360DigitalInfluence

Something I’ve been mulling over for a while was solidified over the course of several recent conversations with my colleague, Alan Kercinik.

It has to do with the way brands traditionally launch a product/service versus a more optimal approach that can take better advantage of earned conversations.  At the heart of the discussion is what we call the Conversation Chasm.

And while not new thinking - I’ve seen people write about the topic and a Google search reveals several mentions of the term, including a rough version of a post on my personal blog about a month ago - I do think it’s worth revisiting the topic.

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Reprinted here from the Cutter Consortium (full publication here), to which I contributed these words:

I, like many who have benefitted from the genius of Steve Jobs, can’t imagine what my life would have been like had he stopped pursuing greatness. What would the world be like today if he had given up after being fired from Apple? What if he chose to leave the technology space altogether after such a public dismissal? What if he hadn’t founded NeXT and created the core of the next generation of Macintosh computers? For a while, we had a taste of that alternate universe; a myriad of beige boxes from every corner of the universe and a flurry of Windows releases that were so far from inspired, I don’t know where to begin.

Apple’s innovations help me every single day. So frequently, in fact, that I have to force myself to stop and take notice. Just last week, I was working on a project and needed to brainstorm with a creative partner in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. I emailed him using my MacBook Pro and asked if he could do a video iChat. In a matter of seconds, he was showing me paper sketches and gesturing movements through our interface. He then held up his smartphone to the built-in iSight camera in his MacBook Pro to demo an augmented reality app he and his colleagues were developing. While chatting, I emailed him a PDF of my presentation made in Apple’s Keynote. A moment of silence suddenly came upon us. Looking into the camera, I said to him, “Do you remember when we were in college? What we’re doing right now would have been impossible!” He replied, “I know! This is Buck Rogers stuff!” Despite our collective imaginations, the thought of emailing presentations, easy-to-use live video chats, or powerful laptops that handled everything with ease was never in our wildest dreams. We laughed realizing that life was surreal — and real at the same time.

I collect rare Apple hardware. I own a prototype Apple Interactive TV set-top box, a Newton 2100 and 130, an eMate, and a developer edition of Pippin. I own those devices because they are beautiful reminders that life is about more than just “going with the flow.” These machines represent the embodiment of the idea that being creative is about trying something new. Something difficult. Something worthwhile. You’re right if you’re thinking, “Wait a minute, those weren’t created during Steve’s tenure as CEO.” People love to think of those products as failures or flops. I don’t. I see them as brilliant examples of Apple’s innovative what-if culture that Jobs created and, remarkably, endured despite his absence. To me, an organization that continues to push the boundaries in ways that redefine or create industries — without a fearless leader — speaks volumes.

If the time between his CEO tenure at Apple is any indication, I’m more than confident that his spirit will continue to inform and inspire Apple employees, Apple products, and legions of insanely grateful Apple customers for a long time to come.

On behalf of those who prefer the bar held high, thank you Steve. You will never be forgotten.

Sincerely,
One of the Crazy Ones

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

[Stanford commencement speech, June 2005]

FOUND! Lost script for Steve Job’s dramatic unveiling of “Social Media” service.

The Keynote Address he never gave. Origins uncertain.
Circa 1977. Reed College Auditorium.*

(The following is purely fictional and intended to honor the brilliance and vision of Steve Jobs)

[Notes to self:]
STEVE:
Get directions to auditorium from Woz.
Fill up bike tires.
Replace bulb on Carousel before conference!
Wear that black turtleneck from mom?

SCRIPT:

[LIGHTS DOWN]

[ENTRANCE MUSIC: John Lennon's Imagine, or maybe the Who's Baba O'Riley?] [note to self: invent digital music playback device]

Welcome. I’m Steve Jobs from Apple Computer. Maybe you’ve heard of us.

[wait a full minute for dramatic impact. Walk slowly.]

This is a day we’ve been looking forward to for a long time. continue reading

Egyptian Women Harassed on International Women's Day 2011

Oscar Wilde once famously proclaimed, “One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation.”

It goes without saying that at least once, if not several times in our lives, we have all experienced the negative backlash a spiteful rumor or an embarrassing truth can have, but it is often how we handle these imbroglios that truly define our reputations.

In 1997, according to Measures That Matter, The Center for Business Innovation (CBI), and Cap Gemini/Ernst & Young, about 35% of investment decisions were based on factors such as reputation and image.  Today, this percentage is considerably higher with the activity and immediacy of Facebook and Twitter.

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Lady Gaga is a phenomenon in the world of music and quite frankly, in the world of word-of-mouth marketing. With over 9 million Twitter followers, over 32 million Facebook fans and being recognized as an artist with the most digital singles in RIAA history (20 million sold), it is obvious that all brands can learn a few things from Lady Gaga.

Always acknowledge your fans: Besides lovingly calling her fans “little monsters”, Lady Gaga constantly validates her fans’ love for her music and personality by posting their videos, tweets, comments back to them and showing them that she is paying attention. She even invited a young Canadian fan to perform with her on stage - a video that has garnered over 3.5 million views since being posted a little over a month ago.

Establish partnerships that are an authentic extension of your brand: Lady Gaga is no silly lady at all. She understands in the shifting arena that is the music industry that she has to remain viable through brand partnerships. However, she only takes on partnerships that make sense for her brand, such as her digital camera, printer & glasses with Polaroid, her March cover on Vogue magazine, Vogue’s iPad app of her and her upcoming fashion column with V Magazine. These brand partnerships are believable because Lady Gaga is fully immersed in the fashion and digital worlds.

Content must resonate with fans: However people may feel about Lady Gaga’s music is irrelevant because she does not create content for everyone. She is very clear about who her audience is (ie: those who have been bullied) and creates content specifically speaking to her audience. Her content continues to be eye-catching, over-the-top and show-stopping while her Twitter & Facebook updates are all about her fans, her successes and upcoming projects — a balance that her fans appreciate & love. Her content resonates for her fans because she understands what they want from her & she delivers on it — when your content is strong, its that much easier for your fans to share & discuss it.

Ask for help: As phenomenal as Lady Gaga’s rise to fame continues to be, note that she didn’t get there by herself. She had help - and she was aware enough to recognize that she needed help within the social media space to reach her goals.

As brands continue to grow in the social media space, remaining authentic in fan interactions, brand partnerships, content creation and even self-awareness are solid ways to make true believers out of your fans — the ultimate goal of any word-of-mouth marketing effort.

We wear a mask that grins and lies
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes
This debt we pay to human guile
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile

- Paul Lawrence Dunbar

It begins when we are children. As Steve Hein of EQI.org points out, “Children start out emotionally honest. They express their true feelings freely and spontaneously. But the training to be emotionally dishonest begins at an early age. The child is told to smile when actually she is sad. She is told to apologize when she feels no regret. She may be told to kiss people good night when she would never do so voluntarily.” In short, she will slowly be influenced to conform to a social structure that attempts to control what feels true.

But what does emotional honesty have to do with WikiLeaks and Digital Influence, you ask?

It’s simple really. We are still struggling – as individuals and as countries - to break down the walls of ‘protection’ that we have been brought up to believe we must build. We have not yet replaced those walls with the bridges necessary to fully transform society.

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For PR Week Labs a few weeks ago I recorded a 15 minute presentation on 5 Steps to Conversation Management. Conversation Management is an 360 Digital Influence program for helping our clients establish or manage social network presence with the dual goals of grassroots engagement and business impact. Based on a dual theory of influence, our team uses Conversation Management to promote advocacy on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. The steps are included below and you can watch the video here (for more videos check out our YouTube channel- this one was too long to be included).

360 Digital Influence- PR Week Labs- Conversation Management from Ogilvy 360DI on Vimeo.

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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.

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360 DI Black Belt Summit, Darlington House, by Joeywan

Great things happen. At this weekend’s 360 Digital Influence Black Belt Summit in Washington, D.C., 50+ strategists from N. America, the UK and France convened to discuss the latest trends shaping social media marketing and communications.

After two intense days of brainstorming, redstorming and thunderstorming, we all left a bit pooped. Chris Graves, Ogilvy PR global CEO, helped uplift the crowd with a thought piece on influence.

As a social media marketer, I spend day and night thinking about influence. How to inspire a group of consumers to learn about a product? Share a post with a friend? Write a positive review? Conducting business is contingent on the ability to influence potential customers. It’s no surprise influence lies at the center of any social media program.

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