by Mark Burgess on May 18, 2012
Building a Connected Brand in a Real-Time Marketing World
Brand Choreography | Integrated Marketing Communications
Today, the subject of Integrated Marketing Communications is hotter than ever. It’s a source of competitive advantage. However, both planning and executing remain a challenge. In this rapidly evolving, ever-changing landscape, marketers are challenged to elevate their games by raising the relevance of their marketing communication plans in the face of the rapid proliferation of media choices, new channels, new formats, the shift of power to consumers, the shift from traditional to inbound marketing, the rise of social media channels and shifting buyer behavior. Budgets are tighter, goals are higher and lingering economic uncertainty creates tension that can interfere with integrated planning and results. Marketers are racing to prove the value of every dollar they spend to generate the highest ROI possible. [click to continue…]
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Mark Burgess
Mark is managing partner and co-founder of Blue Focus Marketing, a social branding consultancy that helps brands realize the benefits of social media marketing. Mark is a marketing professor and expert social media blogger for AT&T Business Solutions. Mark's career spans B2B and B2C marketing, advertising, and professional services consulting. Mark led the PwC Global Web team, at McCann, headed the flagship L'Oreal and Sears accounts. At AT&T, led interactive marketing and multicultural marketing initiatives. Mark is ranked #42 in the world for Top Marketing Professors on Twitter, via Social Media Marketing Magazine. Follow me on Twitter at @mnburgess.
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by Cheryl Burgess on May 16, 2012
What exactly is a “Social Executive”?
What exactly is a social executive, and what traits do they exhibit that other businesses looking to jump into the digital bazaar would be wise to emulate? Fortunately, thanks to Mark Fidelman’s recent piece “The 7 Personality Types of Extremely Anti-Social Executives,” we have a very strong idea of what the Social Executive is not.
In Fidelman’s piece, he used the example of Captain Edward Smith—who helmed the Titanic for its famously doomed maiden voyage—to illustrate what a bad executive looks like. As Fidelman put it, “Most experts agree that although the Captain went down with the ship, he wasn’t a hero. In fact, he was the architect of the situation and due to his ineffectual management the ship sank.” But for every stubborn or misguided manager, we can also find examples of stalwart leaders, astute decision makers and trusty commanders.
In the business world, one good example would be Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell Computers. In her recent article “Connect with Business Leaders: LinkedIn is the Fortune 500 Exception,” Lori Ruff already went a long way in singing Dell’s praises: “Michael Dell has taken the virtues of LinkedIn and used them to propel forward. His own extensive network (around 20,000 first level connections) allows him to stay connected with partners and clients around the world. He can update them instantly and simultaneously with statuses, access crucial information at the drop of a hat, and organize meetings based on travel schedules with ease.”
To put it another way, Michael Dell simply gets it. He understands that businesses can no longer afford to rest on their laurels while the digital bazaar transforms the world around them. More importantly, however, Dell understands that in order to promote change he must lead by example. No executive has all the solutions to the many questions surrounding the shifting corporate landscape, but at least Dell isn’t afraid to look for the answers.
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Cheryl Burgess
Cheryl Burgess (@ckburgess) Co-founder, Managing Partner and CMO of Blue Focus Marketing, is a speaker, author, creative and marketing technologist with expertise in B2B marketing, social business and social media. She is an expert blogger for AT&T Networking Exchange on social media. She was awarded Wharton Future of Advertising's MVP and praised as a "brilliant strategic thinker in the social media space". She was awarded a Huffington Post "Passionista" for "great business expertise and timeless blog posts". She was featured in Fast Company for "Pitching & Storytelling in the Digital World". Cheryl was a speaker on "Expanding Your Social Influence" at AT&T's Networking Leaders Academy Annual Conference. She is the winner of the 2012, 2011 and 2010 Twitter Shorty Award in Marketing [The New York Times hails this as the Oscar of Twitter], named Top 75 Twitter Women, 2012 Top 100 Branding Experts on Twitter, and a 100 Top Marketer on Twitter. She is co-author of Ad Agencies Winning New Business 360, which has sold in 25 + countries worldwide. Also was also a speaker at Morgan Stanley headquarters in NYC on the power of social media during a crisis. Cheryl is a syndicated blogger for B2Community, Uprising, B2B Marketing Zone, B2B Informer and Crowdshifter. She is the co-founder of #Nifty50 Top Twitter Women and #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men.
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