Creativity in the age of social media
Most of us know what a creative idea was in the days before social media. The TV spot epitomized it: a clever message that got your attention, etched itself into your memory (at least temporarily), and maybe got you to take action. But it was a one-way message, controlled by the sender, void of any role for the viewer.
So what is creativity in the age of the avatar? Is it simply the conversations we start and the communities we build? Or is it the content we create that stimulates those conversations and makes people want to join a community? Right now, in the early stages of social media’s development, it’s often enough for a brand to simply abide by the protocols of social media: learning to listen and engage; sharing and promoting others; practicing authenticity and transparency.
But what happens when every brand is on Facebook and Twitter, when there are so many communities and conversations that we encounter cacophony? Will it be possible for a brand to gain notice or attention without it? Perhaps. But my instincts tell me that we, as marketers, will have to get more inventive with our content and that we as consumers will demand it.
So, what should we be thinking about? Here’s what I’ve got so far. Hoping you’ll help build this idea with me.
New ways to inspire co-creation
This can be anything from giving control of your brand away to avid consumers who want a voice, to pioneering co-creation opportunities like Nike’s use of the Chalkbot (above) that people invent products and content with you. Mad Men on Twitter was embraced by AMC, but what if it had been their idea to begin with, giving away products or characters to enthusiastic evangelists? This year my agency plans on inviting Boston Bruin fans to write their own Bruins Hockey “rules” in hopes of generating content and involvement with the team.
Media mashups
One of the first examples and still among the best was CNN’s partnership with Facebook on Inauguration Day. We were watching, participating, sharing, interacting. I recently saw an application from The Morphic Group done for the Indianapolis 500. It lets viewers control the cameras covering the race from their desktop. They can even take control of cameras inside the racers’ cars and match drivers against one another on their computer screen. Way back when we did one of the very first experiments with our Trash Talk Superbowl event. But where else can these combinations of media work?
Applications and utilities
Miracle Whip's Zingr lets community comment and share
Some of the most creative ideas are part message, part meme, part distribution. The green avatar started a mini-trend on Twitter that led to the Mad Men avatars and then the Live Strong bracelet. But a few lines of code and Twitter’s API enabled this multi-purpose form of communication. We’re now seeing the same kind of thing with Firefox add-ons. As there are more of these done, the bar will get raised. Both a challenge and an opportunity for anyone who likes to be creative.
Inventive uses of a platform
It’s common to see Facebook look more and more like a website, with built in utility, product demonstration, embedded video. But when Boone Oakley (below) executed a website on YouTube, it felt fresh. Maybe a little gimmicky and perhaps with some shortcomings, but it got attention and traffic, deservedly so. On Twitter, we’re seeing people use the platform as a means of achieving a creative idea. Not simply to connect and communicate, but to create.
I’m identifying other categories – redefining entertainment, digital infotainment, analog actions, propagation techniques, and of course crowdsourcing content – and searching for great examples, along with trying to get my clients to experiment with all of these things.
In the meantime, I hope you’ll share what you’ve discovered. I’ll be back to this topic again soon, ideally with some of your ideas as part of the report. So, got anything? If so, please leave a comment. And, as always, if you like what you see here, consider subscribing. There’s an RSS button at the top right and an email option as well.
Finally, thanks to @RGA, @bbhlabs, @stinsy, @tjeffrey, @marilysedionne, and others for sharing thoughts.
Comments
The CEO of Carat said it well I thought:
"Great brands are no longer the ones that are the best storytellers but the ones that the best stories are being told about".
This reflects the central shift of the dynamic between brands and people. Brands now have to build differently, to deliberately create the space and inspire people to occupy it; today is an age where people want to fashion the brand in their own image, for their purposes, to fulfill their aims and to share that joy and meaning. When a brand becomes woven into other people's personal narrative it has achieved a status, significance - and one might posit longevity - that rises well beyond a regurgitatation of what a brand says it wants to stand for.....
Thanks for the effort you put into C U. It is well worth it...
.-= Guy Gould-Daviesu00c2u00b4s last blog ..Drinking Beer Helps Make Decisions =-.
Guy:
Well put. Love that quote. u00e2u0080u009cGreat brands are no longer the ones that are the best storytellers but the ones that the best stories are being told about." Up there with, "Advertising is what you say about yourself, social media is what people say about you." Or as Garfield says, "The Chaos Scenario."
With TV spots, the goal is to provoke an emotional reaction. Perhaps the reason most online social content feels trite is because that mentality hasn't yet been extended to the mediumu00e2u0080u0094we still need to make the audience laugh, cry, etc. on Facebook to ensure they remember our page. It doesn't matter how big we make the "ShareThis" widget; if the audience doesn't feel connected, there won't be a conversation.
The Iranian avatars allowed its supporters to feel like they were part of a greater movement, and (obviously) had an element that made the groundswell visible to everyone. I think President Obama's online campaign (and offline, Lance Armstrong's Livestrong bracelets) succeeded for the same reasons. Is there a way to replicate those elements from non-profit campaigns and make them work for brands in the social space?
I'm not sure. But I have enjoyed and learned a lot from following the #smcreative hashtag on Twitter!
.-= DJ Capobiancou00c2u00b4s last blog ..Civility in an Online Age =-.
DJ:
I think a lot of these do that. For example, Chalkbot enables messages that are moving. Facebook/CNN let us into the moment. Unfriend a FB friend had a fun, mischievousness to it. Your comment is spot on: "if the audience doesnu00e2u0080u0099t feel connected, there wonu00e2u0080u0099t be a conversation." Nor will the experience be very memorable. Still, I think the greatest space to explore is putting the creation of emotional interaction more and more in the hands of the community itself. That is the social web, yes?
I think we will see the greatest growth, most interesting ideas and most valuable emergence of creativity in software that doesn't feel like software -- software that either does one small thing perfectly well or that creates a platform for a larger human behavior.
For example, the recent use by Monopoly of Google Maps to play the property-baron game in the real world. Buying property around your own house made the game far more interesting to both play and watch.
It's one of 87 examples in Google's Experiments in Digital Creativity presentation: http://blog.adhack.com/2009/09/22/google-experiments-in-digital-creativity-slideshow-presentation/
Whether these uses are 'platform' or 'application' matters in the execution, but the two feel increasingly interchangeable to the participants.
And I also think advertising has a ton of innovation left to offer in creativity, particularly in how creativity migrates between media and finds its level in a feeder system that factors in cost, context and effect to match the right creativity to the right use.
.-= Jamesu00c2u00b4s last blog ..Something is Sideways on AdHack =-.
James:
Great. Thanks. Am hoping to get more ideas from more people, along with examples. I am meeting with Google in another week or two for a full-blown overview of all that they do or can enable in the creative space. Really looking forward to it. In the meantime, agree that this is a really good example as well as a way to think about this subject.
I don't think that we're facing anything I didn't face when every company had a web site, or the previous generation of marketers (Don Draper) faced when everyone had a TV spot, or jingle, or billboard.
I've been using social media to promote my clients for 10 years, it was nice then because it stood out. But I've been doing web design for 15 years; that was also nice because they stood out, too, if only in their unique presence in that space. But as soon as it catches on, and the space gets flooded, it's time to stop being smug about being first and start using what you know to start doing it better.
Luckily, and I have this argument about Gen Y all the time. You can rely on years of experience and understanding of the core of marketing and advertising and just apply it to the new channels with the new tools. Something most of the young SoMe "experts" haven't developed yet.
P.S. AMC only embraced the Mad Men Tweeters after asking Twitter to shut them down, letting them reemerge only after their digital agency told them to. I'm surprised daily by what Mad Men DOESN"T do. I have a notebook full of ideas to take that show to a million marketing channels!
Michael,
Some good points. Agree that you can take old marketing skills and apply in the new space. But surprisingly so many people don't get it. Have spent lots of time recently with ex-colleagues interested in learning the new stuff. They're mindset of simply making a spot, controlling the message is so rooted in their DNA they have a hard time getting the idea of conversation, sharing, co-creation, CGA, etc.
As for MadMen, am well aware of that detail. As stated, they were lucky they made the decision they did. But my real point is why can't that be initiated by the brand to begin with. Give products and characters away actively. But thanks for pointing out as not all readers may know.
Hope all is going well with Gatherme.
Agree with the 4 buckets you have on here -- I'm sure there will be more, and offer up an additional one to potentially add. Personally I think one of the most powerful elements of creativity in the era of SM is the ability to concept an idea and have it launch, not just in 24 hours, but possibly within 30 minutes or even an hour, or a few minutes. Having that real-time relevancy and engagement between the brand and consumers opens up a world of possibilities for brands to take advantage of opportunistic situations, that if they even wait a day they could be too late. Meanwhile a typical TV production timeline is generally 2 months (if not more), print and radio need lead times too. Said another way, creativity in the era of SM is brands being in the moment.
This is a whole new trend, Mona. No doubt we will hear debate around this as to whether execution and timing and distribution are "creative" but the fact is they are. Goes back to your point of "who" is creative. One of my pet peeves is the adherence to old definitions: message based creativity, story-telling creativity will always be great. But what is the story. In the case of CNN/Facebook, the story was the conversation. CNN simply created a platform on which the story could unfold.
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