The dimensions of digital media have just taken full flight into the 4th Dimension (4D) playground.

As agencies continue to struggle in a flooded world of micro-sites, flashturbation, 3D paper vision, Facebook connect - a few small (yet dynamic) digital agencies stand out here in the Asia region.

D’Strict (one such agency) based in Seoul has expanded their experimentation of digital media into a new dimension - 4D holographic performance art.

At a recent event which had the backdrop of traditional Korean folk music, dance and costume - D’Strict fused into this visual performance a new form of amazing digital art (http://www.dstrict.com/reference/digilogsamulnori/) taking the audience (and the performers) in to a 4D world.

Whilst the experience is far from being interactive (at this early stage) it marks a progressive step forward in audience immersion into the full performance experience. Creating an alternate dimension which totally envelopes the audience.

What has this to do with digital media in the context of advertising/ marcoms?

Soooo much!

This ingenuity displays the vision of an agency to explore newer exciting digital (and people) interaction experiences.

This experimentation shows to us within the industry that there are alternative digital solutions - and that there is a new way ahead for digital.

In recent years I feel our industry has stagnated as we fall into a lazy approach to digital marketing. See my thoughts at last years Asia Adfest (http://andrewberglund.com/?p=32) and that I have yet to see anything new - or anything attention grabbing coming from clients and their agencies.

We’ve adopted the old skool formula of the TVC model - carved online into a boxed formula and lost it’s roots in beta experimentation and innovation - digital is progressive and dynamic - not stagnant and static…

We have become lazy as an industry. Microsites and Flash are more than 15 years old now. All we do now is make heavier content to meet broadband but the interactive experience remains truly static. Why is global reach and maximum KPI really a necessity when we launch another flash website into the abyss of online?

So let’s get closer to the consumer and bring digital closer to their daily lives. We get closer - we get more intimate - we form relationships.

Such a concept could be taken into the realms of retail marketing and beyond. (see D’Strict’s holographic projection kiosks) It is a signature that an agency can be more than just a web digital design shop.

This new thinking also shows to the consumer a brand can be more than a “me too” concept - this digital from the likes of D’Strict explores new dimensions in consumer experiences. And possibly adds a new dimension to Branded Entertainment - “Digitainment” - it questions the very logic of only adhering to one formula of digital marketing. This signals that we have the ability to be progressive. And the consumer is waiting …

Never in the history of media have we had an audience so at ease with technology. They now have the ability and desire to play and learn. We need to feed them now continously with new formats. The tech generation (especially in Asia) embrace beta and even applaud experimentation.

The industry needs to support and embrace such agencies as D’Strict and see the vision through the eyes of their team.

Digital is not static nor can it be confined to a “business process box” as with traditional media - digital is forever evolving - in a state of perpetual beta. This does not mean anything lesser nor that its a potential risk model.

This new model means the creative imaginations drive today’s technology - todays advertising is a fusion of creative technology - and best creative brands are technology leaders (e.g. Nike + and Uniqlo) - taking us in new directions - new exciting ways to reach (and touch) the hearts and minds of the consumer audience. Through expanding our horizons and develops newer ways to engage and entertain the consumer.

This new “experimentation model” suggests that clients and agencies alike may need to loosen up and open their minds. Stop seeking a “one formula fits all” solution to digital marketing.

Digital (online) can be so much more when fused with physical presence - can be multi-dimensional interaction.

My take for beyond 2010; to fuse all of the digital elements - mash-up the digital channels and take it to the people - and set free the digital experience amongst the people. With the 4D experience we can hook into the net and bring to the mix user participation and community sharing and experimenting with our digital content. The audience can now participate and respond through digital and become part of the experience. Truly immersive.

Behind the facade of the admittedly ugly Seoul urban concrete jungle lay several such visionary creative tech agencies developing the next step of digital media experimentation - with an intense passion in their digital thinking - driven to explore beyond the conventional. Driven to stimulate the tech generation. They are the creative technology alchemists. They are stepping from beyond the shadows of the big ad agency model and harnessing a new formula in media.

Clients and agencies alike need to change the way they approach marketing and adapt methods that allow innovation - allow to create a new competitive differentiation in the marketing message - and indeed in the vehicle upon which the message is delivered - we need to be far more immersive and explore new dimensions.

As an industry we latch onto trends (latest effects) and just follow blindly - regardless that this makes the brands we work for seem like “me too” brands. We should embrace difference and find our own ideas. Employ creative technologists - not mere web designers and flashturbators, copywriters, and formulaic art direction. Experiment.

We have consumer audiences who now embrace experimentation - open source - and accept beta standards to play with and even improve/adapt the experience to meet their own needs.

We (the digital marketing industry) tend to use digital in a one dimensional manner - and a flash micro-site is not going to garner attention anymore as a one and only digital tactic.

Consumers are becoming bored of the never ending production line of flash websites, facebook fan pages, and the bubble gum digital marketing tactics.

Everyday, every minute, every second - a flash “immerisve and interactive” experience is launched in a vein attempt to grab someones attention out there amongst the myriad of content. We need new thinking. We have to keep evolving, inventing, and innovating.

Even social media has quickly become boxed by the ad industry - we have to be more fluid than this and adopt faster ways to create newer platforms (and newer content).

My advice: look into the eyes of the S.Korean digital evangelists and see there is a new horizon and most definitely a new dimension to digital media and digital marketing.

http://www.dstrict.com/reference/digilogsamulnori/

http://www.dstrict.com

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 9:17 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.