Another academic study into the use of podcasts for student education.

This one supports the trend from most. What has reseach shown?

• Podcasts are most effective when interagted with other forms of learning (workgroups, classroom etc)
• Podcasts are very useful for revision or 'fast facts' type learning (within a corpororate environment they could be used as part of the CPD process)
• Podcasts supplement texts and lecture notes but are not as effective as class room based learning
• Interactive podcasts requiring use of other source of materials or engagement with the podcast via a web site are more effective than simple play and listen podcasts

 

Twitter has proved itself to be a great tool for 'breaking news'. Instant updates from 'citizen journalists' anywhere where the action is and as it happens.

Now with Number 10's Twitter feed and updates we are getting news of Odama's visit as it happens - from the inside. Check out the pictures on Flickr and also the publics tweets on Twitter and videos on Qik. The press are out in force. But they are not necessarily feeding 'live' unless they link back to the studios and then the 'live' is only applied to the allocated slot in the programme.

Company lesson? Want to squeeze that extra bit of coverage out of some event or marketing activity then start to Twitter, stream video and create podcasts. What to increase on that? Invite some bloggers along.

 

As a business if you have been wondering about the use of webvideo and video podcasts to communicate with employees or your customers here are four bits of information to factor into your decision making process.

 

• Broadband charges reducing – meaning more people will upgrade top speeds that makes multi-media data use possible (60%+ already on broadband according to the last Ofcom survey)

 

• BT’s plans for fibre optic connections – increased speed will allow even greater use of on-demand video (but maybe not rural areas with limited demand)

 

• The BBC’s announcement of hitting 75 millions streams via their iPlayer plus….

 

• Virgin Media announcing 10 million streams via their TV implementation of the iPlayer – showing downloading and consumption of video is becoming more mainstream with consumers.

 

Hot on the heels of Gordon Brown answering peoples questions on YouTube comes news that the Number 10 web site is being re-designed around WordPress and will have video podcasts as well as RSS feeds and Twitter integrated. All part of the continued drive to communbicate direct with people. The fact that it will mean Number 10 does not have to rely on traditional media (considered hostile) to get his message across is a bonus I guess.

Lessons for business? A lot!

• Employee cascade communications - survey after survey highlights that employee communications from senior management is not working. If senior management had a communication platform like this would that still be the case?
• Marketing - with ever greater pressures on tight budgets cost effective 'narrowcasting' looks even more enticing
• Community - the interactive nature of the tools themselves builds relationships
• Surveys - used creatively interactive tools give you a real time idea of peoples attitudes to your products or services
• Beta platform/customer feedback -a step on from surveys. Why not follow the lead of others (Dell, Lego etc) and get active active engagement with customers of new products and services before launching them formally.

 

 

People often ask me what is the use of Twitter. I give them my answer but I usually find it is best to give them examples of how it has helped me or other people I know.

Here is another one. Paul Gillin is a US based author. I loved his first book 'The New Influencers' so much I interviewed him for a podcast. I highly recommend his book so when he posted via Twitter and his blog that he was sending drafts of his next book out to 250 people lucky I tried to request a copy. Sadly, due to cost he is only posting them out to US based people.

This is what he just posted on Twitter...

Power of Twitter: Free book offer (http://tinyurl.com/5cos49) gets 7X signups in 30 mins on Twitter as in 24 hours on three blogs.

So now I can add 'sales promotion tool' with an example to my list. 

Next time I speak to Paul I must as him how many people follow him on Twitter versus read his blogs. I bet you that his Twitter followers are lower which makes the above comments from Paul even more interesting for marketing people who need to get news out fast and wide. 

A couple of months ago I was asked to write a document about PR 2.0 for a private individual looking to invest in an agency and get a foothold in social media PR. As the investor has now made their move one of the backgrounder documents can now go public. Incidentally the investor has also put significant funds into agricultural land/farms and farm machinery manufacturers (they see climate change, increase demand for food and need for bio-fuels from crops as key drivers over the next 5 - 10 years).

This is an extract from the overview document.

New market dynamics – new style PR agency

  

 

Overview

 

In the last few years a number of factors have converged to create the conditions for a massive change in consumer communication and purchase behaviour driven by digital technology. These are:

 

• The availability of cheap online storage
• More powerful and lower cost PCs and other digital devices
• Quicker broadband connections
• Easier to use web based software application solutions

 

PCs, software and personal digital devices (smart phones, MP3 and video enabled devices) are no longer regarded as purely ‘geek or youth’ technologies but have become an everyday consumer product used by the broad mass of the population.

 

These factors will in turn impact the way that companies can (and will have to) engage, build and develop relationships with these new digital enabled consumers.

 

The emergence of the PC as a business tool in the mid-1980s means that it is only those aged 65+ who missed some exposure to the digital revolution and many of those have been engaged through special Government initiatives plus their children and grandchildren. Last year Saga¹ started its own social networking site aimed specifically at the 50+ age group. Recent figures suggest it has already attracted 30k+ members.

 

It should be noted that Ofcom² research has shown that 22% of all social networking site members – Facebook, MySpace etc - are aged over 50. Research by Hitwise^2b showed that ‘silver surfers’ (aged 55+) now make up a large percentage of people online. With an aging population it will mean that the 55+ group will soon be the largest online group. Whilst they may well be less active online than younger people in terms of hours spent online they do have greater disposable income.

 

The Ofcom² report showed that an ever more savvy cyber-enabled youth has emerged. 49% of 8 to 17 year olds have profiles on a social media site. Another Ofcom³ report shows over 50% of 8 – 15 year olds now own mobile phones and over 1/3 of all calls made in the UK are via mobile phones. Over 20% of people with mobile phones have taken and sent pictures to friends or loaded them on social networking sites. The use of video on mobile phones is also increasing rapidly as is the consumption of online video. In December 2007 ComScore⁴ estimated that US consumers watched 10 billion videos online.  

 

During 2007 15% of all retail sales were done online⁵. January 2008 sales reached an all time high with 4.4 million translations being made on Christmas Day itself⁶ when many retailers started their special sales. Research by Ofcom⁷ shows the UK a leading country worldwide in the availability and use of digital TVs, mobile multimedia and broadband service access.

 

Just as the internet opened up e-commerce and e-mail so Web 2.0 and social media is changing the way people can communicate as well evaluate and make purchase decisions. PR organisations should be aware of these developments and ensure their clients have strategies to address this new digital world.

 

Communities of influence have existed in many forms in the past. Subject matter experts have always been sought out either within the physical community or through traditional media. Today the internet and communications taken together with social media software gives subject matter experts a global reach. Equally online consumers value independent and knowledgeable advice. Edelman PR⁸ has been doing their annual Trust Barometer for almost 10 years. During that time it has seen consumer confidence (or is that a reduction in deference to the ‘establishment’?) in media and the state decline. ‘People like me’ are now the most trusted sources of information. With the advent of social media software and the internet ‘people like me’ can now be found easily and globally. As has been said – we all live in a global village.

 

There has been debate as to the nature of ‘friendship’ in the online community or global village. Anthropological^8b studies on ancient tribal groups and primates have indicated that a social group becomes unstable above 150 (called the Dunbar 150 after the scientist who did the research study) as we cannot maintain ‘relationships’. Whilst this maybe true in the physical world it does not hold true in the cyber-world. We have many different systems using ‘profile matching’. Dating agencies use personal profiling to match up peoples interests, hobbies and stated ‘preferences’. Amazon uses your purchase history and that of others to suggest new books to buy. It uses ‘wisdom of the crowds’ reader generated reviews and a ranking system to promote books. TripAdvisor has user generated reviews to help suggest hotels and facilities to people planning trips. By knowing a bit about people you can see if they are similar to you. Get enough people saying similar things helps you make a decision. JDPower and other automotive groups have long used a customer feedback system to rank cars popularity and reliability. The motoring journalists may rate a car highly but we trust the judgement of fellow car buyers especially long term owners to give a balanced judgement and recommendation. The internet has simply meant we get access to more experts globally and can find communities that fit our personal needs. These online communities and influencers should be a critical part of any PR agencies communication strategies for their clients.

 

This technological capability of the internet has happened at the same time that traditional communication channels (radio, TV and print) – regional and national - have struggled to maintain an audience.^{9,10 &11} Increasing digital channels on TV and radio already provided an audience with multiple choices. Internet based publications, search engines, and web portals now provide even more choice through on-demand PC (and now smart phone) based communication platforms. Commercial TV and newsprint have found that the traditional broadcast advertising fee based model does not work in a ‘narrow cast’ and fragmented world. Traditional production values and costs are not sustainable with the ‘long tail’ marketing model of multiple small interconnected communities of interest. We now see newspapers successfully investing in building their own online communities¹². It appears that delivery formats are blurring too as broadcasters use blogs (text based communication) and newspapers produce video and audio podcasts.   

 

Traditional marketing and communication agencies have found the speed of adoption of social media and networking hard to adjust to. Their structure and processes are geared to mainly ‘broadcast’ marketing. PR agencies have struggled as well. Their well established relationship with the media and journalists still remains strong and essential but is now not the only way to communicate to consumers. Whist the online community does take news and information online it also seeks out direct information from companies. Many people online act as consumers of information and publishers also through blogs and Forum membership. Why use the press and broadcast media as an intermediary to interpret your story when communities of interest can be contacted directly or through ‘key influencers’ who are members of that community too?

 

Two big debates within the media today are smaller sales revenue caused by declining circulation and the resulting reduction in ad revenue and secondly the future role of journalists with the emergence of ‘citizen journalists’ and the blogger community. Many ‘A’ list bloggers^13a can get millions of readers in a month. Which journalist can say their column or article is read by that many people? Equally some bloggers may have a lower readership but have other bloggers quoting them and linked through to their blogs so extended their influence through multi-networking rather than pure volume of direct readers. (This is same issue with the smaller circulation numbers of trade publications and business press versus tabloid sales volumes)   

 

The new digital enabled world needs a new style digital capable PR agency. Masters of traditional as well as the online communication world both from a creative and a technical skills base. Able to work with the media and with online communities. To work with the blogging and online community just as naturally as it does with journalists and the traditional media.

 

The new agency dynamics

 

Many organisations are moving online and actively using blogs and Web 2.0 based sites to engage with their audiences. These sites allow customers to engage with companies in different ways to earlier iterations of web site design. Equally the old style method of mass undifferentiated press releases with an ‘edit, cut, paste and publish’ mentality is having less impact. Online media coverage in blogs, forums and other communities is usually done by people who are not journalists (many would hate to be called one anyway!). However they are no different to many journalists and are not afraid to share their opinion. Many people consider bloggers not to be covered by libel laws and journalistic best practices but they are. A blogger can be sued but the reality is they can claim ‘fair comment’ if they are expressing a view based upon personal experience of bad company service. If a company sued and won it would not result in damages being paid. Bloggers do not have the same funds as the media. The media will be sued more often than not because they have money to pay compensation or settle out of court. Bloggers depend on their readership so will not be so ‘rabid’ as to risk losing people unless that is what attracted them to the site in the first place. Equally the blogosphere is a self-moderating environment. People – and the company has the right to do this – can comment on a blog. If a blogger says something that is unfair or inaccurate anyone can reply. This means companies should monitor blogs and be commenting on all posts otherwise it is ‘one sided story’. 

 

To be used in the online world by bloggers and the online community generally a press release needs to be optimised for search engines, use multi-media and tools for social communication as well as be useful to the targeted community. This can be called a Social Media press release. When linked to a PR micro-site it becomes a powerful tool for both the media and online community (bloggers and online consumers). A great example is the recent merger of Delta and North West airlines in the USA^13b. 

 

Bloggers and community forums are much more interested in regular, direct, ‘raw’ and factual information (‘give us the details and not the spin’) that they can drill down and present in a way relevant to their audience. They in essence want access to the building blocks rather than a finished item. The comments and feedback from their own audience is direct and fast. These comments have to be acknowledged and engaged with as this is part of the community conversation. Most PR agencies (and their clients) are ill equipped to understand how to the engage with this ‘long tail’ of non-traditional digital media and its interactive comments and dynamic nature. Digital media community influencers do not get listed in Hollis and other PR directories and databases listing journalists or media contact details. They exist on the web but have to be found and nurtured just as a good PR agency would do in developing a relationship with traditional media journalists. Just like specialist print and broadcast media you get bloggers and online communities that are detail focussed. Others take the big picture and could be nationally or internationally based. Just like a traditional media campaign a good PR agency should target the online community and understand both the online ‘commentator’ and their ‘publication’.

 

The problem is that there is no single authority that publishes audited circulation or readership details of bloggers or online community groups. So who do you find out who is most influential? The ones with the biggest audience? The ones with the most comments? The ones that are the most prolific? The ones less or more ‘smart and tart’ or edgy? The ones who comment most on your client or clients industry? This takes research but tools are available to help and every month a new announcement is made of a new supplier. Just like a traditional clipping service, tools and service providers can monitor the online environment and track who is saying what, where and when. Equally the online community would love companies come and join them in open and honest conversations devoid of spin.  

 

Company blogging and use of podcasting and other social media tools are therefore very welcome. This is where the PR agencies can make their traditional skills and experience and make pay dividends for clients. There are over 1.3 billion people on the internet. That is over 1/5^th of the worlds population. There are 120m+ bloggers. That means 90% of the online community are ‘consumers’ of online information and not content generators. Companies need a strategy to communicate with the online audience. If a PR company is not monitoring a clients online brand reputation and helping to influence it – then who is? With more and more people making purchase decisions based upon online influences and recommendations from digital communities all companies need to have a strategy to manage their PR online. 

 

This new function of Digital Community Relationship Management blends many of the empathetic and communications skills a traditional PR agency has with technical cyber skills.

 

Online relationship management must include the following key groups:

 

• Bloggers and journalists writing for online versions of the traditional media
• Bloggers writing for their own audiences
• Enthusiasts and ‘fanzines’ usually following specific topics or companies
• Forums and other Online communities

 

One big difference between traditional and online media is the fact that the internet gives global coverage straight to peoples desktop or mobile phone in seconds. Social community communications means it is re-communicated equally fast. Within minutes a global event or negative customer experience can be communicated worldwide. This can create ‘firestorms’ – positive and negative. A well known negative case was Dell and what happened a few years go. PR agencies and clients – like Dell – can be slow to react. By being slow they risk an escalation which is what happened with DellHell¹⁴.  Equally a company can leverage the online community and turn a potentially damaging situation to their advantage as happened with Coke and Pepsi and Mentos¹⁵. An unexpected reaction between the sweets and the drinks caused the liquid to expand in the bottle and shoot in the air. Rather than have the legal department create ‘cease and desist’ requests to individuals or YouTube the organisations stayed neutral. Within weeks multiple versions existed. Mentos (company denied) were rumoured to have sponsored some of them. The videos were watched by hundreds of thousands and encouraged others to try it at home. If you look on the blogosphere today there are posts still happening today – years after the story broke. What is really fun is that everyone who tries the experiment has to buy the product. A win for both companies.  

 

Major news gathering services like the BBC have realised the power of social communities and are actively working to engage with ‘citizen journalists’¹⁶.  Products such as Qik (real time video upload service) and Seesmic now mean people can blog and video using mobile phones or small low cost video cameras and upload in real time – capturing incidents as they happen. Many conferences or events are now ‘streamed’ in real time by text, audio and video bloggers who add personal opinions. Whilst some of this content will be picked up by traditional media a lot is ‘self-published’ to the world via the internet. Once online it is there forever (as long as the server and document links still exist) and in a format to allow easy onward publishing (like syndication but without copyright issues).

 

A brands online reputation can be compromised if it does not continually pro-actively monitor its mentions (good and bad) online, engage in the conversation and have a plan in place to immediately react if sentiment or comments turn negative. Online crisis management works at a different pace and in a different way than with traditional media. With traditional media you would normally be given a warning of an impending negative story by the journalist approaching for a comment. Online people will often just publish with a personal view. No double checking of sources is necessary as the blogger is the source. They could be the unhappy customer. It is their story as well as being a story. With search engine optimisation this means a negative story can be in the top 10 listing on Google within a short time and will be available to read forever. Monitoring and speed of reaction is critical. Ignoring the bad news in the hope it will fade away is not an option. In essence the story is in print forever!

 

The new agency model – Digital Reputation Management

 

A gap exists in the market for a highly focussed, technically competent agency who really understands the challenges and opportunities of online communities and social media.

 

The agency will be technically savvy with highly developed SEO and data search and analysis skills. This has to be coupled with creative digital skills and communication skills.

 

 

Organisation structure

 

The digital agency will have three teams:

 

• Client services – sales, project and client management. Budget management and guardians of profitability through timesheet and billings supervision. Blended front and back office function. (This can be shared with the ‘traditional’ agency team)

 

• Content services – the micro-site copywriters, bloggers and podcasters. Switched on to techie tools and the online community they will know and use all their communication skills to be active in cyber-space in their own right. (For many agencies this would be an extension of their teams current skill sets. Writing skills for press releases, testimonials and white papers/brochures = blog. Presentation skills at a press conferences, events or tradeshows = podcast. The internet is the worlds largest TV, radio, newspaper and magazine all rolled into one. It is free and it is possible to find communities of interest. PR agencies are better placed to use it as a communication platform than a web design or ad agency)

 

• Technical services – the cyber management team looking after the IT infrastructure and developing/supporting the online reputation management desktop systems. The back-office team who will work with the clients IT departments where necessary. (Rather than outsourcing this service or considering it a ‘dark art’ PR agencies should embrace it and make it a core skill)

 

What will a PR2.0 agency offer?

 

• Online reputation monitoring and alert service
• Reputation analysis, tracking and reporting
• ‘Firestorm’ crisis management and leveraged opportunity service
• Strategic planning and implementation services for social media and online media campaigns
• Blogging, audio and video podcasting project development and management
• Campaign micro-site development and support
• Online community development
• Identification and relationship building with key online influencers
• Building and delivering online PR campaigns including to online media and journalists 

 

 

References:

 

1    http://www.sagazone.co.uk/

 

2        http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/media_literacy/medlitpub/medlitpubrss/socialnetworking/%20

 

2b  http://www.hitwise.co.uk/press-center/hitwiseHS2004/demographics.php

 

3        http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6959049.stm

 

4        http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2051

 

5        http://www.imrg.org/ItemDetail.aspx?clg=InfoItems&cid=pr&pid=pr_IMRG_Index_Jan08&language=en-GB

 

6        http://www.imrg.org/ItemDetail.aspx?clg=InfoItems&cid=pr&pid=pr_Index_press_release_200208.pdf&language=en-GB

 

7        http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2007/12/nr_20071213

 

8        http://www.edelman.co.uk/trustbarometer/

 

8b  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number

 

9        http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/28/decline-of-us-newspapers-accelerating/

 

10    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/10/pressandpublishing.abcs

 

11    http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=40456&c=1

 

12    http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com/2007/10/16/top-10-uk-newspapers-online-audiences-continue-to-grow/

 

13a  http://valleywag.com/tech/internet-famous/whos-really-the-most-famous-blogger-246134.php

 

13b  http://www.adrianjmoss.com/PermaLink,guid,f80d14ff-4d89-46cf-8ad7-e21b00b82bcf.aspx

 

14  http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2005/aug/29/mondaymediasection.   blogging

 

15  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKoB0MHVBvM

 

16  http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2008/01/value_of_citizen_journalism.html

 

 

 

 

 

A great paper by Jaffe Associates - a legal firm with offices in the US and UK on how Web 2.0 can bes used within the legal profession. It carefully considers all the pros and cons.

The report could apply to any professional services firms - accountancy, consultancy, engineering etc.

Picture the scene.

 

A large bay accessible only by sea. Hills either side to protect you from all the prevailing winds. Water with hardly any swell so able to anchor up knowing the boat will not strain on the chain. One small concrete jetty to help land ashore but water only deep enough for boats with shallow keels. Wonderful clear waters with no pollution and teaming with marine life. Rocky shores and hillsides with only the wild goats looking on. A deserted beach with only one tree giving welcoming shade from the hot sun. A few rooftops of the village houses visible in the distance through the olive trees. A great place to stop off for a late afternoon swim and be at peace with yourself, your friends and the world.

 

If you owned the only local taverna how would you market it? With your level of turnover and seasonality (yachting season only) how would you be able to afford an entry into nearly every guide book? How would you ensure you were featured in a two page spread in one of the UK’s top yachting magazines?

 

As Seth Godin would say - Purple Cow or Be Remarkable. Stand out from the crowd. Be different. In this case there is even a twist to that.

 

The taverna in question is really little more than a private home in a village on the Greek Island of Kalymnos. A few tables on the patio of the house. Food is cooked in their kitchen. The BBQ is in their garden and you can picture it being the centre of many family gatherings. The village is actually a collection of about 10 houses. Only a few are now occupied. The rest deserted and in various stages of dilapidation. The owners? They have moved to Athens or other big towns. The young do not want the village life style. Many have emigrated to America and Australia. Now only Nicolas and his wife and his parents plus two other families remain in the village. The village is a 300 yards drive down a dirt track from the nearest main road. The local authorities plan to tarmac part of it later this year but even then the track ends 100 yards from the village. It has to be approached on foot. It did get electricity a few years ago. A telephone line came last year so now there is one phone to share in the village! Mobile phone reception is poor at best and often just not available unless you go back to the main road. Water is supplied via by big plastic pipes from a central tank filled by tanker. They have to be careful. Too much used and the village runs out till the next delivery.

 

How come the bay and Nicolas taverna are so well known to those who sail in the Greek Dodecanese? The answer - WOM and being remarkable.

 

For details of his marketing and prmotional materials check out the other pictures in Flickr.

 

Every yacht that moors up in the bay is visited by Nicolas in the afternoon in his fishing boat. He chats and shares weather forecasts. Advises on the best spots to anchor. Talks about the wind and sea conditions. He advises people about the best places to snorkel in the bay and shares his knowledge of other bays and places to visit on this island and others locally. He offers to take the boats rubbish and cook for them that night. He gives them a hand drawn map of how to walk through the village to get there. Even if people do not want to eat at his place they will still remember him. The map will probably stay on the boat and if it is rented be seen by the next group of people to hire and sail it.

 

If you do eat in his taverna the walk to it will be remarkable. You pass the small church – all graves tended to. Some are recent. People may go to live abroad but some must come back to be buried in the church overlooking the bay. You pass chickens and wild goats. You pass some tethered goats who must be being kept for milking. You pass houses that are deserted and one or two with doors and windows open and obviously still being lived in. Everywhere you go signs ask you to close the gates to keep the wild goats out. I guess this is to stop the risk of them eating the flowers and any vegetables.

 

Nicolas has a simple menu. Goat? One less wild one roaming the hills that night.* Chicken? One less to catch sight of on the way back to the boat. Fish? Now what did I catch this morning…? Cooked in the pan or on the BBQ. Fresh herbs from the hillsides or gardens. Everything is fresh. It is cooked Greek home style. The BBQ uses kindling from the hillside and olive groves. While it is being cooked Nicolas joins you and brings out three big photo albums. They are full of family pictures. He wants to share with you his experiences as an ex-sponge diver. Over a few beers he tells you of his life until 15 years before. His father was a sponge diver and his brother too. You may have noticed a recent grave in the church. Someone in their mid 40’s. Was that his brother? You do not like to ask. It could have been.  In showing you the pictures Nicolas would point to someone, shake his head and say ‘sadly dead’. Sponge fishing is dangerous. In weighted suits they dive up to 100 meters deep. Incorrect decompression or faulty kit maims, kills or cripples them. Nicolas is now a teacher and from 2pm weekdays (after school) and full time at weekends he is a taverna owner, host, cook and waiter. He is also story teller and teacher. He has a display of sponges from all over the world. He explains all about the different types. The various techniques – manual and machine processed – for cleaning and preparing sponges. He also sells them but in a very clever way. The stories are so rich, vivid and real that you want to take away more than just the memory – so you buy one of the sponges. You also feel you are helping to sustain a special way of life. One that we may hanker after. A sort of Shirley Valentine moment as it were. Where we could all have a less (?) stressful life living partly off the land. Use that sponge months later in the shower and maybe for a few seconds you will back there? While eating and drinking his mother and father finish their work and sit at a table in the garden having an evening drink. While not talking with you they become an extension to the group.  

 

The food is wonderful. Nothing fancy but fresh, tasty and part of a lovely evening where you have shared stories and seen a glimpse of someone trying to make a living locally rather than deserting the village for the big city or abroad. Nicolas’s sons like all the other young people have moved away for work. Sadly he says that this life is not for them but he loves the bay and the links to where he grew up as a boy.

 

Walking back is part of the memory too. There are few lights. Those that are on are single bulbs so they do not give much illumination and they rapidly fall behind you as you head to the beach. You need torches to see the rocky pathway back. What a magnificent sight. The boat in the bay in the moonlight. Stars brighter than you will have ever seen before. You can really see the mass of stars that make up the Milky Way. The bay, the hillsides and the few lights in the village (probably turned off now that you have left) means you are in total darkness. That darkness allows the moon and stars to be seen as nature intended.

 

But the real magic is this. Yachting people always chat when they meet up. Strangers say hello and share information on the weather, sea conditions and places to visit. WOM is used as a rich information source. Everyone who has been to Nicolas’s Bay tells people they meet about it. Many of the boats log books and pilot books will have notes about it too. People may even blog about it! Maybe a YouTube video will come soon.

 

All Nicolas has to do is ‘Be Remarkable’. WOM does the rest.

 

 

* Wild goat is not shot but trapped. They put some food out in a field and when the goats come in to eat it they pull a cord which closes the gate. The goat is trapped and will have a starring role on the menu that night.

 

 

Google's CEO sees traditional media under threat from digital media and peoples changing habits of wanting information and entertainement on the move - anywhere and anytime. Newsprint with its logistics and physical point of sale and restriction to 'print news on deadline' (when going to press) does not suit the 24 hour 365 online model now enjoyed by many. Traditional broadcast media is also showing it is struggling with retaining its audience.

Google also have just unveilved a new deal with a Hollywood producer/writer and the same time it has complied with a court order obtained by Viacom regarding removal of copyright programmes from YouTube. Google sees a new ad revenue linked model for producers as the way forward. Rather than pure programme or series sponsorship the deal envisages programmes having AdSence linked adverts and the programmes owners sharing in the revenue.

Now that is an interesting model some of our clients could consider. Take two specific examples.

One client produced a series of video podcasts. Over a 12 month period they attracted over 300k visits via the RSS link. What is even more interesting is that there were only 6 programmes in the series and all those visits were generated via WOMMA. Cost per visitor was less that 3p. Now compare that to the cost of other communication campaigns. Having generated that level of traffic maybe content sensative ads would have worked well and even allowed them to offset our costs and possibly made a profit!

Another client produced a series of audio podcasts targeted a scientific and technical community. A series of 7 podcasts generated over 40k listeners. Again a number of carefully managed and subject matter relevant adverts could have been used to generate revenue and off-set our costs.

It would certainly seem possible to turn a marketing cost centre into a revenue generating centre. I wonder who will be the first to try that out? What a great case study that would be!

The IPA (Institute of Practioners in Advertising) says of their Q2 Bellwether Report...

"....The Q2 2008 Bellwether Report, the quarterly survey of marketing spend, published today (14th July 2008), reveals that current budgets have been revised down for the third consecutive quarter and to the greatest extent since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in late 2001 caused business confidence to plummet...."

The report cites "....disappointing sales, rising costs and growing economic gloom..." as the reason for the downturn and the reduction of marketing budgets. It also says further cuts later in the year will happen as corporate profitability continues to suffer year-on-year.

It also states that "...all sectors of marketing saw budget cuts with the exception of the internet...." It sounds a note of caution about the later by noting that online "...had the smallest increase since 2003..."

Tradional media budgets for broadcast, print and display saw the biggest falls. This is at the same time that circulation numbers for all news publications and TV programmes is continuing to fall as people move to getting news and information online.

On Radio 4 today the IPA spokesperson said that although the economic downturn had caused some of the above the other reason is a switch of budgets from traditional media to new media. They discussed the possibility that the size of the marketing budget maybe declining but traditional media budgets are being switched to online. The example given was of Cadbury's Gorilla campaign. Online generated more viewers than TV did. The ad cost the same to make where ever it was shown but TV ads cost millions. Online nothing as it used WOMMA.  

Apple has a filing for making podcasts interactive (source: AppleInsider).

In the filing Apple says...

"....Podcasts of classroom lectures and other presentations typically require manual editing to switch the focus between the video feed of [an] instructor and the slides (or other contents) being presented," Bertrand Serlet, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering at Apple, wrote in the 15-page filing. "In a school or enterprise where many presentations take place daily, editing podcasts require a dedicated person, which can be prohibitive. "

To solve this problem, Serlet proposes has proposed an automated content capture and processing system where a live camera feed of a presenter can be automatically merged with a Keynote or PowerPoint presentation to form an entertaining and dynamic podcast that lets the viewer watch the presenter's slides as well as the presenter...."

This would be an interesting development when and if it sees the light of day. In the meantime streaming an audio feed to syncronised slides can be done but it is tricky or an specialist 3rd party service. Streaming video is even more complex.

NB: We recorded a two day conference for one of our clients and have the slides and audio syncronised for EUFIC at their Food In Action Conference in Brussels in November 2007. A total of 22 presenters can be listened to and their PowerPoint slides watched at the same time.

 

One of the advantages of a developing country is that new technologies can have a faster uptake as there is no installed base inertia or compatibility issues.

This report highlights just how quickly China is adopting and in many cases adapting social media tools and internet technology. With over 200 million people on the internet and growing rapidly Chinese is rapidly catch English as the number 1 language of internet users.

A post by Brian Solis on how Intel have created a community of external experts to add to their own internal team looking at social media.

Check this out for an insight into how one department at Intel (IT in this case) uses blogs for internal and external communication.  

 

Interesting post by Shel Israel on organisations internal use of social networking tools to improve operating efficiency. Shel interviews Jevon MacDonald of Firestoker.com. Notice the comment from Jevon about many of his clients not wanting to disclose what they are doing as they see it as a competitive advantage.

 

The latest research on the value of online communities shows the following benefits:

• 35% increasing word of mouth
• 28% increasing brand awareness
• 24% bringing new ideas into the organisation faster 
• 24% increasing customer loyalty

Other resear