Managing Technology

Great Stuff - Networked Insights is "Measuring the Social"

When I found out my friend Dan Neely was launching a startup I wondered about what his new company would be.  I only knew it had a marketing and technology aspect to it, which made sense knowing Dan's background and dynamic style.  Several months ago I got my first e-mail newsletter from his company  Networked Insights with an example of what they do.  I'm generally not a fan of e-mail newsletters only because there are now so many out there I can't keep up.  I have to say this one boldly stood out and I've never seen a single marketing publication so clearly demonstrate a new type of offering.  It perfectly explained what Dan and his team have been up to and I think their analysis of social trends is fascinating.  Check out what I saw in their newsletter looking at new vs. traditional ways of looking at TV ratings on their blog: Social Sights.  They have since done many more examples from measuring super bowl ads to the music charts.

Great Stuff - A "Viral Marketing" expert's free e-Book

My colleague Steve Ely recommended I check out David Meerman Scott an expert on modern "Viral Marketing" techniques.  I rarely send out unsolicited advice or "check this out" e-mails to colleagues unless something really impresses me.  I'm passing this one on to a bunch of people.

I highly recommend reading David's e-book The New Rules of Viral Marketing.  It's free and very quick to read and digest, yet very valuable to help understand and brainstorm ways to leverage this fascinating new trend in marketing.  It's also introduced me to this new style of book - an "e-Book" which to me is like cross between a great PowerPoint presentation and a white paper.  MUCH easier to get through and more to the point than typical business books.  Very dynamic and fun to read.

At first I thought the concept of Viral Marketing would mostly apply to small companies with limited markting budgets.  But the examples Scott uses, such as IBM using YouTube and getting a huge response, helped me understand this new approach can be used in many ways.