2012 - Servant of Chaos

Influence: I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

Influence, Infographics, Social Judgement

Most of us are in love with the idea of influence. We love the idea that we are influencers or influential within our peer groups, we seek out the favour and attention of others who influence us, and we attempt to measure track and trace influence across different cultural, societal, economic and demographic groups. And yet this thing – influence – remains elusive.

Some time back, Malcolm Gladwell came up with an easy to understand model of influence. It seemed to resonate with many of us who are deeply immersed in the web and have seen, first hand, the apparent randomness of online sentiment and human digital behaviour. His book, The Tipping Point took its lead from Stanley Milgram’s principle that we are all only separated by six degrees – suggesting that within a network, the “hub” or “connector” plays a vital role in the transmission of information across that network.

I have always viewed this theory with scepticism – preferring the strength of weak ties model popularised by Duncan Watts. It’s a shame in a way, as the Gladwell model – the Tipping Point – is easily articulated and understood, while Watts’ approach is more complicated, random and difficult to apply in the real world. Yet, even a casual glance at the social media landscape will show you just how difficult it can be to boil “influence” down to a single factor or variable. Klout has tried it as have PeerIndex and Kred – and there are dozens more on the horizon offering different versions, metrics and tools that attempt to measure the chaos of our behaviours and patterns of indifference.

Ultimately, when it comes to influence, I keep returning to one important point –> it’s not about influence, it’s about trust. And until we, as business leaders, as marketers and as publishers of information and content, understand this, we will continue to dance around the real issue.

And what IS the real issue? Just take a look at this infographic from CrowdTap and read between the lines. Hint: it’s not about your brand.

Thriving in Uncertainty – A Workshop with Viv McWaters

Conferences, Creativity, Innovation

In the corporate world we talk a lot – a lot – about innovation and creativity. There are conversations and plans to “unleash” creativity within our businesses and to empower our employees. Sometimes we even start using language from the world of startups – suggesting that some innovation projects may need to “fail fast”.

But one of the great challenges with innovation is that it’s often inwardly focused. We rarely draw in people and ideas from beyond our line of business let alone others in our industry. And when economic conditions change – and they do with regularity – our efforts become increasingly myopic and doomed to failure.

In these conditions we need the skill and capacity to navigate the changing business conditions. We need superior communications, creativity and agility. And we need to ensure that work remains fulfilling – that there is a shared sense of purpose.

A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to attend a workshop with Viv McWaters. She blends business thinking with facilitation and theatrical improvisation – to address many of these challenges. And on July 12 and 13, Viv is running her Thriving in Uncertainty workshops in Melbourne. In her words:

Participant outcomes include improved communication, better collaboration, increased agility, harnessing others’ strengths and building motivated and enthusiastic teams.

But, to be honest, her workshops go well beyond this. They teach you a deep sense of capability that stays with you well after the event. If you can, take a small team along – you’ll be glad you did.

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

5 Must-Read Posts

Quite a mixed bag of topics this week … with posts on innovation, SEO and Edgerank, collaboration and crowdsourcing. But you’ll find each of these articles useful in creating customer value and generating strategic advantage for your business or clients. Well worth a quick scan or even a deep dive.

One of the great ruptures that is coming or already upon most businesses is the great demographic shift that will see Gen Y succeed the incumbent Baby Boomer generation. Rather than controlling Gen Y, Sarah Miller Caldicott suggests we need to embrace their need for progress in order to drive innovation.
One of the challenges for marketers is keeping up with the changes that are constantly being made to Google’s search engine or to Facebook’s Edgerank algorithms. And Google’s recent changes (code named Panda and Penguin) will have a huge impact on those who have focused on quantity of inbound links rather than quality content. Craig Wilson explains the impact on link building for SEO.
And speaking of Facebook Edgerank, Ken Mueller suggests that we should keep creating and sharing great content, understand what and when we are posting on Facebook and work to really understand what Edgerank is about. He says its a common sense approach to Edgerank.
Anyone who starts a business blog post quoting Jay-Z is alright by me. And Trevor Young’s article on collaboration makes it even better.
Can companies bring crowds to their causes? The folks over at Realized Worth say yes – and remind us all that Facebook is a tool not a strategy.

A Cup of Chaos #76: Philips Male Grooming

Cup of Chaos

Ever wondered what happens when your strategy is “digital first”? It’s pretty simple – you don’t even contemplate good ideas that tell the story of your customers’ participation in your brand story. Check out this video to see what happens when your strategy starts with understanding your customers’ behaviours.

Internet Trends 2012

Facts & Figures, FutureVisions

Each year, venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield Byers release their research and analysis into the trends they are observing across the web. Compiled by Mary Meeker, it’s packed with statistics and pithy one liners – and will provide plenty of fodder for your upcoming client presentations – especially where you need to reinforce the reports key themes – “internet growth remains robust and rapid mobile adoption is still in early stages”.

There were a few items that caught my attention:

Growth in internet user numbers is being driven by emerging markets – with China, India and Indonesia in the top 3, with the USA down the list at number 8
Australia ranks 14th in terms of mobile 3G subscribers – with 76% penetration and 21% year-on-year growth
While iPad adoption is astonishing (3x the iPhone) – Android is outpacing all devices currently running at 4x the iPhone
Mobile web traffic now accounts for 10% of all internet traffic

And while the statistics are fascinating – especially for the data nerds out there – the compelling part of this presentation is the focus on the “Reimagination of almost everything”. The report covers a wide variety of consumption habits, technologies, cultural and artistic production, information and so on – announcing what many of us already know – that the magnitude of change that is coming (or is already upon us) will be stunning.

KPCB Internet Trends 2012

A Coffee Morning Interlude this Friday

Coffee Mornings

When we first started regularly holding our coffee mornings in Sydney, we didn’t know what would happen. We didn’t know what it would be like to actually meet this amorphous collection of “online connections”. But within minutes, we knew we were onto a winning formula – interesting people, good coffee and a sense of curiosity all round.

One of my favourite wildcards in the whole coffee morning experience was Gavin, the guy behind the Single Origin cafe where we hung out. A passionate and energetic coffee lover, he ensured there was always an element of surprise in every roast and every cup.

Now, after a break, Gavin’s back roasting coffee in Sydney. And this week he is letting his first batch loose on the world. So this week – rather than the usual Single Origin destination – I’ll be heading down to Shop 6, 81 Macleay St, Potts Point to sample his latest labour of love. I’d love for you to join me.

And in case you are wondering what coffee mornings are really about … take a quick flip through this presentation. It tries to capture just a little of what makes it all so special. See you from 8am!

Creative Sydney: Creative Networking: Coffee Mornings Sydney

View another webinar from Gavin Heaton

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

5 Must-Read Posts

Towards the end of each summer I start thinking about the joys of cooler weather that come with winter. But last summer in Australia was so wet, I really was just waiting for summer to start when winter abruptly arrived. And normally winter is a time of reading – but over the last couple of weeks – a series of colds and fevers has kept me well away from such lovely pursuits. So it was nice over the weekend to start feeling better – and to find that so many smart people around the world keep sharing their insight, intelligence and creativity. It’s like a pep-shot for creative lethargy. Hope you enjoy these:

In marketing, we have become much more focused on niche networks and the power of influence. Neil Perkin explains why you should choose your friends carefully. Especially when they are Friends not friends
Kris Hoet ponders the nature of value and the power of creative work. Sharing a video of TBWA/Chiat/Day’s Lee Clow, he asks how do we create value and value creative?
Are you on Twitter? Does it have a strange hold over you? Does it make you feel alive, connected and energised? Kate Carruthers suggests that this constant ambient connection is creating a new kind of normal
We all talk about the power of stories – and their importance in the life of a brand. But how do you create a brand with values that allow stories to resonate with your customers and audiences? Jonah Sachs has some ideas
Do we want fame or do we want community? Most brands confuse the two – pushing for fans to “like” their Facebook pages or subscribe to their newsletter. But the two are very different. Chris Guillebeau explains some of the distinctions.