Typical Online Network

In a global study conducted by MTV, Nickelodeon and

Microsoft,f off 18,000 kids from
f 16 countries, it was
revealed that 14-24 year olds have, on average, 53
people they consider to be online friends. These
peoplel ffallll iinto
t varying
i llevels
l off iintimacy,
ti “Ci
“Circuits
it off
Cool”.
6 real-world,
real world, close friends

27 friendly acquaintances

20 online relationships (never met in person)

Sources: New Global Study From MTV, Nickelodeon and Microsoft Challenges Assumptions
about Relationship Between Kids, Youth & digital Technology; PR Newswire. (Click Z,
10/24/2007)
Trend: Broadcasting

As the circle that consumers communicate with broadens and close, real-world friends become a smaller percentage,
communication styles are more attuned to broadcasting status updates and posts rather than conversations and
dialogue.
• On average women have 171 contacts in email, social networking, and cell phone address books
• Moms are really the future of content creation. They have an insatiable appetite to create and share content —
posting
p g more than twice the average
g U.S. adult, whether p
publishing,
g maintainingg or updating
p g a blog
g or Web
page*

Increasingly, the majority of content generated is a couple sentence response to the question – “What are you
doing?” This trend becomes clear when examining shifting online behavior through the growth of short-format
participation channels that are increasingly preferred by consumers.
• Proliferation of social networks and blogs vs. email
• Mobile’s increasing role
• Twitter’s booming popularity

*Source: Debbie Solomon, managing director, Business Planning of Mindshare (Click Z,

November 3rd, 2008)
 Trend:
B d d Utilit
Branded Utility
Prepared by Tribal DDB

Re-thinking
Re thinking your
“offering”
 What is it?
It’s an approach
“We’ve got to stop interrupting what people are interested in
and be what people are interested in”
– Axel Chaldecott, JWT
It’s a dialogue
“Where
Where the brand creates a commitment to a relationship
relationship. Its
where the brand creates something useful to you, something
that’s a utility in your life. The consumer will feel more confident
with the relationship if the brand will continue to be part of your
life.”
- Benjamin
B j i P Palmer,
l B
Barbarian
b i G Group
It’s valuable
“It will deliver profitability in a long-term, sustainable way as the
strategy and the action that comes from it will earn loyalty, respect
andd a genuine i lik
like ffor th
the b
brand.”
d”
– Johnny Vulkan, Anomaly
It’s necessary
“Interactive media give people ever-more powerful tools to control
th i media
their di consumption…in
ti i order
d tto persuade
d people
l tto llett [[ads]
d ]
through their filters, it needs to become more useful, to perform a
service .”
– Michael Nutley, New Media Age UK
Branded
B d d Utilit
Utility is
i about
b td defining
fi i our b brand
d beyond
b d the
th product
d t that
th t we
manufacture and translating our intangible propositions (expertise and
resources) to build interesting, and valued services and experiences for
our consumers
consumers. It is re-defining
re defining our offering and the way in which we
approach our marketing.

Utility is about being genuinely useful, interactive, helpful, interesting,

and relational.
• The low cost of making digital stuff means that brands can offer all sorts of gifts
and
d services
i tto th
their
i customer
t th
thatt enhance
h th
thatt b
brand,
d iimprove th
the product/service
d t/ i
and provide new news.
How Digital is Re-defining a Historic Trend

Tomorrow…
The idea of utility has a long history including cereal boxes with educational information on the back
and prizes inside, the Aga cookbook series, and the Michelin Restaurant guide launched in 1900. But
digital technology and consumer online behavior has created a host of new examples:

• Consumer Behavior
» 25% and 35% of US homes have DVR and Video on Demand respectively
» 60 million apps were downloaded from the Apple Apps Store in its first month (there is currently 35,000 apps
available)
» Of 42 million women surveyed, 45% decided to purchase an item after reading about it on a blog
» 93% of social media users believe a company should have a presence in social media
» 85% of social media users believe that a company should go further than just having a presence on social sites
and should also interact
• Brand Results
» CNN Breaking
B ki News
N is
i the
th number
b one twitter
t itt user and d has
h 670,000
670 000 Twitter
T itt followers
f ll
» Dell has made $3million using Twitter by offering exclusive deals and information
» Some additional case studies include…
What to do next?

Begin
g thinking
g differently
y and re-defining
g yyour brand
• Think of the expertise inherent in your work and brand experience as well as the assets and
partnerships at your disposal. How would these be useful or valuable to the consumer in addition
to your current offering?
• How could you make this an interactive experience for the consumer and build a dialogue when
sharing these services?

Understand the value of this kind of thinking

g
• It’s profitable, because people pay you money for the value you create
• It’s sustainable, because if it continues being useful, people will continue to pay you money
• It’s a good way of generating social media (or ‘word of mouth’, as it has been known for
centuries)
t i )
• It sidesteps all the discussions about ad avoidance and media fragmentation, because people
want to hear about your products