Feb 10, 2012 | Communication, Social Media
The risks, as well as the benefits of social media Social media are now slowly becoming recognised, particularly as the list of companies who “should know better” gets longer.
Given the potential for social media to trash a brand built over decades almost overnight, any responsible due diligence and risk assessment process now takes in social media as a key component of an enterprises value.
An often used first step is to encourage the evolution of a “code of conduct” to guide behavior. Many large companies are now doing this, including Coca Cola. Their code is on the net for all to see, and sensibly, they are allowing it to evolve as behavior in social media evolves. The Coke code is a great place for others to start thinking about how they want their employees and other stakeholders to interact in Social media. An alternative is to go back to first principals, and ask what you as a consumer of SM expect from a site, the list would be a bit different to the Coke one, more like this, on Social Media Examiner.
However you go about it, fact is that you need a robust policy to keep out the robots & trashers that is transparent, and rigorously executed, whilst enabling the evolution necessary in an ecology changing every day.
Jan 31, 2012 | Branding, Communication, Marketing, Social Media
Traditional paper publishing is going down the slot, we all know that, but it still has a place, particularly the magazines, and most particularly the lower volume, niche end, high fashion and exotic cars for example.
So what happens to websites included in a print ad when a magazine releases an App for a tablet? There are a bunch of new dimensions here:
- Does the advertiser pay more for the website to be activated on the tablet?, or
- Does the cost of the ad to the advertiser include the cost of activating the website?,
- Is an activation fee a one -off, or per site activation fee?
- Should an advertiser pay an additional fee as a tablet subscriber clicks on an activated link?
- Should the subscriber to the print edition have free access to the web edition?, or do they need to pay again for what they have bought already?
- What is the cost relativity between the tablet version and the print? Does the tablet subscriber get a discount on the paper edition to put on her table?
This is making my head hurt, but I am pretty sure that there will be a huge amount of experimentation going on, and in 10 years we will be wondering what all the fuss was about, as the answer will be obvious.
Jan 17, 2012 | Branding, Communication, Marketing
Marketers have long understand that word of mouth advertising is the most powerful form of advertising, now enhanced by social media tools, evolving into the term “word of mouse” to describe the phenomenon.
This leads to a further distinction: media that is paid for, Vs media that is earned.
Consumers understand that paid media has a commercial purpose for the advertiser, they have a vested interest in being persuasive, and not necessarily being long on facts. By contrast, the notion of “earned media” content that is spread because it has value, approaches the value of word of mouth endorsement.
The fragmentation of media options has made life much more interesting for marketers, for those with a bit of creativity and curiosity, it is a smorgasbord, for most, just a pain in the arse and an opportunity to game the unwary.
Jan 5, 2012 | Branding, Communication, Customers
“Advertising is what you do when you cannot get there in person”
This has been a pretty regularly heard quote over my 40 years in this business, attributed to Fairfax Cone, one of the founders of Foote Cone & Belding advertising. It remains one of the foundations of good (i.e. effective) communication weather it be paid-for media space, or one of the newer forms of “content marketing” on the web.
How come most of the advertisers I have heard/seen over the Christmas period never heard it?
I make that assertion based on the crap that passes as advertising over this period, almost all of it based on price and a transparent “1/2 yearly”, or “Clearance sale” type claim. Also, the businesses owner is often used as the mouthpiece, usually not a media friendly person. Nothing to attract me apart from a cheap price, certainly nothing to persuade me that the product will do anything to solve my problems, just price.
Problem with price being the only reason to buy, is that it just becomes a race to the bottom, and as Seth Godin has pointed out, the risk here is that you just might win.
If you could talk one on one to all the potential customers, would you still say the same thing as you are saying in your advertising?
If the answer is “No” better rethink your approach for the good of your long term pocket.
Jan 4, 2012 | Change, Communication, Innovation, Operations, Social Media, Strategy
In the communication revolution going on currently, the infrastructure to carry it all is vital, but how relevant will the 2010 infrastructure be to the world that greets it when it is finally completed roll-out in, when?, what was the last projection? ever?. The world is changing almost daily, the NBN as conceived by our political masters will be obsolete before it is 10% implemented.
In the October issue of “Wired” magazine is a fascinating analysis of the “Tech War” going on between Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook. It is a must read for anyone in business, it puts a competitive context around the maneuvering we all see happening, but do not necessarily connect the dots.
We, the Australian taxpayers, are making a multi-generational investment in the NBN, billions of dollars spent by those well known, fast moving, tech savvy innovators in Canberra. Lets hope they know what is going on outside the cocooned environment of the “bush Capital that are all so pleased to live in.
Somehow I doubt they have any idea, and that is truly scary, and there will be a whole lot more of this sort of failure, and the accompanying spin before anyone in Canberra admits to a huge boo boo.
Dec 22, 2011 | Communication, Social Media
The hard part about writing a blog, I have found, is not finding stuff to write about, but finding stuff that has not been written about before, or finding a new twist on an old topic, and then being sufficiently interesting to those who so generously give you their attention, that they take note.
The proliferation of sources of news and comment has sliced up the attention pie so completely, that getting and holding the attention of those who may be interested, and adding value to them in return is the real challenge.
Never has the old adage from Peter Drucker, “Communication is not saying something, communication is being heard”, been more accurate than it is now.
So, for you, one of that small group who have so generously given me their attention through this year by reading, commenting on, tweeting, and otherwise been a part of this wonderful tool of communication we now take for granted, I thank you, and wish you a safe and Merry Christmas. I look forward to continuing the relationship in 2012, and continuing to engage with you, by scratching your brain cells with interesting and useful stuff.
