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Digital video is driving change for sports networks

Loose Ends for Tuesday, June 27, 2017

By Patrick Connelly Project Manager, Twisted Rope

Digital video made big headlines this week when news spread of Fox Sports cutting a slew of editorial positions as the outlet aims to revamp its online presence.

With a new digital strategy focused on video production rather than traditional journalism, Fox Sports will look to capitalize on a market being driven by social media and a shifting base on modern consumers.

According to market projections, digital video will account for over 80 percent of all internet traffic by 2020.

A closer look at the numbers shows consumers watch well over 500 million hours of digital video a day via YouTube and spend, on average, 40 minutes per session when watching videos on mobile devices.

The incorporation of a steady dose of video utilized in social media and other marketing campaigns for several years has been a growing trend in the digital marketing world. It's also believed the typical consumer spends an average of about 3 hours a day on his or her mobile device, which has experts projecting the focus on digital ad spending geared toward mobile to account for 70 percent of all digital marketing spending by 2019.

Studies have found the average attention span for humans to be about 8 seconds with one in every five page views of a website lasting less than 4 seconds. When viewing an article, only about one in every five people read the entirety of a written post from start to finish.

Digital video, in contrast, is more likely in our modern age to hold the attention span of a consumer. Video length tends to correlate to the actual engagement of a viewer, with videos 2 minutes or less in length receiving the most engagement.

BIG CHANGES: Fox Sports looks to digital video as the answer in an effort to revitalize its online presence.

The changes at Fox Sports come less than two months after ESPN made cuts, laying off almost 100 journalists, analysts, broadcasters and production staffers to counteract its diminishing number of cable subscribers as it looked to realign its finances under the constraints of its broadcasting commitments and contracts with sports leagues.

The ESPN cuts were met with questions and also skepticism the Disney-owned self-branded "Worldwide Leader in Sports" wouldn't be able to maintain its journalistic integrity, which executives of the network refuted.

"We have a unique opportunity here because our strength of resources, depth of reporters and diversity of voices allows us to tell a broad range of stories that no one else can," Craig Bengtson, ESPN's vice president and director of news told the Washington Post.

Even with the layoffs and in this time of financial uncertainty, ESPN remains the largest and most profitable business among those in cable TV.

"We recognized the early signs of a shift in the industry, anticipated its impact on our business and adapted quickly with a strategy that reflects the evolving market," Bob Iger, Disney's chairman and chief executive officer, told Sports Business Daily.

Fox Sports, meanwhile, will seemingly alter its digital strategy to use its online presence as a content mill of sorts -- not unlike those of Buzzfeed or Huffington Post -- with digital video as its backbone and a means to repurpose video content already used on its TV counterpart, the floundering FS1 network.

ESPN has already been thinking of ways to restructure its digital strategy and will look to do so through accessibility of apps for Apple TV and DirecTV.

"The concept of channels (on TV) is somewhat antiquated," Aaron LaBerge, ESPN executive vice president and chief technology officer also told Sports Business Daily. "What you care about is what you can watch now. We want to make sure that the options you are presented with are the things you care about."

LEARN MORE

Explore these links to learn more about what's going on now in digital marketing and the shift toward creating an omnichannel experience.

Buffer outlines 50 video marketing statistics that can aid a company's social media efforts

Small Business Trends examines why video marketing is effective

A Sports Business Daily podcast discusses how organizations are personalizing content to attract new viewers

Patrick Connelly is a project manager at Twisted Rope. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @thatswhatPCsaid.

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Circle takes the square: What to know about Twitter's redesign

By Patrick Connelly Project Manager, Twisted Rope

In what came as somewhat of a shock to many late last week, Twitter gave the design of its platform a face lift, unveiling perhaps the most drastic front-end changes the social network has seen to date in one fell swoop.

The updates help Twitter "feel lighter, faster and easier to use, Grace Kim, the company's vice president of user research and design, said in a post regarding the latest redesign on Twitter's company blog.

Founded in 2006, Twitter has revolutionized communication and changed the way people consume news and information -- often cutting out the middle man as news is now reported around the clock and straight from the source. It’s also given businesses the ability to connect directly with consumers.

The most recognizable of the changes in the Twitter user interface is a shift from its traditional square icons or avatars for individual users to a circle shape containing the image selected by a user or business.

The changes came from feedback Kim said Twitter had received from its more than 328 million active monthly users, a number that's grown from the 313 million the company found to be active in July 2016.

"We listened closely and kept what [users] love," Kim said. For the aspects users didn't love, she said Twitter "took a new approach to fix [them] and make [those aspects] better."

The platform itself has undergone routine updates since its debut and as the social network's grown, most notably in 2011 to phase out its original design and alter its timeline structure. Later that same year, Twitter introduced even more changes to better incorporate and promote advertising.

FOLLOW TWISTED ROPE ON TWITTER: @_twistedrope

This time around, the updates include:

clearer fonts and typography, making Twitter easier to read;

more streamlined navigation for app users, incorporating changes across the board that were originally phased in for only Android users;

the automatic opening of clicked links from the app in a user's browser, such as Safari for iPhone users;

simpler icons allowing new users to quickly understand how Twitter works and how things function; and

live, auto-updating of tweets themselves to instantly reflect "likes" or replies in real time.

The updates, overall, are smaller tweaks but feel more like a big change because of the revamping of the navigation and icons or avatars.

The full-fledged release of the updates on all versions of the app are expected to be complete no later than next week.

The redesign itself is part of Twitter's digital strategy and continued drive to be the place everyone stops first to see "what's going on" or "what's happening."

Swift redesigns to social media platforms with little announcement, however, can be problematic in the short term for the business world. With branded icons and background imagery at specified dimensions already in place, companies must work quickly to adapt to Twitter's changes and check in to be sure current elements meet requirements to ensure proper viewing across devices.

Tailoring custom brand elements to fit individual social platforms is no easy task, though many people have worked behind the scenes to simplify the process. In fact, another Buffalo, N.Y.-based digital marketing agency, Mainstreethost, has perhaps simplified it best with its always-updated “Social Media Image Size Cheat Sheet.”

The Twitter redesign comes about 6 months after LinkedIn revamped its platform in favor of a cleaner look some said borrowed heavily -- and perhaps rightfully so -- from Facebook's look and feel.

Fortunately for many business, the redesigned LinkedIn "company pages" were unveiled slowly over the months that followed, allowing brands time to adjust to the changes.

In the immediate wake of Twitter's recent changes, some users were quick to mock the updates, though the prevailing response seems to be favorable once users have adjusted to the new look.

Patrick Connelly is a project manager at Twisted Rope. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @thatswhatPCsaid.

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Design thinking makes form follow function in our digital world

Loose Ends for Monday, June 19, 2017

By Patrick Connelly Project Manager, Twisted Rope

"Design thinking" is a concept being heard again and again today in this modern era of digital transformation in the business world.

As companies look to adapt to a changing base of consumers from business sector to business sector, design thinking has popped up as a strategy for innovation in which form follows function.

Design and development teams like ours at Twisted Rope are using design thinking to get into the minds of consumers (or, users).

Teams are using this strategy to put together solutions for clients that, in the end, are a direct benefit to the end user (consumer) who visits a particular business's website. Design thinking is simplifying things for anyone who may visit a website or use an app, making the call-to-action (or point of purchase) easier to access and, often times, much more direct.

Commonly, the strategy used behind the methodology of design thinking is exploring ways to build or improve a wesbite or app through systemic reasoning, logic and imagination that aim to follow a user's intuition or make things feel instinctive.

Teams are enabling clients with these solutions through calculated research, ideation, prototyping and proper implementation.

The key in this is "making sure the customer journey is satisfied," Lesley Tully, the head of design thinking at Bank of Ireland, told Silicon Republic.

"It's human-centred design, it's solving customers' problems," she added. "That's what it is."

Design thinking relies heavily on collaboration with user exerience (UX) and user interface (UI) experts, two disciplines we are incorporating in our design and development processes at Twisted Rope.

The idea itself that form follows function came from Louis Sullivan, an architect who is credited as being the "father of modernism."

Central, of course, to modern design thinking is creativity.

"Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like," Apple founder Steve Jobs said. "People think it's this veneer -- that the designers are handed this box and told, 'Make it look good!' That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."

In design thinking, the three most important aspects of the strategy are function, form and aesthetic, Mike Lang, a technology strategist and educator in Las Vegas, recently wrote in an article on EdSurge, a website offering resources to those working at the intersection of technology and education.

Lang himself began studying the concept of design thinking after hearing "form follows function" in a song by the rapper Lupe Fiasco by the same name.

"It all begins with function, which marries the empathy and analysis components of design thinking." writes Lang. "Using observations of the world, conversations and provocations, [users] start down a path that allows them to question what happens [next]."

"Using the Sullivan [m]ethod, the concepts of choice and collaboration are ubiquitous in my classroom," Lang added. "Whether designing video games or planning a video to explain how to create equivalent fractions, [my] students have a structure in which to operate as freely as they wish. My goal was to utilize Sullivan and design thinking to impact student outcomes and build skyscrapers, with the only limit to their ambition their own imaginations."

This is the same logic being used by teams like Twisted Rope incorporating design thinking into development.

As the time and attention of users is constantly these days at more and more of a premium with all the information available at a person's fingertips, design thinking is without a doubt a methodology that's not only welcomed in our modern world, but one that's here to stay.

LEARN MORE Explore these links to learn more about what design thinking is and how the methodology is moving business forward. Edutopia takes a look at the steps involved in design thinking TechCrunch sits down with Tom Kelley of the design firm IDEO to discuss how innovation has changed Carey Wodehouse, of the technology freelancing website UpWork, discusses how design thinking works and how it's applicable to much more than just design Entrepreneur India examines cases of thinking through experience design

Loose Ends is a roundup of news and notes of the latest industry trends we are seeing at Twisted Rope and being seen in digital development. Read more Twine posts in the Loose Ends series here.

Patrick Connelly is a project manager at Twisted Rope. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @thatswhatPCsaid.

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Ill Communication: Going “viral” and the impact on brands

Loose Ends for Monday, July 9, 2018

By Patrick Connelly Project Manager, Twisted Rope

In the social media age, the last thing any brand wants is to “go viral” for the wrong reasons.

Yet, like in what we saw recently when IHOP announced a new campaign or when Best Buy unveiled a change to its longtime logo, it’s seemingly easy to be thrown to the wolves as brand changes are negatively received or immediate feedback isn’t quite as favorable as even the best marketing minds may anticipate.

Does the adage that “any publicity is good publicity” still hold true for brands or are these “Twitter Moments” of ridicule detrimental to a business beyond the few days where they are thrusted into the spotlight and become punchlines on the late-night comedy circuit or Twittersphere?

“The concept of viral marketing is by no means new,” Vishal Patel, a digital marketer, wrote as he delved into its origination and long-term impact. “Word-of-mouth marketing, viral’s forefather, has been around for ages. The principle behind word-of-mouth marketing is simple: use influencers to generate peer-to-peer product recommendations or buzz.”

“I don’t think viral is anything a brand should aspire to,” Ann Handley, an author and chief content officer at MarketingProfs, told Forbes. “If it happens, it’s a happy accident. But it’s never anything that a company should actively pursue because I don’t think it’s a worthwhile endeavor.”

A campaign gone viral does bring short-lived brand awareness like in what we saw when IHOP mysteriously announced it would be changing its famous moniker that had been short for "International House of Pancakes" to “IHOb.” The internet went wild, pondering just what the ‘b’ would be short for. Later, IHOP announced the change was temporary as the company was looking to promote its “burgers” and the fact unknown to many that IHOP, indeed, has menu options beyond breakfast.

"We are definitely going to be IHOP but we want to convey that we are taking our burgers as seriously as our pancakes," the company’s president, Darren Rebelsz, relayed to CNN Money.

As part of the campaign, IHOP updated its Twitter handle to @IHOb and Rebelsz even went as far as updating his position on his LinkedIn profile to “Chief Burger Officer.” After the announcement, he fielded interviews to ensure patrons that the change was merely a gimmick and that IHOP would permanently remain by its original name once the campaign concludes.

"There was a reluctance at first from the [IHOP] franchisees because the brand has made a couple different runs at promoting [non-breakfast]-type offers in the past and they've typically fallen flat," Rebelez told AdAge. "We knew we were going to have to do something different."

The wake of the IHOB campaign was “exactly” what the company was looking for, Rebelsz said -- though he did admit the company did not expect the “magnitude” of how much of an impact it would have in the mainstream media.

Well that was a crazy week. pic.twitter.com/5XvIErpSoH

— IHOb (@IHOb) June 15, 2018

TONGUE IN CHEEK: In the viral social media flood that followed IHOP's announcement of a name change, the company kept a cool head and played right along with all the jokes and jabs.

While IHOP may have been eager to play to the masses with the marketing ploy, some feedback like what Best Buy saw with its logo change can come as unexpected, particular at times that should be exciting for a brand.

“The proliferation of marketing and advertising, coupled with the onslaught of millions of media channels in today’s world, has given cause for consumers to tune out and effectively avoid a great deal of traditional supplier driven messaging,” Patel wrote.

Patel described viral marketing today as more of a “long con” as brands use it to “seed” ideas in the minds of consumers who may not be converted to customers right then and there, but perhaps in the future.

“Viral marketing, like all marketing, is hit or miss,” Patel added. “However, viral marketing by nature is often more risky or controversial than traditional marketing. If done improperly viral marketing can backfire and create negative buzz.”

Graphic design blogs and the rarely-benevolent folks of Twitter were quick to point out Best Buy’s new logo that shook up the placement of the traditional “yellow tag” in favor of simple block typeface looked a lot like that of Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light (which itself had created a viral craze with the recent “Dilly Dilly” campaign).

The new Best Buy logo is “more modern and easier to read, especially in today’s digital world,” the company had said in a news release on its blog when it was unveiled. The new placement of the yellow tag provides a “graphic punctuation and a visual connection to our history,” Best Buy added.

“The updated logo is true to our heritage, but it’s really cleaned up,” said Whit Alexander, Best Buy’s chief marketing officer. “It’s an evolution toward the future and we’re really excited about that.”

Along with the new logo, Best Buy is rebranding its voice and showcasing its employees as a means of “telling the story of our people,” Alexander said. “Our people are our insurmountable advantage.”

CHANGING THE MESSAGE: Along with its logo change, Best Buy is showcasing its helpful employees which it believes gives the company a heads up over competitors and online shopping.

In what seems like stark refute to the feedback the new logo received, Best Buy’s new advertising campaign has turned heads and received praise from media and blogs for showcasing the customer experience in an age trending toward fully-digital shopping.

There are many advantages to viral marketing. Marketers are quick to point out advantages like the mainstream media exposure a campaign that’s gone viral can have and the low or non-existent advertising costs, like the free publicity IHOP garnered with the Rebelsz interviews where he explained the company’s motive and rationale and countless media outlets and radio stations covering the story. IHOP, for better or worse, has entered the national conversation when it had been just another place to grab a bite to eat.

“We believe that viral advertising is a cost-effective way to reach a large-scale audience,” wrote Alan G. House, an analyst at Value Line, a publisher that offers research to investors. “Most of the major advertisers have a social marketing department, so we believe that it represents another avenue for growth, as well as a means of diversification. We think that viral advertising is here to stay and that companies must realize both the positive and negative implications of this market approach.”

When poorly received, House suggests brands counteract the viral campaign with something more sensible. Dealing with adverse feedback “is difficult,” he wrote. “The best solution could be to launch a new viral campaign that is more socially acceptable or to address the controversial [item] in a responsible manner.”

The sustained impact that poorly-received viral marketing can have remains a new frontier for marketers. While “shareability” can certainly be measured through analytics, what lasting effects resonate with consumers a decade down the road following a viral campaign remains to be seen and financial numbers haven’t yet been examined perhaps as they should.

The focus, according to Handley, should be avoiding the potential of going viral, weighing possible outcomes before the launch of a campaign and aiming to create “great moments” with customers rather than viral ones.

“Marketing is art plus intent,” Handley said. “Creativity … is a big piece. The other piece is intent: what are you trying to drive, what do you want them to do? If you can address those two buckets, you’ll create some great marketing.”

LEARN MORE

Explore these links to learn more about viral marketing.

CIO takes a look at its 10 worst marketing campaigns

Gumas, an advertising agency, examines ways to measure success (or lack thereof) of a viral campaign

SocialNewsDaily examines more campaigns by big brands that have gone “bad”

USA Today puts a spotlight on how one-on-one communication with consumers posting negative reviews can harm a business and, sometimes, be beneficial

Patrick Connelly is a project manager at Twisted Rope. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @thatswhatPCsaid.

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Super Bowl offers brands a chance to send 'strong signal'

Loose Ends for Wednesday, January 31, 2018

By Patrick Connelly Project Manager, Twisted Rope

A 30-second commercial in Sunday's Super Bowl LII will cost brands more than $5 million for an opportunity to reach over 110 million viewers.

With a global audience, brands advertising during the game aim to generate a buzz and get people talking, with the hopes to sell a few products in the days, weeks and months that follow the final down of the fourth quarter.

One brand testing the waters for the first time this year is Pringles. The potato chip subsidiary of Kellogg's announced in December it planned to get in on the action and recently offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse into just what it will be doing.

PRINGLES STACKS ITS CHIPS ON SUPER BOWL AD: A new Pringles commercial debuting during the Super Bowl will be the the potato chip company's first during the big game.

Pringles is working with the New York City-based agency Grey Group on the Super Bowl spot and the ad will feature "Saturday Night Live" alumnus Bill Hader. Grey Group reportedly developed the idea while eating the stackable chips in the office.

“The Pringles Super Bowl advertisement is an opportunity to show people a fun, new way to enjoy their favorite Pringles flavors with their family and friends,” Yuvraj Arora, Kellogg’s U.S. Snacks’ senior vice president of marketing, said in a statement released by the company.

Some longtime advertisers in recent years have shied from airing Super Bowl ads due to the cost, while other brands view it as an opportunity to kick-start the advertising year with a new campaign or showcase their product before a global audience.

"For advertisers, it says that what they are doing is exciting [and for] brands, it sends a very strong signal to their partners and competitors that they are invested and committed in their brand," Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, told Forbes a few years back.

Calkins and students in Kellogg's Marketing Club annually review the ads, analyzing winners and losers according to six criteria. Together, they review how each brand's spots hold up in terms of attention, distinction, positioning, linkage, amplification and net equity.

"Having a compelling benefit is critical," Calkins said on the club's website. "If you are going to have an impact on sales, you need to give people a reason to buy."

While other outlets generally review the ads based on overall appeal, what separates the review Calkins and his students perform is its analysis of core business questions, he wrote in a LinkedIn post.

"The panel considers whether each ad has sound strategy that is likely to build the business and build the brand and [then looks at] whether the strategy comes through in the execution in an impact manner," Calkins wrote.

He described each part of what the club's coined the "ADPLAN" criteria as follows:

Attention ‒ Does the ad break through the clutter? If an ad doesn’t attract some attention, it risks having limited impact. The first task for a piece of communication is to get people to pay attention.

Distinction ‒ Is the execution different? If one ad looks like all the other ads in a category, it won’t do much. It might even help the competition.

Positioning ‒ The position of a brand should come through. That is, the ad should appeal to a target with a compelling message and/or benefit.

Linkage ‒ Strong advertising creates a link between the brand and the creative message. The goal is for people to remember the creative idea and then connect it to the brand.

Amplification ‒ What will people remember and play back? What will they amplify? Ideally, this will be positive and connected to the brand. However, almost every year, some brands will go too far and their advertising dollars will produce ill will with consumers.

Net Equity ‒ A piece of communication should build off the existing equity of a brand. If there is a disconnect between the message and the brand, people may be confused.

The 2017 results had this Mr. Clean ad at the top of the list. Calkins said the commercial was an "enormous breakthrough" for the Procter & Gamble subsidiary and that it displayed "exceptional branding."

For more on the annual review, see the website.

LEARN MORE

Explore these links to learn more about marketing, Super Bowl ads and what to look out for during the big game.

Sport Illustrated ranks its five favorite 2017 Super Bowl ads

Newsday explores some ads worth watching at Super Bowl LII

iSpot curates promos and teasers for the Super Bowl LII commercials

Adweek looks at NBC's big payday with its TV rights to the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics

Mr. Clean ad image courtesy of Procter & Gamble.

Patrick Connelly is a project manager at Twisted Rope. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @thatswhatPCsaid.

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Natural progression: More brands utilizing authenticity and diversity

Loose Ends for Monday, January 29, 2018

By Patrick Connelly Project Manager, Twisted Rope

CVS Health this month became the latest among a bevy of brands in recent years to turn its focus to a digital strategy that accentuates natural beauty rather than airbrushed or enhanced models.

"We have a responsibility to think about the messages we send to the customers we reach each day," Helena Foulkes, the executive vice president of CVS Health said in a news release regarding the brand's new direction.

"The connection between the propagation of unrealistic body images and negative health effects, especially in girls and young women, has been established," added Foulkes, who in her role also serves as the president of CVS Pharmacy. "As a purpose-led company, we strive to do our best to assure all of the messages we are sending to our customers reflect our purpose of helping people on their path to better health."

As part of the new strategy, CVS is unveiling what it's calling a "Beauty Mark" that will appear on promotional imagery the brand and its partners use that has not been altered or visually enhanced. By the end of 2020, the brand aims to have all images used in its beauty departments at its CVS Pharmacy stores around North and South America to be compliant to the new strategy.

BRANDING BEAUTY: CVS Health and its subsidiaries like CVS Pharmacy will brand promotional imagery in stores using a "Beauty Mark" when it uses models as they naturally appear.

CVS Health is the parent corporation that operates CVS Pharmacy and other subsidiaries. CVS Pharmacy has more than 9,700 stores and it estimates 76 percent of the U.S. population lives within 5 miles of one of its locations, according to its website.

"We will not digitally alter or change a person’s shape, size, proportion, skin or eye color or enhance or alter lines, wrinkles or other individual characteristics," the company stated in a news release. "We want our beauty aisle to be a place where our customers can always come to feel good, while representing and celebrating the authenticity and diversity of the communities we serve."

NEW DIRECTION: CVS Health announced its plan to showcase imagery that accentuates authenticity and a "body positive" mentality on its website.

The move by CVS comes on the heels most notably of Aerie's "Strong, Beautiful Me" campaign in which the lingerie subsidiary of American Eagle Outfitters shifted to using more authentic-looking women to showcase products, promoting a "body positive" image to its target demographic of 15- to 25-year-old women.

The endeavor paid big dividends for Aerie, building a strong and loyal following of customers via sales and its social media presence with the hashtag "#AerieREAL" on Instagram and Twitter. The announcement by CVS even sparked immediate praise from Aerie. "We couldn’t agree more—REAL is beautiful!," Aerie relayed to CVS in a tweet.

Dream come true!!! Pinch me moment! Thank you @aerie for such a special day. NO RETOUCHING PHOTOS. REAL YOU. EMBRACE YOU. #aeriereal #behindthescenes pic.twitter.com/ZnWgQzTeCF

— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman)

December 20, 2017

NATURALLY HIP: Aerie's built a strong and active social media following behind it's hashtag "#AerieREAL" that includes participation from celebrities and athletes like U.S. Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman.

By abandoning digital retouching of images, Aerie also saw sales improve by 32 percent just months after the campaign began.

"We really felt like girls today are just more independent and stronger than ever," Jennifer Foyle, Aerie's president, told Business Insider at the time. "We just knew that it would really resonate with this generation."

In recent years, similar body-positive campaigns have also been launched by Lane Bryant and Unilver's Dove brand.

CVS says two-thirds of women strongly agree the media has set unrealistic expectations for beauty and that 80 percent of women feel worse about themselves after seeing a beauty advertisement.

"I think it's an amazing thing to see the empowerment of women and the fact that we all want to be reflected in a true fashion," Foulkes said. "We want to look at photographs that feel real and authentic."

"In listening to women and our customers we felt like the moment was really right right now where we could have a real impact and do something that is a force for good and for women and for health care in general," she added.

LEARN MORE

Explore these links to learn more about how brands are using "body positive" marketing and diversity as focal points in their digital strategies.

The New York Times examines Aerie's "Strong, Beautiful Me" campaign

Brandchannel discusses Aerie's unique initiative with Jennifer Foyle

From Adweek, the weight-loss industry turns its attention to male celebrity spokespersons

Images courtesy of CVS Health.

Patrick Connelly is a project manager at Twisted Rope. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @thatswhatPCsaid.

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Slate’s slick redesign a result of user testing

Loose Ends for Thursday, January 18, 2018

By Patrick Connelly Project Manager, Twisted Rope

The online news magazine Slate this week unveiled a new logo along with a redesign of its website in an effort to help streamline navigation for its thousands of unique daily visitors.

"Our old site hid our navigation tools in a discreet menu that revealed itself only when you clicked on it," Slate Editor-In-Chief Julia Turner wrote regarding the updates in an article on the site detailing the changes.

"Our new design features clear navigation on every page, helping new users figure out what Slate is all about and loyal readers find the stuff they’re looking for," Turner added.

Slate first launched in 1996 and is known for its self-described "left-of-center" views on a wide range of news in current affairs, pop culture, politics and much more.

What's especially interesting in the Slate redesign is how detailed its changes have been self documented by the news outlet, allowing anyone interested in learning more a look behind the curtain at the process involved into why particular updates were made (and even down to the nitty gritty technical specifics).

As Slate's Design Director Jason Santa Maria wrote, the news outlet first began user testing roughly a year ago to see what was resonating best with readers. Slate initially published a single article that strayed from its then-standard display of its regular content management system (CMS) giving "clarity to the text" while experimenting with "new typefaces and colors."

Slate then made tweaks here and there to optimize things before its full-scale launch in January of 2018.

"Slate has been sorely in need of a visual update to bring our look up to the level of our stories, but rather than just focus on a redesign of the website, we wanted to redesign the way we work," Santa Maria wrote.

"We used that initial article design as a sandbox to test assumptions about collaborating together while we also worked out the technical, design and business needs for a new Slate," he added.

LOOKING BACK: Slate's last revamp came in 2013, with its homepage typically looking like the above daily.

Slate's last redesign came in 2013 and it had been using the same CMS since 2011. Since that time, some months it publishes more than 15,000 articles.

"At the time, many sites — including Slate — were focused on attracting new users through social networks and boosting overall audience size," Turner wrote. "Our old design reflected that focus, emphasizing social tools that could spur virality rather than fan favorites like the homepage, which was widely believed to be dead at the time. Since then, our focus has changed."

With a growing membership count in its "Slate Plus" offering, Turner said Slate was able to earn some financial flexibility and a pool of metrics data that allowed her team to see what types of pages readers were spending the most time on along with where they were navigating to and from.

"The new Slate is full of features designed to delight our most engaged users, including a homepage with clearer hierarchy that we hope will make Slate.com an even more compelling and useful oasis on your internet rounds," Turner said.

LEARN MORE

Explore these links to learn more about the redesign process and why user testing and user experience play a crucial role.

Digital Marketer details website redesign tips and why a redesign can be a "risky business"

HubSpot takes a look at some of its customers best redesigns

Forbes examines how important user experience can be through the eyes of CitiBank's 2016 redesign

Patrick Connelly is a project manager at Twisted Rope. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @thatswhatPCsaid.

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Follow the Twisted Rope 18-Hour Business Day

By Patrick Connelly Project Manager, Twisted Rope

We're doing exciting things at Twisted Rope.

Today, we are lifting the curtain to take you inside our global digital development team so you may learn more about who we are, what we do and how we do it as we take you inside our 18-hour business day.

When the clock strikes 9 a.m. in an east coast city in the United States and most people are just settling in at the office, grabbing a cup of coffee, checking their morning email and seeing what's on tap for a particular day at work, our team in Europe already has a 6-and-a-half-hour head start. When 5 p.m. rolls around in these same cities and people are winding down, our business day continues from our west coast office in the Silicon Beach corridor in Los Angeles.

Our agency continues to grow and grow. Our main production headquarters is in Buffalo, N.Y., in the Tri-Main Center, but our staff is all over.

To better serve our clients, we realized a few years back we needed to be in locales around the world, comfortably situated in time zones where we could always be available. We first expanded to Europe and Canada and, earlier this year, opened our Los Angeles office in the WeWork Manhattan Beach Towers.

Aside from Buffalo and Los Angeles, our staff around the world can be found in Paris, France; Barcelona, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; and Toronto, Ontario.

It was through this idea of a global staff working together as one we formed our new identity as our company rebranded in 2016 as Twisted Rope. We were a diverse team from a lot of different backgrounds and a lot of different parts of the world all intertwined. We wanted our name to reflect who we are as we continued to grow.

We "twist" the fibers of all the different facets of digital development to work as one collective unit to bring ideas for clients from an original concept through to completion. Our graphic designers, motion graphic artists, developers, digital strategists, UX/UI specialists, project managers and management staff all work together in a unique way and on the same wavelength.

It's fun to be a part of this each and every day, particularly as we are beginning to delve into how we can use augmented reality and virtual reality in digital marketing campaigns for clients. Learn more on how to get started with augmented reality and what it can do for your brand.

Follow along today as we bring you this glimpse inside Twisted Rope on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twine, our creative space and blog.

Patrick Connelly is a project manager at Twisted Rope. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @thatswhatPCsaid.

[twistedrope-twine]

YouTube and VR visionaries teaming up to create content

By Annette Wong Digital Media Strategist, Twisted Rope

YouTube Space LA will be hosting its first Virtual Reality (VR) Creator Lab on Aug. 7. It's a 3-month program to help VR content creators produce original 360-degree videos.

A call for creators was announced in late June. At the Creator Lab, 360-degree filmmakers and content producers will receive hands-on mentoring from VR instructors and $30,000-40,000 in funding towards production.

It's no surprise YouTube is launching this program. Campaigns utilizing 360-degree video are becoming a popular platform in marketing initiatives used by brands.

YouTube recently added VR tools and analytics features to the platform for content creators. Although this new tech is becoming more popular, there's still a large learning curve for new users. YouTube is tackling this obstacle by providing content makers with the platform and tools to generate new content.

VR is predicted to be the next big move for advertising and marketing, but there's still a large population that has never had a VR experience. It's one thing to tell a person how VR will impact the way we create experiences, but another to hand them a Google cardboard to see for themselves.

What makes VR so powerful isn't the tech involved but the experiences it can create for the end user. The "I get it now" moment clicks once someone experiences what VR can do, which is something words can't capture.

It will be interesting to see how filmmakers will use 360-degree VR as part of their storytelling and to expose VR to a wider audience. I'm excited to watch the progress unfold and to see how it will change the way new users will adapt to this new platform.

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT: Our Twisted Rope Google Cardboard specs made for a lot of unique photo opportunities at our company's global summit earlier this year.

Below, Paige Smitiuch and Patrick Connelly, two project managers at Twisted Rope take the VR viewing tool for a test run. Experts are anticipating VR will have a huge impact in marketing and advertising as content becomes readily available for consumers.

LEARN MORE

Read more about YouTube Space LA VR Creator Lab's "boot camp" and how to qualify

Follow YouTube Space LA on Twitter

Check out UploadVR's story on VR Creator Lab

Annette Wong is a digital strategist at Twisted Rope. Follow Annette on Twitter at @annettewon.

[twistedrope-twine]

Shift to digital has brands re-evaluating agency relationships

Loose Ends for Monday, July 17, 2017

By Patrick Connelly Project Manager, Twisted Rope

The playing field is more even than ever for marketing agencies small and large.

Agencies like Twisted Rope that help companies digitally showcase their brands are on the rise, a new report says.

Creative spending by companies is going deeper into digital, R3 Worldwide said in its latest New Business League report.

"Expectations from marketing teams within the organizations have changed," Seema Punwani, a partner at R3, wrote in a recent article on the consultancy's site.

R3 Worldwide, a global marketing consultancy that works independently to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the marketing world, has compiled the annual report each year since 2002, basing its findings on information supplied by agencies on a monthly basis.

"These are tough times for creative agencies unless they are digital," Greg Paull, R3 Worldwide's founder and principal told Adweek.

As many as 55 percent of marketers are dissatisfied or undecided about their agency partners, Asia CMO found.

It's statistics like this that place the burden (or opportunity, as we view it at Twisted Rope) on agencies and their support staff like project managers to nurture and build client relationships by delivering completed projects that exceed expectations.

"It used to be simpler for marketers to measure their love for their agencies in the past," Punwani wrote. "Evaluation parameters were straight forward with creativity (and recognition through awards) being at the forefront. In the last few years, other criteria like return on marketing investment, use of digital and multi-channel marketing have been added to the list. Today, however, the parameters have evolved further and are becoming even more complex."

Punwani attributes the climate change to the transforming consumer mindset and the disruption technology has posed on traditional advertising agencies that aren't equipped to handle the demands on what marketers need now in the digital and often mobile-first mindset.

She says the requirements for what marketers need from agencies are in flux, making brands constantly re-evaluate what they need from their agencies of choice.

If they can't get it there, marketers begin to shop around, looking for the agency who can offer it.

It's giving independent digital agencies (often referred to as "boutiques") an edge to pull in -- and keep -- big accounts.

"The ground is shifting as digital agencies become more competitive," Paull also told Adweek. "Marketers are no longer looking for single-source solutions for their creative work."

LEARN MORE

Explore these links to learn more about what's going on now in digital marketing and digital strategy.

Mediavision, another agency, examines how digital marketing has evolved

Forbes forecasts $120 billion will be spent in the U.S. on digital marketing by 2021

Business.com looks at reasons why digital marketing is growing

Loose Ends is a roundup of news and notes of the latest industry trends we are seeing at Twisted Rope and being seen in digital development. Read more Twine posts in the Loose Ends series here.

Patrick Connelly is a project manager at Twisted Rope. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @thatswhatPCsaid.

[twistedrope-twine]

Halo Top's building an ice cream empire via social media

Loose Ends for Tuesday, July 11, 2017

By Patrick Connelly Project Manager, Twisted Rope

Social media can provide a big boost for brands.

One of the most recent beneficiaries is the "healthy" ice cream brand Halo Top, which has seen sales increase in the last year by a staggering 2,500 percent.

Halo Top has seen its Instagram following rise past the 475,000 mark in the last week and its total social following soar past 1 million, according to Digiday.

Without the use of traditional advertising as we've become accustomed to in business, Halo Top's annual sales now exceed $100 million, according to AdAge, and supermarkets can barely seem to keep any of Halo Top's arsenal of flavors on the shelf.

Justin Woolverton, Halo Top's founder and chief executive officer, told Digiday it's his brand's approach to social media that's making all the difference.

“We work hard to make sure our voice comes through as best we can,” Woolverton said. “That way, our fans can see we’re just real people, not suited-up executives running focus-group studies on what people will respond to best.”

Halo Top has only about 25 percent of the calories of regular ice cream. It's high in protein and flavors range between 240 and 360 calories a pint.

"You can make $100 go a lot further through, say, a Facebook ad where you can target demographically, psychographically, geographically, etc., than by taking out ad space in a newspaper," Woolverton told AdAge. "If you can focus on people who actually want to see your ads, everyone is happier."

Woolverton founded the company as Eden Creamery in 2011. In 2013, it rebranded as Halo Top and it's word-of-mouth, social media-charged following has continued to build and build since. Halo Top's been tagged in over 200,000 Instagram posts and has about 600,000 followers on Facebook.

BUILDING A FOLLOWING: "Healthy" ice cream company Halo Top is building a loyal base of customers without traditional advertising and through social media.

“Instead of cluttered or busy images with loads of messaging, we focus on clean images that allow our packaging and ice cream to shine through a bit,” Woolverton added.

Digiday reported Halo Top is now working with a creative agency on its first "national digital campaign."

Halo Top and many other companies have found omnichannel digital marketing to be the key in navigating the digital transformation and connecting with today's consumers. It's a digital strategy that's working wonders in business as more than 80 percent of consumers research a product online before purchasing.

"The power of social (media) lies in acquiring and delighting customers," the American Marketing Association (AMA) wrote earlier this year. "Engaging employees in social media creates [many] indirect but equally powerful pathways to impact."

It's a tactic Halo Top has used, as well, utilizing quotes from employees about their favorite flavors.

"Social media offers employees an opportunity to represent the company’s brand to the outside world" the AMA wrote. Employee engagement brings brands to life, builds brand ownership, share's a company's story and fosters an internal community within the workplace, the association added.

It's what the AMA is calling the "Social Media Multiplier," which, in addition to boosting sales, is enriching company culture, making a business more attractive to potential employees and improving retention of current employees as they feel more in tune with thier company's accomplishments and long-term goals.

IMAGE CREDIT: Images courtesy of Halo Top's Instagram page.

LEARN MORE

Explore these links to learn more about what's going on now in digital marketing, social media and how brands are utilizing Instagram in digital strategy.

The Body Shop, an international beauty brand, is using pets in Instagram posts to raise anti-animal testing awareness

Econsultancy examines 30 brands with unique social media approaches

Entrepreneur details Instagram marketing tips

Loose Ends is a roundup of news and notes of the latest industry trends we are seeing at Twisted Rope and being seen in digital development. Read more Twine posts in the Loose Ends series here.

Patrick Connelly is a project manager at Twisted Rope. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @thatswhatPCsaid.