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Brand Dialogue

A DIALOGUE ON MARKET ENGAGEMENT


Presentation to Seattle Ad Club: “Beyond Social Media”November 25

Gave a presentation yesterday at the Seattle Ad Club November luncheon. Last year, Publicis’ Laura Porto Stockwell and I gave a presentation to Ad Club on Social Media - this year, we revisited where what’s happened in the last year and where the advertising profession is going in a world where consumers’ voices are as loud as our own.

The presentation can be downloaded here from Slideshare. The movie we showed at the outset is here.

Thanks to George Riddell and Tom Baker at Ad Club for the opportunity to present again!

Edelman’s goodpurpose study shows consumer shift towards social goodNovember 20

Edelman PR (my erstwhile employer) has just released its 2nd annual study of consumer thoughts around social good, and I have to say, it’s great stuff.

Based on a survey of 6000 people across ten countries, some of the findings really support my drive to shift gears into this new direction:

  • Only 25% of people find contentment from the shopping experience
  • Over 83% of consumers are willing to change consumption habits to make tomorrow’s world a better place
  • 63% of consumers think brands spend too much on marketing/advertising and should put more into a good cause
  • Globally, 80% of consumers feel that during a recession, it is still important for brands and companies to set aside money for social purpose

Fantastic data!

For more of this timely and thorough study, go to the GoodPurpose Community.

Hatching new plans and ideasNovember 1

So, reluctantly, I’ve left Edelman Public Relations.

I joined Edelman in February of this year because of the firm’s strong social media bench and their very forward-thinking endorsement of the idea of engagement rather than monologue. Richard Edelman is truly visionary in this area and there’s a reason he and the firm have been awarded honor after honor, year after year.

I’ve enjoyed working with (and will miss) many talented friends and colleagues. Fortunately, we’ll be continuing to work together on at least one project during the next few months.

Those of you who read my blog (by the way, THANK YOU!) have likely noticed my increasingly strong desire to do something along the lines of social good. This move is a first step in that direction. In the short-term, I will be partnering (and co-habitating) with Seattle-based branding agency egg. egg has made a commitment to only support sustainable brands - we are very much on the same wavelength and have already started working on projects together.

Along these lines, I will be announcing a new Social Good venture shortly and if you, too, are interested in doing more to give back to society and support our collective futures, I’d like to hear from you!

Can one focus on socially responsibl

Seattle-area tweetups, October 2nd and 24thSeptember 28

SOCIAL MEDIA, POLITICS, DRINKS AND HOR D’OEUVRES - what’s not to love? Are you watching this social media bus take off and wondering where it’d headed? A few of us have been having informal social media drink nights this summer and I thought it’d be fun to open it up to a slightly larger group.

Come chillax on October 2nd at our Seattle Tweetup 08 (the event is called “Seattle Tweetup - October 08″ on Facebook because it reminded me of Obama ‘08, sorry) with other Seattle social media/social marketing enthusiasts, geeks and friends!

The Vice Presidential Debate between Biden and Palin will be that night at 6pm PT. Because of this, our start time will be 5pm so those of you who want to watch Biden spank the daylights out of Palin can hang out for an hour first if you want.

After the debate, of course, you may need a drink anyway…

If yo

Social Media vs. Social Good: making the transitionSeptember 28

The echo chamber

When you participate in a new paradigm, you get a lot of fellow early adopters, similarly fascinated by the new tools. And you get a lot of conversation going around how cool this site is, or what they’re doing with that new medium, or whatever. It’s fun, you feel a part of a community, and you share a common interest.

Blogging was created to record and publish your thoughts, perspective, etc. But in the social media “scene” you now get a lot of folks republishing content: links they find interesting, other posts they agree or disagree with, now even Friendfeed comment streams they think are notable. This creates a huge echo chamber where a lot of the conversation is repeated ad nauseum. Is it interesting? Sometimes. Is it important? Not really.

Are you really just going to sit there?

I’d like to challenge you - my social media brethren - to consider the echo chamber and consider how your precious time, efforts and skills are spent. Sure, we all need to make a buck and fortify our own personal income streams by demonstrating valuable/saleable expertise. But given the