Almond Butterscotch named his photo Connected and lonely
That’s one of the most common questions I get when I’m giving speeches or meeting clients. Hell if I knew but the last couple of weeks I’ve been giving it some thoughts, new thoughts though. If you’d asked me one year ago I’d dreamed up some sort of new service or maybe I’d be talking about Instagram, Path or some other new social network. That’s of course in one way part of the answer but lately I’ve spent more time thinking about the vacuum that would appear of people stopped using Facebook.
I’ve been using Facebook since early 2007. It’s been one of my most important channels to keep up with both old and new friends. In the last five years I’ve [click to continue…]
Over the years I’ve spoken and written tons of times of the importance of content. The online world has been a Klondyke for people who early understood that when content is free to publish content will also be what drives traffic. And as most [click to continue…]
Back in 1980, Michael Porter (most famous of creating Porter’s Five Forces) published the study Competitive-Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. It was more or less the beginning of what you today would call Competitive Intelligence - the action of defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors and any aspect of the environment needed to support executives and managers in making strategic decisions for an organization.
Be Curious. Wonderfully photographed by Patricia Glogowski.
Personally I think that time has come for change. Organisation and brands today tend to believe managers are supposed to create business development departments that make sure the company stays ahead of competition. I don’t agree. In the complex world we live in it’s time to make each and every employee a part of that competitive intelligence process. In other words it’s up to you. You are the ones that can make it happen.
A constant flow of information.
The world is becoming smaller and smaller. The Internet has erased borders and will sooner or later erase even language barriers. As a result your company isn’t fighting the local competitor around the corner [click to continue…]
I am pretty darn proud to announce that I’ve been picked as a member on the jury of the first international social media award show for communication and marketing professionals. The award show called The Bees Award will be held in San Francisco on November 9 later this year and it’s open for submissions as of today.
The Bees Award have gathered some of the leading social media experts from around the world to judge this award and I’m honored to be included in that list. Apart from the honor it’s also a great opportunity for me to scan some of the best case studies in the world when it comes to social media. I’m sure once the 9th of november has passed I’ll be packed with inspiration to share with you guys.
This new buzzing contest will award winners in the following categories:
- Best 140 Characters (SMS, Tweet)
- Best Use of a Micro-Blogging Platform
- Best Use of a Social Media Platform
- Best Use of mobile
- Best Relationship With Bloggers
- Best Conversation with Customers
- Best Use of Alternative Tool(s)
- Best Use of Media Press Room
- Best Writing
- Best Art Direction
- Best Social CRM
- Best Student Work
- Best Innovation
- Best Campaign
- Agency of the Year
- Client of the Year
And besides me, here’s the jury and their twitter accounts and blogs:
- Liz Strauss – Chicago, USA (@lizstrauss)(Liz’s Blog)
- Gary Goldhammer – Los Angeles, USA (@g24khamr) (Gary’s Blog)
- Paul Hoffman – Woodstock NY, USA (@hoffmanpaul) (Paul’s Blog)
- Mitch Joel – Montreal, Canada (@mitchjoel)(Mitch’s Blog)
- Helder Araujo – Sao Paolo, Brazil (@haraujo)
- Jesus Hoyos – Mexico City, Mexico (@Jesus_Hoyos)(Jesus’ Blog)
- Ralf Rottmann – Dortmund, Germany (@24z)(Ralf’s Blog)
- Matt Rhodes – London, UK (@mattrhodes)(Matt’s Blog)
- Eric Maillard – Paris, France (@PRland)(Eric’s Blog)
- Gaurav Mishra – New Delhi, India (@Gauravonomics)(Gaurav’s Blog)
- Rajiv Dingra – Mumbai, India (@rajivdingra)(Rajiv’s Blog)
- Andre L. Pan – Shanghai, China (@popoever)(Andre’s Blog)
- Isaac Mao – Boston, USA/Shanghai, China (@isaac)(Issac’s Blog)
- Li Ang Wang – Shanghai, China (@WebLeOn)(Li Ang’s Blog)
- Gao Ming – Shanghai, China (@gaoming)(Gao’s Blog)
- Toru Saito – Tokyo, Japan (@toru_saito)(Toru’s Blog)
- Alister Cameron – Melbourne, Australia (@alicam)(Alister’s Blog)
- Dave Duarte – Cape Town, South Africa (@DaveDuarte)(Dave’s Blog)
So, what the heck are you waiting for. Make sure me and the other jury members eyeball your social ideas!
I have gotten the question over and over again from people, organizations and brands: “How do we start a blog the right way” – I’ve decided to put my advice into writing.
Some of you might think this post is unnecessary. Other people have written about this already. I thought so too until I started searching for good posts on how to set up a kick ass blog and learned most things written on the subject either covered the tool or the actual writing but not actually leading you to do it the right way I think there’s room for another post on the subject.
The purpose of this post is sort of a combination of two things that I hope will lead to the following:
- Make sure agencies cannot charge big money for setting up your blog. Setting up your personal or branded blog is to me a democratic right and should be free and accessible for anyone who has something to share.
- I think more people should start a blog. It’s good for you. It’s good for the democracy. It’s good for the world.
Here is the essential guide on how to start and configure a blog that will rock the world:
1. Buy a unique domain name for your blog and preferably do it at the same place where you intend to host the blog
Personally I’ve followed WordPress own recommendations and used Bluehost.com to buy my domain name and then installed a WordPress blog with their simple script functionality. It’s a 3 minute process from registering that domain [click to continue…]
A common question I get from companies is “How do we get people inside our company to spend time on our intranet”. My answer is always – “make sure you tie your intranet closely to your daily operations”.
Make people feel visiting the intranet has something to do with their work and not only for the fun of it. Only this way will you create the need for the collaboration, socialization and engagement that an active intranet (and your company) needs. This however turns out to be a major problem for most [click to continue…]
Think social media and conversational marketing might be the next train to heaven for your brand but don’t know where to board? Well, here’s three social media marketing models that will make sure you’ll find your station.
If you wanna get moving into the social country of love where conversation rules you’ve gotta get one thing straight. Valuable content is king. Buying a loudspeaker and start tweeting wont get you anywhere. Swedish brands like Comhem and Boxer have effectively proven that just twittering the 140 sign language doesn’t earn you any followers. Every social network will provide you with it’s own possibilities and traps. A well executed strategy is a must or you’ll end up in a minefield.
Here are 3 models by Johan Ronnestam that will guide your brand towards a successful social media strategy.
3 Models That Will Guide You Into The Social Media Landscape
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The Social Staircase
The Social Staircase is a model that focus on the overall process. It’s the stuff that pays for your ticket to love.
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The Social Tool Matrix
Now you know what kind of presence your business needs. Now it’s time to map the tools to make sure you know what to keep your mouth shut, when to speak and when to listen.
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The Social Viral Spiral
This is about speed. Spread that love I’m talking about below. But make sure you do it with finesse and timing. Create a couple of Social Viral Spirals and you’re ready to make out!
How your brand makes good use these three [click to continue…]
We’re fed up with boring old school advertising. We don’t want your information and rational explanations. We wanna dance, laugh, feel and love. We do not want be treated like idiots!
James Dean knew how to seduce people while looking pretty darn boring. But face it. He’s dead and would be pretty out of date now!
Information is all over us. We’re accessing it everywhere faster than ever. The more shit we get our hands on the less we wanna mess with, so you’ve gotta stand out.
Future brands don’t buy media they create brand dramas that build value and generate SEO equity – only then will you reach your future friends (aka. target group). Future brands tell stories.Future brands rely on drama and constant innovation – totally integrated.
