The New Marketing: The Idea With The Best APIs Wins - Tom Cunniff - MediaBizBloggers

As audiences fragment marketers run more campaigns in more places than ever TV radio print web direct marketing search PR social media mobile ecommerce sponsorshipsAnd the list goes on advertising infinitum But integrating these efforts so they add up to more than the sum of the parts rarely happensWhere39s the Disconnectamp183 Functional Blindness Communication across silos amp8211 if it happens at all amp8211 is usually a formality Functional teams are so focused on their own specialty they aren39t looking for ways to link with other functional teams to cut costs and boost speedamp183 Dysfunctional Arrogance It39s human nature to view our specialty as the center of the universe But unchecked egos can lead to private or public dismissal of efforts from other specialties as unimportant or irrelevant Connectedness and teamwork requires mutual respectamp183 Keeping The Gold In The Silos People can39t be truly mediaagnostic or get excited about integrated ideas as long as their yearend bonuses are tied to selling what39s in their silo vs someone else39s siloWe live in a connected age We need connected marketing processesHere39s one way to get there let the idea with the best APIs winWhat Is An API And Why Does It MatterAccording to Wikipedia quotan application programming interface API is an interface implemented by a software program to enable interaction with other software similar to the way a user interface facilitates interaction between humans and computersquotAPIs enable programs to work together fast seamlessly and with less wasted effort Most of what we call social media today amp8211 sharing photos videos Tweets and Facebook updates amp8211 is made possible by good APIsWhich Ideas Have The Best APIsIdeas with strong APIs have four things in common1 Shareability and Shareworthiness Shareability is about computer connections is it easy to share something positive about the brand Can a consumer do it without having to think Shareworthiness is a tougher hurdle because it39s about human connections can we set things up so that sharing something about the brand will increase the sharer39s social capital2 Continuity Can the fundamental story about the brand be linked and coherent no matter which medium you discover it in Can you follow a thread from a promotion into advertising and social media or pick it up at any point in the story and feel it39s all part of the same fabric3 Awareness and Activation Does the idea enable ways to generate awareness and activate it through digital In a recent conversation with Michael Lebowitz of Big Spaceship he said quotawareness without activation is like lighting fuses without placing any dynamite at the endquot Amen4 No Device Conflicts Can the idea easily be ported to any medium device or platform A great TV idea that doesn39t immediately spark great ideas for apps or billboards or promotions isn39t a great idea We need to look for big concepts not shiny oneoffsHow To Get Ideas With Better APIsFirst we need more of what IDEO39s Tim Brown calls quotTShaped Peoplequot He describes them as people who are quotable to explore insights from many different perspectives and recognize patterns of behavior that point to a universal human needquot We need to develop people with great experience in their core specialties but who are also skilled to looking across silos to find places where ideas can connectBut to do that we need incentives that reward connectedness and media agnosticism Agency compensation should be retooled to reward the best APIs Not the best TV commercial or PR program or online idea but the idea with the best potential connectionsToday39s young agency people come into the business wired for connectedness but find that their agency39s culture is not Why Because the way the agencies are compensated tells them that while their clients talk about connectedness they don39t really value it We39re not putting our money where our rhetoric isFinally media should shift from media as divisions outdoor TV etc to media that connect seamlessly The word quotdivisionquot all by itself is a fairly hefty clue about what39s wrongNo modern computer is built without the ability to connect and do more No modern medium should be built that way either From a product POV media should have great APIs builtin not boltedon during the sales processWe live in a connected age We need connected marketing processesHow soon can we startTom Cunniff began his career as a copywriter at traditional agencies founded an interactive agency in 1994 and now works on the marketing side creating and integrating traditional and interactive All of Tom39s opinions are entirely his own Tom can be reached at tomcunniffnycgmailcomRead all Tom39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Radical Common Sense MediaBizBloggersCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBlogger

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The New Marketing: The Idea With The Best APIs Wins - Tom Cunniff - MediaBizBloggers

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