God is dead.

God remains dead.

And we have killed him.

How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?

—Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 125, tr. Walter Kaufmann

I’m not going to pretend that I’m remotely equivalent to this intellectual giant, but I will paraphrase Nietzsche with this quote:

Broadcast is dead. Broadcast remains dead. And we have killed it. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the commercial world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What social networks shall we have to invent? Must we ourselves not become broadcasters simply to appear worthy of it?

—Bill Wittur, Bottree Blog

I’ve been thinking about this topic for some time and feel the moment has finally come where we all need to accept that the traditional model of broadcasting – shouting at an audience while they wait for more content – has come to an end.

I feel I should have made this prediction many years ago and I know a lot of other people have stepped up to make similar announcements.

Another peer, Judy Shapiro commented recently on why social platforms are increasingly disruptive to traditional marketing efforts, joining the hundreds of media pundits who have been saying (and continue to repeat) that the fundamentals related to the agency models have been skewered.

Any client that continues to abide by these ‘fundamentals’ will also find themselves skewered.

The millions of advertisers that have relied on TV ads, print messages, billboards, junk mail and other forms of shouting out to people have to go back to their offices, sharpen their pencils, and write a new plan.

A dialogue plan.

So Many Options for Clients

What’s at the core of this conclusion is not just the sheer volume of options for clients over the last 10 years, but also the mode of communication, the control that they have and the competition that exists in the marketplace.

Anyone paying full ticket for a TV spot these days is a sucker, plain and simple.

They’re harsh words, but think about it:  Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Hockey League (NHL) now have ad-free distribution and exposure on platforms like Netflix.  It won’t be long until all sports – the beacon of stability in the broadcast world – are distributed through other channels, leaving broadcasters with nothing to run but tired ‘reality shows’, the odd spot of ‘news’ (ie. regurgitated PR from earlier in the day) and re-runs.

I could go on at length (I usually do), but I won’t.  We’ve certainly heard this argument before and we’re sure to hear it repeated often in the future, but I’ll spare your time and assume that you get the message:  broadcast is dead.

What’s important is that those who move on and find new life in new strategies focused on creating dialogue – be they mobile apps or their own social platform or some other digital tactic – will be the leaders where there are few.

And as my paraphrased quote asks, ‘Must we ourselves not become broadcasters simply to appear worthy of it?’.

Yes, we must

Bill Wittur
Bottree Digital Services
Get Found Online

Yesterday, after hundreds of thousands of web sites voluntarily blacked out their content (including this one), the President of the US announced his opposition to SOPA and PIPA.

There are a lot of ‘buts’ with this.

Many US Senators still support SOPA and PIPA and the Senate is set to vote on PIPA on January 24, 2012, while the House Judiciary Committee continues its markup of SOPA in February.

Unfortunately, this isn’t going to go away.

Here’s what makes all of this awkward for me.  I’m not a legal expert.  I’m interested in politics, but I try to refrain from discussing politics on this blog.  What I want to do is facilitate a conversation about new technology, media trends and digital strategy.

However, SOPA, PIPA and other actions being taken by massive organizations in the US and elsewhere show a clear disconnect between the traditional creators and distributors and a new era of communications.  We all have to find some kind of middle ground or the whole thing is going to be … messy.

And if that happens, my goal of being a media expert gets messy as well because if the Internet gets ‘broken’ by a pack of ill-informed, palm-pressing legislators in the US that post legislation that’s written by their biggest financial backers, I’ll have nothing to talk about except what a mess things have become.  And none of us want that!

So … please take action against SOPA and stay informed about what this and other badly written Internet laws are all about.  Here are some links you might find useful:

• Learn more about how SOPA would affect Canadians.
• Speak out to your Member of Parliament about fixing the Bill C-11 digital lock rules
• Watch the video
• American Censorship page
• View the Infographic
• Read SOPA on OpenCongress
• Read PIPA on OpenCongress
• Boycott SOPA, PIPA supporters

Thanks everyone!

Bill Wittur
Bottree Digital Services

… Static in the air, no reception.
Was it just a bad antenna or your perception
of the silence that surrounds you,
your ears will move to find it.
Don’t do looking,
my heart was tuned to find you

The Acorn, Bad Antenna

Preamble and Apologies

Weeks ago, the CBC celebrated it’s 75^th birthday.  While I haven’t said anything yet, I’ll say it now:  Happy Birthday CBC and here’s wishing you 75 (and many) more!

I admit that this is a very, very big topic, but I want to offer some advice for the CBC nonetheless.  I’ve thought a lot about this topic over the past few weeks and I honestly worry that I won’t be able to cover all of the angles, nor will I be able to address some of the concepts that are near and dear to my heart:  digital strategy.  Some ideas may even seem (gasp!) outdated or already part of the plan for ‘the mother ship’.

That said, I’m going to plow ahead and invite you to join this discussion.  Whatever you do, don’t let my apologies dissuade you from reading the awesome article that follows!  Please join along, add your thoughts and engage in the debate.  This is a public organization and I think we should all have our chance to inject our ‘2 cents’ whenever possible.

I’ll also make clear that I may touch on some topics (eg. Media subsidies) with little more than a promise to try to research and write about said topics at a later date.  I hope this works for all of you.  If not, I consider myself an ‘open’ person and will enjoy your feedback, regardless of what kind of feedback you offer.

The Current Status of the CBC

We all know that the CBC is a unique feature in the Canadian news, broadcasting and media creation businesses.  Millions of Canadians seek out the unique shows and programming, but also rely heavily on this broadcaster for updates about national and global events and the occasional (but decreasing) content related to local activities.

For many, the downside is that it’s a government-funded institution to the tune of $1 billion per year (give or take).  Many media organizations want to eliminate the CBC as a news and information option and are pushing for de-funding the CBC.

I believe that for most Canadians, the benefits clearly outweigh these costs and Canadians generally support a publicly-funded media organization.

The CBC is Canada’s only truly ubiquitous broadcaster with a consistent management and information network.  Despite its national mandate, the CBC has proven in the past that it’s capable of delivering functional and valuable local news and information, as well as entertainment.

The CBC is one of the world’s most viable government-funded broadcasters and helps deliver Canadian content to the global stage and facilitates the introduction of Canadians to the world’s diverse cultures, journalists and political activities.

The CBC is innovative, well beyond its mandate.  It was leading the charge with distribution efforts (eg. It was the first broadcaster to test BitTorrent) and has integrated social tools, interactive elements and other tactics to its benefit, all the while avoiding alienating a very loyal majority of Canadian users.

Despite these massive local, national and international successes, the CBC needs to rapidly enter ‘adaptation mode’ in order to survive the next few years, let alone the next several decades.

Is The CBC Accessible?

In order to address the current state of the CBC and to be able to offer some tangible advice, we need to ask and address the question: since we’re funding the CBC, are Canadians getting a public service that is accessible at any time any where?

Canadian should be asking this question more.  As far as I’m concerned, the answer is no.

Canadians have the expectation that since they have paid for the CBC once – through the general revenue of the federal government – they should not have to pay for it again.

However, when I started to think about this article and looked more closely at all of its points of access, I realized that the CBC is no longer as accessible and ubiquitous as we think it is. Let’s look at the different formats:

1. Television:  with the requirement to convert from analog to digital broadcasting, Canadians will need a digital receiver to get CBC programming or cable or satellite access through a private company.  While there has been a pause on this requirement, most analog options have disappeared.  Of course, the CBC News Network has been unavailable for years, as it’s only been accessible through cable or satellite subscriptions, but the elimination of analog as an option has closed this door to most Canadians that wanted to see their broadcaster without paying for it twice.
2. Radio:  again, as our government converts airwaves into cash-flow by engaging in massive spectrum auctions, we lose access to the CBC over the airwaves and will have to resort to satellite services like Sirius or XM.
3. Internet:  CBC.ca and related web sites have never been accessible without having to pay a private service first.  Canadians have always had to access the CBC web site via private ISPs, although access via library or wireless with local coffee shops may be an option for some.
4. Mobile:  as we enter the age of wireless, the CBC lacks accessibility for the same simple reasons as the Internet in general, but there’s also a wave of competition from the vast marketplace of apps designed to let users gain access to thousands of stations, all customized to personal taste.

As you can see, the central planks of the CBC ‘broadcasting’ strategy are unavailable to Canadians that want public content.  While some may consider this a technicality, I consider it to be a critical component of the recommendations that I’ll make for the CBC as it enters the 21^st century.

A Survival Guide for the Digital Era

I believe that Canadians need to rethink our position on what we want from the CBC.

We should be asking ourselves and our politicians a very critical question about what we expect from the CBC:  should the CBC create content, enable content or should it deliver content?  I like to think it should be a combination of all three because, as the saying goes, it takes three legs to make a table stand.

The CBC might be successful with any of these options.  The bulk of this article will explore each of these options, but I’ll close off by discussing some issues related to financing, budgeting and the concept of ‘open’.

Creation of Content

Historically, the CBC has been at the forefront of creating unique Canadian content.  Some people may argue that this content is less than great, like ‘Afghanada’, a thinly-veiled propaganda piece designed to encourage Canadians to have an interest in our war efforts, but there is a process related to content creation in Canada and, like or not, the CBC is at the centre of it.

With the future already here, the CBC must change quickly if it’s going to survive.  Broadcasting as it currently exists is a dying to dead industry and it won’t be long before the likes of CTV, Global and others crawl to the public asking for handouts like they were back in 2008 when car companies were on the rocks.

Without changing its approach, the CBC will get sucked up into a vortex of desperate ‘wait until next week’ cliff-hanger shows or reality TV that would make a seven-year-old want to puke.

The alternative to broadcasting is to take all of our content – Canada’s vast media history that the CBC watches over and maintains – and begin to aggressively negotiate distribution contracts with new points of access.  The CBC could leverage relationships with other platforms and delivery mechanisms like Sony and their Playstation, Netflix, YouTube, iTunes, Kinect, Wii and so on.

As a recent subscriber to Netflix, I have discovered that this strategy would have a two-fold benefit.  First, it would expand content that I can choose to watch anytime, anywhere and it would be without ads.  Second, it would immediately expand Canada’s vast repertoire of content to the rest of the world.  Our culture could gain an instant foothold and finally get the respect that it deserves in a global environment.

Enabling the Creation of Content

If the CBC wanted to enable the creation of content, there are endless tools available to make this happen and the strategy would take on at least two avenues of development.

First, they would have to modify their business structure so that it would be easy for all Canadians to create, swap, share, promote and enjoy Canadian content created by a much larger pool of resources.  Platforms like YouTube, WordPress, Vimeo and other tools can be tapped into in order to allow for unique content to be ‘corralled’ under the guise of ‘Canadian content’.  While the quality may drop in this kind of scenario, the quantity will increase drastically.

Radio offers an exceptional opportunity for this kind of approach.  I can’t stand listening to commercial radio because there’s always some dude yelling at me to buy used cars or get new diamonds at low, low prices.  A better way has been introduced in the US under the banner of Prometheus Radio.  This group has finally received the support of the FCC and they are now responsible for hundreds of local community radio stations appearing across the United States.

By combining existing radio assets, crowd-sourced news and additional funding for local news and information channels (all analog, of course), the CBC could propel the radio business into the 21^st century.  A leader with this kind of technology is Paper.li (http://paper.li/) where users can go and create their own instant, daily or weekly “newspaper”.  Perhaps the CBC should partner with these guys?

The resulting news and information from crowds might look like this:

• Automatic broadcasts across the network for specific emergencies:
  • Weather
  • Political/news
  • Amber alerts
  • Traffic alerts
  • Fire / police emergencies
  • Users can opt in for specific issues
  • Targeting would be a function of the broadcast message
    • Local
    • Provincial
    • National
    • International
    • Language:  Canada has to move beyond the ‘two language’ debate and accept that we have many people, from many countries and cultures around the globe.  Being able to access news and information in your own language would go a long way to fulfilling the CBC’s mandate of accessibility.
    • Additional media sources:  with so many blogs, indie publications and alternative news sources available, the CBC would be a great aggregator, like Google’s new Currents project or even something like DIGG.
    • Posts and other comments should have an expiry date:  when I post something to my wife, there’s no need for it to exist in the digital universe for more than a couple of minutes, let alone eternity
      • Users can modify their settings so that they can choose how long comments will last

An example of how this is happening in the market?  Spotify, although some disagree that Spotify is the way to the future with radio.  Perhaps the CBC can partner with Spotify or a similar Canadian organization to create custom radio stations across the country that are supported by feeds from the CBC?

Of course, radio is just one format by which this crowd-sourced news and information is distributed.  Apps, TV and other platforms might have custom points of access through which we can get this information, vote on its rank, its importance, commenting and so on.

The CBC could even takes things one step further and become its own social network.  Who needs Facebook or YouTube as a middle-man?  There are dozens of platforms like Buddy Press or Ning which enable the implementation of unique social networks that have their own privacy guidelines (we know that Facebook’s is full of holes) and uses of information.

Finally, there is a dark spectre that few Canadians seem to be aware of.  News and information in Canada is rapidly being ‘privatized’ and a bottle-neck has been created with the creation of the recently privatized Canadian Press.  Few people have followed that Bell, TorStar and Gesco now control most of the content that is spread via broadcasters, including the CBC, and this is not an ideal way to create an honest news environment for Canadians.  In summary, news and information should be relevant and it shouldn’t exist simply to make a profit.

The solution to this situation is simple:  the CBC needs to respond to the privatization of news with a Canadian news and information co-op.  Canadians would essentially offer up competition to the corporate PR machine that gets thrust on us throughout the day.

A second option for the CBC is to become the country’s leading ‘culture investment fund’, with plans to invest in different aspects of culture, allocating our public funds to independent creators of content as well as the mainstream producers.  I won’t get into how allocations would be made, but I’d suggest something like a public / professional / private board that looked at how funds would be split up.

Delivering Content

Finally, Canadians should begin to seriously ask about how public funding might result in a ‘bigger bang for the buck’ scenario.

We need to think about how the CBC can become a tool for delivering content.  I don’t think this concept has been talked about much in the public sphere, but I’m going to put that idea forward now and encourage others to embrace it as well.

The basic idea is that we begin to think of the CBC like we might have thought about Canada Post 100 years ago.  At the turn of the 20^th century, Canadians needed a way to communicate with each other by mail.  We needed a publicly-owned service that we could trust to deliver our content from one person to another (or broadly) with minimal cost, quick service, reliability and privacy.

Today, we need exactly those considerations (privacy, reliability, etc) when thinking about our digital communications.  And if we agree on this, then the next leap in recommendations is very logical:  the CBC should be Canada’s leader when it comes to investing in digital communications infrastructure that all ISPs, from mega-monopolies like Bell and Rogers to the ‘guy next door’ ISP, can tap into and deliver to Canadians as wholesalers.

Middle-men like Bell, Rogers and Quebecor would be eliminated and everyone would have access to the pipe, so long as they were a committed ISP.

Don’t forget that the Canadian digital infrastructure started this way:  it was built with Canadian funds and then sold off to private communications companies for a song.

Also, despite the promise that privatizing pipelines would bring lower rates, we’ve had to suffer through the opposite.  The cost of accessing content has increased dramatically in recent years because we allow ourselves to be controlled by monopolies.  Canadians pay the highest rates in the world for cable, satellite, wireless and internet communications and this has to end.

I know.  This is a ‘powder keg’ solution waiting for a match, but think about what the mandate of the CBC is (or at least should be):  universal access to news and information.  Many Canadians, particularly in rural areas, do not have access to any kind of information, mainly because the CBC isn’t allowed to extend itself to specific underpopulated areas, but also because private companies won’t extend themselves for economic reasons.

I didn’t really think about this issue much until later in this summer when a little rural town called Goderich got hammered by a surprise tornado.  While this happened, millions of other Ontario inhabitants knew that something was happening, but there really didn’t seem to be a centralized news and information source that offered up warnings and updates that we could trust.  Social platforms were abuzz with speculation and commercial stations were crammed with loudmouths complaining about the state of CBC funding (and other things).

Another consideration is the mode via which content is delivered.  The CBC has already gambled (and lost) with distributing programs via Bit Torrent, but there will always be other avenues that they could test.  Technology is always being developed related to Peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms (example:  http://www.masternewmedia.org/the-alternative-p2p-wireless-internet-network-the-netsukuku-idea/) and it’s time the CBC took up its role as leader in this category again.

Let’s face it:  this limited array of accessible and up-to-date options is dangerous for Canadians and we need a better way to create, promote and distribute information.

The Irony:  Non-Digital Solutions to a Digital Crisis

I’ve mentioned a few times that the critical question to address centres around accessibility.  What’s the point of having a digital TV network if an increasing volume of people can’t watch your programming?

Recently, the CRTC decided that the CBC would be given an extension on the requirement to convert to digital, but this requirement, regardless of when it’s implemented, insults all Canadians that refuse to subscribe to cable or satellite services (a number that’s growing by leaps and bounds every year).

In this situation, the CBC has a clear strategic option:  if they’re forced to stick with a more basic infrastructure, both radio and TV should focus on analog distribution, ie. over the airwaves.  It’s the only way to ensure public accessibility.

As everyone else races to lock Canadians into expensive rate plans, this strategy would give the CBC a unique leg-up with the competition as it’ll be the only organization that has access as part of its mandate.

The second path is one of innovation, most of which I’ve outlined above.  Implementing new tools and continuing to leverage existing analog infrastructure will go a long way to creating an engaged public as it relates to news and information.

If the CBC doesn’t take one of these paths, we’ll basically have to pay for it twice.  And at extremely high rates to for-profit companies.

Canadians need to understand that this has already happened under our watch and we need to reject it.

Epilogue:  Funding the CBC

Canadians have lead themselves to believe that there aren’t a lot of options when it comes to funding the CBC.  We’ve been lead to believe that we pay our taxes, they get allocated to the CBC and the CBC just … is.

More importantly, the financial activity of the CBC is under attack, particularly from Sun Media and other right-wingers that believe all news should be privatized.  To be honest, I’m actually OK with the CBC opening its books, as I believe all government organizations should open their books and not just the CBC.

Of course, in the interest of consistency and in order to avoid the perception of favouritism, I would include the Department of Defence, Finance, Environment, Health and other government organizations with this spirit of openness, as they account for substantially larger portions of federal budget and also need to be exposed for Canadian review.

So yes, for once, I’ll find myself agreeing with the likes of Quebecor President Peledeau and Ezra Levant, but would expect some consistency across the board with the idea of ‘open’ and what it should mean to all Canadians.  I don’t want to single out the CBC simply because it’s obviously the ‘George Bailey-like’ competition to ‘Potter/Peledeau’ and his organization that would have us renting media like ‘Pottersfield’.

What I would also demand – and millions of other Canadians will likely agree to – is that companies like Quebecor should also open their books to the levels of subsidies, over-the-top ad campaigns by their buddies on Parliament Hill and other excesses that are directed specifically for the benefit of private media companies and not for Canada at large.  Quebecor runs many magazines and other media publications that get millions a year in subsidies under the guise of ‘content creation’ (or porkbarreling) and it’s time it comes to an end.

In addition to opening the books, I would want the CBC to become independent of government funding.  Too often in the past, the CBC has become the mouthpiece of the government of the day and this must change.

If you look at other models, both in Canada and around the world, you’ll see that there are all kinds of options available:

• We could create a co-op that Canadians can invest in and own directly.  Every Canadian should be able to buy a share, but no Canadian should be able to have more than one vote.
• A Kickstarter campaign could encourage donations.
• We could join ThePoint.com and make something happen.
• The government could convert the status of the CBC to charity status so that donations to the ‘mother ship’ are tax-deductible.  Engage Canadians in annual or semi-annual sponsorship drives to generate more funds for programming.
• Yet another conversion option:  make investments in the CBC (or parts of it) RRSP-eligible.

This is ‘tip of the iceberg’ when it comes to funding solutions and it would get people like Ezra Levant off the back of the CBC.  More importantly, I like these options more than I like advertising and if we’re successful with even a few of these options, we could declare the CBC to be an ad-free zone, something that I’m sure all Canadians would enjoy.

Conclusions:

It’s time for Canadians to demand more from their public broadcaster and with the advent of new technology, they can also take part in its growth and change.

The CBC can be a critical part of content creation, both within the organization and also with the help of Canadians, and also become central to the delivery of content, particularly if we focus on CBC-funded infrastructure.

If we don’t demand change from the CBC, it will fail.  And when it fails, we’ll all lose out.

In the short-run, you can at least join the hundreds of thousands of other Canadians that are supporting the CBC and petitioning for the protection of funding for the CBC.

Resources:

http://cupedoll.blogspot.com/2011/07/news-of-world-kai-nagata-omnibus-crime.html

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2011/08/16/the-media-is-the-enemy/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservatives-summon-sun-journalists-to-testify-in-cbc-fight/article2182010/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/tv/story/2010/03/23/crtc-cbc-protest-decision.html

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5985/135/

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5980/125/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/whats-a-75-year-old-public-broadcaster-to-do/article2130712/

READ COMMENTS:  http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2011/08/30/Canadian-Digital-TV-Transition/

CIA Manipulation of the media:  http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2011/09/30/the-eyeopener-cia-in-the-news-media-2/

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ic1.nsf/eng/06786.html

New Hamilton Service:  http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/618356–cbc-to-start-online-service-in-hamilton

http://rabble.ca/news/2011/11/creating-cbc-order-build-nation

Canadians support the CBC:  http://farnwide.blogspot.com/2011/11/massive-support-for-cbc.html

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2130629/ipad-look-2012-tv-app

http://www.breakmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Video_Study_2012-12-8.pdf

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6203/125/

http://cupedoll.blogspot.com/2011/07/news-of-world-kai-nagata-omnibus-crime.html

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2011/08/16/the-media-is-the-enemy/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/tv/story/2010/03/23/crtc-cbc-protest-decision.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2009/08/11/canada-cellphone-rates-expensive-oecd.html

Suffice to say, 2011 had it’s challenges.  I take solace in the idea that I’m not alone.

The good news is that I made a lot of new friends, I completed a challenge that was incredibly unique, and I learned what ‘humility’ is all about.  To top it all off, I have a lot to look forward to in terms of opportunities brewing in 2012 both personally and professionally.

The Biggest Digital Story From 2011

The biggest story for me in 2011 was the ‘Arab Spring’ and the #occupy movement.  Yes, I see them as one and the same.

What’s that?  A digital strategy guy talking about a political movement?  Yep.

The ‘Arab Spring’ – ie. the massive uprisings against dictators and criminals – and the Occupy Wall Street (and other locations) movements (more uprisings against criminals) signaled the start of what I hope will be very significant change in almost every country around the globe.  Most people are waking up to the reality that there is a disastrous disparity in income and wages earned everywhere and that the middle class which supports all of us is in rapid decline because of tax cuts for the uber-rich, entitlement and just plain theft in the name of ‘austerity’ from those that can’t afford to be stolen from.

Even a good friend of mine, Byron Sonne, got arrested in 2010 when he got caught up in the frenzy of the ‘arrest everyone because they’re terrorists’ idea perpetrated by the mainstream media and ill-informed Conservatives everywhere.  He has had to endure a lot of things, including a divorce, strain on his family, numerous trials and court appearances and I ask you to ignore the stereotyping that the media places on his personality.  I worked with him for several years and I know him to be a good person.  I’m not alone:  digital expert Jesse Brown also feels this way.  Even the Sun – gasp – finds his story fairly innocuous.  Others are even suggesting that Byron Sonne is Canada’s political prisoner.  I can’t agree more, but I’m afraid we’re going to see more of this now that we’ve handed absolute power at the federal level to people that don’t respect democracy.

By the way, you can support Byron by making a donation here.

But again, why is this important to a digital strategist and why am I saying it’s the story of the year?

Because it showcases at least three important things:

1. We – all of Us – know what we’re doing despite what You think.
2. We are using social media and other digital tools exponentially more effectively than a bunch of marketers with big budgets ever could.
3. The availability of the Internet as it currently exists is extremely precarious and it may be taken from us at any moment.

We Know What We’re Doing

The Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movements proved to the world that when everyone is on the same page, significant things can happen.

Social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and other platforms were at the centre of these movements and showcase that we know how to act as one – quickly and seamlessly – without violent disruption or leaders to tell us what to do.

From these events, we learned that all citizens are now fully available and recognizable as reporters of the scene, much to the chagrin of mainstream journalists that mix agenda with ad buys and PR coming from editorial boards that dictate what should be said as opposed to what should be said.  You know what I mean.

Expect more of the same in 2012 because the solutions we wanted weren’t generated in 2011 and probably won’t be addressed in 2012 unless we force them to be a point of focus.

Our Precarious Internet

An intense level of scrutiny has fallen on everyone that expresses their disappointment with all of our leaders bailing out banks and car companies while we have to peddle chocolate and magazines to raise funds for our schools.

On several occasions, legislators in Britain, dictators in Egypt and even Senators on Capitol Hill threatened to ‘shut off’ or severely limit the Internet as we currently know it, despite our demands that they act in the best interest of the people that elected them and NOT the organizations that funded them.

It’s these threats that we cannot take lightly.  We cannot ignore something that everyone around the globe accepts as a right and not a privilege.

It’s imperative that all of us find a solution to these endless threats of censure in 2012 and beyond if we’re going to see things like the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street grow to their full potential.

A Public Internet – Like a Big Digital Library

We can lead the way in Canada.  I’ve been recommending a publicly-owned Internet in Canada for some time, but it’s hard to sell this concept to people that really can’t afford much more than their monthly Rogers bill.  With this in mind, I’m open to starting a movement that would encourage people to ‘cut the cord’ and put the money they save into a pooled fund that can later be used to invest in hard infrastructure that will insure we have our own Internet and not something we’re leasing from media monopolies at outrageous rates.

2011 Marketer of the Year

Forget all the big stories about massive product launches, competition and other fun stuff that happened through 2011.

The 2011 marketer of the year won by a long shot:  AdBusters.

They placed a single ad in their own magazine in June (I think) concerning the Occupy Wall Street idea and it skyrocketed from there.  I’m sure they did a few tweets and other stuff to push the idea forward even more, but there just wasn’t much effort needed on their part.

They saw a need and they filled it with a smart, effective and efficient campaign.

The Other Stories for 2012

Mobile

In keeping with my main ‘big story’, all things mobile will continue to be THE platform of choice, growing opportunity, cool thing to be seen with, marketing strategy for people and companies alike.

Mobile represents the integration of all cool trends in one single package:

1. Open source (ie. through Google’s Android)
2. Revenue opportunities through markets and apps
3. Untapped SEO and SEM visibility
4. Unique ‘check-in’ and social integration opportunities
5. Gaming, communication, mapping and all of the other cool stuff that has become ‘standard’ with mobile
6. Instant conversations with QR codes and other scannable tools

Most of our strategy recommendations for new and existing clients focus on all that’s mobile because it won’t be long before the majority of the market accesses their life online through an iPhone (or iPad or iTouch), RIM Blackberry / Playbook combo, Android device or other mobile device.

Expect new entrants to the market as well.  It won’t be long until companies like Sony enter the market with their own operating system and apps market for their mobile tools because why let Google have all the fun?

The only caveat to all of this is that mobile in Canada and the US will continue to be stunted until wireless companies stop ripping us off.  Canadians and Americans pay the highest amounts for wireless access and this must change.

Broadcasters Will Become Obsolete

The concept of broadcasting is obsolete, but it will take a while before the rest of the non-media world recognizes this.

The advent of Netflix, Sony Home, Nintendo Online and other content-on-demand platforms and web sites will destroy the revenue potential of even the biggest and most popular networks.

Advertising will be turned on its head because the credo of spending the most amount of money for the least amount of work will end when clients remind agencies that people don’t watch TV ads anymore.

In Canada, this issue will be compounded by the fact that our broadcasters will demand even more locks on content distribution before they suffer from more competition on the open Internet.  Usage-Based Billing, throttling, online spying and all kinds of other nasty tactics will be used by Canada’s media conglomerates in order to clamp down on consumers that simply want to live an ad-free life.

Consumers will respond by downloading music and movies, skirting IP restrictions and sharing files despite the endless threat of incarceration and financial punishment.

If you own stock in broadcasters, sell it off.  They’re going to get hit repeatedly in 2012 and beyond.

Local

I consider local to be an adjunct of mobile:  they’re both dependent on where the user is at any given moment but more importantly, they’re also great enablers for people on the go and for businesses that want to be found.

Let’s face it.  We all know where the Wal-Marts are.  What we don’t know is where we can find a local patisserie that makes kick ass croissants at 6 in the morning.

As small businesses put the pieces together in 2012 – at Bottree, we’re always happy to help with this! – they’ll increase their visibility and get found much more quickly than the ‘same old, same old’ options.  Those that offer something unique and (more importantly) learn how to shout out about it when people are seeking them out will win.  Layering in social conversations like reviews and comparisons will make the opportunity even more sweet.

Once again, digital will be the great equalizer in 2012.

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog in 2012.  As mentioned, I anticipate big changes for myself in 2012.  I hope to finish another level of my sommelier program and may shift my focus to launching a wine site if time permits.

Somehow, my expectations are that it’ll prove to be a hell of a lot easier than talking about digital strategy!

Bill Wittur
Bottree Digital Services
Get Found Online

In 2011, how much did you spend online?  How much do you have budgeted for 2012?

If you’re anything like IAC (owners of TicketMaster, Expedia and dozens of other web platforms), you’re spending a pretty sizable whack of cash and it’s likely that this will continue in 2012.

Ad Age, through Kanter Media (a subsidiary of WPP) has estimated the spend for the world’s biggest Google advertisers.

A summary of these spenders is listed below.  Please note that all of this data is based on global / US estimates and may or may not include Canadian activities.

Take a moment and allow your jaw to drop and then give your head a shake.

Why?  Data of this sort begs the question:  ‘what are you planning to spend online in 2012?’

I know … this question is 100% self-serving because I’ve seen a lot of people sitting in the sidelines for the last few years terrified about what will happen when they spend a few hundred bucks with online advertising.  This from people who drop a million bucks on ads no one will see on broadcast TV ads or print ads that are only good for being burned up in the family fireplace.

Why AREN’T You Spending Online?

While part of me wants to scream at how ridiculous this fear is (ie. a phobia of advertising online), my more rational and calm side kicks in and I want to remind everyone out there that there are at LEAST two extremely painless ways to test out online advertising:

1. Google AdWords Coupons.  I’ve just received several $200 coupons from Google and I’d like to start using them to help prospects get found online.
2. Google Grants for Charities.  This is an extremely valuable program that Google offers to registered non-profits.

For both options, I manage this initial process completely free of charge to select prospects.  I do the setup, make keyword and ad copy recommendations, manage the budget and help you understand what happened.

That’s right:  all of this FREE OF CHARGE.  I feel it’s that valuable for people to get online, so I surrender my time to help make it happen.  It’s usually just a couple of hours of time, but I’m that passionate about pushing people off the traditional fence.

NOTE:  I don’t want to be accused of being too biased towards Google, but they’re the only ones who are aggressively trying to get everyone using their platform through coupons and other programs.  If you know of other platforms or services that offer initial no obligation-type coupons for prospects, please post details in the comments below or email me (bill@bottree.com).

Anyways, the waiting should be over.  I no longer understand people that aren’t using online advertising and I’m trying not to let my frustration show too much.  If you’re not online or developing a strategy, your competitors are blowing you out of the water and, if this is truly a ‘dog eat dog’ world, you will find yourself in dire straits in 2012.  For good reason.

With this in mind, in 2012, please do me and yourself a huge favour:  fire your agency and throw out the media kit from the TV and print reps.  Start dabbling with online advertising.  Once you dabble, you’ll never go back.

And when you do, you’ll thank me for it!

Bill Wittur
Bottree Digital Services
Get Found Online.

How Smart is Your (Mobile) Digital Strategy?

I read this afternoon that more than 40% of Canadians that have cell phones actually carry smartphones in their pockets.

That’s 8 million people in Canada.

Impressive.

So … if you’re just starting to get into digital marketing, is upwards to 40% of your digital strategy focused on mobile tools or applications that are designed specifically for smartphones?

If you’re not sure where to start, here’s a list of activities:

Again, wow.

Games, weather, apps, texting, news, email, maps, locations, reviews and music are all just a few colours of the full palette of opportunities with mobile marketing, so again, I ask the question:  what specific strategies are you working on to ensure that these 8 million people find you while they’re doing the ‘Blackberry prayer’ (ie. the walk and text coddling that you see with most digerati)?

Digital & Mobile Tactics for Getting Found … on SmartPhones

If you’re not sure about how to address this audience, here are a few quick recommendations:

1. Google Places:  make sure your Google Places account is claimed, up to date and ready for mobile interaction.
2. Mobile version of your site:  Is your site mobile ready?  I got busted by a friend who pointed out that a mobile directory didn’t have its own mobile site.  Even the Bottree site has its moments, but it’s something that’s worth investigating if you’re a retailer with even one location.
3. Reviews:  use any local engine (including Places) to ensure that as information is aggregated into an average of stars and comments, you’re there shouting out from someone’s Samsung or Sony.
4. Click-to-call:  if you’re doing a Google AdWords campaign, be sure to allow click-to-call tracking.  It’s a buck per click and it’s worth every penny because the call is tracked for you and custom mobile stats are recorded with both AdWords and Analytics.
5. QR Codes:  to what extent are you using QR codes or other formats to let users quickly find out more about your product or service?  Don’t forget that a quick snap can validate a print ad or other media format with a click.
6. Custom Local Sites:  don’t shy away from GroupOn, FourSquare or other local deal engines, as they help mobilize traffic for your service as people are in the mood to buy your goods.  Think impulse.
7. SMS Codes:  while not as popular as they once were, they are still used by those who want to avoid the bandwidth charges associated with maps and browsing and are great ways to address that whopping 88% number listed above.
8. A Good App:  Don’t build an app that just repositions your brand.  Post something in the app universe that’s actually got a use to it.  If you’re a food retailer, how about something that gives me coupons of the day that I can scan at the point-of-sale (POS) or recipe ideas related to specific produce?

A lot of these are pretty basic, don’t cost a lot and just need a little time to set up.  If you’re not sure how to go about any of the above, contact me.  I’ll be happy to get you pointed in the right direction.

For those of you who have done something with mobile, what are some other tactics that you’ve used for your campaigns that have worked (or not) when it comes to mobile?

What are some technical limitations behind the implementation or success of any campaign?

Please share your thoughts below.

Conclusion:  Mobile is a Must

If anyone that you speak with talks about banner buys and filling little tiny boxes on even smaller screens, tell them to go somewhere else.

Mobile marketing is here and you have to be ready to communicate instantly with people that are going to be shopping, researching and finding you, mostly on impulse.

This new age of new age marketing is going to force a lot of marketers to rethink their strategy even before it’s begun.

It’s OK though:  because of the rate of change, most people are on the same page!

I’m not a Google Analytics expert, although I am working through some of their Certification materials.

That said, the Google Analytics team recently announced a huge pile of updates that make even someone like me feel more comfortable with this imposing tool.

Here’s a quick review of all of them.  Details can be found here.

Real-Time Reporting

In the age of instant, many people have asked why they would be limited from seeing activity on their site in real-time and Analytics finally responds to the question of what’s happening on my site right now?

With real-time reporting, site users and managers will be able to see them impact of decisions as they’re made and respond to these changes appropriately.

The impact of this change?  Many hosts and other companies offer up basic reporting latforms as part of their package.  With real-time reporting (and other new features), I can see many of these companies dropping the antiquated reporting tools and offering to set up Analytics free of charge as part of their packages.

We’re also worried that a new generation of analytics junkies will materialize, constantly refreshing their analytics page looking for new updates.  I might be wrong, but that’s not what this is for.

Better Events Tracking

Events tracking is (unfortunately) where I break down and confess that I need someone to back me up with proper setup of event or goal tracking, but I’m hopeful that making the core tools more approachable will remove many of the headaches and brainfreezes that I experience when asked to set up Goal Tracking.

And for those who want a great tutorial on Goal / Event Setup, focusing on the new features, visit this review by Kayden.

The impact of this change?  I’ve already confessed to hitting the wall when it comes to setting this stuff up, but I’m probably just being a little hard on myself.  That said, the real impact of this change is that once you’ve got goal tracking properly set up, you’ll be able to see more information than you ever have before, especially data related to

A Growing List of Apps for Analytics

The list of service providers that have developed custom apps for Analytics users is increasing every day and a full inventory of those companies can be found at the Analytics Apps page.

The impact of this change?  It’s very likely that the entire Analytics field will become more ‘nimble’, if I can use that word, when it comes to leveraging Analytics, dumping data into even more useful interactive tools and platforms and making it easier to understand exactly what it this data is trying to tell us about our campaigns, our sites, our revenue streams.

Exceptional Funnel Visualization Improvements

I’m saving the best for last.

The funnel setup and interpretation has always been a stumbling block for me when working with clients as I try to tell them why 100% of entry page traffic resulted in 100% of mid-stream activity and then 100% of exit page activity.  It’s always been a little tricky at best to work through this and force it to make sense.

Now we have this:

Those of you who looked at the ‘goal funnel’ or tracking page can erase that from your memory and start to appreciate real insight that you’ll get with these new tools.  Here’s another example:

For some, it might look like the rail connections at Waterloo Station in London, but we now get a chance to see how people are getting to the site and what parts of the site they’re visiting when they arrive.

The general impact of all of these changes is that Google Analytics may make ‘geeking out’ a little more appealing to non-geeks.  In other words, steps like these make it more valuable to most users.

Bill Wittur
Bottree Digital Services

The introduction of a new search platform called YaCy has given me pause for thought.

This platform possesses an angle to it that is very near / dear to my heart:  P2P networking.

The premise is this:  if everyone downloads a copy of the search platform, no single entity will be able to ‘dictate’ what the search results should be.  The logic is that the YaCy peers create individual search indexes and rankings, so that results better match what users are looking for over time. Each instance of the software contains a peer-to-peer network protocol to exchange search indexes with other YaCy search engines.

In English?  Search results will be left to the process of aggregating feedback from users as opposed to relying on a black box to guide us through the web.  While it could be messy, it could also be very ‘democratic’.

To be honest, I don’t know why everything isn’t based on P2P sharing, as there are incredible efficiencies coupled with unique redundancies, but maybe YaCy will impel other developers to force the hand related to movies, music and other forms of information and entertainment.

The project is supported by the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and is in beta mode now.  You can download your own copy of YaCy at this location:  http://search.yacy.net/.

I’ll be trying it out over the next few days and will post any thoughts about it when I have a moment.

Bill Wittur
Bottree Digital Services
Get Found Online

After years of limited competition (roughly the same plans with slight variations in speed, pricing and caps designed chiefly to make comparisons difficult), those crunching the numbers may well look at the pricing, see higher costs, and invariably assume that means prices on existing plans will be on the rise. That may be true for some ISPs (though not all), but the real challenge is to begin to shift away from “me-too” plans that offer slightly better pricing or larger data caps in the hope of capturing some marketshare from the incumbents. That approach has been used for years and has left the independent ISPs with six percent of the marketplace. There may be a segment of the Canadian market that wants independent ISPs offering similar plans at slightly better pricing but it isn’t a big one.

There’s no doubt that Canada is due for some competition from the ‘same old, same old’ packages that Bell and Rogers go back and forth with, like Coke and Pepsi and he offers Canadians some relief based on the recent CRTC decision.  While things aren’t perfect, there’s a possibility that we could see truly innovative delivery packages from independent ISPs in the form of the following subscription packages.  Geist offers the following as just a few ideas as to how this might happen:

• Peak timing plans that offer unlimited for much of the day and a reasonable cap during peak periods.
• Rate limited plans that offer hundreds of GB per month at full speed and then slow down for the rest of the month if the customer exceeds the cap (with customer profiles broadly distributed throughout the 30 day cycle to better manage the network)
• Plans that allow users to rollover unused data the following month (particularly for use during off-peak times)
• Skinny basic broadband plans that take advantage of $14.00 access to give a segment of the public relatively cheap, no-frills broadband
• Plans targeted to specific communities, such as Freedom 65 broadband plan for older demographics that may have different usage patterns from younger demographics

I’ve already moved everything over to TekSavvy, basically knowing that all they can do is piggy-back off Bell’s residential DSL line.  While this is a start, I’d love to see more aggressive plans as a result of this CRTC decision.  The expansion of low-cost internet access will spell a rapid increase in opportunity for digital media innovators and cap the cash flow of Canada’s media monopolies.

A recent report from the EcoTrain Commission concluded that the economics behind high-speed rail simply don’t add up.  Here are some of the basic details:

• If approved, a Toronto-Quebec high-speed system would cost about $19 to $21 billion
• At the rate taxpayers get ripped off by low-ball estimates, expect that number to double
• The timing would be at least 15 years to complete the project.  My son will be finished university by then.

Being completely uninformed about the details of the matter, I reluctantly agree.  I’m all for public transit.  Believe me, please.

However, I simply don’t see car obsessed commuters from places like London and surrounding rural areas changing their habits when it comes to the peak-hour drive-time into Toronto and back out to the burbs.

Recommendation for a High Speed Alternative

All the talk about high-speed rail translates to a pipe-dream for what used to be.

The last time we spoke of a national railway was far back in the time of Confederation when Sir John A. MacDonald obsessed about seeing a hard rail running from sea to sea (start humming ‘Canadian Railroad Trilohgy’ now …).

We need better vision than that and I have a simple suggestion:  become obsessed with high speed Internet.

Make our Internet and all related digital services first-class and the best in the world.  Bring this country together digitally instead of physically.

The government of Australia recently built a first-class broadband network for the public with great fanfare.  This was a national initiative to bind communities digitally via the Internet as opposed to forcing them to meet in a single place such as Toronto or Quebec City.

The time for that antiquated mindset of meeting centrally has come to a close and an aggressive broadband plan – either for Ontario, Quebec or the whole country – will truly set us apart when it comes to creating a communications vision for this country.

However, for this to work, it has to be a public network that leases pipe to private companies, much like an electric or water utility might.  Here’s how things were managed in Australia:

A government-owned company, NBN Co, has begun building a nationwide open-access network mixing optical fiber with microwave and Ka-band satellite to bring broadband to the entire nation at globally competitive prices. The base offering is 12 Mb down and 1 Mb up for A$29.

Despite setting start-up prices, NBN Co is not a retail business. It is an infrastructure play that has already signed up dozens of ISPs to provide service. It is under construction at new residential property developments across the country and a set of First Release sites where fiber is being run to existing homes and businesses.

It’s that easy.

$19 billion (times two, give or take) would go very far indeed in bringing businesses closer together without the blood, sweat and toil of a physical rail line that has to negotiate expropriation for land and produce endless volumes of CO2 from trains running day and night.  Ooops.  Day only, as running it during the night would probably not be economical.

Whither Our Private Companies?

Companies like Bell, Rogers and others have been delinquent in the role of creating a vision for all of Canada when it comes to being the ‘best in breed’ for digital access.  The following statement could easily sub in Canadian names:

When it deregulated and sold its national carrier, Australia made an ill-fated choice: it allowed Telstra to become the dominant pay TV provider as well.  With the power of incumbency over both telecom and TV, Telstra took a very leisurely route to rolling out broadband, so much so that Australia was one of the last developed countries in the world to introduce ADSL.  Today, for such an advanced and prosperous country, Australia is way behind the curve in broadband. Availability is patchy and prices are high – the classic diseases of under-liberalized markets.  The result is that public understanding of broadband is limited, adoption is sub-par, and all the myriad applications that create devoted users are not being created locally.

In other words, we need to radically rethink the way we manage our digital infrastructure, profit from it, and invest in future pipeline, be it state-of-the-art fibre or wireless services.  Or something completely unique that’s beyond ‘state-of-the-art’, assuming that exists (and it does with the Alternative P2P Internet Infrastructure or with simple tools like Frontline SMS or delivery via home power lines).

It starts with seeing the Internet as a vital public utility.  Cities like London should be taking digital seriously and making their own public investments into the digital grid and infrastructure.  A federal or provincial program similar to the Economic Action Plan where each level of government contributes an equal amount would be a good way to stimulate this program.

Once we’ve got a real vision for the future instead of one that hungers for what was, we can start to layer in strategies and ideas about how to make it so that Canadian businesses will be able to stand out when it comes to ecommerce, shipping and other modes of distribution, including online file transfer.

Besides actions being taken by OpenMedia.ca, there’s not much happening now when it comes to petitioning for a public infrastructure, but this will change when people start getting dragged into courts because they were busted for downloading the latest Justin Bieber CD or wanted to watch their favourite sitcom from the 80s but couldn’t find it via high-cost cable services.

Until then, breath a sigh of relief:  the high-speed rail boondoggle will probably be put off.  For now.

Bill Wittur
Bottree Digital Services