Milwaukee Tools and YouTube?

Another funny ad in my fun and funny feature of my blog. I wasn't aware of the Milwaukee brand of power tools. But in my quest for the funny ads I came across this 30 second spot that I'd give a thumbs up on the giggle meter.

This video was uploaded by Kruykaze who doesn't appear to have any connection with the company. He may be an accidental spokesperson for Milwaukee but I doubt it.

One wonders whether Milwaukee leveraged this promotional spot or not? Enjoy the video.

Groundswell Blook Report: Chapter Two-Jujitsu and the technologies of the groundswell

Groundswell is broken down into three parts. Part one (chapters 1-3) focuses on understanding the groundswell. The authors ask and answer the questions why the groundswell and why now?

Chapter 2. Jujitsu and the technologies of the groundswell

• Concentrating on the trend, not the technologies
• Jujitsu: turn the groundswell to your advantage
• Description of all social technologies with data on usage around the world

FriendFeed Room: Chapter Two reference links and case studies from the book. Join the room and start a conversation.

Feature Presentation: Marta Z. Kagen's presentation. Here's Marta's profile.

What The F**K is Social Media?

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: socialmediamarketing marketing)

Reason #1: Social Media is Mainstream!
Slide 2 & 3: Social Media defined
Slides 7 to 16: Social media demographics and stats
Slides 17 to 24: Traditional marketing communications isn't working
Reason #2: Trust!
Slides 25 to 30: Trust comes from other consumers in the form of recommendations and dialogue
Reason #3: Brand Talk!
Slides 32 to 34: I'm not sold on these stats. Suffice to say, some brands are being blogged about.
Reason #4 & 5: More adoption/Future customers
Slides 36 to 44: Predicted adoption trends, demographics and buying power of digital natives
What to do?: Slides 45 on.

Top Five Things I learned:
1) Does this Groundswell thing fit with you and your company?
The first thing to think about is whether creating a groundswell is possible or not. There are many things to consider. First, how open is management to the idea of engaging online? Do they understand FULLY what this means? Second, do your customers engage in social media activities now and if so how would it make sense for them to engage with you? Third, can you provide something of meaningful value to your customers that also legitimately ties and relates to what you offer?

2) It takes knowledge, time, skills, experience and commitment.
If you're willing to take the plunge into the groundswell a company needs to realize that "getting into" social media is not a fringe project. It's a conscious decision to change the way you engage with customers, prospects and other stakeholders. The management team of your company need to become engaged themselves in social media (chances are that they are not). Leaders lead by example. They need to become knowledgeable, commit their time, build their own skills and experience social media. One way to do this is find a few 20 something employees and have them teach, mentor and potentially lead management in this area.

3) Start slow and focus first on listening and learning
Don't rush into this. Establish a listening and learning strategy first. Chances are that groundswells already exist or are developing somewhere in your industry and the industries that your customers serve. It could be that your best social media bet is in the industries that your customers are in and not your own. Be sure to invest time and effort focused on learning, listening and sharing. Don't run out and start a blog, a community or a Facebook Fan page tomorrow.

4) This is still very new - we are all learning and there are no experts
We are all new at this and we are learning as we go. We are making mistakes and taking risks. This creates uneasiness with companies that don't like uncertainty, need to justify cost and want to control the message and the brand. There is social media roadkill out there including: Walmart, Motrin & Pepsi. There are social media "successes" that are dubious at best. I thank these companies for taking these risks. They are learning opportunities for all of us.

5) Content, Community, Capacity!
There is an emerging theme I'm starting to notice as I study social media. Content is being created at an accelerated rate. Communities are being formed every minute. People are connecting through Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook etc. The information firehose is starting to gush! We now have inboxes for email, tweets and RSS feeds! There is now an abundent supply of information, access to people who want to help and share. What we now must do is think about how we can use the information, the people and the tools to be productive and deliver value.

Steven Woods, Profile

Steven Woods, co-founder and CTO, Eloqua
http://twitter.com/stevewoods

Mr. Woods cofounded Eloqua in 1999 and has held the position of Chief Technology Officer since that time. Steven brings to Eloqua years of experience in software architecture, engineering and strategy, and is responsible for defining the product strategy and technology vision at Eloqua.

Steven's insights into the application of technology to the marketing profession have been key to Eloqua's consistent record of client satisfaction and he was recently named as one of Inside CRM's Top CRM Influencers of 2007.

Steven is also a prolific writer on topics related to demand generation and the current transitions within the marketing profession. His book, Digital Body Language explores these topics, and he is a regular writer on his blog of the same name. Steven is also deeply involved with the Eloqua user community, with whom he regularly interacts through the discussions on his Eloqua Artisan blog.

Prior to cofounding Eloqua, Steven worked in corporate strategy at Bain & Company and engineering at Celestica. Steven holds a degree in Engineering Physics from Queen's University.

Don Chapman, Profile

Don Chapman, Corporate Advisor & Director
(contact at 647 274-9559 or donchapman@rogers.com)

Don is presently on the advisory board of several companies and also assists company leaders of mid to small IT companies. ( Messaging Architects, Iseehear Inc., Access Group, Gerson Lerhman Group, ACETECH, Metalogic ).

Don retired as President of Novell Canada Ltd. at the end of 2006. Don focused on delivering information solutions to Canadian customers, expanding Novell Canada’s partnerships and promoting Novell’s vision of a ‘One Net’ world where all networks work together to securely connect employees, customers, suppliers and partners. Don was responsible for all facets of the Canadian organization which includes sales, marketing, consulting, support, training, finance and operations. Under his leadership, Novell Canada had achieved significant growth in areas including services, identity management, Linux as well as resource and infrastructure management.

As a seasoned Novell executive, Don’s experience has been tapped for numerous high-level corporate task forces, including global compensation planning as well as the organizational integration from acquisitions such as Cambridge Technology Partners and SilverStream.
Don was also an active participant on the Board of Directors for ITAC (Information Technology Association of Canada) for 5 years

With more than 30 years of experience in the Canadian technology industry, Don joined Novell from Corporate Software Canada Ltd. Under his directorship, he quadrupled revenue and led the company to the No. 1 position in the Canadian software reseller market.

Before joining Corporate Software, Don was Vice President of SHL Computer Innovations (ComputerLand). During his tenure at SHL, Don held a variety of VP positions in marketing, business development and sales, and was instrumental in growing company revenue from $100 million to $400 million through innovative marketing approaches, business mergers and sales productivity growth.

Prior to joining SHL, Don’s experience included four years at Remanco Systems as Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Support, and over 17 years with IBM Canada Ltd. in various senior sales and marketing positions.

Groundswell Blook Report: Chapter One-Why the Groundswell and why now?

Groundswell is broken down into three parts. Part one (chapters 1-3) focuses on understanding the groundswell. The authors ask and answer the questions why the groundswell and why now?

FriendFeed Room: Chapter One references links and case studies from the book. Join the room and start a conversation.

Feature Video: Rodney Rumford of FaceReviews, Interviews Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff (note: works in Firefox but not Internet Explorer)



Video Timeshift Timeline
o:39 Why read Groundswell?
1:04 The P.O.S.T framework for creating your Groundswell strategy
1:33 Where the name Groundswell came from
2:42 Eating their own dogfood. Online tools used to support book
4:17 "Hey CMOs and Brand Managers. Wake up you have no control!"
5:50 Are companies listening for and to the groundswell? One example: H&R Block using Twitter to listen
7:30 Execs need to do more then ask what social media and networks are. Get involved!
7:58 Final words of wisdom

Top Five Things I learned:
1) Online communities can be powerful and do create change. Leaders like Kevin Rose, who on May 1/07, bet the farm when faced with legal consequences by putting faith in his community of enthusiasts who felt that Digg (and by extension them) should not be censored by anyone. This "act of community" is just one of many that have and are taking place now. People will talk about your company, the message they deliver will be theirs and they will weigh in on your decisions. In some cases they will influence your decisions..sometimes they will change them!

2) Things are the same AND different. People depend and draw strength from each other. Strength is created in numbers. There is a need to create community but in the real world it is hard to find people with similar interests. The internet, with social media networks and services, is making it cheap and easy for people to find, create and support communities of common interests and causes. The natural need for humans to group and converse is being enabled by the social media and online networks. These online communities are now manifesting themselves into IRL (in real life) events such as "Meetups" and "Twitups".

3) Businesses can be built online using shoestring budgets. Guy Kawasaki's site Truemors cost under $13K to launch. If this is not a positive sign given the recession I don't know what is! Online entrepreneurs can launch businesses fast and economically. Whether you are an independent professional or General Motors take heed and learn how to be this way!

4) The two most unlikely things are happening in the blogosphere! Many, but not all, big companies are ignoring or afraid of social media. Many, but not all, "older folks" just don't get blogging and all that "web 2.0" stuff. Bob Lutz the vice chairman of GM started blogging, in 2005, to establish a human side to GM. Bob is in his seventies! Big business is blogging and us older folks are leading the charge along with the younger folks like Kevin Rose. In fact GM is using their blog to engage with car enthusiasts and from time to time will use it to address erroneous and inaccurate statements made by automobile journalists.

5) Groundswells are or will be created around you. The book defines a groundswell as:

A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from
each other, rather than from institutions like corporations.

The smart companies will embrace this phenomena because people will be sharing stories about their brand whether they be positive or negative. Learn with your customers and from the community.

Local Twitter List experiment

Social networking isn't restricted to the internet. We all want to socialize but there are barriers preventing us from social networking offline especially with people we don't know. Twitter has got to be the most prevalent social networking tool (today).

The problem I have with Twitter is not really knowing much about the people I follow and who follow me. I trying to remedy this by creating "Listening Posts" and now "Twitter Locals Lists". This list is meant to segment Twitterati based on geography. In a way help you establish a local network of people with similar interests who may want to get together, work together etc.

I'm using a simple form I created using Google Docs and anyone can view the lists. In fact, you can fill out the form below. Here is the list for you to look at.

Blook Report: Groundswell

Over the next few months (may be longer, I'm doing this in my spare time) I'm going to be producing an in-depth blog report on the book "Groundswell" researched and written by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff.

The book is broken into three parts:

Part 1: Understanding the Groundswell
Part 2: Tapping the Groundswell
Part 3: The Groundswell Transforms

Here is the table of contents.

I'm an avid reader of business books and love to learn. I read so many books, blogs, magazines and now tweets; I sometimes wonder how much I actually remember and retain! Having access to so much information is a good problem to have. We can now become subject matter experts because there is no shortage of content and people wanting to help educate you.

Yet, the problem remains the same. How can I retain and remember the many things I read each day? When I read "the" business book of the year, how will I remember what I read; let alone apply it to my business?

These questions led me to come up with the idea of producing what I call a "blook report". My goal is to use social media to the extent possible to add life to the text you read in the book. You'll need to buy the book in order to follow along (I'm not being paid to do this blook report or say this).

So what does a blook report include? At this point I focus on three things:

• First, providing a summary blog post for each chapter on the key points that I think are important. I may relate them to personal experiences also

• Each blog post will have a featured picture, video and links that lift the words off of the text to help build context and meaning behind the key concepts being covered in the chapter

• and finally, there will be a series of supportive links located in a Friendfeed room where the the authors have made reference to real world examples, case studies etc

So why am I doing this? First, I am avid learner and will use this blook report as a reference tool when helping companies with their b2b programs. Second, it may help you do the same thing for your clients or your company. Third, it's a social media/groundswell experiment.

Stay tuned to this post for updates.

PART ONE: Understanding the Groundswell
Chapter One: Why the groundswell and why now?
Chapter Two: Jujitsu and the technologies of groundswell
Chapter Three: The social technographics profile

PART TWO: Tapping the groundswell
Chapter Four: Strategies for tapping the groundswell
Chapter Five: Listening to the groundswell
Chapter Six: Talking with the groundswell
Chapter Seven: Energizing the groundswell
Chapter Eight: Helping the groundswell support itself
Chapter Nine: Embracing the groundswell

Humour and Advertising

This ad makes you laugh and informs us that Midas sells more than oil changes. I've always enjoyed ads that are motivating or funny.

Group Tweet Feeds or Listening Posts

In a previous post I introduced as a new feature my CxO Group Tweet Feeds. This has grown into a series of RSS feed lists which I call "Listening Posts". Below is my list. Enjoy. As always feedback is welcome and encouraged.

Tweeting Brands
Tweeting CEOs
Tweeting CTOs/CIOs
Tweeting CMOs
Tweeting COOs

I may consolidate the CxO tweets into one uber RSS feed. Thoughts? Does an aggregate feed work for you? I'm still thinking on it myself!

How one leader is impacting society

One of the many CEOs I follow is Richard Branson. He's a visionary and believes in giving back to the community and helping people. Entrepreneurs can have a positive impact on society. In fact, Peter Drucker has stated that a key objective for a business should be how it will impact society. This video gives you a first had look at how this can and is being done. UPDATE: Richard Branson is now on Twitter.

Not sure what they are selling but the ad is funny

Do these leadership traits apply to business as well as politics?

A poll was recently taken asking Canadians to rate the leadership traits of Michael Ignatieff, Liberal party leader; Stephen Harper, Prime Minister and Jack Layton, New Democratic party leader.

One wonders if these same questions can be asked of business leaders?

1) Is honest and trustworthy
2) Has a vision for our company's future
3) Understands the problems of customers
4) Can manage the finances of the company effectively
5) Is strong and decisive leader
6) Understands complex issues
7) Generally agrees with you on issues you care about
8) Inspires confidence
9) Cares about the environment


It's an interesting comparison and maybe not an apples to apples comparison, but it makes one think.

Some new features to my blog for 2009

This blog focuses on b2b marketing (my formal definition of what b2b marketing is or should be is coming shortly) and where social media fits into the scheme of things. The primary purpose of this blog is to share, learn and collaborate on this often misunderstood and evolving discipline.

The secondary purpose is for me to experiment with this collaboration tool and push it to the limit!

With that in mind I'm adding a few new "features" to my blog:

1) Fun and Funny Posts - I'll share things that are funny, nostalgic but still up to my blog tagline: "A blog about marketing and social media that matters from a b2b perspective". An example is a retro ad from Intel featuring our friend Homer Simpson. I hope you enjoy these posts and they make you smile and think. If you have any funny b2b oriented ads let me know and I may post them.

2) Group Tweet Feeds or Listening Posts - Twitter is great but as you follow more people you'll lose track of who they are, what they do and where they work. You may want to group followers based on where they live/work, what they do..etc. I've done that for CxOs.

I've taken Paul Dunay's list of C Level Tweeters and grouped them using Friend Feed and Google Reader. The result is a consolidated feed from all CEOs, CMOs and CIOs/CTOs who are using Twitter. Sometimes you'll find out that they are stuck in traffic or going pheasant hunting (Chief Development Officer from Kodak by the way) but that's ok and kinda cool.

Please note that these are not prospecting lists. They are "listening lists". These folks, just like you and me, have little time and don't want to be sold. They are choosing to share their thoughts, ideas and what they are doing with their followers. Don't abuse this privilege by using it as a channel to blatently sell. UPDATE: Here's an example of what not to do.

3) Blook Reports - this stands for Blog Book Report (ya, a bit hokey but best I could come up with and I like sqwords). I'm going to bring a book to life using this blog. I'm a huge reader of business books and love to learn and share.

I've come up with the idea of doing a blook report that will provide you (and me, because it will become my reference guide) with an overview of a book I'm reading. I'm working out the details on how I'll do this; but it will include providing key findings/notes that I think are important, use videos, images and case studies that will give more meaning to the words in the book. It could be used as a study aid.

Blook reports are not meant to stop you from buying the book. It's meant to encourage you to buy the book and use the blook report to follow along with what you're reading. My first blook report will be on Groundswell. I recommend you buy this book. For those of you who have read it feel free to share your thoughts and contribute to the blook report once I start posting.

Update: Groundswell Blook Report now underway.

Stay tuned. Seasons Greetings to everyone.

Goals for 2009! =)

A new aspect to my blog will be my posting things that hopefully make you smile, laugh and stretch the imagination (not necessarily all at the same time though, that might be a tad painful). I figure even in the best of times having fun and sharing funny things ad flavour to our personal and professional lives. With that in mind please enjoy this presentation.

Holidayfun 1

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: fun planning)

Intel Retro Ad

It's kind of neat to put the breaks on and see where us marketing types have come from and what we've done in past years. Enjoy this 30 second spot from Intel featuring Homer Simpson.

A couple of things about this ad. First, look at the size of the Intel processer! Second, will we have Intel chips in our bodies one day?

A 90 Second View: B2B Outbound vs Inbound Marketing

Hubspot has produced some viral ads on YouTube poking fun at outbound marketing. It, and another one on cold calling, suggests that outbound marketing is literally "out" and inbound marketing is "in". My advice is look before you leap and if you're not measuring ROI on all your marketing/business development initiatives (outbound or inbound) then start....now.

Take a hard look at what your routes to market are and whether they are building your reputation, generating awareness and demand. Develop some integrated programs that build your reputation, generate awareness and revenue. I keep my 4 R's of marketing framework in mind as a develop and implement programs.

While Hubspot's ads may be a bit one sided, they are bang on that inbound marketing is a route to market that should be fully used, measured and optimized. Marketing/Business Development programs need to leverage both inbound and outbound marketing tactics, tools and resources in the form of integrated programs that are measured.

Looking for that Next Billion Dollar Idea - ProductCampToronto

Congratulation to Anna Gossen and her team for winning the Cisco I-Prize contest.



My team's idea, the HAN (Home Area Network - ya not that original! But it's what's inside that counts =)) was also a finalist. I led a session at ProductCampToronto about my I-Prize experience entitled "Looking for that Next Billion Dollar Idea". This wiki post gives you an overview of what the experience was like and includes some videos that may be of interest. Do you think there is a need for idea and innovation contests?

A 90 Second View: Seth Godin on Blogging, a follow up conversation

In my "To Blog or Not to Blog" post the answer from Tom Peters and Seth Godin was a "YES". Here's a follow up conversation that Debbie Weil had with Seth Godin afterwards.

A 90 Second View: Tom Peter's on Blogging, a follow up conversation

In my "To Blog or Not to Blog" post the answer from Tom Peters and Seth Godin was a "YES". Here's a follow up conversation that Debbie Weil had with Tom Peter's afterwards.