I think things need to be happening a lot faster. The attention span is so short, whether it’s advertisements going from this 30-second spot to 10 seconds to capture your attention. Things are needing to be snappier and louder and more in your face. There’s also so much competition happening and so everybody’s just trying to get eyeballs on their brands to get people to engage quicker.
In 2007, entrepreneur Adam Scher co-founded CMYK, a full-service digital agency and multidisciplinary design studio based in Brooklyn. Scher is the creative director at CMYK, as well as an adjunct professor at NYU. He earned his MFA in design and technology at The New School.
In this episode of Velocitize Talks, Scher discusses the impact of the narrative, interactive experiences, and the inherent flexibility of WordPress.
Sharing is caring (1:31)
There are a lot more possibilities now with what we can do with digital and that creates a really open canvas in terms of what we can create for our clients. Specifically we’ve seen content be a huge driving factor in terms of the digital platforms that we’re creating for our clients, making a space for them to tell their stories.
What makes a narrative go viral? What makes a story resonate? What makes a user pay attention beyond the average 8 seconds? The New York Times conducted a study to analyze the reasons behind why people share content and the key motivators. They found that 68% of participants share to give people a better sense of their beliefs and who they are.
Depending on the person’s motivations (and generation), they share content through LinkedIn (careerists), Instagram and Snapchat (hipsters/Gen Z), and Facebook and Twitter (boomerangs)—even forwarding emails (altruists).
Storytelling with WordPress (2:12)
One of the things that we really think about is empowering our clients to know how to update and use their website. There’s not as steep of a learning curve with the WordPress CMS that there is with other platforms and so it’s not as intimidating.
CMYK builds their campaigns almost exclusively on WordPress CMS. Because of its flexibility and easily customizable platform, clients have the ability to go in and make changes and updates to their website on their own.
Innovative & interactive campaigns (4:18)
I think at the core of what we do, we really try to be storytellers and we try to figure out what a brand’s narrative is and how we can tell that story in a really authentic and engaging way. Every brand is unique, and has a unique story to tell.
Last year CMYK was nominated for a Webby award for its interactive platform developed for the highly respected literary publication, The Believer. They created an innovative user experience to essentially reflect the art of the printed word.
Value add (7:02)
Before social media had so much reach, it was not as transparent in terms of what brands were doing and what their values and missions are. But now people have an expectation that the brands are going to be in line with their values and their missions and it’s much more important for brands to kind of step up and do the right thing.
It doesn’t seem like something as straightforward as being authentic would be so challenging. However, integrating brand authenticity, purpose, and transparency into digital marketing efforts has become paramount, especially when communicating with younger users.
Last year Edelman conducted a study on brand trust which found that nearly two-thirds of consumers buy in accordance with their personal beliefs. Half of consumers said that brands have a responsibility to get involved in at least one social issue outside of their core business.
What’s next (8:21)
We’re seeing people using technology or expecting a more personalized curated experience and so I think that with technology moving forward brands are looking at how they can create that curated experience for their user, for better and for worse.
To learn more about CMYK, check out their website.
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