In The Loop

Being new to the Big City, time and again I’ve turned to customer review sites to find everything from barbers to dentists to grocery stores, with some very mixed results. One particularly bad hair cut comes to mind. As the New York Times points out, it’s simple enough for any retailer to game the system. For a few bucks, companies can buy amazingly perfect “5 star” accolades. The lesson here is that social networks are more meaningful when you know the people involved, or at least their motives. One day, I simply stopped a guy with a full head of nicely cut hair and asked him who did it. When I went to the salon, I did get a great cut, but I also found out that if you refer people there, you get a great discount.

Gauging Pinterest

Perhaps this blog comment said it best: “Pinterest is so much more than a fancy online picture book“. Which begs the question, what exactly IS the site useful for? From what I can tell, the main attraction is not just that it’s a fun time-waster. Rather, it’s a place free of commercial come-ons where people at least can maintain the illusion that the act of sharing pictures and ideas doesn’t have to be accompanied by a relentless stream of ads along the side. For how long, I don’t know. But something tells me that if you talked to anyone investing in the start-up, the phrase “revenue stream” would come into play sooner or later.

Bigger is Sometimes Better

Our culture generally idolizes underdogs and vilifies the big guys. So it’s probably un-cool of me to say that I actually kind of dig Google. Not for their weird experiments like Wave and GooglePlus. But I seldom feel as if there’s a hidden agenda when I’m using their services. For example, this week I first got an e-mail letting me know about changes to their privacy policy, laid out in very simple Google fashion. Then I got another one letting me “know that Google Mobile Maps is running on your mobile device and reporting your location” which also explained how to disable the feature. Take that, Facebook.

Speaking of Big Guys

The arrest of larger-than-life Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom this week put an interesting coda on the debate over the U.S Congress’ various proposals to combat web piracy. While the SOPA/PIPA measures were beaten back by a last ditch effort of internet interest groups, the power of the copyright still wields a strong hand in international commerce. Much like the long-ago demise of music file sharing (aka piracy) site Napster, it was probably only a matter of time before governments put a stop to the big guy. The problem with online file sharing, it seems to me, is a lot like the one we have with highway driving. Everyone agrees the speed limit is necessary, but no-one wants to obey it.

Having spent much of the last nine months working remotely, I’ve found Manhattan to be a reasonably accommodating place when it comes to free Wi-Fi and a comfortable place to sit, from Starbucks to the public library to Bryant Park (depending on the weather). Spending the week in San Francisco, however, I’ve discovered that many “free” spots there place a time-limit *and* require a purchase in order to obtain that coveted internet signal. At the same time, in the course of the week in S.F. I’ve seen an intense amount of business activity going on (job interviews, marketing pitches, etc.). In NY I mostly observe tourists, shoppers and escapees from the workplace. Maybe the Bureau of Labor Statistics should start tracking free wi-fi offerings by region as an adjunct to its monthly unemployment stats?

Brewing Ideas, and Coffee

Speaking of coffee and the workplace, I’ve noticed something in San Francisco that I haven’t seen in other U.S. cities (probably because I wasn’t looking). Namely, collaborative workspaces where entrepreneurs and the self-employed gather in lieu of a traditional office building type setup. My first exposure to this  was at “The Hub” several years ago when I was volunteering for a “Green-capital” conference — we used it as our temporary headquarters in the days leading up to the event. It seems like a challenging and tiring way to make a living (lots of rules about who cleans up the sink), so I’m not surprised these places don’t always survive. You have to wonder though, is coffee and a “hotelling station” the real future of work in America?

Telling Social Tales

In marketing circles, I hear endlessly about the urgent need to “engage” customers, particularly using social media. This week I came across an interesting campaign
from H&R Block that tells an enjoyable story that simultaneously
educates people about a service offering they’re promoting. It’s a polished, well-crafted, nearly 5-minute long video with great audio and visual flourishes. What I don’t understand is where the “engagement” comes through, unless by that phrase we mean that people will want to share links to the piece. I’m not against great advertising, but I do think we should call an ad an ad.

Out With the Old, In With the Old

In 2000, I moved from Washington, DC to Silicon Valley to try and interest tech firms in joining a trade association, with the idea that we could favorably shape rules and regulations about the web. At the time, none of the people I met with felt that Washington mattered (and perhaps it didn’t). Our “old school” approach to coalition-building and generating position papers sounded hopelessly lame and irrelevant to the would-be prospects that I met with. Given this week’s showdown between Silicon Valley and Hollywood, however, I now see that I was just a decade too early.

Outta My Way

Perhaps my daily experience on the teeming streets, subways and shop floors of New York leaves me a little cynical about the “wisdom of the crowd.” This week, while reading a heartwarming blogpost from Ushahidiabout how crowdsourcing helped rescuers find trapped victims in the Haiti earthquake two years ago, I remained somewhat skeptical. It makes sense to use network connections for gathering data and uncovering important  tidbits of information. But in a crisis, it seems like Twitter, Facebook and other social networks rely too much on serendipity. Like who’s online at a given moment, or who might be too busy texting to read their newsfeed.

Occupy iPhone

Travelling by bus this week from Hartford to New York, I overheard two young 20-something travellers trying to find a place to crash for the night when they got to the city. I couldn’t help but overhear their strategy: based on a list of people they had met at various “occupy protests” they’re making their way from the East to the West coast with no money, but lots of contacts. Rather than Facebook or Twitter or e-mails, the two were phoning and texting anyone and everyone they could think of.  Apparently it’s not a far-fetched approach, as it only took a little over two hours for them to nail down a place to sleep. Fortunately the bus ride is two and a half. (I used the time to write this blog).

Caller ID’d

My spouse is in love with someone else. Apparently her name is Siri and she lives inside his iPhone. All day long he asks her vital questions such as (and I quote) “Will I need an umbrella tomorrow?” and “What is the meaning of life?” Possibly because I’m 15 years older than he is, I still find the notion of artificial intelligence rather chilling. Whereas I love the use of technology to connect people with other people, it frightens me to imagine a world where people are only interested in connecting to…what should I call them…non-people. Am I the only one who finds Siri incredibly creepy? Or am I just jealous?

While doing research for a job interview a few weeks ago,  I discovered a claim that only one-fifth of hospitals have any kind of social media presence. Further investigation  seemed to show the opposite -namely that in the space of four years, social media usage went from almost no-one to almost everyone. Wherever the truth lies, it says a lot that in a conservative and heavily regulated field like medicine, YouTube and Facebook  have started to become the norm. Whatever the pace of healthcare reform, it’s absolutely certain that more and more of us are going to expect to engage with our doctors online rather than on the phone, even when using our mobile devices.

Happy 2012, Brought to You by Zynga

Other than in New York City, where pretty much everyone is either going to be on, or see, public transit vehicles (a.k.a. mobile billboards)  it’s not easy for advertisers these days to know where their audiences are.  As people drop books, magazines and newspapers in favor of Kindles and iPads,  and avoid or record broadcast entertainment in order to skip seeing commercials, you’d think we’d be entering a new, more ad-free world. Yet as Esteban Contreras points out in his beautifully crafted “State of Social Media and Social Media Marketing in 2012” report, people of all ages and backgrounds are rapidly embracing online entertainment (a.k.a. mobile billboards). With 63 million Americans playing Farmville, Words With Friends, and the like, you’ll be seeing PLENTY of commercials in the coming year.

Weight Loss? There’s an App for That

While it can be foolhardy to draw conclusions from only anecdotal evidence, there are times when all it takes to spot a trend is to keep your eyes open. In my work as a WeightWatchers leader, for example, I’m exposed to one of the most ideal marketing demographics –middle class women from 30-55, often mothers, and often working 9-5. Over the past six years I’ve seen a radical shift in their behavior as it relates to technology: instead of paying week-by-week to attend meetings, more than three-fourths now take advantage of an ongoing month-to-month pass (which requires internet access). People who buy the pass, in turn have access to a suite of online tools that assist in the behavior change and weight loss process. Increasingly our customers are utilizing these tools on their phones, and only last month we launched a new barcode scanner app that they can use in thes upermarket. Look for us in stores everywhere!

Now Listen Up

Taking a class during my junior year abroad in the 1980s, my French professor was the only one in the room with a textbook. She dictated, and we wrote. Since I didn’t speak French, this was a real problem. As a result, it didn’t surprise me to learn that there’s a movement among some science teachers to forego lectures in favor of experiential learning. Turns out that talking to other people is often a great way to share techniques and strategies as well as information. I’m not sure what Madame Broussard would think, but I bet she’d be tres sceptique.

Hi! Hi! Hi?

The holy grail of any marketer is to get someone’s attention, even if just briefly. This requires knowing your audience so that you can offer them something interesting. It also requires contacting people multiple times, but not too many times –a very fine balance indeed. Social media seems purpose made for this, because it gives you time to build up a relationship with someone to the point where they’re ready to take action. Hopefully, however, the action they’re taking is NOT to unfriend you.

Free Wi-Fi; Though No Free Lunch

As a consultant who also works part-time in a customer service position, I wander about New York City Monday through Friday with my laptop in a backpack, continually searching for places to sit down and grab a free internet connection every time I have an hour or two to myself. I find Starbucks to be the worst –noisy, no seats and a high-stress environment. Mostly I use Cosi restaurants, which tend to be a little quieter and offer comfortable chairs and tables. The library was my favorite option in the old days, although less so now that I live in Manhattan (few branches, less pleasant surroundings).  Besides, you can’t order lunch at the library.

De-Listing

When I first started this blog a couple of years ago, I was struck by the constant reference to “top ten” lists that seemed to proliferate everywhere on Twitter and in marketing blogs in particular. Perhaps this appeals to the human instinct to categorize things, but mostly I find these rankings to be opinionated entertainment, disguised as helpful advice.  I was glad to find another writer this week who agreed with me on this, noting the high “crud factor” in most such postings. Perhaps we’re getting so used to seeing small pieces of information doled out to us (with links attached) that brevity and list-making has become instinctual.

Are you an early technology adopter, or are you the go-along-with-the-crowd type? You might see a lot of media hype over things like the latest electronic gizmo from Apple, but most people don’t wake up in the morning hungering to download new apps and tools. If anything, users of Facebook have become leery of “planned upgrades” that inevitably seem to trash privacy concernsIt and create usability problems.  Perhaps that’s why Mark Zuckerberg’s company is giving users the option to opt-in a week early to its new “timeline” feature.  People not be clamoring to do that, but I also doubt that they’ll drop the service altogether.Not Pinterested

Speaking of cutting edge ideas, one of my most trusted marketing go-to people dropped casual mention this week of a new service I never heard of called “pinterest.” Even after reading up on it, I’m not sure I understand the premise – “ to discover new things and get inspiration”. I noticed they don’t call them “bulletin boards” and my guess is that it’s because that term has a relatively negative connotation in the online world. If you’re a scrap-booker or if you like to peruse collections of others’ favorite pictures and ideas, let me know. I’d hate to be a late adopter if this turns out to be the next AOL.  Er, I mean Myspace. Er, I mean Facebook.

Engaged, Enthusiastic, Results-oriented, Team Player

Have you looked for a job lately? I have to say it seemed a little insulting when Linkedin, that perennial favorite of job networkers everywhere, released a report criticizing over-used resume buzzwords.  Much more fun would be a send-up of all the laundry-list requests that employers use these days to weed out the deluge of candidates. How about marketing positions that demand MBAs for “entry-level” openings, or require advanced scientific knowledge, or list more than 25 individual requirements that need to be met. Of course the one that really had me stumped required candidates to sum up “8-10 years of experience” in 140 characters.

Occupy Farmville            

If social protestors upset at the way the economy is being run really want to disrupt the bastions of high finance, they might want to think about doing so virtually. Instead of camping out in grimy tents on public property, perhaps they could start staking out space on Facebook, Twitter or online gaming sites. This week, virtual game company Zynga (with no stores, no actual products, and a relatively low-tech, unsophisticated “service”) went through an initial public offering that valued its shares at seven times earnings.  Those earnings come from the approximately ONE PERCENT of game players who actually spend any real dollars.  In this case, my sympathies definitely lie with the 99%.

While in some countries Twitter may be a powerful tool of the masses to effect political reforms, it remains in the West as a playground for the rich and famous and a source of mindless entertainment for the rest of us. You probably shouldn’t write off the micro-blogging service yet, however. Some researchers think it’s a great way to take the pulse of consumer sentiment. And it might be the best way to get a good Christmas deal if you can’t stand leafing through the Sunday paper. What’s a Sunday paper?

Tweet Treat

Speaking of shopping, I’ll bet historians will look back on the bad economy as one of the key drivers of social media behavior in the 2010’s. As advertisers desperately seeks customers, and as consumers desperately try to stretch limited budgets, online networks would seem to be the simple answer. What’s harder to predict is which of types of behaviors will stick when the economy (finally) recovers. Although you have to wonder… if companies like Amazon end up killing the shopping mall, will we ever see a return of the good old days?

Hear Here

If you’re like most people, no matter how many people you’ve connected to on Linkedin, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and elsewhere online, you spend the most time keeping up with people you already know. Aside from old high school sweethearts and Aunt Tillie from back home, most people are primarily interested in using social media as a practical way to keep up with what matters most to them. And according to new research, what seems to matter most is a person’s geographical proximity. That’s right, apparently even in the 21st century, it’s all about location, location, location.

Cool Tools

Back in the dot com era I made a living studying the shift from spoken-word telecommunications to the explosion of the internet. One promising finding was that in countries like Brazil, Mexico and India where “the phone company” had left consumers woefully underserved, new technologies were leapfrogging wireline telecom.  It’s therefore logical that a similar leapfrogging is taking place in developed countries like the U.S. Whereas computers and internet connections were once the province of primarily wealthier middle class households, now it seems that all segments of society are eager to gain access to the web. This means ditching “old school” devices for the latest and greatest.

What Happens When You Click?

The holy grail in marketing has always been “impact” –in other words, affecting people’s choices about what they say, do, and purchase. With print and broadcast messages, it’s hugely difficult to show their impact on individuals, but online campaigns are the opposite.  Social media teams have therefore developed a slew of “key performance indicators” to monitor consumers’ actions as a way to demonstrate value or develop insights. The so-called “click-through-rate” (that is, when you see a link embedded somewhere and you click on it to go to a company website) is one of the most popular. Every time you comment on a blog, select a “thumbs up” option on a page, or even delete something without looking at it, marketers want to know.

When It Just Doesn’t Click

This week I was told that one of the marketing communications jobs I applied for has been put on “indefinite hold.” Think about it –when money is tight, why hire someone whose “only” function is to improve brand awareness? Organizations feel the need to create revenue by selling products and services, and in a recession anything else gets scrapped. Particularly when it comes to social media, business leaders are rightfully skeptic about how it could impact their bottom line. It’s no surprise to me that small businesses in particular are not convinced they should spend more time and money on Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter. The eternal problem is this, however: in a crowded information marketplace, how can you stand out from the rest?

Click on This

Have you been in a meeting lately where someone just couldn’t put down their smart phone? My sister, an entrepreneurship professor at Cornell University, is exploring ways to engage with students in class through methods that actually require them to respond via social media channels (e.g. polling, texting answers, etc.). And with increasing frequency, business conferences are working on ways to move social media from the “back channel” to the front of the room. You know, you can try and fight technological advancement (”Okay everyone, put away your phones!”) or you can embrace it.

Bye-Bye Blogs?

Blogs like the one you’re reading right now will, sooner or later, be replaced by something newer and –presumably—better.  It’s not just that many business and individuals struggle to come up with good posts. The simple fact is that blogging itself is a transitional technology that made perfect sense at one time, but is destined to become obsolete (remember “beepers”?).  I wasn’t surprised that a new study from the University of Massachusetts is hinting that blogs and even Twitter are seeing a real slowdown. The online audience, such as it is, has moved more and more towards Facebook. But don’t worry, Facebook is destined to become the next AOL one day. Mark my words…

Did you hear ….

Another big metaphor for social media is the “21^st Century water cooler.” The problem with that analogy is in the workplace most people are smart enough to be discreet about their political and religious views, don’t share racy photos of their honeymoon, and know that the HR department isn’t going to go around selling their phone, address, date of birth and health details. I’m delighted, therefore, to hear that Facebook has come under increasing legal pressure to be upfront about what it’s doing with all of our personal information and –at least theoretically—has agreed to be monitored in the future.

Enterprise

When I was a kid, two versions of the “future” were portrayed by the TV show “Star Trek” and the cartoon “The Jetsons”. (And yeah, I’m talking about the ORIGINALS).  Some unimaginable things came to pass already in my lifetime, like the know-it-all computer and the workplace consisting of screens and keyboards. But the rest of it is a long way off (flying cars, interstellar transport, Tribbles). That’s why when I read predictions about how shopping will change in the future, I’m just not so sure. Internet purchasing is already a huge phenomenon. But doing it all in a more virtual-reality based format? Makes me want to see if Scotty will beam me up.

Teeny, Tiny, Twittery

A new Gallup study suggests that “the most frequent type of social networking is … face-to-face or over the phone.” Further, when it comes to the ways that companies engage with customers the report describes the impact of electronic social media as “infinitessimal”. That’s a strong dose of comeuppance for an industry that has come so far, so quickly. And with Facebook constantly fussing around with its interface, users find it a less and less reliable place to interact with friends and loved ones. If electronic networks simply become mass advertising spaces, where will we all go next?

Social Media, Inc.

To be clear, I’m an avid, daily user of Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin and enjoy using each of those networks for friendship, entertainment and to pass the time. I’ve even used them in my professional life as a marketer and a seeker of employment. At the same time, I agree with some of the skeptics of these networks –since social media companies exist in a capitalist economic context, it is only natural that they are driven towards profit-making purposes, where big business, not consumers, run the show.

King of the Mole Hill

In the bubble-world of social media geekery, some people put great store not just by how many friends or followers they have, but whether or not they are “influencers” –people whose voice matters. Leaving aside the question of whether you can truly lead the masses 140 characters at a time, it’s an interesting matter to decide whether an individual’s creditability is now measurable (at least online). Klout, the most well known service trying to do this, recently upset the Twittersphere with some changes that altered the way some folks were ranked. Given the forementioned characterization by Gallup of the puny amount of value in this whole debate, I wonder if it’s the 21st century equivalent of arguing about angels dancing on the head of a pin.