Ivan Pollard (whose entire presentation is now available) has spent 25 years working for agencies and consulting firms creating messages. The mantra, “The media is the message”, was coined by Marshall McLuhan and led the predominant thought towards advertising for decades. But Pollard walks us through how times have changed, and how they continue to change, in how we are, and should, be creating messages today.

As VP of Global Connections at The Coca-Cola Company, Pollard is charged with using technology to elevate the medium and the message into an experience. Coca-Cola serves up 1,600M beverages a day, and over 1B brand impressions. The ultimate goal is convert each of these beverages and brand impressions into a meaningful, relevant conversation with consumers. To do this, Coca-Cola got consumers involved. They used technology to expand an event experience beyond a physical space and make the audience an active participant, not a passive observer.

Coca-Cola partnered with Microsoft and rock band Maroon 5 to put together a collaborative 24-hour recording studio session with the band. The goal was to have the fans work, in real time, with the band to create a new single, “Right Here, Right Now”. 400,000 fans from across 115 countries contributed lyrics, melodies, instrument suggestions, and even what the band should eat on their breaks. The band had a digital wall, powered through a Kinect interface, to sift through the suggestions and interact with the fans. The single and it will be available for download soon.

What a cool, and simple concept! Imagine how many of those 400,000 fans do you think will buy the single? How many fans tweeted and retweeted about their experience. Yup, experience. Not just an online concert, or an exclusive video (not to diminish those content types), but a real, meaningful experience. Media + Technology = a Meaningful Experience. How will you use this simple, yet effective method to alter your business?

Thank you!

ddv

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