Citizen L. on Social Web

Seth Godin reminds us a very important point: it's because you fall that you learn how to ride a bike:

"All the time you're practicing, you aren't actually riding. You're falling. Then, if you don't give up after all this failure, in a blink, you're riding. No in-between. Failing...riding.

Learning things that are binary like this is quite difficult. They are difficult to market because people don't like to fail. They're difficult to master because people don't like to fall. "You don't get it, but you will," is a hard sell."

Consequences of this idea in social media and marketing:

• you first have to learn to listen in order to feel the gap/equilibrium between your marketing objectifs and what your publics are ready to do
• falling does not mean that you're going to hurt yourself: when you practice judo, it's the first thing to learn in order to know how to best find yourself on the floor
• once you know how to ride, you don't forget it so as it becomes a benefit
  

So concretely:

• tactics won't teach you all the field in which you want to interact
• the more you practice the best you are: that's the reason why it's good to think "retainers budgets" than an only one-night stand
  
• in physics, we talk about hysteresis - the results you get not immediately but later because of a latent effect:
  "Hysteresis was initially seen as problematic, but is now thought to be of great importance in technology. For example, the properties of hysteresis are applied when constructing non-volatile storage for computers; as hysteresis allows most superconductors to operate at the high currents needed to create strong magnetic fields. Hysteresis is also important in living systems. Many critical processes occurring in living (or dying) cells use hysteresis to help stabilize them against the various effects of random chemical fluctuations."
  So as all the efforts you're making are a strong investment for the future of your company: your teams understood the key issues, you find processes and best practices. Invisible results at first sight but with strong ROI in the middle term.
  

When you think about Katie Holmes, you think about Dawson...and quickly you make the link with Tom Cruise and scientology.

Search volumes follow this trend: Katie bears Tom Cruise reputation:




But few days ago, we've noticed a flip flop that Ozap explains:

"l'actrice américaine, rendue célèbre grâce à la série Dawson, et surtout connue aujourd'hui pour être l'épouse de Tom Cruise, a entonné le titre "Get Happy" de Judy Garland, et exécuté une chorégraphie accompagnée de plusieurs danseurs. Sa prestation avait été répétée ces dernières semaines.

Katie Holmes est l'un des membres fondateurs de la Dizzy Feet Foundation, une association qui finance notamment des bourses pour des jeunes qui souhaitent devenir danseurs professionnels. Interviewée par Cat Deeley, l'animatrice de So You Think You Can Dance, Katie Holmes a expliqué qu'il était « important que les jeunes fassent l'expérience de la musique et de la danse. Chaque enfant devrait avoir l'opportunité de découvrir ce que c'est, et ils devraient tous avoir accès au meilleur dans ce domaine ».

Aux Etats-Unis, So You Think You Can Dance est un joli succès estival pour la chaîne Fox, et s'impose régulièrement sur la cible très prisée des 18-49 ans. Pour la première fois, Fox en proposera d'ailleurs une nouvelle édition à la rentrée, tandis qu'en France, Virgin 17 diffuse la version américaine, sous le titre Tu crois que tu sais danser ?. "

Highly interesting case as Katie Holmes new commitment in this association can counterbalance her influence, at least online:

• she's now more active and can be information maker on other fields of interests thanks to her association
• she won't be only mentioned for her artistic performance, as an illustration of gossips or entertainment news
• she's going to outreach new publics, that will change the way she is represented in social media; the proof is that her performance at "SO now you can dance" is not related in social media to scientology or Tom Cruise (or less than usual) which opens her new gates
  

It's a very interesting PR case study to follow, moreover with her 2010 developments...

David Welch introduces a controversial marketing concept this morning called "cheap chic":

What many companies are attempting to do now has worked in the past. After the crash of 1929 few people could afford a Cadillac, so General Motors (GM) created a budget model to keep its luxury sales going.

Finding new ways to target Generation Y that has to be "captured" by companies as we represent the future of consumption integrates the fact that we don't have enough money yet to sustain some current companies positioning.

There's a supposed translation of this cheap chic approach in the online and/or Social media strategies:

In addition to these new sites being less expensive to produce, the approach has to do with clients wanting more of an emphasis on igniting conversation and less on the rich, textured sites that have typically accompanied their campaigns. The goal, as EVB CEO Daniel Stein put it, is to "stop building $1 million microsites that attract [only] 10,000 visitors." Too often those sites are "rich, deep and disconnected," he said.

Less expensive to produce, maybe (not quiet sure about that...) but more demanding in terms of conversations' and ideas to manage. Social media is a way to test new approaches and I actually think that it's pretty dangerous to use "cheap" because it can be translated in a very wrong way in marketing departments.

What is smart, flexible and quick cannot be related to a "cheap" notion. Words matter, though.

A very great visualization thanks to Addtoany on how people share contents online. Facebook is now the first place, but followed by emails and Twitter. We don't have stats on how instant messengers help but it certainly drives a lot of traffic.

A very interesting project targeting staffs working @ Congress. I quote Kristen :

"But 3121’s secure network is certainly an interesting step in the influence of online collaboration and professional networking as far as niche sites go. Hopefully 3121 will be a helpful tool that will aid in the efficiency of how Congress works, ultimately making communication amongst its members and the outside public more fluid and accessible."

The value proposition can seem pretty interesting anyhow:

• these guys live together in the same place: 3121 can help break the glass
• the teams need to go fast to widen their networks: this tool can help leverage links but with a smooth pattern
  

To be followed

Here's what I've read this morning on Twitter

@versac Bientôt, tout s'expliquera enfin par "l'effet twitter". Vivement cette époque... http://bit.ly/1fEMnZ

According to Têtu, Brüno would have be bad buzzed in the US through Twitter, leading to a decrease of its audience:

"Certains spécialistes, comme le magazine Time, n'hésitent d'ailleurs pas à parler du premier film victime de «l'effet Twitter». Le vendredi de son lancement, il a récolté 30 millions de dollars, puis 40% en moins dès le samedi, et encore davantage le dimanche… Après que des milliers d'usagers de la mini-plateforme de blogging aient posté des critiques parfois très défavorables qui ont fait traînée de poudre."

Out of Twitter as a tool, this example demonstrates that the digital footprints that we leave online are now one of the main place to help the decision-making process.

The Twitter effect may be a mix of symptom (the consequences of the real WOM) and of syndrom (the place where debates arise)

Insumers are janusian, aren't they?

Alexa revealed its ranking of the 20 top sites in France.

What's interesting to see:

• many social networks like Facebook or the French network Skyrock are higher and higher
  
• still a strong power of portals like Orange: it's very important to keep in mind that for a part of the online population, social web=internet provider websites
• classified and peer to peer marketplaces are surprisingly high
  

The top 100 sites in France

1. Google.fr
   

   google.fr

   google.fr
   

   
   
2. Facebook
   

   facebook.com

   A social utility that connects people, to keep up with friends, upload photos, share links and videos.
   

   
   
3. Windows Live
   

   live.com

   Search engine from Microsoft.
   

   
   
4. YouTube
   

   youtube.com

   YouTube is a way to get your videos to the people who matter to you. Upload, tag and share your videos worldwide!
   

   
   
5. Skyrock
   

   skyrock.com

   Social Networking Site
   

   
   
6. Google
   

   google.com

   Enables users to search the Web, Usenet, and images. Features include PageRank, caching and translation of results, and an option to find similar pages. The company's focus is developing search technology.
   

   
   
7. Microsoft Network (MSN)
   

   msn.com

   Dialup access and content provider.
   

   
   
8. Orange
   

   orange.fr

   Présente les offres de cet opérateur et leurs tarifs, permet de souscrire à certaines d'entre elles et propose des services aux abonnés.
   

   
   
9. Yahoo!
   

   yahoo.com

   Personalized content and search options. Chatrooms, free e-mail, clubs, and pager.
   

   
   
10. Free
    

    free.fr

    Fournisseur d'accès ADSL et bas débit RTC. Propose la téléphonie et la télévision par ADSL (modem Freebox).
    

    
    
11. Dailymotion
    

    dailymotion.com

    On demand video publishing and sharing website, strongly interfaced with video blogs.
    

    
    
12. leboncoin.fr
    

    leboncoin.fr

    site de petites annonces gratuit et sans commission (produits d’occasion, annonces immobilières, voitures d’occasion, offres d’emploi, services de proximité, locations de vacances, animaux, …).
    

    
    
13. eBay France
    

    ebay.fr

    Achat et vente entre particuliers ou professionnels d'objets neufs ou d'occasion selon le format prix fixe ou enchères.
    

    
    
14. Wikipedia
    

    wikipedia.org

    An online collaborative encyclopedia.
    

    
    
15. Bing.com
    

    bing.com

    bing.com
    

    
    
16. TF1
    

    tf1.fr

    Propose informations en continu, émissions et programmes de la chaîne, météo, la livecam sur Paris, des jeux concours et l'actualité sportive.
    

    
    
17. Eorezo.com
    

    eorezo.com

    eorezo.com
    

    
    
18. Comment Ca Marche
    

    commentcamarche.net

    CommentCaMarche.net est le site de contenu, d'échange et d'entraide high-tech. Il offre aux internautes une des bases d'informations les plus riches, sur plus de 70 000 sujets liés aux nouvelles technologies, du plus simple au plus complexe..
    

    
    
19. L'internaute
    

    linternaute.com

    Initiation aux outils de l'Internet et guide du web pour débutant.
    

    
    
20. Blogger.com
    

    blogger.com

    Free, automated weblog publishing tool that sends updates to a site via FTP.

I'm just back from Istanbul (Turkey) and I've been impressed. We already knew that Turkish people discuss a lot online.

And in Istanbul, I had many surprises:

• mobile phone operators like Turkcell invested a lot to provide 3G offers
• communications (ads, PR etc.) to the diverse publics are very pedagogic and rational. 3G is not presented as a dreamworld, it's explained as a useful and pragmatic technology for your specific needs. It's good to see this kind of message, whereas in France I feel like there's a distortion between what we pay and what is promised
• Wi-Fi are opened or not secured in many streets: it can seem like a "pirat culture" but in fact this true sharing habit leads to more online consumption. Isn't it the top of the top to be able to smoke a narghilé and be on Amazon without having to pray for some internet connection?

To sum up: a social Turkish web based on true people's expectations...

Paris, 7pm in the Zara store, on Rivoli Street. A Saturday in March.

Fashionistas are there with their crews. They test trendy denims, trousers, shirts etc.

The music is good...and some girls are alone, in the fitting room. No matter but...But most of them have a smartphone, an iPhone. And they shoot themselves, share the pictures on Facebook, through email, through messengers.

Something had changed.

The fashionista could have seen this video before going shopping:


She could have compared her thoughts and desires with Charly on her blog to deepen the conversation.

She then could have organised an event on Facebook to go shopping and warn her friends that she needed them to chose her new clothes.

Her friends could have told her that they had found the same denim on an online retailer but with a special offer.

Nonetheless, the Fashionista could have wizzed them and could have claimed that she still likes impulsion, intuition.

Her friends commented it several times on her blog.

I feel like social media became just a little bit more social real this year.

You're a blogger, a writer, a twitterer, an online citizen?

You have a story to share with the whole world that can illustrate the impact of social media/web on your daily life?

Do it now and use #WebCream to identify your post, and discover other citizens all over the world.

At the end, we could consolidate in a single book/document all your stories.


So do it now!

Cyword is now launching its App Store. Read this excellent post for all the details.

The true great inisght is the "back to value proposition" direction:

"Cyworld is focusing entirely on getting apps onto its container site ("Out=>In", so to speak), while not supporting external apps to import Cyworld social data ("In=>Out")."

Users matter first.

Britney Spears rocked Bercy in Paris last Sunday.
At the very beginning, we could be scared because of very sarcastic press coverage like this article written by Bartholomé Girard :

"Au milieu des danseurs qui chauffent la piste, Britney Spears se montre plus que jamais absente, perdue, comme si elle ne voulait plus être là, n’y était plus tout à fait. Comme si elle n’avait plus envie d’être une poupée de cirque? Mais quoi d’autre ?"

...and also because I'm more into "underground" or rock bands...but you know, sometimes life is made of experience. As French say "il n'y a que les cons qui ne changent pas d'avis". Anyway...

But I was really surprised by the performance and by the marketing around

• perfect interaction between Britney history (clips, Perez Hilton issues etc.) that was broadcast on Russian dolls-like screen and the individual live performance
• 15+ performances by very diverse artists (clowns, magicians etc.) who amplified the whole "Circus starring Britney Spears" universe
  


• A great openness to other references in entertainment :"Most daring was a sequence that began with a video that showed masked interlopers borrowed from the Stanley Kubrick film "Eyes Wide Shut," who writhed about on divans as Spears mouthed the Marilyn Manson version of the Eurythmics song "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This"). Spears then emerged to reenact the scene wearing two versions of a white-gold gymnast's leotard with her erogenous zones highlighted in black. She gave a lap dance to a clown; she was lifted aloft by a pair of acrobats and did some simulated heavy petting. In truth, nothing matched the raciest moments of Janet Jackson's last tour, but as mainstream erotica, it was effective."
• people were pretty encouraged to shoot or film the concert, so as the experience keeps going online thanks to user generated contents. It's obviously one of the main asset: engaging video-conversation, engaging fans into the production of the final digital footprint of the concert. It's probably why Brit-Brit uses Buzzmediat:
  "Britney Spears uses the site to bypass the paparazzi and deliver news straight to her fans, offering users access to her personal story like never before. The site features pictures, videos and news updates from Britney herself as well as updates by Team Britney. Fans experience exclusive content and interaction with the beloved superstar without the medias looming bias."

More about the Tour:

• Tour director: Jamie King^[56]
• Musical director: Simon Ellis^[56]
• Choreographers: JaQuel Knight, Tony Testa, Dreya Weber,^[56] Rujuta Vaidya^[57]
• Dancers: Jose Omar, Willie Gomez, Jonathan "J-Boogie" Rabon, Chase Benz, Jia Huang, Laura Edwards, George Jones JR, Luke Broadlick, Tiana Brown, Justin de Vera, Valerie "Rais" Moise, Marc "Marvelous" Inniss, Ava "Ava Flave" Berstine, Tye Myers, JP San Pedro, Devon Jameson.
• Managers: Larry Rudolph, Adam Leber
• Costume design: Dsquared2, The Blonds, David Alexander, Catriona Mackechnie
• Stylist: William Baker
• Tour promoter: AEG Live
• Tour Sponsor: Virgin Mobile

Scott Rosenberg shares great insights with Business Week:

Their deeper thoughts. Microblogging is a way to extend the weight, the history of the posts.

Here's a quote of his next book "Say Everything":

"If you care about the fate of journalism and its role in democracy and culture, this second choice turns out to be the only satisfying option. And when you realize that, you also realize that the debate is over: you have just resolved it. In this controversy, as in most others today, to ignore bloggers is to miss the entire event. Whatever the drawbacks and limitations of blogging, it serves, today, as our culture’s indispensable public square. Rather than one tidy “unifying narrative,” it provides a noisy arena, open to everyone, for the collective working out of old conflicts and new ideas. As the profession of journalism tries to rescue itself from the wreckage of print and rethink its digital future, this is where its most knowledgeable practitioners and most creative students are doing their hardest thinking. "

Kim II Song likes beer. He now also likes advertising.

As every month, Wikio publishes its blogs' ranking.

Here are some French marketing & social media blogs. In bold: some that I pretty like or daily read (I think I forgot some...):

1	Quietglover
2	ConseilsMarketing.fr
3	Wow Effect !
4	Marketing Alternatif
5	Gaduman
6	Grégory Pouy
7	Buzz et cie.
8	coups de pub
9	Business garden
10	Et si l'on parlait Marketing
11	Advert showroom
12	HUSH-HUSH
13	Blog de nuit
14	IPUB.CA.CX
15	Culture-buzz
16	Citizen L. (my French blog)
17	joelapompe
18	Veille2Com
19	Le blog de Baptiste Roynette
20	Webmarketing & co'm
21	Blogoergosum
22	Roycod.com
23	Carnet Web de Cedric Giorgi
24	Cyril blog Advertiser@Ogilvy
25	ViaComIT
26	Le Blog du Marketing 2.0
27	webcom-montreal
28	Buzz Modedemploi
29	Adcoholic**
30	Les Enfants de la Pub
31	Blog The Com
32	Le Publigeekaire
33	Le techno blog a Steph
34	Sens du client
35	Damien de Blignières
36	Le blog de Patricia Tessier
37	Blogs et Intelligence économique
38	La Gazette ::: Webmarketing
39	Idead
40	E-conomy
41	Actupub.com
42	Marketing & Innovation
43	Akostic
44	Christophe Benavent
45	Monsieur Noboday
46	Breve2com
47	TimRubber
48	Intercommunication
49	Buzz is media
50	Emmanuel Vivier
51	Marketing is dead
52	Nouveau-Marketing.com
53	blog-conversion.com
54	Rich Commerce
55	Echange
56	mkgmd
57	Camille Jourdain Blog
58	Mkg Me
59	Provokat
60	e-marketing-management.fr
61	Le blog du Marketing Interactif
62	Digital Native
63	Net-Marketing.fr
64	Humeurs divergentes
65	Connexions Planning
66	Le blog du cybermarketing
67	Brand Content
68	Nekid
69	Homosemiotikus
70	vansnick Haute Ecole marketing
71	Promo Affinity
72	Un oeil sur le marketing, les médias et la pub...
73	Kinoa
74	comme tout le monde, en différent
75	Graine2blog
76	Technologies du Marketing
77	[Emarketing Blog]
78	Marketing Digital
79	Le vide poches
80	SuperFiction
81	communicationresponsable.fr
82	webmarketing xtra-affiliation
83	Buzzeum
84	Blogue Marketing Interactif
85	Le blog de Carre de Ciel
86	JB Plantin
87	Vita vitamine
88	Arnaud Meunier.com
89	Le monde des études
90	2ro, blog de Corinne Dangas
91	360.0 Client au centre !
92	Gourous du Net
93	Recherche Marketing & Etudes Internet.
94	ConseilsMarketing.fr
95	Ad & mar
96	Marketing et compagnie
97	Blog A Facettes
98	Culture conso
99	eMarketing Garden
100	Retail-distribution

Here are the very last results published by ComScore :

Top 20 Highest Engagement Social Networking Country Audiences Ranked by Average Hours per Visitor* May 2009 Total Worldwide, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations Source: comScore World Metrix
Country	Average Hours per Visitor	Average Pages per Visitor
World-Wide	3.7	525
Russia	6.6	1,307
Brazil	6.3	1,220
Canada	5.6	649
Puerto Rico	5.3	587
Spain	5.3	968
Finland	4.7	919
United Kingdom	4.6	487
Germany	4.5	793
United States	4.2	477
Colombia	4.1	473
Mexico	4.0	488
Chile	4.0	418
Ireland	3.8	462
Turkey	3.7	427
Venezuela	3.7	454
France	3.6	526
Australia	3.4	374
New Zealand	3.4	386
Switzerland	3.2	430
Italy	3.2	399

*Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Russians are number ones when it comes to average hours on social networks + page views.

Russia is badly known concerning web usages. It comes from the fact that Russian language is pretty bounded, and that in our little Twitter-world, mostly in English, there's not much interaction between this part of the world and us, whereas it's probably one of the most important trend.
Several explanations for that:

• Russia is a continent, so as there's a big need for communication among the population
• Russia has a big history in technology
• Russia needs to have its word in the social web storyline (vs English storytelling)
  

Here's a proof thanks to Wefollow ranking of Russian Twitter users, that are not representative of the web phenomenon that Russians experience.

Here are interesting insights about the new consumer journey:

Customers are part of a collective. The information revolution has connected people in powerful ways; it's never been easier for customers to find the opinions of others to validate their product and service choices. A colleague recently underscored this point through a story of shopping with his teenage daughter for her prom dress. In each new outfit, she snapped and sent pictures of herself with her iPhone, asking for feedback from her Facebook friends, and getting it in real time. He was amazed by this new decision-making behavior.

This specific part is very interesting, as it considers the consumer as part of a whole, as an interaction-hub. Social media is like a bridge that helps him/her find the fastest track to solve his/her needs.

We now have to go back to interaction at its first meaning: how many areas does the consumer cover, where does he/she travel.

It's absolutely not about a "digital world" or an Internet one: it's about our real decision-making process.

Edward Boches wrote a great post about how social media can help and improve new product development. Here's his main insights about Olympus E-P1:

1. Make a commitment to listen, engage and share
2. Define your community
3. Determine objectives
4. Engineer your presence
5. Build a following
6. Engage, share and inspire participation
7. Do something attention getting
8. Mobilize your community
9. Measure results to use in determining actual sales and their relationship to the conversation.
10. Keep on going

As we said, and as Olympus knows, this isn’t a program or a campaign, it’s a commitment. So we’re still at it. Listening, talking, sharing, responding. Of course it’s too soon to see the sales numbers, but feedback from dealers has been very positive. And we know based on previous experience that there is a correlation between buzz and sales. So that’s a good thing, given that bloggers and press are writing, prospective customers are talking, and the videos are getting shout outs everywhere.

I really like this specific idea that there's a relevant link between tangible value chain and social media listening. One of the core issue is to integrate more and more sales' items and final customer services' feedbacks with social media monitoring. It's utterly powerful, because social web is all about real people sharing view with other real people. It's not about engaging them online. It's all about making them the true co-create, the true shareholders of the product you're launching and developing.

We've done that in France for one of our clients and the results in terms of quality improvement is amazing. The company can make real changes, base on real and authentic testimonials in the long-term.

razra

Facebook wants us. Or more precisely our stories:

"In a way, Facebook's dilemma extends from its success. Users see the site as sanctified space, a place to engage in intimate conversations with friends—not to be laser-beamed by weirdly personal advertising. But with initiatives like Connect and Open Stream, Facebook can sell ads beyond its own site. Just as Google's AdSense program sells ads on any participating Web site, Connect and Open Stream will eventually push Facebook-brokered advertising to any member site or app. But unlike with AdSense, Facebook's ads could be exquisitely tailored to their targets. "No one out there has the data that we have," says COO Sandberg".

It sounds to me like a the worst part of a Naomi Klein book (I like her, though). Here's Facebook magic world:

A consumer's world. You're a target, a happy victim. And brands would be able to provide you the more relevant ads ever.

Relevance and one-way advertising. Strange motto.

Olivier Mermet gives us some nice views:

"En revanche, il possède également un potentiel néfaste, tant cette précision peut parfois mener trop loin, mettant mal à l’aise les utilisateurs par ce côté “voyeuriste”.

La cinquième étape du plan démoniaque de Mark Z. serait elle de faire accepter ces pratiques aujourd’hui indélicates ?"

And he's obviously right. With this strategy:

• where's the value proposition?
• mining so much of our implicit data to send us at the end banners and fan-pages, is it that impressive?
  
• in such an affinity world as the web, how Facebook can make us believe that he'll be able to touch any consumer?
  
• brands need stories and emotional communications: how does the Facebook platform fit with these issues, whereas the structure is very difficult to personalize much. Facebook is like a Fiat 500 in which you could only chose the color.