Yammer… online tools to help your organisation work better

Just been informed about this tool by Mrs Not Another Mindshare Blog – so thought I’d have a look. Quite simply it’s a twitter style service tailored specifically for private networks. These networks are business related; your registered email address links you automatically to fellow employees (i.e other Mindshare employees) which creates a Mindshare specific closed social networking site.

There are plenty of these services popping their heads up, and for organisational communication efficeincy they make a lot of sense – especially in regards to requesting and sharing information.

Yammer’s primary selling point seems to be that it’s a clever closed service for communicating across an organisation without over spamming people’s inboxes.

Like anything, it’s one of those things that with mass adoption could be rather interesting… we will see.

Have a look here (go for the video tour)… would be fun for a specific client team or department to dive in and give it a go. Especially where geogrpahical barriers exist. See how it works? Are there any real benefits? Hands up, people

Online Journalism by the NYT done well. Example 1

This is brilliant. I love it, I really do. I won’t even try and describe it, so just go and have a play with it… here

Twitter – Live Wine Tasting

Mooooore Twitter. Sorry. But this is cool, I think. Essentially, you sign up online at twittertastelive.com a wine is selected which you purchase and then drink with friends at the designated event time while Tweeting with other tasters your questions, opinions and such like. An interesting platform that could be used for lots of similar types of activities

Full story here

Twitter’s like Marmite

You either love it or you hate it…but it is addictive.

In this new age of sharing, it has now become our time that limits our sociability. It is only when we go to sleep, or alternatively have no access to either our mobile phones or internet enabled computer (i.e. in my living room unless you are pressed against the window), that we zone out from our social networks. With thousands of followers being followed by thousands more followers, it is no surprise that we can’t keep up with the world outside the front door. Computers really are our window on the world, so much so that we can live every detail of our lives through them, no matter how small and insignificant.

Long live the social blackout of the underground system, that gives us a break from the social abnormality of digital media and let us pray that this doesn’t get compromised for those who already have enough friends but always want more. Are you listening Boris Johnson!

Now check out the video by Stuart Miles from MegaWhatTV…an accurate representation of what we are all thinking…!

Social character extensions

We’ve been talking to clients for sometime about the power of Twitter and other social channels in creating intimacy around brands inherent or associative passion points. Something that’s particularly relevant for entertainment brands – where character extensions and back stories can come to life to maintain engagement and develop deeper more immersive narratives between (and possibly even during) on air/line shows.

If you were following Man Men’s @Don_Draper on Twitter last year it turns out it was actually Paul Isakson conducting a research project on doing exactly that. At first AMC had the profiles pulled from Twitter, then probably realizing they were getting free advertising and potentially facing a firestorm of online backlash, they let them go back up. However when Paul gave the profile over to AMC, despite being handed an active and essentially free dialogue with a large group of fans (who when finding out it was Paul still wanted @Don_Drapper to live on) they promptly did nothing with it.

The point isn’t so much the issues of authenticity and control – although those are obviously huge (and for another time) – but the fact that whilst followers of @Don_Draper probably feel let down by AMC, the other characters profiles, run by fans, have been thriving ever since. If brands are to jump in, whether through choice or through circumstance, they need to be committed to an ongoing approach. If they are not and are just in it for the life of a campaign they had better be clear about that up front and have an exit strategy that doesn’t leave those who were engaged feeling cold.

@betty_draper
@bettydraper
@Sally_Draper
@bertramcooper
@peggyolson
@bud_melman

On other Mad Men stuff – a great clip from Seth Godins blog on what comes first – product or marketing.

@acotterill
@mindsharesocial

When your brand is discussed in Twittersphere

Really cool article on brand specific tweeting. 500,000 tweets, in 140 characters of less, in the space of 2 minutes on your brand. How do you deal with this?

Here

Similary, some fun metrics of twitter discussion during the Super Bowl ad breaks. Which brand is the most discussed?

Here

(Starting as a bit of a Twitter sceptic, every day sees me falling a little bit more in love with the service. The last four posts have come from Twitter sources, as does every increasing amounts of great content… super stuff)

The 5 steps of Twitter acceptance

I bet everyone who reads this can plot themselves somewhere on here… I’m level 2, aspiring to be a number 3. All people 2 and above post your twitter names (or whatever they’re called) and let’s create our own network of twitterers, who will eventually be the amazing level 5’s… if we really want to take it that far?
I’m @Tim_coyS, nice to meet you

5 stages of Twitter

Pingbacks, Twitter and Social media experts

This is purely an excuse to get to know pingbacks better…

I also wrote some dribble about my thoughts on Twitter et al. So maybe several birds can be killed by nine cooks. Or something

Twitter

Some interesting pieces on Twitter – Firstly a document on the current state of Twittersphere

Secondly, a nice case study on using Twitter to engage with audience – in this case for a U.S sci-fi drama

FALLON Case Study for @_S_A_R_A_H_

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: smbmsp fallon)

Ambient Intimacy

Why do we Twitter? It’s all about the ambient intimacy – from the International Herald Tribune.