Branislav Peric

The following links would normally each deserve a post and a carefully written analysis/point of view.
Like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, I’m late, I’m late, so here is yet another rough compilation of those good links.

If it doesn’t spread, it’s dead : if you don’t have much time, this is the article you should read first, Henry Jenkins from the MIT delivered a very smart analysis over content spreadability. The kind of article that makes me want to go back to studies.

Another academic article about communities, food for thought…

I like this visual representation of the personnal digital platform, made by Bridgetz. I would strongly encourage you to follow her if you are on Twitter.

I love the battle between the Blackberry and the iPhone. As stated before on this blog, I am a fan of anything related to brands taunting each other through content, as long as it is respecting the obvious code of conduct that goes with it.
Video 1 : Blackberry wins
Video 2 : iPhone wins

Charlene Li comes up with an interesting deck presented during the latest SXSW conference about the evolution of social networks. Worth taking a look.

Pure rant, aimed at igniting mayhem in the comments, needless to say I don’t agree with his statements. I am not even sure that he means what he says. The debate remains quiet interesting. He is basically kicking both PR and digital agencies for claiming social as their territory.

A well assembled Facebook social graph analysis. Bookmark this for later use.

Finally, the ultimate toolkit for selling social media to your boss, your colleagues, your clients,… whatever.

The crisis might be there, I am still busy as hell and struggling to find some time to feed my blog.
I have a couple of interesting links to share though today, that I have been collecting the last few weeks.

Here we go:

An interesting data visualization experiment: needless to say that I am huge fan of any initiatives of that kind. “In a data driven, data visualization is the new art”, don’t you forget that!

Apple Application Store’s secrets unvealed : very useful if you are looking for information on the typical iPhone application life cycle.

A list of blogs done by the most advanced digital agencies out there. Including FEED, the blog done by Razorfish, my employer. By the way, please vote for FEED if you check those links.

A well done introduction to the social web, that I found very inspiring. I am actually planning to do an upgraded version of this presentation, using my own generic social media deck. Stay tuned.

Six social myths debunked : a useful read if you are intested by the subject. I agree more or less with most of these statements. Common sense, but still worth reading and keeping in mind.

Probably my favourite among those, cause it addresses one of the most prominent issue we are having in France, which is “People are busy working and stopped learning along the way”. This article is probably the best representation of my own mantra.
A short quote : “You can be everything in your life—just not all at once.”

Looking for social media best practices, check this out.

The US Air Force is quiet active in the social media field and they have done a very inspiring work so far. This article provides some interesting clues about their approach.

Exclusive discounts proposed by Dell on Twitter. An interesting first practice.

If you are a PR professional, or simply interested by the subject, I found an interesting perspective at the differences between PR yesterday and tomorrow.

I would be glad to have your comments about those links.
Post your comments here or interact with me on Twitter.

A few brands are trying to innovate in the branded content field. Namely, Diesel & Cadbury are two of them.

In both cases, it does not address any communication objective. It is quiet far from the products actually delivered by those two companies.

On one hand, I am questionning the strategic approach or should I say the intention, the reason-why for those films.
On the other hand, I must admit that those videos are highly capable of captivating the audience, getting people to spend some time watching it.

My conclusion is pretty simple: it is right to get your audience to attend your show.
However, content must stand for the introduction to the brand/company story, which is not the case in the examples below.

Building ecosystems instead of viral movies is key.
Make up your own mind with the videos below:

Cadbury EyeBrows by Fallon :

Diesel HairBath

Pete, the meat puppet

I decided to use Twitter more actively, now that my French network in finally getting there.

My Twitter feed

The New-York Times issued an interesting article about Facebook Connect, the latest Facebook initiative to invade the social web beyond the Facebook website.

This is definitely the most important battle Facebook needs to win,  far more important than monetizing their service.
As long as their platform remains site-centric, they cannot claim any kind of supremacy on the social web.
No supremacy means that there are still “one of the key social service” out there, not THE ultimate one.
Right now, you are either a member or you are not. And those who are not members yet are not likely to succumb massively to the social pressure from existing friends.
As opposed to a digital world where any website is “better” when consulted with a Facebook account.

It is always easy to monetize things when you have become the supreme ruler of the 21st century digital world.

Let me confess it, once for all: whenever I have something interesting to say about the subject of this blog, I am questionning myself:
Should I share with my clients & colleagues first? Should I share it on this blog? Or should I share it on both?

The last few months, I have not shared much on this blog, but I shared a lot internally at my agency.

Now, it is time to come up with an announcement & an invitation simultaneously :

The announcement:
My new job is Media Director, I am officially responsible for whatever takes place beyond the website & banners for all of my agency’s client. I convinced my boss that there is a wide spectrum of things we were forgetting to think of, thus failing to bring our clients to the true digital potential of their business.
It has to do with bought media (display, paid search) but mostly about social media, and the underlying digital media mix.

That being said, I will not publically share the whole work I have been doing lately.
I would simply say that it makes me even more enthusiastic now that I have everything sorted out, written in a Powerpoint deck, and presented to a couple of clients who really liked it.

The invitation:
I am openly inviting my readers to poke me on Facebook, Linkedin, even by email if they are interested by the topic. We could then talk through these tools, or even see each others in real life.
I do not want to broadcast it. Rather convince those who are willing to hear it. Social media approach, isn’t it?

Alpha moms are the next hype!

Let me provide a definition first (comes from a 2007 USA Today article I bookmarked at the time):
Alpha Moms are educated, tech-savvy, Type A moms with a common goal: mommy excellence. She is a multitasker. She is kidcentric. She is hands-on. She may or may not work outside the home, but at home, she views motherhood as a job that can be mastered with diligent research.

My personal sidenote: more than a marketing segment, isn’t it a definition of the 21st century mom?

Advertisers used to purchase expansive mass media slots in order to get moms’ eyeballs attention.
It is getting outdated now. Don’t talk to moms but conversate with alpha moms. If they like you, moms will like you!

Some moms are even blogging, and when they do, they are literally reframing your product reality in the digital space.

Need more to be convinced ?

Go check David Armano’s review of what happened to Motrin, who tried to initiate a conversation with moms, but failed.

I always hated the term Web 2.0.
Simply because it means so many different things. It is a generic nickname that encapsulates so many things, a wave of things.
And the reason why I hate it is precisely because nobody truely understands it.

But I have to admit that it is effectively drawing the attention of everyone out there.

Clark Kokich, Razorfish CEO, actually the big boss of the organisation I work at, is coming with a very smart overview of what is at stakes today. Not technology, but the right leveraging of it.

A very interesting wrap-up can be found here.

Same actors… Reminds me of Y2K!

The sequel to the Age of Conversation is due tomorrow. I delivered my own chapter a while ago and that makes me thrilled to be among the authors of this book.

As a remind, AoC is about writing a collaborative book (237 authors) on a common subject. This year’s edition is entitled : Age of Conversation, why don’t they get it?

I like the approach of collective thinking, but also the fact that beyond printing cost, everything goes to Children’s Variety Charity, we are all doing it for the pleasure of sharing ideas&opinions, and gathering funds for that charity.

The book will be available here from tomorrow.
For now, it is still the first edition.

The authors’ list below:

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

I would like to quote Mike Mendenhall, HP’s SVP and CMO.
Thanks for this excellent sentence:

As marketers, we have the opportunity to drive change within our companies because all public touchpoints impact our brands, reputation and revenue. Brands aren’t defined by campaigns, but by consumer ecosystems.

Source : Mediapost

I can remember the old days. Digital was simply called “the Internet”.

We used to advise our clients on the best possible website architecture and look&feel, summing up what the company stands for, what it has to say out there. Some of them would understand it as a sales channel and build an e-com website instead.

The whole thing was basic to apprehend compared to nowadays.

I would like to share an article written by Dr. Augustine Fou, MRM Worldwide SVP of digital strategy on Clickz.

And quote a tiny part of it below that I found interesting:

The transition has been more difficult than expected for advertisers and their agencies. Peter Cowie, managing partner of UK-based search consultancy OysterCatchers, is in the trenches of this transition every day. He observes:

• “‘Digital marketing’ means different things to different people. Clients are learning fast and faster than many agencies.
• “Most clients are deeply insecure about all things ‘digital’ and find it hard to know how much digital stuff costs or if they are getting the best value.
• “Traditional agencies still see digital as a new marketing channel; they start with the creative and work backwards [and] integration is hard.
• “Digital marketing comprises so many new disciplines and specialties that are like a foreign language to both clients and their agencies — SEO (define), SEM (define), GUI (define), IA, experiential design, social networking, mobile, gaming, analytics, etc.

I cannot agree more on the following.
Nothing fundamentally new, but well assembled in my opinion:

Source: Paul Isakson

Every time I read an article stating that Internet has surpassed one of the traditionnal above the line channels, i feel bad.
I know it is easier to explain things that way, so that people get the importance of digital today.

However, sometimes, simplicity is not the best option.
I would rather explain complex things without leaving the most important things behind.
Avoid complexity in that case is not only a mistake, it is laziness.

Internet is not a medium, and marketers that are new to the digital discipline should not understand it that way.
It could have become a medium, but it resisted, and will certainly not become one.
A marketer is just like a child, if you teach him the wrong habbits, it is tough to get him to question it afterwards. And this is precisely what could make my job difficult in the future.

Internet, and digital in general, is (only) a technological mutation. Internet is THE cause. Internet is the cause of a broader phenomena, that is social, that is human, that is “in real life”.

I would tell the following story to illustrate how far we went and how unimportant technology is compared to the consequence of it:
My mother discovered how useful technology was when she figured out she could get a live video stream of her grand son through the screen of her new computer.
And believe me, my mother was the most difficult perso to convince about the benefits of the Internet.
Now, not only is she using her webcam, but her digital knowledge is growing every single time I visit her.
She has gone through the initial fear of the computer and is actually taking a lot pleasure while discovering how infinite the possibilities are…

I like to call the whole phenomena a Renaissance, after reading Douglas Rushkoff’s Get back in the box 2 years ago.
I did a lot of “hell yeah” and “amen” while reading it and I am REALLY not the typical business book reader!

The former Renaissance brought new perpectives to the human being, and what we experience today is precisely the same.
We are discovering new ways to spend our time, getting us away from the passive eyeballs we used to be during the 2nd half of the 20th century.
We have completely shifted our relationship to others, spending more time nurturing it, and less time being receptive to the story telling of brands.

Don’t take me wrong however, story telling is still the key pillar of any brand message.
Brands still need to “talk” and better tell an interesting and compelling story.

It reminds me of an old quote i posted on this blog:

You were born with two ears and one mouth.
Make sure you use them with that ratio in mind.

Digital marketers have 2 ears, that is for sure!

Delivering an interesting brand promise does not mean though that delivering that message in a banner or YouTube will be effective…
You might agree and yet think that I am not bringing anything new to the table. Indeed.
However, if we take the above statement for granted, why the h… are we still calling the whole thing a medium?

Legal has often been an issue for me, as soon as me and my colleagues think about something that is both innovative and social.

David Armano, from Critical Mass, came up with an interesting article pointing out what you might face in such situations and a few key suggestions, that I found really relevant.

Something completely different, but still an incredibly meaningful piece of illustration, totally summing up how I am getting thrilled and scared about my job at the same time.