There’s a fantastic piece in Ad Age by Bob Garfield and Doug Levy called “The Human Element”. My favorite point comes from a chart that contrasts “the old way” of social strategy with “the winning way”: in their POV, “old” is trying to “go viral,” and “winning” is “give consumers something to talk about”.

Give consumers something to talk about.

I couldn’t agree more. So much of the clutter and noise of our time is brands and people just going for viral. The best and most engaging content, conversations and (in Garfield and Levy’s view) relationships come when brands really try to give people something to talk about.

Giving people something to talk about is a hallmark of the best experience brands.

It’s also a point that’s driven home in new “2012 New Realities” research Jack will release on 25 January that comes from talking to consumers in the US, Brazil and China.  Watch this space for more!

The Ad Age cover story on Coca-Cola’s 125th anniversary includes a fascinating interview with Phil Mooney, VP of “heritage communications”—responsible for leveraging Coke’s vast archive as the huge brand asset it is.

There are some great lessons to be gleaned from Coke’s archive that all brands should heed:

Lesson #1: Make a commitment to your brand.

Coca-Cola has topped Interbrand’s Best Global Brands list for over a decade. That achievement reflects a commitment to making the brand the core of the business from the earliest days—reflected not only in perhaps the world’s first million-dollar advertising budget (in 1912) but also the direct involvement of company leadership in marketing strategy. 

Lesson #2: Don’t be afraid of ceding control to consumers.

Early on, the brand spent time and energy telling consumers not to call them “Coke,” a nickname invented by consumers but resisted by Coca-Cola. The brand chose to embrace consumers’ shortened name—and the positive impact on the brand should be a lesson to those marketers today that are overly resistant to consumer brand input.

Lesson #3: Create experiences that fit into consumers’ lives.

Early Coke “ads” were trays, calendars, posters, pocket mirrors—things that were relevant and welcome as part of consumers’ daily lives. Today’s brand apps that make life easier or richer, that delight consumers just for the sake of it, play a similar role.

Lesson #4: Embrace change.

Coke’s archive reveals prescient moves across the media of the 20th century, from print to broadcast, and an openness to change that is reflected some terrific recent experiences that defy neat definitions, from the 2010 World Cup K’naan “Wavin Flag” anthem to the “happiness machine.”

Let me continue the theme of a 2010 look back…I’ll borrow a page (or entire issue) from Ad Age’s book of 10’s. It covers everthing from people to TV, mobile and creativity from 2010. Oh yea, and did I mention it has the year’s top 10 Viral Videos? Oh wait! Look! Jack Morton has a top 10 Viral Video! :)

Congrats to everyone doing great work in 2010, and here’s to making 2011 even better!

It’s great to read in Ad Age about the success of Beats by Dr. Dre, the high-end headphone line, following a marketing strategy bringing a great product to consumers through influencers and word of mouth (think celebrities seen wearing them and all the cool kids falling in line behind them).

Personally, having purchased what feels like a thousand pairs of poorly-made ear buds that last a month and deliver a poor audio experience, I’m a fan.