searchlove london | hannah smith, existential crisis management
DESCRIPTION
It’s not just search and technology that’s evolving – consumers’ expectations are too. In Europe and the US, consumers would not care if 92% of brands disappeared. To flourish in the future, brands need to stand for something. Hannah will share her thoughts and experiences on how to figure out what to stand for and create a meaningful brand.TRANSCRIPT
@hannah_bo_banna
Existential Crisis Management
Hannah SmithContent Strategist, Distilled
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
seo is *not* dead
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
but seo is constantly evolving
@hannah_bo_banna
ranking 1st doesn’t mean what it used to
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this is the fold
BBC rank 1st
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it’s not just informational queries either
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this is the fold
SkyScanner rank 1st
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google are even targeting some companies’ branded terms
@hannah_bo_banna
MoneySuperMarket’s organic listing is
above the fold - but Google are being very
aggressive
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you used to be able to build an amazing business just by being great at seo
@hannah_bo_banna
in the future that’s unlikely to be enough
@hannah_bo_banna
as a consequence, seos are being asked to do
different things
@hannah_bo_banna
get us links!
clients of yesteryear
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get us press coverage, social shares,
& exposure [links] on sites our target audience reads
clients today
@hannah_bo_banna
so whilst clients might not explicitly ask us to help them build a brand
@hannah_bo_banna
many of the things we do today look a lot like brand building
@hannah_bo_banna
that’s why I’m giving this presentation today
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but it’s a big ask
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because,brand apathy is rife
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“In Europe and the US, consumers would not care if 92% of brands ceased to exist”
source: http://dis.tl/brand-apathy
@hannah_bo_banna
that means consumers would only miss 8% of brands
source: http://dis.tl/brand-apathy
@hannah_bo_banna
building a brand is *really* tough
@hannah_bo_banna
particularly on ‘seo’ retainer budgets
@hannah_bo_banna
but you know what?
@hannah_bo_banna
challenge accepted
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but where do I start?
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first up - what the hell is a brand?
@hannah_bo_banna
we have a tendency to use ‘company’ & ‘brand’ interchangeably
@hannah_bo_banna
but what does ‘brand’ actually mean?
@hannah_bo_banna
brand to impress firmly; fix ineradicably; place indelibly
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therefore...
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a brand is not a brand unless it leaves a lasting impression
@hannah_bo_banna
& it needs to be a favourable impression
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companies need to build brands that mean something to people
@hannah_bo_banna
so I need to build meaningful brands
@hannah_bo_banna
that sounds really f*cking hard!
@hannah_bo_banna
existential crisis (for a company)
when a company struggles to find a way for their brand to be meaningful for consumers
@hannah_bo_banna
existential crisis management (I think this is my job)
help companies find a way to make their brands meaningful for consumers
@hannah_bo_banna
how on earth do I do that?
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you can learn a lot by deconstructing the success of others
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so I started studying what ‘meaningful’ brands do
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I uncovered 3 core principles
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some meaningful brands do all 3
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some meaningful brands do just 1 or 2
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I’ll deal with them each in turn
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1. ‘meaningful’ brands find opportunities to delight consumers
@hannah_bo_banna
most people’s interactions with brands suck
@hannah_bo_banna
great interactions stand out & are shared
@hannah_bo_banna
this is how @smartcarusa responded when someone inferred that a single bird dropping
would total one of their vehicles
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway here is not: ‘make more sh*tty infographics’
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I don’t think the infographic out of context would have yielded any sort of return
@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway here is:‘going the extra mile to respond in a novel way can
yield out-sized returns’
@hannah_bo_banna
& this doesn’t need to be a resource-heavy activity
@hannah_bo_banna
this is how @DunkinDonuts responded to a customer who asked if their
coffee syrups were available on the black market
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
the team at Dunkin’Donuts have a library of images
they use to delight their customers
@hannah_bo_banna
this is how @ArgosHelpers responded to a customer who asked when
PS4s would be back in stock
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway here is not:‘people love brands who use slang’
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway here is:‘if you can speak the same language
without being condescending you’ll go far’
@hannah_bo_banna
this is how @TescoMobile responded to a customer who claimed their network
was a ‘turn off’
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
whoa!that is *really* close to the line
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway here is not:‘be a dick to people who are dicks to you’
@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway here is:‘a well-judged, ‘cheeky’ response can travel’
@hannah_bo_banna
to do this you need a deep understanding of your audience
what can you get away with? what’s funny & what’s just rude?
@hannah_bo_banna
be mindful - there is a line...
@hannah_bo_banna
but it’s not just interactions that delight
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sometimes just being nimble delights consumers
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@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway here is not:‘you need a bit of luck’
@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway here is:‘be ready, willing & able to take advantage of
opportunities as & when they arise’
@hannah_bo_banna
if @Arbys hadn’t tweeted thatsomeone else probably would have
& they wouldn’t have benefitted
@hannah_bo_banna
so, we’ve covered off principle 1:‘meaningful brands find opportunities to delight
consumers’
@hannah_bo_banna
2. ‘meaningful’ brands give people the ability to define themselves to others
@hannah_bo_banna
this is a little tougher to parse -let me talk you through it
@hannah_bo_banna
have you ever thought about why you share what you share on social media?
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why did I tweet this?
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I didn’t think about it too much at the time
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but I’ve thought about it some more since
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I’m embarrassed to admit that I posted that because I was on my own & bored
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...it worked like a charm
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yay!
with twitter fwends
you need never be bored
@hannah_bo_banna
fortunately I don’t just share stuff like that,I also share stuff like this:
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
because I want people to think I read hbr.org
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because I want people to think I’m smart
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because I want people to think I have an excellent sense of humour
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because I want people to know where I stand on important issues
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I share things to shape other people’s impressions of me
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on social media I have two modes:cries for help (oh the shame!)
&defining myself to others
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it’s not just me, we all do this
@hannah_bo_banna
but not necessarily consciously
@hannah_bo_banna
68% said they share things via social mediato give people a better sense of
who they are & what they care about
source: http://dis.tl/psych-of-sharing
@hannah_bo_banna
this is an excellent place for brands to play
@hannah_bo_banna
brands can give people the ability to define themselves to others...
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I don’t *necessarily* mean stuff that literally defines people:
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
brands can also help people define themselves to othersby creating things people will
‘look good’ sharing
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@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway is not:‘do stuff on vine’
@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway is not:‘#f*ckyeah science’
@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway is:‘create something tangentially related to your
brand, that people will look good sharing’
@hannah_bo_banna
in a similar vein ‘meaningful’ brands create commercials
that don’t feel like commercials
@hannah_bo_banna
these are things people ‘look good’ sharing
@hannah_bo_banna
touching?awkward?
@hannah_bo_bannahttp://dis.tl/wren-kiss
@hannah_bo_banna
my desire was to create something that was interesting to people
beyond a fashion angle...
Melissa Coker ~ Wren
@hannah_bo_banna
[it’s] an interesting film that exists on its own, rather than something that feels
like a commercial…
Melissa Coker ~ Wren
@hannah_bo_banna
it definitely got people talking
@hannah_bo_banna
92m YouTube views& coverage from over 1300 sites
@hannah_bo_banna
but this isn’t just a video content play
@hannah_bo_banna
when oreo turned 100, they created100 pieces of content
over 100 days
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
the campaign got over 1m facebook ‘likes’&
thousands of pieces of press coverage
@hannah_bo_banna
this highly topical content put thecookie the centre of people’s conversations
without being self-serving
@hannah_bo_banna
speaking of being self-serving,here’s what not to do
@hannah_bo_banna
45 days worth of planning went into this tweet
@hannah_bo_bannasource: http://dis.tl/erm-wtf
@hannah_bo_banna
yuck
@hannah_bo_banna
I’m really not sure what the thinking behind this was
@hannah_bo_bannasource: http://dis.tl/erm-wtf
@hannah_bo_banna
it just looks like a commercial...
@hannah_bo_banna
the only people who will ‘look good’ sharing this are people who wish to prove
their social media expertiseby ridiculing others who don’t get it
@hannah_bo_banna
I’m guessing this wasn’t the intention
@hannah_bo_banna
so, we’ve covered off
principle 1:‘meaningful brands find opportunities to delight consumers’
& principle 2:
‘meaningful brands give people the ability to define themselves to others’
@hannah_bo_banna
still with me?
@hannah_bo_banna
3. ‘meaningful’ brands stand for something above & beyond their products or services
@hannah_bo_banna
this is tricky to explain in the abstract so I’m going to shoot straight to the examples
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
BrewDog’s values are pulled from punk subculture, they are anti-establishment &
believe in individual freedom
@hannah_bo_banna
so when Dead Pony Club ale was ‘banned’ because the phrase:
"rip it up down empty streets"was printed on the label...
http://dis.tl/sorry-not-sorry
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
& Mark wasn’t the only one who loved their response
@hannah_bo_banna
but it’s not just about sweary press releases
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
when you embrace values like that, your creative looks like this:
@hannah_bo_bannahttp://dis.tl/nike-greatness
@hannah_bo_banna
to be clear - that is exceptional creative
@hannah_bo_banna
& it’s powerful becausenike aren’t talking about how their trainers
enhance your performance
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they’re talking about celebrating everyone’s athletic endeavours
@hannah_bo_banna
standing for something beyond your products & services is most potent
when it could cost you
@hannah_bo_banna
when Mozilla got a new CEO,OKCupid showed this message to Firefox users:
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why should you do this?
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway from this is not:‘align your brand with a cause & win the internet’
@hannah_bo_banna
the takeaway is:‘taking a bold stance on a relevant issue,
even if it could actually hurt your business can create a lasting impression’
@hannah_bo_banna
so here’s where we’re at:
@hannah_bo_banna
principle 1:‘meaningful brands find opportunities to delight consumers’
principle 2:
‘meaningful brands give people the ability to define themselves to others’
principle 3:‘meaningful brands stand for something above & beyond their
products & services’
@hannah_bo_banna
how has this shaped the way I work today?
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overarchingly it’s made me much more mindful of what we’re doing
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but much of this I can’t affect right now
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sadly, to date, no one’s offered me several million to create them an ad like Nike’s
@hannah_bo_banna
this is the place we play most frequently at the moment
@hannah_bo_banna
principle 2:‘meaningful brands give people the ability to define themselves
to others’
@hannah_bo_banna
396k visits 354 LRDs 19,4k facebook ‘likes’ 6.5k tweets
@hannah_bo_banna
we made this to appeal to people working in the creative industry
@hannah_bo_banna
we think people shared this because it:made them look smart
and/or
made them look interested & interestingand/or
made them look literary
@hannah_bo_banna
360k visits 54 LRDs 50k facebook ‘likes’ 1.6k tweets
@hannah_bo_banna
we made this to appeal to people who love reading
@hannah_bo_banna
we think people shared it because it enabled them to share this love of reading
oh, & maybe brag, just a little
@hannah_bo_banna
2m visits 961 LRDs 102k facebook ‘likes’ 4.4k tweets
@hannah_bo_banna
we made this to appeal to music fans(& music journalists)
@hannah_bo_banna
we think people shared it because it allowed them to express their opinions
@hannah_bo_banna
so we’re trying to create things that people ‘look good’ sharing
@hannah_bo_banna
& we’re seeing success with that approach
@hannah_bo_banna
but more importantly
@hannah_bo_banna
we’re taking the time to try to understand the brands we work with better
@hannah_bo_banna
so our creative work is better aligned with the brand’s values
@hannah_bo_banna
& it’s opening doors for us
@hannah_bo_banna
we’re getting access to people higher up in the organisations we work with
@hannah_bo_banna
& we’re able to do better work as a result
@hannah_bo_banna
this industry is filled with incredible talent
@hannah_bo_banna
you are bright, passionate & hard-working
@hannah_bo_banna
you are curious
@hannah_bo_banna
you take stuff apart to figure out how it works
@hannah_bo_banna
you build stuff for fun
@hannah_bo_banna
you thrive on being outside of your comfort zone
@hannah_bo_banna
build a brand on shoe-string?
@hannah_bo_banna
challenge accepted
@hannah_bo_banna
@hannah_bo_banna
good luck out there x
@hannah_bo_banna@hannah_bo_banna
Hannah SmithContent Strategist, Distilled caffeine addict; book worm; would really like a unicorn...
send cat pictures or questions to:
@hannah_bo_banna
moar stuff!
how to produce content people will sharehttp://dis.tl/MJ-share
how to produce better content ideashttp://dis.tl/MJ-idea
lessons in virality from axl rosehttp://dis.tl/HS-axl
@hannah_bo_banna
credits
barney - http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw7a6htwhy1qif1s5o1_500.pngquote - http://www.dumpaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/the-best-feeling-is-doing-what-people-say-you-can-not-do-motivational-quotes.jpgpharrell - http://www.ibtimes.com/arbys-blasts-pharrells-grammys-hat-twitter-can-we-have-our-hat-back-1548140if you have a body - http://www.swimbikerunningonempty.com/1/post/2012/12/five-things-friday.html
Big love to to the wonderful Distilled folks who helped me put this together:Beverley Reinemann, Duncan Morris, Jess Champion, Lynsey Little, Mark Johnstone, Paddy Moogan, Phil Nottingham, Rich Westenra, & Will Critchlow