Gary Vaynerchuk “Superstar:” Retailer & Entrepreneur Walks the Social Media Walk

If you don’t know who Gary Vaynerchuk is as yet, you will soon. On April 10th, HarperStudio announced that they have signed a “seven figure, ten book” deal with Gary Vaynerchuk. That deal culminates this week with the release of the first book: Crush-It – Why Now Is the Time to Cash In On Your [...]

Starbucks & Instant Coffee: Good Business Strategy?

Over October 2 to 5, Starbucks was offering free samples of its new VIA Instant Coffee product in Canada – a product they refer to as “Ready Brew.”  This Wednesday, the VIA product will begin to be rolled out across the United States.
Starbucks foray into the instant coffee market is intriguing. Why would a company [...]

Canadians & Social Media: Almost 80% of Canadians use social networking sites (October 2, 2009)

Survey shows almost 7 in 10 of online Canadians are members of Facebook, while Twitter gains momentum
Calgary, AB – Over the past year, there has been a surge in Canadians joining Facebook. And most of the growth has come from adults 35 years or older. In fact, almost 7 in 10 (68%) online Canadians [...]

The Science of Social Media

This month, my article “The Science of Social Media” was published in Marketing Magazine (August 31, 2009 issue).
To download a copy (scanned) click on this link:
The Science of Social Media (Aug 31 2009).pdf
The article explores some of the scientific processes (within the bounds of one page!) that have helped drive the growth of social media [...]

Social Media Strategy: “Dirt Cheap Labour” meet Game Theory

In the social media stampede, how long would free be truly “free?”
I just read the article “Dirt cheap labour – How businesses are getting the public to work for them for free” by Stephanie Findlay in the Business section of Macleans’ online magazine, published last week. Check it out.
OK. Let’s repeat the question: How long [...]

Social Media Strategy: Digital Trust – The Case of Facebook

What can social media strategists learn from Facebook? Lots. Especially when corporations are keen to approach the altar of authenticity. Like any sustainable relationship, corporations need to invest the time in getting into the minds of their target markets, and the dynamics of brand trust (and the evolution of “digital trust”). And as they have [...]

Social Media Strategy: Does Social Media Offer Legitimate “Research?”

Some may say that social media is a “game changer” when it comes to marketing research. I offer a qualified “yes.” Yes, it is a new way of conducting research and intelligence gathering. However, it is my sense that, beyond building communities, there are those who maybe putting their faith in monitoring more so than [...]

Does Facebook make you dumber?

So I awoke this morning to this story being plastered on the news feeds:
STUDY FINDS LINK BETWEEN FACEBOOK USE, LOWER GRADES IN COLLEGE
This is the original news release from Ohio State University.
I have found the tone of the various pick-ups by news organizations entertaining. From “Facebook use linked to less textbook time” on USA [...]

Facebook’s Popularity Soars on Cell Phones: Survey shows over one-third of Canadians on social networking sites have the Facebook application on their cell phones

Tuesday March 17, 2009
News Release
Calgary, AB – Almost half of Canadians (47%) with cell phones can access the Internet from their mobile unit. This trend [...]

Nielsen Report: Social Networking overtakes E-mail; and Facebook’s dominance

Well, the news is out… social networking has overtaken e-mail in terms of popularity on the Internet.
In their report released on March 9 – “Global Faces and Networked Places” -
Nielsen’s report on “Social Networking’s New Global Footprint” is an affirmation of the prevalence of and growth in this platform.
I would add a point of clarification [...]