That tag Ideas Worth Spreading is attached to TED Talks. It has been a while since I have posted one of their fabulous lectures. I find them to be innovative, creative, shocking, funny, inspiring and a place where the unimaginable ideas make really great sense. I try to go the site regularly pick a random topic – listen and learn! You can find them at http://www.ted.com. I recommend you make the visit if you have not. You are sure to find some of the people you know, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and those you may not know such as Joanna Blakeley.

As we all know I not only began my career in fashion – but to this day love it as much as my days as a 3 year old – sporting my mothers jewelery, bags and shoes. I just listened to a lecture by Joanna Blakeley that I am going to post – that uses the free culture of fashion and copying to show how many businesses – including the business I work in now – that the freedom leveraged from fashion from not having legal right to copy rights and trademarks – can be a very lucrative business for all. Both designer and mass market. The ideas she SHARES and the analogies she uses from one of my most favorite things – give great pause for thought – for many industries. By the way “we all need to cover our naked bodies as she says” and as you will see in the presentation the ROI is nothing to sneeze at!

Open source for the digital world has certainly taken on this idea of not only SHARING ideas but copying those that were great and putting a new twist on them……how are you free in your industry to SHARE your ideas? IF not – maybe it is time to look at this wonderful video that talks about how creative industries can learn from fashion’s free culture.

Enjoy.

Best Nicole

I came across an article in my morning reading that included an interview with Mitch Joel of Twist Media – on the topic of connecting and engagement. I have discussed this many times on this blog since I began posting, but felt that with so many companies finally realizing that they need to leverage social media – it is worth it – to SHARE some thoughts for 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

We have been in many client meetings over the last few weeks as everyone now needs to be using social media and is furiously finalizing their budgets and marketing plans for 2010. In one of the discussions with a team member, we talked about how many large businesses still have no understanding of how to leverage social media, but have decided to get engaged. Further to that, they have decided (in many cases) that they are going to apply a minimal budget, hire some interns and run it internally. The other option is to use the agency that manages their traditional work and have them manage their social media marketing. What is the outcome? Just ask Toyota about the response to their recent Yaris campaign.
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My last post was about understanding your customers offline in order to understand what the mandate and goal is for the target market you want to reach and how best to reach them. You need to talk to them and find them, so that you can be sure that you are aiming your strategy in the right place.
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Remember those great Gap commercials with all the dancing and hip music? They used to start off the back to school season. Well the Gap is getting in the game and launching their new denim campaign online. Yup…Facebook is now going to be where the new launch happens. With sales that have definitely gone down and their new designer Patrick Robertson at the helm, the Gap is looking to recapture the days of olde—where part of their cache was the connection they had with the customers for hip, low cost quality clothing. Remember Sharon Stone wearing a Gap T-shirt with her couture skirt? Those were the days for them.
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I had a phone meeting with a dear friend yesterday and we are planning a mutually beneficial business relationship. We are discussing the launch of her new website project  and how I might support them through my business SHARE.  Their need is to create and implement social media marketing and community into their current website infrastructure.
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Today I had lunch with a new potential client. He has a successful business but is looking to grow and educate his customers on a product that does have some challenges in its brand perception. He came to me to discuss the possiblity of creating and implementing a strategy that would provide a forum for engagement and education but was so FEARFUL of failure.
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Social media now has the attention of many companies these days. Everyone is trying to figure out how to leverage and court the customers they want while providing them with the fuel and fire to become brand evangelists. Most companies forget that understanding the innovators, influencers, critics, spectators and those who choose not to participate at all should become a part of the concepts and format they need to develop in order to engage their target audience.
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