*supercollider

“Another day, another BBC beta.”

With those words Dan Taylor over on Fabric of Folly introduced the latest two BBC experiments: BBC Topics, and genre index pages like this one for Gardening.

From their wide-ranging experiments over the last few years with everything from mobile TV to opening their archives, the BBC serves as a good example for an approach that increasingly appears to be critical to 21st century marketing and business success: continual, broad, enthusiastic experimentation.

The idea of skunkworks or innovation labs being supported within organizations is not a new one. However, by and large it seems to be confined to product R&D rather than brand communications and product marketing.

A few reasons why this might be:

• Top-down and tightly-controlled brand messaging has long been the mantra for brand managers wishing to keep iron-fisted control of their brand image.
• Massive global agency networks evolved into specialists of massive global campaigns, conceived centrally, realized via standardized TV and print executions, and distributed top-down, from global to the regions to the markets. The proposition for buying into a global network was simple: provide the global brand managers with cost efficiencies by executing the same creative globally, and control over what the markets run at the same time.

  The blandly uniform “matching luggage” campaign also took away the motivation and the opportunity for experimentation and innovation. The party line is the global campaign: just run with the banners you’ve been given and be happy about it, ok?

• For decades, the dominant marketing form for agencies and brand managers alike has been television. My perception is that agencies that specialize in television and print advertising have generally attempted to compete creatively within the boundaries of these media, rather than looking outside them.

  Even now, many traditional agencies are still being dragged reluctantly (or kicking and screaming) into the digital age despite the amazing opportunities for effective, compelling marketing that are there for the taking.

With this baggage in tow, why would experimentation in the marketing arena begin in earnest now?

• The day of the ultra-controlled brand image is passing by at the speed of light. Or rather, the speed of fiber optics. The web has changed the game, and is forcing brands to adapt.

  When the Coke vs Mentos viral hit, Coke’s initial reaction was to snub their nose at it as it wasn’t “on-brand”. Mentos on the other hand reckoned it was worth about $10m in free publicity, and couldn’t be happier. After much of the industry shook their head in disbelief at Coke’s response, they quickly got on board and even sponsored a sequel.

  After blogger Jeff Jarvis dragged Dell into Dell Hell, Dell responded with a comprehensive social media programme, including opening up the floor to their customers to tell them what about their brand offerings needs to change via Dell Ideastorm.

  And Noah Brier’s Brand Tags shows who is actually in control of our “tightly controlled” brands anyway.

• Digital marketing and business model experimentation is being embraced with gusto by traditional media like newspapers and record labels. After years of fighting the digital revolution and watching their business model be dismantled in front of them, companies in these industries are now experimenting with frenzied purpose, trying to find a way to ensure they aren’t passed by. The experimentation of the media companies will provide ample case studies for brands in other industries to follow.
• The web has intoduced countless new ways to connect with consumers, and makes it both a lot cheaper experiment. The cost of experiments with community initiatives, brand utilities, and brand experiences online are often very cheap compared to the cost of a television campaign. This is especially true when you build something that people would be interested in engaging with and talking about (which should generally be the goal, right?) and use channels such as your websites, advocate networks, social media properties and PR to drive initial usage. That early adopter group can often tell you if your experiment has value or not, and if it’s worth taking forward and bringing to a wider audience.
• The web also makes those same experiments potentially very valuable. The utilities, communities, and media platforms that brands can create on the web can have immense value. If successful, they provide a long-term basis for brands to interact and provide value to customers. They can evolve into products themselves, or simply exist as extensions of the brand’s overall customer experience proposition. Either way, these initiatives can provide a means of connecting directly with their customer with no incremental media cost, earning loyalty and driving advocacy over time. The initial investment can be paid back many-fold.
• Product development, marketing, and brand experience are becoming increasingly intertwined. The digital age is increasingly blurring the lines between innovation in marketing and innovation in product development. Nike+ and the Nikeplus.com community is often used as an example of this, and for good reason. The BBC examples above fall into the same category, if less dramatically for the moment. In order for new products to succeed, everybody through the organization and on agency side must now be looking at how to best deliver innovation.

So what types of experiments in innovative marketing are right for your brand, and how to give them the best chance of success? More on that in a follow-up post soon.