I’d like to highlight some of the confusing terminology being used by today’s marketing profession. I say social media other marketing punters say social media marketing or the nice charity type marketer might talk about their latest do good social marketing campaign. Confused yet?

I thought marketing was all about differentiation.

What is Social Marketing? Well if you believe Wikipedia ‘social marketing’ is seen as using standard commercial marketing practices to achieve non-commercial goals. Its primary aim is ’social good’ while in ‘commercial marketing’ the aim is primarily ‘financial’.

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After the wonderful victory by Senator Barack Obama many respected political and marketing commentators attributed much of his successful campaign on the use of social media.

Here in Australia, the press and social media advocates like myself have been talking up the prospect of Aussie elections now being won and lost online…

But is there any credible signs of Aussie politician's embracing social media and connecting with ordinary people…

Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has a blog in 'Trial Consultation'. Lindsay or Stephen…please explain, what does 'Trial Consultation' mean?

Kevin Rudd Prime Minister (@kevinruddPM) and opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull (@turnbullmalcolm) have Twitter accounts, but where are the others? And have they started to listen rather than broadcasting.

Will Aussie politicians get social media?

Or is the Australian democracy stranded in a two party political system where policitians are prevented from speaking freely, closed off from the general public and made to 'tow the partyline'.

I suspect social media may open-up our political scene…I do hope so!

Marketing guru and author Seth Godin recently wrote “Ignore the new gatekeeper at your peril.”

I think my local business chamber are just about to, by hosting an ‘Ask the Media’ seminar populated with only traditional mass media representative’s.

  old_tv 
  Originally uploaded by Gal Mor

No digital or social media representatives…only The Herald (paper), NBN Television (TV) and KO/NX FM (Radio).

Seth defined the old gatekeeper as big media channels such as TV and print newspapers, where poor old business people had to negotiate with columnists and bullying editors to get a mention and that was at long shot.

The new gatekeepers are a completely different animal…who was Seth talking about? The Blogger.

As an active member and supporter of the Hunter Business Chamber, I’d just like to inform them of a significant statistic:

“March 2008 marked one of the most significant turning points in the rapid evolution of Australia’s digital advertising industry. It was the month in which, for the first time, Australians began spending more time online than they did watching television”
AC Nielson

However, I do support the Hunter Business Chamber in its activities. So if you are in the area, please join me and some very old mass media gatekeepers for a laugh.

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  I Love NY More Than Ever 
  Originally uploaded by gooskimo

I’m a strong believer in the power of branding a city to attract investment, talented people, visitors and events and I’m a stronger believer in the power of social media to connect people and communities.

But, I’ve never heard of cities embracing social media or social networking strategies to build their brand.

I’m not saying it hasn’t happened before; it’s just that, I’ve never heard of any.

I see social networking as being the perfect tool for cities to connect, communicate and collaborate with people and communities at home and abroad.

Or am I just naïve?

Do Governments fear social networking openness? If true, is this fear built on a political culture of confrontation.

I don’t have any answers….but I would like to know?

In this month’s issue of Marketing Magazine, regular marketing columnist Julian Cole has announced his Top 50 Australian Marketing Pioneers Blogs and Sticky Advertising’s very own bloggers Media Hunter and The Marketer claimed the number 18 and 22 spots, respectively.

According to Julian Cole: ”With Sticky Advertising having the minds of Media Hunter (Craig Wilson) and The Marketer (Gordon Whitehead) it would not be surprised if it was top dog in social media by 2010.”

Julian Cole and the team at Marketing Magazine saw a need for a filtering of the insightful marketing blogs from the total time wasters. While many marketers realize the power of blogs, they often don’t read them, simply because they don’t know where to find them.

“Blog’s excel at breaking news stories related to their industry, generating new marketing strategies or showcasing advice on marketing challenges. Believe it or not, blogs are now influencing the rest of your learning sources too.”  says Julian.

The Top 50 Australian Marketing Pioneers Blogs is a ranking of the top media and marketing blogs in Australia, as developed by digital strategist and blogger, Julian Cole. Released quarterly in Marketing Magazine, the rankings are constructed using six different comparative scores out of 10. 

1. Google Page Ranking (ranking from Google)
2. Technorati authority ( the number of unique blogs pointing to their blog)
3. Pioneer ranking (subjective score by Julian Cole, depending on how pioneering the content of the blog is)
4. Technorati blogs reactions (the number of times the blog is mentioned by others)
5. Alexa traffic rankings (ranking in terms of website), and
6. Bloglines (the number of subscriptions)

Listen to Senator Tom Coburn tell Robert Scobles why he likes bloggers.

I want to challange our Australian local, state or federal politicians…would you allow a blogger to interview you? If so, I’ll be there with bells on.

Just leave a comment below or just email me.

  Austin Powers Movieposter 
  Originally uploaded by nick kureghian

What have Austin Powers got to do with me or social media?

Well…the Austin Power’s series of movies represents the archetypal 1960s British mod era with constant advocacy for free love, using obscure expressions and clothing style and good old fashion womanizing.

And that’s what I see, as I watch organisations and individuals trying to force social media into an outdated view of what’s happening on online.

Already this week, I’ve enjoyed listening to a number of government departments and business executives boast of their new web 2.0 or social media initiatives. Loudly advocating the benefits, while still using old expressions like CONTROL then handing over responsibility to either IT departments, Web Designers or even the CEO’s personal assistant.

Nothing wrong with that…if they knew what social media was all about.

Social media is a new discipline…a totally new thought process that is challenging the way business and dare I say it….Governments think.

In my opinion, it’s still early days and like Dr. Evil, Austin Powers’ chief nemesis with aspirations of world domination, there are opportunities appearing everywhere for the early adopters to dominate their industry.

Yet, so many executives are horribly deficient in how to use the Internet much less that of social media or web 2.0 based technologies and tools.

Social media is so much…more.

Ask an expert to explain.!

I hope my week gets better…I’m off to the Newcastle launch of iPRIME Sportsplay. Prime’s new free and secure online social networking space for sport players, fans, coaches, administrators, friends and family.

And please, no jokes about me looking like Dr Evil!!!

  groundswell_book 
  Originally uploaded by Robert_Collins

Basically, I really enjoyed reading this book. In my opinion, ‘Groundswell’ is an essential reference book for any marketer or executive interested in preventing their business being swamped by the growth of Social Media. Li & Josh have written an insightful book that explains the fundamental change in consumer and business behaviour now happening online.

I especially like the way ‘Groundswell’ is structured, breaking down the social media phenomenon into three sections. The first section explains what the social media groundswell is all about and giving a rundown on some basic tools. The second section talks you through what businesses can do about it and lastly, it helps you use it.

I suggest you go and get a copy.

  Social Media Landscape 
  Originally uploaded by fredcavazza

The world’s most powerful people are worried, marketers are worried,
politicians are mainly ignorant and small business owners are confused.

The Advertising Industrial (r)evolution has begun. Social media has
reshaped our understanding of the marketing world which is now in a
continual state of flux.

There are no real Social Media experts yet, no right or wrong…the consumer is back in control. Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff say it best in their book ‘Groundswell‘ "Your brand is what your customer says it is."

Advertisers have to understand we have moved to a conversational era,
social media is not something advertisers can do part-time or offload
to the new kid. Advertisers need to commit, understand the social media
landscape and then, try to keep up with constant change.

According to Fred  Cavazza:

“Whether
you want it or not, conversations occur with or without you. What you
have to understand is that it is highly illusionary to think you can
control your brand by restricting blog usage from your employee or by
avoiding social networks."

"Your brand does not belong to you
anymore, it only exist in customers’ mind, which are massively present
in blogs, forums, wikis, social networks… So you have to choose between
suffering and benefiting from online conversations. That is why it is
important to name a social media champion within your organization
(just choose the right job title: Community planner, Social media
manager, Community architect, Social analytics expert…).”

Fred has uploaded a series of great social media diagrams to help people understand – check them out. Also, check out Robert Scobles ‘Starfish’.