Slightly overcast in Montreal today on the heels of the official kick off to summer. They call it Formula 1 racing and it’s the biggest party of the year some would say. Unfortunate to say, however, that thunderstorms are expected to hit during the festivities. Montreal is a classy lady when she wants to be but don’t expect to see that side of her this weekend.

As I’ve been noticeably absent of late on this blog (save for my Twitter feed) and with respect to engagement within social media circles I’ve become more focussed on my company Fixion Media. It’s easy to get lost in YouTube. On TED. In Google Reader. Facebook. Definitely Twitter. And of course old media streams. Well you get the picture. But frankly to me it’s time to flush the fishbowl and start anew.

Given that media, agencies, and marketers are pretty well connected in the digital realm I’m seeing little progress in companies actually working together in a social manner that is compatible to how we speak to each other in the corporate / private world via social mediums. In business terms the contracts read the same. The due dilligence is there (and the wallets are light “due to the credit crunch”). The risk to a given brand seems to great to bear should an experiment go wrong.

I believe in a general sense this to be a turning point in my philosophical outlook on the web and business. The internet mirrors its real-world corporate counterpart in real ways where profit and glory rule the day. I of course have no problem with profit nor glory but I’ve come to appreciate and better understand the needs of real people. Normal people who can’t afford iPhones with unlimited data plans. People that think $50 is too much to pay for a concert ticket. Musicians that think they’re famous but are actually dead broke. And most importantly perhaps I’ve come to better understand where my company fits into the bigger picture in terms of serving such communities and likewise protecting their interests from sharks. It’s a fascinating dynamic which has ruled my thoughts of late.

“Always remember the art of good business is being a good middleman.” That quote is from Layer Cake, a film. While I’ve changed my personal definition over the years of what being a “good middleman” entails I’ve come full circle to boil it down to its simplest state again. Such a state in my opinion requires independence. Right now, that is justification enough to pull away from the day to day drama of social circles and into the real world of business. Striking a good balance between the two will prove necessary to the success of my companies.

Filed under: Rants, Economy, Social Media, Personal Branding, Politics, The Future, Music Industry, Wealth, Leadership

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Mitch Joel’s blog posting titled, “Marketers - I Believe The Children Are Not Our Future”, tackles a tangible issue facing marketing companies at the moment. While I agree with Mitch’s stance on the whole, I likewise must default to the theory that educational institutions shouldn’t cater wholly to the needs of corporations. Rather, the government should generally guide and fund educational programs that cater to new and/or emerging markets without influence. Otherwise, the learning process is tilted off its axis and becomes a forum to learn “answers to the test”–in this case the skills needed for a particular job function–rather than instilling knowledge and passion into vibrant young minds.

There is another layer to this problem and it is the institutional reliance on the almighty resume. I would bet that there are thousands of teenagers pulling computers apart in their basements and building ad-hoc networks. School might not be for them. There are also thousands more editing their own YouTube videos, designing Flash applications, or creating powerful social networking groups. Yet school mightn’t be for them either. Such types of independently-minded workers are all around us–they might simply lack the proper “corporate environment” at present to thrive. This is especially important in that money as a motivating force is less important now than ever. I have excluded people that operate small businesses for the sake of making a point here, but it’s important to note that such workers couldn’t possibly be in contention for such job openings because they perhaps value freedom, time, and creativity more than the average person. This makes them too costly to employ for the average corporation. But I digress.

Building a successful company involves growing its revenues, getting more focussed, hiring staff members in cycles, and aggrandizing the overall apparatus of a given company. The irony is that Web 2.0 and social media are areas in opposition to concepts like “corporation-building”, which involves skilful layering of executives, staff members, investors, and clients required to achieve success. In the new economy, more people are clearly interested in making their personal brands matter within specific corporate climates, which for obvious reasons is often a conflicting ideal vis-a-vis that of corporate prerogative.

At the end of the day, there are only a handful of “types” of people out there: leaders, workers, those in between, those on the outside, and the “owners” who serve to manage the leaders. Since more people want to be leaders or owners than ever before, it’s fairly clear to me that’s it’s going to take far more than pinpoint precision educational programs and goofy 2.0 office settings. We’re in this for the long-haul and corporations need to take responsibility to breed, train, and provide the opportunity for upward mobility based on meritocratic policies.

Perhaps the brand of the future will consist of dozens or hundreds of companies intertwined in a progressive new form of organization of equals. Equality is a rare concept in the business world though. That’s a lot of egos to check at the door.

Filed under: Rants, Economy, Social Media, Politics, The Future, Leadership, HR

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Now this is classic, wouldn’t you say?

IN 2006 EMI, the world’s fourth-biggest recorded-music company, invited some teenagers into its headquarters in London to talk to its top managers about their listening habits. At the end of the session the EMI bosses thanked them for their comments and told them to help themselves to a big pile of CDs sitting on a table. But none of the teens took any of the CDs, even though they were free. “That was the moment we realised the game was completely up,” says a person who was there. - The Economist

It is understood that physical album sales are on the decline. The only logical solution would be to push consumers towards digital media. I however suspect that marketing departments the world over need modernization, many of who still favour overpriced campaigns in traditional television and in print mediums. This used to be a clever move thanks the “make-good” exposure that many outlets offered as an incentive to ad buys. Nevertheless, this money is better spent in niche circles–namely on the web–in order to take advantage of millions of users that aren’t hearing your message. And if they aren’t hearing your message, it’s obvious they aren’t sharing it either.

If we depart from the assumption that brands are built from collective perception, it’s safe to state that most artists–save for the megastars–don’t have much of a public brand. In the age of disposable music–one hit CD and you’re out–it is going to take more than a magazine ad, album review in Rolling Stone, or premiere on MTV to build critical mass.

Going off on a tangent, I think the rise of Hip Hop mirrors the future business model of the music industry. It involves cliques and collectives that support each other to create opportunity and community for its members. But this assembly must remain agnostic. Members should be free to choose their own labels, agents, and other labourers that specialize in diligence.

The previous model, typified by the seminal Indie record label, was swallowed for all intensive purposes by the majors. While this was a great farming system, it is too closely tied to major label interests. While some still cry foul with collusion, it simply became a miscalculation by corporate executives. If they want a complete system reboot, and by extension a digital music success story, then they are indeed on the way to accomplishing this.

Conversely if this was indeed a miscalculation rooted in arrogance, then investors and board members should beware. There is a right way and a wrong way to make a buck in NYC and LA. Bring back the meritocracy and the ideas and profits will flow. Grandfathering musicians should be the best time of our lives.

Filed under: Economy, Personal Branding, Politics, The Future, Music Industry, Wealth

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Steve Rubel calls it again. And in the spirit of the decline of deep blogging it’s best that I and we face this woe in early ‘08 to avoid sinking any further.

The fact is that I would love nothing more than to read the dailies all day, books, and magazines in order to follow the latest trends, gadgets, and social movements. I suppose that would render me somewhat of an academic and philosopher, which is bound to occur organically and permanently when I make the switch to suspenders in a couple of decades. But I digress.

Rather, I’ve chosen to surround myself with smart people on Twitter (a favourite of mine), Facebook, LinkedIn, and of course another personal favourite in Google Reader. The power of RSS indeed.

While I may still lack on some of the finer points within philosophical and ideological mandates set by the Digerati, I like to believe that I’ve learnt a great deal last year from following and engaging the community. Now I’m ready to birth certain policies that I’ve extracted from dozens of influencers to the benefit of my company. It should be a complement to the teaching of others. To use a Jaffe-ism, I’m motivated to use new marketing to prove new marketing–to put into action all that I have absorbed.

To tie this into the grander theme of “change” and “hope” and “conversation” in 2008 I think some of us, myself included, need to realize that we too are allowed to shape the debate action. It will certainly counterbalance some of the BS coming out of the blogo/podosphere of late.

Shoot I forgot: It’s the Lazysphere now.

Filed under: Rants, Economy, Social Media, Personal Branding, Politics, The Future, Wealth

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While having recently topped $1 billion in Canadian online advertising spending, it is predicted that by 2011 that figure will reach more than $3 billion. Combined with the soaring Canadian dollar this could give canuck ad companies the ability to be more competitive both stateside and abroad. This would be of benefit to the North American economy as a whole.

More so, I can’t help but concur that the Canadian market is timid by nature. It seems that things do move a bit slower in Canada despite a near 10-point lead in broadband penetration versus America. I will defer to the eMarketer article on this point:

“Admittedly, Canada’s entrepreneurs tend to be cautious. Given the country’s small population, audience size and ROI are crucial. Advertising dollars need to work hard, and many firms have held back from online experiments to focus on media they know. But the situation is finally changing.”

While this is encouraging, I wouldn’t discount the overall strength of the advertising business in North America. Barring a recession, the picture looks rosy all around.

Filed under: Economy, Media Planning, The Future

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…that is, according to AdAge. Yet a couple of paragraphs later it reads:

And while it hasn’t yet shown up on the bottom lines of most traditional agencies, it’s increasingly clear that Madison Avenue isn’t the Easy Street it once was. Shops are being forced to make do with less, forcing wholesale changes in the TV-commercial- production business.

We’ve come to accept that the media protects the interests of major corporations. Frankly, this type of reporting is getting old. The notion is transitive and it seems to originate by in large from major players that have frozen digital assets all the while posturing obliviously for the sake of the outside world. Us. And the the status quo lives on.

While I was in favour of this approach two or three years ago, it’s now clear that the ripple effect of hindering collective progress will start impacting the digital economy negatively. Luckily, I don’t think they can’t stall much longer.

Open the floodgates, I say.

Filed under: Rants, Economy, Politics, The Future

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I suppose it is of great timing following yesterday’s blog post that Forrester Research have released new predictions about the growing online economy. Here is an excerpt from BrandWeek:

Forrester Research, like nearly all ad-spending forecasts, projects marketers will shift budgets online at a quick pace in the next five years. By 2012, it expects the market will hit $61.3 billion, up from $18.4 billion in 2007. In five years, Forrester expects interactive spending to account for 18% of marketing budgets.

Also notable is that traditional display ads like banners, e-mail marketing, and search marketing will see a dip in overall spending as a percentage of total. Marketers will aim for a more “holistic” approach according to Forrester’s Shar VanBoskirk, suggesting more involvement in video, in-game, social media, and mobile advertising. This makes perfect sense simply by examining existing behavioural patterns amongst web users.

There you have it. Just a few more reasons to beef up your online marketing budget for 2008.

Filed under: Economy, Media Planning

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While the downturn in the U.S. dollar may appeal to tourists traveling to America, companies like Fixion Media don’t appreciate janky fluctuations as we depend on foreign currencies to thrive. The slump has forced our hand to start expanding into more attractive overseas markets such as in the European Union, where a strong Euro and a growing advertising sector is becoming quite attractive. Likewise, the strong currency here in Canada has led Fixion Media to become more accessible to domestic advertisers. This something we didn’t expect several years ago.

The U.S. dollar losing 20 cents vis-a-vis the Canadian dollar in less than two years is alarming. It stinks of volatility and instability in the U.S. economy. It is also a warning sign of things to come as America is a long way off from a new president in 2009.

This global backlash serves as a lesson to corporations around the world. Business is global. Period. Markets may only be as good–or bad–as its elected leaders dictate. This may be problematic but it is a fact of life these days.

Filed under: Rants, Economy

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