What Works for the Worker, Works for the Customer

Yesterday, I wrote about our roundtable discussion on internal communications. I mentioned staff communications and it's effect on customer/client needs.

This was the golden nugget we uncovered during our chat - at the end of the day, proper internal comms drive more value from your customer and client relationships. And not just monetary value: loyalty, recognition, association, recommendations, on and on and on. An excited, informed staff member is better equipped to provide a greater service experience to your audience (Zappos being the most obvious of examples…)

Internal communication, then, cannot be an afterthought. Communication affects service. Communication is service; A service to your employees which improves service for your customer.

It’s not a new concept but it is one that, in our world of increasing content and decreasing time for it all, can be easily forgotten on the back burner.

We've started a few growing group discussions on LinkedIn around these ideas - would be great to hear your thoughts either here on the blog or over in the discussion groups.

LinkedIn Discussions:

Is it useful to think of Communications as a Service?

What's working internal comms among PR and Communications professionals and within corporate social media?

Time to Start Thinking Differently About Digital Marketing

The obsessive focus by marketers on acquisition makes less sense in the current climate.

Marketers have transitioned their activities from offline advertising to online advertising,seeking ways in which to use social media to, well, advertise – despite the fact that that’s not how the medium seems to work.

For a start, markets are retracting, making the retention of customers an essential exercise. Secondly, customers are more likely to be influenced by what peers say about product or service on a social networking site than by an ad, and never more so than in B2B decision making where advertising has always hovered around a mere 15% of marketing spend.

I'd love to hear your thoughts - has your business grabbed digital marketing by the horns?

What are you doing that's engaging?

Stickybits: The Newest Addition to the Business Social Media Toolkit?

This year’s SXSWi-ers were the first user group to be introduced to the world of Stickybits, a new user-gen content-and-location app. It’s been making pretty big waves across social and news media so we decided it was time to have a go with it in the office.

Essentially, it is a barcode to which you can upload content with your smartphone and stick to real-life objects. You can attach any sort of content to it (pictures, images, copy, audio, etc...) including the location, if you want. Other people can then discover and scan the barcode to see what you’ve uploaded (the content that ‘owns’ the bar code) and can add content to it (a bit like commenting on a blog - so everyone who scans/views the code after you will be able to view the content you've added).

Try scanning the barcode above (you will have to download the app, but it's free) to see how it works.

Official barcodes can be bought or downloaded from the Stickybits site but, in an interesting twist, you can apparently also ‘tag’ (add) your content to existing barcodes as well (yep, even the one on that can of cola on your desk).

I’m not entirely convinced it’s eternally practical, especially in a broad scope of accessibility as it's a smartphone app and not a web based app. Part of the appeal of Twitter, Facebook, et al. is that they are web-based with mobile capacity, meaning they are more accessible to more people, in more ways, in wider demos. Stickybits is for smartphone users only (and not even all smartphone users - though Adam, our resident Googlevangelist, is happy they’ve included Android).

I also imagine there’s a huge amount of trust needed to make this work in a family-friendly, legit way for any sort of long term stability. I don’t think anyone wants to see streets lined with Stickybits or stumble across disturbing content (though apparently there is a ToS to abide by) while they're innocently scanning away.

Still, it’s intriguing. It opens up the door for brands (and not just the consumer ones, either!) to add another layer of interactive messaging to a physical product; a new layer of contact for building relationships.

It's a great step in the direction of on and offline integration and there’s huge potential to get really creative with it. Brands can incorporate reviews, best practice guides, user manuals, product notes,  inventory, tracking, feedback forms, viral contesting , maps, business information, networking details… the barcode is your oyster.

So now I put it to you – have you tried it out? Come up with some good ideas? Have any thoughts on its practicality, longevity or even relevancy?

Biz Tech Day Hits Seattle, New York & San Francisco This Fall

For those of you who are not aware of Biz Tech Day, it's a one day event that brings together 1,500+ influential and passionate entrepreneurs under one roof in three cities across the U.S. in the fall: Seattle, New York and San Francisco.

The goal for Attendees? To strengthen their business and ventures by learning about the most practical business ideas and technology strategies to accelerate your company's growth.

What I love about their events is the focus on practical solutions. You have an opportunity to listen to 10 practical business talks, watch 10 innovative technology demos and meet people who will change how your business work and turn your dreams into a reality.

Registration for the BizTechDay 2010 is now live. August early bird discount available until August 31st.

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Discount code for Down the Avenue and We Blog the World readers:

August 1 – 31st - 30% Off

Discount Code: WeblogtheworldEarly

September 1 till BizTechDay - 20% Off

Discount Code: Weblogtheworld

Media Post's Social Media Insider Summit

Media Post is holding a Social Media Insider Summit in Lake Tahoe from August 29 to September 1, 2010.

They're calling it a social summer camp. The Social Media Insider Summit will be previewing a combination of stimulating panels, speakers, roundtable discussions, and face-to-face networking activities with marketers, ad agency execs, social media experts, and other interactive industry practitioners all seeking to learn how the social media revolution can impact their businesses.

Room for Foursquares?

A few weeks ago, Shane Richmond published a post on The Telegraph's blog questioning the point of Foursquare. Having previously been searching for similar answers, I had suggested to him a presentation by US agency JESS3, on where location-based tools might change for the better. Shane very kindly credited us with the suggestion in his post as he searched for his answers (thanks, Shane!).

I have been playing around with location-based networks to further understand them and their relevance in business (if you stop by Omobono HQ, check in on both Foursquare and Gowalla!). There is a clear application for consumer facing brands but is it the same for business-to-business?

So, I  put this question to you: what is the point of Foursquare, etc. and is there space for location-based networks in B2B's growing portfolio of digital tools?

Social Media Japanese Style

There's an interesting piece in ClickZ on Social Media Marketing the Japanese Way.

The piece references Mixi, one of the most popular SNS sites in Japan, which launched in 2000, years before MySpace and Facebook. There's also GREE, another well known social media site that started in Japan. AS businesses are starting to adopt Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools for their social media marketing efforts, they point out that Japanese businesses have been monitoring and responding to these threads related to their business or products for more than 10 years. For example, 2channel holds the distinction of being the world's biggest BBS site with over 12 million users.

They list the various social media groups - see recap of their list below.

For PC and Mobile: Mixi and GREE, which provides display ads, text ads, and PPC and advertising opportunities.

Video and Photo Sharing Sites: According to comScore, the Japanese spend 187 minutes on average on YouTube. Nico Nico Douga is another popular video sharing site, with 17 million users, including over 770,000 premium account users.

Social Bookmarking Sites: Hatena and Livedoor are popular in Japan and are still growing their user base. Hatena bookmarks can also be shared via Twitter.

Blog Network Sites: Did you know that there are more blog posts in the Japanese language than any other language in the world. Popular blog network and service sites include Ameba and the Livedoor blog.

Mini-Blogging Sites: Twitter is growing in popularity and use. According to Nielsen's Report, Twitter Japan has a higher reach (16.3 percent) than Twitter U.S. (9.8 percent).

Micro SNS Sites: While micro SNS sites are not that popular in Japan yet, there are some steady services that let you create your own SNS site, some for free.

CiscoSPice: a new Old Spice for B2B?

Well, I put out a call to action for B2B to be inspired by the Old Spice Guy and Cisco answered.

Very literally.

Earlier this month, Cisco launched its own ‘spice’ campaign called #CiscoSPice (Cisco Service Provider Interactive Communications E-thingy…). Instead of bare-chested Isaiah Mustafa, they’ve pulled in Ted from Accounting (in what could be a very visual representation of consumer v. business perceptions) to create personal responses to Twitter users who engage with Cisco either via the #CiscoSPice hashtag or through one of three Twitter accounts (@CiscoSP360, @CiscoMobility, @CiscoSPVideo).

The campaign has been met with some judgement and claims that it is a rushed, ignorable and uninspired parody that either didn’t do enough differently or didn’t mock enough of the original. Whether or not any of this is true, I give credit to Cisco for being brave enough to try it. Even Cisco will admit that Ted might not stack up to Old Spice, but they still gave it a go. And, it's got people talking (it's not all bad, there's also praise for the campaign).

What do you think – can a B2B campaign make you giggle and still be effective?

140 Characters Hits the Bay Area

Jeff Pulver's 140 Character's Conference is coming to San Francisco on August 19, 2010 as part of Connected Marketing Week. You can register here); also check out San Francisco's schedule.

BTW, Jeff is touring with this relatively new conference - only a couple years old, he has had and plans to have events in the following cities: LA, Boston, Detroit, London, Tel Aviv, Barcelona, New York and Washington DC. And I thought I never slept. Can we just say impressive and be done with it.

At these events they have explored the effects of Twitter and social media on a wide range of topics including: Celebrity, “The Media”, Advertising, Politics, Fashion, Real Estate, Music, Education, Public Safety and Public Diplomacy.

As Jeff brings #140conf to different cities, the underlying conference is a reflection of the people of the surrounding communities.

The San Francisco event’s programming personifies some of the counter-culture trends which the city created in the late ‘60’s and ‘70s – trends which took hold and shaped the minds and consciousness for an entire generation. If you're in town, be sure to register and attend.

RepairPal for the Android Now Available: Car Repair at Your Fingertips

Today, RepairPal launches a free Android App, bringing the functionality of auto repair to a growing mobile platform. RepairPal's RepairPrice Estimator, industry-leading directory of shops and dealerships, and instant roadside assistance are now available for Android mobile devices.

RepairPal’s mobile apps have nearly 1 million users and now are adding Android support, which will enable consumers to get RepairPal’s proprietary RepairPrice Estimates for each of the 40 car makes, 100 most common repairs and services, and 42,000 zip codes RepairPal covers, access one-touch roadside assistance anywhere in the U.S. (no membership required) and find quality shops and dealerships, including user reviews and ratings, via RepairPal’s GPS-enabled directory. You can get more information and check out their mobile apps here.