CES 2012 Spotlight

Every year, the International Consumer Electronics Show unites tens of thousands of consumer electronics industry leaders, journalists and fans in Las Vegas, and most major news outlets mount impressive campaigns to cover and analyze the most interesting new products, developments and hype. While I have yet to attend a single CES, I do follow much of the news that comes out before, during and after the festivities. Now that CES 2012 is behind us, here are a few highlights I thought you might appreciate. Read more

Primer for the new year

For me personally, this is the time of year when business takes center stage after many weeks of relative inaction. In my experience, strategic focus is essential at this moment in order to maximize the best opportunities while also understanding all the real imperatives of success and ensuring they are given top priority today and tomorrow.

Fortunately, I have many wise, experienced friends and counselors who have provided a virtual MBA of priceless information, motivation and inspiration over the past few weeks for free. Here are six links I feel are very likely to help your upcoming actions soar in the right directions. Some lead to articles, some to eBooks; each is highly recommended. Read more

eBay’s give-a-toy stores

Starting last Friday and for the next month, shoppers in New York City and San Francisco can use their mobile phones to purchase toys for children in need at two new interactive storefronts presented by eBay and Toys for Tots. The initiative conceived and produced by advertising agency Venables Bell & Partners features interactive displays created by international production company and design studio Brand New School (BNS) and its School of Interactive Media.

As reported by TheInspirationRoom.com, all web-connected shoppers can experience the Give-A-Toy Store and make donations online by visiting www.eBay.com/GiveAToyStore and www.Facebook.com/eBay.

Business and brand strategy alignment

For his recent post on BNET entitled “The Death of Branding and the Scam of Storytelling,” ghostwriter and author Jeff Haden reached out to the illustrious David C. Baker, whom I have written about before. David is the head of ReCourses, which provides consulting services and educational events for marketing firms. In Jeff’s story, David says a lot about branding and storytelling, including this.

“Alignment is simply telling the truth: To your customers, to your employees, and to yourself. When you do that everything else falls into place. Then your brand makes sense and the stories you tell support your brand — because your brand is you.”

Personally, I have long admired the dedication of my clients at global creative agency ATTIK focusing in on these critical areas of business. I believe their work for Perkins+Will featured above is a solid example of David’s ideas at work. I hope he agrees with me.

To learn more, Read more

Ready for 24 hours of climate reality?

I wrote a few weeks ago about Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and The Climate Reality Project. Guided by the knowledge that the climate crisis is real and we know how to solve it, more than 5 million members and supporters worldwide are about to launch their campaign to bring climate crisis facts into the mainstream, with the goal of engaging the public in conversations about real solutions. As recently reported by Morgan Clendaniel for Fast Company, the project’s 24 Hours of Reality event is sending clear signals:

Please visit climaterealityproject.org and consider joining the fight.

Engaging and tracking

Linda Ong’s Advertising Age article last week suggested this: “Drop the Words ‘Relevance’ and ‘Authenticity’ From Your Marketing Lexicon; Culture Is What You Should Be Focusing On.” While I feel that most people probably need to do a better job of tuning into all of those areas, Linda makes many fine points for executive marketers, and I also really appreciate this comment from Denise Lee Yohn:

customer experience + culture = brand

relevant, authentic (and i would add differentiated) customer experience + strong culture = great brand

For businesses and business professionals, the proliferation of trackable communications occurring in real time is monumental, and most likely, moving forward, tracking, measuring and reacting to it will be essential to your success. Here’s a short list of social media monitoring services you may find helpful. To learn more about these and many others, please visit this meticulously organized Social Media Monitoring Solutions Wiki created by Ken Burbary and Adam Cohen.

Adobe SiteCatalyst
Alterian.com
BuzzLogic.com
Cymfony.com
Facebook Search
Google Blog Search
HootSuite.com
Nielsen Buzzmetrics
Radian6.com
Tinker.com
Topsy.com
Trackur.com
Trendrr.com
Trucast.net
Twazzup.com
Twitter Search