Musings From An Open Mind

New Community, New Economy, New Reality

2012-01-31T12:20:00.000-08:00

Being away from blogging for a while, I struggled with how to get back into it. The last time I blogged, I was working in a technical industry and the posts were more technical and professional than from the heart. This is my opportunity to change that. I was running today and the phrase "New Community, New Economy, New Reality" came to my mind. I think the realities of the last four years have finally set in. Alas, things will never, ever, ever be the same after the last four years...I'm going to start this SERIES with my comments on "New Community."

As a new member of the Phoenix community, I have mixed feelings about our relocation here. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Phoenix...love the weather...love the environment...love the people...even love the summers. But...there is always a but...the market is fairly young and immature compared to the rest of the US. This has left me with many bumps and bruises during the last four years.

I am committed to my community more now than ever before. I have been working in the area of Human Trafficking for almost three years. I was shocked to learn of the problem of, specifically, sex trafficking here in Phoenix. Now, I'm acting as Community Advocate to build awareness of the issue and to drive resources back to the exploited. A war of sorts! Phoenix has such great potential. I hope to be part of the solution here and not part of the problem.

I will be talking further about our community and Human Trafficking in future blogs...so stay tuned. So much to learn, so much to discuss.

Digital Media Improves Healthcare

2011-03-30T11:20:00.001-07:00

As a part of this blog series, it has been my continuing goal to help our team understand what digital media is and where the industry is going. I also want to help give an understanding of the application of this powerful technology and have thus far provided several examples. My blog today will look specifically at the application of digital media to the healthcare industry, one of the fastest growing aspects of our economy.

Digital media provides great opportunity to streamline the flow of information wherever healthcare is provided. Digital signage outside the patient room can provide essential information for doctors, nurses and visitors. This quick summary can be very effective in helping to streamline care and reduce errors. Additional information can be included in interactive digital signage in the room where the patient and hospital staff can view information about treatment plans.
To facilitate a smooth flow of traffic throughout a hospital, lobby and hallway signage gives information about visiting hours, interactive way finding and directions, and contact information for emergency personnel. This technology can also be used to create a digital directory that allows a user to locate staff , find a department or contact an organization the hospital. Providing up-to-date information in this way has the advantage of freeing up vital staff resources. Moreover, by being interactive, visitors are able to view the information they need quickly and easily.

Digital Media technology is also a great way to provide learning and the distribution of important information. Video can give patients a new option for learning about pre and post-operative procedures, provide entertainment, and educate about healthy lifestyles. When implemented online, patients can even watch at home to help prepare questions for their doctors. Research has shown that easily accessible information about procedures helps to increase patient satisfaction and confidence. The ability to watch multiple times may help people who are nervous about a procedure to feel more comfortable.

All of these uses help to improve the flow of information, reduce time demands on staff, and help to improve patient and visitor satisfaction. Digital media is thus a very cost effective way to improve the quality of Health Care.

Consulting, project management, and engineering services

2011-03-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

The exciting possibilities are endless when it comes to the application of digital media technology to business today. The transition from legacy to cutting edge, however, can seem daunting to a company without significant IT and content management resources. For this reason, and to help businesses implement the technology in the shortest time frame possible, AVI-SPL offers consulting, project management, and Engineering services. Our professional services group can also help your company to bridge the gap between contract people that create the content and those that manage the technology. Combined with our complete, end to end digital media solution, we enable businesses to meet their digital signage, web presence, and / or video objectives.

In the early stages of the process, our design group will help you to define the scope of your project including application requirements, hardware requirements, defining the end user experience, and assessing a budget. This is where we can help you to decide if a cloud subscription or an on-premise application server is more appropriate. To present the media, our team will help you decide what type of media players will be used and how to set up digital signage to build a complete system. We can then take a look at your existing data or content sources to plan out how to best utilize those via AppSpace.

Once the scope of your project has been defined, our technical teams can begin application, audio video, and IT system design. If your project requires special enclosures, their design will begin at this point. Our creative teams will typically now get more involved to create the applications for digital signage and or web, creating the right combination of visual appeal and functionality. And with content being the engine that drives the applications, our professional designers will create persuasive content that resonates with your target audience.

Integration is the next phase where applications are tested followed by training in their use and maintenance. Hardware procurement is an essential step in this phase followed by full system integration (installation, configuration and testing). To prepare the viewing environment, our fabrication shop builds the actual enclosures. At this stage we build your entire system, install your applications, and test all content and scheduling.

The final stage is management where AVI-SPL offers network monitoring, hardware maintenance (when required), technical support, and management of your content if desired. Through this full complement of services, we can help your company to bring your digital signage, media, and pervasive video strategy from concept to reality.

2011-03-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

If you have been following my blog, hopefully you are starting to see the benefit of digital media as it pertains to pioneering innovation and transforming business communication in new ways. And as an extension of this, I hope you are seeing how AppSpace can make content management and distribution relatively painless and easy. At this point, I wanted to go into more detail about the hardware that makes this possible.

Appspace runs via either a cloud subscription, or an on-premise server license that utilizes the client’s hardware. When implemented via cloud subscription, no server hardware or software is required and the client pays either an annual or monthly subscription fee. Purchasing an on-premise server license, by contrast, allows the client to install the application server on their network. This allows for increased speed, alignment with existing IT policies, and virtualization, thus allowing for a higher degree of scalability and customization.

To display digital media on-site, a media player or video wall player is used. The PC based media player runs either Windows XP, Vista, or 7, supports full HD at 60 frames per second, and can handle multiple content layers. It also offers interactive capabilities and support for many different media types. The PC based video wall player has the advantage of handling up to 24 megapixel resolution in a single device, flexible display orientation, and edge blending for projectors. We also offer the Cisco to digital media player that supports interactive applications, multiple users, enhance scheduling, and the management of different data sources.

For those businesses interested in help with the installation and configuration, my next blog will provide details about professional services offered by AVI-SPL. I also plan to provide background on the tremendous application Digital Media has to the rapidly growing field of Health Care in a future posting. As always, I welcome any comments or questions you may have, and encourage you to sign up!

A More in-depth Look at AppSpace

2011-03-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I gave an introduction to AppSpace, our digital media platform that operates out of the cloud and allows our clients to build their own Enterprise video strategy. I discussed how AppSpace enables the client to create applications that store, manage, and transmit digital media to desktop computers, mobile devices, television, and / or on-location digital signage. In this way, clients are able to invest in a single, highly scalable platform that enables the sharing of digital media throughout the Enterprise. My goal today is to provide a more in-depth look at the capabilities and application of AppSpace.

The challenge with traditional system infrastructure, as it relates to the running of digital media applications, is the lack of cross-platform integration. Content (information) is produced by each department within the company: administration, IT, HR, etc. Each “owner” then maintains their media and data content independently, using their own server space. Making the challenge even greater, desktops apps, digital signage, mobile apps, and TV are typically handled by separate servers. This creates a very inefficient and problematic system architecture to maintain: the desktop app server has independent access to each data store (Admin, IT, HR, etc.), the digital signage app server must also have access to each, mobile app server must have the same access, etc, etc. Sharing of content is very difficult and the flow of information very inefficient in this scenario.

The solution AppSpace provides is to bring content creation and distribution management for the entire company together into one, centralized location. As a unified digital media communication platform, AppSpace enables the intelligent flow of relevant and timely information among teams while minimizing costs and complexity. Each owner can still produce their own content, but sharing and collaboration becomes a lot simpler. As a further advantage, the platform eliminates the need to maintain application servers for each type of content. Four-Screen Coverage is enabled and pervasive communications is produced for desktop, mobile, signage, and television. Content is distributed in a variety of formats, as needed, and includes Microsoft Direct X, Adobe Flash, and iPhone / iPad.

AppSpace offers a number of attractive features beyond a unified design. Implementation can be either cloud based, or on-premise, whichever meets the business requirements of the client. New features, functions, and upgrades are done automatically each month, in the background, without playback interruption, thus eliminating the need for down-time and scheduled maintenance. Content creators can easily build their own visual message via AppSpace’s extensive library of templates and widgets. Or, they can use our intuitive application design tool to create content from scratch. Content can then be scheduled to playback at different times throughout the day, week, month, etc. when it will be most effective. And, after content has been active for a while, the client can easily monitor all player devices through a central, online dashboard.

Bringing so many features and capabilities together into one unified digital media platform, AppSpace has tremendous application for a variety of industries and the versatility to grow for the future. I believe it truly is one of the best investments a company can make to meet their digital media needs while minimizing costs and complexity at the same time!

The power of video in transforming business

2011-03-09T08:10:00.000-08:00

Today , video is not just about slick TV commercials and YouTube music videos. Pervasive video can enable business to be more efficient, more cost effective, and more successful for their customers. This week I will illustrate some of the ways video can make this happen.

The application of video can enable a more versatile form of corporate communications and better change management. Executives have the option of pre-recording critical messages that are then delivered directly to employees for a more personalized approach than allowed by email. As another example, video can be utilized to handle the note taking chores during meetings. After the meeting, text can be automatically transcribed and then translated to any languages needed.

Video can also help expand the reach of business meetings by way of point to point calls where people interact “face-to-face”, even from thousands of miles away. This type of interaction helps to build trust, streamline collaboration, and reduce the time required to make effective decisions. Meetings can be scaled to any size, require reduced set up time, and are often recorded for later viewing. And the best part is, video allows full functionality on any device, be it a PC, cell phone, tablet, or conference center display. This technology can save businesses thousands of dollars in travel expenses each year and help to bring key players to collaboration.

Furthermore, as a more specialized form of communication, video allows for on-demand training that can be adapted to suit the audience and provide just the right amount of information when it is most needed. This might include live internal training that takes place in physical classrooms, with an attending instructor. Video also allows for external training so that people may access the training at their own convenience via the Internet. Being very busy during the day, people may not be as receptive to the training during normal work hours. As a solution, video allows them to do the study at a later time, when they are more comfortable and can be more focused on learning. One of the most exciting forms of video training / knowledge sharing is the use of virtual reality simulation where real world scenarios are simulated and trained.

As you can see, pervasive video has great application for business today. We offer a variety of scalable video platforms that can help a company achieve the great potential benefit of video, as applied to their business needs!

How Companies are Utilizing Social Media Today

2011-03-02T19:47:00.000-08:00

As described in my last blog, Social media has been rapidly growing in popularity as a new form of digital communication that leverages the power and widespread availability of the internet. And as social media gains acceptance at home, companies have been using the technology to pioneer innovation, transforming their communications in new ways that:

- Bridge the gap between a company and its customers
- Improve promotional campaigns
- Demonstrate thought leadership
- Co-opt influencers
- Collect market intelligence
- Educate their customers and create opportunity awareness

And it does not end with interaction with the customer. Companies have also been developing social media as a way to improve communication throughout the enterprise. This has created the opportunity to:
- Promote collaboration among teams beyond traditional boundaries
- Solve business problems faster
- Optimize process
- Improve culture and work environment
- Address challenges more effectively
- Spur business model innovation

Examples of the value that this brings to an organization are numerous: Customer relationship management is enhanced by better listening to the customer, solving problems with the knowledge gained, and then educating employees about best practices. Human Resources can use social media to improve employee training and tap into the pool of “passive” job seekers that is so richly presented by professional social networks (LinkedIn, etc.) Product development and innovation is accelerated by sharing of ideas, opinions, and perspectives and then incorporating that learning into new products and services.

As a result, companies that are taking the leap and building social media into their daily business practices and culture are reaping great benefit. It’s just a matter of time before most companies have a social media team.

Social Media in the 2010's

2011-02-28T08:28:00.000-08:00

It still sometimes amazes me the way social media has exploded in growth over the last couple of years, and how it is shaping the way people communicate in the 2010’s. Social media is not only at the forefront of marketing, but is literally helping to drive revolution in the middle east! Decades of dictatorship are toppling before the power of the people, and the internet is helping to spread the word despite censorship efforts by those governments. Once again, this shows how the pen is truly mightier than the sword! Social media is the ‘digital’ pen that is replacing ink and paper of old.

The social media tools of Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, blogging, wikis, etc. are changing the paradigm of marketing from one of presenting to the market to one of creating a meaningful interaction with the market. This interaction and knowledge collaboration creates trust and a sense of community with a business’s client base as well as with their networks – strangers become followers, followers become friends, and over time, friends become customers. Forward thinking businesses can use these tools of opportunity to greatly expand their client base in a much more ‘organic’ way, create customer loyalty, and educate people about their area of expertise. The result will be a “top of mind awareness” and a strong brand recognition.

Interaction with the customer base is not the only powerful advantage to using social media in a strategic way. Those same tools can also help businesses to optimize work processes, culture, and technology, allowing for better collaboration and more innovation within their employee organization. Management can tap into the tools and methods that people are already using in their personal lives to share information, stay updated on current happenings, and give helpful suggestions. Since many people already feel comfortable plugging into these technologies and understand the online culture of community and information exchange , the ramp up period for a business to utilize these tools can be short.

I have no doubt that social media will be continuing to grow in importance and effectiveness over the next decade. Next time, I will write about companies that have been using social media to pioneer innovation.

Join me at Digital Signage Expo

2011-02-19T10:13:00.000-08:00

2/23/2011 - 2/24/2011, booth number 843 in Las Vegas, NV!

More details can be found at: http://www.digitalsignageexpo.net/

Our digital media solution: AppSpace

2011-02-18T13:07:00.001-08:00

The application of digital Media Technology to business is a very significant growth opportunity of today. Technology is changing the way people receive information, collaborate with one another, and get work done, both inside and outside of the workplace. As a part of this, marketing is being driven by an entirely new paradigm of customer interaction. The technology that makes this possible is allowing businesses to reach their customer base and create an interaction in ways never before possible. Internally, large organizations are able to facilitate information sharing and team collaboration in new, seamless ways.

For this blog posting, I wanted to give an introduction to AppSpace: our digital media platform that operates out of the cloud and allows our clients to build their own Enterprise video strategy. As an industry leader, the application of digital media technology (video, TV, images, audio, data, and more) to the client’s business via complete, end to end solutions is what we specialize in. AppSpace enables the client to create applications that store, manage, and transmit digital media to desktop computers, mobile devices, television, and / or on-location digital signage. Included as a component of the platform is an online toolset that accomplishes all this with ease. Clients are able to invest in a single, highly scalable platform that enables the sharing of digital media throughout the Enterprise. And we don’t just sell the technology that makes this happen - AVI-SPL can assist in all aspects of implementation, including equipment specification, installation, configuration, and application development, where needed.

The leveraging of digital media has great application for organizations large and small, including educational institutions, healthcare, and retail. Our platform enables you to put this exciting new technology to work for your business.

One year and counting...

2011-02-15T23:29:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe, but I surpassed the one-year mark at AVI-SPL just this last week. What a year it has been. I have been so surprised and incredibly pleased by the confidence the team at AVI-SPL has put in me to drive their Digital Media practice. I took on that job about July of last year and the opportunities have been streaming in. With over 35 offices and 140 sales reps nationally doing high-quality work for 70% of Fortune 100 brands, to say our opportunities are compelling is an understatement. I continue to be amazed at the connections this organization has and at the history and credibility that they have built with their client base. So many opportunities, so little time.

As part of the team driving our Digital Media practice, it is incumbent upon me to support our sales efforts and help our team understand what Digital Media is and where the industry is going. As part of my blog series, I figured that I would take the time to pack this information into this format such that I can inform others in the process as well. That is what you'll see throughout the following weeks...starting today.

Digital Media is a burgeoning new industry that is focused on the distribution of media digitally, typically through the IP network. Our company is working very closely with Cisco to specify the Digital Media System (DMS) with our mutual clients. This infrastructure system offers clients the ability to leverage a single platform to deliver media to televisions, either as signage or as IPtv, to computer desktops and to mobile devices. This provides our customers with the ability to invest in a single, scalable, highly extensible platform for media sharing throughout the Enterprise. This offers large organizations an opportunity to integrate video applications much like we've integrated e-mail applications. Additionally, AVI-SPL is now offering clients a DMS "Lite" that can facilitate many of the same Enterprise video applications, but do so on a smaller scale. This DMS "Lite," called AVi-SPL AppSpace, is an application that operates out of our cloud and allows our clients to ramp-up to an Enterprise video strategy.

This industry is finally going mainstream...took long enough. I remember talking about digitally distributing content to digital displays through satellite and, believe it or not, microwave signal about 15 years ago. Network bandwidth is finally in a place where this kind of IP-based distribution is possible. From here...the sky's the limit!

Content efficacy

2010-03-03T19:50:00.000-08:00

Content is a funny thing. I have been working on the content side of publishing and marketing technologies for almost 20 years. For those I talk with today who are new to the business, they get excited about the opportunity there. I, of course, can't help but giggle. Content has so little value in our society right now. Unfortunately, this is an outcome of supply...too many points of distribution. It needs to be "right-sized"...it's long overdue.

As part of my previous posts, I have been talking about integrated communications. It seems a new channel of communication is birthed each year. Early in my career (I'm aging myself here), there were only really three channels of communication...print, broadcast and radio. As the internet became another viable distribution channel, companies added an "internet" or "dot com" team to handle this distribution. But they kept coming, and coming, and coming....now what do we have eight? Ten? The cool thing is, they all play an important role. Some communities like to receive messages via e-mail, some via traditional mail, some broadcast, etc...you get the idea. Organizations are struggling with how to distribute to all of these new channels without creating all new silos that are responsible for packaging content to these distribution channels.

This is where content production automation becomes a critical factor. The future of communicating through all of these new channels is to develop automation or spraying applications that will provide the contextual formatting required to translate these assets to the proper channel. This isn't about re-purposing content from traditional channels anymore. This is about managing the content pieces and parts and then automating, through templates, the actual production and distribution. It all comes back to centralized, enterprise-wide content management!

It is amazing how things come around full circle. Enterprise content management was a technology I was advocating back in the late nineties. It is required NOW more than EVER! Get on board...feel free to call me on this if you have any questions!

602-516-6501

2009-12-28T16:07:00.000-08:00

Augmented reality provides a real-life example of integrated communication. Before our eyes, we have moved from a collection of distribution channels to a collection of audiences or communities. These communities, like Esquire’s readership, are looking for new ways to connect. To use the traditional magazine as a platform to tee up another communication channel is such a cool idea...and very effective in creating a unique experience. Additionally, this provides the magazine’s editor the opportunity to enrich the publication through the use of media on the Web site. And with the use of unique codes, this “enrichment” can be unique to individual subscriber...you see where this is going? It’s not one or the other, but more a strategy of leaning the channels on one another and doing so taking into account the desire to customize the individual experience..

I don’t know about you, but I consider myself fairly tech savvy, and yet I still like to sit down with a good, old-fashioned magazine. Starting my career out in print publishing, I saw early on the impact that electronic communications would have on relative demand for print services. Upon introduction of the Internet as a viable communication channel, many thought that print would simply go away. Over time, we have realized that this is not the case. Print will likely “right-size” to take into account the quantity and quality of other media channels.

The future of communication belongs to those organizations that can successfully execute a message, campaign or promotion across multiple channels of distribution, with special focus on how one channel can deliver their audience to another channel. Take it a step further, real success comes when we can customize each individual experience upon execution, making it unique to the individual in the community.

One of the greatest challenges we face in living out this new opportunity is that much of content production is built around a given channel of distribution. As an individual once employed by a large retail organization, I was witness to the redundancy that took place by focusing content production on a specific output channel. In order for these new media channels to survive in a market of declining budgets and declining advertising spend, content production itself needs a makeover. Shifting the production focus away from channels toward communities is a step in the right direction. To take it a step deeper, we need to strategically introduce automation into content production processes. This will be the focus for my next blog post.

Integrated Communications (continued)

2009-12-16T15:11:00.000-08:00

Last post I talked specifically about the vision for a more integrated communication approach. Now, I'll touch on what the implications are of this on technology.

Integrated Communication strategies require that we design and develop a technology architecture that is content-centric and is designed for such channel integration. This infrastructure enables us to have the flexibility to access centrally managed media and distribute this media to digital channels, like Web, Mobile, Digital Signage, Video-on-Demand Training, etc, efficiently and effectively.

The difficult reality of so many different communication channels is that the operational costs of developing content in support will require us to do a better job of making this content highly available throughout the organization. As part of the vision for SONA (Service-Oriented Network Architecture), video content development, management and distribution will become an absolutely critical part of every Corporate organization. Choosing the right architecture for video distribution, avoiding the development of content, especially video, for a single channel of distribution, and using the budget for implementation of the customer-facing retail media network as a platform for preparing the Corporate network for rich media are all considered best practices in today’s content-centric business environment.

Cisco developed the networking standard that is IP, which allows for data, voice and video to be routed through a packet-switched network. They have mastered data and voice and have developed “best of breed” technology to support all three types of digital data distribution. It is only a matter of time before the largest Corporate organizations are routing all digital communications through their IP network as standard business practice. Cisco’s DMS (Digital Media Suite) supports all facets of Digital Signage as a channel, but does so using Cisco’s network-centric solution. This enables other video-based applications not commonly available through typical “store and forward” Digital Signage software solutions. Video-based applications like live streaming, say for a weekly, live and interactive nutritional seminars hosted by your on-staff Registered Dietician from your Retail Corporate office and available in all stores. And applications like video-on-demand, say for Corporate training or Consumer product research in-store. Retail experience is more than just push marketing and mass media. It is interactive, which requires a more network-centric Digital Signage solution to facilitate customer engagement in-store.

For additional information, please review Cisco’s podcast on “Preparing a Network for Video”: http://bit.ly/4UyoER

Take the issue of integrated communication a step further and consider the future of tying in traditional, non-interactive, static forms of media communications. I'll talk about tying all this together on my next post. In the meantime, take a look at last month's Esquire Cover, referred to as Augmented Reality:

Integrated Communications: The future of Conversation

2009-11-16T10:11:00.000-08:00

A passion for integrated marketing is what drives me headlong into the business of Digital Signage / Media. As a young professional in the printing industry almost 20 years ago now, I was an integral part of a media production operation that was, in essence, silo’ed and completely unique in its processes and functions. The output or distribution channel was “traditional print.” Upon the birth of the Internet, many large Corporate organizations launched a parallel operation, often called the “dot com” team, to handle the media production to the distribution channel that is the Web. It was at this time that I spent several years advancing the cause for centralized Digital Content Management tools. The vision was to manage content agnostic to media distribution channel. At that time, channels like Digital Signage, Mobile and others were still a figment of our 21st Century imagination, but we knew they were coming as consumer electronics and personal communication technology was maturing before our eyes. It was my opinion that Digital Signage, gaining serious momentum as a bona-fide distribution channel, would be the landscape upon which Corporate organizations would decide that they couldn’t continue the madness of developing yet another content production silo that is only common in that they share a point of distribution. So, I jumped in head first into the industry with the hope that we could live out the potential of channel agnostic development, management and distribution of content…the “holy grail.”

Quickly, what I found was a problem similar to that of any other distribution channel that has been before. A lack of centralized content management, content tied up in and managed within one specific channel with processes designed only to encourage cross-purposing, a set of tools and software that are, yet again, designed to address a specific channel distribution requirement rather than tools that encourage a channel agnostic management and distribution of content. It is simply more of the same.

I have had the pleasure of working with both owner-operated, as well as ad-based Digital Signage networks. Although it makes sense that an advertising-based, third-party owned network be developed and managed in isolation of the larger Corporate network, Corporately-owned Digital Signage networks should be integrated into the larger Corporate network to support other business activities. In the case of a privately-owned, ad-based network, integration of Digital Signage/ Media isn’t necessary and could, in essence, present a security issue to the hosting organization. However, in the case of an owner-operated, there is justifiable argument that it is best to integrate the Digital Signage network into the larger Corporate network, maintaining that vision for integrated communication.

So, what is integrated communication? Integrated communication is:
-A content centric platform that can distribute the right message through the right channel to the right target market. It is a shift of emphasis away from channel of distribution toward an emphasis on target audience and content appropriateness.

-A strategy that takes into account easy distribution of content to all possible channels, including the more traditional channels, like print and broadcast, the newer channels that have emerged, like Web, Mobile, E-mail and Digital Signage, and those that have yet to be developed.

-A mindset shift that incorporates the best of database technology and production processes to automate and systematize the design, development, management and distribution of content to any channel of distribution.

-A technology strategy that will allow Corporate marketers to live out the promise of one-to-one communication between brands and their customers. One that encourages treating each customer as unique and as being at a different stage of brand validation as others within their peer group.

-The use of standards-based networking and communication technology to encourage centralized development, management and control of marketing and media assets as far into the production cycle as possible.

Check back next week when I talk about what is required of technology in support of Integrated Communications strategies!

www.xeesm.com/joycevogt

Branding and Social Media

2009-11-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

I have had the privilege over the last six weeks to get "under the hood" of the technology and the business processes associated with Social Media through a certification program through the Social Media Academy (www.socialmedia-academy.com). As someone who has spent over 15 years in marketing and technology, I have always been on top of this type of innovation. I have dedicated the last six plus years of my career alone to the emerging Digital Signage/ Media networking technology for marketing and business. What I have learned from this certification class is that I dramatically underestimated the value of Social Media as a communication platform.

You see, as someone who has focused much of her career time and attention on marketing technologies that provide an ROI (return-on-investment). For example, I worked in Retail Media to measure product lift associated with in-store digital messaging, I worked in print and direct mail measuring response rates to direct mail campaigns, and on and on. All of these marketing optimization efforts were always associated with "campaigns." They were essentially cause and effect measurements. Conversely, when we wanted to assess a brand's quality, visibility or impression, this was an exercise that required focus groups and surveys. This didn't always take into account the opinions of all customers, good, bad and otherwise. Most often these brand measurement exercises were subjective in nature, in other words, up to someone else's interpretation. I never anticipated that there would be a better solution for this type of assessment...until I learned about Social Media. All by itself, this new revelation will provide the business case any company or individual needs to justify investments in Social Media. The facts about Social Media today are that I can scour the social web and assess at any given point in time the mood or sentiment of the customers that are talking about my Brand online. I can access specific details of both satisfied and unsatisfied customers. I can understand who (as in demographic) is talking about my Brand. This is and should be amazingly valuable information to any company. And it is ALL real-time and is, most importantly, objective.

Many years back, I had the pleasure of working with a Brand manager from a large consumer product goods manufacturer about advertising on our retail media network. At that time, there was a high level of financial accountability for marketing budget, specifically an insistence that 25% of budget be dedicated toward measurable forms of marketing and communication. Additionally, this budget increased by 5% per year. If this is the case, then almost 50% of this Brand's marketing budget should be dedicated to measurable sources today. I would argue that, with Social Media, potentially as much as 90% of marketing budget can be measured. I never, ever would have thought it possible. Especially after hearing FOR YEARS, "50% of my marketing budget doesn't work, I just don't know which 50%." Here's to Social Media for doing what I thought could never be done!

Joyce Vogt
Find me at www.xeesm.com/joycevogt

Out with the old, In with the new

2009-10-28T11:41:00.001-07:00

I am getting this overwhelming feeling that we are finally seeing the era of focus on individuality, form over content and image over authenticity finally coming to an end! Finally! It seems people are just tired of plastic people, maybe? I don't know, but I do know that I am excited about this shift and am ready to re-focus my time and efforts on community, content and context. This is a return to everything that I value.

I had the opportunity last week to spend some time in one of our many national parks. What an amazing experience. I was so glad that our Government had set aside the time, money and resources to allow me, almost 70 years later, to explore an undeveloped area of the Rocky Mountains, wildlife and all. While I was there, I got to talking to a very nice gentleman at the park office, not sure if he was a volunteer or a park employee, about how we have been so focused on individual legacy in the last decade. The 2000's will go down for me as the "me" decade. The National Parks were all about our National legacy. What we, as a community of people with common values such as freedom, liberty, entrepreneurship, etc, leave behind for our children. It's about time we return to our emphasis on national legacy, community legacy, organizational legacy, rather than individual legacy. Someone very wise once said, "we are only as strong as our weakest link." I am feeling good about the fact that we are returning to era where we CARE about our weakest links in this Country, as opposed to exploiting these weak links for financial gain.

Open Mind or Just Quicker than Most

2009-10-01T21:52:00.000-07:00

It is so funny. I have found for the last 20 plus years of my career that I am typically a step ahead of the rest of the market. Today, I learned that the new entrepreneurial trend to fund business start-ups is called bootstrapping. Do you know what bootstrapping is?? It is what I have been doing in business development for the last ten plus years of my career. How about that. Way ahead of the curve. Bootstrapping, though I would typically call it growing an organization endemically, is about innovation with NO budget. It is about getting creative and looking for partners, peers and (my favorite) enabling customers that will take a risk on a new, ambitious company to get in early on the learning and the potential. I was doing this while venture capital firms were handing out bundles of cash for more a more formal new business execution. Who knew? Now, because of this recession, this less sexy, I would argue, more accountable approach to business development, is now in style. Well, as an expert in bootstrapping, there is hope for me. My days of big wins and lively recognition are still to come, right?? I finally get my day to do it my way.

Was I just ahead of the curve? Or am I sorely lagging in my adaptation to market trends. I am learning something about myself...I often find myself playing the devil's advocate. Observation...when the market leans toward a trend...it leans. Not just a little, but a lot. Almost to the detriment of balance. Could my approach be a natural instinct to balance out market imbalances...heavy, almost fanatical, adoption of market trends? Almost like a fulcrum? Is this what leadership is? Is it the voice of reason, as opposed to the voice of the masses?? HMMM??

My first blog: An introduction to me

2009-09-17T22:58:00.001-07:00

So, I have a question?? Is it possible to be TOO open-minded?? If the answer is "yes," then I could be accused of being far too open-minded. As the youngest of nine kids, I had NO CHOICE but to be open-minded. Plans, directions, HECK-names, were changed at a moment's notice. It was rather humorous to grow up in this environment...it definitely defined me in a big way. Thus, the name of this blog. As someone who is very strategic, I often find myself identifying trends and adopting "emerging" before most others. Painful, I know. But this is a gift, right? This is a strength of mine that I need to embrace. Sometimes I wish I could see things in absolute...in nice neat packages. That's not me though. So, in an effort to embrace this gift, and the many others God gave me, I've decided to start blogging about them! Welcome to Musings from an Open Mind. And remember, a closed mind is a terrible thing to waste!