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Dec 14th by Shannon

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an ad or a marketing campaign included the target audience as part of it’s creative? The more I think about this, the more I like it.

Nov 16th by Shannon

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What is Google Wave? Glad you asked. There is a link to an hour, 20 minute video on you tube if you’re so inclined… or you can just have a peak at a brief summary here:

So what does Google’s Wave, (founded by the two who brought you Google maps, brothers who founded start up – Where 2 Tech that Google quickly sucked up) mean for us 12 months from now? In two words: crazy fast. But let’s see how I came up with that.

1. First and foremost I believe conversation to be king. Some would argue content. It doesn’t matter. They’re both important but conversation is more important! HAH!

2. We are in an evolution that allows us to use GPS and Google Maps instead of buying a paper map. We use email, e-cards, e-invites, and e-grams instead of snail mail. We skype (video, phone and screen sharing all in one conversation) instead of picking up the ol’ rotary phone. We use wikis, blogs, and podcasts to disseminate thoughts to the masses. We enable socially inclined tools to allow our audience to engage us, agree with us, disagree with us or just tell us about the train that stopped running out of Boston!

3. Today’s statistics about market trends, emerging media and the evolution of consumer behavior are staggering. This new online space is controlled and shaped by consumers. Marketers can participate in this space but the rules are very different.

4. Bite size pieces please: Our chicken comes in popcorn size. Blogging has gone micro. Music has gone nano. Movies went from VHS to DVD to MP3 to streamed on your laptop.  We tweet/ txt/SMS in 140 characters. We eat 100 calorie type chocolate bars and we read Glamour in hand bag size. <ok. that is not new to us… but it supports my point so I’m keeping it>. For whatever reason, we are more inclined to process information in bite size pieces knowing full well that any one of those bite size morsels can lead to truck loads more information.

5. Co-llab-or-a-tion. People are powerful in groups. They know it. We know it. I’ve been to more seminars and read more books about how this social space shifts the power to the people – heck I’ve even suggested it takes the power from your boardroom and places it into the hands of your consumers. Don’t buy it? Google Wholesale foods. Oh! or the Nissan Cube. oh! or Dove anything. My point is this… People want to connect with people who are like them. they want to buy from them. Sell to them. Refer them. Hang out with them. Create with them. This absolutely translates online. Flash mobs are another fun, yet powerful effect that all stems from like minded people collaborating.

Alright – Google Wave. Let’s pretend you agree with me: Conversation is king. We are evolving at unprecedented rates. We prefer to process <certain content> in pieces. And finally we is better than me.  Google Wave is feverishly working on it’s very beta’d version of Wave to bring conversation and collaboration together. Period. They are convinced that communication is the future. They have figured out how to enable people without the traditional barriers of email, wikis, and the rest of it so that multitudes of people can organize, create, share and evolve.

So what does this all mean 12months from now? Yikes! Crazy Fast!

1. Crazy Fast answers to your questions. Imagine kicking off a project with all key stakeholders sat around your wave with the ability to add, edit, share, create and all traceable back to author. Hmmm. heaven – non?

2. Crazy Fast good quality ideas be it for business or dealing with a terrible two year old at your finger tips.

3. Crazy Fast timing for people to bring things to market. Product, Service or Start Up.

4. Crazy Fast and efficient communication means geography will really and truly be irrelevant. sort of.

5. Crazy Fast organizing of groups to support causes.

6. Crazy Fast travel for news. Yes. Faster than it is now.

7. Crazy Fast mobilizing of consumer groups to take action against something you just did that thoroughly pissed them off.

8. Crazy Fast abilities to work with your group on a school project.

Time will tell of course. But I can’t help but imagine that more efficient tools that mobilize like mined individuals, virtually, will only contribute to the evolution and the speed at which things happen.

Oct 10th by Shannon

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Special thanks to the lovely Avery Swartz for sending this my way!

Aug 18th by Shannon

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So here’s a crazy idea… You go to the grocery store, you pull out your swipe card of some sort and insert said loyalty card into the shopping cart to free it – you proceed to shop!

What if the shopping cart was some how transformed when you stuck your card into it? What if the shopping cart recognized you, welcomed you by name… asked if you had a list to scan and helped you through out your grocery marathon with locations and information on these cans of beans are currently on sale for but those cans of beans are …?

Wouldn’t it be cool to have an assistant in the store right at your finger tips – select the “where is” button. punch in first three letters – van – and presto, you are getting directions on your digital map of where the vanilla exrtract is located.

Having your very own Knight Rider version of the shopping trolley would be fun… but hey you Marketers! Imagine the data collection… the cross sell/Up sell you could be doing at the time of purchase… not at the point of sale.

If there are any techie geeks out there <preferably in London England> who get this and are somewhat entrepreneurial… come see me.

The future is bright! The future is data!

Aug 12th by Shannon

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It just donned on me – well, life just donned on me. I have been flapping at the beak about Social Media tools sort of at random; Celebrity iGoogle, Google Wave, FriendFeed, Facebook to name 4 of the 789,000 of ‘em out there !

When we look at each of these tools individually, we can get caught up in the details, the specifics of that tool. Instead of taking a step back – or four, we analyze the tool before us and our perspective falls into tunnel vision. Alright well, at least I’m guilty of this.

But what do we see when we take four steps back? Picture a big plastic bag full of stuff <it doesn’t matter what’s in the clear bag> Let’s say it is a 500 gallon clear plastic bag – it contains 50 pieces of lego. Now imagine that something was slowly sucking the air out of that bag… voila! Shrink Wrapped Lego. My point is this… We’re getting closer to each other. We’re getting easier to find, easier to engage, we’re getting closer to each other with the evolution of social media technology. The blue lego hooks up with the yellow lego. Then after a while the yellow falls over to the purple then the red, orange and green find their way over to the blue… and round and round it goes.

Is it still 6 degrees? I’m pretty sure it’s 4 degrees now. <I digress>.

We are witnessing the effects of what can happen when good ol’ fashioned networking and cuting edge technology, merge - albeit on a global scale. The online tools that are thriving today are tools that:

1. Enable you to better define or carve out your book cover. your brand. your packaging.

2. Organize, file, store the online information that’s important to you in maintaining these connections.

3. Help you continue to connect with likeminded individuals or communities through sharing and collaboration.

If small is the new big, if we are witnessing an economy that embraces entrepreneurial, virtual, mobile work force – far more splintered then what we have today… then where should we be looking to create our income? Read June 2009’s Wired. Great article in there about the Auto Industry – Detroit and the big three. But a few more thoughts… Affiliate Marketing? Someone I have a lot of time and respect for, Keith Burtis, is writing a white paper on this very thing. When it’s ready. I’ll post it here. In the mean time, it may be worth doing some of your own homework.

If you are involved in affiliate marketing, direct selling or something that utilizes these trends… reach out to me. I’m always happy to explore new things. Shannon@TheRenaissanceEffect.com And perhaps post some information on it here.

Alright. That’s me. Out!

Jun 07th by Shannon

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