"What do you do to keep a flexible mind?", I asked Kevin Kelly, editor at large from Wired magazine, two weeks ago at the Next Web conference in Amsterdam.

He answered that one of his longstanding practices is to go to the news stand and buy magazines and newspapers that he would normally never buy. He said he would try to fully confront all topics and political positions - no matter how far removed they were from his own views.

I've decided to follow his example. Every week I browse the web for a couple of hours to find  things that are of no interest to me and that I do not agree with.

This Blog Show's over. Hopefully you've enjoyed it. And if not, then at least you now know where go for your mental exercise .

Trust seems to be a central element in our discussions this week. Whether it's the 'global village' scepticism towards corporate blogs (see Dana Gornitzki's entry), or the challenge of selecting a third party to manage your information overload (Clo Willaerts), trust is what we are craving for most when are communicating online.

 

Personally I like David Weinberger's take on the issue, because it's so simple and human. The author of the Cluetrain Manifesto last year said in an interview with my collegue Philip Weiss, director of emarketing agency ZN:  "The voice seems to be one of the ways of seeing who you’re going to trust. By reading the voice, listening to the voice online, the person speaking, we frequently can spot phonies, and sometimes we can’t. But that is true in the real world as well."

 

Isn't it ironic many of us - who work in PR, marketing etc and are seen as perhaps the biggest producers of the "fraud that eats at the trust that is the basis of human conversation" (David Weinberger) - are so concerned with trust? 

But hey, we are the trustworthy bunch, just listen to our voices on this blog...

 

[Audio highlights of the David Weinberger interview are available on HyperThinker.com, a book blog about the values, attitudes and mental skills of the 'ideal Internet professional'. There's also a lively hyperthinker forum on OpenBC. And yes, I have an interest in telling you this; I am the moderator of both platforms.]

 

I was a bit fooled by Sebastian Micozzi's title to last Monday's post: Open Source yourself. He talked ...   more »

"Okay, I am your friend and want to sell you something. And my price is 10% lower than that guy at the other side of the street”. We as consumer like the producer to be honest, but what if he attacks the competition?

 

A recent study by Wharton professor John Zhang used a group of students to watch a series of combative ads. Before the students watched the ads they had to distribute 100 points between the two competitors, so a perfectly indifferent student would give 50 points to each.

After seeing the ads, the students gave points again. The outcome was that in four categories they became more indifferent.

 

More people feel this way, and maybe we will keep seeing combative ads in the future, but companies need to understand that they can’t keep repeating that message.

Again, I can do my own comparison online, and I trust you if you hang on to you own strengths.

Yesterday morning, 23 °C. I received a press release from openBC, the online business community.  It was not ...   more »

Dee Rambeau, managing partner of DVCO Technology, yesterday stressed the importance of "our ability to sell 'ourselves' to others." A point that ties in with Sebastian Micozzi's question on Monday: "How can I get others to talk for me?".

Communicators throughout history have posed this fundamental PR question, but it is becoming more relevant in this age of global networks.We need to actively grow our ‘reputation capital’, as IBM GIO2.0 calls it. This is a kind of accumulated trust that enables people who know little of each other to co-operate in ever-shifting virtual networks.

But which systems can we use as the banks and currency of our reputation capital?

Some US university graduates now put their eBay rating on their resumes as an indication of their reliability and desirability. But this is obviously only an imperfect quick fix. Is anyone aware of other, better, more elegant methods & systems that we could apply for ourselves and recommend to our clients? 

 

Bram made an interesting point yesterday: "As I am honest and open about what I do and what I feel there is no way that others can really hurt me."

Whether or not integrity is really going to protect him from all evil, I agree that it will be essential for marketers to drop the fake pretences. If you are selling something, say so. Don't pretend to be the consumer's friend. Admit that you are behaving with more sensitivity than before (using 'word of mouth', 'viral marketing' or 'ambient marketing')  for only one reason; you are venturing deeper into people's private lives  - so you HAVE to be more careful not to offend.

Stelling Minnis from the Centre of Future studies in the UK said: "Some consumers have already developed a built in distrust for outside influences - and we may expect it to become more prominent. However, they will still have to buy things from someone, and brands that operate in a transparent, ethical way will have the best change of selling to this group."

All my good marketing, brand-building work can be easily undone by those that flock together in blogs, forums and newsgroups. One great example is Nike, who has been under attack for using Asian sweatshops to produce their apparels.

 

It would be my worst nightmare that such a think happens, but what can marketers learn from that? Today, more than 80% use the Web somewhere in the buying and decision process. Sites like www.epinion.com give our customers an excellent platform. Such well-known sites can be watched, but should I react to a negative, or even untrue, review? Or what if a famous blogger has made my brand the center of his evil thoughts?

 

Like in my social life, I have accepted the fact that I can’t be everybody’s friend, but as long as I am honest and open about what I do and what I feel there is no way that others can really hurt me.

And I can use all those new platforms to communicate with stakeholders, question is if that is my Marketing job, or should the PR-guy be responsible for that?

 

"You've got to find some way of saying it without saying it." -- Duke Ellington

PR, buzz, hype , spin (doctors), etc, etc, are all words that are definitely out right now.  They've all become associated with the negative side of "milking" media to further one's selfish goals; whether a government, a corporation or an individual.  It is perceived as the masking of reality, especially by the technology-enabled teens and young-adults of today.  PR as it was/is taught in b-schools and we know it today is part of outdated model of communications.  This model is centralized, with a hub from which a single, tightly-controlled message is projected.  Anybody remember 1984, by George Orwell?

What has made the old model old, is precisely technology.  Today, anyone can see right through the spin and the buzz.  Technology today is as widely available and easy to use/enjoy as a Pepsi.  This has levelled the playing field and is starting to make the world a more transparent and honest place.   It makes anyone with £1 in their pocket a potential communicator, editor, investigator and potential endorser on the internet.

In a world of personal disbelief, nothing goes further than the endorsement of others.  However, given the dispbelief you will need a huge number of endorsers to your cause, your brand or yourself...

The question is, taking into account Duke's quote at the beginning, how can I get others to talk for me?  It's about open-sourcing yourself.  Let others define what you (your cause) are and what you could be.  After all, the creativity of millions on-line is probably just a bit greater than your own.

To my great pleasure I have been able to gather a wonderful team of authors for this blog show. You ...   more »

“Help people feel good, look good and get more out of life”. Maybe some of you still remember this brilliant example of corporate waffle. It’s Unilever, launching its new logo in 2004.   more »

Please join us July 17-21, 2006 for a blog program: PR is Getting Personal, with discussion leaders Joost van de Loo, Clo Willaerts and Dana Gornitzki

ABOUT THE TOPIC:
In today's networked world it is no longer a winning strategy to have a safe job and to trust in the authority of your company. Positions change quickly; your manager can become a freelancer, your supplier can be your client the next month.  Commercial communication is more and more becoming the ongoing dialogue between individuals that the Cluetrain Manifesto predicted. Direct-to-consumer PR is only a small element of this pattern.

As a result, personal reputation is now one of our most precious assets. Successful professionals do everything to be seen as trusted networking hubs. How will this change PR? Will our press releases become more 'fair and balanced'? How do we need to adapt our thinking?

ABOUT THE DISCUSSION LEADERS:
Joost van de Loo is a Marketing Strategist, who joined communication consultancy ZN following a career in journalism and marketing. He has a Master of Arts degree in International Journalism from the City University of London, and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Delft University of Technology. In addition to work at ZN he currently sets up Distinct News International, a company that produces multi-media packaged television news features from India and China. He also consults for ETV and writes for UK-based Diplo magazine. Joost has worked for BBC Four television, the Amsterdam Weekly, Dynamic Zone, and KPN Mobile.

Clo Willaerts is marketing manager of Belgacom Skynet and an avid blogger.

Dana Gornitzki is a Canadian transplant currently living in London, England. A journalist and media expert, Dana's experience has covered the world of print, online and broadcast. From working with film festivals and inside a major public broadcaster to working with emerging brands, Dana's work has a focus of social interactions and its impact on the here and now. Currently, she is exploring the mobile space and is interested in that medium's far-reaching effects from social communities to advertising and consumption habits.