War of the Worlds and the new brand principles

War of the Worldsand the new principles of

brand communication

Ian Thomaswww.newtradition.co.uk

Back in 1938 – on the eve of war in Europe – a radio broadcast by Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre Company caused widespread panic in the USA

Their production of H G Wells’s ‘War of the Worlds’ began – without any formal announcement – with a

series of ‘eyewitness’ reports of Martian landings

It’s an event that providedmomentum to a – now extensively debated – ‘hypodermic syringe model’ of mass media effects

It’s a model which suggests that,if you possess the means to generate and control delivery of content...

…then you enjoy a powerfulposition of control in relation to the recipient – and even over them

But it is a pervasive idea

It’s why a promotional model of communication – which helpedspawn the world’s advertising and public relations industries – exists

It’s why entire industries of media organisations exist to sample and judge the content that is suitable for mass consumption

But I’m not sure the ‘War of the Worlds’ example is just about media effects

Boundaries

It was also about the way in which traditional boundaries – like the continuity announcement

between programmes – were disregarded in order to play with listener emotions

Boundaries

In other words, Welles and the Mercury Theatre Company deliberately disrupted the conventions of continuity

And that had the effect of blurring the distinction between fiction and reality, and between broadcaster and listener

Welles successfully traversed the boundaries of convention – as well as the apparent physical barrier between the radio-set and the listener

So if you tuned in, you became part of Welles’s drama – just as the headlines show

So let’s fast forward to 2010

Rapid changes in media consumption mean audiences are able to subject brands and media owners to the kind of experience Welles exacted upon on his audience back in 1938

Because media consumption preference are profoundly shifting, it’s creating an increasingly fragmented and ‘lawless’ environment in which

it is impossible to successfully exertany kind of reputational ‘control’

Not only that, but the ease with which individuals can access publishing platforms means that fans and critics alike, have the potential to influence your reputation whether you like it or not

But what’s happened and why?

I’d suggest that there are three converging reasons for this

The first is the banking crisis and the subsequent crisis of trust among consumers

over the integrity of corporate governance

Almost overnight, people who feltrelatively secure, suddenly lost their sense

of security and the comfort of continuity

And the reason for that was theapparently irresponsible behaviour of

financial services businesses

But the effect has been to generate a widespread sense of distrust of business

in general – and not just financial services businesses or the private sector

Second, there’s been a huge growth in use of mobile platforms and devices which effectively disintermediate traditional media formats and channels

No longer do you have to sit by a radio or in front of a TV or pick up a newspaper in order to gain access to content

All the information you may need is probably in the palm of your hands

And then there has been the technological and social phenomenon of the rise of the social web

Free to use and easily accessible, the social web has encouraged individuals to formalise offline social connections via web platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

Enabling individuals to publish and share content entirely free of charge

So not only do you possess thepotential to access the content you wantvia the media you want, when you want

It’s highly likely that your networkshave become increasingly influential in

editorialising your consumption of content

All this has serious repercussions for organisations and businesses who are keen to manage the reputations of their brands. And why?

Because it means organisations andbusinesses need to consider the very idea of brand

ownership and control. Or, put another way…

What makes youthink it’s your brand?

The way in which individuals used the social web to adopt, adapt and propagate Obama’s campaign message – without losing the tone of his appeal – is remarkable

Whether Obama’s team intended it to happen or not, they did not appear to behave like a conventional brand owner and seek to prevent it from happening

Obama’08 serves as an example of an emerging approach to brands and branding – the ‘adaptive brand’

It requires organisations behind the brands to relinquish the idea of ‘control’ and, instead, adapt to a continually changing social landscape in which brands are merely participants

Which doesn’t necessarily mean that it is easy to tolerate or results in positive or desirable reputational outcomes

But in an environment where peoples’ trust in the motives,claims and behaviour of organisations and brands has become

so easy to express and spread…

How can a brand gain trust when 95% of consumers already distrusttheir advertising and promotions?

Here are some suggested principles

From push to share

In the past, organisations enjoyed the ability to dictate the terms of engagement for the people that used their products and services

Consumers had to to dial in to a customer service phone number

Or write a letter – or e-mail – to a particular address for complaints, help and information

Sharing means organisationsare able to adopt more transparent

means of support

Not only do theseencourage peer-to-peercustomer self-service

but they also deliver a richsource of insight about a business’s

product and service

Brands like Threadlessare going a step further

They are setting upcustomer support where their

customers are likely to be

Rather than insisting thattheir customers visit a destination

elsewhere on the web

From promotion to propagation

T-Mobile has embraced theidea of propagation by creating

participative events which encourage participants to share their role in the event with others

in their social groups

Participants voluntarily ‘seed’links and mentions via their social web statuses and activity. In turn,

this generates what’s described as ‘earned media’ coverage (but is,

frankly, just ‘word-of-mouth’.)

But propagation strategiesdon’t necessarily requirehuge levels of investment

in production

Twibbon enablesorganisations to create

‘ribbons’ for Twitter avatars

Enabling Twitter users todisplay their support for a

cause, event or idea

Twibbons can be created either free of charge or at low cost

And propagation bysupporters is, of course, free

From purchase to participation

82% of people are more likely to tellothers about products or services which

they have helped brands design

In the past, brands have relied heavily on market research to test

potential products or services

But organisations like Lego havebegun to encourage their fans to

create and share their ideas

Not only does it provide Lego with new product development ideas

It also encourages Legofans to feel part of the brand

Research by Alterian suggeststhat participants in product development are

more likely to tell their social connections about the resulting product or service

In addition to the ubiquitous iPod and sensor, Nike have built an iPhone app which helps runners create and monitor running routes

It’s an example of how brands are increasingly using technology to help consumers do what they want to do and so build affinity with their brand

It’s a strategy in keeping with John Kay’s idea of ‘obliquity’: Nike and Apple are not directly pushing their products, they are cementing a connection with a consumer who may or may not purchase a product at a later date

Brands themselves are also able to grow thanks to participation of both

individuals and businesses

Open source platforms likeFacebook have enabled developers

to build businesses and enrichthe features, applications and tools

of Facebook itself

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has recently suggested that the popularity of applications like Zynga’s Farmville have been a big factor in the growth

of Facebook’s user population

From generation to association

The fragmentation of media has created collaborative ways in which both brands and artists are able to create and associate with

original content

Steve Coogan and Armando Iannuci’s ‘Mid Morning Matters’ is original content that is

created in collaboration with Fosters

It enables Coogan and Ianucci to create original content in a format that does not suit

traditional broadcasting – episodes are approximately 13 mins long, for instance

And it allows Fosters to expand itsexisting association with comedy butin a role that’s more akin to a ‘patron

of the arts’ than a sponsor

Elsewhere, ‘Stormys in a Teacup’ is a photographic caper that is being

produced in aid of Shelter

But the Shelter story is simply an extension of Stormys existing photo

series which, by all appearances, is a just-for-fun project

Seeking out like-minded people and organisations, or

inspiring and interesting ideas with an existing following…

..is likely to yield a lower cost and more compelling way to easily communicate or

associate your organisation or brands with ideas worth spreading

How can a brand gain trust when 95% of consumers already distrusttheir advertising and promotions?

Here are those principles again…

Share

Participate

Propagate

Associate

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War of the Worldsand the new principles

of brand communication

by Ian Thomas

@mrianthomas@newtradition_

www.newtradition.co.uk

New York Times headline image from Denofmystery.blogsport.com 'Buckshot: War of the Worlds’Syringe image: Thomas Weidenhaupt at FlickrMoney note image: PhotoGraham at FlickriPhone image: William Hook at FlickrObama campaign images (from top left to right): Official campaign logo from ‘Obama logo ideas that weren’t chosen’ at Logo Design Love; ‘New Game’ from piccsy.com; ‘Stonewashed’ from Cafepress images; ‘Obama Pride’ from BarackObama.com; ‘Fuzzy felt’ by Boltron on Flickr; ‘B&W button badge’ from Koolbadges; ‘Donut’ from Profy.com; ‘Hope’ poster art from Highsnobiety.com; ‘Hope’ by Shepherd Fairey from Marksandmeaning.com; ‘The Dream’ by Ray Noland from Gotellmama.orgAvatars via (from left to right) Greenpeace.org/kitkat; @BPGlobalPR and the UK’s Creative ReviewCall Centre image from Nationwide media centre libraryScreengrab of Apple UK iPhone support at Apple.com/ukScreengrab of Threadless support at Facebook.com/ThreadlessT-Mobile images: Main image (left) from Theapofcrap.com; (Top right) Screengrab of T-Mobile YouTube channel; Screengrab of Guardian.co.uk coverage (bottom right)Screengrab of Twibbon.comMad Men focus group image via IliketowatchTV.blogspot.comScreengrab of Lego UK’s Create and ShareScreengrab of Nike UK’s Nike+ iPhone appScreengrab of Zynga’s Farmville homepageScreengrab of ‘Mid Morning Matters’ at Fostersfunny.co.uk’s YouTube channelStormys and a guiness from Stormy Little Adventuresand Stormys in a Teacup

Picture credits and links

References

144, 64,68 & 8474

‘Obliquity’ by John Kay (Profile Books, 2010): At AmazonStatistics drawn from research published in Alterian’s ‘Your brand. At risk or ready for growth?’ Downloadable at Alterian.comFacebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s comments on role of gaming in Facebook’s growth were made at the Web 2.0 Summit (15-17 Nov 2010)