SPECIAL REPORTS

Real-Time maRkeTing
2011

real-time / index /

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inDeX /

real-time marketing /
chapters 01 / intro 02 / practical 03 / benign 04 / newsjacking 05 / watercooler 06 / campaigns 07 / business 08 / conclusion

01 / pages 03 - 05

05 / pages 18 - 22

introDuction /
02 / pages 06 - 10

the real-time watercooler /

06 / pages 23 - 26

practicalities /
03 / pages 11 - 13

DriVing campaigns /
07 / pages 27 - 29

benign big brother /

04 / pages 14 - 17

DriVing business /
08 / pages 30 - 32

newsjacking /

conclusion / a pause for thought /

real-time / introduction /

p.03

01 / pages 03 - 04

introDuction /
chapters 01 / intro 02 / practical 03 / benign 04 / newsjacking 05 / watercooler 06 / campaigns 07 / business 08 / conclusion

From branding to business processes, real-time media can offer opportunities for start-ups, SMEs and multinationals alike
A famous test conducted on the London Underground system found that if a train grinds to a halt on the tracks, aggression and dissatisfaction levels amongst passengers on board can be lowered considerably if an announcement is made within the first 30 seconds of the delay. Any longer than that, with no information, no communication, and no idea how long the wait might be, heart rates start to rise and tempers start to fray. The 30-second rule is even true for much longer delays. For example: if the driver made an announcement within the first 30 seconds and then made you wait for ten minutes, youd take the inconvenience a lot better than you would a wait of three minutes with no information at all. A neat example of the power of real-time communication to manage consumer behaviour, this shows that a speedy and timely response to a problem can be worth any number of carefully crafted marketing messages. As a result, the unpredictable primordial soup caused by a million voices talking all at once holds a unique appeal for contemporary brands. According to Mark Earls, author of Herd: How to Change Mass Behaviour by Harnessing our True Nature, it represents a chance to be part of the culture in which you and your customers swim as opposed to being a big corporation: sharing and supporting their issues, concerns and worldview rather than just being a business that sits on the sidelines and seeks merely to exploit them, cynically and economically.

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chapters 01 / intro 02 / practical 03 / benign 04 / newsjacking 05 / watercooler 06 / campaigns 07 / business 08 / conclusion

Real-time is about more than just Twitter, although the 200 million-strong poster child for the movement has refined of-the-moment information exchange to a dazzling art form. Live video streams, Facebook competitions, digital response mechanics in retail and even the unexpected runaway success that is BlackBerry Messenger are all examples of real-time in action. And, as with all new forms of communication, real-time media has its refuseniks. Put it this way: if, as a brand manager, the internet scares you, Twitter is the stuff of nightmares. Hardly a day goes by without a well-intentioned brand, agency or hapless employee accidentally using the wrong account to send out drunken party snaps to an audience of thousands; attempting sarcasm or humour to the sound of no hands clapping; or insulting a client whilst forgetting the cardinal rule of online communication - namely that people can see you. At the other end of the scale, there are the new kids on the block the start-ups young enough to have integrated real-time media into their product offerings from the beginning. Its tempting to believe that if your company didnt come of age in the real-time media era, the act of retrofitting structures and process to take it into account is an impossibility. In truth, theres an application of the technology to suit every brand. Theres real-time advertising, leveraging the potential of web streaming or a Twitter conversation to

create buzz and hopefully a few more fans; or real-time branding, in which daily communication with your audience becomes as much a part of the brand as the product itself. Real-time customer service is becoming an essential for those markets in which Twitter sees particularly high concentration, and will no doubt continue to be so as mobile penetration shoots through the roof of the worlds emerging markets. For the extremely committed, there is real-time business, in which the ebbs and flows of a thousand conversations are put to work everywhere from the shop floor to the factory. Real-time marketing is subject to the same hand-wringing that has accompanied every technological development since someone first figured out how to sell a banner ad. Whose job is it? If the agency, how do we charge for it? If the client, how do we train for it? How can we lean into the frame of popular culture to appear relevant? How do we create one-on-one conversations with consumers? What do we do with those connections when we have them? What do we do when it goes wrong? What do we do when it goes right? Why should we bother? Isnt it easier to just buy a bunch of media space? To the last, the answer is an undoubted yes. It IS easier to buy a bunch of media space, and for some brands, this will continue to be a straightforward and successful way to raise the bottom line. And, while hard metrics which relate to the effectiveness of

real-time marketing remain, for the moment, elusive, its easy to see how this might be a tempting option. When you consider the loyalty created by every swiftly resolved customer problem; the excitement generated by an audience watching events occurring at that very second; and the financial ramifications of a business process accurately sensitive to the tiniest fluctuations; the power and potential of real-time media becomes hard to ignore. In this report, we feature case studies from all over the globe showing how real-time can help meet short-term, tactical brand objectives as well as, over the long-term, how it can feed into business processes. We also explore some of the practicalities that must be considered before brands embark on real-time activity, and offer a few pointers on getting started.

real-time / the real-tme watercooler /

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05 / pages 18 - 22

the real-time watercooler /

chapters 01 / intro 02 / practical 03 / benign 04 / newsjacking 05 / watercooler 06 / campaigns 07 / business 08 / conclusion

Real-time channels such as Twitter amplify buzz around events and content, driving conversations around live entertainment as people seek to socialise as they watch, and closing the loop between mass media viewing and one-to-one conversations.
Television in particular is feeling the benefit of real-time social media, as TV downtime becomes an opportunity for people to socialise online around their favourite shows, and enhance their viewing with streams of live content through their phones and PCs. Rather than gathering in the kitchen or office to discuss must-see programmes after they have aired, users are now sharing comments with friends via social networks as the show is broadcast - the real-time watercooler. According to UK television marketing body Thinkboxs Tellyporting research into the UKs digitally-enabled population, 44% have used social networks such as Facebook and Twitter while watching TV. Amongst younger audiences this figure is higher still, with a March 2011 report from UK digital agency Digital Clarity finding that 72% of mobile internet users aged under-25 have used Twitter, Facebook or a mobile app to talk about a show with friends. As far back as Barack Obamas 2009 inauguration, real-time comments showed the power of social TV. A link up streaming CNN coverage of the inauguration through Facebook led to 136 million page views, 21.3 million live streams and 4,000 status updates per minute of the broadcast.

illustration: loulou & tummie / www.loulouandtummie.com

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creDits /
chapters 01 / intro 02 / practical 03 / benign 04 / newsjacking 05 / watercooler 06 / campaigns 07 / business 08 / conclusion

CONTAGIOUS INSIDER / Consultancy & Trend Briefings

Contagious Editorial Director Paul Kemp-Robertson Edited by Georgia Malden Written by Contagious Insider Katrina Dodd, Jess Greenwood, Nick Parish, Will Sansom, Dan Southern Additional writing and research by Lucy Aitken, Greg Copeland, Emily Hare, Alex Jenkins, Robin Leeburn, Fiona McKenzie, Ed White Contributor Tim Callington, Edelman Digital, London / www.edelman.co.uk Cover image Litago, Let the Cows Decide, courtesy DIST creative, Oslo Illustrations Jon McGhee, VCCP / www.vccp.com Loulou & Tummie / www.loulouandtummie.com Bertrand Masson Design FLOK Berlin / www.flokline.com Production Smita Mistry

Contagious Communications Dunstan House 14a St Cross St London, EC1N 8XA T: +44 (0) 20 3206 9250 www.contagiousmagazine.com Contagious Communications is an intelligence service focusing on future-facing marketing ideas and emerging technologies across a diverse range of media channels and product categories. It is a limited company registered in England, registered number 6183878. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means stored in any information storage or retrieval system without the publishers written permission. Where source material has been reproduced the copy-right remains the property of the copyright owner and material may not be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the owners prior consent. Published May 2011

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