Measuring Business and Marketing Results

We All Want Revenue 

We seem to be good at tossing around buzz phrases. We can talk to each other about the ROI of digital engagement through the internal customer service of community development. Managing expectations and deliverables are a way of life. And yet we seem to often get stuck while waiting for quick wins.

In the world of marketing and business development (the new catch-all for sales), there is no shortage of chatter about the social web. Of course, it’s the moving target and still the new shiny toy. Anyone with an Internet connection can publish their opinions. That does not mean it’s a sound business opportunity.

Marathon Meet Race

Budgets are tight, jobs are on the line, there is no time to try stuff and hope it will work. And as someone who consults business and has worked in every medium, it remains challenging for me to remind owners and managers that this stuff takes a while and no campaign will sustain them forever. Moreover, you can only measure your return if you are honest about your actual monetary and human investment. Throwing up a Facebook group, buying a bunch of television advertising and stuffing mailboxes are not tactics that will automatically bring results.

The social web is not the only place to spend your effort but reading and tweeting about direct mail or telemarketing just doesn’t seem to be as sexy. But judging from the mound of three-color print designed pieces of cardboard and paper overflowing from my recycle bin, it appears to be alive and well. Television and radio advertising remain viable channels to extend your offer and external or outdoor advertising is still around too. But opening your wallet and demanding results is dangerous sport.

Nothing Is Free

My colleague, Drew McLellan wrote a post recently about the importance of channel selection and more importantly he reminds us that social media are not free or even cheap. It takes a shift in your organization to account for any outbound marketing. In fact, in my humble opinion, marketing is not a department but rather a part of all that you do in business.

No amount of advertising or external collateral will save a bad business. So if you think you can buy your success, save your money and spend it on developing your actual offer. I have lost count the number of prospects who tell me they don’t need marketing, they need more revenue. It’s like saying you want to run a marathon but aren’t prepared to buy shoes and train.

How Do You Measure Your Business Expectations?

Kneale Mann

image creditfantes

Media are in the Hands of the Beholder

Stay Tuned. News at 11. Coming Up Next.

I was at a dinner recently with some friends in media I’ve known for years. As it often happens at one of these types of events, we talked shop. The landscape is changing, what traditional media outlets are doing and could do better, the continued infiltration of the social web, mobile and more. If this had been twenty years ago, one may claim it was conversation filled with opinion. But now many of us have actually been working in marketing and media for that long and those opinions have become rather educated.

During the dinner, I recounted a meeting I had a few months ago with someone in the mobile space. He is a bright guy with a growing company but it struck me how much he felt his world was the world. He couldn’t fathom the fact that some people actually aren’t on the cutting edge of technology or living on every word coming from the mind of Steve Jobs. As astonishing as it may be to believe, there are people who actually don’t have a LinkedIn profile. And get this, some don’t blog or listen to podcasts either.

Forecast after this. Stick around for more details. 

As much as we instinctively know it’s not the case, we tend to still think others think like we think and others grasp what we have experienced. Proof of this happens every minute of the day. An event will happen and some will go to YouTube for more information while others will check the Twitter stream. Yet the news agencies will hope we wait for the 11 O’clock news. And millions still do wait for the news report. Those who don't hop on social media claim they may not "get it" while others who are constantly wired up can't grasp why anyone would do it any other way.

Information is fragmented and live. It is inaccurate and opinionated. The speed of content being shared will only increase. While the challenge for anyone creating content is to understand that the audience isn’t waiting by their device to receive it.

Desire and Technology Converge

Mitch Joel once pondered how the world would be without traditional media – television, radio, outdoor and print. I would add mobile devices and the Internet to that list because each is getting as big as the big four. So I think it's a more complex question. As millions flock to the social channels, traditional channels remain alive. There is no one way of navigating all this stuff.

We reside on both sides of the counter - we are both providers and clients - and the noise can often be deafening as we attempt to resonate with others while we try to decipher what we need from each other. I have clients who have found great success with a radio component or print imitative. Television, though expensive, still receives billions in annual ad revenue and they haven't stopped the printing presses just yet.

How do you reach your customer who has so many choices?

Kneale Mann

image credit: lifeonpurpose

All Media Are Not Created Equal

What Worked? What Didn't? Where To Go Next?

You have a product or service that needs exposure. For the purpose of this exercise, we will assume that it is fantastic and there's a need for it.

We will also make the leap that your creative messages are well focused and all the other parts are in place.

The Future Is Now

Let’s deal with where most business owners unfortunately reside. It’s where the pain is most intense – today. There is no time to look at long term plans; you need to make your next quarter. But if you do the same things hoping they will work this time, well you know the cliché.

Should you do a television campaign or a microsite? Perhaps it’s time for you to increase your social networking activities or buy radio? Has the money you spent on print become a dead end or perhaps an outdoor campaign will work?

It is dicey to change strategy without sound reasons yet dangerous to stay with a bad plan. Whether you run a large, medium or small organization, you have budget constraints. It’s effortless to look at Starbucks or Wal-Mart and have an opinion on how you would spend their marketing budget.

A quick checklist 

• Find people who can give you honest feedback and perspective.
• Stop watching the competition (for now).
• Remember that Facebook and Twitter are tactics, not your strategy.
• Pay no attention to those who say they have all the answers.
• Keep in mind that the media sales person is compensated on commission.
• Firing people to save money is not a good enough reason.
• Ask your customers what resonated with them.
• Carefully analyze what media has worked for you and what has not.
• Get out of your office, turn off your phone and think.
• Examine all of our current business activities. All of them.
• Cutting your marketing budget to save money is not the answer.
• Educate yourself on all media options and metrics.

Perhaps some items to add to your list.

Kneale Mann

image credit: alternativenews
original post: July 2010

From Vancouver to The World

Welcome to our Instant Life

Business owners and managers who have yet gone deep with a digital presence often worry about the time commitment, the ability to manage the content, the sheer volume of information and the return on their investment.

This week we watched in disgust as thousands of people went on a rampage in downtown Vancouver moments after the Canucks lost their second bid at a Stanley Cup. Over a hundred people have been arrested so far, clearly a tiny fraction of those who should be brought to justice, and a couple of hundred people were injured which in itself is a miracle. There have been incidents like this in the past where lives were lost.

Good Versus Bad

The actions are inexcusable. If you are upset that your team lost a hockey game, go home and smash your own house and car. But the very tools that were used to broadcast the Vancouver events to the world in an instant this week will slowly turn positive in two distinct ways.

There is video evidence of the actual people who did the damage and hurt others. It astounds me how anyone can destroy property, hurt others and happily film themselves doing it. There are thousands of Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and YouTube accounts littered with the names and images for authorities to sift through but the bigger question is one I’m not sure we can answer – why did this happen and if the Canucks had won, would it have happened anyway? It’s easy to say a small group of thugs started it – time will tell – but that doesn’t excuse thousands – yes, thousands – of others joining in.

Bad Turns Good

But the other positive result is that in mere hours, hundreds of Vancouverites were on the streets cleaning up their city and tens of thousands of supporters were spreading the news through various Facebook groups. Vancouver is one of the most beautiful, clean, fun, engaging cities on earth. If you have never been, I implore you to do so. If you have been, go again and let’s not let the bad ones prove what some are suspecting is a long hill to climb to improve the city’s reputation.

The digital age gives us reasonably inexpensive tools to spread ideas quickly. The social web has opened up avenues to people who share our interests all over the world. But the events of Wednesday night in Vancouver remind us the responsibility we have with our web presence and content.

Let’s remember our responsibility as human beings.

Kneale Mann

image credit: thescore

Psychographics and the Social Web

.

You are an 18-34 year old white female with short or long brown or black hair who enjoys cooking and/or painting and/or gardening and/or attending plays. Tennis and golf consume 3-5 hours of your time each week and you have a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and/or Social Studies and/or English.

You enjoy 4-6 servings of alcohol weekly and spend $2,650 each year on entertainment. And according to this survey, you fit the average profile hence we are going to now send customized advertising messages to you which match your aggregated character traits.

Check Your Math

Radio talks about cumulative audience, average quarter hour and cost per point derived from less than 5% of the population while television has proprietary metrics to measure a show’s ratings compared to others in it its time slot across demographics derived from a selected sample of the population.

Print, outdoor, product placement, direct mail, e-marketing, infomercials and all other media have an equation they have devised to measure audience and impact.

Social Media have Changed the Game

Johanna Blakeley is Deputy Director of The Norman Lear Center in California and studies entertainment and how it interacts and impacts political, commercial and social habits. This is her presentation at TEDWomen last December. [video]


knealemann

video credit: TED | image credit: thinkgeek
This was also featured on socialmediatoday

Changing Education Paradigms

One of the most popular speakers to ever speak at TED is Sir Ken Robinson. He is clearly smart and very funny. He cares deeply about education. Here, he shares some of his thoughts on some of the most controversial learning topics today.



knealemann | email

video credit: TED | RSA Animate

ROSI | Return on Social Investment

Imagine – if you don’t already – that have your own company.
Let’s focus on the social aspect of your business – your people.

They work 1,800-2,000 hours a year. They have bills, families, dreams and career aspirations. They want to contribute to your company but they also want to reach their own goals. Your team wants a reason beyond compensation that inspires them to show up every day.

As company owner, you have identified that career advancement is essential to ensure your team is well equipped to deliver results. You allot budget for things like external consultants and seminars as well as internal collaborative sessions and conferences all to arm your people with the best tools possible. Call it your social investment.

Dollars and sense

How often does a company owner or manager perform an audit of social investment? Some may be able to get the metrics close but these are estimates at best. It's tough to say if you spend $X on your people, you will get $Y in return. But it's not something most measure on those terms.

You can make the same claim with regards to any outbound marketing initiatives. You figure out a percentage of revenue to spend on telling people about you but it's not an exact science. It is not automatic that you spend more and make more. Buying wisely and choosing the right channels are as imperative as choosing your team.

Social investment needs same care as external investment.

I had an interesting conversation with a colleague last week about a prominent company's dissatisfaction of the results from a recent initiative. In base terms, they were not happy that the millions spent didn't move the needle much. It happens to companies small, medium and large.

So you invest in social improvement aka your people. You spend money on letting the public know about your offering. Yet you are unable to measure the actual return on these investments to scientific certainty. But you know you need to do both.

Then there is the onslaught of online and mobile channels that aren't so easy to measure. Time spent building trust channels seem insurmountable.

Social media: return on commitment

Before you can expect a return, you need to make an investment. Time, patience, focus and most importantly your willingness to participate in the process will be of great benefit to the growth of your company.

Having a YouTube channel and starting a Facebook group is not the investment. Neither is tossing a binder at the new guy and hoping he makes his numbers.

What is your ROSI?

knealemann | email


image credit: flickr

Return on What Investment?

Measurement is tricky business.

There seems to be more discussion about ROI in the last few years than in any time in history. Some may point to the economic reality, others may suggest it’s because social media are still as confusing as calculus.

Perhaps the issue for some business owners is that the social web requires sweat equity while the work on other media ends after the creative stage and once it's 'placed' it does the work for you.

How often do you or your manager measure the return on investment of mainstream channels? The issue is often tied to money and time.

We use the phrase “buying media” when discussing the big four traditional channels and things get pear-shaped when someone suggests that a LinkedIn group and a YouTube channel with a couple of videos do not a social media commitment make.

So you figure out your advertising budget and then go shopping.

You try and cut the best deal and cover as many bases as you can. Then you go on with running your business. Media does its job for you (or so you think). You are no longer necessary for the process to see itself through until perhaps a creative freshen or new schedule change need to be examined.

I would caution that hiring the least experienced person in the building or worst yet asking an intern to do it for free may be unwise. Ask yourself if you would trust this person with your next bank deposit before you hand over the keys of your brand to the new kid.

Anyone demanding ROI on social media requires a long honest look at what they are prepared to invest in order to get a measurable return. And we both know that investment is much more than what’s in your wallet.

What says you?

knealemann | email

Join me for Movember.

image credit: mrecafe

Optics and Metrics

Will this work?

In my former life, I programmed radio stations for a living. I loved my time in radio but one of my biggest grievances remains today:

Measurement.

• To measure ratings in radio, a tiny percentage of the population is asked their opinion to speak on behalf of the masses.

• The newspaper industry claims each paper is read by several people.

• Television polls the same people and calls it consensus.

• Direct Mail response rates higher than 3% point to a resounding success.

• External advertising industries claim the billboard will be seen but you must remember the three second rule.

Yet companies remain sceptical that an online strategy can help them.

It's important to note that if you own a business and you are unsure the best solution for you - be careful of those who will drown you in metrics and doublespeak. That is especially important when delving in to the online world.

I am not bias toward particular media though I do lean to some more than others because of effectiveness. This won't be another article about relationships and two-way conversations. It must be based on strategy, not theory. All media has its place and I have clients who use them all. This is more about paying attention to what is important to you and your business. It's about managing your expectations.

You can’t ask everyone and there is no such thing as the perfect shot. Every industry has its metrics yet often business owners when introduced to digital solutions want documented results at the beginning.

It is valid to want to know the expected results of marketing dollars (after having a great offering and a well focused plan and message) but running a business like an ad campaign is dangerous sport.

Living By Numbers

I like metrics and research. I think both are important but if you want a guaranteed solution chiseled in granite every time you may be waiting a while. I don’t condone running your business with wild abandon but balance is good. Numbers can be a deterrent. Numbers can intoxicate you. Numbers can be deceiving.

If you live and die by fuzzy metrics, you may not be seeing the entire equation.

knealemann

photo credit: healnh

original post: feb 2010

Rolling the Digital Dice

Abandoning Traditional Media

Your mind begins to wander as you dream about all the things you’ll buy when you win the jackpot. One roll and your dreams will come true. Money will be no object.

Now imagine you have a company or product. How will you get all you desire? Will you daydream about being wildly successful? Let it ride on one role and call it strategy?

Outbound Online Only

It seems simple enough to create a Facebook group, add a Twitter stream, start a blog and wait for the customers show up. You have the self-ringing phone so the new customer making web presence will do its magic in no time, right?

After all, we have seen the explosion of social media in the last 5-6 years (although social networking is as old as humans) with websites such as Twitter, Mashable, Huffington Post and YouTube which were built for the online experience. So it stands to reason you can do the same with your business, right? Easy peasy.

Paradigm Crushed

Take the time to build and you stand a better chance of permeating your message into the consciousness of users. Blast people and don't expect them to dance.

Some say social media doesn't work and it's a waste of time, others think it's the golden bullet, while others believe what they did last year will work again this year.

Who Me So-Me?

I often see stories about the death of traditional media. Print is in trouble, no one listens to radio anymore, billboards are ineffective, direct mail doesn't work, television is expensive and everyone has a PVR.

A bad idea on any medium remains a bad idea. Abandoning an integrated media approach in place of a digital-only strategy may result in a die in the wood, roll no good.

Or as my colleague Mitch Joel says - it's not 'instead of' it's 'in addition to'.

What's your roll?

knealemann
strategy. marketing. media.

image credit: evidentia

A Dozen Ideas on Choosing Your Media

What Worked? What Didn't? Where To Go Next?

You have a product or service that needs exposure.

For the purpose of this exercise, we will assume that it is fantastic and there's a need for it.

We will also make the leap that your creative messages are well focused and all the other parts are in place.

The Future Is Now

Let’s deal with where most business owners unfortunately reside. It’s where the pain is most intense – today. There is no time to look at long term plans; you need to make your next quarter. But if you do the same things hoping they will work this time, well you know the cliché.

Should you do a television campaign or a microsite? Perhaps it’s time for you to increase your social networking activities or buy radio? Has the money you spent on print become a dead end or perhaps an outdoor campaign will work?

Shiny and Sparkling

It is dicey to change strategy without sound reasons yet dangerous to stay with a bad plan. Whether you run a large, medium or small organization, you have budget constraints. It’s effortless to look at Starbucks or Wal-Mart and have an opinion on how you would spend their marketing budget.

More of the Same or Give Up?

You can throw your hands in the air and say you have no money and marketing efforts will have to wait. But before you tear everything apart or stick your head in the sand, perhaps some of these ideas may help...

• Find people who can give you honest feedback and perspective.
• Stop watching the competition (for now).
• Remember that Facebook and Twitter are tactics, not your strategy.
• Pay no attention to those who say they have all the answers.
• Keep in mind that the media sales person is compensated on commission.
• Firing people to save money is not a good enough reason.
• Ask your customers what resonated with them.
• Carefully analyze what media has worked for you and what has not.
• Get out of your office, turn off your phone and think.
• Examine all of our current business activities. All of them.
• Cutting your marketing budget to save money is not the answer.
• Educate yourself on all media options and metrics.

What would you add to the list?

knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.

image credit: mysitemyway

The Digital Arm Wrestle

As we quickly get to two billion people online, this is no longer something of a boutique or alternative behavior.

I chuckle when I hear terms like “digital marketing” and “new media” because when you have almost a third of the world’s population participating in an activity that is by definition mainstream. I realize we need these terms for those who haven't caught up but everything you do in your business is marketing and everything you use is media.

What is Traditional?

Most refer to “traditional” media as television, print, outdoor and radio. All remain viable for content, entertainment, information and advertising. Radio is not dead. Print is going through a transition while direct mail remains the biggest form of advertising. Billboards and bus boards remain filled with messages. And the television model is evolving.

Facebook has over half a billion users, Twitter is close to 100 million and the CNN website receives over 20 million unique visitors a month.

I heard a radio sales consultant recently talk about how his medium was the most intrusive. He’s right – if the radio stations you activate are any good. There is great content in all media so before you blindly focus on the strengths or weaknesses of each choice, ensure the specific outlets are of any quality.

Advertising on a bad radio or television station is just as dangerous as assuming a Twitter stream will save your business.

But this is not solely about advertising. As someone who has been in radio, television, print, outdoor and digital, I can assure you that without a quality product you won’t see black ink no matter how many layers of marketing lipstick you put on it.

We Share What We Like

I’m a product guy, an idea guy, a creative guy, a strategic guy and that includes all content. We share with others when we see a great movie or a great commercial. We rarely discuss what medium we found it on – that is irrelevant.

As the chatter increases about this medium or that, let’s stop and be very honest about the content. Is it any good? And if the boss isn’t convinced that the Internet is a place to find new customers, ask her to put down her smart phone for a moment and listen.

What are your thoughts?

@knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.

photo credit: ipbase

Stuff For The Stuff

Communications tools don't get socially interesting until they get technologically boring. Clay Shirky

If you like toys, we live in exciting times filled with 3D televisions and computers the size of a paperback.

We can send complicated documents to the other side of the earth with a press of a thumb and pizza places still deliver.

There's An App For That.


Line ups were seen all over the U.S. (soon to be repeated in Canada) filled with excited Mac users waiting to purchase an iPad minutes after the store opened.

Online discussion forums got heated over whether the BlackBerry 9700 was superior to the 9000 while Android was also gaining new fans.

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.
Carl Sagan

There may be a nominal charge in addition to the carry-on fee, the shoe removal surtax and the baggage handling service charge but on some flights we can now get Internet access. Tax not included.

One day, cars will be equipped with voice activated Internet browsers and drop down top gun instrumentation technology. Laptops will be a gift with purchase while plasma screens and Wi-Fi will be in every bathroom.

We are becoming the servants in thought, as in action, of the machine we have created to serve us. John Kenneth Galbraith

I have friends who reside in the hi-tech world and do fantastic work. They develop things that go on things that make other things go faster or look cooler.
But without the human, doesn't the car just sit in the driveway?

How can you help create content worthy of uploading, downloading or buying to put on all this stuff? Maybe something to think about while in line to get the latest coolest newest?

@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.

photo credit: wired

Marketing | Metrics and Minutiae

Pre-Sets and Programming

In my former life, I programmed radio stations for a living. I loved my time in radio but one of my biggest grievances remains today: measurement.

Will this work?

I Want It Now!


• To measure ratings in radio, a tiny percentage of the population is asked their opinion to speak on behalf of the masses.

• The newspaper industry claims each paper (!) is read by several people.

• Television polls the same people and calls it consensus.

• Direct Mail response rates higher than 3% point to a resounding success.

• External advertising industries claim the billboard will be seen but you must remember the three second rule.

Yet companies remain sceptical that an online strategy can help them.

It's important to note that if you own a business and you are unsure the best solution for you - be careful of those who will drown you in metrics and doublespeak. That is especially important when delving in to the online world.

I am not bias toward particular media though I do lean to some more than others because of effectiveness. This won't be another article about relationships and two-way conversations. It must be based on strategy, not theory. All media has its place and I have clients who use them all. This is more about paying attention to what is important to you and your business. It's about managing your expectations.

You can’t ask everyone and there is no such thing as the perfect shot. Every industry has its metrics yet often business owners when introduced to digital solutions want documented results at the beginning.

It is valid to want to know the expected results of marketing dollars (after having a great offering and a well focused plan and message) but running a business like an ad campaign is dangerous sport.

Living By Numbers

I’m not anti-research or anti-metrics but if you want a guaranteed solution chiseled in granite every time you may be waiting a while. I don’t condone running your business with wild abandon but balance is good. Numbers can be a deterrent. Numbers can intoxicate you. Numbers can be deceiving.

In Other News...

The Vancouver Olympics start today. Years of planning, training and hoping culminate in a two week event that costs billions and is seen by billions. And the biggest story right now is whether the weather will cooperate.

Something no amount of planning could have affected. Go Canada!

Do you ever leap before you look?

@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.

photo credit: i.ehow

The Social Economy

Imagine the Internet is your investment portfolio.

There are an estimated 1.7 billion people online. That’s one quarter of the world’s population.

There are over 400 million in Asia with Internet access and three quarters of North Americans are online.

We're Rich! We're Rich!


The number of people on the Internet is increasing at just shy of 20% annually. Venture capitalists are frothing over these numbers and it is the reason why some of our favorite social channels receive more funding.

Media are/is Mediums.

We can officially stop making the distinction between "traditional" media (print, radio, television, outdoor/transit) and digital media. What is paramount is our ability to navigate all of the available mediums as well as the communication between companies and customers.

A flag and an anthem.

With a population of over 300 million, Facebook would be the fourth largest country on the planet where 1.6 billion pieces of content is exchanged every day.

Blogger, Digg, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter get over 900 million daily visitors. We can safely put the apples and oranges away and call it all media and mainstream.

Social Media are the mediums in which we socialize.

We all too often forget what it’s like on the other side of the counter. We are all customers and we are all service providers. But the connection often breaks down when discussions surround building online communities with a business application.

If you could see a 20 point increase each year, would you be interested?

If giving up control to your customers would increase their spend, are you still reading?

Are you willing to let your customers have the ability to have actual direct contact with you?

Are you ready to put some time and resources and sweat equity into your Internet portfolio?

@knealemann
marketing and social media strategy

image credit: doorsofperception.com

You Have Marketing | Sleep Well

Investment Returned?

The chatter about return on investment never subsides.

If you spend money it's your right to measure the wisdom of your purchase and how it may have helped your business.

But Is It That Simple?

Stan buys an outdoor campaign in five cities for twelve weeks and sees a 9% increase in sales on the East Coast. Sounds great. The boss will love it. So is the campaign the cause of the increase? Not even Stan can be sure.

Share Points and Average Quarter Hours

Kayla has always used some of her marketing budget to place advertising on alternative rock radio stations. Since her target is Males 18-34, that makes sense but she has seen a decrease in revenue for the last five quarters. She is concerned that radio isn’t as affective anymore.

Her lean toward increasing her social media activity is justified. But the radio spend is worth a much closer look – not because of the medium – but because it may not be the reason for the decreased revenue.

Blanket and Hope

Keith is convinced that direct mail will work. He has seen the stats. He knows that less than 1% of people who receive the piece will actually spend more than a second to review it. He has decided to simply mail his menu to everyone in his town of 34,000 people. He will do four mailings per year.

Keith’s pizza joint is humming. He and his staff can barely keep up with the demand. The campaign is working like a charm. Or is it?

Social Media Saves The Day?

Lloyd started his Facebook group almost a year ago. He asked every friend to join and asked each of them to ask each of their friends to join. There are now 8,714 members from all over the world. The numbers keep building but Lloyd doesn’t know what to do next.

Marketing is not simply advertising. What you did last year is not a solution. Your company is not a campaign.

Radio, social media, print, outdoor and digital can all be viable options for you. But simply picking one isn't enough to ensure a good night's sleep.

What says you?

@knealemann
Helping you create your best business,
marketing and social media strategy.

image credit: firstpeople.us

What Is Local To You?

Location Location Location?

In my twenty-five years of marketing and media, I have heard one phrase uttered more often than any other: Be Local.

It was how you differentiated yourself from national outlets.

Market and demographic were used to describe the audience, listener or reader. It wasn't about home or humans.

Local referred to the geographic location of a business and its customers.

I have realized that my view of "local" has changed. It is has become less about geography. It is more about what is local and important to me.

Buddies For Life

You may have attended university in another city. The relationships you formed during that time remain local to you. You may have moved hundreds of miles away and never visited the campus after graduation day, but all your touch points to that experience are still local to you.

Perhaps you love your car so much you have joined an online community devoted to lovers of that model and you have formed relationships with other owners and perhaps even planned outings and events. That is a community that is local to you.

Know Your Locals

It is crucial you realize this fact if you are running a business. It’s not enough to be in a market without activating the power of the local community. There is a chain of coffee shops here that is competing quite nicely with two major international chains, because they are local to us.

If you own a destination business - such as a hotel or resort, then it’s important to realize that your local community is anyone who wants to visit your destination. So you need to be local to them.

Emotion vs. Location

We need to keep finding ways to allow our growing online relationships a place to flourish that make it feel local to us.

The size of your community is boundless and what is local to you may have become more of an emotional and mental attachment rather than a spot on some map.

What is local to you?

knealemann.at.gmail.com

image credit: skagitriverjournal.com

The New News Cycle

We are officially overwhelmed with content. It’s everywhere. Blogs, podcasts, news, media, books, pamphlets, it’s being created faster than we can consume it.

The movement in the last couple of weeks on Twitter with regards to the Iranian election has been inspiring.

The Power of We?

The people do have the power. Will any of it change the horrific situation over there? Hopefully. But if not, it will change the next one. We must believe that we can change things as a group.

Thursday 5:10pm

I checked email and in came a series blasts from the various news agencies all reporting that Michael Jackson had suffered a heart attack.

Tune It In

My immediate reaction was to post something on Twitter. No phone call to any of my other media friends, I didn’t turn on the radio or television, I didn’t first visit a website, I tweeted it.

Reports were flying around faster than the speed of 110wpm and an hour had passed. Checking sites, tweeting, reading tweets, checking sites and the confirmation came through that Jackson had passed away.

The Scramble Was On

There were the rumor mongers, the unconfirmed reports, the confirmed reports, the recanted posts, the tweets about the cause of death, the unconfirmed confirmations – it was mayhem.

Twitter servers were vibrating from the pressure. News sites were crashing from the traffic. Traditional media outlets were scrambling to get things on the air.

...Then There Were Three

Earlier this week, television icon Ed McMahon passed away. Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson in the same day. And with channels like Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeeed and others, the reaction was instantaneous.

We live in a tabloid laden quick to the mic/cam/site world. In the quest to scoop, many don’t bother to check for the truth. Hence the Harrison Ford and Jeff Goldlbum rumors that followed Jackson’s passing.

Is There A New News Cycle?

Is journalism no longer about fact checking and respect? Are the rules out the window while most hide behind the thinly veiled “public’s right to know”?

Some claim social media channels aren't reliable journalism. Well while the Twitter stream was searching for real information, TMZ was quick to get the scoop on the news of MJ's death before CNN and NBC while Entertainment Tonight had a picture of him on the stretcher on the way to the hospital on their website.

In a day of two famous deaths, a President's health care town hall, the Iranian election story and the money crunch; perhaps we're all just a little too tightly pressed against the glass.

Our thoughts go out to the friends and families of
Ms. Fawcett, Mr. McMahon and Mr. Jackson.

Ed McMahon: 03.06.23 - 06.23.09.
Farrah Fawcett: 02.02.47 - 06.25.09.
Michael Jackson: 08.29.58 - 06.25.09

@knealemann
knealemann at gmail dot com

Helping you better utilize all media.
How to make it, use it and profit from it.

photo credit: michaeljackson.com

統合されているか? What Is Integration?

Are you integrated? Is your company integrated?
Do you know? Do you know how?

Integration is a word that is thrown around quite a bit these days. But what does it really mean? Let’s start with one definition; the organization of various traits, feelings, attitudes into one harmonious personality.

But it’s one thing to define it; it’s another to put it in to practice. It can be as foreign as speaking Japanese to someone who only speaks English.

統合されているか?
What Is Integration?

Integration has become a catch-all like social media, marketing, user-experience, paradigm shift and community. In simple terms – though easier said than done – it is when several topics or concepts or pieces are seamlessly merged to make a better result. The parts are not lost but work well with each other in a natural way.

But integration is not about trickery. It is about reflecting life.

設定した上で静かな
Quiet On The Set

In the entertainment world, we have seen infomercials and product placement for decades but those applications are often clunky and obvious. The advertising and marketing communities have embraced integration for the purpose of telling more of a story around the product or service.

You may remember the Dog House viral video or the Guy Richie BMW mini-movies. Though neither may have increased sales per se, they were a part of the overall strategy.

コピーを取る
Make A Copy

The mistake many make is to see something that spreads through viral channels and think they can duplicate it. That strategy is about as sound as all the years when the New York Rangers thought they could buy a Stanley Cup by paying gobs of money to a bench full of “superstars”.

Copying is not integration, insuring all the parts are in tact is not either. Integration happens when you remember the human part – when you can reflect the tastes of your audience or customers - not dictate them.

はじめまして
Nice To Meet You

If you are having coffee with someone you just met, you notice their clothing and the surroundings, you are more conscious about yourself and your body language. But once you get to know someone, those thoughts are melded into a relationship with that person which is integrated with all that you do with each other. You become yourself.

When we can forget the screen, the transmitter, the camera, the out-of-context medium that is simply delivering the content then we begin to enjoy true integration.

どのように統合されますか？
How Do You Integrate?

@knealemann

Not-So-Common Sense Revolution

"The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next."
Henry Ward Beecher

As we all take a long look at all that we do, it has made us realize our strengths. If you haven't done this yet, it a worthy exercise.

Many media and entertainment colleagues are hanging on - in some cases - for dear life. And in other cases, there is a bright future.

But it got me thinking about common sense and status quo. We put things in boxes, we over analyze lowest common denominator and seek averages to keep us all happy. We don't rock any boats and if we step out there is a fear that our lack of conformity will get us into trouble. And we certainly wouldn't want to run the risk that someone may not like what we do, would we? Yawn.

"It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense."
Robert Green Ingersol

The music industry was rested on many pillars that were deemed true for far too long. The genie has crushed the bottle.

The publishing industry is going through radical change and consumers are driving this bus as well.

Newspaper outlets will survive and thrive again but a completely new mind set must occur or they can blame no one but themselves.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."
Albert Einstein

The phrase "common sense" should be stricken from our vernacular. It has caused mediocrity, laziness, assumption, arrogance and many other deadly sins. What is common and makes sense to you is where it stops.

"Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done."
Harriet Beecher Stowe

This is not to say you and I may agree on virtually everything but we must look at the massive changes media is a going through to realize this can play in to your advantage.

So perhaps have another look your experience and your abilities with a fresh perspective. Don't throw anything away or assume what you know or what you have done is "common sense".

What are your thoughts?
What are your stories?
What is your common sense?

km