citizenbay

3 Company Objectives you won't get from a Business School

People always seem to be positive about the three business objectives I set for citizenbay back in Dec 2003. They are:

1 Work with Brands I admire

2 Work with people I like

3 Take my son to school

By following number 1, I have not had to work with brands who I feel uncomfortable with, and who would quickly feel uncomfortable with me.

By following number 2, I have worked with clients I have enjoyed working with, rather than clients I have just enjoyed invoicing.

Also, with my collective model of working, I am forever calling upon really inspiring folk to join me on projects for clients. So much so that I now have a little list of folk I call 'honorary citizens', who embody a similar philosophy and energy for helping organisations. Clients are seeming to be more open than ever to a collective of folk who will not only think but execute for the client too.

By following number 3, it has kept me particularly happy (my family too!),and has helped to make sure the work life is kept in focus.

 

Three objectives that make me happier and therefore hopefully more productive for clients. These three might not feature too highly in the halls of various Business Schools, but give them a try. They worked for me.

(No, that isn't me in the picture taking my son to school...)

Radio in the 21st century: R@dio em Congresso conference in Lisbon

I have arrived at the R@dio em Congresso conference in Lisbon discussing the future of radio in a digital world.

Speakers are a mix of academia and practitioners.

Looking forward to the panel I am on (with my citizensound hat on). It is about online trends in the music space. The moderator is from a newspaper, whilst label (Sony Music), TV (MTV), live (Central Musical) and musician (Falaf from the wonderful Buraka Som Systema) are represented amongst the panelists.

Is all creative work derivative? If it is, is that a problem?

Came across this, thanks to QuestionCopyright.org via adriana lukas.

Great video making the point that if IP lawyers existed in eras gone by, they would have had a field day...

In the words of the QuestionCopyright.org people,

Copyright control extends not just to verbatim copies, but to "derivative works." This has led to censorship on a grand scale. 

The whole history of human culture evolves through copying, making tiny transformations (sometimes called "errors") with each replication. Copying is the engine of cultural progress. It is not "stealing." It is, in fact, quite beautiful, and leads to a cultural diversity that inspires awe.

7 harsh realities of Social Media

Over the last couple of months, I have helped two companies on their communications strategies, which has inevitably led to the topic of social media.

Just as the emergence of advertising on the net was met with marketer/ad agency assumptions that little money would be needed, now there is an assumption that 'social media' is a replacement for marketing spend.

Brands ask employees to blog without having a clear strategy. Brands have a 'facebook page' without working through the long term implications of managing it properly. Brands set up a twitter feed and assume everyone is interested in the new '2 for 1' offers.

I came across this nice little summary of the realities of Social media. It is worth 2 minutes of your time.

7 harsh realities in Social Media

View more presentations from Bart De Waele.

Product Placement In Oscar-Nominated Films: The Winners are?

Simple is good.

I came across this simple yet great little summary of product placements in the Oscar-nominated films by those lovely folks at brandchannel...

Whilst I am sure these is a wealth of data behind this that backs up the results, this chart demonstrates that a simple visual can make a point very effectively.

If I was the person at American Airlines who did the deal with the film Up In The Air, I would be sending this chart around to all I know...

If I was the person who did the Chrysler Sebring deal, I would be looking to pull the plug from the CFO's computer...or would I?

Ultimately, the success of the investment is whether it actually helped the business shift product or change perceptions. Well that is another debate entirely, and I am not party to AA or Chrysler success measures for their investment in Up in the Air.

American Airlines certainly gets a lot of coverage in the film. And it does come over as an airline that looks after the frequent traveler well. Yet two things somewhat undermine the positives.

First, as Clooney swishes through to the front of queues, you witness the pain for everyone else (queues and more queues). This suggests that the American Airlines experience is somewhat different for those who might be in Economy/Coach.

Second of all, Clooney's character seems somewhat lonely on his plane journeys, to the point that when he achieves a certain milestone with American Airlines, the expected joy is lost as he realises that there is more to life than chasing points... 

So whilst the brand channel chart initially worked for me, I am not so sure things are as clear-cut as they have made it out to be...great chart though!

And for those expecting a picture of George Clooney...here it is...

Top tools for a small business: skype

Skype is great. Since I set up citizenbay in 2004, probably the best tool for my business (other than the machine I am tapping on right now) has to be skype. Quick messages between contacts. Easy to send doccies between us too. Multi-person conference calls that involves clicking on a face, not punching in various codes and waiting for the machine to say 'you...are...now...joining...the...conference...call'

And most important of all, skype gives you that opportunity to video chat with your loved ones while you are in a hotel room across the globe. Helping my son with his homework via skype was a challenge though!

Nick Brien on the challenge for agencies

If there was anyone with the energy to move the advertising agency model on, then it would be my old boss, Nick Brien. Ever passionate, here he is speaking at the 4A's in the U.S.

Why does business banking have to be so painful? One day, business banking will be provided by First Direct. Then maybe the others might smarten up their act