The SoDA Report - Vol 2, 2012

the
SoDA REPORT
Vol. 2 2012 | Digital Marketing Outlook

A note from the
Managing Editor
Welcome to the second volume of The SoDA Report: 2012. In this edition, you’ll find content from
some of the most influential thinkers in the digital marketing world—including industry leaders from
North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. We continue to explore our industry’s transformation
based on the evolving needs of the consumer, as well as through the lens of those industry leaders
who are shaping the cultures, products and strategies of both agencies and brands.

If you’re reading the tablet edition, you’ll find that we’ve also added a number of new features,
including interactive infographics, social plug-ins, pan & zoom photography and bookmarking that
will enhance how you consume and share the content with your industry peers.

In this edition’s Industry Insider section, you’ll find an infographic created by new SoDA member
company JESS3. The infographic illustrates the issues identified as most critical / top-of-mind by
SoDA members in shaping the success of their businesses thus far in 2012. The issues cut across
a wide range of categories such as business strategy, innovation, operations and talent cultivation.
The editorial team will be analyzing how these topics are trending over time, and will include related
editorial content in forthcoming editions. As an organization, SoDA is actively tackling all of these
issues (and more) via working committees, the SoDA Speakers Bureau, Peer Collaboration Groups
and programs such as SoDA Doc.s (SoDA’s suite of best practice documents, contracts and
benchmark surveys).

SoDA celebrated a major milestone at its Global Member Meeting held this past July in Montreal,
Quebec. For the first time in our five-year history, more than 50% of the offices of our member
companies are located outside of North America. As we continue to increase the geographic breadth
of the organization’s activities and exclusive membership ranks, you’ll also find an increasingly
international focus within the editorial content of The SoDA Report and our other communications.
In fact, in Q3, we’ll also be launching a multi-language version of the SoDA website in Simplified
Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, French and English.

For more information on SoDA’s efforts to advance the digital marketing industry worldwide through
best practices, education and advocacy, please contact us at info@sodaspeaks.com. We hope
you enjoy this edition of The SoDA Report and we welcome your input to inform the development of
future volumes. A special thank-you to our members, advisors and friends—as well as our founding
organizational sponsor Adobe—for making this initiative and the work of our organization possible.

Saludos,

Chris Buettner
Managing Editor, The SoDA Report

CONTENTS
Introduction 27 Exploring Responsive Design
by Matt Webb, Interface Developer,
3 The SoDA Report Team & Partners and Jake Gibbons, Interface Developer, The1stMovement
5 Foreword by Angèle Beausoleil
29 Are You Ready for the Tablet Age?
by Sven Larsen, CMO, Zemoga

Section ONE: Industry Insider 31 3D Browser Standoff – WebGL vs.
Stage3D
6 What Agency and Prodco Leaders are
by Matt Bilson, Technical Director, Resn

Grappling with Now
by JESS3

7 Exposing the Creative Process: A Lesson Section FOUR: Case Studies

from Charles and Ray Eames 33
Empowering Young Artists / Crayola / Big
by Angela Craven, User Experience Designer, EffectiveUI
Spaceship

by Nathan Adkisson, Strategist, Big Spaceship
Section TWO: Modern Marketers
34 Dream Big / Pilsen / Encident
9 Connecting with Consumers: Bridging People by Claudio Lombardo, Managing Director, Encident
Stories to Product Stories
by Avi Savar, Founder, Big Fuel 35 Picture Perfect Color / Redken / Firstborn
by Kevin Arthur, Chief Operating Officer, Firstborn
11 Mobile Measurement: A Best Practice
Approach 36 Luxurious Commerce / Elie Tahari / Fluid
by Michael Lamontagne, Director, Business Analytics and by Stephanie Aldrete, Director of Marketing, Fluid
Accountability, Rockfish Interactive

13 Demystifying Engagement
37 Global Symmetry / Vodafone / Great Fridays
by Rob Noble, Founder, Great Fridays
by Hamilton Jones, Managing Director, TheFARM Digital

15 Social Media Analytics: The Forgotten Sibling
39 The Digital Locker / Allstate / IQ
by John Woodbridge, Business Development Associate, IQ
by Irina Sheveleva, Editor, GRAPE

17 Why Consumers Are Just Not That Into Your
40 Red Quest / MTS / GRAPE
Brand by Vladilen A. Sitnikov, Creative Director, GRAPE
by Alasdair Lloyd-Jones, COO, Big Spaceship
43 An Integrated Brand Experience / DC Shoes /
19 Curation-Inspired Creativity:

Terralever
by Jon Lewis, Director of Marketing, Terralever
The Rise of “The Really Good”
by Brent Slone, Director, Strategy, Phenomblue
45 First Online Photo Studio / Panasonic /
Red Keds
Section THREE: Tech Talk by Vasiliy Lebedev, Co-Founder/Creative Director, Red Keds

21 The (Re)Birth of the Mobile Web
by James Warren, Technology and QA Director,
Magnani Caruso Dutton The Society of Digital Agencies
23 Avoiding “Love at First Sight” Syndrome 46 Mission
by Joe Olsen, CEO, Director of Strategy, Phenomblue

25 Multi-Screen Convergence
46 Organization Overview
by Oscar Trelles, Digital Marketing Expert, Strategist and
Technologist

P3
The SoDA Report
Team & Partners
Content Development
Angèle Beausoleil
Editor-in-Chief of The SoDA Report,
Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of Agent Innovateur Inc.

Angèle currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of SoDA’s trend publication, The
SoDA Report. She is also the founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Agent
Innovateur Inc., a new type of agency focused on creating better products,
experiences and technologies for the digital consumer. She is currently
incubating two social enterprises and pioneering an applied innovation
graduate PhD program at the University of British Columbia (UBC). A “tradigital”
marketer, Angele has spent over 25 years in traditional and digital marketing
communications, most recently working closely with Fortune 500 brands and
leading Dare Labs and Dare North America’s strategy and innovation group.

Steve Glauberman
Chairman of The SoDA Report, CEO of Enlighten

Steve Glauberman founded Enlighten in 1983 as one of the nation’s first interactive
agencies with a vision for how technology could be used to help companies
market their products more effectively. Under Steve’s leadership, Enlighten quickly
established a sterling reputation for creating work that was visually stunning,
technically powerful, and conceptually groundbreaking. To this day, Enlighten
remains committed to creating integrated brand experiences that forge meaningful
relationships with consumers by offering a wide range of digital services all
within an independent agency. Steve is a graduate in Computer Science from the
University of Michigan.

Chris Buettner
Managing Editor of The SoDA Report, SoDA Director of Operations

After a career on the digital agency and publisher side that spanned 15+ years,
Chris Buettner now serves as Managing Editor of The SoDA Report. He is also
the Director of Operations at SoDA where he is charged with developing and
executing the organization’s overall strategic vision and growth plan. With roots
in journalism, education and the international non-profit world, the transition to
lead SoDA has been a welcome opportunity to combine many of his talents and
passions. After living in Brazil and Colombia for years, Chris is also fluent in
Spanish and Portuguese and is an enthusiastic supporter of SoDA’s initiatives to
increase its footprint in Latin America and around the world.

P4

Partners

Infographics Partner Production
JESS3 SoDA
www.jess3.com sodaspeaks.com

Design Agency Organizational Sponsor
Struck Adobe
www.struck.com www.adobe.com

Tablet Edition
Less Rain The SoDA Report
www.lessrain.co.uk
Production Team
Natalie Smith, Head of Production
Kendyll Picard, Production Manager
Robyn Landis, Designer & Copy Editor
Lior Vexler, Production Assistant
Ahsan Khan, Proofreader
Samantha Lynch, Proofreader

FOREWORD

P5 Editor’s Note

Welcome to Volume 2 of The SoDA Report 2012.

In the spirit of our 2012 Transformation theme, we present you with
our second volume of the year. In this edition, we introduce our new
infographic page, highlighting the key issues on the minds of executives
from the the top global digital agencies and production companies, and
a new tech review section.

Our contributors offer advice on what digital agencies and marketers
can learn from the most celebrated architect and artist team, the
importance of story, user experience and engagement, and how brands
need to behave more like people.

We explore social media as a party, expose the truth about mobile and
tablet adoption rates, and guide you on getting your company ready for
Angèle is founder of true screen convergence.
Agent Innovateur
Inc., a new type We also look at how social media data is beginning to mature, and
of agency focused showcase the latest and greatest case studies from our global
on creating better membership.
products, experiences
and technologies for
the digital consumer.
Again, we encourage you to share your comments with us and to
She is currently discuss the issues and opinions set out in this report at
incubating two www.sodaspeaks.com
social enterprises,
pioneering an applied Enjoy.
innovation graduate
PhD program at the
University of British
Angèle Beausoleil, Editor-in-Chief
Columbia (UBC) and
is the editor-in-chief of
The SoDA Report.

Section One

Industry
Insider
6 What Agency and Prodco Leaders are
Grappling with Now
infographic by JESS3

7 Exposing the Creative Process:
A Lesson from Charles and Ray Eemes
article by Angela Craven, Effective UI

INFOGRAPHIC What Agency and Prodco
INDUSTRY
INSIDER Leaders are Grappling With
P6
Now
INSIDE THE MINDS OF DIGITAL MARKETING LEADERS
ISSUES IDENTIFIED AS MOST CRITICAL / TOP-OF-MIND BY SODA'S C-LEVEL MEMBERS
IN SHAPING THE SUCCESS OF THEIR BUSINESSES AS OF Q3 2012

WHAT ARE THE FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL BEST
PRACTICES FOR OUR INDUSTRY AND HOW CAN I EARN
HOW CAN I CONSISTENTLY PROVIDE THOUGHT THE COVETED TITLE OF “FINANCIAL SUPERSTAR” WITHIN
LEADERSHIP TO MY INDUSTRY IN TERMS OF THE RANKS OF SoDA MEMBER COMPANIES*?
HOW DO THE ESTABLISHED MODELS FOR
STANDARDS,
PRE-PROD, PRODUCTION AND POST-PROD
COLLABORATION AND
WORK MEET (OR NOT MEET) THE NEEDS OF OUR
PHILANTHROPIC EFFORTS?
CURRENT DIGITAL ENGAGEMENTS?

/ FINANC
ION E
HOW DO I ALIGN ALL OF AT
DUCTION
ER

RO
MY EFFORTS TOWARD A
OP

COHESIVE STRATEGY THAT VOCACY
AD
P
POSITIONS MY COMPANY FOR
NEW BUSINESS SUCCESS?

WHERE CAN I FIND THE BEST
TALENT AND HOW DO I
NURTURE AND RETAIN THAT

UCATION TALENT?
ED
RKETING
MA
STRATEGY
ESS N
SIN THE I DUSTR
OF Y
BU

TE
STA

OVATION
INN

LEGAL

HOW DO WE GET TO POST-DIGITAL
WHAT TOOLS, STRATEGIES AND APPROACHES
AND BEGIN SHARING PERSPECTIVES ON
DO I NEED TO ADOPT TO SUCCESSFULLY
HOW THE INDUSTRY HAS EVOLVED
NAVIGATE PERIODS OF INTENSE CHANGE?
AND WHERE IT’S HEADED??

WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT LEGAL AND HOW DO I LAY THE GROUNDWORK TO
REGULATORY ISSUES IMPACTING OUR INDUS- STRUCTURE AND PROMOTE AN ENVIRON-
TRY AND MY COMPANY? DO I HAVE THE MENT OF CONTINUAL INNOVATION?
PROPER DOCUMENTATION AND CONTRACTS
TO ENSURE SUCCESSFUL GROWTH?

North American Companies
South American Companies
European Companies
GRAPHIC BY Australian Companies
SoDA MEMBER

ARTICLE Exposing the Creative
INDUSTRY
INSIDER Process: A Lesson from
P7
Charles and Ray Eames
When a company is trying to solve a problem outside of its
area of expertise, key stakeholders embark on a quest for
the agency that is most capable of delivering an impressive
final product. Once hired, it is commonly understood that
By: Angela Craven,
User Experience Designer,
the agency will work behind the scenes to create a solution
EffectiveUI
that meets the needs of users as well as the business. But
how often is a client able to see and understand what
happens between discovery and final delivery? More
importantly, why should a client care?

The answer might be best explained in a recent documentary about the husband
Angela Craven is and wife design team, Charles and Ray Eames, titled Eames: The Architect and
a user experience
designer at The Painter. The film tells the story of the Eames, their chaotic creative process, the
EffectiveUI. She successes it inspired, and the impact they had on contemporary design and design
is inspired by the thinking.
idea that art and
design (in their
various forms) can Charles and Ray are most widely credited for designing the Eames Lounge Chair (still
profoundly influence in production and in the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art),
people, and that but their contributions span architecture, user experience design, industrial design,
every design problem
requires a unique set art, manufacturing, film and photography. They were known for exploring ideas in
of tools and processes. unconventional ways and had no qualms being transparent about their process
because they knew it brought them successful results. Companies such as Boeing,
Westinghouse, Alcoa, Polaroid and the US Navy hired the Eames Office to apply their
creative problem-solving expertise to a variety of business problems.

Fast-forward forty-plus years and often the creative process is hidden from clients.
The expectation, in the digital world especially, is that design deliverables should be
buttoned up and beautiful at every turn. After all, clients are busy people with their
own responsibilities and usually prefer something polished to react to, even if they or
the designer do not yet fully grasp the complexities of the design challenge. This way
of working can lead to missed opportunities for both designers and stakeholders.

We’ve all experienced a client review where a first round design is presented and the
client has a negative reaction. They might mention a problem that wasn’t previously
expressed. Or maybe the design doesn’t incorporate their perspective or seem to fully
address their business goals.

P8
But what if the client could provide the same feedback sooner? Including them in
your process shows the amount of thought going into your work. This builds trust
Charles and and allows clients to add their own input, or voice concerns at a point when they
can be addressed more easily. Early feedback can help the team arrive at useful
Ray Eames and innovative solutions in an efficient manner, ultimately maximizing the budget.
were known
for exploring This collaboration can take many forms. It could be a regular touch-base meeting
ideas in to review concept sketches. It could be an ideation session where the client and
unconventional designer are co-sketching. It could be a workshop. Or it could be regular white-
boarding sessions.
ways, and had
no qualms being Has a client been particularly quiet in certain group settings? Follow up with them
transparent offline; they may share creative ideas and feedback more readily one-on-one.
about their Encourage them to send their own research that can be applied to the project.
Of course, not all feedback or ideas will be embraced and used in the design,
process because but it’s up to us as designers to incorporate input that best supports the user and
they knew it business goals.
brought them
successful results. Staying ahead in a demanding, fast-paced business world shouldn’t mean hiding
the creative process. By exposing the imperfect along the way, as Charles and
Ray did, we can build successful, polished end products that both clients and
agencies have a hand in creating. B

photo from http://www.vitra.com

Section Two

Modern
Marketers
9 Connecting with Consumers: Bridging People
Stories to Product Stories
article by Avi Savar, Big Fuel

11 Mobile Measurement: A Best Practice Approach
article by Michael Lamontagne, Rockfish Interactive

13 Demystifying Engagement
article y Hamilton Jones, TheFARM Digital
b

15 Social Media Analytics: The Forgotten Sibling
article by Irina Sheveleva, Grape

17
Why Consumers Are Just Not That Into Your
Brand
article by Alasdair Lloyd-Jones, Big Spaceship

19 Curation-Inspired Creativity:
The Rise of “The Really Good”
article by Brent Slone, Phenomblue

ARTICLE Connecting with Consumers:
MODERN
MARKETERS Bridging People Stories to
P9
Product Stories
Social media is a party. In one corner of the room, there’s a
group of moms talking about education and parenting issues.
In another corner, a group of recent college grads are laughing
about Will Ferrell’s latest movie. Everywhere you turn,
By: Avi Savar,
Founder,
different groups of people are enjoying themselves, sharing
Big Fuel stories, discussing current events, pop culture, and trends.
All the groups are mingling and making new friends. The
most influential people in the room are those with the most
“followers” hanging on their every word. So what’s your move?

Lead with people stories, not product stories. Marketing has taught us to
always lead with our product story—distilling our message down to a “unique selling
Avi Savar began his proposition” and driving it home with features and benefits. However, if you walk
television career in the
agent-training program at into that party and the first thing you do is try to sell your product, nobody will talk
ICM in Los Angeles after to you and you certainly won’t get invited back. You have to start a dialogue around
graduating from college in something that is important to them, not what’s important to you. Only then will you
1995. After two years in have earned the right to talk about yourself.
Los Angeles, Avi headed to
New York, where he quickly
transitioned to the creative People need to like you first—then they’ll ask what you do for a living. This means
side of entertainment it’s critical to have the right “opening line”– a way to enter the conversation that
as an independent starts with the consumer’s agenda (but can seamlessly migrate to your agenda). You
producer. He created highly
stylized programming for need to think of your fellow partygoers as audiences rather than consumers. Like a
companies such as USA publisher, you need to help or entertain first; showing or selling comes later.
Networks, Fox, Columbia
Tri-Star, and Showtime. Use content to make connections. The right story, joke or anecdote at a party goes
In 2004, Avi launched
Big Fuel Communications,
a long way, and social media is no different. If those moms are talking about parenting
which initially operated issues, turn them onto a parenting expert who can help with their problems. If those
as a content production grads are laughing about Will Ferrell’s latest movie, give them something similar to
studio. Seeing the shift laugh about, or recommend another movie for them to see.
towards social media
as the focal point of
consumer interaction, Embrace fragmentation. Just like a party, social media is made up of many
Avi transitioned Big Fuel groups—people with different interests, different likes and different dislikes. You may
beyond content production need a few different opening lines if you are going after different audiences. In the
to be a full-service same way you would work the room at a party, the way to get scale in social media
marketing agency that both
produces and leverages is to break your audience into segments. As you walk around having conversations
content. with different groups of people, you naturally adjust your talking points based on who
you are speaking with.

P 10
At the end of the night you will have met everyone at the party. If you are
interesting, relevant and sociable, people will remember you and be willing to
learn more about you.
Embrace
fragmentation... Leverage the influencer. Have you ever walked into a party where you didn’t
The way to get know anyone? It’s not impossible to meet people, but you certainly have to work
scale in social hard at it.
media is to break
your audience Now, what if you walked into the party with the most popular kid in school? You
into segments. get instant credibility, everyone in the room knows who you are, and talking to
them becomes that much easier. Simply put, leveraging the right influencers
makes you “cool by association.” You don’t have to work as hard meeting
people, you get to talk about yourself more, and instead of trying to figure how
to start a conversation with people, they will come talk to you.

The Social Media Party is not about making eye contact (impressions); it’s about
shaking hands (engagements). It’s about meeting people, talking to them, and
sharing with them. B

ARTICLE
Mobile Measurement:
A Best Practice Approach
MODERN
MARKETERS

P 11

With smartphone adoption now surpassing 50% of all
mobile phone users in the US (a milestone that has already
been eclipsed in other markets such as South Korea), many
retailers have launched into the mobile space, whether by
By: Michael Lamontagne,
Director, developing a mobile-enabled website, an app, or a fully
Business Analytics
and Accountability,
Rockfish Interactive
integrated mCommerce solution. Understanding how to
leverage data analysis and reporting to help build a great
customer experience are critical in a retailer becoming
successful with mobile.

Before deploying a mobile experience, marketers need to have a clear understanding
of that experience’s value proposition to consumers. They should also anticipate how
Michael Lamontagne the experience will impact their core businesses.
leads the Business
Analytics & For example, is the mobile experience meant to enhance the in-store experience, or
Accountability team at is it meant to be another sales channel? Clearly articulating these two points (1—the
Rockfish. In his career,
Michael has worked value proposition for consumers, and 2—the impact on the core business) will help
with leading retail, determine how to measure the experience.
CPG, restaurant and
financial companies
to help them analyze The four core areas to consider when establishing a measurement-driven approach to
and understand gauge the efficacy of mobile experiences are:
online behavior with
a focus on tying
online, mobile and • Success Measures and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
social performance • Technical Implementation
to business and • Testing and Optimization
financial impact. • Reporting

Success Measures & KPIs
The critical first step is to set specific goals for your mobile strategy. As part of this
goalsetting, outline the specific key performance indicators (KPIs) that you consider
benchmarks for your mobile campaign’s success. Consider setting KPIs in the
following categories:

• Awareness – Are a sufficient number of people finding the mobile experience in
order to merit the investment or to move the needle on other key brand metrics?
Across mobile websites and apps, awareness KPIs will help to measure how much
exposure the experience is receiving.

P 12
• Engagement – What are people doing on the site? Metrics in this category
should focus on the overall user experience, including how and when consumers
will likely use the app.
Before deploying a
mobile experience, • Conversion – Are visitors doing what we want them to? Every mobile experience
marketers need should have a specific goal that defines a successful interaction with the mobile
to have a clear platform.
understanding of
that experience’s • Retention – Do visitors find the content valuable enough to come back again?
value proposition Returning users are extremely important, especially given that a large majority of
to consumers. mobile users access the apps they download only once.

Technical Implementation
Once KPIs have been established, make sure that you have the proper tools in
place to track your goals. There are many good options from Omniture, Google
Analytics and Flurry. Wherever possible, use the same platform employed for
website analytics to ensure consistent measurement methodologies are used
across all platforms.

Test & Optimize
As with all online channels, you should constantly seek to optimize the
performance of your mobile experience.

• Performance of KPIs – KPIs should be the driving force behind any
optimization. They will help you determine the areas of opportunity that need
addressing.

• Ratings and Reviews – Consumers who use your app will share feedback on
what they like and don’t like on app stores and forums. Leveraging this source
of feedback can help to pinpoint specific pain points.

• Industry – Studies and research are constantly being conducted to help
inform best practices and standards across the mobile landscape. In a
rapidly changing industry with continually improving technology, the need to
understand industry trends is key to identifying if your app is performing well
against the competition.

Reporting
When reporting on the performance of your mobile experience, employing a
standard approach is very important. Some guidelines include:

1. Establish a consistent cadence of reporting (daily, weekly, etc.).
2. Develop reports that focus on the KPIs and are tailored to the audience.
3. Provide context in the reports by comparing KPIs against goals, industry
benchmarks, timeframe (i.e., month-over-month) and competitive information.
4. Educate your audience about what the reports contain and how they should be
interpreted and used. B

ARTICLE
Demystifying
Engagement
MODERN
MARKETERS

P 13

“We need deeper engagement with our consumers.” Ever
heard that before? Engagement is such a misunderstood
word. It is often used in an excessively broad manner as
the KPI for all digital activity, but understanding what it
By: Hamilton Jones,
Managing Director,
means to your consumers within the context of your brand
TheFARM Digital
is typically unclear. This leads to vague outcomes and
metrics that don’t tell you if you’re actually heading in the
right direction.

Engagement as a concept in digital isn’t new. Previous incarnations include:
interaction rates, talkability, dwell time, open rates, and participation in UGC initiatives.
Hamilton’s career It can still be any of these, but engagement is now more commonly gauged by a
spans 16 years across combination of various metrics, actions and desired outcomes. It’s not surprising that
traditional and digital this causes confusion.
advertising. He has
worked for large global
agencies and networks Digital effectiveness is now measured less in terms of click-throughs and paid media
(Publicis Groupe, Aegis impressions, as brands seek to lay the foundation for a dialogue and connection
Media and WPP) with consumers that ultimately translates to earned reach and sales. There is, of
as well as a string of course, always a case for direct response and acquisition initiatives if you can join
niche, highly-awarded
digital independents the dots directly to sales. As for “engagement,” the biggest challenge is getting the
(including TheFARM) subjectivity out of the word to turn it into meaningful metrics that can help drive your
in roles focusing on brand forward.
digital strategy, client
management, business
development and media.
Social platforms have helped clients better understand the role of engagement. The
You can follow his data and metrics that flow from strong social initiatives show the multiplier effect that
thoughts @hamvjones consumer conversations can have, extending a brand’s reach beyond what can be
achieved via paid media alone.

Even with this greater understanding, however, many clients and agencies still rely on
generic, product-focused insights when it comes to kicking off new initiatives. All too
often, it still seems they think people will connect with the message or brand for the
mere sake of it.

The best way to determine if an idea will engage people starts with asking the right
questions. Your unique, driving insight needs to highlight why the consumer will
connect with the brand, and why they would want to share that connection. You will

P 14
be able to generate stronger value for all involved by better understanding what is
valued by different cross-sections of your consumer base, how your idea fits into
Include an their use of digital, and where it intersects with the brand.
engagement insight
“Why do I care?” Putting this into a brief helps fuel ideas that have engagement at their core. It
and a social insight lays down the foundation for clear metrics that will draw on the right data, while
“Why would I letting you know if you’re achieving your goals and how to optimize the campaign
share?” in every throughout its lifecycle.
brief.
At a recent Facebook Showcase in Sydney, Namita Moolani (Facebook) challenged
Challenging your a room full of clients and agencies to include an engagement insight “Why do I
team to really care?” and a social insight “Why would I share?” in every brief. We agree. It’s a
dig deep for the simple thing, but challenging your team to really dig deep for the engagement
engagement insight insight will give you a greater platform to drive brand engagement and generate
will give you a earned media—and the metrics to know it’s working. Try it. B
greater platform
to drive brand
engagement,
generate earned
media and the
metrics to know it’s
working.

ARTICLE
Social Media Analytics:
The Forgotten Sibling
MODERN
MARKETERS

P 15

In Volume 1 of The SoDA Report, I had the
opportunity to moderate a fantastic panel discussion
with a number of heavyweights from the world of digital
analytics. In retrospect, I felt like the topic of social media
By: Irina Sheveleva,
analytics did not receive sufficient attention during that
Editor,
GRAPE
session. As a result, I collaborated with the Head of Social

Media at GRAPE, Michail Geisherik, to outline some of
the most salient trends at present in the rapidly evolving
world of social media analytics.

While there are still traces of the once all-consuming obsession with the volume of
“likes” on Facebook brand pages, marketers are gradually beginning to shift their
Irina graduated attention to deeper and more insightful KPIs to judge the efficacy of their social media
from the School of
Philology at Moscow efforts.
State University and
entered the media The evolving science of social analytics includes analyzing how different groups of
market as a reporter
for Adindustry consumers engage with your brand beyond the “like,” how they respond to different
Magazine. She types of branded and non-branded messages over time, and how their actions
later became correlate with brand metrics such as favorability, purchase intent and actual sales.
Editor-in-Chief of
a corresponding
website. As Editor The growing array of tools for measuring social media activity is requiring ever greater
at GRAPE, Irina levels of accountability—both from agency partners and from the client-side digital
runs the agency’s marketers charged with orchestrating a brand’s social presence. In an environment
digital media trends
team and oversees its where you can now measure the impact of each particular post and action that
trends newsletter and you make on behalf of the brand, marketers need to be able to filter through the
social platforms. avalanche of data available in order to mine the truly actionable insights.

In the case of Facebook, one critical KPI is page rank. Within Facebook’s internal
measurement system, page rank determines the prominence of your brand’s posts in
the newsfeeds of your “fans.” The higher the engagement rate with content on your
brand page, the more likely it is that your posts will appear in newsfeeds.

This is particularly critical given that the newsfeed—not display ads or other tactics—
is undeniably the single greatest driver of consumer engagement on brand pages.
So, rather than posting as much content as humanly possible to see what “sticks,”
brands need to strive for better communication quality in order to remain relevant and
visible with consumers.

P 16
We are all waiting for a technology solution that seamlessly unites information
about the user’s search preferences and social activity together with additional
In an online and offline data sets, in order to gain a more holistic understanding of
consumers. Combine that with enhanced targeting techniques and more turnkey
environment solutions for optimization and we will have found the Holy Grail.
where you can
now measure The race is on and we’ll see which of the major (or heretofore unknown) players
the impact of crosses the finish line first with a truly world-class, holistic analytics solution. B
each particular
post and action
that you make
on behalf of the
brand, marketers
need to be able
to filter through
the avalanche of
data available in
order to mine the
truly actionable
insights.

ARTICLE
Why Consumers Are Just
Not That Into Your Brand
MODERN
MARKETERS

P 17

Marketers clearly understand the need to gain people’s
affinity with their brands, but I would argue their method
is misdirected. Neuroscience has shown that behavioral
By: Alasdair Lloyd-Jones,
mirroring is where real empathy happens, yet marketers’
COO,
Big Spaceship obsession with such things as Facebook “likes” could not be
more out of sync with the concept of mirroring.

Here are ten new behaviors you can adopt to achieve greater affinity and a more
meaningful collaboration between departments, partners and consumers.

1. Avoid the Big Data crush
Alasdair leads the Instead of holding out hope for the promise of Big Data, which according to
development and McKinsey we currently lack the skillset to interpret, embrace the concept of
implementation of Big intuition and use what data you can interpret to test your hunches.
Spaceship’s strategic
vision. His experience 2. Capitalize on digital’s malleability
spans 25 years in the
advertising industry The ease and speed in which products, platforms and services can be created,
as a client, brand launched and improved through strong feedback mechanisms makes digital one
strategist, CEO and of the most malleable forms of prototyping available today.
President, both in the
UK and the States. 3. See the consumer through new eyes
He’s held positions at Start every engagement with questions around consumer behavior. Challenge
Y&R London, TWA
Getaway Vacations yourself to think about what behaviors you want to affect and what behaviors you
London, Osprey can play to. These questions will better serve you than the elusive search for an
Communications, insight.
Deutsch LA, Ogilvy
LA, Publicis NY, and 4. Borrow existing behaviors
Cutwater SF as Co-
Building on the previous point, when thinking about your brand and its interaction
President and Chief
Strategic Officer. with consumers, look to the behaviors people already exhibit through their current
Alasdair has worked brand interactions and see what can be borrowed.
across numerous
categories including 5. Make what already exists more useful
technology, financial, When it comes to innovation, think about making the stuff you own more useful
automotive, packaged
goods, luxury,
rather than always trying to make more stuff. Look for relationships across
government, alcohol, business verticals that, when combined, could create a new proposition for
fast food, and toys. people.

P 18

6. Eliminate the distance between product creation and marketing
When it comes to Consumers are having a greater influence in the development of new products
innovation, think and the advancement of existing products, so for marketing to be effective it
about making has to start side by side with the product guys.
the stuff you own
more useful rather 7. Put communication partners at the center
As a simple add-on to point 6, bring your communication partners into the
than always
center of your product/marketing ecosystem. They bring lateral thinking and a
trying to make perspective that lives outside of the day-to-day business, which is likely closer
more stuff. to that of your consumer.

8. Fix your agency partners’ dysfunctions
If meetings with your communication partners are often overcrowded and
unproductive, you clearly have a level of dysfunction within your partner
ecosystem. Get your partners to work in small multi-disciplinary teams, where
everyone in the meeting has an active role in delivering on the brief.

9. Develop frameworks, not processes, to achieve more innovative
solutions
Set processes are something your teams lean against while frameworks
provide your teams with something to lean into. The introduction of principles
and values—the ingredients of a strong framework—enable a reduction in
the reliance on processes. This results in increased creativity, increased
ownership, and—in my experience—fresh ideas.

10. Be courageously patient
Changing set ways of doing things will create anxiety among those who lean
on routine, but will excite those who thrive on being in sync with the new
behavioral dynamics of the consumer. Both parties are likely critical to your
business, so it will be down to you to decide on the pace of change that
respects the human dynamics of your employees. B

ARTICLE Curation-Inspired
MODERN
MARKETERS Creativity: The Rise of
P 19
“The Really Good”
Technology advances are leading to a curation
phenomenon. Through photo- and idea-sharing sites,
curated pages are inspiring creativity and giving rise to a
new class known as “The Really Good.” Let’s explore some
By: Brent Slone, key themes stemming from this phenomenon.
Director, Strategy,
Phenomblue

Every day more and more people are discovering that they have the ability to create
works of art, master new recipes and snap brilliant photographs.
As Phenomblue’s
Director of Strategy,
Brent Slone specializes In the past, when people required creative guidance, they looked to professionals.
in shepherding brand These professionals owned expensive equipment, had a portfolio of published works
messages for clients
across digital channels and had fine-tuned their crafts through years of education and work experience.
to create meaningful
experiences for users,
while garnering Today, technology is creating a more level playing field. Socially-integrated
results. Brent has a applications and websites have dropped the barrier to entry for creative endeavors
diverse advertising – including both research and production. Now, aspiring artists can find creative
background, previously
working with agencies guidance and inspiration from a new source of expertise – the curated works and
including Saatchi ideas of “The Really Good.”
& Saatchi New
York, Crispin Porter
+ Bogusky, and R/ When we talk to our friends and refer to someone in our circles who is creative and
GA. His background talented, we always say, “They’re really good at [insert hobby, talent, skill here].”
includes working
on award-winning Chances are they are driven by curiosity and passion.
integrated campaigns
for brands such as JCP
Teen, Edun Fashion What’s really interesting is the effect “really good work” has on others after it is shared
Clothing Collection, across sites like Pinterest.
Nike, Head and
Shoulders, Alfa Romeo
and the National Within the last few months, most of us have heard from friends and family about
Parks Service. countless projects that have come from Pinterest. Sites like Pinterest and Dribbble
allow anyone to curate “really good ideas” from “really good people.” In our view, the
process of how the work is created and subsequently showcased is what motivates
others to act.

P 20
Three key themes permeate Social Photo/Idea-Sharing sites:

Today, technology 1) The work is created with everyday materials.
is creating a more
level playing field. 2) People use simple tools.
Socially-integrated
3) Individuals, not expansive groups, are creating the work.
applications
and websites Once people have collected enough ideas and have been sufficiently inspired,
have dropped they reach a decision point and claim “I can do that.” With enough practice, they
the barrier to become part of “The Really Good,” inspiring others to create. B
entry for creative
endeavors.

Section Three

Tech
Talk
21 The (Re)Birth of the Mobile Web
article by James Warren, Magnani Caruso Dutton

23 Avoiding “Love At First Sight” Syndrome
article by Joe Olsen, Phenomblue

25 Multi-Screen Convergence
article by Oscar Trelles

27 Exploring Responsive Design
article by Matt Webb and Jake Gibbons,
The1stMovement

29 Are You Ready for the Tablet Age?
article by Sven Larsen, Zemoga

31
3D Browser Standoff – WebGL vs.
Stage3D
review by Matt Bilson, Resn

ARTICLE
TECH
The (Re)Birth of the
Mobile Web
TALK

P 21

App mania set in just four years ago with the iPhone
3G, but as smartphones, tablets and connected devices
proliferate and fragment, marketers are confronted with
many choices: multiple operating systems on which to
build, widely varying use patterns, and a dizzying array
By: James Warren,
Technology and QA Director,
Magnani Caruso Dutton
of screen sizes to support. What used to be simple suddenly
became a lot more complicated and harder to grasp.

James Warren manages Nearly five years later, the reality of an app-based strategy has set in. Such a strategy
Magnani Caruso requires maintaining multiple code bases for slightly varying messages per device,
Dutton’s team of web, and it also means that each release requires budget and time. As cost management
social, and mobile and time-to-market are increasingly important, a level of complexity has emerged for
developers, along with which most businesses are not prepared. During the last few years, reluctant tradeoffs
quality assurance
analysts. He has twenty have been made on which devices to support and which ones not to support.
years of experience
providing technical, Luckily, relief has arrived just in time and in the form of the most-used app on
project, and quality anyone’s tablet or smartphone...the browser. More specifically, there are now
management to Fortune a wealth of opportunities offered by HTML5 and responsive web design. These
500 companies. Since
advances are putting the browser back at the forefront of the marketing playbook.
1999, Magnani
Caruso Dutton has been
thoughtfully guiding The latest mobile devices ship with modern browsers that can access many common
its clients through the native functions through app platforms, allowing you to author from HTML5 device-
ever-changing digital APIs.
landscape.
HTML5 in combination with the mobile operating system can provide access to the
device hardware: the camera, microphone, GPS, gyroscope and compass, among
other functions. You don’t need to manage multiple releases, since the app can be
refreshed the next time the consumer accesses it.

Yes, HTML5 is a work in progress and implementation protocols are still being
developed. Despite that fact, core components have already been used successfully
in many web apps, underscoring the fact that rich, browser-based mobile apps can
be deployed now without fear of jeopardizing the user experience.

P 22
To go one step further, responsive design has eliminated the need for a standalone
M. site. Now, developers can create a version of the same web page optimized for
Native apps screen size and interface mode (touch or mouse).
are no longer
With responsive design, not only can mobile development efforts be standardized
the only game
into a single code base, but so can desktop development. Imagine a single core
in town when code base for all devices and desktop browsers. Imagine that this code base can
it comes to classify devices and desktops into categories and serve up a customized version
providing rich, of the app to match the device or desktop experience.
device-optimized
experiences to The benefits go beyond practical technical and QA considerations, and include
your consumers. strong brand benefits. We can create a single, adaptive environment to engage
your audiences in a way that is consistent across all touchpoints, all the while
respecting best practices for the various devices.

Apps are not dead, not by a long shot, and native app developers will
contemptuously point out a multitude of reasons why native apps should be the
only types of applications created. For example, if fast and responsive animation
and graphics are needed—or if access to hardware not available through HTML5
device APIs is an imperative— a native app is still the solution.

However, native apps are no longer the only game in town when it comes to
providing rich, device-optimized experiences to your consumers.

By combining your mobile and desktop strategies, it is possible to save time and
budget, and ensure consumers experience your brand in a consistent manner
Rich, browser- wherever they are browsing and searching, be it a desktop or mobile app store
search.
based mobile
apps can be The secret to success in mobile technology is to know your consumers, their use
deployed now patterns and the devices they are accessing. Filter your strategic and messaging
without fear of goals through that lens and you can offer an experience that fulfills their needs. For
jeopardizing the many companies, the mobile web could help successfully transition from being
user experience. software developers to being marketers once again. B

ARTICLE
Avoiding “Love at First
Sight” Syndrome
TECH
TALK

P 23

Many brands get excited about the latest and greatest
technology as a conduit to consumer engagement or digital
branding. However, many of these same brands struggle to
By: Joe Olsen, create truly effective, engaging experiences (powered by that
great new technology) and often end up producing mere
CEO,
Phenomblue

novelty with little or no value for consumers.

Connecting customer-centric ideas with technology is ultimately about understanding
the fundamental way technology can create a more compelling experience with a
brand. It’s understanding the nuances of the platform, device, approach or medium
and designing an experience that leverages what’s different to create something truly
Joe Olsen is the co- unique.
founder and CEO of
Phenomblue. Founded Generally speaking, we believe that good digital marketing first and foremost
in 2004, the interactive facilitates interaction between two or more consumers with a brand, rather than a 1:1
brand experience marketing approach between a single consumer and a brand.
company was named
one of the top 25
agencies on the West For example, take our experience working with Microsoft Surface, a multi-touch social
Coast and received computing platform from Microsoft. While social computing is the technical term for
agency of the year this multi-touch OOH platform, brand marketers often compare it to tablets, kiosks
nominations in 2011. and other single-user platforms. The fundamental reason for the Microsoft Surface
Joe is also a frequent platform’s success is its capability to provide an in-person experience with a brand
industry speaker and
serial entrepreneur, between two or more consumers simultaneously (i.e. social computing).
with Phenomblue
being his third startup. Again, this notion can be lost if brands are not well-versed in the technology—
Prior to that, Joe was something that remains our responsibility as an agency.
a software consultant
creating emerging media
We ask our clients for full technology discovery sessions prior to evaluating one
solutions and driving
strategic technology approach over another. When we facilitate these discovery sessions, we discuss the
planning for clients engagement factors and unique customer-centric opportunities that exist within the
on behalf of technology company’s consumer base. We examine current implementations of the technology in
companies, such as the marketplace or similar platforms, and brainstorm the creative back to the solution.
Microsoft, Adobe, and
Apple.
A unique and successful approach will put us into the shoes of the creator, provider
or manufacturer. Who would we sell this to, and why? If we can answer that question,
the principles driving the conclusion are generally good principles for evaluating the
marketing or advertising effort.

P 24

At the end of the day, it still comes down to being pragmatic and thorough in your
At the end of approach to utilizing new technology, and avoiding “love at first sight” syndrome.
the day, it still While this is still a basic principle in advertising and marketing, it’s something often
comes down to ignored in the digital and interactive space.
being pragmatic
and thorough in Although creative is generally at the heart of a good experience, technology is the
your approach interface. As we all know, a good idea is only as good as its execution. B
to utilizing new
technology, and
avoiding “love
at first sight”
syndrome.

ARTICLE
TECH
TALK Multi-Screen Convergence
P 25

The mobile revolution, driven by the proliferation of
smartphones and tablets, is having a profound impact on
the way consumers interact with content. The TV screen is
starting to compete for attention with mobile devices in the
living room, and enhancing the viewing experience will not
By: Oscar Trelles,
Digital Marketing be enough to keep consumers engaged. As screens converge, the
Expert, Strategist and
Technologist challenge is creating experiences that can be initiated on any
screen and carried over to another.

Understanding the journey from screen to screen, as well as the context each
screen has for the consumer, is key to creating context-aware, personal messaging
that helps brands establish relationships with consumers—relationships based on
Oscar is a digital relevance instead of repetition.
marketing and advertising
professional with over
a decade of experience From watching movies and TV shows primarily on TV sets, then on personal
leading multidisciplinary computers, and now on tablets, consumers have naturally come to expect content
teams at creative agencies. that is optimized for all the devices they own, and accessible on demand. Services
Throughout his career, designed around this need have created a new type of consumer that considers a
he has produced work for
brands and companies cable subscription superfluous. Known to some as “cord-cutters,” this group’s growth
such as Adobe, Allstate will continue to accelerate, as digital natives grow up rejecting the idea of paying for
Insurance, Best Buy, Coca content they can find online.
Cola, Diageo, Microsoft,
New Line Cinema,
Nintendo, Old Spice, Given the growing availability and diversity of devices and content delivery services,
Pfizer, Reebok, Starbucks, consumers can no longer be thought of as having a uniform set of devices, because
Starwood Hotels, Toyota individuals assign subjective value to each screen. That value is primarily driven by the
and Victoria’s Secret, intrinsic function and features associated with each device, and how those functions
among many others.
Oscar writes for industry
affect the consumer’s state of mind using them. Together these factors determine
publications such as what I call mobility context.
Econsultancy and SoDA,
and is an occasional guest A mobility context is the interaction space created by the combination of:
conference speaker and • the form factor of a device;
panelist, having addressed
audiences at Adobe MAX, • its unique attributes; and
WebDU, Click:NY, and • the amount of time a user is willing to spend using the device exclusively.
other events. He is also a
judge for competitions such Smartphones, for example, are about “here and now.” Because of their size and the
as The FWA Site of the
Year, the Webby Awards, ubiquitous cellular connection, they have become an extension of our bodies, and
the FITC Awards, and their owners can be expected to carry them everywhere (and I mean everywhere).
MassChallenge. Find him
on Twitter @oscartrelles.

P 26
These are the devices we use to get directions, to check prices on Amazon before
buying at a brick and mortar store, to check to see if our friends have already
checked in at the cafe where we are meeting, or send them a quick note if we are
running late.
Understanding
the journey from Consumers now make purchasing decisions across mobility contexts, making
screen to screen, every screen a vehicle for awareness, consideration, and maybe even closing
as well as the a deal. Consequently, mobile commerce is expected to experience continued
context each revenue growth, as more transactions take place at the consumer’s fingertips.
screen has for the
consumer, is key to However, this is not limited to impulse buying or online retailers: Starbucks reported
creating context- in July 2012 that 25% of its total transactions were processed via mobile—close to
aware, personal 55 million transactions.
messaging that
Competitive advantage will not be found in maximizing “air time” on every screen,
helps brands but in understanding customers’ real-life problems—and providing integrated
establish solutions that make their lives easier and help them navigate information overload,
relationships with so that they can make faster and better-informed decisions.
consumers—
relationships For example, it is interesting how IntoNow—a social TV app acquired by Yahoo!
based on relevance last year—does an amazing job at identifying what movie or show I am watching
instead of right now, but fails with commercials. Considering how many TV commercials
repetition. now contain calls to action pointing to online content, wouldn’t it make sense for
IntoNow to offer marketers a way to activate them?

Focusing on the relationship with consumers and creating solutions that
seamlessly integrate across screens should become a primary method of
differentiation among marketers.

The most successful marketing will engage individuals by marrying their specific
interests and needs with experiences that are aware of the mobility context—
and take full advantage of the unique attributes of the screen being used at the
moment. B

ARTICLE
Exploring Responsive
Design
TECH
TALK

P 27

Mobile and tablet usage is exploding in the United States
and around the globe. In the U.S., almost 50% of all
adults now own smartphones (66% for those ages 18-
29).* Industry analysts predict those percentages will
By: Matt Webb,
increase significantly over the next two years. More and
Interface Developer, and
Jake Gibbons,
more consumers are now opting to buy mobile and tablet
Interface Developer,
The1stMovement devices instead of PCs, a fact that dramatically impacts
how they interact with websites, how they research products
and services, and how they purchase those products and
services—both online and offline.
*(Source: Pew Internet, September 2012)

In an effort to prepare for this massive shift from desktop-accessible only sites to
Matt and Jake are
interface developers a mobile majority, a new approach to design and development has arisen called
at The1stMovement, responsive design (RD). RD aims to deliver an optimal user experience for different
where they produce screen resolutions and devices, while using one scalable website codebase rather
creative and than separate codebases for each edition of mobile, tablet, and desktop.
innovative web
interfaces for clients For a great primer on RD, check out this article about “Future-Proof Digital” on the
like Pentax and Cisco.
You can find them on SoDA blog by Rachel Peters (http://societyofdigitalagencies.org/2012/05/future-
Twitter talking about proof-digital/).
the digital industry,
tech and other While RD can provide “future-proof solutions” and comes in a variety of flavors,
completely random experts will tell you it is not a magic bullet. One brand’s RD may simply be a reflow
topics. Matt can be
followed on Twitter of content from mobile to desktop sites, while more complex RD could use device-
@creatify_me and specific features like GPS for mobile, simplified content presentation in tablets, and
Jake @jayseeg. immersive presentations of all content in a desktop form.

When poorly implemented, RD can result in a negative user experience. Common
missteps include sending too much content to a mobile user, causing excessive
download times, or using features not available on all devices of a certain class.
Despite the potential pitfalls, a responsive design approach should be considered for
all future-forward solutions.

Before ultimately deciding if it is right for your organization, ask yourself:

• Does it need to be a native app? RD cannot replace the need for a native app. If
your mobile strategy calls for more device-specific functionality, then a native app
would be a better solution than a responsive design approach.

P 28
• Are you converting an existing site? A key tenet of responsive design is mobile
first. In other words, think about your mobile users first and then expand
After a responsive to other devices. By converting a legacy site into a RD, you could run into
performance issues because there is too much content for a mobile context.
design has been
implemented, • Will budget allow it? One common misconception is that RD costs less, but
there is a great that’s only true to an extent. RD typically costs more upfront. It can, however,
opportunity be significantly more efficient than building device-specific websites over the
for creating a medium-term to long-term. The extra upfront cost is well worth the investment,
rich ecosystem as it can help ensure the future viability of your site over a longer period of time.
It can also result in a stronger user experience, given that the constraints of a
of cross-device mobile-first approach force focus on the content that’s most important to your
interactions. users.

When considering RD, feel confident that your users will appreciate the approach
because it results in context-appropriate content. Your production teams will also
be grateful that there is only one codebase and CMS to develop and maintain.

Additionally, after a RD has been implemented, there is a great opportunity for
creating a rich ecosystem of cross-device interactions. For example, mobile users
could check prices at a physical location against the competition, and share the
location with their friends who are using a tablet.

Providing users with more touch points and compelling reasons to use them can
increase engagement and customer satisfaction. B

ARTICLE
Are You Ready for the
Tablet Age?
TECH
TALK

P 29

Want to know the future of digital media? Or, for that
matter, media in general? You don’t need a degree in
advanced engineering or computer programming. You
need basic arithmetic. And here’s the simple equation that’s
By: Sven Larsen,
CMO,
going to change everything: 169.7 mm > 101.5 mm
Zemoga

What do those numbers mean? The number of Pinterest vs Instagram users? Is it the
Golden Ratio?

Sven Larsen is an Well, for Mass Media watchers it very well may be. 169.7 mm is the number of iPads
award-winning digital that Gartner expects will be sold in the calendar year 2016 (and that’s only iPads—
media executive with
over 20 years worth they’re projecting the entire tablet market to be over 350 mm units). Meanwhile,
of experience building Nielsen estimates the number of households across America that have traditional
brands and creating television sets in 2012 to be 114.7 mm. With a rate of decline of approximately 3%
content for a diverse
array of companies, per year, by 2016, the number of households with TVs drops to only 101.5 mm.
including Marvel
Entertainment, Time Simple math dictates that we’re going to be changing the way we talk about mass
Warner, Penguin market advertising in the next few years. The questions we’re going to be asking are
Pearson, the Financial
Times, the Economist, things like:
Cracked.com and
Teshkeel Media. He’s • Is the third screen now the primary screen?
also a hockey-loving,
comic-book-reading, • What’s the optimum run time for a video ad? (Is the 30-second spot dead?)
Apple-worshipping • How can we evolve advertising to take advantage of the technological capabilities
communications and of devices that are so much more robust than traditional televisions?
technology geek who is
always getting excited • How do we measure viewership and audience engagement?
about what comes next.
He lives with his wife The point is simply this. We’ve moved beyond the Internet Age or the Digital Age
Monica in Park Slope, or even the Mobile Age (which was really the Smartphone Age) to a new chapter in
Brooklyn, and to date
has composed over 100 marketing and communications: the Tablet Age. The cultural impact of these new
songs about their dog devices is potentially as disruptive as when the worldwide web initially launched.
Gia.
Keep in mind that the iPad is still a very young technology (hard to believe that the
first models were introduced in April 2010) and developers are just starting to explore
the full capabilities of the device. As penetration grows deeper and wider, potential
applications will only expand.

P 30
How will consumers use the device?
As a portable television?
As a remote control for smart appliances and household systems?
Simple math As a tool to create content for private networks giving rise to hyper-targeted
dictates that niche marketing opportunities?
we’re going to be All of the above plus much more?
changing the way
we talk about No one knows for certain. What we do know is that anyone who doesn’t
have a strategy for iOS and Android is missing a key component of their
mass market digital plan. Additionally, responsive web design, native applications, and
advertising in the content compatibility (e.g. HTML5) need to be primary considerations, not
next few years. afterthoughts.

For those of us in the digital development space, this is a completely different
conversation than what we were having two years ago.

How will the conversation in your industry be changed by this emerging trend?
Are you ready for the coming of the Tablet Age? B

SOURCES:
http://bgr.com/2012/04/10/tablet-sales-to-double-in-2012/
http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/reports-downloads/2011-Reports/
2010-2011-nielsen-television-audience-report.pdf

REVIEW
3D Browser Standoff—
WebGL vs. Stage 3D
TECH
TALK

P 31

The leveraging of hardware-accelerated 3D in a web
browser has resulted in the creation of some truly stunning
experiences. Yet, while many users will proclaim “Wow, nice
job!!!” others will gladly share “U suk. Doesn’t work.”
By: Matt Bilson,
Technical Director,
Resn

While hardware-accelerated 3D experiments have been wowing audiences for a few
years, the technologies are still in experimental stages and are not quite ready for
prime-time audiences.

The two main opponents (a.k.a. options) lauded as favorites are:
1) HTML & WebGL
2) Flash & Stage3D

Matt lives in three
accelerated dimensions WebGL
at the bottom of the
world, New Zealand.
You should follow him With many impressive experiments and some high-profile browser specific sites
and the rest of the Resn such as Ro.me, backed up by libraries such as Mr Doob’s Three.js and a solid fan
troublemakers on Twitter:
@mattbilson community, WebGL clearly offers great potential for 3D experiences.
@resn_has_no_i
However it’s not all rainbows and walks in the park. Browser behemoth Internet
Explorer (IE) doesn’t support WebGL and Microsoft seems cautious about adding it
any time soon. Hardware support is also an important factor for adoption, and while
some systems do not support it, WebGL’s support is wide and expanding.

Stage3D
Ever since the beta releases of Flash Player 11, Adobe has been pushing Stage3D
hard. At Resn, we put it to the test in the FWA winning experi-ganza Rhizopods
and fully unleashed it on the world in Never Stop, Never Settle for Hennessy. We’ve
found that with libraries such as Away3D, it is truly a brave and exciting new world.

Desktop browser support of Stage3D is growing fast, and it won’t be long until
it builds critical mass adoption. Hardware support is less comprehensive than
WebGL, but it is expanding with new updates from Adobe. Flash also offers a
software rendering mode for those with hardware that requires set-up assistance.
This mode handles some situations well, but can also result in very slow playback.

P 32
In our experience, we have found it necessary to adapt the experience in order to
demand less from a user’s hardware if the software mode is detected. In the end,
such adaptations provide a great experience for all users but increase development
Browsers are time.
advancing
by leaps and So where does this leave us?
bounds…
Desktop browser Browsers are advancing by leaps and bounds. However, unless you have the
luxury of ignoring IE in a project, Flash is currently the only viable option when it
support of comes to hardware-accelerated browser 3D. For now.
Stage3D is
growing fast With time, it’s likely the masses using IE will have their WebGL socks blown off.
and it won’t And hopefully, mobile support will increase at a much faster rate.
be long until it
builds critical It’s still early, but WebGL is already available in Firefox and Opera on Android, and
mass adoption. within iAds on iOS and on the Blackberry Playbook. With an open-source Android
browser implementation available and little standing in the way of Apple opening
up Safari on iOS to WebGL, you won’t have too long to wait.

This may give WebGL the advantage it needs to win in the “browser based 3D fun”
ring. WebGL on an iPad? Yes please. B

Section Four

Case
Studies
33 Empowering Young Artists / Crayola / Big Spaceship
by Nathan Adkisson, Big Spaceship

34 Dream Big / Pilsen / Encident
by Claudio Lombardo, Encident

35 Picture Perfect Color / Redken / Firstborn
by Kevin Arthur, Firstborn

36 Luxurious Commerce / Elie Tahari / Fluid
by Stephanie Aldrete, Fluid

37 Global Symmetry / Vodafone / Great Fridays
by Rob Noble, Great Fridays

39 The Digital Locker / Allstate / IQ
by John Woodbridge, IQ

40 Red Quest / MTS / GRAPE
by Vladilen A. Sitnikov, GRAPE

43 An Integrated Brand Experience / DC Shoes /
Terralever
by Jon Lewis, Terralever

45 First Online Photo Studio / Panasonic /
Red Keds
by Vasiliy Lebedev, Red Keds

CASE
STUDIES
The SoDA Report Vol. 2-2012 Empowering Young Artists /
P 33 Crayola / Big Spaceship
by Nathan Adkisson,
Strategist,
Big Spaceship

Use screens to get kids offline to explore their creativity.
Bursting with over 50,000 pages of content, the Crayola website needed to
catch up with its new brand positioning—from a supplier of art products to
an ally for parents dedicated to championing their kids’ creativity.

Much of the site
focuses on getting
creative ideas into
parents’ hands and
encouraging them to
get their kids offline.
The menu puts
products last, an idea
finder appears on
every page, teachers
get class content,
moms can find age-
specific ideas, and
analog elements were
used in the pixels.

“Parents need to know that there’s something for the whole family at this site, from the
youngest scribblers to the most skilled designers.”

– Common Sense Media (the nation’s leading independent nonprofit advocating for kids)

PROJECT: http://www.crayola.com
AGENCY: http://www.bigspaceship.com

CASE
STUDIES
The SoDA Report Vol. 2-2012 Dream Big / Pilsen / Encident
P 34 by Claudio Lombardo,
Managing Director,
Encident

Bridge people stories to product stories to engage
young Latin American consumers.

Friendship and camaraderie are at the core of Pilsen’s brand DNA. The
brewer’s messaging is dynamic and entertaining, aimed at reaching
a young and daring
audience. Transposing
this positioning for the
digital space, Encident set
out to create content that
would enhance day-to-day
personal connections while
also engaging young Latin
American consumers with
the brand.

The initiative focused first
and foremost on inciting
conversations among friends, but tied seamlessly to the overall Pilsen
product story / brand promise.

The Montevideo-based shop developed a new interactive experience in
which users could create a dynamic video engaging his or her friends in a
comedic and highly personalized dream sequence. Due to its innate viral
nature, the site rapidly became a success in key Latin American markets
(including Uruguay and Argentina) and in little time achieved the goal of
positioning Pilsen as the beer to enjoy with friends.
Half of the target audience (M/F) was reached in just 10 days. The average user created
multiple videos on each visit and spent approximately six minutes on the site.

PROJECT: http://www.encident.com/clients/pilsenbf/home/
PROD CO: http://www.encident.com

CASE
STUDIES
The SoDA Report Vol. 2-2012 Picture Perfect Color /
P 35 Redken / Firstborn
by Kevin Arthur,
Chief Operating Officer, Firstborn

Use mobile to enhance the relationship
between professionals and their clients.

Redken Style Station is a modern business utility, custom tailored to serve
professional stylists.

The Formula
Finder, the
application’s main
feature, allows
stylists to select
their clients’
current hair color
followed by their
desired hair color.
It then calculates
the exact product
ratios to mix.

The app also includes a Lookbook featuring signature styles and clients’ new
hairstyles. A Timer feature lets colorists keep track of processing times. The
Consultation section allows colorists to document and analyze clients’ goals.
The Breakroom is a social network within the app that allows the stylists and
certified colorists to interact and share knowledge with their peers.

Firstborn also created a custom CMS, which allows Redken to create new
color options as more product lines are released.
The Redken Style Station has changed the way stylists determine the perfect color
for their clients.

PROJECT: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/style-station-by-redken/id412666979?mt=8
AGENCY: http://www.firstborn.com

The SoDA Report - Vol 2, 2012

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The SoDA Report - Vol 2, 2012