Marc Schiller Talks To PSFK

We keep mentioning the work coming out of Mark Schiller’s electricArtists or just aggregating his thoughts from his blog – so we thought we’d ask the guy who’s been an inspiration to us to see what he’s been up to and get his views on social media.

PSFK: What have electricArtists been up to recently? Anything new?

It’s been an incredibly busy and exciting year for us at electricArtists as we head into 2008 celebrating our tenth year anniversary. On the brand strategy side, we’ve been putting a great deal of focus on digital brand management and have been developing numerous strategies for our clients utilizing branded utilities and leveraging social media. Some of the projects that have recently launched in this area are the Findrenewal.com site for Westin Hotels, PartnersInPresevation.com for American Express, and STATravelTools.com for STA Travel. All of these projects leverage the firms knowledge of the “social web” and how today it’s less about simply launching a new online destination and more about adding new branded content into an existing ecosystem that already exists around the brand on the web.

On the campaign side, we’ve been incredibly busy launching new online campaigns for a host of new shows for USA Network, A&E, and The History Channel. All three are retained clients. The most recent campaign that is just now breaking is for a new show on A&E called Paranormal State which will debut in December. Similar to the approach the we took to launch INKED on A&E, we’ve created a blog to support Paranormal State that covers all things paranormal, an area that is exploding on the web. You can check it out at www.paranormalinsider.com

PSFK: You talk about the social web – how big an impact is this having on the marketing industry? What else is happening?

The focus has certainly shifted in the last 18 months to understanding and leveraging the “social web.” With the rise of social media, every brand and company is now forced completely rethink their strategies and their web presence. Today, all of our strategies are centered around the concept of “sharing”. While this has been around for a while, only now is it hitting mainstream. I’m also becoming more and more interested in the concept of “discovery” and how the best brands should act as curators of culture to help filter out the best of what is available. Collaborative filtering has evolved to the point where now very smart brands can act as facilitators of presenting the “best of what is out there.”

Obviously right now Facebook is having the biggest impact on the marketing industry. Not just because brands now want to tap into Facebooks growing userbase, but Facebook itself represents a major shift in how we think about the web. Brands need to now understand the concepts of “platforms” and “APIs”. They need to shift their focus towards understanding how to tap into social interactions. Facebook represents a c-change in how marketers do business. Myspace was just the warm-up.

Finally, we’re seeing that people are no longer “surfing” the web. They’re “clipping” it. People are using start pages and personal organizers to filter out what they want to keep top-of-mind. Because of this, understanding the value of widgets and branded utilities is critical to success. Brands can no longer rely on people coming to their websites. They now need to think about providing modules that people can add to their personal pages whether it be iGoogle, Facebook, a blog, Pageflakes, Netvibes, etc.

PSFK: What creative ideas or brand activity that is really catching your eye right now?

I love how Innocent Drinks in London thinks about the web. They are certainly one to watch. Nike is always a brand that launches best of breed, transformative experiences on the web. They continue to innovate. I think our clients Starwood Hotels and STA Travel are committed to innovation on the web and they are certainly setting a standard. I’ve also been impressed what Jeep has been doing in terms of leveraging social media. They seem to be getting it right.

It’s an exciting time for sure!

Thanks, Marc!

electicartists
Marc’s blog – Hyperempowered