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Weekly Wrap Up – 1.15.10

January 15th, 2010

Every week, I send a growing list of internal and external customers a list of 10 compelling reads for the week.  This is a SMALL sampling of what I come across in my media consumption addiction, but that would be an overwhelming amount of content to share through this means.  Each Friday, I’ll post my summary out to a larger audience than my mailing list through this blog.  If you’d like to be on my mailing list, please email me and I will add you.  Here’s the list for this week:

Tech Boom: Intel’s Earnings Up an Astounding 875% — Mashable article

10 Tips for Becoming a Smarter, Social Business Person — GigaOm article

Facebook’s Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over — ReadWriteWeb article

The 10 Stages of Social Media Business Integration — Mashable article

The Starbucks Formula for Social Media Success — The Next Web article

In-store facial recognition ads from Intel and Microsoft — Econsultancy article

The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s — NYTimes article

Is 2010 Your Year for a Mobile App? — ClickZ article

Nexus One and Android 2.1: Apple Better Watch Out — ReadWriteWeb article

Why Apple Bought Quattro Wireless And Is Getting Into Advertising — Silicon Alley Insider article


Marketing, Social Media

Rule #1 – listen to your customer

July 22nd, 2009

This is not a new rule by any means.  However, brands are becoming more and more aware that listening to their customers wants/needs is crucial if they are going to stand out in a sea of choices.  I’ve used this quote by Barry Judge in previous posts – it bears repeating:

You’re a part of the conversation, a part of what is being said about your brand.  You don’t get to tell customers what they get to think anymore

The video below, sent to me by my PR counterpart, Becky, illustrates this very simple tenant to a tee.  Distilling down to one key point, customers are relaying a very powerful messages to advertisers these days: “I’ve changed, and you haven’t – we don’t even hang out in the same places anymore“. 

Simple as that – advertisers and brands must recognize that their customers are interacting with their messages differently these days.  It’s not enough to raise the megaphone and simply talk TO your customers.  You have to be willing to engage with your customers on their terms, listen to what they are saying about your offering, and incorporate their input into your future interactions with them.  The successful brands recognize this and are engaged in a 2-way dialogue with their target audience – using that input to shape future brand experiences with that customer.  Those that don’t recogize the value of this input and the power of customer sentiment around their brand are doomed to fail.

Advertising, Marketing , ,

Five New Rules for Marketing

April 16th, 2009

Summarized from Ad Age and their reporting from last week’s Digital Conference.  Unilever’s CMO, Simon Clift  had some interesting and bold things to say about Social Media and its role in the success or failure of Brand Building.  As Ad Age states, he ‘Throws Down the Social Media Gauntlet’ and warns those brands that don’t recognize and adapt to constantaly changing role of digital media are in danger of extinction through ‘accelerated natural selection‘.  He makes a great point.  Survival of the fittest (or most adaptable) –  Darwinism in marketing.

“Brands aren’t simply brands anymore. They are the center of a maelstrom of social and political dialogue made possible by digital media.”

He’s right.  He went on to discuss how brands are becoming ‘conversation factors‘ and the ‘conversation is no longer one way or 30 seconds.‘  In effect evangelizing an open dialogue model – truly cracking the brand disccusion wide open and letting the consumer share in the building, or eroding, of that brand through their social voice. 

As a postscript to the article, Ad Age outlines their “New Rules” to maintain pace in this ever changing digital world.  5 great points that I’ve summarized quickly, you can find the full list on their site.

  • Listening to consumers is more important than talking at them.
  • You can’t hide the corporation behind the brand anymore, or even fully separate the two.
  • PR is a primary concern for every CMO and brand manager.
  • Cause marketing isn’t about philanthropy, it’s about “enlightened self-interest”
  • Social media is not a strategy. You need to understand it, and you’ll need to deploy it as a tactic.

Marketing, Social Media , , ,