It's been a while since my last post, indeed, but as some of you might know, I was "up to something". That "something" was the preparation of a new job challenge that I will start next month. I will share with you a little more about it in a next post, but as announced on my Twitter and Linkedin profiles, I might as well relay the nature of this job here. I will be Online Marketing Manager in the interactive department of the RTBF.be (Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française). I'm very pleased about it and really looking forward to the launch of this new adventure. O )
Sharing with you here the keynote presentation I gave on May 6th to the students of the Masters class "Issues in Marketing Communication", at the IHECS (Haute Ecole Galilée). A bit more about the story: I had the honor to be contacted by Jean Pierre Ranschaert, teacher "Chef de Travaux" at the IHECS and blogger at LIVErtising], for this special assignment, last course before the end of the year evaluations.
How is Social Media connected to reality? Is it all about technology, digital and web? What's that big thing about the web? Is it just a must do trend? Are brands listening? Do they simply... care? Should they, really?
Are brands (who don't) the new Social Punks?
The idea was to bring a general overview and a few simple cases to point out a series of important elements in social media dynamics. At the end of the day, technology, digital and web are "just" tools that facilitate the transport of information or bring extra UTILITY to the CONTEXT people live in. The social media side of the digital evolution (simply said "connected humans"), is probably one of the most important factor to always keep in mind. It is all about sociology, psychology, one-to-one (direct) relations, group behavior. It all happens around or through the places where conversations pop, stay, and spread (or die). But it also, ultimately, relies on the places where great and new EXPERIENCE is lived and shared (yesss, life rocks, remember?). And last but not least... it is all about relevant, expandable, positive, shared VALUE, created within the CONTEXT.
On the day of the live presentation, I must say I was very happy to have such
response and feedback. Surprised (in a very positive
way) by the direction of some questions coming from the students...
- "When I hear about social media, it seems we always have to be connected... Why should we spend our lives in front of computers or mobiles?"
- "When you share something on Twitter, like a picture, a link or a quote... does it make you feel better or greater?"
As communication experts or just active participant how would you answer these questions?- And of course, please don't hesitate to shoot comments on the presentation. It is and will remain open to change & updates.
PS : Wanted to thank Jean Pierre Ranschaert for the invite and honor, Helge Tennø for his encouragements and feedback and Gavin Heaton for his always FAB presence (not only online, but LIVE on Skype during the keynote this time...) and for the extra precious and deeply appreciated VALUE he brought while being the noble Servant of my Blob-bla-bla Chaos. ; )
PPS :And since it is mentioned as a case example in the presentation, but I didn't point it there, The Age of Conversation book also have 2 next editions published after the first one. The brand new, AOC 3 is available for purchase right now. All benefits going to a children's charity nominated by the 171 authors. - Check it out and go for it!
SIDE NOTE : I just found an interesting
guest
post of Marta
Majewska on Chris Hall's brilliant Cowbell blog. Marta's question is : "Would you be my...
brand?". She refers to brands listening (or not) and the special type
of relationships they may or ma not have with their consumers. Is it or
should it be like in a
love/friendship story? Check it out.
It's been a while... I never stopped blogging for so long. There are times when your mind is looking for something... else or different. Times when thinking is not enough anymore. You see, observe, listen to the world around you and wish to take part, contribute in a different and more accurate way. As described by Jonah Lehrer in his post on meta thinking, found on Seed Magazine:
"Good judgmentis more than amatter of “gut feeling” — it’s thewillingness to reflect on the decision-making processitself".
Excellent article about metacognition, that I invite you to read. Hopefully, most of us know that it's the journey that counts, above the
destination. Being human also means keeping faith in what we believe in, up to the limits of our minds and bodies. Explore, be curious, innovate, fly. - [see above "G." stunning human film directed by J. Xavier Velasco touched me with both its form and metaphoric content]
Now, back to the Belgian actuality: Seth Godin's presence at Flanders DC on the so tweeted about "Ahead of Marketing" speech, paraphrased : "Creativity, innovation and how to market those well". I regrouped a few words of wisdom of the respected Marketing God, found on Twitter via the #godinfdc tag. Let's call them the most tweeted :
- "Be personal. Be relevant.
Be specific."
- "The old way: average
stuff for average people"
- "Scarcity of choice is
over! Be remarkable!"
- "The old marketing =
interrupt your way to success"
- "The new marketing = Ideas
that spread, win"
- "The market for something
to believe in is infinite."
- "Albert Einstein ruined the word genius"
- "Being a genius = solving a
problem like no one else has ever before"
- "Interchangeable parts
lead to interchangeable people"
- "Want to be indispensable ?
Make a difference!"
- "The reason they want you
to fit in is that once you do, they can ignore you"
- "Public school trained us
to shut up & stand still"
- "You can't blame the
system anymore. You are responsible"
- "A lizard brain is all about fear. 'Oh my God, I'm going to die' "
- "CREATE YOUR RULES!"
- "Are you afraid or are you
curious, the choice is up to you"
- "Leaders only have one
thing in common: they're leaders"
- "Teach kids two things: to
solve interesting problems and to lead"
Now, my question to you is: how would you describe these quotes? Are they new, unique ideas about the marketing of tomorrow, creativity or innovation? Things you have never heard before? (OK, besides Einstein's big genius bang and the freakin' lizards metaphors maybe) ; )
Maybe Godin created his own rules and applied what he teaches like no one else has ever done before and so, he restored the word genius from Albert Einstein to manage his meta-way through "being Seth Godin" as a diabolic -yet very admirable- money making machine (???) And in this regard, it's a fact, yes: the market seems to be infinite for someone people believe in.
I leave it up to your own judgment, really. What do you think about it? Or should I say "how" are you thinking about it? I was not there but in a way, to be honest with you, I don't have many regrets. Bird's eye view brought it's load of insights and guess what, I'll be thankful to Seth for activating this thinking. Hopefully some smart non-lizard
brains already pinned a few things out of the speech. In a way I felt a lot more connected to these Alien thoughts than to the words of wisdom themselves. Also really appreciated the brilliant angle taken by Clo Willaerts in her post on the event. It made me think about a quote I read on the Hopenhaegen site: "WHEN PEOPLE LEAD, LEADERS FOLLOW". Yep, I believe a lot more in the inspired, consciously shared, trusted, engaged, collaborative lead than in the individual performances or "power / force lead".
And if you don't mind -pardon me the expression- I can't resist sharing with you a few key paragraphs from Jonah Lehrer's article. I think they aretouching the
"HOW to fly":
"The larger point, of course, is that humans aren’t rational calculators. According to Kahneman and Tversky, when people are confronted with an uncertain situation, they don’t carefully evaluate the information, or compute the Bayesian probabilities, or do much thinking at all. Instead, their decisions depend upon a short list of emotions, instincts, and mental shortcuts. These shortcuts aren’t a faster way of doing the math; they’re a way of skipping the math altogether. So far, so bleak: The human mind is an imperfect computer, stuffed full of programming bugs. But some researchers now believe that there may be a way of avoiding such innate psychological mistakes. When we flex our metacognitive muscles and think about how we are thinking, we are able to notice when we’re thinking poorly. The end result is that we avoid those avoidable mental blunders. ... Given the distinct talents of our various cognitive styles, a willingness to think about our own thought processes and to adjust our mode of decision making to the task at hand could transform the way we use the mind. Before we do anything else, we should go meta."
I came across this inspiring presentation today. Don't ask me why, it made a LOT of sense to me. The kind of thoughts that would push you into thinking that the limit between today and tomorrow might just be your will to make it happen.
Is this (still) a futuristic vision of what tomorrow "could be"? Or is it now more likely a very appealing insight of what today already "is" for those who decided to jump and go for it? In other words, would we want tomorrow to be like yesterday when we were thinking about today? Huh... I need to think about it, really! What's your view on this?
This is probably the best slideshare presentation I've read for a long time. It was composed by Helge Tennø, Strategic Director and Digital Planner at digital agency Screenplay in Oslo, Norway.
Smart thinking documented by brilliant quotes from successful leaders, marketers, strategists, CEO's or so called visionaries. What I find interesting in this long -yet completely fascinating- presentation is the overhaul perspective it unveils to our eyes, from the obvious EVOLUTION of consumer behavior, through the new definition of "digital marketing", way to the ultimate long term battle of the brands related to (shared) VALUE.
He introduces 3 ideas representing THE NEW CURRENCY :
VALUE : transports much better compared to "attention" - creating value in the context surrounding the product is positively transforming consumer experience. + DIRECT RELATIONSHIP : "Visualizing the decline of the destination web and the rise of the social media web"... New opportunity : Brands to create direct relationship with consumers. - TIME -the unstoppable force- (love this!) : He quotes: "Time does not exist!". On some media, content disappears. On other platforms it grows, connects and augments.
A rich journey naturally guiding you across notions like the fabulous TRANSMEDIA (Faris Yakob), importance of context and convergence, ARENAS, collaborative creativity, utility, search vs SHARE, idea exchange, etc.
Insightful, to the point, clear, mind challenging, absolute must read if you're related in any way to marketing, communication, advertising or have an open curious mind looking for some clues about the future of the relationship between consumers and "their" brands.
"Magic is everywhere, for whoever is open to see it" - unknown.
Every once in a while I like to be short-circuited in my day-to-day life by unexpected and extra-ordinary encounters. Whether re-discovering the simple wonders of nature, exploring new emotional landscapes (like Björk would say) or meeting talented earthlings, I know now how these fresh vibrations are indispensable, as they feed my human soul.
Yesterday a colleague who knows I like weird electronic devices and instruments, sent a little link to my mailbox (thanks Pete!). What I found there was indeed full of wonders. Little Boots is an odd, absolutely lovely Artist with a capital "A". The first video I saw (featured above) immediately punched my curiosity so that I simply couldn't resist checking a few side links out. One other "home recording" particularly touched me.
Although I had already seen demos of the Yamaha Tenori-On, this one added a delicious human vibration touch to the transistors, electronic circuits and flashing leds. Amazing... to be able to both compose a song live on such an instrument and sing -being perfectly in tone- while looking so relaxed at the same time. Fabulous, well to my eyes it is... I noticed that folks at Yamaha are referring to Little Boots on their site with a news story (in other words "text"...) pointing that she was listed on BBC radio one famous "Sound of... 2009". Now, wait a minute... they do point out other artists using the Tenori-On in a very boring (well, at least it is to me) way.
My 2 cents... -and I admit that this thought is probably being quite subjective- I believe that a video like Little Boots' is definitely something Yamaha shouldn't miss. They probably saw it, but I think they should do something about it. It is a LOT more insightful and filled with a LOT (many) more emotions than a corporate "look at this new fantastic instrument" kind of message.
Last month a video posted on YouTube hit the Guitar Hero fan and gaming community. If you're familiar with the video game "Guitar Hero"... this film will appear to be incredibly creative and surprising. The video had over 1.747.000 hits within less than a month. Recently it was unveiled to be a viral video launched by Activision to promote their last version of the game, Guitar Hero Worldtour. So, at the end of the day, the bike hero video was not made by a bunch of talented kids, but developed by independent shop Droga5 (check their client list and work).
And here comes the debate about "authenticity" again. Is it OK to play with your audience and authenticity or is it just not a good idea? After a quick check, it seems that the feedback after the revelation is very much mixed between "fake = lame" and "who cares it's a fake, idea and video are still stunning". I noticed a tendency to get more votes from the "it's OK" side on this specific viral case. As mentioned in interesting AdWeek article "Viral Video Hits Blur the Authenticity Line" it seems that advertisers are clearly exploring the limits of fake vs authenticity.
"To be sure, there continues to be a fine line between fooling with
consumers and simply fooling them. Like much in viral marketing, it
remains unclear how much an advertiser should reveal during
campaigns." - says Brian Morrissey of AdWeek.
...
"It was awesome only because we thought there were creative kids
doing this in their free time," noted a commenter on game blog
GameCyte. "Now, it's just a good commercial." - [AdWeek article abstract]
I like a related comment found on Twitter and left by Daniel Stein, CEO of EVB in SF the company behind Office Max's "Elf Yourself" :
"I like Droga's Bike Hero. Who cares if it is fake, it is entertaining. New definition of viral video should be 'ads people actually want to see.' "
There is one important thing to consider, though... the kind of product we're talking about and the related target group. OK for a little authenticity play with Guitar Hero Worldtour is one thing. OK for authenticity play with the New York Times, might be another one.
What's your take on this? Is authenticity an absolute must or can marketers sometimes cautiously play with it?
PS : Thanks to Cedric M. for pointing this video to my eyes. Dude... you simply Rock! : )
- Karl Long as being filmed by CM's web cam... hi Karl ! -
Imagine you were a fish on misson, in a bowl right at Forrester Consumer Forum 2007. Imagine you could see and hear people there and -wow!- send them text messages to a screen and get instant "live" feedback. What would you actually see? What would you say? Well, the first thing you'd witness is Critical Mass fantastic, audaciously open, conversation experiment : ALWAYS IN BETA.
David Armano and the super team at Critical Mass Chicago are indeed giving us an insightful view on the Forrester Consumer Forum. Letting anyone on the net log onto their open "Always in Beta" site. I encourage you to check it out as this is only a 2 days event (11th and 12th October). CM's blog is here.
As being one of the fishes around the Internet bowl yesterday, I must confess I really enjoyed the experience. First of all the technical aspect, innovative Internet tools (free and available to all of us, provided by UStream). So, no complicated IT server and gear with wires and geeks figuring out the optimal bandwidth in a hidden NASA-control-room-like place. Computer + web cam + Internet connection = that's about it. Well, of course there were some gaps in the video from time to time and the available computer mic was a bit overwhelmed by his assignment (unidirectional might help for next broadcast). But that's not so important, this is Beta, right.
The most important thing is the EXPERIENCE offered there. It opens lots of doors and ideas on how the future of live coverages of events could be. Imagine a phone with super-speed Internet access and a camera and you could broadcast "live" on the Internet from any hotspot. David gave us -fishes- an adrenaline peak when he went "WIFI-LIVE". Walking with his laptop and web cam in the hallways of the Forum felt like being on Neil Armstrong shoulder on July 20, 1969. Wow! David's wifi-walk made me think about this :
"It's one small step for man...
one giant leap for Conversation"
Congrats guys ! ! ! What an experience! We, fishes, loved it! Thank you for taking us on Enterprise -Critical Mass- spaceship... for a walk & talk on planet Forrester. Last but not least CM bought 300 Age of Conversation hardcover books and offered them to the visitors of the forum. Now wait a minute... maybe "Beta", means "Conversation"... That's it!
Our planet is in danger, we all know it. Even if we all agree about that "fact", what can we do as individuals to help or influence a positive change? The PICNIC Green Challenge is launching a contest to help fight climate change. They challenge creative thinkers and innovators, to come up with an original idea for a product or service that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
They also require from the participants that they present a concrete plan of action to launch their idea within 2 years. The price/help to market the idea is 500.000 Euros, coaching from business leaders and a list of potential clients. The president of the jury is fantastic-Richard Branson, entrepreneur incroyable, chairman of the Virgin Group and the Galactic space project. "This contest is going to help people to realize how much they are capable of,” he says. “Great things really do come out of simple ideas.”.
Richard Branson together with former vice President Al Gore are also behind a wider project -launched in February 2007- linked to the reduction of the greenhouse effect, the Virgin Earth Challenge. Contest will award $25 million to the individual or
group who are able to demonstrate a commercially viable design which
will result in the net removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse
gases each year for at least ten years without countervailing harmful
effects. This removal must have long term effects and contribute
materially to the stability of the Earth’s climate. See them on the CBS "Eye-to-eye" TV show here, talking about the reason why of the project.
I take a moment here to point the axis we discussed in the previous post. It seems that more and more companies develop green policies to link their businesses to positive intentions for the planet. Well, if the intentions are shared, supported, and driven into reality, then some positive actions could (really) follow. But, at this stage thinking about this process, it appears to me to be more like a talent search/call, than a real collaborative work using the brain/linking power of the internet. Food for thoughts (yeah, again!) - (to be continued...)
Hey, I saw this little groovy dude weeks ago and even if he has no face, he made me smile. Very well designed character, isn't it? So here it is : "Cool! I’ve been nominated for Blogger's Choice Awards!"Thanks to “Iamsemjaza” who seems to have kindly nominated quite a few blogs.The results will be announced on November 10th, 2007 at PostieCon in Orlando, Florida.
Mindblob is nominated for 3 categories on Blogger's Choice Awards :
In other words, if you are bored clicking without excitment, if you have alienfriends willing to click but who just can’t or if you feel like testing your new mouse,... please go ahead and practice on this spot and maybe, eventually... change that "zero" over there. ; )
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