Thinking out loud about what makes us different:
There's a new breed of digital consumer out there: They're the Millenials, the generation that has come of age since 2000 (the largest generation this country has ever seen and the first to have grown up with technology as a native to their life); the "omnivores," who consume technology voraciously and are active participants in the collaborative economy; and the businesses that see technological innovation as key to success in the new collaborative economy.
Traction was an interactive shop from the start. For a dozen years, we've thinking about how to build and nurture online communities, how to extend interactions beyond the "digital barrier," how to integrate online and offline communications and, yes, how to get people to "click here."
So, we see things differently.
To us, interactive doesn't equate to "the web" because the mindset of this new digital consumer doesn't change when they close their browser. They react to interactivity—online and offline. There is a constant flow of new technology changing the marketing landscape. We understand the implications of new vehicles intuitively. At the core of this all are interactions that connect and reconnect with today's new digital consumer. We design these interactions.
Not sure I get the reference to your grandmother and how she's leading the charge for her grandkids... It's a disconnect. I would also venture to guess that you have tried selling her on this video chat concept for a while and she's finally going to bite the bullet. So she may not be the driver.
ReplyDeleteTo me this is also still an argument of Mac Vs PC.
Maybe the thought here is that certain technologies are so simple now that even your grandmother can use it, but at the same time, traditional agencies are being led by a generation of executives that still don't get it.
While tradtional agencies are waking up to the neccessity of 'digital content' as an integral part of the brand... agencies that specialize in interactive are looking beyond the web to ensure that the total experience a consumer has with a company is interactive as a whole. Interactive agencies are if anything forcing clients to look at business processes in a way that agencies don't. Furthermore, because interactive agencies are steeped in technology, they have more credibility when it comes to suggesting enterprise level / technology driven shifts.
What I find dishearteninng though are companies that have a web presence but have failed to keep pace with technology. They frequently find themsleves trapped with legacy systems, IA, ecommerce partners that prevent them from moving forward, or simply being nimble enough to change things at will. Truly interactive sites shouldn't just look great they should behave flawlessly. They should also deliver on the promise of one-to-one marketing that has been arround for 20 years. They need to be able to truly deliver presonalized content. Saddly there are too few Amazons out there.
Sites need to remain fresh. They are your virtual storefront, and as any retail store knows, window dressing is key. Keeping it static, letting it get dusty, implies that what's inside isn't fresh either. More than simply a refreshing promo banner, the site needs to feel as if it is subtely different every few months in my mind.
Ro
I edited the post and pulled out all the shit about my mom. It's distracting. My point is that we've dug so deep into these audiences (millenials, omnivores, etc) and they are interactive to the core. The work we do (end-to-end brand experiences, user-centric interaction design, intricately crafted contact strategies and creative, etc.) all seems to be centered around designing these interactions to work together to connect with the consumer in a meaningful way.
ReplyDelete