Earlier this week, I wrote about how companies can no longer control their brand once the web gets hold of it.  Today, there's a HUGE real life example in action. Motrin has just launched a new ad campaign aimed at Moms.  It's a text-based video ranting about the pains and sacrifices of baby-wearing - the use of slings, baby carriers, and any of the other plethora of gizmos to strap an infant to your front or back. Motrin's point: we do SO much for our kids, but too often, we forget about the toll on ourselves, especially the back pain that ensues from carrying your young kids around for extended periods of time.  The solution, of course, is their pain-relief product. Check out the ad for yourself and see what you think... The response from mommy bloggers on their sites and on Twitter was quick, furious, and ENORMOUS.  It appears to have started just yesterday with a post from Amy at crunchydomesticgoddess.com and a Tweet from Jessica Gottlieb.  In less than 24 hours, it has taken off like wildfire. It is the number one topic on Twitter with THOUSANDS of Tweets... It has mobilized an army of mommy bloggers all writing online about it... It has taken ...

I've just finished reading Don Tapscott's brilliant new book, Grown Up Digital. Don is one of the co-authors of Wikinomics and has become a leading expert on collaboration, its increasing prominence and its extraordinary value. Grown Up Digital goes much further than Wikinomics. It's a detailed and hugely valuable look at the Net Generation - those who are now 18-31 years old.  It looks at how their childhood, skill-set, and world view is unique compared to all previous generations, and it then provides amazing insight into how they are going to change history and the way all of our core institutions function. From education to politics and from broadcasting to the workplace,  Tapscott provides real, thoughtful, and useful information about what changes are taking place, how to understand those changes, and finally, how to best adapt to them. At the center of Tapscott's thesis are 8 core traits of the Net Generation: Freedom Customization Scutiny Integrity Collaboration Entertainment Speed Innovation By acknowledging each of these traits and designing strategies to enable them, Tapscott clearly shows how we can all help usher in positive change and forward movement (instead of fighting the aspects of this generation that companies, schools, and parents simply don’t understand.) Here's who should read this book: Anyone in the media Teachers Executives ...

Traditional branding is dead. The days of 'choosing' your brand and pushing your choice out to passive consumers are gone.  Today, you have to earn your brand. Thanks to social networking and Web 2.0 tools, you simply can't 'control' a brand by saturating a market with endlessly repeating messages and advertisements.  It's too easy for your audience to call your bluff, share their views with an enormous number of people, and create the exact opposite impression you were intending. So how does today's branding work?  You actually have to provide value for your audience or your customers.  If you give them a stellar experience, they will tell others.  If you give them a bad experience, they will also tell others.   The word of mouth about your content or product IS your brand. Let's say you upload 100 music videos and 5 comedy videos to YouTube.  In traditional media thinking, that means that you're mostly a music service.  However, if only 10 people watch your music videos, but 3 of your comedy videos go viral, to the audience, you're a comedy company. The point is, you don't get to choose. The audience creates your brand with every click of a mouse, every content rating tool ...

This is the fourth in a series of posts looking as how aspiring leaders can learn from Web 2.0 practices and theory. On The Web: On the web, users are accountable for their own behaviours in a community and in most cases, the community will create its own champions and police those who don’t meet community standards. The community will learn from its mistakes and get stronger, faster, better over time. Take Wikipedia as an example – as most people know, not every entry is 100% factually correct, but the community’s passionate, engaged users they have learned how to correct most of the mistakes themselves.  If Jimmy Wales hadn’t given them this trust, Wikipedia would have faltered early and often and would’ve ended up no better than the Encyclopedia Brittanica or World Book. Another example of how communities deal with ‘failure’… If Ralph writes a horribly inappropriate comment on Jane’s blog,  Jane’s community (the audience) has several methods of policing itself.  It can chastise the behaviour within the community (in the comments) or it can flag inappropriate behaviour directly to Jane.  The key is that Jane doesn’t necessarily have to be the first one to act every time someone is offensive – in ...

This is the third in a series of posts looking as how aspiring leaders can learn from Web 2.0 practices and theory. On The Web: Take the example of two different types of bloggers. Jim has a great looking blog with very compelling content. Sandra has a basic template blog with relatively average content. BUT, Sandra has a healthy stream of visitors to her blog every day, while Jim is quickly fading into obscurity. Why does the mediocre blog win the race?  Because Sandra participates in online communities that are related to the subject matter of her blog.  She comments on other blogs, participates in forum discussions, and generously helps other bloggers where she can.  As a result, Sandra is seen as a valuable community member.  Other community members have gotten to know her and, as such, visit her site regularly. On the flip side, Jim knows he’s got a great blog, but can’t be bothered with stooping to comment on other, inferior blogs.  He knows everything about his subject matter and adamantly believes that once people ‘find’ his blog, the crowds will come pouring in. Unfortunately for Jim, they won’t. As A Leader: You can’t just hire people and let them loose.  And you can’t force people ...

This is the second in a series of posts looking as how aspiring leaders can learn from Web 2.0 practices and theory. On The Web: What is it that defines Web 2.0? To me, it’s interactivity.  If Web 1.0 was a one-way ‘speech’ to the crowd or a ‘push’ of information, Web 2.0 is a dialogue, a conversation, and a two-way exchange.  Whether it’s the ability to upload photos to Flickr or videos to YouTube, or to add and edit information to entries on Wikipedia, or even to just comment on a blog, Web 2.0 is ALL about the engagement of the community. And what happens to a community that is truly engaged?  They create astonishing value.  They come back to your site more and more regularly.  They participate and contribute more and more regularly.  They tell others about the great experience they’re having with you.  They CARE about you and your site! As A Leader: Much like a web community, a successful team in an organization is an engaged team.  And – shocker! - the methods to increase engagement on your team are the same as they are on the web. Make meetings two-way conversations. Don’t make decisions in a silo – solicit input ...

I was recently in a seminar about leadership and in the middle of the day, I had a revelation. The theory behind being an effective leader and leading a high-performance team is based on almost the exact same theory as Web 2.0.  I’ve created a series of posts revealing ‘The Leadership Secrets of Web 2.0’, which details some of the core tenets behind Web 2.0 theory and how they apply in real life situations as the leader of a team. Secret #1: Give Up Control - The Power of One Vs. Many. On The Web: Wisdom of the crowd (crowdsourcing) CAME from the web.  The web discovered the massive power, knowledge, and efficiency that results from letting go of control and trusting the community to help solve problems and come up with better ideas.  This is core concept of the Open Source movement and projects like Wikipedia – turn over the keys to the community and let them drive. After all, a few million brains are almost certainly more powerful than just yours. As A Leader: The wisdom of the crowd is almost always greater than the wisdom of the leader, too.  Many leaders' natural instincts tend towards control ...

Dear Traditional Media Executive, URGENT MEMO The web is NOT primarily a place to advertise your TV programming, your radio programming, your newspaper content, or the latest issue of your magazine. As a valued and (relatively) YOUNGER audience member that you are craving so desperately, when I decide that I want to experience your brand on a 'non-traditional' platform like your website, your Facebook page, your Twitter feed, etc, PLEASE don't use it for the sole purpose of telling me about all the wonderful things that are on TV, on the radio, in your newspaper, in your magazine, but AREN'T on the web. I'm choosing to interact with you on the web.  I want a content experience, not an ad. Give me what I want or I will go elsewhere. Here's what you're telling me: "Thanks for coming my website.  Please leave the web immediately and go to the inconvenient place of my choosing  where I can make more money off of your eyeballs and/or ears." Would you watch a TV station whose only programming was ads about great content on the web?  Of course not.  So stop using the web that way. Sincerely, Your Future Audience (P.S. The best way to promote your TV, radio, newspaper, or magazine ...

You're a music artist. Not enough people are hearing your music. You've got your tunes up on MySpace and New Music Canada. You've got your music video (if you've got one) up on YouTube, MySpace and New Music Canada. What else should you be doing? In the YouTube universe, the answer is LOTS. The goal is get people exposed to who you are and the music you create.  And the music video is far from your only tool.  Here are 13 OTHER ways to use YouTube to get new people to get to know you and your tunes... Tour diary. If you're an artist that tours, give updates from the road.  All you need is a webcam , a laptop, and an internet connection.   Tell us about last night's gig.  Tell us where you're going next.  Talk about your favourite moments of being on the road.  Show us the dump of hotel you're staying in (or the van you're sleeping in).  Interview people who are at the show. Shoot something live during your show and tell the audience to check it out on your website tomorrow morning. EVERYONE secretly wants to go on tour and live 'on the road.'  Show 'em how great it is… or ...

Taking advantage of social web tools has MAJOR benefits for just about any creative type with something to say.  But it can also create MAJOR problems. Take the excellent example of Matt Good. He's signed to a major label and has what most would consider  a very successful career.  Unlike the majority of music artists, though, he's also a VERY passionate user of new media. His website, matthewgood.org, is not just a home base for fans of his music, but fans of his writing - whether it's about politics, human rights, or a variety of other topics NOT related to music.  And his consistency in regularly posting smart, relevant, valuable content has developed a large audience.  I'm betting most of them come to read what he's written and not just to listen to his music. He's also on Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, and most interestingly, Twitter, posting everything from updates on Montreal Canadiens sports scores, to interesting web links, to alerts about new posts on his blog. Why is this important?  Because a couple weeks ago, his new album, "Live At Massey Hall," was released and it quickly rose to #2 in the Canadian iTunes store and hit the top 40 in the ...