Form + Function: Advertising Gets Serious About "Useful"

Brian Morrissey penned a solid article recently in the pages of Adweek which I believe signals the idea of "purpose-driven marketing" as being anything but a fad.  "My Vegas" which was done in partnership between R+R partners and CM was referenced, but aside from that, there were some really good nuggets that hopefully the mainstream advertising community will take to heart.  Here are a few choice bits:

"Funny microsites are giving way to useful, sometimes entertaining applications; the showing off of flashy technology is yielding to design geared towards generating sales; and crafting for social interaction is replacing one-way experiences. Now that digital points exist far outside the browser, designing for the Web is passe, with digital design chasing the elusive goal of designing experiences that wrap all of the above together."

"Five years ago, people would muck through a site with non-standard navigation that was confusing because the whole Internet was confusing," he said. "Now the Internet is so big you can't do anything that's annoying anymore."

" Application design is also driving efforts to tap into the social Web, with utilities holding the promise of being able to build communities around brands. Take "My Vegas" from Critical Mass, part of the "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" campaign. On the surface, the social networking tool seems like another attempt by a brand to draw people away from more natural social environments into artificial ones created by advertisers. But "My Vegas" actually provides a useful tool for visitors who want to get the most out of their trips, thanks to Critical Mass bringing the "stays in Vegas" promise to life with social functionality. "

" There's a big possibility to deliver on your brand through the tools or functionality you can give people that are positive,"

"The next step: free the application from the confines of the site. The old build-it-and-make-them-come design strategy is being replaced by a fish-where-the-fish-are mind-set that's leading advertisers to not view their brand sites as the be-all and end-all."

Good stuff. and Amen.  If there's one trend I believe in—it's giving people something that makes sense for they way they live—and makes life just a little better.

Comments

[Christopher Fahey]

Dear Ad Industry: Welcome to where the rest of us have been for ten years. What took you so long to realize that the web isn't an animated billboard? I mean, is this really a new insight?

I shouldn't be surprised. I never quite understood how so very many marketing dollars were being spent on interactive "campaigns" that appealed exclusively to the same non-thinking and utterly passive "lizard brain" that non-interactive marketing has always trafficked in. Interactive media is an *opportunity* to engage the consumer more meaningfully and intelligently, to transform them from an audience to a community.

I guess I should be happy that the bar is being raised, but it's a bittersweet thing since they could have been doing this a decade ago.

[David Armano]

"I mean, is this really a new insight?"

No Chris, it certainly is not. As someone who has spent most of his career on large scale content and transactional experiences, I don't see this as new either.

I'm just thankful the industry I'm somewhat tied to will begin to take it more seriously. I hope.

[Paula Thornton]

In an interview that was nearly useless except for these sentences, Brian drops relevant crumbs on the trail:

"I think too many times the interactive industry is too focused on the technology, and that’s because it is tech-focused. But it’s about a lot more than the technology. I think a lot of times the strategy has been overlooked, and how brands get built. And I’m just really learning this, because honestly the places I’ve worked before, I’ve… you end up focused on the technology and on the implementation."

[Roland Thomas Gilbert]

While these may be either new conversations the ad industry is engaging [I used to work in the radio biz - a.k.a. the ad industry], or established trends still taking shape, I currently work to apply these emerging concepts to one of the oldest, and admittedly "corkboard," environments: a local church.

As Communications Director for a medium-size church in Texas, the typical current frame of reference revolves around doing ministry [the ultimate in "useful" as far as I'm concerned]. All the while however, marketability, branding, advertising, and the like usually take a back seat when the opposite should be happening.

But I'm working to change all that to the degree I'm able. Thanks for the post.