response marketing || the pause project v2

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Created by Response Marketing to help brands think about opportunities and trends in marketing and media.

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2013.V2

thepauseproject.com | PAGE 12013 | Response Marketing | Pause Project | Vol 02

Table of contents1 // Pixel perfect

2 // Social’s next wave

3 // Conversion psychology

4 // Feeding frenzy

3-16

19-23

25-31

33-39


Burning the midnight oil �dgeting with line weight, color, and texture, is the stuff that anyone with an ounce of respect for their retinas would ignore. But we obsess, lose sleep, and rip out hair over these things.

The following trends have perco-lated up from the design blogs and through our Twitter feeds and pinboards. They are the ones we have not forgotten, that keep making their ways onto our

screens and memories. If used right, the following concepts can possess that perfect mix of accessibility and trendiness that also has speci�c intentions of what is trying to be accomplished.

1 Pixel perfect//

2013 | Response Marketing | Pause Project | Vol 02thepauseproject.com | PAGE 4

Poly love

The golden days of Pong, Sega and Super Nintendo are behind us, but their spirits live on, pulling at the nostalgia strings of 20-and 30-somethings worldwide, and embodying the poly movement. Characterized by exaggerated distinctions between polygons, the poly movement has permeated design blogs for the past few years but is �nally starting to penetrate mass market creative. Think retro, trendy, playful, geek--and maybe a bag of Cheetos to match.

Pixel perfect


Giampaolo Miraglia created a series of graphics to help promote tourism in areas known for specific recreational sports.

Source: http://www.giampaolomiraglia.com/

Pixel perfect

thepauseproject.com | PAGE 6 2013 | Response Marketing | Pause Project | Vol 02

Sherwin-Williams represented color swatches using low-poly graphics in a recent video campaign.

Source: http://vimeo.com/39901824

Pixel perfect


Response created an abstract geometric reel using low-poly graphics.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/k6c9r5y

Pixel perfect


Interactive data

Interactivity is the difference between a lecture on water and snorkeling in the Caribbean. The ability to interact with something in�nitely increases its learnability, and the same holds true for data. A growing wave of interactive data is educating users while also entertaining them, leaving static data in the dust with Furby and motivational posters.

Pixel perfect


Nikon’s Universcale site lets users explore the human eye’s visibility range, and the micro and macro ranges available to new Nikon lenses.

Source: http://www.nikon.com/about/feelnikon/universcale/

Pixel perfect

thepauseproject.com | PAGE 10 2013 | Response Marketing | Pause Project | Vol 02

Greenpeace’s Into the Arctic site documents a recent expedition and includes an interactive map, logbook and wildlife photo gallery.

Source: http://intothearctic.gp/

Pixel perfect


The Chevy Volt microsite explores how much gas and money is saved with electric cars. Source: http://gentlemanscholar.com/chevy-volt-interactive/

Pixel perfect


Color

Each year sees a new set of colors that infiltrate fashion, technology, design, everything. And while it’d be mayhem for a brand to update all materials based on which colors are in, it’s invaluable to read the aesthetic pulse and subtly work it into campaign elements.

Pixel perfect


Color research institute The Ultra Bright recently published their spring/summer 2014 collection, describ-ing the core focus as “harmony found in the high-tech and natural … vintage and modern … man-made and artificial.”

Source: http://theultrabright.com/

Pantone announced Emerald as 2013’s color of the year, describing it as tuned into the contemporary zeitgeist and “a color of elegance and beauty that enhances our sense of well-being, balance and harmony.”

Source: http://www.pantone.com/pages/index.aspx?pg=21055

Pixel perfect


Flat graphics

Facebook and Apple made headlines after shedding their gradients in favor of 2D �at graphics, a minimalist trend that excels at reducing graphic clutter from small screens, but nonetheless looks great on big screens. Characterized by accepting the limitations of computer graphic representation, as opposed to its rival trend skeumorphism, �at graphics are permeating design fantasies wide and far, and show no sign of slowing down soon.

Pixel perfect


Current iOS 6 interface. New iOS 7 interface.

Pixel perfect


Web type

HTML, the internet’s structural language, wasn’t created as a design language and thus lacked extensive font display options. And though this meant simpler coding, it also meant limited typography, which has always been a major design element in print. Luckily these tides turned with HTML 5’s rele�e, which dramatically expanded digital type capabilities and the designer’s toolkit.

Pixel perfect


2 Social’s next wave//

Teenagers are �nicky beasts. Every season they adopt new trends that de�ne cool and spread like wild�re, up until the next season when a new trend sparks a new �re.

Since its 2004 founding, Facebook has been an exception to the teenage cool-cycle, remaining the go-to source for teenage online socializing, and eventually users of all ages.

But recent data predicts turbulence for Facebook: A March 2013 survey of high schoolers depicted decline in Facebook’s prestige, with only 33% of respondents considering it their most important social network, down from 42% just six months earlier.


In the same vein, a recent Pew report1 noted that “in focus groups, many teens expressed waning enthusiasm for Facebook. They dislike the increasing number of adults on the site, get annoyed when their Facebook friends share inane details, and are drained by the ‘drama’ that they described as frequently happen-ing on the site.”

These Pew focus group observations line up with those of social media researcher Danah Boyd, a NYU professor and researcher at Microsoft, who conducted a 2.5 year study on teenage social media habits. Among her obser-vations were the decline of status

in social networks when “teens are forced to navigate social situations with people they do not want to interact with, namely those they do not like, those who hold power over them, and those who have malicious intentions.”

Parents and employers fall into the “those who hold power over them” group, and their presence on net-works such as Facebook causes a contextual collapse among teens who must consider wildly different audiences when posting content. Uploading a photo that will entertain both friends and Great Aunt Miriam is tricky.

Thus the answer for millennials is simple: move.

A new wave of messaging apps, including Whatsapp, Kik and Snapchat, are among the hot new destinations for teens, and threats to Facebook. Though only a few years old, these messaging networks have gained signi�cant user bases, and continue to grow at a rapid rate.

Social’s next wave

1http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Teens-Social-Media-And-Privacy/Summary-of-Findings.aspx



Growth rate of new messaging networks

2009

+50M

Registered Users

WhatsApp

KikSnapchat

+200M

2010 2011 2012 2013


Messaging apps

One-to-fewOne-to-many

Facebook



Audience size is a major difference between messaging apps and Facebook, with the former focusing on small group communications and the latter focusing on posts that are seen by a user’s entire friend network.

In an April 2013 article2, Business Insider interviewed Jacob Robinson, a 15-year-old British highschooler who said the Kik messaging app “blew up” among his friends, and that Facebook “has really started to lose its edge.” Robinson said his Kik sessions go late into night “just on Youtube searching for funny videos, then [quickly sharing] it with your friends.”

Aside from the conversations that Robinson has with friends, there’s no interaction with exclusive Kik content. Kik is instead the shar-ing mechanism for content found across the internet.

Due to the limited brand function-ality of messaging apps, brands will do better to focus on getting their content on messaging apps instead of formal brand presences such as Facebook pages.

And while there’s no secret ingredient to creating engaging content, brands can at least improve their chances by creating content that works in many social network contexts, so that whether

it’s shared on Facebook, Twitter, or Kik, the image or video still displays correctly and doesn’t violate any upload restrictions.

Brands will never adapt to networks with teenage speed, but malleable content at least gives branded campaigns a running chance.


2http://www.businessinsider.com/teens-using-messaging-apps-in-threat-to-facebook-2013-4


3 Conversion psychology//

At the core of marketing we are ultimately trying to persuade some-one to use our product or service.

To understand behavior and how it’s in�uenced, �rst we must understand there are three main goals that we as humans are motivated by:3

Approval We seek approval from others and society as a whole. We often look at the behaviors of others to reinforce our choices and we

typically don’t want to be the outsider or non-conformist.

Reviews are a key component that can drive perception that the product is approved and enjoyed by the masses. Having positive reviews next to a call-to-action can serve as a reinforcement that the consumer is choosing a product that others approve of.4 This also indicates the impact a social share can have in in�uencing purchasing decisions amongst friends.

3http://www.spring.org.uk/2010/07/3-universal-goals-to-in�uence-people.php4“Using Psychology to Increase Conversions” - Pardot


Accuracy We want to be right. From a consumer’s standpoint, this means we want to believe that we are making a good choice when we decide to buy and want that decision reinforced.

The post-purchase relationship is the perfect time to reinforce that the consumer made a good choice by choosing your brand or product.

Positive Self-PerceptionIt’s important for humans to stay true to their beliefs and often-times the emotional takes over the rational. Staying consistent

and reliable is a strong part of this belief system. That is why trial leading to comfort and familiarity is often so powerful beyond just initial experience with a product.

It is often not just the �rm belief that a particular product is better, but rather the familiarity with that product that drives us to choose what is familiar rather than take a chance on something new. That is why it is easier to get a customer to renew with your product rather than earn their business when they are already satis�ed with another product.

Conversion psychology


To optimize conversions we must appeal to the part of the brain that controls the decision making process. There are several things to consider when trying to trigger that part of the brain that into action.5

Self-CenterednessWe are primarily concerned with how a product affects us. What does it do for me? When advertis-ing hits home and shows us how it will solve our pain point, our desire for that product increases.

Storytelling becomes an effective persuasion tool because it can help guide our thought process and put us in scenarios we otherwise may not have imagined.

When immersed in that experience we don’t pay as much attention to that which doesn’t match up with our own experience.6

ContrastThis provides a framework to decide how a product impacts us. For example, before/after and with/without provide a picture of how a product may make our lives easier or how challenging it may be without using that product.

TangibilityConcrete numbers as opposed to ambiguous statements are easier for us to process.


Appealing to instincts

5http://www.thattrainingguide.com/blog/neuro-optimized-content-creation/ 6http://www.spring.org.uk/2012/01/why-stories-sell-transportation-leads-to-persuasion.php


ScarcityThere is evidence that “the desire to avoid loss is 2x stronger than the desire to seek gain.”7 Limited quantities or limited-time offers are strong motivators for action as the chance of missing out can make a purchase decision become a higher priority.


7“Using Psychology to Increase Conversions” - Pardot

Amazon showcases the scarcity of the product with “Only 2 left in stock” messaging.


“The desire to avoid loss is 2x stronger than the desire to seek gain.”


AnchoringThe beginning and end of state-ments holds the most power when it comes to grabbing our attention. Much of what is said in the middle is often lost. So it’s important to have the most important information as close to the beginning as this helps and repeated at the end of a statement.

Anchoring also comes into play with pricing. The value of an item that has a new lower price or is on sale can only be completely grasped when the original price gives it context.


Apple is reinforcing their statement “Why you’ll love an iPhone” at the beginning and also in their call-to-action.



Visuals The reaction to visuals reaches the brain �rst, which can immediately turn off or connect.

In a Journal of Consumer Research study, they found that the horizontal positioning of a product image related to how favorable a product was rated. In that study, products with new technology were rated more favorably when placed on the right, while products where age played a role(e.g.-antiques or wine) were rated more favorably when the image was placed on the left.8

As the image-based web continues

to grow and attention spans become shorter, the importance of imagery becomes even greater. Images that accompany a value statement make that statement seem even more credible.9 This is a classic example of show don’t tell. For example, if a product bene�t is that it will give the user “peace of mind”, showing an image of someone in a calm, zen-like state makes that statement more believable.

What we do is often different than what we sayWe’re all predisposed towards certain behaviors. As we consume more media, and are inundated with more options, information

and distractions, our instincts and decision-making are forced to act that much faster to make decisions. While research and focus groups can give us some insight, it is often not what people say which will determine how they will ultimately act. By keep-ing in mind that what triggers behavior is often not the rational but the emotional, driven by our instincts, we can align messaging to what truly motivates.


8http://www.jcr-admin.org/�les/pressreleases/030413105404_HoeggRelease.pdf 9http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/persuade-with-pictures.htm


4 Feeding frenzy//

As we’re inundated with more information coming at us faster and more ubiquitous than ever before, the challenge of attract-ing attention becomes even more competitive. Especially when it comes to advertising. Enter the world of feed-based advertising. Whether it’s native advertising, sponsored stories, or content marketing, getting a marketing message into the overall �ow of content we’re consuming, the race is on.

Why is the race on? For one, advertisers are seeing success. In a study by IPG Media Lab, they found that consumers looked at native ads 52% more, had a 9% higher lift in brand af�nity and 18% lift in purchase intent when compared to banner ads.10 If you add in the decline in performance of banner ads, click thru rates were 9% in 2000 and .2% in 201211, then there is a compelling story to tell for new space open-ing up for advertising.

While “native advertising” is not necessarily feed advertising, the idea of creating ads that are unobtrusive to the user and doesn’t take away from the overall experience of what someone is doing is shaping the digital world.

“The real fact of the matter is that nobody reads ads. People read what interests them, and sometimes it’s an ad.”

-Howard Luck Gossage

10http://www.sharethrough.com/2013/05/infographic-native-advertising-effectiveness-study-by-ipg-media-labs/11http://mashable.com/2012/12/13/infographic-native-advertising/


Whether it’s turning users off more and more or not, ads within our news feed are here to stay. Why? Because they are extremely effective for advertisers. Using Facebook Exchange, ads run in the News Feed saw a 197.3% higher ROI, 17x higher CTRs and 48.4% lower CPC than standard ads in the right rail.12 Ads within our news feeds are driven by mobile consumption and �t in with the increasing majority of users who are accessing Facebook via mobile. Within Facebook, the intention isn’t usually reading or discovery, but rather quick scans of what friends and family are doing. What Facebook is trying to do from a user experience

is increase engagement. Ad-vertisers also want to increase engagement. The engagement for advertisers is happening in the news feed.

Feeding frenzy

Facebook

12http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/early-stats-how-facebook-exchange-ads-perform-news-feed-149262


BuzzFeed has become one of the most talked about digital publishers. Their content is highly shared and they’ve inspired many other publishers to take a similar approach to content. They have completely abandoned banner advertising altogether, instead relying on “social advertising” that “engages consumers, inspires sharing, and produces social lift, or “earned media.”13

Their meteoric rise is because they are getting results for brands. Click-thru-rates routinely are over 20x industry average and their average story gets 30% earned engagement. How do they achieve these results? For

one, they know their audience. 75% are speci�cally seeking content to share across their social networks. Also, they know the types of content that people will share and work with brands to produce interesting, relevant content designed just for that.

Feeding frenzy

Buzzfeed

13BuzzFeed


Promoted Tweets, Promoted Accounts and Promoted Trends have existed for a while now. Their ad product continues to evolve. They’ve recently introduced Lead Generation Cards and Targeted TV Ads.

Lead Generation Cards are designed with the major focus being, in Twitter’s words, “generating leads, and ultimately driving purchases.”14 Twitter users can share their name, @username, and email address, which will be pre�lled within the Card.

This ad product is a perfect balance of what the advertiser wants and what the user

wants. The advertiser wants to generate a lead or conversion while the user, when interested, doesn’t have their experience taken too far off track by an ad. Since their info is pre-loaded, there is a frictionless way to get info and let the user get on.

Feeding frenzy

Twitter

14http://advertising.twitter.com/2013/05/Capture-user-interest-with-the-Lead-Generation-Card.html


After introducing ads within their homepage news feed, Yahoo has clearly seen the opportunity for feed-based advertising to turn around their business. Native ad spending is predicted to increase to $4.57 billion by 2017 compared to $2.36 billion in 2013 and they want their piece of that pie. Hence, their acquisition of Tumblr, a platform that has yet to fully dive into monetizing through advertising. While promising not to screw up the Tumblr that users know and love, they see the huge promise it can deliver as a feed-based advertising platform.

Feeding frenzy

Yahoo/Tumblr


Are banner ads dead? If so, then why are they predicted to continue to grow? The truth is that not every impression is created equal and not every metric means the same thing for every tactic.

If a banner ad is designed to help increase brand awareness and help support a search campaign, its true measurement shouldn’t be its click-thru-rate.

The importance of brands and organizations to understand how the tactics that are part of their overall marketing mix do their part to contribute to the end goal is increasingly important. As

that any good ad gets us to do or feel something. Content driven advertising is only as good as the content itself.

attribution models are de�ned, a more holistic look at how each element works together can take each tactic out of its own silo and help further de�ne their value as a cog in the wheel.

What’s nextScalability becomes one of the biggest challenges. What banner advertising can do at scale is target users based on behaviors and estimated intent. An ad that is irrelevant to you or obtrusive to how you are consuming the content is ineffective no matter the placement. Every second spent with content has to continually earn more of the user’s time or they will disengage. The fact is

Feeding frenzy

Fitting into the mix


Feeding frenzy

2012

Display spending

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

$1.63

$3.70

$3.00

$2.36

$4.30

$2.85

$5.00

$3.40

$5.70

$3.98

$6.40

$4.57

Native* spending

Note: includes desktop and mobile platforms and local and national spending; excludes social marketing/measurement platforms and services, social commerce and virtual currency; *branded content integrated directly within a social network experience.Source: BIA/Kelsey, “Annual US Local Media Forecast; Social Local Media2012-2017”, April 10, 2013

www.eMarketer.com

“Every second spent with content has to continually earn more of the user’s time or they will disengage.”


Thanks for pausing.

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