Our colleague, Paull Young, was quoted today in the Christian Science Monitor story ‘Who’s That Selling at Your (Online) Door‘ about ethics within social media and word of mouth marketing. Social media and word of mouth marketing are successful due to the trust they engender, but as more brands move budgets into this realm, the pressure to “bend the rules” will increase. Stealth marketing, astroturfing, fake blog (“flogs”) and other “dark art” tactics will simply destroy trust and, in the process, the effectiveness. And once trust is lost, it is all-so-difficult to regain.

Converseon is proud to be a governing member of WOMMA which has taken a lead in developing a set of ethical guidelines. Now it’s up to the industry to self regulate. We applaud organizations like DuPont who have formally adopted the WOMMA code of ethics.

At Converseon, all our work is in compliance. We find that this does not in any way limit effectiveness or creativity. There simply is no need to resort to unethical tactics. We also work closely with our clients to help adopt the ethical code, train them and also help set up compliance mechanisms. We recognize our role in helping this industry flourish and hope others hold themselves and their clients to the same standards. In a world where technology is helping to create new bonds through new communications tools and technologies, we, as an industry and a society, cannot afford to accept anything less.

Today Aberdeen Group released its Social Media Measurement and Monitoring Report.

As a leading company providing social media monitoring and measurement services Converseon agreed to help sponsor the report earlier this year to help educate the industry. To find out more about our Conversation Mining and eResponder social media monitoring technology, visit our site here. We will be providing a review of the research in the coming days; however, on an initial glance it appears to have some interesting findings, such as:

• It found that Best-in-Class organizations are over 680% more likely than Laggards to improve their ability to predict customer behavior through the use of social media monitoring and analysis tools.

• Best-in-Class companies are nurturing technology implementation with key organizational processes and capabilities, such as a formalized process for monitoring consumer-generated content (65%), dedicated personnel devoted to social media monitoring (52%), and an “early warning system” for detecting potential threats to the brand (42%).

• As a result of strong organizational support, Best-in-Class companies are 5 times more likely than Laggards to be “extremely satisfied” with the number of actionable insights derived from social media monitoring and analysis.

The report is an important contribution to other research of the industry that has been growing, including Peter Kim’s industry report (The Forrester Wave™: Brand Monitoring, Q3 2006) and Nathan Gilliat’s comprehensive Guide to Social Media Analysis.

Access to the report is free until March 31 (just requires a registration) and please click here to download your copy.

We hope you find it interesting and of use and look forward to feedback.

There’s been a lot of talk about Twitter wasting time and money (it doesn’t). I don’t hide the fact I love the thing, but I was dubious about its potential direct benefit for clients. That was until last week when my client Graco’s PR manager Lindsay Lebresco joined Twitter, and over a few days since I’ve witnessed a bunch of positive results.

These are not designed as a case study on why Twitter = ROI. However, they do point to the type of benefits you can find by investing in the community (a common theme in the social media world).

Twitter For Pitching Conversing

Shortly before our recent Graco Get-Together in DC I made sure I was following all the bloggers I’d be meeting at the event. The conversation below (and that’s what it was, a conversation - not a pitch), led to the first blog post pointing to the new Graco blog.

paullyoung Hi Devra! I work with Graco & I’ll be attending the DC Moms blog Get-Together on Mon. Found you via @mammaloves - nice to meet you! 06:29 PM January 05, 2008

Devra Hi Paull, Oooh Graco! You would have had me at “Pack N Play” LOVED that when my kids were little! Mamma Loves is tops tho! 09:48 AM January 06, 2008

paullyoung That’s great to hear! Did you know the Pack N Play just turned 20? 1 of our first posts on the new Graco blog: http://tinyurl.com/348tym 03:35 PM January 06, 2008

Devra What a riot! Aviva and I both used Pack N Plays extensively. We had them traveling all over the world! We should write up a birthday post! 06:31 PM January 06, 2008

paullyoung That would be great to see, we’d link back too. You could be the first blog linking to us as well (though I imagine a few will after Mon) 06:58 PM January 06, 2008

Devra Okay, then we’ll put up a post tonight! That would be great. I’ll see if we can dig up some pics of our kids in the pack n plays. Fun! 07:04 PM January 06, 2008

paullyoung Cool! John (the author) & the rest of the Graco blog team will be super happy to see it! They’re very attached to the Pack N Play 07:06 PM January 06, 2008

Devra As are Aviva and me. I guess you could call us “Pack N Playmates” Seriously, we’d love to put our hat in the ring to be spokespersons! 07:08 PM January 06, 2008

Twitter to Build a Knowledge Network

Lindsay was live tweeting from the celeb packed ‘Boom Boom Room‘ over the weekend. Here, she was able to rely on her Twitter network to get her ahead when the uber Urbanmama sent her through a detailed ‘cheat sheet’ on how to get the most out of the celeb derby (I think this is in Urbanmama’s nature though - she’s also promised me a list of Brooklyn’s top date spots :))

urbanmama Hey Lindsay, what is your email? Do you have a PDA where you can access links? I sent info on many of the people who had confirmed to visit. 11:48 AM January 11, 2008

urbanmama Lindsay, I forwarded you my little stars primer, but only for those who had confirmed before the sisters left. There are tons more now! 12:30 PM January 11, 2008

Twitter as a Beta Tester

This tweet from Kristen meant that we fixed an important broken link (in minutes) outside of office hours:

Mommy4Cocktails @lindsaylebresco: trying to link to the Graco Baby Blog from the graco baby homepage. Dead link… 05:42 PM January 15, 2008 from web in reply to LindsayLebresco

There endeth the most visible Graco bonuses - but these little examples are secondary to the friendship and relationships developed. Here’s a couple more work examples I’ve had in the same time period:

Twitter to Recruit

The tweet below was for a freelance project and led to a bunch of informed recommendations in minutes. Much easier than finding an unknown through the standard channels.

paullyoung I’m looking for a WordPress Ninja for some freelance work - do you know someone who fits the bill? I owe you big time if you can assist 06:04 PM January 10, 2008 from web

Twitter as a Crisis Warning System

On the same day we saw the above results, we also got a first warning - way ahead of time - about a potential issue involving a 5 star brand we work with. Follow the right people and you’ll be in the know ahead of time.

I know none of this is particularly groundbreaking, but the fact it all occurred in such a short time frame really brought home to me just how much Twitter is enhancing my work. Can you share a Twitter example? No matter how big or small, I’d like to hear it below.

[cross posted on Paull's personal blog Young PR]

Life imitates Art - and the mainstream media imitates social media, as evidenced by The Simpsons parodying Noah Kalina’s photo-a-day YouTube phenomenon.

Here’s is Noah’s video - a masterpiece with over 7 million views, 32 thousand comments and 44 thousand ‘favorites’:

And here is The Simpsons version - played out as Homer’s life flashing before his eyes:

More and more we are seeing the power of compelling social media content connecting with people in innovative ways. A simple idea, such as Noah’s, properly executed in social venues can move far beyond online boundaries to the very core of popular culture. As brands push to cut through the clutter of today’s fragmented media universe it’s important to consider the creative power of social media to not just support, but lead, integrated marketing campaigns.

This morning Converseon sponsored New York’s first Social Media Breakfast alongside Text 100. Reuters Second Life reporter Eric Krangel (aka Eric Reuters) spoke about virtual worlds, the changing media landscape and his role as a Second Life journalist. You can see all our photos in the Converseon Flickr account.

We’d really like to see the New York social media scene come together and we think events like this are important for the community - not that virtual relationships moving into the real world is anything new, as this 1997 Wired quote about The Well shows:

In addition to electronic dialog, there should be a strong face-to-face element to The Well. (It was while on EIES that Brand had learned the value of online confrères having physical contact - a group of EIES regulars made a point of meeting offline as well.) He sensed that the most interesting possibility to arise from knitting electronic dialog into the fabric of everyday life would lie not in championing either the virtual or the human-contact model but rather in finding the place where they overlapped. “Brand had an awareness that you had to have that sense of the physical environment and the local culture and flavor for the community to work,” says John Perry Barlow, who joined The Well in 1986.

Thank you to all the friends of Converseon (new and old) who joined us for breakfast this morning; it was great to be able to sponsor a meeting of New York’s finest social media minds.

Thanks to Thanksgiving and the yearly mad rush for Black Friday we’ve got some catching up to do with the Friday Link List. We’ve got a diverse selection for your perusal this week. Or if you don’t feel like reading, just click through to Free Rice to see a simple yet powerful concept executed with aplomb online.

Coming Soon: A Small Move By Facebook With Big Implications

it’ll be interesting to see how this develops.  if applications start appearing in the indices, you better believe that EVERY programmer, marketer, and trend-follower will jump on the bandwagon, and start releasing new apps with fervor.

Attention? I Don’t Want Your Freakin’ Attention!

This imaginary conversation between consumer & ‘consumer relations’ cuts to the very core of why Converseon exists and what we’re trying to achieve each and every day.

I’m a Faux Social Media Expert: Hear Me Roar!

Canadian Colin McKay’s post highlights the roadblocks social media evangelists will face. To truly succeed with social media it is essential for companies (which really means the people within them) to embrace change and innovation. Say “Yes, how?” not “No, too hard.”

Digg: Hilarious ‘Don’t Give Up On Vista’ Ad From Apple

3,663 Diggs for an Apple commercial indicates how consumer evangelists can spread your message widely online - if you provide them with compelling content.

The following post refers to a Veterans Day screening coming up tomorrow, November 11 for Converseon client Smithsonian Channel.

To help mark Veterans Day the Smithsonian Channel is airing a special block of programming ‘America’s War Stories‘ - highlighted by a new documentary ‘Remembering Vietnam: The Wall at 25‘.

Jan Scruggs, the founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, calls the documentary ‘the best documentary film about the wall I’ve ever seen’. It will go to air on Direct TV at 8pm EST/PST Sunday November 11, but can also be watched online via a live streaming at the Smithsonian Channel website at 9pm EST / 6pm PST Sunday November 11.

I’ve seen the program and found it beautiful and moving. Here is a sample of the online conversation we have seen amongst bloggers we have shared the documentary with to help promote its launch:

From the superb milblog Mudville Gazette

This looks to be an excellent program you don’t want to miss.

We Will Never Forget!

A local DC blogger attended the launch screening on Thursday and wrote a beautiful post about how much the documentary moved them:

The documentary I saw yesterday was about the Vietnam Wall, and it was produced by the Smithsonian Channel on the occasion of the Wall’s 25th anniversary.

People come every year from far away to pay their respects, touch, kiss, make rubbings on, or just gaze at the impassive granite face. The Wall has become an altar of gratitude and brotherhood in a country that seems ambivalent about both. Twenty-five years later, a new generation is dealing with a polarizing war of their own, and seemingly forgetting the lessons of remembrance that places like the Wall have fought so hard to keep alive in everyone’s minds.

That Wall, that strange yet comforting shape rising to meet the heartsick pilgrim, is the true balm that was needed to mend a country even a little bit; to help ease those horrible wounds that still haunt many in their sleep; and the sanctuary in which to seek forgiveness for doing what was asked of them–even if it was against every fiber of their being.

The documentary is beautiful. I cannot do it justice, and I certainly cannot finish writing this with dry eyes.

I urge you to watch it if you can (again, the link for the Smithsonian Channel is here), and remember that the warrior just does as he or she is bid.

Murdoc Online

A preview of what looks to be an excellent program that runs this Veterans Day … if this is any indication, you’re going to want to watch it whatever Murdoc says…

A Soldiers Mind

If you have the opportunity, please take the time to watch, what I’m sure will be a very special documentary.

To get even closer to the show check out this podcast with the program’s producer Lynn Kessler, and view the promo here:

(RSS readers click through for video)

The milblogging community is one of the most vibrant niches of the blogosphere. For a cross section check out some of the great stuff at blogs like Blackfive, Army of Dude, YankeeMom, ArmyWifeToddlerMom and hundreds more at milblogging.com. You’ll notice that the milblogging community is currently united in their support of the ValorIT fundraising drive - read all about it here and lend some support to injured soldiers this Veterans Day.

As per the headline, we’re extremely proud to have been selected by the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association as one of their four WOMMIE Award winners for 2007.

The art of Word of Mouth Marketing online is continually evolving and we’re having a great time working at the coalface. Rob Key will be presenting our case study at the WOMMA Summit on November 14-15 in Las Vegas - but in the mean time you can learn from the great case studies hosted at the WOMMA site. In the meantime, we’re happy to be recognized like this:

“I was thrilled to see the caliber of work considered this year for the Wommie Awards, particularly when comparing them against last year’s submissions,” said Amanda Van Nuys, Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Organic, Inc. and Wommie Awards judge. “Collectively, the case studies clearly demonstrate how word of mouth marketing has grown up over the last few years as it transitions from its adolescence and into a more evolved and disciplined marketing practice.”

On To The Friday Links!

This week the Converseon team have had a mix of social networking and smart technology catch our eye. The content below has already sparked some deep thinking and conversation amongst our team, please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Photosynth Demonstration (RSS Readers, click through for video)

This technology is mind blowing. As they say: “Photosynth might utterly transform the way we manipulate and experience digital images”Consumer 3.0: New Trends in CGM

Pete Blackshaw gives a general overview of the current state of CGM marketing, including some links to good examples.

Facebook Facts that will blow your marketing mind

Mitch Joel shares some stats on Facebook from the Canadian Marketing Association conference:

1. The average Facebook user spends about twenty-one minutes plus per day at the online social network.
2. The average Facebook user visits four times per day.
3. Facebook is adding about three hundred and fifty thousand new users every day.
4. Just this morning Facebook surpassed fifty million worldwide community members.
5. Facebook’s size doubles every six months.

Can Facebook feed its ad brains?

Facebook is expected to tap artificial intelligence to deliver ads to its 49 million members. This is a good real world example of the challenges that companies face in serving the right ads to the right people in real time.

A Series of Podcasts with Lee Odden and Mike Moran

Some great discussion here about Mike Moran’s new book “Do It Wrong Quickly: How The Web Changes the Old Marketing Rules”

Explaining OpenSocial to your Executives

A good analysis of what Google’s new OpenSocial can allow you to do to help share great content with your key audiences.

The Unbiased Opinion is Trusted Around The Globe

eMarketer reports that more than three-quarters of consumers surveyed worldwide find that consumer opinions are the most effective form of advertising, according to a Nielsen study.

MySpace Platform to Launch Next Week

TechCrunch has the story that MySpace is planning to mimic Facebook by opening up their platform to outside developers. On top of rumours that Google is aiming to ‘out-Facebook’ Facebook by making themselves ‘100% open’.

Some of the smartest brands around are opening themselves up to passionate users – is this on the radar of your C-suite?

YouTube to Unleash Adsense Video Syndication

According to early reports from the Associated Press and Variety, Google is set to make a major announcement tomorrow concerning YouTube integration with AdSense. Selected YouTube videos will be available to AdSense publishers and will appear wrapped in banner ads.

Virtual World Interoperability

A group of 23 companies and institutions has set out to search for ways to make content and identity transferable between virtual worlds.

Converseon had the pleasure of receiving the OMMA Award on Tuesday night for the “Best Use of Virtual Worlds.” Hosted by our building brethren Mediapost, the event recognized the best and most breakthrough creative in online advertising and media.

Our Second Chance Trees project beat out some formidable competition, specifically Coca-Cola’s Virtual Thirst Project and Pontiac’s Motorati island. I admire both of those programs because they begin to tap into what we see as the real value of current virtual worlds — an open source platform to allow users to experiment, co-create and innovate in collaboration with brands.

The Second Chance Trees project was a bit more modest in scope (and likely budget), but fully dipped into what we see as among the most fertile areas for breakthrough innovation in social media - utilizing virtual worlds to impact the real world, and vice versa. In our view, virtual worlds are not meant to exist in isolation, but as an extension of our own world, albeit in a dimension where we can poke through to innovate, experiment and experience with tools and environments that extend beyond our mortal powers. We intend to dig more deeply into exploring the virtual-to-real world potential and, of course, continuing to utilize SCT to promote tree reforestation around the world. So more to come on that over time.

We would, of course, like to thank all our avatar and RL friends who have supported the effort including Andy Beal, Lee Odden, Peter Himler, Stephen Davies, Lee Hopkins, Luke Armour and Amalthea Blanc.

If you would like to learn more about the Second Chance Trees project and our approach to virtual worlds, please take a listen to the attached audio file of a presentation I delivered at WOMMA’s Learn It, Do It event in New York city last week. As always, your comments and questions are welcome.

 

 WOMMA NYC Second Chance Trees Presentation (Rob Key) [19:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download