Digital Marketing

Not all "sites" are online. This clever little thirty-second spot from Coleman pokes a bit of fun at the social web with the voice of Sam Elliott adding a nice touch.

Found via Nick Kinney over at American Copywriter.

"We learn from history that we learn nothing from history" George Bernard Shaw.

This recession will end, hopefully sooner than later. But we must be realistic and recognize that the cyclical nature of economies will bring along another downturn before we know it. It is a certainty. However, the knowledge that history repeats itself does not mean we will act any differently to prepare ourselves for the inevitable future.

A Solid Five Year Plan Needed To Start Five Years Ago
One of those infamous questions asked of entry level candidates starting a career is “Where do you want to be five years from now?” It gets answered many ways. Some handle the question well while others flub around with what they hope is an appropriate answer. Others simply don’t know, not having thought it through. The smarter ones usually have a goal in mind and have mapped out a plan to achieve it.

But what if that question was directed to your marketing efforts? Where will it be in five years? My guess is many wish they had asked (and answered) that question five years ago, especially as it relates to digital.

Where Do You Stand?
Although we are smack in the middle of economic turmoil, digital is still a bright spot in terms of growth in marketing. But the issue remains that many have failed to scratch the surface of its true potential. As such, it is time to ask some hard questions and assess the stage you are at.

The list of below is posed in terms of where you might be today if you had begun to address things long enough ago to have already made a difference. In others words, how much better off would you be if you started to tackle the following over the past few years?:

• Has broad digital knowledge been established with investments in human capital, hiring and ongoing education?

• Are digital efforts aligned against best practices and creating your own reliable benchmarks?

• Have basic opportunities like email, search and landing pages been exercised? Have they advanced?

• Has the creation of compelling content taken place and been updated on a consistent basis?

• Has site usability and utility improved over time?

• Has optimization of campaign efforts and site performance been undertaken?

• Where is the right fit in terms of balancing push versus pull marketing?

• Has social media played a part in listening to and developing a dialogue with customers?

• Has permission been captured to contact customers and prospects in the future?

• Have customer profiles and preferences been recorded?

• What insights and advances are being applied through analytics?

Many items are listed here. It is not a test, more of a reality check. The good news is that if you have made headway with even a few of these items you are doing better than most. Although it is kind of sad that we consider it good news when only a few of these items are checked off.

It’s Always Easier Save What Has Been Proven To Work
The harsh reality in a faltering economy is that cutbacks come down the line effecting people, projects and programs. There are tough decisions in terms of what goes and what stays. But it does not need to be that way. Mindsets geared to constant experimentation, testing and measuring outcomes when times are flush already have answers to these questions. They have proved what works and what does not. They are prepared and are likely able to preserve marketing dollars and talent.

Asset Building And Wealth Management
These are not concepts isolated to the financial world. A strong and meaningful brand is a strategic asset. It takes a lot of effort and time to build, grow and maintain. Done right, it pays substantial dividends over time.

Digital success is no different. The simple fact is that the vast majority of consumers are online and that is where the bulk of the brand experience is being delivered these days. And, it is only getting bigger and more important. As such, digital requires the same attention to vision, constant evolution and nurturing as does traditional brand marketing and management.

However, this means that now more than ever we need to be cognizant of our digital efforts. We need to avoid grasping at tactics in search of a quick fix. There are no get rich quick schemes here. It is all about sustainability and investing in select areas that will pay back over the long term. So go create that five year plan and start knocking-off the items that align against it.

No Digital Regrets? You May Be Lying To Yourself
Hindsight is always 20/20. So, be honest about regrets for not having done things when you had the chance. It’s okay to admit it because we all have them. It may be a small test, an idea for new content, changing and testing one variable, or perhaps taking a risk that would be much harder to get away with right now.

Whatever the case, imagine where you might be today if you had and use it as a reminder of why it is important to stay the course for the future. It is required to navigate the path ahead. As rosy as thing look, there is always danger waiting in the wings.

Living through history we have the knowledge that it will repeats itself but have yet to develop the wisdom to deal with it appropriately. Always be prepared.

Spend an hour with Marissa Mayer, Vice President at Google who talks to Charlie Rose all about the most popular search engine in the world. She was one of Google's first twenty employees and it's first female engineer. For more info on Marissa, check out this article in NY Times last month.

Marissa sheds light on the keys to Google's success such as innovation, launching early and launching often, creating small teams, empowering them and staying agile. And, of course, staying focused on the users.

Charlie asks some interesting questions like "Is Google the next Microsoft, and Facebook the next Google?" Touchier issues around Yahoo! are answered in the way you'd expect.

She provides a great overview of the different services Google has put out from Organic and Paid Search to News to Latitude and what it takes to make it as an employee. In all, nothing earth shattering or too revealing if you pay attention to the tech world (not that it was really expected), but always interesting to hear direct from the source.

The one thing that comes across is that Marissa is passionate, articulate and just loving the gig she's got. And, who wouldn't!

Canadian Tire quietly announced last week that it was closing down the eCommerce function of Canadian Tire.ca. According to industry insiders this had been in the works for a while and there is some buzz that other retailers could follow. This article from the National Post sheds some light on the announcement. Evan Schuman of StorefrontBacktalk and Linda Bustos of Get Elastic have some great perspectives on it as well.

When an iconic retailer waives the white flag on this front, should it be interpreted as a blow to the Canadian eCommerce landscape? Is it an admission of an immature online marketplace, proof that e-Commerce in Canada continues to lag compared to other parts of the world? Exactly how can we view this? What signal does it send?

Well, the reality is that it is a call-to-action for Canadian marketers to raise the bar with a perspective of being in it to win it in the online space. In that light, it may just represent a positive inflection point for digital in Canada .

Market or Marketing?
Excuses for not realizing our digital potential are wearing thin and it is high time to stop looking at the marketplace and focus on the marketing. Instead of pointing a finger at consumers as culprits of our success or failure, we need to look inwards and examine how to fire the engines more effectively and efficiently with what we have available to us.

Admittedly, things got a whole lot tougher for businesses as new choices were offered up in an ever expanding media and channel marketing universe. But it got a whole lot more exciting too. And, there are many examples of those thriving.

Unfortunately, for many, adaptation and innovation has been more of a tough swing than it has been exciting - just ask the Newspaper industry. Perhaps the variety of new choices presenting themselves just confused matters and did not lead to optimal decision making. Could it just be a fear of the unknown? Or, maybe old habits die hard.

Whatever the cause, it remains a curious contradiction that the connectedness of our daily lives, at home and at work, are not better reflected in terms of where marketers are placing their bets to reach us, influence us or show us a better way to do things. In fact, the stakes are getting higher as consumers are now expecting it.

The sad realization that it is still considered “advanced” to bring together content (text, audio, video), search, advertising, email, community, shopping, personalization, data and analytics, testing (and a raft of other elements) and do them well. This should not be the case. There is too much riding on it.

Beyond Silos And Support
Remember when someone else in your company was in charge of worrying about Online. Someone else now needs to be everybody.

Progressive organizations increasingly recognize that silo, support-channel or "add on" thinking around digital is far outdated. And, there is a lot more involved than the simple notion of “build it and they will come”.

However, it still escapes many brands that success now (as has been with everything else) depends on on-going collaboration and integration from all perspectives. It is about thoughtful consideration and upfront inclusion in the business and marketing planning cycle.

Begin With Talent
It is obvious that a great on-site experience is relevant and intuitive, providing utility and value for visitors. It works to strike a balance with the pull and push elements that the medium affords. And, marketers employ tools and tactics, offers and enticements – offline and online - to fuel it.

What is not so obvious, however, is how to deliver all that.

It is not about technology or off-the-shelf solutions. Never has been. Quite often it is a soul searching exercise in customer-centric thinking across the enterprise. One that looks inside and outside the industry for the best in class examples (and the worst, I might add) to compare and contrast with, honestly and realistically.

The biggest challenge, however, is acquiring great Digital talent and ensuring an environment that helps retain them and grow their skills. Environments that foster deep knowledge building and execute by marrying the tested and true with the emerging and yet to be proven will excel.

But getting it right is not easy. It demands a heavy dose of experiential capital to continuously evolve. The difficult part is embracing the notion of experimenting more, taking calculated risks and failing faster to help the organization learn, share and grow.

The outcome of getting it right does not simply reinforce a brand, it becomes an essential element of the brand itself.

C-Suite Must Set The Stage
All that said, the most important factor (by far) is support from the top of the house to make it all happen. Without that top down support, the signal sent throughout is that its okay to marginalize Online and it does not demand/deserve collaborative focus or full integration.

Give Canadian Tire Some Credit
Canadian Tire executive is not clueless. This is not a knee-jerk manoeuvre and they deserve some credit for concluding that they were not doing it right.

The traditional flyer and catalogue may still work, but they are wise to envision a world where it does not (and we would be presumptuous to assume that they are not). Hopefully this step back will help them assess what role digital plays in the overall corporate strategy. Viewed as a strategic realignment to rethink and retool in a way that creates a real sense of purpose for the company and for customers, eCommerce may make a strong comeback one day. And that is a good thing.

The lesson here is to take a hard look at our digital efforts and ask tough questions about how well our marketing - online and off - align in today’s multichannel and consumer empowered world. Are you really structured and supported properly to make the most of the digital space? The good news is that this is still wide open territory and the potential is huge for those that work hard enough and smart enough to find the winning formula.

We all learned to walk by falling down. You know the rest of the story of what it takes to run.

Men are horrible at gift giving. Women know this, men don't.

It doesn't matter how sensitive, thoughtful or metro-sexual he is. A bad gift from a guy is as sure as rain after a car wash.

So, how does one find enlightenment on this matter of grave importance, receiving the proper information on how to avoid being written up in the book of bad? Take The Doghouse at Beware of the Doghouse as capable and entertaining resource.

It has been viral hit for JC Penney around the "truthiness" that guys are total failures with the whole gift thing. It makes us laugh and sparks the desire to send along and share. It is the kind of thing that may even win a marketing award or two.

I was going to suggest it might have been interesting to see recommended gift ideas and links to other options beyond diamonds. I mean, even as dumb as most men are, everyone knows that diamonds are a guaranteed victory. Perhaps it would have been helpful to see gifts selected by women, voted on in a Digg type manner driving online purchasing across categories. That kind of thing.

However, I immediately remembered the whole point of exercise is to keep us gents focused. Any distraction may result in an ill-conceived decision to that will end up being a one way ticket to the Doghouse.

So, it is great that the site does not try to do too much and there is clear focus on what they want you to buy. And, although I was going to be cynical and suggest they simply want you to buy the most expensive thing they can sell, I truly believe the spirit of this effort is to keep men safe this holiday season. For that, we are all thankful.

The agency behind the Doghouse campaign is Saatchi & Saatchi. Nicely done.

Why limit creativity and conversation around a brand to the usual tactics? Perhaps that is the key insight behind the launch of Flame, the new body spray for men from Burger King. Yes, Burger King.

Brings out a whole new twist on "Have it your way". Fire Meets Desire is the micro-site.

Once again the flame-broiled freaky peeps at Crispin Porter + Bogusky launch a hit out of left field, breaking through the barrier of conventionality, creating additional layers (granted they are kind of weird layers) for the brand.

Is this play really about making a profit from Flame cologne at $3.99 for a bottle of schpritz? I expect not. Just another quirky but smart link in the chain of entertaining digital content including Subservient Chicken, Burger King Pocket Bike Racer and Whopper Freakout.

We all know about LEGO. It was a rite of passage growing up. Dump that big bag/box of multi-coloured pieces out and start building something while hoping the family dog didn’t chew up pieces needed to complete your masterpiece. All good fun (although sometimes not so much for the dog).

So, if you are LEGO, how do you embrace culture change and compete with the noise in today’s crowded toy category with a well established brand? Well, it was not without creating some culture change of their own.

Jake McKee, blogger at CommunityGuy, was the Global Community Relations Specialist for LEGO and spoke about how he transformed things at the legendary toy company at BlogOrlando back in October this year.

Having used LEGO as an example in many of my own speaking engagements it was very interesting to hear Jake provide the insight into how he helped lead the process through which they ended up thriving in the world of digital and community.

His story is framed with the Cluetrain Manifesto and how it's principles were adopted to a build a better brand experience. One of the first points Jake makes is that it all began by listening to the market. LEGO had apparently got into a habit of asking retailers (e.g. Wal-Mart) what they should make for stores to stock and sell. Retailers (rightly so) turned around and responded along the lines of "shouldn't you figure that out and tell us"?.

Jake speaks to four lessons in terms of how they embraced a new way of doing business. Below are the main points directly from his presentation that I have adapted.

1. Paranoia kills conversation: Institutional paranoia was pervasive. It surrounded unsolicited ideas from consumers who were proposing new LEGO sets. The problem was that many ideas that LEGO received were projects they were already working on. The threat of lawsuits from litigious individuals who felt their ideas had been stolen stifled conversation with the market.

To keep potential lawsuits at bay (from a minority of individuals), LEGO sent a clear message to everyone that they were not comfortable with, nor could they trust, consumers or their ideas.

LEGO also was protectionist, acting out of the fear that being more open, communicative and collaborative around the core product would provide counterfeiters with valuable information to produce LEGO knock offs better, faster and cheaper. The fear of brand erosion and lost revenue and was driving a mindset of playing their cards too close to their chest, creating layers of secrecy around the brand.

Unfortunately, it took some time to realize that paranoia was actually preventing the brand from furthrer success more than protecting it from potential harm.

2. Small groups mean big power: Companies that fail to understand or care about pockets/segments of their consumer base will lose out. LEGO used to classify adult consumers as “weird”. After all, LEGO is for kids, right? Wrong.

Adult consumers that buy LEGO (those life-long fanatics of the brand) spend close to $2,000 a year on products. Compare that to the average child who has approximately $20-$40 of the product per year bought for them.

LEGO decided it was time to work with the "weirdos". In Seth Godin terms they decided to embrace the LEGO tribe and develop product directly for them. How about a 3,000 piece Star Wars Death Star Destroyer set that costs $300? It sold out in a couple of months and is now on its 15th production run. It continues to sell out.

That's knowing your customers.

3. Air cover and tenacity: The hierarchy needs to be hyperlinked. Organizational structures are not well suited to create open and collaborative dialogue. Internal conversations are typically controlled by job title, but should never be.

When layers prevent ideas from being exchanged, or when speaking your manager’s manager is not allowed, you can’t expect to get anywhere near progress and innovation. You have to be tenacious to get those conversations and meetings happening and break down the barriers. Of course this means being sensitive and respectful to others as you make change happen.

It also means you have to be well prepared and expect that you won't win hearts and minds all on day one.

4. Community solves its own problems: Community members turn to each other for answers and rely on contributors. LEGO had a thriving online community that was posting and cataloguing information as far back as the mid 90’s.

LEGO did not rush out to build something and try to own or dominate the conversation. They chose to go the way of understanding and supporting what was already there. They joined in with their core fans in the established communities and added tremendous value to experience by asking what they could do to enhance what was already going on. Sound smart? You bet.

In summary, this is not rocket science. No slight on Jake as it takes an internal champion like him to make it work. However, it is really common sense when you think about it.

Understanding how to apply the wisdom brought forth in the Cluetrain is an exercise that just might reinvent the way you see the market and ultimately the way the market sees you.

Check out Jake’s presentation at BlogOrlando from his blog, or view the slides via SlideShare (or the embedded one below). While you watch, ask yourself how you might be able to become an agent of change in your company. It can be done.

Economic uncertainty will undoubtedly threaten marketing budgets and increase pressure in terms of greater accountability with marketing spend.

To effectively weather the storm and look at this cycle as an opportunity, smart Digital Marketers are making the connection between various marketing disciplines and how they converge in Online space to maximize effectiveness. With the right approach, Digital stands to jump up in the queue and increase upon its reputation as a measurable and reliable medium to produce results and thus gain more share of the marketing budget.

This is the second part in a series looking at the discipline of Direct and Database Marketing and its relationship to the Digital world. Part 1 covered the strategy of collecting data. In Part 2, we look at the Digital connection with Segmentation.

Why Segmenting Matters

So you have collected some data. Now what? The primary purpose is to use data in smart ways. And, the application of sound segmentation principles is a great starting point.

Aggregate data is our gateway. Segmentation is how we begin to make sense of things. Avinash Kaushik, Analytics Evangelist at Google and author of Web Analytics – An Hour A Day, terms the analysis of data in aggregate form “a crime against humanity”. He is right. It is all about how we segment, how we slice and dice information and produce sophisticated knowledge about our businesses and our customers.

The notion is to learn about patterns and create a better map of what is going on, helping to uncover subsets of customer information and the stories they tell. It is like removing a blindfold, taking away a layer of guesswork.

As a database grows patterns emerge. Patterns exist on many levels (financial, transactional, operational etc), but we are primarily concerned here with drilling into customer & prospect level data and the degree to which we can identify pockets of behaviour. As information exists in both in-house databases as well as from online sources (via web analytics, email marketing campaigns, online advertising etc), Digital has the unique ability to map actual behaviours back to the customer level which builds a deeper foundation of marketing intelligence. (Note: It is critical to ensure compliance with all areas governing privacy of personal information.)

But there needs to be a purpose with segmentation. The process must be designed with business outcomes in mind. The real power is to analyze data and reveal opportunities to drive incremental revenue, improve service, or perhaps spark product innovation. The process acts a bit like an R&D. It is an on-going real-time research lab for data oriented to improve results and grow business in new ways.

The more it is done right, the more there is to gain in terms of bettering our ability to predict future results. The better we are able to predict, the closer we get to deliver the right offer to the right person at the right time - the holy grail of targeting.

Segmentation is a process to be baked into the marketing framework and plays a large part of the overall business strategy - a strategy driven by marketing.

The Direct And Digital Connection

At its core, Direct Marketing is an information-driven discipline requiring intimate knowledge of channels. And, Direct Marketers know the power of data mining and analysis and deem it worthwhile when it is used to deliver actionable insights and serves to improve the effectiveness with our campaign execution. Given that Digital is one huge channel ripe with data for marketers to use, the application of Direct Marketing within Digital makes perfect sense.

The business case is simple: Segmentation has been a mainstay of cost-sensitive direct marketing efforts for decades with a great deal of success. Channel-based campaigns (i.e. mail, telephone, DRTV) are quite costly but are inherently measurable. The business imperative in direct marketing is to increase response while lowering overall costs. Segmentation ensures focused attention to increase conversion through better targeting. And, it is applied across a wide range of business-to-business and business-to-consumer programs.

Since the Internet is now a primary touch point for consumers, creating a better online experience using data is a huge opportunity (and likely the low hanging fruit). Digital marketers have the perfect playground for rapid cycle testing, learning and improving results with an immediate way measure effectiveness and deliver ROI sooner.

This is especially important in today’s economic and business climate when budgets are being scrutinized and CFO’s begin to ask where they can make cuts without harming revenue and profit. Quantifiable results, proving that a dollar invested will result in three dollars earned, grants you a pass.

Finding Signal In Data Noise

Don’t go looking for all the answers in your data. Instead, use your data analysis and segments to help you begin to ask the right questions.

Data can tell us a lot, usually too much. It is often more noise than signal. To avoid the “analysis paralysis” syndrome, use segmentation as a means to narrow things down and hone in on opportunities for further investigation and testing.

So, after identifying patterns in your data the next step is to put together a plan to do something with the new found insights. The best approach is to begin to formulate a hypothesis to prove/disprove. This is where segmentation starts to make sense and has a direct output for direct campaigns applications, especially in digital. Be it on-site personalization, email campaigns or another avenue, the possibilities are far from limited.

Get Creative With Your Data

Last point is that the segmentation process can be a creative one. Parts of the data world include modeling, probability ranking, regression analysis, and other statistical practices that can leave marketers wondering if they are back in math class. But that is where data analysts and statisticians come in. You can’t do it all your own.

Remember that data is your friend and it can enable creative thinking and problem solving. Making assumptions about your customers provides an opportunity to get out there and test your hypothesis in a variety of ways. Data can be the spark that lights the creative fuse by way of experimentation and adaptation with our current efforts.

The power of segmentation allows us to get right down to an audience of one. Remember Peppers and Rogers, One-to-One Marketing? It still works. Segmentation is the tool within the Direct Marketing mix that helps deliver this and when applied to Digital Marketing it puts you on the path to better conversion.

Don’t forget conversion is still king, even more so in today’s economy. Segmentation within the Digital world is not a case of reinventing; it is simply adapting and evolving.

As the economy sputters and marketing dollars come under the microscope, digital marketers face a real threat. A threat that I believe we are better suited to handle in this economic downturn versus the dot com bust of 2000.

Remember 2000? When everyone questioned the marketing value of the Internet and Digital budgets disappeared faster than a bowl of Cheesies at a five year-old's birthday party?

The big question being asked of marketers today, no matter what their background, discipline or channel of expertise is, “How effectively is marketing spend being turned into new revenue and profit?” or “What is the ROI?”.

This is where Digital has an advantage - especially when approached from the discipline of Direct and Database Marketing.

Direct and Database is an area of marketing that speaks the same language as the Finance department (yes, that’s a good thing.) Over a decade of working at one of Canada’s largest Banks, I learned that the financial custodians understand the “science” of marketing better than the “art” of marketing. Quantifiable projections and results (response rates, conversion, sales, analytics etc..) tend to get them listening and onside faster than discussions about reach, awareness and propensity. If there was ever a time to defend budgets based on hard numbers that resonate from finance to the C-level, it is now.

So, here is the first in a series of reasons why the Digital and Direct connection will produce winning results in tough economic times:

Relationship Building with Data: Digital is the perfect medium for collecting data. Direct Marketing at its core is an information-driven discipline. While there are many ways digital marketers can collect and track information, both at an aggregate and an individual level, the connection I want to make here is building one-to-one relationships using digital and data for the purpose of targeted direct marketing.

It all begins with obtaining consent. When collecting a first/last name, postal code and email address in order to build the foundation of a valuable customer contact asset, permission is the gold standard - especially online.

Done properly, it serves to drive increased response and conversion rates. Why? Well, simply because the audience consists of those who have raised their hands to receive marketing. It is the difference between speaking to those who are interested versus those who could care less from the outset.

So, do people actually provide permission for marketing? Yes, they do. Individuals will “opt-in” for marketing when given a good enough reason (content, special offers, loyalty programs etc). There is a trade-off where contact information will be given when the perceived benefit is worthwhile. So, the promise of what they will receive in exchange for providing permission must be compelling.

A large part of the trade-off is the promise of how you will treat the data and address privacy concerns. A Privacy Policy is a must have from a legal and compliance standpoint, but it is much more palatable when positioned as a Relationship Promise. Not only does it sound better, it speaks to the overall brand experience. Ask yourself what you want from a friend, a policy or a promise?

Of course, we marketers want to sell stuff. Consumers know that. They are not stupid. David Ogilvy famously said “The consumer isn’t moron, she is your wife”. When we are smart with the collection and use of data the trade-off makes sense for customers.

Over time, data facilitates value to both parties and creates an on-going dialogue. And, allows for more frequent and meaningful contact - especially if customers can control how often they want a company to be in touch. For marketers, it is a platform providing an increased ability to learn, evolve and improve response and grow profit. For consumers, they see themselves being treated as a unique customer where their relationship is understood to the extent that they receive relevant communications and offers, tailored to their unique needs. It is win-win.

Brands that invest in building customer and/or prospect profiles as a long term play are on the right path to relationship development. It is a strategy that pays dividends over time. But be wary of abusing the power of your data. Unfortunately, many marketers erode the long term potential when they give into the urge or pressure to deliver short-term results. Quick hit revenue grabs should be avoided as they often serve to destroy the relationship that has been carefully nurtured over time.

So, there is a wealth of opportunity to use data to build relationship and better manage the direct contact marketing cycle. I‘ll leave you with this point from the late Peter Drucker, “The Purpose of marketing is to KNOW and understand a customer so well that the product fits him/her and sells itself”.

Google knows the power of data and how the principles of direct marketing work. It is really not the evil conspiracy you have been led to believe.

I’ll be back with other parts in this series that speaks to connecting the power of Digital, Direct and Data - the 3D approach to today’s new marketing.

I wanted to get the word out about a great career opportunity at Thornley Fallis.

The Digital Marketing practice at Thornley Fallis is growing. We are looking for a talented and passionate digital marketer to join us in Toronto as Account Director, Digital.

The right candidate is looking to work within a fast-paced and dynamic environment, joining a fantastic team of smart and innovative people. And, you will work directly with me (I hope that will be considered a benefit).

Check out the details at the Thornley Fallis site under Career Opportunities (btw – there are some other great gigs listed there too). Interested individuals are asked to contact me directly by email seaton AT thornleyfallis DOT com.

Electronic Arts gets it. They put together this YouTube video below in response to a consumer generated YouTube video.

Pretty self-explanatory and very well done.

I never doubted Tiger Woods could walk on water. Hat tip to Steve Rubel via John Porcaro.

Anyone who has ever sat on either side of the table in a creative brief meeting will find this amusing in the same way The Office is amusing. It is uncomfortably real.

I'm a strong believer that a brief should be no longer than 2 pages maximum. It is called a "brief" for a reason. The only thing the video is missing (the cherry on top) is a riff on focus groups. But that is a whole other rant we can leave for later.

Have you caught yourself saying any of same things the video depicts? C'mon, it's okay to admit it. Its cathartic.

Hat Tip John January over at one of my favorite sources of commentary and insight, American Copywriter. Via marktd

A quick look at what is going on today with online shopping shows that it is all about " we commerce " that is a key driver of eCommerce.

As consumers, we want reviews from other consumers and peers to help steer us in the right direction. We value feedback, recommendations and warnings from people like ourselves. And, increasingly, we are turning to them as a big part of influencing our purchase decisions - both online and offline. As Cartman says, "Respect my authorataay!" (translation for marketers = value the voice of the customer as it is authoritative and valuable).

So, should we be shocked or surprised at this online chatter having so much influence, sway and say in what we end up buying or not buying? No, not at all.

This simply mimics offline behaviour as it has existed since consumers started deciding on what to consume. So, it stands to reason that with a more social web this type of activity was bound to take hold. And, it has. Services like Bazaar Voice have even created an industry around it.

It also makes sense that, as studies have shown, when reviews are from people that we don't know personally - random folks we find online - there is strength in numbers. Close to 50% of those who shop online need a minimum of 4-7 reviews to help them decide (see eMarketer Chart below). So, although we are skeptical of unknown individual comments online, there is a "wisdom of the crowds" at play here.

I experienced a different scenario recently when I was in a retail location and overheard a conversation between a customer and salesperson. The customer, having done online research by reading reviews and specs online before visiting the bricks and mortar location to purchase, was much more knowledgeable and informed than the sales person in the neat and tidy company uniform. So, I did what any smart person would do. Instead of waiting for the sales person to help me, I began talking with the other customer who was able to help me out. That was a great example of "We Commerce" as the purchase was not a minor item.

It left me without a doubt that whether it is offline to online, online to offline or any other combination of consumer conversations, they work because they provide help at it most basic and human level. There is really nothing new here except for how we use new media channels to gather relevant information in our decsion making process - but the source is the same. It's us.

In this light it is not hard to see that the web is more about sociology than technology. So, the implication for marketers and brands is that it really boils down to the fact that consumers have jobs and tasks they face. They want and/or need something and want to accomplish what they set out to do with confidence.

Social web elements are a huge aid with such jobs and tasks. It works to the advantage of brands that get it and thus accommodate. Those who discount this new sphere of influence will find out the hard way that consumers are just a simple search and click away from getting it elsewhere.

And, as mobile enters into the equation and becomes more prevalent, more of us will bring the mobile web with us into the bricks and mortar environment. That altogether another game changing world to wrap our heads around.

I saw this video and could not help but think about the change in today's marketing environment. We now face a landscape of unlimited choices, new ones and old ones. A plethora of opportunities and ways to experiment beyond what history tells us worked at one time.

Yet all too often you see this kind of hack job that the video below depicts. Trying to cram something in where it does not belong just because there seems to be a space to fill. And then what? We just walk away while observers just stand, stare and wonder "why?".

Ultimately that is the problem with the campaign mentality in the industry that we have come to know and to practice since the early 20th centrury. We think in terms of getting in and getting out. We strive to create as large an impact as possible over a short time-frame. Make a lot of noise with as little damage as possible. Rinse and repeat.

In hindsight, we have been very good at manufacturing the problem we now stare in the face; consumers are trained to ignore marketing, question authenticity and scrutinize what "loyalty" really means with a brand (hint - it is not bonus points for a free alarm clock, or 5% off your 100th purchase - there is more to loyalty than gimmicks).

In building our own beast, the fight is on to survive in an environment where consumers expect more than hollow promises. They now demand tangible demonstrations (on a regular basis I might add) of what the "brand" is really about and why they should be loyal. In other words, we can no longer eschew community for a shot at critical mass.

Marketers have a chance (the best chance ever) in today's digital world to build communities and tap into the people who really care. It is very clear that it can't be done on the back of campaigns alone. It will be done through real connections, conversations and a new wave of thinking in terms of "non-zero sum marketing" with consumers.

So, ya wanna Be Kanye eh. Cute.

Brian Clark of CopyBlogger (a must read blog by the way) has a great post I encourage you to check out titled "Five Essential Elements of Effective Social Media Marketing."

My career background is steeped in direct and relationship marketing. One that also took into account the importance of content as a centerpiece of how to tangibly demonstrate relevance to consumers on behalf of the brands I have worked for and with. As such, I found myself nodding my head in agreement reading the post and thinking it is a step forward from the talk that we find our selves in much of the time.

The same old conversations get a bit stale when no one is really saying anything new, so I appreciated the dialog over at Copyblogger kicked off by Social Media skeptic Bob Hoffman from the Ad Contrarian blog.

Some will find aspects of the conversation polarizing (the old purist versus pragmatist view), but that is good. It is becoming clearer that marketers are indeed thinking about and challenging conventional wisdom, coming to grips with old and new models and how to strike the right balance. We need to look further and explore, argue and even lose some sleep over what to do in new media that works for both audience/community and brand/business. Whether you agree or not with Bob or Brian, I believe they make us think a bit harder about things.

In the end, Brian's summary hits it straight on:
"The reason there’s so much incestuous discussion about social media marketing is because we’re at the forefront of a new media industry. We’re the people who are shaping the future, and it’s important that we hash it out the old-fashioned way–with discourse, debate, and disagreement."

That is the great part about what is going on today. It is not fully baked and is not "one size fits all". And, we are working together on the solutions. Thank goodness for that.

Pizza Hut wants your greasy little digits on their new widget.

Because we all know the whole pizza ordering process needed to be simplified even further. Thank goodness for those QSR engineers and Digital folks who teamed up to give us a way to save expending even one extra-calorie when placing that next delivery order. Gotta love technology (and you know I do - I'm just having some fun here.)

I think the real killer application is to integrate the Wii Fit with this Pizza Hut widget. You'll have to burn 1,200 calories before you are allowed to order and you will default to the whole-wheat crust. Meat lovers with a gooey cheese stuffed crust? Sorry buddy, maybe next month when your BMI comes down a smidge.

Most guys will tell you it is just plain creepy to have other guys help you put your jeans on. That is with the exception of when you are on YouTube. The video from Levis below has chalked up nearly 3.5 million views in approximately 2 weeks.

Nanette Marcus reports on the viral effort from Levis as part of the Creative Showcase feature over at iMedia Connection today. Nanette writes: "Levi's says that "Jeans Jump" is all about showcasing the originality and versatility of the iconic Original 501 Button-Fly jeans in a creative and fun way.

The campaign raised a red flag, though, when some critics pointed out the similarities to a 2007 viral video from Ray-Bans, coincidentally created by the same agency. In addition, when the video was first released, it wasn't evident that the viral video was courtesy of Levi's. After a short, quiet period, Levi's laid claim to the video, noting that it was part of a small internet seeding project that has garnered more attention than the clothing company had originally expected."

Please, don't try this at home (especially if you don't have the button fly).

Do you think it is a strong tie into the Levis brand? Michael Estrin, Associate Editor, iMedia Connection (part of the showcase panel) commented "I don't know what brand of jeans they're advertising. And to be frank, I probably wouldn't have known that it was even about the jeans if I hadn't been told. It's one thing to have a subtle ad, but it's something else to miss the brand entirely. Didn't somebody at Levi's say, "Hey, funny video, guys. But where do we fit in?"

Maybe the answer to that question is in the comments. The video, which has about 3 million views and counting, has a little more than 14,000 comments on YouTube. I did a quick search for the term "Levi's" and couldn't find a user who identified this as an ad for the jeans. In fact, most users didn't see the video as an ad at all. And those that did use the word "Levi's" in their comments actually thought the video would make a good Levi's ad."

I tend to agree with Michael.

And, here is the Ray Ban video. Not hard to spot a consistent creative concept and execution. What are your thoughts about Ray Ban and the brand after watching this video?

Is it entertaining? Too much of a gimmick? Good value for the brands? What say you?

The comparisons to food just keep coming. This one is cute.

David Armano of Critical Mass and the Logic and Emotion blog shared this image a few days back and I thought it was quite appropriate given my thoughts last week on Four Ways Digital Marketing Is Like A Buffet.

After reading Made To Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath a while back (highly recommended btw), I revised many of my presentation materials. Chip and Dan spell out several ways to make stories stick and they know what they are talking about.

It compelled me to retool and rethink the story I tell. It made me realize a key insight to my Fifteen Megs of Fame presentation needed to be put up front, not halfway through the presentation where it had been slotted. Looking at the full story, it flowed much better. And, the feedback from the past half dozen or so speaking engagements has been really encouraging, reinforcing that it was well worth the time to evolve and rethink things from a different angle.

The simple idea I try to spread now from the outset is that the digital world is like a buffet. I’ve blow out the idea and put a bit more description to it here on the blog to share with you. So, here are the four ways digital marketing is like a buffet and things to be aware of when planning your digital strategy:

1. Lots and lots of choice: The average buffet has dozens of individual choices with limitless combinations. The world of Digital Marketing (and Web 2.0 / Social Media) is ripe with choice. Variables such as websites, landing pages, email, search, online advertising, database, video, gaming, content, consumer generated content, blogs, podcasts, wikis, tagging, social networks, virtual worlds, communities and the application of knowledge building with A/B & multivariate testing, optimization, analytics gives us a lot to think about. Too much choice rarely leads to making the right one.

2. Indirect knowledge often drives decisions: Just like a buffet, we line-up and look over the shoulder of the person in front of us wondering what’s on the menu? Most people in the line are as clueless as the person ahead and behind them. As we watch people walk by with goodies stacked high on their plates, it all looks appealing. However, we don’t know how it actually tastes when we are in line. We need more information to know or if it will appeal to our unique tastes. Indirect knowledge is not sufficient.

3. Making decisions in the wrong frame of mind: We are hungry and our eyes are often bigger than our stomachs. We put too much on the plate in our first visit and then realize we may have made some bad choices. We then hope someone will come around to clear the table so we go up again.

Ever watch the plate on a return trip to the buffet? The choices are reduced to the ones that paid off. Those were choices were made with context and experience, not shiny object syndrome. To avoid this, think sample spoon at Baskin Robbins versus heaping portions where we end up wasting most of what we took.

4. Short-term versus long-term thinking: No one ever makes the right choices at a buffet. It is really hard to resist going for the stuff that looks too good to resist. The stuff that we know tastes really good is what we fill our plate with. This usually offers no nutritional value. And we know most people at a buffet don’t go for nutritional value.

So, let’s view digital options as making the right dietary choice for the long term. Diet is really all about long-term nutrition. Doing the right things on a regular basis over the long haul and building a solid foundation.

So, what is your Digital Diet all about? Is it a well planned menu, or a trip to the all you can eat buffet where indigestion is simply a matter of time?

How do you measure the effectiveness of a community? What is engagement? What is the value of a conversation and how do you communicate the impact for your brand?

Well, next week in Toronto a group of smart folks will gather to discuss the state of Social Media Measurement. The intent is to build a better dashboard and establish common ground on how we measure the effectiveness of our efforts in the Social Media space. The diverse range of people at the roundtable have backgrounds in Marketing, Analytics, Communications, Public Relations and , of course, Social Media. It should make for an excellent day of conversation.

Full disclosure, Joseph Thornley of Thornley Fallis Communications is the driving force behind the roundtable event. I work for TFC and will be participating in the roundtable. Joseph posted on his blog, ProPR , a while back about the issue of measurement in Social Media and it got some great traction that has led to the roundtable.

My call to action to readers of The Client Side is: “What are your views on Social Media Measurement?” If you were at the table , what questions would you want answered and/or what would you have to say on the topic of measurement?

For those of you who may not know my full background, I have been steeped in database and direct marketing for my entire career. Measurement was (and still very much is) my mantra. While at Scotiabank, one of the reasons I was able to play in the Social Media sandbox was because all the campaigns and initiatives I touched were measured. Everything we did had a spreadsheet attached with numbers going in and coming out. Banks tend to like that kind of analysis.

Social Media marketing was the odd duck in my efforts. Communicating success and applying measurement did not always resonate with executive. They had a hard time relating to something they did not know about first hand and could not compare with. It is tough to say “it works, trust me” because that does not sustain and grow a marketing budget. And, many other corporate folks running Social Media programs face the same situation. There are very few examples held up for executives to use as their beacon in the new marketing.

So where does that leave us?

Well, I’m quite excited to be part of the roundtable because the discussion is happening. And, having the discussion is a big step to begin making the results of our efforts a better understood part of the marketing and communications landscape.

One of the outputs of the roundtable is to achieve a guideline for a social media measurement dashboard and an outline of the elements, components and weighting within social influence marketing, communities and engagement that can act as a common denominator for reporting/communicating success.

Going into next Tuesday’s event, I would love to hear from you and your thoughts. So, again, let me know “What are your views on Social Media Measurement?” If you were at the table, what questions would you want answered and/or what would you have to say on the topic of measurement?

Leave a comment or call The Client Side Podcast comment line at 1-206-666-2242.

The IPA in the UK warns that as of May if you are being deceptive with your "buzz" marketing you will be sent to the penalty box.

The meat of the message is don't be a meat-head. It boils down to doing things above board and not sneaking around. Common sense type stuff.

Oh well, there goes my plan to leave little wired up neon boxes all over London to advertise cartoons.

When we last left the folks at Glass and a Half Full Productions, they managed to bring a little bit of viral marketing to the confectionery business for Cadbury. I often use the example of the Gorilla drumming to show the power of online video and how smart, funny and whimsical content can attract an audience and spread.

While it may not have been strongly aligned with the brand (i.e. what does a drumming gorilla have to do with a candy bar?) the video was unexpected, entertaining and memorable. It certainly gave Dairy Milk it's Fifteen Megs of Fame. It was so off the wall I actually wonder if recall was stronger for Dairy Milk versus weaker.

Anyhow, since the gorilla drum solo to Phil Collins "In The Air Tonight" made it's online debut a while back, a new online video has been made by the same folks called "Trucks". Check it out below or on the Glass and a Half Full Site. It seems a lot more went into the production of this follow-up but I expect it will not have anywhere close to the result of it's predecessor, Mr. Gorilla. My thoughts on this new video are summarized with a resounding "meh".

What is new and interesting is the site that has been created from Glass and a Half Full Productions to house the content. It is a fun distraction to explore and they have even linked to the YouTube riffs and take-off on the original video. There are a few interesting remixes to check out.

My only problem is that on the original site, which housed only the Gorilla video, there was a form asking for email addresses so that Glass and a Half Full Productions could keep you in the loop when new content was released. I signed up, but didn't get anything. I wonder what happened there?

I will continue to use Gorilla Phil Collins in my presentations and may now even include "Trucks". If I do, it will be to illustrate how difficult it is to create content with viral potential, even on the heels of a success. Wouldn't life be easier if everything were that predictable?

Schweppervescence. Remember that term brought to us from the folks at Schwepps? I had not heard it for a while but this video is a great tie-in, reminding of those teeny-tiny bubbles hitting your face. Vodka tonic, twist of lime anyone?

Hat Tip to Tim Coyne.

Here's the thing. I'm not knocking Second Life. I get it, I like it and used to use it. And, I see future potential for the 3D web model. But as I suspected and wrote about quite a while ago, without hardcore results and a translation to bottom-line business objectives, it would fail to carry it's marketing-darling momentum on hype alone. And, marketers would lose interest.

Please read carefully. I said it would fail to carry it's forward momentum. It was not sustainable on that front. And, I seem to be in good company with this viewpoint. This does not mean I am trashing SL, I'm just pointing out how it is like a Cabbage Patch kid. One Christmas people are killing for them, next one they are overflowing in the $2 bin.

Well folks, close to 60% of marketers who were polled at the NYC Advertising Age Digital Conferenced agreed that it was the most over-hyped new media of 2007.
According to Steve Rubel "Second Life has become a quagmire for marketers". I think he is right in more than just a few SL examples (but not necessarily all).

Read the Ad Age Article Second Life Voted Last Year's Most Over-hyped Trend. And read my previous posts here and here. And here .

I came across WayOut TV today after reading one of the session descriptions at the Ad Age Digital Conference in NY. And yes, I am disappointed I am not there!

John Battelle, Founder/Chairman/CEO, Federated Media is moderating a panel including Damon Wayans, Founder, WayoutTV.com. (Warning - content may offend viewers, but that is actually the value prop of the entire site). Yes, this is the same Damon Wayans of In Living Color fame ( and Major Payne shame).

Here is the description of Wayans YouTube project:

WayoutTV.com is the brain-child of Damon Wayans and is designed as an incubator to develop innovative television shows for the internet which will include: comedy, drama, action, reality, and animation. A creative haven for up and coming writers, directors, producers, actors and musical talent, WayoutTV.com will seek out and nurture the vision of these young artists. Mr. Wayans will work with these artists to develop original content. By creating a turn-key operation for the Hollywood community of the future, WayoutTV.com will produce weekly programming.

According to funny man Wayans "Internet (today) is cable 25 years ago." via Rubel tweet. From what I could pick up on the Twitter stream of conference attendees, he seems quite savvy with the evolving models around online video. "You Tube is the greatest focus group ever. They say what they want in comments etc. They don't pull any punches" via Armano tweet. Sounds like marketers and advertisers can learn from what he is discovering in the world of online video .

While I have yet to check out the depth of content at WayOut TV, a few things come to mind:

- When successful mainstream entertainment figures show up at digital conferences on a panel, talking about their own projects and can speak the language of digital marketers, we are moving out of the geekdom.
- As a persona like Wayans talks of, and manages to diss, his peers in the same online space (Will Ferrel's Funny or Die), we know we have reached a whole new stage in the game.
- Given my post below on Sure Fire Ways To Moderate A Panel, how cool would it be to moderate Homey D. Clown? Priceless.
- Our adoption and use of video online is not even close to it's potential yet. We are only beginning to scratch the surface of the opportunity. The barriers are down and there are no limits on this frontier. We need to look for examples outside of the usual "marketing" suspects and see what others are doing. Where they are succeeding, and where they are struggling,

There are implications for those on the sidelines waiting to see how this new world unfolds. We can learn a lesson from Mr. Wayans and begin to unfold it for ourselves, figure it out on the fly and lead the way.

Hat tip to Steve Rubel and Armano via Twitter.

I'm already a huge fan of BBC (the documentaries and history programs are a personal obsession) and am rapidly increasing my brand fanaticism as I dive into their newly redesigned site. So far I like what I see - a lot.

The approach for the new site design was crafted with users in mind by, go figure, involving users in the process. BBC went about actively requesting, receiving and integrating ideas while in the Beta phase. The BBC Internet Blog explains the open source nature of their redesign process. The blog itself added a nice dimension of communication around the project and undoubtedly generated more interest and credibility along the way. The new BBC home page is now live and I encourage you to take a look and play with it.

While they are not the first large company to adopt a user input/feedback mechanism and model, it is reassuring to see a globally known and respected brand open up this way. This is an approach my team at Scotiabank took with the launch of MyVault last year and, although ours differed in terms of being a private beta invite for users, it was a phenomenal opportunity to learn from the community and deliver a superior product and experience at the end of the day.

Quite timely as this will make for a good discussion at tonight's Canadian Marketing Association's eMarketing Professional Certificate Course. The session is all about Web Site Best Practices, Design and Usability.

Hat Tip to Steve Rubel - picked via Twitter.

Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester writes about the The 3 “Impossible” Conversations for Corporations. It is quick and informative read on the conversations that companies typically shy away from, but should embrace to have them become a bit more human.

His three points are:
- Ask for feedback
- Say positive things about your competition
- Admit when you are wrong

Hopefully, brands will see the upside in terms of having more opportunity to exercise conversations around the first two-items. That said, the third kind of conversation Jeremiah lists becomes much more palatable for all involved (reader/consumer, writer/brand) when you have some experience with the first two.

Last week I posted a piece titled "Social Media Is Always On". I believe, as many other do, that social media is a continuum. When explaining social media in that manner to those who are newer to the space, I have sensed an immediate acknowledgment that it follows a different stream than the campaign-based model of print, radio and TV.

Reinforcing the notion of "always on, Shel Israel of Global Neighbourhoods (via Jeremiah) has a terrific take titled Two Social Media Camps in the Enterprise which looks at what may happen inside an company. The issue he looks at is when one person in the company gets the social media space and is a "white hat" in their approach but, the guy/girl down the hall doesn't get it and merely attempts to exploit a perceived marketing opportunity using social media. How does that reflect on those who "get it" and have been champions for the same brand? I like Shel's take on the issue and it made me think about which type of "marketers" are at fault.

It boils down to understanding that those who look to game the system don't get it. Never have, never will. They bank on cheap tactics and let the other "saps" do it the right way while they act in a deceptive and self-interested manner. These are likely the same folks who asked you to borrow an essay in High School or University. Social Media is just the latest area they can try to pull a fast one and cut corners.

The thing is, it used to be a lot easier. Today it is harder to produce results without spending effort to understand what's is really going and how to succeed. Realizing true power means investing in the underlying potential. Many will try to get it right the right way and may stumble a bit on the road. We like those people. However, many enter the gates looking for the quickest path with all the wrong intentions. They will quit when it gets to the point of having to actually work at it - even a little bit. Why? That is what they always do. And, when they do, it becomes a better place for all of us.

Darwin was right.

I've been asked to speak at the upcoming Canadian Marketing Association's Roundtable "How does social media fit into your marketing strategy? on March 4th in Toronto. I've been preparing a entirely new presentation for the session that will address "the implications of social media on organizations and how it applies to marketing".

What stopped me in my tracks recently when trying to compare and contrast Social Media with traditional marketing in my new materials was dead simple. Social Media is always on.

I have already written here on the blog and in previous presentations about how point in time campaigns are not the model, although they can be part of the mix within a social media marketing strategy if done right. Real success comes from authenticity, transparency, relevance and sustainability. In other words, you can't turn it on and then shut it off as you please. Credibility is won with consistency and the building of community. So, the paradigm of campaign-based marketing that ruled the earth for decades upon decades goes against the grain here.

As I was reading a post by Joe Marchese at Online Spin (quickly becoming one of my must read blogs), the simplicity of "always on" was articulated. Thanks Joe. To date, that is the one of the best descriptions I've heard to point out what marketers need to think about when considering social media in their marketing.

Social Media is always on. Are you prepared to flip the switch?

When I see a brand in campaign mode, in this case Hasbro's Monopoly, and it reaches me in a variety of places I would not expect and through people I know, something is up. And, it seems to be a well engineered something when it's reach, in terms of grabbing my attention, was not bought.

Hasbro, fresh off the Facebook Scrabulous situation is doing a smart bit of marketing that I dare say is going viral as they bring out the World Edition of Monopoly. In a controlled bid to involve consumers in the brand, people are voting to have their home city included in the new World Edition.

Here are a bunch of reasons I think it this works well for Hasbro:
- People love Monopoly - it is an imprint of my youth. This effort successfully extends the brand into the online world by involving players, fans and city proud people across the globe. Everyone has a "move" in this exercise.
- This story has tremendous pass-along value.
- They were smart in terms of collecting voter email address in an very efficient manner. This is a move to limit ballot box stuffing and likely to pull voters back into the site with updates. I wonder if they have plans to use the email down the road after this exercise? There is so much potential in terms of extending the relationship with the collected data.
- The end product is, to a certain degree, user-generated. It fits snuggly into today's online model.
- It has broken through in terms of a Facebook group (courtesy of Angelo Cerase), a bit of blog buzz and even people passing it along via email (Thanks Rudite.)
- Multi-part engagement: First there is a vote for the major cities which ends on February 29th. Then, a second round vote on the wildcards and write-ins. (Yes folks, Toad Suck Arkansas still has a chance.) Finally, there is the release of the game itself. I'll bet there will be great word of mouth around this product when it hits stores.
- Traditional marketing was bypassed. Now, just because I have not seen any advertising or marketing around this is not to say they did not conduct any (I'm curious if anyone saw any?) . However, over the past week I could no longer ignore the Monopoly story - it hit me on several credible fronts.
- Nice site design that, although a bit visually noisy at points, stays true to the reason you visited in the first place.
- There is even an offline component with a poster that you can download. Cute.

So, while the social media world was quick to judge Hasbro and Mattel with regard to Scrabulous and Facebook, I felt it was time to point out where they are getting it right. There seems to be a lot of good planning here and it shows.

Now, my call-to-action for you is to VOTE FOR TORONTO. Bottom line: we need a game to play that involves our city in the spring. We keep hoping that spring time games would involve the Maple Leafs, but we'll take Monopoly at this point. Seems to be more of a sure thing. Only 9 days left! Giddy up.

“Terrorists Evolve. Threats Evolve. Security Must Stay Ahead. You Play A Part.” That is the tagline greeting readers on the new Evolution of Security blog.

The Evolution of Security was launched by The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the United States in late January. It is a public-facing blog created to keep weary travelers in-the-know of the policy and procedures driving security checks and also allowing them an outlet to ask questions and vent.

What makes this interesting is that it is a somewhat unlikely source. You'd kind of expect the TSA to not even have a knowledge of blogs, let alone start one up for the agency. So after the "huh" factor subsided, I checked it out and believe it to be a decent go at things. There are a few bloggers who write for the site and seem to do so very well.

Topics include Shoes, Liquids,Lighters, Nail Clippers and Gripes & Grins. There are more gripes on there than grins in comments, but it seems to be quite effective in terms of starting conversations. It is a place for travelers to "get it off their chest" - which is ironic considering travelers are quite used to not having anything on their chests from the ritual of stripping down at the security check.

Kidding aside, I think the TSA does a good job with the blog. All of the right elements are in place and it appears they did their homework in terms of understanding the blogosphere and where they fit in. Putting a human face on division of government is no easy feat, especially if you are in the group that everyone loves to hate. So, all that considered, I give the TSA a decent report card so far on this project. My only question is how long the content can stay fresh within this subject. I guess we will have to keep reading to see.

Hat tip to Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson of For Immediate Release.

That was the lead of a story reported in Ad Age that shows a downturn in employment figures in the media industry. While the media industry was on the decline, lead by a decrease in newspaper related jobs, the marketing services sector (agencies, consultants etc..) showed an increase in employment growth.

Steve Rubel points out that, the direct-to-consumer model is beginning to take hold. What we are seeing is that, as distribution channels no longer require a broker, agent or other middle-person, the change we have heard of, and expected, is being quantified.

The Ad Age article states:
"Here's the reason behind the disparity: Marketers still invest in marketing, but they have options far beyond paid media: digital initiatives, direct marketing, promotions and events, just to name a few. That creates more opportunities for consultants to help define strategies."

The landscape where brands like Smirnoff, Coke, Dove, Sunsilk and others experiment and see the power of a focus on content versus one where you spend against mass media distribution is shaping up .

Looking a little further into media and distribution trends, the direction taken buy the likes of Radiohead with the release of their latest recording, In Rainbows, (as well as artists like Jane Siberry) show an active embrace of the direct to consumer distribution strategy. The shift taking place is aligned with channels of congregation - not ownership saturation. The implications are not subtle.

However, my belief is that this is not a zero-sum proposition. As online and digital grow, bright minds from the media fold will be brought on board and add talent and ideas to the evolution taking place.

Proof of this can be found in the stats:
"Internet media companies, a sector that includes search engines and web portals, is a bright spot, with a 13.4% jump in jobs last year. Still, internet-media employment remains 31% below its dot-com-bubble peak." Although that last statistic may not be such a bad thing.

Picked up via Greg Verdino's excellent blog, Seana Mulcahy's post at Online Spin calls it as many of us who care to know the difference see it:

"...social media marketing is not just throwing up a page on MySpace, Facebook or any other social media site for that matter. You’ve seen some of the biggest U.S. agencies do that for their clients over the past year or so. These folks have patted themselves on the back for being trailblazers.

Newsflash: That is not trailblazing, that is ignorant."

Love it! Bang on.

Graphic "liberated" from Greg.

First, we have a nice little ad for Blockbuster that, no matter how well crafted, is not likely rescue them from their business model. I'm not sure this one reached viral status as it was added on November 22, 2007 (before the Holiday Season - note the guy in a Santa costume) and has approximately 18,000 views. More like early onset Altzheimer's than viral. No matter, I had fun trying to identify all 35 movies referenced in the spot. Hat tip to Buzz Canuck Sean Moffitt.

Then, we have Mitch Joel's collaboration with David Usher that points out the sexy new MacBook Air is really form over function when compared to the Sony Viao. The parody was added on February 12, 2008 (today) and has 398 views so far.

My post today on the 7 C's of Digital Marketing can be found over at The Canadian Marketing Blog.

John January of American Copywriter points to a nice little Super Bowl tie-in from Alka-Seltzer. It's an advergame that is anything but easy.

Give it a try. It took me a few rounds to find the Speedy little devil. See how fast you are.

Bryan Eisenberg of Future Now, friend and fellow preacher of using direct and conversion marketing methodologies applied to your digital efforts, points to the top retailers over the holiday in terms of website conversion.

Bryan's book Call To Action (co-authored with brother Jeffery) is mandatory reading for the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) Professional Certificate Course in eMarketing which I have been teaching since last September.

One of the themes I try to reinforce throughout the course is that the internet is built for database and direct marketing applications. They can make all the difference to your online performance. Understanding them and applying the principles can work overtime for you everyday of the week, including holidays. Something tells me that the list of retailers below know something about how it works.

The Popcorn Factory - 29.50%
L.L. Bean - 23.60%
Abebooks - 20.60%
Amazon - 17.60%
Hollister Co. - 17.60%
Lands End - 17.20%
QVC - 17.10%
Coldwater Creek - 17.10%
Cabela’s - 16.80%
Gymboree - 16.00%

[Source: Nielsen Online / Marketing Charts]

Truth be told, I am no designer. However, what I am fairly good at is reading. Unfortunately it is quite hard to do in this example of designing for the squint factor. Nice colors I suppose, high use of gradients, with a low level of proof reading to see how longer post would shake out.

While I have no clue if this blog is legit or not, let this be an example of what happens when you put design ahead of function.

Jackie Hubba of Church of The Customer Blog and co-author or the book Citizen Marketers has a great post today about the retail experience at Whole Foods. It is based on her spending a week on-site at the Whole Foods flagship store in Austin, Texas. I had the pleasure of meeting Jackie and hosting her at one of our Geek Dinners last year in Toronto. Very nice and very smart individual.

Being a foodie, I totally get what she is saying. Whole Foods has many interesting and unique products to offer accompanied by knowledgeable and enthusiastic employees. The Whole Foods retail presentation is a theater where food is on stage. It is a unique shopping experience that has all of the details covered nicely. They are aware of what will help them spread their word-of-mouth. As Jackie puts it "too many American businesses are culture-less shlubs." So true. Same up here in the Great White North. Very few exceptions.

Target does retail quite well too. Target stores feel different when you are inside. People notice and talk about how it is fun and unlike other bigger box stores (at least the Canadians I know who cross the border to shop there have noticed and talk about it). However, the last time I was in a Target store one of the employees spoiled the experience. It was enough to detract from the theater feel. All of the sudden the curtains closed and it became very much like everywhere else.

I bring Target into this post/discussion on the point of being aware of how word of mouth spreads. I saw this story by Warner Todd Huston (hat tip to C.C. Chapman) about how Target reacted to a complaint by a blogger concerned about Target's advertising.

Whether or not you agree with the issue that Target's ads are "sexualized" which was raised by Amy Jussel of Shaping Youth, the response from Target seems to lack any sort of knowledge of the digital world in 2008 (or 2007,2006, 2005). The flippant response is more than likely to overshadow the original issue. One wonders what they are thinking when they alienate the online world by stating that they "do not participate with non-traditional media outlets". The details of today's consumer conversations are clearly not very well understood at Target.

Non-traditional media outlets are today's media outlets. It is where real customers are searching, where real information is being gathered, where real reputations are being made or destroyed. And, it is where real word of mouth is taking place.

Will this hurt their bottom-line? Likely not. If they are smart they'll learn. My takeaway is that we just witnessed the uninformed and not-so-impressive man behind the curtain in the theater of retail.

Fresh off his interview with Lesley Stahl on CBS's 60 Minutes, Mark Zuckerberg is being asked to remove the very popular "Scrabulous" app from Facebook. An article from the wires this morning cites copyright claims by two of the worlds largest toy companies.

I don't think it is coincidence given that the 60 Minutes piece that aired recently showed the Scrabulous application. Perhaps I am wrong on this, but is seems rather suspect.

Aside from getting into a discussion over copyright, I wonder if the folks at Hasbro and Mattel could have approached this in a different manner? The application is quite popular on Facebook. Is this not likely to do more damage to the brand than good if they get their way and it is removed? Perhaps this is a move to supply Facebook with a "legit" version of the game. Or, perhaps it was the only thing the toy execs could do having been caught off-guard to the opportunity unfolding in the digital world to extend the brand. Instead of unleashing a killer app, they are opting to become an application killer.

Two things are clear to me. First, when it comes to bringing a game to life online, it seems like a lay-up in terms of moving off the shelf from Toys "R" Us and breathing new life via the digital world. The transition of content offered up as widgets, Facebook applications or whatever are sitting right in front of people's noses. Webkinz and Club Penguin have been effective in mixing up the online and offline worlds, so is it really a stretch for established offline games to rethink the model?

Second, I am not a big Scrabble fan, but "Scrabble" has been talked about a lot lately. This is undoubtedly due to the popularity of the application on Facebook. Before this legal wrangle, I had no clue this was not the "offical" version of the game and I'll bet you didn't know either. So, the Scrabble brand has benefited. If I am Hasbro and Mattel, I'd like to find out who programmed the application and put them on staff.

Perhaps Zuckerberg and Co. should try out an angle with select brands (or their agencies) where brand managers and application developers team up to build branded content/games like "Scrabulous" that people will use and love - where the advertising is in the game itself.
It is less likely to create the furor seen with Beacon and Social Ads. I mean, if a fast-food giant like Burger King can do advergaming, why can't the game people?

UPDATE: My friend Shel Holtz of For Immediate Release fame and the blog A Shel of My Former Self has a great post explaining the rationale behind the lawsuit. He worked for Mattel, worth a read.

Let's say you don't read blogs. Let's pretend for a minute that you are Joe or Jane Average. You are not into following the tech scene and don't care what Scoble, Arrington or Rubel are saying or doing. Or, have even heard of these guys.

Here is the email I received today from Apple. It works, doesn't it?. One of the most important things in marketing is to get the fundamentals right. Yes, Apple does the innovation part to the nines. Yes, they ooze cool in everything that they produce. They have nailed down the sex appeal in technology. Yes, they have changed the game several times over. And, the marketing communications just make you want to buy the product in a heart beat.

Below is the timely email they sent. Look at how they do the right thing in terms of ensuring the message is clear, concise and in your inbox at the same time the world is exploding with the news that they have done it all over again, just in case you've been in a cave and missed the hype. All this via the "antiquated" mode of marketing through email.

Good job Jobs.

One of the first questions I've been asked when people have found out that I am moving over to the agency side is "Does this mean you will be re-branding and changing The Client Side blog/podcast?"

Well, aside from changing the header description and bio page to accurately reflect my status and new gig, the answer is no.

Here's why:

• I have spent over a decade working on the client side. It is a quintessential part of me. It's in my DNA and constitutes my world view. After I spend a decade (or at least half that long) on agency side, I'll consider a change : )
• The blog is dedicated to "brand and customer champions worldwide who are making a difference from the client side". I'm a customer champion, always have been and always will be. I will continue to view everything I do through that lens no matter if I am client or agency side. The blog will still speak to marketing issues as it always has. It's a collective of ideas, thoughts and items based on the outlook and reflections from my experience. I still have that experience and bring it to my writing (and to my dealings with clients). And, it will remain dedicated to client siders.
• The reality is that I am simply going from working for one client exclusively (Scotiabank) to a myriad of clients with new and complex challenges and opportunities.
• I like the brand. There is a certain sentimentality to having created it. And, Google juice, Technorati rankings and a host of other vanity items are things I do not want to tinker around with (at this stage at least).

What happens if I go back to being a client one day? What if that is my master plan? What then?

• And finally, now more than ever, my chief concern will be clients. As a former client, I really want them to know that I am on their side! Groan.... yes, I know how cheesy that sounds, but it is true.

So there you have it. Although it will not likely change my decision, I would love to hear your thoughts if you agree or disagree with the rationale.

Yes, you read correctly. I can now be found on the dark side of the force.

It was the worst kept secret but I can now officially inform that I have moved on from my position at Scotiabank to join Thornley Fallis as Vice President, Digital Marketing.

For those of you that know of Thornley Fallis, you know that I am joining a superb group of individuals that are leaders in the social media and digital space. Joseph Thornley (Pro PR) is a prolific blogger and is a force in helping to define the evolution of communications through social media. Terry Fallis, (half of the great Inside PR podcast with co-host David Jones) has been a big influence and inspiration on my podcasting and social media presence. In fact, my first podcast experience was co-hosting Inside PR way back in episode 20-something. Needless to say I am stoked to have the opportunity to work with the folks at Thornley Fallis and help make a difference by working with a range of great clients.

It was not easy leaving my gig at Scotiabank and the fantastic team of folks that I worked with everyday. Over the past ten years, our team built a world-class relationship and database marketing platform that spoke to our customers and prospects in meaningful ways. I had the great fortune of developing our digital footprint over the last decade, creating programs that delivered content that actually mattered in the lives of our customers. This is not a pat on the back to myself, it is a testament to great vision and leadership from the executive at Scotiabank who let ideas take seed and grow. And, to the vendors, partners, agencies and contractors I had the pleasure of working with over the years. Thank you all.

The most asked question of me so far?: Will you rebrand The Client Side?
Stay tuned...

A major influence in my life and one of my top five favorite business books of all-time is now a slide show. Doc Searls, co-author of The Clue Train Manifesto pointed to it on his blog today and, while I am not sure if he created it (I don't think he did), it is worth a look for a refresh or as a crash course on the principles of the best-selling book written back in 2000.

If you have not yet read The Clue Train Manifesto I highly recommend you give it a some quality time in the very near future - it will change the way you think. It is free on the Cluetrain site.

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Hat tip to Sundog.

I just read WIRED's article titled Facebook Ads Make You the Star -- And You May Not Know It. I had started to see Social Ads in use but the uproar over Beacon and related privacy concerns seems to have overshadowed the discussion.

WIRED's Megan McCarthy writes:

According to Facebook, a user has to take a "social action" in order to trigger the appearance of their name and picture in an advertisement. According to Facebook spokesperson Brandee Barker, that could be almost any activity that the user does on Facebook, "such as the download of an application and the acceptance of a friend request." It could also include becoming a "fan" of a business by clicking a link on that company's Facebook page.

We all knew that advertising would make the cash register ring at Facebook. As Colin Mackay said recently at The Canadian Institute Conference on Social Media (where we both presented) "Did you really think that the folks at Facebook were just being nice when they created a free platform that lets you see and message all your friends and family?" That being said, I suspect not many (even industry pundits) could have envisioned the controversy surrounding the ad model Facebook developed. From what I understand through the article, there is no way to opt-out of the Social Ad model for users at this time.

While I am a huge fan of social networks and Facebook in particular, I fear that new advertising tactics may push the limits of what is deemed acceptable and dampen the spirit that brought people there to begin with. And, ultimately turn people off of advertising even more than they already are.

As an individual, my advice to Facebook is to dedicate more time and effort to communicate in plain language (without the legal jargon) how their advertising platforms will involve users and what options are available. And, as a marketer, I wonder if there is a real lift in response from employing Social Ads versus the old standard banner ads? Is it really worth the furor and the potential loss of users?

After spending the past week with family and friends (as I hope all of you were able to), we'll soon be back at work facing a brand new year ahead. As we head out of the holidays, many of us will make resolutions for 2008. Whether losing a few pounds, being home a bit earlier for dinner, spending more time with the family or whatever promises we make to ourselves and others, we should also consider the "professional" resolutions for ourselves and our businesses.

For those of us involved in the digital space it is a great time to think about the year ahead as there are so many fantastic and easily identifiable ways to become more successful at what we do. So, picking a few digital marketing resolutions might make a lot of sense as we can imagine a clean slate with which to work when we return to the office. These kinds of resolutions will make you feel less guilty than joining a gym knowing you'll only go a few times and, it is much easier than promising to pick up your clothes from the floor (a resolution I have broken every year since I was 8 within the first few days of the new year).

What are your digital marketing resolutions for the New Year? Here are a few to get you thinking:

• Are you pledging participate more actively in online communities, if so where and how often?
• Will you strive to create a more usable web experience for your visitors?
• Will you integrate data for enhanced personalization, or perhaps develop personas?
• Will it be to establish better eCommerce or shopping functionality on your site and measurably increase conversion?
• Could it be a revitalization of your email campaigns and do more A/B testing to improve results?
• Will you dedicate a portion of your budget to test and experiment with new media channels and applications? How about rethinking ways to use traditional channels in concert with digital?
• What about video? How will you take advantage of the ubiquitous nature of broadband today to enhance your online experience?
• Will you commit to build stronger consumer connections by opening up a real dialog, perhaps by way of blog, podcast or entry into a social network?
• Is it to provide unique content, superior service or some sort of "WOW" factor that people will talk about?
• Is it to be more effective and relevant in search?
• Will you do a bang up job measuring your efforts and applying web analytics to consistently improve your efforts?
• Will you resolve to become an agent of change in your organization and lead your brand into these areas?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you resolve to do better in digital in 2008. Leave a comment or call into The Client Side podcast and leave an audio comment - 1 206 666 2242. Perhaps your resolution is to call in and leave an audio comment every month for the podcast - I'd like to hear more resolutions like that! : )

Your new grocery list: tub of mayo, set of tires and a digital campaign. Check out Sam's Club digital services. Just when we thought we had come so far from the old days when we got used to hearing "my kid brother can design a cool website for you cheap!"

Found via SEO Book.

My friends over at Twist Image just released another Holiday Card Classic called Share 2007 that will be certain to make the rounds into various corners of the digital world.

A very smart use of some very smart people to share the online videos they found to be standouts in 2007. Concept and execution on this project were wonderful. Check out what Seth Godin, Bryan Eisenberg, Ken Wong, Joseph Jaffe, David Weinberger, David Usher, Jackie Hubba, Shel Israel, John Gustavson, Christopher Loudon, Mary Maddever and Paula Gignac found interesting this year.

Jorn Barger Knows Blogs, in fact he created them. According to Jorn: "A true weblog is a log of all the URLs you want to save or share. (So del.icio.us is actually better for blogging than blogger.com.)

Here is the link to his WIRED interview where he lists Top 10 Tips For New Bloggers. It is a great list even for those of us who have been at it for a while.

Great news just in. I received word that the MyVault website has won a Grand Prix Award at the Boomerang Awards last evening in Montreal. This a combined win for Scotiabank and our agency partners at Twist Image.

The Boomerangs are the largest interactive communications awards in Quebec and are presented by InfoPresse Magazine -the French language equivalent of English Canada's Marketing Magazine. Scotiabank and Twist Image took home the award for Best Website - Services for Scotiabank's My Vault. There were so many other excellent sites from a wide range of industries that we really feel special for being voted at the top of the class. I believe it is a first ever win for a bank in this category.

All this within the first six months of our public launch! Even more significant is the fact that the site is currently only available in English - the French language version of the site has not yet launched (look for it in early '08)!

While our focus is adding value to relationships with Scotiabank customers and winning new business from prospects, it is a huge honor for all of us and for our partners at Twist Image to be recognized this way. We are very proud of the win for MyVault as it was a real labor of love for all our teams. And, this is a sweet follow-up to a previous award win at the Digital Marketing Awards back in October.

Aside from the awesome team at Twist Image, I'd like to recognize the work of Michelle Tampoya, David MacLeod and Yinka Osidien who are on my team at Scotiabank. They are behind making the site work and this award is a direct result of their diligent efforts to provide an excellent user/subscriber experience. Way to go! Now get back to work ; )

Here we go. Ad Age reports that digital agencies have not yet done the required work to claim any sort of prowess in the area of leading brand strategy.

The article states:

"Increasingly marketers are realizing that [offline and online] has to be integrated ... but interactive agencies have not yet proven they have the capability to manage brand strategy," said Brian Haven, senior analyst at Forrester Research and the author of "The Forrester Wave: Interactive Marketing Agencies

Do we believe the folks at Forrester? Well, I think they make a valid point. David Armano of Critical Mass and the Logic and Emotion blog thinks so too. David has made a list of suggestions in terms of what agencies need to do to pull up their brand socks and legitimize themselves enough to grab the brass ring. My favorite one of his suggestions is to "think outside the browser". So true.

My view is that, while digital agencies may seem poised to poised to pick up larger pieces that are seemingly up for grabs, it really is a legacy issue that will take time and competency to overcome. It might be a bit of Chicken and Egg, but the reality is that perceptions are not rapidly changing - meaning that the talk around brand is likely not being demonstrated by the walk.

Client side brand stewards are cautious to hand everything over to agencies that, in recent memory at least, were viewed as tactical players or, dare I say, suppliers and vendors - not partners. The observed word on the client side of the street is that achieving results in digital by understanding the intersection of technology, marketing and commerce, is still a far cry from being a brand visionary, ambassador and leader.

In large part, brands and brand management are in flux because of the growth of growth in the digital space and the emergence of new media and social media. The inability of gynormous top tier ad agencies to grasp this space has led to a bigger footprint for pure play digital shops as clients busily parceled out pieces to whomever seemed to be a "best in class" provider. Digital experts rose to the challenge and met client demands in terms of delivering what online audiences really want, use and benefit from inside the interactive arena. What did not shift in light of proving digital leadership was the responsibility to become "guardian of the brand".

Unfortunately, be it right or wrong in your view, interactive agencies still have significant ground to cover. The irony is that being so good in this area likely painted them into a corner. The path created by a competent digital footprint has not yet led to doors swinging open around strategic brand management. That door will take time to open. The future is bright for digital agencies and digital marketers alike to win it by way of meritocracy, not though a blind expectation that a few kick-ass digital ventures will see it handed over on a silver platter.

The article continues:

"But to get there, digital agencies need to develop four core capabilities, according to the report: measurement and analytics, audience research, cross-channel integration and social media."

The fact that these conversations are taking place is leading to a better place for digital agencies, digital marketers and brands as a whole. Hopefully, there will be real dialog and development in this area of opportunity, not defensiveness and arguments that will defeat the breadth, complexity and importance of this issue in today world of marketing.

I just read this item from WIRED describing a new experimental feature from Google that seems to promise a more personalized search experience.

The WIRED blog explains "The new options appear as a series of buttons on the search results page which allow you to star a page, reorder results and even add a URL to a site you think is relevant. Next to each page link there’s an up arrow and an “x” button for ranking and rearranging the results, and any changes you make will be remembered the next time you search those keywords." Read the full post "Google Experimental Search Adds Personalized Page Ranking"

Apparently it is not available for everyone, only select individuals are able to access it. I have yet to see it in action and am interested to check out how it would actually enhance the search experience. At a minimum it sounds like another development that is driving Google to reinforce it's position of being as relevant as possible, now with the ability to drill further down to the individual or micro-user preference level. Neat stuff.

Last evening was session number ten of the Canadian Marketing Association's eMarketing Professional Certificate Course. Hard to believe there are only three sessions left in the fall semester already. It seems to have whizzed by. The experience of teaching has been very rewarding as I have a great group of smart students and there is always lively discussion.

The theme of the session was Building Online Buzz and how to drive visitors to your site. One of the items we discussed at length last evening was the viral effect, what it is, what it isn't and how marketers should approach it. There was consensus that "viral" is an outcome, not something that can be planned or requested from your agency. It is a rare thing that is not readily engineered.

There have been many attempts to describe, quantify or qualify what constitutes "viral marketing". I believe the most important point is often overlooked. When something "goes viral" it is the result of great, entertaining, informative, quirky or compelling (and sometime even really bad) content. Its starts with an idea, or concept, not a plan to create a viral campaign. As Seth Godin wrote in Ideavirus , "a big idea that runs amok". The digital world provides the perfect launch platform for big ideas to run wild and instantly reach a wide audience.

It made me think back to 1995, before broadband was pervasive and video was commonplace. My first glimpse at the online viral experience was through an email send by a friend with dozens of other people copied who then proceeded to forward it on. It contained a college admissions letter written by Hugh Gallagher which had taken the status of urban myth at a very early stage of Internet growth.

Today, it seems to have been lost in the shuffle of YouTube, Consumer Generated Content and everything else that captivates us for brief moments. I wanted to bring it back because it is one memorable piece of writing that, for myself at that time, defined the potential of digital channels to reach far and wide. It was before Google, before the Ideavirus and before most people had even surfed the information superhighway. It was an age of digital innocence (apologies for the cheesiness, could not resist).

I Googled a few of the lines that I remembered and up popped the name Hugh Gallagher. So, I thought I would share it with you. If you have not seen it before it is a unique read. A great imagination at work. Enjoy.

Hugh Gallagher's 'College Essay'

3A. ESSAY: IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:

ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

What is the future of digital technology? "We don't really care. The audience is going to tell us where technology is going to go. Whatever the audience wants to do, we'll find a way to be there." said Chuck Porter of Crispen Porter + Bogusky. He was interviewed by Jeromy Llyod of Marketing Magazine in Toronto recently when he spoke at the Canadian Marketing Association's Digital Marketing Conference.

And that is at the heart of the challenge facing marketers. Identifying where audiences are today and where they might be tomorrow. The seemingly endless migration to new places, spaces, platforms and communities can be maddening to keep up with. But chasing the online crowds is not the real issue, is it?

The real challenge is to think beyond just being "there" (wherever "there" happens to be) and develop real insights along with rapid-cycle experimentation oriented around what individuals (not audiences) actually want to do.

Phrased another way, the task at hand is think through how we move beyond the "where" in the equation. Showing up in the place where the audience has landed is but a fraction of the consideration. Consumers themselves are not looking simply for a "where" anymore, so why are marketers?

We can't pretend that we have any sort of captive audience for our messages anymore even if we are in the right place at the right time. Those days are long gone. As Chuck Porter suggests, the digital space is being defined and grown by the audience itself. Can we even call them an "audience" anymore given the traditional understanding of what audience means and how people are go about using the online world?

Online crowds gravitate and congregate to the "where" because of "what" it offers them and "how" it delivers an experience they can't get anywhere else. It is clear to them "why" they are engaged enough to spend precious time and, "who" they are in terms of the sense of identity as part of a community. The marketing opportunity is to step back and figure out what it takes to be relevant and valuable. Asking some of the following questions may help:

- "What" is the purpose for crashing the party? What is your reason for being? What to you hope to give, not just gain?
- "Why" would anyone pay attention? Why here? Why now? Just because you can does not mean you should.
- "How" can your brand participate and add layers to the experience? How are you building credibility and community? How are you differentiating yourself? How are you building a sustainable platform? How are you learning and measuring?
- "Who" is your audience? Who do you hope to influence? Who will care? Who will see your efforts as an enhancement to what they are already doing?

Looking at things in that light, "where" is perhaps the easiest question to answer. In order to redefine "where" as a pivot point for success, the question to ask is "where do we want to take an audience"?

I believe Chuck means brands should uncover the ways they can enable something to happen, perhaps even something meaningful, regardless of "where" it takes place. It means thinking in terms of educating, informing, sharing, empowering, motivating, entertaining, providing utility and functionality etc. All good things to keep in mind.

What we do know it is not about another banner ad or consumer generated content contest to generate videos on YouTube. Those are simply tactical attempts to address "where". They have been done to death over a very short window of time. The harder part to get right is credibility, which means working on a better model than simply buying your way in.

Marketers can't forget that they are part of the audience too. So, what would you really want from you? As David Ogilvy famously said "The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife." Hey, no one said it would be easy.

Many clients are users of the GMOOT. It stands for "Get Me One Of Those". Scott Donaton of Advertising Age coined the term that is, unfortunately enough, not a rare phenomenon in practice. While the notion of a "GMOOT" syndrome is not new, we are seeing more and more of it in digital as the marketplace grapples with accelerated growth and transformational change.

Look no further than the explosion of contests where marketers attempt to exploit Consumer Generated Content with lame calls-to-action like "make us a commercial" or "submit your kooky video extolling our product" (this whole CGC thing is itself another post ). GMOOT can be overheard in boardrooms when the agency is asked to "go create a viral marketing campaign", "start a blog" or, "build a community".

Scott contends:

"It's a phenomenon that helps explain why there are so many lousy viral videos and half-assed new-media initiatives out there. They're not the end result of a real strategy, but are done for the sake of doing something because . . . well, because everyone else is."

Steve Rubel of Micro-Persuasion pointed out that the gold rush in Second Life may have been nothing more than GMOOT in action. And Todd Defren of PR Squared (and others) weighed in too. My prediction is that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg as it generates out of the misguided fear of missing an opportunity to look cool or "leading edge".

If there were ever a time when clients need to look deeper into all of the options presented by new media and the evolving digital world, it is now. However, to combat the GMOOT you need to get involved by getting involved. By that I mean involvement on a personal level before the brand level. Be come a lurker and/or an active participant. You can't differentiate by simply doing what others are doing from the outside looking in.

Clients need to work harder than ever to avoid the knee-jerk response that leads to a "get me one of those" discussion. Another way to state the case here is to know what you want and what you are asking for. Assess and investigate the landscape by looking at each individual area as an opportunity to research how individuals are using it. Interact within unique eco-systems and gain a deeper understanding of potential fit. You my end up determining it is not for you, but at least you will know and be able to articulate the case.

And, the agency owns a big part of the responsibility here too. They need to take the keys out of client's hands when they've had too much GMOOT spiked Kool-Aid and want to get in the driver's seat. Agencies with well dressed "yes men" can only lead to trouble. Clients require strategic insight and the right amount of push back when appropriate. And, to know the difference in terms of listening to what they need to hear, not just what they want to hear.

Don't get me wrong. There are huge opportunities and real business applications in these areas. The real issue is how to go about it properly and avoid being caught up in the storm, using tactic after tactic with no strategy.

"What will users think of next?" is how the recent report Broadband: What's All the Fuss About? concludes. Interesting choice of words and keen observation in terms of how they ended the report that began by asking the central question "Why does a high-speed connection at home matter"?

Excerpt from the Pew Internet report:

As the Pew Internet Project first pointed out in 2002 in The Broadband Difference, broadband users are far more likely than dial-up internet users to create or post content to the internet. This means having a blog, posting photos online, or contributing to chat-rooms. Back then, when just 12% of adults had broadband at home, it was possible to imagine that the user-generated content phenomenon was mainly an artifact of early adopters.

Some modest fraction of leading edge users would demand bandwidth to post content online and that would be about it. User-generated content did not, however, stop with early adopters. As home broadband adoption grew, posting and creating content for the internet became more widespread. The Pew Internet Project reported in a 2006 survey that 44% of home broadband users had done at least one of the following activities that involve user-generated content: having one’s own blog or webpage, working on group blogs or webpages, remixing digital content and re-posting it online, or sharing something online created by the user (i.e., artwork, photos, stories, or videos).

Let's look at that figure again - "44% of home broadband users" have created, shared or been otherwise involved in active participation within the medium. This is not simply clicking on a banner, forwarding an email or using Google to search, it is much much more. And, it is not just young people as "31% of those over age 50 with a broadband connection at home had engaged in at least one of these activities." It is quite amazing and, in the words of The Carpenters, "We've only just begun".

Teaching the Canadian Marketing Association's eMarketing Professional Certificate Course, I led the first session of the course by discussing the growth in broadband and what it means for us as marketers and as users. Last week we took a look at Social Media, Conversations, Communities, Content. The tough part in teaching last week's session was simply that there was not enough time to cover all of the information. This area is growing daily and it gets more and more exciting to work in. (Don't worry, we have ten more sessions to address it further).

It made me think about one of the topics we discussed: Online Virtual Worlds. We used Second Life as a point of reference and the general tone (say about 75% of the class) was still a bit dismissive of the idea that it was anything to pay attention to. Still for nerds who don't have a first life and a novelty with no bottom-line for business applications.

While I tend to look at Second Life pragmatically and see it for what it represents, not what it is necessarily today, we need look no further than the Pew Study to validate that the digital experience is shaping up to be more rich, immersive and rewarding than we could ever have imagined. And that is the whole point really, that we need to re-imagine what is possible and prevent ourselves from putting limits on where things will go. It is quite evident this train is not slowing down anytime soon.

Two very interesting videos I came across today. First one found courtesy of Mitch Joel of Six Pixels Of Separation and the second from Chris Penn of Awaken Your Superhero and The Financial Aid Podcast.

Enjoy while you learn. Learn while you enjoy.

Dove's Evolution won best of show at Marketing Magazine's Digital Marketing Awards last week racking up yet another in a long list of industry accolades that includes collecting the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

As one of the judges of this year's DMA awards, I thought it may be of interest to know why this was at the top of the pile of everything that was digital in 2007 (in my mind at least). I can't speak for the other judges but can acknowledge there was some interesting debate and great discussion on all of the awards handed out, especially around Best of Show. Kudos to the folks at Marketing Magazine for collecting the best and brightest in the digital industry to judge with honesty and integrity.

Know that this was not a case of simply rubber stamping Ogilvy's entry because it had already won at Cannes, One Show and D&AD awards. It was far from easy as all entries were based on individual merits and many were outstanding.

So why Evolution? After all, it is just a 1:14 tv spot, right? Well, consider the following elements in terms of it's worthiness:

Interactivity: What is interactivity? Is it the requirement to have flash and complex navigation? Or, do we look beyond and see interactivity as the output of of the work? The fact that it spawned parodies and inspired conversations inside and outside the medium. The fact that it had us look at the use of online video and the space and reevaluate how a brand can play in this space. On those levels, it transcended the traditional notion of "interactivity" as it managed to find interaction on a variety of levels.

Community: Did the effort create, inspire or activate a community? Did it bring people together around a central idea? I think we can all agree it did this very well. From the comments on YouTube to the reaction in the blogosphere to the buzz from consumers and industry insiders, it was hands down the "it" campaign of the year.

Use of digital media and content:
Targeting distribution via YouTube with a 75 second video was risky and brilliant (well at least it worked out to look brilliant). Did the team at Ogilvy and Dove know they would create a viral reaction? Did they know that they would find such success in the digital space with a simple little video? They likely hoped for such a response (as all marketers do), but there were no guarantees. That is where content counts. And, as far as content goes here, it was killer.

Consumer insight: This does not even need to be explained, does it? The first time I saw it, I thought "this is bang on". I am sure you did too. Almost like it was living in all our subconscious minds just waiting to jump out. The insight was simple and the creative expression was stellar. At the end of the day, that is what stood out the most on this campaign.

So, there you are. That was my guide in the judging process and now I am done talking about Dove (for at least a few posts anyways).

I (and about a million others) picked up on this story about Radiohead offering up their new album "In Rainbows" through their website where you can pre-order the recording.

What makes this unique is that Radiohead has taken the stance that you can pay what you want for the new release.


Time Magazine reports:

In Rainbows will be released as a digital download available only via the band's web site, Radiohead.com. There's no label or distribution partner to cut into the band's profits — but then there may not be any profits. Drop In Rainbows' 15 songs into the online checkout basket and a question mark pops up where the price would normally be. Click it, and the prompt "It's Up To You" appears. Click again and it refreshes with the words "It's Really Up To You" — and really, it is. It's the first major album whose price is determined by what individual consumers want to pay for it. And it's perfectly acceptable to pay nothing at all.

How can you not love this quote from Thom Yorke:

"I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say 'F___ you' to this decaying business model."

Radical. Revolutionary. Right on. The announcement has the blogosphere buzzing and drops yet another bomb on the music industry that can't seem to find direction in this age of change.

We all know the images that the media industry is responsible for putting in front of young eyes. No matter what the avenue (television, film, print, Internet) Dove captures the fact that the Onslaught is inescapable.

This new effort is likely to cause less of an whirlwind than Evolution because it is a follow-up part of a campaign that has already unveiled breakthrough creative. However, it still drives home it's message and stands on it's own two feet quite well.

It is not that the beauty industry has suddenly started using mind-shaping images and advertising trickery to illustrate a warped concept of how things should be. It is no different today than decades past. However, what we have now is a proliferation of the stuff never seen before. The sheer amount exposure each and everyday is overwhelming.

If Evolution said "nothing is as it seems" than Onslaught is saying "the damned lies are absolutely everywhere you turn". I'm glad I can show this to my daughter and talk about how advertising is engineered and the way media works, even more so because the anti-ad is itself an ad.

Found via Adrants.

ClickZ editor Anna Maria Virzi addresses the topic of measurement and metrics in the digital marketing world in a recent article . The point she makes after observing industry execs in action during Advertising Week in New York City is that, even though this medium provides more than enough data to keep us busy analyzing our efforts till the cows come home, the lack of consistency and standardization is doing us all no good.

This excerpt from her article, which recounts a panel discussion at the Interactive Advertising Bureau's MIXX conference with Mark Kingdon, Organic chief executive; Beth-Ann Eason, Martha Stewart Living SVP; and Jon Mandel, chief executive of NielsenConnect, hits the issue straight on:

While there's plenty of data about online activities, it's not sufficient. "There's not enough talent to turn the data into insights that are actionable," warned Eason. Kingdon concurred: "It takes systems thinkers, not technologists. It takes people who can diagram the ecosystems, understand the connection points in how the data and things flow. That's a different analytic discipline."

Anna Maria asks "How can interactive media live up to its promise and move beyond the egos, politics, and sea change to reach some common ground?". The answers don't come easy. The television industry lived on the GRP for decades when "reach" was the one thing everyone understood and agreed to. But it is not that simple anymore.

The question to ask is "can what was good for TV be good for digital?" Can there be such a thing as a gold standard in digital measurement? And, do we really need to converge on a set of metrics and create a common denominator? Perhaps that simplifies things too much.

My issue (to a certain degree) with developing measurement standards is that it leads to benchmarks. The problem with benchmarks is that they lead to complacency and settling to deliver against the average (i.e. just aim for the 10% conversion benchmark and you are a champ. But what if your potential is really at 50%, or only 3%?) There are just too many variables idiosyncratic within any business to apply a one-size-fits all model. And, the growth of new channels/avenues and applications in digital complicates the whole thing. How do you compare Twitter with email? A banner ad with a blog? A video with a widget or an advergame?

The real issue, as Kingdon indicated, is that data needs interpretation. It needs pattern recognition where we serve to increase the ratio of signal to noise. Data needs to be understood and shaped to use in actionable (and profitable) ways. That much we can agree on.

As we go forth we need our eyes wide open on these issues. Taking a "forest through the trees" look at things, a parallel can be drawn between analytics/metrics discussion and the glorious CRM debate of a few years back. In both cases, there is no such thing as an "off the shelf" solution, or common approach for all. There is no perfect formula or software system that can be applied with homogeneity. As Arthur Middleton Hughes wrote "CRM is, in general, a mirage: an illusion based on a nice idea (the right offer to the right customer at the right time), which does not work out in practice." At the end of the day marketers need to know their own businesses issues and key success criteria independent of the mean.

As this industry grows stronger, there is a need to improve how we articulate success so phrases like "engagement" and "interaction" will go further and mean more. However, we marketers can't lose sight of the fact that the playing field is so much more dynamic today and it is quite difficult to try and summarize it in a nice little box of metrics that everyone agrees upon.

For fans of NBC TV series The Office, you may be interested to know that The Office site now has videos of each cast member letting fans know what they did over the summer. (For the record, the original BBC version with Ricky Gervais was far superior.)

NBC has hit a groove in terms of promoting the show by offering out new content to keep fans laughing and remind them that the next season starts in a couple of weeks. It is not exactly a stroke of sheer brilliance, but it is smart. And, goes hand in glove with the site's content extras that keep fans coming back for more.

Speaking of NBC, how about Dick In A Box picking up an Emmy last night. How smart do they look after letting it go onto YouTube and not pulling it like paranoid parents of copyright material as they demonstrated with Lazy Sunday. I wonder if it would have picked up an Emmy without the exposure (no pun intended) on YouTube? At last count there were over 27 MILLION views - I think it had something to do with it.

"Everyone have a nice summer? Go to swim camp? Eat Snow Cones? Pony Rides? Go to the summer solstice festival? Yeah? Well, summers over, time to get back to work!"

Tony Hung over at Deep Jive Interests has a great post on the subject of Ad Blocking and how the legal battle to stop it will likely serve to raise awareness and create more users of the software. I tend to agree with that position.

Tony cites this article from CNet news that sets the background for the debate.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau has said that it is an "issue that is just now ripening" and they "don't want to go down a route that would seem adversarial". They do, however, state that "People are free to ignore ads, and they often do that, but when you have a third party blocking those ads, that's the real problem." Sounds like the lawyers are teed up to become the short-term beneficiaries of this issue.

The debate is lively and will be interesting to follow. I know how I feel about it as both a consumer and an advertiser and would love to know what you think.

Adweek has just published the Digital Hot List 2007 of top web properties and (surprise) Facebook heads up the pack.

AdWeek's Tony Case writes:

"The no-end-in-sight momentum of a handful of powerhouse sites made their selection for the list a no-brainer. At No. 1, moving up from No. 10 on our 2006 list: founder Mark Zuckerberg's wildly popular, three-year-old social-networking site Facebook. With uniques surging 110 percent to 16.5 million, Facebook is the very definition of "hot."

1. Facebook


2. MySpace


3. YouTube


4. Tmz.Com


5. Disney


6. Veoh


7. Funny or Die


8. Discovery


9. Digg


10. iMeem

Last night’s Geek Dinner at Eggplant on King St. East in Toronto marked the 1st anniversary of the little social gathering that seems to grow bigger and bigger each time out.

Approximately 60 people representing a cross-section of the social media, digital marketing, advertising & communications industry got their geek on in grand geek style. Getting together just for the sake of getting together.

Hard to believe it was last August when Mitch Joel of Twist Image and Six Pixels of Separation sent a two-word email to me. It read “Geek Dinner?”. That was it. We booked a restaurant, blogged about it and sent out some emails. It has taken on a life and legacy of its own ever since.

As with the first dinner, it came together in flash – planned and pulled together inside of a few days. The singular success factor (for myself at least) is a hoarse voice the next morning resulting from many great conversations carried on at increasingly higher decibel levels over the volume of everyone else’s conversations. In other words, a very noisy room.

It is always great to see new faces and old mingle and is a very interesting to meet those who share a passion for the space. Without trying to set a tone for the dinner, it is always a non-imposing and open environment with a lot of movement amongst diverse range of people those in attendance – meaning it does not matter who you sit beside or across from, as there will likely be someone else sitting there before main course or dessert. Special thanks to Julia Stien of Fleishman Hillard and Sophisticated Bohemian who helped organize things this time out.

There was no formal acknowledgement of hitting the one year mark. I actually think that would put too much emphasis on the get together as an actual event when it is really all about the people. So, I thought I’d at least mention it here as it is worth noting it has been going on for a year. And, will hopefully continue for many more.

I know I speak for Mitch and Julia when I say it is an honour to play co-host and thanks to everyone who came out. We hope we’ll see you (and new people as well) at the next one.

Can you throw that down again? says the voice in the drive-thru.

I love this little consumer-generated content piece of two blokes rappin' at the McDonalds drive-thru window. A bit old but I had not seen it yet, so I thought I'd share in case you had not seen it either.

If the rappin McNuggets guys were not enough (see the updated commercialized version of their CGC spot below), this 2:27 spot already has close to 8,000,000 views. I wonder what McDonalds will do with all of of this content becomes part of thier online entertainment portfolio? I think Ronald has found his Fifteen Megs of Fries.

Here is the new "commercialized" version of the McNuggets Rap:

You've come a long way McNugget baby:

Hat tip to Brad R for pointing out the freestyle video.

Remember those scenes from movies and TV when jet pilots, astronauts or other specialists went into "the simulator" to be trained and prepared for real world experience? We all believed it was the best that one could do to achieve readiness before action, right?

I was very intrigued to find this WIRED article titled "Wii + Second Life = New Training Simulator" by Steve Mollman talking about how the combination of the Wii controller and Second Life are a seemingly killer application for the future of training.

Real-world simulations like these are perfectly suited to Nintendo's Wiimote, says MIT research fellow David E. Stone. In fact, he claims the motion-sensitive controller is "one of the most significant technology breakthroughs in the history of computer science."

The WIRED article is interesting in that, given Stone's proclamation that this has killer potential, the featured business application was Orkin (the pest control company) who are using Second Life and Wii to train inspectors. Not a bad example, but lacked the fireworks for me given the wide-ranging ways in which the power of these tools could be combined and harvested.

Of course there are more mentions of applications (meaning the ones that may have more societal value):

Among Stone's other clients are a medical-devices firm and a global-energy company focused on power-plant training -- both looking to reduce training costs. Prospective additional clients include a private research foundation looking into driver safety and a consortium of European universities interested in a virtual cancer lab.

With that wider scope, the implications and applications are literally huge. Think of all the large projects (i.e home renovations, assembly line work) or training scenarios for occupations that could be covered off. Just imagine how the match-book diploma courses offering up TV and gun repair can now be administered.

How about something as small as building an Ikea product with a virtual hammer and allen-key to see how all of it goes together before you screw it up and have to do it all over again in first-life. (Yes, that happens to everyone, not just you. That’s why Ikeas are always located just far enough away that you won't want to drive back, park all over again and fill out a "Return Billy" form).

Creating a virtual "hands on" experience with a tool like Wii has so many avenues that I am getting a headache. The interactive learning aspect is so much more powerful than any diagram or video could ever be because active simply trumps passive. Imagine the litany of items that could come with instructions that simply read "To learn how to use this product properly, go to ....".

We are living in such an interesting time as marketers and communicators. A time where we all are creative and can rethink how our products or services are brought to consumers in big, bold and compelling ways. I love it.

Now before I go, here is the thing about online simulation training that I simply cannot digest when it comes to real life skill building. If it really works then why am I not the leading scorer in the NHL or collecting top earnings on the PGA tour? Or at least a small time ex-con that has worked his way to the top ranks of the crime syndicate?" I am that good while comfortably seated at my PC with some snack food at my side. Could it be that I am using the keyboard instead of the Wiimote?

Either way, I think this image below sums up my last point fairly well:

September is just around the corner and so is the start of the fall semester for the Canadian Marketing Association - CMA eMarketing Professional Certificate Course.

The CMA describes the course as "designed for someone with one to five years of marketing experience. By enrolling in this in-depth and empowering course, your career will benefit for years to come. E-Marketing is attracting the kind of individuals that are looking to expand their professional scope, individuals that are seeking thorough and comprehensive training with practical hands-on experience - the kind that will enrich their growing knowledge base."

I will be teaching the Toronto course in the fall, taking over from Ken Schafer (Tucows, One Degree) who masterfully taught the course for the past several years. I have taken on the additional task of revamping the course materials, adding to the solid foundation that Ken built.

The course brings together web site best practices, usability, social media, email, search, eCommerce, privacy, analytics and online advertising through an intensive 15 week schedule. It promises to provide students with a fabulous range of information and examples to hit the ground running in today's fast paced world of digital.

I am stoked to begin the teaching the course which begins on September 26, 2007. If you are looking to kick start your eMarketing skill set then I hope to see you there. For more information, or to register for the course, please visit the CMA website.

Here is an interesting initiative called The Second Chane Trees Reforestation Project that purports to bridge the reach of online to effect positive change offline.

As we look to do our part to help our planet recover from the damage we have collectively inflicted, for the most part over the past 100 years or so, it is really a small way to get involved. By the same token, I hope this is all legit. I tend to be a weary of things like this simply because there are so many scams going on in the digital space, like the recent ploy to copyOne Red Paper Clip fraud in China. UPDATE: See comments section - social media friend Paull Young of the Forward Podcast was part of this.

Anyhow, here is how the program is described:

The Second Chance Trees Reforestation Project uses Second Life as a platform to teach visitors about the planet’s endangered rainforests and the dangers of deforestation. For every tree you buy and plant in Second Life, a real tree will be carefully planted in the real world.

There seems to be a link with American Express in terms being the only form of payment. I'm not certain what it is but would love to learn more background. Was Amex involved in some way or helping the cause?

Sounds like a good idea, only problem I have is that it is linked only to Second Life and could perhaps have a much bigger impact if it were taken across multiple online communities. Maybe that will be a phase two plan. Either way, help spread the word.

Hat tip to Andy Beal.

It makes a lot of sense that certain online trends mimic our offline rituals. Shopping is, and will likely always be, a social event more than a transaction. Take a peek into any mall and see for yourself. And, as far as purchasing goes, we guide our decisions based on trusted sources of information, seeking opinions and advice of those who are like ourselves. Nothing new here, right?

So, it should come as no surprise that, according to a new study on what is driving eCommerce in Canada, a link has been established between the social web (and social media applications) and online shopping propensity. The survey, conducted by J.C Williams (sponsored by VISA and Yahoo!), asserts that:

... the shopping habits of consumers who purchase online to those of consumers who use the Web but buy only offline, indicated that more online buyers use networking tools and platforms to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives than their offline buying counterparts. Compared to Web surfers who did not make online purchases, online buyers in the study were more than twice as likely to have written a product review (29 percent versus nine percent), twice as likely to have posted video content to the Web (19 percent versus eight percent), and more likely to have written a blog (35 percent versus 21 percent).

Interesting finding that this social web savvy cohort is more likely to shop online, meaning that the social context seems to be enabling and supporting increased commerce in this channel. All good.

The key question, according to Yahoo!'s Hunter Madsen, is "whether the information-sharing habits developed in online communities are creating a secondary benefit, by somehow raising propensity to shop online as well. You could call it the Social Engagement Effect on E-Commerce." Madsen, a former social scientist who directs marketing for Yahoo! in Canada, noted that "marketers have been somewhat hesitant up to now to advertise in the Web's community sites, for a variety of reasons. But this study suggests that, other things being equal, social networking sites are where they'll find some of their most responsive shoppers. When one considers that the 'social networking' phenomenon is just taking off in Canada, the potential benefits for online commerce look promising."

Marketers need to realize the importance of being a trusted brand in online corridors.It is tantamount to unlocking a vault of potential profits. While I don't think that it is a riveting revelation that social web is correlated to commerce and it could be a bit of a "chicken and egg" scenario with audiences polled in this survey, this is ultimately a good news story for all involved.

My question is how social will it go? How much trust and faith will we layer into our web-based communities to help us make the right purchases online? Will we seek advice and feedback on the most intimate of shopping related matters? In other words, will we ever be bold enough to ask if our online purchase of pants makes our offline butts look too big? Will our trusted communities answer with honestly, or with cautious diplomacy?

For those of us curious about the way in which video advertising is developing into an extension of the capabilities Google has crafted for other areas of web, this demo is a quick glimpse at where it seems to be going.

We are at an interesting crossroads with video. It is still a bit in the air in terms of what it means for marketers re: local and targeted advertising and, how it will be viewed by consumers. It certainly beats the pre-roll, but that bar was not set very high to begin with.

We all knew that the purchase of YouTube by Google back in late 2006 would herald some bold moves into the video advertising space. And, as broadband penetration continues to grow coupled with every major internet player and traditional content provider developing their own approach to online video, the online ad industry is likely to explode with growth in the short term. Still unclear if this a long-term killer app from Google or another incremental advance that will get us to a happier place eventually.

My bigger question is, is this the best in class model that will be embraced by advertisers - both clients and agencies alike? Or, will sheep simply flock to the world that Google is defining for us? Interesting times are ahead. Very interesting.

Hat tip to Mark William Wielgus via Mashable.

I just read about the introduction of a “new friend” on Lonelygirl15’s webisode. The “new friend” is from Neutrogena – a scientist no less!

The post at Mashable explains:

The Neutrogena employee will appear in multiple episodes and reportedly help the show’s cast fight an evil group called “The Order” (while subtly pimping products from the manufacturer of “premium skin, hair and cosmetics products”). “This long-term relationship with Neutrogena is unprecedented, as the brand comes to life organically with the characters and storyline”, according to the marketing pitch.

I think we all saw this coming in some form so is it really a sell-out when monetizing the LG15 character was likely the goal in the first place? It was just a matter of time before sponsors/advertisers showed up.

The jury is out on whether this is a good move or not for either party (although I'm sure LG15's creators like getting paid). What I do know is that it will create a bit of buzz and I think it is an interesting experiment to reach out the viewers/fans of LG15. I’m not sold on the way they are doing by (re: introducing a character in the way they described) but we’ll have to wait and see if it takes or not.

What do you think?

Hat tip to Mashable ‘s Adam Ostrow.

News just in that Terry Semel has stepped down at Yahoo! with co-founder Jerry Yang to take over.

Read the full story here at Yahoo! (as reported by AP).

Adweek reported that retailer JC Penney is expanding beyond email push marketing having just released a desktop widget application “designed to pipe deals and content directly to customers.”

Spokesperson Kate Donaho, group creative director from T3, the digital agency based in Austin, Texas that created the widget. "We don't view it as a mass-marketing vehicle," she said. "We're banking on this being a useful way to reach a highly engaged set of customers. We don't expect millions of downloads of this by any stretch."

I think that is a fantastic quote from Kate and wraps up exactly what is going on in the digital space these days. It is not about randomness, or reaching audiences of millions that simply do not care. It is about cultivating deeper relationships with consumers that are truly interested. Consumers who will pay attention to what they see as enablers in their lives.

This is the shift that marketers need to bring into the boardroom in order to figure out what it means in terms of the game-plan going forward, enabling versus interrupting.

Read the full Adweek story on JC Penney.

Have you seen this yet? No, it is not the reality version of the Apple advertisements, it is the real thing. It is an interview between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates from last week.

WIRED has broken down this historic interview into 7 parts. Am I the biggest geek in the world or is this better than last week's F1 race at Monaco? (ok, yes I am a geek).

If you have seen Weeds, the opening credits on the show lays bare our cookie-cutter culture quite brilliantly. Our mass production and consumption cycle, which has been a staple for generations, is transforming in today's on-demand and dare-to-be-different empowered world.

For years large corporations and machine driven factories have knocked out
the same items at low cost, stocking stores and shelves and satiating our ever increasing
societal desires to consume whatever our neighbours are consuming. If you have ever watched the James Burke series Connections, you will understand what I mean when I say we are in a struggle to escape the trappings of the industrialized world we created and have grown accustomed to.

Our media was not any different – it too was industrialized. Our TV's and radios were stocked with the same content produced for the masses from the same factories. We all had what each other had. We all watched what each other watched. We did not have a chance or means to effect choice. We could not exert control over what was produced. For a long time we called that progress and settled in convinced it was the only way. We had driven ourselves into a homogeneous state and were, unfortunately, left felling a little less than unique individuals along the way.

I believe things have changed for good. We now covet those items that serve to individualize us more, not less. As an example, the iPod does this brilliantly. Yes, it is trendy in form/design and, yes, it is mass produced in a factory. However, it changes the game fundamentally in terms of how it functions. They (Apple) managed to take a mass produced item geared Joe Public and turn it into a device that is a reflection of who we are and want to be as individuals - disrupting how we interact with music and media in our lives. Its core function facilitates being more individual than ever before.

But more so, Apple is a disrupter through and through. They went deep into the end zone by disrupting how media is actually produced (podcasts, vcasts), distributed (iTunes, feeds) and created a masterful vision for how the device would transcend being just another device in a world full of devices. And, it is all situated and centred around you and I as unique entities - knowing we will each use it differently.

The rise of Social Media and controlling our Personal Media is where it is all going and
there really is no looking back. It is not about changing channels or rudimentary time-
shifting our TV watching anymore, it is about designing and creating our own streams of
content. We are the artist and the audience all at the same time.
Playing with media, selecting, customizing and mashing it up every which way to suit our
unique tastes, situations and needs is a wonderful leap we have taken together. It is not
only about the iPod, it is about the digital culture and the creativity that
is being unleashed everywhere.

And, because of this, marketers will need to go well beyond the old advertising models as they simply won’t work. Platforms and methods of communication designed for the masses will not work at the individual level today. (This is so much more than User Generated Content in the form of a Super Bowl ad. In my opinion that is a lame duck and there is so much more going on worth discussing.)

To be successful we will need new thinking to match the change as society diverges away from mainstream controls into unique cliques and communities. We will need to take heroic risks in order to acquire, retain and grow customer relationships that once, comparatively, seemed so easy.

So, where are we at today? Well, we have already seen the foundations of big media begin to deteriorate while they contemplate what’s next and jockey for position. Consumers are increasingly inattentive to our interruptive tactics. We now know of the concepts like “The Long Tail” and “Slivercasting” and have come to grips with the reality that broadcast audiences are dwindling. Looked at another way, we have been at the buffet for a long time getting fat without exercising. We need to think more about nutritional micro-meals appropriate for each unique taste palate, and board-up the drive-though which never satisfies anyone.

Just as in 16th Century England, the Reformation put wheels into motion and effected change we can still see and feel today, hundreds of years later. In terms of a marketing reformation, the usurping of big media by the individual is not the first domino to fall, nor will it be the last. It is, however, a very significant one that will be viewed historically as a fundamental game-changing event. To witness this on our watch is to witness history.

Google has made another move to buy a chunk of the future with the acquisition of FeedBurner.

Read the story over at TechCrunch. And a big ol' hat tip to Dr.Tony Hung at Deep Jive Interests where I first read about it.

Go check out the viral campaign from A&E at www.freakyourmind.com.

Here is how AdWeek describes the effort:

"While Criss Angel, the magician star of A&E's Mind Freak show, might not be truly clairvoyant, he has a viral video campaign that makes it seem like he is. The push, created by Omnicom digital agency EVB, uses hundreds of dynamically combined video shots to create the illusion of mind reading."

Very interesting and well thought out in terms of using the medium (no pun intented) to create a WTF factor for the recipient. The result is a very smooth and slick presentation that will make recipients wonder how Criss Angel did it - just how did he do that through the internet tubes?

Makes Kreskin look like a wimp ; )

Let me start by saying that I have now heard Don Tapscott speak on the topic of Wikinomics twice and he is a brilliant speaker with a very interesting and polished message on where the world is headed for marketers and their brands. The latest chance I had to see him was at the Canadian Marketing Association's National Convention and Tradeshow in Ottawa this week.

Don's model is interesting. His books and his speaking engagements are all based on great research guided and produced at New Paradigm where he is CEO.

I would not label Don a futurist as much as a keen opportunist that superbly understands "now". He has been called a "web guru" and "thought leader" and has authored some notable books. The uniqueness of Don is that he has the swagger and slickness to secure large funding and significant resources to get to the answers around the questions he poses. No simple task - one to be envied.

And, he obviously has the ability to ask all the right questions and then frame the answers in a context that makes him an authority - in the way a curator collects pieces of art within a theme or period and weaves it into a collection much bigger than the sum of it's parts. All with a smooth delivery that non-believers can buy into.

So what is my issue with Don? Well, when he mentioned in his speech that one of his staffers created his avatar for him in Second Life. It posed a bit of a disconnect for myself and others who understand the culture of the virtual world enough to know this is not very kosher. It screams of corporate dude in our midst.

That tactic may be all well and good for the CEO of IBM, but you kind of expect more from a web guru and thought leader to do this rather mundane task himself rather than assign it to a staffer. Shouldn't Don know that the purists would see that as a faux-pas when the walk did not match the talk?

It was undoubtedly missed to the untrained eye and ear in terms of the audience. However, can this be seen as the SL equivalent of ghost blogging? Or, is this a non-issue?

Don was totally transparent about not creating his avatar, but seemingly unaware that the purists and pundits could have found some issue with the fact that he had his avatar designed for him. Perhaps I am just jealous that I was not able to delegate the design of my avatar. I still have no shoes!

Anyhow, if you have a chance to hear Don speak go for it, he is great. And, check out Wikinomocs - it is a good read. Although, for those reading this blog it will not be anything new, just what we already know put into a very nice frame.

Advertising Age released an Online Scorecard of the top brands on the web as “determined by unique visitors and measured by Nielsen/NetRatings”.

The list is pretty much the usual suspects but, article author Abbey Klaassen’s summation of what the list really represents is interesting:

… the internet has changed the definition of a media company. It’s no longer just a asite that creates content; it’s also one that aggregates it. And it’s not only a destination with professionally produced content; it’s also one to which thousands contribute. At the end of the day, anyone with content can battle for ad dollars.

The article started me thinking. As this space continues to grow, it will be interesting to watch if any of these (or future) web brands will try to satiate a mass audience with content that purports to appeal to the masses. I don’t think that is possible anymore. (That is of course with the exception of a Google or a Yahoo which have mass appeal. However, what attracts the masses to these web giants is their inherent ability to serve all niches as an access point – not provide their own content offerings per say.)

My belief is that as we get more and more narrow and pinpoint focused in terms of selective audiences, the web may finally become the“one-to-one” or “one-to few” model/paradigm that marketers often speak of but seldom acheive. And it is only then when we may be able to call our marketing offerings/campaigns/communications (i.e. when we try and sell) actual content.

Those who are able to aggregate and serve narrow-banded (and branded) channels of content without watering down the depth, breath and quality, will win. The sustainable media players of the future will be those who optimize this formula no matter what size of audience they serve.

So, let it be said that creation is now in the aggregation.

I'll be back with more on this very soon. A year in the making, this is a very cool new digital experience that I am proud to be a part of.

In marketing lingo, this post would be called the teaser. Consider yourself teased.

Made me laugh, made me think. Content is king and this is definately a prince. Albeit a weird little prince.

I don't watch TV anymore, so I don't even know if this was aired or not, or if it was just intended for YouTube. Either way, it demonstrates that there is more to the "spot" in today's digital age than the spot itself was able to achieve previously.

This long-form clip (below) along with some consumer generated content around the Little Lad's Berries and Cream jig is growing in online popularity and works in weird and wacky way for Starburst. Which, if I had to guess, is precisel lwhat the folks at TBWA/Chiat/Day New York had in mind. They seem get how to use the tubes over at YouTube for their client. Good on ya lads.

Hat tip to John at American Copywriter.

After some serious trouble producing and loading, Episode 16 of The Client Side has now been posted. If you missed out on the CMA's "From Mass to Grass" Word of Mouth Marketing Conference then take a listen to this panel session that I had a lot of fun moderating.

The panel consisted of some very smart and knowledgabe folks includingRob Cottingham, David Jones, Steve Osgoode and focused on how marketers should navigate in these new areas.

Take a listen and take a risk (you'll see/hear what I mean).

I was listening to “Why it Matters”, a great little weekly podcast from Ad Age hosted by Hoag Levins. The topic this week was Proctor & Gamble and their alleged embrace of new media by shunning traditional print, radio and broadcast TV. The podcast delved into how much walk is going on with that bold talk.

It seems as though Jim Stengel and A.G. Lafley are talking up a good game about abandoning old media and TV’s thirty-second spot and playing hard into new media opportunities. However, the discussion “Why it Matters” centred around the lack of hard evidence to prove they are stopping their old advertising ways and truly living and breathing in this new media environment.

Could P&G be standing at the edge of a cliff, goading others to jump off? Could they be preaching about leading the way while they are really just inciting others to abandon these traditional areas so P&G can then step back and buy old media at a discount? Is it a big ploy so that P&G can continue to advertise in traditional areas without the clutter from the competition that they convinced to jump and land hard?

I am not much of a conspiracy theorist, but the question has merits and it is worth thinking about. My belief is that we are not seeing radical change on purpose – this is about charting a steady course that will produce long term results by making smart incremental moves versus changing everything all at once. I compare the approach to one of avoiding the perils of a crash diet where results are realized in a matter of days or weeks but are not sustainable over time. I think P&G’s moves are more about a proper regime and balance for their current nutritional needs while starting to do a little exercise to keep them in shape for the future.

They realize this is a long distance marathon and are likely not interested in simply shedding a few pounds to look good in the short term, then yo-you back to where they began.

Check out the podcast over at Ad Age.com.

Big news from Google on the advertising front as they announced the purchase of DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion.

One could sense something like this was in the cards for Google as they have been expanding into the ad world, but this is huge. NY Times article reported that:

“Google really wants to get into the display advertising business in a big way, and they don’t have the relationships they need to make it happen,” said Dave Morgan, the chairman of Tacoda, an online advertising network. “But DoubleClick does. It gives them immediate access to those relationships.”

This is where things will begin to get very interesting.

Hat tip to Dr. Tony Hung for the story.

Jack Trout and Al Ries wrote about the perils of brand extensions in thier masterpiece of old school branding and advertising titled "Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind."

Mentos could have easily fallen victim to the notion that strong brands should never extend product lines. It is a slippery slope that, if done wrong, erodes the core product and potentially share-of-mind and wallet. However, Mentos seems to shine in this light as they move from candy to gum (which is not really a big leap but nonetheless needs finesse).

By sticking to the original shape of the core product and having a playful go at their advertising which is inline with past consumer marketing efforts, they were off to a good start. They then went from good to great by utilizing offline media to build online traffic with a cute little usage of neat little site that harnesses consumer-generated-content in a way that is (again) playful and on brand. They have done it right and I applaud the effort (not sure who the AOR is, but I like the work).

Check out Make Art Pop and see what I mean. I passed by some interesting graphics in the subway and on outdoor posters - my only critique is that I had to look a bit for the url in the subway ad - it did not "pop". However, I did remember the domain/url easily once I found it in the ad - so they had a win there too. The site itself is not going to rock your world, but it is cute and effective (although many parts did not seem to be working and did not load properly).

Ultimately, we are talking about gum here. And, that is the point. We are talking about gum. The simple fact that we are discussing it proves they did a great job. It is fun, on brand and there is no doubt that I will recall they are in the gum game.

Via the Diet Coke experiments and the zeal to embrace new media and the creative consumer, Mentos is on the minds of both marketers and consumers. They have quickly become a brand I can connect with and talk about and I know that to be true of many others. After what we learned at yesterday's Mass to Grass Word of Mouth Marketing conference in Toronto, this is a win for Mentos on many levels.

All this before I have even tried the product, which is the biggest win for Mentos as I will be doing that shortly.

In "The Briefing" section of the April 16 edition of Marketing Magazine has a piece titled "If you only read 12 blogs..." by fictional contributor Mark Etting

Here is the list in order of appearence of the "must reads" according to Marketing Magazine:

JaffeJuice
Twist Image
Seth Godin
One Degree
Buzz Canuck
My Name is Kate
Copyranter
The Client Side
Church of the Customer
ProPR
Canadian Marketing Blog
Adrants

What a crazy list I seem to have made it onto. Humbling. I started my blogging venture because I was inspired by those on this list. Now I am mentioned along with them. It is a honor indeed. Congrats to all.

Bob Garfield of Ad Age and NPR's On the Media has a great article that came out last week titled Chaos 2.0. The article is a follow-up to his original Chaos Theory and Listenomics submissions. Bob tells it like it is and what he says needs to be heard.

Check out the video which has some "freakin" great excerpts from his speech.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the iconic LIFE magazine is folding (for the 3rd time).

The unit of New York media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. said it will keep the Life brand going on the internet, where it will start a Web site with photos from its image collection, and by publishing books. The company cited the "decline in the newspaper business" and the poor advertising outlook as factors in its decision. ..... 15 editorial workers and 27 in Time's business department will be laid off.

Last issue is on April 20.

The Canadian Marketing Association offers an outstanding roster of professional certificate courses across a variety of areas in marketing. I am happy to report that I have been asked to take on the duties of teaching the CMA E-Marketing Certificate Course starting in the fall of 2007 and I am really looking forward to the opportunity.

Ken Schafer of One Degree and TuCows has been the course instructor since it all began a few years ago. Ken is stepping down after this semester and is leaving me with some pretty big shoes to fill.

I have been sitting in on the classes over the first few sessions to get a first-hand feel for the material and am very impressed by the students and level of questions being asked. Smart bunch of people there who seem passionate about the space.

One thing that I find interesting is that, even though everyone is compelled to learn and has heard about blogs, podcasts, RSS and other pieces of social media, many have yet to check out these new forms of media and communications for themselves. In other words, they have yet to experience the experience.

The wealth of information on these topics (or any for that matter) are abundant. My suggestion (as I relay to other audiences as well) is that there is no better way to learn than diving in yourself. Start reading blogs, listening to podcasts, setting up your RSS feeds. Be a purposeful lurker, observer and experimenter.

Shape your mind and form your opinions from the inside-out. Only then can these powerful tools and concepts be understood at a deeper level and applied to a unique situation, be it business or personal. It really is that simple.

This video of clownpenis.fart comes courtesy of One Degree. It is another classic SNL sketch that proves, through the power of online video and NBCs bold move to let their content be free, that audiences will grow across mediums. Especially if the content is this funny.

In terms of using a new technology, being first out of the gates is simply not enough these days. Often, the real power of a new social media type tool or widget is muted as we collectively stumble to find ways to use it for ourselves - but sometimes get lost in the weeds. What I mean is that, as we learn about novel digital modes of communication, we often follow the path that early adopters carve out . As we all know, seeing how others use something makes our individual choice easier if we are able to see a role for it in what we do, personally or professionally. However, often we cannot see the forest from the trees because there is no unique or compelling purpose yet defined for us as individuals.

Then along comes someone who dives in head-first and manages to create a clear and purposeful experience with it and sees the role. Someone who showcases how it can be used (by reinventing/adapting) and demonstrating how it changes pieces of what we do, or could do.

I am talking specifically about Twitter as a communication tool. Twitter is an instant messaging type service that asks the simple question “What are you doing now?” and provides an interface and framework to let your audience know just that. Although signed up a short while ago, there has been so much chatter from Steve Rubel, Robert Scoble and Bryan Person that I was starting to feel guilty for not using it more.

Enter Mitch Joel and his use of Twitter (full disclosure: Mitch is President of Twist Image which is Scotiabank’s agency-of-record on the digital side and is also a good friend). Mitch has been using Twitter with a purposeful benefit to himself and his audience as a micro-blogging platform. He has been posting his thoughts, links to interesting stuff and questions to his readers using the tool. He has integrated the Twitter widget box on his blog and has been quite active on it.

As a personal branding expert, you had to know it would not take him long to see the power of it all and then spin it back to us all as the latest part of how he manages to manage his brand. After seeing it in this light you say to yourself “aha, now why didn’t I think of that?”. Now, I’m not sure if he was the first to use Twitter in this manner, but it was the first that I saw where the lights came on for me – so thanks Mitch.

So, will we all follow this example and begin our own micro-blogs? Not sure about you but I am opting out for a few reasons at this point (but I refrain from saying never). First, as a user, I see myself utilizing it’s inbound versus outbound capacity to suit my needs. Second, I have enough outlets with my blog and podcast to let the world know what is on my mind. And third, it is just another thing to keep active in the midst of everything else that is going on (as I wrote about in my post on Digital and Social Media Syndrome a short while ago).

Having said that, I like Twitter a lot more lately because I see it’s purpose through how Mitch Joel is using it. Receiving more immediate and timely (meaning to the second) information from those who I follow is a good thing. I will be paying close attention to how others are using it too, and hope that I will find newer purposes as I investigate further.

One such purpose I've already seen is NY Times & Twitter. Very cool.

How about you? Are twitching to get more use of Twitter or still figuring it out? Thoughts?

I heard about this interesting project called Bum Rush the Charts through Shel and Neville of the For Immediate Release podcast and it seems to be picking up speed as the word spreads.

I do not believe this is just the latest meme to gain link love. This is an honest-to-goodness attempt to usurp the system as we have come to know it yet had no other choice but to support over the past decades. We now own our own choice. Giddy up.

Bum Rush the Charts is an idea that will take hold March 22 when “we the people” (as “You” i.e. Time Magazine’s Person of the Year) will hold the key to show the music industry that they no longer own the audience and the artists – we are taking back expropriated and exploited art and donating some of the proceeds as well.

Here is the Bum Rush the Charts mantra from the BRTC blog:

On March 22nd, we are going to take an indie podsafe music artist to number one on the iTunes singles charts as a demonstration of our reach to Main Street and our purchasing power to Wall Street. The track we've chosen is "Mine Again" by the band Black Lab. A band that was dropped from not just one, but two major record labels (Geffen and Sony/Epic) and in the process forced them to fight to get their own music back. We picked them because making them number one, even for just one day, will remind the RIAA record labels of what they turned their backs on - and who they ignore at their peril.

Hopefully, the movement will carve a path for an independent artist (in this case it is Black Lab) to make it to #1 on iTunes, forcing the fat cat music industry execs who continue to hold music hostage to pay attention.

My experience with Black Lab is as old as my podcasting, so not really that old at all. I discovered Black Lab as part of my podcasting experimentation last summer when I was searching through Podsafe Music Network. I stumbled upon them and instantly liked what I heard. I subsequently used their music in my Across the Sound contributions and then as the theme music for The Client Side.

Here is the rub to the music industry. I did what most record company execs would never understand after I received some freebie music via Podsafe Music Network - I went to an HMV looking for a Black Lab CD to buy. Guess what? I could not find them. They were not available which left me perplexed. Then I did some online research and found out that these talented guys were shafted by the music industry who now wont let buy my own copy of their music legitimately.

Is it any wonder that the music industry is doomed if they do not get their heads out of their DRM derrières?

For my 99 cents, BRTC is not just about making podcasting more of a known entity – that will come in time. This is all about demonstrating the impact of our collective word-of-mouse. And, best of all is that 50% of all earnings will go to a scholarship fund. Brilliant.

In an earlier post, I started to allude to a period of marketing reformation that is taking place. This not just a changing of the guard, it is more like a charging of the gates and taking the tower. The music/entertainment industry needs to find a new religion fast because BRTC is definitely a heretical undertone that will only grow.

So, on March 22 use your pocket change to make some change with the rest of us. Because, in the end, this is all about us.

Interesting post over at Adweek by Marc Schiller on crisis management on the web titled Crisis And The Web.

I loved this line:

as the "social Web" evolves, the focus for brands needs to be less on digital marketing and more on digital brand management.

So true. I believe more and more that marketers have to understand social media and the digital space holistically. Not just have a grasp on some of the tactical areas of deployment, or the quick and cute but utterly useless diversions that many seem to hang their hat on. Seeing things at the 20,000 foot level in terms of how the brand is reflected and overall management of it is required now more than ever before.

As Schiller says:

Brands that get it right will be the ones that use the same online tools as their customers.

Anyone who has studied British history and knows of the reformation period will know there is more at stake over the long term than meets the eye at present. I have been thinking about this theme of a "Marketing Reformation" lately and will have more to say on it soon.

I just hit the double-digits in my podcast efforts and this one is special because it is all about the future of email. Also, I had a bunch of great audio comments from listeners that drives the bulk of the show.

Check out The Client Side Episode #` 10 and don't forget to call in at 1 206 666 2242 and have your voice heard too.

Sidenote: I just found out (unfortunately a little too late for this episode) how to get better sounding audio comments and get rid of that crappy tincan sound that has been bugging me when people call in. Thanks to Mitch Joel who has had a lot of practice with the dozens of great comments he gets from all over the planet. The fun part of podcasting is learning and sharing. Maybe I should have gone to a few more sessions at PodCamp Toronto last week!

Adweek said it, I am just reporting it.

Is this really a shocker? Probably not. Read it all here.

This post was inspired by a conversation between Kate Trgovac and my wife a few weeks back.

Social Media is killing us. I love Social Media but there are limits on time and attention. For those of us involved in online communities, channels and conversations, we must be mindful. Mindful of those who we tend to leave behind as our face-to-screen and face-to-face-time with other digerati and socirati (new word!) seems to be growing exponentially.

We all have loved ones, partners or friends who know of the countless hours we spend face-to-screen. Be it blogging, podcasting, commenting and calling in. Those who witness the time slip by as we contribute to a wiki here or there, play with a widget, extend our tour of duty in Second Life or twitter around on Twitter. Sometimes it’s the tagging in Technorati, diligent Digging or diving head first into Delicious. Or perhaps it is Skype or iTunes or just general ego surfing that captures our attention? Whatever floats your digital boat I guess.

To make matters worse, as if we were not being social enough online, we have become quite a social bunch outside the glow of our laptop screens in a face-to-face environment. Be it a CaseCamp, BarCamp, DemoCamp, PodCamp, Third Tuesday, Throng, Meetup, Geek Dinner, conference or other gathering and/or event, the weeknight and sometimes weekend activities can take a toll. It can have an impact on those who don’t see the fun and valuable friendship forged through the social media space.

Bottom line is that I am not the only person to come to the realization that the social media calendar is killing us all slowly! My question is “how social is social media when we are less social with the people we live with?!?!”

So it is time for recognition for those who are in the shadows. Let’s give a huge cheer and acknowledgement to those who are left to look over our shoulders or stay at home with the kids or the dog as we socialize through social media. They are a huge part of the equasion that cannot be overlooked. I know I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my wife who is always there to support the crazy calendar of events. So if I miss a few gatherings or seem off-line for a while here and there, it is because I am balancing that equasion out.

I love the scene, but I sometimes think we need a time-out. For the love of Pete, let’s have Moratorium March, ok?

Breaking news at AIMS. I was privy to this information and was itching to blog about it since we began planning it a few weeks ago. So here it is - The Marketers Roadmap to Second Life

Date: March 21, 2007, Time: 8:30 - 11:00am
Location: The Diesel Playhouse (large theatre)

Here is a description from the AIMS site:

Every week brings new reports of companies opening offices and stores in the virtual world of Second Life. Telus, American Apparel, and Dell are just a few of the well-known brands that have opened their virtual doors for business.

The initial hype is starting to subside as stories of empty stores and vandalized buildings make headlines. Yet over $500,000 US exchanges hands daily among the 3.7 million residents and businesses continue to explore the opportunities in this online digital world.

The best part is that C.C. Chapman will be back in Toronto to present at this event. If you don’t know who C.C. is, then you need to bone up. He is a podcaster extraordinaire and Second Life expert / pundit – which is all good because that is exactly what he will be speaking about! I am proud to call him a friend and it will be great to see him here in Toronto again.

Also, Jay Moonah from Uncle Seth will be there to chat about how he has managed his band's brand in the virutual world. Should be very infomative and interesting.

Check out the details over at AIMS, or the AIMS Blog and don’t miss out.

I think I sense another Geek Dinner Toronto in our midst - I know C.C. will be into it! Stay tuned.

Chairman of RIM, Jim Balsillie, has accused (and rightly so) the music industry of messing up the advancement of the wireless world. In a statement that smacked of the same tempered vitriol of Steve Jobs open letter on DRM, the RIM chief stated that the entertainment industry is holding wireless back and needs to get collective ass in gear. Oh yeah, and they should do it NOW!

Here is an excerpt from the Globe & Mail article by Simon Avery:

The digital rights management (DRM) software that controls how consumers access and use the tracks they buy online has become a messy process that essentially charges people twice for the same music if they use incompatible devices and discourages the wider adoption of portable digital music, he said.

"I think [DRM is] just going to break down with the normal proliferation of the Internet," Mr. Balsillie told analysts and investors at an RBC Dominion Securities Inc. conference in Toronto. "It's going to be tough. I think [content providers] are going to have to shift their business models. But they will go down swinging."

I like what Ric Aroit had to say:

"When you buy a piece of music you should be able to do what you want with it," said Ric Arboit, president of Nettwerk Music. "The big corporations have lived by an old model that works very well for them, and it's all been based on who controls distribution." DRM is not attached to music CDs, which still represent the bulk of the music industry's sales. "The logic to me is baffling," Mr. Arboit said.

In my book, it is high time for the entertainment industry to tear down the walls. Failing to catch-up with the realities of today’s world will be too little too late for the needs of the “net generation” that holds the keys to the future. The times they are a changing.

I was just sent this open letter by Steve Jobs found on the Apple site (thanks Brad).

He writes about music and DRM. Check it out, it is quite an interesting read.

Viacom issues a "firm demand" to YouTube. They want thier content pulled. Remember when NBC did the same with Lazy Sundays?

Viacom rep said:

"Our hope is that YouTube and Google will support a fair and authorized distribution model that allows consumers to continue to enjoy our very popular content now and in the future."

In principle I almost agree, but c'mon Viacom, get in the game. We need new ways to solve old problems. Not old ways to solve new problems.

I just returned from a speaking engagement in Atlanta at Social Media 2007 where I presented "Fifteen Megs of Fame - Your brand when consumers are creators". I must say that I had a peach of a good time and really enjoyed the event and all the great people I met.

Weather-wise it was not much warmer there than it is in Toronto. I kept thinking "Isn't Atlanta in the south?". I was the only Canadian in the crowd and coming from a hot bed of TO bloggers I was impressed to see the Social Media scence is alive and well down in Georgia. I even attended the first meeting of the Atlanta Chapter of Social Media Club. It was really great to see passionate folks discussing the issues and ideas in the space. Lots of fun and compelling conversations.

I met some very interesting folks including Rob Walch from http://www.podcast411.com/, Chris Barger, Chief Blogger at IBM and Howard Greenstein, co-founder of Social Media Club. I interviewed all of these gentlemen for upcoming episodes of The Client Side Podcast, so stay tuned to hear from them soon.

I regret missing the session run by Paul Vogelzang from Mommycast who I met briefly and wish I could have spent more time chatting.

Thanks to Robert Chiarito, Conference Organizer for putting together a great event with a stellar line-up of speakers and content.

All in all it was quite encouraging to see the passion and sincere interest in the space from a diverse group of people who don't have all the answers, but are certainly asking all the right questions.

If you attended and are reading this, leave a comment - tell me what you thought about the conference.

Following a very well attended AIMS event in Toronto, our 5th Geek Dinner was a mad hit. By the way, people were referring to it as 4th geek dinner but according to my math it was indeed our 5th. If memory serves there was the one at Houstons, Big Daddy’s Crab Shack (with Shel Holtz), Brasserie, and La Palette and last evening at Marcel’s. UPDATE - Mitch has informed me I am taking credit for one that we only attened - see comments section

The dinners are getting so large (approximately 40 people last night) that questions started to pop-up about when the speeches would start. My response was “right after the candle lighting ceremonies”. If we have that many people again, we are considering renting out table top space for exhibitors!

The reality is that something has been unleashed here. Something powerful. The coming together of the community in Toronto over the past 5 months that I have not seen the likes of before. It is a very cool social developement in the Marketing, Advertising, PR and Tech scene that I continue to be stoked about each and everytime another one goes down. (additional post post thought: Social media is about the power of these connections between people and the manner in which the digital space is accelerating everthing.)

As ironic as this may sound, the credit for bringing together the Toronto digerati goes to the man from beautiful Montreal, Mitch Joel. The genesis of our Toronto Geek Dinners was initiated on a Skype chat on Sunday way back in August. We were talking about his trip into town and the question “Geek Dinner?” came up in the IM chat. And, as they say, the rest is history. Well, not history, more like the future to be frank. I say future because through these dinners the connectivity of people in the business has been incredible. Who knows what the future holds when so many people in the game, who are in the knowm hang out and get their geek on?

Last night saw the usual suspects. Ed Lee, Chris Clarke (our little PR buddy), Michelle Tampoya, Michael LeBlanc, Kathryn Lagden, Salima Valji, Sulemaan Ahmed, Steve Mast, Leesa Barnes, Jay Aber, Eden Spodek, Bill Sweetman. UPDATE - June Macdonald was there too. Thanks Bill

However, last night’s crowd swelled to multi-table event that included John Gustavson, CEO of Canadian Marketing Association, Ken Schaffer of VP, TuCows and One Degree, Judy McAlpine of CBC (great speech at AIMS event btw), Warren Cable of CanWest, Adrian Capobianco and Steve Brown of FUSE, Leonna Hobbs of Flackadellic and TuCows, Andrew Findlander of National PR, Elaine Pratt of KPMG (who I knew from my real “Geek” days in grade 8). Jonathan Huth of Scotiabank, June Li of ClickInsight, Doug Walker of TBWA Chait Day and also World Rock Paper Scissors Society, and Jay Moonah and Chris Pathieger from Uncle Seth. I missed meeting Sean Howard of Craphammer, but there is always next time.

And finally, The Mos – legendary ad and marketing man Peter Mosely brought his joie de vivre to our gathering. And, my new buddy Julia Stein from Fleishman Hillard, who has totally missed her calling as a top-notch creative talent in the ad world. Julia, if you won any money on the bet with David Jones, I want some points ;)

My apologies if I missed anyone in this list, please let me know by leaving a comment

I hope everyone had as great a time as I did and I am already looking forward to the next one.

Last chance to register for AIMS event "Should Your Company be Podcasting?"

I hope you can join us as we shed some light on this topic that is sure to be discussed in the months and years to come as a powerful communications channel that is sure to grow exponentially.

Speakers are
- Mitch Joel, President of Twist Image
- Michael Seaton, Director of Digital Marketing, Scotiabank (that would be me)
- Judy McAlpine, Director International/Business Development, CBC

Followed by a panel discussion moderated by Jen Evans, President, Sequentia Communications.
See here for details and registration. See you there.

Don’t let this happen to you. And, take a lesson from this tale of plagiarism in the blogosphere.

Here is a bit of background: While doing some ego surfing on Technorati I noticed a blog called Cressfamily.com that linked back to The Client Side. I clicked through and started reading the post and realized that the words were mine. There was no mention of attribution or acknowledgement of myself as the source. It was simply blatant content theft. The reason the post linked back and I could find it on Technorati was that I had a put a link in the original post that referred back to a previous Client Side post and it remained intact when it was reposted.

I had heard of this happening to other bloggers (mostly to my fellow CAPOW friends) but could not believe it was happening to me. Does this mean I have made it big time? I feel so dirty ; )

And, to top it all off, the post underneath mine was ripped off from none other than Michael Arrington’s Techcrunch. Well, at least I know I am in good company.

Check out Scotts post and Techcrunch

Seems as though he copies, slightly edits by taking out key links to hide the real author's identity and then calls it his own. Anyone wanna bet he failed an essay or two for plagiarism in his scholastic past?!?!

Now the post he copied from The Client Side mysteriously came down today after Bryper came to my rescue, but the trial of it was caught on Technorati

Now for the real kicker – this person, Scott Cress, has a LinkedIn profile right on his blog. And, we were only two degrees of separation apart. He is a marketer from the eastern U.S. and we have a famous Canadian web pioneer as a connection point between us on LinkedIn.

It looks Scott has blogged for a while, so he should just know better. Can he claim ignorance? I think not. Is Scott a nice guy? I don’t know. Bottom line is that this is not cool. Not in any way.

What I hope is that this is a lesson learned. And, to show that I am not sore about it enough to hold a grudge, I am asking him via this post to come clean either by written comment or audio comment to +1 -206-666-2242 and explain his motivations. Enquiring minds want to know.

I’m waiting.

Here is the problem in our business. Or is it? And, was "problem" a bad word choice or a rather astute one?

Either way, the phone is ringing. It's been ringing all year long, perhaps even for two. Yes, that would be a wake-up call.