Digital and I didn’t get off to the best of starts. Until recently, if you had asked me to define digital I probably would’ve given an answer that would go down like a lead balloon amongst my digitally savvy colleagues. In my mind, I had digital boxed off as a social minefield of caught-on-camera misdemeanors and a chance for ‘people with opinions’ to prattle on to a wider audience. Or perhaps I just needed some new friends.
Never the most conscientious of phone owners, I didn’t bother with the latest smart phones or touch-screen technology. Predictive text made my head spin, and my phone spent more time in a bowl of rice in the airing cupboard than it did with me. Whilst friends would drool over gleaming iPhones and Samsung Galaxy S’s, I championed the self-effacing simplicity of the humble Samsung E2120 (as impressive as it sounds). It was everything I needed, and more importantly, it did as it was told.
Of course, masquerading as a cooler-than-cool design student, I caved in to the obligatory MacBook. But with little idea of how to use it, we didn’t get much done. Maybe that’s why my idea of ‘digital’ hung so much on social media. Perhaps if I’d delved deeper a little earlier things might have turned out differently. Instead, after a turbulent and somewhat damaging affair with Adobe Affect Effects, I gave up on digital, running back to a haven of sketchbooks and layout pads. Pen and paper were my friends, and there wasn’t room for anyone else in our circle.
So imagine my surprise, 8 months down the line, to find myself in the highly esteemed (by me at least) role of Junior Digital Writer at Savvy Marketing. And loving every second of it. Digital means something different here, with insight and interest into the latest technologies and trends circulating daily. It’s seen as something exciting, a medium to do and say things differently. Constantly changing, it’s difficult to stay abreast of, but never boring. There’s talk of everything from iBeacons to wearable tech, and although I’ll admit some of the more involved conversations still have me reaching for Google, I’m learning. And the beauty of digital is, that’s okay.
At Savvy, digital’s not about technology. It’s about communication. And although embraced by most, many in business still approach digital with some trepidation, and understandably so; for the first time consumers can talk back. Your audience has an audience of their own, and they’re not afraid to speak up. But rather than shying away from this, we teach our clients to make the most of the opportunities technology presents. Yes, consumers now have the means to voice their displeasure, but haven’t they always? Digital lets us be in the room when it’s happening, with the chance to defend ourselves. To quote Hegarty, “Persuasion, promotion and retention are and always will be vital ingredients of any communications programme.” Well, digital is the perfect vehicle for all three.
Much of my days are spent in a social media bubble, a world of rules and regulations, but also endless possibility, interaction and engagement. Competing against news feeds full of trending topics and videos of cats (which are, as I learnt at a recent social seminar, the most popular form of online content alongside, interestingly enough, bacon) is always going to be an uphill struggle. But it’s one I think I’m winning, and after all, what’s creativity if not problem-solving?
Recently, still on a mission to educate myself in all things advertising, I found myself at another social event promising to provide me with further insight into ‘digital culture’. This turned out to be a slight misrepresentation. An hour and a half in I found myself holed up in a corner with a not-so-digitally-savvy business owner, desperate to know where he was going wrong. Slightly out of my comfort zone, but with no immediately obvious escape route, I had no choice but to refill my plate from the free buffet and hear the poor man out. And as he talked me through his own futile attempt to conquer digital, I found myself sitting up a bit straighter, and chipping in with suggestions which, while not exactly groundbreaking, were certainly sensible. I knew where this man was going wrong and what he could do to put it right; I could offer valuable insight and advice about digital from a business perspective. So although not exactly what I was expecting, perhaps I should thank the organisers of this ambiguously-labelled event, for giving me (literally) no choice but to sit down in a dark corner and appreciate how far I’ve come.
And so it seems, a little later than everyone else perhaps, I’ve finally discovered the softer side of digital. And no, I won’t deny that every now and then I’ll probably need a bit of breathing space, but I think that’s probably more to do with me, and not at all digital’s fault.