I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say that sponsorships are a sink-hole for marketing dollars. They are wrong. This piece from Prophet shows what happens when you get it right with Red Bull as the case study. They make four observations:

1. Red Bull’s brand building is largely based on associating its brand with an amazingly wide range of people, teams and events.
2. Red Bull believes in owning teams and events rather than being one of several sponsors.
3. Because of this ownership model, they can and have turned this buzz machine into a profit center.
4. Their on-brand activities reflect two very different personalities that live side by side.

Once every year I rewrite my core speech, updating my thinking and ideas. This time round I’m giving it another degree of thought as I want to use it as the foundation for a book.

For the past ten years or so I’ve been a huge advocate of all things social. That’s not about to change. What I am becoming more cognizant of are the effects of social media. Jaron Lanier’s You Are Not A Gadget lit a fire under many of my thoughts and provided a refreshing perspective on what we need to do to thrive in the social age. I strongly recommend reading it.

Years ago, a CEO I worked for said “anonymity breeds irresponsibility”. Jaron is right, don’t post anonymously unless you are really in danger. I wonder how many community managers are really looking at the identity of those posting on their sites. Systems for accountability need to improve.

We need new ideas and thinking for rewarding creators. We need to make more time to create and craft – and not confuse that with expression. Posting photos to Twitter is not the same as creating art. Jaron’s idea that we “post a video once in a while that took you one hundred more times to create than it takes to view” drives home the idea that we need to create, not just transmit.

As I glanced through my Twitter feed looking at the brands I love and follow, I was surprised how much of the communications were trivial. Jaron suggests we “write a blog post that took weeks of reflection…”. Again, authentic communications – the stuff we want — shouldn’t be trivial.

You Are Not A Gadget enforced for me how much work brands have ahead of them to connect with customers through social. And how big the issues are for all of us living in the social sphere.

Love to hear your thoughts if you’ve read the book.

Is just gorgeous. And the mail ap is pretty sharp as well. Good stuff Yahoos!

Great products maketh the company. The future might be bright and sunny for Yahoo afterall.

A great read on the formation of Wired – arguably the most important magazine in Tech. I remember the first issues and hanging with Louis and Jane in the Wired offices. Was very cool. John Battelle’s impact on the industry has been remarkable. All goes to show that the good guys can win. They not only changed they way we talk about technology, but what gets included in the talk. And from a pure design standpoint, they tipped the old rules on their head.