It got me thinking a lot about how we talk about apps, services and generally what’s next – particularly in digital marketing. It seems to make sense that rather than to continually chase after the latest toy or technology, digital brands and the planners behind them should start first with values. Not unlike a solid strategy leads to the right tactics, or even how form follows function, so too should a digital marketing experience be built on the right values.

Starting with the values – the constants that remain unchanged and resonate in ways that matter most – provides a guiding framework for thinking about what’s next in digital marketing.

Is this a big idea? Maybe. Maybe not, but I like how it changes our thinking. So I thought I’d put together a quick deck on this principle and submit it to the AAAA Transformers Program for consideration.

I think there are others that have done a wonderful job discussing many of these themes as well, including big ideas in what’s next in marketing and branded utilities, but I thought I’d share a couple ideas to the larger conversation in hopes that they add a little extra value.

Feedback would be lovely.

At the heart of the presentation, is a core value that marketing should be doing things with and for people. Isakson explains that this means the future of marketing and advertising should be:

1. Collaborative…like Nike’s ChalkBot
2. Generous…like TOMS
3. Experimental…like BestBuy’s Twelpforce
4. Helpful…like IBM’s Seer
5. Playful…like T-Mobile’s Flash Mob Dance
   
6. Personal…like BK.com
7. Honest…like Amazon’s response to Kindle mistakes
8. Participatory…like MadMen on Twitter

I think it’s evil to persuade kids to start smoking, to cynically manipulate the electoral or political process, to lie to people in ways that cause disastrous side effects. I think it’s evil to sell a patent medicine when an effective one is available. I think it’s evil to come up with new ways to make obesity acceptable so you can make a few more bucks.

… I’ve got a lot of nerve telling you that what you do might be immoral. It’s immoral to rob someone’s house and burn it to the ground, but is it immoral to market them into foreclosure? Well, if marketing works, if it’s worth the time and money, then I don’t think it matters a bit if you’re doing your job. It’s still wrong.

Just like every powerful tool, the impact comes from the craftsman, not the tool… For me, marketing works for society when the marketer and consumer are both aware of what’s happening and are both satisfied with the ultimate outcome.

I think Godin puts it best when he writes: “Just because you can market something doesn’t mean you should.”

Which is true for any profession – not just marketers – there is a responsibility inherent in all that we do, and like the painful lessons we’re learning from Wall Street, simply because something can be done, does not mean it should be done.

While Dichter’s manifesto is inteded for those leading nonprofits, quite frankly, it’s an inspiring message that anyone who wants to sell an idea should read:

There’s this unspoken idea floating around that “fundraisers” can go about their work in a vacuum, having quiet, unimportant conversations with nameless, faceless rich people, while all the while the people who do the real work (the program folks) can go about their business, separate from and unconnected to this conversation.

What a waste.

Don’t you think that creating a tribe5 of connected, engaged, passionate evangelists for your cause will create a positive feedback loop that will amplify the change you hope to see in the world?  It doesn’t matter if that tribe is 300 powerful, smart, wealthy people or 3 million regular folks who believe in you and the change you hope to make.  If they are passionate and engaged and you give them a way to help, you will amplify your impact.

If nothing else, then, we need a new word.  Fundraising is about a transaction – I raise funds from you, you get nothing in return.

I’d rather be an evangelist, a storyteller, an educator, a translator, a table-pounder, a guy on his soap box, a woman with a megaphone, a candidate for change.  I want to talk to as many people as I can about my ideas – whether in person or in newsletters or on Facebook or Twitter or in the Economist or at the TED conference or at Davos – and capture their imagination about the change I hope to see in the world.

Don’t you?

Read the complete post on Dichter’s blog.

Via Seth Godin.

Small Brands Teach Big Lessons
“…They found the more they listened and engaged with their customers — each spends hours each week personally responding to e-mail messages and even don bacon costumes on the road to hand out samples — the more sales they made, the more buzz they generated.”

10 Pieces of Content That Define Today’s Marketing Reality
From Seth Godin to Brian Solis and the Cluetrain Manifesto, Nick Fell catalogs 10 definite ideas for today’s marketing reality.

What Went Into the Updated Pepsi Logo
As much as $1 million or more?

As the Lines Blur, Digital Agencies are Taking the Lead
“Late last year, Forrester completed a study of several interactive agencies. The report’s author, Brian Haven, argued that interactive shops are closer to the consumer, in a better place to mine the rich insights and data available via the web, and in the right place at the right time to capture consumer behavior changes. Because of those things, interactive shops are poised to be the “foundation for all marketing efforts within the next five to 10 years,” he wrote.”

Welcome to the Social World – Shiv SinghWelcome to the Social World

Listening to Jony Ives and Dan Riccio explain the design and manufacturing process is fascinating, and leads to a greater appreciation for the innovation that is at the heart of the Apple brand.

(I’ve embedded the YouTube clip, but watching the video on the Apple site is a better viewing experience.)

Via Daring Fireball

I addressed this topic back in March during the Bear Stearns collapse, but this is clearly a shift in the economy that isn’t going away anytime soon.

So, how do brands and digital marketers adapt for the tanking economy?

“It’s during a recession that a brand should position itself as the leader in its category. It is the best and least expensive time to gain mar­ket share,” said Robb Hecht, digital mar­keting strategist for IMC Strategy Labs. DM News

I’ve compiled a rundown of some of the better posts, resources and ideas I’ve come across on how digital marketers can survive the recession:

Harvard Business Review – “Marketing Your Way Through a Recession”

Marketing Charts – Economy Shrinking 65% of CMO Ad Budgets, Money Shifts toward Digital

PR Squared – Will Social Media Help PR Weather the Storm?

Jeremiah Owyang – Four Social Media Questions You Must Answer During an Economic Downturn

Chris Brogan – 25 Ways Social Media Prepares You for the Downturn

Kyle Lacy – Is Digital Marketing Recession Proof?

Convince and Convert – 5 Reasons Why Digital Marketing will Thrive in the Recession

Influxinsights – Welcome to the New Normality, 10 Potential Manifestations

What else should be added to the list? Have you come across other thoughts and resources?

• Marketing for long term growth
• Creating an evolving collection of coherent brand ideas and experiences over time

In thinking about these traits of modern brand building – focusing on core principles, moving away from campaign tactics to a more committed approach – I see parallels to Greg Verdino’s review of Max Kalehoff’s earlier article this week about social media changes need to come from within an organization … “Max is keenly focused on deep, meaningful transformation of the business rather than surface-level marketing campaigns and tactics.”

Kalehoff writes:

The problem with so many in the advertising community is that the most important, strategic opportunities and liabilities around social media really have nothing to do with outward marketing communications, media or campaigns. Those are bottom-tier tactics.

So what are the real opportunities at this stage of the game? For 99% of companies –small, medium and large — the imperatives lie in deconstructing and rebuilding their cultures and attitudes toward customers and the marketplace. That’s a fundamentally different challenge — and one still sorely lacking viable solutions and services.

He goes on to say that focusing on customer experience, company values, listening, being human and breaking down organizational silos are organizational issues that form a stronger foundation for building a successful brand.

Indeed, for both Isakson and Kalehoff, building the modern day brand begins with commitment to the bedrock ideas and values that matter.

“When Did We Start Trusting Strangers,” surveyed 17,000 web users around the world. From Vanksen Culturebuzz:

The study describes a “new influencer landscape” which is characterized by three significant trends: the rise in social media, the importance of digital friends, and the proliferation of influencer channels. The study also mentions the impact of this phenomenon: an influence economy, the democratization of influence, and the new“super influencer.” Some figures to illustrate the study’s findings:

• 44% of people surveyed have a blog (compared to 28% in 2006) 
• 57.5% have a page on a social network (compared to 27% in 2006) 
• 42% download video clips (compared to 10% in 2006) 
• 34% of users share their opinions about music 
• 55% share their photos online

Internet users do not rely on just the brands to inform themselves. While 69% visit brands’ official websites, 82% prefer to search for information on a search engine or to read people’s comments on personal profiles on social networks like Facebook, for example (55%). Internet users’ preferred method for exchanging information about a product is MSN Messenger (44.5%). E-mail comes in at a close second (42.4%), followed by blogs (30.4%), and social networks (27.6%).

Ultimately, what this means for brands is that they need to participate in the influence economy as well by providng the tools and spaces for facilitating the the crreation experiences consumers want to have.

*Be sure to click to view the presentation in full screen mode for easier reading.

As part of their continuing coverage of Advertising Week 2008, AdWeek has brief, but insightful recap of the first Facebook Spark Series discussions. Money quotes:

• “The definition of a big idea, said Rei Inamoto, co-chief creative officer of AKQA, differs on the medium. “It’s what you do [rather] than what you say that becomes the idea,” he said.”
• “Advertisers have been putting up brand pages on Facebook, but this is a “complete misuse” of the space, according to Richard Ting, vp and ecd, mobile and emerging platforms group at R/GA. He likened that to a billboard set up on the side of a street. What are missing are the elements of utility and entertainment all at once, he said.”