“The key is to produce something that both pulls people together and gives them something to do.” - Henry Jenkins, Dir. of MIT Comparative Media Studies
i came across the above quote over at faris' blog. there's a great discussion going on over there. after reading thru his post and the comments, the little bulb in my head flickered on and i wanted to share these thoughts on two pieces of communications that i believe are powerful ways to get people to interact with your brand.
the first is an interactive sign that does exactly that... it gets people, [in this case, tourists in a high-traffic area] to interact. a simple practice i'm sure most of us who have traveled on vacation, can always relate with, the "kodak moment" when we photograph ourselves at a particular landmark. McDonald's took that cultural observation and created an opportunity to allow vacationers at Piccadilly Circus to be a part of the brand... experience.
the second video already covered by other fine folks here and here, is more recent and is getting a lot of blog coverage. this one is pure and simple joy to me. i've seen it a bunch of times now, and it still makes me feel good inside. [yes, i'm a sappy dork]. unlike most other branded buzz events where companies have hired actors to recreate a flash-mob stunt, this one for T-Mobile's "life's for sharing" campaign, gathered people into Trafalgar Square to take part in a sing-a-long of the Beatle's song, "hey jude." how simply beautiful is that? and it hits dead-on w/the tagline and strategy of T-Mobile about sharing life experiences w/the other people. bravo! i'd love to see more of this from companies. how about you?
thanks for your time.
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4 comments:
I was reading through a chapter of Jenkins' Convergence Culture tonight for one of my finals - the one about HP fans, fan fiction, etc. I'm not sure if the quote (“The key is to produce something that both pulls people together and gives them something to do.”) was meant to be put together with this particular chapter, but I can't help but think that an ideal goal would be having fans do these things voluntarily in their own space. The "product" is the brand and the "do" is fan community participation. It would be taking this brand experience you explain to the next level. Or maybe I'm way off?
hi erin, i'm tracking w/ya. been thinking a lot about this and adrian ho's recent post on operations as marketing. how can we also help our clients w/their developing their products/services to the best that they can be, before we put it into market and spend gazillion $$$s on advertising? help client make bitchen product, create a rad story to get ppl to take notice and then let 'em at it.
i do really need to get my hands on that book this weekend. does it have a lot of pictures in it? if so, i'm there!
thanks for stopping by :)
So true, interaction and engagement is such an important part of marketing that is often forgotten about. "How do we make the coolest ad?" vs. "How do we make people interact with the coolest marketing campaign" is a very distinct difference.
But also not easy. Great post!
thx allie. yes, very big difference and most often forgotten when clients are all about talking about themselves vs saying or providing something of value (to do) to their customers. the mastercard "big lunch" project http://www.thebiglunch.com/ is something i'm gonna check out next. when are you guys gonna get down to SoCal for a surf?
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