I love reading real books. The ones you can touch and feel. I don’t get to read real books as much as I would like but here are a handful of books I read during 2009. I came across this neat little widget available through the Amazon Associates programme. As for what I thought of the books themselves, I pretty much agree with the collective opinion conveyed in the reviews …
Tags: nice stuff
We like this howies mantra …
So whatever it maybe, from running the London Marathon to dangling from a cleverly sewn together shower curtain, we reckon taking a break is as important as getting things done. Funnily enough that’s when great ideas come too.
For that reason we are having a proper break over Christmas – we’ll be finishing up lunchtime Christmas Eve and we won’t be back in the office until Monday 4th January.
Happy Christmas!
Tags: nice stuff
Bear with me – this one is a bit random! Just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. Brilliant. In my opinion Gladwell is to this type of book what Joe Simpson is to climbing and mountaineering books – you have probably heard of or read Touching the Void but treat yourself to The Beckoning Silence. They are both genuinely good writers and apart from great subject matter the books are a great read.
Gladwell discusses the ethnic theory of plane crashes – funnily enough I was reading it during probably the roughest descent I’ve ever experienced – on an easyJet flight into Bristol Airport in 60+mph winds. He talks about mitigated communication (downplaying the significance of what is being said) between the hierarchies that exist in an aeroplane’s cockpit – and how this differs across different cultures. He goes on to discuss Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and in particular uncertainty avoidance which deals with a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations and the effect it is likely to have on communication in such situations.
The whole thing got me thinking. Firstly, because I became aware of mine and others sometimes mitigated communication when working amongst teams of individuals that have a hierarchical dimension to them and the effect that might have on project outcomes. Secondly, because we work on projects in different countries – take for example how the Uncertainty Avoidance Index for the United Kingdom (35) compares to, the second highest in the world, Portugal (104)
Digital marketing fascinates me but making it happen in organisations and the team dynamics that contribute to success or failure equally fascinates me so I am going to find out more and take account of what I have read already – especially the effect of mitigated communication across organizational hierarchies and how the negative effects can be avoided.
A note to self and the teams I work with … If you have a view on how something should be done or how it could be done better, for whatever reason – be it your particular skills, experience or just a gut feeling – you owe it to yourself, everyone else and the project to make sure you say so in a way that instigates an appropriate response.
A little bit like ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’. I have been saying that for a long time.
Tags: digital marketing, teams
We realised some time ago that trying to keep up with the skill set required to roll out everything digital marketing has to offer was exhausting and nigh on impossible. Digital is multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary and so collaboration is essential. The magic happens when lots of individuals work together; planners, developers, programmers, copy writers, designers and search engine marketing and social media specialists, to name the ones I know about today. Tomorrow is anyone’s guess. Whilst we can cover a fair amount of the specialist stuff our job at Cinch is often about knowing enough to bring the specialists together and make sure they have what they need to do their jobs. I suppose you could say that in that sense we are specialists at being generalists.
Check out what feedingthepuppy has to say on the subject …
Tags: digital marketing, project management, teams
You know the story … Digital channels have grown up. Push has become pull. Consumers are truly empowered and they are becoming increasingly turned off by one way dialogue. The social web presents a fundamental and revolutionary change. What customers are saying online helps shape your brand …
But how does it all stack up in ROI terms? This was the topic of a roundtable discussion I facilitated for the International Business Development Group in October. Attended by organisations as diverse as 3M, Barclays, BBC, Cisco Systems, Sea France, Woodland Trust and The Caravan Club we kicked off by discussing some of the key challenges we all faced in 2010.
Everyone is talking about social media. It still amazes me just how much twitter has engulfed our digital marketing conversations during 2009. Don’t get me wrong, I am a fully signed up member of the fundamental and revolutionary change I mentioned earlier but like every Digital Marketing Manager I need to be concerned about return for the business – return on every bit of effort we make. The starting point has to be figuring out the ‘what’ and ‘why’ – our objectives. Closely following that we need to figure out how we are going to measure it all. I am not going to repeat stuff for which others have already presented a good discussion so here are three good econsultancy blogs I checked out while doing my homework for this session;
10 badass social media visualisations
Social media ROI? Is it worth waiting for?
10 superb social media presentations
I’ll cut to the chase – my travelling home on the train thoughts. We know social media is really important. We know the role it takes where driving brand equity online is concerned. We know the role it might take in driving response and sales. Hey, with a bit of planning and the right tools we can even measure it. But, beware the opportunity cost. Don’t let the social media monster eclipse everything else you need to be doing. The list is long and unless you are very lucky your resources are finite. So, be clear on what your specific digital marketing priorities are and remain focussed on them. Do social media but do it at the right time and in the right way for your organisation within the context of the specific challenges you face.
If you still need to be convinced on the potential impact of the social web check this out;
Like the Fat Boy Slim soundtrack too – reminds me of the old days!
Tags: digital marketing, ROI, social media
