The Power of Community
I’m amazed at Twitter. In fact Twitter may be the biggest case study in the strength of a digital community.
Despite its regular outages that would have crushed any other Web business (1.0 or 2.0), I come back and everyone else I know is still is there too. We complain. We get frustrated. But we still post messages. Why? The power of Twitter’s connected network of users keeps people coming back.
Like a hot 50’s burger joint that doubles as the night spot, Twitter is the place to be seen and heard. Even when it’s down (closed), we still attempt a drive-by to see who’s there. As soon as it’s back up, there we are posting away.
Jeremiah Owyang, social media analyst at Forrester and former PodTecher, comments today that he “signed the customer company pact,” basically telling Twitter he’d “be patient, understanding, and to show the company the same respect” that he’d want shown to him.
While the customer company pact is good, getting people to shift to another service will depend entirely upon the community it’s built on. I still prefer Flickr, PodTech, Utah Bloggers, etc. over others because of community. There is sticking-power when the community is there.
USA falling behind in Broadband Speed
The WSJ has an interesting article today that shows the USA falling further and further behind the rest of the world in broadband speeds.
The U.S. has fallen behind in speed, too. In the same study, conducted by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank, the U.S. ranked 15th in the average advertised download speed, at 4.9 megabits a second. That’s slower than the 17.6 megabits a second in France and the 63.6 megabits a second in Japan, which ranks No. 1 in this category. In other words, it takes a little over two minutes to download a movie on iTunes in Japan, compared with almost half an hour in the U.S. The average U.S. download speed is even slower, according to other estimates.
I pay $55.00 a month for “basic” speeds from Comcast. I could get faster if I would also buy my cable TV service from them. This may have been the direction I went when I first moved into my new home 5 years ago. However, Comcast didn’t offer cable or high-speed when I moved in because they didn’t have my new neighborhood “wired” when the development was created. Since I produce videos, uploads speeds are nearly as important as my download speeds. I’m averaging only 43-48 Kbps uploads. I would love to get some of the Japanese speeds here in the USA.
vSpring v|100 class of 2008 Member
While this is old news at this point, I thought I’d reference the list of vSpring v100 members for 2008 as it’s now available on the vSpring Capital site. I’m looking forward to catching up with members and friends at the v|100 luncheon May 28, 2008.
I just counted and realized I’ve interviewed about 20 percent of this year’s members as part of my social media and marketing exposure efforts at Rocky Mountain Voices.
Rick Alden, Skullcandy, CEO & Audio Guerrilla
Kirt Bailey, Celio Corp, President & CEO
Bob Barnes, Zonder, CEO (filmed with Dennis Wood)
Jay Bean, OrangeSoda, CEO
William Borghetti, Sendside Networks, CEO
Adam Edmunds, Allegiance, CEO
Bjorn Espenes, Infopia, CEO
Jeremy Hanks, Doba, Cofounder, Chairman & President
Richard D. Hanks, Mindshare Technologies, Chairman & President
Nathan Hatch, Center 7, President & CEO
Scott Johnson, AtTask, CEO
Kimberley Jones, Vérité, CEO
Jeff Kearl, Skullcandy, Chairman of the Board
Abraham Knell, AtTask, Co-Founder & Vice President, Sales
Darren Lee, NextPage, CEO & President
Ty D. Mattingly, Primary Colors, Managing Director
Dr. Tom Ngo, NextPage, CTO
Brent Nixon, Cymphonix, President
Michael Proper, DirectPointe, President & CEO
Eric Smith, Control4, CTO
Jack W. Sunderlage, ContentWatch, President & CEO
Cydni Tetro, NextPage, VP Marketing
Will West, Control4, CEO
Social Experiment in Branding
Brand is more than a logo. And the new web application BrandTags.net shows this. Brand is what’s in someone’s head based on their interaction with the company / product. It can be generic, specific, good, or bad. Marketers influence this through advertising, packaging, voice greetings, logo, color, athletes, price, and more. What people ultimately associate, catalog, and share with others is ultimately the “brand.”
Today’s social tools are showing marketers what they’ve only collected on the street and through focus groups. Today information comes at you faster, is more honest, and includes huge sample sizes from a cross-section of people around the world.
For some, the result is positive (Apple, Mercedes-Benz, Harley-Davidson). For others, I’m sure that CEOs, CMOs, Brand Managers, and board members are gritting their teeth (WalMart).
Give it a try. Enter your thoughts on a brand, and feed the collective intelligence brand meter.
Multiple Marketing Messages. One Brand Promise.
Having produced many podcasts myself, I must confess I’m a big fan of Brian Martin‘s Brand Fast-Trackers series. The quality of conversation and the recording make it stand out above the average. I look forward to the guests, the insight, and the learning I get from listening.
John Adams, the CEO of The Martin Agency, was a recent interview. The Martin Agency became the first advertising agency to be named “Agency of the Year” five times by Adweek magazine. Adams brings 30 years of experience to the table when he talks about marketing. He’s worked to create some amazingly memorable campaigns, mascots, marks, and more. A recent success is his work with GEICO and their gecko and caveman campaigns.
An insight from this podcast that hit me as a very unorthodox and perhaps breakthrough was Adam’s recognition and support for deeper layers and multiple messages. This is one trend that makes a lot of sense for new media and marketing to the digital-raised, multi-tasking, short-attention span Millennials. Check out the quote below, and be sure to listen to the full podcast for additional insight.
Consumers themselves in many ways account for the recent explosion of multiple advertising messages across both old and new media. Adams believes today’s consumers have advanced beyond classical marketing tenets. “The capacity of people to hold multiple ideas about the same brand in their minds at the same time has absolutely evolved,†says The Martin Agency topper. “We are finding out with GEICO and with other brands that it is not only possible but highly desirable to tell multiple stories and have multiple promises for a brand, which is contrary to the way we were all taught.†Placing a specific brand message with the audience most likely to embrace it is the other portion of the equation. The GEICO campaign, with its multiple messages delivered nearly simultaneously, offers a perfect case study. “The one thing that unifies them is the overarching brand promise: ‘A 15-minute call could save you 15 percent or more on your car insurance.’ But the way in which each of those campaigns is done is completely different, and 30 years ago that would have been heresy.â€Â
– From Episode: John Adams downloads on four decades with The Martin Agency
Cool Gadget
Now this is one cool gadget and another stick in my eye for not listening to my Mother who begged me to stick with piano lessons as a boy. Here’s one more reason for young boys and girls to stick with their lessons.
The Yamaha notepad / keyboard hybrid concept: “Key for Journey.” This is a product design that I hope makes it into the real world. I love the Steve Jobs-like industrial design. I can almost smell the leather (anyone remember DigiScents?). Practically see the wear and oils in the leather on the notebook’s spine. Showing the keys through the leather is just so cool.
World Grain Stock at a 35 Year Low
The price of food is on the rise. As a story and charts from the Wall Street Journal show, rice (prices up a whopping 134 percent), wheat, corn, and soy are all above a 60 percent increase over the last 52 weeks.
Cargill, a large international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services, saw a Chevron-like return in their last quarter with $1.03B in revenue. When I read the CEO’s comments in the WSJ, I couldn’t help but ask myself if large corporate farms control supply driving prices to their favor. While he says that they’re “doing an exceptional job,” my thought is this is an answer to shareholders, not the rest of the world who require the commodities Cargill, ADM, and others provide.
Cargill’s chairman and CEO, Greg Page, said earlier this month [April 2008] that “the dimensions of change in global agriculture are striking” and that the Minneapolis company is doing “an exceptional job measuring and assessing price risk.” He said world grain stocks are at their lowest level in 35 years.
(emphasis added)
Need Entrepreneurial Activity in Alternative Fuels
I’m amazed at how far behind we are in coming to a solution of our own energy crisis. As Americans, we are the most energy sucking people on the planet–far outpacing any other group.
“According to the Department of Energy’s most recent data on greenhouse gas emissions, in 2006 the U.S. emitted 5.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, or just under 20 tons per capita.”
WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB120934459094348617.html
While we probably think of our cars first, a real issue is our homes. The “always on” appliances and devices that are taking power even when we “don’t” use them.
“You can forget refrigerators, microwaves, clothes dryers and flat screen TVs. Even a house tricked out with all the latest high-efficiency EnergyStar appliances and compact fluorescent lights won’t come close. The same daunting energy math applies to the industrial, commercial and transportation sectors as well. The clear implication is that we shall have to replace virtually the entire fossil fuel electricity infrastructure over the next four decades with CO2-free sources–a multitrillion dollar proposition, if it can be done at all.”
WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB120934459094348617.html
Are cars are truly a big issue. But the proposed targets for 2050 are going to take huge changes.
“Right now our cars and trucks consume about 180 billion gallons of motor fuel. To meet the 2050 target, we shall have to limit consumption of gasoline to about 31 billion gallons, unless a genuine carbon-neutral liquid fuel can be produced. (Ethanol isn’t it.) To show how unrealistic this is, if the entire nation drove nothing but Toyota Priuses in 2050, we’d still overshoot the transportation emissions target by 40%.”
WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB120934459094348617.html
I’ve really got to take a deep look into what is happening in the entrepreneurial community to see if there is an opportunity for a marketing person.
Congratulations to my Friends at SCPR
One year anniversary party. Congratulations to Cheryl and the entire team.
Twitter vs. Blogging
I’ve been sucked into the black hole of Twitter. Because Twitter is so convenient and easy to communicate on, I’ve slacked here. I’ll be back to blogging.
Twitter is still interesting to me, but there is so much self promotion and people trying to figure out how to use the medium that it’s getting tiring. I do like keeping touch on people and their efforts. Personally, I need to use the medium to get more information back rather than shouting out.
Recent Videos and Marketing Power
I’m really happy that the video I produced for Footnote.com‘s launch of the Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial has been well received. Footnote used the video to attract attention with “old media” newspaper and television companies. It was cool to see my video I created being used inside a news piece on MSNBC.