You will by now have heard of the latest algorithm changes which google has rolled out via its Panda and Penguin updates….maybe it’s still boring to be writing about these but let’s face it, google search is not insignificant in the context of our daily lives; quite the opposite in fact, it is a hugely powerful force in determining how we purchase goods and services, which ones we purchase, and from which sites we purchase them.

The good news with the latest changes, which the famous Matt Cutts announced casually over twitter back in May of this year, is that they really help to simplify SEO and drill down into what exactly a good website is. For a long time, SEO seemed to be the focus of all marketers’ efforts, above even content and user navigation. Essentially, for quite a while, obtaining an excellent google search engine ranking was almost scientific and came down to the skill of the site managers, as much as it did to the actual content that the site provided.

Suffice to say, google has now shifted its policy in relation to SEO to some degree through this latest Panda update. Now, content is even more important than before, and google now favours original, fast changing content, excellent website interface and userability, and relevant content that is useful for the person conducting the search. Yes, SEO is still a very important part of improving ones overall site ranking, but it one part of a larger puzzle as opposed to an end in itself.

To help highlight the benefits of the latest Panda update, here are a few little points to take on board – if you have been living under a rock or have decided that you have had enough of Pandas and Penguins….

1. Make your site content original and interesting 
Google now wants to reward sites that are genuinely interesting and informative, and not just those that simply adhere to SEO rules in order to make it popular with google.

2. Continue to perform your SEO as before 
Although content and originality is a big part of google’s latest update, no one is for one minute suggesting that you stop doing what you are doing and no one is saying that SEO is no longer important. It is and you still need to tend to the SEO housekeeping, to ensure that your site is still well structured and readable. What I am saying really is that SEO should no longer be the sole obsession for your site’s maintenance and should be just one part of your overall strategy.

3. Engage your audience 
Google now wants your site to show a human side in appealing to people seeking a good online experience in whatever it is they are searching for. Human to human, H2H, is the latest buzz word in marketing but when you break it down it makes simple sense. All this means is that your site must be interesting for humans who visit it – ie you now simply have to write content that is well crafted, interesting, unique, and written in a readable style as opposed to for the purpose of ticking the box for SEO requirements.

4. Continue to develop inbound links (though not obsessively) 
Again, what google is stressing here is that while it is still ok to focus on developing one’s inbound site traffic, it should be done as part of a holistic site development strategy. By all means continue to drive traffic to your site through social media, video sharing, blog posting etc, but whatever you do, make your content interesting and relevant and always provide unique and informative content….as opposed to doing it just because google says it’s a good thing to do!

5. Focus on providing good content and Panda 4.0 can become your friend!
It is easy to get caught up in thinking that Panda and google are out to get you; they’re really not and
in actual fact, google is now trying to ensure that good content over goof SEO is what generates higher rankings. So, while you now must invest time and resources into your website, in order to keep it fresh and interesting, google is really only making you do what you should be doing yourself anyway!

Contact @thedigitalzoo on twitter for thoughts and comments!

As someone who has worked for many years in the marketing space, i’m pretty up to speed with what’s happening in the digital world. Well, at least I like to think I am.

But yet, as (an almost 4o year old, or middle aged) father of very young kids, I still find it hard to stop myself looking at 4, 5 and 6 year old children glued to tablets or smart phones, without my age getting in the way of my better judgement. You see, I still can’t help thinking like a middle aged person thinks: “Why can’t they just bring a colouring book and some markers with them and do what kids used to do?”, or “Why don’t they just go and play nice little fun games that don’t involve technology, like we used to do as kids?”

I know, it’s ridiculous, because I know that Generation Z kids are just wired completely differently to kids of previous generations that have gone before them; colouring books were fine back in my day because in the 1980s, creative options weren’t plentiful and colouring books was where it was at. Now, not so much (though of course i’m not saying that kids never like to colour in anymore!) simply because technology is now a huge part of their everyday lives from as early as the age of 3. And what’s more, they don’t actually even have to learn it; it’s there, it exists, it always has existed in their lives and therefore it’s as natural as learning how to walk.

And this is exactly why so many of today’s successful entrepreneurs are teenagers or in their very early 20s, when they make their mark on the world. And when they make their mark, they make it on a global scale because they don’t just understand existing technology, (yes, because they’ve grown up with it), they create it, re-invent it and create businesses that only they could possibly create.

Take Conor O’Flaherty, Ireland’s youngest entrepreneur, for example. Aged just 17, he set up Pursue, an influencer management agency that works with video platforms such as YouTube – and which, with over 350m views to date, is going to make him a massively successful global entrepreneur. Is this something that someone aged over the age of 40 could ever do? No chance – because only Generation Z’ers (and possibly younger millennials at a push), understand the significance of influencers and the power of the influencer community.

This is just one example, there are literally thousands. Think of any mega successful bloggers (influencers), think reality TV stars, think any moderately or wildly successful online business (stripe, facebook, airbnb, twitter as examples) and you can be almost certain that the person behind the business is so young that you’ll feel like a complete dinosaur (and feel sick at the thoughts of how much money they can make seemingly effortlessly!).

Marketing, like many things in life, is as simple or as complicated as we want it to be….

Having worked in many different senior marketing roles over the course of me (oh God…) 15 year career to date, this is probably the one thing that I have always tried to keep in mind whenever I have been involved in creating and developing marketing campaigns for brands.

Now don’t get me wrong, of course every business needs a marketing strategy; if you don’t know where you’re going in the first place then you’ll end up some place, but just not in the right place.

But what I am saying is that over-analysing and over-strategising can often be counter-productive.

But why?

Over-strategising can result in creativity being almost entirely removed from the marketing process, (and let’s face it, marketing is all about creativity), it can make people feel nervous at the thought of thinking too far outside the box, and it can make people believe that it’s much safer to be caurious (less likely to make mistakes) than it is to create something different that is edgy, and requires brave decision making.

As I see it, great marketing is really about three fundamental things – because without these three things, no amount of strategy talk and in-house marketing planning meetings will result in anything original or interesting:

1. Actively setting out to do something truly different and unique(rather than just adopting safe copy-cat tactics that might tick boxes but won’t actually be interesting or engaging).

2. Having the guts, the bravery, and the self-assuredness to not only think about but to actually deliver a campaign that is so different and unique that it’s likely to divide those whose buy-in is required.

3. Understanding people (ie your specific target audience) in terms of how they work, what makes them tick and what they are likely to respond to and engage with.

David McGowan, Quirky Nights Glamping Village and a Boeing 767….

I’m pretty sure that David McGowan (I don’t actually know him so therefore so I can’t ask him!) owner of Quirky Nights Glamping Village in Co. Sligo in the North West of Ireland, would subscribe to a similar sort of theory.

As an undertaker, (yes an undertaker as opposed to a marketer), it seems he had grown a little tired of dealing with death and the negativity and seriousness which that particular subject tends to bring.

But more than that, it seems he had also sensed that the people of Ireland as a whole (not just him) were fed up of hearing and reading about recession, water taxes, incompetent politicians and other such things of an equally depressing nature.

Everyone needed a lift, everyone needed something cheerful to talk about for a change; he recognised that people right across Ireland needed something to positive to engage with, something that would put a smile back on their faces again.

The Quirky Nights Project –a true Purple Cow

Armed with what it seems is an incredible natural understanding of (as well as an interest in) people and society as a whole, David wasn’t a “marketer” by profession….so how could a non-marketer (I use this phrase to highlight how we like to label people and put them into boxes) come up with an in genius purple cow?

Well, the fact is that although David is not a marketer by profession, he is actually very evidently a marketer of the natural born kind, the reason being that he has an incredible natural understanding of people, a natural empathy and curiosity, and a way of just knowing what it takes to engage people to a cause, once the cause is real, authentic, and theirs.

And what better way to do this than to create a glamping park unlike any glamping or camping park seen anywhere in the world, ever?

Something to make people genuinely happy…..

Unlike many successful business people, David didn’t set out to create just another business that he could perhaps make money from for himself. He already had a business; what he wanted was to create something bonkers and groundbreaking; something so different that and such fun that his community would be transformed financially, socially, positively.

And thus, Quirky Nights Glamping Village was born; this was accommodation as had never been seen before….

Now, instead of staying in a boring old camping pod / tents / caravan, people would actively choose to come to the small town of Enniscrone, Sligo because only here (and crucially only here) would they find accommodation options ranging from a Boeing 767 (yes a real Boeing 767, completely intact), a train imported from the UK, a teapot which would have accommodation units inside, 10 Double Decker Buses, a fleet of 8 Taxis…….

So bonkers it’s massive!

Without ever having to read books on marketing theory or models, without having to formally learn what it takes to be a marketer, David set out to do something completely different because having been in business and having a natural understanding of people, it seems he just instinctively knew that offering people something completely unique and different was the only way in which he could stand out from the rest.

The Story and the storytelling

The key to the success of this wonderful idea was the back-story; a humble, down to earth, fun loving funeral director from Enniscrone suddenly appearing on national radio talking about setting up a transport themed glamping site was pretty unusual….

But more than this, it was the fact that he was embarking on this not just for himself but for his community and his town; this was something that would benefit everyone, financially and emotionally, and was something which could put Enniscrone on the global tourism map. Thus, the story was perfect, believable and wonderfully told.

Finally, the personality of the man involved was a crucial element because his spirt and madness very much mirrored that of the proposed enterprise; the story added up:

He was likeable, fun, quirky, slightly bonkers, and fascinating, yet at the same time he was clearly intelligent, well spoken, engaging and incredibly ambitious; he was all of the things that Quirky Nights Glamping Village would be.

Trending with #Planesailing

After the incredible build-up to the arrival of the Boeing which gripped the nation, “The Big Yoke” (that’s what the plane became known as), finally embarked on its journey from Shannon airport to Enniscrone, by sea.

Twitter went into overdrive; #planesailing trended; David appeared on radio to give us up-to-the-minute updates as the country waited by their radios with bated breath to hear whether the aged old Russian Boeing would ever make it to her final destination.

Enniscrone – the town at the centre of the world – went crazy; everyone who could volunteer to help did so; tailbacks went on for miles as people travelled the length and breadth of the country to catch a glimpse of a Boeing 767 arriving into a small rural town by sea, beaching, and then being transported along specially built roads to its final resting place at Quirky Nights Glamping Site. Even tidal conditions delaying arrival into Enniscrone until the wee hours of the morning didn’t deter people……2am, 3am, 4am, crowds lined the streets through the night desperate to see the story unfold.

And still the story keeps on giving; try booking a few nights through quirkyglamping.town.ie and join the thousands upon thousands filling in the expression of interest form in the hope ythat they might just be one of the lucky ones to win that golden ticket and experience Ireland’s (sorry, I mean the world’s) hottest accommodation site…

The moral of the story is this:

Great marketing is not about theory, it’s about standing out, being brave and being different.

This story is proof that wonderful original storytelling, authenticity, genuine emotion and passion, and a “who dares wins approach” are exactly the elements that brands need to focus on when it comes to creating marketing campaigns that win the hearts and minds of their audience, and create the sort of excitement that really engages.

It all comes back to the three fundamental things which I outlined at the beginning of this article: actively setting out to do be different, having the guts and self belief to follow this process regardless of what others might think, and understanding people and what makes them tick.

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For creative storytelling, tone of voice creation and words that engage and sell, contact The Right Words today.

Not all that long ago, (as in less than 10 years ago) we all used to buy everything we owned. I mean everything: cars, bikes, music, clothes, hotel accommodation, even dogs and cats.

Literally anything we ever needed in life we bought and sold because that’s just the way society worked and there was no other option available.

So isn’t it bonkers then to think how far the old traditional concept of trading (buying and selling), which was the rule of society since the year dot has now changed so much that actually buying anything at all is becoming optional as a result of something quite naff-ly called “the sharing economy”?

So why sharing as opposed to buying?

In my opinion, the concept of sharing is just another element of the wider shift away from anything to do with the mainstream. Or maybe it’s simply a further symptom of “progress” – that “thing” which makes every generation a little more advanced and more dynamic than the previous one.

This is the age where the end user is in part the co-creator. It is the age where ordinary everyday people, as opposed to big corporations, have the tools to change all of the traditional rules that society was formerly governed by. It is the age where everyone questions everything and this has led society as a whole to seek out new ways of doing old things in a new way that turns tradition on its head.

So this new concept of sharing, community buying and the notion of seeking alternative buying options outside of the main retail channels is really just an extension of the “disruption model” which, aided by technology, has completely changed the way in which we view and perceive brands and indeed the entire consumption process.

So where exactly is this sharing idea in evidence?

Pretty quickly the notion of sharing is becoming increasingly evident everywhere – even in markets where we would never even have considered that anything other than buying / owning was an option.

Think Cars…

Where once everyone who needed a car had no option (well, other than the option of renting from a car hire company which though technically an option wasn’t a viable option in reality), but to go out and physically buy one.

But now, thanks to the concept of interruption as an economic and marketing concept for the current generation, car ownership – though still alive now – is no longer mandatory. In other words, not owning a car is no longer a barrier to being able to drive.

Car sharing / pooling (www.liftshare.com) , instant access to taxis at the tap of a button on a smartphone, (www.uber.com) and the imminent arrival of driverless cars, (you know where right?) all mean that although car ownership is still desirable for most people, it’s surely only a matter of time before people begin to see these other options as much more cost effective?

And when you consider that according to Forbes magazine (http://fortune.com/2016/03/13/cars-parked-95-percent-of-time/) cars are actually parked for 95% of the time, (think about it, we work for 8 hours, sleep for 8 hours and are at home for a number of hours besides!) it’s hardly a stretch to think that buying cars is actually not very sensible.

Think Clothes…

Once upon a time (again, up to very recently), a combination of social snobbery and traditional consumer habits meant that when it came to buying any sort of clothing (aside for vintage for obvious reasons), only brand new was acceptable.

But how things have changed.

Suddenly it seems that buying used products is where it’s at; where once second hand clothes shops were hidden away off the high street, now kitsch is king and buying second hand is much admired.

In fact, attitudes have changed to such an extent that there is now a plethora of online stores specialising in second hand (sorry, I mean “pre loved”) wedding dresses and accessories where previously there were just “charity shops” for those who couldn’t afford new.

So why the change? Well I think it’s simply that society has moved on and this is where it has taken us to. In this era of disruption, you could argue that this shift in consumer buying behaviour is simply a form of disruption, albeit on a slightly different scale and in a slightly different arena.

Think accommodation…

Where once accommodation was automatically taken to mean either a hotel guesthouse or B&B, now there are loads of different sharing & community type options that hotels are often no longer a consideration for people looking either for something more interesting, more challenging, more authentic or simply more cost effective.

While AirBnB is the obvious preferred alternative-to-a-hotel accommodation option, it does of course still cost money – albeit generally much less than a hotel might cost, particularly in the case of a family or large group.

However, there are actually real, authentic accommodation websites offering free accommodation options. Couch surfing for example, (www.couchsurfing.com) or even home exchange / home swap websites (www.lovehomeswap.com ) designed for families looking to take a holiday free of the cost of accommodation.

Ok so perhaps the area of accommodation, unlike that of cars or clothes, is not likely to offer long term alternatives to home ownership or property rental, the range of options are now so great that the traditional tourist accommodation options of hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses, are going to come under increasing pressure from the ongoing evolution of the sector.

Think personal finance

In the past, banks were the only show in town when it came to borrowing money. Business start ups and your personal dreams lived and died by what the bank manager said. That made banks (not to mention bank managers) pretty powerful right?

Well yes it did, but that was then.

Now, whether it’s starts ups in need of some seed capital, (in need of seed, nice tagline!) community or not for profit organisations needing donations to fund an initiative or simply an individual looking for investment opportunities that he can have complete control over, crowd-funding options are plentiful (www.crowdcube.com,www.kickstarter.com, to name but two) and is increasingly being seen as a mainstream option, just as banks were 10 years ago.

Think even animals ….

Yes, dogs. I know. Who’d have thought that dogs would crop up in a piece about buying behaviours?

But of course, over the past decade or so, it has become possible to enjoy the benefits of having a dog, without having to actually own one.

I mean let’s face it, dogs as needy and very loving animals, require looking after 24/7 but as our lives get busier (wasn’t technology supposed to make us work less and have more down time?), many of us just don’t have the time to be full time dog owners.

That’s why there are websites offering the opportunity to “borrow my dog” (www.borrowmydoggy.com), “walk my dog” (www.walkmydog.co.uk), and even dog sit, (as opposed to baby sit).

And of course there are others too…

The above are just some examples of how traditional purchasing / ownership models have completely changed. But the truth is there are examples of this phenomenon everywhere you look.

From finding someone to do something (anything!) you need done (www.taskrabbit.co.uk), to buy and sell marketplaces (www.ebay.com /www.gumtree.com), to DIY property selling (www.housesimple.com), to free mobile phone messaging (www.watsapp.com), our need to buy goods and services from established brands is diminishing all the time.

Because the fact is that where once consumers bought brand names (literally that is what they bought), now the brand name is just one small factor. Instead, consumers are choosing the brand that best meets their precise needs, most earn their trust, and feels most authentic and genuine.

But most of all, consumers are increasingly buying from the brand which offers the most unique and the most compelling story.

Because at the end of the day, we all buy stories. Stories are what create engagement, stories are what make brands different, stories are the only real difference between brands whose products are often more or less identical.

As a big rugby and sports fan, I am always trying to understand what exactly it is that makes the really great teams and individuals of the world so much better than the rest: is it purely down to natural ability alone or what is it that makes them the best at what they do? And of course, once they get to the top, how do they manage to stay there?

Of course success on this scale is never down to just one thing but is down to a combination of different things. Success is never just about natural ability or talent; it doesn’t just happen, its comes about as a result of having a long term vision, and a really focused strategy which details in minute detail how this vision can be realised.

And funny enough, this does not just apply to sport, it applies to the world of business.

Think about it. Every brand that we associate with being brilliant (whether it’s Guinness, Nike, Apple, the All Blacks or any other global brand you care to think of), simply has to have incredible organisational processes in place in order to ensure that it delivers the same great results every single time.

Why? Because every brand and business is judged on the results it delivers.

But this type of brilliance doesn’t just happen. It’s the result of innovation, a fanatic obsession with the tiniest of details, and displaying the ruthlessness to ensure that every part of every process is 100% perfect every time.

In business, Apple is of course the most obvious example of this. Steve Jobs was obsessed with what some perceived to be minor details because for him, a brilliant end product could only be brilliant when every single tiny little element contained within it was perfect.

Just like the All Blacks rugby team.

James Kerr’s fascinating book “Legacy” offers a unique insight into the incredible All Blacks operation.

What’s really quite unique about this book is that it doesn’t look at the All Blacks from a purely rugby perspective. Quite the opposite in fact: it’s all about showing the reader that it’s not the individual brilliance of players that make the All Blacks great, it’s the incredible organisational environment in which they exist.

The reason for is that the All Blacks organisation will only ever accept individuals who can demonstrate that they are born leaders. That’s why the mantra of the All blacks club is very simple yet powerful:

“Better people make better All Blacks”.

The book is based on Kerr’s own first-hand experience of living within the All Blacks environment for a year, which explains why he is able to provide such a wonderful insight into the many different elements which combine to make the All Blacks one of the most incredible organisations in the world.

The core message which results from focusing on the organisation – as opposed to the rugby which is what we normally associate the All Blacks with – is simply that no All Black player is ever chosen to play for the team solely on the basis of his rugby playing ability.

It’s all about leadership.

No matter how good a player might be, if he does not have the character traits and life values that are demanded by the All Blacks organisational environment, his rugby playing ability doesn’t matter, he can’t and won’t become an All Black.

The power of the organisation

What all of this focus on the power of the organisation shows is that the end product (ie the rugby that people pay to come and watch) is not brilliant just because the players happen to possess exceptional rugby skills.

What really makes the end product so brilliant is the incredible organisational environment that has been created:

Every single member of the team is proven to have incredible leadership ability, strong character, the required sense of purpose, cultural and historic appreciation, individual authenticity, personal honesty, and a selflessness that values the team over the individual.

Creating the right environment enables success

This book is all about highlighting the importance of leadership for the success of any organisation. It uses the All Blacks as its case study but the findings are applicable to any organisation anywhere.

Organisations should focus on creating and developing leaders who work together, as part of a team, to achieve a common goal. There should be no egos and no-one should ever see themselves as being better than anyone else.

That’s exactly why the All Blacks’ have a very clear and simple slogan which forms part of the entry criteria, and which must be adhered to be everyone who is accepted to the club:

“No dickheads”

It simply doesn’t matter how brilliant any one player might be – if he doesn’t fit into the culture of the All Blacks operation, does not have the personality traits that are designed to foster the obsessive team ethos, or sees himself as being better than anyone else, he is simply no longer an All Black.