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Owen on digital media: Why online marketing success isn't always about getting it right

Revolution UK 01-May-08

If marketing in the digital age is about delivering experiences rather than communicating messages, what happens when a brand provides an experience that doesn't quite work?

It's a tricky question because doing things differently will inevitably lead to mistakes being made. But this doesn't have to be a big problem. Let me give you two examples of how experimentation works - even when it doesn't.

The first one is Penguin UK's "We tell stories" campaign, in which six authors re-tell classic stories online. We're three weeks into the six-week experiment as I write and we've had The 39 Steps recast as "21 Steps", all of which you can follow on Google Maps as the story unfolds; The Haunted Doll's House retold as a contemporary tale via blogs, Twitter and Flickr; and a Hans Christian Andersen-style fairytale split into myriad threads, all defined by the user as the story progresses.

They all sound like great ideas on paper. In practice, none of them are anything like as satisfying as the experience of reading a good book. But that's not the point. This might not be the future of the novel, but it's a fantastic marketing exercise that positions Penguin as modern, creative and innovative.

Second, the US airline JetBlue has been dipping its toes into social media. As well as providing travel and weather updates on Twitter, the company has started following peer-to-peer posts about itself. When it does so, it notifies the participants of its presence.

Is this all a bit Big Brother? Well, what's really instructive is how the JetBlue team responded when one person objected. They apologised for "weirding him out" and explained, in the most human terms, what they were up to and why. They then entered into a constructive dialogue with the guy - a self-confessed "consumer advocacy radical" - who was so impressed, he blogged about JetBlue in glowing terms (see http://www.socializedpr.com/ jetblue-engages-in-real-conversation-on-twitter/).

The fact is that you can't expect to get everything right all the time. But, by anticipating less-than-perfect outcomes, by being honest about the fact you are experimenting and by apologising swiftly when you get something wrong - you will win countless admirers. And that constitutes success in my book.

- John Owen is planning partner of digital agency Dare and a fellow of the IPA. Email: john.owen@daredigital.com.