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P&G Tests the Power of Social Media

Nick | 20 Mar 2009, 12:12

Proctor & Gamble recently demonstrated how a large, process driven organisation can “learn to be innovative, work organically and think socially”. At its Digital Hack Night, P&G gathered 40 digital media and agency executives with 100 of its North American marketing directors to learn and share ideas on the power of networks and the impact of the digital world for marketers. 

Taking the format of a reality TV show format aired largely over social media, digital and interactive media luminaries from Facebook, Google, MySpace and P&G agencies were split into four teams and challenged to exploit Twitter, Facebook, and personal websites in their attempts to sell Tide T-shirts for charity.

The event raised thousands of dollars for charity but the real aim of the night was to help “P&G understand the digital space”, according to Bob Gilbreath, the event’s marketing strategist.

Key Learnings from the event reported by Forrester:

- Cause matters - Marketers looking to access people’s personal social networks must think long and hard about what they’re asking those networks to do and whether the influencers have social currency they can provide.

- Personal networks trump paid placements - Cultivating deep relationships with key influencers will reap greater rewards than a one-size-fits-all approach.

- Social media is a full time commitment - Social media isn’t something you turn on and off for a campaign; it’s something you live and breathe every day.

- Building trust is key - Corporate messages and their bearers are often viewed with suspicion and in some cases, derision. Overcoming it takes patience, information and most importantly truly good intentions at the root of your efforts.

- Accept you can’t please everyone - Take time to plan for worst case scenarios and accept you will never be welcomed by all. But with good faith effort, honesty, transparency and a long term commitment you can at least get a chance to tell your side of the story.

As one of the largest advertisers in the world, P&G’s movements have interesting implications for the content generating industries.  The exercise, though certainly successful in generating positive PR for the company (and Tide), does help to illustrate the power of sharing ideas. However, the greatest learning perhaps is that fact that P&G is working so closely with the likes of Google and Facebook in the first place. These workshops are further evidence of the growing role that social media plays in advertisers’ marketing mix. It underlines the need for content producers to work with new channels and distributors, as well as the major advertisers to experiment, share best practice and monetise content in new ways.

Copyright vs. Creativity – how to strike the right balance?

Nick | 19 Mar 2009, 15:15

Following the recent celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the World Wide Web, subsequent reflection on how the internet has completely revolutionised our lives throws an interesting light on the issue of open access to information. This fundamentally enabled the internet to become what it is today and without it, according to an article in the Guardian, Wikipedia may never have seen the light of day.

In a lecture given by Jamie Boyle, author of The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind at Cambridge University last week, he argues that the internet has democratised the dissemination of and access to information on an unprecedented scale. He posits that whilst there is a need to maintain free access to culture and knowledge, how this is actually achieved needs to change if we are to continue to incentivise rather than stifle creativity.

Richard Smith at the Guardian writes:

“In 1976 law set US copyright at 28 years, after which copyright holders had to renew it. Around 85% didn’t renew because the “cultural object” no longer had commercial value.  These “cultural objects” – books, poems, films, music, images – now belonged to the world, and libraries could reproduce them for everybody for free.

“Copyright holders can, of course, waive copyright, but the problem for libraries is, first, the expense of tracking down copyright holders (85% of whom, we know, would probably give up copyright); and, second, many of the holders simply cannot be found.

“The result may be that libraries – which Boyle declared as “radical institutions” that have for centuries made cultural objects available to all human beings – will become mausoleums, full only of objects. They will not be able to digitise and distribute free to everybody everywhere the cultural objects of most of the 20th century, the century that formed our world”.

The solution put forward by Boyle is that a balance is required between the right for content owners to reap commercial benefits from their assets and a vision of global, free access for all. As part of this solution, global copyright laws need to be harmonised and re-thought to encourage rather than stifle the kind of foresight that created the internet as we know it and pave the way for the next wave of innovation. The issue of protecting the IP of content owners whilst delivering its benefits to the wider public is an integral part of c&binet’s agenda for supporting the creative economy.

Tim Berners Lee recently observed: “The Web is not all done, it’s just the tip of the iceberg… I’m convinced that the new changes are going to rock the world even more”.

To listen to a podcast of the lecture, click here.

London’s Creative Sector leaders discuss skills

Nick | 19 Mar 2009, 09:09

Historically, career paths in the creative sector have been less structured than other industries. For some this has been an attraction, if not a strength of the sector - one that forces talent to push its way to the top.

But in a meeting at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre, hosted by the Art’s Council, leaders of London’s creative, cultural and arts sector organisations discussed the step changes afoot in career and skills development. Leaders from organisations such as the UK’s Royal Opera House and Tate Britain, all agreed that the skills challenge needed to be addresses with renewed vigour, especially in the face of the global downturn. 

The global creative industries are making a growing contribution to the world’s economy. In the UK alone, the sector contributes £60 billion a year to the British economy and employs 2 million people. And this is not to mention the value generated through the enrichment of people’s lives and the vitality the sector brings to communities, which for the world’s leading cities, is an important selling point for investors.

Brendan Nolan, from the Learning and Skills Council, who helped put on the event at Sadler’s Wells, commented that: “With the global downturn, training and skills have never been more important to businesses, with those that fail to invest in skills being over two times more likely to fail than those that do. The right skills can help insulate a business from the worst consequences of the economic slump and put an organisation in a good place to take advantage of new opportunities when they come. In the UK there’s lots of funding, support and advice available through services like Train to Gain.”

At the event, speakers were keen to stress that skills in the creative sector are not just about performers and artists, but equally about the professional management of businesses as commercial operations – whether managing accounts and cash flow, or delivering better customer service or running IT more effectively. All these things require an investment in skills and training.

Delegates discussed the sector’s unique needs and many raised the concern that trained staff would simply leave and take their new skills with them. Speakers were keen to point out the flip side of these fears: What if you don’t invest in staff and they don’t leave?

UK explores idea of a national “Digital Rights Agency”

Nick | 13 Mar 2009, 11:00

The UK Government has today invited businesses and consumers to give their views on the role a ‘digital rights agency’ should play in protecting and promoting the legal use of copyright content online, and how all sides can work together to create an environment where investment in creativity is rewarded, while encouraging technological innovation.

The Agency would play a critical role in helping the UK to navigate an incredibly complex issue, which is central to the future of the creative economy.

Creators, commercial rights-holders and consumer groups are all asked to respond to a discussion paper exploring the potential benefits of a new agency and the impact it would have in combating unlawful online file-sharing and piracy.

Minister of State for Intellectual Property, David Lammy said:

“A properly worked out rights agency could be a real step forward.  We can’t have a system where even net-surfing 12 year olds have to understand copyright in order to keep themselves and their parents safe within the law.

“The real prize here is a rights agency that sorts out the complexities that keep consumers on the right side of the law, and ensure artists get properly paid.

“We need to make it easier for consumers to do the right thing. The internet has become an integral part of daily life.  You shouldn’t need to be an underwriter to take out an insurance policy, and you shouldn’t need legal training to surf the web.“

Minister for Technology, Communications and Broadcasting, Stephen Carter, said:

“Britain’s creative industries are respected and admired the world over and are hugely important to our national competitiveness. But in the new digital age, copyright infringement has become easier and more socially acceptable, so it’s clear we need some form of legislative backstop for the protection of rights as well as new and innovative ways to access legal content.”

He added:

“Today we have published proposals in the form of a Straw Man on digital rights. That Straw Man could be torched, tolerated or a touchstone for the start point of constructive debate and design. I for one hope it is the latter.”

Key issues raised in the discussion paper published by the Intellectual Property Office today include:

•    How to educate and change consumer behaviour towards copyright material;
•    How to support industry efforts in developing new and attractive legal ways for consumers to access content
•    How to support legislation to address consumer activity that breaches civil copyright law and how to tackle persistent infringement;
•    How to enable technical copyright-support solutions that work for both consumers and content creators;
•    Whether or not the Agency should be an independent industry body with back-up legal powers held by Ofcom
•    How such an agency can be funded

All these issues will be publicly addressed in a discussion forum later this Spring.

The concept of a ‘digital rights agency’ was initially recommended in the Digital Britain Interim report, published at the end of January. The report represents an ambitious and strategic plan to accelerate growth in the digital industries and cement the UK’s position as a world leader for innovation, investment and quality

Comments on the role of the Digital Rights Agency should be directed to

Lord Carter: clarity on digital rights pricing is critical for new business growth

Nick | 12 Mar 2009, 11:58

Giving evidence to MPs this week, Lord Carter, the UK communications minister, agreed with suggestions from other online music services that the dispute could foreshadow more rows over how to price content.

“We clearly need some legislative backstop for the protection of rights,“ said Lord Carter. “In addition we need a mechanism for the distributors and rights owners to work out new business models for how rights get priced and accessed in a digital world.“

Commenting in The Financial Times Martin Stiksel, co-founder of website Last.fm, said: “We are obviously watching the outcome of this discussion very closely. Online music is not a burgeoning industry any more, I would have thought it would become more transparent by now. But it is getting more expansive and prohibitive for new services to get into market. That is going to stifle innovation. The entry stakes have been massively raised all around.“

He added that although it was now harder for legal sites to compete with pirate ones, PRS for Music was more progressive than other European Union agencies.

Decentralising the creative economy

Nick | 11 Mar 2009, 13:23

C&binet comment: Jana Bennett, Director of BBC Vision and non-executive director BBC Worldwide.

Beyond the M25 - A BBC for all of the UK

It was Bill Bryson in Notes from a Small Island who observed: ‘Can there anywhere on earth be, in such a modest span, a landscape more packed with centuries of busy, productive attainment?’  This half-American too would like to see more attainment from every part of the UK reflected in network television production. And I am delighted to say that is exactly what the BBC is setting out to do. 

Our intention is nothing less than changing the very DNA of the BBC - to bring the production of programmes closer to the audiences we serve. That means increasing the production and commissioning of programmes in other parts of the country, re-balancing the so called London-centric bias that sometimes dominates media thinking.  The extensive programme that we are embarking on will mean a BBC for all of the UK, boosting jobs and the creative industries for both in-house and independents. 

We are determined that people in every part of the country should have a sense of themselves on screen.  Also, we aim to spread the licence fee more equitably.  The plans are ambitious, certainly. But creative quality and sustainability are what the strategy is designed to achieve.

The case for action by the BBC is stronger than ever because of the chill winds blowing through the UK broadcasting industry right now.  Challenges affecting the commercial sector, and the subsequent downscaling of presence in the regions, means that the BBC plays an increasingly crucial role in the lives of audiences and the creative industries there.

We’re not starting from year zero however.  The Nations and Regions have always been a fundamental part of the BBC and the commitment is there in steel, glass and concrete in the shape of BBC Scotland’s Pacific Quay and the major new centre under construction in MediaCityUK in Salford, as well as our other major broadcast centres around the UK.  The proportion of spend has already increased significantly in the last few years – in 2007 we spent £300m outside London.  Our targets for the future are ambitious, however: 50% of network television programming from ‘out of London’ by 2016; growth in the Nations from 6% in 2007 to at least 17%, with an interim target of 12% by 2012 and in English Regions growth from 26% now to 33% in 2016.

So how will we achieve this?  If you want to source network television from across the UK you need to establish sustainable creative centres, each capable of developing and delivering a flow of network-quality ideas over the long term. Our strategy is to develop strategic centres of expertise, location by location, focusing on hiring the right talent in each centre, developing the talent that already exists and getting the development process right, with appropriate levels of funding made available to our commissioning teams there.  Strong partnerships with screen and development agencies - vital to the growth of local industries – are also key to our plan. 

These ‘centres of excellence’ – in Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff, Salford, Bristol, and Birmingham as well as London, will be reinforced by moving a number of programmes and returning series such as Weakest Link, Crimewatch and – possibly – Casualty,  from their current locations to the Nations and Regions by 2012.  This is a key way to provide a good foundation for delivering year on year and retaining talent.  Wales, for example, with Dr Who, Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures has blazed a trail through its development as an outstanding centre for drama in the space of just five years.  We want more success like that in all the nations and regions of the UK.

Partnerships with independent producers – indigenous companies as well as the established national ones - are also vitally important. That’s why we are moving some independently-produced strands, like Question Time to give a stable centre for future development of their production companies and the people who work for them. We are looking for fresh ideas, different perspectives, different faces. Independents can help us to give a voice to every part of the community.

Reflecting diversity, of course, doesn’t just mean more regional voices. It embraces the rich variety and diversity of the world around us. Everyone should feel their community or background has a place in the BBC’s output. And the mainstream audience should have a chance to hear all those different voices too.

In terms of commissioning, we’re also determined to reflect a more ‘networked’ BBC and we’re committed to ensuring better access to that process.  We’re doing to this by further developing genre commissioning, which has proved so effective in fostering creative ideas in the past.  For each genre, we’re building up commissioning teams who will seize on the talent in their area and we’re in the process of appointing new commissioning executives in each of the Nations to work both in-house and with the talent and wider creative industries in those regions.

There is much to do. But I can honestly say that I believe the prize is worth it. This really is one of the pivotal moments in the history of the BBC and one of the most fundamental transformations I have been involved with in my entire career.  The outcome, I believe, will be a BBC that is stronger and serves the UK better. A BBC that is more in tune with viewers and more visibly at the heart of communities. A BBC that is a partnering organisation, looking outward to the communities it serves and using their talents to make great programmes and driving the development of the creative industries at which the UK excels. A BBC that can contribute to a creative renaissance for all the nations and regions of the UK.