I just wrapped up speaking at the Consumer Insights and Market Research for
Financial Services Conference in Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida. Hard to
leave here when the weather is 80 degrees with no humidity, knowing that
the weather is drastically different at home in Toronto.
The Institute for International Research put on a great conference with a lot of smart people in attendance covering a wide range of issues.
My speech was titled "Fifteen Megs of Fame: Your Brand When Consumers are
Creators " and covered what brands need to focus on today to achieve and
sustain their Fifteen Megs of Fame and effectively monetize investments in the digital space.
Having been immersed in digital for over six years and social media for about a year and a half, it is great that the word is spreading, albeit slowly. I was happy that my presentation was well received as this group was comprised primarily analysts and research professionals. For the most part, they were not marketers, advertisers or communicators.
However, the percentage of people who were hearing about the growth and power in Digital Marketing and Social media was on par with marketing audiences. Many had heard of Second Life and many were reading blogs. Not many were listening to podcasts, although Mark Middlebrook from City National Bank conducted a session on “How to use Podcasting” and did a great job of outlining the ins and outs of creating and launching one. All good to see.
I guess it surprised me a bit that this audience was getting into the loop. But is it really surprising? I would have to guess that internal brand & marketing departments in large companies marketing are asking for research and figures on the growth of these channels and how they can enter the space.
Of note, one comment coming out of the conference is that “Analysis Paralysis” is still alive and well in some organizations. There were many presentations addressing the situation in terms of taking action with research insights. In other words, lots of data, now how do we apply it.
My perspective is that more marketers need to begin experimenting with small initiatives and then analyze. Unfortunately, the reverse is happening. Research does not yet have any hard and fast answers so it is high time for marketers to take a leap and dive into these waters and figure it out for themselves.
Technorati Tags: Digital Marketing Fifteen Megs of Fame Research Social Media Marketing
Thanks for the kudos and I think that the area of podcasts, blogs and other Web 2.0 technologies haven't penetrated external-facings sites with banks too much due to concerns with being out of control.
However, the opportunity exists for banks to learn a new tactic to market to clients and prospects by posting strategically on blogs that may touch their target market.
This manually intense effort is probably not something easily understood by banks yet. If an internal blogging for sake of attracting best practices and competitive intelligence is probably a good way for companies to dip their toe in the water, learn at a low cost and develop a strategy.
Thanks for the comments Mark. There is an aspect of losing control, however corporations have already lost control and need to face the fact they have no choice but to join the conversation.
I enjoyed your presentation at the conference. Perhaps we can do a skype interview for The Client Side podcast sometime soon and talk about how your efforts at City National are making a difference.
I'd love to do a skype. LMK when and keep in touch.
Michael, I'd be interested in seeing if you'd like to partner with me to write a white paper on "Blogs affect on the Financial Services Industry." This could include embracing it externally and internally, tracking your company being blogged and more. What do you think?
Also, check this out: http://blogs.wellsfargo.com
Time is always the wild card factor, but I would be interested. Let's take the conversation to email!