Posts filed under 'CEO'
Posted June 26th, 2009 by Rose
In this week’s Market Edge podcast, Larry talked with Linda Gridley, President and CEO of boutique investment bank Gridley & Company, about the future of financial services and the impact the recession has had on her business and clients.
Linda has more than twenty years of investment banking experience at several Wall Street firms, including ABN Amro, Furman Selz and Lehman Brothers. As the head of Gridley & Company, Linda has provided financial advisory to companies in the Information Services industry with a specific focus on financial technology, marketing services, data services, outsourcing, and internet services.
Larry and linda discussed the post-recession outlook of several economic sectors and the challenges many of them will face, among other things.
Go here to listen to the full discussion.
Posted May 20th, 2009 by Rose
On this week’s Market Edge podcast, Larry Weber discussed the future of health plans with Charlie Baker, President and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.
Charlie has taken to engaging the health care audience with his blog, Let’s Talk Health Care. He is one of few health care executives to keep his own blog – writing and responding to all comments. Charlie admitted that at times, blogging is hard work, but he is committed to taking the “namelessness and facelessness” out of the health care industry.
Larry and Charlie zeroed in on transparency, one of the key topics on Charlie’s blog. He explained to Larry that information on the health care industry is limited, and he hopes that in the future, industry leaders will adopt a “more is better” philosophy (despite roadblocks in compliance and industry regulations).
Larry and Charlie both agreed that as this generation of internet savvy individuals grows up, the information they are seeking will need to grow with them. In the future, patients may be able to look for advice from physicians in other parts of the country from home. But, Charlie mentioned, doctors are still wary about dispensing advice to patients without a face to face meeting.
Charlie on social media: “I think it is a very effective and interesting way to learn what other people are thinking about you and your industry…There are huge opportunities for particular parts of your constituents to engage in conversations with you and each other if you bring them into the dialogue, and it costs nothing.”
Listen to the full conversation here.
Posted February 11th, 2009 by Kristin
It’s the day you’ve all been waiting for: the second edition of Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business is now available.
First published in June 2007, Larry Weber’s second book quickly became a bestselling guide on how to build businesses online. It talks about the decline of traditional advertising and helps marketers navigate the evolving digital world of blogs, reputation aggregators, social networks and e-communities. These environments, he shows, present new opportunities for businesses to maximize marketing investments.
Grab a copy to read the new foreword by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and communications consultant Andrea Weckerle, a new chapter on Facebook as a marketing tool, and updated examples and interviews. You can also check out a video of Larry talking about what’s new in edition two. Let us know what you think!
Posted September 15th, 2008 by Brian Cavoli
We are excited to announce today that Michael Smith has been hired as President of the Digital Influence Group. Michael joins us from Publicis Modem Media where he was President of the Western Region. Michael has been leading interactive agencies for almost ten years working with some of the biggest brands in the world. His extensive experience in all aspects of interactive and social media marketing has led to award-winning campaigns for clients that include American Express, Microsoft and Wyeth. You can read more about Michael’s background in our press release.
For a closer look at Michael and what his addition means to the future of Digital Influence Group, check out this new podcast. W2 Group Chairman Larry Weber sat down with Michael to discuss his thoughts on DIG and on the increasing importance of social media in marketing today:
This is an important step forward for Digital Influence Group and we are very excited to have Michael on board - please join me in welcoming him to the team.
Posted October 25th, 2007 by Kevin
Over the course of the last couple of weeks, there has been some discussion as to whether or not CEO’s should blog (including ours). For the most part, people seem to be falling on one side or the other. Here at DIG, from the top down, we know that this is not a black and white issue and that recognizing the shades of gray will lead to the appropriate answer on a case by case basis.
Not everyone should be a blogger, or can be for that matter. Sure, the technology exists to allow anyone the opportunity to participate, but that doesn’t mean they should. It’s important to understand the motivations for a blog from a CEO perspective – Raise awareness of the company? Generate Leads? Motivate Employees? Provide Thought Leadership? These don’t sound like CEO responsibilities to me and apparently some people agree, like here. These initiatives are primarily the responsibility of other executives who may be more appropriate when considering who should author the organizations blog.
Back when social media was just starting to form, pioneers like Seth Godin and Steve Rubel found plenty of reasons to why CEO’s should think long and hard before blogging. Rubel made a great point in stating that CEO’s need to be conversational if they plan to blog. As most bloggers know, it’s about the conversation not just generating content. I for one would rather have my CEO talking with potential customers and creating corporate strategy then writing thought leadership posts to educate and entertain the industry or commenting on posts about the latest shiny object and how it will lead us to the Web 3.0 promise land.
The social web is about creation and consumption. Considering the popular theory of “The 1%” often discussed at Church of the Customer, 99% of people interacting with Consumer Generated Content aren’t content creators themselves. To suggest that they don’t recognize the power of the space because they don’t create content themselves is absurd. Isn’t it quite possible that the content being produced by that 1% could be a result of conversations with people like…I don’t know…CEO’s?