Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Global Social Network Figures

When any global company undertakes a social media strategy, there is an expectation that even company-wide initiatives will need to be customized for each region. Whether it's local customs, language or even the device on which the networks are accessed, it's vastly different all over the world. Facebook does not rule the world.

Not yet at least. ;-)

The growth of social networks globally is a sure thing. The question is, where are they growing and which networks are dominant in which markets? Last year, I shared some statistics. Naturally, things have changed.

Here are some interesting graphics, courtesy of Vinco's Blog, that tell the story on social networks around the world.

Here's a breakdown of top three social networks in the top 10 markets:

Is there anything you'd add? Are there social networks in your region that seem to be springing up? What's the next big thing that will spread beyond borders? Drop a comment below and let us know what you're thinking.

Labels: global, news, social networks

Posted by Scott Monty at 10:43 AM

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Monday, November 16, 2009

Enough Is Enough

The spam and other unsolicited DMs I've been getting on Twitter have finally gotten to me. And I'm going to be taking action.

A Bit of Background

You know the kind of direct messages I'm talking about, all with spammy links in them:

"Is this you on here?"

"I just gave you a High Five! Check it out"

"Hey, I got some free ringtones from here"

"Hey, can you take this quiz thingy?"

"I found out my IQ. You should too."

"I lost a bunch of weight doing this."

And many, many more.

Lots of the direct messages I get are of the automated sort when people first start following me. Having been someone who used to do that - mainly to let people know how I preferred to communicate - I can understand the need to do that. But what I've been seeing lately is out of control. It's gotten to the point where these disruptive DMs have crippled my ability to monitor and respond to legitimate direct messages. I'm spending more time deleting or ignoring messages, at the risk of missing messages from people I want to hear from.

Reciprocity

For a long time, I've believed that when someone follows me on Twitter, it's common courtesy to follow them back. What I have to say shouldn't be any more important than what anyone else has to say - that's one of the great features of social networks: true democracy at work. I realize that this isn't everyone's style, but it's been something I consciously chose to do.

A tool I've used pretty successfully to manage this (rather than eat up my time manually following people back) has been SocialOomph, which was previously known as TweetLater. It allows you to automatically follow (and unfollow) people back, among other nifty features.

But lately, my Twitter stream as well as my direct message inbox has been polluted with spammy posts. The recent addition of Twitter lists, which have allowed me to begin to categorize some of the people I follow, has been helpful - you can check mine out here - but I'm finding it's not enough.

No More

I've decided that from now on, I can no longer afford to follow people back automatically, so I'm suspending that feature from my SocialOomph account. If you wish to be followed by me, you'll have to request it and I'll have to ensure that what you're saying provides value to me.

In addition, I'm going to be unfollowing anyone who spams me with these Facebook-like apps that send automated direct messages or anyone who DMs or @s me their latest money-making schemes.

I haven't gotten to the point where I'm purging and rebuilding my Twitter followers, nor do I feel like I need to go that extreme thanks to the addition of lists, but if this level of spammy behavior keeps up, I may have to revisit that decision.

I suppose this is a natural extension of a service or platform going mainstream. But for those who use Twitter for more meaningful connections and communications, it's frustrating. I hope that Twitter management has a plan to try to minimize this.

Update: reader Andy Michaels notes that SocialOomph has an opt-out service that takes care of automated DMs.

Image credit: Chris Pirillo (Flickr)

Labels: news, trends, Twitter

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:07 AM

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

When Worlds Collide

Well, it's finally here. Twitter and LinkedIn have decided to combine forces. This is pretty significant, and I know that it'll make it easier to share job opportunities and other more networking opportunities that are more professional in nature.

I won't bore you with all of the details, but you can now update your LinkedIn status via Twitter, and your Twitter status from LinkedIn. If you'd like to see how to go about it, check out the post on the LinkedIn blog.

One of the features I like best is how you can select which updates you want posted to LinkedIn - everything or just those posts tagged with #in.

In December of 2008, I predicted that Twitter would attain legitimacy in 2009. Aside from it being used by pretty much every major media outlet, not to mention a good number of celebrities, I think we're there. The fact that a site as grounded in the business world as LinkedIn would choose to align with Twitter is a huge nod to the 140 character service.

Of course, two things need to be considered as these seemingly different worlds come together:

1. If LinkedIn is the business meeting and Twitter is the cocktail party, we need to be very careful with the alcohol intake at work, so to speak. ;-)

2. Twitter has its own language - some of which can be very confusing to outsiders. As our updates cross into new territory, we need to be mindful of how our networks understand us. This tweet from Mandi Engram says it all:

So there you have it. Twitter. LinkedIn. Two great tastes that taste great together. Or something like that.

What do you think? Will you use this service?

Image credit: K e v i n (Flickr)

Labels: LinkedIn, news, social networks, trends, Twitter

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:04 PM

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Friday, October 02, 2009

Recent Facebook Demographics

If you get a chance, check out the latest statistics from InsideFacebook.com. Please keep in mind that these are only number for the United States. But there are some things that stand out:

Looking at percentages, the highest growth rate is coming from the over-45 demographic:

While the absolute number of members is smaller in that group, the growth rate is fascinating to watch. I would imagine this will eventually slow, as we've seen with the younger demographic, until it normalizes. In anecdotal conversations, I'm finding that many people from this demographic are using Facebook to connect with high school and college friends (especially as we move into reunion time), stay in touch with children and grandchildren, and even begin to use it for some business networking purposes.

Another worthwhile graph from the post breaks down current U.S. users by age:

If you bundle up the groups, you'll find that the 35 and older crowd makes up 38% of Facebook's population here in the U.S. Pretty cool when you consider that Facebook started about five years ago as a college-based tool.

And finally, looking at gender, we find that - in every single segment - there are more female users than male users of Facebook:

While we know that overall women use social networks more than men, I wonder how many of us are using that knowledge to effectively feed our marketing and communications programs? Seems like there's a good opportunity there.

Do any of these data strike you differently? Can you draw any conclusions or make inferences that I've missed? Let me know.

Chart credit: InsideFacebook.com

Posted via web from The Full Monty

Labels: facebook, news, social networks, trends

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:56 AM

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Friday, July 10, 2009

Facebook Age Demographics

"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety"

- Antony & Cleopatra, Act II, Scene 2.

It's pretty easy to fall into the trap of assuming that Facebook is a young person's game; after all, it was created by a college student and was only available to individuals with .edu email addresses originally. But ever since it opened to the general public in late 2006, the age demographic has been expanding.

According to a report in March of 2009, Inside Facebook noted that there were more Facebook users 26-44 than 18-25 today. And in a separate report, they also noted that Facebook is seeing massive increases in adoption among users 35-65. In fact, the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is still women over 55.

Fast forward to today - looking at the 70 million-plus users from the U.S. on Facebook - and you've got a remarkable statistic: over one-third of Facebook's users are over the age of 35. And about half of that group is in the 45+ age range.

Personally, I can attest to the number of people who are using it for reconnecting with old high school and college friends. I've heard from my fair share of people from times long past. [Side note: it's kind of ironic that Facebook is somewhat returning to its college roots.]

I would imagine that the older demographic is also using it somewhat for work purposes; I'd be interested in seeing a breakdown of data on how each age group uses the tool - what percent for work, what percent for personal, and which use it for both. I have a strong suspicion that there'd be a spike in the third category.

Of the recent growth, some of it is attributable to more activity from parents, relatively speaking, since the kids are home from college. It will be interesting to see if that level of activity is just a summer anamoly or if it continues.

What do you think of these numbers? Any surprises here for you?

Labels: facebook, news, social networks, trends

Posted by Scott Monty at 5:49 PM

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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Creo Que Si

Social networks in Latin America are pretty strong. Here's a chart from a recent comScore report that looks at the penetration rate of social networking sites and their relative growth over the last year.

In case you can't make out the fine print, the overall penetration rate of social networks in Latin America is a whopping 87.2%. This is for ages 15 and up, at home and at work, not including mobile access and Internet cafes.

I would argue, that based in high mobile phone usage in these countries, the percentage of social network users would be even higher.

Oh, and the most common social networks in Latin America? MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, Orkut and Sonico, according to comScore.

Labels: facebook, myspace, news, social networks, study

Posted by Scott Monty at 12:25 AM

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Friday, January 02, 2009

What's In It for YOU?

When the one year turns into the next, it's human nature to become reflective. Rather than do a best-of post or look at what I've written, I thought I'd turn this post over to you.

I'll admit that this is not a totally original idea. My friends and social media colleagues Todd Defren and Jake McKee have both done so as well.

It Is All About You
Essentially what I'd like to know is this: what would you like to see me write about in 2009?

Would you like me to write more about blogging techniques? Or tips for using Twitter? Or maybe developments in Facebook? News, information, statistics, and studies from the marketing and social media industry? I know I've spent a lot of time writing about Ford lately, but would you like to see more case studies from my work?

Maybe I'm missing the boat completely. But I'd like your input, either in the comments section, through an email, or Twitter. Let me know what kind of information you'd find most helpful.

If you don't already do so, please consider subscribing to this blog. It's free, painless, and calorie-free for all of your 2009 resolutions.

Photo credit: Karthik Sudhir [Aperture K]

Labels: blogging, communities, news

Posted by Scott Monty at 8:49 AM

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Sunday, November 23, 2008

How You Can Use Social Media to Help the U.S. Auto Industry

UPDATE: Since I wrote this post, we've created a site that has much of this comprehensive information on it. You can find it at The Ford Story. It would be great if you could check it out & share it.

It's been a rough week. And for someone who is new to the auto industry, this is truly a test.

I don't usually talk directly about my work unless it's something truly worth sharing. As such, I'd like you to indulge me a little here, because there's some important information that I would like to share.

Throughout the past week, I've been engaging directly with people on Twitter and where possible on blog posts. Because I was at the L.A. Auto Show, my exposure to all of the conversation wasn't as broad as it might have been.

And at Ford, our social media efforts are just in their nascency. My colleagues at GM have a pretty strong team in place, while I'm just one guy doing what I can. Since Ford doesn't yet have a robust public platform in the social media space, it's largely been a matter of individual engagement. And for much of the week, it's been like fighting a forest fire with a squirt gun.

So I'm resorting to my blog to share what I know and what my own perspective is, and hopefully, with your cooperation, to help the ailing U.S. auto industry in the process. While I'm supportive of the whole industry, my views will naturally be skewed to Ford, because it's the topic I'm most familiar with and loyal to. So, let's begin at the beginning.

Spring 2008

When I interviewed with Ford, it was at an exciting time: Ford has just announced a first-quarter profit, its first in a long time, on the way to CEO Alan Mulally's plan to make the company profitable by 2009. One of the reasons I took the job was because of the innovation and exciting product developments that I discovered as part of the hiring process. [Aside: It was enough to make me move from Boston to Detroit - and believe me, I had a healthy dose of East Coast snobbery that didn't think to highly of Detroit. I obviously learned enough to overcome that.]

But now, we stand in a much different place, after gas prices spiked, the commodity markets doubled, the housing crunch hit, and the credit markets dried up. All of those negatively impacted the auto industry and they happened in less than one fiscal quarter. It was a rapid and stunning downturn that no one could have predicted.

Could I ever have guessed that the industry and the economy would have stalled? Hardly. Yet I remain incredibly optimistic about Ford's future and commitment to making great cars that people want and value.

The problem is, our story hasn't had the chance to be fully (and fairly) told yet. We're getting beaten down daily by the media, Congress, and everywhere I turn online. We're not desperate for cash, nor are we trying to scare the public with scenarios of doom & gloom. Ours is a story of transformation that's already underway that means we're poised for success.

My goal here is not to get into a semantic discussion about how a Chapter 11 filing might look (or the possibility of a Chapter 7 liquidation), or to debate supply and demand economics; nor is it to pick apart any public relations gaffes that may have occurred; nor is it to point fingers and try to lay the blame squarely at any one of the myriad players in this tragic drama.

My hope is that you'll read on and take in some of the information I'm going to share. In the end, you'll have to make up your own mind. But I'm asking you to do it in an informed way, rather than making an emotionally-charged knee-jerk reaction to what's going on in Detroit and Washington.

And in addition to reading, watching and listening to the content I'm sharing, I sincerely ask you to do this:

Some time, in the near future, get out there, visit a local
Ford | Lincoln | Mercury dealership and actually try out one of our latest vehicles and decide for yourself. Drive One.

Advances at Ford
Let me share with you a few facts about Ford which you may not be aware of. Many of them are centered around our Drive One campaign: Drive Safe. Drive Green. Drive Quality. Drive Smart. And we're making progress in every area.

Ford's CEO, Alan Mulally is just 2 years on the job. He was recruited from Boeing and is highly respected (and wholly likable). It is his vision for ONE Ford - a truly global company - that is driving much of the transformation that is currently under way.

Ford's vehicle mix was about 70% trucks & SUVs (largely because we were giving people exactly what they demanded in times of cheap gas); we have restructured to produce 60% cars & crossovers.

We're changing over some of our truck & SUV manufacturing facilities to become car plants, with the flexible manufacturing capability; that is, if we need to change from car to truck or back again, it can be done in a matter of hours rather than a matter of months.

We're using our successful European & South American manufacturing models to bring the more of those outstanding small cars to the United States.
We're committed to being best-in-class or among the best-in-class in fuel economy in every vehicle we produce.
We've doubled the number of hybrids we offer - these include the Ford Escape Hybrid, the most fuel-efficient SUV in the world; and the Ford Fusion Hybrid, which will beat the Toyota Camry hybrid by at least 6 mpg.

We're launching the Eco-Boost engine, which will scale across most of our fleet, increasing fuel economy by up to 20% and reducing CO2 emissions by up to 15%

None of Ford's vehicles require premium gasoline.

We're actively testing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), battery-powered electric vehicles (BEV), hydrogen, compressed natural gas, and more. We won't release new products until we know that we have the capacity to produce them in a way that people can afford them.

Ford is committed to affordable fuel economy for millions of people

We're environmentally friendly in many, many aspects of our business. It not only includes the vehicles we make, but the before and after effects as well. For example:

We're using soy in creating seat cushions

Replacing petroleum-based manufactured parts with plant-based polyol in (thus reducing our carbon footprint

Creating materials that more easily biodegrade at the end of the car's life

The lights shut off at the World Headquarters at 6:30 and I have to dial a code on the phone if I want more power, and tell the system how many more minutes I need

I use Ford pencils made from recycled denim

Our Rouge factory has the largest green roof in the world

Our Dagenham, UK facilities are powered by wind turbines

Facilities in Spain have solar panels

Overall, take a look at the company's Blueprint for Sustainability, available both as a microsite as well as a downloadable PDF. Take the time to peruse what's there. You may be surprised.
Our SYNC technology integrating most phones and mp3 players (including iPods and the iPhone) into the sound system of the car.

The next generation of SYNC with Sirius Travel link gets you real-time updates on gas prices, weather, sports scores, traffic and more.

SYNC's new 911 assist will call for help automatically in the event of a crash, using your cellphone and connecting you directly to emergency personnel

Ford is now equal to Toyota & Honda in initial quality, according to both J.D. Powers & Associates and Consumer Reports

Ford's vehicles have more 5-star safety ratings than any other automaker. Ever.

The new Ford MyKey system will create opportunities for parents to communicate with their teenage drivers about safe driving skills.

Developments such as the Blind Spot Information System, Collision Warning with Brake Support, Lane Departure Warning and Cross Traffic Alert and Rear Sensing System will give drivers more warning when they need to take evasive action in order to avoid an accident.

For more about the current developments at Ford, check out Ford Digital Snippets and subscribe via RSS and follow @FordDriveOne on Twitter.

Aside from the remarkable developments being made daily at Ford, there's another aspect to this that concerns me. Throughout all of this turmoil, I think we're forgetting that there have been sacrifices made on all sides:

The UAW - much vilified in many circles - has made concessions and continues to be willing to work with management on progress. This is no longer a "we vs. them" mentality, from what I've seen.

In early 2008, Ford made a 15% cut to its workforce (white collar and blue collar) and another 10% will be cut in January 2009.

No one - no one - will receive bonuses in 2008, nor will they receive raises in 2009

Ford's Chairman, Bill Ford, has not taken a salary since 2005, and he has pledged not to take one until the company returns to profitability.

UPDATED: Furthermore, Bill Ford has not received any dividends since the company stopped giving them; and any bonuses he received he donated to charity - specifically Ford scholarships for college-bound high school graduates.

Personally, I have seen and met most, if not all, of the executive team at Ford, and I can strongly vouch for them being hardworking, decent people who honestly want the best for the company, our customers, and every employee. I'm a pretty good judge of character, and I wouldn't be so loyal to Ford if I didn't completely believe in this team and the leadership.

Finally, I'd like to leave you with a thought about America being there for the U.S. auto industry. Let's not forget that in tougher times, the auto industry has always been there for the country. In World War II, factories were converted into airplane and ship manufacturing facilities, forgoing automotive manufacturing. Just after September 11, all of the auto companies offered 0% financing to the American public, to get us through the difficult economic times.

What is America doing for the auto industry today?

What You Can Do to Help
Here are a few suggestions I've got where we might be able to band together. If you have others, please leave a comment below.

1. Share what you discover
I've established a Delicious page for the U.S. Auto Industry; if you see any articles, videos, audio files or anything related to the support or the industry, please tag it "for:US_Auto_Industry" in your Delicious account and I'll add it to the list.

Oh, and perhaps you'd care to Digg/Stumble/etc. this post.

2. Get active
My colleagues at GM commissioned the Facebook cause Support the U.S. Economy by Supporting the U.S. Auto Industry. If you add this cause to your Facebook profile, you can invite others to join as well. There are already 6,500 members, but there should be more.

3. Educate yourself
As I noted above, there's a stunning lack of knowledge or understanding about the complexities of the auto industry and what affects it. I don't profess to be completely aware of all of it myself. But if you'd like to read a few articles that dispel some of the myths, you can start with these:

There are more available on the US Auto Industry Delicious page.

4. Drive One.
As I said before, the best way to understand what I'm talking about here is to physically try one of our products. If you haven't been in one recently, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Go to our Drive One site and check out the webisodes there. Share them. Embed them. Tell people how Ford is already innovating.

5. Watch and share this video
This is an amazing example of a real-life Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Everyone should see this.

Below is a transcript of the Rep. McCotter's opening remarks. You may also download it directly here.

McCotter Transcript

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Business Trade and Commerce economy automotive

Thank you for your time in reading this rather lengthy post. It's obviously something I'm passionate about. I hope you can do your part.

Photo credit: detroitderek

Labels: auto, Ford, news, social media, Twitter

Posted by Scott Monty at 6:45 PM

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Sunday, October 26, 2008

"When It Is Darkest, We See the Stars"

That quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson, and it's entirely fitting in today's society, with the global economy in the dumps and companies turning to digital solutions for smarter, more cost-effective ways of connecting with customers.

As I mentioned in my last post, there are some great folks out there that you should be following, who do the industry a great service by sharing their thoughts with us on a regular basis. And I've got an opportunity for you to hear from some of them directly.

In this case, my friends and communications colleagues Geoff Livingston and Shashi Bellamkonda have put together a unique program called the “Solutions Stars Video Conference,” which consists of over 30 experts in SEO, social media and communications. Filmed at Blog World Expo in Las Vegas last month, this video conference is hosted by Network Solutions and will happen on Wednesday, October 29 from 1:00 - 3:30 p.m. Eastern time.

The entire list is below - it's quite the lineup of stars. If you haven't had the chance to see any of these people at a conference, this is an amazing opportunity to see all of them in one place - and for FREE!

The focus of the conference is helping small- to medium-size business owners and entrepreneurs on how the Internet can benefit their business. Nine content areas featuring vignettes of the Solutions Stars will run during the conference, and you'll be able to choose the segments you'd like to watch:

Building Web Presence
The Social Opportunity
Start with Listening
Strategy Drives Outreach
You Need Social Networks
To Blog or Not to Blog
Visibility Through Search
Rising Above the Noise
Time Demands

And here's who you'll be hearing from throughout the 90-minute session:

If you visit http://solutionsstarsvideo.com, you can bookmark the page and come back on Wednesday for the full program. And if that's not enough, Geoff and Shashi will be available via ooVoo (my "oober"-cool former client) for live video chat during the sessions.

I hope you find it a valuable use of your time.

Labels: news, social media, speaking, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:48 AM

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Monday, October 06, 2008

Global Social Media News

Part of my responsibility at Ford is to set strategy for the company globally on social media activities. So when DM News called to ask for an interview, I talked about what some of the challenges are at a multinational corporation.

Recently, I discovered that my interview was front page news over at DMNews.com. Called "Social Media Goes Global," I was quoted, along with Shiv Singh, VP of media and global strategies at Avenue A/Razorfish and Bob Pearson, VP of communities and conversations at Dell. Here are some excerpts from the piece:

Ford is not the only company that realizes the marketing opportunities of social media — from social networks and blogs to videos and photo-sharing — as it expands to every region of the world. However, US brands looking to leverage social networks internationally know that while their messages need to stay consistent regardless of the region, the language, cultural reference points, platform and tactics all need to be tailored for each market.

“There are different social media sites used in Brazil than in India or in the UK,” [Monty] says. “So we need to be sensitive what the most popular social media sites in these regions are [as well as] the region-specific differences in the ways people consume content and interact with each other online.”

“We're interested in the global aspect of social media, but we also realized it has applications across the company,” Monty says. “Whether it is customer service, IT, HR, or product development, there are a number of uses for social media. And when you add to that all of our constituents — customers, employees, shareholders, dealers, retirees — it becomes a very complex assignment.”

You may recall an earlier post titled Social What? which had a handy graphic delineating the top social networks in many countries. It's worth checking out as a handy guide.

Any global advice or experience you'd care to share?

Labels: Ford, news, social media, strategy

Posted by Scott Monty at 8:45 AM

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Saturday, September 06, 2008

All Things in Moderation

My good friend Aaron Strout (@astrout) at Mzinga asked me to participate in a webinar on moderation and community management.

This is an important topic that is important for companies to understand, whether they write a corporate blog or manage an enthusiast community. Knowing how to engage with commenters, leaders and detractors alike, and how to understand what's appropriate to post and what's fair game to ban - these are key items for community managers and brand managers everywhere.

I'll be joined by Mike Pasucci, Director of Moderation Services at Mzinga, who was formerly part of eBay, and Aaron Strout, VP of Community at Mzinga will act as moderator. I'd be delighted if you tuned in as well, because we'll have some time for Q&A during the webinar.

Details:
Tuesday, September 9 at 2:30 p.m. EDT
Learn about:

Key components of effective community management
Multiple moderation techniques and advice on which are best for your business
Industry statistics on the link between effective moderation and management, and community success
Featured case studies from leading brands with thriving communities

Labels: news

Posted by Scott Monty at 8:07 AM

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Monday, July 21, 2008

Two for the Price of One!

I'm very happy to share the news that two of my favorite social media consultants will now be under one roof: Social Media Group, headed by Maggie Fox, is acquiring Livingston Communications, which is run by Geoff Livingston. This will make SMG the world's largest independent social media marketing consultancy.

Both Maggie and Geoff have been friends for quite a while - I think Maggie was an early commenter on my blog and a regular correspondent - and Geoff has been on my radar for more than a year, especially with his trip to Boston and the release of his acclaimed book Now Is Gone.

Social Media Group has been instrumental in advancing Ford Motor Company (my employer) into the digital space by providing Digital Snippets - SMG's version of social media news releases (SMNRs) with handy portable information on major Ford initiatives.

The new SMG will continue to work with me at Ford, providing even more robust strategic and tactical advice on our initiatives - because I need as much help as I can get in my busy role (and because Maggie, Geoff and team are much smarter than me). I look forward to working with them.

Labels: Ford, Geoff Livingston, Maggie Fox, news, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:00 AM

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Sunday, July 20, 2008

Television Viewership Grows - Just Not on TV

This may and may not come as a surprise to you. The thing that grabbed my attention was that Americans are viewing more television than ever before . I thought that it would have dropped off recently, with the advent of the other ways people are spending their time. But it appears that commercial TV is growing by 1 percent a year.

The part that didn't surprise me has to do with viewing habits: the viewership of television on various types of media skews when you look at different age groups.

Most interesting to me are the 35-44 and 45-54 age groups: both show a significant increase of viewing video online rather than on TV; and the 25-34 cohort shows a twofold increase in viewing mobile video over TV.

This is only going to continue to skew as technology advances. We just need to ask ourselves if we're ready for more advertising interruptions on our mobile devices and if we'll settle for the same-old same-old pre-roll that we've come to expect in online video. As Hulu has shown, people have no problem accepting limited and clearly demarcated commericals in return for high-quality video on demand.

The real question is, where will we the viewers draw the line? How much is too much and what should we give up if we're not paying to watch online video? And if we're paying for mobile access to multimedia, should we be free from commercial interruptions? What do you think?

Labels: mobile, news, television, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:25 PM

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Saturday, July 12, 2008

Thank You, My Friends

This is the last post I'll be writing from the Boston area - or at least as a full-time resident of the Boston area - for the foreseeable future. I've lived in the region for 20 years and I've developed a number of friends and colleagues in the area, many through the advent of social media over the last couple of years.

Last night, I was roasted by a number of people who were kind enough to give up their Friday night and turn out for a very unique and memorable event. Instigated by none other than Chris Brogan and flawlessly orchestrated by John Wall, I was the recipient of fun-filled barbs at my expense.

Admittedly, I'm an easy target for a roast, but when stacked up against the auto industry and Detroit, there's an abundance of material. Last night's roasters spared no expense. They included:

Susan Getgood - was a fine dinner companion who refrained from flinging insults at the end of the evening.
Todd Van Hoosear - a man with Michigan roots himself, he set me up with the 3-1-3 gang hand gesture that might get me out of a jam if caught in downtown Detroit
John Wall - who noted that my new color a crayon should be "turd brown"
Laura "Pistachio" Fitton - who still thinks there's an opportunity to monetize our Twitter concept
Chris Brogan - who thought that crayon's thinning ranks should result in the company renaming itself "pencil"
Adam Zand - favoring his Elton glasses, he played the Henry-Ford-was-a-Nazi card
Len Edgerly - a class act, if ever I met one, he used skills akin to Sherlock Holmes to deduce why I would choose to go to Ford
Doug Haslam - he compared me to that other Renaissance man, George Plimpton, leaving me with a copy of Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback. He also showed a copy of my crayon resignation letter:

John manned the control panel and took care of the audio recording of the entire event. I've got to say, I have a very funny and talented group of friends who unleashed without mercy. Since I've got a good sense of humor, I took it all in the spirit it was meant, but I also got a chance to offer a rebuttal.

If you're not familiar with the concept of a roast, check out the Wikipedia definition. According to tradition at the Friars Club, "we only roast the ones we love."

I'm reminded of what the Wizard said to the Tin Man about his heart:

A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.

And after last night, my heart is filled with gratitude for the tribute paid to me by my friends, and not a little sadness for leaving Boston behind. It's a major hotbed of social media, with many bright, creative and selfless people. It's not going to be the same without you.

Farewell, my Boston friends. I look forward to many more interactions, both online and off, where I'm sure we'll continue our collaborations and our friendship.

Labels: fun, news, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 2:32 PM

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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Now That's One Savvy Entrepreneur

Actually, I should probably say "Auntrepreneur." That's one term that's a good description for Melanie Notkin, the found of SavvyAuntie, a new online community for - you guessed it - aunts.

Now before you start wondering about the relevance of a site specifically for aunts, just take a moment and think about all of the women in your life who aren't mothers. Odds are they've got nieces & nephews, either through family or friends. These are what Savvy Auntie calls ABRs or ABCs - Aunts by Relation or Aunts by Choice.

This demographic has long been ignored, or at least not catered to the way that parents have been. And that's where SavvyAuntie.com comes in.

One of the most shrewd observations about the PANK (Professional Aunt, No Kids) demographic is that these are professional women with disposable income. Marketing to parents assumes discretionary income exists, but most parents are weighed down by significant costs already, such as mortgage, saving for college, and household expenses related to raising kids.

SavvyAuntie opens up the world of parenting advice and support for non-parents, providing sections titled Expertise, Activities, Gifts and Community designed just for Aunts and their perspective. For a more comprehensive review of the site, check out Mashable's write-up.

I think it's a - dare I say it - savvy business move. The site really provides something that fills a gap, plus it has real value, aside from the cool "Web 2.0" concept. I'm also honored to be on the advisory board for SavvyAuntie, where I'll be offering advice on social media marketing.

What I like most about this entire venture is that Melanie is an active member of the social media community - she writes a blog about her experiences in founding and running SavvyAuntie, and she's a very active and generous member of Twitter, where she continuously engages with others. I know this has been a significant method of getting out the word about the site, getting to know experts who in some cases have joined the advisory board, and most importantly, getting ideas and input for making the site as robust as it could be.

But don't take my word for it; check out the site yourself. What do you think? Is this something that has some potential? Are there other features that should be included?

Labels: communities, news, SavvyAuntie, social networks

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:05 AM

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Monday, June 16, 2008

Why I'm Blue

In branding and design, color plays an important role in evoking emotions. It also plays a key role in my life - in general, as well as at crayon, where I'm fortunate enough to be called "Consigliere."

When I joined crayon, I chose Midnight Blue as my official color - I believe I explained that here previously. It's the color of my blog, of one of the many sports coats you'll see me in, and a color that tends to inspire the sort of impression from clients that a consultant wants.

According to Brain Based Biz, Blue signifies:

Confidence, travel, freedom, truth, professionalism, wealth and power. Also tranquility, dependable, acceptance, patience, understanding, cooperation, comfort, loyalty and security. It is one of the most calming colors and is associated with the sky and the sea, intelligence, reassurance, and trust.

In short, it's a traditional, conservative and corporate color.

So perhaps it should be no surprise that my corporate genes have finally gotten the better of me and I'll be leaving the startup life at crayon to join the very blue corporate ranks. In fact, I'll be joining a company that's got one of the most recognized logos in the world incorporating the color blue. Next month, I'll be joining Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), to head the social media efforts there.

My time with crayon has been rewarding as I've had the opportunity to work with some marketing and social media greats like Joseph Jaffe, Greg Verdino, C.C. Chapman, Steve Coulson, Gary Cohen, while just missing working with Shel Holz and Neville Hobson. And it's been gratifying working with clients like Coca-Cola, American Airlines, Audi, ooVoo and more, who are all experimenting with conversational marketing in one form or another.

Now I'll have the opportunity to work with another talented team of communications executives at Ford, as well as Maggie Fox and the Social Media Group, who have been so successful in launching Digital Snippets with Ford.

Of course, it means leaving the Boston area and relocating out to Dearborn. There are so many friends and colleagues that I'll be leaving behind, particularly in the social media field. Having been here for nearly 20 years, it's going to be difficult to move on. You might even say I'm feeling a little blue.

But I'm looking forward to new friends and opportunities, and the prospect of building a solid digital communications strategy from within a company, making a difference to customers, employees, partners and stakeholders. It's going to be a nice ride.

Photo credit: Financial Aid Podcast

Labels: crayon, Ford, news, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:46 PM

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Monday, May 05, 2008

Back to Basics: B2B

When I first started writing this blog, it was focused on social media in the b-to-b space. I was working at a B2B agency at the time so it made sense, plus I saw a lot of potential.

Fast forward to today. I've broadened the focus of the blog (sacrilege!) but I've probably become better known for offering perspectives on the tools and my level of knowledge in general (or you tell me what I'm known for). But occasionally I dabble back into business-to-business applications, because there are some worthy examples and that market is finally starting to catch up.

Which makes a perfect segue to refer to a conference at which I'll be speaking in Boston next month: the Marketing Profs Business to Business Forum 2008. There are going to be some heavy hitters there, talking about all sorts of marketing in the b-to-b space:

Marketing Profs own Roy Young and Ann Handley will be there;
Valeria Maltoni, that Conversation Agent, will talk about making your site engaging for your customers;
My colleague Greg Verdino will walk everyone through the essence behind how to stay current with trends to support your business acumen;
Boston's own Chris Brogan will talk about social media and sales leads;
The inimitable David Meerman Scott will give one of his famous keynotes;
I'll be on a panel with Lewis Green and Robin Carey moderated by Paul Dunay titled "Is Social Media Harder for B2B vs. B2C?"

This is but a small sampling of the entire conference. Take a look at the conference web page and see what you think. And since you're a faithful subscriber to my blog (you have subscribed for free, right?), let me offer you something in return: if you sign up to attend this blockbuster conference and submit the code ESPK08, you can get $200 off the price of registration - make it $350 off if you register before May 19.

I hope you'll take the opportunity to avail yourself of some of the best current thinking on this subject today and consider attending. If you do show up, please introduce yourself, as I'd be delighted to meet you.

Labels: Chris Brogan, Greg Verdino, MarketingProfs, news, speaking

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:08 PM

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Friday, April 11, 2008

Doing Good with Influencer Outreach

Last week on Media Bullseye, Connie Reece wrote about the overnight success of the Frozen Pea Fund, a charity that sprang to life in response to the cancer diagnosis of fellow blogger and Twitter community member Susan Reynolds. If you haven't done so, please take a look at Connie's article, to get the full story - I couldn't possibly do it justice here.

She concluded her post by alluding to ooVoo (a client of my employer, crayon) and the promotion that we called My ooVoo Day With... In short, we asked two dozen bloggers, podcasters and authors to use ooVoo to connect with their respective communities to talk about anything they wanted to. And as a way to thank them for their valuable time, ooVoo generously agreed to give $1,500 in their names primarily to the Frozen Pea Fund (or to any charity they felt passionate about).

The event was a major success, with over 450 seats filled over the course of 10 days, resulting in some 187 blog posts about the program in the month of February, as well as 1,600 mentions of ooVoo on Twitter. Many of the posts and mentions were from participants on the chats, so our idea of using the technology to influence other influencers was borne out.

More importantly, we helped out some other great charities in the process, thanks to these hosts: Scott Sigler -$1,500 to the Disabled American Veterans; Irina Slutsky - $1,500 to Pie Ranch; C.C. Chapman - $750 to Whitney Hoffman's Ma Chen Autism School fund; David Meerman Scott - $1,500 to the Massachusetts Air & Space Museum; Karen Putz - $750 to Hands & Voices.

But the biggest news is for the Frozen Pea Fund. On Saturday night in New York City, at the famed Blogger Social, I had the honor of presenting a check from ooVoo to the Fund in the amount of $30,000 in honor of: Mitch Joel, Steve Hall, Bob Garfield, Joseph Jaffe, John Wall, iJustine, Marshall Kirkpatrick, Connie Reece, Chris Thilk, Erin Kotecki Vest, Dave Delaney, Geoff Livingston, Allan Cox, George Parker, Chris Brogan, Susan Reynolds, Laura "Pistachio" Fitton , Drew McLellan & Gavin Heaton, Robin Good, C.C. Chapman, and Karen Putz.

Photo courtesy of ck_epiphany

Susan Reynolds' husband Bill and daughter Kate were on hand to accept the check, as well as Connie Reece and Cathleen Rittereiser, two of the board members of the Fund, which now officially a 501(c)3 corporation. To say that this money has made a difference in the future of the Frozen Pea Fund is an understatement. I join ooVoo and crayon in taking great pride knowing that this gift will make a difference in the lives of many people suffering from cancer.

One final note. In his absence from the dinner (he was under the weather), Joseph Jaffe had been lampooned all night on Twitter by the attendees. I decided that, rather than be taken in vain, Joe's name should be used for good, so directly after the check presentation, I held an impromptu auction of his name badge. After some pretty aggressive bidding, Geoff Livingston went home as Joseph Jaffe for the sum of $500, payable to the Frozen Pea Fund.

Labels: client, crayon, Frozen Pea Fund, news, ooVoo

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:05 PM

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Monday, March 31, 2008

Conversation is Like the Weather

"Everybody talks about the weather,
but nobody does anything about it."

- Mark Twain

Well, that's not entirely true - there are a committed group of marketers, writers, citizens, and passionate people who are not only talking about conversation, but they're doing something about it.

Last year, I was among one of 102 other individuals who were hand-picked by Drew McLellan & Gavin Heaton to co-author The Age of Conversation. If you haven't bought a copy of this book yet, I highly recommend that you do. Just last Saturday, through the enterprising Chris Wilson and the support of the community, the book managed to rise to #262 on the Amazon.com charts. We'll soon know how much money was raised for the book's cause: Variety, the Children's Charity.

After that successful (but stressful) venture, the pair are at it again, but this time, they've outdone themselves. Not only have they gotten a majority of the original authors to return for Volume 2, but they've recruited almost three times as many: 275 people will be putting fingers to keyboard to crank out The Age of Conversation: Why Don't People Get It? (that is, why they don't get the concept, not the book - we hope they'll get that)

Now you can imagine that with nearly 300 ~~cats to herd~~ authors to organize, asking them to write on a single topic might be a recipe for disaster. Instead, there's been a bit of self-organization that Drew & Gavin foisted upon us. We've each been asked to select one of the following sub-topics:

Manifestos
Keeping Secrets in the Age of Conversation
Moving from Conversation to Action
The Accidental Marketer
A New Brand of Creative
My Marketing Tragedy
Business Model Evolution
Life in the Conversation Lane

I'm very excited about this - there's some really great potential here, between the topics and the authors, new & old, who have signed on to the project.

What's more, I'm looking forward to developing a kinship with my co-authors, as this is a very special initiative that bonds us together. If nothing else, the Age of Conversation has the ability to get us all talking with and learning from each other.

My fellow Conversationalists:

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem