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Managing a Digital Footprint

June 28, 2011 By Alex 2 Comments

This is a guest post written by Alex Shippee, and reproduced from the website for #SMchat.

A “digital footprint” is what your presence on the Internet communicates to those who find it. Google is the usual starting point, but more and more people are using monitoring services or going straight to the big social platforms, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, your blog, etc. All of this is becoming a necessity because of one inescapable truth about the Internet Age:

You will be Googled. In fact, you most likely already have been. Family members, co-workers, friends, and employers will all be interested in how you show up on a search engine. And if you are a brand, or have a client who is, then you can add “customers” to that list as well.

© Clare Munn 2008-2011

This isn’t a bad thing. Instead of seeing it as “work,” try to think of it as an “opportunity.” It is common for our clients, some of whom are new to social media, to be concerned about “opening themselves up.” They fear negative comments, or being the victim of a smear campaign by their competitors. The truth is, people are already talking online and it’s not possible to curb it. Choosing not to participate hands all the power to the consumers, or competitors. Instead, you want to fan those flames in the right direction.

One of the most valuable and rewarding elements of the work tcg does is provide their clients with real-time, contextual intelligence by monitoring and analyzing their digital footprint before we start our work. We take it a step further than wanting to know what people are saying about you and reputation management; we turn a digital footprint into a valuable asset.

Managing a digital footprint means taking responsibility and ownership of your brand. You start with the simple steps first and sign up for Twitter or start a blog. Then, you go one step further and decide you want to attach your name, or brand, to good content. From there begins the hustle of growing an audience now that you’re easy for them to find.

Filed Under: Guest Posts Tagged With: #smchat, blogs, branding, digital footprint, facebook, Google, linkedin, Marketing, SEO, Social Media, social-networking, tcgagency, Twitter

Crowdsourcing Lauren Spierer

June 8, 2011 By ajmunn 2 Comments

Post Written by Matt Freedman

It has now been five days since 20-year-old Indiana University student Lauren Spierer was last seen, and the panic surrounding her disappearance seems to escalate each moment. How can I tell? Not from news outlets, who have done an admirable job covering the story but cannot possibly devote themselves to minute-by-minute updates. Instead, I’ve been rabidly clicking refresh on my tabs for Twitter and Facebook. With the account @NewsOnLaurenS, the hashtag #FindLauren, the event ‘Urgent! Please help spread the word about Lauren Spierer’s disappearance!’ and the page ‘Help Find Lauren Spierer, an enormous community has sprung up overnight in support of finding this missing girl.

The response has been overwhelming: With over 6,500 followers on Twitter and another 71,802 attending the event on Facebook, news of the student’s disappearance has traveled quickly. It makes you wonder what is possible in the real-time far-reaching world of social media, and how effective this type of crowdsourcing can be.

The primary purpose of this campaign, at least in the beginning, was to crowdsource individuals for participation in three-times-daily searches in and around Bloomington. To this end, and many others, it has been successful. Hundreds of people, acquaintances and strangers alike, have volunteered in droves for the search parties. And though hope may be slipping through the public’s fingers, they also refuse to give up.

Despite being a grassroots effort, the campaign’s momentum is in no way random: the strategic targeting of influencers, from celebrities to news outlets, has dispersed the news swiftly and in staggering numbers. With users pleading celebrities to retweet their message, the hashtag #FindLauren has earned over 20 million hits. It has been retweeted by celebrities Ryan Seacrest, Scott Baio, and Donnie Wahlerg, as well as other public figures, such as NFL star Desean Jackson. With Lauren’s photograph now appearing in millions of tweet streams, and a ‘flyer-tagging’ movement on Facebook, in which users are encouraged to change their profile picture to Lauren’s “missing” flyer and tag friends in order to spread the word, the campaign feels like a real movement. It’s a cry for help that people are listening to. And although not everyone can grab a flashlight and upend Bloomington, IN, the support must provide an emotional uplift for Lauren’s friends and family.

The content that appears on these outlets varies from downloadable flyers to words of encouragement, and even includes a video of Lauren’s parents addressing the media. Some examples of tweets are:

ofarevolution O.A.R.

Let’s help find missing 20 yr old Lauren Spierer, last seen at Indiana U. Photo: yfrog.com/h2c8x9j #FindLauren

CollegeTownLife CollegeTownLife

Lauren needs our help! Someone knows something. Make her picture go viral! TOGETHER WE CAN #FINDLAUREN! http://bit.ly/kzMSgW #CTL

DeseanJackson10 Desean Jackson

RT @jkalmus please RT to help find missing indiana university student. one person who knows something can help #FindLauren @NewsOnLaurenS

The campaign surrounding Lauren Spierer is proof that social media can be used in significant and positive ways. This may be old news, as most people are aware of the role Facebook played in the Egyption revolution, but it doesn’t cease to inspire me. In what other ways have you seen social media inspire community outreach? And, at the end of the day, what tangible effect does it have on people’s lives? Please leave your opinion below, and don’t give up on Lauren Spierer.

Filed Under: Guest Posts, Social Media Tagged With: Clare Munn, Crisis, Crowdsource, facebook, Lauren Spierer, Matt Freedman, Social Media, tcgagency, Twiiter

Dancing into the Cloud

June 2, 2011 By ajmunn 6 Comments

Guest Post: Author Matthew Freedman

The music industry’s adaptation to the Internet has been a struggle for survival. Hampered by a change in format, then cut out of the equation by piracy and peer-to-peer file sharing (90% of all downloads are unauthorized), the recording industry watched slack-jawed as sales dropped 64% from 1999-2009. Now, Artists rely on grueling tour schedules to stay afloat, and record companies are desperate for a new source of revenue. With all of the industry despair, it’s no wonder cloud computing is being heralded as the future of music.

The idea is this: users would be able to access enormous libraries of music, at any time, without restriction and from any internet-capable device, presumably with a subscription fee.

Why download music when you can stream anything you want instantly? For record companies, it is at least a glimmer of hope. By licensing music for online-streaming services, they are finally edging into the action. And like a swarm of moths near a shining porch-light in the summer, everyone is throwing themselves heedlessly at the glow.

Is the hype real, or are the hopefuls going to get burned?

Cloud computing itself is not a new concept (it was first coined in 1997), but as mobile devices develop and tablets continue to take off, the ability to access the Internet on the go is increasingly common. And each day mobile technologies advance the Cloud becomes more enticing, more valuable, and more of a necessity than a luxury. I see the effects every day when exasperated commuters in the subway can’t access their email or twitter feeds.

As someone who works in digital media, and more importantly, as a music lover, I’m extremely curious as to how ‘the cloud’ will evolve with music. All the major players are in on the game: Apple announced today that they will reveal iCloud in one week, and Google has already shared an early version of their aptly-titled cloud platform, ‘Music Beta.’ Now Amazon has Cloud Player and Cloud Drive, and even LaLa, a website that was bought by Apple in December of 2009 and dismantled four months later, allowed users to upload their entire music collections to the Cloud.

Still, there are a couple of big questions: will cloud computing live up to its hype as the future of music, or merely provide convenient but unremarkable online storage? And will the record companies really be able to turn a profit? It all depends on whether or not streaming becomes the new norm, and if membership can take the place of ownership.

For the music industry, the trouble will always be that subscription fees are more expensive and less permanent than free peer-to-peer music swapping. As a user, my biggest concern with Cloud streaming would be my own lack of control: having no palpable ownership over my favorite music would mean the possibility of disappearance or altercation, however unlikely that may be. I want to be able to say “my music” and mean it, to have it with me at all times, connected or not.

Apples new iCloud has taken some steps to address these questions. Instead of having to upload your music library for you to stream on your portable devices, Apple has been reported to have secured deals with the major record labels, that will allow iCloud to recognize the music files on your iTunes and use your past purchasing history. This would seamlessly allow you access to your music library wherever you are, as long as you are connected to iCloud.

iCloud will also bring more than just streaming music libraries. The connotations for syncing devices, sharing documents a la Google Docs and seeding sales of productivity apps are huge. But I digress.

The Cloud will certainly be a wonderful addition to the way we listen to music, but I don’t think it will change our need for tangible ownership. And if that’s true, will services like iCloud be enough to change the fortunes of the record industry?

Photo by Alasdair Munn

Filed Under: Guest Posts, Social Media Tagged With: Apple, Clare Munn, Cloud Computing, iCloud, MAtthew Freedman, music, Social Media, tcg, tcgagency

Hotspotting: A New Era for the Interactive Advert

May 25, 2011 By ajmunn 6 Comments

Guest Post: By Alexandra Beard

Although Hotspotting, or Clickable Video Technology has been around since the early 2000’s it has only now started to attract the attention of big brands. Fuelled by our increasing accessiblilty to digital video content, Hotspotting is steathly encroaching on new domains and a larger audience.

Hotspotting technology makes it possible to place an interactive layer of ‘clickable hotspots’ on top of video. This software is primarily used by advertisers on their online videos. Whilst watching the video you can hover your mouse over the on-screen ‘ clickable hotspots’ and this allows for customers to shop directly from the video. The hotspots can be anything from the clothes the actors are wearing, to their accessories, the cars they drive, and the furniture on set. Once you click on an item that interests you you are taken directly to the check-out page of the online store where you can purchase the item.

These videos are being touted as the imminent future of advertising. By using interactive video online retailers can increase traffic and customer time on site, convert video to sale, have a higher average order value and reduce marketing spend through social media sharing. Hotspotting can be powerful as it harnesses the impulse buy. Impulsive buying has always been a crucial element for advertisers; most people generally buy with their emotions. Later, they justify their purchases with logic. In other words, people buy impulsively. With Hotspoting, an impulse is given a call to action as they did not go into the store or go online planning to buy what they ended up buying. Consumer durables bought on impulse are likely to be items that boost someones self esteem and self image. Film can have a profound imact on viewers. When attractive, youthful and charasmatic actors are using or wearing certain items this can be projected onto viewers as something that they can buy into/become. Advertisers have always fought for product placement in films for this very reason; consumer durables bought on impulse are especially likely to be those goods that project a person’s self-image.

A recent example of hotspotting can be seen in an advert featuring Manchester United’s star of the moment Christiano Ronaldo. In the ad he runs around the pitch and strips off after a match, as he does this fans can click on his shirt, shorts and shoes to buy them instantly.

Go Viral, based in Bristol England, created the ad and their internal research has shown that up to 30 per cent of people who see the Hotspot ads click through to find out more about the product.

However Hotspotting is being developed and used for far more than e-commerce and advertising purposes. For example; It has been used to create an interactive sing-a-long to The Jonas Brother’s track LoveBug and it has been used on video footage of fashion shows so that you can find out about and purchase any of the items being modelled. Pokeware, one of the leading innovators in Hotspotting has designed a new revolutionary system which highlights the enormous breadth this technology can cover. Teaming with Guestlogix they are developing a new interactive e-commerce video for those travelling by aeroplane. Another company, ClikThrough, uses Hotspotting as a fun and interactive experience for music videos. Not only can you purchase the items on your idol’s video but you can discover band and individual member information, links to buy their songs, concert information to see event dates and locations to buy tickets, song lyrics from the video, fun facts about the band members and latest band news.

Nearly all of the Hotspotting videos, for whichever purpose, have similar features and capabilities such as face-to-face live video chat, wish lists, options to view similar products and rating and sharing features which mean customers believe they have the personal attention and interaction of a real live store while shopping from home.. In the UK, it is expected that once the switchover from the analogue to digital TV signal is complete by 2012, the technology will be utilised on television as well.

Although much of the innovation impetus for Hotspotting is coming from servicing big brands and commerce, the implications for cause marketing, education or training are exciting.This technology would prove invaluable when used for Health & Safety tutorials at the workplace, First Aid services, education or even cause marketing. Indeed, there are as many possibilities as there are ideas.

What do you make of Hotsotting? What will the future bring?

Filed Under: Guest Posts Tagged With: Alexandra Beard, Clare Munn, Digital, Hotspotting, Interactive, Pokeware, Social Media, tcg, tcgagency, Video

5 Steps to Ensuring Process Enables Not Stifles

February 18, 2011 By ajmunn 6 Comments

Organizational structure implies and demands process. We organize ourselves through adherence to rules. We are taught to comply through these official rules. It brings accountability and a safety net for employees who are afraid to mess up.

Strict adherence to processes can however stifle creativity and create a culture where we focus on the tasks not the underlying objectives. We go throughout the day ticking the tasks off our list instead of working towards our goals.

Here are some thoughts on how we can encourage people to use process to enable them to be smart about the way they work versus resenting their list of tasks to get through.

Before you hand a person a task list, ensure they understand the objectives behind the tasks. What are they trying to achieve? What does success look like? How does each task contribute towards that success? Who are the stakeholders? Who do they need to work with?
Ask them to participate in structuring the process. This will empower them, give them a sense of ownership and control, allow them to incorporate the tools and processes that fit their learning styles and show you how well they understand the task.
Make it understood that the task list is part of a fluid process. It is not rigid or inflexible. Concentrating on the objectives and understanding the route to success will allow the flexibility to shift focus, direction and to trouble shoot when necessary.
Trust them to do the job. If the objectives are clear, and the process is set to enable, then empowering them to make decisions is much easier to do. This does not mean you do not support them. Having an open door policy and being available to answer questions is part of the process. It is far better to have someone ask the right questions than have people second-guessing themselves.
Measure and report against objectives and how close you are to reaching those objectives. Incorporate in that measurement process where the roadblocks to success are and where gaps are appearing. This will allow a refocus and re-evaluation of process. Tick off the objective milestones, not the individual tasks.

How do you structure your process? What works for you? What does not work for you?

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: Clare Munn, Empowerment, Organization, process, tcgagency

How To Get Your Client To Plan For Cultural Transformation

August 12, 2010 By ajmunn 8 Comments

As organizations realize that their customers hold control over their brand conversation, and harnessing the knowledge both from, and about their stakeholders is the smart and truly sustainable way forward, but the manner in which they respond is key.

Twitter chats such as #smchat and #innochat deal with these topics all the time. Much wisdom and debate is shared within the chats. The consensus appears to be that ‘Corporate Culture’ plays a pivotal role.

This reminds me of a joke:

Q: “How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?”
A: “One, but the light bulb must really want to change.”

I fast-forwarded to the end.

Here is how I got there:

Philosophy meets Process

There is much debate around what Social Customer Relationship Management (SCRM) is. Paul Greenburg’s brain structures the approach to SCRM wonderfully. His ‘10,000’ hours on the subject show.

“Social CRM is a philosophy and a business strategy, supported by a technology platform, business rules, processes and social characteristics, designed to engage the customer in a collaborative conversation in order to provide mutually beneficial value in a trusted and transparent business environment. It is the company’s programmatic response to the customer’s control of the conversation.” Paul Greenburg July 2010

The elements of his definition bring it all together nicely. Reading Paul’s framing thoughts you can feel his frustration. He would rather we all got on with working towards realizing the elements of a SCRM that are relevant to us, instead of debating semantics. Fair point.

We at tcg: thecommunicationgroup talk SCMR, but have been reluctant to publically use the label. Getting involved in the debate can distract from the doing and the learning through doing. If we were to point at a definition, Paul’s would be it, not so much because of the words he has used, but because of the reasoning behind them. Hat’s off to Paul for doing and saying.

I know I harp on about the short-cut culture, the tips and tricks brigade, etc. We are suckers for anything that promises to cut our workload, get us more exposure, increase our following … “and it’s practically for nothing”. I am all for solid process and best practices but it needs to be aligned to strategy, quantifiable objectives and in the context of the big picture. I do not mind if something is going to cost me something as long as I can realize a return. I think it‘s called investment. Implementing a SCRM strategy is not a shortcut. It holds no hidden secrets, no tricks. It involves whole system thinking and participation. It is as much structure as it is philosophy.

The way an organization approaches a move towards SCRM is as important as the technology it invests in. If an organization does not invest in shifting the way it works, the way it thinks, the way it evolves…no amount of technology, tricks or tips are going to bring around a meaningful transformation. When we were working with Cisco on their Channel Partner Relationship Management three years ago we saw many of these concepts play out successfully. Cisco were committed to the organizational change that accompanied the technical changes. Lots has changed since then, but Cisco continues to adapt due to their organizational philosophy.

Of course this is easier said than done. We cannot only blame organizational culture for the lack of progress and adaption to SCRM. We – the people who talk about it and offer our time and services to implement this for organizations – need to play our part, too. It is not unreasonable for companies to request data and details that will enable them to understand the level of investment needed and the expected return on that investment. It is our duty and responsibility to provide them with this information by incorporating cultural transformation within the project resource allocation, process and budget.

SCRM and cultural transformation are complex and I know I haven’t exhausted the topics. There are so many opinions and levels that I know you have something to say. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Photo by Mandaloo

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: #innochat, #smchat, brand, Cisco, Clare Munn, conversations, customer relationship management, SCRM, Social Media, tcg, tcgagency

Innovation: Why Africa Is The Place To Be – Opinion

May 13, 2010 By ajmunn 6 Comments

If an American or European organisation were to invent the automobile today, they would not get it approved by the army of regulators, health and safety officers, industry regulators, environmental targets and all the other hurdles thrown in their way.

If it were a Chinese organisation on the other hand, things would be different. The relationship between innovation and resource utilisation is more market growth driven verses regulation driven. Some could say the US or Europe of old.

If an American or European organisation developed a more efficient and socially responsible method of organising or producing a product or service, it is likely the establishment would do everything it could to stop it in order to ensure their existence is not threatened, quite possibly under the guise of national interests.

Africa is a different world, particularly Africa north of South Africa. The West’s ‘top down’ approach to Africa has not worked. A major part of this is that Africa’s relationship and attitude to resources is different to the West’s. Africa may be ‘blessed’ with resources but it is clear we need to distinguish between resources in or of the land, and the availability of resources to the population.

The West, when looking to Africa as an investment opportunity is still making the mistake that it has made for decades. I have been reading with interest the growth of Africa as a destination for investment funds. How very English. “If Africa wants to attract investment funding into their capital markets they need to organise and regulate their markets better.” Which basically means that they want the markets to be organised the same way theirs are. Of course I am not saying that organised markets are not desirable or regulation and accountability is not needed. Nor am I suggesting that an organised financial market will not create wealth. I am pointing out that there is still a belief by the West that for Africa to develop it needs to become civilised, where civilised equates to, “like us”. Trading invisible money on capital markets may generate wealth but for who? Of course I understand the thinking and the theory. I also understand the other side too and look to the large hole we are in because of this.

If Africa were to become like the West overnight, the continent would come to a grinding halt. Over regulation is not only the privilege of the over resourced and established, it is also the death of innovation and progress.

The spirit and aptitude towards innovation within Africa is enormous. Africa has no choice but to innovate towards purpose, according to its culture and within its available resources and structures. Innovations are useful, they fulfil a purpose and they happen because they are driven by the need to improve peoples’ lives according to who they are and what they have.

Responsible innovation and growth within Africa will not come from fighting its structures, culture and ethics but through understanding them and working within them. Let the people of Africa innovate. Creating a solution to a problem that also makes money is not greed or exploitation, it is smart, it is sustainable and it ensures innovation and responsible progress will thrive.

Work with Africa, invest, listen, learn and, quite possibly, the world will be a better place.

Filed Under: Africa Tagged With: Africa, Clare Munn, innovation, investment, Social Media, sustainable, tcgagency

Social Media 2010 – Focus and Approach

February 4, 2010 By ajmunn 3 Comments

Author: Alasdair Munn

I have been thinking about the latest trends for using social media.

Through participating in twitter chats like #smchat and #innochat I have been spotting some trends. Another huge area of learning for me has been looking at how people in situations where resources are limited, are approaching social media tools, technology and context. Several things have become obvious.

The new generation are simply using technology to discover new ways to re-purpose old behaviours. Everyone gets lost in the tools. They think they are inventing something new, yet, if we take an objective approach, and study human behaviour, we can see there is little that is actually new, just different approaches.
The disconnect between business and social media evangelists rests in the inability for the two to speak the same language. Fixing number 1 above will assist in bridging this gap.
Social media is a social science, not IT. Taking a behavioural approach and understanding how people work within communities, within cultures, at work, at play and within themselves has to be a starting point. The other is understanding objectives, purpose and resources.
Technology and software are no longer the barriers. Even in the most remote and technology unfriendly locations, current technology solutions and open source software can be adapted to meet the local resources and needs. The greater stumbling blocks are context, content, purpose and revenue models.
Keeping your eye on the bottom line and seeking a profit generating model is not greed, it is an essential and valid way of ensuring a project is sustainable and can reach its objectives. This does not loose sight of the fact that there needs to be authenticity, transparency and truth.

This year I continue to study people. I will trust my entrepreneurial experience and I will be driven by purpose, objectives, context, available resources and sustainability.

What drives you in 2010?

Photo by Howard Gee

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: 2010, Clare Munn, Social Media, social sciene, tcgagency, technology, Twitter chats

Africa: Doing Her Bit for Haiti

January 17, 2010 By ajmunn 2 Comments

It is fun going to conferences and events that focus on subjects that are important to you. Once such event for me has been Africa Gathering. It not only focuses on the continent of my birth, but also how technology and social media can help with creating sustainable development. Two of my favourite subjects.

People most often view Africa as the recipient of aid, the poor cousin who needs technical assistance. Events like Africa Gathering are important as they show the world Africa is full of capable people who can, and do create systems, technology and processes that not only work for Africa, but have global significance and application.

The most visible of these projects right now is Ushahidi and their vital efforts in crowdsourcing data coming out of the Haiti earthquake and translating it into useful, available and actionable information.

Ushahidi was initially developed by Kenyans to map reports of violence in Kenya after the post election disturbances in 2008. Since then the platform has been rebuilt primarily by people within Africa, but in true open source philosophy with contributions from people in Europe and the US.

Take a look at their website and read further, it makes interesting reading.

Here is the link to their Haiti specific site.

As a Zimbabwean, it delights me to be able to point to the hard work, dedication, and resourcefulness of some very smart African people, who have developed a platform that has global application and the ability to ultimately save lives.

From an organizational perspective, this raises a few important questions and points

Who said social media tools do not have real purpose and application?
How can organizations learn from this?
Why aren’t more people thinking about how they can organize information from the collective and turn it into useable and valuable data?
Why must the revenue model of social media concentrate on making money directly from the tools verse figuring out how the tools and their application can empower your organization to reach objectives or gain revenue?

Let’s all learn a little from the people of Africa

Filed Under: Africa, Social Media Tagged With: Africa, Africa Gathering, Africa Strategist, Clare Munn, Haiti, Social Media, tcgagency, Ushahidi

5 Steps to Ensuring Process Enables Not Stifles

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