August 2012

Drums Rolling: SMWLDN Attendee Registration Finally Open

Social Media Week London is on its way! Starting today, you can register for your favorite events. Head over to the schedule to reserve your seat & let us know that you are attending, register by doing the following:

// more

28 August 2012 by Lauren Cotton

Marketing for Generation R

R

It's a tough place out there at the moment, and it's widely believed that this current generation of kids/youths/young adults (delete the inappropriate) will be the first in modern history to be poorer and worse off than its parents.

So after Generation Y - Welcome Generation R (RENT).

As a marketing agency, we've been involved in youth marketing for some time now, and for us the 'back-to-school' promotional period is always really busy, but we can tell the times are changing. With less uni applicants, conflicting stats saying youth unemployment is up or down, and more fear creeping in with raising costs, everyone is looking at this space with a wide open and somewhat puzzled eye.

// more

21 August 2012 by Jason Burrows

[Infographic] 2002 - 2012: How the Internet has Changed in a Decade

header

I don't know about you, but I can't believe it's pretty much the end of August already. This year seems to have passed very quickly in a bit of a blur, and that's just 8 months. So what about 10 years?

In 2002 I was still in secondary school, I remember waiting patiently at grey desktop PC's watching the little egg-timer tick over as internet pages took forever to load and being introduced to the magically efficient shiny new Google. How times have changed, as bestedsites.com's infographic looking at how the internet has changed over the past decade shows.

// more

20 August 2012 by Lauren Cotton

The Interactive Brand Ecosystem Revisited

ecosystem

Nate Elliott at Forrester published an interesting post last year about the Interactive Brand Ecosystem. Essentially he is asking whether it is time that we abandoned a TV-centric planning model and worked instead on the premise that the website sits at the heart of the marketing process.

// more

17 August 2012 by Mike Teasdale

Using Social and Mobile in Retail

social network

Social networks existed long before Facebook and Twitter. Originally it was just as the organic ties between organisations or individuals; today it’s the same structure, the same dynamics but super-charged by virtue of the digital technology now available!

What Messrs. Zuckerberg & Co. brought to the party are the tools, metrics and case studies necessary to understand how social leaders influence each other within these social and professional networks, and how these relationships can be used to disrupt conventional attitudes and behaviour.

// more

16 August 2012 by Danielle Dalkie

Celebrate Summer with us at Chinwag's Late Summer BBQ '12

bbq

Sizzling sausages and other char-grilled delights are on the menu at our Late Summer BBQ on Thursday 13th September, combined with the opportunity for Chinwaggers, the Digital Mission alumni and Social Media Week London-ers to gather, mingle, chat and sip a cold beverage. Let's face it, we don't need much of an excuse and it will be the end of Summer, post- Olympics and Paralympics and right before everything kicks off for Social Media Week London!

// more

15 August 2012 by Lauren Cotton

SMWLDN Sept '12 Hubs and their Topics

hub map

So, all of our wonderful Hub spaces have been announced, all represented on the above map (which you can view on Google Maps here). But what event topics will be based where? And what events go into a Hub?

The SMWLDN Hub Schedules will be carefully curated to include some of the week's best events. We'll be working with sponsors and partners for some events, and other Hub spaces are open for your own inclusion! If you'd like your event to be featured in a Hub, please check out this blog post to find out how to apply.

The SMWLDN Hub Schedules will be announced soon, in the mean time, check out what you can expect to find in each SMWLDN Hub below.

// more

14 August 2012 by Lauren Cotton

The Email Marketing "D-Spot"

reading on mobile

If your email marketing strategy doesn’t factor in mobile devices and your emails aren't mobile ready then your marketing communications are missing a fundamental trick.

Our research shows that 36% of all consumers are already reading marketing emails on a mobile device - and this rises to over half (55%) for 18-34 year olds. The way your emails look - and the volume and type of content within them - needs to evolve so that the content is as engaging on a mobile device as it is on a laptop or desktop computer. Finding the middle ground between both types of devices (the "D-Spot") is paramount - particularly with the rise of m-commerce.

// more

14 August 2012 by Andy Hinder

Round #2: Introducing & Announcing More SMWLDN Sept ’12 Hubs

We said there were more to come, and as promised, here they are!

In this second announcement, we have another three SMWLDN Sept '12 Hub to introduce you to, on top of our previous announcement of ExHoSo House, Google Campus, The Hub Westminster, O2 Workshop and Unruly Media - giving us a total of 8 SMWLDN Sept '12 Hubs for the week.

As explained in the last announcement, each SMWLDN Sept '12 Hubs will have a topic area, and events taking place in the Hub will focus and/or relate to that particular Hub's topic area. Each Hub's schedule is being carefully curated, Hub events will highlight and showcase some of the best SMWLDN events taking place this September. Also, with London being a bit of a beast with events taking place all over the city, we hope that this will make SMWLDN easier to navigate, both physically and on the online schedule.

// more

9 August 2012 by Lauren Cotton

On Being the Pub not the Conversation Within...

pub chat

For fifteen years I’ve provided research, evidence and carefully chosen words to anyone who would listen to describe the benefits of allowing interpersonal communication within a brand-space. We used to call that "social network theory" or "social engine theory". Over time, the 'social media' industry grew up around our voices (not loud enough to dominate it but still we prattled away).

Today, my agency and team operate as a very tiny part of a £Billion business based on the very same ideas; that conversations are a form of marketing, that the customer can be an ambassador and that brand choices are part of expressible identity.

The questions I’m asked each day remain essentially the same, although the vocabulary has changed a little. Ten years ago a major sports brand asked me "What will I do if the public are critical of our product in a forum we put our brand on", today they ask "What are the costs and risks of page moderation".

// more

8 August 2012 by Alex Sass