Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

The Moving Line in Behavior Driving Blurring of Digital/in Store

The holiday season is almost upon us. In fact, the other day I went to the IKEA store to pick up some items and found the large area before the cash registers -- their version of the retail end-cap -- filled with cheery and fun-looking Christmas decorations. Retailers with stores and without a digital strategy may be getting coal in their stocking come January. Pure eCommerce companies will need to have a very specific and compelling value proposition to offer, including a stellar experience at every touch point. Because when it comes to providing a good experience, the line between... Read more →

How do You Keep up? Letter to a Friend

Last night I was answering an email from a friend and it occurred to me that many of the points I was making as part of our exchange would be useful conversation material for us. Whether you choose to have the conversation with me, or not, I've always viewed my role here as coach and, if you so choose, mentor. My promise remains the same -- listen actively, connect, make sense of issues, use what I know and learn to support you in your endeavors, and encourage you to go ahead and do stuff that matters. Like all good stories,... Read more →

Language Patterns in Bad Comments

The analysis of language patterns in communications is rich with cultural and behavioral insights. Online comment threads give us strong clues about the community that sets the tone. Ars Technica has taken a look at the comments that get downvoted most listing some examples. I like to promote intelligent discussion of issues and hopefully my posts are used that way elsewhere -- I've given up on figuring out why comment threads are uncommon at this blog (and no, I don't consider it a lack of engagement with the content). I have however a published a short rule about comments on... Read more →

Good Quality Content Never Went out of Style

We temporarily forgot that with good, fast, and cheap we still get to pick just two. Give it time though, and with (some) maturity, we figure out that quality matters and suddenly everyone wants New Yorker style content. Says Lacy: By and large the first era of blogging was about speed and volume. And speed and volume do not allow for mentorship, building sources, or investing in writing and editing. The sad reality is that blogging has given a generation of talented voices a big stage and a loose leash to build a name for themselves far quicker than they... Read more →

The Pursuit of Happiness, Freedom, and Wisdom

[The Divided Brain - RSA Animate, YouTube 11:48] Renowned psychiatrist and writer Iain McGilchrist explains how the divided brain has profoundly altered human behavior, culture, and society (here's the full video of the lecture). It's a fascinating topic and it calls us to patiently revisit some assumptions based upon oversimplification. For example, we need a necessary distance from the world in order to feel empathy. When we're right up against it, we just bite. Standing back actually allows us to see better. To make decisions, we need an oversimplified version of reality, however. It's no good to have every single... Read more →

If you Could Have Dinner with Anyone, Who Would You Choose?

Growing up in Italy I took it for granted -- food and a nice meal as an excuse to be social. It's been a long time since I've had the pleasure to sit around a table with a group of friends and just let the ambiance and libations be the context for free form talk. So much of our daily lives is spent rushing through from task to task and even when we meet with others, the topic of discussion is often pragmatic and business- or work-related. Yet we get to really know people and connect with them when we... Read more →

Doing the Work Together

"What you go through with another actor in a good play or film, something that's well-written and that means something deeply to both of you, is a very intimate thing. It's like, I'm here for you, you're here for me. And you're silently pushing each other forward and up. You'll never look at those people the same way again for the rest of your life." [Philip Seymour Hoffman] In a very candid interview with Esquire, Seymour Hoffman describes what it's like to work with Joaquin Phoenix through the intense moments of the movie The Master. Acting is a personal thing,... Read more →

Happiness is the Best Global Brand

The verb of the Web is share. We go online to share our story -- our creations, opinions, dreams, hopes, places, ambitions, and successes. Sometimes we also share the not so good moments. Most of the time, we look to inspire and be inspired. And sharing happiness is the best global brand, according to Interbrand's newly released report for 2012. Some statistics on Coca-Cola, the #1 brand: the company is 126 years old it has more than 50 million fans on Facebook 1.8 billion Coke products are consumed daily with a diverse portfolio of 3,500 beverages The company is also... Read more →

Becoming a Publisher

Can you run an online publication? Answer honestly. Do you have what it takes to run background research, fact check, spell check, grammar check, objectivity check. Wait a moment, wasn't blogging supposed to be about opinion and voice? Yes it was, and so was journalism. You are allowed to feel, witness (experience), and document what you see through your human filter. As Christiane Amanpour put it: there are some situations that one simply cannot be neutral about. Objectivity does not mean treating all sides equally. It means giving each side a hearing. Listening. Herein lies the first lesson in running... Read more →

Customer Recommendations that Actually Make Sense

A couple of years ago, we talked about 4 hot new trends in marketing by context building based upon the convergence of technology and service. We're now starting to see many examples of those trends as products and services: 1. Brand as butler 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 wrote here about apps for customer service. 2. Personal brand In the emerging technologies bucket, you should think about mobile communication as a totally new kind of opportunity for brands... Read more →