360DigitalInfluence

Although it was a few weeks ago, my mind is still buzzing with learnings from the 2011 Digital CMO Summit, which I had the opportunity to attend in New Orleans with John Bell. This unique event was not only filled with hands on learning and compelling content, but brought together some of the most innovative brands for a two day summit. More to come on that in my next post.  While I was at the summit, I had the opportunity to meet some truly inspiring and interesting people - who not only breathe social - but know how to apply it to a entrepreneurial spirit to fuel really smart ideas among the vibrant New Orleans community. Meet Chris Schultz, President of Voodoo Ventures. We briefly sat down with Chris who shared his passion for creativity and the importance of entrepreneurship in New Orleans, especially Post-Katrina.

Chris is a co-founder of Launch Pad, a collaborative workspace in downtown New Orleans that is home to more than 60 startups in the Big Easy.  He created Launch Pad Ignition, the first seed accelerator on the gulf coast, and part of the Techstars Network and the Startup America initiative.  The list goes on: He also co-founded TribeCon, a conference about leveraging online communities to create offline change and mentors young entrepreneurs in the community in addition to building his own companies. You can see part of his interview with us in the video below:

continue reading

If you have a pulse, you’ve probably heard about the new iPhone 4. After weeks of anticipation and swirling rumors of an abandoned iPhone 4 lost in a bar in Redwood City, CA in mid-April,  it’s. finally. here. With HD video recording, video chatting, and a multitude of sleek features,  it’s not surprising that industry experts are calling it Apple’s most successful launch to-date. The question remains whether the device will live up to the intense hype that surrounds it but one thing is for sure, it is likely to revolutionize the mobile commerce experience.

Thanks to Flowtown for this infographic.

continue reading

We are very excited to announce that we are a proud sponsor and participant of an upcoming virtual conference brought to you by our friends at PRWeek next week. With new applications and social media tools emerging every day, staying up to date on the latest trends in social media innovation is critical to our business as PR professionals.

The PRWeek Lab will take place Wednesday, June 2 and Thursday, June 3, 2010 and will provide an online resource for PR professionals on the most recent social media trends, tools, and strategies, thought leadership, and case studies- all without leaving one’s office. The online platform includes live webcast sessions, keynote speakers (such as Jeffrey Hayzlett, CMO of Kodak and Ben Edwards, VP of Digital Strategy and Development, IBM), as well as exhibitor booth environments for follow-up questions, live chats, and material downloads. PRWeek Lab will be a fully interactive experience, with Q&A throughout, as well as polling of all participants on the quality of the content and the future of social media. No other PR event will bring you closer to the action that is driving today’s social media innovation.  Please visit here for additional details.

continue reading

I recently came across an interesting study that declared mobile web will be the leading trend in 2015. This is a pretty bold statement but believe it or not there is truth to it. This year we’ve witnessed an explosion in mobile and location based content with cool location based social applications like Foursquare, Gowalla, and BrightKite. Location based services are one of the most powerful ways to personalize one’s mobile experience which can be even more amplified with the integration of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.  An increasing number of brands are experimenting and trying out mobile marketing strategies as a result. Last month, Gowalla partnered with Travel Channel to integrate some of its dining content from the show Food Wars.  When Gowalla users check in to venues visited in Food Wars, they will be able to read show-related information about the restaurant and collect passport-stamp rewards. This is a great way to engage fans and build strong brand awareness and loyalty. Gowalla says users have checked in at 600,000 locations in more than 165 countries to-date.

continue reading

If you are in Washington, DC this Thursday, 11/12 and are interested in the FDA public hearings focusing on social media, please join Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, LiveWorld and WOMMA as we hold a post-analysis wrap up here at the office. We will be discussing topics highlighted during the day’s hearings and Tony DiResta, Legal Counsel for WOMMA will offer a post-hearing analysis, followed by an informal tweet up - #FDASM. Both WOMMA and Ogilvy will be presenting at the hearings along with many other experts and John Bell will be speaking on behalf of WOMMA in his role as President of the Board. In addition, Rohit Bhargava will be presenting on behalf of Ogilvy in his role leading our Digital Health business.

You can RSVP here and stop by on Thursday night, November 12th,  from 6:30pm - 8:30pm, at the Ogilvy DC office (1111 19th Street - 10th floor).

You may have already heard about this event, but I am thrilled to announce that Ogilvy’s 360 Digital Influence team has partnered with American University to bring Gary Vaynerchuck, the “Social Media Sommelier” to AU’s campus in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, October 14, 2009.

Don’t live in D.C.? Don’t worry! You can still participate by tuning into the live stream of the event right here.

Streaming .TV shows by Ustream

Gary has quickly grown to become a well recognized business leader in the wine industry for his strategic approach to branding and strong entrepreneurial skills after he was able to exponentially grow his family’s wine business from a $4 million business to $45 million business within a 5 year period.

continue reading

Last week at WOMM-U, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Jason Anello, an Ideologist of Yahoo’s Buzz Marketing Group, about influencer marketing. As you can imagine, we do a lot of influencer outreach here at Ogilvy, so it was interesting to hear Jason share some of his personal viewpoints on determining influence and overall thoughts on the conference in general.

You can check it out below:

Check out the video below to see who won the free conference pass to WOMMA’s WOMM-U in South Beach on May 13- 14!

Thank you to everyone who participated. There were truly some great entries. Congrats to Robert Fields who wrote about a WOM campaign he is currently working on with the Salvation Army’s National Food Drive to push teen involvement within the community. You can read his entry and check out others in Kaitlyn’s post here.

See you in Miami, Robert! Please send your email address to tanya.chadha@ogilvypr.com. Thanks!

In case you missed the live streaming broadcast of the 2009 Red Dress Collection Fashion Show, I wanted to share some highlights from today’s exciting event. The show opened fashionably late with everyone’s favorite fashion expert and stylist, Tim Gunn from Project Runway. Tim shared the easy and simple steps women can take to reduce their risk of heart disease while explaining the red dress symbolism to the crowd.

You can still catch the 2009 Red Dress Collection Fashion Show on ogilvypr.com now that the archive video is posted!

continue reading

I first heard about Yammer earlier this year when my colleagues on the West Coast mentioned that our team in Washington, DC should get on board and start using this unique communications tool. In general, internal communications should not occur on a public platform and Yammer has been specifically designed for this purpose and strives to enhance communication between employees and team members. TechCrunch reported that 10,000 people and 2,000 organizations signed up for Yammer on the very first day it launched. Answering the question, “What are you working on?”, Yammer is pretty much Twitter for companies and businesses. Like Twitter, one must stay within the 140 character limit on Yammer. Compared to AIM or other instant messaging platforms, it seems Yammer provides a less invasive way to quickly update colleagues, ask questions and provide insights in response and subsequently, increase productivity.

Set up is quick and simple and only individuals with the same email domain can access the platform. Yammer can be used for specific projects, to boost team building, or to provide global updates that enhance your company’s overall internal communication.

Recently, David Sacks, the CEO/Founder of Yammer said, “On Twitter, people write about the important and the mundane, like, “At school and debating whether I should have more coffee.” With a workplace focus, Yammer will not deal in such trivialities. People don’t want to hear from their friends five times a day about what they’re doing. But they do want to hear from their co-workers five times a day about what they’re working on.”

Why Yammer When I Can Twitter?

David makes an interesting point, and initially, I found Yammer useful when looking for immediate feedback or to quickly connect with colleagues. However, after a few weeks, I just could not find the time to continue updating my different statuses on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. and Yammer. I quickly learned I wasn’t the only one. Kristin Foster was kind enough to share some feedback she received from colleagues when she inquired about their personal experiences with Yammer:

• “Sporadically, to ask colleagues for ideas, or respond to colleagues collecting ideas. tough to find time to update Yam, FB, Twtr every morning…something is gonna give.” - Amy Messenger
• “I don’t think it’s working as I hoped… (sharing ideas, best practices, helping to know what our colleagues are working on, following specific projects or clients…) I guess we all feel a social media fatigue…” - Luca Penati
• “I think the major problem (at least from my position) is that the majority of my colleagues don’t even know what Yammer is - It needs to be promoted.” - Chris Heydt

These quotes echo the same sentiment I was feeling and I suspect others encountered after using Yammer for more than a couple of weeks. I’ve switched back to airing my thoughts and communicating with colleagues full time on Twitter. However, since internal communications, should be well, you know internal, there are other options. Enter the Group Tweet.

How Does Group Tweet Work?

• First, you must create a new Twitter account for your group or team and you need to make sure that updates are protected in the settings to keep the group private.
• Register your group’s new Twitter account at GroupTweet.com
• All group members must follow the group account you created at Twitter. Note that the group account must also follow the group members. (If updates are protected, you will need to approve each follow request)
• Members can broadcast a message to the whole group by sending a direct text to the group’s Twitter account.

Do you use Group Tweet? Which internal communications tool do you prefer and use most frequently?