Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Leading Change

In Practically Radical: Not-So-Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself, co-founder of Fast Company magazine Bill Taylor says: “We are living through the age of disruption. You can’t do big things if you’re content with doing things a little better than everyone else or a little differently than how you did them before. In an era of hyper-competition and non-stop dislocation, the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for something special. Today, the most successful organizations don’t just out-compete their rivals. They redefine the terms of competition by embracing... Read more →

Content Analysis, Where is the Story?

Content Analysis: Where is the Story View more presentations from Valeria Maltoni. Treating content as a product requires new thinking inside organizations. Indeed, it's much easier to simply add article writing and publishing to overflowing plates. Without redesigning the flow and enrolling new resources this is a recipe for failure -- and burnout. While we have an intellectual understanding that change is a must -- as individuals and organizations -- change is really hard to do. Because habits are hard to break, and they go something like this: we think, then talk, then do within certain patterns. And especially when... Read more →

Sample Your Product as Often as Possible

Your marketing cannot stop at the delivery door. It needs to come through. There's a shift in advertising and marketing. One that is even more focused on inspiring people to tell stories about your brand and business starring themselves. Because the best way to ignite that kind of response is by helping people become part of the story. Your content spreads when it's useful, shareable, interactive -- and when it invites direct participation in the story. Strip your business bare, and what you have is service people may or may not trust, brand they may or may not like, and... Read more →

Is Innovation Possible in Communications?

A couple of days ago, in occasion of the acquisition of Huffington Post by AOL, Jay Rosen asked: Is ideological innovation possible in online journalism? He think it is. His suggestion: Drop the View from Nowhere and go with transparency throughout the reborn AOL. He then proceeds to characterize what he calls the View from Somewhere -- plurality of starting points, strong points of view, and transparency (and by that I mean characterized by visibility or accessibility of information especially concerning business practices). Non-negotiables like fact checking, accuracy, fairness in portraying situations, up-to-date information, and multiple portals for people to... Read more →

Are You Trying too Hard?

Marketers have been contending with two misses on the opportunity side of things: (1.) They have been ignoring dads, a move that could cost them top-line growth, and (2.) they have been chasing millennials who are more open to interactive or opt-in marketing messages than boomers and Gen Xers... However, according to a Harris Poll released in June 2010, as reported by eMarketer, millennials just think that those messages have little or no influence on them. Can marketers catch up to them? "Trying too hard is one of the worst things a brand can do to get millennials' attention," said... Read more →

Why Do People do What They do? Seven Lessons on Influence

Say we take for granted self interest—why people do what they do is a valid question in our conversation about influence. Asking the question without attaching the part that concerns you, your product, your service, your world, will help you see their motivation more clearly. Before you can determine what you can influence and when, it would be helpful to explore: What really affects behavior? You've seen much of the data about people spending more time online to get things done through search, collaborate remotely, connect and share, or just research. While the fundamental question of the Web is "why... Read more →

Cognitive Surplus in Business

Cognitive surplus is not simply trillions of hours of free time spread across two billion connected individuals, writes Clay Shirky in his seminal book about creativity and generosity in a connected age. Rather, it is how connections help us create opportunity for each other. And I'm going to hit pause here because I'd like you to think about something. When was the last time you felt you had the mental space to ponder something at least a little before plowing through at work? Have you been in any meeting that rewarded exploration and listening over assertive "here's what we do"... Read more →

Bridging the Content Gap

I'm a writer. I enjoy the creation process through this medium, even though -- and you probably wouldn't know -- posts just don't come out of me fully formed. I spend considerable time reviewing what I compose, researching information for it, and asking myself the "why" question. Because being consistent and useful at the same time is a balancing act of output and outcomes. One is information you share, the other is feedback you receive -- to varying degrees of articulate and helpful. Both are affected by motivation. A strategy helps you get motivated to make a plan, and stay... Read more →

Are Dads a New Market Opportunity?

I was reading an article about the identity of the average Italian the other day. She sounded like the average shopper, the person to whom advertising and marketing -- especially in the consumer good industry -- is addressing its calls to action. As I talk with young couples, I also learn about arrangements where dad works from or is at home with the children, while mom goes to the office and travels more. Many of my friends have made these kinds of arrangements. Research also suggests dads are spending more time at home and playing an increased role in family... Read more →

The Role of Curation in Developing and Transmitting News

A new frontier of opportunity is in the ways news is being developed, packaged, and transmitted. Curated filters are becoming more interactive. From the New York Times offering personalized news recommendations, to this past week's launch of TheDaily, a subscription-based app for the iPad indexed by Andy Baio on the Web, and the upcoming release of News.me. Personalization has been around for a while. However, there is some increasing experimentation on listening to and picking up or playing the news as it happens. Increasingly, the opportunity is in the field, where the news is developing -- commentary, expertise, imagery, first... Read more →