Simon Mainwaring: Top ten reasons social media should not (and will not) kill traditional advertising.

I spent the week at the Cannes International Advertising Festival and came away greatly encouraged. Not only did the Festival team (led by Terry Savage and Philip Thomas) do an amazing job but I was impressed by how well the event captured the latest expression of the marketing world. With all the excitement (and, yes, hype) around social media, one might expect this bastion of traditional advertising to take a defensive posture and shun social media, or at least to be a little out of touch. The opposite was true. Not only did the work and seminars fully embrace the potential of social media, but agencies and clients demonstrated real engagement with the marriage of the two. So I thought I’d use my experience of this year’s Festival as a way to explain why traditional advertising is more relevant than ever.

1. IT’S ABOUT THE IDEA: Whether it’s an uber traditional ad spot like Nike’s World Cup spot, ‘Write the Future’, or the Cyber Grand Prix-winning Nike Chalkbot, the fact remains that it’s the idea that determines success with consumers and at the show. Social media expands the reach of great content, but ideas determine reach into hearts and minds. As such, veteran idea generators like ad agencies are very important.

2. FIRST PRINCIPLES, NEW MEDIA: Irrespective of your marketing speciality – whether it be traditional, digital, or social media – the timeless fundamentals of effective advertising apply. Work needs to be simple, emotional and consistent. As such the hard won lessons of traditional advertising agencies are more relevant than ever. They just need to be applied to all media including social media.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA IS IS NOT AN END IN ITSELF: I did not see a single piece of work celebrated at Cannes simply because it was social media. The power of social media is only unleashed when an emotional connection is made that motivates someone to share something using social tools. Brands at the Festival demonstrated a clear understanding of this and a due respect for agencies as architects of community.

4. BRAND CUSTOMERS: Clients made up almost 15% of the 8000 attendees this year according to Ad Age, and this demonstrates a recognition of two facts. One is that consumers are now reaching out directly to brands through social media, and, secondly, that brands are looking to ad agencies for guidance in how to respond. As such the client/agency dynamic is as critical as ever. In fact Terry Savage, Festival Chairman, also said he is 90% sure there will be a prize for effectiveness next year in which clients will play some role.

5. ‘GOOD’ BUSINESS: So much work demonstrated that brands and agencies realize that consumers want a better world, not just better widgets. This a new thing. Campaigns like the Millions, UNICEF Tapwater and Earth hour receiving titanium awards in recent years. What’s more this year the Festival introduced the first Grand Prix for Good indicating a further appreciation of the positive role that advertising can and must play.

6. SILO BLURRING: This year clearly demonstrated the ability of traditional ad agencies to fill new roles. For instance, Interactive Agency of the Year was Crispin, Porter & Bogusky, and Direct Agency of the Year was Abbott Mead Vickers in London. As traditional ad agencies migrate their focus and talent into emerging areas, their creative prowess will come to bear on the marketing.

7. PURPOSE AS PROFIT: One of the things I stressed in my seminar was that the future of profit is purpose. This is based on the recognition that the universal values that inform purposeful work make brands innately sharable and therefore potentially profitable. Across the board work demonstrated a recognition that consumers want to see their brands changing the world for the better. A great demonstration of this was done by the Festival itself when Jeff Goodby, Ben Stiller and Yahoo, enlisted the entire audience to raise money for Stillerstong that is building schools in Haiti.

8. TECH = SAVVY: As someone who attended last year, I was struck by how tech savvy everyone suddenly became. Eyes were permanently glued to iPhones and Blackberries, laptops served as sun reflectors and there was amble wi-fi and power throughout the Palais (which is not always the case even at tech conferences). As such the Festival did a great job of reflecting the impact of technology discussed in so many of the seminars.

9. TRIUMPH OF YOUTH: Each year the Festival does an amazing job of filling its hall with the future of the industry. It would be easy for an expensive Festival such as this to become stocked with veteran ad types (like me!) but this year I felt more old and out numbersed than ever. This is partly due to the Young Lions Zone and new efforts this year through Cannes Connect to put attendees in touch with each other and their communities.

10. THE FUTURE IS HERE: Each year the Festival does a great job of securing the thought leaders from areas that are re-shaping the industry. This year it was Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. The Debussy Room was packed to the rafters with two others rooms outside full of people as well. Beyond the understandable fascination around such successful entrepreneurs, the industry is clearly listening to those shaping their future on a daily basis.

With that said, there is still ground to be gained. I was surprised how few people were tweeting out from laptops during the seminars (if that’s any indication of the audience’s personal engagement with their own social communities). Plus I believe the private sector (represented by brands and ad agencies at forums like Cannes) can play an even more powerful role in shaping the future of marketing and society at large. No doubt next year will demonstrate an even fuller embrace of this potential in which brands, ad agencies and consumers co-create the stories that move people, sell products and change our world for the better.

How do you think traditional advertising agencies are doing? Are they sufficiently embracing social media?
If you liked the post, please tweet, Digg or Stumble it. Thanks! Simon Mainwaring

Simon Mainwaring: Video of Cannes Advertising Festival Social Media Seminar with @AlecjRoss

Please see video here: Simon Mainwaring

Simon Mainwaring: How brands use action ads for immediate positive change: Poprule with Rob Kramer.

As you know I’m constantly exploring ways for brands to contribute to social change and I recently had the pleasure of chatting to Rob Kramer who has just launched an action technology platform that does just that.

THE SEMANTIC WEB MEETS CAUSE MARKETING

SM: How does Poprule work? How does it use the semantic web to take cause marketing to the next level?

RK: Poprule is based on the premise that action is the new challenge and that we’re spending lots of time interacting with content and data online and yet, when we read a story, we don’t really know what to do after that. Poprule is based on the thesis that “I’ve read the story now. I can do something about it.”

REAL-TIME WEB RESPONSE

SM: Immediately?

RK: Right then and there. So I’ve read a story on Haiti, and I want to take some action, I want to volunteer, I want to donate, maybe take some advocacy type of action. Now think of it like a mini-website that is contained within a standard online ad-unit or widget. If it’s an ad-unit a brand can actually align with specific kind of action, social cause or political action and it can be distributed across the web wherever they buy their ad space. Or it could be an earned-media type of widget. So now you’ve read that story on Haiti, the Poprule ad unit is there (we call them action ads) and there are things you can do right then and there.

CONSUMER EXPERIENCE

SM: What does the consumer see when they click on the widget?

RK: They can see everything from various organizations that are Haiti related, they can see IP detected volunteer opportunities within their community, they can see other advocacy oriented opportunities and there’s normally an organization involved. Like International Medical Corp were one of the first responders in Haiti. They can now partner with Starbucks, who can sponsor the distribution of this ad, so it shows up as IMC and Starbucks, and anytime there is a story on Haiti, wherever the action ad appears, someone has the ability to do something in the form of those types of action ads.

WHO USES ACTION ADS?

SM: How does a brand work with you?

RK: Our relationships primarily are with ad agencies, brands, non-profits, and publishers and we’ve been introducing ourselves into the marketplace on a very personal level over the last couple of months. We’re already working with Nissan, American Express, and some others.

WHAT ACCOUNTABILITY IS THERE?

SM: What consumers want is accountability in terms of transparency as in what proportion of their dollars and their actions actually goes to the cause itself?

RK: Metrics are a very important key part of this. There’s a feedback rule. We’re always tracking the data, the actions people take, and we’re very transparent about it. We feed it back immediately. So let’s say there’s a petition to pass climate change legislation; we now know how many people in real-time participated in that petition. We might have an organization like Global Green in Los Angeles who is very involved in climate change events and activities so we want to know what they’re doing. Well, I can see in this unit specific information related to administrative costs, where they are working in New Orleans to help rebuild New Orleans, where they are working in Haiti. So the action ad platform is an opportunity to feed back that information in real-time based on all these decentralized data-bases that we pull from.

I think Poprule if at the forefront of a new breed of social entrepreneurs leveraging technology to transform the social change space. Edward Norton is another who launched Crowdrise this week, a fundraising platform that takes what worked for their initiatives and makes it avialbale to everyone. Then there’s the dynamic living cause lab by wecanendthis.com and the scalable networked approach of KaBOOM! It’s this creativity, geneorsity of spirit and open-heartedness that can fundamentally change the amount of impact all our efforts have on the ground to improve the lives of others.

I hugely encouraged, excited and optimistic about the future. Please fire away with any questions about Poprule and let me know if you’ve seen any other exciting examples...Simon Mainwaring

Simon Mainwaring: Mark Zuckerberg: Everyone’s favorite privacy pinata

It looks like Mark Zuckerberg will continue to be everyone’s favorite punching bag this week. I’ve written earlier as to why I believe the issue is much larger than Zuckerberg or Facebook, and Robert Scoble did a great piece yesterday reminding us exactly what Mark has already achieved – to his benefit and ours – at the tender age of 26.

One thing Scoble wrote is critical in explaining Facebook’s recent privacy dance and why we might just want to reconsider running him out of office (as Shel Israel, Therese Poletti and even Scoble ultimately suggest).

I’ve been studying Zuckerberg for a while and comparing notes with people who know him even better than me, like David Kilpatrick, who wrote an excellent book on Facebook, and it’s clear Zuckerberg has a vision for changing the world with social technologies.

I have been harping on this fact for sometime and here’s why I believe his role is critical to Facebook and the potential of the social web.

Mark Zuckerberg is a CEO with a vision.

In my experience the single most important factor in distingishing between good and great companies is a leader with vision. Now, you may not agree with that vision and clearly individual privacy is going to be a casualty to some degree however this shakes out, but the relentless evolution of the web and the annoying issue of privacy will not disappear if Zuckerberg steps down.

Who can forget Steve Jobs vision for the launch of Apple in 1983? Or Richard Brandson’s mercurial ability to persistently position a multi-facted, global corporation as a rebel. Or the seismic shift in Pepsico’s marketing since Indra Nooyi’s declaration that the mission of the company is ‘Performance with purpose’. In each case the success of the company was a function of a leader with vision.

Do I think Zuckergerg is in that league? Yes, I do (did I mention I’ve never met him?) Judging by his success to date and the fact that he has a vision grounded in the latest web with all the advantages of youth, I think he is well qualified to have a strong and substantive opinion. To date that vision is hard to understand as it has been scattered through sound bites, speeches in Europe and book excerpts. No doubt Fitzgerald’s book will go a long way to addressing this issue but in the meantime Kim-Mai Cutler of SocialBeat outlined many of the key elements of his thinking. I agree with Cutler that the onus is now on Zuckerberg to lay out this vision so that we may fully understand where he and Facebook is headed.

Of course, there are those that characterize his vision as sinister, exploitative or out of touch. I would suggest the contrary. As the architect of so much success in the very space we are talking about, I think he has a very good idea of the issues involved. And the drive to monetize Facebook or to develop the platform is hardly revolutionary – it’s called doing business. If we don’t like these changes we always have the right not to participate. But I do not remember Zuckerberg promising that Facebook would never change or seek to monetize its business model.

As I try to think of visionaries among the architects of the recent web, they seem few and far between. Zuckerberg may sweat too much under the lights, he may overstep the mark with privacy changes and then apologize, he may court the accusation of betrayal from users on a daily basis, but I don’t believe anything is to be gained by running him out of the C suite.

There is something very powerful going on when you consider the compounded connectivity of social networks, smart phones, mobile apps, location based services and the social web. Something potentially transformative. Yes, it will come at a price – every leap forward does. But when you consider the number of global crises we face, and the unrealized potential of this global connectivity through the web, I believe that there is a vision of the future that is only starting to emerge that might just be critical to the survival and well-being of millions of lives. So I say let Zuckerberg stay where he is, maybe parse out his duties a little bit more and give him time to explain himself. At the very least let’s hear him out. The combination of youth, tech savvy and vision is rare in a successful, future-facing company. We may yet all have something to gain...Simon Mainwaring

Simon Mainwaring: Really like this interview by @gapingvoid with Mark Earls on purpose in branding.

Please read interview here: gapingvoid.com

Simon Mainwaring: Cannes International Advertising Festival: Where new media and the future of advertising meet (Part 2):

Last week I shared Part 1 of my breakdown of seminars that I’m excited about at the Cannes Advertising Festival this year. Here is Part 2hat includes a short synopsis of what each talk is about and what I’ll be speaking about as well with Alec Ross in our seminar sponsored by InterCulture.

Adobe: Shantanu Narayen This seminar studies the collision between digital and advertising in which every device and platforms becomes part of a brand experience with key insights into how to navigate this complexity.

Details: Thursday, June 24th, 2pm.

Team Creatif: Sylvia Vitale Rotta: This seminar deep dives into how design distinguishes a brand and positions a product way ahead of its competitors.

Details: Monday, June 21st, 12.30pm.

Brandkarma.com: Craig Davis & David Droga: This great workshop examines what creativity and advertising can play in creating a sustainable planet. In my book, a must see.

Details: Wednesday, June 23rd, 3pm.

LBi: Laurent Ezekiel, Emma Jenkins, Gav Thompson, Jason Goodman, Kieron Matthews This workshop examines how agencies engage consumers in meaningful conversation on a global stage in order to create the perfect storm for brand success.

Details: Thursday, June 24th, 3pm.

Finally here’s a snapshot of what Alec and I will be talking about. Alec Ross is Senior Advisor for Innovation at the Office of the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Alec not only spearheads the use of technology, new media and 21-st century communications in the service of America’s diplomatic and developmental goals for the U.S. State Dept., he also co-founded One Economy that became the world’s largest digital divide organization with programs on four continents prior to joining President Obama’s administration.

The sponsor for our seminar is InterCulture that does wonderful work in the social change space. InterCulture brings together specialists in education, technology, cultural diplomacy and branding (including myself) to bridge communities, states or countries in conflict and foster understanding, compassion and tolerance – really important work in today’s world.

So the topic for the seminar is called, ‘The How Of Social Media: Make Or Break Lessons In Today’s Most Powerful Instrument Of Change.’ Alec and I will outline the power, potential and most effective ways to use social media to bring about change whether that be to elect a President, launch a brand, sell a product or support a cause. Critical to our discussion will be the role of brands and the advertising industry in this process to demonstrate how critical their contribution can be in positively transforming not just the lives of others but also the future of our industry.

Details: Sunday, June 20th, 5 p.m.

So if you are attending the Festival, please join us for the seminar and a chat afterwards. As always, fire away with any questions.
Please view in full here: Simon Mainwaring

Simon Mainwaring: Pete Cashmore Talks Facebook and Twitter Ads on Bloomberg. Video...

Watch video here: Mashable

Simon Mainwaring: Cannes International Advertising Festival: Where social media and the future of advertising meet (Part 1)

I’m really excited to be speaking at the Cannes International Advertising Festival this year and wanted to share some of the seminars that I’m looking forward to.

I’ll give a snapshot of what each is about so that you get a sense of what issues the industry is addressing. Plus, if you’re going, this should be a helpful guide as to what to see.

LBi: Lorenzo Wood & Chris Clarke, ‘Newfound Powers: the Privatization of Social Engineering’ This talk looks at the often unrecognized power of social engineering and the impact of digital technology on expectations of quality, public decision making and policy design.

Details: Sunday, June 20th, 10a.m.

TribalDDB: Matt Ross & Helen Martin, The Meek Have Inherited The Earth This seminar dramatizes the transformative power of social media thoughout business and popular culture featuring first hand feedback from a global client, Hasbros.

Details: Sunday, June 20th, 3 p.m.

SapientNitro: Laura McFarlane, Ian Maskell, Nathaniel Perez, “Customers Are From Mars, Brands Are From Venus. Experience Brings The Romance Back Into Media‘ This seminar explores the new era of customer control and how to leverage it by creating experiences that capture social and viral advocacy right in the moment.

Details: Friday, June 25th, 10 a.m.

Publicis & Contagious: Richard Pinder, Paul Kemp-Robertson, Jess Greenwood, ‘The Contagious Conversation’ This seminar explores the creativity and effectiveness behind contagious conversations that penetrate far deeper than mere viral sensations.

Details: Tuesday, June 22nd, 4 p.m.

DDB: Kent Demaine, DDB Worldwide Presents Welcome to The New World Here, we hear a vision of the future from one of Hollywood’s leading thinkers who shares how advertisers can create in-world multi-faceted experiences to deepen brand/consumer relationships.

Details: Thursday, June 24th, 11 a.m.

Finally here’s a snapshot of what Alec and I will be talking about. Alec Ross is Senior Advisor for Innovation at the Office of the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Alec not only spearheads the use of technology, new media and 21-st century communications in the service of America’s diplomatic and developmental goals for the U.S. State Dept., he also co-founded One Economy that became the world’s largest digital divide organization with programs on four continents prior to joining President Obama’s administration.

The sponsor for our seminar is InterCulture that does wonderful work in the social change space. InterCulture brings together specialists in education, technology, cultural diplomacy and branding (including myself) to bridge communities, states or countries in conflict and foster understanding, compassion and tolerance – really important work in today’s world.

So the topic for the seminar is called, ‘The How Of Social Media: Make Or Break Lessons In Today’s Most Powerful Instrument Of Change.’ Alec and I will outline the power, potential and most effective ways to use social media to bring about change whether that be to elect a President, launch a brand, sell a product or support a cause. Critical to our discussion will be the role of brands and the advertising industry in this process to demonstrate how critical their contribution can be in positively transforming not just the lives of others but also the future of our industry.

Details: Sunday, June 20th, 5 p.m.

So if you are attending the Festival, please join us and look out for Part 2 of this guide next week. As always, fire away with any questions. Please read more @ Simon Mainwaring

Adcrowd TV: Simon Mainwaring: Reaching young people through music and listening: Interview with Derrick Ashong

Please view video interview in full: Adcrowd TV

Simon Mainwaring: AdAge on the dawn of social relationship marketing. Ad agencies need to read this.

Please read here: AdAge

Simon Mainwaring: Google exec says 50% of all advertising will be digital within 5 years. Um, wow.

Please read @ thenextweb.com

Simon Mainwaring: How top brands build effective online communities: Part 1.

Too often online efforts raise awareness but fail to motivate behavior. Yet that’s what brands need to do whether they want to sell more widgets or change the world for the better. And when those efforts fail, brands understandably become disillusioned, cynical or suspicious of online community building. Yet they have never experienced the power of a community that is set up in such a way that it grows organically.

So how do brands structure online engagement to give themselves the best chance of motivating behavior? Having worked on several advertising campaigns that involved creating brand communities that leveraged social media, certain structural fundamentals emerged:

CONCEPTUAL ASSUMPTIONS: An effective online community starts with the right thinking and that involves ceratin fundamental assumptions.

1. BOTTOM UP: A brand must start from the premise that this is a bottom up organization that will live or die on the strength of the dialogue it generates. What the community has to say is important, what you have to say is secondary.

2. SUSTAINABILITY: The site must be conceived in a way that keeps the community active and growing after each initiative or project. Too often even the best communities suffer fatal attrition once their primary goal is reached.

3. CONVERSATION: Brands often seem incapable of not talking about themselves. Rather, they must generate discussion around topics that are meaningful to the community they want to establish (whether it’s a gathering of CFO’s, stay-at-home moms or activists of any kind). Only then can their products be positioned as a relevant (and inoffensive) contributions to the conversation.

4. OWNERSHIP: The site must be structured in a way that allows members to feel ownership over the process as the community experiences success, growth and innovation.

5. INFORMATIVE: The brand must serve as a resource for members looking to learn more about the goals of the community and those already involved.

6. SELF-PROMOTION: The brand must provide tools that enable members to spread information about your community and its goals beyond the site across different social media.

7. GOALS: The goal, and therefore the site, must be structured in a way that allows for an expanded portfolio of goals that will keep the community engaged, growing, and migrating from one goal to the next.

8. MEASUREMENT AND CELEBRATION: The brand must track, measure and reward success within the community.

DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS: If you hope to create a site that doesn’t just raise awareness but motivates behavior, certain design fundamentals are essential:

1. OWNERSHIP and RESPONSIBILITY: The site must be designed in a manner that gives members a sense that they are acting for themselves and their community.

2. RECOGNITION and REWARDS STRUCTURE: There must be ways in which members are rewarded within their community to encourage further participation.

3. UNIFYING GOAL: In order to constantly reinforce a goal and maintain community focus, the brand must regularly share the emotional stories of those participating. That way the online community is consistently humanized and the emotions that motivate their efforts are reinforced.

While some of this may seem obvious in principle, I am constantly surprised by how difficult it is for brands to unblinker themselves, move beyond their own needs, and genuinely engage with their community top of mind.

Once they do, they entrust their success to those best qualified to guarantee it – a community of interested parties engaged in meaningful dialogue that will justify the need for a brand, product or service.

If you have any more guidelines to add, please do. Together we can create a valuable template that will help all our community efforts reach their intended goals...Simon Mainwaring

Simon Mainwaring: Ford tweets their way across country. Nice case study

please read here @ techcrunch.com

Simon Mainwaring: Is Facebook really to blame for your privacy issue?

Jeff Jarvis wrote a great post yesterday about Facebook, privacy and the theme of his upcoming book – publicness. I can’t wait to read it – seriously, Jeff, write fast – as it provides much-needed clarity around the web’s hottest issue: privacy.

Critical to his post was the distinction between the ‘private’ public (that’s the one we create ourselves, for example, on Facebook or twitter) and the ‘public’ public (the one that extends beyond the limits we set to the broader public sphere). In practical terms he explained it this way:

In Facebook, we get to create our publics. In Twitter, we decide which publics to join. But neither is the public sphere; neither entails publishing to everyone. Yet Facebook is pushing us more and more to publish to everyone and when it does, we lose control of our publics. That, I think, is the line it crossed.

I think Jeff is spot on here and this raises an even broader issue: who is responsible for creating a ‘public’ at all, whether it be the ‘private’ public or the broader ‘public’ public by Jeff’s definitions?

At the heart of this question are the often unforeseen, little considered and perhaps unfortunate consequences of an open, real-time web. For as time, distance and access to information dissolved in the face of tools like the internet, Facebook and twitter, so did the role they played as the tent poles of our privacy. These were the tools we used to define where we began and where we ended for public consumption, but as transparency rose so control of our privacy declined. In short, what we gained in the form of access to information and connectivity on one hand, we lost in control on the other.

As such, I don’t think it’s fair to lay the blame for this at the feet of Mark Zuckerberg as the Mail & Guardian assert. As the founder of Facebook and pioneer of so much evolution in the social networking space, he is duty bound to cross these rope bridges to the future first – stumbling, falling and recovering all the way – as we all reach towards an ideal balance between the greatest benefits of an open web and the fullest protection of personal privacy.

In fact, the incremental concessions each of us made by joining social networks, sharing more and more of our lives within them and finally cross-pollinating that content has enabled this expansion of ambition to occur. As such we are all complicit and should not be surprised by what is happening, nor forget the benefits we have enjoyed so far.

In truth, I suspect there is no ideal balance to be had between the two. Rather, I believe we are witnessing the latest shouting match in the tireless cultural dialogue between the offline and online worlds that serves to re-negotiate a deal between the appetite of technology and the privacy tolerance of its users.

So, like Jarvis, I don’t think Facebook had gone rogue as WIRED asserts. It is simply doing exactly what it must do when you consider that Facebook is focused on realizing the fullest potential of an open web for its users. I suspect that Mark Zuckerberg, from his unique and high vantage point, has accepted that long-standing notions of privacy are now irretrievable. And further, that as the weight of the open web presses ever outwards, the responsibility for an individual’s privacy must rest with the individual in how her or she participates, what he or she shares and what personal communities he or she builds. Capacity does not mandate participation – that is a choice each of us, and not Mark Zuckerberg, makes. Yet we can’t have it both ways. If we enjoy the best benefits of an open web, we must re-frame our understanding of individual privacy and the deal we have consciously or unconsciously struck for ourselves.

So the rising tide of push back against Zuckerberg and Facebook – including Matt Cutts, Peter Rojas and Peter Kedrosky – is completely appropriate. This is the necessary exchange that occurs as the past and future move in lock step towards whatever is next. Facebook’s attempt to make the entire web social is not the first or last privacy battle to be fought, but without doubt it is a major and potentially bloody one.

For my part, I choose to focus on the positive potential of an open web and the benefits it may have in store for us all. My privacy concerns, while critical, take a close second place. This is a choice for each of us to make. Jarvis explains his position well:

I will argue that the more we live in public, the more we share, the more we create collective wisdom and value. I will defend publicness. But I will also defend privacy—that is, control over this decision.

Managing privacy and publicness is a delicate balancing act. But so is protecting who we think we are today and enabling who we can become. Armed with my participation or its withdrawal as protection, I am excited, hopeful and optimistic that an increasingly open social web holds in store unimaginable possibilities as to how we can improve our world together. How about you? Simon Mainwaring

Simon Mainwaring: Gucci Group: How big brands fast track their way to social media, community and new customers

This week I had the great pleasure of speaking at the Gucci Group Conference in Miami. Not only were they the best dressed group of attendees I have ever seen -- no surprises there – which was thoroughly intimidating – still no surprises -- but their conference was a wonderful example of how a brand (or brands) react to the emerging social web in a way that is truly creative, effective and inspiring. As such, I wanted to share the steps they took to demonstrate how successful creative brands are rethinking their strategies to suit a new consumer-driven marketplace. Read more: Simon Mainwaring

Simon Mainwaring: Allvoices.com: How social media built a global community of citizen journalists with Amra Tareen

I recently had the pleasure of chatting to Amra Tareen, CEO and founder of the world’s largest citizen journalism platform, allvoices.com She is deeply committed to making sure all people have a voice and to shine a spotlight on those areas that can help the lives of others the most.

Amra commands 300,000 citizen journalists in over 160 countries and her site enjoys an amazing 5 million unique visitors a month. As the fastest growing media platform for citizen journalism in the world, allvoices.com is a model of how to engage individuals to contribute content, how to build a global community and how to leverage new technology tools to do meaningful work.

I hope you enjoy the interview and please fire away with any questions
Please read more & watch interview: Simon Mainwaring

Simon Mainwaring: Facebook’s Open Graph: Is privacy a given or a taken away?

The internet has been ablaze this week with discussion around the impact of Facebook’s announcements at the f8 conference last week. Effectively Facebook has dismantled the walls between it and the entire web inviting conjecture that the entire web will become social and that Facebook is making a bid for control. From a user’s point of view the issue at the center of the storm is privacy, or more specifically, the ability of third party sites to access user profile information when that user clicks the Facebook ‘Like’ or ‘Recommend’ buttons that will now populate the entire web.

Dana Boyd explored the critical issue of social privacy in depth at SXSW only two months ago (why does that already feel like a lifetime in this real time world!) stressing that its our responsibility to consider whether someone wants their personal life shared beyond the extent to which they chose to share it themselves. For example, whether personal photos published on Facebook or twitter should become the sport of the public domain.

Not surprisingly, the new features of Facebook have inspired a variety of reactions. Some see evil in it, like MG Siegler at TechCrunch. Others are fed up with the appropriation of their privacy by Google and Facebook like Daggle. There are those that question such sinister concerns such as Dan Costa and Mike Melanson at ReadWriteWeb. And somewhere in between there are those like Ian Paul at PC World who took a more tempered approach by simply showing others how to effectively opt out of the over-sharing bonanza (for now, at least).

Like any Facebook user, I have my concerns. I recently shared my fears that Twitter’s promotional Tweets would pollute the social ecosystem. This week’s announcement by Facebook dwarfs such concerns. Yet there are other issues to consider. So much of this information is already public that we may be crying over spilt milk. The opt out approach used by Google and Facebook is hardly proprietary or new – it’s standard marketing fare. And before we point the finger at the Facebook, shouldn’t we consider the fact that we’re the ones who chose to participate by taking our private lives public?

What Facebook is doing is big stuff. Huge. There’s no doubt about that. It has the potential to affect everyone and everything on the web. Yet given the choice between guarding my privacy and stemming the socialization of the web, and embracing it for the positive potential it holds, I choose the latter. That is in no small part due to the sensitivity and priorities demonstrated by founders such as Mark Zuckerberg, Biz Stone and Evan Williams so far. (Facebook went so far as to wryly include an ‘Evil’ button as one of the color scheme options. Clearly they knew this wouldn’t be a cake walk.)

I believe these founders take their custodial role very seriously and know only too well that betrayal is the launch pad for their replacement. Moving forward I shall manage my privacy as best as I can and keep my eye on the great things that may come from an internet that is not just a web of information but a global community aligned around shared values. I believe Facebook is simply enabling the inevitable evolution of the web, and while the tireless battle between openness and privacy will rage on, we can’t imagine what kind of world the social web will unfold.

How do you feel? Do you feel like Facebook is betraying your privacy? Or is this issue a storm in a tea cup? Simon Mainwaring

Simon Mainwaring: Will Facebook come unstuck now that it’s the social glue?

Today was transformative for the Web. When Facebook announced that its ‘Like’ button is going to appear on publisher sites throughout the web they smashed their own dam walls positioning themselves as treasurer of the social currency of emotion.

This not only gave Facebook the capacity to capture an almost unlimited amount of real-time consumer data, it almost attracted all the responsibilities of such a role in relation to the privacy of those in and outside Facebook. Essentially a publisher will be able to capture all the profile data of a FB “Like” button user adding it to their own database. Mark Zuckerberg went so far today as to state that there will be over one billion “Likes” in the first 24 hours – a staggering proposition.

As a result, publisher websites will get more personalized as Shiv Singh of Razorfish explains, but this move is also priming Facebook for the launch of an ad platform just as Twitter did with Promotional Tweets. I aired my concerns about the Twitter platform and the same apply to Facebook. That said, few are better suited to serve as custodians for the well-being of the social ecosystem than its founding architects who have demonstrated both necessary risk-taking and strategeic sensitivity to the demands and tolerance of their communities.

What this means for advertisers and ad agencies is mind boggling. The CRM implications are huge but this does not absolve marketers from the responsibility of deep engagement with consumers rather than defaulting to familiar broadcast practices honed in the days of media monopolies.

Just as our individual experience of the web will become more personalized as an extension of our Facebook profile, so will our impatience with intrusive advertising. So brands and their ad agency partners would do well to demonstrate the same sensitivity as the architects that built these social platforms. It’s important they remember that this is the moment when advertising is being integrated into social networks and not the other way round.

Do you think Facebook will get the balance right? What about ad agencies?
Simon Mainwaring

Simon Mainwaring: Gary Vee on arrogance, ad agencies and what brands need to know.

This week I had the pleasure of speaking at Connect Now in Australia with some great people including @garyvee,@briansolis @debs @missrogue @huxley @silkcharm @fibendall @worldnomads and @problogger (all great people to follow). We learned a lot from each other and the conference was a huge success so congrats to @SiobahnBilfun.

At one point Gary and I stepped outside and discussed something you don’t hear a lot about. The right of a brand to be arrogant in the social space. We hear a lot about a brand’s need to listen, to respond selflessly and to celebrate their community, but where do you draw the line between the brand and its community? Here are Gary’s answers that are sure to provoke and inspire.

What are your thoughts – can a brand ever be arrogant?
Simon Mainwaring

Simon Mainwaring: Is your brand on its best behavior? Ask BrandKarma

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