Hang tight, kids. I’m trying to figure out what topic to open up with after my epic 10-day trip through the UK and France. I have hundreds of pages of notes bouncing around in my head and topics flying out of my… moleskine (what did you think I was going to say?) so it may take me a few hours yet to figure out where to start. And that isn’t even factoring in the pictures and videos I need to upload and edit. I am still in email management mode, and it may take a few days to sort it all out. 75 emails per day x 10 days… Yeah. I need interns.
Several things are certain though: Things are going to change around here.
First of all, expect less musings and more practical advice. The last thing the world needs is more abstract dreameries about brand management, new marketing, business 2.0, social media and the types of topics covered in this and other blogs of its kind. There’s plenty of that on the internets already and the last thing I want to do is add to an already overabundant pool of personal opinions.
Second, now that I have spent the better part of my stay in Exeter and London with some of the brightest minds in business, brand management 2.0 and the Social Web (from Sky News, Edelman, Nielsen, the BBC, WC Group, 4 Walls and a Ceiling, WorldEka, Limenoodle, Red Cube, iLevel, tweetmeme, FreshNetworks, Sinuate, Optix Solutions, and Aaron+Gould, to name but a few on a list as long as it is brilliant) I have a much clearer understanding of the level of dicussion businesses need when it comes to preparing themselves for the next decade, particularly in the US, where the army of social media “guru” we’ve been lamenting about has been reaping a harvest of shameless crap on the backs of their unsuspecting clients. For shame. Seriously. For shame. I hope there’s a special circle of hell for you if you fall into that category of a person.
In short, you, my readers, and companies wanting to improve their situation and their customers’ lives in the process all deserve better, and we’ve wasted enough time bleeding philosophy about market leadership, what social media XYZ is or isn’t or the value of effective measurement. We’re going to get down to brass tacks and talk about things that will make a real difference in your business.
Third, well… Hold on to you socks. We’re about to see how fast this V12 can really go. I have some pretty exciting announcements to make over the coming weeks.
Back in a bit with more. In the meantime, if you haven’t already done so, you need to go check out all of the incredible content from the #LikeMinds Conference I attended in Exeter, England, including some solid videos and photos of several of the presentations.
Let me be the first to congratulate on arriving safe and sound and getting your first blog post out since the life changing 2 weeks that we’ve just completed together.
“First of all, expect less musings and more practical advice. The last thing the world needs is more abstract dreameries about brand management, new marketing, business 2.0, social media and the types of topics covered in this and other blogs of its kind”
Amen. I’ve already started on that line (http://bit.ly/3dbR7N)
Can’t wait for what’s next.
Good to have you back, and exciting to see the new direction of your blog shapes up.
You didn’t miss anything while you were gone (well, there was this kid in a balloon…)
Great post Olivier! So true about the musings and personal opinions.
The time for talking is over… OK I’m sat in the V12 with you and the guys, with my seat belt on. Put your foot down and let’s see how fast this Social Media Supercar can really go!
Can’t wait to see what’s round the next corner!
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by Doug Cone: RT @KrisColvin: Yay! A new @thebrandbuilder post, at long last: http://bit.ly/bfuJq…
Glad you’re back. And glad to hear there is some change afoot.
While you were away there were some milestone reports from IDC and Forrester on the changes ravaging and renewing branding today.
I for one am interested in hearing less about Social Media, and more about actually defining brands in ways that make them easy to grasp, easy to share, and easy to grow.
Do the old models of branding work? Trout & Reis? David Acker? Or are there new — innately social — ways to define brands?
I’m sure whatever you have to say, it will be good.
And don’t loose the little touches. Dog. Bike. Swimming. I can’t believe I’m saying it but it makes you stand out nicely. Most of the people I follow could use a bit more ambiant personality in their posts.
— Axle Davids
@1day1brand | http://www.distility.com