#think: should you be a brand?

Brands and people seem to have more and more in common these days.
Brands have become personalities to survive the impact of the web, while at the same time personalities have become brands to strive in the web.
Why?
See the biggest blogers, twitterers, influencers. To make themselves famous, to 'market' themselves, to be followed; they have adopted classic marketing tactics of large mulitnational brands:
a name that becomes a signature. Hollycow for Guy Kawasaki for example. Darkplanner in our advertising world. 'Et si' for Nicolas Bordas. These names are themes, they are marketed, repeated and repeated. They flavour the way that these people will talk to the web world, the language they will use, the subjects they will choose, the forums in which they will appear.

And while that was happening brands took the reverse route. Doing all possible to 'incarnate' themselves. To find a language that could find its way from the pack to the ads to the shop to the web. Apple says hello, gives you the genius bar, tells you why you're not a pc. Never has it been easier to make one of these famous 'chinese portraits'. Brands that are personalities are brands you can start to talk to, or with, they are brands you can love or hate. They are brands that you know what to expect from, brands that you can talk to your friends about without feeling like a paid for advertisement. And they are also brands that you can recognise, in the streets or wherever you will face them. They have a look, not just an advertising look. A flavour.

Is this good or bad? Well that's not the point. Just a demonstration that today's success is a mixture of a dose of humanity and a dose of marketing. And that when it's well done, we're all happy to jump on the bandwagon.

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#think: web denial, the new fashion?

This is the english version of the article published in yesterday's 'stratégies'.

Last week,the article published in your magazine: 'let's create a grand prix for crap web', painted a picture which greatly... how should I say... it didn't quite depress me, I'll get over it, but it did sadden me greatly.
Why? Because cynical views of the web hide something a lot more dangerous: the coming out of a new fashion:

'web denial'.

At first sight, nothing too bad. It is even quite courageous to dare criticize the web today. But you can see more and more reactions against the so called 'web gurus'. So much so that it's become fashionable to take direct hits at the whole thing. Jacques Seguela called the web on main tv last week: "the biggest load of crap ever invented by mankind"...

It's almost like hitting a revenge button. Yes a lot of poeple did not get their predictions right. Yes second life is close to dead, yes technology is hard to predict, yes the web is often the dustbin for poor quality communication campaigns, and wannabe revolutions.
But nothing really strange there... It is exactly like in real life. Are our TVs, radios and magazines full of unbelievably good programs? Of fabulous advertising? How many innovating products/brands/companies have to fail before one actually succeeds?

Well it's exactly the same for the web, and why wouldn't it be?
However.
However it is our duty to be the first trialists. To test, learn and see how these new tools can be mastered.To see why they (would) work, and how. To help guide our clients that often find difficult to see through this new jungle.
Because the alternative is totally unacceptable: going back to the old use of the web, the trio desccribed in the article of 'banners, newsletter, landing page'. Alternatives unacceptable not because they are now 'old' but because their efficiency is dropping fast, and will drop even faster in the future as they are fast becoming overused.

So rather than reassure yourself by looking down on false future predictions, why not also look at digtial products that were predicted to fail, and that in fact did the complete reverse. Small little things... like facebook, twitter, blogs, bbm, and before them sms.

Yes we have a short memory. It's a vice as much as it is a vertu. Because we would go very far by saying 'it did not work before'.

Posted via email from #think: Freddie's posterous

#think: web négationisme, la nouvelle mode?

Web négationnisme. L'article publié dans Stratégies aujourd'hui:

L'article publié dans Stratégies« Pour un Grand Prix du Web 0.0 » m'a grandement...comment dire...pas bouleversé, je m'en remettrai, mais plutôt attristé.

Car à travers ce regard cynique du Web se cache quelque chose qui pour moi est bien plus dangereux : l'émergence de ce que je qualifierais de 'Web négationnisme'.

A première vue rien de très grave. C'est même courageux et drôle d'oser critiquer le Web. Mais je remarque qu'on voit de plus en plus cette lassitude de soi-disant 'gourous' et qu'il devient à la mode de les critiquer. Monsieur Séguéla nous en a d’ailleurs encore donné un exemple en qualifiant Internet de « plus grande saloperie inventée par les Hommes ».

C'es tne fait une sorte de belle revanche. Oui ils n'ont pas su prédire, oui Second Life est moribond, oui la technologie avance de façon hasardeuse. Oui le Web est souvent une poubelle à produits communicants médiocres, à sites révolutionnaires oubliés.
Mais rien d'anormal jusqu'ici. C'est exactement comme dans la vraie vie, comme nous avons pu le voir depuis bien longtemps. Nos écrans TV, radios et pages de presse sont-ils remplis d'émissions d'une qualité renversante, de publicités toutes meilleures les unes que les autres ? Combien de produits/marques/entreprises innovants échouent avant qu'un réussisse ?

Le Web n'échappe pas à cette règle. Il n'y aurait aucune raison qu'il le fasse. Et pourtant.

Pourtant c'est notre devoir d'y être en premier. D'apprendre à maîtriser chacun de ces nouveaux outils. Pour comprendre pourquoi et comment ils fonctionne(raient). Pour pouvoir guider nos clients qui ont du mal à les appréhender. Car l'alternative est inacceptable : retourner à une utilisation du Web qui comme l'article l'énonce est le trio « bannière-newsletter-landing page ». Une alternative qui est inacceptable, non pas parce que déjà ancienne, mais parce qu'elle est de moins en moins efficace et que son utilisation abusive va accélérer cette chute.

Alors plutôt que de nous rassurer en dévalorisant les prédictions fausses amenant aux échecs, regardons les fausses prédictions amenant aussi à des succès inattendus, comme Facebook, Twitter, les blogs, BBM, et avant eux les SMS.

L'Homme a la mémoire courte. C'est un vice autant qu'une vertu. Car on aurait beaucoup de mal à avancer en disant 'ça n'a pas marché avant'.

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#think : watch the twitter 'faux pas'

How great is that. Google now reports your tweets.
Is that search gone mad? Or where is your intimacy on the web totally gone?

Think. Tweet to a friend a joke, tweet in a moment of fury something you cannot bare. And there it comes back to hit you. Anyone anytime in the future can see it, take it out of context.
Think anyone could sue you for inappropriate diffamation.
Think any employer might decide that people of your views might not be appropriate according to their 'politburo'.

Humm. If transparency is great, if it changes relations between people and brands, isn't it going a little far?

So who will invent a web where we can choose what stays private and what doesn't. Keep that thought...

And the web that doesn't learn might suffer simple disaffection. Miley Cyrus decided to kiss Twitter goodbye, studios are now forbidding stars to use it.

But rather than words, see Miley rap you why:

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quelle saloperie? Seguela Corbeau où Renard?

Et voila. Le web serait "la plus grande saloperie jamais inventée par l'homme"...(voir à 8'31'' dans la video attachée)

Une saloperie qui comme la presse permet de montrer les moments volés.

Une saloperie qui comme la tv me permet de regarder ce que font une bande d'ados enfermés dans une pièce pendant quelques semaines.

Une saloperie qui comme les cartes postales me permet de rester en contact.

Rien de nouveau jusqu'ici. Juste un environnement médiatique qui aime plus les sales histoires qui font les gros titres que la recherche de la réalité.

Comme toutes les armes le problème est toujours de savoir entre quelles mains on met une arme... et dans le cas du web elle est entre toutes nos mains. Plus que le web, nous avons à faire à un nouveau comportement de masse: la généralisation des voyous. Car pour se faire remarquer tous adoptent finalement des comportements publicitaires: chercher l'impact. Que ce qu'on dise soit vrai où non, peu importe tant qu'on le dit violemment. Un comportement qui a été commencé par des médias tout ce qu'il y a de moins web.

 

Le plus difficile effectivement Mr Seguela, c'est de le contrôler. Car un coup de téléphone ne l'arrêtera pas. Et il est vrai que la rumeur se colporte vite, il est vrai qu'une fausse réaction ne fera que l'empirer, il est vrai que peu de gens ont réussi à trouver la parade, à savoir s'en protéger.

Il est vrai qu'en politique le web remet en cause les élites, qu'il donne le pouvoir aux masses. Et faute d'avoir compris ce media, les élites se prennent les pieds dans le tapis. 

Car le web est aussi la saloperie qui me permet de pouvoir vraiment comparer les prix, et d'acheter moins cher,

La saloperie qui m'amène les courses à la maison,

La saloperie qui me permet de trouver les réponses à toutes les questions de mes enfant.

 

Alors, M. Seguela c'est il laissé emporter, où l'a t'il fait exprès? Corbeau où Renard?

Posted via web from Freddie's posterous

#think - technology and creativity make love for a simple dance

Finally, technology is not just for geeks, finally technology has become an inspiration, finally creativity gets better thanks to technology! I just love the last dance show.
http://creativity-online.com/news/nikon-coolpix-helicopter-boyz/139698

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A 23 ans, on est stagiaire et on ferme sa gueule.

Je ne vais pas rentrer dans la polémique de la candidature de Jean Sarkozy à l'EPAD. Pas besoin d'une voix de plus. Mais tout de même.
Je suis totalement révolté par cette nouvelle façon que nous avons en France et sur le web notamment de nous livrer à des leçons de choses radicalement politiquement correctes. Sarah Palin serait fière de nous.

Le garçon a 23 ans. ET alors. Est il bon?
Il n'a pas fini ses études et alors? Que voudriez vous? Qu'il fasse 3 ans de stages exploité comme la majorité des jeunes?

C'est le fils du président, et alors? Que pense t'il? Il y a de nombreux fils de qui ont été bien meilleurs que leur père. Prenons le sport. Rodrigo Pessoa est un cavalier bien supérieur que son père Nelson que tout le monde pensait imbattable. Et pendant des années a du monter sous les ricanements de ses pairs qui ne voyaient en lui qu'une pale copie à la vie facile.

Avant de donner mon avis sur cette candidature, je vais m'employer à creuser. Mais une chose est sûre. 23 ans c'est jeune oui, mais il y a 200 ans c'était la maturité, vérifiez donc ce que faisaient les grands de l'histoire à cet age, ça cloue le bec.

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Revelations:the unknown family links between Facebook Twitter and their reverse brother Google

And there it hit me.
What are Twitter and Facebook if not just the picture negative of Google?
Think one second. Google takes you to information you are looking for. You ask, it fetches.
FB and Twitter however do the exact reverse. They bring you things you were not looking for. Stuff people have fetched for you. And you haven't done anything.

But there it hit me again.
So what are FB And Twitter if not the modern verison of TV and magazines? Links, posts videos for you to browse from. Only we have just invented peer to peer TV and magazines without thinking about it.
Contrary to Napster it's not music we're sharing. But exactly like Napster, we take content from others and send it to our friends. Free of charge. And when we write or share videos, they get the exact treatment (when we're lucky), still free of charge.
Notably Though no one has yet been sued or seen their computer confiscated for sharing someone else's article.

And did you notice how you have started to look more at links from certain 'friends' or people you 'follow'. How you've learned to invent a new type of remote control that scans for the content you want to see, or read?

We could be ironic and say that what we've in fact done, us the really forward thinkers ,adopters of new technology, is that we have simply reformated our old habits. From TV potatoe coach waiting lazyly for the next film, we've become MAc coaches lazyly awaiting what others are sending us.

But we could also look forward, and think: why would we stop there? Who will create the first real peer to peer TV station? Oh I like that thought....

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You've become predictable. Just when you where trying not to. The 10 twitterers profiles are here

Hidden behind your Mac (if it's not just pretend) you would have thought that your real life personality does not show on Twitter. Well you are probably right, but also very wrong. Because without notincing, you are likelly to have developped a second personality ( call it tweeterality). And you'll be surprised how predictable it's become.
Here is what I have noticed from the people I 'follow'.
Which are you?

1- The player.
he just wants to have fun. His tweets are 2nd to 5th degree. @Bogusboguski is a prime example. The less politically correct, the better.
I recommend following a few for a good pause in your frantic life, together with a wake up to reality in a few instances...

2- The virgin.
he does not knwo what to do with tweeter yet, is afraid to tweet just in case it might get him fired. He hasn't decided yet if he is there as a person or as an employee.
Good ones to have following you since the will not pollute your tweet mail.

3- The stalker.
you'll notice one quickly when your tweet page is filled by nothing else than their comments. They are compulsive and unbearable. So obsessed with the tool they are forgetting that someone is meant to be listening. A good way to avoid these is to check their recent tweets before following them.

4- The peaker.
A little like the virgin, but they use tweeter to learn. Their time spent in the loo has greatly increased since discovering tweeter. They are desperate to try to understand what the hell social media is. One of the reasons why so many tweets attracting traffic start with '10 things to know about...'

5- The hunter.
They know social media is a source of business, they are there to make money and take you to their site. You'll get anything from religious fanatics, to business wanna be evangelists, to the occasional rare really insightful commentators.

6- The recidivist.
Like old time advertisers, they has discovered that to get heard, in busy old twitter, he has to repeat. Can be usefull if you are following too many people, and if his tweets are good, but can also be a complete nonsense.

7- The waiter.
He brings you other people's tweets. Recidicists and hunters love these and often grace them by following them as payment for services. Very useful to have in your follow group, they'll help make your voice heard, if you have something interesting to say that is.

8- The gracer.
He knows that you're interested in nothing else but what they had for dinner. Celebrities make a big proportion of this group, together with the strangest man I ever 'followed' who was telling me every second what his wive was doing to him, from pork chops to many other sad things...

9- The lover.
mostly feminine (at least to me thank god), their picture normally features a just about underaged girl shot in a amateur way. She will quickly ask you for a date. the other good thing is that they normally come in herds, one follows you, 20 will soon follow. Respond at your own risk.

10- You
I'm sure you are unique, and that none of this applies. Really? Be honest...

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the cab ride to reality. Or why it's no wonder no one might be listening.

It took 45 minutes. A cab ride from Paris to the eurostar terminal. For the first time in a few years I was forced...

The nice gentleman at the front was listening to his radio program.not loud enough that I could hear, but loud enough to bugg me. After getting bored with trying to have it less loud, I decided to drop my paper and go for the reverse strategy.
Can you put it louder please. Overkilled with joy he went for loud...
A few minutes later, the advertising broke. 5 minutes of pure misery. Since I was not in command unlike in my own car, no switching possible.
So I just had to sit and hear.
And it felt like people screaming at me to get me to do something.
But what had they done for me I thought? Bought expensive airtime, yes, and made my time listening to them a misery,also yes.
After another 15 minutes the nice ads were back again.
Goodness I'm in advertising so I quickly took my pen out and decided to take notes. 10 brands talking at me. Two of which competitors. In total if I remove the legal gubledigook, 37 messages to take in: brand name, key function, price...
Now does anyone think for a second. Do they stand much chance to really get heard? How much luck is it going to take for anything to be remembered from these 5minutes?1 chance out of 37? Every 20 minutes?
It seems my colleagues know this, so to increase their chance they scream. Loud. And fast. But the louder and faster, the more I, the listener was shutting down.

Not that I want to criticise radio advertising. But it's worth thinking for a second.
As an advertiser leaving a good memorable trace cannot be simply up to luck. Take the test yourself. Why would you bother listening? Why would you bother remembering? And how will you feel as the message barges into your car/home/city...?

This is not just a matter of courtesy and efficiency. It's about the future of brands in our new digital world.
The ad break was the equivalent of some perfect stranger putting his head into the cab and screaming nonsense at me. And it did not feel good.

In the digital age this seems so out of place. We're getting used not to tolerate. We're getting used to beeing listened to. We're getting used to brands going well beyond this to deliver a real service.

So we have a simple choice to make. Stop screaming, or stop beeing listened to.

Tell people something they can talk about or end up ignored.

Or even better join their conversation with something that will help them.

The hard news is that this is a difficult change, the good news is that communications will get human, again.

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don't let anyone in, you'll have the best time

Are we all totally sado masochists? If not why is it that what we desire most is what we cannot in principle have?
See, when everyone talks about connecting with their audience, many successful brands or products seem to do the exact reverse. Just take today's madness on Twitter about Google waves, my screen is only filled with people making false promises and their new followers desperately wanting to believe them. How many IT managers, and google goafers have been attacked by people suddently wanting to be their friends. take H&M and the queues sleeping outside their shops the night before the release of a new designer's collection, take Uniqlo and the opening of their new shop in Paris, and take le Baron - the Parisian night club- and the people coming the world over to be bounced of.

Worth a good think, because in the end, brands that crawl on their knees desperately wanting us to come in are the ones we will turn away from to in our own turn crawl to try to get where no one else can.

That's probably because we all hide great vanity and can turn to our friend next door and say: 'I've got Google Waves, you don't, well they came to me asking...'

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