By Digby Lewis, Head of Platforms and Distribution at iris

1. Source: Admap, February 2017
Downloaded fromwarc.com
The 5 strategies for communicating in micro-moments
This article outlines what marketers must do to reach consumers in the short moments available to them, with case studies that
include successful campaigns from adidas, MINIand Purdey's.
Among the strategies in the paper, using messaging platforms looms large, as the use of these now account for, on
average, 28 minutes a day per user - and they support the use of existing, non-literate content.
Marketers should also look to platforms such as YouTube and Medium to help turn a micro-moment into an extended
session, and remember to present the value of content upfront, to keep viewers engaged.
Finally, advertising that does not blend with its context - by being bold and taking risks - is more likely to be impactful, so
being disruptive is an important way of sticking out from the crowd.
Digby Lewis
iris
Mobile moments
This article is part of a series of articles on mobile moments. Read more
The seismic shift to mobile device usage brings huge opportunities for advertisers, but they must understand how to
connect with the mobile consumer in the fragmented micro-moments that are available. Digby Lewis of iris offers five
marketing strategies that can help win attention in this competitive, challenging environment.
Among the pack of torrid post-truths that was 2016, a beacon of factual delight was the coming of age of the global mobile
advertising market - surpassing $100 billion and accounting for more than 50% of all digital spend for the first time. And it's
expected to double by 2020.
But running counter to this is a less convenient observation that the vast majority of digital advertising still either goes completely
unnoticed, or is being actively blocked by users. So how, in a world where smartphone users check their devices over 150 times a
day and platforms are engineered precisely to feed the dopamine addiction of notifications, can brands capitalise on this profound
shift in consumer behaviour?
The micro-moment was a term coined by Google in 2015 to describe the multitude of fragmented interactions consumers have
with their mobile devices throughout the day. From checking email, weather and travel updates in the morning, through the daily
round of messages, social feeds and impulse purchases, to longer audiovisual entertainment experiences, the constant need to
watch, read, listen, learn or buy something, while in the act of doing or waiting for something else, presents both huge
opportunities and tremendous challenges for brands seeking to compete for attention.
Here, we consider five strategies for success.

2. 1. Made for the messengers
Without doubt the biggest growth area in micro-moments over the past twelve to eighteen months has been on messaging
platforms. WhatsApp now leads the way as the leading communications platform in the UK, generating a daily user average of
over twenty-eight minutes, even though individual sessions can last no longer than a few seconds at a time. One tactic to become
part of the fabric of these communications is to embrace the image-led 'post-literate' culture adopted by Gens Yand Z.
There are now two very distinct use cases for media: media that is intended to be consumed (TV, film, literature) and media that
takes on a secondary meaning when used as part of a social communication. Increasingly, we co-opt existing content - still
images, GIFs, cinemagraphs and video clips - as a proxy for written communication.
Case study - Domino's GIPHYchannel
The opportunity for brands is to connect with consumers the way people connect with each other. When Domino's launched its 'So
Tasty the Mouth Boggles' campaign, we created fifty bespoke GIFs, designed to capture the emotion of eating Domino's pizza.
A dedicated GIPHYchannel trended on the platform's homepage and generated 85 million views with zero media spend, within
the first few weeks. Having these assets pulled through to Facebook Messenger and Twitter GIF search provided massive
distribution channels and an opportunity for Domino's to become part of post-literate culture and establish the brand as number
one in the pizza category.
By pushing such a large number of assets over the line, there were more opportunities for GIF browsers to find the precise image
that met their search requirements. It was also fascinating to see which assets captured the most views and optimise creative
work around these, with the 'Heart Hugging Pizza' GIF generating three times the views of the next most popular image.
2. Turn fifteen seconds into fifteen minutes
We are all aware of the time sink that is social media, as anyone who has seen their time inadvertently swallowed up can testify.
So while the initial hook is critical to engaging in the feed, there are opportunities to turn micro-moments into extended user
sessions that would beat most brand sites' metrics.
YouTube has long spoken about the increase in user sessions, while Medium focuses on dwell time as a key performance metric.
Both platforms have developed ways to communicate how long content will take to consume, giving the user the option to watch or
read now or later. Intent is a key driver and even when applied to messaging platforms can lead to much deeper participative
experiences that challenge and reward.
Case study - adidas Neo on Snapchat
For adidas' youth fashion label Neo, targeted at 14-19-year-olds, we invited fans to enter a design contest on Snapchat, with the
chance to turn their creations into real outfits. The #MyNeoLabel competition launched with video showing models wearing all-

3. white outfits, which served as blank canvases for fans to customise using the functionality of the app, before sending their
completed designs directly to the brand. Four winning designs were chosen and the creators flown to adidas' German HQ to work
alongside adidas Neo's team and bring their ideas to life.
The campaign film generated more than 600,000 views on Snapchat alone and over 45 million across the brand's social channels.
Adidas Neo's followers on Snapchat increased by 400%, with Facebook engagement up 7.3%. Key to this success was a native
understanding of the Snapchat platform and in pitching user engagement at a level that felt consistent with existing behaviour.
3. Earn the right to be in the feed
The average smartphone user scrolls around 150 million times per week, so the amount of content that simply passes us by is
incredible. Brands have to earn the right to be in the newsfeed and yet most sponsored posts on Facebook are still no more than
cut-downs of a TVC creative, which typically builds a narrative over thirty seconds to deliver its message at the end.
Mobile attention works in precisely the opposite way, with 100% of viewers present as the video begins, falling to 25-30% by
around the fifth second. So not only do you have to capture the user's attention in the first three seconds, you need to deliver your
message upfront as the majority of your target audience will move on within ten seconds.
Each platform presents its own creative challenges, so campaigns need to craft a suite of distributed extensions that are designed
for the relevant platform. The same idea can be executed as a 45-second Facebook video and a 22-minute podcast episode. But
most important is understanding the dynamics of internet culture: how to create social currency and earn the right to be there in the
first place. 'Always on' is one of the very worst mantras afflicting marketing teams and only results in a plague of 'nontent'. Be clear
about the value you are adding, or step away from the vehicle.
Case study - adidas 'Boss Everyone'
When adidas Football lost ground to Nike at the start of 2016, the company needed to adopt a new approach when marketing its
latest laceless Ace boot to a young target audience. Three years ago, a grand TV and outdoor campaign would have cut through,
but we knew this audience no longer watched TV and the game had moved away from rural 11-a-side matches to urban cage
football that promoted skill and getting one over on your mates.
Boss Everyone was created as a social game within the beautiful game where all players are equal and anyone can boss
everyone. Using the power of Major League Gaming meme culture, we created twenty short social videos leveraging key adidas
pros and invited fans to hack the campaign. Soon a groundswell of players, freestylers and fans were out-bossing each other in a
quest to claim bragging rights among their peers, establishing Boss Everyone as a meme of its own.
The videos generated over 150 million views (with a 95% retention rate), over 15 million likes, favourites and comments and over
3 million new Instagram followers - with zero media spend. Adidas regained the top spot in Western Europe, knocking Nike back
into second place. Compare how the two brands communicate in social and there's only one that authentically speaks to Gens Y
and Z.
4. Reduce friction to drive commercial performance
Back in November 2016, over a third of Black Friday purchases in the US were made on mobile. A significant shift, but
smartphones still didn't drive as many conversions as tablet and desktop, particularly for 'high ticket' items. According to a 2014
Google Travel Study, 69% of smartphone users search for travel ideas during spare moments - but nearly half of those go on to
book through entirely different channels.
Understanding consumer needs is key to unlocking the micro-moment. Wherever there is a clear need, there is an opportunity to
serve commercially minded content that answers it. But as we fragment our ideas and campaigns into micro-spaces, glue is
required to piece these fragments back together to drive overall commercial performance.
Case study - MINI customer journey
iris worked with the MINIUK and MINIGlobal teams over four years to develop and successfully pilot a data-driven marketing
approach in the UK, which was subsequently rolled out across the client's top twelve markets.
With a clear goal to increase sales, the model combined a deep understanding of the customer and of marketing performance
levers to drive efficiency. This allowed the client to make smarter marketing investment decisions - media channels and targeting,
content and messaging, platform development.

4. A forensic analysis of the customer journey presented a few very specific challenges, such as the low conversion from awareness
to purchase consideration among male audiences. To resolve this, we created video content that showed the John Cooper Works
performance model in action and targeted the male in-market audience via digital, resulting in the lowest-ever CPA for MINIand
exceeding targets by 245%.
Further down the funnel, the poor lead-to-sales conversion also required a specific approach. New leads are still early in the
purchase journey and existing marketing communications and dealers were too sales-orientated. A new CRM nurture programme
was created to personalise experiences, leading with more exploratory product content, with an increasing emphasis on sales as
intent grew over time. The approach helped grow sales from leads by 20% in 2016.
By having sight of the entire customer journey and analysing each of the touchpoints, both on- and offline, those two key barriers -
lack of content in the explore phase and poor conversion on site forms - were resolved to drive overall engagement rates up by
45% and new leads by 64%.
5. Context, what context?
Architecture students learn that when designing a building, it's important to consider its surroundings. During Hong Kong's
construction boom in the 1980s and 1990s, the rule was made redundant by the sheer pace of development: before your project
was complete, your neighbours had likely pulled their buildings down to make way for something more ostentatious.
Navigating the newsfeed can feel like a similar challenge. BuzzFeed's Jonah Peretti likens the feed to a Parisian café: "You have
a copy of Sartre's Being and Nothingness, a copy of Le Monde, the newspaper, and next to you, as is often the case in Paris, is a
cute dog. You read philosophy; you read the news; you pet the dog."
Brands must think about micro-moments as advertising breaks on steroids. Content needs to be more impactful, more disruptive
and more distilled than ever before. Be provocative, be bold, take risks. Pop above the parapet and, above all, create a reaction.
Find your 'unfair advantage' and laser in on it.
Case study - Purdey's Thrive On
When relaunching Purdey's to the UK market, the challenge was to pop up in moments that matter to the target audience and
associate the product with its role in daily life. Two factors determined the creative route: Idris Elba (starring as The Unfair
Advantage) and a deep understanding of what makes content shareable.
A key part of Idris' driving force comes from a belief that it's never too late to follow your passion. The campaign's strategy focused
on this insight that there is a deep pool of untapped life ambitions that would resonate with real people cast in the film and inspire
viewers on Facebook to share their personal ambitions.
The key to unlocking participation was in framing the idea around Idris' question: 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' The
film captured genuine reactions from the cast and inspired viewers to share their life ambitions in the comments.
Leveraging Idris' fan base, the film generated 32 million views in a month, generating an unprecedented 103% organic uplift
through social sharing (and indeed more shares than likes) and comments that frequently ran to several paragraphs.

5. Conclusion
Reaching consumers used to be straightforward: brands just had to go through media owners, via ad spaces or PR to access the
intended audience. Now brands can reach audiences directly through search and social, but the content ecosystem is much more
fragmented.
By thinking like the user, creating for the platform and personalising experiences for the moment, a new paradigm of mobile-led,
intent-driven marketing opens up that thrives off the interplay between search and social.
About the author
Digby Lewis is Head of platforms and distribution at iris. A former broadsheet journalist and TV producer, he leads Content That
Pops at iris, focused on the planning, production and distribution of exceptional creative work.
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