LOL Innovation

via icanhascheezburger via icanhascheezburger

I recently wrote a piece for Digiday Daily entitled, "The Twitterization of Everything and LOL Innovation". The take away for marketers was something like the Bob Dylan lyric,

"And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone"




In the article I write the following,

The way in which we communicate has changed—as such, the nature of our language must change. Some refer to onslaught of web jargon such as “LOL” or “GTG” as the demise of the English language. I disagree with such this type of pedantic arrogance. There has certainly been a shift in the English vernacular, but it is not, in my estimation, a negative affair. Are people really that committed to preserving the King’s English?

This new vernacular of the web simply fits the way our society is changing. As with every societal change, the ways in which people express themselves needs to be altered. Communicating in the year 2009 is more immediate and increasingly mobile; the language we use must service these factors (if you still disagree, try texting in Chaucerian English—let me know how that goes for you).

As a student of language and innovation, I say, “Long Live LOL”!

If you get the chance, go over to the article and have a look. I would love to hear your thoughts.

(I will post the link as soon as the article is live)
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The Death of Blogging

Everywhere I look bloggers are turning in there once beloved blogs for shiny new toys. Lifestreams using Posterous, FriendFeed and Tumblr are on the rise. Heck, even the Micro Persuader himself has given up on traditional blogging in favor of a Lifestreaming approach. I wish that I could attribute all of the slacking that is taking place on A Media Circ.us to such a noble cause, however it would a farce.

Some of you may be saying, "Adam, we miss your great insights and cannot properly do our jobs without your wisdom". Well, fear not--I have more articles on the way over at iMediaconnection and am also speaking at a number of events and giving a couple of webinars in the next few months. As always, you can reach me on Twitter as well @adambroitman

Why is A Media Circ.us so sparse these days?

The truth is, me and a business partner have a new venture entitled Circ.us. It will be another month or two before we announce what the big idea is, but we are busy cranking away right now, working with some pretty large brands (as well as some smaller, but totally cool brands--you know me, I do the cool).

Again, my apologies for the lack of information; rest assured I am getting some great things done over here.

Note: I will be at IAB Mobile tomorrow; stop by and say hello.
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The Rise of The Real Time Web

map of meebo users across the world

Those of us living in the new media/tech industry, have probably postulated about lifestreaming (or lifelogging) and presence sharing from time to time-and have probably been doing so for years.

We recently lived through the rise and fall of Second Life (I still love this platform for what it represents) and are witnessing the rise of platforms such as UStream.tv and Loopt. On a much larger scale, we are witnessing the incredible success of Twitter, and for better or worse were recently graced with the redesign of Facebook, which aims to bring you the social news, as it happens.

These platforms may be different in the way they present information, but they all share a few core elements that are becoming an increasing part of all of our lives; whether we are aware of it or not (and whether we like it or not),

  • Real Time Social Interaction

  • Real Time Multi Point Experience Sharing

  • Non-Stop Streams of Social Data


These attributes have had a profound effect on early  adopters seeking ways to bring new layers of interaction to existing media, and new ways to broadcast their lives. But these platforms are not just for the diggerati anymore. All of us are slowly being inducted into this way of life. The real time web is slowly being infused into all media (and not just media on your PC).

This morning at the iMedia Breakthrough summit, one of the conference sponsors, Meebo, gave a presentation on the integration of their IM platform across multiple sites. Their message was aimed at advertisers, but something much more profound was present in the presentation. The ability to bring your friends with you across the web in real time, sharing content, ideas and experiences brought the notion of the real time, or experience web front and center.

I strongly recommend that you look at what Meebo is doing outside of their core platform, Meebo.com. I urge you to think about what Meebo is doing as more than just instant messaging; as it is, in essence a virtual world, much like Second Life. The only difference is that there are no avatars and it is not in 3D. If you disagree with me, great; but think about it a little before you simply dismiss what I am saying.
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Social Lead Generation Meets Cause Marketing



Question:

Social Outreach, Email Lead Generation and Cause Marketing?

Answer:

A new experiment by The Emerging Communications Conference.

My new friend Lee S. Dryburgh first approached me about the idea by telling me he had an idea for an experiment. His idea would help garner registration for the conference he is organizing, while at the same time do some social good; what could be bad about that!

I told him I loved the idea and that I would rely his efforts on to my community--so I am.

Here is how it works:

The goal is to achieve 10,000 sign-ups to the conference updates. For everyone who signs up for conference updates, eComm Media will pay 0.50 cents to The Shelter Network (charity watchdog rating here).

And Here Are the Calls To Action:

Instructions


I need help from two groups of people, the "social media gurus" and the rest of us!


The social media gurus I request help from are: Adam Broitman, Ayelet Noff, Ben Grossman, Brian Reich, Brian Solis, Carlos Hernandez, Chris Brogan, Chris Heuer, David Berkowitz, Eric Weaver, Gradon Tripp, Greg Verdino, Howard Greenstein, Laura Fitton, Jeff Pulver, Jeffrey Sass, Jeremiah Owyang, Jeremy Vaught, Jim Benson, Justin Levy, Rebecca Bollwitt, Robert Scoble, Robin Good, Steve Rubel, Susan Etlinger and Tim O'Reilly.


(if you would like to be added to this list or know somebody who should be by virtue of being considered a leader in the social media sphere please email me: Lee*eCommMedia*com).


I'd like the rest of us to blog this, Twitter this, email this to friends, IM it, Facebook share it, Digg it, Reddit - anything and everything across the social media space that you think could be effective.



Let's see what we can do!



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...it is how you use it!

Putting Twitter To Good Use

You need to learn how to use Twitter because all of the young people are using it, right? Um, no way!

I don't have the usage stats (kudos to anyone who can get them for me) but I don't know anyone under twenty who uses Twitter (and yes, I do know people under twenty). In fact, most people I know who use Twitter are older than twenty-five. Still, if you are a marketer learning to use Twitter in order to learn how the next generation will communicate, you are doing the right thing.

When I opened up Twittelator today, I noticed that there was a new menu item; movies. I clicked on it, and had one of those, "ah ha" moments. The underlying value of this function was not the technology (Twitter), it was how the technology was being used to parse information, and get it to me in a more relevant manner. This is, in my opinion where this space is moving. It is not about mass/micro chatter. It is about finding relevant communities of micro chatter that can give you the info you want/need--when and where you want it.

Every once in a while I have a moment of zen, where a technology reveals an underlying something that is a signifier of fundamental, sociological changes.These moments of zen only come when I let my mind wander--you don't always have to focus very hard to get your mind to interesting places.

Language is technology, and how we use language and information accelerates our culture.
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Caution Before Marketing



The above is the title I would have given my latest article over at iMedia--alas, they know best what brings in the traffic, and I love them for it :)

I bring up a number of topics that I plan on expanding upon on this blog. All of the marketing mistakes that I spell out are part of larger issues that I think about on an ongoing basis. I would love to hear which topics are most pressing for readers of this blog. I would be happy to do a deeper dive into any of these topics:

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Starbucks is Now Following You on Twitter




Starbucks logo Image via Wikipedia



Starbucks is not new to the social media space. They have done some very interesting, yet questionably successful initiatives--mystarbucksidea.com being the most notable.

I got a message today that Starbucks was following me on Twitter. I had heard about their presence, but had not really taken a look into it. I felt that this would be as good a time as any to dig deeper.

On first glance it appears that Starbucks is doing everything by the book:

  • Transparent

  • Non-Corporate Voice (vernacular)


  • @evanhecht Hey ... Sorry, I had a bunch of stuff to do today. I wish I could spend ALL my time here with you, that'd be way more fun



  • Value Adding presence


  • Attention all voters! Come in on Tuesday after you vote, get a Free cup of drip Coffee. http://tinyurl.com/joethere


  • They are following their followers


  • My finger hurts. 1200 new Followers in the past 3 days. I just got through following the new Twitter-ers. Welcome! 1:24 PM Nov 6th from web


    • Overall I would say that Starbucks is doing a pretty good job. Starbucks also used Twitter as a way to communicate a promotion they were working on:

    Starbucks on Twitter Starbucks on Twitter

    Some may have taken issue with a brand using Twitter as a promotional vehicle. I say, as long as they are upfront and are adding value, it is perfectly fine.

    I would love to hear others stories about Starbucks on Twitter; as they have been around for a little while already.
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    The Future Of Information or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The API



    RSS has drastically changed the way in which we experience media. In a recent article in Ad Age, Steve Rubel talks about a statistic that says, only 11% of internet users subscribe to RSS feeds. Rubel makes the following statement:
    RSS is easy and relatively cheap to adopt, so there's no reason for marketers to avoid it -- but I don't see it growing rapidly

    I agree with Rubel that there will not be a major uptick in internet users knowlingly subscribing to RSS feeds. That being said, I think that this statistic is fairly insignificant, as RSS drives the way in which a great deal of  information is spread across the net, whether consumers are aware of it or not. RSS is also a key element in feeding infomration to search engines. RSS is one of the fundamental components behind the social web.

    Another key element that has become part of the backbone of the social web is the API. I recently wrote an article for Minonline explaining the significance of The New York Times campaign finance API (as well as other API's recently launched).

    The article starts with the following:

    The world of media and information has reached a crossroads. The speed at which information is disseminated has increased exponentially. This new, lightning fast mediation has made the reliance on traditional media vehicles impractical for many people—and subsequently has led to the downturn of many traditional media companies.


    Amidst a sea of confusion and , at times, outright gloom; one traditional media company has shined like a light—guiding other struggling media companies to the shores of restitution. That company is none other than The Grey Lady; The New York Times.


    The New York Times Company recently launched The Campaign Finance API (the first API, in a series API’s). It certainly was a big day for big media—but this launch did not get a whole lot of fanfare. Neither did the subsequent launches of the TimesTags API and the Times Movie Reviews API.



    The lack of mainstream attention towards these launches came as no surprise to me; still, if you are in the media industry (especially publishing) and this news did not jolt your world a little bit, you may want to keep reading.

    If you want to check out the rest of the article, head over to Minoline.com.

    Yes, I would love to read the rest of the article, please take me there
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    The Steadfast Rules Of Blogging

    One of the reasons that I love blogging is that it is free from the confines of editorial--this is certainly nothing new. Another thing I love is that I can blog when I want, and not blog when I don't want (an issue brought up on the Jaffe Juice Podcast many times).In reference to the title of this  post, the reason I love blogging is that there are no steadfast rules. Many bloggers ask questions about strategy as it relates to their business objectives (i.e. Chris Brogan, "Am I Too Naked") but there is no right or wrong--blogging just is.
    Image of crayon from Twitter

    For those of you that were reading this blog when I posted more frequently and more personal things, thanks for staying with me (I am assuming you are staying with me, as you are reading this post). Things at crayon have been going really well. It is a pleasure working with such great minds. I have been very busy with work lately, but have managed to get in some speaking and writing as well. I began writing for Minonline after a fortuitous run in with the illustrious Amy Novak. I also continue to write and blog for iMedia (who continues to serve as my media family).

    Last week I spoke on a really cool panel about digital innovation at a 212 event. For those of you that made it, thanks so much! Today I will be speaking at the New Marketing Summit in the lovely (with no cell reception) Foxboro MA. I am very excited about this as well. Next week it is on to the iMedia Financial Summit where the bald marketing team will take on Geary Interactive in an agency shoot out (note, Vigor Branding is helping out with the graphic design, as that is not what crayon does--you can be sure Joe Szala and team will do an amazing job of supporting Mr. Verdino and my brilliant strategy--hey, we are bald, after all).

    Anyhow, that is it from me. I would love to hear from you. Send me comments, email, what you are up to-I would love to hear more about the A Media Circ.us community. Did you know it has almost been three years!
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    Location, Location, Location!

    Image representing Mary Meeker as depicted in CrunchBase
    Image via CrunchBase

     cross posted from the iMediaconnection blog

    A number of years back I recall hearing an incredibly prescient quote from Morgan Stanley analyst, Mary Meeker. The quote spoke about localization and personalization-and how these elements would be key drivers in the growth of the web as a commercial platform. While these concepts are fairly obvious today-at the time (I believe it was around 2003) it was not as obvious. Needless to say Meeker's statement had a profound effect on my work. Years later these notions have become fundamental elements of online marketing and are ingrained in my day-to-day operations (both professional and personal).

    Localization Is Personal



    With the onslaught of social networks, collaborative filters and search engines-there is no shortage of personalized content online. Localized content and services however are still fairly primitive, but remain one of the largest opportunities in digital commerce and communications. A bevy of new services aim to solve this problem, and it should come as no surprise that mobile phones are at the core of many of these services.

    Geo+Social



    Back in April Michael Arrington posted an epiphany he had about mobile social networks. This concept is one that I have been interested in for a while and could not have agreed with his commentary more (see my posts on what I was referring to as Social Networking 2.M). The value mobility adds to social network activity is-freedom from the shackles of the desktop-where social activity is largely virtual and often impersonal.  Mobility adds a human element to social networks. The mobile phone adds presence and experience sharing to social networking.  For those not following the space closely, I strongly recommend signing up for a few of the following applications:

    There are a lot more out there-this is my war chest.

    Geo+Commerce



    Having spent a significant amount of time focused on ecommerce, the promise of being able to search local, in-store inventory right from a mobile device is incredibly compelling. The marriage of clicks and bricks is something that marketers have sought after since the beginning of the ecommerce era. The marriage between online and offline marketing will be realized to a greater degree with the assistance of mobile commerce applications. Some applications you should be paying attention to in this space are:



    One of the newer names in the space (the company is actually not new, they simply changed their name) is a company called Shopsavvy. They are incredibly hot this month due to the way in which their application takes advantage of the new T-Mobile G1 (powered by Android). The application combines the ability to scan bar codes, comparison shop both online and off-as well as a plethora of other features that include location and social media.



    While I would never utter the words, "this is the year of mobile", I do feel that mobile devices are getting us closer to the second part of Mary Meeker's vision. Look out for further advances in the realm of localized content and services over the next year.


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    Can Anyone Be A Social Media Marketer?

    What is the required skill set to become a "social media marketer" (a title that I am not sold on, but will use for lack of a better one)?

    This is not a new question. In fact, this questions has been asked more times over the past few years than I care to recount, but the fact of the matter is that the space is reaching an age of maturity whereby we need some standards.

    Are these the standards;

    1. A Facebook account and a copy of The Cluetrain Manifesto
      The Cluetrain Manifesto

    2. Some SEO chops and access to PRWebPR Web

    3. Web design skills and the knowledge of what an API is      Not An API

    4. Over 5000 Twitter followers     

    5. A blog with a Technorati ranking above 200

    6. Spending a lot of time on Plurk talking about Twitter

    7. Have had dinner with Robert Scoble


    While the answer to this question is still unclear, one thing I can say with 100% certainty is, the above criteria are not the standards.

    I tend to be a purist. I think that if you are a modern marketer you should be, by default a "social media marketer". If you are not, you are simply a poor marketer!

    If you were never a marketer to begin with and decided there was a tremendous opportunity (due to lack of knowledge) in the "social media marketing" arena and fulfilled the above criteria, can you then be considered a "social media marketer"?
    At the end of the day it does not really matter how you got to become a "social media marketer". The only thing that matters is the quality of work you output.

    Those who are passionate and diligent (and of course intelligent) should rise to the top of the stack, but in the interim the onslaught of those claiming to be "social media marketers" is potentially diluting the market and making it difficult for those individuals that are just good old savvy marketers who understand new media.

    I would love to hear your thoughts on what makes a "social media marketer" (I know many of you out there have them)

    Who Says You Can't Make Mistakes!

    A few days ago, under the pressures of work and urban living I lashed out against a company with a series of harsh tweets (twitter posts for the uninformed). This company was having technical issues and people were receiving a mass influx of email. It was pretty annoying!

    A day or so later I received a very personal email with a sincere apology and an offer. This company creates custom search engines and offered to make me one (I thought that was kind of cool). I turned around and acknowledged their integrity and would like to share their official apology:

    Three days ago we experienced a critical technical problem with our hosting company. One of the mail servers kept running a script which resulted with some people receiving a huge amount of emails form Joongel.

    We are extremely sorry for all the inconvenience caused. We didn't mean to cause any harm to anybody.

    We have found out what was the problem and fixed it. Our hosting company caused
    us a lot of damage and we will make sure this will never happen again.

    Please accept our sincere apology.

    Dror Ceder
    Co-founder

    In case you have not guessed it, the company is Joongel.

    Now, I want to be clear. This is not an invite for people to go out and annoy people and apologize in hopes of getting a loving blog post, but in this case I think Joongel is doing a good job of cleaning up their mess and I appreciate it, therefore I am helping them out.

    I will be putting up a badge so you can try out the official A Mediacirc.US search bar. I would love some feedback (I am sure Joongel would love it too)