Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog

The Cleanweb: Green Energy Meets Moore's Law

Futurelab — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:18:56 +0000

By embracing new Web and mobile technologies, green energy companies are creating a new Cleanweb movement in which formerly expensive alternative energy sources - such as solar power - are suddenly accessible to the masses at a significantly lower price point. Think of the Cleanweb as what happens when green energy meets Moore's Law.

The Science of Social Media ROI

Futurelab — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:16:45 +0000

Last week I presented at a webinar as part of a series looking at the science of social, focusing on social media ROI and demystifying the confusion that surround it. The problem with social media ROI is that it is so easy to measure so many things that we become overwhelmed by measures. We think that everything is important and that everything is a measure of ROI. It isn’t. And it isn’t. Followers and Likes do not make ROI; moreover they stop us from thinking about the bigger business benefit of social.

Is Eliminating the Bargaining Power of Customers More Important Than Working On the Customer Experience?

Futurelab — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:12:36 +0000

Listening to the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson I am left with the impression that nothing was more important to Steve Jobs then using technology to produce great products that delivered a great user experience. Good enough was good enough, even great, for many in the computer industry. Only insanely great was good enough for Steve Jobs. Anything less was simply not good enough, it was not ‘art’ and not ‘worthy of artists”; great artists don’t want to put their names on good enough art.

Apple Loses A Customer

Futurelab — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:06:05 +0000

I know I’m dim, and I know that customers suffer glitches with every tech brand so my complaint isn’t news. But I want to explore it in the broader scheme of brand integrity and business strategy.

Video Interview: Social Media at Orange in a Nutshell

Futurelab — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:08:59 +0000

I prepared this series of video interviews in order to prepare myself for the Ronewmedia conference in Bucharest, Romania. In those 3 interviews, I describe what I do at Orange,our philosophy and where we think the wold of Corporate social media is going.

Five Critical Questions About Organization Culture That People Avoid Asking

Futurelab — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:57:51 +0000

There is a piece on HBR Blog on the topic of organization culture “Culture Takes Over When the CEO Leaves the Room” by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss (both HBS professors). It is a good piece worth reading and here's an summary of their ideas:

10 Major Trends In Corporate Social Media Management (2/2)

Futurelab — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:53:52 +0000

This is part 2 of a two-part piece dedicated to the major trends in coroporate social media management, which will serve as a basis for my presentation in Bucharest at the ronewmedia digital conference due to take place on May 16th, 2012. I will use my 5 years of practice in that field at Orange and dwell on some of the major trends impacting Social Media and its management in large corporations. My presentation will highlight these trends which will be illustrated with real life examples taken from the field.

10 Major Trends In Corporate Social Media Management (1/2)

Futurelab — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:51:45 +0000

8 years after its introduction – and a few name changes – Corporate Social Media can no longer be considered as an innovation. We have clearly hit the third wave of its implementation in Corporate environments, that is to say the structuring of collaborative web initiatives in order to scale in multi-billion dollar companies (and smaller companies. In this piece which will serve as a basis for my presentation in Bucharest at the ronewmedia digital conference due to take place on May 16th, 2012. I will use my 5 years of practice in that field at Orange and dwell on some of the major trends impacting Social Media and its management in large corporations. My presentation will highlight these trends which will be illustrated with real life examples taken from the field.

VoC:What’s Wrong With VoC and How Do You Get It Right? (Part III)

Futurelab — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:47:58 +0000

In the first post I shared the first part of my discussion around VoC with Erich Dietz, VP of Business Solutions at Mindshare Technologies (specialists in customer surveys and enterprise feedback). The key point of that post was captured in Erich’s words: “No-one is really doing VoC surveys with the customer in mind!”

WalmartLabs – Taking Big Data Into Retail

Futurelab — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:55:17 +0000

by: Jon Stokes, via the fresh networks blog

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, acquired social media firm Kosmix just over a year ago, creating @WalmartLabs, with the intention to use this specialist R&D unit to define the future of commerce by merging social, mobile and retail.

So far WalmartLabs has released two interesting developments using social:

Our Brains Make Facebook Worth $90 Billion

Futurelab — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:42:42 +0000

Those of us involved in social media know that people love to talk about themselves. They seemingly enjoy sharing the trivial, the personal, and occasionally the weird, details of their lives. Sometimes they overshare – as a longtime online community builder, I’ve found that “poster’s remorse” is common – people post something too personal and later regret doing so. So why do people share so much?

Is the 1,9,90 Rule Outdated?

Futurelab — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:36:47 +0000

The BBC have just released some interesting research around participation online. The findings (the result of a "large-scale, long-term investigation into how the UK online population participates using digital media today") have raised a little controversy since they seem to indicate that the long-term model or view of participation online, the 1,9,90 rule, is outmoded.

The Internet's Battle For Our Digital Souls

Futurelab — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:56:40 +0000

Harvard neuroscience researchers have just confirmed what many of us have suspected all along: social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are “brain candy” for Internet users. Every status update, every tweet, every pin is a micro-jolt delivered squarely to the pleasure centers of our brains. We get approximately the same type of pleasure from talking about ourselves on social media as we do from having sex. As Facebook bulks up to take on new challengers after its much-anticipated IPO next week, is it possible that the battle for future dominance on the Internet will actually take place inside our heads?

What it Means to Have a Designer as a Startup Founder

Futurelab — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:37:32 +0000

So it looks like The Designer Fund, a VC fund that specifically invests in Startup companies that have designers as founders is starting to gain traction. It seems that suddenly everyone seems to have an opinion on the premium placed on designers.

Google Firestarters 5 Visualised

Futurelab — Sun, 13 May 2012 15:57:31 +0000

Does Your Domain Say “Trust Me?”

Futurelab — Sun, 13 May 2012 15:11:09 +0000

Do web searchers pay attention to the domain where the link in the search results leads them? A few years ago, I would have said “no.” For years, I’ve operated or advised websites that ranked at or near the top for various brand names, and found many users assumed the site WAS that brand. Even the most cursory look at either the domain or the site itself would show the site to be unaffiliated with the brand, but oblivious visitors would post inquiries about customer service problems, purchase locations, and so on.

VoC: What’s Wrong With VoC and How Do You Get It Right? (Part II)

Futurelab — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:33:14 +0000

In the previous post I shared the first part of my discussion around VoC with Erich Dietz, VP of Business Solutions at Mindshare Technologies (specialists in customer surveys and enterprise feedback). The key point of that post was captured in Erich’s words: “No-one is really doing VoC surveys with the customer in mind!” In this post I wish to share/discuss with you the other big issue that came up in my conversation with Eric. Before that lets just briefly summarise best practice in soliciting customer feedback.

The Importance of the ‘Visual Web’ – Some Stats

Futurelab — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:21:31 +0000

Recently, Read Write Web’s Richard McManus penned a series of articles around ‘The Visual Web’, “meaning that images and video are becoming an increasingly important part of what we consume online.”

I couldn’t agree more. Speaking personally, Instagram started replacing Twitter as my social network of choice about a year ago. More to the point, there is now a wealth of statistics to underpin what Richard is talking about. This is specially when you consider that many of the biggest social media stories of the past year – Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest and now the likes of Socialcam – are visual.

A Great Subaru Ad

Futurelab — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:17:45 +0000

I may be dim, but I love this ad. A dad leans through an open window of a car door, dispensing driving advice to his 7 year-old daughter who’s behind the wheel. The little girl is giggly cute and after a bit tells her dad she’ll be fine. Cut to dad who winces his agreement, then back to the daughter, only now we see her as she really is — not through her dad’s eyes — and she’s a mature-looking teen. The car pulls out of the driveway as dad watches. “We knew this day would come, and that’s why we bought a Subaru,” the narrator intones.

B2B Marketing & Pinterest: 5 Tips for Becoming the Ultimate Pinner

Futurelab — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:14:57 +0000

by: Chris Russell, via the Marketo blog

Want the skinny on using Pinterest to promote your b2b marketing? Follow these five tips and kick-start your brand’s expansion into this emerging social media phenomenon.

VoC: What’s Wrong With VoC and How Do You Get It Right? (Part I)

Futurelab — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:11:59 +0000

I like the folks at Mindshare Technologies – specialists in customer surveys and enterprise feedback. We share a philosophy, YOLOMAD: you only live once, make a difference. From what I can tell they are passionate about helping companies to get access to the Voice of the Customer and use that to improve the customer experience and cultivate customer loyalty that delivers revenues and profits.

Nine Criteria of Breakthrough Brand Experiences

Futurelab — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:29:53 +0000

What makes a store more than a store? What makes a breakthrough brand experience at retail?

These are questions that companies with brick and mortar assets wrestle with as they continue to lose share to online competitors or to those with mobile capabilities (smart phone-enabled mobile commerce as well as IRL roving mobile units and other non-traditional formats).

Where Do Customer Focus, Customer Obsession, Customer Centricity Reside in Your Organisation?

Futurelab — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:50:10 +0000

I put that question to Google today and I did not get an answer. The closest I got was a checklist for a customer-centric business and a post on Amazon’s customer experience obsession. Let’s take a look at both of these before whilst you consider the question that I have posed here.

Stats That Show Why You Need a Mobile First Approach Now

Futurelab — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:36:53 +0000

The other week someone asked me what an agency such as Rabbit (where I work) should be focusing on going forward.

My reply, was previously organisations have been talking about a digital first approach. In other words, concentrate on online channels and content 1st, which then filters into the offline world. However now the priority has to be mobile first, you cater in the 1st instance for people who may be consuming your content via their smartphones.

Sounds obvious enough, but some recent stats demonstrate the need to move from theory to practice:

Social Business: Where It's Been & Where It's Going

Futurelab — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:30:37 +0000

"Chasing the past, I stumbled into the future". - T A Sachs

I've always been a firm believer that in order to look to the future, we must look back to and fully grasp the past (and the present). Having had several recent engaging conversations with smart people who I respect, I've picked up a hint of exhaustion around usage of the word "social". Could it be that some who saw the "change" coming years ago are weary of having carried that torch for so many years as we move into the heavy lifting?

Chip Kidd on Designing Books

Futurelab — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:44:42 +0000

I was presently surprised to find out that Chip Kidd presented at TED.

Chip is one of my favorite book cover designers. I especially like the cover he did for a book (which I own) on Concept Artwork for the Batman Animated series. So I really enjoyed this talk, and his super quirky sense of humor, at TED called “Designing books is no laughing matter. OK, it is.” It is fascinating to see how his personality merges with his design philosophy.

Can ‘Externalities’ Open Up an Actionable Pathway to Customer Service, Customer Experience Design and Customer-Centricity?

Futurelab — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:30:00 +0000

Are dead concepts limiting what shows up as customer service, customer experience and customer-centricity?

We are prisoners of dead concepts and mostly we are not present to this.

When Designing Experiences for Humans, Consider Common Psychological Behaviors

Futurelab — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:30:00 +0000

Often designers design stuff (products/services/interfaces etc.): to fit user personas, to solve problems, to make it beautiful etc. but don’t often consider the how it psychologically interfaces with the user.

How Technology Has Changed Childhood – Ten Stats

Futurelab — Sat, 05 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000

Over the past eighteen months Internet security company AVG (disclosure – Rabbit client) has been carrying out research to see how technology has changed childhood, beyond recognition from someone who grew up twenty or thirty years ago.

How to Build the 100-Year Company

Futurelab — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:30:00 +0000

The 100-year company is the rarest of all organizations in Corporate America – a company that has somehow managed to survive the ebbs and flows of multiple business cycles, the appearance of radically disruptive technologies and the changing tastes of entirely different generations.

Ten Takeaways from BlueGlass LA: The Internet Marketing Experience Part 2

Futurelab — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:55:54 +0000

by: Jason Miller

Following up on yesterday’s post, I am still reveling in the thought leadership bliss and overflow of insights from last week’s Blueglass LA internet marketing conference. Here are five more key takeaways for the B2B Marketing professional from experts Chris Brogan, Copyblogger’s Brian Clark, SEOmoz’s Jamie Steven, and HARO’s Peter Shankman.

What Good Is Good?

Futurelab — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:00:08 +0000

brand as business bit: “Do well by doing good” has become the ultimate rallying cry for corporate social responsibility (CSR) – and case studies from Walmart to Nike to Timberland prove it is possible to benefit society and the bottomline.

Ten Takeaways from BlueGlass LA: The Internet Marketing Experience Part 1

Futurelab — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:55:19 +0000

by: Jason Miller

The Robotic Future Is Fast, Cheap and Out of Control

Futurelab — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:31:52 +0000

The robotic future is here, and it looks nothing like we thought it would. Instead of humanoid, highly-intelligent robots that do our bidding, the future is increasingly one of robotic swarms, robotic quadrotors, and tiny robots no larger than insects that perform surgery. The robotics revolution, in short, is fast, cheap and out of control.

To Really Understand Social Media, You Must Also Understand Online Communities

Futurelab — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:44:41 +0000

It is very easy to get excited by social media. By “Likes” and “Follows”. To think about the tools you can use. To worry about creating content. To feel you must rush to be on the latest platform or site. But in all this excitement it can be easy to forget something that is more important than the tools, platforms and sites that you can make use of – the skills and expertise you need to identify, manage and grow a true online community.

Another Airline Merger

Futurelab — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:03:24 +0000

I may be dim, but I’m having deja vu all over again after reading that the unions of newly-bankrupt American Airlines would rather consider a merger with habitually-bankrupt US Airways than pursue a draconian business plan proposed by their own management.

Brand Experience Brief: Lego

Futurelab — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:30:00 +0000

(Here’s my newest Brand Experience Brief — insights and analysis from my audits of new and interesting retail or restaurant concepts.)

It’s always interesting to see how product companies create retail experiences for their brands. That’s why I’m eager to share my download on the LEGO store. It’s a solid experience for the LEGO brand, but they missed some opportunities to make it even more engaging. Take a look and let me know if you agree:

Clicks Don’t Count!

Futurelab — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:30:00 +0000

As long as banner ads have been on websites, the number of clicks they garner has been the most important performance metric for an ad. Ads that get fewer clicks are canned in favor of those that get more.

Think Green, Drink Brown: Recycled Water

Futurelab — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Slate recently highlighted the fastest-growing industries in the USA - everything from hot sauce to self-tanning products to 3D printers to generic pharmaceuticals. Here's one industry they missed: the recycled water industry.

The Easiest Way Ever to Boost Your Productivity

Futurelab — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:44:22 +0000

Do you find chunks of your day consumed by less than productive activities? Updating Twitter? Checking Facebook? Clicking on those fascinating links posted by your friends? Checking sports scores or stock prices? Catching up on the latest hilarity from DamnYouAutoCorrect? None of these are bad things, but when you have important tasks to complete these non-essential activities can kill your productivity. It turns out there’s a quick visualization you can perform that will make you more likely to focus on your mission-critical tasks.

The Semantics of Branding

Futurelab — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:09:49 +0000

I may be dim, but have you ever thought about how people talk about brands? The brand stands for something. The brand does this or that. The brand value is whatever. The brand has a conversation with people. The brand tells stories.

Guess what? There’s no such thing as “the brand.” It has no consciousness or personality. It can’t do things. It simply isn’t.

The Hardest Part of Any Innovation Process Is Sensemaking. And Sensemaking Is Closely Linked to Insights

Futurelab — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:31:26 +0000

The hardest part of any innovation process is where data and insights come together and try to make sense of them. Sensemaking is about using visual mappings and narrative techniques to mine the non-quantitative data. This excerpt is taken from a piece in the current issue of M/I/S/C magazine on Insights and Sensemaking co-written by me and Richard Thomas.

How Are the Top Hotel Brands Innovating in Social Media?

Futurelab — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:30:00 +0000

by: Jon Stokes

A recent report has ranked the digital performance of 52 global hotel brands. The latest L2 Hotels Digital IQ Index rated brands according to the performance of their sites and use of digital marketing, mobile and social media.

Why Wells Fargo Is Banking On Sustainability

Futurelab — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:45:00 +0000

Today, Wells Fargo announced a major environmental commitment consisting of three 2020 goals: $30 billion in loans and investments in clean technologies, energy-efficient buildings, environmental innovation; $100 million in community grants and increased volunteerism for grassroots environmental initiatives; and energy-efficiency, waste-diversion, green building, and greenhouse gas targets.

Has Shoedazzle Lost Its Dazzle?

Futurelab — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:30:00 +0000

Change is good. It’s more than good – it’s necessary for growth. Companies need to evolve their offerings in order to keep things fresh and their customers interested.

Mobile Is So Money: The Future of the Internet

Futurelab — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:09:57 +0000

Across Silicon Valley, companies like Google and Facebook are waking up and realizing that the future of the Internet is no longer taking place on the desktop or laptop - it is taking place on the tablet and smartphone. As a result, there has been a huge land grab in 2012 to control the future evolution of the mobile Internet.

The Progression of Agency Value

Futurelab — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:01:24 +0000

Over the past few months I've been working with the smart folk at Econsultancy on a project (in partnership with Adobe) to better understand the impact of digital technologies on agencies. A big reason for doing this is that, inspite of there being much chatter in the blogosphere on the future of agencies and the agency model, there seems to be a paucity of good research on how agencies are adapting to the many challenges brought by the rapidly changing communications environment.

All Content is Not Created Equal – A Conversation with CMI Founder Joe Pulizzi

Futurelab — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:41:30 +0000

by: Jason Miller

When it comes to content marketing and social media experts, Joe Pulizzi is always at the top of the list. A leading author, speaker, strategist, and founder of the Content Marketing Institute, Joe helps businesses understand the trends in content marketing, and how marketers can learn to think and act like publishers. Recently I caught up with Joe and he answered some very tough questions that content marketers face everyday.

The Journey to Becoming a Designer Is Never Easy

Futurelab — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:30:00 +0000

Design Juices recently published an interview with Michael DiTullo, a designer I greatly respect, where he shares his insights and challenges he faced to get to where he is today, namely a Creative Director at Frog. (Actually it seems he is now the Chief Design Officer at DEI Holdings, Inc. Congrats Michael!)

Meet the Urban Datasexual

Futurelab — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:08:54 +0000

The same cultural zeitgeist that gave us the metrosexual - the urban male obsessive about grooming and personal appearance - is also creating its digital equivalent: the datasexual.

Who Are The Most Engaging World Leaders on Twitter?

Futurelab — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:29:58 +0000

With elections in Russia already happened, those in the UK, France and the US to come there is much debate about how social media is now being used in both the electoral process, and more broadly as part of engagement between our world leaders and others on social media. Barack Obama has traditionally been held up as an example of using social media for campaigning and for engaging with people through Twitter, Facebook and other channels. But he is not the only world leader to use social media.

Drama Is Anticipation Mingled with Uncertainty

Futurelab — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:03:43 +0000

There's a lot to take from this wonderful TED talk by the multi-oscar winning writer and director Andrew Stanton, who was Pixar's ninth employee and whose credits include Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo and WALL-E.