“Everything is Digital” – @edwardboches
Today I attended day one of a three day workshop at Boulder Digital Works called Making Digital Work. Today’s stellar presentations left me with these thoughts:
Over the past few years advertising agencies have worked to integrate digital and social media capabilities into their service offerings. They even used the phrase integrated marketing to show clients they were smart enough to put all the pieces together—traditional, digital, research, social and pr. Well, those days are gone. Integrated isn’t special anymore, it’s the norm. And digital isn’t a bolt on service. As Edward Boches says “Everything is digital”. No doubt, he’s right.
The word, digital, has come to represent a host of discreet tactics such as websites, video, web apps, mobile and social media. It’s also the glue that connects all elements of a campaign together. Ex. A campaign is begun in social media, anchored by a fan page, supported by a website that aggregates user content, which is published from a mobile app, promoted by paid media (online, tv, print), fulfilled by direct-mail, editorialized by PR and posted back out in social networks. At every point the web, mobile or networked, is the bridge from one point of engagement to another. It’s the feedback loop that rewards users with what Michael Tabtabai calls “digital souvenirs” and it provides the analytics that agencies use to monitor, adjust and evaluate a campaign.
So the question about digital today is not whether to use it, but how to use it. How to express a big idea through the right mix of channels, platforms and technologies. It’s a question I’m hoping my time at the Making Digital Work workshop will answer.
More thoughts tomorrow.
