Trends And Truisms Day Nine: The Importance Of Being Open

(image compliments of Schweers' 3rd Grade Class Blog. I wish we had blog's when I was in third grade. Anyhow, to Mr./ Mrs. Shweers and class, keep up the good work!)


A couple of weeks ago I gave the openness award to Google. I did not do so because I felt that Google necessarily embodies the essence of open source and transparency more than any other group, I did so because I feel that Google has pushed the boundaries for large walled garden companies to adopt a more open mindset.


Google’s introduction of Android changed the future of the Mobile industry nearly overnight. After making this announcement, the walled gardens of Verizon and AT&T came crumbling down (or so they would like us to believe). Google also had a major impact on the future of the mobile industry (and the communications industry at large) when its lobbyists fought and won their goal of keeping the 700 MHz spectrum open to everyone.


We witnessed the same type of mass openness when Google announced Open Social. Suddenly, private social networks were adopting open API’s and standards conducive to interoperability in order for social network users to create one identity across many platforms.


Google’s actions were certainly not the only signs that openness would become an important factor in interactive media marketing. Here are a few more:



More recently, we have been hearing speculation that the most walled industry of all is making moves towards openness; the cable industry.


Is the future really open, are we already there or is this all just a farce?


There are certainly many more examples of openness. I would love to hear more examples for you!


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Trends And Truisms Day Eight: Content is Still King But Syndication is The Kingdom

(special thanks to Emily Las of Morpheus Media for helping with the title of this one)


So you say you are a progressive marketer. You have already adopted branded content as a weapon in your marketing arsenal. Well, we all know that the impact of content is as loud as the noise made by a tree falling in the forest with no one seeing it, if no one sees it (okay that was a ridiculous metaphor but I am trying to keep you on your toes here).


When talking about the king (content), I am not just referring to what we typically think of as content. Those marketers in the eCommerce game, your product shots and previews can be just as appealing to the right audience as a singing dog is to rabid YouTube fans!


Whether or not you feel the content you possess is compelling,  format it for findability and syndication. You never know who will be looking and what they will find interesting. What do you have to lose?


No matter what type of marketing you are doing online, you must pay careful attention to your syndication strategy. The smart marketer will make sure that their content is available for consumption anywhere and everywhere; in exactly the way a consumer wants to consume it.


As we all know, the technology that enables the simplest way to syndicate content online is RSS. While RSS, at its most base level is simple (hence the name) it can be used for more complex strategies that take further advantage of its power. Spend time creating multiple feeds based on context and any other way a consumer may want to consume your content. A well thought out RSS strategy is not simply the following;


"Plug url into Feedburner and get going (Don't get me wrong, I love Feedburner)".


If you have no idea what I am talking about when I refer to, a good RSS strategy, email me, we will chat.



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Trends and Truisms Day Seven: Search Is An Emerging Technology

Search engines are the most important and unique thing to happen to media since the inception of the web, and the emergence search engine marketing is potentially the largest shift in marketing ever!


This is not news, far from it.


Still, many marketers will discredit the efficacy of search marketing in lieu of more in your face technologies such as video or mobile. Furthermore, search marketing is generally no longer bucketed with other technologies we refer to as emerging, hogwash!


We have only seen the tip of the tip of the iceberg when it comes to search engines. We are still in the stone ages of search as far as I am concerned. I am not saying that I am not satisfied with the current state of search engines, but in an exponentially growing world of content, there is only one thing that is certain; we will always need a way to find what we are looking for.


Online video and audio search engines are obviously what is top of mind for many technologists and media/marketing professionals, but what happens when the wealth of content available online becomes available on our set top box (and eventually everywhere where media can be consumed)? 


What happens when browsing the web via a mobile phone becomes as common as browsing from your PC? You may not care right now how well your WAP pages are optimized for search, but you will soon enough!



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Trends and Truisms Day Six: Mobile Phones Are Merely Another Access Point and Widgets Are Nothing More Than Content Syndications Modules

Jeremy Beyda and Kirk Skodis are really heating things up over at post number five. While I am completely love their contributions, my questions is, where are all the other metaverse superstars? John Swords, Mark Wallace, Jerry Paffendorf, Tateru Nino, Nexeus Fatale, Rhiannon Chatnoir, Frans Charming...where are all you guys?


Now For Post #6


I am not going to spend a whole lot of time here, but there is something that I really need to get off my chest,


Marketers need to have a strategy before they have a mobile or widget strategy; we need to stop putting the technological cart before the horse!!!


I think people are spending too much time putting the technology before the marketing concept. Mobile phones and widgets provide new ways to access content. Sure, there are tons of cool things that can only be done with a mobile phone or a widget, but I guarantee failure for those that plan for a technology and not a marketing goal.


When it comes to thinking about each of these technologies, the questions should be centered around syndication and locations based delivery of content. Not every piece of content needs a widget, just as not ever piece of content belongs on a mobile phone (at least in it's broadcast format).


For those of you that know me, you know I am a big geek when it comes to these technologies, so you know I really mean it when I say all of this. Sometimes I have to stop myself from suggesting a widget for widgets sake, but to be a responsible marketer, I make sure to do so.


There are a number of people that I am awaiting response from on this post; Ben Pashman of Gigya, Chris Cunningham of FreeWebs and Chris Arens of Ad Infuse, I would love to hear from you guys. I was especially provocative for you on this one, but I know you will provide some great insight  :)



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Will Cable Really Open Any Time Soon?

As the trend towards openness continues, one of the least likely industries to jump in the game has signaled that it is heading towards a more open environment. Yes, you guessed it; I am talking about the cable industry.


For more than 10 years we have heard about the promise of interactive television. In fact, CableLabs OpenCable has been in the works since 1997. So why is it that now, after ten years we are beginning to hear about cable operators adopting standardized technologies as opposed to the heavily walled gardens that we are used to?


For one, pressure is on from the FCC to allow consumers to bypass the rental set top box in lieu of a device of their choice. This pressure however is not necessarily the main motivation. It is my belief that the main motivation is…drum roll please…digital media!


Two nights ago I fired up Hulu on my forty-two inch plasma screen. Much to my surprise, I enjoyed a near flawless viewing experience. The commercials were few and short and the stream pixilated only once in a 90 minute viewing session (which is actually more than I can say for my Time Warner Cable viewing experiences).


Days later I heard the news that Cablelabs recently unveiled the newly branded version of Open Cable; Tru2Way;


“Tru2way technology is built into televisions, set-top boxes, and other devices enabling cable companies and other interactive television service and application developers to “write” interactive applications such as games once and see them run successfully on any cable television system that supports the specification.”


Comcast, the country’s largest cable operator has announced the adoption of Tru2way. This announcement comes at a time when threats such as Hulu and Amazon Unbox become more and more of a reality.


So what does the future have in store for the cable industry? Are they already too far behind the digital media companies, or is their reach large enough to buy them time and play catch up?



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Time will tell!



Trends And Truisms Day Five: We Have Been Living In Virtual Worlds Since The Invention Of The Telephone

I was all set to add post number 5 on the Trends and Truisms list when I saw a comment on post number 4 from my new friend Kirk Skodis over at Real Pie Media. I meet Kirk through Joseph Jaffe's Month Of Experimentation. Following that Kirk and I decided to make a joint donation to One Laptop Per Child . Now, after looking through Kirk's work I am a huge fan and have gotten completely sidetracked by his Facebook App for Bucket List. (Kirk, we need to hop on a call soon, I may need you to create me an App :) )


I got so side tracked that I created my own Bucket List:



In reference to post number four Kirk had this to say

"You’ll often hear me asking new clients if they have the in-house resources to carry on the conversation with frequency and transparency post launch. I think advertisers are still stuck in the old, 1.0 agency mindset that post-launch activity is limited to measurement and evaluation of the campaign. The social media or conversational campaign must be nurtured and maintained on a daily basis"

Followed by this;

"Didn’t we learn anything from the ghost-towns in Second Life?"

I could not agree more with Kirk, and I don't take his comment about Second Life as a negative comment on the platform itself. I take it as a call to marketers to be more thorough with your initiatives and not to go for the quick hit.

Anyhow, this was a major digression from what today's post was supposed to be and I love it, thanks Kirk!


And Now For The Original Post! #5


2007 was a tremendous year for the Virtual World space. While virtual worlds such as Gaia Online, Habbo Hotel, Wee World, Webkinz and many others saw great successes, many marketers equate virtual worlds with Second Life, and even more of these marketers think Second Life was a failure.


Well, for all you marketers that think Second Life was a failure, and subsequently think virtual worlds were a failure, you have another thing coming. Sure, there were a great number of failed campaigns in Second Life, but I blame the marketers for these campaigns, not the platform.


Expect to hear the words, “virtual worlds” a lot more in 2008 and don’t forget, it is not synonymous with 3D environments. Don’t let the jargon confuse you, we have been living in virtual worlds for a long time!


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Trends and Truisms Day Four: All Media Is Social/ “Eventess”

Number four is a two-in-one Trend and Truism :)


I started writing this one and got a little lost, and the post began to meander. In the end I think that I was able to put together something fairly cogent.


The first part of this title was meant to be a bit evocative, as well cautionary for those who tend to latch on to buzz phrases at face value. Let me explain.


According to dictionary.com, the word medium is defined as:



  1. a middle state or condition; mean

  2. something intermediate in nature or degree

  3. an intervening substance, as air, through which a force acts or an effect is produced

  4. an intervening agency, means, or instrument by which something is conveyed or accomplished: Words are a medium of expression. One of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television.


The common thread here is some type of duality or reaction to duality.


I think people need to think very long and hard when considering strategies they consider to be “social media”.  Just because you are advertising on Facebook does not make your strategy akin to the type of marketing that has come to be known as social or conversational marketing. Remember, by nature all media is social but not necessarily conversational or effective when it comes to relationship building.   I hear terms like SMO (social media optimization) thrown around and I worry that people will forget the underlying principles inherent to good marketing and CRM.



As a  marketer, don’t forget your first responsibility is to market effectively, not check off boxes on the social media to do list.



“Eventness”


Originally this was going to be its own post, but I decided it was a natural progression of the “All Media Is Social” post.


This year look out for more initiatives like the YouTube presidential debates or the ABC Facebook Debates. While these events are very compelling, as broadband adoption reaches critical mass, and streaming video becomes commonplace, more people will be taking advantage of platforms like PalTalk and Usteam.tv  (and many other platforms that may have not even been launched yet) for real time events. I would definitely be on the look out for more events that you can participate in online, in real time.


As these types of events become more popular, it will be important for marketers to pay attention to all of the addition conversations and interactions that occur during these events in order to be a relevant part of the conversation.


Brad Berens talks about matters related to “eventness” or what he refers to as “Sobytiinost”. I strongly recommend heading over to Mediavorous to read more about what Brad has to say on this subject. I also wrote an article for iMediaconnection entitled, “Must See PC”. In order to get the full gist of this concept, I suggest reading all of the related posts and articles.


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Trends and Truisms Day Three: The Delivery Technology Is the Message/The Power Of Cross Media Story Telling

So here we are at day three of this experiment.


I have gotten some good feedback, but I can tell from my analytics that there are hundreds more people that are coming to this blog than there are leaving comments, why is this?


Don't you want your voice to be heard?


Let's help shape the future together! If you like what I am writing, add to it. If you hate what I am saying, ask me to change it, or write your own trend or truism and I promise I will post it.


Don't forget the rules of this experiment!!!


...and now for DAY THREE











It comes as no surprise to many that various types of media are continuing to converge.  What some seem to forget is the fact we must  change the way we plan media and market products across these various morphing channels.


The importance of telling an effective story across various media outlets has never been more crucial; it has also never been more difficult.


Fans of Henry Jenkins are probably familiar with the notion of Hardware Divergence. While this concept is nothing new (well, it was new with Jenkins, but the book Convergence Culture is already a few years old), it is just beginning to become a reality for media/marketing practitioners.


No longer is one piece of video content appropriate for all devices capable of delivering video. Now more than ever, we must now consider the difference between video purposed for consumption via the PC versus video for mobile devices versus video for TV/DVD etc. and what the correct format is for each.


This type of fragmentation begs the questions, do we need people dedicated to video planning (see my post Audio Killed The Radio Planner) to ensure the content is appropriate for the delivery technology.


Marshall Mcluhan said, “the medium is the message” and while this was a revolutionary statement for the time, we are now in an era where, the delivery technology is the message.


Tags: marshall mcluhan, henry jenkins, radio, video, convergence culture, hardware divergence, mobile




Trends And Truisms Day Two: The Importance Of Being Universal

No self respecting search marketer could escape endless conversations about universal search in 2007.


While the topline definition of universal search involves the combination of all aspects of search engines (video, images, shopping etc.) in one index, the implications of universal search move way beyond the search results page.


With broadband adoption at an all time high, and the ability to produce content becoming as simple as it is to consume it, the world of media is growing at an exponential rate.


While this is not based on actual statistics, I would venture to guess that there will be more universally accessible content produced in a single day in 2008 than there was produced between the years of 1950 and 1970.


What does this mean for the marketer?




  • Consider content production in your media plans. No, really!

  • Hire an SEO practitioner to work with every piece of content

    • If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, did it really fall? If content is uploaded and the proper meta data is not applied to it...(you get the idea)



  • Think of RSS as Really Serious Stuff



    • We have all been hearing about the importance of RSS from a consumer standpoint, and many people have noticed the lack of adoption by the masses. Don’t let that fool. If your team does not have working knowledge of RSS, and is not familiar with its powers, you are in a lot of trouble (and your clients will be calling me soon enough :) )




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The Fight For The Living Room

Who will power your living room with media?


As IP slowly moves from as lean forward to a lean back method of delivering content one must ask, "are we there yet?"


The simple answer is, for the masses, no we are not even close!


But what about those of us that like to be on the cutting edge? Some of us have picked up a Windows Media Center, others have new versions of TiVO with Wi-Fi and others have purchased an Apple TV.


Recently, Netflix and LG partnered up to be the latest entrant into this space. Netflix has been fighting to remain relevant for some time now, and this is certainly a move in the right direction. As movies via snail mail becoming increasingly irrelevant, and PC's in the living room have still not reached critical mass, Netflix has managed to find a partnership to help keep themselves in the game.


I am excited to see how this plays out in the long run!



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Trends And Truisms Day One: The Big Idea Can Be The Sum of Small Ideas

How many of my fellow marketers out there were asked to create “the big idea” this year?


After getting this request, how many of you came up with strategies that employed various social channels, content syndication strategies and search strategies only to hear;


“I love it, but where is the big idea?”


Perhaps some of you replied with;


Perhaps the “big idea” does not mean what it used to mean?


One of the big problems of the year is that many marketers have still not learned of accepted some of the following principles:




  • The micro-site is essentially dead (it is not totally dead. It still has a role however this role is nowhere near as important as it once was)

    • These days your distributed web strategy is far more important than your mircosite strategy (potentially any other web strategy you can devise)

      • Be everywhere that a consumer may want to find you or risk obsolescence in the eyes of that consumer





  • Viral Does Not Mean Cheap

  • Viral Content=Good Content

  • Conversations are big ideas, but DON’T FORGET LISTENING IS PART OF CONVERSING!

  • People don’t like advertising but they do like value

    • I often hear people say, "if advertising is targeted enough, people will like". I don’t buy that! I do however feel that if the advertising is targeted enough people will accept it. These targeted ads can also potentially add value




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10 Emerging Media/Marketing Trends and Truisms Of 2007 That Will Be Crucial In 2008

Each year great minds put together both trends of the year past, and predictions for the year to come. After completing my own personal list, I searched around to see how I compared to others. Here are some of the lists I found;




10 Emergent Media/Marketing Trends and Truisms Of 2007 That Will Be Crucial In 2008




  1. The Big Idea Can Be a Sum of Small Idea’s

  2. The Importance of Being Universal

  3. The Power Of Cross Media Story Telling

  4. All Media Is Social

  5. We Have Been Living In Virtual Worlds Since The Invention Of The Telephone.

  6. Mobile Is Merely Another Access Point/Widgets are Nothing More Than Content Syndication Modules

  7. Search Is An Emerging Technology

  8. Content is Still King But Syndication is The Kingdom (special thanks to Morpheus Media’s Emily Las for helping out with this concept)

  9. The Importance Of Being Open

  10. The Consumer Is Not King. Co-Creation and Collaboration Makes Us All Kings


I will be unveiling detailed posts for each trend over the next ten days. I invite you all to share in this process, as it will only be great with all of your help.


Hopefully there will be some good commentary. My goal with this experiment in social media is to start a conversation and ultimately form a work group for the next two weeks. I would like for this to be a living document that all can partake in via comments, so please, GET INVOLVED!


At then end of the ten days I will create a PDF that you can download and put under your pillow :) The PDF will include your comments and will, in part, be shaped by you. The document will be governed under the Creative Commons licence and will be available for use in your personal ventures. I will also try to include posts that are cited (via hyperlinks etc.) where possible to make this document as complete as possible.



Other than that, there are no hard and fast rules. If you have an idea to make this document better, please speak up!

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This Year I Am Thankful For My Fellow Bloggers

As I was sitting here, completely hungover, watching the David Bowie Episode of Flight Of The Conchords for the 100th time, I realized that I had not blogged in a while. You know what, I feel okay about it!


I will let you know that I am working on a completely thorough list of 10 emergent trends of 2007/2008 and I ask you all to stay tuned for that, but in the meantime, I recommend doing what I am doing; hanging out with some of my favorite bloggers who are keeping the conversation going through the holiday season.


Go over and join David Berkowitz's conversation on Social Ads.


Go hang with Joanna Pena-Bickley and co-founder of the bald marketing club Greg Verdino.


And don't forget to go down my blogroll and check out all my favorite bloggers and friends (they are listed there for a reason )


If you are a blogger and are being lazy like me and taking some time off from writing, I suggest getting to know some of these people (if you don't already) as they are the people that keep my inspired!


Anyhow, look out for a series of ten posts (starting the second of the new year) that I have been cooking up. I would love to roundup all the comments at the end a create a cool PDF of the whole thing that you can share with your loved ones :) :) )


Talk to you soon and have an amazing new year!



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Stop Complaining and Start A Blog; You are The Media

These days, you are the media. Production is the new consumption and freedom of speech to a widespread audience has never been easier!


So what are these people all bent out of shape about?


(I agree with the sentiment, but might there be a more effective way to spend your time)


Yesterday, King of The FCC, Kevin Martin had his day in court and won. The 32 year old media ownership that stopped a newspaper from owning a television or radio station in a local market was partially lifted (the law was totally lifted in the top 20 markets). The FCC was split 3-2 in this decision.


WWHD (What Would Hamlet Do?)



I have spoken about this issue before on A Media Circ.US and you may know that while I am not sympathetic to Martin’s cause, and do not feel big media should get any bigger, I do feel that there are two ways you, as an object and a subject of media can handle this,




Of course Hamlet’s viewpoint was less optimistic and uncertain than mine is (notice the question mark and the end of the second line) but one thing is for sure, we have all the tools we need to take arms against big media and shuffle off this mortal coil.


How do we do this?




  • Find the media you like, tag it, share it perpetuate it

  • Start a blog, give your opinion, illuminate injustice in the media

  • Start a podcast; let your true voice be heard

  • Start a video podcast; let your passion be seen

  • Organize a citizen driven unconference (see podcamp)


Let the long tail wag long and proud, matching the might of big corporate media,


or recoil in a state of woe; allowing big corporate media to overcome us.


We are the media


We the people have the power to control our fate


Those that want to spend their time bitching and moaning at the expense of action will suffer in oblivion,


far from where my own eyes will ever glance.


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And The Openness 2008 Award Goes To...

...I will get to that in a second :)


In a world haunted by walled gardens and proprietary software and devices, the promise of open source and interoperability shines like a bright light (not the finest metaphor, but it serves it purpose).


Many people access various different digital platforms and shudder each time we have to redefine our digital self in order to gain access to additional services or devices provided by these various platforms (we also shudder at the thought of additional fees associated with certain alternate platforms mobile etc.).


There is one company that has made more moves toward “openness” than any other this year; moves that have forced both established corporations and start ups alike to redefine their business models and become­-more open.


I am of course talking about Google. Sure, there have been other platforms that have opened up (and of course there are those platforms that are open source), but the sheer mention of openness by Google makes industries recoil in horror, and as a result, change.


Last Thursday Facebook posted a notice on the Facebook Developers blog entitled, “Opening up Facebook Platform Architecture”. This is potentially the biggest news from Facebook (in regards to the platform itself, not advertising) since the Facebook Platform was created in May 2007.


Was this move by Facebook a reaction to Google’s open social?


Hmmmm……


The reaction is just one of many Google induced game changers. Here are a few more:



Sure, open source is nothing new and was not initiated or perfected by Google. Still, the amount of industry disruption caused by Google this undoudteldy makes them the potentially proud recipient of the very first (and potentially only); A Media Circ.US Openness Award.



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Google Almighty

I came across this via my social graph on Facebook and had to proliferate it.


There is apparently a site out there that begs the questions, is Google God?. While I am quite sure this is a spoof, there are some really interesting claims on this site to substantiate the claim that Google is an omniscient, all knowing entity. I recommend heading over and taking a look.


The site has nine thought provoking proofs of Google's existence as a deity. One of my favorites is a chart on search volume for various religion, versus search volume for Google.



This is a touchy subject, one which I will not go much further with, but come on, it must have you thinking :)


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The Algorithmic Editorial Voice

I have been talking a lot about media consolidation and the FCC these last few weeks. Those who are against further consolidation argue that allowing large media bodies to own more media outlets will result in homogenized editorial voices.


While I do agree that variety of opinion is essential to a democratic society, I feel that the definition of an editorial voice has changed drastically over the past 10 years, subsequently calling for the need to repeatedly reexamine our media ownership laws. Editorial voice can no longer be singularly defined by the output of a media production/creation body.


Is Google An Editor?


The question as to whether or not Google is a media company is as old as the company itself. By no means do I wish to bring up this issue once again as, by now most of us have our opinions on it, but in light of the recent happenings in the FCC, I do feel that it appropriate to touch upon this issue.


Behind every algorithm is a human being and every human being makes choices


For those that argue that Google has no editorial voice, I would love to hear your opinion on the latest move by Google to set all Pay Per Post blogs to a page rank of zero.


I am by no means a fan of Pay Per Post, and do not necessarily feel that Google’s action was wrong, but one thing is for sure, it was a decision.


A decision that affects the way people get information; a process also known as media. Sure, Google is not saying, “don’t read Pay Per Post blogs” but they are limiting your ability to find Pay Per Post blogs via their search engine; the search engine which enjoys 60% market share.


So Where Does This Leave Us?


To what degree does Google possess and editorial voice and at what point will the FCC step in and try to regulate this voice the way that they are regulating the cable industry (most recently Comcast)?


Speak up, this is important!



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Kevin J. Martin Continues To Stir The Pot

Last week I wrote a post about the storm that is a brewing over at the FCC surrounding the cable industry and media ownership. The conversation was picked up by my good friend Amanda Mooney and tonight I will be speaking with the folks over at the On Digital Media podcast. In case you have not been following this whole extravaganza, here are a couple of things you should be familiar with:




  • "70/70 rule."

    • A provision of the Cable Communications Act of 1984

    • Under the 70/70 rule, if the Commission finds that cable service is available to 70% of households and 70% of those homes subscribe, then the FCC can "promulgate any additional rule necessary to provide diversity of information sources."


    • Under what some are regarding as false pretenses, FCC chairman has claimed that we have reached the 70/70 point and gotten a majority vote on his plan to cap cable ownership at 30%

      • Comcast, who is said to be at 27% is not too happy about this rule






  • Cross Media Ownership

    • In my last post on this matter I spoke about how Martin is pushing to relax laws regarding cross media ownership, allowing media companies in the top twenty markets to own both a newspaper and television station




  • Tribune Company



What is going on here folks!?


Kevin Martin is seeking to regulate and deregulate media simultaneously. Meanwhile, Google has officially thrown their hat into the ring to bid on the 700 MHZ spectrum, which disrupts everything.


How can one make sense of all of this?


Weigh in, please :)!