Category: Web 2.0

One of the things that I love about Google Analytics is the maps … the way that, in a single glance, you can see where all the visitors to your websites come from. With blogs it is much more personal of course — it is often easy to actually put a name (and perhaps a face) to the dots spread across the map. For example, I know when Marcus or Luc visits because they are easy to spot, I can guess when CK drops in (though there are a few visitors from New York, including NYC, Rochester, Roslyn and St James).

But over the last week or so I noticed some unusual links coming through. There is this post in Spanish linking back to one of my personal favourite posts. And there is also the McCann Creative Mentorship blog from Romania.

It was fascinating to have Google translate these pages to see (roughly) what was being said. Fascinating. What about you? Do you know where your readers come from?

For those of you who don’t know, a very large tanker was washed onto a well-known Newcastle beach recently. As you might imagine it has become something of a curiosity … and could well become a tourist attraction.

But over the last couple of nights, salvage crews have been attempting to refloat the vessel. I just heard that tonight’s efforts have been postponed until tomorrow night’s king tides. Surely there must be a better way! Of course … International Rescue! They will know what to do.

I was following a little link love and found myself over at BuzzMachine — where I have not been in some time. It is funny, but I do seem to go through phases where I will visit, read and comment on some blogs and not others … so it was good to check out Jeff Jarvis’ most recent posts and reacquaint myself with some of the most insightful thinking around.

One thing that struck me was the idea of looking at your business as an API (application programming interface — or techno speak for a way of letting different computer programs talk to each other). In many ways, this is what Web 2.0 is all about — focusing on the conversation NOT the technology — but again, it has profound implications for brands. As we make it easier for consumers/stakeholders to engage, play, experiment and immerse themselves in our brands, there will be trade-offs. Of course, one of the largest challenges is that we have to view our businesses and our brands as something that is NOT wholly within our control. This has probably always been the case.

But for all the talk about brands, conversation and so on … seeing your business as an API is a simple analogy that makes sense.

They say that knowledge is power, but it is never moreso than in the world of web analytics. Even in its most basic format, web analytics or even web counters can provide you with a decent level of traffic or visitation information …

Google has, for some time, been providing free access to its analytics system. This system provides enterprise level analytical data and links simply and easily with some of the other Google products such as AdWords or AdSense.

In an on-going effort to take over the world (while insisting on doing no evil), the Google folks have announced a revamp of the Analytics offering. As Meg reports, the new interface provides a host of new features including customised reporting/dashboards and enhanced trend/reporting.

From a quick look at the improvements to the integrated marketing analysis elements I was impressed. There are improvements around the "time with brand" type measurements, greater use of graphical analysis, better contextual help and more emphasis on linking campaigns to ecommerce results. I also like the way that that the world maps now have clickable heat maps showing the geographical locations of your visitors …

Now all I need to do is to design my own range of Servant of Chaos apparel and the world will be mine!

Greg Verdino is graciously sharing some of his good thinking on emerging technology trends … and while he has taken out some of the detailed thinking and analysis, there is enough there to get your brain firing.

I particularly like the section on kids … it is clear that kids no longer make a distinction between real/virtual personas in the way that we/I do (the older generation). As Greg says, "virtual identities are the real deal for youth".

The implications for brands and marketers are profound. As consumers shift their mindsets away from traditional channels and methods of brand engagement/product selection, those businesses that have not begun the long task of understanding emerging media will find themselves in danger of irrelevance. More importantly perhaps, the gaps left in the market will be filled by new brands eager and willing to play in the spaces inhabited by this new generation of consumers, leaving the late-comer brands out in the cold.

Will there still be a place for the late-comers? Of course … but the size of the market will shrink, with the audience base simply drifting away to new brands/technologies/platforms. A good example is another of Greg’s trends — the shift in the focus of digital video. Driven by multiple need states demonstrated by the rise of timeshifting/on-demand and user generated content, what we now consider "television" will continue to lose contact with its shifting audience base, allowing new operators such as Joost to CREATE a new market space potentially more lucrative (and targeted) than the old free-to-air network.

Makes me feel older just thinking about it 😉

Yesterday I wrote about this. I thought it was funny and wanted to share it. But I wonder if it got the point across? You see, it is actually a viral campaign.

There seems to be a disconnect between what and how this campaign is, and the message it communicates. From my point of view, this is a great use of technology and certainly should generate some viral word of mouth. However, the execution is just a little too clever … perhaps it is too authentic — and the call to action — try this too — is too subtle.

This is why it is important to really think through the user experience strategy and make sure that it is aligned with the objectives of your marketing strategy. Great execution unfortunately doesn’t pay the bills — results do. And results require alignment of all your strategic elements — and sometimes success is only a single click away.

There used to be a time when the materials that you published online had little or no effect on your offline or REAL world. Even the word "Internet" sounded like it was made up. But now the divide between what you do or say online crosses seamlessly into the real world. This does take some getting used to — even the fact that I mention a division between "on" and "offline" indicates my own dated way of thinking. Actually, this may be more deeply rooted — similar to the distinction between mind and body a la Descartes — just in a contemporary context.

But what is clear, even to my old-millenium brain, is that the dichotomies are no longer apparent for younger generations.

I have discussed the idea that blogs are the new CVs before, but the same applies to our private lives. With a bit of effort, anyone with a modest understanding of the Internet and its structures could dig around and locate the home address of most bloggers. And even casual searching on your own name will turn up references and links to blog posts, comments, websites, discussion boards, videos, podcasts and so on.

The folks over at Beyond Madison Avenue have posted some videos that show just how creepy this can become. And while many of us marketing people tend to operate in a safe and supportive online community, this is not the case for many, many others on the web who post, publish and discuss personal, public and professional aspects of their lives via social media.

Everyone Knows Your Name
Uploaded by traianbasescu

It is not only your name that everyone knows. It is a whole lot more.

I have heard a few podcasts lately and was thinking about doing one myself. But rather than just doing it by myself, I thought I would rope some others in … and make it a more of a panel. Something conversational. Something closer to a video hookup than a podcast. Paul and Sean were both keen, so we found a time that worked for Dallas, Vancouver and Sydney, downloaded some software from iVisit and off we went.

It took us about 20 minutes to all end up in the one meeting room, but even when all together we continued to be plagued by "technical issues". It was actually the first time that I had seen something other than static photos of either Paul or Sean so it was a buzz to see and hear them. And while we could not get the recording of the vidcast to work to our satisfaction, Sean has done a great job of editing down the what was recorded — making it far more interesting than it really was.

There is a little over two minutes of edited footage. We covered none of the material that we planned, but we are aiming to try again.

We have been having so much fun with Twitter. We share and spread links and ideas, talk business, blogosphere and world events. There is also a lot of silliness … we change photos (from personal to marsupial to magician to hero/villain) and share personal facts (some of us share more than others) — but all in a good humoured way.

The thing about Twitter is that it is highly collaborative … and it is this that has interested me. So I thought I might try a little experiment — collaborative poetry. I have setup a new Twitter account called TwitterPoetry.

You can either:

• Log into the TwitterPoetry account: Use the username TwitterPoetry and password twitterpoetry and contribute a line to the growing poem.
• Follow TwitterPoetry: Become a "follower" of TwitterPoetry and see how the poem grows as and when someone else contributes to it.

To see the whole poem, go here.

Let your creative juices flow … I look forward to reading your/our work!

I was a late starter when it came to blogging. I had heard about it, I had even read a few blogs, but I just kept away. I didn’t want blogging to be on my radar. But then, at some point, I started to pay more attention. I started to listen … and read.

And then I became curious.

I was fascinated by the way ideas spread across the web — from blog to blog, and corporate site to personal blog and back again, there was certainly an energy that attracted my interest. But while I would normally call myself an "early adopter", I still resisted.

BUT

Since I started blogging, my timeline to adoption has decreased. I am now much more likely to jump on a new technology faster. Not only can I discover more about technology sooner, I can learn how others are using and adapting it … I can trial technology vicariously and then choose my own direction with a limited time investment.

I had been keeping an eye on Twitter over the last week or so … and then, during SXSW it seemed to go nuts. But it wasn’t until David Armano talked to me about it that I really decided to have a closer look. And the more I dig into it, the more I like it … but for unexpected reasons.

You see, Twitter allows you whisper your ideas and your thoughts to your friends and it acts like a form of instant messaging. But there is a broadcast function in operation … you see, if one of your friends has a Twitter Timeline embedded (like I have) in their blog/website, then your whisper will reach your friends’ readers. And your Twitter conversation will be coloured by this new CONTEXT.

Is that good or bad? Depends on your friends. Or on you. But either way, it certainly represents a shift in the way that we hold conversations.