I’ve become a huge fan of the new AMC series “The Pitch.”

It’s like watching sports, but the game is business. Even the losing team wins because it shows the “behind the scenes” of how each agency approaches their creative process and you see how hard they work (which is why people are willing to go on, I would bet.)

Still, there were a few things about the show that were bothering me.

Flipping through my Twitter stream the other day, I saw from Ariel Dos Santos that I wasn’t alone.

Proud I finally picked the winning concept on #thepitch. Social business principles seem to be missing though. Need more than ads.

— Ariel Dos Santos (@agds) May 8, 2012

While the ideas that they come up with are (sometimes) exciting and inspiring, they are decidedly one-way in their approach.

The anchoring concept seems to be “the commercial,” something I find doubly ironic since the people who are creating/doing most of the work are the so-called “Digital Natives” on each team who are, I would bet, barley watching commercials at all.

In fact, I have watched all the shows on DVR (shout out to my Windows Media Center) and haven’t watched a single commercial in 3 episodes-(I’m a bit behind-as I think it’s up to 4 now.).  In other words, the creative process of making the commercial is actually more interesting to me than all of the commercials in the show itself).

I suppose this is the ultimate nod to the power of “Content Marketing” and “Brand Journalism” in today’s world of fragmented audiences and tools allowing us to block out interruptions of all kind.

And that is one of the things, I believe, to which Ariel was referring.

1. Be a Storyteller
   Instead of a commercial, which is about interruption, tell a story that gets people involved in your brand. In a social world, as Sprinklr sees it, this is the function of the Content Manager.
2. Community-Source Ideas
   Recognize that good ideas can come from anywhere. This is one of the key roles of the Community Manager which we at Sprinklr see as not just a moderator, but someone who can find good stories for re-purposing (and why we give them the tools to identify and route these ideas all over the org).
   Now, I will say that the leveraging of Mac Lethal by the McKinney team (episode 1) was a good example of this, but it was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of possibilities and finding that “big idea.”
3. Start the Conversation
   Why not use the print or TV to drive people to social properties where their preferences and interests could be further explored? Or, even better, where they could (for free) amplify idea that the brand began? With the exception of one funky mobile play, I haven’t seen much of that. In Sprinklr’s mind, this is where the Subject Matter Expert and the Social Strategist MUST be integrated and coordinated in any/all campaign planning. Otherwise, you are leaving a lot of potential Social activity on the table. Big miss. What’s more, there are not thinking multi-channel here…so many different ways to extend the campaign via social and engage the community.
4. It’s More than Marketing
   Once upon a time, marketing was its own siloed function. Not anymore. Now, any campaign that you start is going to have social ramifications (whether you plan for them or not). Customers will tweet/post/video about the brand and it could impact HR, PR, Customer Service (which is why we have specific focus areas on these) well beyond marketing. None of those folks seems to be in the room with the VP/Marketing and his/her team. They need to be. In our mind, this is critical to doing Social@Scale (which is what all of these brands will be doing when they launch these campaigns. The only question is whether they will be doing it well or not.)
5. Metrics and Governance
   We’re definitely not seeing much talk about measurement of the campaigns. What’s more, we’re not seeing much from the agencies about how they will help the brands speak with one voice when the campaign goes beyond their one-way broadcast approach. You need an Escalation plan and you need a corporate-wide system of reporting so that the can measure the impact of the effort (when it does spill over into social) in terms that relate back to the business.

Maybe I am asking too much for a 1 hour reality show that is already really good. I just think that there’s a danger here, which is that agencies and brands will default to playing to their strengths of broadcast and not continue to drive social business principles into every single corner of their communications efforts.

We’re redesigning and looking to improve a lot of the Sprinklr experience, leaving no stone unturned.

Thanks to my friend, Allister Frost, I discovered this site Usabilityhub.com and its mini-tool, fivesecondtest

It’s a great way for you to improve your UX sense AND at the same time, earn points so that you can get feedback on your own site.

Very neat, crowdsourced usability model.

Yesterday, I blogged about a fascinating chat I had with Paul Doyle of Verify Valid about LinkedIn and Your Dunbar Number.

That was actually only part of it as we touched on a variety of other subjects, but one of the most fascinating ones was the idea that you/we might (I mean, will) get to a point where we manage our network, our community, the way we would manage a well balanced financial portfolio.

For example, if you are an introvert, Paul says,  you don’t have to change your ways to be a phenomenal networker and become an extrovert.

All you have to do is “be darn sure that one of your friends IS an extrovert!!”

It’s almost as if you look at your professional network as if you are the General Manager of a sports team.

You need to find all different types of players and skills in order to maximize your chances of winning. You trade people in and out depending on their skills and how they help you (and you help them).

Paul sees a more sophisticated level of analytics on top of a now rudimentary LinkedIn system that gives you the total value (not in dollars, but in some social currency) of your network and gives you an idea of where you should focus your time (in terms of cultivating/building).

In my mind, this makes complete sense…in an innovation economy, your network is your biggest asset. Might as well manage it that way.

Had a fascinating conversation the other night in Austin with Paul Doyle of Verify Valid

He introduced me to a concept he calls the Social Value Lifecycle, which goes through a pretty intense loop of

• what you know
• who you know
• who knows you
• what you are known for

and demonstrates how this interconnection is the essence of the Global Microbrand (he calls it Personal Brand).

As part of this chat, in the “who you know” section, we touched on “Dunbar’s Number,” the idea that you can only maintain 150 close relationships and the struggle that some have with social media as it relates to vast quantities of information.

Social doesn’t change Dunbar’s number, but the 150 are those in “active memory.”

You  know what they are doing and don’t have to think about it…it resides in the frontal cortex.

Where social makes you particularly powerful is how it can serve as an extension of Dunbar’s Number, when you need it.

As in, “do you know anyone in Cincinnati?”

That may not be in immediate memory, but it’s a search away in LinkedIn, which is just as good.

The social tools become your weapons for effective network management and your network is your greatest asset in an idea/innovation-driven economy.

Following up on my meeting with Aliza Sherman the other day, I had two more longtime “social media friends” whom I finally met in real life.

Warren Sukernek and the “Marketing Gunslinger,” herself, Elizabeth Quintanilla.

That’s three in about 3 weeks now.

I expect that this will only accelerate in the years to come, but I think it’s a fascinating commentary on how our society evolves.

It used to be…you met someone and then you formed an opinion.

Now, you form an opinion…then meet someone.

Same is true for our businesses. The opinion is often formed before we encounter the prospect or customer.

Shows that your online behavior and actions are even more critical than we may have realized.

So, I check in on Foursquare at the Austin, TX airport and I see the Tip below…love it.

Here’s the kicker, I think.

If your customers were as smart as you about your market, would they choose you?

Because with social, they eventually will be…if not smarter.

Boingo relies, in part, on us being dumb…not knowing there’s a free alternative.

I think this has pretty big implications for us all…in every business.

A great example of how to activate your fans, plus bonus points for innovation.

 

HT: Michael Einbinder-Schatz

I am reading Guy Kawasaki’s new book, What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us (I admit, I still haven’t gotten my head around it fully), but he wrote something VERY interesting and it put in words some of my suspicions/data/beliefs. Feel free to connect with me on G+ though.

Twitter = Perspectives. Twitter is great for getting or sending immediate perspectives on news and events. In other words, if you want to learn that there was an earthquake in Chile before CNN and you like getting updates from Chileans at ground zero, then Twitter is for you. In short, Twitter is for real-time perspectives.

Facebook= People. Facebook is the way to learn what’s going on in the lives of people you already know (friends, relatives, and colleagues). It’s great for learning that their cats rolled over, that they went to a great party, or that they had sex, kittens, or children. In short, Facebook is for people.

Google+ = Passions. Google+ enables you to pursue your passions with people you don’t know. Your fifty friends and family on Facebook likely do not share your passion for photography, but on Google+ you can have a blast with a community of photographers (I’ll explain how shortly). In short, Google+ is for passions.

Kawasaki, Guy (2012-03-04). What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us (Kindle Locations 189-192).  . Kindle Edition.

This book is a nice redemption from Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions which I thought was all fluff.

The single most important asset you have is the attention of your audience. Sacrifice that and you lose.

It’s uncomfortable to say no to a friend’s request…but sometimes, you have to.

They made a “boring” ink jet printer into something worth talking about.

See here or watch below.

HT: Gabriel Bensimon for the link.