Saint Blog

Met up for a coffee with the interesting chaps at Six to Start this morning.   And while sipping Americano in the Italian restaurant in their basement (no shit) I found myself thoroughly engaged by what they had to say.  To summarise, to think about gaming and the behaviours that it exhibits within the boundaries of only a traditional game would be fundamentally missing both the point and opportunity that this promises us.

When we look at successful games, what we’re really looking at is successful engagement.  This has been the case for thousands of years.  Think of all the successful games in the world, from Chess to Sonic to Call of Duty and Farmville, and the ‘game’ itself is almost secondary.  What is of utmost importance is that the user is taken on a journey that engages them through entertainment, challenge, social connectivity, story telling and reward, and a game lacking in these pillars isn’t really a game at all. And most importantly of all, there needs to be a point to participation.

Sound familiar?

But what really interested me about this game philosophy, is how it can be applied to non-games, how can we achieve great levels of participation in ‘things’ by engendering in them the ideals of gaming.  When we’re developing the latest campaign – be it in a traditional form, interactive form, or transmedia – how can we treat it more like a game, make it challenging, rewarding and entertaining for the participant.

After all, we could all be doing something else, right?

www.sixtostart.com

Interview with Dan Hon, formerly of Six to Start - http://bit.ly/9O53zY

Fantastic recent TED talk on the game layer – http://bit.ly/cRkr3C

A few months ago a chat kicked off in a pub about the musical talents within our lovely Saint – talented individuals famed for their guitar playing, drum rolling, knob twiddling, synth stabbing and vocal ranges, and we thought we’d invite those interested to pool together resources and create a music collection for us all to enjoy.

And here it is!

The Saint Album – Volume1 by cjefford

You can find the personal pages of each artist here www.saintlondon.co.uk/saint-album

You can also download the album in full so you can put it on your Walkman.

Massive thanks go out to our awesome contributors Mr Sng, Mr Flugge, Mr Loyal, Mr Graham, Mr Kember and Mr Sid, as well as the photography and stylists that gave their time and work for free.

This is a short collection of work by people loving to create, and we hope its the first in a series of digital creative collections for us share, any thoughts give us a shout.

Enjoy, happy Friday players.

Chris (@cjefford)

by Mark Sng & Zaid Al-Zaidy, Saint @ RKCR/Y&R 

Classical marketing has always been fond of useful mnemonics. Acronymic devices from our AIDAs to our SWOTs to our PESTs have given us a way of structuring strategic considerations, variables and ideas. Of course, probably the most famous and ubiquitous of all is the 4Ps of marketing.

At Saint, we wanted something just as simple that applied to engaging an audience in the age of digital. We wanted a way to distil the inherently complex and fast-moving landscape of human and corporate relationships in a million-channel environment into a topline playbook that reminds us of the key components for any engagement strategy. We wanted to create a structure that looked to the enduring truths of human interaction rather than the specific technologies that might be in vogue at any point in time, so that corporations have the strategic confidence to invest in a rapidly evolving space.

So without further ado, please let us introduce you to the 4Cs of brand engagement; Conversation, Culture, Collaboration and Compensation.

Conversation:

This has been the most seismic shift for ad men and brands to adapt to – understanding that brands are most powerful not when they exist in beautifully produced TVCs and pithy advertising slogans, but when they form part of the stories their consumers are telling.

 This first, most vital C is about the need for brands to listen to, participate in, stimulate and in some cases facilitate conversations. We believe the iconic brands of the future will act more like a person than a corporation, empowering their own employees to engage in micro-conversations with consumers wherever these may be taking place.

Culture:

So brands must, more than ever, exist in conversation. This means that simply having a ‘positioning’, a set of key messages and an endline is not enough to get consumers to understand and buy in to your brand (arguably this has always been the case, it’s just more visible now that conversations are stored online).

Instead, branding must be viewed within the context of multichannel touchpoints, some of which are ‘owned’ by a us, many that are not. The only way to create the kind of consistency of meaning for a brand in this environment is by defining and continually demonstrating what a brand stands for. Understanding how you translate what your brand stands for for a variety of situations is absolutely key, because people don’t form their opinion of brands via the advertising they see.

Of course, to get this right is not just a marketing endeavour but will have organisation-wide ramifications, but starting with a communications strategy is a great first step.

Collaboration:

However brand culture isn’t something that can solely be defined by marketing departments and ad agencies. The strongest brands allow their consumers to co-own and co-create this culture, and this C is about the need to try to drive not just attention but also participation in order to really connect. The meaning of a brand means much more when framed through personal experiences –  and the best way facilitate this is by getting our audience to join in.

Giving consumers a sense of ownership over the brand and its assets not just deepens engagement but is also more likely to breed advocates and evangelists.

Compensation:

Last but certainly not least is the need to make sure we reward our audience for their time and attention. With the decreasing focus on interruptive styles of communication it becomes foundational to think about the “what’s in it for them” question – and base any tactical execution on real consumer value.

Whether this value comes in the form of entertainment, utility, a platform for self-expression, information or monetary, brands really do have an obligation to ensure their marketing has a reason for being in the eyes of the consumer.

So there are Saint’s 4Cs of brand engagement – hardly prescriptive but we hope helpful at highlighting the key areas to address in order to encourage users to love your brand. 

Below are the vids from last month’s Facebook Developer Garage. I was asked to come and talk from an agency perspective. So, although a little underprepared, I duly obliged.

There was a good cross section of people in attendance and I met some really interesting players from the field of social media. I was particularly impressed with the talk that followed mine from Mat Clayton & Chris Thorpe. Which is surprising because it had been billed in a way that suggested that there would be some sort of head to head between me (representing agencies) and them (representing all the people who are frustrated by agencies). Luckily, most of their gripes do not apply to Saint (because we are not typical of other agencies) and they were extremely impressed by the thinking that we demonstrated. Indeed there were many similarities in our presentations. PHEEEW!

Afterwards, I had a pint with Toby Beresford from Nudge and found him to be an very knowledgeable and likable chap.

We will definitely be contacting these guys in future regarding our social media initiatives and I will continue to attend the Facebook Developer garages. I recommend you do too.

Adam Graham Part 1

Adam Graham Part 2

Mat Clayton & Chris Thorpe Part 1

Mat Clayton & Chris Thorpe Part 2

Mat Clayton & Chris Thorpe Part 3

“Social networking and blogging has recently become more popular than personal email, and is growing twice as fast as any of the other four largest sectors (search, portals, PC software and email).” Neilson Media 2009

It’s no secret, nor is it a surprise that brands have been quick to turn to social media in a bid to engage and create meaningful conversations with people online.

Many have done so incredibly well.

However, in the frantic rush to capitalise on the popularity of social networks, most have failed to define a distinct and compelling reason to be in this space… to disrupt and interrupt doesn’t count!

Social media users have very quickly learnt to filter through the saturation of brands and messages, cutting straight to those (friends, and brands) they know, and trust. To become a trusted brand in this saturated space (trust us it’s saturated and also highly unlikely that your competitors aren’t already there), there are a few key rules of engagement.

1. Know where the conversation is taking place, listen & respond

Use tools like Buzz Metrics and Scout Labs to identify where people are talking about you online. Once you know where they are, listen to them, learn from them, and respond if necessary. The open nature of this space means a lack of response shines out and is picked up upon quickly.

It’s far better to actively micro-manage opinion across networks and blogs than it is simply set up a few profiles on Facebook that never get updated.

2. Be worth talking to

OK, so you know where the conversation is taking place, but how do you get involved?

Most brands in the social web bare striking similarities to the ‘dad in the disco’ (at best a little bit embarrassing, at worst can empty the room), however… even the dad in the disco can be popular if he’s buying the drinks!

So be entertaining, exciting, and amazing. Be unique, offer exclusive money can’t buy opportunities, most of all have fun! As long as you respect your audience, you are free to try pretty much anything.

3. Be yourself

Social media is a culture of transparency and honesty that must be embraced. Try to behave less like a company and more like a real person and people will respect you. Saying this

“learning to speak in a human voice is not some trick, nor will corporations convince us they are human with lip service about ‘listening to customers.’ They will only sound human when they empower real human beings to speak on their behalf.” The Cluetrain Manifesto (1999)

If you are a CEO that knows how to blog, do so, even better why not create a network of employee blogs, write about your experiences, what you are working on, what you do in your day to day life. It’s interesting, honest, and endearing.

FINALLY

4. Invite people to get involved

To really engage with people you can’t just talk at them. Invite them to the conversation, think of ways to involve them, and again, listen… Who knows, you may even learn something.

For one reason or another, over the weekend I was taken back to my time growing up in Sydney, and in particular that perennial summertime of childhood.

I have no idea why I was remembering all of this, my mind makes full use of its opportunities to meander on Sundays over the papers and a bacon sandwich, but nonetheless I was recalling all the various games we used to play in the playground at school.

We played the same kind of games that kids have been playing, I suspect, since time began; marbles, yo-yos, Top Trumps, toy cars.

But the best games were the ones where everyone could play together. ‘Tag’, ‘British bulldog’, ‘Catch & Kiss (or Kiss Chase if you’re from Blighty)’.

It got me thinking: isn’t the Internet just one big playground? Don’t all the same rules apply?

In the playground, everyone gravitated towards the kids who could tell the best stories, the kids who had stuff to give away, the kids who suggested games that everyone could play together.

And the last thing anyone wanted was for the adults to come to the playground to just ‘hang out’, because the adults always spoiled the fun by trying to make you do things, by always being so serious.

So, what kind of kid are you? Are you the kid who tell funny or entertaining stories? Do you ask your Dad for sweets you can give out to your friends? Or even better, do you come up with games that everyone can play, like this, this, this or this?

Or are you the serious adult trying to control the fun, telling the kids not to sing that song or run so fast, or climb on that? Or worse, interrupting the fun to try and get you to do something?