Greg Verdino

Bits, bytes, posterous, punk

A recent post by Steve Rubel inspired me to dust off my "lightly used" (a euphemism for "never used") Posterous account and launch a new blog-like-object called Verdino Bytes.  With an easy-to-use bookmarklet for clipping content straight from the web and an even-easier-to-use post via email function, Posterous is ideal for creating and sharing content that falls somewhere between my fully formed blog posts and my malformed tweets.

It's a perfect tool for capturing and sharing everything from cool photos, interesting videos, random thoughts, stray ideas and crap I find all around the interwebz.  And with my regular blog output dialed down while I peck my way through the manuscript for my book, it's a simple low-impact way to pump out web content (ahem, make that micro-content) without giving my McGraw-Hill editor reason to believe I've taken her money and run.

The blog you're reading now is and will remain my primary online hub, but if you're looking for more regular updates over the next few months -- and are OK with the eclectic nature of what I'm posting over there -- you may want to subscribe to Verdino Bytes.  For the most part, there will be no duplication between what I post here and what I post there so it's more great Verdino for the same low price (e.g., free unless you're reading this on your Kindle, you big nerd.)

Even if Verdino Bytes doesn't seem like your cup of tea, you still might dig this video I posted there tonight.  Produced by an Australian reputation management firm (meaning a reputation management firm based in AU, not a firm dedicated to managing Australian reputations), it draws parallels between the punk rock movement in the 1970s and the social media revolution going on right now.  Good stuff.

[Feed and email readers click to the blog to watch the video.]

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Book 'em Verdino: announcing microMARKETING

I'm excited to announce that I've inked a deal with McGraw-Hill for the publication of my first business book, microMARKETING: A Breakthrough Approach to Building Brands by Thinking and Acting Small.

If the title alone isn't enough to clue you in, I'd like to give you an idea of the ground I'll cover in the book.  Here's a bit of how I described the book in the proposal itself:

A media revolution is underway, fueled by a micro-content phenomenon that is shifting the balance of power from mass communications to masses of communicators.  This shift plays out daily on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Ustream and other social sites.  It’s in the notion that an otherwise normal individual can use social media and low-end technology to become a micro-celebrity with a significant following.  It’s in the viral effect that takes hold when even one online influencer (in essence a one-person media outlet) sparks a conversation that makes or breaks a brand.  It’s in the shift in behavior that is turning the smart phone into the “first screen” for Gen Y and many increasingly-mobile Gen Xers.  It’s in the shift from watching 60 minute television shows interrupted by 30-second advertisements, to watching 30-second pieces of online video content with no advertisements at all.  It’s even in the changing of our expectations of product design and retail sales, giving rise to dozens of successful small businesses and individuals (think Threadless, think Etsy, think Mimobot, think Lemonade) that can create and sell enough high quality, unique or custom merchandise at a premium to shoppers for whom choice and individuality matter more than convenience and price. 

These are exciting times, but they can also be scary times for marketers who have been trained to think that bigger is better, and for whom the excesses and successes of the past 50 or so years – big budgets for major media ad campaigns designed to sell mountains of product through big-box retailers – seem to be the only way to build a big brand.  For better or worse, the new reality is that the old way doesn’t work so well anymore. Simply put, micro-content and macro-marketing don’t mix – and trying to maintain the status quo while consumer behaviors and expectations change amounts to little more than a recipe for failure.

Enter micromarketing – a new approach to building brands, marketing products and services, and growing meaningful long-term customer (and corporate) value.  Micromarketing emphasizes relationships over reach, interactions over interruption, and the network effect over the broadcast network.  It is built upon the premise that the “next big thing” is really lots and lots of small things, and that to survive and thrive, even the biggest marketers must think and act small (make that “micro”), too. 

microMARKETING is not a "Twitter book."  Puh-leeze... In signature Verdino-style, I will aim to help marketers understand the larger trends that are driving the popularity of tools like Twitter and what the real world implications are for businesses (even if Twitter itself -- or Facebook or YouTube, for that matter -- goes away), but my focus will be aimed squarely at the big picture.  I also don't plan to trot out the same ol' tired social media case studies.  In fact, one key piece of my approach is to help large companies understand how to thrive in the era of micro-content and micro-culture by taking lessons from the people and organizations that are involved in the revolution at the grassroots level.  In other words, I'll be looking at what the biggest of big corporations should learn from "whatever experts." 

Again, from the proposal:

Over the past several years, social media has evolved from a trend to watch to an irrefutable fact of life for marketers of all sizes.  Now – before most companies have even gotten social media right – the mainstreaming of micro-content services, the ubiquity of powerful low-cost handheld technology (from Internet-ready phones to consumer-grade HD cameras) and the rise of DIY culture promise to change the rules of consumer engagement yet again.  It is important to understand how these changes impact our ability to build brands, manage customer relationships and drive sales today, and this will only become more important over the coming years as more and more consumers flock to the technologies that are powering the shift.

On the flipside, it is also important that marketers not get swept up in the hype surrounding a single tool or tactic, losing sight of the bigger implications for their businesses.  As has happened with core social media tools like blogging, podcasting and social networking (and short-lived fads like Second Life), marketers now run the risk of not seeing the forest for the trees – of jumping on the “Twitter bandwagon” with short-lived, ill-advised tactics that do little to impact their businesses.   

On the one hand, microMARKETING educates decision makers about larger trends and what they mean for companies who are looking to more effectively engage consumers through new digital channels.  On the other hand, it delivers tangible and practical case studies, stories, tips and tricks from familiar competitors (other large corporations) and unlikely sources of inspiration (micro-businesses and individual creators.)

microMARKETING is slated for a May/June 2010 release.  I need to hand in the final manuscript by mid-October.  Needless to say, I've got my work cut out for me over the next few months.

That may mean less blogging for the next few months, although I'll still try to post here at least once/week.  And you should stay tuned for periodic updates on the book, my progress and the process.  Hell, I may even ask you for some input along the way.

Finally, I'd like to thank the good folks at McGraw-Hill -- especially Donya Dickerson -- and my agent Ethan Friedman at LevelFive Media.

Good times, ahead...

BlogWell and prosper: 10% off NYC event tickets

I don't usually blog about upcoming conferences unless I'm speaking at them.  But the gang at GasPedal and The Blog Council have given me a press pass for the upcoming BlogWell event in NYC and have extended a special offer for you too -- so I'd like to let you know why you might want to check it out and how you can save 10% off the ticket price, just by mentioning my name.

What is BlogWell and why is it worth your time?
At social media events, you're far more likely to hear presentations by consultants and "experts" and sideline commentators than you are to hear good, practical case studies from client-side marketers who are giving it a go, taking their lumps and finding ways to make social work for their (mostly pretty darn traditional) companies.

At BlogWell, you'll not only hear real world social media case studies; you'll hear them straight from the mouths of eight big brand marketers including Nokia, GE, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Tyson Foods and Microsoft.  All in a compact half-day agenda.

When and where does it all go down?
BlogWell happens at Chelsea Piers in New York City, on the afternoon of April 29th, 2009.  You can get the full details at the BlogWell site.

How can you save 10% off the ticket price?
Good thing you know people in high places.  Better thing that you know me too...  Because if you mention my name when you register, you'll get 10% of the cost of entry.

Visit the registration page and enter THANKSGREG (all caps, all one word) in the coupon code field for an instant discount.  That's it -- pretty simple.

I hope to see you there.

Quigley, Havens & Verdino get social (podcast)

Yesterday, Jane Quigley and I spent some time chatting with John C. Havens about everything from mobile social software and charitable causes to SXSW coolness and Adam Broitman (it was mostly John talking about Broitman, but still...)  That conversation aired live on Blog Talk Radio, courtesy of PepsiCo, and you can listen to it on-demand whenever you have the time.

[I've removed the BTR embedded player because it auto-plays but the show is at your fingers with just one click.]

Raving with David Meerman Scott: Speaking on 3/11

 

Just a quick note to let y'all know that I'll be speaking at the upcoming launch event for David Meerman Scott's new social media marketing book World Wide Rave.   In WWR, Scott looks at how brands can use content creation, word-of-mouth and all sorts of shiny Web 2.0 goodness to build massive audiences that love their products, want to buy them and are eager to do their part in spreading the word.

The event takes place from 1pm to 5pm on March 11th, 2009 on the campus of New York University.  Visit the event's web page to get all the details or to register.  Tickets are just $29 and everyone who registers before March 3rd gets a free copy of World Wide Rave (plus a copy of event organizer David Vinjamuri's Accidental Branding if you're one of the first 40 to sign up.)

I'm participating in a blogger panel, along with Ogilvy's Rohit Bhargava and B&H Photo's social media guy Henry Posner.  There will also be presentations by a handful of client-side marketers, so if you're in NY (or just plan to be there on March 11th) you may want to check it out.

Social Graces: coming to a laptop near you

Stunning images, pithy headlines, my trademark rapier-sharp wit and copious amounts of full frontal nudity.

The new, expanded version of my "Social Graces" presentation offers all of that and more.  But if you want to know what the purty pictures really mean, you've gotta hear the talk track that goes with the slides.  And if you want to hear the talk track, then you need to register for my MarketingProfs seminar, going down this Thursday (January 22nd, 2009) at noon eastern.

Just in case you can't attend -- or if you have an uncontrollable jones for instant gratification -- here are the slides I'll be speaking to.  Ooh, I'm such a tease...

Social Graces (January 2009)

[Feed and email readers, click through for the embedded slides.]

Panasonic CES influencer program in Adweek

Adweek's Brian Morrissey gave Panasonic, crayon, our CES guests and me some nice press today, in an article that looks at brands tapping web influencers as brand ambassadors and content creators. 

From the piece:

Among the hundreds of journalists at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week there are five people producing reams of copy, photos and video about the show, new product demos and press conferences. Unlike the reporters, though, they are popular bloggers in Las Vegas courtesy of Panasonic.

The Panasonic program is one of several undertaken by brands carving out a new take on the old notion of advertorial. Rather than relying on magazines, they are contracting with influential bloggers who bring with them their own powerful distribution networks. Rather than a long-form narrative, content is fit for the Web via blog posts, Twitter updates and  YouTube videos. And the key differentiator: instead of dictating the content to lead to a sale, brands typically keep their distance to maintain credibility.

Panasonic wanted to build cachet among Internet influencers for its array of tech products. As part of its "Living in High Definition" push, Panasonic new media consultancy crayon recruited five bloggers to travel to CES on Panasonic's dime. Panasonic footed the bill for their travel and passes to the event while also loaning them digital video and still cameras. The bloggers, which include popular Internet figures Chris Brogan and Steve Garfield, will also meet with Panasonic executives and preview products. The catch: Panasonic has no say on what their guests post, according to Greg Verdino, chief strategy officer at crayon.

"There's not a direct quid pro quo," said Verdino, who also blogged and Twittered about CES for Panasonic. "When you give people equipment and they love it, just like any other consumer they'll evangelize it. We're not looking for them to hit message points and in effect shill."

Brian also writes about recent outreach programs managed by Izea, and a small business blogger initiative from American Express and Digitas.  It's good to see blogger relations get some good coverage, although Brian does clump all of these initiatives under the banner "Advertorial 2.0." 

I don't know that Brian intends the term to be negative and, for me, well done influencer junkets bear more resemblance to the traditional press junkets that are sometimes planned to spark mainstream media coverage, than they do to paid advertorials (which are simply ads designed to be viewed as legitimate third party content.)  UK blogger Robin Grant sees a similar distinction and has an interesting conversation taking place on his company's blog about this very topic.

But hey, it was my program so I'd love to hear what you think. 

How do you feel about blogger programs like the ones in the Adweek piece?  What works for you and what doesn't?  What would you do differently?

Panasonic, plasmas and people

Unless you're new 'round these parts, you know that I've been working the CES beat on behalf of Panasonic (a crayon client.)  I had intended to do lots of blogging and share lots of multimedia, but I was so busy over the past few days that -- other than a post on my first day in Vegas -- I haven't had a chance to write anything except tweets.  I did upload a bunch of photos and a few videos -- so check those out.  But moving along...

Tomorrow, I head back to New York, so I thought I'd at least take some time now to give you a sense of how I spent my time and reflect on some of my experiences at and around the show.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that it's a long post.  Bear with me.

Panasonic showed off plenty of shiny, new gear -- from the world's thinnest television, a sweet portable Blu-Ray player, and a 150-inch HD flat panel to (arguably the booth's biggest draw) 3D HD televisions that could hit American homes as early as 2010.  They also announced some great services designed to help Panasonic consumers make the most of a fully integrated, digital home -- services like a new Amazon partnership that will allow people to download on-demand video content directly to Viera Cast-enabled televisions.

But, truth be told, all of the latest gear (no matter how impressive) pales in comparison to the human side of CES -- and the human side of Panasonic's CES experience was the thing that kept me so busy. 

As anyone who has attended CES (or any conference for that matter) knows, so much of the value lies in connecting with interesting people.  Historically, CES has always about buyers connecting with sellers, and mainstream media reporters connecting with their manufacturer-side counterparts.  All of that still goes on but, moreso than any previous year, the people to meet, greet and get to know were the social media movers and shakers.  If you were a blogger, vlogger, podcaster, Twitterer or virtually any other type of prosumer ccontent creator, you were never more than a tweet away from getting together with other members of your community.  Social media makers were everywhere, and you had your pick of parties on any given night.

OK.  So what does this have to do with the price of sleaze in Nevada?

I was at CES as a marketer, but also as a blogger and -- more importantly -- as the host of six awesome social media content creators that joined us in Las Vegas as guests of Panasonic.  My main role was to help our guests connect with one another, the Panasonic executive team and some other very special guests of our client.

Steve Garfield, Chris Brogan, Stacy DeBroff, Melissa Pierce, Ponzi Pirillo and Vicki Rellas hit the show floor each day armed with Panasonic cameras and just did their thing.  They documented their experiences and told their stories -- some of their content has already hit the web, but there will be plenty more to come.  I can't wait to see what they've created.

We also gave them (we hope) compelling Panasonic stories to tell.  Of course, we made sure that they got a first hand look at all of Panasonic's latest innovations.  But more importantly, we gave them a look at the human side of Panasonic -- an electronics company that prides itself on having a distinctly human heart.  Listen to the Panasonic team and you'll hear, time and time again, that it isn't enough to make technologically superior products; it's vital that the technology improves people's lives, helps them live better, gives them new ways to spend their time, new means to create, save and share memories, and (increasingly) provides smarter, easier ways to create their own content.

Who better to deliver this vision to our social media dream team than the Chairman of Panasonic Corporation of North America.  Think about it -- that's a pretty cool thing (if I don't say so myself.)  The Chairman of one of the world's largest consumer electronics companies made the time to not only meet our influencers, but to engage each and every one of them in a meaningful dialogue.  Yoshi Yamada described his vision for the company, answered questions, and spend some of our session getting to know the bloggers better.

And of course the entire thing was on the record.  Some of the influencers' photos are already on Flickr and everyone in the room shot video.  Here are just a couple of my own shots.  The first shows the entire team flanking Mr. Yamada.

And how about this?  Mr. Yamada watching one of Steve's videos -- a clip shot with a Panasonic HD camcorder that was yesterday's most watched vdeo on CNN iReport. 

But wait, there's more. :-)

The human story behind Panasonic runs much deeper than corporate executives talking to content creators in the hope of garnering some good will and positive buzz.  Those were key objectives of this initiative, but Panasonic is committed to engaging directly with consumers in a more profound way.

Over the course of the past year and a half, Panasonic has been driving a key initiative called Living in High Definition.  They have been selecting real families from across the United States and equipping them with a full suite of HD products.  Why?  To demonstrate just how much impact new Panasonic technologies really do have on how families spend their time and make memories, but also (and perhaps more importantly) to gain better insights into what real people want and how they use it once they have it.  We've been working with Panasonic to evolve the Living in HD program and the families involved with it into the seeds of an online community focused around digital consumer lifestyles, but that's another blog post for another time.  For now, it's enough to say that Living in HD is important to Panasonic; even moreso in 2009.

Given the strategic importance of Living in HD, CES also provided a fantastic opportunity to celebrate a couple of real HD families, let them experience CES and let them tell attendees just how their lives have changed because of their involvement with Panasonic.  We marketing geeks wring our hands over how to best convince social media insiders to spread word of mouth online.  Panasonic is taking it one giant step further and tapping into passionate (but at the end of the day, normal) consumers to tell the Panasonic story to buyers and reporters at the country's largest consumer electronics conference.  I love this approach (and while Panasonic is a crayon client, involving real families in the CES booth presence was the client's idea.)

And so, finally, we used CES as an opportunity to take this another step further by creating opportunities for the families and the influencers to meet, connect and forge new (hopefully) lasting friendships, like the one that is burgeoning between the Calandros of San Luis Obispo and MomCentral CEO (and newly minted Calandro fan) Stacy DeBroff.

Want '09 predictions? How about 50 of them?

Yep, it's that time of year again -- time for the marketing bloggerati to polish up their crystal balls and make some bold statements about what you can expect in the coming year.  And you, faithful readers, scour the web looking for even just a few useful nuggets from your favorite bloggers and industry pundits.

Well, this year Peter Kim has done everyone the favor of gathering 2009 predictions from some of the sharpest minds in marketing and social media, and pulling them together in a single eBook that contains 50 or so clear-eyed, thought provoking ideas about what the next 12 months hold for media, marketing and the web.

As one of the contributors, I've had the opportunity to read everyone's predictions and can say for sure that you'll want to download a copy right away.  Lots and lots of good stuff -- from a great cross-section of the blogging community, representing a variety of different points of view.

If you want a flavor for what the eBook has to offer, check out these thought starters from Pete's 14 Nostadami (Pete himself contributes an intro and some takeaways rather than his own predictions.)

• "Although it is now cheaper to launch an initiative leveraging Web 2.0 technology - it requires qualified and passionate people to make them successful." - David Armano
• "You may not always start the year as a leader, but you can certainly finish it that way." - Rohit Bhargava
• "Intimacy touches emotion; emotion powers conversation." - Pete Blackshaw
• "Doors are going to close all over the social web. Why? Because the money didn't come the way people thought it would." - Chris Brogan
• "The tipping point has not only *not* been reached, but could still tilt *away* from Social Media." - Todd Defren
• "There's a lot of fixing that needs to be done." - Jason Falls
• "Dwindling budgets suddenly make low-cost social media look like the pretty girl at the ball." - Ann Handley
• "We're going to develop a set of better metrics to help guide, direct and validate 'commitment'." - Joseph Jaffe
• "The movement is rooted in a desire to have quality, not quantity, as people cocoon in the face of the economic crisis." - Charlene Li
• "After a pre-qualifying wrestling match..." - Ben McConnell
• "These will be cumulative events and interactions that will build brand loyalty for the companies that pay attention to them." - Scott Monty
• "The recession will force revenue results out of social technologies." - Jeremiah Owyang
• "Companies that focus on earning love will thrive during hard times, and kick ass when good times return." - Andy Sernovitz
• "Suddenly, being Facebook friends with your mom will seem less ridiculous than following 4,000 strangers on Twitter." - Greg Verdino

But these 14 soundbites only hint at the smart ideas contained in the full eBook -- so be sure to download the complete thang.

As for me, I'll most likely expand on some of my own predictions right here on my blog over the coming few weeks.  In the meantime, I'm sure Pete and the other authors would love to hear your feedback.  Feel free to drop a comment here or any any of the contributors' own blogs.

Twitter is my news feed

Even a few years ago, I got most of my marketing and business news from email newsletters and print publications.  After that, blogs became my preferred news source -- more perspectives, written by people living the news from the front lines (rather than by journalists commenting from the sidelines), served up in near real time by Google Reader.

But today, I get most of my business news and discover new marketing facts, ideas and opinions on Twitter. 

If you're a marketer and still wondering how to justify spending time on Twitter -- and building relationships with your peers and/or social media insiders isn't important enough to you (?!?!?!) -- you might consider that Twitter helps you keep your ear to the ground and serves up lots of information that you can use to do your job better tomorrow than you do it today.

In a distinctly Jaffe-inspired cavalcade of links, here are just a few of the things I heard first (and in some cases, heard only) from my Twitter network.

• The rise of social media and the democratization of content creation means, among other things, that everyone (no matter how small) can use the web to create and grow their own personal brand.  Lots of companies don't like this but, according to Forrester's Jeremiah Owyang, they had better get used to it. 
• Of course, companies can and should be tapping into the same social media tools to build their own brands too, assuming they can get it right.  Despite corporate America's efforts to establish some consistent blogging standards and best practices, most consumers quite simply don't trust corporate blogs.  To me, this says more about the general trustworthiness of the typical company than it does about the potential value blogging brings to the marketing mix.  Hopefully the folks who make corporate communications decisions will see it the same way.
• Now, if all this talk of blogging still confuses you, there's good news (or bad news, depending on your perspective) - you're not alone.  Most marketers are still social media beginners and have plenty to learn about how to participate in the conversation and how to measure the ROI of doing so.
• On the other hand, you shouldn't let the (perceived) lack of ROI keep you from trying your hand at social media marketing -- or at marketing through any of the other emerging channels we have at your disposal today.  One pizza chain has generated $1 million in mobile web sales in the past six months alone, and new data shows that even virtual world storefronts can be company revenue drivers.  Take that, haters.
• But even this doesn't mean that all is well in  Next Big Thingsylvania.  For example, even in Europe, 2008 wasn't the Year of Mobile and we still have a long way to go before mobile marketing hits it's stride.  Add this challenge to the list of stumbling blocks: when most people say "mobile marketing" what they really mean is "mobile advertising."  And that's a ship that will sink well before it sets sail (file under: square peg, round hole.)
• Wanna know what else doesn't work?  Viral marketing. Well, it works -- or at least it can -- but (repeat after me people) viral isn't a marketing strategy; it's one possible outcome of an otherwise sound campaign that's actually so good that people want to spread the word.  Viral is about people talking to people, and you can't cook it up in a Madison Avenue conference room.
• And speaking of things that don't work, Robert Scoble isn't a fan of Twitter's direct messaging functionality.  For those of you not on Twitter, direct messaging allows one user to send a private tweet to another user.  Scoble dislikes this piece of the service so much that he'd like to see Twitter do away with it altogether.  He's in the minority from what I can tell, but I kinda agree with him.
• So if direct messages don't work, how do you attract attention from a big time social media guru?  David Armano (a not-so-shabby social media guru himself, although you wouldn't know it from his mountain man beard and straw hat) thinks a new service called Bubble Comment might do the trick.  Bubble Comment let's you record and post a video message that will pop up, bubble like, on top of any web page.  It's freaky but fun -- it just might work...  Although I'm not sure what, exactly, has happened to Armano.  He used to be a nice Italian boy from Long Island.

So hey Twitterinos, what interesting, fun and useful facts did you learn from your Twitter friends this week?