Daily Archives: July 3, 2009

Many small businesses are putting their brand reputation at risk by treating social networks as “places to hang out with friends”, according to reputation specialist Judith Germain managing director of management training firm Dynamic Transitions.

Firms are forgetting that social networking sites are places where reputation and credibility is established, maintained and developed, says Germain.

“Many business owners take a relaxed and whimsical approach to how they network on places like Facebook, which can be quite detrimental to them,” she says. “Others join business networks and then remain invisible.”

While there are some outstanding creative examples of brands using social networking, many small firms don’t know what to do on sites such as Twitter and Facebook, says Laura Jordan Bambach, executive creative director at agency LBi in London and expert contributor to Marketing Donut, the new website for small firms.

“Many brands are failing in social spaces,” says Jordan Bambach. “Businesses are promoting themselves via so many touchpoints — social media, advertising, direct marketing and so on, but the consumer just sees the brand. It’s important to have a unified voice.”

At the same time, not all social networks are the same, so businesses must focus on who they are targeting, she says. “Twitter has a much more mature audience than Facebook for example. Bebo has another audience again. So you do need to talk to people in different ways.”

Social networks are about relationships and conversation, continues Jordan Bambach. “The human element is paramount, so firms have to find ways to engage with people and have something interesting to say,” she says. “Sometimes that means widening what you talk about away from what you offer and into areas that you are passionate about that fit with your brand.”

The other key issue is to protect your brand by getting on networks before someone else does — using your name. “If businesses are not on Facebook or Twitter they run the risk of having other people setting up in their name,” adds Jordan Bambach.

According to Germain, in this difficult economic climate, brand reputation is more important than ever. “A good, strong and credible reputation is the one thing which can provide you with the superior and sustainable leverage you need to survive the credit crunch, whilst others around you fall by the wayside,” she says.

Further information:
Become a Marketing Donut expert by visiting the BHP Information Solutions website www.bhpinfosolutions.co.uk/Who-we-are/Experts.aspx
Register for Marketing Donut here www.marketingdonut.co.uk/user/register?destination=node%2F27
Find out more about LBi here www.lbi.com/en/London/

As the popularity of collaboration and social networking technologies has grown, it has attracted a great deal of attention in the enterprise realm. Many business organizations are aggressively embracing Enterprise 2.0 by using social networks for business development. However, many executives in the B2B world still view open collaboration and social networking as all flash and little value—not real business. Futurists have been describing such collaboration in B2B technology markets for years with little real progress. That is, until now.

While the consumer world is still wrestling with how to turn Twitter and Facebook into a profitable enterprise, we’re beginning to see businesses turn to social networks in order to interact with their customers on an unprecedented level. Companies like P&G and Peugeot are drawing customers directly into their product and service definition and development processes. Even heavy equipment manufacturers such as ABB are finding these new tools more than just useful methods for communication between and among employees and customers. New forms of mass collaboration suggest that companies are making real headway with a more self-organized approach to teaming and collaboration.

Meanwhile, intelligent device networking, sometimes referred to as “Pervasive Computing” or the “The Internet of Things” is upon us. But beyond machine-to-machine communication, however, lies the real revolution. The next phase of connectivity and integration of content will be one of placing communities of humans in context with objects and devices and visa versa. Devices need to be better able to understand where they are and the role they play, and adjust themselves accordingly based on human needs and desires.

Enter Collaborative Device Communities (CDC’S).

What are CDC’s? Collaborative device communities connects devices to a social networking system. In a collaborative device community, devices themselves can blog, send & receive messages, report status, share files and interact on a peer-to-peer basis along with humans.

An example device integration package for such a community includes the ability to “chat” with the device to request status and execute commands, the ability to share files, the ability for the device to “blog” to its community home page or send updates to a feed, and the ability to establish a direct peer-to-peer (P2P) connection to a device for remote desktop or more specialized diagnostics.

This collaboration can come in many forms, from an end user and call center operator working together to solve a problem with a piece of equipment, to a service engineer devising shortcuts to streamline repetitive tasks, or a customer working with a service or product design engineer to design a new and improved piece of equipment. These collaborative efforts often lead to new innovative solutions that create long-term value for the OEM, the user and all the value adders involved in its use. Relational capital, that which grows from customer intimacy and collaboration will define new rules of competition.

Even Google, with its recent announcement of Google Wave, shows a keen understanding of how the network services “cloud” changes how we work together and how this next generation of platforms will “seep and creep” into the lives of workers.

Harbor Research’s latest white paper, “Shared Destinies” elaborates on the enormous value that will be created by Collaborative Device Communities. It was inspired by by a recently introduced platform from Palantiri Systems which points to the fact that next generation systems are not light years away. Companies must understand the implication of social networks on their products or services or else will risk being surpassed by the competition.

Sony Music Entertainment has launched their biggest digital marketing campaign of the year for rock legends AC/DC.

Though they may be not be digital natives having proudly resisted the call of the itunes download chart – they are certainly on their game about engaging their fans in an online environment.

The campaign developed by Bluecube Interactive, is a comprehensive digital initiative that fits with the fun-loving play hard ethos of the group. Developed to promote their live tour and generate ongoing buzz around Black Ice, their first album released in eight years the campaign targets radio DJ’s and fans recruited via forums, blogs and music sites using a mix of online PR, PPC activity and display media and radio.

In this campaign AC/DC have thrown down the gauntlet for their fans to see who can create the longest rock and roll train of Angus look-a-likes ever. The big five radio stations in the country and their superstar DJ’s are mobilizing their listeners to battle for the grand prize of a signed Gibson Guitar and their entire ACDC back catalogue.

‘’It’s the old good versus evil paradigm with the battle taking place online and on air – real fans versus radio stations. Who has the most influence? Whoever wins old and new generations of AC/DC fans will find this an exciting and innovative way to engage with the world’s most electrifying rock and roll band!’’ Heather Kennedy deputy Managing Director of Bluecube Interactive.

“AC/DC’s back catalog is magnificent and fans nationwide have been filling chatrooms and bulletin boards for years speculating about the digital release of their albums. Sadly this still hasn’t happened but we are proud that the fans can get to take part in the AC/DC experience online’’ Eithne Mooney, Head of Press & Promotions Sony Music.

Formed in Sydney, Australia in 1973 by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, AC/DC released its first album, “High Voltage,” in 1975. The group has gone on to sell more than 150 million albums worldwide, making AC/DC one of the five best-selling bands in music history.
Visit ADCDrocknrolltrain.com