RedScout's Planning Video Series - Spur

Whoa! Big news from RedScout. They're launching a series of videos from leaders in the planning field called SPUR according to PSFK here. See the "teaser" below. PSFK will actually host the video series. Y'all are reading PSFK daily right? Please tell me you are...

SPUR participants in the video series will include:

• Douglas Atkin, Writer; Partner & Chief Community Officer of MeetUp.com
• Devika Bulchandani, Chief Strategy Officer; McCann Erickson
• Dan Cherry, Managing Partner, Director of Brand Strategy; Anomaly
• Piers Fawkes, Founder; PSFK
• John Gerzema, Chief Insights Officer; Young & Rubicam
• Heidi Hackemer, Senior Planner; BBH
• Robin Hafitz, Chief Strategic Officer; Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners
• Sally Jones, Founder; Tangerine
• Gareth Kay, Director of Digital Strategy; Goodby & Silverstein
• Hank Leber, Founder; Agency Nil and Associate Planner, McKinney
• Domenico Vitale, Founder; People, Ideas & Culture
• Freya Williams, Global Planning Director; Ogilvy Earth
• Paul Woolmington, Founding Partner; Naked Communications NY, Global Partner of Naked Communications

Following the series teaser, released today, four episodes will launch every 2 weeks, and the fifth and final episode in January.

• Tuesday, November 3: Is Planning Impotent? Overcoming Account Planning’s Identity Crisis
• Tuesday, November 17: What Makes a Good Planner? Talent Specs and Extra Credit
• Tuesday, December 1: Are We Just Glorified Researchers? The Myth of the “Voice of the Consumer”
• Tuesday, December 15: What is the Real Value of Planning? Agency Politics and Client Perceptions
• Tuesday, January 5: What is the Future of Planning? Thinking as Doing

Ford! Ford? Ford!

I like Scott Monty ever since I came across his brilliant presentation on Slideshare (can't say I've met him personally but I'm sure our paths will cross some day!)

Well, I spotted this video of him presenting the ppt. via SmartBrief via GasPedal and in the spirit of social influence, appropriated it, for you! Here you go:

Zero to 60: Ford’s Social Media Story, by Scott Monty; presented by GasPedal and the Social Media Business Council from GasPedal on Vimeo.

Better Late than Level

So last week as a gift for my 35th birthday I bought myself the iPhone 3GS. I gotta tell, this is one of those devices that makes you say how did civilization get on without it. Now, you may be saying, Joel, you're a digital strategist and you didn't own an iPhone? If you follow the blog--you'll know that Apple and I have had our differences. Yet the iPhone remains the BEST example of a platform for Brand Tools through its APP API program which has brought thousands of Brand Tools to the millions of iPhone users and their network of friends.


That said--I've been testing dozens of Apps in the last few days and one really popped out at me--the Stanely Level. With 400K downloads--its a surefire success. Its brilliance lies in its simplicity. A real tool (not a virtual tool) brought to you by a great brand. In fact, I've owned physical real-world stanley levels and this app is just as damn useful. Interestingly, like all tools--you don't and won't need it all the time. But I love the digital behavior it supports--that our first inclination for answers and solutions is increasingly to turn to the web. I love the fact that real people are out there providing them (I learned how to tie a Texas Rig for bass-fishing this weekend via Youtube), and I love the fact that smart brands can be relevant, useful, and entertaining too (all brands need to be entertaining).

Google Wave, "Live Viral" Brand Tool?

What is Google Wave?

According to Google...

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

Google Wave has launched to 100k developers today. In watching the preview, I've come away with a strong belief that while this platform may not catch-on like wildfire (its ambiguous), its truly a digital behavior game-changer and has real value to marketers. In many ways, Google Wave is a pure social object that drives communication with less boundaries. By removing the barriers of email, IM, and so forth--what you get is co-creative 'open' communication in the form of "waves"--kind of like a real-time conversation wiki with a playback button. Instant transmission makes the communication become a dynamic document where the conversation shareable and easy to manipulate.

As a marketer myself, I see Google Wave's potential for communicating around a brand, generating earned media, tracking communication, and generating gobs of customer insight. For example, Google Wave could be useful for customer service management. It could be used to generate "real-time" communities around a brand or topic. Also, it would be interesting to use it to test a brand or conduct a product launch. From a research point of view, I can easily see using Wave to run online focus groups.

So, what would a Google Wave campaign look like? As as brand tool--the Google Wave could create a 'live viral.' Just imagine a Wave around a product with celebrity participation--think of the Twitter community Lance Armstrong has built for example--its broadcast-based and not very interactive--the Google Wave could transform that community completely. A branded Google Wave could be both the medium and the message where it might start as owned or bought media but over time transform and generate earned media.

I continue to appreciate the way Google develops products. They focus on evolving consumer behavior through online tools by reducing the fundamental barriers to learning, communicating and doing. The Google Wave will have tremendous influence because if its successful--it will co-create its own future with users for years to come.