Brian Solis – founder of FutureWorks, PR 2.0 blogger, and revolutionary thinker – presented at NewComm Forum 09 last month about “The New Organization Landscape for Marketing Communications.” Here are the highlights of his fabulous presentation, which has yet to be released:

Solis asked “Who owns social media?” A very hot topic in the blogosphere these days, it was a great way to start the presentation because all ears pricked up.

He said that no one owns it and, at the same time, everyone owns it. The sum of all parts (of an organization) make a whole. And social media affects every part of an organization.

Solis then described social media as “the new gold rush,” where everyone’s jumping in because “it’s hot” and “it’s supposed to be what we’re doing.”

But, Solis says, the question we should be asking is: “How are we going to socialize what we (our brand) represent?”

And who represents your brand in the Social Web does matter. Solis recommended that organizations carefully consider who in the company should be entrusted with the keys to the Ferrari. He talked about “Twinterns” or interns who are in charge of corporate Twitter or other social media accounts. He said, “Are you going to risk having a Twintern deal with a blogger with thousands of RSS subscribers?”

“Are you going to risk having a Twintern deal with a blogger with thousands of RSS subscribers?”

There are other ways to be cost effective.

Companies today are still viewing Social Media from a top-down perspective…when they really need to be embracing it more as an evangelical initiative.

“Social Media provides a fantastic opportunity to build communities and create ways to get other people to go out and do work for you,” said Solis. Each division in a company needs to be “socialized” in order to build these communities.

How would this setup occur in an organization? A social media “team” begins an “interagency” within your organization. The new roles for this new communications agency would look like this:

• Digital Anthropologist
• Strategist
• Communications Manager
• Research Librarian
• Support Team

The most important thing to remember is that social media is about sociology; not technology. Effective immersion into this world requires experience, insight and perspective…solidified by interaction…and measured by relationships.

Photo Credit: Kenneth Yeung – www.thelettertwo.com

Recently I had the pleasure to meet Ed Madison, president and CEO of Engaging Media, Inc., a leading marketing consulting and media production firm based in Portland, OR.

As a bonus during our coffee klatch, Ed announced his latest venture – Marketers Alliance – a new online community and resource for business and marketing folks like you and me.

According to Ed, the purpose of the community is to promote collaboration and information sharing among business owners and marketers, particularly in tough economic times. His vision for the community is to create:

“A global network of business and organization owners committed to supporting one another in their success.”

The timing is right for this community, not only because we are in the midst of a uniquely challenging business climate, but also because it fits squarely into that technological and anthropological infrastructure known as the Social Web. I believe the business, marketing and development professionals who quickly grasp the concept of cooperation and collaboration will fare much better than those in competing organizations in the coming year. At a minimum, companies should at least consider engaging in some healthy “coopetition” to survive.

Luckily we have social media tools like Marketers Alliance to empower us to do so. According to the site, Marketers Alliance will help you:

“Keep abreast of hot trends…in marketing, through our “Quick Tip” blog posts and podcasts. Meet peers, share your firsthand success stories – or strategies you’ve discovered from others.”

The Marketers Alliance homepage boldly states: “We promise: • profit-making strategies • lively discussions • links to hundreds of resources • live teleseminars with experts • book reviews and • special events.”

When asked how Marketers Alliance has helped him personally and professionally, Ed replied: “It’s really compelled me to stay on top of the day to day evolution of trends in marketing.  I’m also experimenting with social networking and meeting lots of cool people in the process.” He also said that the feedback about the community has been “excellent” and that “people want more” content, especially related to social media and SEO.

The thing I really like about the community is its inherent strength in offering quality and quantity audio/video content – thanks to the background of Ed Madison – which will help create a more comprehensive and robust Web 2.0 community.

You can listen here to the podcasts, which also include a couple of interviews with yours truly.

Blog readership in the United States is very healthy. 

As of 2007, there were 215,088,545 Americans (representing 71.4% of the US population) online. Of that segment, 48% (about 103,242,502) were online “Spectators” (including those who read blogs) in 2007 according to “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.”

How does that data translate in terms of consumer-buying behavior? Recently, the Opinion Research Corporation released the results of a survey indicating that “nearly two-thirds (61%) of respondents reported consulting online reviews, blogs and other sources of online customer feedback before purchasing a new product or service, with search engines being the preferred method of conducting the research.”  In addition, 83% of those surveyed said that online reviews and product evaluations had a direct impact on their purchasing decisions.

If you own a business and you want to stay “open” for business, you need to consider the implications of these trends. At one time, it was okay if your website was like the Sun – the center of your online universe. Today, your website needs to be more like Jupiter – massive in size – in terms of its online pervasiveness…with its multiple moons representing different facets of social media, including blogs. And Jupiter’s super-strong magnetic field would represent your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts and your website’s interactive elements.

So what or who now holds the distinction of representing the Sun – the center of your universe? Your existing and prospective customers, of course.

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Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies, by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, is the proverbial gift that keeps on giving.

This book is a gift of timely and practical knowledge about the value of our participation in the social media phenomenon – from a business perspective. The Groundswell gift comes wrapped in a bow cut from the sophisticated fabric of Forrester’s finely woven research experience. 

While there is much to say about Groundswell and its astounding greatness (more in future posts), I’d like to immediately call out one side benefit – for professionals who leverage the groundswell – that was subtly mentioned in the book…a benefit that I believe will have a very strong appeal to the book’s core readership – marketers and communicators:

Getting that coveted “seat at the table” in your organization

It’s been my experience and that of many of my professional colleagues that the hardest part of our job is educating upper-level management and getting buy in. The ultimate and ever-elusive brass ring, of course, is empowerment. These sentiments, which erupt regularly in the blogosphere, were also echoed earlier this year during a Forrester Research and Heidrick & Struggles co-sponsored webcast based on “The Evolved CMO“ research report. According to the report’s executive summary:  

“Marketers want to be more business-focused and strategic in their roles.”

“…almost two-thirds of chief marketing officers want more involvement in business strategy development and increased P&L responsibility.”

In turn, these summary statements were underscored by the many comments from webcast attendees:

“CMO and CIO relationship is critical…”

“Alliance with CFO is key to build and execute on strong corporate strategy.”

“I heard somewhere that the average tenure for a corporate-level CMO is 24 months…why would that be?”

“CMOs are often seen as company doctors to bring about immediate change which – however – is a joint effort of the management board.”

“So many other C-suites see Marketing as only advertising and their feedback is based on font or background color of an ad rather than understanding the strategic importance of Marketing.”

“What can be done to increase CMO profile on the Board?”

“Marketing is an investment and not a cost!”

In the end, the report prophetically summarized: “CMOs have a great opportunity to transform their marketing team from order takers to collaborators, partnering with business units to drive the bottom line.”

And now – months later – as I was reading Groundswell, my eyes became wide when I saw this:

“Own the resource <for tapping into the groundswell> that generates the insights, and you have clout.” 

So, how do you gain that clout in your organization?  You guessed it. Buy the book and you’ll find out. 

A FUN ASIDE: I really love the title of the book, too.  Made me think: If you were on a flat wooden raft in the open seas and a groundswell began, how would you protect yourself from falling?

Would you give in to the movement, flexing your knees and absorbing the shock and the motion in synchronicity…? Or would you keep your knees rigid and straight (ouch, that could be painful!) in show of defiance and strength?  For me, the answer is the former, with the operative word being “flex.”

Finally, if you knew you were going to fall regardless of your stance, which way would you choose? Again I would choose the former, because the distance to the ground is shorter and the chances of breaking a bone would be fewer.  ;0)

Here’s to getting our social-sphere sea dogs, folks!

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Twistori is like having a virtual finger on the emotional pulse of the Twitter community.

Love. Hate. Think. Believe. Feel. Wish.

After scanning tweets for emotive keywords, Twistori then publishes the related posts anonymously and randomly on a visually yummy scrolling billboard. The result? According to ReadWriteWeb’s elegant take: “Be cautioned: Watching the feelings of anonymous Twitter users scroll by can be strangely addictive.”

Have a peep, folks. It’s a free show.

Thanks to Twistori Co-Creators Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs for producing this sweet labor of love. 

i wish already that i knew more about twistori, phase 2…

Wouldn’t it be cool if Congress used the power of social media to connect with Americans and generate additional ideas regarding the economic stimulus package? 

How would you spend $150B?

My two cents: I like the idea of investing in the improvement of our country’s infrastructure (ie, building rapid transit) using American labor and supplies.

P.S.  Personally, I am keen on any idea that would have lasting, long-term effects. So, in that regard, perhaps we should have a “plan” rather than just a “package?”

If you don’t know about Squidoo, you don’t know what you’re missing. 

What is Squidoo? Another brain child of Seth Godin, Squidoo is a community of single-page websites (each called a “lens”) built with passion and creativity by people like you and me – about the topics of our choice.

Squidoo is like a virtual erector set in that you are supplied all the building parts and limited only by your imagination – except, with Squidoo, anyone in the world can potentially see your creation when it is finished. And also, with Squidoo, your final product is auto-adorned with Internet ads.

Yes, that’s right. Squidoo cleverly combines the compassion of community and the passion of people with the business of advertising.  Upon completion, your lens is auto-populated with relevant Google ads. You can also choose to display items for sale from Amazon, CafePress, etc. And if someone buys an item via your lens, you generate a portion of the proceeds – for yourself, charity or a combination of both.

The best part? Creating a lens is so easy that my mother could do it (actually, to be fair, my mother is pretty tech savvy – but you know what I mean).

I have to admit…after creating my first lens (the operative word being “first”) about identity theft, I am completely hooked by Squidoo’s far-reaching, yet benevolent, tentacles. It’s no wonder – the Squidoo community’s vibrant and sunny disposition makes it difficult not to keep returning. And each visit provides a purely painless and pleasant user experience (how rare is that?!).

Folks, do not delay. Build your lens today. Squidoo is an effervescent experience that Squi-don’t want to miss!

P.S. Don’t forget to stop by my new Squidoo lens: Protecting Your Identity: Start with the Basics. I welcome your feedback and suggestions! 

Happy New Year!

As I wind down the clock on 2007, I am thinking about how, today, I am joining millions of people in the annual ritual of determining New Year’s resolutions – all in the name of self improvement. More exercise, better nutrition, etc. etc. Achieve work/life balance, focus on priorities, get more organized…the usual.

This year I am trading in all the “usual” resolutions for one: Work harder to protect my personal information and prevent identity theft.

In 2008, personal information will become yet even more valuable to etailers, educators, and employers…phishers, foes, and favorite civic / religious groups…non-profits, new (and traditional)  media, and national agencies…political parties, personal hygiene proprietors and personal ad web sites.

Unfortunately, the increased value on personal information also leads to more requests for that information, which leads to increased exposure, which ultimately makes us more vulnerable to identity theft.  

I hope you, too, will resolve to protect your identity just like you would protect any other valuable possession (Identity theft can now be included in your home insurance policy!).

Such a resolution would go a long way toward making everything great in ‘08!

Special note: Through the years, I have discovered that my most successful New Year’s resolution lists were those that included goals relating to F-U-N.  And, at the end of the day, the addition of FUN goals only added more value to the personal identity.  

“…the fact that your voice is amplified to the degree where it reaches from one end of the country to the other does not confer upon you greater wisdom or understanding than you possessed when your voice reached only from one end of the bar to the other.”

 - Edward R. Murrow, quintessential journalist and pioneer broadcaster, at the 1958 RTNDA conference

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Mr. Murrow’s speech at the Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) conference in 1958.  It’s ironic how time stands still about some subjects and flashes forward for others. My guess is that Mr. Murrow would have been pleased and proud of our technological advancements, which led to the creation of our awe-inspiring blogosphere.

Note: If you haven’t already, treat yourself soon to the movie Good Night and Good Luck. The film positively inspires the unearthing and sharing of plain truths, particularly for those fortunate enough to tote a global megaphone. 

Calling all professional communicators and media consumers: You’re invited to participate in a survey hosted by the Society for New Communications Research. 

The study – announced yesterday by Shel Holtz, Society research fellow and advisory board member – is sure to offer us some great insights. However, as you know, the degree of study’s success will ultimately depend on the quality and quantity of respondents. So, please,  PARTICIPATE TODAY.

Check out New Communications Review for more details:

“This research study, titled “New Media, New Influencers and Implications for the PR Profession,” will explore the impact of Web 2.0 and social media tools on communications and the public relations profession.”