In February, the team at Pivot released a revealing research report that documented the increasing gap between marketer and customers. I referred to this as the Great Divide or the “The Perception Gap,” the distance between what customers want in social media and what executives think they want. In collaboration with Barnickel Design, we’ve just released this infographic that visualizes the extent of the perception gap between social consumers and social businesses. Following this report and in many interviews I’ve…
Without a Strategy, There Is No ROI
Guest post by Danna Vetter, VP, Consumer Strategies, ARAMARK – Part 3 in a series Have you ever started a meeting without an agenda? Driven your car with no destination? How about gotten surgery before diagnosing a need? While some of those options may seem like refreshing changes, it’s not the way you run your business. But that is exactly what it’s like when you start a social media campaign without a strategy that ties to real business needs. At ARAMARK, a…
Q: What’s your best advice to social media managers? A: Stop talking about social media
I recently presented at Microstrategy’s iCommerce Summit in Amsterdam on the importance of looking inside to improve how to engage on the outside. Following the event, I was invited to join Peter Gentsch of Big, Michael Buck of Dell, and Andreas Bock of Telekom. The conversation explored the importance of rethinking how businesses approach social media. Rather than driving social media strategies based on just clever ideas, campaigns, soft KPIs, and intangible results, I shared the importance of focusing on…
The Strive for Balance is a Journey Not a Destination
These days, we’re running fast…sometimes too fast. Our social networks keep us connected, but in some ways they’re also pulling us away from our center. Our social streams feed us information about our friends, family, events and even the latest viral videos or trends, but the currents too can overwhelm us. In a time when multitasking is just a way of life and communication is always on, I often wonder how distorted our perspective becomes until we realize clarity is…
The Age of Transparency in Digital Politics
Guest post by Minter Dial @mdial on social, transparency and politics using the recent French Presidential election between Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande as a case study The paths of social media and politics would seem to be inextricably linked. Politics has proven, in many countries, to be a great way to “democratize” social media, or the other way around. During the Arab Spring, social media helped inspire a change in regime. In the US, social media clearly contributed to…
Finally, a look at the people who use Twitter
The days of “I don’t get Twitter” may soon pass. Tweets are now a form of self-expression among connected consumers and it is this connected generation that continues to grow in size and influence year over year. Much in the same way that TXTing is a natural form of common conversation, even if it’s a norm that’s outside of the world as you know it—Twitter is reflective of how millions of people are connecting and communicating. Over the years, Twitter…
The Future of Media is Currently in Production
Broadcast journalism evolves with every new medium that emerges. Social media certainly opened the doors to new forms of content and distribution channels, but in the end, value, consistency and engagement separates those who find a long-term audience from those flail in obscurity. The market for relevant and compelling content is infinite, regardless of medium. While traditional media learns to adapt, new visionaries arise to push the boundaries and possibilities of media and design fresh business models to support it….
Smashing Convention: Billy Corgan on why artists need more than viral videos
Welcome to Revolution Season 3! Although, we unofficially launched one of the interviews early (because of the GRAMMY Awards), Season 3 proudly debuts with an unapologetic interview with none other than Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins. This episode also celebrates the release of Oceania, the new Smashing Pumpkins “album within an album.” As guitarist and co-founder of the Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan was at the forefront of one of the most important music movements in recent history. He’s not…
A Social Publishing Model from Intel: “iQ”
Guest post by Bryan Rhoads, global content strategy, Intel Today’s web is an endless 24/7 cycle fed by content and social actions. In this cycle, brands are realizing that content is currency and social actions are the transactions in this marketplace for eyeballs and attention. To remain relevant, not only do brands need to produce more interesting, useful and more timely content, they need to adapt to a new “social publishing model” to best feed the social graph and this…
How to Live a Recommendable Life
I often talk about how in this era of digital and connected consumerism, we as organizations and individuals can live a meaningful, recommendable and shareable life. I’ve asked Paul M. Rand, President/CEO of Zocalo Group to share his recent commencement at Northwestern University with you here as it helps us see the world a bit differently…even if for but a moment. Remember the words of Jeff Bezos, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the…
