Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

This week there seems to be plenty of talk about disruption … about what it means and what the implications are. And while this feels true, disruption has always been the natural state in the creative industries (including advertising). It’s just that the waves of disruption now overlap and seem to hit us from all directions. Some of these articles may help you navigate this chaotic world.

  1. Stories can have a powerful transformative effect on people and on brands – but many still fail to see the link with social media. Meghan Biro explains why brand humanization is not a social media fad.
  2. It used to be easy to measure things when the only way to access the web was via a browser (let’s face it, WAP was a dud). But these days our experience is fragmented across a variety of branded and non-branded elements and varies according to the way in which we CONSUME that experience – TVCs, radio, print, website, app, social network etc. Is it any wonder we need help influencing the customer journey?
  3. On a similar topic, Michael Brito steps us through some of the steps required to shift from traditional approaches to become more of a social business.
  4. One of my favourite ways of explaining difficult concepts is through pop culture references. And Veronica Jarski shares some powerful business lessons from four Marvel Superheroes. Love it!
  5. Edward Boches suggests that CMOs (and the rest of us) have to become a whole lot more tech savvy. With digital audiences and audience-focused platforms continuing to grow, the digital havoc will continue.

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

Each week, as I click links, follow trails and read through my ever burgeoning list of RSS feed, I leave tabs open in my browser. That often means that I will have 60-70 tabs open at one time – which also means that my browser is slow to load each morning. In an ideal world I read, cull and move on – with only the best tabs left still open at the end of the week. It is from this list that I draw my five must-read posts. Here are a few that I just can’t seem to close:

  1. In my mind there is no doubt that Search and all its variants is under pressure. We are slowly but surely coming back to our trusted networks to source knowledge, resolve issues and decide on the things that we buy. And because if this changing behaviour, it’s I also believe the interest graph is the future of social commerce 
  2. And on that subject, as “the social customer” becomes clearer in our marketing lenses, it will no doubt require new ways of organising our businesses. Michael Brito shares this presentation on the shift to social business
  3. We’re not just seeing a massive behavioural shift in the marketplace – we are also seeing a significant demographic shift. Augie Ray reminds us that the Gen Y tidal wave is on the horizon – and will bring with it even more discontinuous change. Time to dust off the longboard
  4. How do you build your blog into one of the leading sites for your industry? Valeria Maltoni shares some of the secrets that have made her Conversation Agent site so successful
  5. Remember when you weren’t so good at your chosen profession? Sometimes you need to work through some skills and build your capabilities before you can truly deliver for your employer, clients or customers. Sean Howard reminds us that you will suck, deal with it.

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

I was pretty excited during the last week to read the great insight and ideas that are appearing again. It is nice to see some deeper levels of consideration and analysis appearing in articles across the web – rather than the more simplistic commentary that clogs up our brains and bandwidth. I hope you enjoy these stimulating posts!

  1. We tend to trust what people tell us. Whether they are people from agencies, consultants that we are working with or friends, colleagues – or even competitors. But just because someone says something, doesn’t make it true. In the world of digital and social there’s a lot of bad advice floating around. Craig Wilson asks, what’s the price of bad advice?
  2. Often we think about the behaviour of people – our customers, our employees and so on. But we often overlook the larger, connected behaviours of groups. Mark Earls suggests that we are missing the point and that we need to think about behaviour beyond the individual. Awesome.
  3. And on the subject of “awesome” – this. Read it and weep in agreement. Understand it and know that the path ahead in your career is full of challenge. And then proudly go forth preaching the gospel according to Olivier Blanchard.
  4. When it comes to managing a social media crisis you need to keep a level head. And one person who knows how to keep their head when many others are losing their is Matthew Gain. Here are his five best ways to respond to a social media attack.
  5. It’s great to see creative industries ramping up on Newcastle, NSW. Gordon Whitehead shares the news that a new screen industry group has been started up and they’re looking for script ideas. Pull that dusty script out of the drawer and get about the Film Republic.

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

How do you tell your business stories? It all starts with words. Or it should. My view is that a great brief, a brilliant project or idea needs to be articulated in words. We need to hear that description, passion and connection from the person at ground zero of ideation. And if you can’t be there in person, then you need to write. This week’s five must-read posts are about this challenge.

  1. With limited capacity to draw, I have always relied on language to tell stories, communicate and engage audiences. So no surprise then to see a post called How to Write appearing in this week’s list. Great stuff from David Ogilvy courtesy of Stan Johnson.
  2. What do Ogilivy’s words mean in practice? Copywriter, Robert Pirosh, explains eloquently – I like words.
  3. And once you have the words, the story and the soul of an idea, how do you apply creativity to strategy to bring it to life? Some great tips from Nien Liu.
  4. For someone who doesn’t have time to blog, Paul McEnany sure delivers quality content – great context setting up a series of videos. Listen to the voices and at the way people describe themselves in the great working class vs middle class debate.
  5. And speaking of that debate – what happens in the grand showdown between hipster and bogan? Find out in the rise of the cashed up bogan.

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

As I surf the web or watch the feeds, links, articles and images scuttle by, often a theme emerges. After all, we are part of a massive, global, connected consciousness. But I often forget that we are all not connected to the same people – or that we have differing levels of focus or interest. But this is precisely why these collection style posts can be useful – to share with those who otherwise missed a tweet, a link or an email.

  1. Dave Phillips has distilled the #kony2012 conversation into an an engaging discussion. Some great reflections and provocations here
  2. I saw some of the back and forth on Twitter with Mack Collier on the topic of social business – and now he has followed up with more context. He says we need to stop marketing “social business” if we want to start selling it. What do you think?
  3. What do CEOs want from their CMOs and the marketing team? It may not be what you think. Try and work a few of these 10 key impacts into your KPIs and see how it changes your role in the business
  4. Which channels, accounts and platforms should you use for your social media efforts? And when? Drew McLellan shares the recent updates for the CMO.com’s Social Landscape. Download it – it’s worth its weight in gold
  5. Kevin Rothermel shares a great piece on how creativity works. It looks like it might be my new favourite ebook.

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

Whether we like it or not, social media is transforming every dimension of our life – at work, at home and with friends. The impact of this has far reaching implications for the way we live, what we value and the way we participate in our society. It is a complicated situation that can be easily ignored. These five must-read posts from last week shed some light on these topics:

  1. Kate Carruthers leads out with a discussion on the reputation economy, employees and privacy and suggests that “privacy is truly dead”.
  2. Greg Smith, Goldman Sachs executive, dropped a bomb shell, publishing his resignation letter on the New York Times opinion pages. It’s an astounding indictment of business practice that must be read.
  3. Organisations need to be able to cope with (and support) their employees who use and engage with social media. Here are the US Army Reserve’s ten rules for social media practitioners. Great stuff.
  4. With all this change taking place, it is making us question ourselves – our satisfaction, our happiness and even our position in the order of things. Umair Haque calls it a mid-life crisis. It feels to me closer to a Crisis of Purpose.
  5. As we click our way across the internet, we leave footsteps – fingerprints – digital signifiers that indicate our temporal interest or attention. All this information is captured and stored – and can be pieced together and used to “engage” us. But where is the line between relevant and spooky? Valeria Maltoni asks someone who should know.

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

It’s been a busy fortnight (I love using that work even if it’s a little archaic these days).

In fact, the first couple of months of the year have flown by – and to be honest, I am feeling a little nostalgic for the time when January was a “slow month” and we could take some time to think and plan before rushing into project action.

But no matter how busy you are, you’ll want to read these gems from last week. There’s only five. It will be your best investment for the week!

  1. Stowe Boyd shares this conversation between Fast Company writer, Linda Tischler and  Roger Martin, author of The Design of Business. It’s a great read and plays to the type of thinking I love – Why Companies Need Futurists, Not Analysts.
  2. Just because much of social media is free, it doesn’t mean it is cheap. My buddy, Drew McLellan has produced a Social Media Strategy Workbook that you can download for free. But putting your strategy into action will tax your brain.
  3. Do we still believe in civic responsibility? Should we? Danielle Chiaverini asks some challenging questions.
  4. A lot of times – especially in social media – we talk about “just doing it”. This has appeal for those who have a vested interest in “talkability” – after all, you need a reason to share, right? But Valeria Maltoni asks, what’s the value of thinking in a do culture.
  5. The team at Zeus Jones have put together this great presentation that just shares “what’s on our minds at the moment”. I love the simplicity of that concept – and the fact that they are sharing ideas that are bourn out of their work with their clients.

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

Some weeks I feel like we are actually swimming in information – people are sharing and resharing information, knowledge and ideas, and in doing so, building the wave of information that threatens to overwhelm our meagre senses.

But if you have a good, strong network of clever people – people that you trust, have expertise and are willing to share it – then it becomes easier to wade through the torrent. It is in the curating of content that the rough diamond of an idea can be polished and revealed as a gem. Hope you enjoy these five jewels!

  1. When we think about social recommendation – the way in which curated content impacts an audience, it’s important to think about the way in which you construct your recommendation. Rachel Beaney shares her thoughts on high click rates and social recommendation.
  2. By now, I just presume that anyone who is interested in blogging or social media has ProBlogger on their reading list. In case you missed this one – here is a Four-Point Formula for Developing Irresistable Content.
  3. And speaking of “content”, Trevor Young shares this infographic on the Content Marketing Explosion. Did you know that 62% of companies outsource their content marketing? That’s big business.
  4. Olivier Blanchard reminds us of 10 things we still need to know about social media / social business. We should probably write this on the wall in front of us.
  5. Now that we are well and truly into the swing of 2012, Drew McLellan shares five things that will derail your marketing in 2012. Watch out!

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

Sometimes the week takes off without us holding tightly. So that makes it already Tuesday where I live – and I’m yet to catch up with my long list of Monday to-do items. And I am sure I am not alone, right?

I hope that these five great posts from last week help you catch up with your busy life!

  1. I’ve often thought that blogs (and all the other social media sites, content and interactions that we produce) – when taken collectively – say more about our lives and reputations than we’d like to admit. Jen Stumbles calls this out explaining just how recruitment is changing right beneath our feet.
  2. You’ve probably heard the term “gamification” bandied about, right? Well, Tac Anderson takes a deep dive into one of the hot topics to determine the truth, lies and promises of gamification.
  3. It’s the curse of the Twittering class … the hacked account which then starts spamming all your followers. In can happen to anyone (well, anyone with a less than rock-solid password), and you won’t know it’s happening until it’s too late. Gavin Costello shares some tips for cleaning up the mess.
  4. Great, personal article by Richard Bell on the Vibewire blog – The Mental Health Pilgrimage brings religion into the scientific conversation.
  5. There are going to be words and connected thoughts that may rate as NSFW, but there is no doubt you’ll gasp (with shock or delight) with Annik Skelton’s reviews of books she stopped reading because they are so bad.

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

So this is it, is it? It seems 2012 has only just started and I am already reduced to producing one curated post per week!

Ah, but never fear, I am just recalibrating … taking some time to get my bearings for a new year. There is plenty on, of course, and we all struggle with priorities – but rather than rush headlong into activity, I am hoping to restructure my focus a little and maintain my sanity in the process of what I expect to be a busy year. How about you? Busy start?

If so – or even if not – these five must-reads will get you thinking in the right direction!

  1. There are plenty of social media monitoring and measuring tools out there. But which one is the right one for you? Or do you need more than one? Ingeborg van Beusekom helps you find the balance.
  2. Ever find social media unimaginative? Ever thought it was media in search of a good idea? You may want to read Ben Phillips’ guest post on Mark Pollard’s blog – How to Make Good Social Ideas.
  3. We love using, engaging and playing on social networks. But make no mistake – they are built with a business purpose – to make money. As Craig Wilson says, it’s a war for web supremacy and you’re in the crossfire.
  4. I have always thought that one of the powerful elements of social media is that it provides something that we have lost in our lives – a sense of connectedness. But what happens if it came back? Richard Huntington says the real revolution in social won’t be online. I tend to agree.
  5. It seems like a long way off – but I love the thinking behind this article by Greg Satell. In the Future of Retail he writes about the omnichannel world and the way it will transform our shopping experiences. Can’t wait.