Inertia Opposed

Digital Darwinism

Brian Solis - Social Media Success Summit 2012

Plants have it rough

Eight Competencies to Socializing Your Organization

Eight Competencies to Socializing Your Organization

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Thoughts On Altimeter's Digital Influence Report

Armano on Altimeter's Digital Influence Report

Altimeter's most recent report titled "The Rise of Digital Influence" revolves around the theory and practice of "digital influence". A trend that will not die despite the industry's counter movement against platforms such as Klout and the scores of imitators which have subsequently followed. (Full disclosure, I was interviewed in depth for the report). Altimeter rightfully begins the analysis of "digital influence" by calling out the distinction from how we view influence traditionally and offering a brief definition:

"Traditional influence is defined as the act, power, or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways. For the purpose of this report, we will use the following as the definition for Digital Influence: The ability to cause effect, change behavior, and drive measurable outcomes online."

Luke Williams - The Disruptive Age: Thriving in an Era of Constant Change

Never stop fueling your curiosity

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.” – Albert Einstein

Angry Parent on Facebook

Welcome to the new world of "transparency" and "authenticity."  

Our life is now an open book.  Becareful how you choose to live inside your glass house.  

 

We live in exciting times!

"My head feels like it is full of pepper...." announces my daughter when she is thinking about a lot of different things (candy, piano, candy).  

Sometimes I feel like my head is full of pepper too. When I feel like that I sometimes ask myself, "would you prefer living at the turn of the century when the number one cause of death was diarrhea or now?"

As I ponder that question - innovate products and services continue to be released daily that reinforce my final answer to that question I ask when my head is full of pepper.  "YES!" 

Then I think of how wonderful and exciting the times are we live in.

Here's a great example that reinforces that answer.

 

Leadership in the Digital Age

This video, the insights and the narrative are spot on.  

Never has there been a time like the present to embrace the ideology.  

 

I believe, this is why people fail today.  You have to be transparent.  Being transparent requires you to trust your instincts and to embrace your beliefs regardless of what you may look like.  

 

Results, Reputation, Cost

It's the old chicken and egg discussion.

Recently I just read a report from MarketingProfs - Where Are the Marketing Innovators?

One key findings: Results trump cost and reputation when hiring outside agencies: Marketing execs say the ability to execute (34%) is far more important than cost (15%) or the agency's reputation (5%). 

Source: CMOs: Where Are The Innovators?  9/2/11

I completely agree that "results" trumps everything.  

Here comes the chicken and egg........if you are successful, you gain a reputation and when you have a reputation of success you have the ability to increase your rates and change the discussion of your services from an expense to an investment.

The other interesting stat quoted: Most (77%) execs want to work with agencies they would consider to be partners, not vendors, and roughly 70% now have engagements that resemble partnerships with agencies they use.

So here, both issues come into play - relationships between an agency and a client.

At the core, we all want to succeed. If we do, we get to keep our jobs. From an agency perspective - here's what we need to get to results. We need a unified vision of success. Any destination is great if you don't know where you're going.  

I can't stress this enough - if you cannot articulate what you want then you shouldn't engage in the effort.

If you pick a tactic because you feel a need to get going (aka "traction") without a vision of success you will fail. If your agency is worth a shit, they should push back and have an honest conversation with you.

You may disagree with my, "you will fail" comment - I respect your thoughts and it's duly noted.  

Here's what I mean by "fail":

1. You won't be able to articulate why you felt it succeed
2. You won't be abile to articulate why you felt it failed
3. IF you felt your efforts failed, I guarantee, you'll never be willing to try that approach again (or it will be damn hard to convince you to try).  This is one of the saddest outcomes of this approach because you might have had success or a piece of insight that is of tremendous value but you'll never use it again - and that is regretable.  Especially in this day and age of continuous improvement through iterative marketing activity. 

To end

If you want results, pick and agency you value as a partner and have meaningful conversations with your partner about what success means to you.