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Archive for September, 2011

Social Is Not A Strategy

By ⋅ September 23, 2011 ⋅ 2 comments

Signal Chicago

 

Earlier this week, several team members of our strategy practice at Empower (including myself) got the chance to participate in Signal Chicago, a jam packed day of short presentations and one on one conversations hosted by John Battelle at Federated Media.

This is the third event that I have attend in Federated’s Conversational Marketing Summit series over the years, and like the the others, it lived up to the billing. Many people when recapping conferences refer to themselves as an attendent but in this style of event, I truly felt like a conversant and participant.

During lunch we joined a small group hosted by Adobe’s Brad Rencher who heads up their Omniture business. Usually lunches like this tend to be a bit of a dog and poney, but that isn’t really Brad’s style. He opened up with a series of questions and then simply played moderator. The group was comprised of brands, publishers and agencies. The resounding take away from this lunch is that “Social Is Not A Strategy”.

I wish more people would subscribe to this thinking. When I am chatting with brands I hear “what is our social strategy?” or “Can you help us develop a social strategy?”. If your agency or internal teams are setting their strategy appropriately, social tactics will easily ladder back up and be successful for any brand. Am I asking too much here? I hope not. What are your thoughts?

Below are links to the content from this event, well worth the time:
Videos of Signal Chicago Presenations
Signal Chicago Slides via SlideShare

 

The Power of Words

By ⋅ September 8, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

Sorry for not posting over the last couple of weeks, it’s been a bit crazy with travel schedules but amongst all the airports and late nights I was still able to capture a few of examples that made me remember how far we still have to go in communication with consumers.

Clients are great (most of the time) but sometimes they get so focused on their own internal language (P&G is probably the most notable here) that it sometimes feels like you are in a different country. In fact, at times it has me asking the person next to me for a dictionary simply to understand.

While talking in acronyms might certainly speed up internal conversations and ensure that people are aligned. Much like sailing terminology is used to allow for easy communication (port and starboard). Where we get in trouble is when internal speak leaks to the front line with consumers.

Earlier this week I was emailing with a company in hopes of getting ‘signed up’ for their services. The woman was very polite and prompt but she said this in her email:

“…your account would be opened in my cost center.”

 

For anyone who spends any amount of time you know that I try to stay away from jargon, buzzwords, etc (see my ignite presentation).

I have no doubt that internally I might be a cost center, but not sure I really want to be told that I am. Consumers deserve clear language that ensures that your brand is serving them in the best way possible. Before you draft your next email, think of the language you are using before hitting send.

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