space, with the nostalgic fun of a Flash-made website circa 2004. CCeennttral to this concept was to create a truly authentic experience that mirrored how Carmel approached her readings. Pound & Grain took real objects from Carmel’s room and 3D-rendered them to be included within the online platform. Each object allowed the viewer to get a deeper look into Carmel’s mediumship and get involved from home. Pound & Grain included extra details about Carmel and her family, bonus scenes from the show and exclusive web episodes. AAddddiittiioonnaalllly, Carmel’s spirit stones were featured, letting viewers select one of the stones to illustrate what they may need in their lives. Pound & Grain also gave fans the chance to experience a virtual reading with Carmel’s unique Oracle Cards and share with their social networks. Lastly, viewers were asked to share their own stories of those they have lost; to remember the great moments, the secrets shared and struggles. Each week, Carmel selects one of the story authors to receive a free reading.

40. The Australian Open Social Shack / Tennis Australia / Reactive Every year, Tennis Australia promotes and conducts the Australian Open, one of the world’s premiere tennis events and host to hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the globe. In 2014, they looked for a new way to engage existing fans through social media and deepen fan relationships with both the sport and players. Tennis Australia literally had to work within the framework of a shipping container at the Australian Open. So, Reactive set to work developing a digital concept that would greatly enhance the experience of attending the tournament and encountering this shipping container, which became known as the Social Shack. Reactive and Tennis Australia developed a concept that consisted of seven large screens (with multi-screen display), which integrated live game play data from IBM with social media content. When combined with beautiful design and animation, Reactive was able to beam tournament-related content and virtual gaming to tennis fans at the tournament. TThhee ‘‘Tug of War’ allowed fans to influence a virtual one-on-one between two tournament players, ‘Social Cheer’ integrated match data to display social ‘applause’ throughout a match, and the ‘Social Leaderboard’ tracked the most active players on various social media sites. Fan ‘photo booth’ images and an animated feed of player social media accounts rounded out a visit to the Social Shack. Reactive also led art direction for the installation, guaranteeing there would be a unified appearance to the exterior, interior and digital experience of the Shack.

41. Office Mood Check-In / Concept / Zemoga Employee sentiment check-in offers live maps for understanding emotion in the workplace. HR has the power to make changes, but they don't have access to the information they need. Team members — as a collaborative group of individuals — are the main source of the feedback HR professionals need, but they can't directly change how things work. Communication in both directions needs to be fixed by creating channels that feel fair and convenient to both parts. New technology-based management tools borrow from the ingrained behavior patterns and social dynamics of the mobile generation. Management will leverage these employees’ communication impulses to tune into the underlying attitudes of the workforce in a whole new way. Measurable insights will fuel more accurate sentiment assessments and lead to better reaction strategies. SSoocciiaall cchheecck-ins are now a part of people’s everyday lives. Smart companies are looking at ways to translate this same behavior to the office by embracing the social behaviors that are seen in the outside world. The Mood Check-In leverages this social expression, making employees feel empowered at the same time. Environmental visualizations that change in real-time to reflect employee sentiment, as well as the multiple feedback mechanisms unleash a powerful workplace communication tool that both unifies the workforce and respects the individual’s place within it.

42. About SoDA SoDA serves as a network and voice for entrepreneurs and innovators around the globe who are creating the future of marketing and digital experiences.

The SoDA Report (Volume 2, 2014)

Society of Digital Agencies

The SoDA Report (Volume 2, 2014)