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Brand Enthusiasts

How Many Agencies Claimed They’re “Connected” This Week?

by · February 14, 2008

Because I’m one of few advertising agency folks playing vocally in the social media space, several friends have asked for my reaction to Forrester’s “The Connected Agency” report released Friday. I’ve also had a few ask what I thought about Jeremiah Owyang’s ear-flipping of the agency world with his post on Sunday.

My reaction? I’m surprised Jeremiah didn’t link to the Forrester report.

The Connected Agency cover pageLet’s be frank. There are a lot of people out there who don’t trust us in the agency world. Mary Beth Kemp and Peter Kim’s report pointed out that one advertising director at a high-tech firm called agencies, “a necessary evil.” They say we’re all stuck in the mass media world, focused on above-the-line execution and out of touch with consumers.

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How To Build Brand Communities

by · January 7, 2008

CommunityThere’s a consistency in what CEOs, CMOs and brand managers are saying these days. “We want to create a community around our brand.” More and more of them are saying it to social media practitioners and champions since advertising agencies can juice your messaging up on “buzz” or craft a catchy video that “goes viral” but never create a community.

But social media is about connecting to communities, not creating them.

Mind you, good social media programming and activity can attract brand fans and foster the growth of brand communities. But most times, the communities themselves exist

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Gydget.com’s Fan Widgets Offer Easy Brand Badge Building

by · November 20, 2007

Okay, so I got pitched. Being a PR guy by trade, I normally overlook mistakes of social media noobs and listen anyway. Then I’ll offer them a pointer or two on approaching bloggers to spread the education of social media outreach. (Most of these cute-talking, right-out-of-college PR chicks just say, “Okay!” and “I’ll make a note of that!” and ignore me, but I try.) I normally follow that up with, “I’m not really interested in your new car stereo remote control thingy, but thanks for the offer.”

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