Capital C

The Scrutiny of Others

The saying goes; "a smart man learns from experience, a wise man learns from someone else's experience."
The challenge for the modern business/marketer is that consumers have gained the tools of wisdom.
They now have the ability to learn from the experience of others.
The 3 'R's of the hyperconnected world- Reviews, Recommendations and Ratings are demanding that our offering hold up against the scrutiny of OTHERS; yet another reason why winners in the new economy need to dramatically up their game, overdeliver and create something worth recommending.

Rapid Response

It’s become a truism among the blogging pundits that in the age of social media, it’s imperative that marketers listen to the conversation. Makes sense, we should know what people are saying about us and we should be responsive…but how? One way is to create rapid response campaigns based on the stuff customers are saying in social media.
Steve Rubel warns;
Digital marketers who continue to plan campaigns months in advance and then unleash them will lose relevance…They will need to be dynamic, adaptable and able to turn on a dime depending on where the live conversation goes. That's no easy feat and it will require brands and agencies to rewire themselves for speed. Get ready to race.
‘Rewiring for speed’ means agencies and clients have to have, what David Armano calls, a “rapid response culture". Agencies will need the flexibility to act; and the client approval process will need to be lightning fast if responses will be timely enough for consumers. Practically speaking, it means a tighter partnership between agency and client and a ‘social media brief’ that focuses more on ‘conversational guidelines’ and less on brand messages.
We’ll talk about what those adjustments need to be in an upcoming post.  ---   Jason Dojc

Super Short Book Review

My Past few books-

The New Rules of Marketing and PR-
Wish I could flip a switch and have people understand how powerful these ideas are- (5 stars)
MoneyBall
Innovation and analytics wrapped in killer narrative- fuckinawesome- (6 stars)
Grapevine-
Love BzzAgent or hate it, massive big insights inside, great writing style- (4 stars)
Influencer-
Wow, scary how the ideas in the book can send us to the dark side of commercial persuasion...(5 stars)
Conversational Capital-
The boys from Sid Lee show their brilliance once again- (3 stars)
Buyology-
The art and science of neurobranding- sweet and smart- (4 stars)
Bang!-
Wasn't expecting much from this audio book, but turned out delightful- (3 stars)
Outliers-
I'm sick of his genius- listen to the author read audio book, love his enunciation- (5 stars)
Competing on Analytics-
Thought I'd have to have a few naps in between chapters, but it was actually quite riveting- (4 stars)
Tribe-
Quick, fun and easy, the junkfood of B books, VERY inspirational- (3 stars)

Better Get Good Grades

In the real world, I was once told, you don’t get A’s and B’s anymore…until now. Reviews are playing an increasingly important role in consumer buying decisions. Let me share with you a personal anecdote. My automatic garage door opener broke. So I did a Google search for a repair service in Toronto, clicked on a couple of entries, poked around their web sites…then I remembered my bad contractor experience a few weeks ago with another home repair issue. So I looked for a reviews site and found HomeStars.com. It turned out that a couple of the top Google ranked companies (who looked like they spent some spent some time and money on search engine optimization), had very poor ratings. Steve at Open Sesame in Toronto didn’t even have a web site but he did have a 9.8 out of 10 rating with excellent write-ups. Did a great job too at a reasonable price.

Bottom line, getting to the top of search engines, or getting brand awareness period isn’t enough. You have to deliver results and your customers will evaluate you accordingly.   ---Jason Dojc

In Honour of Quixotic Creativity

Quixotic Creative.

The kind of thinking that grows something new. Really new.
But it involves a lot of failure, embarrassment and improbability.
It requires bold stupidity and wide eyed ignorance.
It demands the intestinal fortitude to stay a hopeless course in the wake of criticism and diminishing trust.
But the result is new. Sometimes shockingly, which is misunderstood.

Let the punishment begin.

Digital Digs

Is Some of Nike’s Current Success Due to Its 'Running' Social Network?
Many companies have tried to build virtual communities centered around their brands—that according to comScore statistics. But for Nike, “It was never about how can we convert some percentage of users (to buy Nike shoes)”, according to Stefan Olander, global director of consumer connections. It was about creating a social network for dedicated runners . . .
Nike + Success

Private Social Network Aids Revenue Bump for New York Hotel
Guests of the Pod, which is in New York City, can now log onto the network, called PodCulture, in advance of their arrival and socialize with other hotel guests, planning shopping trips, nights on the town, casual dinners or even romantic encounters. The site is open only to incoming guests of the Pod, who are given usernames and passwords when they book their rooms.
Hooking Up in NYC
 
MINI Print Ad Drives Consumers Online
Rip a print ad out of a magazine. Hold it up in front of your computer’s web cam. Watch what happens.
Print Meets Online

Free Gift: Influence and How Things Really Spread
The last couple years has seen the marketing discipline obsess over the power of influencers. Mark Earls and Alex Bentley feel that’s misguided. Humans are herd animals and like to copy others. The article below contains a link to the full PDF article. Well worth a download.
Follow the Herd, Click Here*

* Some machines will see an alert box asking for a password. We have no idea why but if you click cancel, you can read and surf away.

2008 in Review: Mashable’s 20 Most Popular Stories
Mashable, the website dedicated to all things popular on the web, takes a look back through 2008 at the top 20 stories garnering the most views from their readers. Perhaps indicative of the influence that social media is having on mainstream culture, one of the more apparent trends in their list is how many of the top posts relate to current events.
Back to the Future

A Guide to The Contextual Web
It's the end of 2008 and everyone on the Web is hurting due to the economy. But we know that things will get better, because slow-downs eventually bury the old and give birth to new evolutionary ways of doing things. One of these evolutions started quietly in 2008. We are witnessing the rise of a new kind of web: contextual.
It's About to Get All Relevant Up in Here

Dragons Be Here

This is the warning early cartographers would apply to unknown parts of maps. They would do lovely drawings of the mythical creatures, as warnings to unknowing explorers.
Today, we need to find the dragons. There's really no choice. The territory that's well mapped is entirely barren for business and ideas. Fuck it. Chase the dragons. Be brave.

6 Billion Dollar Festering Sore

The North American automakers are demanding $6 billion dollars from the Canadian taxpayers.  Not so much a demand more like a shot gun to our head, as they want an answer tomorrow.
Show me a plan where they can build a sustainable competitive advantage building cars in Canada - and that includes getting their labour costs in line, and I would consider there ask in a competitive bid along side the many other sectors that need our support.
My bet is that my vote would be to invest in industries that we can build an advantage - harnessing our resources to create the most efficient and affordable power in the world - and with it attract the industries that depend on that type of energy.  It's how Alcan built itself into a world power. tc

Mobile Snacks

Addicted to 24 and missed the last episode but don’t want to get left out of the watercooler talk the next day? Media in Canada [link Media in Canada to http://www.mediaincanada.com/articles/mic/20081209/24.html ] reports that fans of the show can get a 2 minute recap of the show on their mobile phone. These “mobisodes” could be a breakthrough for mobile video. Few people want to watch full-length features on the tiny screens of their mobile device let alone 30 minute episodes. Snack-sized content such as this or sports highlights or a video preview of a nearby tourist attraction would work. Mobile content works best when it’s content at the “point of need”. If you’re sitting in transit on a long commute, a few of these mobile video ‘snacks’ might just be what you need to pass the time. - Jason Dojc

Roman Empire

Imagine an era where dreams and desires were  within arms reach of desire.  They indulged, they consumed, and with it their appetite grew for more of everything.  To out do each other with luxury, without any end ever in sight.
Will history show that our generation just lived our version of the Roman Empire?   Where we created planned obsolence by discarding the 'almost new' in favoyur of 'needing' a larger TV Screen, another car, a bigger house?
The economy is burning Nero, will another society emerge from the ashes?  One that values our planet, free and responsible trade, an equitable sharing of the wealth, maybe less of an appetite for the haves versus the have nots?