From Interruption to Engagement

This review of our book - (always great that someone is reading us). Mean't a great deal to Tomi and I, as its diamond drilling down into our theories was so well done.

Rob Kleine at Digito Society says

I finished reading Ahonen & Moore’s book Communities Dominate Brands the other day. Most intriguing to me is that Ahonen and Moore are exploring the same question I have for the last decade ( here and here ). Striking to me is that they approach the relationship of stuff (brands) and people from a technology perspective. Ahonen & Moore’s book is, at one level, an extended meditation on why the ubiquitious cell phone will be the ultimate tool for connecting individuals (via SMS, voice, IM, and for internet access).

At another level, Ahonen and Moore build the case that —as they parse it—communities dominate brands. My preferred parsing is that communities contextualize brands. Communities—whether you care to call them sub-cultures, social networks, or whatever—provide the context in in which consumption generally, and brands specifically, are contextualized; communities provide a context in which brands do (or don’t) make sense. The reflected appraisal process appears central to connecting communities, stuff (brands), and individuals

Rob gives some of his own highlghts of our book. But I suggest you go and read his blog. But he sums up

There’s much more to this book; I’ve but scratched the surface here. But these are the elements that resonated most powerfully with me. More gems are buried in the book. Give it a read. Find them yourself.

Thanks Rob. We really appreciate such critical appraisal.

Tomi was recently interviewed by Wireless watch and you can see the video here

Wireless Watch says

Tomi Ahonen is a smart guy who's done a lot of observing and thinking about the 3G future. He reports that planet Earth has 2 bn mobile phones, with more phones in use than cars, credit cards or televisions, and that advertisers, businesses and governments are all trying to understand how the mobile future will download. For a glimpse into the future, Tomi was in Tokyo last month for the 3G Mobile World Forum 2006 where he observed that Japan already has the handsets, the networks and users who have migrated to 3G, while "the rest of the world is just starting to understand and discover this opportunity

Justin Kirby of DMC has recently co-authored a book on viral and buzz marketing

Entitled Connected Marketing and they have a blog and are busy podcasting I believe six are currently available.

Justin Co-wrote the book with a number of colleagues; Dr Paul Marsden from London School of Economics Enterprise who has a PhD in social contagion. He talks about the science of influencer marketing and makes practical recommendations on how to seed, what to seed and to whom in order to ignite consumer conversations. He ends by discussing the economics of buzz and how consumer advocacy has been proven to drive business growth.

Martin Oetting who researches word of mouth, viral and buzz marketing at ESCP-EAP European School of Management (Berlin) . Martin provides an overview of connected marketing tactics, techniques and issues, including consumer empowerment, ethics, definitions, measuring ROI, delivering experiences that exceed expectations, and more. He also reveals his predictions for the future of connected marketing both in Germany and globally.

Schuyler Brown, the Co-creative Director of Buzz@Euro RSCG in New York. She reveals how consumers now focus on their 'pop life' rather than real life; how trendspotting can help brands create buzz; how brands can buy their way into the glamorous life and still look like they've been invited to the party rather than bought their way in; her opinions about the backlash against buzz marketing; how buzz marketing can play a complementary role with above-the-line advertising; and more.

Graham Goodkind, founder and chairman of Frank PR . He discusses how good PR campaigns not only generate media coverage, but also stimulate word of mouth by getting people talking. He looks at the impact that user generated media will have on the way PR ignites consumer conversations; how traditional PR measurement doesn't go far enough to prove the success of campaigns; and how to conduct B2B PR. He also reveals Frank PR's Talkability process and gives us his predictions for the future of buzzworthy PR.

Emanuel Rosen, author of the bestselling book, Anatomy of Buzz . Emanuel reveals how businesses should deal with the rise of user-generated media such as blogs; why marketers should never confuse influencers with happy customers; why there is growing interest from advertisers in word of mouth marketing; and more.

In a connected world, communities hold great power, and not just via hyperlink analysis on the Web. The groundbreaking book "Communities Dominate Brands" provides a truly realistic glimpse into the way communities have affected the way we market. Communities have huge pulling power on brands and at search engines. Tapping into those communities using multichannel programs and radically rethinking old-style advertising techniques is the future of marketing.

Thank you for the thumbs up :-)

Via ClickZ

and thanks to Jackie Danicki for the hat tip

I spoke at an event at Simmons and Simmons in the City on Thursday to about 185 people.

The topic - The future of mobile.

Tony Fish of AMF Ventures brought a crowd of enterprises, entrepreneurs and investors, many part of the Momo community, to the auditorium of Simmons & Simmons in the city. The investment part of the crowd apparently representing some £20bn of private equity. Phew.

I was joined by Chris Burke, former CTO of Vodafone UK and Thomas Wheadon, of Simmons & Simmons, looked at the legal impliciations of becoming an MVNO.

My stint addressed the issues of community audiences and creation of meaningful and valuable services in a web/mobile space vs. the Red Herring of video to mobile. Just because you can doesn't mean people will want it.

Ben Godfrey Has written I think a very good summary of the event which you can read here

His summary

Conclusions

The message of the day was there's a coming shift in the mobile space, the accepted hierarchy is going to change, innovation has been stifled and huge profits soaked up. Chris Burke was most damning of his former employer, though equally of the other networks. Tony Fish began his talk by warning people that what he was about to say might include ideas the big players would not like. Many of the ideas raised by Fish and Moore are widely accepted in the blogosphere and the core community of innovators on the web (of which I count myself a fanboy), but whilst they're relatively simple technical problems, they're huge shifts in the way people do business. The labels attached to suits today bore both sides of the divide, Vodafone were just in front of me, I saw Orange on the way out. I hope those representatives took some food for thought away with them too.

I have to say I really enjoyed myself and also a big thank you to Tony Fish for inviting me

The Chartered Institute of Marketing reviewed our book and said

I recently reviewed Communities Dominate Brands, and made it number 2 in my list of the Top Ten books of 2005 in our members' magazine the marketer (December 05 issue).

Thanks CIM and John Ling for your support.

And a small reminder that I will be touring the states later in the spring visiting UCLA/UCSB/Fullerton and maybe I'll be also in the Bay area.

Tomi says

Our book is winning friends and fans all over. And very fast for a book released only this year, it is already being translated into Korean and German, with strong interest into more translated versions. The Korean and German editions of Communities Dominate Brands will be out in 2006.

We will have the covers for the Korean and German editions here shortly. Still, its the only business book on the power of digital communities and covers all the major areas from blogging to dating to rating to videogaming to chat to TV-mobile convergence and all the related advertising and media issues. As Rory Sutherland, the Vice Chairman and Creative Director of global advertising giant OgilvyOne, says

"I earnestly recommend you read this book - and then wander around telling lots of other people to read it too."

Right now the only language to read this important book is English. Get it now, read it first, and use the 13 case studies and over 100 real business examples to your own gain and advantage, whether you personally, or your company against its rivals. Get the insights first to really find competitive advantage, before this book is the must-read in every language, ha-ha..

Korean and German. Wow. I'm really proud of that. And thank you all you who have already bought the book and spread the word. Alan and I appreciate very deeply the enormous support you have given this book (and our blogsite . Please don't stop.

And yes, anyone who wants to read the first chapter for free - just send us an e-mail and we'll send the first chapter to you in the return e-mail. You are also fully allowed to forward that first chapter to anyone else you think might be interested in the book.

My e-mail is tomi@tomiahonen.com

The problem of being an information geek is that when you are really busy and boy are we at the moment - everything piles up like a road crash.

I keep looking at the mounting pile of emails, feeds and paper that somehow I want to note on the blog as a means by which I can return and write the second edition of our book.

So here is a round up of things that have caught my eye recently. AND in no particular order...

From the FT Friday June 17th

FROM BRAND LEADER TO STRUGGLER IN 8 YEARS.

The FT reports about how the internet has cannibalised the car rental frim Avis revenues and profitability.

The Ft quotes an analyst that says

Avis Europe were arrogant in maintaining their premium pricing faced with the internet onslaught. The company has serious cost-base inflation as the business was set up to support a premium product. But these issues were not dealt with soon enough. They have since had a profit crunch and now they are working towards a working capital crunch

I think about Alan Mitchell author of Right Side Up and The New Bottom Line, and Soshana Zuboff in her book the Support Economy that has been influential in our thinking in how marketing budgets could be used to support and enable customers rather than drive them to the point of purchase. As spotlights in ways in which a company like Avis could rethink its value proposition. was it not Avis that famously said "we try harder"?

RETAIL SALES GROWTH AT SLOWEST RATE SINCE 1947

Also from the FT Friday June 17

Phew the lowest since 1947. yes we know that there are cycles of growth and decline in consumer spending sometimes managed as a means to manage inflation. But I think there is something more structural going on here as bricks and mortar retailers need to rethink why people should come to their stores.

John Butler economist at HSBC says:

The dilemma for the UK is the retail sector is no longer a key engine of growth

This requires some more serious thought than tinkering with key products at shelf height.

MUSIC LOVERS PREFER TO DOWNLOAD FROM COMPUTERS

Again a report from the FT 20 June

The article says 21% of of 4,000 music consumers surveyed said they would download music to their mobile phones, whilst 63% said they would be unlikely to do so.

Mobile is going though some interesting times at the moment, Over payment for 3G licences means less money to invest in content, though that does not mean extraordinary effort is going on the try to change peoples behaviour around the mobile device.

Nokia and Motorola have brought out devices recently that have a music download capability. And you can even shoot 1 hour VHS quality video on a Nokia phone, edit it and send to a friend.

Will we ever move on from the massive success of SMS. Tomi Ahonen , my co-author may well have something to say about that.

HOLLYWOOD SEES POWER SHIFT FROM FILM SET TO DESKTOP

The falling costline of technology will unleash the creativity of the many people.

FT June 2oth

As costs fall, and Moores Law (not mine) sadly again proves true, we shall see the unleashing of bedroom Speilbergs delivering killer stories through film. Maybe to nich audiences. At a fraction of the cost of making a Hollywood Blockbuster. Think iPTV and VOD.

Hollywood is in trouble and this type of news will not bring them much cheer.

Again it reminds me about what we see at the moment in a macro sense is who has the rights to access, creation and distribution? The game is changing. vested interest challenged in every industry.

The FT says

The great equaliser of the new technology is that it puts the power to make a movie into the hands of anyone

So, once where content was controlled whether it be film or music or knowledge accessible in books the nature of consumption is changing. Forever.

That means business models are under threat. Its the gigantic step of migration from mass media to social media.

I might make a film for my friends, or a community of interest. I dont need £120m to do it. just a decent camera, some perseverence, and some top notch editing and effects software. BTW does anyone know Cate Blanchett?

I might even do a deal with Unilever to stick in some subtle product placement. Or, I might not. That all depends on who my community is.

C4 LOOKS BEYOND TV

Said The Guardian as the company realises that it needs to radically alter its business model to identify and capitalise on revenue streams outside of that staple of TV spot advertising. Of course we know C4 has been working on this for some time and has tried hard to expand its offering to its audience.

The Guardian says that the company is looking at investment in mobile entertainment, music and radio. C4 last year took a 51% stake in a digital speech radio station.

BT are changing their spots too.

Ben Verwaayen CEO of BT was quoted as saying

We are on a journey to become a service company that does interesting things. That is already a massive change, and we will become an innovation company because the speed of new services will go up and up and up for one simple reason - that new services will not be one size fits all. It will not be us deciding what you want but we will give you the toolset to create your own services.

Its now or never I believe as the Economist and Business week recently testified that the power now lies in the hands of the consumer.

Whilst OfCom threaten to break up BT over access to BT's fixed line copper network. The Guardian 17 June

BOOST FOR DIGITAL TV AS FREESERVE PLATFORM REACHES 5M HOUSEHOULDS. Financial Times 11.12 June

Freview as grown to reach 5m housholds.

The FT says

The multi-channel platform has become oone of the most successful new technologies in British television history... the free-to-air platform has proved an important growth engine for traditional broadcasters such as ITV and the BBC, which has seen audiences for channels such as ITV2 and ITV3 or BBC news 24 and CBBC offset volatile ratings at their flagship stations.

Again a battle is on the the shelves of Britains homes - BskyB or Freeview? Or both? And an opportunity for advertisers or another nail in the coffin of TV spot advertising? Sky I believe are working hard to find a solution for mare targetted advertising.

iPODS POPULARITY FIRES APPLE BACK INTO FT500 RANKS

Reported the Financial Times June 11/12 June

Apple was last in the top 500 in in 2000, so don't write off the company or the demise of the ipod just yet.

FIVE CARD STUD ANYONE?

And poker will be coming to a TV screen near you soon. In fact next week Five will start broadcasting 90-minute highlights of tournaments from the European poker tour.

Whilst the company that created the genre, will float to the tune of $10bn or £5bn. Soddom and Gommorah? well its the market and obviously people want to play.

I am sure there is a whole community around gambling to the tune of some £5bn.

I think thats about it. And its funny because people who know me and my company say the thing your best at, you talk the least about creativity. and that is true. However our output is always creative. yet our creativity is greared to helping our clients be more successful commercially. Hence the name SMLXL.

The point is we want to understand the business and media landscape around us so we can best advise our clients of how to optimise their marketing budgets. How to best put value propositions together, and ultimately how to leapfrog the competition in initiatives that will engage their desired audiences to deliver commercial success. You have to understand what is around you before you can give best advice.

Thats why we do what we do.

Silence is golden but not on a blog. Sadly.

Things have been quiet on the blog as we have been working flat out on the final push of a major channel relaunch for a state broadcaster. Phew.

It has been a 9 month journey and a fascinating experience. Especially since our project has challenged not only the technology of the broadcaster but also and more importantly, their internal processes of how people work and interact as more integrated teams. We looked at how the channel markets itself and how it can develop creative strategies to keep people watching, to help them navigate through a daily and weekly schedule. Ultimately, delivering a richer more uniquely branded viewing experience.

I feel particuarly proud as we arrived at the goal we set ourselves. The path by which we got there is less important to me. As one has to constantly readjust the process to accomodate unique challenges as they present themselves.

We realised early on that it always comes down to people. Nobody is as clever as everybody. The people at the channel had to feel ownership, they had to want to share the vision. And so at that point we became travelling companions working at every level of the company to ensure we all delivered on our goal.

Expect a case history at some point in the near future.

Communities Dominate Brands:
Business and Marketing Challenges for the 21st Century
by Tomi T Ahonen & Alan Moore
250 pages hardcover, March 2005,
futuretext Ltd
www.futuretext.com

Chapter 12 - The Emergence of the Community

Trust your friend

From the Zapatistas of Mexico, to the running street battles of Seattle, to the massive increase of bookclubs across the UK, online and off-line communities are forming and becoming increasingly visible and effective. The emergence and the notion of the community as a counterforce in business is not new in many ways, but it has evolved recently into something far more potent. All through its history mankind has of course lived in communities. First the caveman had his family and tribe, then gradually emerged the nation-states and with industrialisation mankind found several different communities. Up to the end of the 20th century, communities were dormant as a force to consider in business. Yes, there were isolated incidences of consumer reaction to an oil spill or child slavery labour etc., but for the most part, individual consumers did not instinctively group together to form a power of the masses. Not until the Connected Age, where we have authorities on social contagion, social network theory, the tipping point theory. The list is endless – the point is they are right.

A - CONNECTED AGE

We discussed the change from the Networked Age to the Connected Age in the Introduction chapter. It is an important theme to our book and for this chapter we need to return to that theme. The Networked Age was a good term for the last decade, as it did describe how we as humans approached "the network" i.e. the internet - we logged on, we accessed our e-mail and we surfed seeking information. The Networked Age was the dawn of how humans could build virtual communities, and is a necessary step on our evolution to the Connected Age. Much of what most readers will consider the digital world and digital convergence will consist of that networked model. It is imperative to understand that all the effects of the Networked Age are but the prelude to the period of the Connected Age.

Read More »

Back to SMLXL Home