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Surviving the looming data cookie crunch

While companies fight through pandemic turmoil and consumers spend more time with their devices, technology platforms are focusing on future privacy policies and profit impact. And, so should any digital advertiser.

Earlier this year on Data Privacy Day, Jan. 28, Apple announced device users of iOS 14 could turn off permissions allowing apps to track your data across other apps or websites. Then on March 3, Google confirmed previous speculation that 3rd party cookies as we know them would be gone in 2022. The lawsuits have already begun.

There are many unanswered questions and Google, nor anyone else, can say that everything’s going to be okay with the proposed changes impacting users, advertisers, publishers, platforms, other browsers, ad tech suppliers, agencies and more. Yet, this is not a big surprise. For over a year, Google has promoted its “Privacy Sandbox” initiative for the industry. The reality is, however, a harbinger of huge change in digital marketing practices, processes, reporting and the technical tools. As my grandfather would have said: “That’s why they call it work.” And, so, all advertisers must go back in time and concentrate on the basics of personal data collection and permissions of use in our plethora of marketing channels.

Examine your current data ecosystem

By reemphasizing its position and timing, Google has, in a way, done all digital marketers the favor of raising a red flag so they can get to work to prepare for the cookie-less world. Enterprise companies that have a strong infrastructure of first-party customer data, data collected directly from their customers online or from CRMs, will likely be in a better position to revise plans and move forward than many mid-size and smaller organizations that have depended more on 3rd party cookies from data suppliers than on their own data. But hopefully, many will be able to memorialize historic customer behavioral data reports they have collected from the platforms over the years that can give them a baseline for the future. However both large and small organizations will want to re-emphasize gathering and storing their first-party customer data.

There is time to prepare. As users update to the latest iOS, they are asked to re-confirm tracking for every app they have. While this creates transparency it also is likely that most people will simply opt out, time will tell. And Google cookies won’t expire until next year. Advertisers must use this time to document and study their customer behaviors more intimately as they relate to their offerings. And, more importantly, determine how to strengthen relationships with their customers and prospects.

Update your digital creative, increase contextual targeting

In addition to the data, with users spending more and more time on their devices, it is important to continually update your digital creative. Social creative experts agree that attracting users with entertaining and inspirational ads and videos works best. In fact, since the pandemic, Gen Z and Millennials are spending more than half of their online time watching videos mostly on mobile devices. This then also becomes an opportunity to get your contextual marketing right and focus more on producing, testing and distributing content that will interest and excite your customer base.

Seek help from social platforms, agencies, media and data specialists

There is no reason to “go it alone.” Facebook is one of the most aggressive platforms to get in front of future needs of advertisers. Facebook has announced new tracking changes in lieu of iOS 14. Advertisers are now required to register website domains through the Facebook Business Manager and assign “Aggregated Events,” which are customer interactions with your website.

Facebook Business Manager is free and provides a place to manage all of your Facebook assets. You’ll want to be sure you are using Business Manager in order to make the new adjustments for iOS 14.

There’s no doubt that other platforms will make adjustments as well. With all of the coming changes this is one time that you may want to call upon professionals to guide you, especially in preparing a plan for your company to not be disrupted by what the future may hold as privacy issues grow in importance and must be dealt with by all participants in the digital advertising industry.

Apple and Google raised a privacy flag the industry can no longer ignore. Pay attention, plan ahead to establish and strengthen transparent first-party relationships with your customers and prospects. My grandfather would often repeat: “Any problem is only an opportunity in disguise.” Make this opportunity a competitive advantage.

This article appeared in the digital-only edition of South Florida Business Journal on April 9, 2021.

The Agile Mindset: Getting Success Down To A Science

We invite you to take a break from everyday business demands and grab three valuable takeaways that could change the way you think, problem-solve, manage projects and communicate as a business leader.

Starmark CIO, Brett Circe and Agile transformation expert Brenda Kwateng joined forces on a recent #BizHackLive broadcast, “Cultivating An Agile Mindset To Benefit Your Business”, sharing their practical, actionable roadmap to make your business more agile:

  • WHAT is Agile? What’s the benefit for business leaders?
  • TIPS from the trenches: tactics to turn your operations Agile
  • FREE resources: how you can get started with Agile

“Why be Agile? It makes life better for everyone — it’s really that simple,” said Brett. “Agile businesses think differently, adapt faster and work smarter. So many clients who first experienced Agile through us have now adapted it in their organizations.”

Interested in learning more about how Agile could help your organization?

Reach out to our Agile experts now.

Starmark’s Agile Approach serves as a national model and is featured in The Wall Street Journal.

SFBJ: Woman of Influence Announcement

Congratulations to Starmark President, Jacqui Harnett, recognized as one of South Florida Business Journal’s 2021 “Influential Business Women” for her business acumen, leadership skills and community involvement.

Jacqui began her Starmark career when the agency was still Chicago-based; left to lead GFX International as EVP/partner; then returned in 2005 as COO, rising to president in 2010. While Starmark always embraced technological innovation, a strong entrepreneurial culture and bold interactive concepts during its four-decade history, progress accelerated dramatically the past decade under Jacqui’s leadership and that of her partners.

“As gratifying as it is to be honored by the Journal, it’s also important to emphasize what this honor represents,” said Jacqui. “It’s a team achievement: earned and shared by all Starmarkers. The passion you bring to assignments and the amazing way you elevate the smallest details into something better than we ever imagined, makes working here such a joy, even after all these years. You are the real influencers.” — Jacqui Hartnett

Groundbreaking Agile Agency methodology, proprietary I.P. development, data science expertise, along with successful, award-winning work, propelled Starmark as a national presence for tourism, education, health care and technology clients, as evidenced by its recent Wall Street Journal profile.

“This is a well-deserved honor for an exceptional leader,” said Peggy Nordeen, Starmark’s Founder and CEO. “Starmark has come so far largely due to Jacqui’s talent, heart and vision. Her ability to build a superstar team and inspire award-winning work has achieved breakthrough successes and growth for clients.”

View the South Florida Business Journal tribute here. (Please note: a subscription is required.)

Voice-first apps and podcasting take center stage

Reprinted from South Florida Business Journal.

Digital communications are changing at lightning speed. And for marketers, that means there’s always something new to learn. The most recent major rollout to be aware of is Clubhouse, a voice-only social network. Think of it like a podcast happening in real time that hosts conversations between industry professionals and celebrities. Clubhouse launched in April 2020 with 1,500 exclusive beta testers. Less than a year later, some say it has over 6 million users.

As of last week, you still needed an iPhone and an invitation from another user to join the platform. With this fast growth pace, even with exclusivity, some say Clubhouse will be the next TikTok, in terms of size and popularity. However, unlike TikTok, Clubhouse seems specifically geared toward long-form conversation, with thought leadership implications for business leaders.

Once you’re inside the Clubhouse, you can listen to others’ conversations and ask to contribute comments.

How voice-first apps and podcasts fit in your media mix

Clubhouse may be a new voice-first platform, but podcasts have experienced strong growth in value and listenership for years. PodcastHosting reports that, as of February, there were over 1.75 million podcasts, over 43 million episodes, and nearly half of all U.S. homes are podcast fans.

While voice-driven media is as old as radio, as the founders of Clubhouse put it in their blog, voice media provides a personal learning experience that listeners appreciate. For companies to participate in the voice app and podcast worlds, they must first understand what their customers want to learn and experience. The old adage of knowing your customer is more critical than ever in order to define your company’s space in the digital world.

As with any content strategy, when thinking through your place within the voice landscape, it makes sense to start with topics your company can speak about with expertise — as well as the major questions you get from your customers. While these conversations, whether live or in a recorded form, are not necessarily the lead media you depend on for your message to reach your prospect targets, they can be very powerful closers in the selling process. Conversion costs are generally lower than other social media. And, while the data and analytics will guide you, your personal experience with these media can add great understanding.

Ways for companies to participate in Clubhouse

With the exclusivity of its start, adopted by celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, Clubhouse is on a growth trajectory. Naturally, brands want to find their place in this new channel. While Clubhouse doesn’t offer traditional advertising options, there are still considerations such as club moderators reading podcast-style midroll ads, offering product placements or even including a paid guest.

However, unlike most regular podcasts, events and club conversations are not recorded and the results of brand efforts are currently dependent on who joins the conversation and the word-of-mouth that may follow.

Clubhouse founders Rohan Seth and Paul Davison wrote on their blog: “Our north star was to create something where you could close the app at the end of the session feeling better than you did when you opened it because you had deepened friendships, met new people and learned.”

A strong future for audio storytelling and marketing

The future for audio media looks incredibly promising, and the new opportunities for marketing in these media are expanding every day. Major players such as Spotify and iHeartMedia are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into acquisitions in the voice media space, which is predicted to support $1 billion in podcast ad sales alone this year.

The best advice is to let your ears be your guide. Queue up a few of your favorite podcast episodes or reach out to a friend for an invite to Clubhouse. Participate as one of nearly 70 million U.S. weekly listeners.

Listen, observe and explore how you might reach these voice-first listeners. Being an active participant in this rapidly changing media can spark ideas that become a major competitive advantage.

Video production pivot portends permanent change

Reprinted from South Florida Business Journal.

While the popularity of videos continues to increase, video and film production during the pandemic has had to overcome major challenges. We’re all familiar with Tom Cruise’s rant about Covid-19 safety rules on the set of “Mission: Impossible 7.” But since March, many marketers have been reaching into their archives, trying to repurpose their library of clips and scratching their heads on how to film their next video.

“March, April and May were scary for us because of lack of business,” said Tim Moore, CEO of Tampa-based Diamond View Studios. “Then we shifted really quickly to work remotely with client Jack Daniels.”

Shooting the liquor product in a variety of virtual locations on an LED screen—instead of traveling to film in front of a real background—set the stage for Moore’s company to conduct more remote shoots.

The pivot to an ‘extended reality’ production

Since then, Diamond View Studios has provided “virtually safe” video production solutions for industries including automotive, entertainment, health care, education and digital events.

“Consumers have already been exposed to this technique in television and cinematic productions such as Lucasfilm’s ‘The Mandalorian,’ but using virtual backgrounds for commercial video production has been around for only nine or 10 months now,” Moore said. “Now it is catching on fast because it literally cuts location-based filming costs in half.”

For decades, states have competed for on-location productions by using film incentives to draw shoots within their borders. But with the ability to provide virtual backgrounds from any part of the world on a screen, marketers don’t have the expense of transporting large products and a plethora of talent to various locations. Instead, photos and video from those locations can provide the backdrop for products and actors in front of the screen in what is sometimes called “extended reality.” And the savings can be even greater than most state incentives offered.

“As a result, it is democratizing film locations,” Moore said.

Here’s an example he shared: Instead of being shipped to and shot in six international locations, two new Mercedes-Benz models ended up at Diamond View Studios for all six shoots.

“They saved huge location expenses and over a month of production time,” Moore said. “They also saved on the alternative green screen technique that can switch out backgrounds—but only with heavy, expensive retouching, especially on shiny subjects like cars.”

By planning to build out its LED screen to 240 feet, the production company is preparing for more “large product” business.

Beach shoots go indoors to extend ‘golden hour’

Moore went on to explain another benefit well known to agencies and clients who depend on weather when shooting, for example, beach scenes.

“Of course, we have zero control over the weather, and we often spend months getting sand out of my equipment after a messy beach shoot,” he said. “However, with this technique, we have lots more control. When people want to shoot on the beach, it’s natural for actors to sweat in the sun, or be impacted by bad weather. But in the studio, we can extend what we call the ‘golden hour’ of shooting to 12 hours and never have to worry about the weather again.”

For small-room scenes, production houses can go to 3D stock sites where you can find hundreds of backgrounds, rendered in Unity or Unreal Engine, that can serve as photorealistic locations. These digital backdrops eliminate set construction costs, time and waste. Moore pointed out that White House sets are built up to 400 times a year. After they are used, they are often torn down and thrown away.

Preparing for these types of shoots is an educational process for agencies and clients. In effect, post-production activities must be prepared before the shoot. This means there are more details that need to be determined early in the process, such as what virtual backgrounds will be used, because they become a permanent part of the film, unlike the traditional green screen that retouches backgrounds after the shoot takes place.

Learnings and techniques span industries

“It’s predicted that, by 2022 or 2023, the hyperrealism and computing power capability will get to the point where even experts may not know whether they are looking at a real scene or a computer generation,” Moore said. “While this is a short-term pivot for us, I believe it will be here for the long run.”

This is just the latest example of learnings from one industry crossing over to another. Now, video gaming rendering engines are providing background art not only for extended virtual videography, but also for new virtual reality meetings platforms.

“There will be increased demand for this type of virtual art,” Moore predicted.

Certainly, “extended reality” video production provides opportunity for marketers in a variety of industries to manage the costs and logistics of capturing compelling footage during a pandemic. It’s an opportunity for all of us to explore new ways of doing things—which is definitely a competitive advantage.

Starmark Earns Top Marcom Honors: 4 Platinum Awards

Starmark earned MarCom’s highest honor—the Platinum Award—for all four of the agency’s Amelia Island CVB campaign category submissions. The MarCom is among the largest, most-respected creative competitions worldwide. Each year, about 6,000 print and digital entries are received from dozens of countries.

All four entries were part of Amelia Island’s Welcome Back campaign from COVID-19, which Starmark developed and implemented.

billboard

Platinum Award: “Integrated Marketing” Category

The fully integrated “Moments” campaign readied the destination to welcome visitors from drive markets throughout Florida and the Southeastern U.S. Starmark developed three concepts, utilizing existing imagery to avoid photo/video shoots during the pandemic. The concepts were user tested to validate the direction, then rolled out via broadcast, out-of-home, print, social and banners. All efforts were driven through trackable landing pages or other trackable channels, such as chat bots.

Platinum Award: “Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality” Category

A paid Facebook Augmented Reality portal experience featured 360-degree photos and video that transported people into unforgettable Moments on an Amelia Island vacation.

Platinum Award: “Social Content” Category

A Facebook ChatBot Messenger campaign empowered consumers to converse with the brand and ease their safety concerns. It collected leads via a digital vacation guide offer and assisted visitors with planning/booking on the website. The lead-gen strategy captured data at lower cost conversationally, connecting instantly via Mailchimp newsletter sign-up.

Platinum Award: “Social Ad Campaign” Category

Animated story ads, carousel ads with cinemagraphs, in-feed ads targeting families and couples, and an in-depth Instant Experience ad engaged target audiences dreaming about long-overdue vacations as they scrolled through their feeds.

“Partnering with smart clients like the Amelia Island team, who remain so open to exploring and embracing innovation in their travel space, was such a gratifying experience. We salute their well-earned success and look forward to another rewarding collaboration soon.” Dale Baron, Executive Creative Director at Starmark.

Corporate teams reunite in virtual reality

Reprinted from South Florida Business Journal.

With surveys indicating that close to 50% of companies canceled 2020 holiday parties, combined with the absence of in-person social interaction since Covid-19, how can companies keep up team spirit?

Certainly Zoom and other video platforms have, to a degree, filled the social gap, but there is still a lack of interpersonal communication, particularly the kind of spontaneous encounters people look for at networking events.

This is leading companies to explore the virtual reality space with the new Facebook Oculus Quest 2 headset. In VR, events and meetings are attended not by viewers, but by their avatars. In previous columns you’ve seen references to virtual trade shows, as well as Facebook’s strategic move to lower the price of the Quest 2 to make virtual reality more mainstream and available for personal and business use.

Embracing ‘avatar meetings’

With this move came the enthusiastic invention of VR holiday parties. Employees (presented as avatars) embraced the technology, and had the first chance in months to embrace each other. This has been so well-received it seems to be a harbinger of something that will outlive the virus. It can help companies build community, maintain team spirit and collaborate even more successfully than with video platforms alone.

“While socializing with your team is not a business objective, it is extremely beneficial to the cohesiveness of the team and your corporate community,” says Drew Stone, who recently founded VR events firm Locusium in the Seattle area. “The telepresence VR and its avatars create make everyone feel like they are standing in a team, instead of a little square on a video call. You can actually use your avatar hands, reach for others or other things, and turn around and see the avatar in back of you.”

Employees learn VR basics quickly

One of Stone’s first clients was Ovative Group, a Minneapolis firm for which he threw a virtual reality surprise party for the annual holiday event. Ovative gave each employee a Quest 2 a couple of days before the event, called Shenanigan’s Day, which is dedicated to celebrating co-workers. The group reviewed how to use the Quest 2 for the first time just before the event. Employees were then guided virtually to activity “rooms” to play traditional party games virtually with their avatars. Basketball, flip cup, karaoke, catching up with old and new friends, dancing and singing were all a part of the program.

“Seeing rooms and normal activities recreated in VR was amazing,” according to Maryjane Glynn, a senior manager with Ovative. “We were all learning for the first time in the virtual world together. And, seeing all the things I know and love about our old holiday parties recreated virtually was really cool.”

Use VR to collaborate as well as socialize

Being in a room with your peers is important not only at events, but also to collaborate and solve problems, Stone said. A growing number of VR platforms offer a variety of applications for architects, contractors, recruiting, communications and more. Organizations already immersed in the VR world include the U.S. Department of Defense and major universities, he added.

With hardware costs at an affordable point to move VR into millions of homes, it might soon be time for your firm to explore using VR as another method of expression and connection. After all, this platform offers fresh business opportunities. Not only that, but the change of scenery from video meetings to VR meetings can offer a new outlook, new enthusiasm and motivation to make things happen. Our research and experimentation has shown it to be true in our organization and other companies that are striving to update their connection and collaboration tools.

If we can’t be physically together in a group, VR certainly gives the sense of being together and working more closely — another opportunity for competitive advantage. To see Starmark’s own experiment reconnecting in VR, check out our article and video.

Real reconnection in virtual reality: Starmark’s 2021 company meeting

Our Agile Methodology and two weeks out of the office in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma made our Starmark team more ready than most companies for 2020’s move to all-remote work. And though our work and our workflow had never been better, the one thing that suffered was our team’s connections to one another.

At the end of 2020, we decided to surprise every Starmarker with an Oculus Quest 2 headset and an invitation to a virtual reality holiday get-together in virtual reality, using Spatial. We followed that up two months later with our all-agency company meeting in virtual reality with Engage. It was an experience that changed us all.

Here’s what we’ve learned experimenting with virtual reality

We started our experiment with VR as part of our Innovation Lab’s commitment to trying new things that could solve big business challenges for ourselves and our clients. What we’ve found is that the uses are even grander than we expected. As our President, Jacqui Hartnett, said, “You really don’t get it until you put on the headset.” Here are the big opportunities we see.

You really don’t get it until you put on the headset

Jacqui Hartnett – President, Starmark

VR connects people in a real way

Have you ever just wanted to hug your coworker, look them in the eye or get lost in an hour-long concepting session with your fellow creatives? VR removes those physical barriers in a way that Zoom and other video platforms can’t match. We’re experiencing this first-hand every day now, and it’s liberating.

VR is a productivity and focus tool

Whereas AR and MR only supplement the reality in front of you, VR can actually help you immerse in your work. We’ve been using apps like the aptly named Immersed Virtual Reality to focus on collaboration sessions and individual work. In fact, half of this article was written from within Immersed. In VR. With a real keyboard.

The possibilities for education are endless

From better immersion to more impactful experiential learning experiences, we see huge possibilities for high school and higher education in VR. We’ve written an eTip with a couple of pioneers in the space, and we plan to share a lot more on this topic.

You can truly transport people with VR

We can bring our own team together, even though we’re spread across two coasts. It’s just as easy to bring a curious visitor to a destination from the comfort of her home. Experiences in VR feel more real than a video. They stick with you. And that has huge implications for the travel industry now that millions of new headsets are making their way into homes and offices.

Let’s boldly go, together

We may be ahead of the curve on VR, but you have to trust us when we say that the view from out here is promising. If you’re curious about the role VR could play in your business, get in touch with us. We’d love to share a virtual cafe table with you and talk about where we can go together.

Depositions.com wins Mobile Web Award for Best Legal Mobile Application

Universal Court Reporting and Starmark partnered to launch Depositions.com and the Depositions.com mobile app — a platform to allow attorneys and legal assistants to stream, clip and share videos and exhibits in the cloud.

We are humbled and grateful that our solution has been recognized with this award. — Depositions.com Co-Founder, Russ Adler

This first-of-its-kind mobile video clipping and collaboration platform was awarded the Best Legal Mobile Application award by the Mobile Web Awards. This prestigious win is based on judges’ evaluation of the app’s creativity, innovation, impact, design, copywriting, use of medium and memorability.

“Depositions.com uses state of the art technology to solve a longstanding problem in the legal industry by making video more accessible and usable.” says Depositions.com Co-Founder, Russ Adler. “We are humbled and grateful that our solution has been recognized with this award.”

Custom software to solve a real business challenge

Depositions.com is a purpose-built custom application that offers greater productivity and flexibility to legal professionals. According to Starmark’s Chief Digital Officer, Brett Circe, “Depositions.com is the type of ambitious custom software project we love. We’re solving a real challenge in the legal industry by providing a set of video capabilities and cloud access that attorneys and staff simply didn’t have before.”

We’re solving a real challenge in the legal industry by providing a set of video capabilities directly in the cloud that attorneys and staff simply didn’t have before. — Brett Circe, Starmark Chief Digital Officer

About Depositions.com

Depositions.com offers a seamless preparation and litigation solution legal firms have been waiting for. With Depositions.com, a computer, mobile phone and tablet become perfect partners for collaboration, coordination and better communication — because attorneys always have immediate access to videos, transcripts and exhibits at your fingertips.

Read the story behind the creation of Depositions.com.

About the Mobile Web Awards

For almost 25 years, The Web Marketing Association has produced the annual WebAward Competition, the premier annual website award competition that names the best Web sites in 96 industries while setting the standard of excellence for all website development. The WebAward judges have chosen to split out the mobile sites into a separate competition to recognize the explosive growth and creativity in this space.

Few award programs recognize the individual achievement behind the creation of today’s top web sites the way we do at the Mobile Web Awards. We believe it is important to recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing some of the most effective and best web sites on the Internet today. View the Depositions.com award announcement.

Hitting your target in 2021’s crowded digital world

Reprinted from South Florida Business Journal.

Digital viewing audience numbers just keep climbing. And, while this pandemic will be over someday, online digital audiences will never return to the way they were.

As we look to 2021, here are tips to reexamine some basic assumptions and unlock new ways to make the most of digital marketing efforts.

The right data to hyper-target audiences will be more necessary than ever to control costs in 2021. Your best data must come from your own customers and prospects, but if you don’t have an up-to-date customer database, the most useful data source is your tracking data from online platform self-serving ad managers. It is worth rechecking your setups on platforms such as Facebook for Business and Google Ad Manager, or having an agency do this for you if you are unsure you’re capturing the right data.

Establish ‘always on’ strategies

Even with great hyper-targeting, you still need an “always on” strategy as part of your digital media plan. Pair your lead-generation program with ongoing awareness-building activities to support efforts throughout the entire sales cycle. Also, consider integrating your campaign over multiple platforms. This will not only help with tracking and retargeting, but it will keep you top of mind.

Avoid ‘creative fatigue’

Since viewers are spending more time online, they quickly become bored with the same assets. Campaigns with many variations and strongly branded templates can help you keep their attention. This is such an important factor that both Facebook’s and Google’s advertiser platforms offer automated tools to help you refresh your creative more frequently. Tools like Director Mix from YouTube allow you to use existing photo assets and film clips with subtle variations that better contextually target your audiences. These types of technologies automate variations on current campaign assets without added production costs.

Find new prospects through shared interests

Podcasts have been around for years. But for advertisers with specific audiences nationwide, podcasts offer a big opportunity for cost savings on your media buy. You also save on production costs because most podcasts deliver advertising read by hosts your audience already knows and likes. While especially effective when you want to go online nationwide, many podcast networks also offer the ability to target geographically.

TikTok is not just for kids

Some advertisers may believe TikTok’s audience skews too young for them, but new data shows the 30+ age group makes up nearly 40% percent of its users – and growing. As part of a good “always on” strategy, TikTok can provide a level of awareness not achievable on other platforms. Earlier this year, it established a self-serving ad manager, along with the ability to target by state.

Digital games are not just for guys

Believe it or not, women now make up a greater percentage of the mobile gaming audience than men, and nearly half of all gamers are women. So if you have an “always on” strategy and data that shows this type of online recreation interests your customers, you may want to add it to your list of online media. If you’re not sure, ask your agency to reach out to some popular platforms to determine how your audience overlaps with theirs.

Begin 2021 campaign planning with Agile

Most important, always be ready to pivot. Using Agile Methodology can help you manage a plan involving multiple department leaders, marketers and vendors who all understand where you are going and why. It enables you to change quickly to react to ever-shifting needs.

Building on your proprietary customer data, adopting an “always on” strategy, creating strongly branded and frequently refreshed creative assets, investigating fresh avenues to reach your audience and being ready to pivot are definitely competitive advantages for 2021.

Giving attorneys the power of streaming video, collaboration and productivity in the palm of their hand

Starmark developed an industry-changing—and (spoiler alert) award-winning—mobile app that houses video depositions, video evidence and related files in the cloud to empower lawyers and legal professionals to be more productive on their own terms.

The Challenge

Our client, one of the largest court reporting providers in Florida, already believed in using innovative digital technology. When they reached out to Starmark, they had a specific goal in mind: provide their roster of clients with secure cloud access to their video depositions, transcripts and related files.

Making a Good Idea Great

As the Starmark team developed the Agile Project Roadmap for this project and started to detail the deliverables, it became clear the problem we were solving could extend to court reporting companies and law firms across the country. The client was on board from the start. Together, we architected a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution as a subscription-model platform that can be leveraged by legal professionals nationwide. Thus, Depositions.com was born.

Designed for law firms of any size, Depositions.com makes it possible to upload all types of video—including video depositions and video evidence—as well as transcripts, related files and exhibits, such as documents and photographs. This content all resides securely in the cloud for viewing and sharing within their team. With Depositions.com, users also have the ability to clip video at will in seconds, without needing to hire an outside editor.

Preparing for Launch

As an entirely new product, this new tool needed branding from the ground up. After landing on the name Depositions.com, Starmark developed the brand mark, brand standards, website and other communications for the app, in addition to developing the app itself. To ensure user engagement, the team developed tutorial videos to give users an in-depth guide through key features of Depositions.com, as well as pro-level tips to enhance the user experience.

Off to a Successful Start

Since its launch, Depositions.com has received glowing reviews from users.

Depositions.com is an essential tool that all trial lawyers should be using. There’s no need to store massive GB of deposition videos on your computer or servers.” – Adam Dougherty, Esq., Dougherty Law Firm PA

Depositions.com enables Legal Staff, Paralegals and Lawyers to quickly edit video recorded depositions to create playable video that can be easily viewed or delivered for viewing by adjusters, opposing counsel or witnesses. The platform eliminates the mystery of video editing.” – Gabriel F. Zambrano Esq., Zappitell Law Firm

Depositions.com also recently earned its first award, the 2020 Mobile Web Award for Best Legal Mobile App. These accolades from both the legal and tech industries validate that Depositions.com has achieved its goal of using digital innovation to make preparation and litigation seamless.

Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 offers big upsides for business VR

Reprinted from South Florida Business Journal.

Facebook is angling for its Oculus Quest 2 VR headset to be more than the must-have gift for gamers this holiday season. The company’s aiming to expose the next generation to the future of business.

At the Facebook Connect conference for developers, the company spent hours talking about the headset’s capabilities to help make business more productive, creative and collaborative. As we’ve all seen over the last several months, the office and meetings of the future will be more virtual than those of the past. And who wouldn’t wish for video meetings to get better at simulating the real thing—or offer something even better?

Emulating Apple

The Quest 2 could claim the same sleek design characteristics as an Apple product. Indeed, it comes in Apple-like packaging, and the setup is just as smooth as you’ve come to expect from a product out of Cupertino. The major departure from Apple’s model is the pricing strategy. Facebook is surely taking a loss on the hardware to gain market share and capitalize on software sales through its app store.

Leveraging the virtual cycle between consumer and enterprise

One Facebook Connect speaker said it was a race to get everything ready for the holiday buying season—and it would seem for good reason. From the unusual portion of Facebook Connect dedicated to business, it’s clear why product managers pointed to the concept of the virtual cycle of apps between consumer and enterprise. Combined with the pandemic malaise of video conferencing, the Quest 2 could usher VR meetings into the mainstream. And it’s hard to argue with the appeal of sending a business-casual avatar to meetings while we stay in PJs at home.

Immersive technology directs focus on work

Another Facebook differentiator is its business focus for VR for personal use and small business. It’s the opportunity to create your own VR office that conforms to your projects and offers whatever virtual screens you need to be your most productive.

Facebook product managers also tout the increased productivity of VR versus video meetings because the immersive technology helps everyone focus on the work. Mark Zuckerberg talked about having VR team meetings on Quest 2, and another project manager recounted hosting a global meeting in VR. In short, Facebook and its new developer community are “reinventing how to get things done.”

I’ve talked about the benefits of VR at trade shows, in the classroom, showing a house or a boat in this column. But there are many opportunities to invent the “next normal” for business encounters, including sales.

It’s not just Facebook

Of course, Facebook isn’t building Quest 2 in a vacuum. There is a growing community of headset and software vendors that can traverse today’s online meeting platforms. For example, Spatial is among the major software that allows for use by multiple platforms and headsets, including Quest 2 and enterprise headsets like Magic Leap and Microsoft’s Hololens.

With a price point and value proposition poised to introduce the Quest 2 into hundreds of thousands of homes this winter, this is the moment where the hardware barrier to VR adoption finally disappears. It’s time to consider how you can use VR to gain new customers or offer better service in a VR environment. What applications and value can you offer to do that? And could your business be more efficient or effective if your staff used VR to stay focused? If that is the case, the future for VR in your business is bright.

In fact, it may be a good idea to buy a Quest 2 to try out the immersive home office—if you can find time between rounds of Beat Saber. Among future competitive advantages, this one could be fun.