Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

I’ve long believed that every marketer should go work in a start-up at least once in their career if for no other reason than this. You get a profound and intimate understanding of the relationship between marketing and sales as expressed through the lead. Without a lead, there is nothing.

Carleen draws a line between this and baseball. I really enjoyed “Moneyball,” by Michael Lewis chronicling the successful statistics-driven management of Oakland Athletics General Manager, Billy Beane.

Just as he has applied math to sport, it has an equally important role in marketing and communications.

While the five tips she provides are all good, this one is extremely pertinent…

Trust your data. Even when your intuition suggests otherwise. You have to have the courage and conviction to trust your data, and act on it, Nelson says. If your data says spending money on conferences like CES or Web 2.0 Summit does not convert to sales, don’t go — no matter how important you think it is to be seen at such events.

This is perhaps hardest for communicators to accept. So often we are swayed by the emotions of those around us the data gets lost. We’ve all be subject to the rant by a product marketer about how we are “getting out-PRed…”. Without data you have nothing. Without conviction in your data you are well and truly up the creek without a paddle.

Last month, the SEC announced new guidance in using traditional websites and social media channels as legitimate means for companies listed on US stock exchanges to communicate with investors and others.

Like Neville, I believe that announcement will have a far-reaching impact on how organizations communicate, not only listed companies (he has outlined some reasons why he thinks so).

I agree that this doesn’t spell the end of the press release. In fact, it could make the press release more important as companies seek to differentiate communications.

The SEC also made other moves this week – the recording is available – with SEC Chairman Christopher Cox presenting IDEA, a pretty good acronym for Interactive Data Electronic Applications. During the course of the next three years, IDEA will replace EDGAR, the SEC’s 1980s-era computer system for filing documents electronically.

In a first, anyone with an Internet connection – investors, financial analysts, anyone – will be able to more easily find, analyze and extract data and other financial information about US-listed companies held by the SEC. Neville points to the important underlying message in that this appears to give clear support for XBRL in financial reporting and information analysis

The SEC’s press release has the details and there is plenty of commentary and opinion. Hat tip to Neville for the post…

More and more folks are using mobile data cards according to Nielson… another sign of the growth of the Connected Era:

…Nielsen’s research reveals that the cards are beginning to play an important role in home and personal Internet access, as well. In fact, 43 percent of mobile data card users report they most often use their data card at home, while 15 percent say they typically use the card at work. Additionally, one in five (21 percent) data card subscribers take advantage of ubiquitous access by heading outdoors and 9 percent use their card while commuting.

GigaOm points to one of the reasons:

An easy explanation would be better price packages and higher speed tiers, thanks to newer 3G technologies. Of the nearly 1,300 mobile data card users Nielsen surveyed, more than 99 percent still kept their wired broadband service: 40 percent of card users also have cable broadband and 34 percent also have DSL in their home. That number can jump to 59 percent, giving wired carriers something to think about…

Would have missed but for my Google feeds… and here… Me chatting about social and digital media…

Tom Peters has some interesting ideas and exercises aimed at harnessing ambition. Here’s an example:

Performance
The output. The measurement of the progress towards the ambition, where talented people take pride in executing their personal accountability and continually add value through discipline, hard work and continuous learning.

Goals, targets and rewards focus talent on the performance parameters that will deliver.

To get going…

With a few like-minded people create a list of all the performance measurements you use. Analyse what type of behaviour the measurements reward. Ask yourselves if the rewarded behaviour really helps to achieve your ambition. If it does; do more of it. If it doesn’t; challenge your assumptions of having it as a measurement. Start a discussion on how you could measure the real value added of your business/department.