Igniting Conversation
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The document proposes three ideas for partnerships between Digi-Key and influencers/organizations in the electronics community: 1) Sponsoring existing engineering YouTube shows by Bill Hammack or creating a new show with Joe Grand. 2) Providing STEM learning materials and lesson plans to Minnesota high schools. 3) Holding an electronics design competition where a project is passed between hackerspaces around the world within 80 days. Each idea is intended to promote Digi-Key's brand while contributing to engineering culture.
Igniting Conversation
- 1. IGNITING CONVERSATION FOR DIGI-KEY
- 3. CULTURAL INSIGHT: Taking advantage of the booming popularity in online video, and announcing to the world that element14 had arrived, Silverfox conceived of and launched The Ben Heck Show on Revision3.com. After just 8 episodes, The Ben Heck Show was achieving over 140,000 unique and full views of its full 15 minute episodes. Not only was this show an incredibly popular show, but ads featuring Ben consistently drove 5x more registrations to element14.com than branded ads alone. And so, when we were recently asked, “Who’s bigger than Ben Heck?” we stepped back to consider. BRAND OPPORTUNITY: While we are friends and fans of Ben Heck, we think there are opportunities for Digi-Key to partner with true engineers who have the personality and credentials to actually become Bigger Than Heck. Unlike some of their competitors, Digi-Key can walk the walk and not only sponsor engaging content, but also be able to proudly supply a new show with credibility as well as technical know-how.
- 4. THE IDEA: Engineer Guy Sponsorship: Bill Hammack has been called a “smart, easygoing everyman with a firm understanding of the science (of engineering).” In his more than 300 audio and video spots Bill explains the engineering details behind just about anything in our daily lives. We’ve had discussions with Bill in the past and he is open to sponsorships of his videos. We propose that Digi-Key become the (possibly sole) sponsor of Bill’s videos. Original Content Creation with Joe Grand: Joe Grand is a hacker legend. As a member of l0pht, a hacker group in Boston, Joe testified in front of congress about the state of the government’s internet security; which was, by the way, not very good. In 2008, he and three inventor-friends joined forces for the Discovery Channel Show, Prototype This! During the show’s run, Joe helped engineer everything from a mind-controlled car, to a set of wearable airbags to protect construction workers from high-rise falls. With an EE degree from Boston U. Joe has the chops and the charisma to be bigger than Heck in a new show sponsored by Digi-Key and distributed by Silverfox.
- 5. LOGISTICS: While these shows could bring with them a number of logistical challenges, Silverfox has been here before, and has the experience necessary to launch a new show and to negotiate with existing ones. Bill has already said that he is interested, as has Joe. The next steps would involve gauging those interests and determining Digi-Key’s level of involvement (e.g. simply sponsoring Bill’s existing show, taking it to a new level, or creating a show from scratch with Joe Grand) and agree on key performance indicators.
- 6. DESIRED OUTCOME & CONTIRBUTION TO ELECTRONICS CULTURE: • By leveraging Bill’s built-in audiences and/or Joe’s show-biz experience we could get Digi-Key’s name in front of a large audience of engineers on a regular basis and with impressions that far outperform lanyards or print ads. • The show could also provide a platform to create custom content that more directly supports Digi-Key’s core brand values of speed, breadth of inventory, and customer service (contests, brand integrations, etc.). • For its part, the audience would receive genuinely valuable content, entertainment and education for free. • Bill and Joe would have their content made available to a larger audience through financial backing and the opportunity could bring with it personal growth and commercial gain.
- 7. COST: TBD Silverfox would negotiate the terms of either or both contracts. At present, the cost of sponsoring Bill’s videos for a full series (10, four minute videos) is $40K. A rough initial estimate that a new weekly show with a run of 16 initial shows (1 per week for 4 months), would start at $50,000/month. This includes host compensation, editing, camera equipment and initial distribution/promotion.
- 9. CULTURAL INSIGHT: American students are falling behind in the essential subjects of math and science, putting our position in the global economy at risk. US students recently finished 15th in reading, 25th in math, and 17th in science in the ranking of 31 countries by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Only 29 percent of American fourth grade students, a third of eighth grade students, and barely 18 percent of 12th grade students perform at or above the proficient level in science. BRAND OPPORTUNITY: Rapid advancements in technology and manufacturing are making tools and component parts widely accessible and affordable. These materials offer limitless opportunities to engage and excite students through hands-on learning. For this reason, we believe there is a great opportunity for Digi-Key to take an active role in addressing the STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) crisis and in so doing, begin creating mutually beneficial relationships with education professionals, the engineers of tomorrow and the entire US STEM community.
- 10. THE IDEA: Provide 25-50 high schools across Minnesota with an array of components and tools that can be used in the classroom, along with a series of Digi-Key curated lesson plans for beginner level projects that can be taught over the course of the school year. To further engage students, these lesson plans would be developed in the form of a comic book, similar to the approach taken by Mitch Altman (an SF based electrical engineer and STEM educational advocate) and Jeff Keyzer (an Austin based electrical engineer and creator of the popular engineering blog, MightyOhm) with their “Soldering Is Easy” how-to guide. As a part of the curriculum, participating schools would be required to document their projects on video and upload them to a Digi-Key sponsored YouTube page where schools around the country could view them and get inspired. Ideally, the program would gain enough momentum in Minnesota to be rolled out across the rest of the country over time.
- 11. LOGISTICS: We would kick off the program by working with Mitch Altman and the Minnesota Department of Education “School Technology” division to identify the 25-50 schools that would benefit most from the program, as well as the equipment that would have the greatest impact. With the schools and tools in place, we would then work with Mitch and the MDE to develop a series of lesson plans. Once outlined, these lesson plans would then be re- packaged by the Silverfox creative team into an engaging, comic illustration style workbook. The program would be rolled out at the beginning of the 2012 school year and each participating school would be responsible for documenting their projects on video (if necessary, basic HD Flip cameras could be provided) and uploaded to YouTube. Silverfox would manage the content on this page and would facilitate any necessary communication between participating schools.
- 12. DESIRED OUTCOME & CONTIRBUTION TO ELECTRONICS CULTURE: • Provide a clear, positive contribution to culture by affecting positive change on the STEM crisis by engaging young Americans with fun, hands-on learning opportunities • Reinforce Digi-Key’s position as the leader in electronic component distribution in this country • Create a positive, mutually beneficial relationship with education professionals, the engineers of tomorrow and the country at large • Create content that could be disseminated via the distributed web to reach a national audience
- 13. COST: $105K (approx. $10.5K/month * 10 months) • Donated Tools/Parts = $25K ($1K/school * 25 schools) • Educational Culture Consultant = $5K • Agency Fees = $75K • Account/ Project Mgmt. = $25K ($2.5K/month * 10 months) • Creative Development/Production = $50K • Campaign Branding Materials • Comic Book Creation • YouTube Page Creation
- 15. CULTURAL INSIGHT: Hackerspaces continue to grow their influence in electronics culture and the broader sphere of science. Professional design engineers participate in them in their spare time, government agencies like NASA and DARPA use them as think tanks and some of the most interesting “out-of-the-box” thinking takes place within their walls. They are also one of the most engaged and influential segments of the electronic design community. BRAND OPPORTUNITY: Despite all of the innovative work being done by hackerspaces, because they are self- organized collectives (many are 501c3 non-profits), funding projects and ongoing operations is often a challenge. For this reason, we believe there is a great opportunity for Digi-Key to demonstrate their support of the hackerspace community and in so doing, begin to establish a strong, mutually beneficial relationship with this highly influential audience.
- 16. THE IDEA: An electronic design competition focused on speed, efficiency and collaboration to reinforce Digi-Key’s core brand values. Playing off of Jules Verne’s classic “Around the World in 80 Days,” Digi-Key would challenge the global hackerspace community to collaborate on a single electronics project that would be passed around the globe, from hackerspace to hackerspace. The project would be modified and improved along the way until it completely circumnavigated the globe in 80 days or less. In Jules Verne’s original story, the trip was made on a £20,000 wager. In our challenge, if the hackerspaces complete the project on time, Digi-Key would donate £20,000 to a charity like The Global Campaign For Education — focused on providing basic education for children all over the world.
- 17. LOGISTICS: 8 hackerspaces from around the world would be selected to participate, meaning each team would have only 10 days to make their modifications and send the build-in- progress to the next hackerspace. Each team would also be given a stipend for build materials and all component parts would be sourced through Digi-Key. Because of the limited time each team would have to build, the speed of Digi-Key’s order fulfillment would play a crucial role in the competition. There might also be a great opportunity to bring in one of Digi-Key’s valued shipping partners to help facilitate the receiving and delivery of the packages. Depending on the time of launch, the final destination of the build could be a major industry event such as ESC where we would reveal the finished product and share this amazing story with the professional ED community.
- 18. DESIRED OUTCOME & CONTIRBUTION TO ELECTRONICS CULTURE: • Reinforce Digi-Key’s unmatched ability to deliver components with speed • Create a positive, mutually beneficial relationship with the influential hackerspace community • Encourage collaboration and a sense of global community • Create content that could be disseminated via the distributed web to reach the broader electronics community • Provide a clear, positive contribution to culture by supporting the development of a new electronic technology • Provide philanthropic goodwill by supporting basic education around the globe with the £20,000 donation
- 19. COST: $100K (approx. $25K/month * 4 months) • Donation = $30K • Materials = $8K ($1K/hackerspace) • Hackerspace Culture Consultant = $2K • Agency Fees = $35K • Account/Project Mgmt. = $20K ($5K/month * 4 months) • Creative = $15K (Development/Production of Campaign Branding Assets) • Promotion = $25K ($6.25K/month * 4 months)