My Column for Amsterdam Ad Blog: Strategy and Creatives still don’t listen – but they should.

April 12th, 2012 • 1 comment Columns, Social Business, Strategy
Tags: Adaptation Marketing, Amsterdam Ad Blog, Column, Creativity, Listening, Real time, Strategy

Every now and then I have the pleasure (or the duty) to write my column for Amsterdam Ad Blog. If you don’t know it: The platform is one of the best sources for anything marketing-related in Amsterdam. And the guys published my comment on why strategists and creatives should start listening more yesterday here. This is the article:

There is not one article on adaptive digital marketing that doesn’t start by saying that we need to listen to the consumer. If the industry only did!

Social media has generated an important technological opportunity for marketers – as billions of people worldwide constantly interact via social networks we have the great oppor
tunity to learn what they find relevant and what not. With tools like Radian 6, Viralheat, Lithium or Alterian we could exactly know what people share on Twitter, Facebook or Google Plus. But there’s still a great amount of brands that don’t like to listen.

In Spring 2011 60% of all CMO’s in a global KPMG-survey responded they would expand social listening efforts in the near future. Only 43% had already had positive experiences in this field. This is a bit astonishing considering the fact that Social Listening is the most insightful and least ’dangerous’ (read: least visible) brand activity in the social web. What’s more, social listening can support brands holistically. No matter whether it’s about measuring buzz, optimizing customer service, or co-create a new product with fans, listening tools should be the weapon of choice.

Imagine how many creative concepts could benefit from integrating sophisticated listening reports early on in the process. How much better and relevant would creative ideas become if they’d be conceived based on the end-consumer’s interests. Take for example the genius approach by EA Games 4 years ago which resulted in one of the greatest viral hits of that time: Tiger Woods, Walk on Water. The story is simple and beautiful. And the result of social listening.

The video is essentially a TV commercial – save the fact that it was exclusively shown on YouTube. A high-budget concept for a major brand. But the insight that led to it was based on simply listening to consumers. It was the glitch in an EA game, discovered by a consumer, that was used as the creative springboard.

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This Morning’s Hot Shit. The new Facebook Features.

September 23rd, 2011 • 1 comment Experimental, Social, Social Business, Strategy, Tech, Tools
Tags: Facebook, Semantic Web, social network, Social Networks, Timeline

My new Facebook Timeline has arrived. After yesterday’s f8 announcement (great overview here) I really think we are about to see the ‘profound changes’ that mashable talked about yesterday morning.

Hacking Facebook to set up Timeline is a rather simple. Techcrunch has published a handy DIY guide this morning. But only I am currently able to see my timeline right now.

What it does is really to replace my profile with a nice, interactive biography on one page. The Timeline stops everytime Facebook identifies important steps in my life. My sister’s birth certainly was one of these events (even though at that point I didn’t necessarily agree). And I am invited to upload baby photos of her. Cheesy and nice.

Timeline is a new, pretty cool metaphor that really adds a new perspective to Facebook. Facebook as a lifelong diary – well actually…a living diary. Long term not just super-today.

But there is much more that I find interesting.

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Consumer Love. IBM shows how not to ask the right questions.

August 15th, 2011 • Reports, Social, Social Business, Strategy
Tags: Adaptation Marketing, Facebook, IBM, Media, Prediction, Presentation, Report, Research, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks, Strategy, Trends

IBM has just published a study called ‘From Social Media to Social CRM‘ (PDF download). I first liked it because it was not boring. It did not repeat the same old shit that you read anywhere else. In fact…it seemed quite uncomfortable and innovative. At first.

So at first some of the study’s claims did not sound very surprising, nevertheless heretic for many people in the industry. IBM found out that most people are not so much into learning about your next campaign on social networks. They are actually almost exclusively interested to meet their friends. And pretty much the only reasons why they friend a brand – according to IBM – is VOUCHERS.

Yes. All of us hate these types of relations.

Who wants to date a girl that only spends time with you because you pay all the restaurant bills?

IBM has got an explanation for you why you spend time with this girl (the social consumer): Simply because you want to think the girl loves you.

Businesses are three times more likely to think consumers are interested in interacting with them to feel part of a community. Businesses also overestimate consumers’ desire to engage with them to feel connected to their brand. In fact, these two activities are among the least interesting from a consumer’s perspective.

Consumers are willing to interact with businesses if they believe it is to their benefit, feel they can trust the company and decide social media is the right channel to use to get the value they seek. That value could be in the form of a coupon or specific information. Engaging with a company via social media may result in a feeling of connectedness for consumers – an emotional, intangible gain – but the wish for intimacy is not what drives most of them.

I agree with the latter claim even though IBM streamlined the study to make sure everyone understands VOUCHERS as the key consumer desire. How? By benchmarkting the girl’s (social consumer’s) top reasons why she dates you compared to your top reasons why you date her. The result could not be much different. And yes: According to this study most of her top reasons to date you are connected to restaurant bills.

So does that mean all of us should forget about investing into next year’s social activation? Definitely not.

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15 Years Later. A Conversation with my first Creative Director, Steffen Herbold.

Juli 24th, 2011 • Allgemein, Social, Social Business, Strategy
Tags: Agencies, Experimental, Germany, Interview, People, Social, Social Influence Marketing, Social Media, steffen herbold, Strategy, Trends, WOB

A couple of weeks ago I talked about first jobs with a friend.

WOB was/is the name of my first employer/agency. And before anyone asks: Yes, Werbung und Organisationsberatung sounds awfully German. But I still think this dedicated B2B agency from the south of Germany is one of the most professional agency brands I ever worked for. B2B is tough. B2B is rarely considered as cool. And even though marketing Supply Chain Management Software or Nanotech solutions is definitely not for everyone, I am still happy I took my first steps in the agency world as part of the team from Viernheim (yes, Viernheim). It was one of the best ‘schools’ for a young marketing guy like me.

Back in the days when I realized I am better in copywriting than in Project Management there was one guy who thought I might be right. Steffen Herbold is Creative Director at WOB (pretty much since God created the Earth). He is a great copywriter, a very, very smart man, and he is one of the people I definitely do not meet as often as I should.

I kind of rediscovered Steffen (sorry Steffen) two years ago. After not being in contact for a while, we connected on Facebook and hold a steady dialogue since then. I was really interested to find out about how a dedicated B2B agency like WOB perceives the challenges by the Digital revolution in general and the social web in particular. And Steffen was so nice to answer a couple of questions. I am sure if you leave a comment he will gladly answer your questions as well.

Hi Steffen. Which role does Social Media play for a B2B agency like WOB nowadays?
A big one.

How different are B2B and B2C in this regard?
Well, obviously buying a chocolate bar and a ERP software have absolutely nothing in common. Apart from one thing: There are emotions involved. But whereas the purchasing processes of FMCG’s are individual and impulsive by nature, the buying process in a btob context is collective and reflected – so it is no wonder that these differences become manifest in social media too. I would put it this way: In b2c social media are capable of creating something like a “virtual nearness” between a brand and its target group, in b2b they’re an adequate tool to truly deepen existing relationships. You might as well say: b2c is brilliant flirting, b2b is serious marriage.
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Social Strategies. Altimeter’s great & ugly compendium.

Mai 25th, 2011 • Social, Social Business, Strategy
Tags: Altimeter, Diy, Presentation, Report, Social, Social Business Design, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks

Charlene Li – one of the spiritual mothers of social media – has achieved two things with the following presentation: She simultaneously wins the award for one of the best and one the ugliest presentations I have seen on this topic in a while. Seriously Altimeter – I know you guys listen: I love your thoughts. But there are designers out there who can help you out with a Powerpoint template or a new logo or something… (via We are social)

Intellectual Property. A Letter to Andy Harris.

Mai 25th, 2011 • Media, Social Business
Tags: Books, Business, Cool, freemium, Media, publishers, social business, Strategy

This is a letter of a fellow redditor to Andy Harris, author of the book “HTML, XHTML & CSS for Dummies“. I think the response came a bit unexpected.

Click the image to zoom in.

Platforms. A Fool with a Tool is still a Fool.

Januar 19th, 2011 • 6 comments Social, Social Business, Strategy
Tags: Media, Social, Social Business Design, Social Influence Marketing, Strategy, Tactics, Tools, Truth

Just in case you forgot…or your client forgot.

Thanks to Mark + @moral_apostel.

Brew Dog. The World’s Strongest Beers now also served in Dead Squirrels.

Juli 26th, 2010 • Brands, Business, Experimental, Social Business
Tags: Beer, Brew Dog, Cool, Creativity, ecommerce, Experimental, Funny, Ideas, Long Tail, Strategy, visual, We like, World

If there is one thing that I like about e-commerce it is the beauty of the long tail. You know what I am talking about – bizarre niche products and, sometimes, even more bizarre ways to market them.

Talking about bizarre…

Get to know Brew Dog, a brewery from North-East scotland. What the scots do is simply to c

reate some of the strongest beers on earth. Being sold under names such as ‘Tactical Nuclear Penguin‘ or ‘Sink the Bismarck‘ we are talking about beer with 32% – 50% ABV!!! That’s more than most vodkas have.

And long tail is what Brew Dog is all about

Beer was never meant to be bland, tasteless and apathetic. (…) We are proud to be an intrepid David in a desperate ocean of insipid Goliaths.

As a German I particularly like their little personal war with my Fatherland. I think not one product was named ‘Sink the Bismarck‘ since 1941. But hey, in Brew Dog’s case it’s absolutely alright. I mean they serve their beer in squirrels. That’s just genius!

Check out Brew Dog’s products, read their blog and buy their dead squirrel beer. They deserved it.

And here is the brilliant new video of the guys, announcing the strongest beer on earth, called ‘The End of history‘ which weighs about 55% ABV (OMFG)!!!

I am a fan. And here is the clip…

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PSFK. The Future of Retail.

Juni 3rd, 2010 • Retail, Social Business, Tech, Trends
Tags: Business, Creativity, Experimental, Future, Ideas, Prediction, PSFK, Report, Retail, Social Business Design, Strategy, Trends, World

As the world intertwines the web and reality, retail becomes one of the most crucial sectors to stage new marketing experiences for customers. Notorious PSFK has just staged its deck about ‘The future of Retail‘. The free 80 page analysis highlights how new technologies and senses play a crucial role in shaping shopping experiences. The trends identified within this document and the examples used to bring them to life are inspired by innovation from around the globe. And as usual it comes with a handy guide what is going to be hot in tomorrow’s retail experiences. PSFK, I love your decks.

Update. The ‘Social Media Revolution’ Strikes Back.

Mai 9th, 2010 • Social, Social Business, Trends
Tags: Cool, Creativity, Diagram, diagrams, Figures, Funny, Future, Media, Prediction, Social, Social Influence Marketing, Social Media, Social Networks, Tools, Trends, visual, World

I love good info visualizations. But I hate social media info graphics. There are just too many of it. Nevertheless I like this little movie. It is called “Social Media Revolution 2″ and it is an update to its very successful predecessor which flooded twitter half a year ago. Now with updated statistics and images. Created by author Erik Qualman and based on the #1 Best Selling book Socialnomics. Enjoy.