Digital Mayhem | Halifax | Nova Scotia

Facebook Connect - Honestly I had no idea!

It’s hilarious how you can be speculating one day about revenue models that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg should implement and then the next day you read an article on how he’s doing exactly what you were thinking he should do. I must have read about this somewhere and subconsciously packed it away in my mind.

The following article talks about how Zuckerberg is offering online advertisers the ability to register their audiences through the Facebook interface. Now Facebook will have your personal information and an understanding of what online ads are of interest. The monster continues to grow!!

http://www.businessinsider.com/six-months-in-facebook-connect-is-a-huge-success-2009-7

Facebook, is it really changing the world?

Facebook currently has over 200 million user profiles logged in their database and have the attention of its users for over 5 billion minutes per day. Many of these users load their life stories into their Facebook profiles and as time goes on their public dairy becomes a reflection of who they are in the eyes of their friends, peers, employers and future spouses. Does it matter that they are sharng their lives online with the rest of the world or that Facebook essentially owns their diary? Hell yeah!

In a previous blog post back in January 2009 I wrote about my first enlistment to Pod Camp and how the presenter (i.e. Joel Kelly) took a topic and turned it into a conversation. His topic was of course Facebook because he knew the sensitivity of personal privacy. It inevitably generates endless conversation and often countless opinions. In fact they’re so endless that the conversation was still going on when I attended my next social media event in June 2009 on a 3rd Wednesday at the Foggy Goggle!!

Here’s the thing, Facebook is changing how people relate to one another. It’s impacting the initial communication process. We now look to it for credibility checks before we hire people, friend or date them. Is it wrong that we judge people based on their Facebook profile? Hell No! Sure by setting up a profile on Facebook people are essentially making it easier for us to measure their mustard, but what most people don’t realize is this isn’t new.

When my digits were in the twenties I used my social networks to check people out. I didn’t get to see digital pictures of them in action, but I had a good idea of what it looked like when someone told me they’re a “party’r” or they’re in with the wrong crowd. In the immoral words of KAOS’s Seigfried, “We have our ways!”. Now there’s a guy who never had an issue with reputation!

Later in life as an employer I had ways of finding out who was the right fit and despite what might be considered “ethical”, you still knew things about people that factored into your decisions.

So what’s the big deal? Why are so many social media gurus debating the effect of Facebook on personal reputation? It’s the ease of accessibility and the fact that you don’t own your own information. It’s because once you put it out there it’s not going to go away. Until this application came along reputations could fad with age sort like my hairline.

I laugh to myself when I hear 20 year olds in these discussions proclaim they don’t care about what other people think or how they are judged by Facebook or any other method of assessment. They are who they are and if you don’t like it you can lump it! The truth is they don’t care at this moment, all things staying the same. The reality is things change and I have no doubt that over time their opinion on this issue will change as well. The old adage “Do as I say not as a do” will very quickly become “Do as I say not as I did on Facebook”.

Where I think Facebook will have the biggest impact in the future is digital marketing. Advertising channels are steadily becoming more and more cluttered with messages. People are becoming immuned to the noise. They no longer see things unless they are completely bizarre or outrageous. Marketers are going to great lengths to reach people. In order to reduce the noise we need to do a better job of reaching the audience when they are ready to hear the message. We need to know how they are feeling, what they are doing, where they are at and historically what they have been know to do in the past. We need to understand consumer behaviour so that we can direct the message to them when they are most likely to hear it.
In 2002 I went to see a Tom Cruise movie that really got me thinking about the future of advertising. Today I can see the start of what Speilberg envisioned would happen in this movie. Facebook is profiling the potential audience. iPhones are geolocating their position on the globe. It seems only natural that we as marketers start to talk directly to our target when they are most likely to want to hear from us. If I were Zuckerberg I’d be looking hard at a revenue model that leveraged his 200 million plus profiles in this manner.

Do you really need to go into the office?

Skype, Twitter, Yammer, Slideshare, Linkedin, Wikis and many other social media tools are changing how we work. The traditional workspace is moving from a physical location in an office to a virtual space where people share information, ideas, conversations and knowledge online. The water cooler banter is happening on Twitter, the business presentation on Slideshare and the business networking on Linkedin. Our workplace is becoming global and our office spaces virtual.

What does this mean for the traditional office space? We all have busy lives and in larger cities the daily commute to  the office can eat up 3 hours that could be used in a much more productive manner. Sitting in traffic or on a subway can be more physically and mentally draining than work.  If given the choice, the majority of people would probably love to be able to work from their home or their favorite coffee shop. Progressive companies know this and are taking advantage of the benefits of the virtual office space.

More and more companies are trusting their employees to manage their own work schedules. Employers are turning their attention away from controlling work environments and measuring productivity based on the amount of hours an employee spends in the office.Their focus is shifting from visibility to accountability. The Internet is enabling the decentralized workplace. The financial, psychological and productivity benefits of the virtual office will provide innovators with a competitive advantage that their competitors will be forced to adopt.

Virtual space won’t work for everyone, but don’t get caught thinking you need a office to have a culture or to enable communication. It can exist online and manifest itself in person through meetings. These meetings can take place in public or shared  space. The days of satellite offices are coming to an end for a lot of companies. Unless there is a specific need for bricks and mortar most are choosing the virtual alternative.

Mitch Joel recently blogged on the 6 steps towards a new economy. He refers to the future employee as a “Digital Nomad” and notes that companies are going to face a real challenge in designing corporate offices for people who seldom sit at a desk. Today’s office will likely be transformed into a meeting hall for collaboration. People will congregate, share information and return to their virtual office at the end of an Internet connection somewhere in the world. The days of sitting in a cubicle under flourescent lights appear to be coming to an end.

Facebook COO on Starbucks board

Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer for Facebook, has recently joined the board of directors for Starbucks. The coffee retailer has been going through some rough times recently with the US economy in the dumper, it seems more people are opting out on their $5 lattes. It’s interesting to see that Starbucks’ restructuring process requires the input of someone with social media expertise. The board additon may be  the first ripple in a move towards an integrated social media strategy with the biggest social network in the world.

Facebook has its own struggles with revenue and Sandberg is currently instrumental in the quest for a solution. Her impressive track record with the Clinton administration and Google certainly suggests she’s capable. Given the growth of Facebook and the continued anticipation of a revenue model that will lead the company to Google-type financial fame, you would have to think Sandberg would have enough on her plate. Unless, of course, joining the board is part of a much bigger strategy to join forces with the coffee brand.

What if this apointment represents the start of a partnership between the two companies? The possible synergies between a social network and a social gathering place are endless. Starbucks are already in the online social media space with www.mystarbucksidea.com. Imagine how powerful that tool could potentially become for their brand if you were to add Facebook’s 175 million users to the network. If I were Facebook I’d be thinking about how I could leverage my user and knowledge base to help companies with their brand building processes. Sandberg probably has this all figured out.

My DVR Conspiracy Theory

A few weeks ago I wrote an entry on my DVR conspiracy thoery. No doubt my passion for John Grisham novels is starting to cloud reality. When I first saw the Kennedy assisaination I sat for hours watching the fence by the knoll trying to see the face of the real shooter. I mean come on, there’s no way Lee Harvey Oswald hit that moving target from the sixth floor of a building hundreds of meters away using a hunting rifle. It’s obvious that there were other factors in play. Much like today’s world of television advertising, there are a number of stakeholders that have vested interests in the continued success of the traditional “TV commercial”. So much interest they probably would work a little harder to make sure the revenue stream stays intact.

But will it? How long before our traditional, channel flipping boob tube turns into an interactive, user-driven interface? The chiefs at TiVo in the US are warning the industry that change isn’t far off. According to a recent acticle in Brandweek, Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo predicts there is an advertising crisis in the making as more people adopt the TiVo model of commercial free viewing. He admits that TiVo is a big factor in this crisis that is driven by changing consumption patterns. Viewers want their television to act like their Internet experience. TiVo’s research indicates their customers like to control their own experience. Rogers says, “The consumer remains in control, which is an absolute must in the world of consumption”.

So if TiVo is right, why are there only 30 million DVRs in homes today? Is it digital penetration? I’m sure that plays a huge role. If you don’t have digital you can’t run a DVR. In February the US market is poised to go completely digital. DVR distribution should accelerate over the next 12-18 months assuming the economic situation improves. If it doesn’t it’s got to be a conspiracy by TV networks and entertainment companies. They have to be the guys over the fence in the grassy knoll controlling DVR growth while they figure out how to recover the lost revenue. This could be a new book for Grisham! You know I’ll be online for the audiobook.

Mac eliminates the keyboard!

As a converted Mac user, I’m always on the hunt for new toys. I found the following video on a news site out of the US that talks about how Apple has developed a new “keyless” Macbook Air. Jobs has out done himself again. Marketing genius!

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Click Here to see the product review on Apple.ca

A Pod Camp virgin

I felt a bit like Steve Carell in the 40 year old virgin today. If you haven’t noticed from my profile or some of my blog posts, I’m an older spirit and with age most would expect that there would be a certain level of wisdom and knowledge. After travelling the world for 20 years participating in conferences and witnessing lectures on everything from igneous rocks through to sexual harassment guidelines, you’d think I’d have lost my conference virginity by now. The adrenaline rush of the first time should be long gone or it least that’s what I had thought. But today I found the new conference Viagra, Pod Camp Halifax brought back that loving feeling that I hadn’t felt since my first conference in 1983.

It was a serene moment as I walked down the long hallway leading from the Dartmouth ferry terminal to the annex of the Alderney Gate library entrance. My eyes wandering from pole to pole looking for the arrows pointing to the registration desk. The anticipation built as I walked towards the library doors, I could feel my heart racing. Would anyone be there? Was it going to good or waste of my time? When I originally reviewed the list of speakers there certainly wasn’t anyone on it that made me want to jump out of bed on a Sunday morning and race to the event. Curiosity of the unknown was more of a driving force behind my attendance. The whole concept of an Unconference was intriguing and sexy. So like a typical member of the male species I was lured into the spider’s web.

Unconferencing or unstructured conferencing seemed bizarre to me much like Uma Thurman’s character in Pulp Fiction – odd but captivating. It had a schedule, it had a registration list, speakers –I couldn’t figure out the difference between it and a regular conference. Following registration I picked up my list of presenters, scanned it and quickly shuffled off to a small board room to see a fellow social marketer, Joel Kelly speak on “unfriending” people you don’t really know on Facebook. Joel’s presentation was short and sweet focusing on why we invited people who are not really our friends into our social networks. He showed 10 slides and had more questions than answers. At first I was thinking okay, 15 minute presentations, this is pretty weak. But right when I thought Joel had finished and we were all going to get up and leave something really cool happen. The audience started a conversation.

I’m not sure if Joel had intended it or not, but the room shifted from a one-way presentation to a full on conversation about the benefits and drawbacks of social networking. For the next 45 minutes the crowd did the presenting. We covered ethics, legality, employer stalking, Facebook interviewing and the social impact of journaling your life online. It was at that point that I realized the true meaning of  the Unconference. Much like the online social media applications we use everyday, Pod Camp presentations are decentralized. They’re not about one-way conversations where the presenter delivers their point of view. They’re about conversations and sharing information using an open platform.

For the Pod Camp veterans in the room my realization was probably old news, but for me it was a moment of true, unadulterated insight. Pod Camps are social events where the people who converse online get together and do it face to face. Presenters post their opinions and look for conversations and much like online social networks, the audience drives the bus. The host is a passenger who only pipes in to stimulate the conversation.  Pod Camp Halifax was by far one of the most unique conferencing experiences I have ever had in my extended conference history. I think Pod Camp TO is next on my list.

Tags: Facebook, Pod Camp, Social Networking, unconferencing, Unpresenter

Digital Video Recorders - Why doesn’t everyone have one?

Who wants to watch a commercial when you can buy a recorder that will bypass disruptive TV ads and deliver just the meat? I would think everyone would want to get rid of commercials, right? Well just about everyone. The television networks and ad agency in the US are probably not in a big rush to dismiss the 70 billion dollars in revenue they generate. In fact, they’re probably wishing the technology world had ignored the demand to get rid of commercials because now they have to go back to the drawing board and reinvent how people consume television content. Too late now to go back, DVRs are here to stay. The only real question that needs answering now is why doesn’t everyone own a DVR? Afterall they’ve been on the market for 3 years now, it only took a few years for the VCR to become mainstream.

As I wandered around the shopping malls making mental notes of all the gifts everyone had to have for Christmas this year, it seem very odd to me that the big electronic stores were not pushing DVRs. There weren’t any displays or promotional deals. Boxing Day flyers pushed Blu-Ray players which seems even more weird given most people are moving away from out-of-home rentals choosing to download movies off the Net. It feels a bit like the early days of Napster when the music industry choose to ignore the fact that music sales were all moving online and tried to sue their customers. This time; however, they are handling it a bit differently because they can control the production.

You have to wonder why no one is marketing the hell out of DVRs. Why not promote a DVR system and start building the infrastructure to facilitate online video purchasing? Why do companies appear to be avoiding the DVR business? I love conspiracy theories so here’s one for you. The big players in the entertain industry probably got together and collectively decided to slow the technology growth in DVRs so that the advertising industry has time to figure how to recover the billions of dollars in lost revenue. Unlike Napster which only needed a small piece of software to play a mp3, DVR hardware needs electronic assembly lines to produce the end product. A company like Sony could easily just avoid the production and marketing of DVRs, afterall it’s in their best interest not to make them.

You feeling the “control” thing? I’d love to have a DVR, in fact given how much I love technology it surprises me I don’t have one already. I asked myself, “self” why don’t you own a DVR? The answer came swiftly, they’re not accessible in the stores that I frequent. When I visited the Future Shop recently to by a LCD television the salesperson never asked me if I wanted a DVR with it. He did point out the great deals on Blu-Ray and Sound Systems. When I asked for a DVR they informed me there were none in stock. The salesperson recommended I rent from the cable company for $10 per month. Cable companies love to rent them because they can “control” the hardware. Okay maybe I’m obessing a bit and have become a slightly sensitive to conspiracies, but you have to admit it does sound suspicious, right?

High School Musical - Me Version!

I have been a huge fan of JibJab for the past 5 years, since the first day I saw their rendition on “Arnold for Governor”. But today, today is an emotional moment for me. Having long been a closet High School Musical Fan hiding in the shadows, ashamed of my connection. The time has come to expose myself to the world! To step out of that closet and to be the man I know I can be! Thanks to JibJab and their wicked digital technology I can now dance with the stars. God, I love the Internet!

Politics, Politicians and Digital Marketing

I absolutely love how the Internet has completely changed the dynamic of the political landscape in world. Thanks to online social media tools, politicians now have a new battle ground for throwing hand grenades at each other. As little as 5 years ago they would have used network television, newsprint and newscasts to fire their rocket launchers at their political adversaries. Now all they have to do is get a movie star like say, Matt Damon to record a two-minute video completely undressing their opponent and BOOM, over 1.5 million people are influenced and engaged within 2 days. It seems in order to win an election today’s politician has to be a good public speaker (capable of bullshitting large crowds), a credibility assassin (capable of discrediting his competition) and a digital marketing guru (capable of building online brand with connections in Hollywood). What the hell happen to leadership, ethics and morality?

Sorry, I forgot for a moment that I was talking about politicians. Those words are not top of mind when you discuss our political “leaders”. Why is that? Why do the majority of voters look at the people who run our world as evil, manipulators who conspire to steal our tax dollars? Creditability and trust is obviously a big issue for politicians. Having these two virtues is no doubt the determining factor between winning and losing; hence, why so many candidates have turned to the Internet to build their personal brand online. They want people to get to know the person and the opponent at every level.

Politicians once depended on the physical presence and pole data to gauge their personal brand with constituents. Now they can crawl the web for blog posts, news items, comments and video content measuring opinions and looking for weakness in their opponent’s armor. They hire companies to drill down through all the layers of information online and provide insight. They wage war on one another with captivating online posts that generate immeasurable amounts of “Water Cooler” talk. As a result any close political race today is really undecided until the final bell or shoot across the bow. Unlike the days when candidates had to stop campaigning days before the vote, today they influence opinion right up until the “X” is marked on the ballot. It makes you wonder what hot and juicy tidbits Ohbama and Maclean have in their war chests set aside for the week prior to the vote when they load their Flame Throwers and burn one another.

With the power of digital marketing and the ruthless nature of politics today it amazing that we still have anyone interested in running for office. How many of us could stand the personal attacks and character assassinations that take place in the media. With this new digital battlefield the war seems to have intensified. Voting has become a measurement of who you dislike the least as opposed to who has the leadership skills. So I think I’ll wait until the night before Election Day to make my decision on whom to vote for in our upcoming federal election. I’ll go online, summarize all the news on each candidate, assign a rating using my “Bullshitometer” and glance at their election platform (not like they’re going to stick with it) then decide who best weathered the mine field of rhetoric. Thank God we have the Internet!