Towards the end of 2008 I actively avoided reading any of the many predictions for 2009, most of them spelling out apocalyptic doom for the economy, for New York, the US and in deed the entire world. OK, OK - it is bad and is going to be bad but I believe that much of what we will experience will be the transformation of life as we know it. I’ll not get all existentialist, so I’ll focus on advertising/marketing shall I?

Knee jerk reactions tend to do the worst damage and every sensible person/company out there will realize that we still need to sell. That the vast majority of people still need products and services, albeit more effective, efficient and now more ‘green’, and the way we need to speak to this more demanding audience must also be lean and mean. Ten years ago we were enjoying life in the dot.com bubble as digital marketing began to enter the paradigm but it’s only been since the last bust and really, I believe, during 2008 that it has begun to take shape. In our industry we live among a an audience (our clients) relentlessly fixated on accountability. And so they should be and so can we provide and satisfy. Vague, illusionistic formulas for calculating ROI from traditional media will not cut the mustard during a troubled economy and, I believe, will not do so when we return to a stronger fiscal situation. Times are certainly changing. Whilst many companies are being forced into making redundancies, there seems to be many who are slashing head-count whilst reporting (still growing) profits - this might wreak of (traditional media) companies taking advantage of a convenient smoke-screen to shed weight in favor of people with more digital savvy.

The numbers for the close of the year point to good, not stellar, but decent months for all who can truly take advantage of the shift in the marketing mix and offer their clients something undeniably of value - real accountability. Media consultant and futurist, Jack Myers says it perfectly: “The best we can do is deal with reality…and not put our heads in the sand and just do what we have in the past. We need to see what is driving the most return-on-investment and identify where we think the communications business is going.”

Reports showing growth in display ads, search marketing, online video (which shows massive growth) and email, with all or a mix displaying value in both direct ROI to brand building, suggest that companies such as Last Exit, should have a good year and more importantly, that we guide our clients to plan, invest and deploy their marketing communications more (cost) effectively and establish new strategies for a new era.

So, with the digital fad finally over and the internet coming of age, it’s time get on with business in a new, new (media) world.

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During the fog leading up to the festive season at the end of 2008, I totally neglected to post the interactive greeting we created. Fortunately, we did send it out to our contact list(s) and if you weren’t on it, or didn’t receive it, I most profoundly apologize. No matter though, as you can see what we created by clicking here.

Built in Flash and utilizing the Papervision3D engine, the hottest thing to happen to Flash since Flash, we’ve built a cube with images of our team on four of the faces. Clicking on each image will reveal our Christmas alter egos. Fred’s Mr. Hankey is my favorite

Last Exit Festive Greeting in Paper-Vision-3D

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In conjunction with Canon USA and Dentsu America, we recently launched the My Story Facebook application.

The app allows you to quickly and easily prepare a graphical slideshow that tells a story about you, your friends and the great times you share.

You can import photos, either from your desktop or from your or your friends’ Facebook albums (yes you can really do that!), edit them and add text and graphics.  You can then add up to another 5 slides to tell your story, post to your Facebook wall and share your story with your friends.

Enjoy the app and don’t forget to become a fan.

Canon My Story Facebook Application .

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If only it was 1999 again!  They were the days for digital innovation and creativity!

Back in the early days of digital media you could describe the times something like this:

• It was a frontier time for digital
• Client and agency focus was on creating innovation and firsts
• Clients were growing in confidence, but more importantly felt brave
• All efforts were focussed on creating user experience and impact
• There were high levels of creativity and opportunity within the medium
• There was a wide variety seen across final websites, making brand activity distinctive and memorable
• Agency teams were very young, wild-eyed and full of unbridled enthusiasm
• Dot-com finance was in full flow, helping to build digital exposure and adoption

Given all of this, things must really be fantastic ten years on then right?

Well maybe they are and maybe they aren’t?

Taking each of the points above one by one and comparing them with things as we approach 2009 you might describe things like this:

• Digital media is an established and key part of the marketing mix
• The focus is now on effectiveness and workman-like delivery within projects
• Client belief and confidence is high, but many fear ‘breaking any moulds’
• Most efforts are now focussed on DDA compliance, Search Engine Optimisation and Content Management
• Subsequently there are limited levels of creativity and innovation
• There is now quite limited variation across sites making branding more about the logo than about functional innovation or distinctiveness
• Agency teams are now older and far less wide-eyed, particularly at management level
• Dot-com is now a dirty word as opposed to an investment opportunity

Perhaps these things are not just true within the digital arena? Perhaps the same could be said for TV advertising and other types of media? The proliferation of digital channels and global or pan-European advertising  campaigns certainly seems to have had an effect on the creativity and sensitivity used when making TV spots.

All this sounds very negative but the reality is that there is as much opportunity, creativity and enthusiasm as there ever was, if not more, as long as you know where to look for it!

There may be some limitations to the amount of creativity on offer in the business to consumer area but in the business to business arena creative opportunities have never been better. In addition, whilst advertising on TV may be being dummed-down they field of online advertising still offers great opportunities to experiment, innovate and differentiate.

Google Analytics and other web statistics packages have greatly increased client interest, understanding and enthusiasm for the details of any digital activity - the ‘black art’ has finally seem some light and the ‘new’ has eventually been taken away from new media. Even the huge focus now directed towards Search Engine Optimisation has its benefits. Online content used to be largely inappropriate having often been ’stolen’ from elsewhere in the marketing department, as opposed to being created from scratch, but the importance of SEO now means far more attention is paid to the creation of online content, particularly in the written word.

Although the huge sums of money invested, even ‘thrown at’, any dot-com idea ten years back, certainly helped to grow consumer awareness of digital media, the checks and balances in place today mean that the days of ‘www.buy-pet-food-online.com’ are thankfully gone.  Projects in new online-only industries today, such as social networking, are with serious, diligent, experienced and committed clients as opposed to the ‘three mates from college’ teams so often ‘in charge’ of things back in the late 1990s!

Even within the core area of website design itself, there is exciting news. Developments in technology like PaperVision3D are once again encouraging clients and agencies alike to create online experiences, as opposed to just online services. In addition, the open-source roots of PaperVision, and other browser extensions, is creating as vibrant and innovative a space ‘behind the scenes’ as it is on the ‘main stage’.

There is no doubt that times have changed over the last 10 years or so, but surely the reality is that they have changed for the better, when one considers the details? Sure the late 1990’s were exciting, gold-rush, frontier-land times, but the mine is now built and it is time to start getting some of that gold out onto the open market!

I have been ‘lucky’ enough to experience both of these ‘digital decades’, and on balance I prefer the one we are in now!

Am I right, or am I just getting old?

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I wouldn’t normally tout the work of other, perhaps competetive companies but I was having a rather clear, quiet day today and decided to spend a bit of time noodling through some award winning sites from 2008. Most will always point at the funky, flash-filled, product promotion sites. And in all fairness, the rich consumer focused sites are amazing pieces of highly immersive design but what exites me, is the the bigger challenges we, agencies, face in information design, namely corporate websites for mostly B-B companies and big corporate organizations. To that end, I’m extremely impressed by the work that Monique TeSelle (Creative Director for the Project) at Frog Design led for GE. One of my clearest observations over the past few years has been in the confidence that large companies often project through their websites (and other communications). They have the strength, and the brnad, to keep the message simple, coherent and ultimately powerful. GE is, of course, one of the world’s biggies, and the homepage pays hommage to that surety. All to often, much smaller companies give away their insecurites by overloading their mssaging with, almost, apologietically verbose material which ultimately serves to muddy the sell.

Anyway, back to GE.com and design. A beautifully clean design, and grid structure for the site. Even the content heavy pages feel light and readable. A message to us all, agencies and clients alike, for our next piece of information design.

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Agh, I missed this the other day. Better late than never!!

See the posting here: Design Licks

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We’re very happy to announce that we just won Best in class for Automotive and Lifestyle categories for the wonderful VespaUSA website. We should be getting sparkling new lucite awards through the mail soon.

View the awards online here.

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Recent AOL acquisition, BEBO ($850 million), launched a major site redesign this week. Yahoo’s Tech Ticker ran this brief interview. The big question, was it worth it considering that Facebook has really stolen the show?

Bebo claims 50 million subscrobers currently, so my guess is that this (considerable) user-base will find it worth while. What’s not covered in this interview is the unique proposition Bebo might have over Facebook. Most importantly of all is our constant need to have competition. We all know how quickly things go south if there aren’t a few players in the game, aye?

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Of course the Whopper Virgins campaign is a few days old now but it is gathering momentum quickly. Claims (by researchers such as BrandIndex) that the Burger King brand has taken a bit of a knock from the campaign are being bested by views, discussion and sharing of the documentary.

I honestly believe this a fantastically interesting piece and not necessarily because of the taste test or its results. It’s refreshing that there are still people out in the world who have never been exposed to global brand giants such as Burger King or McDonalds! But back to the point; I think it was a considerably brave move by BK and CPB alike and the results are worth the risk. The conversations that this will spark will resound for weeks to come - I personally am looking to bring it up tonight over a few pints and a tray of sliders.

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A subject close to my heart, blogged elegantly by Tom Evslin at Fractals of Change. 

Essentially it looks as if the FCC will do the right thing by the ‘whitespace’ UHF spectrum freed up by the movement to digital TV.  Tom explains the technologies and approaches the large US telcos are banking on, LTE (enhanced 3G) and WiMAX, may be superseded before they become widely available.

So what does that mean to the rest of us?  That we will have ubiquitous wireless internet data (and hence voice) coverage at fixed line speeds that does not necessitate the astronomical capital investment that is required for cellular networks.  Thus more and better competition for our hard earned dollars.

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