Must Read: Groundswell (Con’t)
So, back to Groundswell and the reasons why I said, “must read.”
Groundswell is well researched (Forrester research data from around the world, 65 corporate examples and 25 full case studies), written by two great, knowledgeable writers and fellow particpants, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, and is exceptionally readable at the same time.
Readability in a business book is of course a relative measure, but for me it relevance and time=value.
“Has value” means it is relevant to my work in real time (applicable right now, today; not 15 minutes ago) and therefore is a good (another relative measure and highly contextual) use of my time because yes, I have time deficit disorder that seems to never disappear regardless of which Circa or Hipster PDA strategy I deploy.
This translates into usefulness: I can use the information to support a recommendation to a client, add to a presentation, and/or as a catalyst for an idea or concept. Maybe even to write a blog post.
At the moment, I am writing a proposal for a client and using the social technographics ladder to support a recommended target for a program and to demonstrate how users will become involved and participate. Charlene and Josh have made this tool available on line.
I am also using their POST method as a framework for the strategy I am recommending. I find that for whatever reason, marketers seem to think that social media doesn’t need a strategy or a well defined target and is driven by technology. POST which stands for People, Objectives, Strategy, and Technology…in that order, please, really puts this perspective.
I have a client company whose marketing folks have been setting up Facebook pages. So, of course there is no cost other than their time for doing this. It seems to make them feel like social media participants. We are on Facebook, they say. They friend each other and their agencies and consultants. Add several wall posts and away they go. But where are they going?
And then of course there is ROI. Yes, Virginia, there is an ROI for social media. Remember the objectives and strategy? A recruiting blog? How many applications did you get? A private community? What was the value for that new product idea? Start there. Add out of pocket costs (platform, creative, moderation etc).
Speaking of ROI, buy the Groundswell. Buy a copy for your clients. Buy a copy for your prospects. It will provide many returns.
Must Read: Groundswell (Must listen: Upstream.tv Forrester Marketing Conference Live)
I was planning on finishing Groundswell on the plane trip to the Forrester Marketing Conference in LA. As a matter of fact, if the truth be known, the 3 hour flight of uninterrupted reading time was one of the things I was looking forward to about the entire conference. That and the hotel room all to myself, all night. If you have kids you know what I mean.
When I found myself standing behind Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li in a taxi line in Chicago following the Forester Consumer Forum I asked Charlene if she was tired and she said that actually she got more sleep at the conference than at home with her children. True that. And my children are teenagers; there is little hope.
But not to digress. I did finish Groundswell last night and so with this post I can officially recommend it as required reading if you work or want to work in this world transformed by social technologies. If you landed on my blog because you meant to (as opposed to a mis-directed search) and are now reading this post, that probably is you. (If you are reading this post on Wednesday morning at 8:39 AM Pacific time….stop reading and you can listen to George Colony explain why he blogs live at the Forrester conference.)
I am going to stop writing and listen. Harley Manning is reviewing yesterday’s presentations. Kerry Bodine is going to talk about Designing for Engagement…more on the Groundwell will follow.
Forrester Marketing Forum 2008: Engagement and I
Brian Haven is talking about engagement… he says there are four ways to measure engagement, the Four I’s:
Interaction, Involvement, Intimacy, and Influence. But how do I know this? I am in St. Louis.
Unfortunately a family issue prevented me from attending the Forrester Marketing Forum today but right at this very minute Jeremiah Owyang is live streaming Brian Haven’s keynote at Upstream.tv.
Actually that is slightly innacurate, at this very minute he is live streaming Peter Kim’s Q&A of Haven’s keynote. Also, there is a chat room open on Meebo and Peter and Charlene Li are Twittering.
On Meebo, Jeremy Pepper says that the streaming has been great but he doesn’t type fast enough for Twitter and his blog. That is the challenge….all this social media brings everything to our doors; then we have to choose which open door to go through. It’s awesome!
Thanks Jeremiah and Forrester! Need to click publish or I will get behind.
Additionl Info: The Forrester Marketing Blog (re-design looks great BTW) has an embedded Meebo chat and Peter Kim has a post about how to keep up with the conference via Twitter, blogs, and Flickr.
Forrester Marketing Forum 2008
In the world of marketing, there are only a few things that I believe are predictable with absolute certainty and one of them is that a Forrester Marketing Forum (or Consumer Forum) will exceed my expectations; and with each conference I attend my expectations increase.
Okay, so the evidence for my unabashed enthusiasm?
My collection of Forrester spiral notebooks: Forrester typically includes a spiral notebook for note taking with their conference package. When I leave, the notebook is usually full; filled with notes taken during the presentations and sessions as well as thoughts that I add during and after. In other words, a Forrester conference really stimulates thought and ideas and the spiral notebook becomes an ongoing useful archive for future reference. The conferences that keep on giving.
What else do I know for sure? The Forrester speakers include an outstanding lineup including Peter Kim, Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff, and Brian Haven. The non-Forrester speakers, panelists and moderators always include people and companies that I would include if I were making a wish list. This has included Henry Jenkins, David Armano, Ze Frank, Nicholas Negroponte, Andy Sernovitz, Karl Long, Sylvia Reynolds, Fed Ex, Dell, P&G, and many others.
The conference next week includes: Casey Jones, VP Global Marketing from Dell, Nancy MacIntyre, EVP Product, Innovation and Marketing at LeapFrog, Cathy Halligan CMO Wal-Mart, Emmanuel Brown, Director of Digital and Content at Nike’s Jordan Brand, Gary Skidmore from Harte-Hanks and Patrick W Jordan author of How to Make Brilliant Stuff that People Love.
Also, IT’S {A}Live, In a sense, going to a Forrester Conference is a life imitating art imitating life experience or in other words, when we talk and write about participatory media to our clients who sometimes seem not to “get it”, this is where it all comes together. So while we are listening to Charlene Li and/or Josh Bernoff talk about a Groundswell, we are right in the center participating in that transformed world of live blogging, twittering, photos, videos….just check out the Co-Brandit videos or the Critical Mass Beta Cam from past Forrester events.
And speaking of Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff and Groundswell you can now buy their book and they have an awesome site
and a really cool tool to profile your own customer’s social computing profile and then use to chart a social technology strategy.
Jeremiah Owyang posted that all conference attendees will be getting a copy of this awesome book. I will be posting a review shortly….so far it’s great!
So, I am looking forward to the Forum and joining Jeremiah in the “bloggers bullpen”. I am also hoping to catch up with Peter Kim! More to follow next week.
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