2009 is almost over, and no blog would be worth its salt without the obligatory picking out of choice highlights from the year - and Cx3 is no exception. Yes, I may be slightly biased with my selection towards the UK and my indulgance in the banal, but hey...it's Christmas!
Twitter
What can I say? 2009 was the year Twitter went mainstream. Twitter progressed from the techy early adopters to the majority in the product lifecycle. Why? Most noticably was an acceptance by traditional media broadcasters that Twitter was a powerful channel for real-time news distribution (that acctually beat them at their own game). The publicity and exposure Twitter received with the Hudson plane landing and Iran elections catapulted the Twitter communication channel into the spotlight. Secondly, the increased share of the iPhone in the smartphone mobile market allowed the mainstream masses access to a multitude of Twitter apps.
Susan Boyle
Who would have believed that Britain's Got Talent would be the source of the most watched video on YouTube in 2009. Susan Boyle, the fiesty wannabe singer from Scotland, became a worldwide conversational buzz overnight. Yes she didn't win the show (and maybe this was a blessing in disguise), but it's not stopped the '#susanboyle' having the UK's Christmas number one album in 2009.
#uksnow
Us weather obsessed Brits demonstrated our need to share our meteorological interest when, in February 2009, we suffered the worst snow for 20 years. The '#uksnow' hashtag trended on Twitter, and mobile pictures / videos were uploaded to Twitpic, Flickr, blogs, Youtube etc...The world suffered a global drift of British snow - what are we like? Sorry world.
iPhone
Ok, so I finally succumbed to Apple's charms and purchased the iPhone 3GS in July 2009. Seriously though, Apple has made a major dent in the share of the UK smartphone mobile market with the iPhone, and is doing the same in the US. The iPhone has been elevated to a desirable must-have object that is transforming the way we communicate..."What iPhone apps have you got?"
Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry has become the unlikely champion and celebrity spokesperson of Twitter in the UK. The expert wordsmith and linguist, has perfectly tweeted his intelligent wry wit to the score of 1,000,000+ followers. A worthy face to represent British Twits (that didn't come out right, did it).
Citizen journalism
The Iran election (influencial event rather than highlight), proved the demonstrable truth that Twitter had arrived as a channel for citizen journalists to broadcast real-time news worldwide, where traditional news broadcasters failed. The Iran election was also a milestone for integrated media channel broadcasting - BBC TV news adopted to broadcast YouTube videos when their reporters were denied access by the Iranian government, in order to sustain a newsworthy story.
Facebook v X Factor
The might of Facebook against the might of X Factor saw a historic battle to reach the prestigious number one spot in the UK Christmas singles chart. A Facebook campaign 'Rage Against The Machine for Christmas No1', created by Jon and Tracy Morter, was a reaction against X Factor potentially spawning the UK's Christmas number one single for the fifth year in a row. The Facebook campaign captured the public's imagination and Rage Against The Machine's 'Killing in the Name' successfully beat 'The Climb' by X Factor's Joe McElderry into second place by 50,000 copies.
2009 really has been a year where social media 'est arrivé'. In observing these choice highlights, there is a bridging commonality of the seamless social media integration with mainstream communication channels - predominantly broadcast and mobile.
Marketers realise that social media reaches an audience, and its dynamics sit within the holistic communications mix - let's see how marketers maximise the effectiveness of social media in 2010.
Merry Xmas!
Wednesday 23 December 2009
Sunday 20 December 2009
Cx3: Rage Against The Machine beats X Factor
One of the most competitive battles to reach the UK's Christmas number one in chart history has been won by Rage Against The Machine's 'Killing in the Name' (supported by a fierce Facebook campaign), beating 'The Climb' by X Factor's Joe McElderry into second place.
The Facebook campaign 'Rage Against The Machine for Christmas No1', created by Jon and Tracy Morter as a reaction against X Factor potentially spawning the UK's Christmas number one single for the fifth year in a row, resulted in 500,000 downloads being sold beating the X Factor winner by 50,000 copies.
Colin Paterson, BBC News Entertainment correspondent comments:
"It is simply one of the biggest shocks in chart history.
The common belief was that the race for Christmas number one had been destroyed by the X Factor.
For the last four years the winning act has been top of the festive charts by a landslide. Bookmakers only took bets on who would be number two.
This year the corporate might of Simon Cowell has been defeated by a husband and wife's Facebook campaign.
The result is 'Killing In The Name', which most parents would be pretty reluctant to play to their children. It contains 17 uses of the F-word.
This chart shock is right up there with Spiller's 'Groovejet' derailing the start of Victoria Beckham's non-Spice Career in 2000 or crooner Engelbert Humperdink ending The Beatles' run of 11 number ones in a row.
Two other points - this could become an annual event - the public deciding on a track with which to take on the X Factor winner.
Secondly there is still every chance Joe will reach number one next week.
The Rage Against Machine campaign was designed for one week only so Joe could get the top spot, saving him the indignity of being the first ever X Factor winner not to hit number one with their debut single."
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Facebook, the influential social networking book face
The Facebook campaign 'Rage Against The Machine for Christmas No1', created by Jon and Tracy Morter as a reaction against X Factor potentially spawning the UK's Christmas number one single for the fifth year in a row, resulted in 500,000 downloads being sold beating the X Factor winner by 50,000 copies.
Colin Paterson, BBC News Entertainment correspondent comments:
"It is simply one of the biggest shocks in chart history.
The common belief was that the race for Christmas number one had been destroyed by the X Factor.
For the last four years the winning act has been top of the festive charts by a landslide. Bookmakers only took bets on who would be number two.
This year the corporate might of Simon Cowell has been defeated by a husband and wife's Facebook campaign.
The result is 'Killing In The Name', which most parents would be pretty reluctant to play to their children. It contains 17 uses of the F-word.
This chart shock is right up there with Spiller's 'Groovejet' derailing the start of Victoria Beckham's non-Spice Career in 2000 or crooner Engelbert Humperdink ending The Beatles' run of 11 number ones in a row.
Two other points - this could become an annual event - the public deciding on a track with which to take on the X Factor winner.
Secondly there is still every chance Joe will reach number one next week.
The Rage Against Machine campaign was designed for one week only so Joe could get the top spot, saving him the indignity of being the first ever X Factor winner not to hit number one with their debut single."
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Facebook, the influential social networking book face
Friday 4 December 2009
Cx3: UK's best handheld - The Sun
The Sun newspaper hits back and champions paper-based news distribution with this wonderful pastiche of the iPhone advert. The UK's best handheld for 40 years. Brilliant!
Sunday 27 September 2009
Cx3: Who is Gio Compario?
Absolutely loving the 'Who is Gio?' PR campaign to support Go Compare's ATL advertising starring the coffee shop opera singing wonder that is Gio Compario (and he's only a tenor/tenner...oh how we laughed!). Inspired by the Google Latitude stunt, the search for Gio is on, 39 people, 39 locations...But who is Gio?
The rising Go Compare star introduces his own Gio Compario campaign site. You can join his many fans on Facebook, and also follow operatic antics on Gio Compario's Twitter.
Following this one closely to see where Gio goes next.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Grow social capital and go guerrilla
Cx3 blog entry: Virgin Atlantic Still Red Hot video
Cx3 blog entry: T-mobile Liverpool Street advert - class
The rising Go Compare star introduces his own Gio Compario campaign site. You can join his many fans on Facebook, and also follow operatic antics on Gio Compario's Twitter.
Following this one closely to see where Gio goes next.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Grow social capital and go guerrilla
Cx3 blog entry: Virgin Atlantic Still Red Hot video
Cx3 blog entry: T-mobile Liverpool Street advert - class
Monday 31 August 2009
Cx3: Big Brother's social media future
As an unashamed Big Brother fan (I indulge in its banality), and knowing for a while that Endomol's contract with Channel 4 was due to end in 2010 the recent spin targeted at Joe Public raising the prominance of a ratings slump was an amusing move in managing expectations.
I was interested to read Wildonion's insider thoughts on the subject and I totally concur with the opportunities mentioned that Endemol has for social network affiliation.
As Wildonion says "It [Big Brother] has a young audience. That audience don’t really watch too much TV", therefore, target the channels that they do access - does Endemol even need a traditional TV broadcaster to facilitate this? What we see today are managed bite-sized chunks of happenings in the house of what a Channel 4 producer wants a TV audience to see that supposedly makes good television and is an attempt to sustain TV viewing figures - but for what audience?
Big Brother started as a social experiment - a group of people cut off from the outside world and how they behaved over a period of time. As we all know, the programme became a perceived avenue for celebrity stardom. However, two interesting things happened this year that should not be overlooked:
- Firstly, the outside world came into the house for the first time in the form of a few 'celebrity gossip magazines', within which housemates were featured - their reactions were televised and it was a refreshing flashback to the original social experiment ethos of the first series.
- Secondly, conversations were encouraged by allowing housemates to discuss nominations.
In the future, why not give housemates ongoing access to social media whilst in the house so that they can view the conversations being said about them in the outside world - would this change an individual's behaviour in order to manage their own self's brand reputation? Housemates could engage with social media by recording their own diary-cam videos to upload to YouTube, they could write blog posts or interact with Twitter.
Ten year's after Big Brother started, social interactions have changed with the advances of social media. Therefore, it is these social media interactions that Big Brother needs to experiment upon again.
RELATED LINKS:
Big Brother - end of an era. Don't be so daft
I was interested to read Wildonion's insider thoughts on the subject and I totally concur with the opportunities mentioned that Endemol has for social network affiliation.
As Wildonion says "It [Big Brother] has a young audience. That audience don’t really watch too much TV", therefore, target the channels that they do access - does Endemol even need a traditional TV broadcaster to facilitate this? What we see today are managed bite-sized chunks of happenings in the house of what a Channel 4 producer wants a TV audience to see that supposedly makes good television and is an attempt to sustain TV viewing figures - but for what audience?
Big Brother started as a social experiment - a group of people cut off from the outside world and how they behaved over a period of time. As we all know, the programme became a perceived avenue for celebrity stardom. However, two interesting things happened this year that should not be overlooked:
- Firstly, the outside world came into the house for the first time in the form of a few 'celebrity gossip magazines', within which housemates were featured - their reactions were televised and it was a refreshing flashback to the original social experiment ethos of the first series.
- Secondly, conversations were encouraged by allowing housemates to discuss nominations.
In the future, why not give housemates ongoing access to social media whilst in the house so that they can view the conversations being said about them in the outside world - would this change an individual's behaviour in order to manage their own self's brand reputation? Housemates could engage with social media by recording their own diary-cam videos to upload to YouTube, they could write blog posts or interact with Twitter.
Ten year's after Big Brother started, social interactions have changed with the advances of social media. Therefore, it is these social media interactions that Big Brother needs to experiment upon again.
RELATED LINKS:
Big Brother - end of an era. Don't be so daft
Saturday 15 August 2009
Cx3: Powerful social media stats
Some powerful stats demonstrating why social media is not just a fad - if Facebook were a country it would be the fourth largest in the world...plus many more.
Sunday 28 June 2009
Cx3: Nielsen Iran social media stats
Nielsen has undertaken snapshot search results analysis from Google for Iran focussed key phrases (Iran; Iran protest; Iran election; Moussavi and Ahmadinejad) over a two week period. A number of insights have emerged about how the Internet and social media continue to be a transforming force for the news industry.
Findings from an Internet snapshot from June 18, 2009:
- CNN rarely shows up in the top five search results for select Iran Election terms, mirroring criticism from consumers that the global news network’s coverage of the Iran Election was lacking (#CNNFail).
- Wikipedia emerges within the top two search results for 4/5 of the leading topics.
- At least one social media source emerges within the top 10 search results for every term. In most cases, the social media sites emerge directly above a traditional, major news source, such as WSJ.com.
Findings from an Internet snapshot from June 24, 2009:
- YouTube emerges within the top 10 search results for all search terms in the second week.
- Wikipedia remains within the top three search results in the second week for four of the five search terms.
- Twitter emerges within the top 20 search results in week two, specifically the Twitter results for Moussavi and Ahmadinejad. Of course, traditional news sources such as the BBC (and CNN, in week two) bubble to the top of search results, as do general information sites such as Yahoo.com and Infoplease.com.
Nielsen say that it is "yet another watershed moment in the ongoing evolution of news and media, further blurring the lines between being, reporting, and following the story". Read full findings from Nielsen: The Iran Election and Social Media: The New News Revolution
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Iran's social media voice
Findings from an Internet snapshot from June 18, 2009:
- CNN rarely shows up in the top five search results for select Iran Election terms, mirroring criticism from consumers that the global news network’s coverage of the Iran Election was lacking (#CNNFail).
- Wikipedia emerges within the top two search results for 4/5 of the leading topics.
- At least one social media source emerges within the top 10 search results for every term. In most cases, the social media sites emerge directly above a traditional, major news source, such as WSJ.com.
Findings from an Internet snapshot from June 24, 2009:
- YouTube emerges within the top 10 search results for all search terms in the second week.
- Wikipedia remains within the top three search results in the second week for four of the five search terms.
- Twitter emerges within the top 20 search results in week two, specifically the Twitter results for Moussavi and Ahmadinejad. Of course, traditional news sources such as the BBC (and CNN, in week two) bubble to the top of search results, as do general information sites such as Yahoo.com and Infoplease.com.
Nielsen say that it is "yet another watershed moment in the ongoing evolution of news and media, further blurring the lines between being, reporting, and following the story". Read full findings from Nielsen: The Iran Election and Social Media: The New News Revolution
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Iran's social media voice
Saturday 27 June 2009
Cx3: Thinkbox advert - brand nostalgia
Loving the trip down memory lane with the advert from thinkbox of some nostalgic brands made famous by TV advertising.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Grow social capital and go guerrilla
Cx3 blog entry: Virgin Atlantic Still Red Hot video
Cx3 blog entry: T-mobile Liverpool Street advert - class
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Cx3: #iphone 3G S and #HTC Hero - no contest
HTC's Hero is based on the Google Android system, boasts greater personalisation and an angled design...and not much else. It's going to take more than an attractive handset to challenge the market position of Apple's iPhone now. The new iPhone 3G S is a must-have desireable and sustains the iPhone's iconic status as the smartphone of today and the future. With a PR buzz protecting the iPhone, competitors need to dent this before standing a chance of being a commercial threat.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Smartphone market trends
Cx3 blog entry: Google G1 or Apple i-Phone...fight!
Cx3 blog entry: Apple iPhone App Store success reported
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone driving growth in mobile internet usage behaviour
Monday 22 June 2009
Cx3: Iran's social media voice
The elections in Iran and the unfolding events in Tehran have demonstrated the growing power today’s social media vehicles have over traditional news reporting. Despite frequent attempts by the Iranian government to block ‘controversial’ communications (including the BBC website), it has been the blogs, the Twitter posts, and the video and picture uploads that have been the voice of Iranian citizens and the source of content for traditional media broadcasters.
On the back of the events in Iran, the debate has opened again on traditional broadcasters using social media as credible sources of information, in particular in the context of international news reporting:
- Broadcaster's acceptance of social media for international news reporting where areas may be inaccessible to journalists (e.g. governmental restrictions; geographical location; environmental barriers).
- The growth in mobile internet connectivity in remote locations enabling the two-way dissemination of information and greater reach of news content.
- The verification of information from more prominent ‘semi-professional’ journalistic sources, which require monitoring.
The BBC embraces the value of blogs and Twitter, and over the past week, BBC World actively called upon Iranian audiences to post links to videos, pictures and comments to a BBC email address, as their journalists were having difficulty accessing the streets of Tehran. Citizen-generated content was broadcast by the BBC, however, a ‘semi-professional journalist’ disclaimer distanced themselves from the content source.
There is recognition from traditional media broadcasters that social media has value in future news reporting and the Iranian elections have concreted this, however, content verification and editorial control are still hurdles having to be jumped before true journalistic synergies will be realised.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter flies Hudson plane around the world
On the back of the events in Iran, the debate has opened again on traditional broadcasters using social media as credible sources of information, in particular in the context of international news reporting:
- Broadcaster's acceptance of social media for international news reporting where areas may be inaccessible to journalists (e.g. governmental restrictions; geographical location; environmental barriers).
- The growth in mobile internet connectivity in remote locations enabling the two-way dissemination of information and greater reach of news content.
- The verification of information from more prominent ‘semi-professional’ journalistic sources, which require monitoring.
The BBC embraces the value of blogs and Twitter, and over the past week, BBC World actively called upon Iranian audiences to post links to videos, pictures and comments to a BBC email address, as their journalists were having difficulty accessing the streets of Tehran. Citizen-generated content was broadcast by the BBC, however, a ‘semi-professional journalist’ disclaimer distanced themselves from the content source.
There is recognition from traditional media broadcasters that social media has value in future news reporting and the Iranian elections have concreted this, however, content verification and editorial control are still hurdles having to be jumped before true journalistic synergies will be realised.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter flies Hudson plane around the world
Monday 25 May 2009
Sunday 24 May 2009
Cx3: Grow social capital and go guerrilla
‘Citizen Journalism’, ‘The Conversation’ and ‘The Buzz’. These are 2009 buzzwords that describe mainstream consumer behaviour of interacting with social media, the social media vehicles that interact with each other to carry a voice, and the amplification of the voice by social media influencers.
Powerful stuff if the voice is talking positively about your brand!
Growing social capital enables a brand to more easily and cost-effectively influence via social media networks. Creative guerrilla tactics are becoming increasingly commonplace as brands start to leverage social media and grow their social capital. ‘The buzz’ has to start somewhere, and that somewhere is creativity that attracts the attention of 'citizen journalist'.
The Sony Bravia Balls campaign is a well documented case study as the benchmark for how to successfully use social media on the back of simple guerrilla creativity. This was complimented by the consistently creative Bravia paint explosion on a Glasgow housing estate.
T-mobile’s Liverpool Street flash mob dance campaign is another example of guerrilla marketing generating a social media buzz.
Both of these examples leveraged upon today’s consumer behaviour of recording videos and taking pictures on their mobile phones and sharing these via social media. Both brands listened to the unfolding conversation and encouraged the buzz by feeding consumers with more of what they wanted to hear. As a result, the social capital of both Sony Bravia and T-mobile brands established.
Social media communications are now mainstream and fully integrated into consumer behaviour, and it is this evolved and powerful consumer behaviour that brands need to be aware of and leverage upon. So Brands, what are you waiting for? Venture into the concrete jungle and go guerrilla – your citizens are waiting for you with their mobile phones!
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone sales grow despite market downturn
Cx3 blog entry: Social media heads are round, is yours?
Cx3 blog entry: How social is your conversation?
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter flies Hudson plane around the world
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone driving growth in mobile internet usage behaviour
Powerful stuff if the voice is talking positively about your brand!
Growing social capital enables a brand to more easily and cost-effectively influence via social media networks. Creative guerrilla tactics are becoming increasingly commonplace as brands start to leverage social media and grow their social capital. ‘The buzz’ has to start somewhere, and that somewhere is creativity that attracts the attention of 'citizen journalist'.
The Sony Bravia Balls campaign is a well documented case study as the benchmark for how to successfully use social media on the back of simple guerrilla creativity. This was complimented by the consistently creative Bravia paint explosion on a Glasgow housing estate.
T-mobile’s Liverpool Street flash mob dance campaign is another example of guerrilla marketing generating a social media buzz.
Both of these examples leveraged upon today’s consumer behaviour of recording videos and taking pictures on their mobile phones and sharing these via social media. Both brands listened to the unfolding conversation and encouraged the buzz by feeding consumers with more of what they wanted to hear. As a result, the social capital of both Sony Bravia and T-mobile brands established.
Social media communications are now mainstream and fully integrated into consumer behaviour, and it is this evolved and powerful consumer behaviour that brands need to be aware of and leverage upon. So Brands, what are you waiting for? Venture into the concrete jungle and go guerrilla – your citizens are waiting for you with their mobile phones!
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone sales grow despite market downturn
Cx3 blog entry: Social media heads are round, is yours?
Cx3 blog entry: How social is your conversation?
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter flies Hudson plane around the world
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone driving growth in mobile internet usage behaviour
Friday 8 May 2009
Cx3: The conversation prism 2.0
Brian Solis and JESS3 have evolved the conversation prism since its first release in August 2008. The conversation prism 2.0 places brand at the centre of the prism and introduces a workflow rotation of concentric circles assisting in the establishment of rhythmic value-added engagement.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: The Dominos effect - reputation management
Cx3 blog entry: Social media heads are round, is yours?
Cx3 blog entry: How social is your conversation?
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter, Stephen Fry and halibut
Cx3 blog entry: The growth of Twitter
Saturday 2 May 2009
Cx3: iPhone sales grow despite market downturn
Mobile phone sales have plummeted by a record amount in the first quarter of 2009 as the global financial crisis sapped demand, a research firm said.
The number of phones shipped worldwide in the first three months of the year dropped by 13% to 245 million units from the same period last year.
Strategy Analytics said all of the five biggest mobile phone-makers had drops in sales.
Bucking the trend is Apple's iPhone that had sales of 3.8 million, up from 1.7 million units the previous year - an annual gain of 123%.
"We expect Apple to launch one or more new models in the coming months as it seeks to maintain its breakneck growth rate," Strategy Analytics said.
Strategy Analytics said the previous worst quarter for mobile phone sales was in the third quarter of 2001.
Read the full BBC article: Mobile sales 'in record decline'
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Smartphone market trends
Cx3 blog entry: Google G1 or Apple i-Phone...fight!
Cx3 blog entry: Apple iPhone App Store success reported
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone driving growth in mobile internet usage behaviour
The number of phones shipped worldwide in the first three months of the year dropped by 13% to 245 million units from the same period last year.
Strategy Analytics said all of the five biggest mobile phone-makers had drops in sales.
Bucking the trend is Apple's iPhone that had sales of 3.8 million, up from 1.7 million units the previous year - an annual gain of 123%.
"We expect Apple to launch one or more new models in the coming months as it seeks to maintain its breakneck growth rate," Strategy Analytics said.
Strategy Analytics said the previous worst quarter for mobile phone sales was in the third quarter of 2001.
Read the full BBC article: Mobile sales 'in record decline'
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Smartphone market trends
Cx3 blog entry: Google G1 or Apple i-Phone...fight!
Cx3 blog entry: Apple iPhone App Store success reported
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone driving growth in mobile internet usage behaviour
Sunday 19 April 2009
Cx3: The Domino’s effect - reputation management
This week saw Domino’s Pizza’s social media reputation management go into overdrive in order to prevent a global toppling of the Domino’s Pizza brand.
A couple of employees in one of its franchises filmed themselves interfering with food that was supposedly destined for customers - the Domino's videos were then posted on You Tube. The YouTube videos were picked-up by the Good As You blog, which has subsequently become in active conversation with Tim McIntyre - Vice President of Communications at Domino’s pizza.
To further counter the negative impact that the Domino's videos may have on its brand, questions are currently being answered on the Domino’s Twitter site in an attempt to quash concerns from its customers.
It shows that the domino effect (unfortunate, but apt naming) is alive and well with extra cheese on top when the social media conversation goes sour, however, Domino’s Pizza have clearly shown how to leverage social media vehicles in order to manage its brand reputation when damage limitation is required on a global scale.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Social media heads are round, is yours?
Cx3 blog entry: How social is your conversation?
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter, Stephen Fry and halibut
Cx3 blog entry: The growth of Twitter
Saturday 21 March 2009
Cx3: Beware the Twitter fail whale
Beware the Twitter fail whale - it made me laugh!
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Why follow a Twitter celebrity?
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter, Stephen Fry and halibut
Cx3 blog entry: The growth of Twitter
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter flies Hudson plane around the world
Sunday 15 March 2009
Cx3: Social media heads are round, is yours?
“Our heads are round so thoughts can change direction”
This profound quote from French artist and poet Francis Picabia (1879-1953) is an accurate philosophical musing that emphasises how today’s businesses should embrace emerging media and the social media conversation.
The conversation
The conversation vehicles are well known now:
- Micro-blogging
- Blog posting and comments
- Image/Video/Slide sharing
- Social Networking
- Bookmarking
The conversation is a wild and rampant beast, and erstwhile “life is for sharing”, the conversation risks turning into Chinese whispers. If the conversation generated by social media mentions your business, then you need to be involved. Reputation management goes hand-in-hand with the organic nature of the social media conversation – if your company or brand is being talked about, the conversation needs to be listened to, learned from and if necessary acted upon accordingly.
Media monitoring and listening
Media monitoring has been established for well over a century – Durrants was providing press cuttings to the aristocracy as far back as 1880. We live in a different age now, but the same monitoring goals apply, but to a much wider communications universe.
Purposeful campaign marketing and event-based communications will naturally tie into carefully prioritised key messages. Social media monitoring and measurement tools allow these key messages to be ‘listened for’ in the conversation. Companies can evaluate how influential the speaker is and assess the tone of what is being said. The volume of the conversation and the share of voice across the conversation vehicles can be identified and the timeliness mapped against a communications plan.
Learning and acting-upon the conversation
Our heads are round not stuck in the sand. The social media conversational evidence can be humbling when set against business expertise, however, this bitter pill must be swallowed for the greater educational good of understanding people, focusing on preferred communication channels and closer monitoring of a competitive marketplace.
Acting upon and taking part in the conversation as part of reputation management sustains the positive key messages, however, transparency and relevancy are of utmost importance – lie and you’ll be found out and the conversation could work against you. Ultimately, long-term insight generated by the conversation will lead directional change in business thinking and its interactions.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: How social is your conversation?
Cx3 blog entry: Social Networking World Forum
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter, Stephen Fry and halibut
Cx3 blog entry: The growth of Twitter
Cx3 blog entry: Facebook, the influential social networking book face
This profound quote from French artist and poet Francis Picabia (1879-1953) is an accurate philosophical musing that emphasises how today’s businesses should embrace emerging media and the social media conversation.
The conversation
The conversation vehicles are well known now:
- Micro-blogging
- Blog posting and comments
- Image/Video/Slide sharing
- Social Networking
- Bookmarking
The conversation is a wild and rampant beast, and erstwhile “life is for sharing”, the conversation risks turning into Chinese whispers. If the conversation generated by social media mentions your business, then you need to be involved. Reputation management goes hand-in-hand with the organic nature of the social media conversation – if your company or brand is being talked about, the conversation needs to be listened to, learned from and if necessary acted upon accordingly.
Media monitoring and listening
Media monitoring has been established for well over a century – Durrants was providing press cuttings to the aristocracy as far back as 1880. We live in a different age now, but the same monitoring goals apply, but to a much wider communications universe.
Purposeful campaign marketing and event-based communications will naturally tie into carefully prioritised key messages. Social media monitoring and measurement tools allow these key messages to be ‘listened for’ in the conversation. Companies can evaluate how influential the speaker is and assess the tone of what is being said. The volume of the conversation and the share of voice across the conversation vehicles can be identified and the timeliness mapped against a communications plan.
Learning and acting-upon the conversation
Our heads are round not stuck in the sand. The social media conversational evidence can be humbling when set against business expertise, however, this bitter pill must be swallowed for the greater educational good of understanding people, focusing on preferred communication channels and closer monitoring of a competitive marketplace.
Acting upon and taking part in the conversation as part of reputation management sustains the positive key messages, however, transparency and relevancy are of utmost importance – lie and you’ll be found out and the conversation could work against you. Ultimately, long-term insight generated by the conversation will lead directional change in business thinking and its interactions.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: How social is your conversation?
Cx3 blog entry: Social Networking World Forum
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter, Stephen Fry and halibut
Cx3 blog entry: The growth of Twitter
Cx3 blog entry: Facebook, the influential social networking book face
Monday 16 February 2009
Saturday 14 February 2009
Cx3: Virgin Atlantic Still Red Hot video
There is a comforting nostalgia projected by the Virgin Atlantic Still Red Hot video. The TV advert created by RKCR celebrates the airline's 25th birthday with classic 1980's references including the yuppie, the mobile brick, the big hair and the Rubik's cube. I'm loving the advert and the return of many fond memories.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: T-mobile Liverpool Street advert
Tuesday 10 February 2009
Cx3: Why follow a Twitter celebrity?
Why not!
Twitter is reaching its populist celebrity-craved audiences now and not just the techy purists. Twitter has different priorities for different people whether business oriented, marketing focused, or pure entertainment, however, there is room for all - an intelligent quip from Stephen Fry or the latest gossip from Phillip Schofield helps the day go by.
Gordon Macmillan seems to be getting a little worked up on the subject with his blog post Why would you follow a Celebrity on Twitter. I say relax and accept Twitter, 'il est arrivé' - as I've said previously, celebrity Twittering is the new Heat magazine.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter, Stephen Fry and halibut
Twitter is reaching its populist celebrity-craved audiences now and not just the techy purists. Twitter has different priorities for different people whether business oriented, marketing focused, or pure entertainment, however, there is room for all - an intelligent quip from Stephen Fry or the latest gossip from Phillip Schofield helps the day go by.
Gordon Macmillan seems to be getting a little worked up on the subject with his blog post Why would you follow a Celebrity on Twitter. I say relax and accept Twitter, 'il est arrivé' - as I've said previously, celebrity Twittering is the new Heat magazine.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter, Stephen Fry and halibut
Saturday 7 February 2009
Cx3: How social is your conversation?
Conversational marketing through social media is coming into its own in 2009. But are companies treating social media as a serious channel that can be integrated into their marketing mix?
The current economic climate affords accountability of marketing spend and, as a result, communication effectiveness measurement is high on the agenda. The timely rise of conversational social media marketing offers an attractive option that can be measured and evaluated quickly whilst achieving ultimate communication and business goals.
Harnessing 'the conversation' through social media for marketing purposes is understanding its fluidity, its reach and its speed. Conversational marketing initiatives must consider the wider channel mix (broadcast, mobile, online, mail etc.), what interaction social media has with these channels and the micro-social media interactions that occur over a period of time. Any conversation then needs to be monitored, assessed and responded to where necessary.
Vitrue, who analyse the online conversations of a variety of social networking, blogging, micro-blogging, photo and video sharing sites, has released a list of brands in the Vitrue 100 - Top Social Brands of 2008. Their analysis tracks the movement of a single brand over time based on online conversations and can be used to compare a brand with its competitors, either at an individual point in time, or over a period of weeks or months.
Looking at the Vitrue 100, an audience profile can be built-up based on the brands mentioned. This profile would be: youthful; media immersed; technology savvy; a communication maven – Generation Y ring any bells? There is a clear directional bent for the type of audience participating in ‘the conversation’ – marketers can learn from this. So how social is your conversation going to be in 2009?
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Social Networking World Forum
Cx3 blog entry: Generation Y communicate, unite and shout
The current economic climate affords accountability of marketing spend and, as a result, communication effectiveness measurement is high on the agenda. The timely rise of conversational social media marketing offers an attractive option that can be measured and evaluated quickly whilst achieving ultimate communication and business goals.
Harnessing 'the conversation' through social media for marketing purposes is understanding its fluidity, its reach and its speed. Conversational marketing initiatives must consider the wider channel mix (broadcast, mobile, online, mail etc.), what interaction social media has with these channels and the micro-social media interactions that occur over a period of time. Any conversation then needs to be monitored, assessed and responded to where necessary.
Vitrue, who analyse the online conversations of a variety of social networking, blogging, micro-blogging, photo and video sharing sites, has released a list of brands in the Vitrue 100 - Top Social Brands of 2008. Their analysis tracks the movement of a single brand over time based on online conversations and can be used to compare a brand with its competitors, either at an individual point in time, or over a period of weeks or months.
Looking at the Vitrue 100, an audience profile can be built-up based on the brands mentioned. This profile would be: youthful; media immersed; technology savvy; a communication maven – Generation Y ring any bells? There is a clear directional bent for the type of audience participating in ‘the conversation’ – marketers can learn from this. So how social is your conversation going to be in 2009?
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Social Networking World Forum
Cx3 blog entry: Generation Y communicate, unite and shout
Thursday 5 February 2009
Cx3: QR codes vs Microsoft Tag
Microsoft Tag is Microsoft's version of QR codes and works in an identical way to the QR code system (download an app, take a photo, decode the photo through a gateway and deliver you the content). Read the full article on Techno Marketer: Microsoft Tag takes on QR codes.
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: QR codes - the future of mobile channel communication?
Saturday 31 January 2009
Cx3: Social Networking World Forum
Shaping the future of social media, the Social Networking World Forum is being held at the Olympia Conference Centre, London on 9th and 10th March 2009. The event includes:
- Two day conference dedicated to social networking.
- Co-located conference on - mobile social networking.
- Featuring key speakers from global brands, organisations, social networking publishers and developers, pioneering social media leaders, top agencies, content producers plus many more.
- Joint exhibition combining social networking and mobile social networking formats.
- Evening Networking Reception co-hosted with Mashable.
- Co-hosted workshops from the Facebook Developers Garage.
- Free to attend exhibition only pass available.
Make a booking for the Social Networking World Forum
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: The growth of Twitter
Cx3 blog entry: 2008-2009 mobile trends
Cx3 blog entry: Facebook, the influential social networking book face
Cx3 blog entry: Generation Y communicate, unite and shout
- Two day conference dedicated to social networking.
- Co-located conference on - mobile social networking.
- Featuring key speakers from global brands, organisations, social networking publishers and developers, pioneering social media leaders, top agencies, content producers plus many more.
- Joint exhibition combining social networking and mobile social networking formats.
- Evening Networking Reception co-hosted with Mashable.
- Co-hosted workshops from the Facebook Developers Garage.
- Free to attend exhibition only pass available.
Make a booking for the Social Networking World Forum
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: The growth of Twitter
Cx3 blog entry: 2008-2009 mobile trends
Cx3 blog entry: Facebook, the influential social networking book face
Cx3 blog entry: Generation Y communicate, unite and shout
Friday 30 January 2009
Cx3: Twitter, Stephen Fry and halibut
Twits, Tweets and Twitterati are infectiously spreading at epidemic paces. Yet, the diarrhoeic verbal that Twitter generates is completely aligned to today’s disposable and celebrity-driven society.
Famous celebrity Twitterers/Tweeters such as Stephen Fry and Andy Murray have been pinpointed as advocates of Twitter. Stephen Fry ranted on Twitter today:
“Papers are asking me to write articles on Twitter. I've declined. Twittermania will calm down I hope. Forgive multiple tweets, but…I just know, although I don't read papers, that the "arentcha just sick of Twitter?" "Who cares what Fry ate?" articles will begin…Even though the only people talking about Twitter are the papers, the rest of us are just quietly doing it. It'll calm down though…and we'll be able to get on with it without all this nonsense. Rant over. XX”
Do I want Stephen Fry to tell me “I had halibut for lunch. I'll tweet you my dinner menu in a hour”? Well, why not! It is no different from a candid celebrity picture appearing in Heat magazine with the exception it is coming from the celebrity themselves rather than chasing paparazzi or a hungry journalist.
The day will probably come when a celebrity will try to go to court for invasion of privacy – but hey guys, check your privacy permissions.
Stephen Fry’s dinner menu came through an hour later: “The Ivy Club offered splendid squid followed by smoked haddock. Having a fish n seafood splurge at the moment. Quick dinner, home to bed x.”
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: The growth of Twitter
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter flies Hudson plane around the world
Cx3 blog entry: BBC sports Olympic map Twitters for gold
Famous celebrity Twitterers/Tweeters such as Stephen Fry and Andy Murray have been pinpointed as advocates of Twitter. Stephen Fry ranted on Twitter today:
“Papers are asking me to write articles on Twitter. I've declined. Twittermania will calm down I hope. Forgive multiple tweets, but…I just know, although I don't read papers, that the "arentcha just sick of Twitter?" "Who cares what Fry ate?" articles will begin…Even though the only people talking about Twitter are the papers, the rest of us are just quietly doing it. It'll calm down though…and we'll be able to get on with it without all this nonsense. Rant over. XX”
Do I want Stephen Fry to tell me “I had halibut for lunch. I'll tweet you my dinner menu in a hour”? Well, why not! It is no different from a candid celebrity picture appearing in Heat magazine with the exception it is coming from the celebrity themselves rather than chasing paparazzi or a hungry journalist.
The day will probably come when a celebrity will try to go to court for invasion of privacy – but hey guys, check your privacy permissions.
Stephen Fry’s dinner menu came through an hour later: “The Ivy Club offered splendid squid followed by smoked haddock. Having a fish n seafood splurge at the moment. Quick dinner, home to bed x.”
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: The growth of Twitter
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter flies Hudson plane around the world
Cx3 blog entry: BBC sports Olympic map Twitters for gold
Sunday 25 January 2009
Cx3: The growth of Twitter
Over the past twelve months, the use of Twitter has grown by nearly 1,000%, according to industry analysts HitWise. The Twitter site jumped from 2,953rd most popular site in the UK in 2008 to 291st as of mid-January 2009.
Hitwise research director Heather Dougherty said "A big driver of traffic to Twitter last week was around the US Airways plane crash in to the Hudson River last Thursday, driving many posts and updates about the situation." The first picture of the crash was posted to TwitPic, and has sparked a new era of citizen journalism.
The dominance of smartphone mobile technology in 2008, the integration of social media and social networking user behaviour becoming the norm can be attributed to Twitter's growth.
Twitter still has a long way to go. The ‘Social Networking and Forums’ communications category for week ending 17 January 2009 ranks Twitter as 23rd based on site visits – only 0.24% for the category. Facebook sustains its leading position, with nearly 38% of site visits, twice as many as YouTube and four times more than predecessor Bebo.
"Twitter receives the largest amount of its traffic from the USA, but its penetration is greater in the UK market," said Robin Goad, a research director at Hitwise.
"However, the US may overtake the UK the week following the surge in Tweets during Barack Obama's inauguration. The new American President is already the most followed person on Twitter."
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter flies Hudson plane around the world
Cx3 blog entry: 2008-2009 mobile trends
Cx3 blog entry: BBC sports Olympic map Twitters for gold
Cx3 blog entry: Facebook, the influential social networking book face
Hitwise research director Heather Dougherty said "A big driver of traffic to Twitter last week was around the US Airways plane crash in to the Hudson River last Thursday, driving many posts and updates about the situation." The first picture of the crash was posted to TwitPic, and has sparked a new era of citizen journalism.
The dominance of smartphone mobile technology in 2008, the integration of social media and social networking user behaviour becoming the norm can be attributed to Twitter's growth.
Twitter still has a long way to go. The ‘Social Networking and Forums’ communications category for week ending 17 January 2009 ranks Twitter as 23rd based on site visits – only 0.24% for the category. Facebook sustains its leading position, with nearly 38% of site visits, twice as many as YouTube and four times more than predecessor Bebo.
"Twitter receives the largest amount of its traffic from the USA, but its penetration is greater in the UK market," said Robin Goad, a research director at Hitwise.
"However, the US may overtake the UK the week following the surge in Tweets during Barack Obama's inauguration. The new American President is already the most followed person on Twitter."
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter flies Hudson plane around the world
Cx3 blog entry: 2008-2009 mobile trends
Cx3 blog entry: BBC sports Olympic map Twitters for gold
Cx3 blog entry: Facebook, the influential social networking book face
Sunday 18 January 2009
Cx3: Twitter flies Hudson plane around the world
This week, the expert landing of the Hudson river plane crash was captured by Twitterer (a noun used by the BBC) Janis Krums and uploaded to the social networking site via his mobile phone. His remarkable Twitter picture of the Hudson plane crash instantaneously became an iconic representation of the arrival of social network reporting and raised the profile of Twitter as a global communications network.
Citizen journalism is not a new phenomenon, but what has got the media industry reeling is the fact that traditional reporting media channels were beaten at their own game as they struggled to broadcast the story. Mobile technology combined with social networking consumer behaviour and a newsworthy event has propelled an age of accessible consumer-driven journalism.
The BBC advocates these emerging communication channels and integrated Twitter into its online reporting of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Also, Robert Peston’s BBC blog became a credible source of information for the unfolding ‘credit crunch'. Other media heavyweights can only follow suit and embrace new media channels in order to attain maximum audience reach.
This does raise the question, to what extent are these new channels going to become the norm? Currently, event-based reporting leverages the viral nature of social networking, and the popularity of social networking providers (e.g. Twitter) piggy-back off of this, but will social networking ever take over traditional media channels?
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: 2008-2009 mobile trends
Cx3 blog entry: BBC sports Olympic map Twitters for gold
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone driving growth in mobile internet usage behaviour
Tuesday 13 January 2009
Cx3: 2008 - 2009 mobile trends
2008 was the year of the smartphone
The last 12 months has seen the launch of iconic devices such as the iPhone 3G, Google G1, Blackberry Storm and Nokia N97. 2008 also saw the emergence of the electronic ecosystems needed to get the most out of such handsets. However, the popularity of these devices has brought to light several problems that look set to become acute in 2009.
2008 mobile success factors
- Consumer social networking behaviour. Access to popular social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.
- Applications. Applications introduced a new content category. Apple said more than 100 million applications had been downloaded from its App Store between July and September.
- Speed. 3G started to deliver on its promise and has been attributed to the use of a technology known as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) - the original 3G service, but on steroids. The service speed is set to increase with the introduction of HSPA+ in 2009, which allows up to 42Mbps (the maximum at the moment is 7.2Mbps in the UK).
2009 mobile switch-off expected
Mobile analysts CCS Insight predict 2009 will see sales of handsets shrink. They say this slowdown could be blamed on the global economic downturn that will hit every part of the mobile industry.
Handset sales look set to dip in 2009 following years of growth. As a result it is essential mobile operators ensure that greater numbers of people pay for data traffic.
Read full article on BBC: Smartphones drive mobile markets
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Google G1 or Apple i-Phone...fight!
Cx3 blog entry: Apple iPhone App Store success reported
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone driving growth in mobile internet usage behaviour
The last 12 months has seen the launch of iconic devices such as the iPhone 3G, Google G1, Blackberry Storm and Nokia N97. 2008 also saw the emergence of the electronic ecosystems needed to get the most out of such handsets. However, the popularity of these devices has brought to light several problems that look set to become acute in 2009.
2008 mobile success factors
- Consumer social networking behaviour. Access to popular social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.
- Applications. Applications introduced a new content category. Apple said more than 100 million applications had been downloaded from its App Store between July and September.
- Speed. 3G started to deliver on its promise and has been attributed to the use of a technology known as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) - the original 3G service, but on steroids. The service speed is set to increase with the introduction of HSPA+ in 2009, which allows up to 42Mbps (the maximum at the moment is 7.2Mbps in the UK).
2009 mobile switch-off expected
Mobile analysts CCS Insight predict 2009 will see sales of handsets shrink. They say this slowdown could be blamed on the global economic downturn that will hit every part of the mobile industry.
Handset sales look set to dip in 2009 following years of growth. As a result it is essential mobile operators ensure that greater numbers of people pay for data traffic.
Read full article on BBC: Smartphones drive mobile markets
RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Google G1 or Apple i-Phone...fight!
Cx3 blog entry: Apple iPhone App Store success reported
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone driving growth in mobile internet usage behaviour
Saturday 10 January 2009
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