Jon’s fun and eclectic keynotes, marketing games, and workshops have thrilled and inspired marketers across the globe and his wildly original ‘beernotes’ (summary of top trends/themes presented in a high-energy style) have made him a conference favorite.

As a consultant, he has created two content strategy frameworks to help brands get and keep attention. He started the world’s first real-time marketing blog UrgentGenius.com in 2010 with Grant Hunter. He is now the founder/chief creative officer of marketing consultancy TBC Global.

He’s also the 1st person to speak at SXSW Interactive, the world’s largest innovation/tech festival, 7 years in a row and has been on their Advisory Board for 5 years.

He has worked with brands like Deloitte, Accenture, Google, Samsung, Uber, LinkedIn, BMW, Mini, Channel 4, BBC, MTV, GSK, D&AD, Bath Rugby & Movember. As a bonus factoid, he’s created and emceed his own ‘happy hour show’ for Cannes Lions.

We were lucky enough to sit down and chat with Jon at CMWorld 2018 about his innovative and insanely fun marketing games, industry trends, BALLSY content, as well as his love/hate relationship with Colgate and their infamous beef lasagna disaster.

Watch our full conversation with Jon below or read the edited version below and let us know how you’ve used POPS (provocation, originality, playfulness, surprise) in your marketing strategies.

To kick this off, we were hoping you could share some of your recent campaigns, even ones that didn’t work, with us. You come from a purely creative background and you have a lot of fun in your workshops and you’ve focused on making those workshops less work.

You’re not a very text-heavy guy so what is something that marketers can really apply in their strategies, something that circumvents creativity, especially for those of us who just starting out?

It’s an evil plan to not have too much text on my sites but it’s also due to the fact that I live in the moment. Where I struggle to do writing, even though I’m a writer, it’s very easy for me to create games out of my case studies so that’s what I’ve done for you here.

Here, let’s have the global launch of my firecracker content game.

So what we have here is the Ikea versus Colgate round. These brands couldn’t be any more different in their approach to content. I want to propose to you that IKEA’s a firecracker content brand.

To be truthful, I have lots of frameworks that I use in my workshops and in my keynote speeches and believe it or not, all of this leads to me doing consulting work. At the moment, I’m probably 50/50 at the moment between workshops and speaking and consulting but where I come to life is when I present to you like this.

If we actually look at what IKEA has done using my thinking from my first book Newsjacking and my new thinking around Constant Curiosity, I would say that they are properly a firecracker brand.

This means that they bake Provocation and Originality (the P & O in POPS) into their content. They wreck the norm and they come up with an idea that no one else has come up with and then they don’t stop. They cannot stop there. You have to add the other P in the POPS framework which is Playfulness.

I’m a huge fan of this. it’s why I have Nerf blasters and balls in my workshops. I think playfulness is a crucial ingredient.

The final thing is you can be as playful and as provocative and as original as you want but I’m still just on my phone trying to stop scrolling.

If you can stop my scroll then you’re an amazing brand. The way we’re finally going to slow that scroll is the final S in POPS. It’s the Surprise element. It’s huge. That is the framework I’ve been evangelizing for the last six months.

POPS = Provocative, Originality, Playfulness, Surprise

Firecracker content is content that wait for it…POPS.

And here’s an example of content gone horribly wrong. Again, Colgate is thinking they’ve got to future-proof themselves. What if people stopped brushing their teeth?Let’s diversify into other sectors. They decided to diversify and get into the frozen dinner market.

Are you kidding?

No, it’s actually in one of my keynote speeches that I give. It was one of the biggest global FAILS. Yes it was provocative and original but it wasn’t very playful. It was very surprising but it’s an example of POPS gone horribly wrong.

At a time where the need for budgets has gotten much larger because of increasing tools, platforms, and other options, you’ve brought a lot of attention back to creativity. You’ve frequently said “creativity over big budgets.”

Yes I go with big brains over big budgets anytime. I stole that from my good friend Ann Handley so I just changed that to “craniums over cash” which is a blatant rip off. If you’re thinking big budgets over big brains that is so last weekend, Handley.

You also put into play two interesting terms. They don’t really go together but they are ‘BALLSY’ and ‘QUIET’ content. Two terms on two totally different ends of the spectrum. Where did the idea for those come from and how do they meet?

Here’s the thing, BALLSY is the framework in all of my consulting work which usually comes from speaking in workshops and things. I found that you actually have to have a checklist to see if your content is good enough and if it’s going to get attention.

BALLSY stands for Brave Actionable, Long-lasting, Likable, Surprising, and You-centric.

That was a response to my newsjacking and trying to actually come up with a strategy so people would stop spamming the world.

QUIET (Questions, Imagination, Empathy, and Testing) is what I use as a process for creating the content.

You have to listen using keyword research sites like Answer the Public, Keyword.io, and Google Trends to find out what questions people are asking.

For this example, the most interesting and provocative QUESTION (the QU in QUIET) asked by IKEA by people typing into Google is essentially, and I had no idea about this, is that people go there to break up. IKEA is where relationships go to die and that is one of the most typed in things into Google.

In fact, I was doing a workshop with Jason Miller and one of his people came up to me and said “When I am about to get into a fight with my husband, I just say do you want to go to IKEA right now? Do you really want to go to IKEA right now?!”

Do you think provocative content can be made in response to that question from Google?

I would say absolutely yes. It’s amazing because once you’re able to admit that relationships die in your store you can have fun with the way your store is designed, with the way you create your content and other stuff. Also, do not go to IKEA before you get married. That was the worst thing I’ve ever done.

I haven’t been back because A) you find out your partner has bad taste and B) you realize that you went in for a bed and you came out with a bed, a lamp, a refrigerator, and a talking parrot.

Your book Newsjacking has created a lot of misapplications but I thought it was a really super, simple way for less creative people to piggyback on an ongoing trend. I think it really helps bolster lengthier creative processes. Are there any shortcuts like ‘newsjacking’ that you have used successfully or even unsuccessfully that you can share?

In response to Newsjacking, it really knocked me for six in how brands were really behaving badly. I did create my first card game on that. I think we should go where we should never go again to take you to the promised land.

Where we should never go again is the fact that brands have turned us all into horrible people. I’d like to know if any of the four of you would consider yourself a horrible person?

Have you ever played the game with that tagline called Cards Against Humanity? I created the marketing version of that.

After having all these sessions in pubs around finding out where brands went wrong it made me a little bit ashamed so that is where I started thinking I’ve got to have workshops where we can solve that problem in one day.

We start with questions, and this is where QUIET comes in. We use Answer the public and all these sites and then we apply IMAGINATION (The I in QUIET) to all these questions. So the hundred questions that we horrible people came up with, we had only imaginative answers for about fifty of them (we had been drinking the night before).

Then we thought which of these 50 imaginative answers to these questions actually relate to the human beings that we are trying to reach? (This is the EMPATHY – the E in QUIET) In this case it’s the couples that break up in IKEA.

We only had about 25 of those ideas that related and then came the most exciting and last thing within a QUIET workshop. It’s the T which stands for Testing. Fortunately, we have a lot of young people we can boss around and we get them to go out and make Instagram stories and we actually test those 25.

Then we high five and give out actual awards to the people whose content actually connects. That’s where QUIET comes in and trust me, it’s anything but quiet. I promise

I read your description of the name of your company TBC. What I understood from that is you believe that the marketing industry and the company itself is in a state of flux. How do you see marketing today? Are we moving in the right direction? There’s so many processes, tools, and technology out there to support marketing and it can get confusing.

I have to say marketing is going through phases and one of the phases I feel ashamed for helping brought on is the selfie phase. The selfie generation has been the best thing and the worst thing for marketing because brands started realizing people are literally just looking at themselves. I tell my wife this when she starts worrying about something silly.

I tell her these people are literally just in it for themselves. They’re not even worrying about you. If we think about that from a brand perspective, we realize that no one cares. They’re just thinking “what’s in it for me?”

I think if we go more analog, more surprising, try to be more human with it, we will actually connect with people when we realize they are not inclined to listen to us.

We’re gonna have to give them something they want. We must build an audience. I actually think the five of us are sitting around this table because we’re at Content Marketing World and we believe building an audience and putting the customer’s needs first. It’s music to our ears and the rest of the world is catching up.

It’s not easy. it’s not like doing a TV ad and thinking “Oh a lot of people at the Super Bowl are gonna see this. It’s not easy but it’s the right thing to do.”

You focus a lot on innovation and creativity. It may even equal or top bigger budgets or campaign programs but does it really help build loyalty? If so, how? If it doesn’t, what additional, supplementary techniques can we use aside from just being creative? What are your tips for building long-lasting engagements?

For me, it’s keeping capital T trust at the center of everything and empowering your people to be your brand ambassadors. They are your customers and also influencers and people who voluntarily want to like your brand.

I’ve got a list of ten brands who if they call me up right now and if I had enough engaged followers on Instagram, I’d be happy to because I’m preaching about them anyway. These cards for example, they’re all different because MOO Printing have infinity print.

I’m the biggest fan of MOO and they have a relationship with me. They’ve asked me to come into their office and they’ve showered me with gifts for my opinion. They’re always innovating and I gave them loads of suggestions and they’re actually acting upon them.

A brand that champions people and can also bring the right people into their fold to learn from them and say we’ve got nothing here you are literally our brand is great.

The most generous brands are doing that and saying, “Over to you, I know it’s gonna be rough, I know it’s a risk but if we hold onto it so tightly, we’re probably gonna lose. We might as well make beef lasagna from Colgate.”

Is there any tool out there that can do a hundred things that you’d recommend to marketers still in the creative process?

My short answer is that there are a load of tools that free up more time and can help you use your resources.

However, if I were a VENN diagram there would be a big time bubble, a big resource bubble, and a creative confidence bubble. That creative confidence comes from doing stuff like Colgate’s beef lasagna, it comes from trying things out, it comes from doing atomic green ketchup like Heinz once did.

I use these examples not to say these are the world’s worst,  I use them as an example of pushing your brand a little bit further than wha feels comfortable. The people (audience) may be somewhere else. That’s a dangerous feeling in 2018 to think that your people are in one place and they’re totally not with you.

I’ve seen brands do pivots where they approach, for example, a product marketed towards women and suddenly market it toward men and they’ve seen a massive spike and they realize, “Oh, we were totally wrong about this, the people have spoken.”

I love when you can say “the people have spoken” and you show your brand has actually done something ballsy or provocative and it’s actually worked out for you.

We’ve talked about content but ultimately it’s about getting measurable results. What would you say are some of the metrics we can use for content that isn’t showing the ROI we want? What do you typically rank or rate content on?

The short answer for that again is I stand by my belief in the engagement of the content. Are people sharing and identifying with it? I think we also have to realize that we are in marketing and we do have to see an uplift in the sales.

I don’t think it’s overnight all the time. I’m building a “content castle” right now for a brand and I’ve told them we’re definitely not gonna have any sort of uplift because I’m building a site from scratch and we have to look at the domain authority of our competitors. It’s a hard thing to do but they need to treat it almost like it’s a relationship and not like it’s a Tinder one off date.

There must be some milestones that you’re tracking and they’re tracking that gives them the confidence to keep investing for the next six months or so?

Every month we have to look at what the engagement has been for our content and what isn’t working.

Even though I’ve been given a lot of trust, we have to turn up and down the dials every month to see what the results are. For example, I would say that this one brand I’ve convinced to go into the world of VR is going to have to give me several months to build that because no one is thinking naturally about this brand and VR together.

We check it regularly but the kill switch can’t be too soon because it just takes time to build this stuff.

What are your views on how AI and voice are impacting content marketing and content promotion? Are there any other trends that you see in the space that are changing or could change the industry?

To preface these comments, I’m on the board for SXSW, where all the the big brands like Facebook and Twitter got popular. I’m in the middle of judging the talks now. I’ve judged them on AI, on VR, on social media content, etc.

Elon Musk sat on stage three months ago and said AI is what keeps him up at night. I’ve done workshops on the power of the voice. Even though my wife has sworn it off in the home, I secretly want to get Amazon’s version of Siri (Alexa) where I can be like, I really need a Guns n’ Roses guitar solo right now.

I think voice is powerful and I think AI is powerful (for the bad as well) but I have to say I’m speaking a lot on a type of technology that no one understands. It’s bigger than the internet in 1994. Let’s harken back to 1994 for a trivia quiz.

What is the one technology that is like the internet was back then but is set to be a game-changer. This technology is quite controversial, it’s making claims so big that it’s gonna change 42 industries.

It’s blockchain.

Do you have any upcoming books, workshops, or campaigns that you’re working on that you’d like to plug?

Well I’m launching my firecracker content game which is also a drinking game today. Then I’m speaking about blockchain at Ann Handley’s conference called Marketingprofs B2B forum in November in San Francisco.

I’m continuing to evangelize around constant curiosity and talk about the most important things in any marketer’s life. For any brand, there’s one moment that’s remembered more than any moment. That moment is the end moment.

When you go to Disney, you remember getting the Disney ears more than waiting an hour to get an $85 hamburger. What do you think, as marketing people, the end moment is for a conference like the B2B forum?

It’s the closing keynote of course. What I’ve done since I launched it at the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity a year ago is I’ve perfected my closing “beernote,” where everyone has a beer in their hand and I summarize in real time everything that happened in the last two or three days in a high energy, interactive session.

I think a lot of conferences end with a bang but no one is there to summarize what it all meant.

My firecracker closer or #beernote, if alcohol is indeed served as the venue, is what I’m excited almost as much as being in San Francisco with Ann and speaking about blockchain.

For more on Jon Burkhart, you can keep up with him on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Let us know in the comments who you’d like to see us interview next!

The post Content that POPS: A BALLSY Conversation with Jon Burkhart appeared first on Relevance.

Comedy legend Tina Fey will grace the stage with what should be an irresistibly charming and inspiring keynote, content marketing professionals from across the globe will host intensive tracks and workshops, and passionate attendee’s will get to geek out about content in an absolutely electric environment.

My team and I are thrilled to be attending CMWorld this year and we’re positive that CMWorld 2018 will be another one for the history books. Aside from wearing lots of orange and bringing a notepad and/or laptop, we’ve come up with some helpful tips and reminders that will help you make the most out of your CMWorld experience.

[bctt tweet=”Content Marketing World is less than four weeks away and we’ve got 5 helpful, last-minute tips to help you make the most of your time at the world’s largest #contentmarketing conference. #CMIContent #CMWorld” username=”relevance”]

Set Some Goals

Hitting the event floor on the first day of any conference can be a pretty overwhelming experience, especially if you don’t have an action plan.

Sponsors will be vigilantly pitching their products and conducting demos with passerby’s, thousands of attendee’s will be networking and exchanging business cards, people will be rushing to get to their workshops on time and well…it can be hard to know where to start.

Before you head to Content Marketing World this year, you need to think about your goals.

Are you there to learn as much as you can about lead generation and take those tactics back to your office? Or are you there to network with people and forge lasting professional bonds? Are you a sponsor with the intent of making sales? or are you simply there to take full advantage of the open bar and catch up with some marketing buddies?

It’s important to ask yourself these questions before you hit the conference floor. Go with a clear objective and your CMWorld experience will be way more streamlined.

Reach out to Prospects Early

Last year, a whopping 3,600 content marketing fans from over 50 countries attended Content Marketing World and this year over 4,000 are expected to attend. Each of these people are just like you, they have their own set of goals, action plans, schedules, and, if they’re smart, they already have a firm idea of who they want to network with and what they want to talk about.

Most attendees have full schedules laid out before they even hit the floor so don’t bank on having a 30 minute off the cuff discussion with CEO John as he rushes to deliver a riveting keynote on the main stage.

Content marketing world is a great place to network, connect with customers, and/or interview some content marketing leaders but don’t count on running into them by chance and unloading an avalanche worth of information onto them.

Not only is this terribly annoying and unprofessional, it could be detrimental to your reputation and you’ll leave the conference feeling defeated.

Whatever your goal is, it’s important to set up appointments well in advance (especially for things like demo’s, pitches, and interviews). Send prospects calendar invitations, jot down all your meetings on a well organized to-do list, and I guarantee you’ll have a much better experience.

Side note: If you’re having trouble finding people to talk to, check out the #CMWorld Twitter hashtag. The event organizers typically promote the hashtag far in advance and most attendees will use it to keep track of keynotes and tracks, share photos and videos, and chat with fellow attendees.

Bring Plenty of Business Cards

Business card exchanges are an unavoidable part of any conference experience. Having a stack of business cards is an unspoken, yet insanely important, conference rule. It may sound a little dramatic, but think of your business card as an extension of yourself.

Exchanging business cards is the way strangers at a conference politely say goodbye to one another so you’ll probably feel a little awkward if someone hands you a card and you don’t have one to hand back.

Be ready to hand out business cards to everyone you say hi to, not just to people you have scheduled meetings with. Building in-person bonds with industry peers, networking, and then following-up is a key part of the conference experience.

Keep the cards you receive organized throughout the event and, after you get home, gather them up and connect with your new content marketing buddies on LinkedIn or via email.

In summary, splurge on some nice business cards, bring double the amount you think you’ll need, have them on your person at all times, and you’ll be good to go.

Stay Organized

Content Marketing World is jam packed with information and, at the time, the insights, stories, and tactics you learn from sessions, networking, and booth visits will have you feeling inspired, motivated, and recharged.

After you get home and the conference buzz wears off however, you may end up feeling like you haven’t remembered any of it, especially if you have a pile of jumbled up business cards and unorganized notes to sift through.

You can avoid some of this post-conference stress and memory loss by staying organized during the conference. Make it a priority to add headings to any notes you take (both digital and physical), write on the backs of business cards with some key identifiers that will help you remember the person, and create and stick to an organized schedule.

If you’re planning on attending the conference mostly as a learner, research the sessions you want to attend ahead of time, write them down, and dedicate sections in your notebook and/or create a new digital document for each session.

You can also use apps like EverNote, Trello, Wunderlist, or create a dedicated CMWorld Google calendar to keep yourself organized.

Don’t stress about writing every single thing down either. Sometimes too much information can be a bad thing and keeping your head buried in your laptop can leave you feeling disconnected. Stay relaxed, think ahead, and only jot down the information you think will be useful to you in the future.

Breathe!

None of us are immune to pre-conference jitters. Feelings of apprehension before a major networking event are tantamount to being human and, whether it’s your first time at CMWorld or your 101st time, we all get a little nervous.

If you learn how to embrace the butterflies, keep your head up, enter the event with an open mind, and have an eagerness to learn and have fun, then there’s nothing to be worried about.

[bctt tweet=”Embrace the butterflies, keep your head up, enter #CMWorld with an open mind, have an eagerness to learn, and you can mark down your conference experience as a win” username=”relevance”]

Content Marketing World is a massive event but it’s also a niche, open-minded, and relaxed event. Everyone at CMWorld is just as passionate about content marketing as you are and based on my own experiences, most everyone wants to see you succeed and support you.

Content Marketing World isn’t all business all the time either. In accordance with this year’s theme ‘Game-On,’ the ridiculously cool CMWorld organizers are setting up the CMWorld Backyard in the lower floor of the Huntington Convention Center.

They’re bringing in astro-turf, comfy chairs and pillows, games like ping-pong, yard Yahtzee, giant-Jenga, and an oversized Connect Four so you can always chill out and play some yard games with your fellow attendees if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed.

Content marketers are a friendly bunch of people and I can assure you this year’s event won’t nearly be as stressful as you’re probably making it out to be. In any case, take some deep breaths, embrace the butterflies, and don’t be afraid to dive in.

Conclusion

There’s so much to look forward to at this year’s CMWorld. From Tina Fey, to intensive sessions and tracks, and giant Jenga, this year’s CMWorld will be well worth the cost of admission.

While it’s always hard to predict exactly how a conference will pan out, the above tips should help you go in feeling prepared and at ease. Part of the fun of CMWorld is getting to know new people who are as obsessed about content as you are, rubbing shoulders with your marketing heroes, and learning more about this wonderful industry we currently thrive in.

To wrap it up, set some goals, get some business cards, reach out to people early, stay organized, breathe, and make the most of your time at the world’s largest content conference. We’ll see you in Cleveland.

The post 5 Tips for Making the Most out of Content Marketing World appeared first on Relevance.

[bctt tweet=”#Pinterest is launching new max width video ads to marketers worldwide today. Here’s what you need to know. #marketing” username=”relevance”]

Brands have been attracted to the site for years for its wide audience base and visual marketing opportunities and now, the company is giving brands even more incentive to use the site as a content promotion platform.

A few months ago, Pinterest began testing new max. width promoted video ads as a way to boost audience response and engagement. Now, the company is officially rolling out the new video ad format to marketers worldwide.

As explained by Pinterest, marketers will able to choose from two formats for showcasing videos on the app; the normal standard width videos, which are the same size as regular pins, and the new max. width videos, which are 4x bigger and span across the app’s two column grid.

When it comes to promotional video content, bigger is almost always better and audiences will generally be more inclined to engage with high-impact, visually sharp video ads.

Max Vids Lead to Max Results

Pinterest has already seen increased engagement rates for the higher width videos, with advertisers and brands reporting higher brand awareness metrics and more marketable costs-per-view during test runs.

Pinterest included the following stats in a blog post announcement,

“UK retailer John Lewis saw a 20% increase in awareness and 33% increase in purchase intent in a campaign promoting their new nursery collection. In a recent World Cup max. width video campaign, one of adidas’ videos saw a 12.6% lift in ad awareness amongst those who viewed the video.”

The company also noted that a CPG brand saw a 23% share increase in brand association for their max width video. Warner bros also saw similar success using Promoted Video at max for a campaign promoting their upcoming film, Crazy Rich Asians.

What Marketers Need to Know

Higher width videos are definitely attention grabbers but without some inventive creativity and smart design planning, your larger promotional video can have a negative effect on ad-weary audiences. Thankfully, Pinterest provided some tips on how to keep your 4x Promoted video engaging and fun to watch.

• Videos should include a logo and strong branding, ideally visible in the first few seconds. People will engage even more if products are integrated into the video.

• Instructional videos tend to generate longer watch times and people save them more.

• Keep your videos short, simple and focused on a key idea or message. 6-20 seconds is a sweet spot.

Pinterest’s advice can be applied to nearly any video campaign you decide to roll out. Your audience should know who you are right off the bat. Don’t wait until the middle or end to show off your logo or branding, especially if the video runs longer than 10 seconds.

Final Thoughts

It can be easy to get stuck in a content saturation trap, especially if the service or product you’re pitching is a little more complex.

It’s true that it may be slightly easier for a soft drink company to create a video ad promoting their new drink compared to an SEO company promoting their new AI solution however, your message needs to be as short as possible regardless.

If you think of one central idea, message, or even logline and stay focused on it for the duration of the content creation process, then your ad will perform much better in the content promotion stages.

In a nutshell, don’t over-complicate your messages and you’ll see the responses you’re looking for.

New technology and tools like Pinterest’s Promoted video at max. width are wonderful but without a strong idea or message, the time spent learning and adapting to the tool or feature is wasted.

Pinterest has been reporting incredible results for its expanded video width so it’s definitely worth checking out, so long as you take the time to pre-plan your campaigns and develop a strong branded message before you leap into the deep end. 

Will you try out Pinterest’s new video ad option? Let us know why or why not in the comments!

The post Pinterest Releases New Max Width Video Ads to All Marketers appeared first on Relevance.

California governor Jerry Brown sent shockwaves through California when he signed a bill cementing the nation’s toughest data privacy law. Experts are saying that the bill is the country’s most overarching attempt to give consumers more control over their data.

Brown signed the bill just hours after lawmakers from the State Assembly and Senate approved it with no dissenting votes. Lawmakers worked to pass the bill quickly. Brown managed to convince San Francisco real estate developer Alastair Mactaggart to remove a similar measure from the November ballot.

The bill, authored by Assemblyman Ed Chau, an Arcadia Democrat, and co-authored by Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a Van Nuys Democrat, was first drafted on June 21st and received approval from numerous privacy advocates including Common Sense Media.

On this passing of this bill, James P. Steyer, CEO and Founder of Common Sense states,

“Today was a huge win and gives consumer privacy advocates a blueprint for success. We look forward to working together with lawmakers across the nation to ensure robust data privacy protections for all Americans.”

Law Details

The new law will require all companies to tell consumers upon request what personal data they’ve collected and why. Consumers can also request what types of third party organizations or networks received their information and companies must comply.

As part of this new law, the public can even ask companies to delete or stop selling their data entirely. Children under 16 must also opt-in to have their data used by companies for any purpose.

Businesses will not be able to discriminate against a consumer who refuses to have their information through methods including, but not limited to; denying them products or services, charging different rates for goods or services, or providing lower quality goods or services.

According to Time, “The new law will take effect Jan. 1, 2020, and lawmakers say they will likely make alterations to improve the policy before then.”

Justin Brookman, the Director of Consumer Privacy and Technology Policy for Consumers Union (advocacy division of Consumer Reports), states,

“We appreciate that this law advances consumer protections in several ways. It gives people access to the information that companies have about them.  It extends the right to control the sale of your data, and it provides new security protections in the wake of the Equifax breach.”

It’s worth noting however that Brookman has taken issue with a part of the new law. The law allows companies to avoid responsibility for breaking any part of the law – so long as the company stops within 30 days.

He states, “the legislation’s weak enforcement provisions need to be improved before it goes into effect in 2020.”

The general consensus regarding this law seems to be that although it’s a historic move forward for privacy protections, it is still a work in progress that needs to be amended further in order to accommodate non-tech industries like newspapers and media outlets.

What Marketers Need to Know

This new policy resembles the European Union’s new GDPR guidelines in that consumers will have broad power over their data and privacy. Unlike GDPR, this law only applies to Canada. Because of this, many brands will have to put in extra work to create California-specific marketing strategies and privacy protections.

Marketers operating in California or that offer goods and services to persons in California will also need to be hyper vigilant and responsive to consumer requests for data information. If a request goes unchecked, the person could sue and a brand could be held accountable for it under the law.

Most brands won’t need to worry about this but the bill does require that all companies,

“Make available to consumers two or more designated methods for submitting requests for information required to be disclosed pursuant to Sections 1798.110 and 1798.115, including, at a minimum, a toll-free telephone number, and if the business maintains an Internet Web site, a Web site address.”  

There’s still plenty of time to take in all the aspects of this new law and adjust marketing plans accordingly but it’s better to read the law carefully now and start strategizing early to avoid any mishaps when 2020 rolls around.

Some small things brands can do now is provide consumers with access to private information (if applicable), be more transparent, and take note of the various criteria, especially ages, they select for audience targeting in California on social media ad platforms.

Persons 16 and under will need consent to have their data used. Identifying a plan for this measure is also a good idea.

Final Thoughts

Despite some of its marketing impracticalities, this data privacy law is still a big win for consumers who, after the Cambridge Analytica debacle, have been fervently fighting for control over their data.

Between now and 2020, other states could use California’s data privacy law as a template for their own privacy protections. Which would allow them to avoid the need for two privacy standards. The law will also continue to evolve and adapt. It’s likely it will be amended multiple times before it takes affect.

What are your initial thoughts on the CCPA? Should marketers start re-adjusting their strategies now or put it on the back burner? Let us know the comments!

The post California Passes Sweeping New Data Privacy Law: What Marketers Need to Know appeared first on Relevance.

inPowered, a programmatic content amplification company, has announced and made available its new AI driven cost per engagement model pricing model. This solution is unique in that it uses machine learning to optimize for time on site, rather than clicks.

AI has propelled content marketing into a new era and brands and agencies everywhere have started leveraging the technology to make faster decisions, improve customer solutions, and boost business intelligence.

inPowered is taking this technology to an innovative new level by using it to eliminate paid media waste in order to scale content distribution for brands on over 35 native advertising channels.

How it Works

According to a press release made available to Relevance, inPowered’s new model learns more over time and gets smarter with how it bids and optimizes, resulting in the gradual reduction of cost per post-click engagement by up to 80%.

In a nutshell, inPowered will help brands save on their ad dollars by only charging for users that spend a minimum of 15 seconds reading or watching content, instead of for initial clicks and impressions. This helps marketers get a more accurate measure of how many users are actually sticking around to read, watch, or engage with their content.

Ultimately, inPowered’s inventive new pricing model will bridge the gap between brands and consumers and open up doors to more meaningful conversations.

Peyman Nilforoush, inPowered CEO and co-founder, states,

“We’ve known for a long time that programmatic content amplification inherently has inefficiency built into the cost per click (CPC) model. We re-introduced our cost per engagement pricing model powered by AI today to permanently solve for this.”

inPowered has been developing their AI and machine learning capabilities for the past three years to achieve one central goal – engagement with content being promoted at the best price.

The San Francisco based company, with locations in New York and Toronto, now has API and RTB integrations with 35+ native advertising and social channels and an AI-driven CPE model worthy of merit.

inPowered dCPE is live and available to all brands immediately. As of June 19th, dCPE pricing has been made available.

More on inPowered

inPowered is a content amplification company trusted by some of the world’s leading brands including LG, Land Rover, Ford, General Mills, and L’Oreal. They were founded in 2014 and have since grown from a single San Francisco office to two other sites in New York and Toronto.

In its first year of existence, inPowered’s technology helped brands identify and amplify third-party content (earned media) resulting in nearly a 400% lift in purchase consideration, as compared to standard online advertising, and up to 14x ROI.

Later it began amplifying branded content (owned media), too. inPowered introduced the first ever cost per engagement (CPE) pricing model in 2015.

What do you think about CPE pricing vs CPC pricing? Let us know in the comments!

The post inPowered Unveils AI-Driven Dynamic Cost Per Engagement Pricing Model appeared first on Relevance.

After six months of intensive planning and partnership, Google Analytics 360 with Salesforce Marketing Cloud officially went live on June 13th. The integration, built utilizing the strengths of both tech companies, will give enterprises and marketers the chance to gain more accurate insights about their customers.

The integration was first announced in November and a limited number of features started rolling out in beta mode in January.

Marketers will now be able to harness these integrations to analyze cross-channel engagement data in one place, authenticate and tag emails to Analytics 360 from the Marketing Cloud, understand marketing attribution, and more.

Starting later this year, marketers will also be able to create a web of audiences in Analytics 360 and then activate those audiences for engagement within Marketing Cloud.

Early testers of the integration include L’Oreal, Open Colleges, and Auto & General. According to Armita Peymandoust, VP of Product Management for Salesforce, these brands have already benefited from the integration.

Jason Kirchheimer, Head of Campaign and Loyalty Technology for L’Oreal states,

“With the combined power of Google and Salesforce, we can analyze and optimize our consumer journeys in real time. Being able to leverage Google Analytics 360 data within the context of Salesforce Marketing Cloud changes the game for our marketing analytics.”

When the integration was first announced in November, Google described its partnership with Salesforce as being exceedingly powerful and game-changing. In a blog post, they stated,

“Every day, Google Analytics processes hundreds of billions of customer moments, Salesforce Marketing Cloud sends 1.4 billion emails, and there are over 5 million leads and opportunities created in Salesforce Sales Cloud.

We believe they (integrations) will help marketers take a big step closer to the ultimate dream: providing every customer with a highly relevant experience at each step of their journey.”

The Salesforce/Google team-up is only the latest partnership Salesforce has pursued in recent months. WordPress and Salesforce came together last November to provide new tools for data collection and solutions for data management.

Breaking Down the Integrated Platform’s New Features

Regarding cross-channel engagement metrics, marketers using the integrated platform can see consumer insights in a single journey analytics dashboard, greatly improving the way email, web, and mobile data can be visualized.

For example, a content marketing publication looking to boost sales for directory listings by starting up a cross-functional campaign can get a well-rounded view of bounce rates and sales. If the bounce rates are high, the publication can easily target the abandoners and reconnect with them.

With the platform’s new attribution function, marketers can clearly see how their content or social media marketing efforts are influencing transactions and purchases.

Using the previous example, the marketing publication could easily get a sense of how each social, email, or web channel contributes to purchases. If their email campaigns, for example, aren’t performing as well, they can re-strategize their campaign to improve those specific conversions in-platform.

The upcoming audience creation and message feature, to be released in beta in the third quarter, allows marketers to build segmented audiences.

For example, the content marketing publication could build three groups of audiences; site bouncers, newsletter subscribers, and regular buyers. If a marketer views the Marketing Cloud dashboard with imported metrics from Analytics 360 and sees that purchases are down, they can then…

“create an aggregated and anonymized audience of those users in Analytics 360, and easily publish it to Marketing Cloud. From there, the marketer can add that audience to a re-engagement journey to offer additional information or discounts via email, as well as mobile notifications.” – Salesforce

In layman’s terms, the publication can send out personalized emails to consumers most likely to engage with their content. Salesforce has also stated that enterprises can use these features to connect with new and existing audiences.

Salesforce and Google will also allow companies to move Sales Cloud data from Analytics 360 into Google Cloud.

Final Thoughts

The alliance between Google and Salesforce is reflective of a broader change in the marketing industry. As new social media platforms emerge, so do new opportunities for content promotion.

This is great but with any kind of change, challenges emerge. Platforms that put a strong emphasis on cross-channel optimization are helping marketers navigate these channels.

Smartphone use is growing rapidly and marketers have been forced to optimize their content for mobile viewing. Competition in the marketing sphere is fierce and mobile optimization simply isn’t an option anymore.

Marketers have to make informed decisions, they have to be strategic and can’t afford to skimp on the details. Optimizing and managing data isn’t easy but emerging platforms like the new Salesforce infused Google 360 Analytics platform, are making it easier.

What do you think about this exciting integration? Share your first impressions in the comments below.

The post Salesforce Marketing Cloud Kicks off with Google 360 Integrations appeared first on Relevance.

After months of tense debate, opposition, and uncertainty, the Republican-led FCC has voted to kill net neutrality, leaving the future of the Internet in limbo.

The Obama-era net regulations requiring equal treatment of Internet sites like Facebook, Netflix, and Instagram was down voted by the FCC in December. Net neutrality also blocked companies like AT&T and Comcast (owner of NBC Universal) from favoring their own content over a competitor’s.

[bctt tweet=”Despite opposition from activists, states, and tech giants, the FCC has decided to officially end #netneutrality.” username=”relevance”]

Advocates for net neutrality argue that the regulations promote fair and equal internet use for users and site owners and prevent Internet providers from purposefully slowing down certain pages or prioritizing their content over others.

The absence of net neutrality may open doors for ISP’s to prioritize Netflix over Hulu, Twitter over Facebook or any other service that an ISP may be closely aligned with.

Possible Implications

This new looseness means that broadband companies now have the power to offer online companies “fast lanes,” which equates to faster delivery to users’ devices for an extra fee.

This could put startups and small companies at a severe disadvantage and could leave Internet users struggling to download or access content from their favorite sites. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, and Facebook are just a few of net neutrality’s many active supporters.

Opposers of net neutrality rules claim that it regulates the Internet too much and restricts businesses. Ajit Pai, the current head of the FCC, is a staunch opposer of net neutrality and has been for years.

He called President Obama’s 2015 passing of net neutrality a “mistake” and strived for another “light-touch regulatory approach established by President Clinton and a Republican Congress.”

The abolition of net neutrality means that the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) will now be responsible for overseeing broadband regulation. According to CNET, “It can take action against companies that violate contracts with consumers or that participate in anticompetitive and fraudulent activity.”

National Backlash

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood took to Twitter this morning and announced that she, and 23 other attorney generals would be suing the FCC. Dozens of other open internet advocates and pro-net neutrality politicians have also expressed their disdain for the move and encouraged others to fight back.

#NetNeutrality protections end today but that isn’t slowing us down from fighting back.

Take action to demand your representative save the internet. https://t.co/hHDy92gC9n

— ACLU (@ACLU) June 11, 2018

Today marks the repeal of #NetNeutrality protections, as the Trump FCC’s rule change takes effect. You deserve better than this. The House must act to save these protections. #SaveTheInternet pic.twitter.com/oLN0I5UZGA

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 11, 2018

At this time, over 20 states including California, New York, Connecticut, and Maryland have filed lawsuits to keep net neutrality in their borders but their efforts could propel them into an ugly legal battle. The FCC is actively trying to prevent states from going against the net neutrality decision.

What Happens Now?

Our Internet access will not slow to a crawl overnight and there’s a chance it never will. However, the implications of this decision may have a drastic impact on the way we use the Internet.

Change will be slow, but it’s likely that it will become more difficult to find emerging services stemming from smaller companies and startups. ISP’s may also start experimenting with new business models which may impact the way we experience browsing and streaming.

This decision is a big win for Pai and the Republican-led FCC but it’s a major loss for the thousands of activists, politicians, and tech companies who have been fighting to save net neutrality for over a year.

Proponents are still imploring Congress to take action, and although it’s unlikely they will, Congress could still be swayed to write laws to protect an open internet.

Check out our longer, more marketing-centric follow-up. We’ll be updating it regularly with the latest net neutrality news. 

Share your initial reactions to the decision in the comments below.

The post Net Neutrality is Officially Dead appeared first on Relevance.

Snap, Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, announced on Thursday that they are currently seeking out  digital content creators to join their new Yellow program. Snap, Inc. will award $150,000 in funding for the content creation teams accepted into the accelerator.

According to Snap, the teams will receive mentorship by the company, introductions to industry veterans, a creative office space in Venice, California, and the opportunity to have their content distributed on Snapchat in the form of new shows, AR/VR experiences, and other narrative storytelling experiences. The program will last for three months and winning teams will receive commercial support and partnerships.

This program is reflective of Snap’s growing interest in original and creative content experiences and programming. The future of content is mobile and Snap understands this. In recent years, they have rebranded themselves as a full fledged social media and technology company, instead of just a photo messaging one.

They have also become of the AR movement’s foremost leaders by making the emerging tech more fun, accessible, and interactive. By creating this accelerator, Snap is literally banking on new generations of creative-minded visionaries to continue this model and propel itself into a new era.

Snapchat Banks on Content and Content Creators to Help Restore Company Image

Snapchat has been entrenched in mass amounts of negative publicity this year and this accelerator could be the rebound they need to restore their tarnished image. After a criticized new Snapchat app design, plummeting stocks, and an offensive ad featuring Rihanna that left a bad taste in the mouths of users, Snapchat began to turn the focus on its content creators.

Back in March, the company announced “creator boosts” a new update that gives publishers and artists the opportunity to have their custom lenses featured in the app’s filter carousel. This, combined with the new Yellow accelerator, is proof that Snap is serious about original programming and other forms of content creation.

It’s likely that the Yellow program will be incredibly competitive but it will undoubtedly give legions of aspiring content creators, startups, and storytellers a reason to get excited about Snapchat again.

How to Apply for the Snapchat Yellow Program

Applications for the inaugural fall program are currently open and the deadline to enter is July 8th. Interview invites will be sent in late July and winners will be notified in August. Yellow will kick off on September 8th and end on December 7th.

Snap is expressing interest in three core content areas: AR, mobile interactivity, and narrative storytelling. They have also provided a sampling of content categories including beauty and style, design, diverse voices, esports, journalism, travel culture, luxury living, humor and comedy, and more. The company has stated that they are open to ideas separate from the ones they have listed and that “The best ideas are usually the craziest.”

The application itself requires creators to give a detailed overview of their vision, a description of their company or project, the target audience for the content, information about their team, and other information related to content planning and post-accelerator plans. In short, only those with a strong vision and content plan should apply. Snap has also stated that a winner’s projects do not have to be made for Snapchat.

This project is not only great for non-branded storytellers, it could give content marketing agencies and publications a golden opportunity to build out their companies and gain some priceless visibility.

The post Snapchat Launches Yellow, An Accelerator Program for Digital Content Creators and Startups appeared first on Relevance.

In a press release, global professional services company Accenture, announced that it would be launching a new company arm called “Accenture Interactive Programmatic Services.”  This new division will give brand marketers three new core services: programmatic consulting and in-housing, media strategy, planning, and activation, and ad tech implementation and support.

According to Brian Whipple, global CEO of Accenture Interactive,

“As their experience agency, our clients have been asking us to help them drive greater efficiencies with their programmatic media spend, specifically digital media.

Consistent with our mission to create, build and run the best customer experiences on the planet, we are enhancing Accenture Interactive Programmatic Services to complement our full suite of experience services.”

Per the press release, this new division will help marketers drive transparency in media buying and planning. Additionally, marketers can expect to regain ownership of data and design audience-driven campaigns.

Collaborations and Future of In-House Programmatics

Accenture Interactive is collaborating with Accenture Operations on this new arm. The partnership will make media investment more efficient for big name clients like HP, Radisson Hotel Group, and Melia Hotels.

Accenture also partnered with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) on a research piece entitled “Programmatic In-Housing: Benefits, Challenges, and Key Steps to Building Internal Capabilities.” In it, they discovered that 65 percent of companies have chosen to buy programmatic media capabilities in-house. The company also found that,

“Programmatic ad spend will account for three of four (74%) digital video ad dollars invested this year and programmatic share of total digital display spending is expected to rise to 86.2% by 2020.”

Accenture will continue to collaborate with IAB to develop new transparent media models and conduct research on programmatic capabilities.

Accenture’s Acquisition and Expansion Streak

This new operation marks the third major Accenture acquisition or expansion this year. Back in April, the company acquired Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, a content agency focused on integrated marketing, creative execution, and direct-to-consumer marketing in an attempt to bolster their data and content offerings.

In January, they teamed up with Mackevision, the German creative company behind Game of Thrones’ visual effects among others, to elevate their mixed reality 3D visual and animation capabilities.

Over the past 5 years, Accenture Interactive, the company’s marketing subsidiary, has made a mind-boggling 15 acquisitions. Both cementing themselves as a player in the marketing world and emerging as a threat to Madison Avenue agencies.

The marketing world is changing and advertisers are constantly seeking lower-cost ad options and more simplified marketing solutions. IT and consulting companies have noticed this and many of them, are becoming well versed in the language of marketing. By opening up their own advertising divisions,  they help brands cut their ad spend.

Accenture Interactive’s numerous acquisitions reflect their desire to become a go-to ad consultancy for brands. So far their partnerships have paid off.

They serve three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500, have appeared on Fortune’s ‘World’s Most Admired Companies’ list 15 consecutive times, and were named the world’s largest digital agency in the latest Ad Age Agency report.

Final Thoughts

Accenture continues to dominate the advertising and marketing space. It’s likely we will see more acquisitions and more offerings added to their already massive suite of solutions.

We may also see them becoming a do-it-all alternative to major ad holding companies like WPP, Omnicom, and Dentsu. In a nutshell, Accenture shows no signs of stopping. If holding companies want to survive, they’ll need to become more transparent.

What do you think of “Accenture Interactive Programmatic Services”? Do you think the age of traditional ad agencies is coming to an end? Share your thoughts in the comments.

The post Accenture Launches New Division Focused on Programmatic Media appeared first on Relevance.

Dove is formally unveiling its Real Beauty Productions anti-bullying film “An Hour With Her” in the form of a scannable, peelable VR magazine cover. The film, directed by Debbie Allen features two women who talk about self esteem after facing bullies. One of the women, an actress named Chelsea who found comfort in the Dove Self-Esteem Project, has a heart-to-heart with Caralyn, a high-schooler dealing with cyberbullying.

[bctt tweet=”Dove enters the VR space with an original, VR enabled Entertainment Weekly magazine cover. Read on for more details.” username=”relevance”]

According to Adweek, Dove Marketing Director Amy Stepanian stated,

“I think really this year, we’re telling the story of the power of mentorship and paying it forward to the next generation. It’s still very much about the empowerment of young women, but I like that it’s helping the next generation grow in confidence through the experiences they’ve had.”

Dove collaborated with marketing firm Edelman and media agency Mindshare to develop and promote the film’s release. The film is integrated with the Life VR app so once readers download the app they can scan the cover and view the film. The cover will hit the shelves starting today, followed by two more on July 13th and September 28th.

Content Marketing Elevated

VR and AR tech is steadily becoming more mainstream, crisp, and accessible and more publishers are starting to view it as a viable editorial tool and storytelling enhancer. For some publishers, like EW and Sports Illustrated, virtual reality has allowed them to create more visually sharp and engaging content marketing campaigns with brands.

When we integrate virtual and augmented reality into our content marketing strategies, we are essentially telling our audiences that we are relatable, on-trend, and willing to accept and embrace change. Finding success as one of those in-touch and relatable brands is the Holy Grail for all of our content marketing endeavors.

It’s common knowledge that people pay attention to the brands that are in tune with tech culture. They are more willing to connect with the brands that decide to create content that is more emotive and authentic instead of salesy and cold.

VR and AR integration can propel our marketing strategies into the future and, contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t always have to be costly. Snapchat’s Lens Studio allows brands to create AR lenses easily and cost effectively. The Lens Studio has received over 30,000 submissions since launching in December and lenses have racked up over 1 billion views by Snapchat users.

Multiple companies like Oculus and Lenovo are coming out with cheaper VR headsets and apps like Life VR make it easy for viewers to see VR content on their mobile devices.

The VR/AR space is increasingly competitive but cheaper VR headsets and Snapchat’s approach to AR has made the tech accessible, fun, and engaging for both publishers and users.

Final Thoughts

Dove’s first venture into the VR space could inspire other brands to piggyback off of VR’s popularity and create their own mixed reality campaigns. The message of Dove’s campaign is one of unity. It’s a timely yet timeless campaign that evokes hope and poignancy.

The VR element is just an enhancer to an already wonderful piece of storytelling. By all means we should all start exploring VR/AR options sooner rather than later but we should also take a page out of Dove’s playbook. Make sure your stories truly mean something before you overlay it with tech enhancements and your audience will reward you for it.

What are your thoughts on VR/AR? Do you think it’s a worthwhile content marketing enhancer? Continue the conversation in the comments.

The post Dove, Entertainment Weekly Join Forces on VR Enabled Magazine Cover appeared first on Relevance.