In digital media, there is often a knowledge pyramid within organisations, both marketing and agency. That means that the closer you get to the top the thinner the knowledge base.

That is why I thought it might be worthwhile sharing a channel I found on YouTube with you. It is called "Explanations in plain English" by Common Craft and covers a wide and varying range of topics.

Of particular interest are the videos on digital media and digital marketing such as Social Networks, Twitter and the like.

Perhaps if you, or someone you know in your organisation, is at the top of the knowledge pyramid on digital technology you can send them to this blog where they can get the information they need in plain English without anyone knowing.

A Marketing Director once asked me "What software do I need to use Web 2.0?" I am not joking. But what is a joke is the fact they were spending several million dollars on digital media.

If you want to view more example just click.

Continue reading "All things digital in plain English" »

With technology advancing at such an incredible pace and the impact this is having on communications and media, it is no wonder we often feel overwhelmed.

Damian Black @ Fosters sent me a link to this "Did you know?" presentation on YouTube. It powerfully puts into context just how quickly technological change is impacting our world (both marketing and our day to day life). Take a seat for the next 4 minutes and 55 seconds. It is worth it just to put a little perspective on what as communicators and marketers we are dealing with.

Opportunity? Obstacle?

Okay, clearly I have been spending too much time on YouTube. The truth is that our Senior Digital Consultant, Russell Easther sent these too me and while at over 9 minutes this video on YouTube is quite long in a marketing world accustomed to 30 second sound bites, there is some great thought provoking material in here on the changing media landscape.

Quite US centric with references to UP-FRONTS and CBS, NBC etc but nevertheless it makes you think and smile and that is not a bad thing.

Most marketers are currently looking at their digital and media strategy. The fact is that they should not be two separate strategies, but integrated into one communications strategy to achieve maximum effectiveness.

The media landscape is changing quickly, but that does not mean one is dominant and the other dead. It does mean that the roles of media and media interaction are changing and the more marketers are able to integrate the two seamlessly into their communications strategy the greater the effectiveness.

Increasingly we are working with our clients to ensure the suppliers they have and their associated remuneration and contract agreements they have with them are aligning all of them to the marketing objectives.

It is no longer either or traditional media or digital, it is both. Yet for marketers who get it right the result is 1 + 1 = 3.

I have been using Twitter since the start of the year. Twitter allows short, instant communication between users. Check it out here.

A recent story on news.com.au demonstrates the power of Twitter for brands.

Clearly in this case CBA is searching Twitter to see if people are 'tweeting' about them.

CBA is a great example of how brands can not only monitor, but respond to customers complaints or comments.

Smart marketers are extending this strategy to Blogs (using Technorati to search blogs) and Facebook.

With 4.8 million users accessing Facebook, and the twitter world growing in strength daily, it's only a matter time until Twitter is entrenched in Australian's consumer behaviour. Can you afford not to be across the changing digital landscape?

While some marketers are struggling to develop a digital strategy beyond a few banner and a microsite, the more successful marketers are integrating their digital strategy into their marketing communications strategy.

But to do this you need a very good understanding of the current digital landscape and the opportunity for marketers and their brands.