Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog

Are Fortune 100 CEOs Social Media Slackers?

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:36:36 +0100

There’s a misconception that everybody ‘gets’ social media. That everybody is taking part. And that business, in particular, are all developing social media strategies. This just isn’t true. Whilst we have witnessed a monumental rise in social media use over the last 18 months or so, there are still some who are significantly more innovative than others.

Image by Dan Dickinson via Flickr

Why are Businesses so Interested in Design Thinking and the Design Process?

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:14:31 +0100

by: Design Translator

I have been watching ”Design Thinking” very closely for a long time now, often amused on how it is unfolding in both the design and non-design industries. At this time I’m curious it is evolving, and having strong suspicions on how it can be an element to bridge the “language gap” between Design and the Business.

New FutureLab site in 'Public Beta'

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:04:16 +0100

A couple of years overdue, and a few months late (as these things always seem to go), we are proud to put our new site in public beta: http://beta.futurelab.net. Although the site is not entirely finished yet (some functionalities have not been activated yet, and most importantly, only about 1/3 of the content has been added), we think we're ready for feedback.

Aside from toning down the yellowish green which will please many people we have focused on rich tagged content which is linked throughout the site, with new content categories such as videos, speakers-showcases and books by our contributors and associates.

The site will also reflect the changes and growth FutureLab is going through at the moment. Several new associates and partners have recently joined FutureLab, and several more are about to be added - the little worldmap on the frontpage is going to look very busy with all the dots. Also we will be adding a large number of cases, references and credentials over the coming weeks.

Please have a look and leave your feedback, comments, suggestions through the 'Feedback' tab you will find on the left side - or by mail.

On a sidenote - as soon as we have more or less finished the site, we will add a range of new contributors to our blogs as well - you will see lots of additional fresh and deep thinking here soon!

The News Industry, Disaggregation of Audiences and 'Failed Truths'

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:32:28 +0100

by: Iqbal Mohammed

Recently, much discussion online (and offline) has centred around the impending doom of journalism and the news industry. As an enthusiastic cheerleader of all the disruptive effects of the Internet, my opinion until of late has been that the changes couldn't have come about sooner.

But I am slowly beginning to wonder if in this particular case the results may be catastrophic in addition to being liberating.

Media Disruption Continues as Attackers Fail and Defenders Wonder What's Coming Next?

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:45:08 +0100

by: Idris Mootee

I am just counting how many industries today are getting near their industry breakpoints, accelerated by the current crisis and changes in consumer attitude towards anything. With macro forces pushing a collision between previously unrelated industries and the smart ones know a reset is necessary. Media is on top of the list.

Video Games Make You Smarter... Really!

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:38:41 +0100

by: Roger Dooley

Can video games make you a better air traffic controller? How about a better surgeon? And, for the huge demographic bubble of baby boomers, can video games keep you cognitively sharp into old age?

PDF Talk: "The Not-So-Hidden Politics of Class Online"

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:04:27 +0100

by: danah boyd

Two years ago this week, I wrote a controversial essay in an attempt to locate divisions that I was seeing play out between MySpace and Facebook. This week, at the Personal Democracy Forum, I revisited these ideas in a new talk:

The Yahoos At Yahoo

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:57:24 +0100

by: Jonathan Salem Baskin

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Word has it that Yahoo is going to debut new branding in the fall, courtesy of a newly-hired CMO who has a newly hired coterie of her favorite branding gurus. There's nothing surprising about this news: one of the first things new top marketers usually do is hire new vendors to reinvigorate or change the brand. It's what they do.

The Benefits (and Challenges) of User-generated News

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:10:37 +0100

by: Matt Rhodes

I’ve spent the last ten days with no Internet and very little access to English-language news sources. On my return I turned to my three favourite sources for getting up to speed quickly on what’s been happening: BBC News, Twitter and Google. The first of these for an overview of what had happened and the last two to really delve into some depth, to find out what people have been saying and to see what’s really been happening.

Image by tibchris via Flickr

Debunking The Myths of Social Media

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:26:44 +0100

by: David Armano

Moving forward I will be contributing to the Harvard Business Review when time permits. My first contribution is up, you can view the entire article here. Below in an excerpt:

"There are a few considerations every organization needs to consider when developing their blueprints for their own unique social media design. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, there are few things you can plan for as you review the many options before you.

Why Best Buy Is Rooting for the Smart Grid

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:22:30 +0100

by: Joel Makower

The retail giant that helped bring car stereos, camcorders, and CD players to the masses wants to be homeowners' best friend in the emerging world of smarter, greener technology.

Email and Social Media- 7 Tips for Getting the Most out of Your Campaigns

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:11:32 +0100

Guest Post by: Maria Pergolino

Recent news stories about Social Media being bigger than email as well as the recent beta release of Google Wave have made marketers rethink their email strategies, but should we really be moving our email efforts to social media? And if not, should they be kept apart, or can they truly work in unison?

Is the Hub and Spoke Model Adaptable?

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:41:36 +0100

by: David Armano

We've been doing a bit of thinking on how organizations can re-design themselves as social systems which produce emergent outcomes—that is, results which move business forward and tend to emerge in an organic fashion. Twitter's growth due to end user innovation, an open API, and other drivers are an example of this.

Beta Version Available! Computer Aided Business Model Design

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:38:53 +0100

by: Alexander Osterwalder

Together with my former PhD supervisor Professor Yves Pigneur (and now my co-author), I have long advocated the utility of some kind of computer aided business model design tool (see here) – in fact my PhD dissertation aimed at building the foundations for that. Now this vision is starting to become reality. One of Yves’ new PhD students has built such a tool on the basis of Yves’ and my conceptual groundwork.

Are We Serving Conversation?

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:03:25 +0100

by: Jonathan Salem Baskin

Consider this: conversation is to selling what cooking is to eating.

Process.

Not ingredients, nor consumption.

How, not what.