What happens when we all come together?

We've seen people do it for Egypt, for Haiti, for Japan tsunami.  We've seen how people can do good out of social media and we will see how it can be done to bring an international war criminal to justice, even though we may have never heard of Uganda.  Because when people come together, there is power.  This is one campaign that... shouldn't even be called a campaign.  The word campaign seems such a small narrow idea that simply cannot hold the greatness of such cause.  It's a social movement.  A movement that aims to bring a tsunami of hope that would change the world.  God, we have hope.

So let us pledge yours and my support and stop Kony's hideous war crime and let live the children that he has abducted and held captive.  If you really think about it, seriously, we can do anything.  But the most important thing is, we chose to do good.


KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Who am I?

Fact: Digital is pervasive in our daily life.

Proof: If you were sitting alone with your phone in your hand, waiting for just 5 minutes.  What would you do?

Yup.  You surf.  You check your Facebook (even if you've checked in like 5 minutes ago), you check your Twitter, you check your email, you Stumble Upon, you Whatsapp, you continue your Plant versus Zombies, anything.  You would do anything except to sit still for just.5.minutes.

Today, I read about BBH's take on our virtual self versus our real self.  The continuous debate on transparency online.  Thanks to Facebook for putting a profile on everyone of us, it seemed natural to take information and assume it's real from the social site now.  Thanks to Facebook again for their timeline, we now can forever immortalize our status updates or our lunch last Saturday.  Of course everyone is worried, especially when 'face recognition' technology's usage is becoming more and more pervasive online.  Last night's party now spills over to next morning's horror.  What's said here, doesn't stay here anymore - it travels everywhere.  But... are we over-worrying ourselves?

Well, I believe there're generally two camps of thoughts.  The Fearful One - what's gonna happen to my privacy?  I don't want everyone to know what I had for lunch.  I didn't upload my photos but my celebrity-type friends decide I should relish on the same status.

Well... there's one way to conquer that fear, you know.  'Disconnect'.  But yes, of course... you want that cake but you don't want the whole cake.  And you just want the good bits of chocolate without the cream, hey I understand.  Here's an idea... why don't you build your own Facebook and stay there?  People greatly underestimate their power over social sites - they can control a lot more of their privacy settings to ensure their anonymity but of course, you need a bit of homework and tinkering around to come to terms with what you want to share, and what should remain in the closet.

Then there's the other camp - The Exposed One - social sites are becoming more and more a personal branding tool - whether it is to get more friends, more business, more exposure, more stalkers - these people are truly enjoying the power of social media and making it work for them, instead of the other way round.  There's no such thing as privacy setting to them because their nature is like a virtual butterfly.  Now, I know this sounds a little negative... which brings me back to a conversation I had with a dear digital friend the other day.  IF social media is indeed a personal 'branding' tool of some sort for some people (e.g they sound overtly optimistic on Facebook even though in real life, you know they're not), my question is; is it that bad when these status updates are actually a way for them to intra-fuel themselves to be someone better?  Well, at least that's how they want the community to perceive themselves to be.  So, they upload photos that make them happy or show them doing happy things.  Is it not also a double-edged sword that truly rings the saying 'fake it till you make it'?  They may be faking it initially, but I believe they will come around and they will be more optimistic at the end of the day.  Thanks to?  Status updates.  Well, of course we can go on debating on this for a long time.

Personally, I think old skool rule works for me.  RESPECT.  If you know your friends don't wanna be tagged, DON'T tag them - these has nothing to do with privacy settings but e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g to do with common sense.  If you don't like what some of your friends are saying on Facebook but not enough to 'unfriend' them, click UNSUBSCRIBE - don't be a hater.  Don't diss someone online if you don't have the balls to do it offline.  And if you don't want people to think of you in a certain way, then DON'T upload that photo.  They may not say it but it doesn't mean they don't think it.  If it bothers you, time to edit your friend list!  The problem here is that we're opening up the Johari Window for debate and a lot of people can't handle that.  The level of transparency on social media allows people to love and criticize us, and ultimately to discover more about ourselves breaking that physical proximity.  If that kind of emotional proximity freaks you out, then keep calm and moonwalk away from the web...

Social media is just... another messenger.  It's a tool, it's neutral.  You use the hammer to secure nails or use it to hurt, it's entirely up to you.  Don't blame the hammer for human's lack of control of their intention and motivation.  If your partner threw a fit because of your sizzling photos with your ex on someone's wall, don't blame Facebook.  Blame yourself for not sorting your ex-files out.  You could, still... in a very far-fetched, low blow sort of way, blame your friend for lacking common sense :) But don't blame technology.

As the digital space evolves out of proportion, it's easy for us to retaliate with negativity because we don't know what's gonna happen in the future.  We all fear what we don't know and when we fear, we do stupid things.  All I'm just sayin' is, whatever stupid we intend to do, do not control the growth of what's natural lest we evolve back to stone age.  If our office network system is prone to virus attacks, you do not, I repeat, DO NOT unplug the router and expect people to stop downloads.  You improve on the system, monitor malicious sites, zero in on guilty individuals (not collective punishment!) and upgrade the darn anti-virus software!  Speaking from actual experience yea?

Well... thanks BBH Lab for opening the can of worms on this beautiful albeit wet Monday morning.  I'm lovin' it and a good day to you too :)

Social performance management for HR 2.0.

Do you or your organisation/team/department feel like this?


Rypple Intro from Rypple on Vimeo.

Then you probably need a solution like this.

Facebook Story from Rypple on Vimeo.

Hmm, Rypple - the new way to monitor employees performance and coaching needs.  It's quite true you know, especially when they say how a manager is always torn between the job he/she has to complete and the coaching time needed to be invested on his/her team.

Now I'm curious...

Looxcie - capture everything you see (and more).

Remember the premonition talk we had awhile back about how perhaps one day, social media and human will somehow biologically merge?  Well, it's not gonna be soon but it sure looks like there are some really smart brains already working on the idea, placing it on the highway to crystallization.

Introducing Looxcie - the world's first, 'wear and share' device.  From security reasons (think Egypt, or closer to home, the Bersih rally for unaccounted police brutality) to narcissistic excuses (well I'm sure you can draw some examples) to unforgettable moments (e.g wedding proposal, birth of your child), you can now record your life and in real-time, share it on social networks and soon, you can even opt to stream it live.  Well, there you go, your life...  All of your life... on your Facebook wall staring back at you.  Good or bad, you figure.

Here's an example of a clip recorded using Looxcie (look-see, geddit? ;)).  Just remember to be careful of where you're looking when you hit the record button.  You don't want people to get the wrong idea now, do you?

The production timeline for TV commercial these days.

Read this today:

In an effort led by agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, a total of 10 commercials were produced in two days. (Watch one version below.) Two of them appeared on TBS, while the remaining eight have been available on Kraft's Facebook page for its "Macaroni & Cheese" product line. Kraft called the initiative "Mac & Cheese TV."

And watched this today:

Know what this tells us?

For social integration on ATL campaigns, agencies will now have to up, up, up, up, up efficiency in planning and production. Goodbye 3 months production time, or goodbye social integration :) Which can we afford to sacrifice in the coming days? With no compromise on production quality? Well, we better start practicing now. I'd love a bit of challenge ;)

The Internet: A technology of forgetfulness?

Read in ADOI today:

"It really scares me to know that there is an illness out there that can make us forget not only the distant past, but our loved ones who are still with us. We're happily outsourcing our memories to the Internet, which author Nicholas Carr describes as a technology of forgetfulness."

- Hafidz Mahpar, Associate Editor - The Star

Question:

Are we remembering less by depositing memories into the Internet creating a generation of forgetfulness?

Or are we remembering more because we now have the ability to go beyond the limit of our physical memory capacity and by that we're talking beyond giga but tera or potentially peta (quadrillion) bytes of memories?

The answer lies not in the simple fact of seeing two different sides of a coin. The answer lies in which year you were born, and at what age you experience the growth, peak and burst of web 2.0.

Real estate on social media.

Something to really think about. How is our local market evolving with the advent of social media? We know that some property portals have been advertising pretty aggressively lately. How can marketers prepare themselves to be ready for the real estate shopper via social media? How important is it for sales advisors to be on social media? How does that change conventional sales pitch and CRM? How does that change the personalization and believability of these sales advisors? How does that change the brand they represent?

Click the image to enlarge

Via: Fixr
This may be foreign stats, but extrapolate it for local market. Something to really think about.

BMW builds REAL relationship.

This is how relationships are built between brands and customers ;)

And another... what can I say? It must be true love.

Dentsu's social media experience as told by ADOI magazine.

Dentsu Utama featured in ADOI magazine, July issue on the topic of social media. It's such an over discussed topic, but what's really important is the investigation behind the do's and don'ts in sustaining a healthy relationship with social media stakeholders. And be prepared when the relationship turns sour (yea, a lot of social media experts don't tell you the ugly side of this medium).

Get your copy now ;)

Wanna learn more?

Read all about it here.

Social media marketing greatest barrier.

I don't blame brands in Malaysia for not jumping into the bandwagon. I know it's hard. But we can work on this together.
Source: R2integrated.

The next social media revolution by Erik Qualman.

Well, what can I say but... brilliant? (The way the video is produced to bring home the message I mean) ;)

Let's kill the social media buzz and get down to business!

Presented yesterday evening. Great turn out, I think a lot of people were inspired to quickly get something out to their clients. But remember guys, be realistic!! Nevertheless, thanks for the support ;)

Here's sharing from slideshare but slide 35 did not convert properly so it went missing (a pity because it was talking about how a dose of optimism goes a long way... maybe it's trying to prove a point? Hmm). Anyway, if you are interested or need more information, just leave a comment.

Social Media: Friend or Foe?

View more presentations from Sparks.

Social media and the brand watchdogs.

You know sometimes, it's good that we have 'experts' from the common people who bother taking their time to research and uncover the truths so many product or service manufacturers are claiming. (See what else social media can do?). It's pretty much the same as how one of the media uncovered Celcom's iffy business of charging consumers something which they never delivered, recently. If only there were more experts volunteering to search out the truth and share it with others.

Don't depend on the brands to tell you what's best. They can tell you who they are, and you decide if you want to associate yourself with scumbags like them or rub shoulders with the robin hood kind. The whole point is, YOU have the power to decide.



Via: Budget Planner – Mint.com

Social media: What is viral? Wonder Girls is!

There's the Korean version then of course there's the English version and soon the music started crawling towards all ends of Planet Earth. And how do we know that? You watch the first video and you watch the second video. And if I was Wonder Girls' brand manager, I would edit all the fans' videos to become one and they'll be thrilled ;) Like Placebo's Running up the Hill concept, like Sour's Hibi no neiro. Same concept different editing.


And now compare with this:


I bet it was the sister who made him do it. Ha ha. And compare to the cool version below:


Awesome. Content that's suitable for all gender, all ages. This is how it goes viral ;)

Social media: Honda City Weekend Escapade blog.

No more mall-crawling weekends! Go out, explore, discover and rediscover Malaysia! Time to get together with buddies or embrace solitude, Honda City Weekend Escapade blog provides a weekend idea, every week that will exhaust you ;) If you know of a new place or a new old place, do place your comments and direct them to research more.
I don't think it's sufficient to just stuff people's face with information. A brand should always carry some value and more so in these times of accountability, the value needs to be tangible. Honda has always strived to be a company which society wants to exist. Motherhood statement and corporate talk aside, being a team player in the society means everyone needs to contribute. I think this is one value which Malaysians would appreciate. If you're interested to know more about 'travelling' in Malaysia especially to off-the-beaten tracks (say no to touristy unsustainable destinations!), then hit the RSS button. OR follow @HondaMY on Twitter. It'll sound an alert periodically whenever there's a new update, who knows, it may be just the right weekend solution to quell the boredom!

Social media: Democratizing power to the people.

Read in Wired this month:

Transformative change happens when industries democratise, when they're ripped from the sole domain of companies, governments and other institutions and handed over to regular people. The internet democratised publishing, broadcasting and communications, and the consequence was a massive increase in the range of both participation and participants in everything digital - the long tail of bits.

Now the same is happening to manufacturing - the long tail of things.

***

When democracy reaches the people, even ad agencies need to change. The old model of a pyramidal hierarchy doesn't work anymore. Old hands who do not believe in the power of the net and feel that 'change' is online but not in the real world. But as demonstrated above and featured in Wired, Local Motors is the first open-source car company to reach production. The model is based on crowdsourcing on an open platform from social media. Imagine! It's a freaking CAR MANUFACTURER. We're manufacturing cars based on the wisdom of thousands. Not just adding and editing text in Wikipedia. Do we need any blacker and whiter proof that the social change which stemmed from online media has reached the real world? How long more can we deny this change? How long more can they sit protectively on their self-made thrones, believing that social media can be stopped by just unplugging the IP address at work (or till after 6pm)?

Before, it was how we behave in the real world which affects how we connect and communicate with one another in the digital world. In a world of virtual reality, we hide behind our alter-ego and live out our fantasy. But then, things changed when Web 2.0 kicked in and netizens realised that there is more to gain by being honest and open about who they really are, what they feel and what they can really do. And suddenly, you have a lot more people becoming vocal because of their freedom to say anything and be anything online. And not minding their real identities being disclosed to the general public. You do know that you get a lot more followers if you had a real profile and photo on your Twitter right?

Agencies who function in the old social program will start to reform. Or should reform. How? By being experimental. By investing on experiments. By distilling some values and discard the rest which do not contribute to the increment in productivity, efficiency and motivation. It's a tough challenge because old school management used to 'strike the fear of god' into people. And you watch the small people scramble to production. But today, you have a team of young-minded people who can perform and excel beyond the brief simply because they can, are motivated and the best part is? They do it unconditionally. Because they too know what feeds their motivation and self-fulfilment. You just need to know what buttons to push.

I'm sorry to break the truth but virtual is now more real than reality. That's harsh, ain't it?

Music: SOUR '日々の音色' (Hibi no neiro).

Are you an aspiring musician? Need to get yourself noticed but are a little tight in the pockets?

This is one of the most brilliant creative ideas I've seen being put together utilizing almost zero production cost. (as shared by Dentsu Asia Digital Division Conference).

Step 1: Record sample video with YOU telling your fans what you want them to do.

Step 2: Get them to record themselves doing the things you want them to do and send the video back to you.

Step 3: Creative editing.

Step 4: Upload.

Step 5: Snag an award or two.

Social media: Kill yourself - end your life in your social networks.

There's this site called the 'Web 2.0 Suicide Machine' which helps kill your online self in approximately 52 minutes (compared to if you do-it-yourself? 9 hours and 35 minutes) so that you have your REAL life back. It's quite a funny notion if you ask me. But for someone to actually take that step (well, 2,056 people actually did), social networks must have really bothered them a lot. Again, life is all about balance and too much of a good thing (no matter how efficient and/or productive you think Web 2.0 is, it does not replace your family and friends) is bad.

Watch the promotional video. To be honest? I'm quite tempted to make that jump too. I'm just really curious how it feels, seeing your life wiped out right in front of your eyes. The video is really funny in its best attempt to be sombre about this passing away of your online alterego. Ha ha ha. Okay, you watch the video here while I go check what's up this weekend on my Facebook groups and make sure I get the Tweets out to my mates.

Social media: Crowdsourcery Potion 101.

In conjunction with NY Social Media Week:

Some have predicted that crowdsourcing is the future of the marketing, advertising and industrial design industry. The phenomenon, they argue, will accelerate creativity across a larger network. Others, meanwhile, have predicted that it is a passing fad but one that downward pressure on prices on current agency work.

So which is it? Does crowdsourcing represent the beginning of the end of creative organizations? Or does it herald the beginning of something bigger and transformational for those agencies - and for business in general?

Moderator: John Winsor, CEO at Victors & Spoils

Speakers:
Ty Montague (Co-President and Chief Creative Officer, JWT North America)
Michael Lebowitz (Founder and CEO, Big Spaceship)
Saneel Radia, SVP, Alchemist at Denuo
Faris Yakob, EVP Chief Technology Strategist at McCann Erickson New York - Sparks: Whoa, this must be the biggest title I've ever heard!

Wish I could go. Well, you can. RSVP here.

Social media: How to hire the perfect expert?

Read from Marketing Vox on what kind of person we should be hiring for social media marketing. Well, I've never met this person in Malaysia before (if you are one of these rare breeds, please CALL me!!). But it's interesting to see if the agency meets this benchmark. So here, I will try to be as neutral and as objective as possible to measure our capability in providing a sound social media marketing plan for our clients.

According to Ballenthin, the person you should be looking for will have:
1. A significant business and communications background - preferably a minimum of 3 to 5 years in marketing, journalism or media. "This forms a foundation for understanding effective communication strategies and implementation." Definitely. Dentsu is one of the pioneers in the communication business.

2. A history of success in their communications background. "You wouldn’t let a mechanic work from a text book or just on their own car before they safety your car." Look for someone who has proven repeatedly he or she can deliver expectations for program results that have real business value. Due to lack of opportunities in the past few years, we may not have a strong history of success. However, what we have implemented so far did not just provide positive results but also a steep learning curve.

3. A series of measureable accomplishments in social media that can be independently validated. "Having ten thousand followers on Twitter means you learned once how to create this achievement but an expert is someone who has achieve above average accomplishments several times." Sorry, we don't have ten thousand followers on Twitter. But we do have twenty thousand followers on Facebook for compensation.

4. A true understanding of your customer’s relationship with social media before proposing a program. Your customers may not want anything to do with Twitter of Facebook or never have used LinkedIn, Ballenthin says. "An expert should build a vibrant profile of your customer’s online behavior and model a program that’s good for them versus the latest gadget and trendy sites to go with." This is an exceptional thought and it hits right at the centre of the Strategic Planning nerve. No consumer understanding, no communication plan. Period. Whether online or offline, the fundamental discipline does not change.

5. Straight answers when you ask about measuring social media campaigns. 'Social media is too new to be effectively measured' is a common and erroneous claim, he says. "In marketing we understanding that we need a baseline on what we want to change in a business before implementing a new program. If you want to improve retention, cross selling, nurture marketing, prospect acquisition, brand loyalty and use social media marketing to try to achieve that, run the program and measure if there was a difference in these areas or not. Guilty as charged. That was a lame excuse we used to make too. But now that social media marketing has become a very serious discipline here, everything must be measureable and measured differently.

6. A focus on getting a return on investment. "This is where mainstream marketing backgrounds are important. An expert should be interested in validating a financial improvement not just giving you cost." This we have to admit, we're 'forced' by the client to be able to justify the investment and to commit a return. Again, depending on the project and many variables, the return obviously varies. The important thing is, it's both discussed, agreed and committed by the agency and the client.

7. Clear methodologies. Social media is not new anymore. There’ve been hundreds of articles and cases studies on what does and does not work and effective processes. An expert should have a clear set of methodologies they work with to get consistently replicable results otherwise you may have a one hit wonder, if that. Likewise for any marketing strategy, actionable plans must always be in place. We may work around it organically, but the plan doesn't change.

8. An emphasis on an integrated marketing. Social media success rarely happens on its own. "Great social media campaigns require databases, emailing, advertising, publicity, industry influencers and more. It’s exceptional that social media marketing can just happen because it’s a good idea in the right place, other media needs to support effective results." Again, Dentsu is one of the pioneers in integrated marketing. No medium ever stands alone. And that includes social media.