Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Today in Branding: ConvertKit Reconverts and Airbnb Logo Stays

On July 1, 2018 ConvertKit announced a new company name and logo to its users. The announcement of the rebrand to Seva wad made at their annual conference. It took only a few days for conversations about the cultural and religious implications of the word to reach scale. it was only then that founder Nathan Berry and team started reaching out to customers and non-customers to discuss the name. That's when they realized there was a deeper meaning they had overlooked. As Berry says in an email to customers this week#: Seva is not just a word that means “selfless... Read more →

You say Tomato, I say Tomato... When Language is the Enemy

Things have come to a pretty pass Our romance is growing flat, For you like this and the other While I go for this and that... Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong taught us a thing or two about the subtle disconnects that can kill relationships. All's fair in love and war goes the saying. Lovers that want to stay together resolve their issues, and meet halfway. Isn't it time we stop being at war with each other? It's unfortunate that strategy conversations continue to be full of the language of war. Because the focus on killing, winning, and competition is... Read more →

The Four Truths of Great Stories

We have no power over the emotions of others. Our sphere of influence resides in the process we use to get to outcomes ― that is what is within our control. The pendulum seems to have swung in everything-is-data-driven direction. But facts, or data points, do nothing without a story that communicates meaning. Stories work because they're memorable and contain emotional information. We tell stories all day long — to make sense of the world, and to connect with others. Integrity of storyteller and story are essential in business. To share ideas, present a strategy, and collaborate with a group... Read more →

Ignoring 2 Billion Internet Users is a Missed Opportunity

Of the 4.2 billion people online in the world#, only a little over 2 billion are on Facebook (mostly mobile use#.) This is not an overlooked opportunity. Access is not the same as reach ― especially the kind of reliable reach a business builds by creating value. Other means of communicating and interacting with clients that have not gone out of fashion and are algorithm-free to deliver value to brands and clients (win/win) are: Websites ― an ad-free product experience easy to underestimate, including product updates. blogs ― subject matter expertise, behind the scenes that humanize a business, translating technical... Read more →

All Communication is Persuasion

“As practitioners, we have a responsibility to know what we are doing,” says Faris Yakob in a recent conversation# about strategy. There's a time for every purpose. But there isn't an infinite amount of time (or customers) we can burn through. With digital media, building brands has become more approachable by many (see social media)... and more difficult. Because when we make the mistake of conflating short term, direct marketing-like ROI with what we should do to build for the mind- and long-er sustainability, we maximize for confusion. Says Yacob: Brands doing it well are the ones doing holistic comms... Read more →

What's the Number One Thing that Sabotages Your Projects?

If you're thinking lack of clear understanding between parties, difference in expectations, miscommunication, awkward hand-offs, too much (or too little) feedback, no clarity on goals or intent, you'd fit right in. Because communication in one form or another is hard. It's hard enough when talking on the phone, or in person ― imagine what it's line online. The gap between what we assume and what others are thinking online fills social media. We have the tools to mute, ignore, and (harder) forget what other people are saying. Or we could look at the evidence. Spending any time on an activity... Read more →

Social Media is Growing up, Good News for CMOs

Every second, 11 new people sing up to use social media. Think about that for a moment. The world has four billion Internet users#, and more than three quarters of them are active in social media, thanks to more affordable smartphones and mobile data plans. Nearly a quarter of a billion new users came online for the first time in 2017. In the U.S., where smartphones, tablets, and desktops have been ubiquitous, the people tuned into social media are approaching 70 percent of the population#. It's a mature market. And a well formed habit, with frequent check ins ― in... Read more →

What Brands can Learn from How Entrepreneurs Use Social Media

The handicap many established brands have is that they have a product or line of products they need to market ― that's often enough to be wired in thinking about social media as channels, rather than tools. Entrepreneurs don't have those constraints. Because they're often thinking only about a problem. Serial entrepreneurs know the drill ― you become obsessed about a problem because you see a gaping hole in the market. What do you do? As you brainstorm with your co-founder(s)/team, you're talking to everybody. Literally anyone who might have an inkling of some part of the problem. Because that's... Read more →

Create the Experience you'd Like to Have

It's a simple idea, isn't it? So why is it so hard to do? Well, for one we're not our client. We're someone's client, and many scenarios come to mind. Service situation? Communication disconnect? Can't find what you're looking for? We all live in specific worlds and problems. We all use search to find many of the things we want, even when we don't buy online. We also pay attention to the recommendations of others. I recorded some thoughts on finding gold nuggets in online reviews with Target Marketing a couple of years ago. Research helps you understand how people... Read more →

Identity, Communication, and Growth

In the heyday of this blog, social media was in its infancy — and it was a boatload of fun. The rules had not been invented and drilled into the collective content avalanche yet. License to play, and experiment. I remember the first interactions on Twitter, and the fail wail. This blog was like a big laboratory for learning, acting out new ideas, commenting back and forth. Growth comes from this kind of activity. Once blogs became professional hubs and marketing platforms, it all became very serious. That's about the same time the word “authenticity” became popular. Because once the... Read more →