Only Dead Fish

Scarlett

Warning: self-indulgent post coming up. I could write something about animated gifs becoming an art form, but really it's just an excuse to post a pic of Scarlett. Sorry. Just had to.

Via

It's Nice That

One of my favourite graphic design, illustration, and all-things-good blogs It's Nice That is going all analogue. They're launching a bi-annual publication to document some of the best work they've featured, along with some more in depth interviews and stuff. The idea is to 'break the mould of the classic design magazine' and 'publish some more honest, real content written by current practitioners'. I liked the sound of that, so I've pre-ordered a copy of the first issue. You can too, here. If it's half as good as the blog, it will be well worth it.

Earth Hour

The WWF's Earth Hour is upon us again. Tommorrow, at 8.30pm local time people, businesses and iconic buildings around the world will be switching off their lights for an hour to "make a statement to the world’s governments for more urgent and effective action on climate change". Last year, Google went black. The year before, 2.2 million people in Sydney cut the city's mains electricity consumption by upto 10%. I've no idea whether initiatives like this make a real difference. But the issue is important enough to be worth a try. So I'll be doing it. You can find out more, and sign up here.

The Art Of Change

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I've written before about the value I see in people within organisations who blog, tweet, connect and share ideas online. I don't say that everyone should blog, just that there is value that its easy to miss. You can argue that this is even more critical in advertising and media organisations. Communications is changing forever and we are (after all) in the communications business. And being part of an online community is by far the best way to understand how online communities work. And most clients think it's important that their agencies understand digital and social media. And according to some, ad agencies are lagging behind their marketplace. And many clients could benefit from developing a deeper understanding.

If you work in a social media or digital agency you may well think that it is commonplace for a large proportion of company employees to be blogging or tweeting. But in most organisations it's simply not. Which means that the people that are, are potentially adding unique value to that organisation. Staff who are increasingly using web-based tools to augment key functions within the business and their own individual roles. As Euan says, these people should be cherished: 

"They are showing imagination, energy and a willingness to do what it takes to get their jobs done. These are qualities that organisations keep telling us they want their staff to have...This energy should be seen as something that can be tapped into and enhanced. Use these people as models of how to get things done, learn from them and encourage others to copy them"

Driving behavioural change through a large organisation is tough. Cultural change is even tougher. Using advocates to champion organisational change can be very effective but even then, trying to show the value of such activity is not always easy. And maybe that's because the focus isn't always on the right thing. Time, for example. This tweet from Dino struck a chord:

It's an answer I've looked for before too. When I talk about blogging, the number one question I get asked by non-bloggers is where do you find the time? As I've said before, I think this is the wrong question about the wrong thing. I believe it is important enough for me to find the time. And more than that, being part of a community means that the good stuff now often comes to me.

When trying to champion change, it's easy to be immersed in your own viewpoint. It's tempting to do the big presentation, filled with good thinking, and great ideas, and expect the world to be different from that moment on (and I'll admit that I have been guilty of this in the past). It's easy to forget that your audience are not necessarily in the same place as you. They may not have travelled the same journey as you have.

Being able to persuade is an art. Understanding how to change behaviours amongst large groups of people, whether by great leadership and visionary thinking or by changing the world one person at a time, and allowing people to see the tangible benefits accrued by the people around them, is a genuine skill. And one that is so important right now. To quote Russell:

"The real art of planning isn't about brands, it's about organisations. What a good planner really learns is how to get organisations to do stuff."

Mediocre Doesn't Cut It Anymore

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Some nice, succinct slides from Mike Arauz around 10 key digital principles which, sadly, are all too often missed. I'd like to add another, inspired by a thought from Hugh, that 'Boring is in a LOT of trouble'. The internet has made it exponentially easier to find stuff that really interests you. To secure a steady flow of inspiration. To discover the remarkable. The leverage it offers to individuals makes it far more possible that if you have a great idea, it will spread. And maybe go really big.

It calls to mind that Seth Godin quote about how being almost good enough gets you nowhere: 'The sad lie of mediocrity is the mistaken belief that partial effort yields partial results'. Outing mediocrity is easier than ever. Sustaining it is just about impossible.

100 Words About Digital Branding

View more presentations from Mike Arauz.

Running The London Marathon

Kate, on the left in the picture above, is a good friend of mine. Four years ago her Father was diagnosed with Progessive Supranuclear Palsy, a degenerative disease that comes on in later life. PSP is a little known disease but its affects are devastating, involving the gradual deterioration of selected areas of the brain.

Late last year, I decided to run the Flora London Marathon for the PSP Association, a body that does amazing work helping to fund research into finding a cure for PSP, and providing support for those affected. Those that know me know that I'm not a natural runner so this is no small thing for me, and before I started training the furthest I'd ever run was 10Km. My followers on twitter have been subjected to a steady tweet-stream of success/failure/pain/triumph as the distances have increased.

I've never asked for anything on this blog. But on April 26th I shall be running 26.2 miles for Kate and her family, and for all those others out there affected by this dreadful disease. So please, I'm asking you to spare whatever you can to support me by going here. It is a good thing you'll be doing. Thank you.

Counting The Numbers That Count

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The internet is good at numbers. You'll never find yourself short of data in digital. So in amongst a blizzard of stats, the real job is often to understand the metrics that really matter - in other words to count the numbers that really count.

And the internet is big - it's easy and cheap to achieve scale which can also mean that it is easy to chase volume over meaning. If you are looking to attract a relevant, quality audience to your website, is it better to have a high proportion of your user base driven by Search Engine Optimisation, or to be facilitating (and an active part of) a vibrant, engaged community meaning your users visit more often, interact more, contribute more, and spend more time. If you are looking to make money out of your website, is it better to have a significant proportion of your traffic driven by relatively low value content such as photo galleries, or engaging high value content such as features, interactive tools, community content.

The internet is a does medium. People do stuff on it. Meaning that the best metrics are often those that relate to people doing what the internet is best at - interacting. But human interaction is complex, so the way in which we measure it cannot be over-simplified. Take the much maligned banner ad. When I was working in digital ten years ago click rates were typically around 1%, sometimes even reaching 2%. Within a year or two that had declined to more like 0.5%. By 2004, typical click rates were somewhere around the 0.3% mark. A study just released by ADTECH of more than 10 billion banner inquiries across Europe, reveals that the average click-through rate now fluctuates between 0.11% and 0.19%.

One way of looking at this is out of 1000 ad impressions you serve you're still getting 1 or 2 people clicking. And if you want to buy 1000 ad impressions you can do so very cheaply. Another way of looking at this is that a 0.11% click rate is a 99.89% failure rate.

You could conclude from this that banner ads just don't work. Or maybe they're just not working hard enough. The idea of having commercial real estate positioned within the context of editorialised content is not such a bad one after all. Either way, making the formats more interuptive (by placing them right in the middle of feature text for example) is not the answer. But perhaps making them more relevant and more useful may be. If I'd been on the look out for when my favourite band was touring for example, an ad that was served to me telling me that they were playing at my local venue, and tickets had just gone on sale, and here's where I can buy them, would be useful.

So layers of targeting that benefit from sophisticated use of contextual, behavioural and profile data  might actually make this kind of advertising genuinely relevant. Some affiliate arrangements already deploy enormously sophisticated levels of tracking and optimisation against defined cost-per-acquisition metrics. But even then, we are in danger of attributing everything to the last click, and very little to any other form of effect, or to any brand-influence or other advertising that user may have been exposed to. Too many banner campaigns are measured on click-through alone. It is not all about the click, and the last click is certainly not everything.

So think twice before taking the big shiny number that sits right in front of you. Data tells it's own story. It might just be that you're stopping at page one.

New Dead Fish

This is Katy. Katy has just designed a nice new logo for Only Dead Fish (there it is at the top of the page). It was about time for refresh and I think she's done a great job. So thanks to Katy. I particularly like the new dead fish:

Powerliner Flyers

powerlinerflyers from wes johnson on Vimeo.

The Optimist Conspectus

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I don't know whether it's because the sun has been shining lately or whether it's a reaction to the almost celebratory zeal with which certain sections of the news media seem to be covering the current economic malaise, but I'm feeling the need to remind myself that whilst things are bad, in amongst it all there remains a very human, and very steady, supply of optimism.

Seems like I'm not the only one. Ian has an interesting little project on the go called 'The Optimist Conspectus' which he describes as 'a survey of contemporary optimism'.  Put simply, he's collecting feedback to the question 'What is it that you are optimistic about?', with a view to creating a series of data visualisations around keywords on a geographic and temporal grid. 

Good for you Ian. For what it's worth, here (in no particular order or relation) are ten things I'm optimistic about right now:

I am optimistic (but a little scared) about being able to run a marathon in April.

I am optimistic that the power of the web to organise without organisation is fundamentally a good thing

I am optimistic that the coming generation of media and advertising graduates will take less notice of the way things have always been done and more notice of their own individual ability to create change and do great work

I am optimistic that the vegetable patch in my garden will be the best ever this year

I am optimistic about being able to lead, be a part of, and inspire positive change in the place where I work

I am optimistic about getting better at rockclimbing (even though I'm still a bit rubbish)

I am optimistic that one of the outcomes of this recession will be momentum towards greater business transparency and a more constructive form of capitalism

I am optimistic about being able to get tickets to see an upcoming Stone Roses reunion gig

I am optimistic about the curiousity and enthusiasm I see in people and it's power to make things happen

I am optimistic about marketing and advertising's ability to be inspiring, useful, and relevant.

You can submit your own contribution here.