The blind leading the blind
27/10 2010
Way back in 1994 I enrolled in a brand new university course entitled ‘Interactive Art’. It was, I am led to believe, one the very first courses of it’s kind in the UK, and was designed to look at how the new emerging technologies could be used in art and design. To place that in a context; Macromedia Director 4 was the power tool of the day, which was delivered on an amazing 18 floppy disks.
At the time the web was rudimentary at best, with the new kid on the information-super-highway being the ‘animated gif’. But all that was about to change with the introduction of ‘shockwave’. This software allowed the integration and playback of animation and video across cross-platforms and more importantly in-turn the World Wide Web.
Being at the pointy edge of the new media had its downfall. The majority lecturers on the course came from the traditional and art design backgrounds. It became apparent that they had no hope in hell in keep-up with us students, when it came to discovering and pushing the new media boundaries. So more often than not we the students learnt from each other and in-turn, the lecturers learnt from us.
My point behind this technological reminiscing is that, during that time it was very much ‘The blind leading the blind’ and after all these years I feel as if I am back in the same situation again. This time however it is not students and lecturers’ battling it out but rather the brands and the ad industry.
To quote Bo Bäckman from in his last Superbrands post ‘we socialize [and] entertain ourselves on the net.’ Through social media the web has now become awash with conversation and advice via a dizzying array of channels. This has of course turned the web into the best platform for the integration, amplification and of-course advocacy of any brand. To make it as a Superbrand you have to embrace this potential.
For today’s digital natives or ‘Millennial’ (anyone born between 1980 and 1993) Social media is not something that is happening in certain channels of the web, it is the pulsating heart of it. Failure to see it that way will only leave brands sitting in front of yet another PowerPoint presentation wondering how to get on the ‘band-wagon’.
The phenomena of web 2.0 / Social Media has been here from some time now, the term blogging came to the public eye around ten years old, Facebook is six years old and Twitter was launched around four years ago, and yet, for every successful Superbrand social media campaign, I also see a collection of brands that don’t even have a grip on their digital presence. The majority of brands are still having a hard time coming to terms with these media channels. However it is not usually for the want of trying, but is born more from the fear of doing.
So why after all this time are some brands still not getting it? I am staring to wonder if it is not, in part, an ad industry problem. A few years ago if a brand wanted to re-design their website, they contacted their web agency, for bought media they called their AD agency and for PR… well you get the idea. However now as the web has matured into a central communication channel, all types of agencies are boosting their digital offering. Leaving the clients slightly confused with who to turn to or trust with their digital channels.
The web, through integration, amplification and advocacy can help integrate multiple brand-building approaches by being a common component and forum where they can appear together. The bump in the road is that there are now a multiple of different agencies running different aspects of any one brands web presence all of who are far from being integrated. Many brands still do not have a clear and guiding digital strategy, which takes in to consideration how a brand governs all of these new channels, or the different agencies running them.
By Steinar Danielsen
Steinar is the Digital Brand Director at Grow. Grow is a strategic, holistic and creative brand development partner, a hybrid consultancy whose expertise ranges from strategy to multidisciplinary execution. Merging the practices of management, brand and consumer insight consulting with the capabilities of design, architecture, digital and creative marketing communications.
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Twitter is the real leader of social media. Its incredible growth has made the rest rethink their strategy.
We will se innovative ways of social media succeeding and getting to the Top of popularity.
People love social media and, the most important, people are totally open to receive innovative ideas to communicate.
Hullo, just like your writing
Sorry if that’s an annoying comment but I didn’t find a “like” button :s