Results for articles with tag 'jeffpulver' (1 total)
10/30/2009 10:31:38 AM 
The organizers did an incredible job of bring 140 speakers to LA who represented the broad ecosystem of Twitter's world-those present included; Hollywood social media managers, CMOs, poker players, sportswriters, small business owners, VCs, authors, publishers, musicians, educators, politicians and more.
Here are 10 learnings that I took away from the experience.
1. Twitter encompasses way more than the marketing and branding world- 'in the bubble" we tend to think of the environment being populated by a few brands and thousands of social marketing "experts". The truth is, it's way bigger than that.
2. Humanity matters. Twitter is loved by individuals who get the chance to be the broadcasters of their own personality, ideas, fears, loves, interests, etc. institutions, companies and brands have a tough time, if they can't bring an individual personality to the table. It's was clear from many of the conference speakers, that brands struggle with voice; some of this is an internal battle for control with individuals battling out to be the "one". In the end, brands might need several accounts to cover the various aspects of their activity and personalities, they just need to make sure they know who is doing what.
3. Twitter provides the opportunity to bring three dimensions to people, experiences, companies and brands that previously were one dimensional. Poker players now Tweet from the table because it gives their fans access to how they are thinking and feeling, material they just wouldn't find even in vertical "Poker media". MSNBC used Twitter to bring a conventional White House documentary to life, by Tweeting in real time, viewers got to see through Twitter what really was going on in the White House.
4. Welcome to "Twitter-Time". Kodak' charismatic CEO suggested that corporate America needs to get "real time" fast. The real-time web is starting to provide tactical opportunities that need to be grasped, fast. Without a flexible infrastructure and a willingness to bend the rules, companies and brands will miss out on many of these opportunities.
5. Twitter Crowds are Powerful: Twitter followers have the power to make a difference, they give to causes when asked, they are are receptive audience and market for the products that individuals and brands create and they are a fantastic listening lab/research tool for anyone who wants an answer or is looking for direction. They are so powerful, they can easily displace the middlemen in a number of businesses, watch out agents!
6. Brand Wars Will Take Place on Twitter: The marketing person in charge of Bing's launch on Twitter gave an interesting account of how she "faced off" as one of Google's major Tweeters who seemed to be trying hard to disrupt the launch. I can only believe we are going to see more of this type of thing as brands engage in hand-to-hand combat via Twitter.
7. There's A War for Control: The incumbents aren't going to let control slip from their hands very easily. The sports leagues have been trying hard to impose rules on the who, what and when of Tweeting. Clearly they have media contracts to protect and enforce. The same might be true for the Hollywood studios who are going to try and control what "talent" can and can't do on Twitter.
8. Twitterintegration is Easy: It seems like that we are going to see Twitter as an integrated entity into many parts of our media experience; from concert viewing, to sports journalism and political coverage, this looks like something that's here to stay.
9. It's the Intern, Stupid: While many companies have highly paid employees and even outside consultants trying to solve the social media and Twitter problem, many of the companies that are achieving the most success, (Virgin America especially) have an intern at the helm. Smart, young folks who get the brands they are working for and get the channel.
10. It takes Imagination: Twitter's 140 characters seem limiting, so people often default to re-Tweeting and/or just posting links. There's clearly a lot more that can be done and the possibilities seem limitless. I don't think we've really scratched the surface of the creative possibilities of this medium. At the conference, the Managing Editor of Entertainment Weekly, mentioned a True Blood competition they ran to find the best treatment for a missing episode, the winning "team" performed their treatment on Twitter.
Posted by Ed Cotton
Articles for tag jeffpulver (1 total).