Periscope and Meerkat lead the way on creating a new kind of shared experience

"What if you could see through the eyes of a protester in Ukraine? Or watch the sunrise from a hot-air balloon in Cappadocia? It may sound crazy, but we wanted to build the closest thing to teleportation."

Rather poetically (and much quoted), this is how new live video streaming app provider Periscope describe their service - one of two new high profile launches of live video streaming apps with the other being Meerkat.

This is not a new market, apps such as LiveStream and UStream have been around for a while.  However, with increasing 4G coverage and investment from the likes of Twitter (they recently purchased Periscope for just under $100m 2 weeks after it launched), this sector is hotting up as the next big thing.

Meerkat founder Ben Rubin describes the trend as "spontaneous togetherness” and this to me is the most interesting aspect of it.

In a media world where everything is available at the touch of a button; TV can be paused and rewound; films are available on demand (and sometimes before they're even in the cinema); the “magic” of TV has been lost.  That shared experience we used to have when a new TV show aired is increasingly becoming extinct.  With so much choice, technology and platforms, people are watching it at different times or even not watching it at all.

Indeed, if you’re in the Millennial Generation, there’s a good chance you never even tuned in.  

Something that hasn’t really made the headlines, is that in 2015 there has been a double digit decline in traditional TV viewing for millennials (18-34).  This has been happening since 2012 with a fall of around 4 percent year on year.  However at the end of 2014 this fell an amazing 10.6 percent.  Overall this has translated as almost 20% fewer young adults watching traditional TV than 4 years ago.

Alan Wurtzel, NBCUniversal’s audience research chief is quoted as saying:-

“The change in behavior is stunning. The use of streaming and smartphones just year-on-year is double-digit increases […] I’ve never seen that kind of change in behavior.”

This doesn’t mean of course that they’re not watching video content, it’s just not the content that the media industry wants them to watch.  Instead, they are reportedly watching 11.3 hours of “free” online video per week and interestingly the major ways young people are selecting online content to watch is based firstly on content that has been viewed/liked by a lot of people (59%) and secondly content that was sent by “someone I respect” (58%).  

So no surprise - peoples viewing habits are now more likely to be influenced by their personal social network.

This is where both Periscope of Meerkat have a distinct advantage.  They both tie into twitter as a means of making people aware of live broadcasts and given that tweets are heavily influenced by the people you’ve chosen to follow, these broadcasts are more likely to be relevant to the viewers.

But it goes further than this.  These are not static video feeds like you see on Youtube, instead the audience is positively encouraged to participate, to help direct the production.  

In an article on the Verge they reported that "In their early tests [of Meerkat], they found something delightful in the interactions between the broadcaster and their audience: the audience always wound up helping direct the broadcast with their comments, to the general enjoyment of everyone involved”… and this is where the “spontaneous togetherness” comes in.

There is something powerful about being in the moment; this ephemeral experience which can only happen at that time, which places you at the centre of the action, allows you to take part and which happens within your social network - this could be a truly compelling mix.

Having played with Periscope, it’s funny how much it differs from a traditional pre-recorded video stream.  Even when the vloggers have created tailored content for their audience and speak to them like a personal friend, its still not as compelling as actually being in the moment.

It’s like we’ve gone back to that shared experience, but at a hyper relevant level.

So whats the implications for loyalty marketing?  Well I’ve no doubt that marketers generally will find ways to create “brand engagement” and “brand experiences” through live videos - whether product launches, celebrity moments or just regular brand ambassadors creating content to watch and interact with.

What I think will be interesting though is if that personal connection - that in the moment experience - becomes as common place as the Facebook wall-post or the Tweet.  If that happens, people are going to have greater expectations of their interactions, whether personal or business.  Imagine what online banking looks like through live video streaming or being able to access customer service at your online retailer through video.

In fact, stop imagining it as that’s what Amazon has already done with it’s Mayday button on the Kindle Fire, launched in late 2013.

Described by CEO Jeff Bezos as “the greatest feature we’ve ever made”, they may truly have hit on something at the beginning of a new trend.  As consumers are conditioned by apps like Periscope and Meerkat to want “real” connections, you can imagine them increasingly seeking out brands that provide a similar experience.

Amazon is reportedly fielding 75% of questions from Kindle Fire customers through Mayday with questions ranging from how to beat a level on Angry Birds to singing Happy Birthday to a new Kindle Fire owner.

Loyalty is all about customer experience and it would seem that what Periscope, Meerkat (and Amazon) are showing is that a new kind of customer experience can be created.  One centred around real moments of truth in real time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You and Yours (3 key loyalty trends for 2012)

At this time of year, thoughts tend to be about you and yours. This however may be a continuing theme going into 2012 as I think loyalty marketing is going to become a lot more interested in "you".

This is more than just mass personalisation or segmented communications. I believe 2012 will be about individual engagement and empowerment as consumers provide more and more data, expecting increased control over it and better experiences being delivered because it.

You (and your data)

Back in 2006, Time Magazine named the Person of the Year as "You". Pointing out the cultural shift that social media had begun to bring, they recognised that it was democratising communications, with people sharing with each other and big institutions and governments beginning to lose control. They described it as:-

"[The] founding and framing [of] the new digital democracy. It's [..] about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before [..] about the many wresting power from the few."

It's unbelievable to think that this was 5 years ago now and Facebook was just starting out and MySpace was king. Whilst the tools we use may have changed, the pace itself hasn't. Social media has indeed wrestled power from the few leading to Time Magazine nominating the Person of the Year in 2011 as "The Protester". Highlighting the role of social media in showing injustice and gathering support they said:-

"One of the unequivocal generational virtues of these movements has been their use of the Internet and social media."

It's not just in politics that we're seeing this democratisation however. Consumers are also gaining more and more power with the UK government for example recently announcing that they plan to give consumers more control over their data by releasing it back to them. In describing this they say:-

"[It] will give consumers increasing access to their personal data in a portable, electronic format. [..] Individuals will then be able to use this data to gain insights into their own behaviour, make more informed choices about products and services, and manage their lives more efficiently."

Outside of government, some of the biggest collectors of personal data are loyalty programmes and so I'd fully expect them to begin taking part in these kinds of initiatives, allowing members to use their data to better understand their buying habits, but also to unlock more relevant offers and promotions on their terms. Indeed, many of the companies signing up to the UK midata initiative are companies with their own loyalty programmes. Generically termed VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) or PIDM (Personal Identity Management), I think 2012 will be the year when we start to see this trend gaining ground.

Your Behaviours

Increasingly, as you carry out an activity you leave a trail of bread-crumbs which others can use to follow you. Whether its location information that your smart-phone tracks, items you view but don't purchase or the TV programmes you watch (and then discuss on Twitter), all of this information is out there waiting to be collected and used.

This data is providing insight into previously hidden behaviours. Bricks and mortar retailers will start to get the same visibility as that enjoyed by online retailers, seeing those customers who have visited, but not bought or which items they viewed before purchasing. TV advertisers will have more visibility of which adverts were seen by which individual customers, allowing them to create a true ROI from awareness to purchase.

This is all being made possible by a combination of smart-phone/tablet penetration, innovative new apps and an established social graph. Using tools like twitter and Facebook as identity management, companies can collect together and refine this raw information from apparently disparate sources.

People are already using twitter for example to comment in real-time on TV programmes and this experience is being enhanced through new applications like Zeebox in the UK and IntoNow from Yahoo in the US. Zeebox co-founder Ernesto Schmitt says:-

The emergence of net-connected TVs; the mass proliferation of companion devices like smartphones, laptops and tablets; and people's expectations that entertainment will be socially connected felt like a perfect storm. The time was right to revolutionise TV

Increasingly using "fingerprinting" technology, these applications can automatically detect what TV programmes you're watching and any associated advertising. Linking this to your loyalty purchase transactions is simply the obvious next step and something i'd expect to see appearing in loyalty programmes in 2012.

Your Experiences

Apple changed the face of electronics retail. By combining great looking products with a great in-store experience they managed to make the electrical stores more of a destination than a retail outlet. Others have quickly followed, most notably Dixons in the UK with their pilot store Dixons Black in Birmingham. As offline retail increasingly struggles against online, especially where the products are more commodatised like in electrical, then the focus is shifting to the in-store experience. Using a combination of knowledgeable staff and well presented products, retailers are fighting back.

As retail expert Clare Rayner of Retail Acumen says:-

When you don’t offer anything special then the only thing you can do is compete on price… and that’s a downward spiral where the retailer with the deepest pockets to “buy their customers” is going to be the winner.

Retailers like Apple, Dixons, Game and Disney are starting to offer something special to turn the shopping experience from a physical one to an experiential one.

Apple do more however. They have turned the purchase process into a relationship. Making the stores also a centre for servicing and support through the "Genius Bar" as well as running seminars and training, they actually want customers to return. Whilst this isn't a loyalty programme in the traditional sense, i think it indicates how retail loyalty is changing. It can't simply be something stuck onto the side of the retail process and instead needs to be deeply embedded into the experience.

Expect to see more retailers upping the experience in-store and needing their loyalty programmes to help both support and drive this.

Conclusion

As these 3 key trends converge we're going to see a blurring of the lines between online and offline retail, with consumers having a more tailored and personalised in-store experience and with retailers gaining a better understanding of (and ability to influence) the end to end purchase process for each individual customer. Loyalty programmes play a key and central role in all of this as a means of proactively gathering consumer data in an opted-in manner and allowing appropriate reward and recognition to be given back.

This will result in "you and yours" - your data, your behaviours, your friends, your experiences - being a central theme for 2012.

I probably say this every year, but 2012 is going to be an exciting time in loyalty marketing!

Image credit:♫muxu's photostream

Lean Forward Loyalty

Just a few years ago the world was a very passive place.

You could sit and watch television – no fast forwarding of the ads! You could go about your day seeing billboards or press ads – noticing them all but not being required to do anything.

Even in the early days of the internet the web was essentially a passive experience - you could browse websites, maybe even dabble in a little e-commerce, but it really was an undemanding experience. Broadband speeds have reflected this expectation with the download speed typically 4 times as quick as the upload speed – they really weren't expecting you to give information, simply to consume it.

Not any more. The world has changed.

Passive doesn't cut it anymore – everything must be active. It comes in all forms, whether its social networking, instant messenger, twitter, mobile internet, mini-web or any other technology, they all want you to do something – to interact. It's now not good enough to simply watch television – you need to interact with the telly – pressing the red button for more information, back stage interviews or re-runs of the weather.

Steve Jobs told MacWorld in 2004 "We don't think that televisions and personal computers are going to merge. We think basically you watch television to turn your brain off, and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on". He may still be right to some degree about the TV and computer actually merging – but what has certainly merged is the activity of people using the TV and computer at the same time. People are in essence making the passive active.

This change has been called "Lean Forward" media, contrasting the passive nature of "lean back" media which didn't really require much from you other than sitting in a chair.

However, it's no coincidence that the top 3 website are lean forward experiences – sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter – people like to interact, to integrate and interrogate. As technology allows this more and more then people will take advantage of it in ever greater numbers.

This has implications though for brands.

As consumers increasingly expect a lean forward experience they will expect brands to lead the way. It's not unusual within customer services to have service levels of answering a call in 3 rings, but answering an email in 24 hours – if you even get a response!

To the lean forward generation 24 hours is an eternity.

If a consumer can interact via their many channels (and it's not unusual to find me on email, Skype, twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn within a single hour), you can bet that the longer you take to answer a query the more time they'll have to spread their dissatisfaction.

Lean Forward media works both ways – it provides an active and open channel to both create positive engagement and to fuel negative reaction. Only last week we found a negative tweet about a loyalty programme which linked to a negative blog which had been written 6 weeks ago. Who was checking the blogs for feedback? Who was checking twitter for comments?

It begs the question…. Are you listening?

If you don't make it easy for consumers to talk to you on the channels they want to use, they will simply use those channels to talk to your customers.

The great thing about this shift to Lean Forward media though is that it also provides brands with ways of creating increased engagement and building stronger relationships.

Building relationships and engagement is typically the role of a loyalty programme, but this has previously been a passive experience – apart from the initial enrolment, the interaction tended to centre around a semi-regular statement and an occasionally card swipe. If you were lucky, the really "clever" programmes might notice when you stopped transacting and ping you a DM piece to re-activate you.

Things have moved on.

Programmes now need to engage customers today and continue to engage them tomorrow. Operators are beginning to integrate Lean Forward concepts like social media, allowing feedback between customers to exchange views or rate partners and rewards. The butter company Lurpak has a site entitled "In search of good food" which allows consumers to interact around all things food in the context of the brand. This isn't another "me to" corporate site – pumping out product listings and CSR policies. It's an attempt to create an interaction between their customers and potential customers – facilitated by the brand.

Brands also realise they need to create a buzz, a reason to discuss and interact. Walkers Crisps have been doing this very successfully over the last year or so. Beginning with their Brit Trips promotion which created an opportunity for customers to register, log on-pack codes and redeem for days out. They then seamlessly moved on to their "Do us a flavour" promotion which asked customers to interact online to recommend new flavours - with the winner getting a percentage of any subsequent sales. Moving the interaction from online to offline they have gone on to manufacture the 6 finalist flavours which you can now buy in-store. Back from offline to online you can vote for your favourite flavour – via mobile web, SMS, web, Facebook or email – almost all the channels covered!

This Lean Forward approach to loyalty sets apart the active brands from the passive.

At Carlson Marketing we are wrapping the interactivity of lean forward media into the longevity of loyalty marketing - allowing brands to start creating truly engaging and exciting programmes – essentially creating Lean Forward Loyalty.

twitter - The Swiss army knife of relationship marketing?

I'm increasingly amazed how quickly new technologies are becoming household names - in years past when I used to use Compuserve (remember that?) and ICQ, you'd never have seen them on the mainstream news, yet in recent years you can't move for updates on new online services.

Last year it was all about Facebook with news channels seeming to talk about it every other week – for 2009 however it has to be twitter - mainly driven by the antics of Stephen Fry (locked in a lift) and Jonathan Ross who are both avid tweeters and have made the service a household name. It is now starting to break out of the smaller eco-systems it has occupied and is becoming mainstream in a big way. DMNews points out that this time last year twitter was ranked at number 22 in terms of monthly web visits – it's now number 3 behind Facebook and Myspace and has just secured $35m in VC funding in the middle of one of the worst recessions.

People will have different opinions about what makes twitter great (or even be thinking "I don't get it") but I reckon the best thing about twitter is that with a maximum of 140 characters you're limited to short messages that are typically about the present – what you're doing right at this moment. You can't sit there and think about your tweet, planning the message you want to get across – its all about being open and telling it like it is – whether it's a status update, a comment on events or a rant, twitter allows you to get it off your chest - immediately.

People seem to tweet about anything and everything, with brands inevitably popping up in people's posts as well. In a recent article on Marketing Pilgrim the question was asked as to why Coca-Cola wasn't on twitter given that their brand pops up in tweets over 1000 times per day.

This got me thinking that FMCG brands like Coca-Cola do have one thing in common with tweets – and that is that the thought process for both is in the here and now – it's all about the present. People don't sit there and think about which brands they are going to buy – at best a customer will be considering categories – I need bread, milk, beer, pizza (you can see why my wife does the shopping) – but very rarely will a brand be strong enough that customers will consider it upfront. For brands the purchase decision is typically instant and emotional – when a customer is browsing a category they will pickup the brand they automatically recognise / is positioned in line of sight / is on special offer (tick all that apply).

The customer won't then give the brand a second thought until the time of consumption which may be days or even weeks later.

If you're a brand manager, you'll know this and so will be doing your best to make sure consumers are aware of and reminded of your product in the hope that when a customer does think about a purchase, your brand will benefit. Building loyalty to a brand though is all about building brand equity and isn't simply brand awareness – Woolworths was a well known brand, yet it still failed. Brand equity is about what consumers feel about a brand – consumers have to understand what it stands for, what it delivers and what makes it better than a competitor brand. If these messages aren't clear then there is no reason for continued loyalty (or initial purchase).

To make matters worse, what is important to consumers today can change over time as their tastes change, their budgets change and competitor products/communications change.

Many brands have no direct relationship with consumers and can sometimes be the last to know of these changes – seeing it first in their bottom line. In an ideal scenario brands would have a relationship with their customers, allowing easy, free flowing dialogue which enables them to understand issues a customer is having and to communicate what makes the brand special. Customer care-lines and websites have helped to open up brands to consumers, but these aren't really available when customers are thinking about a brand – either at point of purchase or consumption. What is a required is a means for consumers to feedback when they want to and when it's relevant – instantly - being able to update a brand on their thoughts – good or bad – or even to rant and to be updated when they want on their terms.

Using that most pervasive of technologies – the mobile phone – seems to be key to this, but services like SMS just don't appear to deliver.

This it seems to me is where twitter really comes into its own. Unlike SMS, twitter isn't charged per message so I'm not thinking "how much is this going to cost me", nor is it such as personal relationship – I'm fine with being a "friend" of Skittles on MySpace or Bebo but there is no way they are getting into my mobile address book.

Opt-in rates for SMS are also typically very low for brands and though this is in part due to perceived costs it is also due to the "interruptive" nature of SMS – when a message arrives I'll look it at almost immediately, but if it's not relevant you'll be sent "STOP" two seconds later. Twitter manages to solve these many issues, combining the immediacy (and increasingly availability via mobile), the "free" cost (normally hidden within overall data allowances) whilst supporting loosely coupled relationships and on-demand consumption.

Could this be the perfect communications channel? - Some brands seem to think so.

In the Telegraph it was reported that Tesco owned US brand Fresh & Easy was using twitter to inform customers and potential customers of special offers and new store openings. However, much more impressive I felt was its use of twitter to build direct dialogue. In one such exchange, a customer is reported as complaining about "sparse stock levels" in his local store, only to receive a reply highlighting "that levels tend to be a bit low at the end of the year due to shipping schedules". Now I know this won't help me with the question "where the heck are the pickled onions" when I'm in store, but answers (or simply acknowledgement) to questions like "why have you stopped stocking Silverspoon Sugar" - a personal gripe of mine last year – would be great.

So it seems to me that twitter offers brands that most elusive of things – a direct two-way relationship with consumers (see previous article of the value of customer feedback).

However I feel it could also offer so much more – the tracking of customer value.

Having followers is one thing and brands like Innocent are renowned for their blogs, newsletters and surprise and delight gifts at Christmas. The issue is a follower doesn't necessarily translate into a customer – sure it helps - but it doesn't tell you how often someone is purchasing your product, or even if they are purchasing it at all. To get this kind of insight many brands choose to run some kind of loyalty scheme or frequency marketing programme so they can get to know their customers – or at least some of them.

More recently many of the programmes I have worked on have been run using unique on-pack codes making the process more immediate though online entry – codes (and more importantly interest) are captured from the first product rather than waiting for someone to stick 20 coupons onto a form and mail it back 10 weeks later! Given that typically 1 customer redeeming can represent 50 customers who started collecting – getting to know the customer upfront can be very valuable for those brands wanting an ongoing dialogue – why talk to 10,000 redeemers when you can talk to 500,000 registrants.

Whilst on-pack collection schemes can work well for products consumed in-home as the label or packaging can be retained to be captured online later, for out of home consumption this can still prove challenging - I really don't want to have to keep an empty bottle and crisp packet (or two) in my pocket for the whole day.

Brands have tried to solve this issue by allowing customers to SMS codes in - think Coke Zone or Budbucks - however it can still be problematic for both sides. For the customer they're not sure of the cost and whether they will then be bombarded with ongoing marketing – for the brand the cost is typically absorbed so each SMS eats into margin which could have been used to reward the customer.

I really think twitter seems to provide an answer here to.

Allowing me to "tweet" my on-pack code means I'm not worried about the cost (and neither is the brand) and it removes concerns about ongoing marketing - I can read it when I want and if you send me stuff I don't want I can simply block it. Not only that but it also has the potential to provide a wider dialogue as messages not sent directly will be seen by all my followers - (@brandname 56G4K62KFIG4V) - letting all my friends and acquaintances know about my purchase (and potentially my Budweiser habit)

I've no doubt revenue models will change with twitter in the future as investors look to get some kind of return, but right now twitter is looking like the Swiss army knife of relationship marketing - providing a means for promoting offers, receiving direct response feedback, building relationships and tracking purchases.

Given the current cash-strapped climate and the phenomenal growth twitter is seeing, I think any marketer would be mad not to be looking at the benefits twitter can offer today.

PS. If you're still trying to get your head around Facebook – go check out the twitter help for a crash course

Social Currency Marketing

What do erotic balloon animals and dancing commuters have in common?

They have both been used by brands to provide a social currency which can be exchanged for consumer attention.

As more and more information is created, we struggle to consume it and so give it less and less attention. Simon Herbert first talked of this issue in 1971 when he stated that "a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention". It's ironic though that with all the demands on what is essentially a scarce resource – our attention – we choose to become ever closer and more connected by streaming information on each other through tools like Twitter or Facebook.

But is this really so surprising? As we are increasingly bombarded by external media with its demands on our time and attention aren't we simply forming a virtual "circle of wagons" – huddling together with those we trust (or would like to trust) to present a united front against the wider world.

This does though create a challenging opportunity for information providers - they might have to fight harder for the attention of consumers in the first place, but once they get it from a small number then it can spread like wild fire through the most effective peer-to-peer word of mouth "recommendation" in a matter of minutes. Using this blog as an example, I saw a 700% increase in visits in just one day when one of my articles got linked to someone's status update within twitter - much of that coming within just a couple of hours. And I wasn't even trying.

For a brand that is trying to find ways of breaking into these ever tighter virtual communities a commodity exchange is required that takes them from external threat (or worse still, a nonentity!) to a trusted (or at least accepted) insider. Continuing the analogy of the early pioneers, brands are finding things to trade. And where in the late 1700's it was mirrors, nails and buttons – in the 21st century the shiny objects are access, entertainment and kudos – creating essentially a social currency.

Looking at the recent viral campaign from Durex it's clear to see how this provided a valuable exchange – the video is extremely funny, and for those finding it first and forwarding it on to their friends, there's an element of kudos.

Durex have created an item to trade with potential and existing consumers which gives them access to a viral community and to a share of that most scarce resource – attention. In getting that attention they will have generated unexpected awareness and doubtless approval, as well as reminding people of a brand which of late may have been seen as less relevant than its competitors.

Mobile telco brands have really embraced this. In the UK, T-Mobile recently created an advert set in Liverpool Street railway station, with dancers mixed amongst the commuters who suddenly start dancing. This really captured the imagination of those who were there - sharing the event via their mobile and the video itself being posted to YouTube and receiving over 1.3m hits. With the strap line "Life's for Sharing" its clear they are trying to capture a share of consumers attention with something that can be talked about and traded.

The issue with these types of campaign is that although it breaks into the consumers consciousness, it is very quickly replaced by the next 'cool thing'. By its very nature it's difficult to maintain this kind of awareness through viral activity as the nature of this kind of interaction is that it is always looking for the next new thing, the next cool thing. Repetition is impossible – it's unremarkable – it's 'has-been', or worse still 'me-too' if you're the competitor brand.

Another way of gaining access to these hard to reach consumers is to not try and break in at all but instead to become part of their everyday life. Looking at another mobile operator O2, they have done this through their £6m per year rebranding of the Millennium Dome in the UK to the O2. This has allowed them to provide "access" for its customers such as priority booking for shows – allowing bookings 48 hours before non O2 customers - as well as bringing exclusive entertainment to their phones. They back this activity up with the ability to gain 4 free SIMS, allowing customers to introduce and share O2 with their friends.

With the Orange Wednesday promotion in the UK which provides 2 for 1 cinema tickets every Wednesday for Orange customers, this mobile telco operator has found an innovative way to really become part of their customer's everyday life whilst ensuring that their friends are introduced to the brand as well – providing a social currency through free films. This connection between their customer and their social network really does tie into everything they do, from the inclusion of free Facebook within their Dolphin package to the recent rebranding of Orange around the "I am" theme which focuses on how peoples social connections make up all that they are.

It's clear that brands are increasingly understanding that in the fight for a consumers attention they need to think not just about the consumer themselves, but all of the people they interact with and need to provide some form of social currency which can be traded in exchange for attention – whether this is erotic balloon animals, dancing commuters or free films.

As the recent Orange campaign says "I am who I am because of everyone".