Evan Carroll

Good morning. We’re starting today with Mark Earls on stage presenting “Making More of the Date Hydrant.”

Now talking about how planners ate responsible for making sense of data for clients and how much data is available.

If you’re doing strategy, you need big conclusions. For tactics, you need small, detailed conclusions.

Big pattern spotting: when looking at a huge dataset, we tend to look a molecules instead of understanding the big pattern.

Pattern spotting: Is your audience shaped by independent choice or copying others?

Short tail distribution of sales vs. rank is an independent choice. A long tail is a sign of copying others.

In terms of sales over time, independent choice is a diminishing curve and social influence is a bell curve.

Talking about Bentley and Ormerod’s studies of name popularity in the US. Showing a celebrity effect on the name Tricia vs. a social effect on the name Kristi.

The shape of the data is what you need to understand it, not how high the numbers go.

Human-shaped data. Humans are bad at interpreting numbers.

Showing a visualization of several data series over time, presented simply in a way that people understand.

Presenting data differently allows people to engage with it emotionally.

Data stories – use data as fuel for a story.

Discussing how we need to enjoy our work. Clients can tell when we’re frustrated.

Now on to a case study for The National HIV Council from Jonas Nyvang.

Learned that they needed to talk with the community, not to them and offer interesting content. The client was also willing to push boundaries.

Note: This was the National HIV Council in Sweden.

Decided to avoid facts as that sounded like “big brother. Wanted to be personal. Also chose to be graphic.

They used a Facebook app to show a tree of sexual partners. Made it human by using photos of friends in the tree.

EC: That’s daring. And the video they’re showing right now is quite graphic.

Heading into workshops now. I’m going into one on “Lean Planning.”

Lean Planning is comparing planning to lean startups, fighting the waterfall model of software development.

It’s easy to talk about being lean, but it’s really hard to be lean.

Lean startup thinking is full of jargon. Let’s avoid that in talking about lean planning.

Agencies aren’t built to be lean. No surprise that we don’t have lean agencies. But all agencies sound lean in a pitch, but then you win and it’s back to a waterfall process.

Our business is ads. Client orders. Agencies design. Vendors execute.

Advertising is complicated. Lots of people involved. Lots of twisted connections.

Agencies get fired for bad strategy, bad creative or bad service, for the most part.

Business is complicated. Agencies rarely think about the big picture of business and often have short-sighted strategy.

Research is often used for support, but not for actual, actionable insight.

We need to start asking clients, “What do you actually want?”

Economic buyer is the client. End user is the consumer. We have to design for both.

We need to focus. How do we seek an effective campaign model with as little waste as possible? How do we create a minimal utility or experience that can create the most impact for our clients?

Less like Don Draper and more like Gregory House. Figure out the REAL problem and how to solve it. The brief is not the product.

We assumed that the client was right about their audience and what they want to sell. But we don’t test these hypotheses and create real value. Then we get fired for bad strategy.

Research doesn’t have to be a science.

First develop a vision. Clearly articulated. Big enough to matter. And shared by everyone.

Then figure out what parts of that vision are based in reality. That’s the brief.

What are we trying to do? Who do we think will do this? Why will they case and do they care enough to act? How will we know when we win?

Step One: start guessing. Generate hypotheses about how customers live their lives and what matters to them.

Commit to your guesses. Be transparent about the hypotheses and get ready to test them. Figure out exactly what success will look like?

How often do we come up with marketing ideas that are also a part of the business?

Step two: Talk to people. About 5-10 people. Not in a facility and through a recruiter. It’s not market research, it’s just for getting information and validating ideas. After 3 people prioritize the top three issues, after five you’ve heard 85%, so change your questions. Remember it’s about learning.

Prepare to be wrong. You’ll be wrong more often than not. Be honest. Are these really your customers? Don’t talk to die-hard iPhone users about Android. Does our problem really exist? Are they really making considered, individual decisions?

It’s not market research. It’s pressure testing our ideas.

Have a reality check with your client and know when you need to start over.

Know when it’s time to make stuff. How do planners make stuff?

It’s an unfinished prototype that’s enough for people to react to. Drawing or description. A sketch and a few sentences.

Get these things in front of some people and let them provide feedback.

The goal is not perfection. It’s the minimum product that makes the most difference and can react to. Deploy something that you can test and learn from.

Pivot: Know when you need to change direction. Avoid the local maxima and move to a new idea when it’s the right time.

Now we’re transitioning into an activity. Going offline for a bit, perhaps until after lunch.

Now hearing about the branding of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas who built the profile of “The Curious Class” as their target. Client embraced the concept and wrapped the entire hotel experience around it.

Their idea, “Just The Right Amount of Wrong,” brings class back to the stereotypical Vegas experience.

I skipped out on the five-minute presentations and now we’re on to talking innovation with Google, which is the last session of the conference.

Google showing their “Dear Sophie Lee” video. Shows the human side of Google’s products and services.

EC: I love this.

Google showing their “Dear Sophie Lee” video. Shows the human side of Google’s products and services.

EC: I love this.

Companies like Facebook and Google are helping us curate of lives for posterity.

15% of Google queries are brand new, or the first time that phrase was searched on Google.

We’re wrapping up here. That was a great presentation from Google.

Miles Nadal from MDC Partners is finishing up his talk’ “The Big Picture,” right now. He touched on the importance of having the smartest ideas in a tough economy. Clients must listen to the smartest people in the room right now. Strategists are in the best position to understand clients’ business strategies and help them meet their goals.

Analytics is big right now. We’re not in the ad business, but in the investment business. How can we deliver better ROI on advertising dollars and prove that we’re doing so? That’s the goal.

Social, analytics and strategy are where we should be investing our energy.

Question: Should we be concerned that clients are investing in analytics, social media and strategy? In short, no. Smarter clients are better clients. The question is, how do we get paid for our value? Perhaps we’ll be paid significantly for measured value and nominally for our time.

“If you’re not investing in social media, analytics and technology, you don’t exist.”

If you have something right, try to convince your clients and colleagues. Too many good strategies die because of negative feedback, both internally and externally.

Now moving into a Jay Chiat Gold-Winning case study. Dong Kim from Goodby, Silverstein and Partners is talking about the launch communications and media strategy for Adobe CS5.

Adobe CS buyers were content with old software dating back four versions. To the creative audience new software meant uncertainty in their livelihoods. Launch campaign needed to help customers get over the risk.

Solution was to prove the risk wasn’t great. Asked websites to redesign their home pages with CS5 beta. Had 14 websites agree. Also launched a design competition for individual creatives. Promoted successes and CS had best sales to date in a single quarter.

Campaign drove 650,000 trial downloads. That’s 140 million in potential revenue.

Question: How did you persuade Adobe to not talk about the features. Answer: That was still a component. New features were a part of everything.

Used banner buys as leverage to get sample websites to agree to the redesign.

Inspire sessions are starting now. They’re short, five-minute sessions like Ignite or Pecha Kucha. Ryan Houts from Carmichael Lynch is going first.

Launched an internal group for sparking creativity. Left titles behind. Everyone in this group is equal. Works on side projects to inspire people to think differently.

Melissa Cabral is convincing us that planners should be inspired by drag queens. They follow culture and apply their cultural currency to work.

Planners embrace the process. Do whatever it takes to sell the story.

Keep it sassy and fun. Don’t think too much. Remember it’s about the people.

Drag queens walk in other people’s shoes. Have a vast reserve of empathy.

Have an intense, fearless conviction. Don’t lose energy for the project. Keep pushing.

Sara Cobaugh from McKinney is up now. Talking about how stand-up comedy is her dream career. Comparing to creative briefs.

1. Keep the brief focused.
2. Paint a picture through storytelling (Kill PowerPoint).
3. Interact with the audience.
4. Improv. Things rarely go as we plan
5. Don’t be afraid to ignore the rules.

Cofounders of Join Bklyn talking now about using influencers in your strategy.

Influencers know the consumer. They have good taste. Their recommendations stick. They have wide reach. They establish trends. Give them the freedom to spread your message in their own way. They can help you connect with the community. But, they’re protective of their credibility. Brands and influencers need a connector to get everyone in the same room.

Now Helen Chan from R/GA talking about what’s around the product. Using hot dog stands as an example. Out relationship with food has changed. We use Yelp, take photos of food and brag about restaurants. But we’re embarrassed about eating a hot dog. How do we get foodies to talk about hot dogs–it’s all about the experience.

EC: She took way too long to make that point.

Not sure where this is going. But at least the break is next. Maybe we’ll have hot dogs.

Point: Think about what inspires you. How can you take something ordinary and make it inspired?

Back from the break. Now it’s time for a workshop: Innovating From Within

First question is about where the panelists go for inspiration. One panelist starts with the clients: goals, metrics of success. Then to social media to read comments and tweets about the customer.

Another spends 0 a month to have a desk at a coworking facility. Lets her get closer to new ideas/incubators/startups. Also participates in hack-a-thons to see what’s going on.

Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t be scared of pushing because idea might not pass muster with clients/legal/compliance etc.

Panelists are discussing how to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset, fostering collaboration.

To paraphrase the last comment, good ideas come from all job titles. Creatives, planners and technologists should collaborate.

The panel led right into the “Intrapreneurism” workshop. Talking about lessons from social media now: We (as society) want to be seen and heard. We want to tell a story.

We just did a storytelling exercise in small groups. The lesson is that inspiration can come from the unexpected.

We’re back from lunch now. Next up a case study from Ben Jenkins from Droga5 on Puma: “For the Joy of Sport.”

Saw an opportunity where most sport brands were dark and intense. Puma could bring the joy back. Found athletes who weren’t in organized sports, “social” athletes. A new category.

First created the tools for social athletes. Chalkboard table tennis. Apparel for those who put less into sports. Brief built the “stadium” for social athletes. Translated into concept for Puma retail stores.

Used digital to provide people the ability to turn anytime or anything into a sport. Launched tools to help. An online scoreboard for instance.

Just saw a stellar TV spot that launched this campaign. Celebrated the “after-hours athlete.”

Very cool branding for Puma. Now we’re on to TED’s Ronda Carnegie interviewing Jim Stengel. The topic is Carpe Diem.

Now there’s an invitation to come on the stage and join the conversation. Very interesting way to open up the event.

Issue for many brands is a lack of coherence. Everyone. Communications, leadership, product development. Requires a different kind of leadership.

By engaging employees with a common goal, innovation is richer. The sense of mission builds a stronger team.

Talking about TED’s Ads Worth Spreading. The idea is that even the ad tells a story in an authentic way.

Planning is something that others in your companies don’t do and is something that brands desperately need.

Next up a case study from Lowe and Partners: Colombian Ministry of Defense Program of Humanitarian Attention to the Demobilised.

EC: Wow, that’s a long title.

Colombia covered a tree in the jungle with Christmas lights, activated by motion and lit up a message of demobilization to insurgents.

EC: Wow. I need to post this video later.

They embedded planners where guerillas were demobilized and fed to do research. Learned that guerillas are like prisoners to their commanders and they like watching football via satellite TV. Used TV ads to reach them at first.

EC: Now that’s what I call research.

Realized that more women would demobilize to have freedom. Used radio ads in “jungle language,” a dialect of Spanish to reach insurgents with radio ads.

Added to credibility by communicating not just from the Ministry of Defense but from other brands. Wanted the insurgents to know that then whole country wanted demobilization.

Showing photo of Christmas tree team. Planner was the one headed into the jungle with his laptop.

Demobilized insurgent told them that while very few saw the Christmas trees, everyone heard about them.

Next campaign was having footballs (soccer) signed by the Colombian teams and dropped into the jungle with messages of demobilization.

EC: I’ll say wow again.

Keton Freeman is now talking about well-known stories translated, like Sherlock Holmes into House, MD or Jesus Christ into ET. Point: Brand stories should echo the stories we already know and remember.

Rafik Belmesk is on the stage now. He’s talking about immigrating to a Western country as a child and the viewpoints triggered by that experience. Suggesting that we cut the middle man out of house financing. Noting that rarely do companies revolutionize their own category. Apple to music industry, for example. Amazon and Kindle is one exception.

Rachel Grear is now on stage, bringing the first f-bomb of the day with the thesis, “f**k smart.” Our smarts isn’t what matters; our work is what matters. Suggests that we’re being too cute and weighing down our strategies, making them complex. Simple is smarter. Simple adds value. Some ideas: 1. Think small. 2. Talk less. Say more. 3. Push worth.

Malcolm Venable strutting onto stage right now. He’s wearing gold shoes.

Talking about conventional wisdom and how we should question that. Reading off stats about women/men to challenge the notion that mom’s make the household decisions. 6/10 men make shopping decisions.

Alright, John Kearon is here to tell us why market research is sexy. Let’s do this.

All market research has flaws, because we’re all a little unreliable with our answers. Asking us to identify how smart we are in comparison to our peers as an example. Only two people in the room said they were below average.

You have to fail to try something new. Quantitative research companies are scared of failure. They’re already nervous. And failure might cause things to fall apart.

We’re now talking about behavioral economics. System one thinking: the old, rectangular thinking. System two: the analytical slow thinking. System one is much more powerful. People make gut decisions, and then they post-rationalize the decision. Most car advertising is read after the car purchase.

Most marketers believe that customers make decisions with system two. “We think so much less than we think we think.” We take an answer that seems plausible and we go with it.

Total instinct. Total emotion. And then we post-rationalize it.

Most testing measures message linked to brand, but that’s not the way advertising works.

You have to work hard to extract the message from famous, effective advertising.

Now we’re talking about the seven universal emotions.

(Asks us to smile) Happiness. (Throws out fake dog poo) Disgust. (Blows an air horn) Fear. (Shows bare buttocks) Surprise. Content. Sadness. Neutral. Neutral doesn’t work. If you feel nothing, you do nothing.

If your advert gets a higher message score, they believe it’s actually less effective.

Ended the session by singing Coke’s “I’d like to teach the world to sing…” as a group.

EC: Impressive session.

To get clients to do really memorable ads, you have to instinctively know which clients are ready to stick their necks out.

The only brief you should ever receive is “make my brand famous.”

We’re not transitioning to the end of the day with the “Pick of the Litter” awards.

That’s a wrap.