Tag Archive for 'alan wolk'

Over (Inter)Active

Published
by
Matt
on Feb 11, 2010
in Shorts and social media
. Comments

As I tweeted this morning, Alan Wolk more-or-less read my mind today with this post titled Interaction Burnout. He gets into what I call “bad metrics” here

Much of this unnecessary patter is due to the unrealistic expectations brands (and the agencies and consultants that enable them) have for social media. Where, in a misguided quest for easily understood metrics, success has come to mean x number of Twitter followers or y number of Facebook Fan Page updates each month

This is something that drives me nuts. Social media marketing is, at its core, marketing. It’s goal is to increase sales, sign-ups, usage, etc.. Move the needle. As Alan mentions, these metrics are easy, and that’s what makes them benchmarkable, but in the end, do they really matter?

Later in the post, he’ mentions a few things companies undertaking social efforts need to understand. My favorite:

You need to find one particular area of social media you feel comfortable with - which might just be a blog or a YouTube channel — and concentrate on being really, really good at that, especially if it makes sense in terms of who your customers are.

So many people spread themselves too thin. Don’t waste 5 hours a week developing an executing your Twitter strategy if you only have a few customers there. It doesn’t matter if you’re getting “You Need to Be On Twitter!” in every newsletter and journal you get. If it’s not right, don’t waste time.

Read Alan’s entire post here.

6 Bloggers I Hope Write A Book and Why

Published
by
Matt
on Jan 7, 2010
in Blogging and Books
. Comments

Despite some really good digital marketing/social media books out recently from the likes of Mitch Joel, Chris Brogan/Julien Smith, Tamar Weinberg, (soon to be) Greg Verdino, etc., There are still a bunch of bloggers I’d like to see put something into print. Here’s my short list. Feel free to add yours in the comments.

David Armano (Twitter)
Why I Want It: A book from Armano would most likely lie somewhere between The Back of The Napkin and Blink in terms of synthesizing complex ideas into easy visuals, and presenting something to make you think, not just a how-to. Also, a cowboy hat-including collectors edition would likely be a possibility.
What It Probably Will Be Called: Logic + Emotion: (Insert Explanatory Subtitle)
What It Should Be Called: Of Bathroom Sign People and Cowboy Hats, A David Armano story.

Jason Falls (Twitter)
Why I Want It: Jason has a knack for explaining things in clear, but intuitive ways. A book from him would probably be the kind of book you give to your boss and say “Here’s a quick primer on social media. Yes we can run ads there. And stop calling it “Facespace”. Low on ass-kissery, high on ass-kickery.
What It Probably Will Be Called: Social Media Explorer: Discover the Tools and Tactics of the New Web
What It Should Be Called: Heh.

Whitney Hess (Twitter)
Why I Want It: I learn something legitimate from almost every post that Whitney writes, and I think her style would translate really well into the bound medium. She makes UX feel simultaneously elemental and complex, which is hard to do.
What It Probably Will Be Called: Pleasure and Pain
What It Should Be Called: Do Your Users Want To Punch The Internet?

Scott Monty (Twitter)
Why I Want It: Scott Monty has the rare experience of having been a big part of emerging channels agency Crayon, and then transitioning to heading up social media at a little company called Ford Motors. One of the most genuine people in the business, and hands down the best dressed.
What It Probably Will Be Called: The New Big Business: Social Media for the Large Organization
What It Should Be Called: Suit-Point-Oh: Style for the Social Media-minded Man.

Bill Green (Twitter)
Why I Want It: Equal parts snark and commentary, Bill gets enough content onto his Make The Logo Bigger blog to have his own monthly magazine. While some of the best stuff is video content, there’s plenty of advertising gold to go around.
What It Probably Will Be Called: Make The Logo Bigger.
What It Should Be Called: Why I Went To Law School

Alan Wolk (Twitter)
Why I Want It: In most of my reading, I’m more interested by higher level strategy and thought-process type stuff than I am in the how-to’s of tips and tactics. Alan Wolk does a good job of blending the digital and traditional worlds to figure out what the hell is going on in advertising.
What It Probably Will Be Called: …Honestly I couldn’t guess.
What It Should Be Called: Return of the Tangerine Toad.

The Importance of Does versus Says

Published
by
Matt
on Dec 14, 2009
in Advertising and Digital Marketing
. Comments

More great stuff from Sir Alan Wolk today (knighthood mine) in the form of these two really good charts.

Take a quick look, and then we’ll talk.


I think the biggest thing here is the move from passive to active. With ads (typically) we are passive recipients of a neatly packaged “moment” designed to elicit some sort of emotional response or purchase intent. With websites, and most digital instances, we’re being given the opportunity to experience something, and how we do so is entirely of our own choosing.

You’ve probably heard that the medium is the message. I think that’s only half right.

Maybe the experience is the message.

Dance For Me, Clown!

Published
by
Matt
on Feb 17, 2009
in Advertising and New Marketing
. Comments

Today, Alan Wolk had a great post on creativity, and whether it still matters because good products sell themselves. He makes a lot of good points (as usual), but I think a big takeaway is something he just glances over.

He talks about how if you dig strawberries and Cherrios, then you’ll probably like Strawberry Cherrios regardless of the advertising. He also mentions the reverse is true. And I think that’s where the big point is.

For example: I really don’t like Budweiser. I just don’t. And honestly, no matter how awesome, witty, or iconic their advertising is, I’m not going to run out and buy Budweiser. Ever. So for me, as soon as the Budweiser ads come on, I’m tuning out the “ad” part and just looking at it for entertainments sake.

And Budweiser makes some really entertaining ads. The problem, however, is that they’re completely useless when it comes to making me actually by the product.

Which leads us to this little paradox: Entertainment (product placement, etc.) has become effective advertising and advertising has become effective entertainment. Weird!