How to Change the World

Avenue A Razorfish 2008 Digital Outlook Report

Avenue A Razorfish released the 2008 Digital Outlook Report yesterday. The purpose of the report is to help Avenue A's clients understand consumer behavior in the digital space. In the report experts cover topics such as media spending, mobile web usage, social influence marketing, the state of search, and behavior targeting. Here are some tidbits from the report:

• Vertical content properties and paid search were the biggest beneficiaries of the increase in spending. Verticals grew from a 37% share in 2006 to 39% in 2007. Increasingly, advertisers are showing a desire to work with a broader range of partners, as evidenced by the expansion of the number of sites the agency used in 2007. The majority of that expansion has occurred in the vertical category.

• In difficult economic conditions, the most accountable marketing channels will be best insulated from cuts in spending. This clearly bodes well for online advertising relative to other channels. However, there will be an impact, even in the most efficient digital channel—search marketing. Search has become a powerful tool for shoppers, and in a recessionary environment, consumers will search, shop, and buy less frequently.

• Only a few years ago, a Web site’s home page was the most prime piece of digital real estate a publisher could offer. Not so much today, however. The relevance of the home page as a media buy is on the wane. Search, social networks, blogs, and RSS (among a host of other online sources) are driving more and more users deep into today’s Web properties. Now, the majority of consumers bypass a site’s home page completely.

• Every page is now a home page, each of which will have a wider reach, a lasting shelf life, and the ability to attract a new audience like never before. To capitalize on this, ensure that every page has a strong, clear global navigation scheme and related content that is visibly promoted. And don’t forget to make sure that display advertising gets prominent, above-the-fold, home-page-like treatment (300x250 rectangles and 728x90 leaderboards). Remember, every page can be accessed in any conceivable manner and in any conceivable order—you can’t design properties to control user flow anymore.

• Despite user requests for a single mobile, PC, or gaming device to do everything, we found users increasingly willing to embrace multiple devices—even when those devices possess overlapping capabilities. For instance, a Nintendo Wii for the whimsical side of their gaming lives and an XBOX 360 for competition. A laptop for managing the business of life and another littered with stickers for fun. A smart phone for e-mail and a flip phone for weekends. We found users unwilling to make the compromises that come with an all-in-one while willing to embrace devices for different highly specialized aspects of their lives: “We bought my brother-in-law an iPhone specifically so we could get him to check his e-mail. Nothing else seemed to work.” (Laura, 26)

• Consumers don’t see the Internet as something distinctly different from their offline worlds anymore, and they expect seamless transitions. Every key consumer activity has online and offline components—each one contributing to the total experience. The reason? Finally, the online world is getting more social, and as a result, more like the offline world.

• In social media, marketers need to understand where their brands intersect with the passion points of their consumers. But ultimately, they need to empower consumers to express themselves via their connection to the brand. In most cases, brands can craft the framework of a campaign, but the customization of content and the dialogue around the campaign will be up to the consumer.

The report is stuffed with useful information and challenging thoughts that will change a thousand PowerPoint presentations. The material is so good that I'm surprised that the Avenue A folks are letting me post the report in its entirety, so download it before they change their minds. The person who manages the report is senior vice president Jeff Lanctot, and he has just started a blog that's worth checking out too.

---

PS: if you liked this posting and want to read "all the top stories" about social media, please check out this "single-page aggregation".

Demystifying "Above the Fold"

Read a great little piece about placing ads "above the fold"—that is, before readers have to click or scroll. Most people believe that's the best place for ads. This article, called "Demystifying 'Above the Fold'" is important to read for its contrarian approach to this belief. It states that people are often so intent on reading content may not notice any ads above the fold. Better places to insert them are at "action points" like Comments or Links.

Power 3.0: Kinder, Gentler, and Better

Choose your weapon:

Power 1.0 = muscle and weapons
Power 2.0 = money, market share, or brain power

Given these choices, most people and companies choose both. However, both Power 1.0 and 2.0 reflect Machievelli's thinking that it's better to be feared than loved. Dacher Keltner, professor at U.C. Berkeley, has defined what I would call "Power 3.0" in an article called "The Power Paradox."

In a nutshell, his concept is that power is the ability to influence people using skills in responsible ways to fulfill their needs and interests. (Note: "their needs and interests"—not the person or organization exerting power.) The paradox is that these skills are likely to deteriorate once you have power.

Keltner examines three myths of power:

1. "Power equals cash, votes, and muscle." Not true. In psychological terms, power is the ability to "power is defined as one's capacity to alter another person's condition or state of mind by providing or withholding resources—such as food, money, knowledge, and affection—or administering punishments, such as physical harm, job termination, or social ostracism." Thus, a child can exert power over her parents—as every parent knows. This means that you don't need to coerce or dominate to exert power.

2. "Machiavellians win in the game of power.""P Not true. "...one's ability to get or maintain power, even in small group situations, depends on one's ability to understand and advance the goals of other group members. When it comes to power, social intelligence—reconciling conflicts, negotiating, smoothing over group tensions—prevails over social Darwinism."

   "Power is strategically acquired, not given." Not true. The truth is that people without power can band together and "constrain the actions of those in power." According to Keltner's research: "We've found that Machiavellians quickly acquire reputations as individuals who act in ways that are inimical to the interests of others, and these reputations act like a glass ceiling, preventing their rise in power."

Keltner concludes that "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely" to quote British historian Lord Acton, and power frequently make people act in three dysfunctional ways:

• Rely on stereotypes of people and less sophisticated reasoning.

• Act on your own "whims, desires, and impulses."

• Act like a sociopath.

Keltner concludes with this penetrating thought:

"Social behaviors are dictated by social expectations. As we debunk longstanding myths and misconceptions about power, we can better identify the qualities powerful people should have, and better understand how they should wield their power. As a result, we'll have much less tolerance for people who lead by deception, coercion, or undue force."

Here's to zero tolerance.

Into Thin Air: How I Spent $5,000 on Air and Made Fifty-Year-Old Women Swoon

Day -1095: Waiting for a Macintosh that comes close to a Vaio in size, weight, and, most importantly, battery life.

Day -60: Rumors start circulating about a super-cool, super-thin MacBook.

Day -30: Go into Apple store and tell them to put one of these rumored super-cool, super-thin MacBooks aside for me if the rumors are true.

Day 0: Steve announces MacBook Air at Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

Day 6: "Accidentally" drop my Brother label printer on my MacBook Pro and crack the screen. View this as a message from God to buy an Air.

Day 7: Having read all the specs and reviews about the Air, decide that this "no-compromise" machine has way too many compromises. For example, no Ethernet, no CD/DVD drive, tiny hard disk/solid-state drive (I have forty gigabytes of pictures alone), incompatible with my 30-inch Apple monitor, and a ridiculous new power supply. Therefore, order a totally souped-up MacBook Pro 15-inch.

Day 8: Entourage database corrupted for the umpteenth time. Old MacBook Pro hard disk now too small to rebuild (my email database file is 9 gigabytes). Need to do something soon. Delete to make space and rebuild Entourage for hopefully the last time.

Day 9: My six-year old daughter bugs me for her own computer.

Day 14: Totally souped up MacBook Pro 15 inch arrives.

Day 18: Still haven't opened the MacBook Pro box. It's a non-trivial task to transfer everything over and get set up, so procrastination sets in. Also waiting for a copy of Office 2008 in order to do everything at once.

Day 19: Microsoft Fedexs me three copies of Office 2008. Install on the old MacBook Pro and two son's machines.

Day 21: Apple store tells me the have a MacBook Air with solid state drive for me. What's a Guy to do?

Day 22: Go to Apple store "just to look at it." End up buying it. Duh. Now own my old MacBook Pro, a new MacBook Pro, and a MacBook Air. Apple-store folks rock--how can I walk out of there without an Air?

Day 23: Still haven't open either the MacBook Pro or Air.

Day 24: Research about returning a custom-configured, souped-up MacBook Pro reveals that you cannot return an online order of a custom-configured, souped-up MacBook Pro. Now have at least one too many computers.

Day 25: Decide to open Air because my partner wants to try it. First thing: Reinstall system without all the unnecessary fonts and printer drivers. It's going to be a long time before need Sanskrit and need to print to an Epson printer. Also delete iMovie, Garage Band, and other stuff you'd never use on a computer with limited storage. Save about six gigabytes of storage--that's a ten percent savings right off the top. Why Apple loads up the solid-state drive with this stuff is beyond me.

Day 26: In the dressing room of my hockey team, my buddy Erin tells me he forgot his cup. Live close to the rink, so we jump in my car to get one. After the game (we lost), tell team that want to sell a brand-new, unopened-box, souped-up MacBook Pro. My cup-less friend offers to buy it for his father--after all, did protect his family jewels.

Day 27: New sense of freedom because new MacBook Pro is gone. Still, man cannot live on Air alone, so what's going to be my "main" computer with a big hard disk? Back to Apple store. Buy an iMac and while there, some bling for my Air: external drive, two power supplies, and Ethernet connector. Did Apple hire some MBA from Gilette who thinks the real money is in power supplies, not computers? The next time Steve buys a pair of New Balances, I hope his old socks don't work with them.

Day 30: Begin transfer from old MacBook Pro to new iMac. Oops, got the wrong configuration. Need the one with the bigger hard disk. Reinstall system so that whoever gets this iMac can't see my bookmarks, cookies, etc. Return to Apple store and get the right iMac. Apple store employee tells me she gets five hours battery life with Airport on. Finish transfer to iMac. Give old MacBook Pro to daughter. She asks why the screen is cracked.

Day 31: Fully converted to iMac. It is, by far, the best Macintosh ever owned. No can install Office 2008 on Air because used up all three serial numbers. Send frantic emails to two Microsoft buddies and bump into one while making speech at Microsoft's offices in Mountain View.

Day 32: All three buddies come through. Now have enough serial numbers to open up a Microsoft distributorship. Install Office 2008 on Air.

Day 40: First rebuild of Entourage 2008 data file on Air. Fully adjusted to new philosphy of Macintosh computing: iMac is "base machine" with big hard disk, Quicken, etc. Air is travel and not-at-home machine--"a big iTouch" if you will. Total cost of conversion: Approximately $5,000 for "no-compromise" compromised MacBook Air, totally sweet iMac, AppleCare, Ethernet adapter, two power supplies, and external drive. Time Machine Airport to come. Not clear to me that I'll get five hours of battery life, but it's a Macintosh.

Day 45: Table of fifty-year old women in deli on Colorado College campus express lust for Air. New value proposition for Apple: "Helps you meet older women in delis."

Another Clever Idea: Milk Banking

Since so many people liked the merry-go-round water pump idea, I thought I'd mention another one: Milk banking. Yes, it's what it sounds like: Women give milk to a milk bank ala a blood bank. Apparently natural milk helps premies and sick babies. I learned about this business when the New England Milk Bank won the "best small business idea" in the monthly Ideablob contest. Read more about the idea here.

Entrepreneurship Week at Stanford

Entrepreneurship Week starts on Friday, February 22nd. The events are free and open to the "greater Stanford community" (which I would define as anyone who can get to the campus). Here is the agenda that features a bunch of great workshops and sessions. I can't imagine you could a better way to spend a few hours or days if you're an entrepreneur than attending this event.

If You Want Customers to Be Happy, Give Them Less Product Information

Here's a counter-intuitive thought: Shoppers with less information about a product are happier than those with more information. Researchers at the Tippie College of Business came to this conclusion after conducting a study in which people were asked their opinions of chocolate and hand lotion.

One group was given extensive information and the other much less. For each product, the group given less information was more optimistic about the product because it was easier to engage in wishful thinking. Perhaps if people are given more information, then it's harder to kid themselves.

I can see how this could be true: Would I want to know about the preservatives and animal by-products in chocolate or hand lotion? I don't think so. But there is something to be said for "romantic" information like the chocolate is from some exotic location (or that it adheres to the principles of free-trade).

But this study is thought provoking: When it comes to product information, more might not be more--especially when you have a crappy product. (Is this not the perfect photo (chocolate and lotion) for this story? iStockphoto/Yanik Chauvin)

The Cleverest Idea I've Seen In Years

This is the cleverest idea I've seen in years (and Apple had nothing to do with it as far as I know): PlayPumps. Kids play on a merry-go-round and pump water for villages at the same time. Girls benefit in particular because they are usually the ones fetching water. How cool is that?!

Valley Zen

Q: What’s the difference between Silicon Valley and yogurt?

A: Yogurt has culture.

Maybe this isn’t so true anymore. I did a video interview for a new blog that I predict you’ll find very interesting, It’s called Valley Zen: At the Intersection of Zen and Technology. Drue Kataoka and Bill Fenwick are the writters. Drue is a Sumi-e artist. Bill is the Fenwick in Fenwick & West, the Silicon Valley law firm. They cover technology, products, and services vis-a-vis Zen qualities like “now-nesss,” “extracting the essence,” “artistic language,” “immediacy,” and “asymmetry.” If you like Garr Reynold’s Presentation Zen and concepts like the Apple design aesthetic, white space, and a general lack of bull shiitake, you’ll like this blog, so check it out.

Is Your Client a Certified Orifice?

Bob Sutton continues to fight the good fight against certified orifices. He started by literally writing the book about it. This time, he's created a test for you to determine if you have the client from hell. Click here to take the ACHE (Ass**** Client from Hell Exam). Luckily, he provides a path out of this predicament. The point is: Life is too short to deal with orifices. Of course, it could be you that's the orifice. Click here to determine if that's the case. Incidentally, he just wrote a great post about why you should hire female superstars but not male superstars.