eCommunications for global organisations

I just read a post from Gitte Gorzelak called You mean..having 57 blogs is not a good idea? and as I found myself commenting on the post it made me think about when is having too many platforms, blogs and social networks running at the same time is a waste of time.  I tried to answer in my comments, but I feel that this question deserves a more thorough examination.

To take ZN as an example we have quite a few ‘digital assets’ running.

First we have the ZN site (www.zn.be).  It has a hyperlink on the homepage to our blog (Hyperthinker.com).  So far, so good.  However we have a page called ‘The Lab’ which links to another initiative which is our NIng platform.  The later platform has links to the blog as it feeds it through an rss feed.  We also are able to import videos from our youtube channel which means that actually there is a lot linked to the ning platform.  We also have two other ’groups’ on Xing.com (actually two: one called hyperthinker and another on emarketing).  Interestingly  the latter has continued to survive despite being neglected (I had some difficulties with lack of applications and the lack of integration with the outside world).  But they both have over 400 members and as I checked earlier, both had posts dated December. 

We also created several facebook groups (some private, some public - but to be honest this generated little impact from a business point of view but it was great to connect with old friends).

Finally we created a platform on linkedin.  This one is very interesting as it well designed, and has a great facility to share articles (automatically creating a clean title and summary from a url).

All these experiments are very useful in approaching clients (we have replicated a ning platform for client recently around a packaging competition) and we have also started many blogs and facebook communications programmes which have met with some success. 

The Xing group actually generated a few leads and some positive referrals and so did some of the other initiatives.

The main puropose of these online ‘assets’ is that they serve as a place of learning.  I am also finding that a good blog serves to focus the mind on key questions (like this one) and helps to share your thoughts and feelings, especially with your own team and clients (and perhaps prospects but I feel this is not the main aim of this).

So I guess so far we are making slow and steady progress up the learning curve.  I would like to see as much hyperlinking as possible between those different platforms so people can choose how they want to consumer their information, which profile they want to use and what ways they want to choose to express themselves.

The simple blog seems to be the most ‘mature’ of the lot, but it takes hard work and discipline (something that was a missing a little in the past).  However I have seen the various communities serve very effectively the purpose of client if the fit with the campaign was right.   We will continue into 2009, with more experimentation and look forward to meeting you there…

Watch this video and see Tim Brown from Ideo talk about a link between creativity and play at TED. You will get some inspiring ideas to fresh up your next brainstorm session. I personally like the ‘finger blaster’ the audience fires at the speaker but I guess that’s open for discussion.

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This is a cross-post from Steffen’s blog.

Containing well over two and a half million articles in English alone, written and updated by anyone with access to the web, Wikipedia is an amazing resource. It’s also the eighth most visited site on the web, and many people’s first port of call when looking for information on something or anything.

For this reason, I often recommend that clients check the Wikipedia entries relevant to them to make sure the content is objective and fact-based, as it should be (note: I’d never recommend amending an entry so that it is overly supportive of a client’s position, brand etc - 1) it goes against the spirit of Wikipedia, which is to be a balanced and fact-based source of information, and as an avid user, I want everyone to abide by that spirit, otherwise it’d stop working; and 2) content which is not objective or well-referenced is simply removed by other users, so there’s no point).

Many times, clients don’t think it’s important. An article in a trade publication read by 10 people is, but a site with tens of millions of visitors every day isn’t. Go figure. However, I recently discovered a site which gives stats for every wikipedia entry, and since clients have started understanding the numbers at stake, they’re seeing Wikipedia in a different light.

Just take any current controversial topic and you can see just how many people landed on the relevant page on Wikipedia in any given month. Some sample stats for October to whet the appetite:

• Sarah Palin: 2,489,570 visits
• GMOs (article: genetically modified organism): 37,400 visits
• Pesticides: 24,040 visits
• Artificial flavouring (article: flavor): 13,100 visits
• Sub-prime lending: 183,900 visits

This is a cross-post from Steffen’s blog.

It’s often noted that replicating online tools that are mainstream and already perform the functions you need, just for the sake of having something with your own logo on it, is a mistake. In most cases, I’d agree. With social networks in particular, considering the number of existing tools with scores of users - LinkedIn, Facebook, Orkut, hi5, Bebo and so on - if you are looking to create a community, why would you want to create something new? Most networks fail, ROI is hard to measure (you have a load of members - so what?), and as mentioned, existing tools usually have all the functionalities you could ever want (and can even be used easily and cheaply).

All valid points. However, sometimes there’s a case for an organisation, movement, group, party etc. setting up a tailor-made social network:

1. If you want your network to perform a specific function.
2. Most pertinently, when the people who might use it - call it your fan-base or stakeholders or whatever - are numerous, enthusiastic and active, and actually would like a social network that caters for them and them alone.

The success of the US President-elect’s network - my.barackobama.com - confirms both points. The specific functions it performed were a) raising money for the candidate, and b) allowing supporters to mobilise great numbers of people in a very organised manner. And with regards to the second point, I think it goes without saying that Obama supporters were plentiful enough and fired up.

A less conspicuous case-study I’d cite, also from across the pond, is Firefighter Nation, the firefighters’ network, which has 26,000 very active members that are avidly using all the functionalities on the site (e.g. all thirteen forum topics had been active in the last 24 hours when I checked). So why is it working? Primarily because of a very strong dose of point 2 cited above: there are lots of firefighters in the US, they are very passionate about their profession, they have a very strong sense of camaraderie, and they want their own space where they can meet others like them and share their unique experiences. A Facebook group could probably do all the same things, but it just would not feel as special; it would not be a unique platform for them alone.

So the lesson is: if you’re thinking of setting up a network for philatelists or fans of tiddlywinks, use an existing platform (and don’t hold your breath). If you’re interested in something that can really get lots of people fired up (politics, saving wildlife, football) or, say, represent a very active political group or faction, then your own social network could work, if executed and promoted well. And if you really do fancy giving it a go, I’d recommend starting on Ning, which is the platform Firefighter Nation is built on - it’s brilliant, and what’s more, it’s free.

If you watch this space and like what you read here…then maybe you are the new talent we are looking for. ZN is seeking an ambitious, motivated and experienced Account Manager to join our team and help take the company to the next level. Check the profile and fill in our form. Think creative, passion, different…in a word HyperTh!nk & Hyper@ct !!

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Renowned US PR professional and blogger, Brian Solis, has devised the “Conversation Prism”, a chart which marks all types of online interaction as well as many of the tools which perform them. Brian remains true to the essence of the online community by allowing his users to contribute - items he might have missed may be added by adding to the picture on his Flickr account.

[youtube]XJOVCBJWRQ[/youtube]There is a virtual neighbourhood in Brussels… and you had the chance to be part of it!

As part of the Nuit Blanche last Saturday, we set up 3 doors on Place St Catherine in the centre of Brussels. Each door had a monitor, microphone and webcam and was connected to a computer.

At the same time we had invited friends from around the world to join the event online in 3 chatrooms at www.e-neighbour.net. Visitors of Nuit Blanche could ring the doorbell and talk to their ‘virtual neighborus’.

Although the internet did not work and we had a lot of last minute stress to deal with…
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… thanks to some great teamwork we managed to finally make everything work.

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To see the reactions of visitors visit e-neighbour.net or watch more videos here:

There is a virtual neighbourhood in Brussels…
…you are part of it!

So make sure you are online Saturday night, 4 October!

That night we will set up 3 doors in the middle of Brussels and we will ask people to ring the doorbell. Whenever someone rings the doorbell, you will be able to speak to them on www.e-neighbour.net.

We’ve been building doors:

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Now we need your help:
Become part of this ‘artwork’ and be online that night

Visit www.e-neighbour.net for more info and invite your friends to join as well!

Best wishes,

Mira Bangel & Jesús Azogue

but do you know where does it come from, why Google did it or what does it do…

Here is an explanation of the Google Chrome plus…

We have set up a Hyperth!nker NING for all of those of you who would like to hyperth!nk with us and for those who would like to experiment with this application.

Ning is an online platform where users can create their own social website in just a few minutes. It’s quite simple - you create your own social network on the Ning plattform which can then be linked to other networks - a bit like a mini Facebook. Try it!

We look forward to seeing you on the Hyperthinker Ning.