Aevich's

oylintokyo:

Don’t do everything.

Do one thing well. Don’t turn every project or brief into an opportunity to show you know the comprehensive digital landscape. You are not reinventing the internet here. You can do simple, small things in this space. Do them well. And do many of them. Comprehensive knowledge of digital is demonstrated over time, not in a single glorious campaign.

Be Beta/Update minded.

Releases or launches don’t have to be definitive. Be open to consumer feedback. Take a ‘let’s work together to make the best service possible’ approach. No brand or program is perfect. When media was confined to traditional outlets like television and print, brands could pretend to be perfect. They could take months crafted the absolute bulletproof appearance of perfection. But times had radically changed, and in digital, no one is perfect, because the whole scene is evolving. You just need to jump in, and upgrade as you go. Make every step make sense for right now, but be flexible to go back and make the same thing better later. Be incrementally minded.

Be responsive. Be real-time.

Free up your thinking and some budget to be timely. Relevant responses to hot issues and topics have a greater chance to ‘go viral’ because they are acting as a parasite to something that is already consuming mass mindspace. Sports brands should be insanely timely. They should think like newspapers, but in their brand voice. ESPN gets closest to this. But there are some other brands out there that could really get some serious hangtime if they committed to a more real time approach to sports marketing. Brands should present the information and put their unique spin on it, not just be a news service.

Rally groups of people to a common goal.

Digital media connects us all more than Kevin Bacon connects Hollywood. Key in on those pockets of passion, and give large groups a collective assignment, with minimum involvement, that results in something memorable. That’s as vague and jargon sounding as I can be about this.

People still love video.

Digital doesn’t mean that video, TV or filmmaking is dead. Everything doesn’t have to be a Flash application. Stories told as one-way, well made, moving images still have crown jewel status in the overall media landscape. You can start with an amazing piece of video, and then find smart and relevant ways to disseminate and surprise people with the digital extensions. Keep making films people!

Keep it simple.

Do your one thing, with style and strong branded voice. Don’t let the technology stifle the personality of your brand. Use the functionality of modern technology to fuel something human. Something emotional. This can be accomplished in a microsite, a banner ad, an iPhone app, or something that doesn’t even exist yet. Execute your one idea, and then move on to your next triumph.

I look forward to see what you do next.