Logic+Emotion

Micro Interactions + Direct Engagement

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So here's a presentation I gave recently to a client.  I'm thinking through the concepts of "Micro Interactions" and "Direct Engagement".  The slideshow (download PDF) includes both previous and new thoughts and was inspired by a quote I wrote for Inspire UX:

“We live in a world where the little things really do matter.  Each encounter no matter how brief is a micro interaction which makes a deposit or withdrawal from our rational and emotional subconscious. The sum of these interactions and encounters adds up to how we feel about a particular product, brand or service.  Little things. Feelings.  They influence our everyday behaviors more than we realize.”

Feedback welcome!

People, Places + Events

Here's a quick breakdown of events I'll be attending/participating at over the next few months:

May 22-23 Strategy 08
I will be covering one of my favorite events of the year via Twitter. Speakers include AG Lafley, Roger Martin, Bill Buxton, Bruce Nussbaum, and Claudia Kotchka among others.  Follow me on Twitter here.

May 29th: Tech Cocktail
I'll be speaking on a panel titled "Creating A Brand & Leveraging New/Social Media For Your Business".  Tech Cocktail is taking place in Chicago and will include Jason Fried of 37 Signals, Gary Vaynerchuck, and Frank Gruber among others.

June 5-6: The Conference Board
I'll be co-leading a workshop for a powerhouse audience including senior execs from fortune 500 companies.  The workshop will be titled, "Positively Influencing Brand Behavior".

June 16-17
I'll be speaking at Widget Web Expo and have assembled a fine panel of professionals including:
Brian Morrissey: Adweek
David Malouf: Motorola
Ian Schafer: CEO, Deep Focus
Steph Agresta: Internet Geek Girl

Our panel will discuss "micro interactions" from the perspective of portable, distributed content and functionality.  We'll discuss the potential or lack of for all this to go mainstream.  Other speakers include Forrester's Josh Bernoff, Stowe Boyd, and Marc Canter to name a few.

If you are going to any of these events, please look me up!

Brand Interactions Are the Future: But Are Interaction Designers Part of Your Agency?

"Call them information architects, experience designers or Jack or Jane -- they are the design geeks who love to sweat the details. They care about "micro-interactions" and toil away at the building blocks of what actually results in a "lovemark" in the end. We love to use applications that help us do things like plan vacations, find old friends and share our passions with the world. The ad industry has made a big mistake in the past by thinking technology was for geeks. Technology, in fact, is a love affair."

Read The Full Article at Advertising Age (Digital Next)

Thought of the Day

Are your marketing initiatives insight led or trend driven?

Blog of the Day: Inspire UX

There couldn't be a better time to innovate in the blogging space than now. The blogosphere is saturated with chatter, and some have complained that the once celebrated "A-listers" have moved on to better things like writing books and speaking leaving their blogs malnourished.  Then along comes a blog like Inspire UX by Catriona Cornett.  Inspire UX is a collection of nicely designed quotes such as the image you are seeing above.  I think it's a strong and simple idea.  We all need some inspiration and the blog not only serves it up, but you can discuss the content of the quotes in the comments area.

Catriona also goes to great lengths to provide instructions on how you can download and print the inspiration cards.  And she'll even convert to vector and go "poster size" for you upon request.  Not a bad business model if you ask me.  And one of the coolese (and smartest) features is that you can submit your own quote for consideration.   Who doesn't want to have their name in lights?

Inspire UX is a simple, smart idea and I think a promising blog.  Inspiraiton = value, and we all know that blogs which offer value tend to stick around,  If you need a little experience design inspiration, this might be a good place to start.

Killing Cows + Jumping Sharks

Sometimes taking risks means risking both.

Are Methods The New Waterfall?

This is one of those posts. I really don't know if I'm "right", "wrong", or somewhere in the middle but I'm writing it on instinct. It was over four years ago when I received my coveted box of IDEO Method Cards.  I devoured them.  I instantly fell in love with them.  They're so smart—they're almost sexy.

And now I wonder if that's an issue.

Continue reading at Experience Matters

Relationship Renaissance: We're All "Internet Dating"

"Several weeks ago, approximately 90 people got together in New York City to socialize, network and discuss the future of marketing communications. By the time the weekend was over, many would have established strong bonds that will likely last years. Some will do business together. Others will have made investments that will pay over time. All of them left feeling a sense of "belonging." And most of them had never met in person prior to the weekend. Sound familiar?

We're All "Internet Dating" Now
Well, not so much in the romantic sense, but if you've ever known someone who has tried dating over the internet they will describe a phenomenon where you spend a considerable amount of time getting to know another person virtually. Even though you've never met them before, you feel intimately connected to them through your interactions and communications online. Then one day you actually meet them in person. The "F2FD-Day" (Face to Face Date Day). And you have a million thoughts racing through your mind. Will they be as you envisioned them? Will the relationship be as rewarding as it was online? Will it be better? Or will you be disappointed?"
Read the full Article at Advertising Age (Digital Next)

Ad Age Engages Industry Bloggers

It's been quite some time since Advertising Age acknowledged the existence of industry blogs by acquiring Todd Andrlik's Power 150 list and making it their own.  Since then, the mainstream media outlet has taken criticism from active participants in social networks (I.E. bloggers) who weren't very impressed that Ad Age hadn't engaged them beyond expanding a ranking system on their site.  Mack Collier, a marketing blogger who has advised companies like Dell on their own blogging efforts boldly stated that Ad Age had "hoodwinked bloggers":

"Ad Age would now have a vested interest in promoting Ad/PR/Marketing bloggers. The publication could now use these bloggers as sources for articles, or even interview some of them.

...But now 4 months later, the only thing that I can see that Ad Age has done to leverage the Power 150, is to create a nifty 'badge' that any member of the Power 150 can add to their blog. And yes, this badge links back to Ad Age's site."

Fast forward 6 months later and I find myself in a round table meeting at  the Advertising Age office in NYC.  I wasn't alone.  Respected industry voices such as Rohit Bhargava, Matt Dickman, Ann Handley, Geoff Livingston and others were there as well.  And at the head of the table, sat Jonah Bloom—Ad Age's editor for all things digital.  I won't go into the conversation as you can read about it here, but I wanted to point our some other items of interest.

In addition to the round table, many of us were recently sourced for a story about having a "Chief Blogger", this was in response to the news of Kodak appointing one.  If you read that article, you will notice that Ad Age is using pictures that they took from that round table session.  And one last thing.  I am participating in a new group blog on Ad Age titled "Digital Next".  I join other industry voices such as Troy Young, Colleen DeCourcy and Ian Schafer.

And this brings me to what I think is the real story here.  I was really tempted to title this post, "Ad Age Engages New Voices" as I don't think this is about bloggers as much as I think it's about broadening the editorial net to include alternative sources of information.  Right now, traditional media is facing intense competition for people's time and attention.  Why?

Google

Even the highest level CEO, CMO or executive knows how to use their favorite search engine to find relevant content on the Web.  This means that in addition to the industry publications they trust, it's likely that they will come across very relevant content that isn't produced by the "professionals".  In the long tail—what gets the most traffic comes up higher in the search engines.  While much of the content produced by the "non professionals" isn't high quality—some of it is, and search engine rankings confirm that opening the gates to niche information and additional perspectives.

So I'm validating the new Advertising Age strategy to engage "bloggers" through this post itself.  They knew I would write it—they knew I would link to them.  But that's not why they are doing this (though I think it's a positive perk).  My guess is that Ad Age has come to realize that the practitioners in this space—the active participants who are speaking from actual experience vs. theory have something of value to bring to the table.  And they may just be coming to terms that their audience is ready to hear some new voices.  At least that's my opinion.  But that's why you come here right?   

Zappos & Southwest Get Direct Engagement

A couple of weeks ago I was on a panel for the Ad Age Digital Marketing conference and slightly frustrated with the tone of the discussions, I said this:

Social Networks are all about facilitating human connections, and instead of talking about how we can do this—I hear marketers asking "how do we monetize" and "how do we advertise" on them.

To illustrate my point, I recalled a recent interaction I had with Southwest airlines on Twitter.  They had found a comment I made about how much I enjoyed using one of their kiosks and responded to it.  The last time I flew Southwest, I shot out a "tweet" right before takeoff saying "thanks for being on time".  Of course, by the time I landed, they had responded.

Now along comes Zappos.  Specifically their CEO.  A couple of weeks ago I am notified that  Zappos is following me on Twitter. I watch the brand in their new environment.  Observe how they behave. Notice that they begin conversations with other people on Twitter and yesterday it all came together as Zappos spontaneously gave away 10 pairs of shoes randomly to Twitter followers. (Above is a direct message from the CEO explaining to me how he got the idea to do the give-away.)

Brilliant.

The fact that Zappos and Southwest are finding success in a social network like Twittter is not surprising.   These are companies that get both business and the customer experience.  At the Ad Age conference, the Zappos speaker talked about how the two organizations will get together to share their techniques about serving customers.  Zappos prides themselves on limiting the amount of advertising they do—instead focusing on their customer experience which they know will generate natural word of mouth.

Which brings us back to how they are using Twitter.  If there is one thing you need to remember about this space—keep in mind that it's never about the tools.  it's about how people use them.  It's about the interactions.  Zappos had figured out how to add value, create buzz, and initiate a dialouge directly with some of their customers online.  Heck, they've even started their first online promotion.  No microsite needed.

Marketers.  Are you listening?  Because your clients are.

Related Links:
How to get customer service via Twitter  | Twitter.Zappos.com

The Top 10 Made Up Words of Web 3.0

You won't find these in Wikipedia.  But someone had to write them down.  Inspired by Web jargon and making their first appearence on Twitter, I give you the Top 10 made up words of Web 3.0:

1. Socialstainable
The act of socially conscious and sustainable conversations, interactions and recycled linking.
"Is your blog socialstainable?  Mine is"  "How can our marketing be more socialsustainable?"

2. Viruseful.
Viral marketing initiatives that are actually useful.
"Not only did Shave Everywhere make me laugh—I was able to configure and purchase my new electric razor online"

3. Scrollax
Long form Ajax powered Web pages that scroll.
"Non scrolling Flash Web sites are DEAD. We need more dynamic Scrollax in this design"

4. Emotrics
The analytical measurement of emotions.
"Yes—we've seen the metrics.  But what about the Emotrics?  We need to measure emotional engagement!"

5. Blickroll
Converting your blogroll list to link to hit Rick Astley songs.  All 2 of them.
"So I'm checking out Micro Persuasion, and I click on Logic + Emotion only to get Blickrolled!"

6. Intercommunes
When people meet on the internet, form communities and eventually move into a commune together.  For real.
"When I first started participating in social media, I didn't leave the house.  Now, I never have to leave the Intercommune."

7. S'more Locater
Like a Store Locator, except it only locates S'mores. 2.0 bonus points if you use Google Maps and or iPhone.
"Just use our S'more locator to find some S'mores near you."

8. Twiggles
A spontaneous burst of laughter caused by interactions on Twitter. 
"Oh look who has a case of the Twiggles today"

9. Grokment
When you comment on someone's blog, fully grasping what the author is trying to say. 
"Thank you for that grokment.  You complete me".

10. Facehook
When you write catchy lines or clever comments in order to get more traffic on Facebook
"If I want more friends, I really need a Facehook—something to draw them in..." 

Enjoy and feel free to add your own in the comments.

Does Maurice Levy Read This Blog?

So I'm surfing the Web via mobile—I've been checking out Ad Age occasionally since they launched an iPhone version.  And I come across this quote from Maurice Levy, the head of mega marketing holding company Publicis:

"The new model of the agency will work like an eco-system. Everything has to fit and contribute 'rationally': the understanding and knowledge of the consumer, how he/she interacts with society, the understanding of the product, the brand, the competition, the 'marketing-mix,' media and non-media channels, and above all the idea."

Wow.  It's almost works like a caption to go along with the above visual from my post titled "Agency Ecosystems".  I guess stranger things have happened.  If you are reading Maurice, feel free to use the visual for your next presentation!  :-)

What Did We Do Before "Social Media"?

The more I connect with people who identify themselves with all things "2.0", the more I wonder—what did we all do before "social media"?  The thing is, that it's absolutely fine to be providing a service where lots of people need help figuring things out, but as I look at business cards and meet and greet—it tells me little about what's really your core passion.  Or even simply where you came from.

I'm terribly excited by the mainstreaming of social networks.  I consider it to be THE innovation of our time.  It has global implications—it's significant.  It's transforming how we connect, relate and even do business.  And it has downsides too.  But I have to ask, are we losing ourselves to the word social?  And if we are, what's next?

What did we do before "social" became such a desirable word to be attached to?  Were we writers, analysts, designers, etc?  Maybe before starting that blog—you dreamed of doing something that never even included thew word social in it.  What did we really care about before "social" entered our vocabularies.  It's worth thinking about if nothing other than this perspective. What we did before "social media" took over tells us a lot about the things we care about and what abilities and skills we have to draw from.  These are the things that help define what we do—more so than "social media".  So if I run into you at a future event—don't be surprised if I ask you what you did before social media rocked your world.  It'll make for an even better conversation.

Before I went social, I was a "creative director".  What did you do?   

What Was Your Last Great Post?

My last great post was The Novelty Curve.  Sadly, it went up over a month ago.  Everything else since then has been marginal—filler.  I'm sorry.  It's the price you pay for serving more than one master.  Work demands, family demands, life demands.  Can you relate?

Sean over at Buzz Canuck is right when he says:

"the death of the hobbyist blogger - good, passion-based bloggers have all got more professional jobs or speaking gigs in their respective fields meaning more time with clients, internal stuff and consequently, less time, energy and in some cases, candour in researching, conceptualizing and writing their blogs"

Here's what Sean recommends:

"Somebody like TED needs to create an "Ideaosphere" that includes blogs at all levels of the social media caste system that are putting forward great ideas and content. Hopefully, a link and traffic-agnostic blog portal would be able to create the 'Atlantic Monthly" of the blog world - a place where discriminating minds could go and be inspired by  fresh and progressive voice."

Sean could be on to something.  But whether it's a blogger version of TED or something else, I think his take is spot on.  Ask yourself when your last great post was.  Or maybe ask yourself why you started blogging in the first place.  Or maybe, just maybe ask yourself how you can add value without running yourself into the ground.  That's the question I need to ask myself...

The Conversation Economy: 1 Year Later

It's been nearly one year since I wrote "It's The Conversation Economy, Stupid" for BusinessWeek. Thought it might be fun to pull a few thoughts and see if they are still relevant today.  What do you think—is it still the conversation economy, or have we moved on?

On Advertising to "Consumers"
"Once upon a time, we were consumers. We consumed things. We took in the messages that were communicated to us. We didn't really get to talk back. If we had a good or bad experience with a product or service—we told a friend. Maybe that friend told a friend. Maybe, just like the shampoo commercial from advertising's golden age, "They'll tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends, and so on, and so on…." Marketers are finding themselves in an increasingly frantic race to get people talking about their brands. The desire to produce something "viral" is nearly ubiquitous in the marketing world. But it's unclear who exactly "consumers" are these days."...

On Bud.TV
"But great experiences aren't enough. It's entirely possible to design and develop a rich, immersive, experiential Web site, only to have light traffic and little return on investment. Bud.TV, for example, is falling short of its goal of 2 million to 3 million monthly visits. Many fault the registration process. In spite of a slick interface and highly produced video, Anheuser-Busch (BUD) doesn't seem to be reaping what was sown. Why?"

On Twitter
"But why is Twitter so hyped? Why all the fuss? I believe it's because Twitter has evolved from a simple service that initially allowed users to express mundane thoughts into a robust "conversation ecosystem."

On Traditional Marketing
"Conversation architects move marketing beyond the idea of one-way messaging. Traditional marketing efforts were founded on this tried-and-true format and are still prevalent within the industry. Consider the example of a typical creative brief template, which usually says something like, "What are we trying to communicate?" Can you see the old-world residue in the word "communicate"? It lacks the dimensions of experiencing something and having an ongoing two-way dialogue."

On Dell
"I've personally witnessed Dell's change of heart in the form of an unsolicited comment on my blog from a Dell employee in regard to a post I had written about my experience talking at Loyola University. I had asked the graduate students there whether they had heard of Dell Hell (approximately 90% of them had not). But that didn't stop Dell from hearing what I said."

On Design
"My background is in design, and I like to think that at the core, design is about facilitation. We designers should stop talking and start designing conversations. We should convert from marketers and information architects to conversation architects. Information is a one-way street, conversation isn't".

People, Places + Events

Here's a quick update of places I'll be in the next few months.  If you are going to any of these events, please look me up!

Blogger Social
April 4th-6th
I'll be joining a group of friendly and highly connected individuals in NYC for a mix of conversation, cocktails and I'm sure industry talk as well.

IIT Institute of Design Strategy Conference
May 22-23
I'll be live Twittering from one of my favorite events of the year.  This year's conference will include P&G's AG Lafley, Microsoft's Bill Buxton and BusinessWeek's Bruce Nussbaum to name a few.  Several weeks ago, I was interviewed by ID student Ash Boopathy and will be featured in some of the print material given out at the conference.  Here's a sample from the interview:

AB: Give me your favorite example of a company or project that used design to figure out "where to play" or "how to win".

DA: Interesting timing on this question.  I used to reference the Motorola RAZR as a textbook example of the power of design.  The story had all of the right ingredients: A brand that needed a breakthrough product, a prototype that pushed the idea forward, an end product that had reflective emotional appeal and influenced the design of other products.  But it’s worth taking a look at Motorola today which is currently having difficulties finding a buyer for their handset division.  Somehow along the way, they could not disseminate the success of the RAZR and the story ironically becomes a case study for the limitations of design.  I still believe design can be transformational, but it cannot be divorced from the corporate culture or values that a company
believes in.

The Conference Board
June 5-6
I'll be co-leading a digital customer experience workshop to senior level marketing and brand execs.

Widget Web Expo
June 16-17
I'll be moderating a panel to discuss the current state of content and functionality distribution.  The panel is still coming together, but Adweek's Brian Morrissey will be on it (see Brian, you can't back out now!)

Hope to see you!