Comments on: The Bad, The Ugly and The Good http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/ A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:27:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: RichardatDELL http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/#comment-1303 RichardatDELL Sat, 22 Mar 2008 04:20:30 +0000 http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/#comment-1303 Hi there Geoff Thanks for the call out. Of course Lionel, John, myself and others speak for Dell, but we are not inanimate @dell objects. We are people. We change our pictures, we joke, we get serious as company spokespeople, we find others in the company to help us out when we run into someone with an issue we are not qualified to answer...and does that not add up to one of the truly great benefits of "web 2". Its people connecting with people and humanizing companies. Its why I have my photography on my blog and flickr. @dell would not likely go there in its corporate and brand persona. Just today I had BarakObama start following me on twitter. Come on? We know that is BS. Its certainly not likely to result in the kind of human relationships we have been building, nor does it foster the kind of dialogue I have with other real people -- good and difficult. BUt even the difficult ones are still two people connecting. Rohit has a great point about faceless companies have people (or objects) and authentic companies have individuals. And to flip that point a bit, from working inside a company, its kind of fun to let loose and be real authentic too. great post Geoff Hi there Geoff

Thanks for the call out. Of course Lionel, John, myself and others speak for Dell, but we are not inanimate @dell objects. We are people.

We change our pictures, we joke, we get serious as company spokespeople, we find others in the company to help us out when we run into someone with an issue we are not qualified to answer…and does that not add up to one of the truly great benefits of “web 2″. Its people connecting with people and humanizing companies. Its why I have my photography on my blog and flickr. @dell would not likely go there in its corporate and brand persona.

Just today I had BarakObama start following me on twitter. Come on? We know that is BS. Its certainly not likely to result in the kind of human relationships we have been building, nor does it foster the kind of dialogue I have with other real people — good and difficult. BUt even the difficult ones are still two people connecting.

Rohit has a great point about faceless companies have people (or objects) and authentic companies have individuals. And to flip that point a bit, from working inside a company, its kind of fun to let loose and be real authentic too.

great post Geoff

]]> By: geoliv http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/#comment-1276 geoliv Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:27:17 +0000 http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/#comment-1276 Andrew: Agreed. Guidance is good, and anyone who engages in social media should have tools to help their employees figure out how to engage. Valeria, Rohit: Amen. Josh: Even in communities, you need someone to participate. Everyone knows spokespeople act for a company, yet your post suggests that companies don't need personalities acting for the company. And that's just wrong. Sorry. Without someone to talk to, without a human to identify with, it just doesn't work. In that sense, a PR background is necessary because the discipline by its very nature is relational (and not one-way as your post would suggest). Andrew: Agreed. Guidance is good, and anyone who engages in social media should have tools to help their employees figure out how to engage.

Valeria, Rohit: Amen.

Josh: Even in communities, you need someone to participate. Everyone knows spokespeople act for a company, yet your post suggests that companies don’t need personalities acting for the company. And that’s just wrong. Sorry.

Without someone to talk to, without a human to identify with, it just doesn’t work. In that sense, a PR background is necessary because the discipline by its very nature is relational (and not one-way as your post would suggest).

]]> By: Josh Bernoff http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/#comment-1275 Josh Bernoff Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:16:27 +0000 http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/#comment-1275 You said: Without identifiable people to associate with, companies become inherently monolothic, relying on the brand identity to communicate. By its very nature, this is antisocial relying on something to build trust that even political pollsters know just doesn’t work - that’s corporate identities. My response: it's not just blogs. Companies relate in a bunch of ways, forming communities, for example. And when I say companies can communicate, I don't mean they should avoid spokespeople. But those spokespeople are not speaking for themselves, they are speaking for the company. Direct2Dell is not Lionel's Menchaca's blog, it's Lionel's blog FOR DELL. You said:

Without identifiable people to associate with, companies become inherently monolothic, relying on the brand identity to communicate. By its very nature, this is antisocial relying on something to build trust that even political pollsters know just doesn’t work - that’s corporate identities.

My response: it’s not just blogs. Companies relate in a bunch of ways, forming communities, for example.

And when I say companies can communicate, I don’t mean they should avoid spokespeople. But those spokespeople are not speaking for themselves, they are speaking for the company. Direct2Dell is not Lionel’s Menchaca’s blog, it’s Lionel’s blog FOR DELL.

]]> By: Rohit http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/#comment-1274 Rohit Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:29:04 +0000 http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/#comment-1274 Thanks for the book mention, and for the great post. One of the points I try to make in the book which relates well to your idea is that faceless companies have people and authentic companies have individuals. The challenge for every brand is to find a way to encourage those individuals to contribute to the brand while retaining their own voices. Brands that can do that are the ones that manage to have a personality. Thanks for the book mention, and for the great post. One of the points I try to make in the book which relates well to your idea is that faceless companies have people and authentic companies have individuals. The challenge for every brand is to find a way to encourage those individuals to contribute to the brand while retaining their own voices. Brands that can do that are the ones that manage to have a personality.

]]> By: Valeria Maltoni http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/#comment-1273 Valeria Maltoni Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:59:02 +0000 http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/#comment-1273 I like how you articulate that customers prefer to deal with a person than with an entity. As I wrote recently, corporate social media is difficult to do because in the process of getting buy in, group think and average wins over voice and opinion. It may be a lot easier to respond as a faceless corp. than to look at a person in the eye - the person connects, the entity is just that, a vessel. Can we please populate that with people? We like people. I like how you articulate that customers prefer to deal with a person than with an entity. As I wrote recently, corporate social media is difficult to do because in the process of getting buy in, group think and average wins over voice and opinion. It may be a lot easier to respond as a faceless corp. than to look at a person in the eye - the person connects, the entity is just that, a vessel. Can we please populate that with people? We like people.

]]> By: Andrew http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/#comment-1271 Andrew Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:42:41 +0000 http://nowisgone.com/2008/03/16/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the-good/#comment-1271 Good post Geoff, the first couple of chapters of Chris Locke's Gonzo Marketing cover this subject really well. Most companies have worked so hard on getting the brand voice to fly that they have forgotten about the corporate voice. Now that more people are working on the idea of a parent voice/personality for the brand, the rules have changed. However, I still think there is something to say for building a suporting framework around company bloggers and having a company blog - but please staff it with real people. Good post Geoff, the first couple of chapters of Chris Locke’s Gonzo Marketing cover this subject really well.

Most companies have worked so hard on getting the brand voice to fly that they have forgotten about the corporate voice. Now that more people are working on the idea of a parent voice/personality for the brand, the rules have changed.

However, I still think there is something to say for building a suporting framework around company bloggers and having a company blog - but please staff it with real people.

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