09 Dec 2011, No Comments
Tech Happy
It as been an exciting week of tech launches. My favourite type of week. And this is likely to be the last before the festive season kicks in.
There’s #newnewtwitter, yay….I think.
There is Jonathan Harris’ (wefeelfine.org) Cowbird which is just out of Beta – congratulations! Cowbird is a simple tool for telling stories and a public library of human experience. You can explore the The Occupy Saga on their site as a start. Jonathan Harris is such an interesting person, a storyteller/digital anthropologist with a huge following…with that Cowbird is likely to be hugely successful. Keep your eye on it. Get involved.
And then the video included in this post explains Macaw...a lovely app designed by Fjord one of the digital agencies I respect most for focusing on the user. Produced by U.S. Preventative Medicine as part of their prevention plan, Macaw is a health and fitness app that aims to be the “ultimate personal heath hub.” (Makes me wonder when Discovery Vitality is going to be releasing their app?) Macaw is available for free download on Android & iPhone. I’ve tried it, it’s so pretty it makes you want to take on the health challenges….Discovery take note…
26 Oct 2011, No Comments
Ease off a little…won’t ya?
I opened my Twitter account in September 2008 and loved the initial innocent community that I was a part of. There was loads of sharing, loads of support and loads of honesty. As more people signed up, this obviously changed. The biggest change for me was the tone, I watched as people started lambasting brands (and people) publicly. Demanding change, demanding instant responses and criticising brands when they were silent. I was and still am rather shocked by this attitude.
A recent post by a friend on her Facebook profile highlighted this again for me. Rather than the service frustrations she experienced, I was shocked at the reaction of others who quickly and ruthlessly jumped on the bandwagon.
A simple question lead to 21 comments. Just 3 minutes after, she received comments such as “Cheap bastards. Very poor service” and “Give em Hell”. Within a few hours though the issue was resolved and she got the service and response she needed.
My point is that we are SO quick to judge and along with it goes demanding, impudent behaviour.
Social Business:
The era of social business is here and what that means is that businesses are having to adjust, they’re having to find ways to adapt, and quickly, to consumers. I’m not just talking about a company having a Twitter account. I’m talking about what happens when that company makes a buying mistake and releases an inappropriate product in-store and then has to face the logistics of removing that product off shelf, dealing with the financial consequences of that error in judgement, as well as deal with PR nightmare that has resulted. I’m talking about the ability to quickly liase with the dealership and addresses the issues voiced, timeously & effectively.
Operational Activity:
And in my opinion these are operational issues that require thinking, planning, consideration and strategy. It doesn’t just take a team flying the social media flag within the company (and perhaps agency) it requires an entire shift in business attitude. That shift takes time. It is an entire business culture shift.
Service Orientation:
You can’t stamp your little foot at a till-point demanding an instant response when it is doubtful that the person operating the till even knows what Twitter is, that it is her job to listen or knows the online consequences of her apathy. We are not naturally a service-orientated nation. As a side note I look forward to the game-changer that Walmart will be. They’ll bring their extensive knowledge (heck they’ve even bought a social media agency a social media/e-commerce site and have partnered with Facebook to develop 3500 store pages) and will get the opportunity to train their staff ‘the social way’ from the outset.
Social Strategy:
There are countless scenarios that I can recall where the brand has addressed the situation, and resolved it accordingly, but that took time. I’m not saying for a second that as consumers that we should stop applying pressure toward change, I’m not saying we shouldn’t expect change and results. I’m saying that having worked with brands extensively on finding was to adapt, that it takes time. I’d suggest that most in South Africa are aware and are moving away from their “bolt-on”, “We need a Facebook Page” brief (thank goodness) to a social strategy that acknowledges the business strategy, mar-comm strategy and the implications on the business as a whole.
Ease off:
I commend the brand who has the guts to say “Keep your panties on, we are working on it” in response to a rude, demanding and contemptuous reaction. Just because it is online doesn’t mean you have licence to lose your manners.
A little visit to crowd psychology reminds us that people in a crowd act differently towards people from those who are thinking individually. I suggest we remind ourselves that we’re individual thinkers, help moderate each other’s behaviour gently and ease off on the social media judgement pedal just a little…
25 Oct 2011, No Comments
“Africa-Friendly” Tech4Africa 2011
Tech4Africa is coming up this week and I’m so excited. Again, I’ll be reporting and interviewing the international speakers. What makes this event so noteworthy is that it is truly Africa focused.
I’m particularly excited about chatting to Herman Chinery-Hesse who has said that “if Africa misses the current global IT boat there may never again be an opportunity for rapid wealth creation on the continent.” I’d love to hear his ideas around ensuring that we don’t miss this boat. And I’d love to know what his view is on African Governments and whether he believes they’re in support of his thinking. He also uses the term “Africa-friendly” when he describes what his software business (he is the co-founder of SOFTtribe) builds and develops, looking forward to him describe “Africa-friendly.” Ndubuisi Ekekwe will compliment this with his take on how Africa can creatively climb the tech pyramid. And Jon Gosier’s session, which looks to be filled with opportunity will look at trends in Africa that promise to be most disruptive.
As a strategist I’m looking forward to chatting to Josh Spear, Founding Partner & Chairman of Undercurrent, a digital strategy firm in NYC. Gosh an agency just focused on digital strategy – the purist in me does a little flikflaks! Josh it seems is a very interesting person, he is currently volunteering in Japan on his Dad’s team focused on PTSD counselling in the wake of the devastating Tsunamis. He say’s “I owe Japan infinitely for it’s inspiration and impact on my life” I’m keen to see the effect that Africa has on him.
Last year’s Tech4Africa ran in two streams the tech orientated stream & the more marketing type stream. I learnt so much more from the tech-stream, even when the code went over my head there were such valuable insights based on how they applied their knowledge. This year Cennydd Bowles and James Box from Clearleft will be talking about the multi-channel experience, sjoe, can we keep up?! And I’m really interested to hear and chat to Robert Nyman talk more about HTML5 (the way forward) and how we can make the web a richer experience.
There is talk of the cloud, what big data is doing to our world, mapping in Africa and a whole lot more. It promises to be a jam-packed with digital deliciousness that I know will keep us Africa focused…and friendly.
Thanks to Gareth for the opportunity & I hope to see you there!
