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My the3six5 Post

Please see my post for the excellent the3six5 project here.

Trendwatching.com: 10 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2010

Always a good read, even if clearly skewed towards a hipster subset of society.  Table of contents below.  Read the full report here.

Forget the recession: the societal changes that will dominate 2010 were set in motion way before we temporarily stared into the abyss. More »

Urban culture is the culture. Extreme urbanization, in 2010, 2011, 2012 and far beyond will lead to more sophisticated and demanding consumers around the world. More »

Whatever it is you're selling or launching in 2010, it will be reviewed 'en masse', live, 24/7. More »

Closely tied to what constitutes status (which is becoming more fragmented), luxury will be whatever consumers want it to be over the next 12 months. More »

Online lifestyles are fueling and encouraging 'real world' meet-ups like there's no tomorrow, shattering all cliches and predictions about a desk-bound, virtual, isolated future. More »

To really reach some meaningful sustainability goals in 2010, corporations and governments will have to forcefully make it 'easy' for consumers to be more green, by restricting the alternatives. More »

Tracking and alerting are the new search, and 2010 will see countless new INFOLUST services that will help consumers expand their web of control. More »

Next year, generosity as a trend will adapt to the zeitgeist, leading to more pragmatic and collaborative donation services for consumers. More »

With hundreds of millions of consumers now nurturing some sort of online profile, 2010 will be a good year to introduce some services to help them make the most of it (financially), from intention-based models to digital afterlife services. More »

2010 will be even more opinionated, risqué, outspoken, if not 'raw' than 2009; you can thank the anything-goes online world for that. Will your brand be as daring? More »

the3six5 Project

Len Kendall - he of Constructive Grumpiness - has taken on quite an ambitious project for 2010.

Everyday next year a different person will pen a 250 word entry about their experience that day. No specific topic - just as long as it relates to something going on that day.  Come December 31, Len expects to have collected the story of one year, told by 365 individuals.

It's called the3six5 ... you can check it out at www.the3six5.com.

I was thrilled Len asked me to contribute.  I chose January 8 for three reasons: (1) I figured it might help get my mind going after the holidays (2) I wanted to go early enough as to not be influenced/intimidated by months of great entries and (3) It's my son's birthday.

If you're interested in contributing, email the3six5@gmail.com [sounds like Len has been getting a lot of emails, so be patient]. 

What's With The Media Bashing?

To those using Michael Jackson's death as a reason to bash "Old" Media:

You rightly criticized the mainstream media for calling the 2000 election prematurely.  That was an unmitigated disaster.

Now you're wrongly criticizing them for their initial reporting (or lack thereof) out of Iran; and their hesitation to confirm Michael Jackson's death.

You can't have it both ways. 

At at the end of the day, I'll take solid reporting over knowing something 20 minutes earlier. 

Because unless we're talking a terrorist attack or natural disaster, those extra 20 minutes it took to get the story right won't matter in the long run.

And besides, what value comes of bashing "old" media?  Perhaps I'm biased since my wife spent many years as a national TV news producer, but what seems lost on the Twitterati is that behind the mastheads and animated logos sit a smart, dedicated, thoughtful group of producers, editors and reporters who want - more than anything - to get the story right.

Will Susan Boyle Usher In A New Era Of Profile Pics?

There's a good read at the New York Times about the impact looks have on perceptions. 

Of course the story is pegged to Susan Boyle, who's got NOTHING on Joe Cocker and Janice Joplin in the Oh my god I can't believe that voice belongs to that person category.

This quote caught my eye ...

Indeed, attractiveness is one thing that can make stereotypes self-fulfilling and reinforcing. Attractive people are “credited with being socially skilled,” Professor Fiske said, and maybe they are, because “if you’re beautiful or handsome, people laugh at your jokes and interact with you in such a way that it’s easy to be socially skilled.”

I see this play out in social media all the time ... people manipulate their "about me" or bio pics to make themselves attractive, provocative and interesting - perhaps more so than they really are. 

I don't blame them [see quote above for a good reason why].  But I try not to join them.  If I meet someone in real life who only knows me from Twitter or Facebook, I want them to recognize me right away.  Would I recognize you?

I've been to quite a few events where I look at a name-tag ... face ... name-tag ... face ... name-tag ... face and it just doesn't match up.  It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  And to be clear, I am not just talking about women - I expect the same honesty from men and women.

While I don't doubt the validity of the New York Times quote above, at the end of the day sincerity, honesty and self-confidence are much more attractive than a pretty picture.

As I finished this post, my wife reminded me that my Facebook profile pic is a bit on the abstract side.  I'll go change that now ... must practice what I preach.

P&G's Tide Loads of Hope T-Shirt

You'll recall a couple of weeks ago the folks at P&G conducted a social media experiment, while raising money for charity.  My recap here. 

My shirt arrived the other day, and David Armano asked people to submit photos in exchange for some link love.  P&G digital brand manager, Dave Knox, promised me the T-shirt would be of good quality - and it is.  Pretty cool design, and not the typical stiff/ill-fitting corporate apparel. 

Using the Photo Lolz Polaroid emulator ...

P&G's Social Media Experiment [Tide Loads of Hope]

[UPDATE:  Read David Armano's inside account; AdAge's report]

A funny thing happened last night.  P&G - as part of a private digital night in Cincinnati - turned to some of the most well-known names in social media to accomplish a few things [all but #1 are speculation only]:

1. Raise money for their charity, Tide Loads of Hope [clean clothes to families in need of support after natural disasters]

2. Demonstrate the power of social media to senior executives
3. Self-promotion
4. Ingratiate themselves with the social media who's-who [a proactive insurance policy]

What did they do?
For a few hours, several teams - led by different cewebrities hunkered down at P&G headquarters - bombarded Digg, blogs, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and more with links to Tide's web site where you could buy vintage looking Tide t-shirts.  Twitter was particularly insane, with #pgdigital appearing non-stop.

How did they do?

1. According to one participant, $50K in four hours, with P&G matching $50K.  I don't care how deep P&G's coffers are, they should be commended for the match.  Bravo!

2. I'm sure this experiment went a long way towards changing some old school minds within the organization.
3. Tide's name was all over the Internet last night, and I'm sure it will be written about a lot today.  The thing to watch for today is backlash, which you saw starting last night and I'm sure Tide knew was inevitable. 
4. All the usual social media suspects were virtually tripping over themselves to help promote this.  But come on, who doesn't want to be in P&G's good graces [and help raise money]?

Questions

Did you participate [disclosure: I purchased a shirt]?  Either way, what do you think of the excercise?

Did you think the external agency participants at P&G last night went far enough to disclose their relationship with the company?  I saw a video from Ian Schafer of Deep Focus (@ischafer) who was very clear to state his agency did not work for P&G.  But I didn't see that same transparency from others.  Maybe I missed it in the frenzy?

Do you think, as Brian Morrissey, Digital Editor at Adweek seems to based on his tweets below, that we were all played?

An Unintended Consequence of Harsh Economic Times

The economic news is grim, for sure.  Just today the New York Times reports nearly 600,000 jobs have been lost in January alone.  And just look at the list of companies ... whether you work on an auto assembly line or make advertisements, no job is untouchable (except perhaps outplacement services). 

But today, on the anniversary of Bob Marley's birthday [you know, One Love, One Heart], I'm struck by an unintended consequence of all this bad news.  I've noticed, even more so than after 9/11, a sense of empathy.  A sense of one-for-all, all-for-one.  A sense of, I'll help you out, because I may be asking you for help a month from now.  Or even better, I'll help you out because it's just the right thing to do.  A sense of, let's share some good news in all this misery.

Maybe I'm blind to reality, but don't you see it?  A few examples on my radar:

• Jeff Woelker takes the time to post tech-related job openings in Chicago on Chicago Tech Report.  I haven't asked him about why he takes the time to do it, but I can only guess it has something to do with Karma [and that he's just a good person]
• Noah Brier and Rick Webb have started a Twitter handle @mediaisthriving to serve up some refreshingly positive news about the media industry.  A welcome respite from all the bad news.
• As I previously posted, David Armano activated his social network to help a family in need, with incredible results.
• I notice a tremendous amount of chatter on Twitter between job seekers and industry leaders.
• Even I have gotten into the act, fielding several calls, tweets and emails from people looking to make contacts.  I try to help the best I can.

So while very insightful men like Steven Overman express a sense of disappointment in how brands are behaving during this extraordinary time, I hope he sees that many everyday people are rising to the occasion - in our own small, but hopefully impactful, ways.

Please share your stories of positivity ... they will most certainly be appreciated.

P.S.  Happy birthday, Bob.

Did I Read That, Or Just Hear About It?

Noah Brier must have bugged my phone line, because my wife and I talk about this all the time.  Too funny.

And if you have never visited Noah's blog, I recommend doing so - it's a great read and refreshingly absent of attitude or hubris.

Here's the post:

Over the last few months Benjamin and I have been having funny conversations comparing the different levels of exposure/knowledge in the age of blogs. To aid in the process we've come up with this handy glossary:

I READ THAT: I actually read that.
I READ ABOUT THAT: I read a blog synopsis, article about a subject, or article about an article.
I KNOW ABOUT THAT: I have read several different opinions/reviews/synopsis to the point where I not only know the basic content of the original article but also the cultural impact it has made, yet I have not read the original piece.
I HEARD ABOUT THAT: I saw a bunch of headlines about that thing, leading me to believe it was important, but read nothing in depth.
I'VE BEEN REALLY INTO THAT: I read the original, and then have followed up on various other people's opinions and reviews and synopsis
I'VE BEEN DISCUSSING THAT: I read about it, then posted something and am now commenting, discussing, etc.

Suddenly Takes On A Very Real Possibility

[Via PSFK & SuperTouch]