I have a long way to go, but here is what I have learnt so far...

BUILD WHAT’S RIGHT

Living in a digital world, does not have to mean building digital ideas

Be rigorous about the role of all communications in the mix

Be suspicious of general theories – clients have specific, bespoke issues

Don’t believe in panaceas - there is no silver bullet

Stop saying: “Always on” / “It’s the end of campaigns” / “The richer the narrative the better” / “Utility is the future” / “It’s all about engagement” etc.

Start with the business issue, not the latest piece of fashionable rhetoric

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IDENTIFY THE POINTS OF INFLUENCE

Know the consumer’s path to purchase before creating

What are the key moments?

Where are the points of influence, consideration, and decision?

Where and when do they happen?

Who and what else is involved?

Identify the tasks and likely touchpoints

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JOIN THE DOTS

Create for a connected age

What’s the journey we want to take people on?

What does this idea begin with?

What happens next?

What’s the ultimate destination?

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INNOVATE IN PAID MEDIA

Digital interactions don’t have the monopoly on innovation

Find new ways to use the old-media

Find new ways to use the paid-for platforms

Look for where the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ channels  join and interact

Talk to the platform owners early about what’s new / possible (but be aware they’re trying to you sell something)

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EXPLORE THE VARIED ROLES OF TV

It isn’t dead and it still works

TV doesn’t always have to act as the primary launch platform

TV can ‘re-broadcast’ consumer involvement online

TV as can act as a recruitment vehicle for other activities

Digital channels can act as teasers/prequels to TV

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MAKE IT FINDABLE

There’s too much content and most people just aren’t that interested

Don’t rely on serendipity

Signpost and publicize what you make

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KEEP IT SIMPLE

Most people don’t care as much as you do

Build as if you’re not the only one out there

Assume your audience is over-supplied and lazy

Don’t ask too much of people

Could your mum do it?

Reward people appropriately

And ask - “would I (really, truly, honestly) do it?”

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THINK SMALL

Not everything has to be epic

Where and how can you nudge the consumer?

At what points in the consumer’s buying/decision-making process can your idea offer value or wield influence?

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EXPLOIT THE POWER OF THE SPECTACULAR

Create for PR

Most online conversation is about stuff that happens in the real (non-digital) world

Embrace non-replicable experiences

Explore what you could  do that guarantees  an avalanche of  media coverage

How could it manifest itself in the real, tangible, visceral world?

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EXPLOIT PARTICIPATION

Create for the 10% who are highly involved

What influential audiences could act as ambassadors for this idea and what could you give them?

How can they participate?

How do you amplify that participation to the masses?

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SCALE IT

Create for the 90% who are broadly indifferent

Effective marketing is a game of scale

What you build doesn’t always have to be big

Small things can be amplified

But if it doesn’t somehow scale, it’s not marketing

And scale depends on people who don’t care that much

Create easy and lightweight interaction for the indifferent majority

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TEST

Innovate in order to learn

Without purpose, ‘innovation’ will always struggle to get funding

Build controlled experiments

Test hypotheses

Build to generate data

And learn from it

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REMEMBER WHAT HASN'T CHANGED

At heart, the art of being a good storyteller has not changed

Be generous

Be human

Start with what people are interested in

Remember that while plays, gigs, shows, and movies have audiences, advertising does not

Assume that attention and interest is earned, not a given

Create by the words of Dan Wieden: “Just move me, dude”

Oh, and don’t work with assholes.

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All additions welcome.