Social Hallucinations

Amazing View from my Office

Collaboration Knows No Borders

We, humans wouldn't survive without the ability and possibility to communicate. Communication and collaboration with others is what helps the herd to survive and make progress, develop and create. Collaboration was rather limited by the physical space. Internet added the new feature to our herd experience, it removed borders and enhanced the power of people and power of collaboration. Suddenly, what for 50 years was unthinkable, has become a reality today. 237 people from all over the world, joined the project Age of Conversation: Why don't they get it and created stories. 237 not only shared their thoughts and contributed to the collective mind and understanding of the times we are living in, but also thanks to Drew and Gavin wanted to give back to society and give the money earned on selling the book to charity.
I am happy to be a part of this project. And below you will the list of all contributors.

As of Wednesday, October 29, 8 A.M. (U.S. EST) the Age of Conversation 2 will be available for purchase at Lulu So, don't wait, just go and buy it, either in e-book version or hard copy.

You can read more about the project, listen to interviews with authors, got to know who they are on the Age of Conversation 2 blog as well as follow updates on AOC2 Twitter

Meet 237 co-authors of The Age of Conversation 2

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Innovation Doesn't Happen During Office Hours

I had a fantastic afternoon yesterday with a bunch of people that mad my whole evening bubble with energy and good ideas. Thanks Stephanie & Carl, Karim and Joachim! If only all people were bold and open minded as you ... :-)

Many things have been said about the creativity and innovation. In Denmark, you even have a Innovation and Entrepreneurship Line at business school that will teach you how to be innovative...hmm. Can it?

Being innovative or creative is a mindset and it doesn't happen from 9.00 to 17.00, at least not for me and a few others. According to my experience and the piece of research I've found claims that if you want to get some ideas, you need to stay up.

'Early to bed, early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy and wise', says proverb, which I've never believed in and reminds me rather about Max Weber's Protestant Ethic.

Being innovative is not just staying up late and night, it is also spending time with other people, being inspired by others who dare to color outside the lines. I am fascinated to observe the reinforcing effect such  meetings has on the participants. One word leads to an idea, the one idea leads to another, the ideas become to concept and then someone bold says, let's do it! And the snowball gets rolling on.
More brains are clever than the one. Maybe not strictly clever but the brains can influence each other and provoke the incredible streams of ideas. All you need to do is to stay open and listen to others and let your imagination rule. There will be time for rational selection of ideas afterward. The common sense so often destroys great ideas as it doesn't allow them to mature.

After my meeting yesterday I recalled the friends gatherings I was participating when I was in high school. We could sit hours and talk about the craziest stuff provoked by others. It was like chain reaction and the more insane ideas get the more we talked, the more we created. We weren't afraid to say something stupid. The latter fear embraces us totally when we become grown ups. Shame!

My key to creativity is to shake off the fear of saying something wrong, putting aside the common sense for a while and hang out with people who already did it, leaving the office and walking, and of course stay late up in the night.

How do you open the doors to being innovative?

Leading the Tribe

 ...is the new green. I am about to finish reading (listening) to Seth Godin's new book Tribes (you can downloaded it here for free or buy on iTunes for $ 0,99).

It is really interesting reading, so important for agencies that strive in finding their way of working in the new more connected reality.

The main outtake to me so far is that it takes changing mindset and attitude. The copy and paste into new template isn't the way for the winners. In order to become the part of the game in the connected world, we need to become heretics and lead the tribe, instead of managing and using old logics pimped with new hype words. It is about telling stories that unite the tribe, instead of giving orders.

Can't wait to get home and finish the book.

The Art of Briefing

Only God knows how many briefing templates, I’ve created during my career at agencies, hoping clients would fill it out. Nope. It didn’t happen.  I’ve asked, I’ve explained but it seemed like the word brief evoked some allergic reactions. I’ve begun to wonder whether it was my fault. Was I too pushy? Were my questions too stupid? Were my templates too bad? Clients kept on sending short mails with target group (people 25-45 years old) and budget and the list of wishes. So I called back and asked: What are the objectives? What do you want to achieve? Hmmm. Silence followed by some vague explanations. Then one day - Eureka! Finally I got it. After long consideration and many discussions with both clients and my colleagues, I have found out that people fear briefing as it implies responsibility.  Writing things down on paper means not only that you have to give a deep thought to your business, see the way you are going and define where you want to go, but it also makes you responsible for the results. Brief creates unwanted expectations, not to agency, but to the marketer. My experienced showed me that many tend to dislike it. They would rather keep their media down to 5 insertions in glossy magazines, rather then get into discussions and uncomfortable questions about the state of their business. And on the other hand, the intimidating briefing form I was trying to enforce wasn’t helping in any way.  The amount and the depth of information, the form and the boundaries the template implied, made it impossible to succeed.  It is impossible to hit the jackpot with briefing using the traditional methods cause briefing is a process and it requires a specific set of mind and approach.

Stay Curious
First of all it is an exploration. We are not supposed to jump right away to the answers we believe to be correct.  Briefing isn’t any linear process, we might get lost before we find out what the right path is.  The trick is to let it happen and stay curious.
Secondly, briefing should be focused on deep understanding and honesty – saying what you think and believe.  Honesty is the beautiful virtue and it can make magic at briefing meetings when both agency and client are inclined to say what they think and believe.  It takes everything to the next level, it allows not only being clear about tasks and expectations, but also ignites insights and ideas to be used later on.

Dialogue
So you may ask, how can one get a good brief? My answer is, you have to make one yourself. How? By talking with your clients, by having an interesting dialog session* that is a collaborative creation, an exploration of the issue and focuses on the clients and the task. Afterwards writing it all down and reviewing with the client before the final approval.
Dialog session usually starts with the definition of task. What do we expect to achieve? What are the objectives? The next step is the exploration of the task from a number of different perspectives: business, organization, competitors, trade, brand, consumers, society and communication. We just ask questions prepared before and the questions that emerged during the session. It is about listening and monitoring the flow of information. The point is to leave the meeting with a clear understanding of the job to be done, and why it needs to be done, as well as, how to measure the success (KPIs). Not just a piece of paper filled with marketing jargon.
Of course we need the piece of paper for the files and to be sure we have the common understanding of the goals and KPI’s. This time, it is not a template but the document crafted as a result of in-depth discussion about the client business, understanding obstacles and challenges, the consensus on the purpose for the communication and KPIs.
The simple change, turning briefing from questioning into conversation, make it more bearable, useful and insightful tool for creating ideas and making things happen.

Article written for TalentZoo

Looking into Future

We are getting closer to the end of the year and it means lots of predictions and trends coming to be heard around. While working on the presentation about the changes in media world taking place in the coming year, and the social behavior laying behind those changes, I've found this video that gives a look at the world of brands, media, communication, technology and that in 2010 done by Faris Yakob.

trends, predictions, media, future

World Map of Social Networks

Found at Oxyweb

social media, map, world

Brain and Marketing

Link to min article in Market Magazine (in Danish) about brain, neuromarketing as the urge to find the tangible and fast answers to the world of unpredictable human behavior.

brain, neuromarketing, marketing, Untitled

Advertising isn't an Answer

It is not about pumping bucks into advertising. It will not make you an Apple-like brand. Clever response from Apple to I am PC ads.

advertising, Apple, Microsoft

Age of Conversation 2008 Promotion

There a few days left to the official launch of Age of Conversation 2 and the promotion activities have just set off.

To learn more about the book idea, listen to the podcast that Jay Ehret did with Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan. 

For more information about the book, authors, the charity that benefits from the book -- Variety, the children's charity, podcasts watch the Age of Conversation site.

I am so proud to be a part of the project!

Quote for The Week...

...and the rest of your lives


"If one spent one's whole day working and sleeping there would be no time for observation, let alone thought."   (Thomas Pynchon)

Uniqueness vs. Usefulness

It goes without saying.

unique, useful

Customized Advertising Space

Idea is fantastic! Imagine webpages where you could fill out advertising space with things you are interested in and care for. Bold idea from Papercut in Sweden.

Sharing

"Take an apple or two" .  I've stumbled upon this box this afternoon. It seems like someone had too many apples and decided to share. Nice gesture. People share by nature.

In the Pursit of ...the media planner

I do a lot of conceptual work lately about innovation and creative work processes within the media agency. It brought to my mind the distinction Aristotle made, and which seem to be forgotten. He divided the world into parts: the first in which things can't be other than they are and another in which things can be other that they are - a simple but very strong distinction. The first part is typified by the physical world in which a rock is a rock and can't be anything else. In this world, Aristotle's Analytics lays out a fabulous toolbox - rigorous, objective, quantitative analysis which goal is to establish and document the reality of the situation. This world is the most known and most of marketing communication is created within the "unchangeable reality", where the being consistent matters.

The other world, where things can be other than they are, is the world of people, of organizations and of cultures. For example, a bad communication strategy can be something else - a great communication strategy - if someone figures out how to turn it around. In this area analytics are inappropriate tool. Instead, Aristotle described the thinking tools: conversation, invention, and intention. Here our efforts aren't focused on the description of what is real but rather on the creation of something that does not currently exist, that must be first imagined.

Media agency must operate within those distinctions. We need to deliver both hard and soft facts. We need to provide our clients the rigorous and quantitative analysis, we can't run away from numbers and we still need to be kind of accountants for our clients and describe the reality by using the hard facts, ROI, reach, awareness, etc. But we can't stuck in that role, we need to evolve into the new type of media planners, into communication guides who take the clients, consumers and brands on the fascinating journey to the modern and fragmented world of plenty.

If media agency wants to keep up with the changes, embrace the media proliferation and get in touch with its most important client -  human being - we have to understand and operate in the second of Aristotle worlds - the world where things can be changed via creativity and innovation. I know we people are not so fond of changes in general, we are afraid of losing control. For safety reasons we stick to routines. But if we, media planners want to stay in the game, we don't need to get the new fancy title. In order to stay in the game, we have to develop the new skills, be enthusiastic and curious. We must believe and dare to influence the world and make media plans and brands look different. It is worth it. It is a fantastic adventure.