I’m sure like many people, it seems that every time you turn around someone is talking about word-of-mouth, some articles even make it sound like it was just invented a few years ago. But the reality is the WOM has been around, well, since as long as humans could talk. I mean, seriously, is there much difference from one of our very early ancestors saying, “I found some good berries down by the stream?” to people today showing off their latest cell phone?

Studies show that even with the Internet boom a significant percentage of WOM still happens face to face.
One of the areas that grassroots and word-of-mouth communication always played a critical role was in politics. Successful campaigns never forgot the impact that personal communication played when it came to election day. For the past several years, we’ve been applying this same model to marketing campaigns.

And we will be discussing this approach, “From Politics to Potato Chips” with our colleagues and clients at the Clorox Company at the Word of Mouth Basic Training 2 Conference scheduled for June 20-21 in San Francisco. There will more than 60 other speakers presenting case studies and “how to” sessions. We’ve arranged for a special $125 discount code for colleagues and associates.

Here are the details

WORD OF MOUTH BASIC TRAINING 2
June 20-21 — Hilton San Francisco
Register at http://womma.org/wombat2
Use discount code “beyondbloggingsentme” for $125 off

Categories: New Media, Events, Word of Mouth, PR Community
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This is a podcast interview I did with Andrew Noyes, the Associate Managing Editor for Washington Internet Daily and Associate Editor for Communications Daily. Andrew wrote a nice bit of coverage on some of the important highlights from the Beyond Blogging 2006 event last Friday. We wanted to go ‘beyond’ the reporting he did and get some more of his perspective on the subject. He is obviously another one of the bright people from DC who ‘gets it’.

We talked about several of the big pitcure topics discussed at the event as well as the personal/professional Blog debate and how Blogging and Journalism can co-exist. Unlike several of the mainstream media people I have met over the last year, he sees the advent of Blogging as a positive occurence, as it is a great source for story leads. This is definitely a podcast you want to hear…

Notes: The show was recorded using Gizmo Project from my iMac in San Francisco to the conference room telephone at Warren Communications News in DC. It is 17:59 in length and has pretty decent sound quality given the VOIP to POTS connectivity and the use of iSight as my microphone. If you don’t get Washington Internet Daily yet, you should take advantage of this free trial offer they have to see why it is a must read for yourself.

Download as MP3 File (2.2MB)

Listen Now:

Categories: Conversation, Authenticity, Podcasts, Word of Mouth
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Funny that Steve Rubel’s post “I Like Companies that say ‘We Suck’” came out when it did - guess the universal consciousness is bubbling up a big world-shifting idea once again. I have been working on a post all week about a similar topic, but I think Steve’s focus on companies admitting their faults does not go far enough. Yes, the tech companies have had a bit of experience with Mea Culpa’s over the years, and this is a requirement for the establishment of trust for an organization’s voice, but the real change that is needed is for companies to embrace all of the truth and their intentions in order to develop real trust within the Commons and amongst its customers. The sort of FUD that Microsoft used to masterfully deploy (and is now being put forth by Google) has no place in the world any longer.

While owning up to corporate short comings is a necessary component of trust, I see it more as philosophical shift towards more openess and being ‘real’ than simply admitting that a company sucks at something. No, I am not talking about giving away your client’s upcoming product plans three months before launch so a competitor can do it instead - that would be harmful rather than helpful. I am talking about letting employees and representatives behave like the real humans they are, rather than simply delivering the corporate spin and enforcing the seemingly hard and fast rules that ‘the system’ dictates.

Part of the problem is much bigger than any one company, it is an undercurrent that is sweeping away the industry. I spoke with Ed Keller about this briefly via email before the Beyond Blogging 2006 event last week. In his press release announcing TalkTrack, he referred to “Marketers”. Summarizing my conversation with him, I inquired whether he meant just marketing people or marketing and communications people. From his perspective the use of the term “marketer” was all inclusive of PR, Advertising, Research, Marketing, etc… Merriam Webster agrees with his definition, calling it “an aggregate of functions involved in moving goods from producer to consumer” but I see a need to redefine this understanding - to rebrand the marketing profession with not a makeover, but a “MakeReal”.

From my experience, and from the nature of a conversation I joined on Burning Bird with Shelley Powers in April, I have come to see that many people believe that marketing is evil and as such “Marketers” have a bad reputation. I won’t get into all the why’s here, but the main point was that the non-marketer general public sees the smarmy SALES tactics of some companies as marketing and this rubs off on all other aspects of the discipline. In certain parts of Silicon Valley, particularly the Open Source world and among many engineers, this is one of the leading causes of anti-consumerism. But like most anti-establishment rebellion, it is often more about an assertion of personal power and freedom in a world that seeks to impose power hierarchies and use fear of scarcity to control people who are left feeling helpless within a system that favors the rich corporations over the rights of the individual.

Tara Hunt picked up on this conversation with her post entitled “Marketing = Eeeeeeevil!” which contains some other great insights on this subject. While I agree with much of what she says in this regards, I disagree with her push for what she calls “Pinko Marketing“. To me, what she calls Pinko is really just a retelling of the original Cluetrain Manifesto - which she duly credits for much of the inspiration for her idea. The Cluetrain heavily influenced me and was a huge part of my original inspiration for pursuing the development of conversational intelligence software back in 1999 (before everyone but perhaps Intelliseek). While the principles are strong, the use of the term Pinko feels wrong, as does its association with communism.

I believe what we need to be talking about here is “Real Marketing“. As in keeping it real, being real and telling people what is really going on.

It may seem like merely a semantic difference, but there is a more fundamental shift of intention and focus at play here. Real Marketing is about matching products and services with the people who can truly benefit from those products and services. It is not about getting more people to buy something and maximizing market share. It is about getting the right people to purchase a product and helping them to get the most use out of it. It’s not about increasing sales for the purpose of making the numbers, it’s about getting more loyal customers who are obtaining real value from the product. It is about creating maximum efficiency in operations across the board - and that is only achieved by open and honest conversations.

As almost every panelist said at the event last week, we as “Marketers” can’t control the conversation any more - we can, however, participate in the conversation and facilitate certain portions of it. This reminds me of numerous meetings with almost every big client I have had around the issue of enabling open conversations through message boards or open comment systems. They were all ‘afraid’ of what people might say. Afraid that some truth might be exposed in regards to a product short coming, or a design defect, or a bad customer service experience. As I pleaded then, and still plead today - “THEY ARE ALREADY HAVING THESE CONVERSATIONS, AND YOUR VOICE IS NOT BEING HEARD BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T INVITE YOU TO JOIN THEM - THEY DON’T TRUST YOU!”

I have been working on a model of the stages of engagement in a customer relationship since my days of being Chief, eBusiness for the US Mint. While there are many deep things at play here in this model, the most fundamental premise here is that communicating the knowledge a customer needs to move through each stage of the relationship is the key - not advertising and not sales in the traditional sense. In this regards, I do agree with Edelman’s assertions on the potential for Communications Professionals to lead the way in the Social Media future we are just beginning to live today. Communications is conversation, so that is simple enough. I differ with them in that I see important roles for all practicioneers within the “Marketing and Communications Industry”. Advertising still has its place, as does research and an understanding of market segmentation.  What is needed is a more holistic approach that is centered on people.
Real Marketing means the end of empty hyperbole and hype. It is beyond the sales of Word of Mouth Units, the practical equivalent of increasing the volume of the sizzle - it is about increasing the nutritional value of the steak - about getting to the heart of what really matters. It still calls for the proper seasoning to make it tasty to the person consuming it, and we need to listen to whether the person wants that steak pink in the center or well done, but it is not so much about how many people hear that sizzling plate of Fajitas as it travels from the kitchen to the table. It has everything to do with people being able to get near real time information on what is in that dish, how it was prepared and what the people who have tasted it have to say about it. It is about the reputation of the restaurant, the description on the menu, the conversation with the server and the conversation over the shoulder with the person sitting next to you. It is about informed choices - it is about the market of conversation - it is about the market as conversation.

So what to do with this understanding? Blogging is a good place to start because it enables the sort of two-way dialogue that is essential for making Real Marketing work, but we definitely need to go ‘Beyond Blogging’ to make it Real. To really get the most from this however requires a fundamental shift in perspective - perhaps Don Miguel Ruiz’s Four Agreements might be a good place to start. Or better still, let’s start a conversation right here and try to get to the bottom of this together…

Categories: Blogging, Conversation, Authenticity, Word of Mouth, PR Community, Real Marketing
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As if we needed another proof point to demonstrate how blogging and the social Web is changing the face of communications, big news this week from Technorati, as they announce their partnership with the Associate Press:

Technorati Teams With The Associated Press to Connect Bloggers To More Than 440 Newspapers Nationwide

When readers visit an AP member Web site that uses AP Hosted Custom News, they will see a module featuring the “Top Five Most Blogged About” AP articles right next to the article text, dynamically powered by Technorati. Additionally, when readers click on an AP article, Technorati will deliver “Who’s Blogging About” that article.

As we know here in DC, the Wash Post has been doing a similar feature on their site for a while, but now it looks like the news synced with the blog article is going nationwide. Great news!

Categories: Uncategorized
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Prior to the start of the Beyond Blogging 2006 event in Washington DC on May 19, I sat down with Greg Gershman of BlogDigger to talk about what Beyond Blogging means to him and what he was looking to get out of the event. We spoke briefly about the remix culture and Creative Commons licensing - they have a Creative Commons search feature which is now in beta . Finally we spoke for a few minuntes about BlogDigger, his Baltimore based Blog search engine and the maturation of Blogging.

One of the great things about the technology market today is that there can be many companies offering somewhat similar services to different types of niches. The defintion of success is no longer IPO (particularly with Sarbanes Oxley). Companies are developing their own niche markets and learning to operate efficiently, perhaps even proftiably! They can build a solid business that provides for a nice life without all the haslles of being big and going public by working the Long Tail to the fullest of its potential.

I don’t know how big BlogDigger will ultimately become, but I can tell you that Greg Gershman is uber smart and has the potential for greatness with whatever he does. So don’t count him or any of the other competitors out in this nascent market.

Note: The interview is 8:28 in length.

Download as MP3 File (4MB)

Listen right now:

Categories: Blogging, Podcasts, From Event
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Though I have what appears to be a professional camera, I am sorely reminded of the fact that I still have a lot to learn with these photos I took at the event. While there were a couple of great shots in this set, I struggled with a very difficult lighting situation.  I shot over 290 photos of which only 51 made the cut.  Still, this photo set on Flickr tells a part of my story as I experienced the event - from working in the Fleishman Hillard offices on Thursday before the event, to a “Geek Dinner” I hosted at Daily Grill later that night and my journey to the Mayflower Hotel in the very, very, very early morning.

Take a look at the photos and see for yourself.  You may use any of these photos for your own purposes as long as you respect the Creative Commons License.

Carlen Lea also has a few photos that she posted right after the event.

If you have any photos you took, please let us know by adding a link in the comments below and tagging the photos with “BeyondBlogging2006″.

Categories: Speakers, From Event
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After the first panel session at the Beyond Blogging 2006 Thought Leaders Breakfast, I took advantage of the short break to sit down with Mitch Arnowitz of Tuvel Communications. Mitch and I spoke about the current state of the communications business and some of the high points of the morning sessions. Mitch is really doing a great job down in the trenches and has a real understanding of what Blogging and Community mean to his clients. The work he did with Netpreneur was instrumental in the development of many great companies and an exponentially greater number of careers (like mine).

Notes: The interview is 7:46 in length due to time constraints, we literally finished just as they were starting the second panel. My apologies to Mitch and all of you for not getting this posted earlier. I am finally back at my desk in San Francisco and working frantically to catch up on many open items - thankfully my data on the dead laptop was ok, but the laptop needs some work. Photos and more Blog posts to come shortly…

Download as MP3 File (3.4MB)

Listen right now:

Categories: Blogging, Podcasts
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In a major tip of the hat to the growing adoption of broadband around the world, Google has finally released “click to pay video ads” for its AdWords product. I previously saw this via Chris Pirrillo who was an early beta tester. I have been waiting for this for many years now, having first seen short video ads at Michael Tchong’s infamous Web Attack back in 1999 (unfortunately the Internet Archive’s WayBack Machine did not have the original site). I imagine Amanda and the good folks over at RocketBoom are going to be swamped with even more inquiries than they can handle once again.

The original post on the announcement is over at the official Inside AdWords Blog, with links to the loudly buzzing Blogosphere that are worth checking out, though I first caught wind of the announcement from my favorite Blog Filter, Tech Memeorandum which has recently been renamed TechMeme. If you are wondering what tech Bloggers are paying attention to each day, TechMeme is one of the better places where you can easily grab a quick insiders look at the current topics of conversation.

Categories: Blogging, Advertising, Online Marketing
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First, an enthusiastic thanks for what I thought was an outstanding event! I appreciate the invite to participate, and I can assure you I was stimulated and energized by the content. I thought Micah Sifry (”this is fundamentally about ‘Power’”) and Yvonne DiVita (highlighting the critical, often overlooked role of everyday women in the blogging revolution) were particularly insightful. One key issue that probably deserved more attention in you next event revolves around blogging and word-of-mouth ethics.

During my panel presentation, I introduced a new framework for making a key distinction between the type of Word-of-Mouth Ed Keller talked about in his key note, which I call “Intimate Word of Mouth,” versus an equally powerful (and potentially more pervasive) form of Word-of-Mouth (fueled in large measure by the explosion of blogs) known as “Incidental Word of Mouth.” I attempted to provide more clarity on this concept in an entry on my ConsumerGeneratedMedia.com blog today. Blogs, while linked together through social networks, are having their biggest impact in an indirect manner, especially vis-a-vis search, and this is a point often lost on large companies and brands. I certainly welcome comments, criticism, or pushback. - Pete Blackshaw

Categories: User Generated Content, Word of Mouth, Speakers
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It seems that most everyone came away from the Beyond Blogging 2006 event with something positive to say, though a few of the more seasoned veterans of the Blogosphere were perhaps hoping for a deeper dive into the topic.  Personally, I think it was just what the doctor ordered - a great discussion on the important philosophical shift at the foundation of this new media, a wide ranging discussion on the strategies that work and practical advice for what to go out and do today.

Check out what Bloggers are saying yourself by seeing who is linking to this Blog from Technorati.

The really good news in this is that it seems the event was a catalyst to form a community around this topic for ongoing discussion and the occasional face to face gathering.  We are going to be thinking about how this might look over the next week or two and would love to hear your thoughts on what’s next and what specifically you would like to see.  Personally, it seemed that many people wanted to get away from the panel format and engage in direct conversation with one another.  In my world, this calls for an Unconference - while very, very preliminary discussions have barely begun in this regards, I am hopeful that we will be able to put something together in the near future.

And now a brief, personal pause.

My iBook died on the plane out of DC on Saturday evening, which has caused me all sorts of pains and a real feeling of loss.  In addition to losing all of the photographs I took at the event, there were a couple of Blog posts I had written and not posted, a presentation I was finishing for the NetSquared Conference next week and all sorts of other stuff that I had put together while in DC. Thankfully, I think the podcasts I recorded with Greg and Mitch during the event are stll on the MP3 Recorder, so those should be posted in the next 24-48 hours.

Hopefully, the Genius Bar at Apple will be able to recover most of the data tomorrow, and this pause will be short.  Though I really want and could use a MacBook Pro, I had wanted to wait for another generation of them to get the kinks worked out first.

On a separate, but important note, I wanted to let you know that the comments are being moderated on this Blog, but all legitimate comments are approved, including the non-flattering ones.  I have already had to delete a few inappropriate comments (one blatantly promotional and one patently offensive).  Thankfully Akismet seems to catch all the Splog that comes this way, so not much to do on that front.  I mention this now so that you will know why a comment might not appear very quickly over the next couple of days as I deal with my laptop troubles.  We are discussing having unmoderated comments as the dialogue begins to pick up, but no decisions have been made yet.  If  more people are talking here beyond myself and a few key Fleishman Hillard employees, it may just make more sense to have it open and free flowing.

OK, so it is time for bed now - I have a 7am tee time with my 90 year old grandfather and I am going to need a good night’s rest if I have any hopes of keeping up with him tomorrow morning.  Should be done and at the Apple store before it opens at 10am… 

Categories: Events, PR Community
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