It is with great pleasure that I share with you some exciting and hopefully helpful news. Salesforce and Altimeter Group recently collaborated on a special project to help executives understand the real impact of social media and in turn how to lead meaningful and lucrative transformation. The result is The Little Blue Book of Social Transformation, a free ebook that outlines 20 principles to lead change. It is available today as a complimentary download here. Now, the backstory… Executives are…
The Hunt for Social Business Value
Guest post by Ashley Furness of Software Advice When Microsoft announced plans to buy enterprise social network Yammer recently I was a little stunned. The reported $1.2-billion acquisition price tag seemed like a lot for simply replicating social networking functions in the business environment. Would companies really achieve ROI? Or would it be more of a “distraction,” as one user told me? Still, Chatter Product Marketing Director Dave King told me in a recent conversation that “social is more than…
Investing in the Mobile Enterprise
Your customers are not only becoming increasingly social, their digital lifestyle is fueled by mobile devices. Whether it’s a smart phone or a tablet, they are masters of the small screen experience and accomplished in the art of communicating with both their thumbs and their voice. The most riveting facet of the mobile revolution is not only what we’re witnessing, it’s what we’re missing in these important times of transformation. These connected customers or Generation C as I refer to…
They All Laughed – The road to becoming a social enterprise
Guest post by Danna Vetter, VP, Consumer Strategies, ARAMARK People laughed when we began talking about putting resources towards building a social structure for a company like ARAMARK. We heard it all: The standard – “We can’t open ourselves up to this kind of risk.” The mean – “You’re just trying to manipulate company perception.” The ridiculous – “No one wants to read tweets about hot dogs.” If you don’t know, ARAMARK is a private, $13 billion global company that…
Social CRM Needs Clarity
As the headline implies, even though Social CRM exists as an official category, what it is and what it is not is blurry and hotly debated. No, it doesn’t need a new definition. And, no, it doesn’t need new leadership. sCRM, and now “social enterprise” as categories could however, benefit from clarity around what it is they’re solving for, which companies actually provide solutions against those objectives, and ultimately, how everything works together for the benefit of customer engagement and…
Engage Against the Machine: The End of Business as Usual
One of the most often asked questions about The End of Business as Usual is how it’s different than Engage. I thought I take a moment to answer it here just in case you were wondering the same thing. Engage was and is special. In fact, I felt the mission and content of the book was so special, that I wrote it twice. I viewed both versions as my chance to not only document the transformation in marketing and service…
Social Media and the Adaptive Business
While I’m in the throes of writing the next chapter, I wanted to share a recent interview I did with BroadVision‘s Andrew Gori. Andrew asked some profound and timely questions that are worthy sharing. Following this discussion, the interview was reenacted live at BroadVision’s headquarters in Redwood City, CA as part of its Clearvale SecondFloor speaker series hosted by CEO, Dr. Pehong Chen. The conversation tackles subjects facing businesses of all shapes and sizes ranging from social media adoption and…
Research Report: Constellation’s Research Outlook For 2011
As an advisor to the Constellation Group, I am reposting the team’s first joint research report here. It offers a glimpse of the hurdles and opportunities organizations will face in 2011 and beyond… Organizations Seek Measurable Results In Disruptive Tech, Next Gen Business, And Legacy Optimization Projects For 2011 Enterprise leaders seek pragmatic, creative, and disruptive solutions that achieve both profitability and market differentiation. Cutting through the hype and buzz of the latest consumer tech innovations and disruptive technologies, Constellation…
Q&A: The Impact of Social Media in the Enterprise
In the spirit of sharing dialog that transpires outside of this domain, I would like to invite you to read a recent discussion with good friend Jacob Morgan, co-author of Twittfaced (I contributed the foreword). While the discussion centered on Engage!, as you’ll soon see, it expanded to analyze the effects of social media in the enterprise. #EngageorDie Why is sociology and anthropology so important to understand for social media? I believe that at the top level, all of social…
Web 2.0, Bubble 2.0, Enterprise 2.0 – Differences and Similarities from a Marketer’s Perspective
If you were around Silicon Valley during the 90s, then I’m sure the current Web2.0 frenzy seems familiar. If you’re fresh out of college, or if you’re a recent transplant, welcome to Bubble 2.0. Not that this bubble is going to burst with the same “pop” as 1.0, but it does share all too familiar nuances of hype and misdirection. There are even calls to ditch 2.0 for 3.0 already. Let’s just assume that everyone here understands the history behind…
