February « 2011 « The BrandBuilder Blog

Archive for February, 2011

GenJuice’s Top 100 Most Desirable Mentors list

Posted in brandbuilder, business thinkers, creativity, culture, me, tagged bono, brandbuilder, branson, clinton, coelho, GenJuice, gupta, hsieh, huffington, jobs, kanye, mandela, mentor, obama, olivier blanchard, portman, powell, rowling, simmons, solis, Top 100, vaynerchuck on February 24, 2011 | 21 Comments »

GenJuice just released its list of Top 100 Most Desirable Mentors, and… through either a) divine intervention, b) a computer glitch, c) a case of mistaken identity or d) a perfectly aimed envelope containing about 300 Pesos, I somehow managed to find myself in 81st place, squeezed between President Obama and American Apparel CEO Dov [...]

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Digital Influence Recalibrated, Part 3: What Influence Is And Isn’t.

Posted in account planning, influencers, innovation, Social Business, Social Communications, social media, social network, tagged advertising, brandbuilder, digital influence, influence, influencee, influencer, Jedi, klout, marketing, mind trick, olivier blanchard, pull, push, social media on February 23, 2011 | 45 Comments »

Part 3 of 3. Clarification Number 3: Influence is not a magical mind-control superpower, even on the internet. The term “influence” as it is used by marketers (especially digital marketers) today sounds a lot like a sort of Jedi mind trick. The wishful thinking definition of “influence” according to these digital marketing “experts” is that [...]

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Digital Influence Recalibrated, Part 2: Digging deeper than the “Klout Score.”

Posted in account planning, Social Business, Social Communications, social media, social network, tagged brandbuilder, digital influence, klout, Market research, marketing, measurement, olivier blanchard, ROI, social media on February 23, 2011 | 7 Comments »

Part 2 of 3. Clarification Number 2: Klout isn’t about the one score. It provides a breadth of relevant insights that can help marketers properly target “influencers.” Forget about the score for a second and take the time to explore the more specific data it provides about individuals. Let’s use screen shots from my own [...]

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What being member #149 taught me about how Klout Perks could really rock

Posted in account planning, marketing 2.0, Social Business, social media, WOM, tagged #149, #smROI, Audi, brandbuilder, Brockman's Gin, influencer, klout, olivier blanchard, Popkin, promotional anarchy, St Germain, Summer Soiree, swag club, Tyler made me do it, WOM on February 17, 2011 | 50 Comments »

Every once in a while, I receive a package in the mail that I wasn’t expecting. The doorbell rings, I go to answer, and sitting there on my doorstep is a box. Brown waves at me, drives off, and I walk back into the house with the mysterious package under my arm. I weigh it [...]

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Klout Perks Wednesday: Some thoughts about Audi, swag, packaging and impact

Posted in account planning, marketing, marketing 2.0, social media, tagged Audi, brandbuilder, Dynex, Ikea, KAI, klout, moleskine, olivier blanchard, Perks, Sony, Southland, swag club, TNT, VAIO, VW, Xbox on February 16, 2011 | 47 Comments »

I dig Klout Perks. A lot. Why? Because I get free stuff. And I have to hand it to Klout: They’re figured out a clever little revenue model for their influence engine. Everybody wins in this game: 1. So-called “influencers” get free stuff. 2. Klout gets paid to help identify them for clients, reach out [...]

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Your five minutes of Monday gold: The essence of leadership.

Posted in account planning, leadership, tagged brandbuilder, Fast Company, IBM, leadership. xerox, olivier blanchard on February 13, 2011 | 4 Comments »

Today, instead of doing all the talking, I will let people with a whole lot more experience than me give you some tips about how to become a better leader. Great stuff that transcends the typical quotation mill. Anne Mulcahy – Former CEO of Xerox: In a crisis, you have the opportunity to move quickly [...]

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Cutting Through The Noise: Tying Social Media Program to Business Objectives

Posted in account planning, smart business, Social Business, social media, tagged #smROI, BP, brandbuilder, Business Intelligence, coca cola, Consumer Insights, customer service, Ford, GM, kenneth cole, marketing, Mashable, nestle, olivier blanchard, Pearson Publishing, pepsi, pr, Que Biz-Tech, sales, social business, social business planning, social media, social media ROI, Southwest, United on February 8, 2011 | 55 Comments »

The debate over whether or not social media programs should show positive ROI (a financial outcome) or not is kind of silly. It’s a dogmatic argument: People who believe social media activities shouldn’t be about making or saving money for the organization can articulate with conviction why they shouldn’t be. They will use terms like [...]

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Heart and Soul: Two car manufacturers’ touchdowns at the Superbowl.

Posted in account planning, advertising, tagged advertising, brandbuilder, chrysler, detroit, Eminem, olivier blanchard, Star Wars, The Force, Vader, VW on February 7, 2011 | 21 Comments »

So much for every car commercial looking and sounding the same. Well, done, VW and Chrysler. And thanks for treating your audience with respect rather than trying to merely seduce us with eye candy. I hope other advertisers will follow your lead.

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Kenneth Cole shows every brand what not to do on Twitter

Posted in account planning, Social Business, Social Communications, social media, society, tagged #cairo, brandbuilder, egypt, kenneth cole, olivier blanchard, twitter on February 3, 2011 | 73 Comments »

From Kenneth Cole’s Twitter account during the violent uprising in Egypt: “Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at (link).” (Source) Um, no. Thanks for showing every brand on the planet exactly what not to do on Twitter, and for proving my point about [...]

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