PepperDigital

Will The Olympics "Get The Best Of Them"?

By Brooke Winebrenner, PepperDigital

Recently, I was not surprised to hear that Obama’s Chicago based, 2016 Olympic dream was shot down by the International Olympic Committee, but I was surprised to learn that the committee could face being shot down by its youth target audience. According to an article from The New York Times, the IOC has come to the realization that many teens are simply overwhelmed with a number of distractions and have far more interests today, and those interests may no longer include the Olympic Games. The IOC fears that these distractions will hinder the number of participants for future Olympics Games, will cause the loss of interest in viewers to watch athlete’s at their best on television, or even buy the products sold by Olympic sponsors. 

With this challenge, the IOC has thought of a way to bring both the youth and Olympic athletes together through the use of online digital and social media. They are sponsoring a global campaign they have dubbed “The Best of Us Challenge,” where young people ages 12 to 19 will be encouraged to create video clips that illustrate them responding to challenges from various Olympic athletes. Some of the athlete’s participating in this campaign effort include, beach volleyball player Natalie Cook, swimmer Michael Phelps, gymnast Shawn Johnson, tennis player Rafael Nadal, snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis, pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and skier Lindsey Vonn.

These athletes will ask teens to complete simple challenges like, how many tennis balls can you pick up in 30 seconds? How many clapping push-ups can you do in 30 seconds? Playful yet challenging dares for them to complete. These videos will be hosted by YouTube and placed on the Olympic website, as well as a YouTube channel for the challenge. The campaign will have a presence on both Facebook and Twitter to create a cohesive presence through various outlets of digital media. The IOC is also asking the athlete’s to blog about the challenge in hopes to create interest as well.

Creating a connection through the use of technologies between the young target audience and Olympic athletes is genius. This consumer-generated campaign may bring out a new generation of star athletes in the future and could potentially increase youth viewership of the Olympic Games. Olympic athletes are a brand in themselves and the IOC is hopeful teens will desire to be just like them and sport their products.

I think it’s important to point out that the IOC’s tactful plan of placing the Olympic brand right in the middle of one of a younger generation's greatest distractions (digital and social media) is very smart. I can’t imagine a world without the Olympics, and I am sure many people share my feelings. So let’s hope this campaign does "get the best of them"; otherwise, many teens won’t be eating their Wheaties, and we won’t be seeing them in the Olympics.

Moving from "Sticky" to "Spreadable"

By: Sam Ford, PepperDigital

Recently, I brought up my opinion on "viral campaigns" here on the PepperDigital blog. I previously concluded, "Truth is, if you want something to be spread, it has to resonate with an audience to the point that they'll want to share it.  And that's not ultimately up to the producer of the message."

On that note, early next month, Peppercom will be hosting a free Webinar on this subject. Entitled "Moving from 'Sticky' to 'Spreadable': The Antidote to 'Viral Marketing' and the Broadcast Mentality" the panel will be from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6.

The subject is "spreadable media," based on a research project from the Convergence Culture Consortium and a book I am currently working on with Henry Jenkins at USC and Joshua Green at MIT. The three of us will be presenting the concept together on the Webinar.

For the past two years, the Convergence Culture Consortium team (where I formerly served as project manager) has been examining some of the issues with brands and entertainment properties basing success completely off the concept of stickiness, which measures based on how many people click onto a page, how much time they spend on the page, etc. 

Similarly, we've been looking at how communication professionals have adopted the language of "viral marketing" and how that concept has framed how companies build their online presence, in our minds in a way that is ultimately less helpful for brands and their audiences alike.

Peppercom's own Steve Cody will be joining us to moderate the conversation, and we'll also be taking some questions from those listening. To register or find out all the details, click here.

Hope you'll be able to join us

Industrial Breakthrough, Brought To You By...Netflix?

By Dawn Lauer, PepperDigital

We may have Netflix’s brilliant contest idea to thank for the future cure for cancer, advances in genomics, biofuels, etc.  In its third year, the $1 million contest to improve Netflix’ usability  has taken the concept of “open source” to a new level.  The contest is open to anyone across the globe, and the winning team was announced Monday.  Made up of Ph.D.s, statisticians and computer engineers, the multi-national team used a database of hundreds of millions to provide a superior solution to improve Netflix’s movie recommendations system.  

From a  pure PR standpoint, it is a brilliant move that not only invites corporate interactivity and heightens awareness for its value but also gains access to the best and brightest minds around the world--all highly motivated to solve a Netflix business challenge.  The money is actually an afterthought when you consider the true brilliance behind Netflix’s supply-and-demand approach.  As The New York Times points out, data sets of Netflix’s magnitude are hard to come by, and Netflix counted on the fact that many research and modeling companies would jump at the chance to work with them.

The winning team combined different models using a crowd-sourcing approach to clinch the $1 million, but the real prize is the ability for entire industries to apply these models to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.  

(Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Netflix has clearly accomplished more than a PR stunt.  It’s blazing a trail for how we use the Internet and digital tools to constantly innovate.   

I wonder if we could apply the same model at this agency, perhaps at the next company brainstorm?  One thing’s for sure . . .a one million dollar prize would certainly solve the biggest challenge . . .getting people to come!

MySpace Returns

By Carl Foster, PepperDigital

News out today says that MySpace has appointed advertising agency BBH to lead its digital marketing strategy. Hopefully this means that MySpace is on the cusp of launching its MySpace Music service in the UK. The debut for the new look MySpace is behind schedule according to reports and may well suffer for it, with other music services such as Spotify gaining ground all the time and expanding into the US, according to today’s Wall Street Journal.

The big plus for MySpace though is that it has 70 million users. Facebook has 90 million and Twitter has only 20 million users in the U.S. per month, according to this post on eConsultancy. From these numbers it is clear that MySpace punches well below its weight and could be posed for a dramatic comeback. However, while Rupert Murdoch’s strategy of charging for news content might well work in an industry dominated by News Corp, the situation will be quite different in the online music business. These days people expect content to be free, and that is no more true than for music. Also, the online music business is fragmented, especially since Apple dropped DRM for it iTunes store. Even with 70 million users MySpace has a long road ahead and BBH a tough brief to work with. Good luck.

Social Media Without Borders?

By Mike Blankenship, PepperDigital

I am a huge proponent of social media. Technology has undoubtedly changed the world in which we communicate. From Facebook and MySpace, to blogging and Twitter, to iPhones and YouTube, social media continues to evolve at a lighting speed pace, especially those platforms that exist on open source networks to allow developers to expand functionalities with “can’t live without” applications .

No longer just another way to talk to friends; we use it to connect with customers, debate political issues such as healthcare and organize protests such as in Iran earlier this year. It seems that social media has no borders. My experience this past weekend, though, urges the need for boundary lines to be drawn and enforced.

While waiting to board a flight over the weekend at DFW airport, I ducked into the men’s room to take care of business to avoid having to use the aircraft lavatory. I was immediately greeted by two voices coming from two separate stalls. I quickly ascertained from the dialogue that two separate phone conversations were happening. Not such a big surprise these days. Cell phone conversations in public restrooms have become commonplace. The big surprise was the guy standing at the urinal to my left texting (the phone was held above his head for all to see) while doing what one normally does at a urinal. Not to be outdone, a guy two urinals to my right was dictating a Twitter update into his Blackberry. I don’t think the developers at Vlingo intended for their product to be used at urinals, and I hope they don’t launch a marketing campaign using that scenario.

Plain and simple, social media is great, but it needs borders. It doesn’t belong in the men’s room—or women’s room for that matter. And, while I am on the soapbox, the “no social media zone” should also include gyms (come on, really?), places of worship (any deities on Twitter?), in the car (just drive, folks) and the floor of Congress (maybe Congressman Wilson was reacting to a Tweet last week instead of voicing his opinion to the Commander in Chief?).