goodness in sharing…

Browsing my feeds this morning found AdPulp passing along a Wall Street Journal article that ads that are targeted to the consumer, the consumer is 1/3 less likely to change the channel. Hot. So this whole thing about knowing your audience might pay off. I wonder if this study could be the foundation to a larger engagement study.

And speaking of this advertising working, found via brandflakesforbreakfast.com and e-bay seller making his own ads (selling nice big jugs). Wonder how long before 1000s of ebay powerusers start doing this? And when they’ll buy online ad units to push their ads? Hmmm…but there is a business model in their somewhere.

I’ve been thinking/saying something like this for a while…but never got it articulated like this. From My Infocalypse

Social media is just humanity, magnified by technology, and not an industry or ’space’.

At time I’ve pulled my hair out because of how people either mis-used or forgot the ’social’ in Social Media (treated it too much like another channel) and didn’t stop to consider that the ‘media’ was the conversation…not some type of published content (like in the traditional magazine sense).

Some quick thoughts on my bus ride in this morning…

When will gas prices and economic pressures change peoples behavior?
Maybe I’m just been looking in the wrong places but I would have thought by now we would been reading studies and stories about how Americans are changing their driving behaviors. Or I would have more bus friends. I’m just not seeing it, wondering when the tipping points hits and what it will be.

Messages to the obvious. I know having peace marches is important…but having them in the middle of Uptown Minneapolis is preaching to the crowd. How about peace marches is the middle of a suburb neighborhood where people need to think about it. I think about advertising this way…who do we really need to show our message to.

I’m getting a Pecha Kucha night up going in Minneapolis. If you are interested in helping (or even presenting) drop me a line. What is Pecha Kucha? From the Pecha Kucha website -

What is Pecha Kucha Night?

Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each - giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.

Started by architects and designers. Below is an example from slideshare…but probably doesn’t do justice without the narrative to go along with it. Pass the word on to anyone who you think might be interested.

| View | Upload your own

Fun little twitter tool - http://www.tweetvolume.com/

Because it is important.

I read announcements on other blogs…but now that I have the same announcement, it’s a weird post to write. As of last week:

New title - Consumer Engagement Research Strategist

New responsibilities - I have a team to craft and grow

New challenges - Help brands and their messages engage with consumers

We are building/transitioning at my agency and it is a exciting time to be here. I want to thank those who are giving me a chance to help to tackle the challenge of creating something new.

Not to get too sober, but had a chance to reflect this weekend over the last two years. Done somethings right, did somethings wrong. Felt a bit of a growing (and dare I say it - maturing) sensation the last couple of days. Need to put on the leader boots my mother always said I had. Need to release a bit of the ego that I thought I needed to get things done (I know, that’s a bit to admit). Need to always remember to never stop dancing so I never grow old.

Looking forward to all the challenges ahead. Once again, thanks to those for the opportunity.

You’ve got an elevator ride, I’ll even be kind and say its 40 floors, to explain/convince to the president/department head/client why they/we should be blogging.

Chris Brogan has had some great advice, just wondering what’s your game plan?

I’ll repost a ‘top five’ in a couple of days. Use of key stats encouraged - 75% of Journalists Get Story Ideas from Blogs.

1000+ is staring at me in my Google Reader from several labels, another new year’s resolution that didn’t make it past January. I really had planned on staying on top of my feeds this year. I had marked out time on my calendar, everyday, a couple of times a day, just to stay on top of my feeds. Oh well.

So I just got into digging  Social Objects and Markers idea from Hugh MacLeod. While I’m not sure the idea is new, I like his phrasing, context and language to describe the his thoughts/idea. In his post on Social Markers he ends with -”if the product your company makes is not a Social Marker, I guess the first question would be, “Why the hell not?” Quit your job and start over.”

Living in the world of working on brand communications, my first thought was, there it is again - “product“, not brand. Consumer talk “product” and the social marker/object is the context that creates intangible brand. That context helps people define and relate themselves to one another. For some, these ideas may not be new nor revolutionary. But as I sit around people (metaphorically, relax office mates) who talk about communicating “brand” all day, it is funny how we miss that “product” is the actual social marker/discussion point, not “brand”. Something we should keep in mind when creating brand messages. This is all pretty easy to understand with a niche brand like Harley Davidson. Talking, wearing, riding anything Harley - I have an idea of who you are. I struggle with it on larger brands, more commodity brand.  Valeria Maltoni referenced Coke in the comments on my last post, I’m not sure that Coke is a strong social marker because of the universal usage of Coke. I don’t have any idea who you are because you drink Coke. Everybody drinks Coke. Now Pepsi on the other hand…

Then started to think about, I wonder if media saturation is diluting the power of brands/physical goods? I recalled Johnnie Moore’s post of Mark Ramsey interviewing Watts Wacker. The idea that we are now defining ourselves by our media consumption, not physical goods. That media content makes a stronger social marker. In my mind, it makes since. For brands it is slightly disturbing. I personally (and I know I don’t represent the majority, or even more than 1 person) don’t completely judge a person on what he/she is owning. Because I know anybody can where a Polo shirt, buy a fancy handbag on credit or love Harley Davidson motorcycles in your spare time. But the product/brand social marker context is weak for me. I know more of who you are and the context of who you are as a liberal because you admit to reading Dailykos everyday.

So how can we make “product”/physical goods (and then a brand) relevant as a social marker again? Besides a time machine back to 1982? I think Rohit’s brand personality is going to be key. With brand personality, the brand is going to need to make some media content choices as social markers (I know, I’m starting to use brand pretty loosely). The media content the brand offers becomes a social marker  for consumers of the product and as a social object (if I’m understanding social objects/markers correctly).  I can see this effecting both placement and content of a brand message.

Not to end this abruptly, but it is lunch time and might need to sort this out a bit more.  Your ideas/comments/2 cents welcome.