360DigitalInfluence

Out-blog, out-tweet, outlast…10 bloggers, 24 hours in cool digs with hot tech toys…with 2 ultimate winners. All this happening as part of a LIVE display in a storefront window. Geeks go chic? Yes. Bringing blogging, tweeting, fashion and technology to the streets of Singapore? Ohhh yes! And the conversations have already started.

Stay tuned for our “The Making Of” video, which will be up later today.
Here’s the video!

Sleep-deprivation aside, we’re really looking forward to kicking off our first-ever Blogathon event, hosted by our client, Intel and partners, TANGS and Lenovo. More juicy details here.

Want the countdown clock? Grab it here and join us this weekend:

I’ve let a few days pass in order to observe and digest the after-effects of last week’s Open Room session, “Journalism’s from Mars, Social Media’s from Venus“. Needless to say, the conversations got colorful pretty quickly and have continued into the early part of this week, both online as well as in the print media. Searching the #openroom Twitter hashtag alone provides a good overview of what went down but if you want to read more, check out MyPaper’s piece on not writing off traditional media, as well as the posts by Claudia, IanOnTheRedDot, dk and one of our panelists, uniquefrequency.

Our aim of this session was to get 2 groups of people who don’t normally talk in person…talking. Both have their opinions and it’s not a case of either-or. While it’s always fun to sensationalize a gathering of seeming opposites such as this, we’re not debating whether journalism is better than a blog post or vice versa, but we did talk about the importance of solid business models in traditional media and the merits of social media in today’s new world of rapidfire communication, where anybody and everybody can be an influencer. And that’s what The Open Room is about - communicating in a human voice that is open, honest and respectful. In a world that is inundated with messaging, it’s our version of the “real coffeeshop talk” where one can listen and be heard. More importantly, it’s a place where stories get told. It’s our way of getting folks fired up and bringing real communication back to life.

We communicate with traditional media and bloggers everyday and believe that the system has room for both planets. Neither is better than the other but adjustments can be made on both sides so that news is reported better and faster. The bloggers who write great opinion pieces or commentary backed by fact are going to have the most readers. Similarly, journalists who have their finger on the pulse of wider conversations on the ground and online are going to be a step ahead. I like this post that talks about the relationship between blogs and mainstream media being a fact of life. What I think lies ahead is the next Open Room session, where we take the conversation up a notch and talk about some specifics. Brian has an interesting thought starter about Building the Future Media Organisation, which is definitely worth talking about, but I’d also like to hear from those who attended our Open Room. What burning conversations would you like to have next?

With Felix Soh, Head of Digital Media at SPH, and Thomas Crampton, Ogilvy’s Asia-Pacific Director of Digital Influence

Update: We’re maxed out on capacity! Thanks to everyone who RSVP-ed. Twollow the conversations via #openroom and le tus know your thoughts!
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A lot has been said about traditional vs. new media but it’s really not a battle with an either/or outcome. Fun fodder for an Open Room session over finger food, drinks and tweets where journalists and bloggers unite! Happening Thursday, 25 June from 7-9pm (venue TBC).

Thomas Crampton, who heads Digital Influence in Asia-Pacific, will be co-hosting the conversation with ex-journalist, Arti Mulchand. Tom recently video-blogged about his transition from journalism to digital strategy.

RSVPs closed.
RSVP: niki.torres@ogilvy.com

As part of the Young Professionals Chapter’s ongoing new media series at Singapore Press Club, we were invited to share our knowledge and insights pertaining to the little blue bird - Twitter.

Here’s the Twittorial for your reference and download. Let us know what you think.

Click here if you’d like to observe the conversations that occurred during the forum.

Note to self: Try to avoid such timely spill of the cup of coffee when being introduced to the audience

So I was just having a bit of a muse. Working in an agency that has its roots in advertising, and what every advertiser holds in very high regard, creativity. And the product of that creativity is the very excellent ads that sometimes come our way. They’re funny, emotional, engaging, they evoke a sort of response from us to sit up and take notice.

There’s also creative content, like art, mixed media, professional content and it looks a certain way, in fact, it kind of ‘looks creative’.

But here’s where I start thinking about creativity. It’s the ability to offer a solution to a problem when resources are meager.

It’s a different kind of creativity that’s needed. With increasing technology, and lower barriers to entry in mastering the tools (like Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Blogging, Social Media.. etc) Many more people are producing something of the same. It might have a different set of clothes, but essentially some ideas are pretty much alike.

You’ve gone for a hundred and one events, read thousands of reviews, pieces of news.. they talk about different things, but the form almost remains the same.

So when i say meager resources, it’s not just because we don’t have access to certain tools, but the professionalism of wielding those tools has become diluted.

Because of that, the sandbox of coming up with something really creative has become smaller. Think of it as having a sandbox, but you now have more people playing in that same sandbox as you.

So I challenge you, try to stand out, do something different. You have ‘less’ sand to play with now, how are you going to communicate your messages clearly and creatively, so that it sticks?

Ideas that bind

I’m really writing this for posterity. In my observation, this ‘thing’ called Social Media has been something that has been on everyone’s lips for at least the past two years, and I don’t think it’s going to let up.

You know it’s making waves, when titles such as ’social media guru’, ’social media strategist’ or ’social media practitioner’ start popping up. Although I think it’s a bit of an echo chamber, especially when it’s only used interchangeably amongst its pundits.

And what I want to see more of, is not a separation of social media from so-called ‘traditional media’, but a closer convergence of social media and media in general.

I say this because, media is increasingly digitised. most publications and broadcasts are produced digitally. Shot on digital video, typed on computers, art directed in photo-editing programs. The social media we know today is derived from digitisation of content.

I say “social media we know today”, because in Pat and my books, social media existed in the coffeeshops. I remember reading independent zines, printed, photocopied and “mass produced”. but digitisation has broken the barriers to entry in terms of publishing and transmission.

I harp on “The Shift” like it’s doctrine, because if you don’t understand that, you will never understand the power you wield as a practitioner of social media. The ability to share your opinions, and perhaps start and contribute to a tribe of mind. The ‘Shift’ has transferred some of that ability to regular folks. We have better access to technology that aids us in how we produce ’social content’. There is still a realm of the professional media producer, but for those of us who aren’t professional content producers, we are pro-sumers. consuming and producing information, on maybe an amateur level. (arguably some bloggers are considered professional.)

So what do you think social media is? If you think it’s just about bloggers, I challenge you that you might be sorely mistaken. Social Media is everywhere, consuming and producing at the same time. Sustaining itself, and spreading information to all the nodes on this planet.

The real question is, how do you plan your communications to best impact the number of people you want to reach out to?

Head on down to Managing Through Flu to stay up to date on all matters pertaining to the Swine Flu pandemic.

Our Health team in Hong Kong have developed a simple aggregation site that provides RSS links to Google News regarding Swine Flu, Twitter links to CDC Emergency that responds to public health emergencies and even a map tracker for reported cases.

It’s tragic that the Swine Flu pandemic is going around now. And even as Health Authorities scramble to quarantine the matter, we can help ourselves by not alarming ourselves with rumours and hearsay.

It’s especially important that in health crisis’s like these, we get official news and trusted information information regarding the situation.

Do comment if you want to share with how you stay up to date so that we can all benefit from information.

An excellent video released by TED.com, of Sir Ken Robinson making an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity. What say you?

A useful way to understand social networks is to see them as coffeehouses without geographic boundaries, where like-minded people gather to interact with each other when they feel like it.

Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg, founder, CEO and president of Facebook announced, “If Facebook were a country, it would be the most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria.” eMarketer estimates that online social network ad spending has grown by 81 percent, to $2.2 billion worldwide for 2008. In light of statements and figures like this, the eagerness to participate in the social media realm amongst marketers appears inevitable.

Figure 1: Worldwide online social network advertising spending, 2006-2011 (Source: eMarketer)

At the core of this explosion is a simple fundamental truth: humans have a biological need to interact, to converse. Conversations are the social exchange of stories fueled by emotions, knowledge, experiences, and thought. This innate human need began from the day humans first learned to talk. We gathered in groups to tell stories around fires with established oral traditions of storytelling long before we developed the skills and tools for writing.

Four centuries ago, that same need found an outlet in coffeehouses. In the 17^th century, when coffee first arrived in Europe courtesy of the Ottoman Empire, coffeehouses were established and rapidly grew into a popular social space patronized by men (women were banned mostly, save for Germany) from all walks of life, regardless of social status. Quite naturally, and in the same way online communities have been created to cater to specific needs within the social media realm, different coffeehouses began to attract clientele according to occupation and attitude as the years progressed.

Figure 2: Social media in the 18th Century. At Cafe Procope: at rear, from left to right: Condorcet, La Harpe, Voltaire (with his arm raised) and Diderot.

Cafe Procope in Paris, established in 1685 by Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, was a perfect example. The meeting place of the intellectual establishment, it was in this particular cafe great men like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot consumed, created, and co-created conversations resulting in the cultural reputation which France enjoys even today. Coffeehouses were the seedbed for modern philosophy and great intellectual movements – and breeding grounds for dissension and ultimately revolution.

As centres of power and influence, coffeehouses instilled fear in the ignorant, the inexperienced, the ill-informed and the establishment — none of whom patronized coffeehouses. King Charles II, who described the London coffeehouses “places where the disaffected met, and spread scandalous reports concerning the conduct of His Majesty and his Ministers”, was afraid of the freedom these social levellers had. He attempted to suppress the coffeehouses, to little success.

There are many useful parallels between the coffeehouse and today’s social media sites, especially for marketers who are struggling to understand a medium they are being pressured to exploit.

Ted McConnell, general manager of interactive marketing and innovation for Procter & Gamble, summed the misconceptions up best when he shared his views at Cincinnati’s Digital Hub Initiative presented by the Ad Club of Cincinnati:

I think when we call it ‘consumer-generated media,’ we’re being predatory,” he said. “Who said this is media? Media is something you can buy and sell. Media contains inventory. Media contains blank spaces. Consumers weren’t trying to generate media. They were trying to talk to somebody. So it just seems a bit arrogant. … We hijack their own conversations, their own thoughts and feelings, and try to monetize it.

Shiny Object Syndrome sufferers amongst clients perceive social media as the magic mushroom that will somehow bring back the days of long pre-order lists, sold-out products, 200 percent revenue growth, and marketing budgets greater than some countries’ GDP. A silver bullet that solves all problems, perhaps. Others believe social media is a new media channel created by consumers, for consumers, to be, ironically, paid for by consumers, hopefully at the rate of 17.65 percent.

While none of them are wrong, this is a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. A more useful way of understanding social media is to see sites like global coffeehouses without geographic boundaries, operating hours or seating capacities, where like-minded tribes gather to interact with each other when they feel like it.

Approach social media the way you would a coffeehouse and you will find opportunities to develop solutions for your problems and answers to the most frequently asked questions such as: How do we engage bloggers? What are they saying about our brand? How do we make them like us?

Be picky about the channels you choose
Just like you’d select the coffeehouse with the clienteles you most relate to, and would like to be with, target social media that matches your customer profiles. It’s more cost effective hanging out with like-minded creatures from the start, than to attempt to change the mindsets and lifestyles of others completely irrelevant – or fundamentally opposed – to you. High wastage will affect your ROI.

Don’t be a smooth operator
Pick-up lines don’t work. Do not pitch your brand right after “Hello”. Remember, you’re there to have a conversation, not to make a speech. Just like a coffeehouse patron, the point to your visit is to listen and converse, not to advertise. Don’t be ”that self-absorbed guy who won’t stop talking about himself”. No one really likes that guy much.

Become a regular
Pay regular visits and after a while, people will begin to remember you. A savvy marketer will join bloggers both online on social networks, and offline at social media events. To stay in your consumers’ minds, you need to be a regular.

Like good coffee, relationships take time to brew
Be patient. Social media marketing is a long-term investment for it stems from the development of relationships. The customers from the coffeehouse may not remember you after your first visit, but that doesn’t mean you should stop patronizing. Do understand that this isn’t a three-month-long campaign but a relationship you’re building with the customers based on respect, trust, and mutual interest.

This article was first published on iMediaConnection.com for iMedia Asia.

Dear all,

We’re changing our clothes.. Clothes for our blog that is. Bear with us for the next couple of days or so, as we start dressing up and getting pretty. During this period, all comments and posts will be disabled. Your kind understanding on this will be deeply appreciated.

And oh, Happy Easter everyone!