brand new

PSFK San Francisco today

It's the PSFK conference in San Francisco today.  I'll try and stick some posts up live via the new iPhone app but in any case to the first business of the day:  Happy Birthday George!

Being social

We've been talking a lot in the planning department at M! about what successful communications look like today (and perhaps tomorrow).  And during these conversations we of course spent a lot of time talking about some very smart thinking around social media that's been doing the rounds (stuff like this, this and this).

But all this talk of social media got me thinking that perhaps we are looking at this from the wrong end of the telescope, focusing on the delivery mechanism not the underlying spirit.  

Rather than focusing on social media shouldn't we be focusing on social brands?  (Or as one of our planners Avin put it, focusing more on social strategy and less on social execution).  This may sound a little trite, but I think it's important.  Rather than (again) using communications as a sticking plaster to cover real fundamental issues a business faces, it forces us to confront what it is that we need to at a more fundamental level. 

It means building brands that are inherently open, generous and want to include you. It means developing communication that lets you join the dots and complete the story rather than telling you what to do (in the same way at every point of contact). It means thinking about what it is that people like to do and working back from there to figure out what it is we can do as a brand to be useful, helpful or entertaining rather than starting from what we think first.  It means listening.  It means having many little conversations not one shouting match.  It means thinking less about what we do (as a brand or its owners or advisors) and more about what it is that people to do what we do (as I think Mark would put it).  

Thinking about social brands, not social media is important  because it makes us think about a fundamentally different outcome, not simply a different media choice.  And this may hopefully stop the industry slipping back in to some of its bad habits of the past.  (Maybe we can even get rid of some of the horrible language we use: 'talking to' 'consumers' who we have 'targeted' with a specific 'message' in this long running 'campaign'.  It's pretty bizarre when you say it like that how we think brands and communication work).  

Planning Turns 40

40 years ago account planning was started by Stephen King and Stanley Pollitt.  There's a few things going on to mark the birthday.  There's an event at the IPA in London where a bunch of planning luminaries are speaking including John Grant who is blogging some of his thoughts here.  And in Miami next week at the AAAA Account Planning Conference, Mark Earls and Domenico Vitale are going to host a session on what's coming next.  And they'd like your input. 

They've set up a wiki here. Go there, give one piece of advice to future generations and cut and paste the URL of a youtube video that brings this alive.

Next week, San Francisco

Next Wednesday I'm flying out to San Francisco to get ready for the PSFK conference that Piers kindly asked to me to participate in.  It takes place on Thursday 17th and I think there may be a few tickets left here.

I'm going to be moderating a discussion on 'Making Inspiration Matter'.  Thankfully my job is a lot easier as I have great people on the panel - Eric Corey Freed of organicARCHITECT, Josh Morenstein of fuseproject and Frank Striefler of the Media Arts Lab of TBWA.  But, a panel is only as good as the questions.  So, as I'm asking the questions has anyone got anything they'd like to know about finding inspiration and more importantly using this to create change?  If so, please drop it in a comment to the post and we'll see if we can include it in to the conversation.

There's a ton of other great people there from Chris Riley (ex-W+K, now Apple) to Adrian Ho to the one and only George Parker.

If you're there please come and say hello.  Be good to meet you.  I'll try and do some live posts and twitters from the day.

Conversational Capital

For a long time I've really liked the Canadian agency Sid Lee.  They've done some great work, and I love their philosophy for their agency and their belief in what makes great work.  They were kind enough to send me an advance copy of their new book, 'Conversational Capital'.  It's going to be out in a month or so and is worth a read.  This book is about what brands need to do today in order to truly thrive - be meaningful and non-substitutable in their soul, and intense and iridescent in the way they express themselves.  It's about realizing the only way to get people passionate about you is to be passionate about yourself.

It's packed full of some good, not the usual suspect, case studies and it somehow strikes me as a good companion to the seminal 'Eating The Big Fish'.  You can get a taste for the book over at their site.

Brand defining gestures

Over the last few weeks I've been lucky enough to have some conversations with the rather smart and talented copywriter (and all round good bloke) Marc Lucas.  During one of these he uttered a phrase which I think is a fantastic way to sum up what marketing communications need to be today.  That phrase was "the brand defining gesture."

I just think this perfectly sums up what brands need to be doing today, whether it's doing stuff, making helpful stuff (utility) or making bits of interesting communication.  It just ties them all together under a bigger theme, and gives a better goal to shoot at than 'communications' or 'marketing'.

It's also I think a timeless thought about great marketing communications.  Brand defining gestures used to be ads or retail experiences - typically one way (and a little selfish) in nature.  Now they tend to be stuff that is a bit more generous and reciprocal in nature.

Update:  Thanks to Faris looks like this phrase was birthed by Rory Sutherland.

Back

Been a little quiet here for the last couple of weeks thanks to serious busy-ness at work (and a pitch as a cherry on the cake).  Going to try and get back into the blogging habit.  Lots has gone on in the last couple of weeks, not least the Celtics finally winning their 17th title last Tuesday.  Boston tradition is for a duck tour celebration through the center of town.  I was in New York in meetings, but Clare and Esme made it down.  Here's some film taken on the rather wonderful flip camera.