Tag Archives: ROI

Jul 05 2017
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Innovation, ROI, The Future, Virtual Reality, VR

Monetising Virtual Reality

I’m on the train back from a conference where I was privileged enough to be part of a panel alongside top guys from the BBC, Unity and Dubit, we discussed and interrogated the money making roadmap for Virtual Reality (VR).

It was interesting and much fun, not least because it’s something I believe is here to stay (no surprise to those of you that follow me), but eyebrow raising too in that the focus across the industry is steering quickly to ROMI (Return on Marketing Investment) rather than considering the fact that we haven’t really nailed the craft, purpose or immersion factor yet.

I was asked afterwards by several people; ‘What are your top tips for getting into VR and where is the money?’ (mainly in the same breath) and so thought I’d distill the panel into a post… here goes.

First things first; as with any good content (or business), a VR experience is only as good as the idea(s) at the core. Crack a brilliant concept first and the money will follow (one way or another). During my career I’ve worked for some of the top agencies in the world, of these two spring to mind; one was focused on money first and idea second, another ideas first and money second. The latter is acing it, the first is arguably losing it’s identity, staff and direction. Enough said.

Secondly, again you’ll see the parallel here; you have to build trust. Trust in the medium is growing but headsets aren’t about to fly off the shelf just yet, it’s a slow burn but it will reap it’s reward.  The ‘jazz hands’ have been and gone, the next phase on the roadmap is about creating brilliant and relevant experiences, VR is about immersion not reach. Get this bit right and scale (therefore money) will follow.

Third up; consider the right investment and return model. You can; create an app based service and tie subscription to it, you can launch with experiential then move to freemium and start an economy of scale from there, you can take an AR in-road with an upgrade model, sponsorships, partnerships, branded content… as with any new medium there are many money making ways. However, as with any medium, one will apply to your objectives more than the other. Explore and choose carefully.

It’s a bit ABC but thats because really truly, the basics aren’t actually all that complicated. The playground is big, experimentation is happening, trailblazers are lighting up the way. Those that keep their head but jump in and concentrate on; brilliance, trust and effectiveness (in that order), will be the ones to make their millions in this medium.

See you there.

Minecraft Money

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Jun 21 2010
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General, new technology

Achieving digital balance

The online world evolves at such a breakneck speed it’s easy to get sidetracked by the latest shiny gadget or cutting edge technology.

Once we lived in a world where clients would phone up and say ‘We want a website’, now more often than not the call I take is ‘I saw this and I want one for our businesses’.

The key is to strive for digital balance. Remember the business requirement but add in enough innovation and excitement to keep your client and the audience enticed. By delivering a balanced media plan you will achieve a greater ROI by allocating accountability and measurement to each media chosen. By being media and technology neutral your results will be integrated and effective.

I’m not saying that you should ignore new technologies and only rely on the tried and tested, absolutely not, but don’t just adopt technology for technology’s sake.

Start with your staple ingredients of a tried and tested planning model, add in a dash of innovation, a spoonful of pioneering technology, a splash of something daring then check it against your ROI model.

If it all adds up you’re on way to achieving your digital balance.

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Jun 01 2010
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Client questions answered

How does your company measure marketing effectiveness?

Whether it’s based entirely on a hard financial measure or softer metrics such as brand awareness or share of voice it’s key that you do have some measure in place to ascertain whether your marketing has been successful , or not.

You don’t necessarily have to go the hold hog and develop a complete ROI model, in some cases if this is the first time you’ve tried to allocate metrics against your activity that might prove a step too far ahead at the moment. However whether you’re looking to track an increase in traffic to your website , an increase in online sales or measure ‘buzz’ online, knowing how your activity performs is key to being able to accurately allocate future spend against media attribution.

An increasing trend with most of the companies I work with sees a larger split of marketing budgets moving towards online but that is not to say that traditional advertising has had its day and the whole future relies on the internet. This trend merely supports the consumer’s way of accessing and absorbing information in today’s world.

It’s true to say that it’s easier to track, optimise and report online activity but there are also accurate assumptions you can make between press circulations / reach and DM mail outs for example.

The bottom line is that reporting on effectiveness shouldn’t be an end consideration to your activity; it should be considered and planned in from the start. By identifying your key metrics for success at the beginning you can clearly and accurately report back on whether or not you deem your marketing activity successful or not.

So ask yourself, what are you trying to achieve and what in your eyes would you deem to be a success? What do you want the results to be?

That’s your starting point, remember it’s an ongoing process and by measuring the effectiveness of your marketing you can continue to optimise your spend. What is right now may not be right 12, or even 6 months down the line.

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