Reflecting on last week's news about Microsoft's strategic direction, one thing stands out at a very base level: three years or so since Microsoft acquired both Yammer and Skype and it still appears that "important" communications are done by email first. That's probably the same for just about every major global organisation, but if the … Continue reading Through internal channels
Category: Marketing
How are organisations using social networks to connect to their prospective customers? Well, in the straw-poll experience that I had with companies in the UK domestic telecoms sector yesterday, the answer appears to be "not very well". Over the past few years I have had a series of traumatic experiences when my home broadband and … Continue reading The transparent consumer
Every year I have the same painful set of conversations. Who should I use for my home phone and broadband supply, and how the hell do I work out what it is that they might charge me. So this year, something new. I keep hearing that brands want to have conversations with customers over social … Continue reading Transparent consumerism
I learned this week of the term Madtech. Marketing and advertising technology. It's good to see that cobbler's child syndrome is alive and well in the world; they might as well call it Sales, Hustling, Interrupting and Tracking Tech. Thing is, for all the talk about how smart marketing is becoming, driven by big data … Continue reading Retargeted
The dust isn't yet settled on the UK's General Election, but one element that is already getting coverage is the gap between opinion polling before the ballot, the exit poll, and what appears to be the final outcome. After weeks of pollsters predicting a result "too close to call", the exit poll published when the … Continue reading Sampling
When it comes to change, as a species, we are lazy. We are lazy for good reason - changing how we act or behave significantly increases our exposure to risk, and has a negative impact on the performance of what we do. We're so lazy when it comes to change that we'll often reject changes … Continue reading The laziness fallacy
I'm neither religious nor bought into the technology retailing cult that is Apple. As a result, I have a similar sensation when I enter into a church or an Apple store; a strong sense of being in the wrong place combined with a curiosity as to why so many people have gathered together to worship … Continue reading Retail experiences
Another week, another experiment... On Thursday I have a session with a potential client looking at the concept of building an employer brand. The question that we will be looking at is whether a programme of helping their staff to become better networkers could achieve their aim to attract and retain good technical talent. The … Continue reading Building an employer brand
This is the most meta-thing I've ever done... Top nine things you need to know about 'listicles' http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/12/listicles-articles-written-lists-steven-poole 5 ways the listicle is changing journalism http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/aug/12/5-ways-listicle-changing-journalism 5 reasons why list-based articles are so popular https://medium.com/new-media/5-reasons-why-list-based-articles-are-so-popular-41d7c4016bc1 7 reasons why list posts will always work http://www.copyblogger.com/7-reasons-why-list-posts-will-always-work/ The one thing that all LinkedIn all-time top ten posts have in … Continue reading Five articles about why lists are everywhere on the internet
During Social Media Week in London, along with Katie King, I presented on the challenges that Social and Digital channels are placing onto the ways in which organisations are interacting with their customers. The presentation gave an overview of the report that I researched and wrote this summer for IG Digital. You can see the … Continue reading Social Media Week – The Social Challenge
mmitII 