Brand 2.0

Presenter: Kevin Yam – Directer, mobile and interactive platforms, National Geographic

Few other publications have the longevity of National Geographic, but like any magazine, it has had to adjust to adapt to technological changes and the way that users choose to experience media.  A few years ago, the company looked at all of its media offerings – magazines, tv, games, online, image collection, music, books, films, and maps – and discussed how it could offer that compelling content together across all of that existing media.  As they develop new content, they consider how it could be used (licensing) and how to best tell the story in many different ways.

Developing this led to a heavy focus on user experiences, which forced them to examine the context in which their content was consumed.  With the emergence of mobile, consumers now have immediate access to information and resources, and National Geographic wants to be there with their rich, outstanding content.  This recent led to the development of a Bird Finder app which helps users identify birds (using location information), and incorporates sounds and video.  Additionally the app allows them to “check in” the bird, creating crowdsourced maps of where types of birds have been seen.

They also recently completed a project to tell the story of going to Antarctica – Bus 2 Antarctica.  They used new and social media to help tell the story of, “1 man, 10 weeks, and 10,000 miles,” traveling from National Geographic’s offices to Antarctica.  He kept followers up-to-the-hour on his travels via Twitter (@bus2antarctica), a blog, facebook, an interactive map, and media partnerships with FOX, ABC, and CBS.  The traveler used only an iPhone, still camera, video camera, GPS, and a tracking device to report his stories through all of these media.  It helped to prove they could tell a tremendously compelling story, in real time, for an extremely low cost.  Every brand needs to consider how they can take advantage of new and social media to tell their story or provide brand content.

Exploiting Chaos: What’s more important, culture or strategy?

According to Jeremy Gutsche, culture eats strategy for breakfast. Gutsche, MBA, CFA, is founder of TrendHunter.com, the world’s largest network for trend spotting and innovation. He is also the author of, “Exploiting CHAOS: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change.”

Did you know that Hewlett-Packard, Disney, Hyatt, MTV, CNN, Microsoft, Burger King, and GE all started during periods of economic recession? Periods of uncertainty fuel tremendous opportunity, but the deck gets reshuffled and the rules of the game get changed.Gutsche offers some pretty compelling insights for capitalizing on the chaos. Here are a few choice quotes from today’s event (and some secret goodies at the bottom):

• • Can you focus what you’re trying to do in seven words or less?
  • There is no point in innovating if you think you already know the answer.
  • Find a way to be irresistible to a specific group.
  • Successful businesses innovate and create opportunities to fail.
  • Win like you’re used to it. Lose like you enjoy it.

More good stuff in the live-blogging stream here. And click here for Jeremy’s secret goodies just for SXSW insiders.