eCommunications for global organisations

We’d like to invite you to check out a show we are working on called Brussels Sprouts (so far). The show below is a trial run, so if you have a few minutes to spear, have a look and tell us what you think, so we can make the next one better.

I am hosting it with Helen Dunnett (@hdunnett) The idea behind each show is to focus on emerging trends and topics online with a special focus on Brussels. This is the first show (the Beta Version Zero Pilot Show) so they are open to suggestions to make it better next time, but they decided that the best way to get this show on the road was to…get the show on the road….

Back to wisdom to get back on track…I was very inspired by the first part of Barry Schwartz speech and was ready to write about why big organizations were not wise and why they did not know how and when to make an exception to every rule, with some juicy cases on guideline compliance. I then went through the entire video and just decided not to do so. His message is much more deep and fundamental than whatever I planed to write and there is much more value just passing the idea. Just take a 20 minutes break to hear a truth you and your company might have lost for a while.

As part of our series of interviews with experts on emarketing, we spoke to Walid Norris, who is responsible for retention marketing at Sony Style Europe, the European online direct sales division of Sony. He shared with us how he approaches emarketing inside the organisation, the importance of making a strong business case for his campaigns, and using the right tools and technology to get closer to your customers. 

Check it out: Walid Norris Podcast

Episode 4 of the eMarketing Expert Series – 8 mins 54 secs
(please find the Podcast Audioplayer at the bottom of this post)

My guest today is Robert Peterson, a strategic problem solver with a truly global outlook and a manic travel schedule. In his thirty year career in international advertising he has been based in New York, Tokyo, LA, Brussels and now Rome. In 1981 he went to Japan to establish Saatchi & Saatchi’s worldwide headquarters relationship with Toyota Motor Corporation – a client that he’s been working for ever since. Today Bob tells us about change and how marketers can work with consumers in a different way.

Here are the questions I asked Bob and the times I asked them:

Tell us a bit about your life? – 0.24

What in your opinion are the most urgent pressures that marketing manager and companies are facing today? - 1:28

So the main problem is basically to use all the new opportunities that are out there- 3:01

And what is preventing people from making that change? – 3:21

Can you give me a specific example where you sat with a client defined a project where you incorporated these things - 4:50

What would you advise to a marketing manager who see his budget tightened but who still has to build his brand and still has to be a brand leader in his market? - 6:20

Episode 3 of the eMarketing Expert Series – 11 mins 45 secs
(please find the Podcast Audioplayer at the bottom of this post)

My guest today is Michel Lambert, in charge of Interactive and Direct-to-Consumer marketing at Proctor & Gamble Western Europe. Michel tells us how integrated leadership is the key to marketing success for companies like P&G.

Here are the questions I asked Michel and the times I asked them:

Tell us a bit about your role in P&G, what are you trying to achieve? – 0:24

Can you give us an example of how exactly you’re doing this., is there a specific project that you can tell about to show how this works? – 1:04

Why is it seen as a success? – 1:55

Do you have any numbers on that or is it confidential? – 2:12

What is driving the need within P&G to adopt and implement these interactive strategies? – 2:18

For what products for example are consumers most actively searching for information online? – 3:00

Are there product categories where people are not so active online and it’s still very much in the early stages? – 3:35

We were now talking about online marketing but how would you define eMarketing, or integrated marketing? – 4:15

And would you say that online is an integrating component in the mix or does it not have that role specifically? – 5:19

For Procter & Gamble it’s probably like in other companies; giving consumers a voice using this interactive a platform is probably something that not everyone is very enthusiastic about, or where people see dangers. Do you meet much resistance to the innovations that you’re trying to implement? – 6:10

For the people within P&G that are a bit sceptical, what have you done to convince them? – 7:03

Have you created a different department that integrates sales, IT, Marketing and PR? – 7:55

A journalist from Contagious magazine in the UK – a quarterly that reports on innovative marketing - said that innovation comes from the brands these days, not from the agencies. What is your view on that? - 9:33

Episode 2 in the eMarketing Expert Series – 7 mins 53 secs
(please find the Podcast Audioplayer at the bottom of this post)

My guest today is Gerard Murray, president of International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) in Belgium and director of communication for IABC Europe and Middle East region. Gerard opens his heart to tell us why he feels emarketing is becoming increasingly relevant for his members.

Here are the questions I asked Gerard and the times I asked them:

Tell us a bit about your organisation – 0:27

How big is the European membership combined? – 2:24

For this international network building; do you get questions from your members about emarketing? - 3:22

Episode 1 of the eMarketing Expert Series – 15 mins 28 secs
(please find the Podcast Audioplayer at the bottom of this post)

My guest today is Simon McDermott, managing director of Attentio, a company that continuously tracks social media such as blogs and discussion forums. Simon explains why it is important be in tune with what people are saying about your brand and products.

Here are the questions I asked Simon and the times I asked them:

Tell us about yourself and your company…- 0:23

Why should companies be interested listening in knowing what’s going on? - 1:46

I understand the monitoring bit – that consumers have more power these days and that you have to keep an eye on them in order to be able to respond to PR threats – but what about the ‘taking part’ bit of the conversation; how does that work? - 4:14

The participation in the conversation from a brand or a company point of view still go through the traditional mass media tools then? You’re not recommending to your clients to go and blog or post comments on the most influential blogs you’ve identified? – 6:18

One reason for companies to be a little bit hesitant about that might be that they just don’t have enough people to go and blog on every blog there is around writing about them that has a certain audience- 7:44

How is it going in terms of customers? You’re a start up company, how would you say that the market is replying to your proposition at the moment? - 10:02

Which client would you say fits the profile of your ideal client at the moment?- 10:58

And does this apply to the B2B market as well? - 12:44

You’re going to speak at the emarketing event on the 19th of October. What are do you plan to specifically discuss there? 13:46