Category: Community Marketing

Categories: Community Marketing, Social Media, Word of Mouth Posted on

As Media Brands Build Their Own Communities, They Must Evolve Their Business Model

Left: Several Press, Analysts, and Bloggers met with executives from Cisco and Warner using Telepresence from NY, SF, to San Jose. Cisco’s Eos (their community platform for media brands) landed an enterprise wide deal with Warner Music. Attendees included John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, Dan Scheinman who heads Eos, and Edgar Bronfman, CEO of Warner music and Michale Nash of Warner. Rather than focus on the details of the deal (you can read WSJ, Reuters, and GigaOm), I’m going to discuss what it means to the industry at large. [Media companies will adopt social technologies to respond to the Groundswell in social networks –yet to be successful, the change isn’t about technology –but instead, their business model] Media companies know … Continue readingAs Media Brands Build Their Own Communities, They Must Evolve Their Business Model

Categories: Community Marketing, PR Posted on

Future of PR: When Agencies Represent Communities –Not Brands

We continue to see that communities will continue to gain more and more power as they lean on each other to make decisions, support each other, and share their lifestyle. What happens to agencies that traditionally serve brands? Seem far fetched? Not really. We’re already starting to see bits of this: I’ve seen user innovation in car forums, Facebook groups, and networks of mommy bloggers. Or take for example UserVoice , GetSatisfaction or Ideastorms that allow communities to define what features they want with products. Imagine for a second that these communities, say bike-enthusiasts, or young mothers, or even home-theater-fans could start to define using organized innovation tools what products and features they want. What if Doc Searls vision for … Continue readingFuture of PR: When Agencies Represent Communities –Not Brands

Categories: Community Manager, Community Marketing, Social Media Measurement Posted on

Community Managers Must Deliver ROI: Commandments For Surviving a Recession

I’m a former community manager, and many of my friends are currently in this role, and I want to make sure they are armed with the right knowledge to succeed during hard times –I know some of them may get laid off. Community Managers are at risk of being let go During a recession, we know that marketing, sometimes new media and unknown expenses get cut. Unfortunately, to some, the Community Manager role may sit in all three of those areas of scrutiny. Although I’ve been tracking quite a few Community Managers working at enterprise class companies, they must quickly learn to measure, and demonstrate ROI or risk getting cut. Community Managers must educate stakeholders and management. Measurement depends on … Continue readingCommunity Managers Must Deliver ROI: Commandments For Surviving a Recession

Categories: Analyst, Community Marketing, Forrester Posted on

Body of Work: Community and Social Network Research

Ill be up front, writing research is one of the hardest parts of the job for me, it’s an area I end up putting extra time in. Despite the extra effort I have to put in, looking back I’m very proud of my body of work. You’ll notice that there’s a strong body of work on community and social networks, all designed to help a brand with their community strategy from soup-to-nuts. Here’s some highlights of what I’ve been working on in the last 16 months: Body of Work: Community and Social Network Research Strategy: Online Communities: Build Or Join? (Hint: the answer is ‘when’) Resources: How to Staff for Social Computing (Like any business program, key people are needed, … Continue readingBody of Work: Community and Social Network Research

Categories: Case Study, Community Marketing, Social Media Posted on

Intel’s Community Marketing: Fishing Where The Fish Are

Intel is known for trying out a variety of social media efforts, for better or for worse. They experiment, and continue to learn and iterate, I give them continual credit and reference them in presentations. One particular activity of note is what I learned from David Veneski, he tackled the join vs build question and made the call to join. Earlier this year, I visited Intel up in Seattle (correction: Portland) and spoke to David Veneski, a marketing manager, and spoke to his group about social computing strategies. He had deployed some successful marketing efforts, and reached communities where they existed, he had efforts to reach early tech adopters in Digg, as well as Slashdot. Both of these communities are … Continue readingIntel’s Community Marketing: Fishing Where The Fish Are

Categories: Community Marketing Posted on

Overused Ideas: The Executive Community

Part of being an analyst is talking with clients on inquiry calls, I have several of these a week. Just about every other week, I have a client who calls and tells me their grandiose plans to create a community to reach executives. From the CIO, CTO, COO to CEO, I’ve heard them all. Of course, I tell them that they are not alone and that I just had a similar call just a few days ago. While reaching the check signer is always ideal, I have to remind these ambitious brands that: Should first know the technographics of executives, do you know if they even participate in social technologies? If age is an indicator of adoption, (see this chart) … Continue readingOverused Ideas: The Executive Community

Categories: Community Marketing, Social Computing Posted on

Intuit Bakes Community Directly in Quickbooks Product

Left Image: This sample screenshot of the embedded community experience from the Quickbooks site. Over the next few years, expect your friends and network of experts to be interacting with you as you use desktop software –community will be integrated within your products. This weekend, I had a discussion with Scott Wilder at Intuit, who is one of the practice leaders when it comes to community and how it impacts business. He’s one of those leading the charge at Intuit, who has developed very large communities that thrive beyond the product itself and serve the lifestyle of the community. Scott discussed his strategy of embedding the community features right in the software products –extending the discussion, network, and peer to … Continue readingIntuit Bakes Community Directly in Quickbooks Product

Categories: Analyst, Community Marketing, Social Media Posted on

Understanding Gartner’s “Generation Virtual”

Above Image: Gartner’s Generation V Quadrant, found via Marketing Charts. Gartner: Generation Virtual not defined by demographics Gartner has recently published research on the topic of “Generation Virtual” (Generation V) which essentially define as two things: 1) This generation isn’t specified by demographics (age) but instead by technology usage. 2) There are four major behaviors Gartner suggests that Generation V isn’t a demographic categorization, but instead behavioral: “Unlike previous generations, Generation Virtual (also known as Generation V) is not defined by age — or gender, social demographic or geography — but is based on demonstrated achievement, accomplishments and an increasing preference for the use of digital media channels to discover information, build knowledge and share insights.” This is an interesting … Continue readingUnderstanding Gartner’s “Generation Virtual”