Brand Noise

Tried and Texted Approach Gets Consumers Talking

A new scenarioDNA piece published in Admap, January 2009...[Recession] means using an authentic organic approach to understanding the consumer in their world. Unfortunately, for some brands and agencies, it means taking shortcuts on research. Find the whole story.

BRIC Seeking Entertainment

Nielsen shows that entertainment-themed websites are the most popular with mobile Internet users in the growing Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) mobile markets. This stands in stark contrast with the more mature American and European markets, where information and news draw the most mobile Internet browsers.

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scenarioDNA grows context planning with mDive suite of research tools

I wanted to share our announcement about our upgraded suite of mDive mobile research tools.  We are very excited about the ways we are integrating these into our planning work.  Drop us a line if you have any questions.  You can learn more about the tools on our site at http://www.scenariodna.com.

New York, NY (July 7, 2008). No time like now has demonstrated a need for change in the research tools that we rely upon. Successful brands thrive on the nuances leveraged by pockets of influence, rather than the momentum formerly only gained by mass market appeal. Instead, today’s newly influential groups of consumers follow their passions in unique ways rather than what’s expected of them.

To understand them means to find the drivers that underlay their passions, and to be wherever they are. “To that end, when we looked for a technology partner it was critical to find one that was ready to ebb and flow with consumers as readily as we were,” says Tim Stock, managing director, scenarioDNA. “We found that expertise and flexibility in Neighborhood America.”

To define the ideal consumer narrative and see where a brand can authentically cast itself (or not) requires new immersive research techniques that underscore consumer mobility. The fact is, the mobile phone has become the most immediate and personal way to connect with consumers, no matter where they roam. Mobile communication, used alone or in conjunction with an online social network, can stimulate a deep connection to a consumer’s world.

The mDive suite of tools conceived by scenarioDNA and powered by Neighborhood America allows for that immersion, helping clients zero in on social networking and communication issues. “Without question looking at behavioral patterns now establishes a strategic foundation for the future,” adds Stock. The mDive suite of services includes:

1. mDive™ Mobile Panel -   custom panels engaged weekly or semi-weekly via mobile surveying
2. mDive™ Bluetooth  -  invites panel participation via strategic Bluetooth locations
3. mDive Trends™ -  custom or omnibus panels covering Green, Luxury and Entertainment
4. mDive Generations™  -  custom or omnibus panels covering Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y
5. mDive PushToPoll™  - an add-on cellphone widget for panel members of ongoing studies

Verizon Wireless - Things that make you go UGH!

More reasons to see big Telecoms as evil and out of touch....Verizon has started adding text message advertising to all photos uploaded from Verizon cellphone cameras to services like Flickr.  What does this prove?  Except how out of touch they are as a mobile carrier. Shouldn't mobile be leaders in mobile best practices?  What do they expect to gain from this advertising.  Is someone looking through my photos on Flickr supposed to read this badly written text and go - "hey maybe I should get a Verizon Phone?"  This one gets the "Out of Touch" award" for the day.  I wish Apple could be my mobile carrier.  That says a lot - and I know that I am not alone in this.  Mobile needs to understand that it is selling experiences - not phone plans - if you mess up the vibe of those experiences you can never expect people to jump on to new services.

Consumers Crave Real Mobile Empowerment

The Wall Street Journal reports that American Express Co. is discontinuing its "Express Pay" fob that was touted as a convenience for consumers who didn't want to dig into their wallets for a credit card.

Let's face it. It's still a card. And you still have to dig in your wallet for it. And often if your charge is over $25, you still have to sign for it. So truly what changes about the behavior?

By now most early adopters are so past the concept of these fobs, that it's just plain gimmicky. The trouble is what they really need are cohesive mobile payment services, but we're only seeing a glimmer of that in the US. And where we think mobility is sublime, like in Japan, it's actually a rather pricey proposition and not so in step as we'd hope for.

That said, there are some steadfast mobile shopping services bubbling out there. Here are three: GoMobo, ShopText and S'lifter.

Earlier this year, we sent out video journalists in London, NYC and Tokyo to talk with our friends and colleagues who were using some aspect of m-commerce. These interviews appear in a 3-part mCommerce series produced by Tellabs. The series debuted at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Men are Twits

Twitter falls in line with the sentiment that girls blog and guys post video. An engine like Twitter facilitates the quick in and out that guys require--kind of like how old department stores used to be designed with menswear consolidated on the first floor and close to the exit, never making the guys walk through any of the girly stuff.

Because of the limited amount of characters (140) and how sore thumbs can get pushing those little keys, Twitter postings are usually space-efficient and to the point. All that's missing is location-based functionality--ideally GPS.

By following only the users you want to hear from, it limits the amount of unwanted tweets. "I quickly realized that decrying the banality of tweets missed their point," says Jason Pontin, publisher of Technology Review. "The only people in the world who might be interested in my twittering – my family, my close friends – were precisely the ones who would be entertained and comforted by their triviality."

Twitter met its Internet hipster tipping point at least year's SXSWi. This year, it was even more firmly entrenched with most attendees gaining a general awareness of their friends' SXSWi experience by constantly monitoring their Twitter feeds. When some after-show parties began to fill too quickly...frustrated groups would spin off from the long, outdoor lines to collect in impromptu "tweet-up" parties.

At the show's Day 2 keynote with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg and the audience grew bored with the interviewer's questions, causing the 23-year-old CEO to clam up and the audience to start heckling—by monitoring other attendees' Twitter feeds.

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Expanding on Social Software Behavior

Google.org's technology project to help save lives in the event of natural disasters or public health threats is set to launch Thursday.

The project, called Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disaster (InSTEDD), is a nonprofit organization that ambitiously aims to help communities around the world use Web and communications technology to identify and warn others of outbreaks like Avian flu or disasters like Hurricane Katrina. That technology, which will include social software Twitter and Facebook, will be used to coordinate rescue responses and help save lives.

"We're not talking about pulling the red phone out of the bottom drawer here," said Eric Rasmussen, president and CEO of InSTEDD and a former adviser to U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense, referring to Twitter and Facebook. "We're talking about using ubiquitous, free software that is repurposed when necessary to fit into a humanitarian need."

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HyperLink My World, Please

The Green Holiday catalog from Barney's arrived in the mail yesterday filled with everything from Lanvin shopper bags to organic Levi's. But no sign of what color that fabulous lipstick is on the cover...
In my perfect little world even the Barney's billboard at Mulry Square would have a teeny Semapedia tag that would give me all the info I need--provided all colors were perfectly matched.

Branded Utility Surfaces at Cars.com

Cars.com launched a new site feature that allows consumers to send a car listing from the website to their mobile phone.

The new Send to Phone feature works in conjunction with Cars.com's new mobile site, launched in June of this year. Cars.com was the first automotive site to offer vehicle listings alongside research tools and buying advice in a mobile application, giving car shoppers on-the-go access to the information they need to make informed buying decisions.

Jack Feuer on the Evolution of Boy To Man

Boys used to be men by going out naked into the woods with a spear and killing something. Yet when Jack Feuer's college freshman son requested an iPhone, the revelation of a new coming of age was clear as day...

Sure, he's logo-conscious, but like all his peers, he didn't get that from advertising. He got his must-haves from the other kids, and they got theirs from him...

During the year just past, my son expanded beyond the small band of pierced savages he used to chill with and went out into the world. Once there, of course, he was assimilated by the massive marketing Borg that overwhelms all of us, like a pack of piranhas on a pudgy swimmer. Young Feuer didn't need a sharp stick, Dad's wheels or an ill-fitting suit his mother bought at Loehmann's to become a man. All he needed was to stay awake. And a credit card--which he maxed out in a week.

My son has become a consumer...

One thing hasn't changed: Coming of age is about finding your identity, and an iPhone is a cool place to start. A request for a Blackberry would have meant something completely different. Hey, Jack, it could be worse...my 5-year old is requesting a video iPod. What do I do with that? Will she prefer a Zune when she's 10? Probably not.

(Photo: BarCamp, Orlando.)