Digital Shoreditch is a new festival that celebrates outstanding creativity and with over 50 events held over a 5-day period I sadly couldn’t get to them all!

But even attending just one day I left feeling more informed about the different perspectives creative agencies, organisations and brands (along with key individuals) have on the ever-evolving digital world we live and work in.

It was particularly interesting to hear alternatives on how to engage consumers – from charitable and sporting organisations, for example. And as well as the art, it was fascinating to discover more about the science and psychology that drives digital communication too.

Making the world a better place: a good deed at a time

The first speaker to really capture my attention was David Erasmus, CEO and Founder of GIVEY.

David spoke about using social media for social good and not only did he tell us about the opportunities it can offer, he showed how social can provide an effective alternative to current methods of charitable donation.

Perhaps the most profound point he made was how we’re able to contribute to things “bigger than ourselves.” And whilst we spend a lot of time and effort detailing our professional and social profiles through LinkedIn and Facebook, there is no social ‘timeline’ that documents our good deeds.

David’s aspiration is to develop a platform that will enable millions of people to make millions of small actions, and by following, sharing and, ultimately, encouraging each other in these actions we can make millions of positive changes to the world. An amazing concept and like all great ideas, brilliantly simple!

Growing up on the net

The second speaker who really inspired me was Holly Clarke, Group Head of UK Operations Team at UNRULY. Holly’s theme for discussion was, ‘I share, therefore I am’.

She spoke about children’s online personas, their timeline recorded histories and how the importance they place on their perceived image from such an early, impressionable age could later trigger social anxieties.

Holly commented on how individuals create specific personas for specific platforms, using social media to express themselves and self-validate through likes. For social grooming and nurturing relationships kids join groups and follow trends that carve a specific identity. And for E-world domination, (trend setting), they build up a following via twitter, which involves the perpetual search for new content and reactive sharing that is now second nature.

Get a life… beyond the laptop

The insightful message, in short, was; children should concentrate on their off-line identity and socialisation skills and ‘digital literacy’ must be implemented from a young age. Children must be taught about privacy, safety and ultimately be actively encouraged to power down, switch off the computer and enjoy life offline, in the real world.

All in all, a fantastic festival and one I’d highly recommend. Can’t wait for next year!

Find out more about Digital Shoreditch.

The Internet World Expo is Europe’s largest event for digital business. And with over 300 exhibitors housed within the vast halls of London’s Earl’s Court, I certainly wasn’t short of stands to see, demos to try and people to talk to.

As well as the many stands offering product information and all the glossy brochures you could possibly carry, there was a hectic schedule of free seminars too. Keen to make the most of my visit, I hit a lot of them. But the one that really grabbed my attention was titled ‘Email’s Role in a World Gone Mocial’. The burning questions of “aren’t social and mobile both hotter than email?”, and “where does email fit?” go through many advertisers’ minds, and this seminar delivered some fascinating and useful insights into these issues.

How to keep email ahead of the game

One of the key points of the seminar was a view we already subscribe to: email must adopt, adapt and improve in a ‘Mocial’ world. So we must constantly review our tactics and techniques to ensure the email channel thrives and our communications are successful.

One area that always helps effective email communication stand apart from other channels is their capability for unique personalisation. Bringing an email to life with personal touches can really influence the recipient. And a brilliant example shown at the seminar was the email campaign designed for Air New Zealand.

“And your attendant on this flight today will be…”

This email uses the first name of the recipient, and includes information such as their flight details, a 5-day destination weather forecast, and travel tips. OK. And the imagery is also relevant to the customer’s destination. Smart.

But the most impressive piece of personalisation is the image of the flight stewardess that heads the page. In fact, each email features the member of staff that would be working the passenger’s outbound flight, purposely positioned above the fold to capture the reader’s attention immediately. How cool is that?

This creative thought, attention to detail and ‘go the extra mile’ personalisation really helps deliver a brand promise, as well as promote a one to one relationship with the customer. One was even quoted as saying; “This is the first piece of email marketing that I have thoroughly read, found helpful and printed out.”

Your thumb. The new mouse

A second factor to consider is user accessibility, so the email template needs to recognise the increase of smartphone usage. That’s why a ‘Call to action’ shouldn’t require the need to pinch-zoom; the layout needs to be mobile friendly.

And finally

Including social media links in the email means the user can quickly and easily navigate through to the relevant pages. Likewise, having bespoke e-newsletter sign up tabs within Facebook (while incorporating ‘share’ and ‘like’ buttons in the email) further connects email to social media. It’s a simple and effective way to ensure that all of our campaigns are properly joined up.

To get back to the seminar, it drew to a close with the question; ‘aren’t social and mobile both hotter than email?’. The answer? No. Email is hotter and healthier than ever. It has adapted and moulded into the Mocial world by using personalisation and integrating the social media channels.

And by helping connect users to those channels to provide an integrated user experience, email will continue to create great results for clients.

3rd May 2012 – Blue Hive has appointed Karin Onsager-Birch as Executive Creative Director. Karin joins from Goodby, Silverstein and Partners (GS&P) in San Francisco where she was Creative Director. Karin will work into Toby Barlow, Chief Creative Officer at Global Team Ford, and report to Tony Grigg, CEO of Blue Hive. She will relocate to London to begin her new role in Mid-May.

During her decade long tenure at GS&P, Karin created and managed award-winning campaigns for brands including Adobe, Chevrolet, HP, Hyundai, Kayak.com and Nike. Her work has received honours from Cannes Lions, The One Show, The Clios, The New York Art Directors Show, Effies and The Library of Congress.

Tony Grigg, CEO, Blue Hive commented: “Karin is a world class creative leader and her track record speaks for itself. She is passionate about cars but has excellent non-automotive experience too, and her rich multi-cultural heritage gives her an edge that will be an invaluable asset to Ford.”

Speaking about her new role, Karin commented: “I love cars, they are the fastest and most powerful piece of jewellery you’ll ever own, the ultimate accessory. Joining Blue Hive and Ford is an amazing opportunity. There are crazy smart people on the team and a dynamic and infectious energy among its players. Ford’s technologically innovative products are exciting stories yearning to be told. I can’t wait to get started.”

Jeff Goodby of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners commented: “Karin set standards here in sassiness and visual integrity that will long outlast her. Blue Hive is very lucky to have her.”

Karin graduated with a Distinction from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. She speaks fluent English, Spanish, French, Norwegian and Danish.

So we came up with a concept for HTC’s B2B communications strategy to highlight the cool new features of the HTC One series and turned it around at light speed. With a hop, a skip, a donut-dash to Krispy Kreme and a road trip to HTC’s head office in Slough, we got to work constructing a 3.6 by 4.8 metre installation, complete with nine 42” plasma screens to display unique, digitally-generated artworks created from people’s tweets about the new HTC One Series.

Our awesome development team built an application that analyses the individual words in tweets that specifically reference the incredible audio, high resolution screen and cross platform connectivity of the three phones HTC are about to launch. Our robot ingeniously creates a bespoke digital artwork from every tweet, by combing colour palettes, patterns and over 200 doodles (especially created by the talented doodle-artist, Mr. Jonny Voss). Et voila; the user receives their own ‘One of a Kind’ piece which is displayed as a fluid and evolving interactive artwork at HTC, Europe.

‘Don’t think about departments’

Social media crosses boundaries. Businesses that integrate social media and stop thinking in terms of Sales vs. Marketing vs. PR will come out on top. Business that don’t, won’t. Users see a single brand, they don’t care that Sales are separate from PR, they just want a consistent, joined-up experience.

From Chris Brogan (President, Human Business Works) during his keynote address: Cultivating Visibility & Google+ for Business.

‘Forget about fragmentation’

If you’re a global brand then you’ll inevitably have some level of fragmentation in your social media presence(s). Try to govern and introduce a consistent brand ethos, but don’t worry about it too much; by the time you put a process in place everything will have changed.

From Benjamin Ellis (prolific blogger, author, and speaker) during keynote panel: The Evolution of the Conversation.

‘Tell a story’

The key skill you need to learn is story telling. Find your brand’s voice and the stories it can tell (they do exist). These stories are your creative content, and content is still king.

During keynote panel: The Evolution of the Conversation.

‘Define real objectives’

Likes, interactions, ‘engagement’ metrics; all of these are abstract metrics and don’t tell you how all that effort you put in is actually performing. Figure out what you actually want users to do, find a way to measure it, and report that. Use engagement metrics, but only as middlemen to something you really care about.

From Allister Frost (Head of Digital Marketing Strategy, Microsoft) during panel: Social Media Engagement Measurement and Metrics.

‘It takes people, good people’

You can deploy all the right tools, but without good people you’re going nowhere. Find generalists who specialise. You need people who can do a little of everything but are experts in their field, be it moderation, metrics, outreach, etc.

From Cathy Ma (Head of Social Media, IPC Media) during her case study: IPC Media – A Step-by-Step Guide on Setting Social Strategy & Measuring Success.

‘Qualitative data’

There is a ton of numbers you can gather and report, but these can be more confusing than they are useful. Get qualitative data as well. Talk to your consumers and get their input, then use this to feed back into all areas of your business. Improve customer care, product development, marketing campaigns, everything, based on the feedback you get.

From Henry Juszkiewicz (Chairman and CEO, Gibson Guitar Corporation) during panel: Monitoring and Measuring Social Media. Agreed upon by the panel: Managing Your Company’s Online Reputation via Social Media.

‘Be prepared, don’t wait for the storm’

Brands need to be ‘match fit’. Don’t wait for a PR storm to come along to force you to engage; “you can’t learn social media when the building is on fire”. Build relationships and be prepared, it’s amazing how much people will forgive if you’ve already built trust with them.

From David Bailey (Neighbourhood Communications Manager, Staffordshire Police) and Colin Smith (Director of Marketing Solutions UK, LinkedIn) during panel: Managing Your Company’s Online Reputation via Social Media.

‘Do, or do not, there is no try’

If you’re going to do social media then you need to jump in and do it properly, half-measures simply aren’t going to work. “You can’t do a bit of social media, it’s like being a bit pregnant”.

From Mark Squires (Head of Communications for Western Europe, Nokia) during panel: The Changing Role of PR in the Social Media Environment.

‘True dialogue’

Communication with customers is truly 2-way for the first time. Brands who engage in social media must be prepared to listen, react, learn and apply. But there are major scale considerations in moving from broadcast to full scale conversation, so identify and use tools to make you more efficient, and empower employees to be brand ambassadors.

During panel: Social Media for Brand Management.

‘Working global and locally at the same time’

Communications must be local language and local community but with global guidelines. This isn’t just a language issue, but a cultural/geographical issue e.g. UK English vs. US English. Larger organisations might consider a ‘hub and spoke’ model (as used by Unilever): scheduling regular calls with markets, having internal social groups for networking/sharing, and establishing a clear process that everyone is bought into.

During panel: Social Media for Brand Management.

‘Refine your voice’

Identify the voice of your brand. Remember you are speaking person-to-person and not brand-to-person so; be real and authentic, approach users with empathy, and have a plan! Set objectives and establish processes, remember it’s a long term commitment not just a campaign burst.

During panel: Social Media for Brand Management.

‘Trust’

Businesses are not trusted as much as individuals, but people trust those that are like themselves more and they appreciate transparency. Also remember that good products are a given, but social media will really magnify a bad product!

From Scott Monty during his keynote address: Global Language of a Social Media Strategy.

‘Cut-through’

It is very difficult to get through to the audience with the sheer proliferation of brand messaging out there. Brands can differentiate by having content that is relevant, good, and fun (e.g. Focus Doug). As well as this they remember that users time is limited, so engage using relevant content in a ‘human voice’, e.g. Fiestagram hashtags were engaging, and related to the car, but not about the car. Finally brands must listen, like granny used to say; “you have two ears and one mouth, use them in proportion”.

From Scott Monty during his keynote address: Global Language of a Social Media Strategy.

‘You’re in there for the long haul!’

You can’t simply switch off after a six week campaign burst and you must have an always-on strategy to grow and maintain an audience between your campaign bursts.

From Scott Monty during his keynote address: Global Language of a Social Media Strategy.

Took on a Ford photo-synth-ing commission at the 82nd International Motor Show in Geneva today; which involved getting into the Palais D’Expositions before all the Journo-Blogger crowds at something like half five in the morning (Swiss time). I had to clip 360s of the sparkling vehicles on the impressive stand as well as capture imagery in an authentic and reportage style to populate Ford’s Flickr channel. We just about beat the crowds and watched with bated breath as 140 images were ‘synth-ed’ together to create a 100% synthy panorama; which sat on Microsoft’s landing page for 12 days, receiving nearly 18K hits within the initial 24 hours, the current number of views is up to 41,417 hits.

Whilst, I was primarily based on the Ford stand with the team from production company, Imagination, I did get to leave my post briefly to test drive an electric Ford Focus (all in the name of vital product immersion of course!) Having experienced a real car that was completely silent, I also tried out a virtual car that was far from quiet! It was a Ford rally car brought to life on an unbelievably realistic simulator. Having achieved the lowest score at the event, I guess I’ll just have to put my glittering racing career on hold a little longer and focus on capturing the moment with a Canon 5D Mark II instead!

Brand admins can preview their page in Timeline now but have until 30th March to prepare and publish the new page, at that point Facebook will update all pages to the Timeline layout automatically.

This is your guide to transitioning a brand page to the new Timeline layout.

Background

If you didn’t catch them, here’s a reminder of the new features and changes that were announced.

• Your page will have a cover photo: a large, static, 851 by 315 pixel photo that appears at the very top of the page.
• Profile picture: A brand profile picture will appear over the lower left of your cover photo.
  • This picture is separate from the cover photo and is 180 by 180 pixels.
  • When shown in the Timeline or in a user’s newsfeed this is resized to 32 by 32 pixels.
• Timeline: all posts ever made (not including hidden or deleted posts) will be shown in a vertical timeline.
  • A menu on the right allows users to browse through the history of the page.
• There are three new types of post:
  • Pinned posts: a single post can be ‘pinned’ to the top of the Timeline for a period of seven days (a pinned post will display with a ribbon in the top right). At the end of seven days it can be re-pinned, re-pins are unlimited.
  • Highlighted posts: any post can be ‘highlighted’. A highlighted post image is resized to a 843 pixel width (from 404 pixels).
  • Milestones: a new type of post that appears in the Timeline and can be used to mark a ‘milestone’ in the history of the brand. These looks just like highlighted posts but show a flag icon, title, and description at the top.
• ‘Apps’ replace ‘tabs’:
  • Apps cannot be set as a default landing experience (as tabs could be) as all users will see the Timeline by default.
  • Thumbnail images for apps are 111 by 74 pixels, these appear below the cover photo and are accompanied by the app name and 16 by 16 pixels app icon.
  • Only four app thumbnails may be displayed at a given time. The ‘photos’ app is locked and cannot be moved but the other three app thumbnail spots are flexible. Any apps that are live but whose thumbnails are not displayed within the four spots can be found in a drop-down menu.
  • Apps themselves can be 520 pixels in width (with vertical white bars either side) or 810 pixels in width.

Preview your page in Timeline

The first thing to do is see what your page looks like in Timeline right now.

1. Log in to Facebook as an admin and visit your page.
2. You should see a banner announcing that new Facebook pages are “coming soon”. Click the button to ‘preview’.
3. Your page will now be shown in Timeline preview mode, it will only be published if you click the ‘publish’ button or when Facebook automatically published it 30th March.

Cover photo and profile picture

The cover photo and profile picture are now the first things a user will see when visiting your page, so make the most of them.

1. Add a cover photo.
   • 851 by 315 pixels in size.
   • It must be a static image, no animations or videos I’m afraid.
   • You can’t include ‘price or purchase information’ such as “download it at our website”.
   • Don’t add contact information like web, email, or postal address, or other information intended for your page’s ‘about’ section.
   • No references to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features.
   • No calls-to-action e.g. “get it now” or “tell your friends”.
2. Update your profile picture.
   • This should be 180 by 180 pixels in size but still meaningful when resized to 32 by 32 pixels.
   • It must be a static image.
3. Try integrating the cover photo and profile picture.
   • This has been popular on personal profile Timelines.
   • NB: The profile picture must work on its own (as well as in conjunction with. the cover photo) so it wouldn’t be a bad idea for it to prominently feature your logo.

Apps

Apps aren’t going away, they are still a great place for immersive brand experiences but you’re going to have to work harder to get users to visit them.

1. Check the content and layout of your apps.
   • Does your app refer to any of the old Facebook navigation, e.g. “click on a tab on the left”?
2. Create and add a thumbnail image for all your apps.
   • This should be 111 by 74 pixels in size.
   • Include meaningful imagery to indicate what the app does (remember that the app name still appears below the thumbnail).
   • Upload this through the app’s ‘edit settings’ link. This can be found in apps section of the page settings, or by hovering over an app thumbnail until the pencil icon is displayed.
3. Pick those apps that you’d like to feature in the three flexible thumbnail spots, the others will be demoted to the drop-down menu.
4. Check to see how your apps look in the new 810 pixel width. It’s not required to update your apps as they should still work in the 520 pixel width.

Housekeeping

Now is a great opportunity to tidy up your page.

1. Update the ‘about’ text and check that any listed ‘place sub-categories’ are correct.
   • These are now featured prominently below the profile picture and to the left of the app thumbnails.
2. Check your page’s ‘about’ section for language and consistency with the new layout.
   • Remove text like “how to use our page” that refers to tabs, etc.
3. Moderate any outstanding user posts.
4. Ensure you have your location listed.
   • One of the features of Timeline is a map, so you’ll want to make sure that people can find you if they need to.

Timeline

Users are likely to go back and take a look at your history in Timeline, so it’s best to make sure it looks good.

1. Check your page’s ‘founded’ post.
   • Check the date.
   • Set the term to use, you can choose from: ‘founded’, ‘started’, ‘opened’, and ‘born’.
   • Add additional information like a photo, the location, and a description.
   • NB: Facebook only currently allows a ‘founded’ date to be from the 19th century onwards, sorry older brands!
2. Go back and highlight any posts, or add new milestones, which you feel should be featured.
   • Users will expect to see major events in the brand history featured.

Read the full report below.

A few moments ago we emailed our overall competition winner with the fantastic news that one of his images, submitted via Instagram and captioned with our #Fiestagram hashtag, has won him a brand new Ford Fiesta.

Considering artistic interpretation, photographic skill and originality, our esteemed panel of judges (including our own discerning Blue Hive staff) managed to whittle down over 16,000 images to find this deserving winner.

Stepping into this forthright creative community was not without its risks. For example, would there be an aggrieved sense of a brand encroaching into their territory? Well, we’re delighted to report that we’ve been overwhelmed by the strength of positive feeling and the self-moderating community actually silenced a couple of naysayers themselves.

Each new theme was met with genuine excitement and there were sincere congratulations to each of the six winners, some of whom couldn’t contain their joy: “Yeeeeeeeeeeeeees yes yes yes yes yeeeeees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!” was @Daveystarr’s heartfelt response to discovering that he’d won our #Hidden challenge and the prize of a new Canon SLR camera.

Both the standard and volume of entries we received was amazing. And moderation was easy because we simply didn’t receive the raft of pornographic images we were steeling ourselves for!

The moderated photos appeared in the Facebook gallery, relevant to the particular weekly challenge, and once each theme had closed the Fiestagram team speedily created a shortlist, dispatched it to the judges, created a Facebook album for public perusal then announced the winner within 48 hours. As well as their prize, each winner was sent a congratulatory letter from the Fiestagram team, further elevating their sense of achievement (as well as demonstrating the team’s gratitude). As just one winner put it, “The letter that came with it was really great too. It made me feel really extra proud.”

So after seven weeks of hard work, fun and inspiration, we at the Fiestagram team are a little sad to see this exhilarating campaign come to an end. And there’s one other small problem; our Community Manager now has to work out what to do with his first weekend off in two months. Ideas on a postcard to…

Last year, we gave you Merry Doodle. But with the economic climate being what it is and charity donations down significantly as a result, it seems appropriate to try and redress the balance. So instead of spending money creating a card this year, we’re keeping it simple, and donating that cash to four charities close to our hearts:

Alzheimer’s Society provides over 2,000 services across the country to people affected by dementia, including support and befriending services to help partners and families cope with the demands of caring.

CRY works with the Department of Health and others to develop high quality cardiac services for young people and families.

Helen Rollason Cancer Support Centres provide emotional support and complementary therapies for people affected by cancer. The charity has also enabled more than 2000 patients to participate in pioneering clinical drug trials.

Mudchute City Farm is a unique living resource providing free access to a range of farm animals for children of all ages in one of London’s most deprived areas.

As well as our donation to these charities, our Blue Hive Giving initiative ran throughout the year, with Cakes for Quakes for the New Zealand earthquake, clothes sales (of clothes used as props on shoots) to support the Japanese earthquake, participation in the Many Ogilvy Hands project as well as a sterling moustache-growing effort from the Blue Hive Bristles for Movember.

Finally, on behalf of every one at Blue Hive: seasons greetings!