Diary of a transition: 5 new things i've learned

I've been in my new role at The Population for 6 weeks now and I'm certainly learning alot...

It's very different to anything I've encountered before and it's challenging me in new ways, which is exactly what I needed and wanted.

Essentially I'm reviewing many of my thought processes that I've had ingrained in me for the past 6 years and I'm now trying to shift them in a different direction which is far more difficult than it sounds!

Un-learning and re-learning can be a demanding and sometimes uncomfortable experience, but I would encourage anyone to do it if you get the chance to expand upon what you know because, no matter where you are in your chosen career, you never know everything there is to know.

So, without further ado, here are 5 new things I've learned in the last few weeks:

1). A 'Big Idea' is a product in itself

Coming from big-agency-land, my experience was that strategy was something they did as part of the package when it came to media planning & buying.
It was covered by a retainer or percentage of media spend contracts, it certainly wasn't something that clients paid for as a separate product or service.

But The Population's product IS strategy, it's not media buying powers, creative or production, it's intellectual property in the form of ideas...

In my first few weeks I've been getting used to selling ideas which is always something I've believed in but never something I've done and believe it or not, clients are willing to pay for a strategy!

They are happy to invest in the 'big idea' which will dictate their media planning, creative development and the success of their marketing.
Creating a media plan or creative message in silos without a uniting idea subsequently delivers a disconnected result which, if it fails, results in a blame game between creative and media as to whose fault it was, but still, so many agencies are guilty of this...

They get briefed and then go off and do their own thing, only uniting in the 'response' meeting and seeing each others ideas for the first time which is just ridiculous.

LESSON 1: A 'big idea' is essential, don't plan, buy or create anything until you have one, no matter if the budget is $10k or $100k.....and yes, clients will pay for a big idea as a product/service above and beyond media and creative.

2). Social media is just a word

Social media is not a strategy, it's not a campaign and it's certainly not a word anyone should continue to use...

What many people call 'social media' is really just the next evolution of the digital landscape, it's the web but socialised.
Nowadays, everything online has the ability to be social. When you run a banner ad or a homepage takeover, are you considering the conversations that will start as a result of that advertisement?

The next era of digital strategy is about being hyper-connected.
It's about being cognizant and aware that every action you take may cause a reaction in the online space.

You can no longer plan and buy a bog-standard display schedule and expect that to be sufficient in getting your brand in front of people, for them to take notice and subsequently to take action. Display is a small part of the digital planning equation and should only be used for awareness purposes if really required, not sales or customer relations or insights.

LESSON 2: If you're still planning display in isolation and treating 'social media' as separate animal to be used or ignored on a shopping list of 'strategic options' then you're doing it wrong. The internet is inherently social.....so too should be your planning.

3). Facebook/Blogger/Wordpress is your new brand website

Flashturbation is coming to an end, the microsites days are numbered and 'brand' websites are holding pages and nothing more.

So what now? Where do you direct people to talk about your brand, to feed them content and to talk to them?

Easy. Use one of the many platforms available to you for free: Facebook, Blogger or Wordpress.

I've recently run a campaign for an independent film who had already outlayed thousands to build a flashy website which showed their trailer, cast intros and had some wallpapers but there was nowhere for people to interact or talk and share...

Independent films suffer hugely at the box office where the winner is whoever shouts the loudest. The only way to guarantee that people would buy tickets for this film over the big US blockbusters was to create a connection with them prior to the cinema release...

We couldn't do that on the flash site so we built a fanpage. We could share interviews, exclusive video, deleted scenes and generally have a chat with them. We built a real connection with people which resulted in loyal cinema goers who chose us over blockbusters...and it was simply because we made a hub where we could talk to them and be accessible.

This strategy would benefit any brand, not just a small film. Imagine being able to ask a question to 25,000 fans and get immediate responses....no more expensive market research, forget retro-fitting white papers to your consumers, you could have customised insights in minutes.

You also have a ready-to-go database of buyers at your fingertips whenever a new product release is coming up, millions of people already use FB daily so you're not asking too much of them to move to another area within the same site, and, everytime you post to your fan page wall it goes straight into their newsfeed and can get passed to their extended friends network...it's a no-brainer.

This too goes for using Wordpress and Blogger templates which are slightly richer media versions of the fan page. You can creatively customise them to your hearts content, they're free to use and they allow for interaction with readers...we've recently done some other client work where we've built the 'brand site' in a Wordpress template - and it worked a treat!

Lesson 3: Don't spend thousands on a microsite when you could develop richer relationships using a free site template or fan page.

4). Content is currency

Having a fan page or blogger template is fine but it cannot guarantee an audience.
What get's people fanning, reading, sharing and discussing is content.

Everyone knows content is king but what they don't realise is that you need to give them something decent to talk about, they don't care about your latest press ad or a wallpaper.

You need to create a unique content schedule of interesting, entertaining things which should ideally be exclusive to your fans on your fan page or readers on your blog and you need to keep it regular.

On days when I've uploaded video content to a fan page, the fans have gone crazy...
They've commented, passed it to friends (which results in more fans), written wallposts etc..

If you don't have content every single day, don't ignore your page. Even a one sentence status update should be part of your content strategy to keep you accessible and to keep your fans or readers engaged...

Lesson 4: It's all about content, fans won't fan a page which is empty, quiet or boring and people won't read blogs with nothing decent to watch or learn...

5). Social sites are more effective than banner ads

I have been truly amazed by the power of social bookmarking sites such as Digg, Delicous and Stumble Upon and their ability to drive massive traffic volumes to a chosen destination.

My previous learning was that the only was to achieve critical mass and generate awareness was through buying media....oh how wrong I have been.

The numbers you can reach via these bookmarking sites are astounding, and they drive more engaged more qualified traffic than you could ever hope for via media buying.

However, one key thing to remember is that to achieve the numbers of these sites you have to have the right content which goes back to the previous point. To reach the honourboards on these sites it needs to be entertaining and funny or informative and interesting and you won't always get the formula right.

The real way to win in these environments to to have contact with 'influencers' who have trusted accounts and who have large followings....luckily we have great relationships with them which definitely helps.

Lesson 5: Social bookmarking sites are not to be ignored or underestimated. Try them as an alternative to budget-gobbling display buys.


That's it for now but my brain is expanding with new knowledge day by day so i'll be back with more soon!