I was asked to be on Business News Network's show "Headline" last night to talk about the use of social media by businesses.
We were preceded by com.motion’s founder, Keith McArthur (now Senior Director for Social Media and Digital Communications at Rogers Communications) and ING Direct Canada’s CEO, Peter Aceto – check out their piece as well.
Here is the video, featuring Howard Green, Bob Pearson and myself having a great discussion.
Every year, technology research house, Gartner releases what is known as a “hype cycle” – rating the expectations behind each maturing technology against their usefulness/adoption within business. It shows how technologies move through the initial spurt (technology trigger), through the peak of inflated expectations (can anyone say “Twitter”), through the trough of disillusionment, into to the slope of enlightenment and finally, the plateau of productivity and mainstream adoption.
This year is no different (see the graphic below)and an insightful write-up of the part of this year’s Gartner Hype Cycle which focuses on social media can be found on ReadWriteWeb.
It is also interesting to see what is moving up the peak of inflated expectations. Augmented reality is a very cool technology which you can see in action below.
Mobile robots sound very cool and Internet TV could make advertising far more interactive and contextually relevant – imagine watching a Liverpool match and being flashed an ad to buy a Fernando Torres shirt after he scores another screamer…and it being one click away on your remote. You can insert your own preferred sport/team ;-)
Most importantly of all for com.motion and our clients, the “Web 2.0” or social media phenomenon is rated as moving into the slope of enlightenment and that it will be adopted by the mainstream in less than two years. Judging by the exciting and innovative technologies on the hype cycle, we are in for an exciting time!
More on the Gartner Hype Cycle for consultants and agencies.
By Lynn Eastep
Women, long the keeper of the household checkbook, are increasingly taking charge of the family investments as well. Increasingly, women are stepping into the role of family CFO. America is becoming a “Femocracy” with women making the key purchasing and investing decisions in millions of households – in effect, making “Mom” the chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief purchasing officer, and chief operating officer.
Word of mouth is hugely influential among women when making financial decisions. More and more of those recommendations are coming in the form of social media engagement, particularly for financial decision-making. According to Oppenheimer, women manage 1 trillion dollars a year, yet they still often lack the knowledge and confidence to invest their money. Increasingly, women are looking to social networks for advice and information—not just on life issues but on financial decisions. A survey commissioned by Citigroup’s Women & Co. unit, which offers financial services aimed specifically at women, found that 63 percent women themselves the CFOs of their households—responsible for making the majority of financial decisions. Additionally, women are no longer waiting for one of life's big transition events -- like divorce, widowhood -- to develop a financial plan.
Women are increasingly empowered by the abundance of financial services information online, but the onslaught of information can be overwhelming. Women are strongly influenced by word-of-mouth (WOM) and look to their friends for advice. With the rise of social networking, blogs and viral video, this group has many user-generated sources for information about financial services. The fact that women favor WOM, combined with their use of social networking, indicates they are a strong audience for financial WOM marketing efforts.
Women investors have taken to social media in big numbers, and they are listening closely to what their peers have to say. A 2008 study by Cogent Research, which examines the impact of social media on investment-related decisions, reveals the following primary trends:
Social media offers financial services companies the opportunity to engage online, connect with women in a personal manner and subsequently become their trusted resource. Many financial services companies are missing opportunities to an leverage social media to educate, inform and engage women. To remain relevant, financial services companies need to create lasting, valuable relationships with women by responding and engaging through WOM.
At com.motion, we are developing a philosophy and framework that, we believe, the Internet and indeed all communications campaigns should evolve to encompass.
The seven words which best describe this are below, thanks to Internet pioneer and venture capitalist, Fred Wilson.
Why these words? Why do we believe these are important, vital tenets of the new wave of communications?
Global – because the Internet is borderless but also because campaigns must break through the clutter and speak to everyone on a personal basis.
Open – because clients which are transparent will reap the benefits of consumer trust.
Social – because the new campaign must be good enough to get people talking about it. But social because we are seeing a new era of communications where people can, and do, talk about the brands/organizations they use. More importantly, these organizations and brands can now talk back!
Intelligent – because we must not talk down to consumers any more.
Playful – because we want to have fun!
Mobile – because consumers are no longer confined to the cinema, to the TV or to their computers. Mobiles and smart phones are the fourth screen and increasingly the method of choice for users to access the Internet.
Instant – because who wants to wait? The Internet has made us impatient consumers of information and those clients who make their customers wait will be penalised for it.
What do you think? Are there any words you’d add – and why?
