Back in 2006 while I was working a paper with Rok Hrastnik we called the phenomenon of online buzz and reputation The Power of Voice.

Since then many companies have felt that power – positively and negatively.  Dell, Dominoes, Naked Pizza, Motrin, Blendtec to name just a few. Nestle has now joined the list.
Nestle is embarking [...]

Predictions are that over 80 percent of companies and organizations will be using social media marketing in 2010.  Who is going to take these companies to the next level - move them from the random ‘dipping a toe in the social media water’ approach to a strategic business activity with actions tied to outcomes, benchmarks and measurement?
Will [...]

If you’re looking for some  hard evidence that companies are focusing on communicating directly with existing and prospective consumers with content placed in social media sites, the 2009 Survey on Marketing, Media and Measurement has the data.
This ability to use new media channels to reach audiences directly, and to measure the value of their response [...]

Paul Gillin makes an excellent case for the value of the press release:

Yahoo changed the rules of marketing more than a decade ago when it elected to define press releases as news. Google followed suit and the PR profession has never been the same since
The raw news feeds syndicated on thousands of publishing platforms across [...]

Over 1000 women bloggers gathered at BlogHer in Chicago this past weekend.  Despite some women bloggers feeling fed up with the pressure of approaches from PR people, the Ketchum survey of attendees found that one in four bloggers has provided marketers with information or feedback collected on their blogs to help the marketers address women.
More [...]

Just when you think you’re getting all the social media technology under your belt along comes mobile.
One out of every seven minutes of media consumption today takes place via mobile devices, according to new research from IPG’s Universal McCann and AOL.  That’s expected to grow by 60 percent over the next two years.

The proliferation of [...]

I just read a post titles The Week the Media Crashed on the Communication and Leadership Policy blog from the Annenberg School of Communication at USC.  It’s one of the best posts I’ve seen about the shifts in media consumption and what this means for mainstream media news outlets.
This is a ‘must read’ for [...]

Brand sponsored social media campaigns are popping up everywhere. From SeaWorld, Starbucks, and Dunkin’ Donuts, to Cadbury, A&E, and even Universal, it’s officially the hot trend to replace or supplement traditional marketing campaigns with social media.
According to Forrester Research’s  Social Technographics update 76% of all US Internet users are active on social media and 93 [...]

One of the most important activities in doing a social media strategy is listening to the online conversations to determine where the most buzz is about you, your company, your products, your services, your competitors.
Understanding where people are gathering month to month can give insights  into consumer trends.
Compete’s figures for May are out and Facebook [...]

Image by TJ Scenes

Speaking today at the Canadian Social Media Summit, David Alston of Radian6 pointed out to the audience that the decision to get involved in social media is not yours to make – it ’s a fait accompli. Your customers signed you up.
“Why aren’t you answering the social media phone – it’s already [...]