links for 2009-05-30
by Brian Reich | 30 May 2009, 11:02am
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Depending on your perspective, Susan Boyle has been either a runaway hit or a boat missed: While Boyle mania has been a reflection of both the incredible growth of online video as a center of global culture, it's also endemic of media companies' struggle to fully leverage viral popularity.
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"There's this illusory clarity that comes from rowing well. It's one of the few times when the efforts of nine individuals can result in the calmness of complete cooperation. And when you race, you spend the whole race, all two kilometers of it, fighting your body, slowly inching toward pushing it over the edge, constantly terrified that, at any second, it's just going to stop working for you." Amen.
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Living in a space of good solutions
by Brian Reich | 29 May 2009, 1:25pm
Here is a good way to look at strategy:
“You no longer want to find the best solution — you want to be living in a space of good solutions, so when the problem changes, you’re still there.”
Its from this article in Fast Company. Read it.
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links for 2009-05-29
by Brian Reich | 29 May 2009, 11:02am
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Good post about how to develop a strategy for communicating about the arts — and how technology changes what is worth pursuing and what isn't.
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links for 2009-05-27
by Brian Reich | 27 May 2009, 11:32am
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Lots of good stuff in this post from Chris Brogan.
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links for 2009-05-24
by Brian Reich | 24 May 2009, 11:00am
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Some great thoughts from Emily Bell, head of digital content at Guardian News and Media, about what journalism/news will look like in ten years. I agree. I agree!
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Great post about newspapers and Google, including this thought: "If papers are critically ill from classified revenue woes (Craigslist, eBay, informal email, …) but they falsely self-diagnose as being sick from over exposure in Google News, then they'll end up closing their borders by withdrawing from news aggregation sites at Google, Yahoo, MSN, and elsewhere. That won't hurt Internet companies [like Google] at all, but it will leave publishers with fewer new visitors, less online monetization opportunities, and still obliviously infected with disappearing classified revenues."
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links for 2009-05-22
by Brian Reich | 22 May 2009, 11:31am
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New research offers fresh insight on when to launch a product or service, and shows that being first to market isn't always a competitive advantage. I wrote about this in my book a year-and-a-half ago.
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The President has joined the hall of Presidents… so cool.
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"Twitter, Adderall, lifehacking, mindful jogging, power browsing, Obama’s BlackBerry, and the benefits of overstimulation." Its about time someone embraced this…
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links for 2009-05-21
by Brian Reich | 21 May 2009, 11:02am
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This article begins "That's an exciting opportunity right there because it's an entire redefining of how the marketing and communications ecosystems can work together. Brands are now starting to have bigger connections with their consumers." Not sure if its exciting because brands are doing it, but its definitely important.
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Great blog post from Christina Kerley, a kindred spirit for sure. Key point: "To succeed in social media, one must get past thinking “technology” and, instead, think “humans.”
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A good summary of Ask Your Lawmaker that digs into why the participatory government/journalism accountability site championed by Melinda Wittstock at yesterday's Ethos Roundtable in Cambridge has potential to be great.
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links for 2009-05-19
by Brian Reich | 19 May 2009, 11:03am
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Perhaps the most important announcement of the baseball season: "Following record-low ratings for last year's World Series between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, Major League Baseball and Fox are moving up the start times this year. Weeknight games in the World Series and AL Championship Series will begin at 7:57 p.m. EDT, more than a half-hour before last year's first-pitch times, Fox said Monday."
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"The arts are not just a nice thing to have or to do if there is free time or if one can afford it," she said. "Rather, paintings and poetry, music and fashion, design and dialogue, they all define who we are as a people and provide an account of our history for the next generation." Damn straight.
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This Sunday, America will mark the 55th anniversary of Thurgood Marshall's historic Supreme Court victory in Brown v. Board of Education. I worked a lot on this issue in college. Interesting article.
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My Big News! (Part II)
by Brian Reich | 6 May 2009, 10:21pm
As I noted in my earlier post, I have some big news: I quit my job and have decided to start my own new venture.
I will call my new venture ‘little m media’ (after the core concept outlined in my book, Media Rules!). I will be serving as a senior adviser and strategic counselor to a handful of clients, primarily in the nonprofit, brand, and media world. And I will be writing, blogging, speaking, training and teaching more.
I made the decision to leave my job at EchoDitto several months ago and have been in the process of transitioning ever since. But, I just posted my last blog post as a member of the EchoDitto team, so it all seems very official now. And since I had shared some thoughts about leaving my old job, it seemed natural that I should some thoughts about my new adventure as well.
Here is my thinking…
I will not be building an agency, or even staffing up in a significant way. You see, I have spent almost a decade building and working in various agencies — and I hope to leave much of what I have gleaned from those experiences behind. I have seen too many consultants and agencies providing support to clients that is insufficient or misguided. I have seen too many consultants and agencies fail to take advantage of the opportunities that technology and the internet have created. Everything is so tactical. Everyone, it seems, has a product, or a system, or a widget that they believe provides organizations with a solution. Nobody, it seems, is focused on the audience. Nobody, it seems, is stepping back to make sure the bigger picture is clear and the goals are understood. Nobody, it seems, is asking the tough questions about whether the campaigns that are being waged, the tools that are being built and deplyed, and everything else we are spending time, and energy, and money to put together are having a real, measurable impact. I am sure there are some good agencies out there, and I feel privileged to have worked for some very good ones over the years. But, agency life just isn’t for me.
My focus is on helping organizations to recognize what is changing about our society - how technology and the internet have dramatically changed the way people get and share information. Those changes impact everything - what we buy, how we spend our time, what (and how) we read, watch television, listen to the radio, talk to eachother, and certainly our expectations of the organizations that we support and engage.
When it comes to organizations, I am just not that impressed - at least not when it comes to communications, education, advocacy, and more. The groups we hold up as models, because of their size or the level of awareness of their cause, aren’t breaking much new ground. Even those who have successfully establish their brand or built an audience aren’t necessarily in a position to take what they do and adapt it to meet the new challenges that we will face in the (near) future.
There continues to be far too much focus on activity (how big your email list is, or how much money you give to charity) and not enough on impact (whether you are really serving a need, or changing things for the better). There is too much emphasis placed on brand (i.e. what groups call themselves, or say they are doing) and not enough on experience (what is really happening, whether expectatinos are being met). There is too much energy put into growth (how big can we be, how many people can we reach) and not enough commitment to sustainability (can we maintain the quality of what we do no matter how many things are choose to do) or impact (are we achieving our goals).
I am focused on helping organizations do at least the following two things well:
First, organizations must develop and execute high quality, effective communications efforts - for marketing, development, advocacy or anything else. To do that, especially in today’s highly fragmented world, you need to have a clear set of goals and be able to articulate your core message and focus. From there, you need to generate attention. With attention, you can raise money, or begin to shape thinking, influence the media, build loyalty and support for yourself and the projects you support. Once you have attention, you can begin to convert your supporters’ energy into real, meaningful, measurable action — by educating, engaging, mobilizing, and ultimately changing the behavior of the people who are looking to you for guidance. The organizations that figure that process out will dominate. I think I can help.
Second, groups must look ahead, and position themselves for long-term communications and oragnizational success — which increasingly means online and through new technology, but certainly doesn’t mean anything else has to be eliminated from the mix. Organizations will need to experiment with different ways of educating and engaging audiences about issues. They will need to re-organize the way their teams operate, so that technology and the intenret are central to everything they do, not just a tactical consideration or campaign add-on. Organizations will need to look at what tools might power future online efforts - and think especially hard about the ones that don’t yet exist (so they can begin to build them). And of course, organization should be bringing their audience more closely into their work, not just to satisfy some set of public expectations, but because truly embracing the community will yield better innovation and more measurable results.
If organizations are going to embrace these two big areas of focus, their metrics for success will need to shift from dollars raised and email list performance to how online tools can be used to help advance what an organization is doing in terms of advocacy, and providing services, raising money, talking to the media, helping shape policy, etc. Creating sustainable, measurable action means giving up control, distributing both power and responsibility out to the community, and inviting the audience into the process more fully. In short, there needs to be a larger, broader focus on how to shift people’s behavior and drive real results.
I have high expectations of what organizations can achieve, and how they should be committing their resources and focusing their energy. I’m not saying any of these commitments will be easy to fulfill, or happen quickly — but I also don’t believe my expectations are unreasonable. I quit my job and started my new venture because I know there are organizations out there who are committed to using technology and the internet to their fullest potential, and I knew that I could help.
The rest I am still figuring out. I will keep you posted, here and everywhere else. And in the meantime, if you have an idea or want to discuss a project, you can find me here: brian [at] littlemmedia dot com.
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My Big News! (Part I)
by Brian Reich | 6 May 2009, 10:20pm
I leave you ladies and gentleman now. You can write it. You can interpret it. That’s your right. But as I leave you I want you to know — just think how much you’re going to be missing. You won’t have Brian Reich to kick around any more, because, ladies and gentlemen, this is my last blog post for EchoDitto…
[My apologies to Richard Nixon for butchering his famous quote, and my apologies to everyone else for paraphrasing Richard Nixon.]
I have some big news: I have decided to leave EchoDitto.
I have actually been in the process of leaving for a while, but its official now. I moved out of my office. I have set my email to auto-respond. And my clients and colleagues have totally forgotten that I ever existed (just kidding - sort of). Since I like to have the last word, though, I couldn’t resist sharing some final thoughts.
Why am I leaving?
Why would anyone willingly leave one of the most successful online communications agencies in the country, let alone a steady job in the midst of a crippling recession? Good question. For me, the reason is pretty simple — I have come to the conclusion that I am not an agency man.
Agency life is a grind. I spent nearly all my time selling clients on new ideas and projects — convincing them in many cases that the internet had potential to help in their work — and very little time working directly with clients to develop solutions and support successful campaigns. I traveled a lot. Most of my days were spent on the phone or in meetings. And my entire existence was tracked in 15 and 30 minute increments (because, I was told, maximizing profit margins on projects should be my highest priority).
I have spent much of the last decade building and working for different agencies - in public affairs, public relations, and online communications. I have worked with inspiring clients. I have been a part of exciting projects. I have learned a lot from my colleagues and my experiences. And I am hopeful that I was able to contribute back some knowledge and energy that served to support the work of my colleagues and clients. Every agency is different, and EchoDitto’s approach is certainly better than most in my opionion — they really are focused on helping clients “to amplify and unite grassroots communities online through the creative use of emerging and established technologies.” But, no matter how you look at it, EchoDitto is an agency. And agency life just isn’t for me.
What will I be doing?
I am going rogue! Well, not exactly, but I will be out there now on my own. No more agencies. No more working for ‘the man.’ I can help groups to listen, and educate, engage, and ultimately mobilize people around their goals — taking advantage of media, and technology, and the tools that are widely available online, or emerging every day. I don’t need a team of designers, or developers, or anyone else to have that kind of impact. I don’t need to build or launch anything to be successful.
As it has always been, my focus will be on what impact technology and the internet is having on society and how that changes how audiences get and share information, what organizations must do differently in terms of their planning, operations, and certainly outreach and ongoing support of audiences/customers. The tactical stuff remains important — websites will always need to be built, blogs launched, applications developed, ads served, and the like — but that will not be where I will spend my time. That is not where I can offer the most value. That is not where I believe organizations must focus their energy first if they want to be successful.
A few thoughts and lessons
Wherever I have worked, I have always tried to push new ideas about how technology and the internet are changing our world, and our work. Some ideas fell flat. Others sparked creative new campaigns and successful movements. Before I sign off from EchoDitto, I wanted to share a few final thoughts — they will serve as the foundation for some of my work going forward, but hopefully continue to spark ideas here as well.
Here we go:
Everything is changing. I come to the conclusion that we must do more than simply log on or build out if we want to change the world. Unfortunately, many organizations - and the consultants who guide them - continue to look to technology as the solution to the challenges that our society faces. It is not. The world is changing all around us, technology is evolving, audiences continue to shift, and the implications of all these massive changes are just beginning to be felt and understood. Technology can, and will, be a critical tool in both understanding and managing what we do going forward. But, technology is just the facilitator of whatever actions are needed. Successful organizations balance their use of technology, and their plans and business models, with an ability to embrace everything else that is happening around them. Waiting for something to be proven successful or for case studies that demonstrate exactly how to proceed is not the path to greater achievement. Organizations must consistently provide value and support their audience, while also innovating and looking for new ways to improve and evolve their work In short, we all have to do more to recognize how quickly everything is changing and what that means to our work. And we all have to do more to embrace change and adapt our behavior accordingly.
We need a reset. We need a reset. A total, complete, top-to-bottom, reset. We don’t need a plan - that’s too short-term, we need to think bigger/broader. We don’t need a model - we have never done what we need to do now, so there isn’t anything to emulate. We don’t need a strategy - this isn’t about developing some roadmap and acting on it. We need to change the way we think, act, and organize. We need to change the way we talk and listen. Everything we know, and how it is applied, must be reconsidered and re-applied. This applies to our economy, our government, our educational systems, our culture, and our lives. Everything is in need of a reset. Here is a blog post where I start to play around with this idea.
But ‘must read’ or you won’t be read at all. I am a content guy. I think information drives behavior. If you offer good information, the rest will fall into place. If you don’t, stop now. The standard for good content I like to apply is whether something is a ‘must-read’ (or must-listen, must-watch, must-attend… you get the idea). There is something about being a ‘must-read’… and that something holds the key to the future of media (and everything else too). Being a ‘must-read’ is more about about the quality of the information or experience, and less about the format or mechanism for delivery. That seems obvious, but it re-affirms my belief that media isn’t the only way that ideas are communicated or influence is applied, and that technology doesn’t completely answer the question of why people do, or do not, get and share information the same way they used to. You see, if something achieves that must-read status, people will pay for it, pass it around, make time to consider it, and the like — at least enough people to create a marketplace, or shift thought, or drive changes in behavior. That’s a big deal. Figure that out and everything else will fall into place.
Collaborate or Die. Innovators (and entrepreneurs in particular), whether they are for-profit or non-profit, in the political space, or anywhere else, are taught to do things on their own. Ideas are kept close to the vest and details are rarely shared. Competition is valued above all else, even if it means that the quality of an idea or the success of a venture is less likely as a result. But that system no longer works, particularly in today’s increasingly connected society Few organizations can do everything well. There are a fixed number of people interested in any issue or opportunity and tremendous competition for their attention and energy. There is also a limited amount of investment/support and so the seemingly endless number of concepts and campaigns won’t all find sufficient funding. Fortunately, there are more and more opportunities for collaboration every day. Our culture is shifting so that teamwork is encouraged. That’s not just online, where sharing and developing solutions together has been a key element of growth. Its true offline as well, where communities are coming together to solve complex problems. Competition and proprietary-ness will always be a part of entrepreneurship and innovation; competition will drive a lot of what we do online, and offline, especially in business. But I know, successful ventures in the future are going to need to embrace collaboration and the concept of community, and those who do will thrive.
That’s it. Bye.
[You can read part II here - in which I start to outline some of the thoughts that will drive my new venture.]
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