Marci Ikeler

"As information swirls all around us, we have begun to build an attention economy where the value of..."

Fri, 20 May 2011 12:28:07 -0400

““As information swirls all around us, we have begun to build an attention economy where the value of a piece of content is driven by how much attention it can attract and sustain. It’s all about eyeballs, especially when advertising is involved. Countless social media consultants are swarming around Web2.0, trying to help organizations increase their status and profitability in the attention economy. But the attention economy doesn’t just affect the monetization of web properties; it’s increasingly shaping how people interact with one another.””

- danah boyd

Haters Gonna Hate: My SXSW 2011 Panel

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:08:07 -0400

Visual notes courtesy of Ogilvy Notes.

Speaking at SXSW has been something of a goal of mine for a while now, and I’m proud to report that this year I achieved it.

My solo panel was called “Haters Gonna Hate: Lessons for Advertisers from 4chan” and my intention was to use the things I learned through my love of /b/ as a metaphor for lessons for advertisers. The SXSW planning team completely changed the format of the talk at the last minute, which was a bit tricky, but I think it came out okay.

If you’re playing along at home, feel free to listen to an audio recording of the session:

The Problem of Group Management

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:00:00 -0400

Visualization of my LinkedIn network, automatically generated through inMaps.

As I have been contemplating SXSW this year, one thing that struck me was that, unlike previous years, there wasn’t a clear “winner” in terms of a new technology or platform.

The reason for all the attention that the technology and advertising industries lavish on SXSW is due to the fact that, for the past several years, it’s been the site of the popularization of a game-changing technology. Twitter in 2007. Foursquare in 2009 (as a new idea) and 2010 (as a popular, extensible platform).

In 2011, there didn’t seem to be a breakout app or service, despite the best effort of what felt like thousands of startups equipped with flyers, schwag, and scantily clad volunteers.

Aside from their over-aggressive marketing tactics, one thing that several of these start-ups had in common was an attempt at solving a common problem: group management.

The way that human beings socialize in real life doesn’t match how software treats us online; I don’t really have 290 equally important friends in my life the way that Facebook displays them. Instead, I have a core group of friends who I socialize with on the weekends, a group of people who I work with, a whole bunch of other groups whom I’ve worked with in the past, friends from college, friends from high school, and family members - not to mention a few miscellaneous acquaintances I’ve met and lost touch with over the years. Status updates that are intended for my friends are sometimes offensive to my devout Christian cousins, and - like many people - I find my self second-guessing what I post, since I know it will be visible to my coworkers and boss.

This is not a new insight. In fact, Facebook tried to solve this problem with its introduction of Groups in October 2010. The project garnered a ton of attention from tech bloggers, but, 6 months later, it’s rarely mentioned (Facebook hasn’t published usage data, but anecdotally it doesn’t seem that many folks are using it).

Several companies at SXSW gave the group challenge a shot - GroupMe,Hashable, and Hurricane Party all approached the problem in a different ways.

However, as with Facebook Groups, none of these apps seemed to really take off. Real-life social circles are incredibly complex. Right now, it seems to be impossible for software to handle the fluidity and complexity of social groups without requiring users to manually maintain complex lists of membership rules - which no one has time to do. And even if such magical solution could exist, I’m not sure how comfortable consumers would be with an automated solution to something so important to the way that we socialize.

So is there a way to manage groups that’s not manual? I can’t think of a solution at the moment, but history is full of solutions to problems that previously seemed insolvable. This will be an interesting space to watch over the next few years.

"The trouble with the rat-race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat."

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:35:57 -0400

“The trouble with the rat-race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”

- Lily Tomlin, via Ashley Simko.

Shifting deck chairs on the Titanic

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 16:53:00 -0400

There’s a strange undertone at many of the advertising-related SXSW panels this year. The past few years have involved discussions of Twitter, platforms, transmedia, etc. This year there’s still a lot of that, but it feels like a fundamental misunderstanding of the real issues.

Communication has changed, media has changed, and yet advertisers are still living in the agency-client model that has been consistent for the past 50 years. I don’t think that hiring a social media expert, or creating a new department, or using a few new shiny tools is going to get us far enough.

I don’t have a solution. But the situation for advertisers in 2011 is starting to remind me a lot of the music industry in 2001. There’s a sea change coming, and I worry that all the little changes we’re making are blinding us to exactly how huge it is.

Hacking the Microsoft Kinect

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:41:24 -0500

Hacking the Microsoft Kinect:

One of the most interesting parts of all the technological advances we’ve seen in the past few years is how “hackable” they can be (although this is generally not what the manufacturers hope for). Hackable parts allow creative and tech-minded individuals to create art projects - and utility - that surpasses the intentions of the original inventors.

A great example of this phenomenon is XBMC (Xbox Media Center) - an open source media player originally based on a hacked Xbox platform that is far better than anything Apple or Google has ever created.

Now we’re seeing the same thing happen with Microsoft’s latest product, the Kinect. Only this time, people are integrating the 3D image recognition software into real-world devices, creating some amazing results.

What will be trending at SXSW 2011?

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Today the latest batch of panelist, core conversations, and presentations were selected for SXSW interactive 2011. I was honored that my session, Haters Gonna Hate: Lessons for Advertisers from 4chan, was selected to be one of these. But would you like to see what topics are going to be getting the biggest buzz in March? Here’s a word cloud:

Some of the biggest topics match with the trends in digital design and technology: social, games, web, and media. Others are interesting: health, meetup, and brands all make an appearance. But above all, it seems that we’re focused on doing our jobs better; topics of interest include future, innovation, collaboration, and engagement.

This visual was created by feeding the list of selected SXSW interactive panelsinto Wordle, minus the author and agency information.

Fun is the Future: Mastering Gamification Fantastic overview of...

Sun, 07 Nov 2010 15:19:35 -0500

Fun is the Future: Mastering Gamification

Fantastic overview of gamification design elements and the ways they can impact design, marketing, services, and business.

(via GoogleTechTalks)

Great documentary on influencers, cool hunters, and trend...

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 10:49:00 -0400

Great documentary on influencers, cool hunters, and trend starters that focuses on the spread of contagious ideas.

I’ve been telling my students at Miami Ad School that, to be successful in advertising, you have to be in the cool hunting business, and I think this documentary proves my point.

One thing I would have loved for the documentary to touch on is how digital has increased the spread and reach of contagious ideas and style.

INFLUENCERS FULL VERSION (by R+I creative)

Fascinating video on how technology is reshaping our brains in...

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 06:58:57 -0400

Fascinating video on how technology is reshaping our brains in very real ways, and some thoughts on the implications from a neuroscientist’s perspective.

This is Your Brain on Google Instant Search

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:23:44 -0400

This is Your Brain on Google Instant Search:

It’s undeniable that our interaction with computers is changing our brains, so it’s interesting to begin to anticipate how new technologies (such as Google Instant, which was released yesterday) will change us even further.

Design with Intent Toolkit

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:51:00 -0400

Design with Intent Toolkit:

Awesome card deck of design patterns and lenses.

The Awareness Fallacy

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:31:00 -0400

The Awareness Fallacy:

Excellent presentation by Mark Lester on why Awareness, as a sole focus in advertising, is often ineffective.

The primary point here is twofold: 1) many categories have reached a saturation point at which there aren’t many truly new innovations, and so there is nothing new to be aware of (with a few exceptions, such as Apple in the technology industry), and 2) consumer consumption of information has changed to the point where relevance and persuasion are much more valuable than simple awareness, as we are constantly inundated with new information.

Via Griffin Farley

The Wilderness Downtown

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:02:00 -0400

The Wilderness Downtown:

This music video for Arcade Fire’s new song, made with Google Chrome Labs in HTML 5, is utterly amazing - interactive art with a personalized touch.

This is what the future looks like - reality hyper-augmented by...

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:19:00 -0400

This is what the future looks like - reality hyper-augmented by digital information and overlays. A new video from the always excellent Keiichi Matsuda.

Don’t Become a Digital Dinosaur

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:49:00 -0400

Don’t Become a Digital Dinosaur:

Believe it or not, the biggest challenge I have in my job is dealing not with traditional advertising, but with what I’ll term “traditional digital”. This are those folks who have been making microsites and banner ads for so long that they don’t know how to do anything else - and, unlike the traditional advertising people, are unwilling to admit that there’s something about digital that they don’t know.

This article from UX Magazine has some great tips on keeping from being a Digital Dinosaur.

Integrated experiences
Designing for the “space between”
Customer experience (vs. solely user experience)

Add social business to this list, and you’ll be evolving in no time.

One of the main points I make when trying to explain why digital...

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:11:41 -0400

One of the main points I make when trying to explain why digital is different from other advertising media is the incredible fragmentation that one must account for - both in terms of hardware and software. This graphic sums up that point pretty nicely.

Icons of the Web - Social Media Graphics

SXSW 2011 Panels

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:17:40 -0400

Me at SXSW last year, rocking a segway.

I’ve attended SXSW two years now, and both times I’ve found it to be the most inspirational, educational, and fun event related to interactive technology and communications. Last year, I decided that, no matter what, I would be submitting a panel for 2011, and now I’ve got two in the mix. They are:

Haters Gonna Hate: Lessons For Advertisers From 4chan - 4chan is “the internet hate machine” that crosses boundaries with the real world. 4chan’s two unusual features - it’s anonymity and its lack of archiving - have made it into a hotbed of creativity that is almost single-handedly responsible for every major internet meme in the past 7 years. In this presentation, I will use 4chan as a lens to illustrate how modern advertising can better communicate with hyper-connected, hyper-social communities. By following the lead of the 4chan community (albeit with less pornography), advertisers can learn how to hack the attention economy and succeed in the face of changing consumer behaviors.
The Luxury/Digital Paradox: Taking Luxury Brands Digital - A colleague of mine and I put are presenting this talk, on how to bring luxury marketing to digital communications. Luxury, by definition, is built on exclusivity. The web is inherently democratic. In the past, this contradiction caused luxury brands to be hesitant about moving online – but in the face of the internet’s ever-increasing ubiquity and print advertising’s decreased returns, more and more luxury brands are making the transition to on-line advertising and e-commerce. This presentation will show how luxury brands can participate in the digital-sphere through case studies of luxury brands that have effectively communicated their ‘brand story’.

Over two thousand panel ideas were submitted this year, and part of what determines who makes it is votes from the public. I’m sorry if this feels spammy, but I would greatly appreciate it if you could vote for my panels!

To do this, you will need to either create a SXSW Panel Picker account or, if you voted last year, sign in. Once you’re logged in, click the thumbs-up button at the top of the page for each panel. Also, please feel free to contribute to the dialogue in the comments!

Thanks so much! I’m really excited about both these topics, and am looking forward to bringing them to life at SXSW.

Google Launches "Chrome to Phone"

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:47:41 -0400

Google Launches "Chrome to Phone":

Media access is becoming increasingly seamless. Marketers must understand that consumers expect to access data wherever they are, without restriction.

Eight Principles of Information Architecture

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:30:02 -0400

Eight Principles of Information Architecture :

Interesting thinking from Dan Brown on eight principles of successful IA (and, I would argue, UX in general). They are:

The principle of objects – Treat content as a living, breathing thing, with a lifecycle, behaviors and attributes.
The principle of choices – Create pages that offer meaningful choices to users, keeping the range of choices available focused on a particular task.
The principle of disclosure – Show only enough information to help people understand what kinds of information they’ll find as they dig deeper.
The principle of exemplars – Describe the contents of categories by showing examples of the contents.
The principle of front doors – Assume at least half of the website’s visitors will come through some page other than the home page.
The principle of multiple classification – Offer users several different classification schemes to browse the site’s content.
The principle of focused navigation – Don’t mix apples and oranges in your navigation scheme.
The principle of growth – Assume the content you have today is a small fraction of the content you will have tomorrow.