I wrote this article 1 month ago and it was first published on MediaTel and I’m now sharing it here on my personal blog.
Social media represents a shift in consumer behaviour, not a bunch of platforms or technology. That’s why changing the focus from the brand to the consumer will directly result in making all media and all marketing communications more social for brands. Placing social – whether it’s the concepts or actual people and expertise – at the heart of a brand, organisation or agency, leads to healthier relationships between the corporate world and its consumers.
Integration has been front of mind for brands and agencies for a long time. When it comes to social media, however, we still default to platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. This way of thinking can sometimes restrict the spectrum and possibilities that social media as a whole can offer. Moreover, as social media is still the new kid on the block, it is often planned or thought of in isolation – much in the same way that search activity is considered in a silo.
Continue reading ‘6 tips for integrating social media into your marketing communications’
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Jacques d’Azur is back
I wish he was a real person and not just a character. However, I do love when brands create fictional characters to be the center of their campaigns specially when they represent the brand so well and it becomes so entertaining to follow. This is the way forward! Now Stella is looking for an actor to star in the movie about Jacques’ life and auditions are taking place on a Casting Call website set up for the campaign.
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Tags: campaign, Jacques d'Azur, stella artois
collaborations
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Tags: collaborations, cooliris, film
My brief experience with online collaboration platforms and my quest to focus in a world of multiple distractions
Project management is something I’ve been struggling with for quite a while now. Don’t get me wrong, I am pretty organised but whilst working online, with social media, has strengthen my multitasking skills it has also somehow made me pay less attention to (dull) spreadsheets. Having a collection of documents each one with one purpose and function looks to me like quite an old concept. You have a project plan in one place, a budget allocation in another document, you have to organise your folders hierarchically so you can find them… That’s not how the brain best functions, not sure that’s the best way to be productive.
The truth is… my description of the situation is slightly exaggerated (but you would be surprised of how many companies still working JUST with spreadsheets… far too many) as there are, of course, other options available out there.
Continue reading ‘Collaboration platform = more productive?’
Filed under: communication | 4 Comments
Tags: basecamp, collaboration, collaboration tool, google wave, platforms, project management, social media, socialcast, tools
Lately I’ve been having some very interesting debates about what makes someone good at social media. Meanwhile some influential bloggers have been writing tips and recommendations on how to choose your ‘social media experts/agency’ and it appears some brands have been taking their advice on. Some of these tips include looking at the blogs and Twitter profiles of such experts and their influence and reach e.g. number of followers.
My question is, is a social media strategist with 10,000 followers better than one with 200? Is she/he better at advising clients how to spend their budgets because they have a very popular and regularly updated blog?
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Tags: agencies, brands, clients, consultant, expert, social media, tips
Taly Weiss, from Trendspotting, recently gave this presentation about digital women at Microsoft’s Women Think Next conference. There are some very interesting stats in there, but the ones that struck me the most were:
1/ Stock in a company drops after the announcement of a female CEO, but not after that of a male CEO
2/ Women CEOs are more likely to come from outside the company. Women are less likely to emerge as winners within their own companies
3/ There aren’t any women in Apple’s management team
4/ 52% of talented women quit their jobs after 35
It seems as the business space wasn’t created by women or for women. And some still believe on replicating male behaviour in order to climb the corporate ladder. It has worked for some, but is it really worth it? And most importantly, why can’t we do it on our own way? I refuse to stop being myself in order to be promoted. It’s about the quality of your work, your talent, your skills and your dedication after all.
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Tags: digital, leadership, trendspotting, women
I have been reflecting about my professional and, therefore, my whole life for quite some time now. In the same way social media has been seeking attention and credibility for the past 5 years, I think I have sort of been following the same path. And now, it’s finally that time when I can believe on my own skills and experience and I am ready to mature… or that’s what I’d like to think.
All this thinking also took me to re-consider the way we use email as a communication tool, and I wonder if it’s totally obsolete now. Or is our stuborness hindering our progress in this area? Are we too attached to email? I personally see email as a very old fashion way of working, specially in a digital agency. It’s slow, impersonal and doesn’t always delivers the right message.
Continue reading ‘is email obsolete in a social media world?’
Filed under: communication, reflections | 1 Comment
Tags: communication, email, social media
I have to make a confession. Sometimes I lie. Yes, sometimes I fake it.
When I first started going online, I never gave away my name. I made one up. It was called ‘nick’ (short for nickname if you’re too young to get it). And I didn’t have a picture of myself online, I had an ‘avatar’. I used to lie more often back then.
Later Facebook came along and spoilt it all for me. I wasn’t able to continue pretending, they wanted my full (real) name. First name and surname. Else I would be told off. And nobody wants to be told off by Facebook, right?
Facebook started it all. Google never asked my name, Google only wanted all my search data.
Continue reading ‘I have to tell you something… sometimes I fake it’
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Tags: fake, foursquare, lie, location-based, lying, social media, twitter
Socialnomics have just released a new version of their social media revolution video. Some very interesting ‘killer facts’, although it’s slightly US-centric.
It comes to demonstrate how useful social media has become for all of us, in all areas of life and how it has impacted all other areas outside marketing. It’s not just us preaching to each other about how wonderful social media is.
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Tags: facts, social media, social media revolution, socialnomics
Why some brands are still not investing in social media? Well, there is no one only reason.
First of all, they may be scared of putting themselves “out there” and “make a fool of themselves”, i.e. exposing the brand to negative commentary.
Secondly, it’s mainly because agencies are not providing them with a convincing measurement model that demonstrates the value of social media. A lot of jargon but nothing makes much sense. Then, there are reports with different numbers, but what do they actually mean? How do they know this can be categorised as success?
Print has been around for so long that is hard to believe how under scrutinity by advertisers is right now, too. But they have their metrics worked out. They have a formula, even if sometimes the numbers don’t add up.
TV is the master of advertising for the masses, having had the trust of all advertisers as being the mainstream medium of excellence. They have their metrics too, despite being based on sample audiences. TV advertising experts are, however, being asked tricky questions by their clients at the moment. Advertisers want to spend their money wisely. They don’t want to throw millions at the box anymore.
Continue reading ‘Don’t tell me you can’t measure social media’
Filed under: social media | Leave a Comment
Tags: advertising, measurement, metrics, social media, traditional media
