Tag Archives: Engagement

Augmenting Esquire

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The December issue of US Esquire sold itself as the Augmented Reality Issue. This means you can hold up certain pages that contain a special barcode in front of a computer with a webcam, which has a specific piece of software installed and are shown images, videos and audio that relate to the page you’re on. It’s really good fun!

Benjamin Palmer from Barbarian Group who put the augmented reality application together comments that.

What we’re trying to do is create something that isn’t just about showing off the technology, but actually adds to the story.

Benjamin Palmer, 2009

And it does, it’s the best issue of US Esquire I’ve ever read, actually it’s the only issue of US Esquire I’ve ever read, but isn’t that the point. Being brave and taking a risk can put you back on the map for readers and advertisers. That’s always a good thing.

This issue of US Esquire is engaging, exciting, inspirational and makes you feel intimately involved with the magazine (look I’m in the background!). If that’s not good for brand building then I don’t know what is.

Although it’s fun and I’d love to make something with this technology it’s really just a publicity stunt, but there’s nothing wrong with that. I hope it gave US Esquire a sales boost and I hope they are back on the map for some readers who might have lost interest in their brand.

Trying something new like this is brilliant for the industry and Esquire should be congratulated for giving it a go and hopefully inspiring others to take similar risks. Because sometimes, as in this case, they pay off!

Touch Points

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To re-engage an audience with branded publications we need to provide multiple touch points. This will us help us build a relationship with and recognise the importance of our audience, which will in turn reinforce the value our brands lend to the content they provide.

As publishers instead of thinking ‘what do we need?’ we should be thinking ‘what do our audience need?’ David Cushman recently wrote in his insightful post 2020 vision that “By 2020 a person’s worth will be valued by what they share, not what they keep.” If this is how we are to be valued as individuals it should also be how we are valued as publishers.

We need to serve our audience and share our content with them if and when they need it. In order to do that we need to share in a place they are comfortable accessing our content and where they find value in it.

There is nothing wrong in expecting people to pay for a service, but it needs to be on their terms, they need to book the appointment knowing the price. We shouldn’t react by giving them the same thing they are already getting but now make them pay for the privilege, that would be relationship-breaking, not relationship-building.

I’ve had The Guardian’s iPhone app now for a few weeks. I don’t use it everyday but I do use it more than any other news application I have for several reasons.

1. The content is of a reliably high standard.
2. I paid for it and I want to get value from it.
3. It is almost perfect for the medium.

I know when I use it that I am going to get a variety of content on one page which I can spend 5 minutes looking at and feel I’ve been effectively updated about the world in which I live.

I don’t want it to replicate the amount of content I would get on their website homepage or in their paper. That isn’t what this is for. It’s a referential touch point which gives me access to their brand when I’m on the go, it’s mobile.

People will pay for content, the argument is over and we now need to work out how we grow an audience that will pay for our content on multiple devices in multiple formats.

This particular mobile app is effectively getting an early adopter audience ready for the next thing on the horizon. It shows me that the Guardian are acutely aware that this is a transitional platform which will breed an audience who are ready to pay for digital editions on a yet to be released piece of hardware, which will allow their audience to subscribe, perhaps for 30p a day, to download the paper on a device which they can then read at their leisure through the day, if and when they like.

The more touch points we can provide our audience with the more likely they are to grab hold of our hand and keep hold, forever.

Will people pay for web content?

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ereaderI think the issue revolves around which platform or device people are consuming the paid for content on.

It’s going to be hard work to get people subscribing or making micro payments to view news on their home PC, but take news out of the home and it could be much easier.

People are getting very used to making payments online for other forms of digital content. These include gaming content through Xbox Live, iPhone applications and of course music.

When doing this most of the time people are making payment through a proprietary device or piece of software, which users have had to specifically download or invest in for the purpose of performing a paid for download. Because of this their readiness to invest further time and money is a more logical step and one they are more ready to take.

If for example I have an iPhone and download a paid for application it brings value to my initial investment in the iPhone, I planned and knew when purchasing the device that I would pay for downloads. The Application is also tangible by the virtue that you can hold the devise through which you have downloaded it in your hand. The same works with Xbox Live, through which you can download games and video content on to your hard drive and own. This is a rather unique situation because Xbox Live is the only place you can get most of this content and the Xbox is the only device on which you can use it.

Because of its topical up-to-date nature and need for virtually instant delivery news is a very different form of media to those mentioned above and so the mechanism through which it is consumed digitally with the possibility for subscription must also be different.

On existing devices it could be very difficult to get people either paying a subscription or making article-by-article micro payments for news content because, perhaps with the exception of iPhone, people have not purchased any of their devices with this in mind.

I believe that with the growth, development and standardisation of eReaders people will be more ready to pay for content. This will be through subscription-based services to weekly or monthly periodicals or for a live news service, which could be charged for using a subscription or based on usage and charged for per article.

When people invest in a piece of technology like an eReader they will want to get value from their investment and an audience for digital subscriptions will grow. Depending on who releases ‘the’ device that changes the way people think about eReaders this could take 5 – 10 years. If Apple release one things could change overnight!

Become Streetfighter: You’re In The Advert

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streetfighterHow do you make an advert more intimate and memorable? Put the viewer in it! The new promotional site for Street Fighter IV becomestreetfighter.com does this brilliantly.

Become Street Fighter allows users to very easily include a picture of their own face on the character in the video. You can then embed the video that is created on a variety of different sites including Facebook and Myspace.

This is a brilliant example of how making commercial media an intimate experience for users and allowing viral distribution through social networks can have a positive impact on the way people form a relationship with a product or brand.

Creating a video like this takes no longer than 1 minute if you already have the pictures. No registration pages or forms to fill out, just upload your pics, get your video and that’s it.

The system is built using technology made by 15secondtv, which renders the face from an uploaded picture on to the video a user has selected to create the final video.

This is an overwhelmingly positive commercial experience, which is infinitely more memorable than a normal game trailer and should therefore have much more of an impact in driving sales of the game.

Contextual Adverts On YouTube

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lilly_youtube_advert

When watching the new Lilly Allen music video for The Fear on YouTube I was presented with a pop up link across he bottom of the video. I hadn’t seen an ad like this pop up in YouTube before and have to say I really quite liked it.

It’s not too intrusive, doesn’t spoil the video and is of genuine use to users who are watching and enjoying the content. As soon as you click ‘Buy Song’ the video is paused and you are taken directly to the page on iTunes. When you there, if you have an iTunes account, you are only 2 clicks away from completing a transaction for 79 pence which will mean you now own a copy of the single.

It is micropayment transactions like these that will become an increasingly important part of networked business’s revenue stream.

Because of the short form nature of most of the videos on YouTube users won’t react well to preroll because they think of YouTube as providing exactly what they want to watch as soon as they click play.

In-play contextual overlays are a form of advertising that give engaged users a valid opportunity to make a cash transaction with a product related to he content being viewed without having any negative impact on the act of consuming the content.

This is a positive commercial experience.

The Internet is a medium that allows for users to instantly switch between consuming media to a transactional interface. This is a perfect example of the opportunity the Internet offers to utilize that capability to drive a cash transaction, which is of value to the user and publisher.