Tag Archives: Digital

Solace in the Time of the Coronavirus

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I am not ashamed to admit it: I just found some solace — even hope — in a YouTube video from a movie star I’ve never met and probably never will.

Let’s face it: we’re getting hammered with bleak news on our social feeds. I don’t know about you, but I’m quickly learning how to manage my time online as the reality sets in that enduring this crisis is like running a marathon, not a sprint.

It’s not easy to curtail online time right now, though. Staying informed can protect the health of you and your loved ones. During a time of crisis, we need to know about changes that dramatically affect how we live. But on the other hand, the bleak COVID-19 news flooding our social feeds can be overwhelming. Can I get a witness?

Amid the bad news that’s taken over my digital screens, though, I have sometimes found little islands of encouragement. Let me tell you about one of them.

Yesterday, on my LinkedIn feed, a video of Matthew McConaughey popped up seemingly from out of nowhere. Because someone I especially trust and admire, Brian Solis, shared the video, I decided to click on the image of McConaughey’s tanned, angular face and find out what Mr. “Alright, Alright, Alright!” had to say about COVID-19.

In words that seemed genuine and caring, the man who stars in movies and Lincoln ads urged people to band together and prevail over the global pandemic.

“Just want to say that in these crazy times that we’re in with the coronavirus, let’s take care of ourselves and each other,” he said. “Let’s not go to the lowest common denominator and get paranoid. Let’s do our due diligence, take the precautions we need to take care of ourselves and those around us.”

Instead of needlessly dwelling on the threat, he focused on you and me. He urged viewers to embrace values: “values of fairness, kindness, accountability, resilience, respect, courage.” As he put it, “If we practice those things right now, when we get out of this, this virus, this time might be the one time that brings us all together and unifies us like we have not been in a long time.”

You could argue that this video is just another role for an actor to play, but it worked for me. For one thing, the message of treating each other with kindness is compelling. And McConaughey is both likable and credible. The star of Dallas Buyers Club, True Detective, and many other productions is also known as a humanitarian and overall nice guy (I still remember the time he helped rescue pets stranded by Hurricane Katrina in 2005). In 2014, Time magazine named him one of the most influential people in the world.

And he nails it with the tone of the message: encouraging, but not sappy. Strong, but not cocky or brash.

There is a lesson here for leaders: show humanity. If you are a CEO, reach out to your employees in a personal way. Host a webcast to talk about what’s going on and to encourage people. Post a video message of your own. Let people see your face and hear your voice. Everyone is stressed. You can relieve that stress even in a small way by using digital to uplift others. By now you’ve certainly delivered plenty of bad news to your people, and that’s part of the job of being a leader. But being a leader also means encouraging and reassuring others.

You may lack the star power of Matthew McConaughey. But to the people in your life, you are as credible or more so. Note that according to a recent Edelman survey, people are more likely to trust COVID-19 news from their employers over the government or news media.

Showing your humanity is an act of kindness. And kindness is leadership.

Taking a Vacation from Digital

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For a week this summer I took a vacation from digital, and I’ve never been happier. My wife Jan, daughter Marion, and I visited our friends Kevin and Robert in their home outside Quebec City for nine days, and incredibly enough, we managed to stay offline almost the entire time. We wrote, read, explored streams and hiked through the walled city of Quebec. To document how it felt to be truly liberated from technology, I kept a journal scrawled in pen on blank typing paper. What follows are excerpts from my personal journey. This is not my typical blog post commenting on technology, marketing, and entertainment. But I hope it conveys a commentary in its own way about the value of unplugging and focusing on the people who bring joy to your life:

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Are you acting like a digital steward or a fool?

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Want to be a good digital steward? Teach yourself and your children digital literacy and manners.

That’s my reaction to a new Retrevo study on the lifestyle habits of digitally connected parents that Jennifer Jacobson of Retrevo kindly shared with me.

The report says a lot about how moms and dads try (emphasis on try) to balance their roles as parents with their use of digital. To wit:

  • Nearly 20 percent of parents who own iPhones say they’ve given up activities they enjoy in order to spend time on Facebook and Twitter (compared to 11 percent of all parents).
  • Nearly half of parents say they’ve used Facebook to learn about their kids’ friends.

I think the report is relevant to anyone who understands the meaning of being a steward for future generations, even if you are not a parent. Here’s how you can be a digital steward:

1. Teach children digital literacy

I agree that it’s important to understand how kids are using social to interact with each other (the digital bullying phenomenon alone is reason enough).

In addition, digital stewards (anyone who interacts with children – both parents and nonparents alike) have an obligation help children embrace the entire digital world – ranging from the devices required to communicate in society to the social media sites that we use to connect with each other.

I’m not suggesting you unleash mobile phones on children or allow them to roam free on social media sites without any supervision. But think of mobile phones, iPads, and social media platforms the same way you would your landline phone (if you still use one). At the right time, you teach your child how to use the phone as a communications tool. Digital is no different.

The sooner you prepare your child for the digital world, the better. To put your head in the sand is to deny your child an essential skill: digital literacy.

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A clever product for clever (digital) moms

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How do you discuss diaper pails in the digital world?

My employer Razorfish helped Munchkin Inc. address this challenge by involving social influencers (moms) through the new Diaperpail microsite that launched in November.  The work is a good example of how Social Influence Marketing can help a company roll out a new product.

Munchkin designs and manufactures infant and toddler products, relying mostly on print ads to raise awareness with consumers.  Munchkin asked Razorfish to figure out how to use digital to launch a new product, the Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail by Munchkin.  The Razorfish project team did its homework and knew that Munchkin would need to tap into expectant moms’ natural concerns about making the right decision when it comes to products they trust for their newborns.  The Munchkin/Razorfish approach: involve the voices of independent mommy bloggers.  (TwitterMoms helped.)

“A Clever Product for a Clever Mom” (a theme Razorfish devised for the product launch) celebrates clever tips that moms share for their nurseries.  The first phase of the campaign, the Diaperpail site, features tips from mom bloggers on how to keep one’s nursery clean and fresh.  For instance, Missy W (gearheadmom.com) discusses how adding a few drops of lavender to baking soda can make your nursery smelling more fresh when you are cleaning a diaper pail.

The tips reveal themselves as you explore a nursery:

The moms do not hawk the diaper pail in any explicit way; they help create an atmosphere of trust and usefulness through their tips for nursery maintenance, thus helping the brand connect emotionally to moms in a more subtle way.

The next step is for Munchkin and Razorfish to launch a digital advertising campaign that will increase product awareness and drive traffic to the microsite.  In January, print advertisements created by Razorfish for American Baby and Fit Pregnancy magazines will also raise awareness and drive site traffic. (Lisa Sugar, founder of the Pop Sugar network, will appear in the ads.)

Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail by Munchkin is also an example of how an agency can help a client launch a new product, as Razorfish in November 2008 with the Intel Core i7 microprocessor and earlier this year by supporting the launch of the Mercedes-Benz USA E-class sedan and the Coors Light cold activated can.  In all those cases, the clients are making digital (and a digital agency) an essential part of the launch.  With Munchkin, digital takes the lead.

To be sure, Munchkin and Razorfish have their work cut out for themselves.  The leading diaper pail product, Diaper Genie, enjoys a 90-percent market share according to Brandweek.  Since the effort launched only weeks ago, results are still forthcoming.  We’ll follow up down the road with results.

Obama.com & You

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View more presentations from David Deal.

At FIAP Buenos Aires, my Razorfish colleague Joe Crump discussed seven tactics that marketers can learn from Barack Obama, America’s first digital president.  I’ve reproduced his presentation here and highly recommend you take a moment to browse through it. The seven tactics are:

1. Got a vision for what you want to do?  Great.  Now go recruit a team of digital specialists to craft your strategy.

2. Make your message findable.  Make your content visible in the right place at the right time.

3. Be relevant to your audiences.

4. Create engagement.

5. Empower your fans.

6. Reward the faithful.  Give them inside information. Make them feel special.

7. Be transparent.  Use digital to report on what you’re doing throughout your campaign, whether you’re launching a new product or building a better brand.

I would add one more take-away:

8. You need a compelling message.  In this era of consumer-generated content and advertising as an experience, what you say about yourself still matters — a great deal.  Barack Obama delivered the right message at the right time.  As Joe mentions, his vision of change was short, simple, motivating, and viral.  Does messaging still matter to marketers? The answer is a resounding yes.  But, what’s changed is how you deliver that message — not by pushing it but by employing the kinds of tactics Joe discusses, such as empowering your fans and creating engagement.

What do you think?

Online, offline converge in new marketing campaign

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How do you make laundry detergent fun?

My employer Razorfish tackled this challenge when we helped all® detergent create a promotion that aired April 5 on Celebrity Apprentice.  Instead of focusing on product attributes, we associated all® with a charitable cause through viral marketing.  Celebrity Apprentice viewers saw a 30-second TV ad directing them to a website to watch videos that feature Celebrity Apprentice contestants Joan and Melissa Rivers.  The playful videos feature Joan and Melissa using all® in fairly ridiculous settings.  (In one video, Melissa portrays a laundry fairy who helps families clean their dirty clothing.)  Each time people forward the videos, all® donates 50 cents to charity. (We’ve also uploaded the videos on YouTube.)

Razorfish created both the TV spot and the viral videos.  According to Adweek magazine, the promotion “is more evidence that the lines between digital and traditional shops are blurring.”  Razorfish Executive Creative Director Marc Lucas told Adweek, “Razorfish has a history in digital media and developing Web sites.  In the last 12 to 18 months, we’ve made a push to be a marketing services company and being more media agnostic.”

Indeed, Razorfish has honed long-form video skills for clients like Coors Light and L’Oreal.  For Instance, with L’Oreal, Razorfish created the tongue-in-cheek “Harry Situation” viral videos to promote the Bold It line of hair care products for men.  And with Coors Light, Razorfish created the “Call It a Day” series in 2007. (The videos consist of amusing little vignettes of people having a very bad day, with the message being, “Isn’t it time you called it a day and had a Coors Light?”)

I think the crucial distinction to be made between digital video and TV video is the interactive nature of digital.  Consumers can comment on the YouTube video vignettes — ripping them if we dislike them, and praising them if we enjoy them.  Essential to this campaign, we can share the content with each other.

Some day, when TV realizes its potential to become interactive, the distinctions between the digital world and TV will disappear.  For now, Razorfish is tapping into the inherently interactive and social nature of digital to help all® build its brand.

I welcome your feedback.

So you want to work for Avenue A | Razorfish?

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Check out “Confessions of a Summer Intern” a blog by Maddie Graunke, which gives you an inside look at the experiences of an intern for my employer, Avenue A | Razorfish. Based in the Chicago office, Maddie has been interning on my team for several weeks. She has captured some interesting insights about life here and the kind of work she’s been assigned. All I care about is that Maddie be honest and open in the true spirit of blogging. I learn more about my own employer that way. If you are wondering what it’s like to work here, visit her blog and ask her whatever you want to ask.

So you want to work for Avenue A | Razorfish?

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Check out “Confessions of a Summer Intern” a blog by Maddie Graunke, which gives you an inside look at the experiences of an intern for my employer, Avenue A | Razorfish. Based in the Chicago office, Maddie has been interning on my team for several weeks. She has captured some interesting insights about life here and the kind of work she’s been assigned. All I care about is that Maddie be honest and open in the true spirit of blogging. I learn more about my own employer that way. If you are wondering what it’s like to work here, visit her blog and ask her whatever you want to ask.

This is why we read digital media

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In a recent blog post, I shared the story of a bright and talented 20-something job candidate who confessed to me that she’d never purchased a print edition of any newspaper in her life because she’s so comfortable consuming all her media digitally. Invariably this story evokes frowns and head shaking from anyone north of 40 years old when I tell it. But after reading my July 24 Chicago Tribune sports section, I see her point. I wanted to find out the results of a crucial Chicago Cubs-Arizona Diamondbacks game played in Arizona the evening of July 23. The Cubs, clinging to a shrinking first-place lead in the National League Central, had been faltering of late and needed to do well. So the team’s performance against the Diamondbacks was no small matter. But you’d never know it from reading the print edition of the Tribune (Near West edition) which carried no results of the game because the print edition went to press before the game ended. (The Near West print Tribune also failed to report the final score of the 2008 Major League All-Star game.) Of course I found what I needed from the digital world. But the problem is that when I access the internet, the Chicago Tribune is competing with MLB.com, ESPN.com, and a host of other destinations. The Tribune loses that one-to-one relationship it has with me when I dive into the print edition on the commuter train. Yes, I got what I wanted from digital this morning. But did the Tribune?

This is why we read digital media

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In a recent blog post, I shared the story of a bright and talented 20-something job candidate who confessed to me that she’d never purchased a print edition of any newspaper in her life because she’s so comfortable consuming all her media digitally. Invariably this story evokes frowns and head shaking from anyone north of 40 years old when I tell it. But after reading my July 24 Chicago Tribune sports section, I see her point. I wanted to find out the results of a crucial Chicago Cubs-Arizona Diamondbacks game played in Arizona the evening of July 23. The Cubs, clinging to a shrinking first-place lead in the National League Central, had been faltering of late and needed to do well. So the team’s performance against the Diamondbacks was no small matter. But you’d never know it from reading the print edition of the Tribune (Near West edition) which carried no results of the game because the print edition went to press before the game ended. (The Near West print Tribune also failed to report the final score of the 2008 Major League All-Star game.) Of course I found what I needed from the digital world. But the problem is that when I access the internet, the Chicago Tribune is competing with MLB.com, ESPN.com, and a host of other destinations. The Tribune loses that one-to-one relationship it has with me when I dive into the print edition on the commuter train. Yes, I got what I wanted from digital this morning. But did the Tribune?