How the quickly the media world turns on it's axis

Like many people I saw the 'Facebook film' Social Network the other day; Jesse Eisenberg is completely believable as Mark Zuckerberg and the Aaron Sorkin script is brilliantly balanced across a maze of intriguing characters. The film signs off by reminding us that Facebook is worth $25 Billion today. Really? And exactly what credible logic went into that valuation?
The (probable) argument runs that with 500 million active users worldwide that the user base is too 'locked in' to Facebook to move elsewhere....I mean you wouldn't, would you, all of your friends are already on Facebook so why move to a new or rival offer? Facebook has the momentum and whilst the contextural targeting revenue doesn't currently come close to justifying the $25 Billion valuation (unless you want to apply la-la land multiples) it's only a matter of time.
That sounds awfully like the kind of investment banker flaky nonsense peddled in the first dot.com boom...and where did that go? Cash, not eyeballs or headcount, is king. Meanwhile News Corp has just announced a 3.2% increase in revenues (3 mths to end Sept 2010) with growth from 'old media' and the notable low light of a 25.5% decline in revenues within the Digital Media Group division (including My Space). Within this Rupert Murdoch is trying to change the free content model. All of a sudden digital is looking like a potential balance sheet drag.
It's not, and never will be, given the way it's changed the (profitable) retail landscape and consumer behaviour but within that there are no sacred cows including Facebook. What marks out so many digital business models (including Facebook) are the low barriers to entry and fragility of brand loyalty...you're one mistake away from oblivion. Rather than the 500 million active users being the fortress walls that repel new pretenders and the possible renaissance of the old guard (like My Space), it could be the achilles heel and a reminder of that digital brand fragility. Given any abuse of the customer relationship with Facebook (data confidentiality?) the reaction may not be individuals leaving one by one but entire friendship communities up rooting and moving elsewhere...and of course that binnary, 6 degrees of seperation, benefit that once sent Facebook into the stratosphere suddenly consigns it to the dustbin of yesterday's 'not cool' stuff. $25 Billion...really? I'm not so sure.

Telecoms in 2010 – a sector struggling to be distinctive?

For the second year running, Polestar joined 18 other brand and communication strategists in Berlin for the annual Telco Summit hosted by our friends at Musiol Munzinger Sasserath.

Exchanging knowledge from 15 global markets we were left with a clear picture of the need for telco brands to drive towards greater differentiation, meaning and consumer centricity. And in so doing ensure they retain consumer relevance.

Price competition and commoditisation remain critical issues. Being all things to all people from a positioning and product perspective might have its up sides from an acquisition perspective, but the lack of stickiness for brands inevitably means it’s an expensive strategy.

How many telco brand owners could (hand on heart) say that they have a meaningful and distinct market proposition backed by a strong perspective about what they stand for in the market? Very few one suspects.

Why not focus for effect, excelling in fewer core areas rather than providing a plethora of average offerings?

How about being a champion for causes relevant to consumer’s lives, excelling as a responsible corporate citizen?

Offer a distinct point of view?

Or acknowledge and leverage consumer power instead of restricting it?

Many telco brands have found themselves creating cynicism, distrust and disconnection simply because they fail to recognise consumer demand and seem intent on leading the consumer rather than embracing consumer input.

None too radical you’d have thought but there’s currently a real dearth of brands achieving this with any great consistency.

Somewhat ironically, the sector is crying out for more innovation. But not innovation of the tech led variety necessarily. Just the guts to dare to be different and lead consumers with a more relevant, more distinctive brand proposition that justifies their role in our lives.

Click here for a summary version of the summit output or feel free to get in touch if you'd like us to take you through the trends and observations in full

"Mums" the word

After a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine, when she referred to a friend of hers primarily as a “mum”, I got thinking about the way in which these young women were beginning to see themselves in today’s society. There appeared to be a sense of pride and status when they described themselves as a “mum”. It seemed to me that gone were the days of feeling “mumsy”, completely isolated from one’s peers as a result of having children or feeling inferior to those career girls left behind at the office and resigning oneself to an existence of solitude, speaking in baby-talk for the majority of the day. The 2010 Mum seemed different to me– she seemed more “connected”.
Here at Polestar, we thought this trend was so interesting that we commissioned our own research into the subject and decided to ask these women directly about their thoughts and opinions on a whole array of topics; from self-identity to advertisers marketing to them. The 2010 Mum emerges intelligent, well-connected, collectively very influential and the ultimate source of advocacy. What’s really interesting is the way in which these women have professionalised the role of being a mum and are actually tackling it in the same way they would a high-powered job in a corporate environment. This has clearly had an effect on the way in which they see themselves, individually and as a group. For more information about some other fascinating new insights into this vital, high-spending Mum Mafia within the traditional housewives with kids’ audience, take a look at our article on Mediatel and for the full report, drop me a line on 0207 089 6588 or email me on kirank@polestarcommunications.com.

What's Trendy?

The other day I was making my usual commute into Waterloo, surrounded by South West Trains’ finest customers; some reading papers or engrossed in a book on their Kindle and others contorting their posture in all sorts of weird ways to try and get a signal on their new iPhone 4. As I scanned the carriage with my blurry eyes, taking in this very familiar scene, my eyes locked on not one but two young women, knitting. Yes, knitting. You know, with proper needles and a ball of wool and everything. On a train. In London. In rush hour. In 2010. My gaze fell on the ball of wool bobbing around one of the ladies’ Mulberry handbags. I was mesmerised by how relaxed they looked, completely oblivious to my stupefied expression and carried on clicking their needles rapidly until it was time to mind the gap between the train and the platform. As I got off the train I started thinking about how various friends of mine had re-joined a library, a bake club or a book club recently, which led me to consider that this was a definite trend emerging here amongst a very valuable target market for advertisers. So once back in the office I decided to explore a little deeper into this phenomenon and found that it wasn’t just the two knitting ladies on my train or my strange friends who were reclaiming traditional pursuits but brands and advertisers seemed to be doing so too. But what’s the reason behind this? To find out, take a peek at our new Brand Trends Report, showcasing the most important trends of 2010 from Polestar’s point of view. So if you want to learn more about how people are using online to enhance their offline experiences in the real world or want to find out more about how everyone (yes everyone) seems to be crowd-sourcing or indeed knitting, then take a look or get in touch for a more comprehensive version.

Last World Cup post - the office sweepstake results are announced

You'll have noticed that the football cropped up in a couple of our Polestar blog posts. Meanwhile, behind the scenes here at Polestar there was an office sweepstake, organised by the blokes. As it was organised by blokes it had a proper spreadsheet, a points-based system, and a tie-breaker.

None of your girly names out of a hat nonsense.

It was all terribly exciting, if you like that sort of thing. Which roughly half the office do, it seems.
And the winners have just been announced, in league-table fashion. In the bottom half of the table are all the boys. Brilliantly, joint second place went to Kiran and Tambo and the winner is 'lil ole me.

All of us ladies are very excited about our big cash prize. Almost this excited, in fact.

The even bigger Apple

Last week in New York every single Apple store was completely besieged by consumers so desperate to get their hands on the iPhone4 that they were queueing all night and throughout some uncomfortably, sweltering, hot days. Of course this was all deja vu as much the same scenes greeted the launch of the iPad. It's not exactly a secret that Apple advocates are a particularly evangelical bunch yet the world of on line blogs and user reviews have noted that the latest iPhone is not necessarily without fault, yet when you see scenes like this (at about 22.00 at night) it's tempting to think that we may have to create some kind of superlative that goes beyond super or hyper brand. Many brands get past being a 'nice to have' and become some kind of personal characteristic or attribute; maybe the latest handbag from Prada or limited edition Porsche...but seldom do people put themselves through quite so much personal inconvenience to be ahead of the wave. In a very challenging economic environment Apple products seem to defy the laws of price elasticity and the benefit that brings to the balance sheet were very evident in the recent results. Thousands have offered opinions on what makes Apple so special and it seems pointless to add to that queue, instead I'll just make a single observation that it's a timely reminder that product integrity is everything. So those cutting corners in R&D and NPD may reflect on that before they have to explain away some insipid looking financials in about 2 years time

Start in a different place

When solving marketing and communication problems, are we starting in the right place? Are we asking the right questions?

At a recent media week conference Les Binet, who knows more about effective advertising than pretty much anyone else in the UK, proffered a check list on how to make sure things work.

This is a really useful list so it's worth repeating some of the key pillars ....

• Set clear and detailed objectives
  If you start by spelling out the hard business objectives, payback is increased four times
• Focus on profit
  Most people think the job of advertising is to sell more stuff, so they focus on increasing sales volume, but the most profitable campaigns are the ones that make people pay more
• Engage the whole market
  Increasing brand loyalty has become the main goal for many campaigns - but advertising has hardly any effect on brand loyalty
• Touch the heart
  Rational messaging campaigns are the least effective. The best campaigns make people feel things about a brand - emotions are more profitable than messages
• Create ripples of influence
  The most effective campaigns take emotional bonding to the next level. Be newsworthy, go viral, or do things that people talk about in the pub - go beyond the private sphere
• Harness the power of integration
  Convert fame and buzz into sales. Integration doubles effectiveness, so communications must make brands desirable while also pacifying the rational brain with reasons
• Beware of using only one metric
  The campaigns that perform the best move all the measurement dials, whereas the campaigns that only shift one measure under perform

Now, I'm sure we can all find examples where these aren't true. But broadly most campaigns would be improved by adopting these principles.

But what about the questions that need to come before communication?

1. Should I be using communication at all? Too often we rush for the crutch of ad spend when product, distribution or service issues lie at the heart of sluggish growth. Knowing when it does and doesn't have a role is fundamental to effectiveness

2. What role does communication play within the client organisation? Will it motivate teams, can it act as a unifying force? Initiatives that span silo's are what really accelerates growth

3. How is 'talkability' hard wired into the product or service? Too often advertising is tasked with spin. The combination of inbuilt word of mouth features and strong advocacy friendly brand stories, amplified through communication, is what super charges brands.
OK .... so this sounds like hard work. Maybe it's beyond the remit of marketing. But then again look at this example .......

http://www.longlivealex.com/ . The clear role for comms is to bring the (very long term) brand benefit to life. The idea generated can act as a unifying rallying call as to why the business exists and in a non cheesy corporate type of way. Finally it generates ingrained talkability and on-going content which many FMCG brands feel is beyond them. Inspired.



It doesn't contradict the 'rules' of effectiveness. But by starting in a slightly different place it takes it to another level.

By the way, I am the 2,391,052,000 oldest man in the world.