Conversation Agent

Evolutionary Hierarchy of Communication Networks

I've come across a fascinating evolutionary hierarchy of things by the Bordalier Intitute. It shows communication networks developing from cosmic networks. The diagram did make me think about Matryoshkus Russian dolls.

[image of product by Art Lebedev Studio. Hat tip to Laughing Squid]

The image I am using makes sense also in another respect. It represents a hierarchy in order of bit, byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte & terabyte. All it's missing is petabytes. According to Wired magazine, these are stored in the cloud.

If we take the opposite approach, from the outside in, for communication networks we have:

1. Chemical bonds in protolife (Gaia)
2. Cellular energy in prokaryote (Biosphere)
3. Genetic in eucariote (Biotope)
4. Central nervous system (Ecosystem)
5. Semiotic (Social Community)
6. Food Web or trophic Web in vertebrates or quadriopodes (Biotop)
7. Ritual verbal symbolic in religion (Culture)
8. Mechanical Tools (Engineering)
9. Written verbal (History)
10. Formal symbolic (Science)
11. Binary (Computer Systems)
12. Hypertext in the World Wide Web (Internet)
13. Computer to computer (Web Services)

This sequence or evolution seems to follow the path outlined in the article, where science (causation) is superseded by correlation (data analysis without hypotheses of what it might show). Is the evolution of communication networks taking us towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents as conversation agents? 

Fascinating theory or potential reality?

Word Clouds

It's called Wordle and it turns every text into a word cloud. [hat tip to Bruno Giussani] Let's run an experiment, shall we? Take a communication or marketing piece you have written and run it through Worlde. What is the corresponding word cloud? Does it give you the social tags it should about the topic you covered?

Here's one for the Gettysbug Address:

And here's one for my post on Ten Ideas for Conversation:

Now go get your own! I warn you, it is addictive.

Social Media is not the Answer, it's the Question

We get to practice communications, we don't "know" it. The largest part of the budget in time and effort should be spent on listening, seeing, and testing the application of what we learn.

Participation is a lot more productive when it is focused and thus sincere. You are there because you want to be, and you are deriving value from it.

Resist the temptation of going in with a bunch of answers. Answers are not conducive to learning. Instead, when your posture is one of true inquiry, then you start cooking.

Remember that scientists and inventors are by nature curious people, individuals who have plenty of questions. Questions are you key to discovery. You won't know until you ask.

Now that you're asking, does social media make sense for your business? Two more questions:

1. if your customers are online, what is your purpose?
2. with that focus in mind, what is the context?

You can't give away what you don't have... and you can't take it from those who do have it. With that in mind, is social media the cure? [inspired by Seth Godin]

"I Read Conversation Agent Every Day," says Christian Bale

This is the testimonial headline. You know that when someone says you are good, it is more effective than when you say it yourself. Writing a good headline is an art. There are several kinds of headlines you can use. I've used many, including:

• The "how to" headline - for example, How to Build a Social Media Strategy. I noticed that I write variations of that like How a Blog is Born and How Social Networks are Disrupting Everything you Know About Business.
• The "question" headline - there are many here. From Should Comments be Portable? to Your Face, Everywhere, Are There too Many Social Networks?
• The "reason why" or a version thereof - like 3 Trends and Top Ten Reasons to Work with a Smart Agency and Top Ten Reasons Why Your Customer Service Fails.
• The "command" headline - for example Forget Influentials: in Viral Marketing Context Matters.

There are more. Today at The Blog Herald, we talk about taking the best ad headlines and making them yours, building on the tradition of P.T. Barnum, N.W. Ayer and others - some of the master copywriters of years gone by. These people have blazed a trail for all of us inventing new ways to persuade and move people to action.

What magic promise is in your titles? Share which ones you use the most here. For a limited time only!

UPDATE: In case you are Christian Bale, the title was an example, but do feel free to read.

Benetton Closes Philadelphia Stores, Doesn't Tell Customers

I've been a customer of Benetton for years. The staff at both local stores in the King of Prussia mall and in Philadelphia knew me by name. Benetton had me on its mailing list for special promotions and customer sales. Their inventory was quite different in the US from that of Italy - more suits and business here and more casual wear there.

One of the gifts I received at Christmas time was a Benetton card. Since I was shopping in Italy during the holidays, I held on to the card until Spring. Imagine my surprise and dismay when I learned that both stores in the Philadelphia area had been closed without warning.

Benetton does not sell through its Web site, only in stores, so I will need to find a store somewhere that takes my gift card. Knowing the limits I have on my time when I travel, as well as the carry on limitations, that is shaping to be a challenge. Plus I will need to remember to locate the store ahead of time. The company has an extensive Web site for press inquiries in the USA, complete with information on its many sites, including Fabrica, its research center. I can look up the spring collection, yet I cannot buy it locally.

Benetton had my mailing address, they used it to send me promotional cards, special discount offers and once even a hand written thank you card after I purchased three suits. I am puzzled as to why the company chose not to send a communication about the stores closing. What a missed opportunity! If you have loyal customers, treat them well even when you're leaving. Your brand conversation still depends on the experiences you provide customers. And the stories they will share are much more powerful than any of the advertising you may buy - even the controversial imagery [includes some graphic images].

Until this past month, a Benetton store had been my best retail store experience. That is because the Apple store is so crowded that I need to shout to have a conversation in there. Do you have a favorite retail store experience? Do tell...

12 Tested Ways to Use a Mantra

"I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose." [Ludwig van Beethoven]

A mantra is a religious or mystical syllable or poem, its origin is in Sanskrit. It's a verbal formula containing mystical properties. The mind being as powerful as it is - even as modern science still has not found exactly where it resides in the brain - it wins over matter. Mantras can be used in many ways to focus your attention and intention, in a personal way.

1. Instead of a mission statement to infuse power and emotion in your team. Guy Kawasaki gives a few examples of the differences in his book, The Art of the Start. For example, the Red Cross mission statement is "To help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies." His hypothetical mantra is "Stop suffering." Used this way, the mantra is an internal verbal formula. Nike's mantra, "Authentic athletic performance" is quite different from its external tagline, "Just do it.", which is a guide for customers on how to use its products.
      
2. As a positive reinforcement to focus on your personal goals. Leo Babauta shares an example of how he has used a mantra during a marathon to help set his own pace. This specific Zen Habit of his will come in handy for me this year during this year's Broad Street Run. I'm liking his "Liberate yourself" a lot as well. One that I use often is "Blame no one. Expert Nothing. Do something." It works like a charm.
      
3. For inspiration to replenish your energies. Thomas Crum in Journey to Center talks about how center is not a place. It's a state of being where decisions are known, not made. One of my favorite quotes of his is: "To center is to relax the tight fist of clinging. Into the open hand falls freedom." I tend to rally around passion: "experience teaches us in a thousand years what passion gives us in an hour."
    
4. As a reminder that kindness is a demonstration of leadership especially when under duress. Audrey Hepburn said that "people, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone." It's easy to forget that others cross your path as you steamroll towards your goals. There's an old Italian proverb I use that says, "when you're in a hurry, slow down."
    
5. In grounding to some simple truths we all share. To be human is to be reasoned, purposeful, emotional, languaged, time bound, and mortal. For example, we are all seeking to be happy and find meaning in our own ways. The most direct path to making a connection is to acknowledge this simple truth. Extrapolating this for marketing, we could use the ideas put forth by Seth Godin that people take action (mostly) based on three emotions: fear, hope, and love.
    
6. As a way of reaching stillness and concentration. In a post last year about the sound of silence, I gave a few examples of how silence and stillness have a place. Silence as pause is a wonderful tool to take stock of where you are in a project, or to grab the audience attention during a presentation. Oliver Wendell Holmes said "Silence comes to heal the blows of sound." It makes for a magnificent contrast to busyness for its own sake.
      
7. For the creation of a scientific formula that can capture the complexity of a model. I bet you would have not thought of this one. Mantras are perfect for the scientific mind. Aren't formulas types of mantras? Albert Einstein explains the theory of relativity in several chapters of his book Out of my Later Years. Although the explanation is very comprehensible, I prefer to remember the formula - it stands for what it represents.
      
8. Instead of a to do list to reach clarity about direction. It's quite easy to get caught in the excitement of a new idea and begin writing down tactics before fleshing out a strategy. Alas, this path is more and more common in business today. Before we all roll up our execution sleeves and get busy doing, it pays off to distill with absolute clarity where we're going.
      
9. As a method to separate your vision from someone else's. The best way to stay the course in projects as in life is to own your own vision or reason why you are involved. Many of us have mentors and people we look up to. The best contribution we can make to our work is from a personal stance - in how we translate what we hear and see through the filter of our originality and experience. Greatness by definition is inimitable. When we stay disciplined in this, we build confidence in ourselves and that of others in us.
      
10. For listening to your own heart and mind. If we do a poor job of listening to others on occasion, we often do ourselves a disservice by not listening to our bodies, minds, and spirit. Inventing a simple mantra to help us evaluate what we are experiencing and feeling goes a long way in making us more present to what happens around us in an authentic way. Even as we look at conversation as connection, the first connection we need to make is to our self.
       
11. In attracting what you welcome to your life right now. Wherever you focus your attention, that is what you're going to get. Mantras defeat thinking and they will be quite helpful to you in separating what you think you know about your reality, and what you can help manifest in your life. This is valid for business as well. How many companies spend their days on the treadmill of what used to work? High performance is by design.
       
12. As a way to expose the essential emptiness of words. With all this talk about participation and conversation, it is good to be mindful that sometimes actions speak louder than words. Although often declaring you are going to do something publicly can help keep you on track with actually doing it, the resolution and resilience you may need to pull through are built first in your mind.

This also celebrates my 500th post. Do you use mantras? Do you think a mantra would work for you?

[image by BURNBLUE]

Why Corporate Social Media is Difficult to Do

Generalizations are always dangerous. If we're not careful, we sweep the complexity of human interactions under the rug. And we would not want to do that. There is a range and richness in behaviors within various contexts that we'd be hard pressed to document, let alone describe. Indulge me in this post. I will make a leap and jump directly from observation to conclusions. No research, no surveys, no back up aside from gut and experience.

The main reason why corporate social media is difficult to do is that social media by definition wants to express voice and opinion. When we discuss something someone else has talked about, we link, we provide credit directly. Hat tip, recognition, trackbacks, comments, all of those good practices researchers use when they quote studies. We quote opinions the same way. It's the honorable thing to do. We give credit where credit is due, we get credit for the same reasons. If I am basing my thought on your voice and opinion, I highlight that.

What happens inside organizations is quite different. A final draft of something - whether that be for the Web, Intranet, piece of collateral or anything really, needs to be touched by and blessed by a cadre of people. The more the people, the more bases are covered, the more diluted the final product. Mash-up? Hardly. Perhaps a collection of best practices. Are they really better? More often than not, these communications miss one critical component - voice and opinion.

By all appearances, it would seem that the social aspect would be captured nicely with so many people touching each piece. Au contrarie! Why? The most critical aspect, the credit to the author is often missing. The company owns all materials, yet hardly any credit is given to the people who actually had the ideas that went into it. Have you ever seen a list of contributors on the back of a piece of collateral? Maybe for white papers and newsletters - and in that case to provide a way for customers to talk back to someone.

What about using the quote and piece verbatim? What about letting each team member's contribution stand on its own? Organizations are very uncomfortable doing that. Corporate social media is difficult to do. This is not to say that corporate use of social media is impossible or inherently undesirable. But, when launching social media projects, companies should understand that they are slipping a sardine into the goldfish bowl. Which is great, if you like sardines.

Can You Be Authentic?

"A great performance stirs ones soul, rearranges someone's molecules, turns one's being inside out. It gives you a new insight on life, a new place to stand, a new range of experiences." [Benjamin Zander]

To me authentic is the expression of a company culture through marketing communication in human speak. A simple digest of complex information of what the company helps you do that makes it interesting. More storytelling and appreciative inquiry than positioning.

To translate that in internal communications, it's what gives you that rise of pride in your chest when you read a memo. Less messaged, more real. Here's where we are, here's where we're going. You're very much part of it, and this is why.

When related to external publics, it's the easy conversation that takes place with a trusted source, someone who comes through with technical or domain knowledge. What you need to get the story written, the numbers down, the details straight, the community informed. It's when you know that the truth is more important than the facts.

Truth in advertising? There can be such a thing. It may not be a campaign. Truth lasts for as long as things change and things change all the time.

[seal from Mila Displays]

My Take on "Join The Conversation"

I'll say it up front for clarity-sake, I liked Jaffe's book, especially the case studies and the section on partnerships. I bought the book last year before my vacation so I could have the time to read and digest it. I also liked Jaffe's writing style -- easy and (dare I say?) conversational.

Rather than doing a chapter by chapter review, which many have already done or are in the process of doing, I will build on its premise and touch on a couple of highlights.

[In case you think of asking, no I am not one of the faces on the cover.]

A few notes on the premise

Ninety percent of advertising is crap (as quoted from Lee Clow) -- that's because ninety percent of advertising is created by committee without a reality check. Very few companies test creative and even fewer take a leap of faith on behalf of their audiences. And in this light the two distinctions:

Communication -- the very distinct process of marketer-generated or -initiated messaging, often without any concern or consideration for the intended recipient. It's one way, unidirectional, and carefully controlled in its implementation.

Conversation -- a two-way dialogue or a stream messaging between two or more parties with like-minded or shared beliefs, wants, needs, passions, or interests. It's organic, nonlinear, unpredictable and natural.

Communication got that way because there is no feedback loop in organizations and no testing or research to find out what people are concerned about. Not anymore and certainly not these days. Budget cuts, skeleton staffing issues, and the excuse of needing to move fast all have contributed to this state of affairs. Do you see a trend here?

Is it Either/Or or And/And?

So my question to you all is -- is conversation, and social media, supposed to fix the void left by lack of commitment to adequate promotions budgets, research, staffing, product support for the intended marketplace, development, distribution network, and on and on? Is it?

Conversation is great if you've covered your basics. If you're watering your garden, but have not planted enough bulbs because you've cut back, should you expect that watering extra hard will grow the same number of plants as last year? Of course not, but you may find some extra weeds.

Covering your basics is the wellspring of conversation because if you've not gotten your basics covered, you've got nothing to talk about. Traditional marketing isn't broken if it's done right. Skipping a well thought out, integrated marketing strategy in favor of applying any kind of mantra -- whether that be conversation or social media -- is a recipe for failure.

The Tot 3 Priorities of CEOs are Also Mine

Jaffe concludes the chapter that sets the tone to the rest of the book with the finding of a 2004 study by the Association of National Advertisers. I might be in a minority, but the top 3 for CEOs are also mine:

1. Creating sustainable competitive differentiation and advantage
2. Maintaining corporate growth
3. Staying close to the company's customers

Let's start by creating products and services the market wants and needs -- outside-in vs. inside-out conversations with the marketplace that lead to connections. Let's decide to fund and not starve our growth initiatives with laser focus and commitment. Customer service is everyone's business, especially that of marketing and public relations.

If you promise to do that, the rest of the book will give you some good ideas on how to build on your basics in this new age of empowered consumers.

Notable Thoughts

• Marketing is not a formula, and certainly not one that deals in the commoditized and oversimplified 4 Ps -- Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. Say hello to the six Cs -- Content. Commerce, Community, Context (I just dug a bit deeper on context in viral marketing), Customization, and Conversation. Let' not forget the customer, too.

• Challenges for companies -- talent, culture, metrics. Systems should serve the people they were created to serve, not the other way around. When was the last time conversation was productive in your organization? Can you hope to do outside what you cannot do with each other?

• Brands today are the community that keeps them -- reputation is vital and very visible.

• Partnership is about access -- I say give access to your full employee base with care-and-share vs. command-and-control. Your first community is right there, inside your organization. Why not listen? Why not pay attention?

• Unless you're Neil Armstrong, you're not going to achieve exponential results by taking incremental steps. When you're ready to experiment, use social media yourself and work with people who do it -- nothing teaches you what it feels like to participate like participation itself.

I said before that companies (and the people inside them) have been used to creating the conversation, not joining one already created about them. Be prepared to make mistakes and remember that if you're not making any, you're playing it too safe to change the game. The companies that will succeed tomorrow, are not afraid to put skin in the game, are you?

Tiffany Monhollon: The Future of Communication

It’s difficult to picture a future without communication being a large part of – well, everything. We live in an age of instant electronic communication that characterizes and informs the way we operate our lives, essentially on every level in the developed world and increasingly in the rest of it. This creates an interesting dependency, especially for a new generation.

Looking Forward, Who Will Make Sense of the World?

When the VP of PR at Disney shared this video at a PRSA conference I attended this summer, I quickly found myself sharing it with everyone I knew and engaging in some interesting conversations about communication, information, authority, knowledge and the future. It may or may not predict the future of the media, but it’s certainly something worth talking about – in the future, who will organize information and help us make sense of the world?

One of the biggest responsibilities of communication is the sharing and preserving of knowledge. It always has been, since the time of oral traditions being passed from generation to generation. In the modern world, the responsibility for fact, accuracy and the preservation of history has become largely the burden of the press, which has played an important role in creating standards, organizing knowledge and helping people find important information. They didn’t necessarily always get it right, but checks and balances, codes of conduct, ethics, standards and norms were put in place to make sure the publics interests were protected. 

Now, in an age characterized by participatory media, the role of making sense of the world is being opened up. The world “publish” is no longer a gatekeeper controlled process, it’s the name of the button you click to post your own thoughts, ideas and insights. 

This matters to communications, because in the world of self-publishing, blogging, participatory media, there may be informal standards, but there is no true oversight. And without standards, oversight and codes of ethics to govern not just the content, but how it’s ordered, organized and used, the future of communication – especially in its relationship to knowledge – could be a bit uncertain. 

The Challenge: The Changing Definition of Expertise and Authority.

This brings me to an interesting question: In the future, will experts be defined those who filter and present knowledge, regardless of how much or what they know? My thesis adviser gets very riled up when I bring up blogging and self publishing, in terms of expertise. “They’re just regurgitating primary research, not adding any new knowledge to the mix,” she exclaims, (I’m paraphrasing). We debate about it, and I can understand her perspective. 

To many, the blogosphere appears to be a world in which anyone can learn the rules and own a term on Google, making him the instant “expert” on the topic, regardless of actual expertise in the subject matter at hand. A world where the definition of expertise is in flux and controlled largely by math rather than comparison to knowledge presents a challenging image of the future. One in which wikis, blogs and podcasts outweigh encyclopedias, books and traditional media because of their ease of access and participatory nature. And whether or not that is a good or bad thing is a huge debate in and of itself. But the question remains, in this world, is there room for actual knowledge, truth, or fact?

A Future of Opportunity – For You

In a participatory culture that’s characterized by online communication, individualism is increasingly defined through the collectivism of online communities. As thoughtful, professional blogging shows us, there are people who care about ordering and making sense of the world, promoting good ideas, and preserving integrity in the process of online communication. 

This poses a great opportunity for thinking people everywhere to join the conversation and begin building their own knowledge, sharing their ideas, and building expertise. And it’s the responsibility of these same people to impose standards, quality and ethics into their own process.

The future of communication really boils down to whether or not responsible, thoughtful people will govern this truly free democracy under principles that secure the future of communication while making it interesting, relevant and valuable.

Tiffany Monhollon just launched a new blog, Personal PR, relationships that work for you.