Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Ning and Customer Betrayal

When I read the news about the Ning community platform cutting not just staff, but also its free service, I had the same reaction Shel Holtz had -- this is a betrayal of the company core promise and shatters customer trust. Want to continue using the platform? Pay to play, says Ning. Many have already voiced their concern for nonprofits and educational communities that will not be able to afford using the platform anymore. These organizations have made a considerable investment in time and attention, as we discussed yesterday, to build the platform for their communities. But the conversation I'm... Read more →

Are You Ready to Become a Media Company?

Many organizations look to build a proprietary community for their customers so they can seed their brand messaging. The smarter companies know that having a way to capture community insights and ideas is one of the best ways to create products and services customers want and need. A wholly owned community is a way to edge risky technology bets. What if Twitter went away one day soon in the way many publications and media channels have in the last couple of years? What if Facebook decided to charge you a steep fee to even develop a fan page, create a... Read more →

How to Defy Newton's Laws of Motion in Marketing

Is your marketing not gaining momentum and the right kind of velocity? It could be because of the unbalanced relationship between force, mass, and acceleration. Interpreting from Newton's laws of motion, your marketing may suffer from inertia (which, was discovered by Galileo and René Descartes), changing only when pushed by an external force; constant mass and movement, with no growth acceleration; and getting an opposite reaction equal in force to your action or push. In physics, the force necessary to accelerate and object by a given amount depends on the object's mass or amount of matter. The greater the mass,... Read more →

The Many Voices of a Tribe

[We Are The World 25 For Haiti - Official Video, 8:32] When the artists got together to record this video to support Haiti, they had one common vision and mission grounded in the values that underpin humanity. Because of that commonality, they became a tribe. The common charter allowed each individual to contribute while retaining a unique voice. The result is a powerful blend of humanity. The diversity in and of itself a strength of expression, not unlike what organizations that are serious about becoming a connected company would want to achieve. Are loyal customer tribes the result of a... Read more →

Top Blogs that Have not Linked to Conversation Agent

I'm a community builder and connector, so I look for opportunities to highlight worthy resources for business owners and colleagues who read this blog. In many cases, they may be other consultants and businesses that a traditional business would view as competitors. You will find plenty of outbound links to other blogs and sites in my posts, and my Twitter strategy is almost completely based on sharing the content of others. I am always grateful when my peers consider the content I produce worthy of their attention. Junta42 recently refreshed the list of Top 42 Content Marketing Blogs and they... Read more →

Tribal Marketing: Ducati

Ducati is a pretty old brand. It was founded in 1926. As my friends at Ninja Marketing write, the company was close to folding when Federico Minoli, representing Texas Pacific Group, a US investment fund, bought it in 1996. Minoli, a former McKinsey consultant, increased production from 12,000 to more than 40,000 today. The company is located in Borgo Panigale, near Bologna. Minoli, who left Ducati in 2007, bet on the concept of tribe, appointing a tribe director vs. a marketing manager, who oversees a staff of 30. Knowing that a mass marketing approach would have been too expensive for... Read more →

Why Starting from the Tool is the Wrong Approach

My friend Marshall Sponder alerted me to a comparison created by KeenKong around conversational metrics between our two accounts when he blogged about it. What's interesting is that if you take a look at the screen shots he grabbed from the comparison for April 7 and 8, you may jump to the conclusion that I'm a total jerk - at least on those two days. I mean, look at those numbers, I'm not out there using @ reply to its fullest or something. Well, in my view, they don't tell you much about my ability to create connections -- after... Read more →

How to Use Checklists to do Better PR

Things are moving very fast these days. We all agree that many of the opportunities to tell your business story in traditional media are shrinking. One other observation I have is that mainstream media is very much playing in the echo chamber, much more than new media. With fewer and fewer exceptions, many publications play up the same story. Fewer publications covering a handful of stories and trends are also putting your media-focused PR activities in danger of extinction. Organizations adopting emerging technologies are on a steep learning curve, not sure about which technologies will have lasting power. By their... Read more →

4 Hot New Trends in Marketing by Context Building

[click on image to enlarge] By now, you should know that we have some fun here on Fridays. I'm starting to think a lot about digital and portable content. This year I was trying out Gowalla at SxSWi and found it interesting enough in the crowded space that was Austin at the time. Uno The application got me thinking about brands as butlers [hat tip to Trendwatching briefing]. When you think about the opportunities you have to be a platform for connectivity, a source of information, a tool and compass that provides utility to your customers. Building on what I... Read more →

McKinsey's Four Ways to Get More Value from Digital Marketing Validates Conversation Agent

I'm going to take the credit for the work I've been doing in the last ten plus years with digital marketing. Much of my philosophy and work in content-based brand strategy, I've shared here for your benefit. You should take advantage of the free information -- spread it to your team and peers. Even if you've been thinking and saying the same things, because I wrote it, your boss will believe it. Trust me on this one. In fact, your boss will probably believe it because McKinsey is now saying it, right? Right. What is McKinsey saying about digital marketing... Read more →