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!
Will the economy make advertisers run for the traditional advertising hills? This was the topic of the evening at the Digital State 2009 BIMA/MITX event I attended recently.
All 5 the panelists were survivors of the dot bomb. And 4 out of the 5 agreed that the economic downturn of 2001 was far more devastating to the industry, largely because the Internet was in its infancy and the value of digital marketing was not yet established.
Their experience reinforces our thinking at Digital Influence Group – that a flight to safety by advertisers would be a huge mistake. Clients who reduce their presence online could miss out.
Those who capitalize on this environment by using social media could gain an increased ability to listen to the market, share their vision, influence their customers and generate business income.
Major takeaway from the evening: the economy is tough on everyone. But, savvy clients will recognize that some of the best opportunities come after a downturn and that the value proposition digital marketing offers is now clear and measureable.
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.
I’ve always been a big fan of the Gartner Hype Curve. It is an effective tool to visualize the evolution of the technologies around us so we can separate the hype from the business reality.
If you are not familiar with the hype curve, it is Gartner’s way of representing the maturity and business adoption of a group of technologies. There are 5 stages in the curve that represent the rise of a technology to a period of over-enthusiasm and “hype”, to a rapid decline period of disillusionment when it falls short of expectations - to a time of enlightenment when it evolves to become widely accepted and valuable for businesses.
Wikipedia has this explanation of each of the 5 stages:
1. “Technology Trigger” — The first phase of a hype cycle is the “technology trigger” or breakthrough, product launch or other event that generates significant press and interest.
2. “Peak of Inflated Expectations” — In the next phase, a frenzy of publicity typically generates over-enthusiasm and unrealistic expectations. There may be some successful applications of a technology, but there are typically more failures.
3. “Trough of Disillusionment” — Technologies enter the “trough of disillusionment” because they fail to meet expectations and quickly become unfashionable. Consequently, the press usually abandons the topic and the technology.
4. “Slope of Enlightenment” — Although the press may have stopped covering the technology, some businesses continue through the “slope of enlightenment” and experiment to understand the benefits and practical application of the technology.
5. “Plateau of Productivity” — A technology reaches the “plateau of productivity” as the benefits of it become widely demonstrated and accepted. The technology becomes increasingly stable and evolves in second and third generations. The final height of the plateau varies according to whether the technology is broadly applicable or benefits only a niche market.
Gartner’s 2008 Hype Curve for Emerging Technologies was just released and it is interesting to see where our favorite social media technologies are today.
(Click the image to enlarge)
On the Way Up
Microblogging is rising rapidly just about to enter the Peak of Inflated Expectations. (some Twitter users may say its been there for a long time) Not far behind is cloud computing. Both are expected to move through the cycle rapidly reaching mainstream adoption in 2 to 5 years.
On the Way Down
Social computing platforms and video telepresence reached their hype peak and are dropping into the trough of disillusionment. Further down trough are public virtual worlds and Web 2.0. Keep in mind this is part of the evolution and each of these are expected to evolve rapidly. From the Gartner’s press release:
“Although Web 2.0 is now entering the Trough of Disillusionment, it will emerge within two years to have transformational impact, as companies steadily gain more experience and success with both the technologies and the cultural implications,”
Rising Again
Corporate blogging, wikis and social networks have been through the worst and are now on the path towards productivity. Their technologies have been through a couple generations, they are being widely adopted by consumers and companies are making them work for business.
Social media tools are some of the fastest moving technologies on this curve. Gartner has shown how important these technologies are and how critical they will be for businesses in a very short period of time. The key to success right now is to develop a strategy and set some clear objectives so you can try the various tools and technologies to see where you can make the biggest impact for your business.
If you don’t believe me… see how Groundswell author Josh Bernoff combines social media strategies in this short video.
That “Social technology smoke, dont breathe this” line gets me every time I watch this.
General Motors first delved into social media with the GM Fast Lanes Blog, a success by most standards of corporate blogging. GM is posting, podcasting and even Twittering regularly, and people are commenting. But apparently all this is just a warm up. Recently they’ve decided to build upon the open dialogue principles of their first blog by creating GMnext, a new online community focused around technology, innovation and collaboration.
Adding Your Story
Once you register you can participate in the GMnext community in many ways. GM invites people to help them tell a story by contributing content through guest posts on the blog, videos, photos and even the GMnext Wiki. Frank Oresnik, a Chevy truck owner, reached the million mile mark on his 1991 Chevy Silverado and posted his compelling stories on the GMnext blog. The story was recently covered in CNet, NPR, AP and several other news sources.
The community is divided by Stories, Thoughts, Videos, Photos, Events, Chat, Podcasts and Feeds. Content within these sections is labeled by categories aimed at communicating automotive innovation: Design, Technology, Green, Ideas and Reach.
Bob Lutz, Chairman, GM North America recently introduced a rather unique community feature called Our Thoughts/Your Thoughts in which a GM executive offers his thoughts along side a post by a third party source. Larry Burns VP, GM R&D and writer/director Chris Paine went face to face about GM’s approach on global energy issues in the first dual post. There are 120 comments so far.
The video section is designed similar to YouTube with a way of sorting through clips by Most Viewed, Highest Ranked and Newest. You can rate and comment on videos, bookmark them and explore links and other multimedia related to the video. You can tune in for a live talk through the Chat section with Carl Zipfel HUMMER Director of Exterior Design on February 14th at 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. EST.
GMnext shows a true commitment for taking the corporation-to-consumer conversation to the next level. After seeing success with Fast Lanes, they identified an opportunity to further leverage social media to involve the masses in the creation of the GM story. I learned tons about GM and their proactive position in innovative technologies while writing this post – more than I have from the years of commercials and Transformers product placements. Hopefully their commitment to innovation and their ability to communicate it will turn around this classic American company from its 2007 losses.
I’ve been to quite a few Second Life (SL) events in the past, but haven’t been as impressed as I was with the launch of the Offical Playboy Island last night. I think this event was a great representation of Playboy as a brand rather than the stereotypical affirmations people usually make. What really caught my attention were the greeters who made it a point to greet almost every person that teleported to the event. Xena and Zoey, members of the Playboy team, were dressed as bunnies and welcomed everyone to the event throughout the night, even ushering tours around the facility.
The first level was a mix of mingling and casual shop browsing with the opportunity to buy Playboy branded clothing for both yourself (male & female) as well as your avatar. Surrounding the island, were several tiki bars and even a replica of the infamous “Grotto” (which I didn’t have a chance to go into but heard some stories haha). I did venture to the second level for a while which was definitely where the party was. I was told that the Sim was maxed out at 85 avatars throughout the night. Now you may be saying “85? That’s nothing!” However, when you look at it over the course of several hours, that’s a high number of people continuously engaging with your brand. Not to mention all the people (like myself) who told friends and family about the event.
I want to give props to MSGiro, the developer and manager of Playboy in SL, along with his team at Sentient Services for putting on such a successful event and representing the Playboy brand so well. It’s amazing how far SL has come since my first encounter with it and I feel other large enterprises will soon begin to realize its value. To those of you who still aren’t sure or have tried it and say it doesn’t work, all I have to say is “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Just give SL time and patience and Linden Labs will do the rest.
Since I spend ample time scurrying around in Second Life (SL), when I came across Unisfair Inc. I was a little eager to see what they offer that SL doesn’t. To my surprise, I found this to be an amazing tool that eases businesses into virtual worlds without the need of feeling overwhelmed by a program as intuitive as SL.
IBM held the first ever Virtual Virtualization Tech Fair using the Unisfair environment. I’ve only seen the screenshots from IBM’s website, but the overall idea behind a virtual tech fair is ingenious. It gives businesses the opportunity to congregate at an event and showcase their products and services without the need to staff tables at convention centers. Bringing the people to the event can be done with online outreach eliminating the significant costs of attending an event in real life.
I feel this virtual event is only the beginning. I certainly won’t be surprised when we see virtual job fairs, home shows, auto shows, etc. Especially as we make the push into Web 3.0. Will you be?
Does anyone remember the movie Edtv? Well here is a real life Edtv sort of show covering the life of one man and his friends 24/7. I came across Justin.tv and figured I would throw my two cents in. Being in the social media industry, I think this is a perfect example of how companies need to utilize online audiences to promote their products. Justin.tv has only been live for a little over four days now, but the number of sites linking in and the countries they are located in shown by Technorati, depicts how far this campaign has reached so far. I think this is an ingenious way to draw in a crowd, keep their attention and have some fun while doing it.
Check out this Wired News article if you want to see what life on Justin.tv has been like so far.
The NFL has now jumped on the wagon of hosting user-generated content. The Cincinnati Bengals have become the first NFL team to launch a video site attached to their NFL main page. Fans are now able to upload user-generated content to show their support and love for the Bengals.
“The addition of fan-contributed videos is aimed at trying to get as much traffic to the site as possible and trying to keep people engaged throughout the year,” said Vince Cicero, the Bengals’ director of corporate sales and marketing.
The video site is being hosted by ViTrue, which recently acquired Sharkle.com. It looks to be a smaller version of YouTube by providing marketers with tools for creating consumer interactions.
