The Jig Is Up: Time to Get Past Facebook and Invent a New Future.

April 19th, 2012 • Allgemein
Tags: Experimental, Facebook, Future, Ideas, People, Prediction, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks, Tech, Tools, Trends, Truth, World

From the great article ‘The Jig is Up: Time to Get Past Facebook and Invent a New Future‘ (The Atlantic)

‘It slipped into parody late last year with the hypothetical app, Jotly, which allowed you to “rate everything” from the ice cubes in your drink to the fire hydrant you saw on the street. The fake promo video perfectly nailed everything about the herd mentality among startups. Its creator told me to watch for “the color blue, rounded corners, SoLoMo [SocialLocalMobile], ratings, points, free iPads, ridiculous name (complete with random adverbing via ‘ly’), overpromising, private beta, giant buttons, ‘friction-less’ sign up, no clear purpose, and of course a promo video.”

And then, the hilarious parody ate itself and my tears of laughter turned to sadness when the people behind the joke actually released Jotly as a real, live app.’

Here is the original video. Isn’t it ironic? Revolutions always eat their own children. Did anyone say google Glass?

Jotly, the Ultimate App for Sharing Everything with Everyone (Psych!)

Googopoly. The Future of Search and Social.

April 4th, 2012 • Intelligence, Knowledge, Media, Reports, Search, Strategy
Tags: Facebook, google, google plus, Insights, People, Prediction, Presentation, Report, Reports, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks, Study, trendstream, World

The problem with the artist formerly referred to as Social Media is – besides many other things – that it is in the agency business commonly understood as some crazy shit that you stage on Facebook to win a Cannes Lion in the end.

That of course is wrong. Specifically if you take a look at the rarely talked about opportunities of intertwining the worlds of search and social.

A while ago I had the pleasure to get to know Tom Smith, founder of Trendstream, the company behind the GlobalWebIndex and the great Wave studies conducted on behalf of McCann.

Tom’s following presentation, given at the International Search Summit in Munich, discusses the idea of what he describes as the ‘Googopoly’, where Google has risen to control most of what we see and do online.

Even though I doubt the relevance of google Plus I found Tom’s key takeaway extremely smart: It is not just about google+. It is about how google cements its position with a multitude of tools like Chrome, Android and many others in order to enforce search thinking into anything that’s social nowadays.

Great presentation. Thanks to We are Social for the link…

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Social Media Management Software. Check Out Altimeter’s New Buyer’s Guide.

Januar 9th, 2012 • 2 comments Reports, Social, Tech, Tools
Tags: Altimeter, altimetergroup, Business, Facebook, Presentation, Reports, Social Business Design, Social Influence Marketing, Strategy, Tech, Tools, we are social

So once you have given all the presentations about the value of Social Media and explained that a fan is not worth $2.38 (or something) you will – at some point – face the challenge of managing real time interaction with your customer. Here SMMS, a type of software especially designed to support the management of complex social interaction platforms, are usually your weapons of choice. Especially in a world in which any major enterprise has to be able to manage its 178 social media accounts in average.

A Social Media Management System (SMMS) is a software tool that uses business rules and approved employees and partners to manage multiple social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. This system contains features such as governance, workflow, intelligence, and integration capabilities across the enterprise. The success of these tools is dependent upon a business-led strategy, defined processes, trained staff, and ability to measure efforts.

SMMS are there to reduce the complexity of large real time social media platforms. And there are many, many different vendors on the market. From Hootsuite to BuddyMedia, from Wildfire to Spredfast, no two vendors are alike and there is no one-fit-for-all SMMS-solution. Altimeter’s new “Strategy to Manage Social Media Proliferation” serves as a great overview over the SMMS-scene and offers metrics to support the choice for specific vendors based on the social objectives of your organisation.

If you have ever tried to give your customer a founded recommendation on which SMMS to choose you will know how important the following report is. In a market as cluttered and dynamic as this we need more top-level reports like the following one instead of infographics on Mashable.

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Insights. TNS Launches Largest Global Study on Digital Behaviour.

November 30th, 2011 • Reports, Strategy
Tags: 2011, Business, Insights, Lifestyle, Media, People, Planning, Presentation, Report, Reports, Research, Social Influence Marketing, Study, target group, TNS, Trends, World

Research company TNS has launched its 2011 version of TNS Digital Life. Based on conversations with over 72,000 people in 60 countries this is the world’s largest global study into people’s attitudes and behaviours online.

I particularly like how they underline the necessity to think (before yelling Facebook or iPad or Flashmob):

‘Digital waste’ pollutes the online world as brands fail to listen to what people want.

It [the study] found that 57 per cent of people*** in developed markets* do not want to engage with brands via
social media – rising to 60 per cent in the US and 61 per cent in the UK. Instead, misguided digital
strategies are generating mountains of digital waste, from friendless Facebook accounts to blogs no
one reads. This is being combined with ever-increasing content produced by consumers – the study
shows 47 per cent of digital consumers now comment about brands online.

The result is huge volumes of noise, which is polluting the digital world and making it harder for
brands to be heard.’

Of course: This study does not at all say brands shouldn’t be digital. The opposite is true. But it repeats the one thing that I never get tired of to repeat: People are not interested in a brand’s content. And they are not interested in brand experiences. They are interested in stuff that is relevant for them – and sometimes this is a brand.

Check out TNS Digital Life here .

Thanks to Rubbish Corp for the link.

Social UX. My Article for Page Magazine.

November 16th, 2011 • Social, Trends
Tags: Article, Page, People, personal, Social Influence Marketing, Usability, UX

Just a quick update: German creative magazine Page has once again published an article from me. If you are a subscriber of Page and if you have issue 12.2011 on the desk please just go to page 90 where I (try to) give five tips for a more UX-focused approach to social media.

To cut a long story short: My perspective on social media (does anyone still use this term???) in this article is that all too often brands/agencies still focus too much on staging social campaigns instead on getting their house in order. Activation – and only activation – via social influence marketing should first and foremost enable consumers to profit more from using social functionalities than from not using it. The answer to a brief in the social realm must always revolve around solving a given problem, not to just drive people to a Facebook page. Form follows function, not vice versa.

The article is in German. And if you don’t have the magazine at home: here is a PDF. But don’t tell anyone.

The Good Life. Or: Why I should have become Lifestyle Blogger.

Oktober 30th, 2011 • 4 comments Brands, Social
Tags: Blogging, Blogs, Brands, Lifestyle, Social Influence Marketing

It is actually a strange thing: while we all watch mainstream communication become democratic we can also witness new types of very marketing-focused relationships as they form. Especially at the intersection of mainstream lifestyle brands and the so-called multipliers: meet the lifestyle bloggers.

No major brand can nowadays live without an elaborated digital PR strategy. The path to successful blogger outreach is not simple. Today’s lifestyle bloggers do not just react on one of your emails. You really have to ask for their participation and offer them something really nice. Something they really, really want to blog about. Otherwise it wouldn’t be earned media, right?

Whudat.de for example is one of my favorite lifestyle blogs in Germany. I like MC Winkel‘s blend of music, art, web finds…and product recommendations. But I also know that lifestyle blogging has become a very convenient method to enjoy a bit more industry attention than Average Joe. Below MC Winkel’s post about his (apparently) great days at the Santorini Grace Hotel we can find a statement: ‘If you also want to get featured in one of Germany’s leading lifestyle blogs feel free to contact me…’

No disrespect. This is just how it works. MC Winkel enjoys Mercedes test-drives in Teneriffa, trips to Australia (sponsored by South Australia’s Tourism Board and Quantas) and does not get tired to comment that

• he is absolutely convinced of this product/car/hotel
• and if you also have a fantastic product/car/hotel you would like to get featured, contact him

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China. Ogilvy’s ‘Social Media Equivalents’ in China 2011.

Oktober 17th, 2011 • 2 comments Social
Tags: Agencies, China, Media, Ogilvy, Social, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks, Tools, Touchpoints, visual, World

Ogilvy China has re-created the well-know Conversation Prism to show some of the Chinese local platforms thriving in place of major international equivalents. Practivally the diagram is actually as useless as the original Conversation Prism (‘Did anyone ever look at this diagram of 250 platforms to find the right one for his purpose?’) but it nevertheless gives you a good understanding of the vast Chinese digital landscape.

Do also check out Ogilvy China’s study ‘Connected’ on digital marketing in China.

via Penn Olson

Only Today. KLM tweets with a Living Alphabet.

September 20th, 2011 • 4 comments Brands, Twitter
Tags: Brands, Campaign, Cool, Funny, Ideas, KLM, Netherlands, Social Influence Marketing, social network, Twitter, visual

KLM tries hard to become the social web’s favorite attacker brand. After staging a bunch of interesting campaign micro-ideas they launched something more complicated today. As Social Times reported a tweet from KLM earlier today said…

The result: live customer service replies that are shaped by a living alaphabet made up of 140 KLM employees. Yes it is live and it reacts to customer tweets but only today (and only as as reaction to a few selected tweets).

Live Reply tweets are being uploaded to KLM’s Youtube Channel and shared on Twitter. So far they’ve sent video tweets to about ten people, but they’ve still got a lot of hours left in the campaign. The example below is one of them…

The whole campaign is funny but completely useless. Anyway, it’s again a great very short-term promotional stunt to spread the word about KLMs social platforms and to position KLM as a social-media-savvy brand. In this regard: Well done, KLM. I am looking forward to the next useless stunt.

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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