mediation

Spotify hits Mobiles: how ad funded music on demand will kill the MP3

right, Mediation has been away catching some rays but I'm back now and just been sent the above link by Vizeum's own Simon C.  it's a demo for a Spotify mobile phone application, showcase yesterday at a Google developer conference in San Fran.

its looks a joy, and another nail in the coffin for consumer paid-for music.  millions of tracks online available to listen to wherever you are whenever you want them.  and all courtesy - presumably - of the ad money that could (and should) be invested in the platfrom.

as a post on the site says: "this is just a demo and very much still a work in progress. And to head off the inevitable questions, we don’t have any more details on when it will be available, etc. Also, this isn’t the only mobile app we’re working on, so stay tuned to this space..."

but the direction is clear: welcome to data being accessed from the cloud, welcome to the end of broadcast dominance, and welcome to the new contract between consumers, advertisers, and the stuff that brings them together...

its good to be back ;o)

Staying focussed on the consumer: how Facebook is taking us beyond the demographic

Facebook came into Vizeum's Qube this morning to present their view on the world and how it, and we, are being changed by social networking. they described the extent to which the development of the platform is dictated by actual consumer behaviour; they observe and identify the top six consumer behaviours then replicate / develop site usage to facilitate those behaviours.

they had the same advice for advertisers using the platform.  not surprisingly, those brands that add utility and talk to Facebook users on their terms, get more engagement.  with more engagement comes more data, which is where it gets interesting.

in 2002 I wrote a presentation to my then company (Concord) about how and why we - as planners - needed to get beyond the demographic to understand with more granularity the lives, attitudes and behaviours of the people we were targeting.  the answer then was modal targeting with outdoor; out drinking, commuting etc...  what can we assume from where people are what they're doing and thinking.

how the world has changed.

Facebook stats can now tell you how not only how many people enegaged with you and what (claimed ;o) demographic they are, but also what - in real time - their hobbies and interests are...  this may not sound like a massive step but compared to what I had as a planner seven years ago its a significant step.  and I suspect we haven't really scratched the surface...

the data will only get more prolific, more granular.  with this comes the opportunities for harder-working insights and learnings about the people we want to engage with, or more crucially, the people who want to engage with us.

The Disposable Memory Project: bringing a bit of jeopardy and mystery to a world too full of solutions and answers

a beautifully sunny idea for what will hopefully be a beautifully sunny weekend...  welcome to the Disposable Memory Project, which has the simple aim of telling the stories of cameras left in random places around the world.  the idea is that people will pick them up, take a few photos and pass them on, with the cameras and the photos they hold eventually returning home.

it's a simple, elegant idea for an age when experiences have higher value than things, when social aggregation can be virtual and where narratives aren't predetermined or linear.  I don't know if a brand is behind this, but I bet plenty wish they were.

at the heart of this idea are jeopardy and mystery.  if I leave a camera somewhere will it be found?  by whom?  what photos will they take and will those photos make it home?  there are no guarantees; something that feels exciting and different in a world - and marketing landscape - where amazing solutions vie for our attention and unbeatable answers clamour for our questions.

Mediation finds it more than a little comforting that in an on-demand world where we expect to be able to get whatever we want whenever we want it, some things aren't set in stone.  I intend to join the project and set me own camera on it's way.  I look forward to the uncertainty of its fate, and meeting - through shared virtual experience - some other people on the way.