Thoughts sparked by Twitter's new idea of resonance and what that might mean for content and brand advertising.

1. from relevance to resonance:
the rebirth of the storyteller
Jenni Lloyd

2. Twitter’s big news
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdmrhd/52256245/sizes/l/

3. Yay! Gonna make us some money :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/communityfriend/2342578485/sizes/l/

4. the resonance score:
interactions with a sponsored tweet -
measure its effectiveness. Ads that
fail to resonate with audience will
disappear from view.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrentunnicliff/3727830588/sizes/o/

5. relevance:
the religion of an engineer-lead organisation.
The word resonance introduces a more
personal, human-centred idea where emotion
and individuality can counter the machine-
powered functional mantra of relevance.
If the definition of resonance is: 'Richness or
significance, especially in evoking an association
or strong emotion' what new and exciting
possibilities does it open up?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/3033213243/sizes/l/

6. google:
rose to dominance through being supremely
functional and useful. It has over ridden and
underpinned the whole browsing experience
and dominates most internet journeys
However, it exists purely to gather, collate
and sign post our way to other people's
content (whilst also acting as a huge hose,
spraying adverts onto its own and others
web pages).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rob-young/870336830/sizes/o/

7. a functional approach to advertising
Google changed our understanding of advertising,
supporting the kind of ads we would have previously
seen in the back of the local paper and maybe on
afternoon TV - 'call now!'
Brilliantly measurable, the success of these ads is
based on traffic, click throughs, acquisition.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carobe/134873769/sizes/l/

8. where is brand?
story-telling?
drama?
emotion?
In this environment there is
no room for an emotional or
idealogical connection. No
room for engagement.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thurm/2468668064/sizes/l/

9. social tools are changing things
the advent of social tools has seen a marked change in
where information is being shared and how people are
being pointed to content.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgw/4521328139/sizes/l/

10. People are more likely to trust a recommendation from
someone they know than from an advertiser.

11. Content resonates with us when it is promoted by
those with whom we have an affinity, some
common understanding or trust.
So where content comes from is important but so
also is how we feel about it, our emotional
response to it. What kind of content can generate
this kind of response in us?
Stories help us engage with content.
Stories resonate.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrentunnicliff/3727830588/sizes/o/

12. let me tell you a story :)
I listened to the Food Programme on Radio 4 last
Sunday. It was all about coffee. I'd been mulling over
these ideas of relevance and resonance and as I
listened it struck me that the story of coffee was a
perfect illustration of what I've been thinking about.

13. a nation of tea drinkers started
drinking coffee
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgw/4521328139/sizes/l/

14. There were coffee bars but overwhelmingly we drank
freeze dried instant coffee.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sethappleton/4490031330/sizes/l/

15. Then along came the idea of coffee
as an experience
the coffee shop as a 3rd space - not home, not work, a
Central Perk where we could mingle with friends and
enjoy a latte or a cappuccino.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonaventure/4368099427/sizes/l/

16. Starbucks spread from Seattle to conquer the world and
now there's a coffee shop on every corner.
But there's something about the mass appeal that seems
to spark changes and a regrouping around the niche.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/epzibah/299134632/sizes/o/

17. It's almost as though to become mass things have to
become bland, to be homogenised to accommodate
the broadest taste possible.
Which leaves those at the edges, who don't want to be
part of a crowd, frustrated and looking for something
new.
A new, new niche.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ethanhein/1555939236/sizes/o/

18. We see this in the anti-Starbucks
movement, in the rise of coffee for
connoisseurs - Monmouth Coffee
Co, Taylor Street Baristas
http://www.flickr.com/photos/coffeegeek/134556188/sizes/o/

19. The product is great but the
experience is better - there's a story
behind it:
Such-and-such a bean, grown by a named
farmer in a specific part of Nicaragua, roasted
just so and finally made into the best flat white
by a barista trained in Sydney to produce
beautiful leaf patterns on the best coffee you'll
ever be served.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/riacale/2484997975/sizes/l/

20. It's all a slice of special-ness, of something that
connects a select group, that can be discussed -
raved about or slated - recommended and
passed on to show you're in the know.
It's content that resonates.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/outdoorstudios/4322773102/sizes/o/

21. Two final thoughts...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karola/3623768629/sizes/o/

22. 1. everyone’s a publisher now -
but can everyone tell stories?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcbeth/3351679369/sizes/l/

23. 2. resonance = engagement (?)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevendepolo/2686327481/sizes/o/

24. thank you for listening :)
jenni.lloyd@nixonmcinnes.co.uk
nixonmcinnes.co.uk
twitter.com/jennilloyd