Marketing

Before you create a blog, draft content for your brand-spanking-new website or start tweeting, first define your “brand voice.”

Geno and Libby goofing off. That headline wisdom is straight from John Moore’s head. Seems it’s actually pretty easy (and cheap) to manufacturer friends and followers on social media these days. The other day my friend Steven and I had a silly twitter conversation (yes, I am admitting that out loud) that went like this: ME:If you have someone who follows you and they have a lot of followers do you tend to follow them back? Steven (faking interest): What? I’d just gotten a string of people following me on Twitter that had 20,000+ followers. Who were all these odd people with such massive followings? So. Steven did an interesting little experiment. He paid five dollars to get 15,000 twitter followers on a site called Fivver. Been there yet? Well. If you want more twitter followers or Facebook likes — Fivver is just one of many places you can go these days. Steven signed up for the 15,000 followers deal and in less than 24 hours, there they were. Suddenly he was a social media maven. He went from 500 “real” (I suppose) followers to over 15,000 “make believe” followers. Overnight. For five bucks. Crazy, right? I’m happy to report Steven’s life didn’t change at all. He’s not dressing or talking differently. Nothing changed. Well, except that those follower are slowly going away. So, I have to ask. If you have someone who follows you and they have a lot of followers do you tend to follow them back? Why? Are we wired to think more is more? The post What gets measured, gets manufactured. appeared first on Brains On Fire Blog.

Combing through our Most Creative People of the year list, you can see that technologists, performers, and interviewers all have a masterful command of conversation--here are three examples of how they do it, and what it means for work, innovation, and, of course, creativity.

Generosity is a commodity we should not hold on to

Have you seen the CTRL ALT Delete experience yet? My latest book, CTRL ALT Delete, came out two days ago. In an attempt to create attention and interest, the team at Twist Image put together a very compelling story about business today. So far, the experience has been getting some rave reviews in places like Twitter and Facebook, but - for the most part - people are still misunderstanding what this all means. When you put things into context, provide the data to back it and present it as a story, you would think that the information would wake people up. It rarely does. It turns out that people still - wrongly - think that CTRL ALT Delete is a book about social media (it isn't). It turns out that people still - wrongly - think that CTRL ALT Delete is a book about marketing (it isn't). CTRL ALT Delete is a book about business life. We see facts, stats and data points all day long. We 're exposed to information, like we live in a world where more people have a mobile subscription than access to safe drinking water. We live in a world where Google's advertising revenue is greater than that of the entire print industry. But, beyond trying to catch our jaws as they hit the floor, what are we doing about it? We all struggle - deeply - to highlight companies that are handling this moment of business purgatory (as I call it) well. We can't simple rattle them off. There are not a lot of great case studies (or simply not enough of them). Worse, each and every one of us struggles to figure our how to evolve professionally and bring the best "you" to work everyday. Will the company accept my new way of thinking? What will my clients and peers think? Is this too radical for our industry to handle? What choice do we have? In 2009, I published my first book, Six Pixels of Separation. It was a book that I wrote to demonstrate how technology, media our new inter-connected changes the very fabric of what it means to be a brand, create marketing and the relationship between consumers and these brands. It was a book that exposed the strategies we used at Twist Image to grow our business from a handful of employees and clients, to our current state of one hundred-plus full-time employees in two cities and working with some of the most iconic brands (we are one of the largest independent digital marketing agencies in North America). I don't write this to brag, but rather as social proof that there was (and still is) alternatives to how to grow and market any business. In CTRL ALT Delete we have entered a world where the very fabric of business has changed forever (I break these out into five major movements in the business book), but brands are still not doing much about it. It didn't end there. I felt that it would be unfair to write about these five movements without also spending a healthy chunk of time discussing us - the individuals - who are now entrusted to thrive in this new business environment. Go through the CTRL ALT Delete story. I encourage you to spend a few minutes going through the CTRL ALT Delete digital experience (you can do it online, on your tablet or smartphone). Keep a notepad nearby, answer the three questions that are a part of the experience and then think about two things: Your business. Your life. Ready for a reboot? What's your take? How well-prepared is your business for this world that is not only constantly changing, but that has changed (dramatically)? How well-prepared are you, personally and professionally, for a world where we'll no longer change jobs 4-5 times throughout our careers, but one where we will change careers 4-5 times throughout our lifetime? It's funny, all of the staggering stats about the new reality in our world still triggers fear and anxiety. In reality, the feeling should be excitement and anticipation of a world that offers up a whole new layer of opportunity, wonder and amazement. Do you still perceive this reboot to be something negative? You s

Twitter has had some trouble in the recent past with some high profile accounts getting hacked and the ensuing fallout from those issues. Part of their response was to say that they will be enabling a two-step verification process. At the time that was a promise but now it is in play according to the post on the Twitter blog from yesterday. Here’s a video for you to get the gist. So while this is a good first step it may not really be much help to those who really need it. How’s that you ask? Well, TechCrunch’s Josh Constine has this to say However the brands and news outlets whose accounts are the most valuable to hackers may not benefit from the feature. They can only set one phone number as the recipient of the two-factor authentication codes, but may have several staff members who need to access the account. If they enabled it, whoever carried the phone registered with Twitter would have to relay the code to all the other staffers to get it to whoever needed it. That hassle might prevent shared accounts from turning on login verifications, and so the hackings may continue. Hmmmm. It’s a nice start but this is a bit of a vexing issue. It’s hard to imagine that the AP’s Twitter account is accessed by only one person and would a large brand ever want to put that much control in the hands of just one person? Not likely. Twitter has left the door open for improvements which many will feel can’t come soon enough. This release is built on top of Twitter via SMS, so we need to be able to send a text to your phone before you can enroll in login verification (which may not work with some cell phone providers). However, much of the server-side engineering work required to ship this feature has cleared the way for us to deliver more account security enhancements in the future. Stay tuned. So will you be using this feature? Will your company use this feature? Will your clients use it? Here’s a help center link and here’s to secure tweeting!

Some people are stuck in the present and unable to move forward. Use the future to escape the present. Decide where you’d rather be. Related posts: Building A Brand People Love: Create Real Value

By now, you’ve seen the button on Facebook. Give a gift. It pops up when you see a story posted by a friend who might be celebrating an anniversary, a graduation or a new baby. It also, obviously, pops up when it’s someone’s birthday. In theory, Facebook Gifts gives you an easy way to send a quick memento to a friend or family member with a few simple clicks. You can choose from gift cards (Starbucks, iTunes), wine, chocolate chip cookies, salt shot glasses, and moustache lip balm. Yes, moustache lip balm. The question is: How many people are really doing this? Judging from my friends, a decent amount. I asked if people were actually using Gifts yesterday on my Facebook feed (definitely more people using/receiving gifts than not): According to Facebook, the company sold $5 million worth of “gifts” in the fourth quarter of 2012. Might seem like a big number, but given Facebook’s user base, that’s miniscule. But, Facebook’s just getting started. It’s far too early to call this a failure. And brands are just starting to discover the opportunity here. So far, it seems like mostly big brands involved: Starbucks, Fandango, Olive Garden. But, it seems like there’s probably an opportunity for smaller to mid-sized brands, too. You’re already seeing that pop up in Gifts. Cookies from The Protein Bakery. Wines that Rock from the Mendocino Wine Company. And soap from Duke Cannon. I could easily see: * Smartphone case manufacturers offering up unique cases for under $50. * A Kate Spade passport holder for under $75. * Fragrance companies offering up a rollerballs for under $50. * Or, a gift card to your favorite local restaurant for $50-75. There are many possibilities, and brands are just starting to scratch the surface. But, the key is: Will people use Gifts on Facebook? That remains to be seen. What about you? Have you used Gifts yet? What’s been your experience? Do you think they’ll become popular enough for more brands to get involved? Thanks for installing the Bottom of every post plugin by Corey Salzano. Contact me if you need custom WordPress plugins or website design.Facebook gifts: Does it have a future for brands? is a post from: Communications Conversations

Weeks after Apple ousted AppGratis from its App Store for iOS, the mobile application discovery and deals service has resurfaced on Android, launching a free application available for download from the Google Play digital storefront.

From tasty wraps to a better PB&J, here are easy and delicious ways to upgrade your packed lunch