Increasingly, branded utility is the big topic of the day.
Brian Morrissey of Adweek is on it and so are members of the digerati.
Here’s what Jeff Benjamin, interactive cd at Crispin has to say:
Rather than craft a one-off Web site, advertisers want to build brand loyalty by providing utilities that both improve people’s lives in some small way — even if it’s simply a tool for customizing pizza — and directly pad corporate bottom lines.
“The new ‘viral’ is going to be a business solution for clients.”
Morrissey also speaks to several other people in agreement with this line of thinking.
It’s worth a close read.
[UPDATE] Today at 5:00 pm, I heard more from the digerati about this topic. Kevin Flatt, Executive Creative Director at Tribal DDB/Chicago and Garrick Schmitt, VP, User Experience at Avenue A | Razorfish in San Francisco never said the words, “branded utility.” Nevertheless, their message was clear. Schmitt said, “We’re designing for participation and distribution.” Flatt said, it’s not about what a brand says, it’s about what a brand does. He gave Nike+ as an example. He said, it’s not an ad campaign, rather it’s a tech solution that changed people’s perception about running. “It’s these type of programs we need to be most interested in creating.”
