Category — Groundswell

I was totally blown away by this, I am familiar with mashups, but what this guy did puts it in a total new perspective. He took small clips from YouTube where people play an instrument, and then build incredible tracks and videos from these clips. You just have to see and listen to believe, but, I can tell you: this is really incredible. Is this the emergence of a new Music Genre?

Check http://www.youtube.com/user/kutiman for all his clips, and http://www.thru-you.com for the album he created.

Forrester published a missing piece of the puzzle yesterday. Already had some discussions with clients in B2B regarding the social technographics for their audiences, but so far very little information was available. That changed yesterday when Forrester published a new report that specifically addresses the bussiness-to-business sector. And guess what, even Forrester thinks the results are startling (to say the least).

Forrester’s advise? MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! Well, to be honest, those are my words, their advise is a little more subtle: “If you’re a B2B marketer and you’re not using social technologies in your marketing, it means you’re late“.

Although I pre-ordered this, which got me in to Seth’s Tribe, I did not find the time so far (or should I say make time available?) to actually read it. To be honest, so far I found Purple Cow far more remarkable to read, but then, this might still change (and I will keep you updated ….). The good news is that there is consistency here ….. there is a red line, curious to find out whether this red line is still able to surprise me before I finish the book

The book already got me thinking though, how do I combine Seth’s thoughts in Tribes, with todays reality, and the POST method handed to us by Forrester ….. ping me if you have thoughts about this

Sometimes a simple illustration can trigger a lot of thought. When I first saw the illustration below I was immediately struck although not really sure why.

In the weeks after that first impression I actually found myself using this illustration to explain complex topics and therewith simplify discussions I had with several people.

First of all, I think this illustration does a great job of showing the evolution that the Web has gone through. In the first phase of the web all activities are centered around broadcasting information. Companies and people create websites and use them to broadcast their messages into the world. This is the era of the webmaster, and site navigation based on the organizational structure. Then came the transactional web. Editorial & marketing teams took over, the navigational structure was mostly based on the products and services an organization offered, and the main objective was moving actual business online. We are currently in the personal phase of the web, which is characterized by three key elements:Relevant (e.g. personalized messages and offerings), Interactive (e.g. the read-write web, User generated content) and Social (e.g. online networks, references and reviews).

Now, the red line in the illustration marks an important crossover (note that I’ve added the red line and the Science and Arts labels myself). On the left side of the red line are the phases we have already mastered. It has resulted in new job titles, services and organizations that focus on things like Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Web Analytics, Pay per Click Management et cetera. As we have mastered these phases we have created the science required for these phases and we know what to do (or who to hire) to do them right.

However, on the right side of the red line we are still discovering and learning. Success here is not based on science, it still is an Art:organizations follow their gut and try to innovate. Ok, I understand this is not 100% true. There are first examples of methodologies that will lay the groundworks for future science, but, even Analysts are confirming that the miss rate for this phase is still very high.

Valérie Léonard made a righteous statement in her last post: ORM goes beyond SEM. It certainly does, and for me this illustration also shows that. SEM is on the left side of the red line, ORM is on the right. Over time we will create new sciences for this new phase that the web is entering. For now: get yourself a good artist!

No I did not, but I’ve been strangely busy in also sorts of ‘real life’ stuff: birthdays, marriages, kids, dog, painting ….. So, time to write new blog posts has been very limited, but, in the reading I’ve done in the lost in-between minutes I’ve come across two things that I would quickly like to share.

The First is a quote that is funny and sticks:

“You can’t take something off the Internet. That’s like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool”

I think it does a great job of describing the problem that large corporates have in controlling the messaging around their brands and products. If ‘the word’ is out, and you don’t like it, there is nothing you can do about it. Well, there is one thing: face it, and join the conversation!

The second is a great image from Forrester: The New Marketing Funnel. No comments on this one, I will do a separate post on commenting this illustration (ok, one comment: I like it a lot!).