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Consider this. You’re watching TV and you see an Ad about a new mobile phone with an URL at the end of the advert. What is the probability that you’ll either go to the direct URL or search for that mobile phone on your handheld device then and there itself?
Pretty good chances right? Especially if you already are browsing the net on your phone like most people.

With an exponential increase in the number of smartphone users and people browsing the net not just on their PC’s but also on laptops, tablets and mobile phones, people are more online in the virtual world than they are alive in the real world!
Now, how can that be a ‘Eureka’ moment for marketers?

Answer: Keep your eyes open!

The audience nowadays can be divided into three tiers-

  • Two Screen : TV and Computer
  • Three Screen : TV, Computer and Smartphone
  • Four Screen : TV, Computer, Smartphone and Tablet

And at the same time, tablets change the game, because they bring the app ecosystem together with the best usability aspects of the smartphone and computer. You can do plenty with your phone, but it’s not always easy. Most sites don’t work well with smartphones let alone mobile phones. In such a case, tablet users aided by their app world find it easier to access the web and its services. But then the question arises – Do marketers ‘make’ the audience do that?

It is important that the marketers understand the audience psychology. People are ready to move on to their 2nd or 3rd or 4th screen while watching TV! For marketers, there is an opportunity to create content and experiences which are complementary to that shown on TV. Why not put the URL to your website or Facebook Page if you’re running a contest? You’d do that on Paper Ads, why not do it on TV Ads too when you have the opportunity and platform to do so!

Online offers an immediate response mechanism for viewers of TV ads. It allows brands an opportunity to capitalize instantly off the effect of the ad. We know the attention and memory span of the Ad audience is very low unless and until you’re able to either catch up on their emotion factor or just purely have an awesome Ad no one can resist watching again and again. In such a case, if a call to action is given to the audience so that they can immediately continue the interaction with the brand even after the Ad is over, it’ll surely gain the brand a good number of new followers if they’re able to utilize this follow up path well.

If a URL is shown at the end of an Ad, it should be made sure that the URL is easy to remember and also that when the audience goes to that web page there is a clear path to what should be done next and if a sale or a step closest to making a sale in present, it should be achieved in as less clicks by the person, as possible. At the same time, if the person is searching Google for news related to the brand right after seeing the brand’s Ad, the brand should have done their homework well in advance and made sure that  brand and non-brand search terms are in high enough positions to capture the extra search traffic that TV Ads will generate. In short, after extensive keyword research, do the SEO well before getting into this aspect!

A couple of points I would like to emphasize upon when you design such a campaign would be-

  • Make sure that if you give your Facebook page as the connecting URL, the person doesn’t have to search the page extensively to find the related post. It would be good to have related info in the Timeline pic, at the same time adhering to Facebook Guidelines of the same.
  • If you are targeting a particular keyword or phrase, one guaranteed way to top the search engines around the time of TV ad campaigns is to buy the term.
  • Make sure the landing web page is mobile friendly. A lot many people might still not have smartphones and would be accessing your page via mobile. DON’T fend them off!
  • Have a clear call to action and path process to the end page. Also make sure that if the person is required to fill in some data, you don’t ask for too much data. It just might test their patience and might cost you a valid customer.
  • Add direct social sharing options from the page.
  • Provide a good range of contact options like phone, mail and contact forms and also make sure that you do respond to them as soon as possible when a query does come.

These are just some of the points that I have found to be right and effective. If you have any more points to add, would love to hear them out!

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Drawing Board

Everyone would agree if I say the web is basically about consumption. Every second we are online, we consume. Be it photos on FB, tweets, blog posts or likewise, whole of the online audience are consumers. And after we consume the data, only the ones that leave an impression on our mind, we share. These materials that we share form a major part of our online/virtual personality. Just as in real life we are what we do, similarly in the virtual world, we are what we share. Or create!

Though all of us are consumers, similarly, all of us are curators too. Every comment that we post, though it may not have an individual value as such, seen on the larger perspective, is also a new content. Curated content, that is.

And that’s exactly what am treading into. With 24 hours not being sufficient enough nowadays for anyone, whenever a new idea is to be thought of, the first thought that comes to everyone’s mind is “Google Search”. Instead of spending at least half an hour to think out something original, after 5 minutes of so called “intense brainstorming”, we turn to the mercy of Google. Marketing Strategists see an idea/campaign some other company thousands of miles away might have done and then ‘curate’ the idea to suit their needs. Of course, that also is innovation and that too needs creativity, but in the longer run the whole meaning of the word creativity is compromised.

In the field of creative marketing (and I personally focus on Social Media Marketing), people who are successful are either idea creators or very good idea curators. And to be frank, both the types of people are needed.

All entrepreneurs start off as idea creators. Sadly, somewhere down the path most of them transform to idea curators. Maybe it’s because they run out of juice. Or maybe the risk-taking-X-factor decreases. Whatever be the reason, it’s unfortunate.

As I was searching Google for the image of a drawing board to post on our page, I felt guilty for thinking in the terms of an idea curator. That’s not how I would like to conceive myself. Idea creation is the adrenaline I thrive on. And I sure do hope it doesn’t run out anytime in the coming century!!

P.S.  But at times am still tempted to curate ideas :D

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Seems Christopher Nolan has a real knack for online marketing techniques. Especially stuffs that go viral. He started off with the viral “Why So Serious” campaign in May 2007 for The Dark Knight,  that was to be released in July 2008. And he has done it again this time too with The Dark Knight Rises. For a movie that is to be released in 2012, they have started the viral marketing well in advance and that too in style.

On December 7th in Wired.com and on December 9th in EmpireOnline.com were released two images separately and exclusively that caught the media and public unawares as to what was the whole deal about. Exactly the beginning of a viral marketing campaign!

The images are shown below.

 

The first sniff of all of this started a couple of months back with a campaign that eventually lead to the unveiling of the first picture of Bane, the villain in the movie. Media experts and Movie critics caught its scent then and there itself as the beginning of another viral marketing campaign from Nolan’s team. With the arrival of the fake CIA Transcripts, as shown above, at Wired’s and EmpireOnline’s office, TDKR (The Dark Knight Rises)  has silently announced that they plan to better the marketing campaign of its prequel – The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight too boasts of an amazing and hugely successful marketing campaign that was partly responsible for the huge success of the movie at Box Office. The other reason because the movie itself was fantastic. In May 2007, they began the viral marketing campaign of the  movie utilizing the “Why So Serious” tagline with the launching of a website, and also a fictional political campaign of Harvey Dent, with the caption – “I Believe in Harvey Dent”. They also established a ‘vandalized’ version of the Harvey Dent site, called “I Believe in Harvey Dent Too”, where e-mails sent by fans slowly removed pixels, revealing the first official image of the Joker. Amazing idea!

And the story continues with TDKR. When the movie’s website was launched, originally, it was just a black image with some really weird chanting. A fan took a look at the visual spectrum of that audio file, and in it was – a Twitter Hashtag! The hashtag when tweeted, slowly revealed, pixel by pixel, some kind of image on the site. The final image revealed, was also the first image of the movie’s villain – Bane.

 

The “CIA Documents” released, focus on the profile of a man named Dr. Leonid Pavel, a Russian Nuclear Physicist and another document on a conversation between the CIA and the Militia who are protecting him. Reading the documents it’s hard to find out the connection with TDKR but well, maybe that’s the whole point of it all!

The last of the images was posted by TDKR’s viral Twitter account – @thefirerises.

TDKR in fact sets scope for an example of good marketing done to the very best, if history is to be considered with respect to The Dark Knight. For marketers who have long spent millions and innumerable hours on the drawing board trying to come up with the secrets of viral marketing, here is something to learn from. With a good and solid start to its marketing strategy, let’s hope TDKR doesn’t let us down. Neither as a movie, nor as an epitome of viral marketing. Because if they carry on their strategy with the same intensity and creativity, at this time next year, all the Marketing honchos would be writing and reviewing about what a perfect example of viral marketing success The Dark Knight Rises has been.

Till then, let’s wait for Summer 2012 when the movie releases. I leave you off with the Official Teaser Trailer of the movie.