advergirl

ePatient conference: Ten big ideas (Day 1)

Seth Quillin (the EVP of innovation in GSW's digital lab) and I are in Philadephia for ePatient 2010 - a conference that brings together lots of people like us who are dedicated to reaching, engaging and educating epatients and caregivers. Who are they? Patients and caregivers who’ve become empowered and engaged advocates for their own care through the social web and connected communities.

We both did a slew of live blogging from the conference floor (you can read those detailed posts at WhatsYourDigitaliQ.com). I guess this would be called slightly delayed blogging - the kind you reflect on in the hotel bar.

Ten big ideas from Day 1:

1. The new ROI for pharma is sustained behavioral change. Every speaker I heard today talked about it.


2. We have new opportunities today to reach people where they really are. Ben Sawyer, Digital Mill mentioned a really compelling example: New York state is looking at how to put the emergency broadcast system into Xbox Live because that’s what people are interacting with in real time


3. When it comes to games (for health or entertainment) perceived competence is a big barrier and also a big myth. Two presenters showed how quickly most people pick up games - once they stop saying "I can't."


4. Healthcare is increasingly focused on innvoation outside the research lab. We met Joe Shields - the new innovation chief at Pfizer. The announcement of his new global innovation role mirrors similar recent hires at J&J, Lilly and elsewhere along the cooridor.


5. Challenge for innovators is designing information into the things around us; changing daily behavior with packaging. In a case study about GlowCaps, David Rose showed how something as simple as a night light can bump adherence from 71% to 98%


6. The age of ubiqutous peer influence is over. Susannah Fox, Pew Internet & American Life Project, and others talked about how much more balanced the value we put on inputs is today - 9:10 people say healthcare professional are the most valuable source for getting an accurate diagnosi; 5:10 say HCPs for daily tips and advice (same number as friends, family, other expert patients); vast majority choose friends, family, other patients for emotional support


7. Making stories and messages more personal really has an impact. Victor Strecher with HealthMedia showed case studies from campaigns that connected people's personal core values to desired changes in behavior. He not only showed head-to-head compare stats, but also MRI scans. The more tailored the message, the more likely to activate the medial prefrontal cortex – the decision making part of the brain – and the precuneus – where ideas are attached to long term memory. Real science? Totally cool.


8. We need to pass on valuable communities. 4,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every day. Tools like CaringBridge can make that terrible diagnosis easier for almost everyone. The weight on the shoulders of people with cancer isn't just fear, it's figuring out how to tell and support their loved ones.


9. Big trend for 2011 is providing value to patients beyond pills. Brian O’Donnel from Klick talked about the big market pressures on pharma (the elephant: end of the blockbuster drugs) and figuring out how to support brands in this new climate


10. Love this one >> Myth: patient communities are all about sharing and emotional suppor; Fact: they see themselves as being about science, about making people better. Not about hugs. Here here. (Susannah Fox, Pew Internet & American Life Project)

Go mobile: Five signs mobile optimization should be a top priority for your brand

The latest data from Pew (a notoriously conservative research house) finds that over 1/3 of us (38%) use our cell phones to access the internet. That's up 52% from last year. If the trend continues, over half of Americans will be using their cell phones to access the web a year from now.

That's a surge of change. The next big move in how we connect and communicate.

Here's the question: Are you still designing for the big screen?

Those websites that offer amazing experiences at 17 inches are downright painful to view and navigate on the little screen. That's led many consumer brands to optimize their sites for mobile - either as a m-site (that detects that the user is accessing the site from a mobile device and automatically directs them to the mobile-friendly version) or as an app. Earlier this summer, Google evened the playing field between those two choices by showing both sites and apps in its mobile search results.

Not mobile friendly? If you answer yes to any of the five questions below, it's absolutely time to start thinking about that little screen-

Is your brand WOM worthy? Here's what happens at happy hours, dinner parties, offsite lunches and other causual encounters today:

Person1: Have you seen [this cool thing]?

Person2: No, I haven't heard of that

Person1: Let me show you (pulls out iPhone, iPad, blackberry, etc., and dials up a site or an app to share)

Today, WOM is technology enabled. We expect to be able to instantly share not only ideas, but experiences. If you think your customers are talking about you, it's time to make it easier for them to show you off.

Is your audience uber mobile? Some audiences are more mobile than others. Teenagers, sure. But also doctors (72% of them use smartphones) and IT professionals. What do you know about how your audience uses the computers in their pockets?

Are you advertising in public places or on outdoor boards? If you're seen by people on the go, you want them to be able to access you on the go. Make it clear that there's an easy mobile experience and give them a memorable URL. Who knows - they could be headed to the bank or Starbucks where they'll be waiting in line with plenty of time to visit your site. Great example is the Best Buy minonator app. It was advertised largely onscreen and in theater displays. Call to action was to download an app that would decode the squeeky little credits at the end of the Despicable Me movie. Something fun to download and play with while you're waiting for your popcorn (or for all those turn of your cellphone PSAs to play through :).

Do you have a salesforce? If you have people out in the field or on the salesfloor, chances are they're going to want to share some aspect of your site with a customer. How can you make it easier (faster to load, easier to read, more relevant)? Go mobile. The initial interaction is better and the customer knows they can access that same content on their own any time from any device.

Would you like to make more immediate calls to action? A lot of brands are experimenting with fast calls to action. It could be putting a QR tag on a print piece or a bit.ly URL on a TV spot or even a single click from a Facebook status update. People who use those immediate technologies? Mobile people. If you're on a social network, the chances are about even that someone is accessing your updates via mobile device. And, if you're using a QR tag, it's more like 90%.

Next post: 5 tips for optimizing the experience (not just the content) for the little screen

Will texting be the Hotels.com of nonprofits?

This Hotels.com campaign is one of my favorite running right now. It elevates the power of peers. As its quirky characters take on the armchair reviewer role they were born for, we see a brand built not by experts, but by us. Weird, wonderful us.

I got a great text message this weekend that made me wonder if the same sort of “power of peers” change is afoot for non profits. A shift that will leverage the financial power of hundreds of thousands of small donors rather than relying on corporations and wealthy donors to foot the bill.

Here’s the text message:

[Presidential candidate] asks that you give to the Red Cross: give 5 dollars by texting GIVE to 24357 or give more by calling 1-800-435-7669 or at redcross.org/donate. Please fwd.

Pretty powerful stuff.

• A simple message.
• Sent at a time (just prior to the Gustav hit) when we were primed to care about the cause
• And closed with an almost ridiculously easy way to donate.

It’s difficult to get an individual to write a check for $100,000. Especially a fatigued donor who is asked again and again. But, with the right distribution list, how difficult is it to get 20,000 people to text $5? No billing information to fill out, no credit card number to type in. Just text.

Causes that inspire passion – whether it’s empathy or insurgency – are uniquely suited to the energy of the social Web – which, largely, extends to the community of texters. Campaigns like this are not only primed for action, they’re ready for pass-along.

When the Democrats were still fighting out the primary, I remember hearing news that more than $10 million (1/3) of Obama's second-quarter contributions were made online, and 90% of them were in increments of $100 or less.

What will a donor shift like that mean to decision making in a campaign or at a nonprofit? How will it change priorities and challenge assumptions?

I should know more on this topic soon. Later this month, Ologie (my home agency) is hosting Richard McPherson, the author of Digital Giving - a book about how technology is changing charity. I’ll tell you more about that soon, but for now – it’s interesting to think about the groundswell using technology to democratize giving. And fascinating to see just how easy we can make it to break down the barriers to giving.

Obama to nom VP by text; Advergirl news at 5

Earlier on NBC4:

After the investigative report on Olympics-watching inside Applebees and before the third mention of the weather, political reporter Patrick Preston packaged up a smart little marketing story featuring the unstoppable duo: Advergirl and Obama.

Ok, so the Obama part was a totally canned national bit. And, I had on the biggest earrings ever. Still.

Anyway, since I don't know anyone who's actually home at 6, let alone 5, here's the perspective:

The Obama campaign announced plans today to reveal their VP choice to supporters by text message. Just sign up at the site and you'll know before the big news breaks.

Smart approach for one big reason: The national media will cover his pick no matter what. The question is: what else can the campaign get out of the announcement?

Answering that question with this texting tactic is smart strategy for a couple of reasons:

1- It differentiates Obama. He's running against an older candidate supported by a political machine. This reminds people that he's a younger candidate riding a groundswell of support from $100-and-under donors.

2- It engages supporters. The campaign has made personalization its hallmark. It started with dynamically assembling each communication based on individual supporter data. And, now it comes to life by talking the way we talk, in the mediums we talk. The result is a sense of approachability - a sense that he thinks like us (only, of course, way smarter... we hope).

3- It activates those supporters. Text messaging is the ultimate "in the tent" communication. Recipients feel like they are the first to know and that creates another conversation about the candidate - one where you share the scoop (with anyone who will listen).

Some major record labels make 40% of their revenue from ringtones

Wow, right?

I was listening to a story about hip-hop artist T-Pain last night and was reminded of just how important it is to think about 'marketing' - not just advertising - at this planning time of year. The trends that we use to shape brand experiences have powerful impacts on all sorts of larger marketing questions - from product development to operational planning.

Consider this incredible example about how shifts in audience behavior wildly changed the business sources for the Zomba record label:

• Artist T-Pain has a signature vocal style that has played a defining role in hip-hop and R&B music this year
• Four of his singles are in the Billboard's Top 10
• He owns up to 1/3 of the popular playlists on some R&B stations

But here's where it gets interesting for marketers:

• His top single has had 1.5 million digital downloads at $.99/each
• BUT - that same single has had 3 MILLION ringtone downloads at $2.50 - $3/each

Record execs call ringtones a personalization product. And, it's interesting, in an era when boom boxes and big stereos have been replaced with earbuds, maybe your ringing pocket is the last bastion of showing off your style through your favorite band...

Not to show my radical uncoolness at the end of a hip-hop post, but, as the aging rocker said, Times, they are a changin' (,marketers).

easyTXTR.com: Converse in the streets

Remember last year's 'Share your Secret' promotion in Times Square? P&G's Deodorant PR mavens took to the sidewalks, encouraging passersby to share their secrets on the giant NASDAQ and Reuters billboards nearby. A few thousand brave souls told their previously-closely-guarded tales via text messages, kiosks and the ShareYourSecret.com Web site (now defunct). The secrets ranged from "I’m afraid he’s falling out of love with me” to “I ate the last pudding!”  and effectively opened the brand to consumers & created a solid bit of buzz.

Fast forward to last weekend.

easyTXTR brought the same level of pop-up interactivity to Columbus' Short North with a projected display that enabled gallery hoppers to tell all - or nothing at all - on a real time outdoor conversation wall. On its first unveil, ~800 people sent funny moments, sports updates, and even a proposal.

I see this technology as a great opportunity to create real dialog around a brand without the usual fears associated with a long-term conversation online - complete with righteous admin tool and devastating stomach ulcers. This pop up tech lives in a real community (there's much less anonymity than online) and is point-in-time specific (meaning less opportunity to plot against the tech).

I'm seeing this on malls the day after Thanksgiving, at Festivals (captured on cell phones), at grand openings, etc ... anywhere a conversation builds the community & customer experience.

Experience it virtually here.

See video, pics, etc. here.