cgm

2007 CGM Insights: It's All About the Personal!

The CGM that most provoked and inspired me in 2007 had far more to do with the personal than the professional.  That may sound a tad curious, since my day job at Nielsen Online (formerly BuzzMetrics) involves a heavy dose of analysis, interpretation, and brand strategy around, well, “consumer-generated media.” Indeed, on any given day I'm analyzing CGM-inspired trends, trouble-shooting client “pain” points like customer-service mishaps or product recalls, creating intriguing new evaluation frameworks around “co-creation” (CGM + marketer “RFP”) ad models where consumers are invited to participate, and so on and so forth. Still, as I look across 2007, there’s just no question personal endeavors most accelerated my command, authority, and intimacy with the CGM space. At the end of the day, I tend to “learn by doing" and most of my best experimentation comes in the off-work hours. As the barriers to generating media for personal needs plummets, we find ourselves testing expression vehicles we never imagined, and often at a very intimate level. Let me share a few examples, starting with the most painful: the death of my father.

Conversations with Dad: I’m still a bit raw from the death of my father, William J. Blackshaw. He passed away in early November this year, and while he lived a full 83 years, his death still came rather suddenly, and on the heels of what I thought was a successful Spring operation for colon cancer. About four years ago, mindful of my father's health situation, I started recording and archiving my conversations with him. I’d flip on the video camera, and just lead him into a conversation. It was awkward at first, but we both knew the importance of the exercise.  He opened up in ways I never imagined, and the excitement over what we were capturing and documenting prompted me to upgrade my Mac, deepen my expertise with tools like iMovie, and further experiment with video uploading of all forms. We covered a broad spectrum of topics, from his World War II experience to meeting my mom to raising seven kids. At one point, the conversations led me to create co-develop with him a blog about his WWII experiences (named www.wardiarist.com).  More recently, I started posting a few video conversations on YouTube, which I then shared with family members and others. We especially enjoyed picking apart the AMC TV series “Mad Men,” which my dad, who started his advertising career at BBDO in the early sixties, uniquely identified with. The key takeaway here, I suppose, is that my resolve to archive conversations with my father took both my appreciate and understanding of CGM to a new level. 

• Key Insight: Create CGM around the ones you love, and you’ll surf an incredible learning curve without even knowing you are trying.

Memorializing Dad: The second “aha” was a bit more sobering, but equally enlightening. Within hours of my dad dying, I created a blog with the modest objectives of posting his obituary, sharing directions and information about the service and funeral, and uploading a few heartwarming photos. What I didn’t fully anticipate was the degree to which the site became what I now call an Obitupedia: a living, breathing group testimonial about my father. We collected nearly one hundred thoughtful and detailed comments, which in turn became the driving content of the site. In the process, I gained an entirely new perspective about the notion of online community. Folks I completely stereotyped or ruled out as unlikely contributors jumped in. Beautiful stories I just hadn’t heard about emerged from unexpected contributors.  And the community itself became the catalyst for so much of the “offline” conversation that dominated the memorial service, family conversations, and beyond.  I also experienced a bit of an epiphany about the power of Facebook, a point I document in my ClickZ article “Death, Social Media, and Remembrance.”

• Key Insight: In the age of CGM and conversation, the obituary keeps writing itself, especially as those we love keep shaping our lives.

Taking on City Hall: Earlier in the year, a drunk driver side-swiped my car while racing down our narrow street in Mt Adams, Cincinnati. This wasn’t the first time, and just about every neighbor has lost a mirror or two because of reckless cars whipping down the street, especially late at night when the bars close. But I was really ticked this time, and it something I’ve always felt: we need speed bumps or “slow the hell down” signs on my street. Rather than write another letter to city hall, I created a blog called VoterCam.com, and recording a video testimonial explaining the problem, which included some reinforcements from my wife (with twins in hand I might add). I then got a dozen or so neighbors to offer their own first person testimonials about the issue. When I finally made my speed bump plea to our city councilman, I included a link to the site, which in turn set in motion a chain-reaction of events, a very responsive person from the city reaching out to me to talk through the issue. Although we didn’t get speed bumps (I’m not giving up), the city did place an electronic speed monitor on the street, and we’re still working through the best remedy for the issue. And yes, I felt darn empowered!

• Key Insight: In the age of CGM, you can always fight City Hall. And CGM glues common experiences together for bigger impact.

Celebrating Family: I’m now in year three of managing a blog dedicated to my kids, and it continues to teach me worlds about the power and potential of using CGM to fuse networks of “familiars.” And because it fundamentally appeals to my parental pride, the site’s dramatically ramped up my usage and expertise in multi-media, especially video. Moreover, every time I log into Typepad I feel like there’s another cool widget or device to take my “show the kids” passion to the next level. I’ve also learned that success in social media is less about “big numbers” than driving meaningful bonds and connections among smaller number of familiars. Indeed, it feels great when my wife, sister, or relative responds positively to  something posted on the blog (never underestimate the motivating power of an "atta boy"). In the process of seeking my own validation as a parent, I find myself deepening my understanding of why consumers are flocking to the self-validating CGM and social media platform in droves. At the same time, I’m now at what I’d call a “permission cross-roads,” and I doubt I’ll keep the blog open to anyone for longer. Yes, this contradicts so much the “open-platform” romanticism that oozes from my writing and speeches, but as a parent I’m starting to see the world a bit differently. Yes, I’m getting paranoid.

• Key Insight: Closed is the new open? (Well, maybe. We’ll see!)

Establishing Affinity Beachheads: I’m still relatively new to Facebook, but I’ve experimented a great deal with the platform, especially around the establishment of “groups” such as CGM, Web 2.0 Dads, and Digital Cincinnati. Consistent with my earlier commentary about “closed is the new open,” I’ve found in Facebook a certain comfort and satisfaction in its permission-based model which by its nature keeps intrusive or unwanted messaging to a minimum, as well as protects intimacy among relationships. I’ve also learned the hard way that you simply can’t bypass the basic pre-requisites of relationship marketing. Trust must be earned. Your content must always be timely and relevant. Friendships must be brokered with finesse and sensitivity, and never abused. Credibility is everything, and we’re all one stupid message away from being defriended.  In my own trials, successes, and failed experiments on Facebook, the new rules of marketing have become more obvious and transparent.

• Key Insight: There’s no free lunch…even on Facebook!

Official 2008 Buzzword Forecast

Must admit, I had more fun writing this last ClickZarticle ("The Official 2008 Web 2.0 Buzzword Forecast") than just about anything I've written this year.  And based on some early feedback, I vow to keep it growing.  If I am claiming credit for anything that's already been circulating in popular Web 2.0 vernacular, by all means let it out!  Here are the highlights.  Enjoy!

"Search moptimization": Yes, that's "mop," as in to clean up. This is the increasingly common, if not essential, brand practice of attempting to clean up negative search results against general or specific brand-related queries. For many brands, particularly in the consumer electronics category, hostile CGM is beginning to fill, even dominate, the organic search shelf, a zone that we all know has an unmistakable impact on the awareness and trial of new products. For many brands, the mopping process can take two to three years (often longer) and heavily depends on operational and product, rather than marketing, decisions. Dell, for example, still has lots of "search moptimization" to clean up Jeff Jarvis's two-year-old mess, though it's worth noting its customer service blog and IdeaStorm initiatives have already helped mop up or reroute some of the venom.

"Wombagging": This exercise tries to protect, or sandbag, your brand from negative or undesirable word of mouth (WOM). This could include anything everything from buying negative keywords on search engines to putting videos on your Web site featuring your CEO begging for patience and forgiveness. For some companies, wombagging might even include employing staffers in defense of bad buzz. But again, all this falls into the defensive branding arena, not outright promotion.

"Friendiligence": This will become very popular in 2008. It involves the extra layer of due diligence on friend requests on Facebook, MySpace, and all the me-too social networks popping up here and there. Friendiligence will also dial up as marketers oversaturate the social networking space with fan sites and more. Is this a real friend offer, or is it spam? Trust me, we'll all ask harder questions, and some friend lists will start to shrink.

"Converstations": Brands now have multiple entry points for meaningful dialogues or conversations with consumers. These are essentially converstations. Brands fully immersed in CGM or social media may have dozens of conversations, from the consumer affairs interfaces and toll-free numbers to the corporate blog. They all matter, and every brand manager should know his or her converstations.

"Social mediation": This is the process of rethinking or renegotiating certain advertising, marketing, and communications practices as a result of user backlash. What took place with the Facebook privacy backlash was essentially social mediation, and Facebook's own groups served as the third-party arbitrator between disgruntled users and Facebook (the company and policymaker)

"We-bargaining": A close cousin of social mediation, this is a bit more centered on brands and companies seeking peace, appeasement, or a lesser sentence with consumers when they screw up (particularly with viral, WOM, or CGM campaigns). It's a tough exercise, because it typically pits a brand against the wisdom of the crowds. Richard Edelman did a very good job of we-bargaining after the controversial Wal-Mart blog incident last year. He was open, forthright, contrite, and resolved to fix the issue.. So, too, was the CEO of JetBlue when he posted his apology to YouTube.

"Greenlashing": Woe to the marketer who over-claims or over-promises benefits on the green front. The market's just too transparent. Sites like TreeHugger, now owned by Discovery, are part of mainstream consciousness these days, and smaller green skeptics will vet out a green imposter faster than you can say "carbon neutral." As the number of do-good green blogs increases, you can expect even more greenlashing about brand missteps in this area. Mya Frazier of Ad Age deserves credit for firing the first big warning shot against marketers' bows on what she calls "greenwashing."

"Shamsparency": Don't get busted buying shills or engaging in unsavory activity. Just don't do it, or the forces of shamsparency will catch up with you. It happens all the time, and firms in the CGM monitoring space (like my own) make it easier to uncover the imposters. My recommendation: avoid this term at all costs, and write the WOMMA ethics code on the whiteboard 30 times.

"Credlining": Credlining is when consumers sift the good from the bad, the credible from the discreditable, and publish a scorecard accordingly. When protesters of Facebook's Beacon feed effort started posting lists of Facebook's advertising partners, credlining was in play.

"Facelifting": This is the process of taking a hard look at traditional conversational touch points ("contact us" pages, feedback forms, surveys), and slapping on a friendlier, more empowering face that the usual run-at-all-cost one. Brands must think harder about the sincerity and believability of the invitation. How do you make consumers feel important and valued?

"Blog groveling": This is the already-getting-old process of sucking up to bloggers and key influencers to try, test, or sample your new product or service. Usually it involves hokey headlines, repetitive phrases, and an unmistakable hint of desperation.

"World War 2.0": Face it, the battle lines are calcifying around Web 2.0. Ambiguity reins supreme on "Who owns the conversation?" and "Who owns the influencer?" Sure, we all talk a mean game of cross-functional harmony, but war's already erupting between the brand and IT departments, the PR agency and the digital agency, and, most important, consumer affairs and everyone else. Did I forget to mention legal? Top executives, meanwhile, fancy pitting one against the other in the impatient name of just getting it done. Expect to hear much more about World War 2.0 in 2008.

"MicroTubing": This is what's happening in TV and video development. New content forms are proliferating and appealing to smaller audiences. Small publishers, even mom-and-pop players, will continue to make inroads into the video publishing zone, many getting snatched up by brands and publishers for ongoing content.

"Lipsmacking": This is process of talking trash about brands, services, or goods, usually with a digital trail

2007 Buzz Leaderboard: Wikipedia, Facebook, iPhone, Paris, Barry, and Lindsay (A Short List!)

Sometimes you just need let the numbers tell the story.  I'm beginning to pull together various notes and conclusions from 2007, and in the process ran a series of trend charts on BlogPulse.com.  This tool charts out the number of references against a given term or phrase among total new blog postings.  Nielsen's BlogPulse tracks about 66 million blogs, and roughly 700,000 new posts are indexed every day.  Here's a shortlist of buzzmakers for the year. 

Wikipedia Still Trumps the Encyclopedia: The meteoric rise of Wikipedia.com continues to fascinate me (and many others, obviously).  This form of "group CGM" continues to nurture trust and credibility across the web, and the number of blog links into Wikipedia punctuate that point.  Who would have imagined, only a few years ago, that quirky sounding utility like Wikipedia would draw over five-times as many references online as the ostensibly durable term encyclopedia? Go figure!

Facebook Takes a Leap, YouTube Keeps Marching:  As conversation goes, Facebook has jumped well ahead of peer social networking sites, especially Linked-In, and I suspect much of this stems from both the open-sourcing of application development on the platform and the hardly veiled discovery, if not embrace, by the marketing community.

 

Of course, these numbers may under-represent the true level of discussion about Facebook because most Facebook conversation is taking place on, well, Facebook, not just blogs.  My own Facebook group , Consumer Generated Media, quickly grew a membership base that now exceeds email subscribers to this blog. YouTube, meanwhile, continues to burrow itself even deeper into the conversational vibes, aided by user growth, many tipping points of critical mass, increasing diversified content, and aggressive marketing by just about anyone who puts up a video, including marketers.

Iphone Creates a Buzz Halo: But the Real Halo Also Impressive:  Unless there's a big surprise between now and December, it will be difficult to dethrone the iPhone as 2007's biggest buzz story.  The buzz was strong, sustained, and diversified, which in turn kept the popular device always conversational. Meanwhile, "Halo 3," designed by Bungie Studios for Microsoft's X-Box, also has been a big CGM winner this year, peaking shortly around its release on September 25. Sample the conversation.

As Buzz Goes, We'll Always Have Paris (Hilton, not France): Not sure if this is the best news for the French tourism bureau but Paris Hilton kept pace with overall buzz that explicitly referenced Paris, France, and even far exceeded that during the ubiquitous celebrity's more controversial moments.  It's hard to say whether any of this will die anytime soon.  You can peruse her HeyNielsen conversation to understand some of the root drivers behind her often-polarizing discussion.  Her David Letterman appearance probably takes the cake in terms of elevating her buzz levels above the competition out there.

Steroids Buzz Bonds to Barry Bonds:  Guilty or innocent, Barry Bonds just couldn't dodge the vast majority of conversation on blogs related to steroids. Where buzz about steroids spiked, conversation about Barry Bonds was even higher.  The only exception was around late June, when steroid related conversation spiked related to the death of professional wrestler Chris Benoit.

Rehab Talk Can't Quit With Lindsay Lohan: Similarly, where discussion related to "rehab" was concerned, it was mostly inseparable from the trials of Lindsay Lohan.  Then again, the discussion over rehabilitation programs was hardly monolithic. A much broader discussion ensued across blogs of every variety about whether rehab programs actually work.  Many bloggers shared first hand experiences.

 

Updated: 20 of Your Friends Changed Their Profile Pictures

This morning my Facebook page reported that "20 of (my) friends changed their profile pictures."  But why?

Spam on Facebook? Say it Ain't So!

I just checked my Facebook email box and noticed that I had four identical emails from "Blog World Expo" that looked and felt quite promotional in nature.  Turns out it was a rather innocent mistake, but it still freaked me out a bit.  Part of what's drawn me to Facebook (as with so many others, I presume) is my newfound power to control, filter, and "permission" content.  And by doing so, my ESR (email satisfaction rate...a term I've just invented...see the rare blank on Google) has gone up dramatically.  Now I fear I'm about to enter than all-too-familiar "post-innocence" phase where my over-zealousness (ego-driven?) in approving friends, joining groups, or checking off this-or-that cool widget is about to backfire. 

Ripples of Irony: There's some irony here.  Only a few weeks ago I wrote an article entitled the Two Faces of Facebook in which I quoted Robert Scoble saying, with both pride and uber-enthusiasm, that "Facebook has decided to protect me from spam."  Technically he's right, as "we" control the levers, but I suppose we may need to scour, sanitize, and double-check our lists here and there, especially our friends lists...and the friends of our purported friends. (Recall my first rumination Meaningful Relationships with Social Networks)  The second irony here (and again, all innocent...so don't shoot this messenger) is the email blast triggering this blog came from the "Blog World Expo" (which sounds like an awesome event, I must say).  I almost wish it came from Sanford Wallace or Herbal Remedies, Inc.  It's harder to get huffy and puffy when the source of your painpoint is the very folks who have led and nurtured this exciting new "join the conversation" culture.  Then again, maybe this is a needed irony.  Happy Labor Day to all!

Ad Age Cover Story & Video: Marketers Race to Facebook

Matt Creamer of Ad Age provocatively picks up where my recent "Giant Facebook Sucking Sound" post left off in this week's cover story entitled "Would You Let these People Friend You."  On the marketer stampede to Facebook he writes....

"...it's as though the ad business, frustrated with voyeuristically looking on at the rampant growth of younger-skewing sites such as MySpace, finally has a network of its own and has responded with an eruption of self-expression. And unlike the very serious LinkedIn, the industry's previous network of choice, Facebook is spewing a strange blend of content, part high-minded engagement with marketing topics of the day -- such as consumer-generated media and, natch, social networks -- and part dillydallying with mundane exercises such as the microblog Twitter and games such as Food Fight that are almost Beckettian in their embrace of pointlessness.

Nicely put!  Also worth mentioning the story is accompanied with a video (Madison Avenue Stampedes onto Facebook), a format that's becoming increasingly common in online publishing.   In fact, it's hard to know these days whether sites like the New York Times are derivative of print or TV. It's all getting blurry.  Even my local newspaper, the Cincinnati Enquirer, now features regular video content.  What clear and obvious is that consumer video creation is inspiring many of these moves to multi-format content.

CGM 200 Member Mark:  Meanwhile, my CGM forum on Facebook just hit the 200 member mark (see above graphic).  Not bad for zero advertising.  Looks like a fun group, and only about 20% overlap with folks subscribing to this blog.  We'll see where it all leads.