Journal

When Tribes Go Bad

So, Seth Godin’s new book Tribes. A call to action for leaders to spring up everywhere, be decisive and make changes whether they’re wanted or not. Never mind if it’s wrong – there’s always time later to make it right.

(Although whether you’d get a chance to make it later after you’ve been fired from your job for what could amount to insubordination is another thing altogether).

Like many of Seth’s books, Tribes is a fairly short affair. It could have been even shorter – the main message in the book is repeated time and time again. The gist is never be afraid of change – always express your ideas.

This is an admirable message (when not repeated verbatim), so why do the very people that Seth’s book is aimed at struggle to actually put his advice into action?

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve seen the phrase, “Let the tribe decide” on blog comments, on blogs themselves, and on various social media outlets. Especially when there’s no “tribe” to speak of much of the time – it just seems like that would be the best buzzword to use.

Seth Godin wants people to stand up and be leaders. To rise up and build their own tribes and lead them. Crashing through the status quo like a runaway Backhoe. But that’s pretty difficult when the new leaders are still very much tied to Seth’s tribal apron strings.

Something I’m missing here?

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Would You Trust a Company That Ghost Blogs?

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about companies that ghost blog. Some are against it, while others see nothing wrong with it.

If you’re not sure what ghost blogging is, it’s exactly the same as ghost writing, with the difference being it’s blogs instead of articles or novels that are being written.

The term ghost writing simply means that the person recognized as the author didn’t actually write it. Instead, another writer does the work, usually receives a flat rate for his or her time, and the person they wrote for takes the credit.

As far as a book or instruction article goes, this is a pretty normal situation (I’ve done quite a bit of business ghost writing myself).

After all, a book (unless it’s an autobiography) or an instructional article is fairly impersonal – so does it really matter who wrote the piece in question?

With a blog, however, the rules change. A blog is the personal view of someone. Where they can release themselves from the shackles of a company, or what people expect them to say, and be honest and open with their opinions.

Additionally, a blog is about trust. People come to your blog initially through either curiosity or recommendation. If they like what you say, they may even stay around and read some more, whether by email subscription or RSS feed. And perhaps they’ll recommend you to their friends as well.

As I say, this comes from trust. Trust that you’ll be honest with your views, whether they agree with them or not. Trust that your views are yours and yours alone. Trust that if they’re listening to your advice or opinions, it’s because you believe them yourself.

Without that trust, a blog is virtually worthless. Which, by association, makes the blogger virtually worthless (and I don’t mean that in any derogatory or harsh way).

Which brings us back to ghost blogging. And, more specifically, corporate ghost blogging.

I own my own company and as someone who always encourages my clients to start a company blog if they don’t have one, it’d be fairly contradictory if I didn’t have my own. And it is my own – everything on here is written by me. After all, if it’s going to be a pointer of any kind about my business, I want to make sure it’s me that’s coming across in the message.

So what about businesses that use ghost bloggers? Do you look at them any differently than you would if one of the directors was the company blogger? Is there any difference between a director blogging or simply offering guidelines for a ghost blogger to follow? It is still the same message, after all.

Isn’t it?

The Completely Pointless Google Experiment

Sometimes it’s nice to have a little bit of fun. Taking time out, relaxing, playing silly games to ease the day. So it’s one of these chill-out moments that have led here.

I wanted to know ridiculous and obscure facts. So, cue typing various phrases into Google to discover what came back as the all-important #1 result.

So, in no particular order, I present the findings of the inaugural – and probably last – Completely Pointless Google Experiment. Feel free to add your own.

The Most Boring Page on the Internet.

I thought this might be a good place to start, so in it went. The result – a blog post from Pushmind Publishing that actually describes and links to “the most boring page on the Internet”. So, technically, there are two results, although I find the linked result from Pushmind the worthier winner. But, my thanks go to Pushmind for bringing the most boring page on the Internet to everyone’s attention!

What is the Weirdest Ear Wax Story Ever?

Now I’m not one of these people that have a fetish for ear wax (and yes, they DO exist!) but this seemed like a rather innocuous question. According to the #1 result on Google, it’s using ear wax as a remedy for cold sores, as found on the Remedicated website, under “15 of the Weirdest Home Remedies and Folk Treatments Ever”. So now you know.

Who has the Biggest Head in the World?

Admittedly, this could have gone either way, and I’d get some scientific fact about a large, over-sized cranium owner, or a silly answer about Hollywood egos. As it turned out, it was neither – although it was still entertaining in its own right. Thank you Hippie, for sharing your nugget of useful information with us!

Did Jesus Ever Get Laid?

Now, before everyone starts about blasphemy and mocking the Lord, let me just say here and now that I have no religious views either way – I’m neither a believer nor an anti-Christian.

However, I am a bit curious as to whether Jesus ever got the jiggy on – after all, a charismatic tall guy with a neat trick in everlasting wine had to have been a hit with the ladies, right? Well, according to the #1 result on Google, the guys at The Skeptics Society Forum seem to think so, with a whopping 45% claiming “Oh yes!”. You sly old dog, JC…

Where can I find the Best Hairless Baboons?

This was my final question for Google in this first part of my experiment. Quite why I was interested not only in hairless baboons, but the BEST hairless baboons at that, escapes me. However, the result is quite possibly even more abstract than the query that started it all! Salut, Homo Sapientropy!

So there you have it – some of the more obscure questions I could come up with, yet not once did Google falter. You have to hand it to their tech whiz-kids that can program the engine to find the sites listed here – and, of course, thank the posters of the results as well!

Now it’s your turn.

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When to Blame the Agency and When to Blame the Client

The recent online outcry about the Motrin advert has shown just how powerful a tool social media can be. For anyone who hasn’t heard the story, it’s about the pharmaceutical company upsetting mothers everywhere with an advert that was deemed condescending by the very mothers the company was targeting. You can read more about it here.

It comes after the furore over the poorly thought out press release issued by the BackUp Shotgun Rack company that took advantage of the Jennifer Hudson tragedy. These two events and others like them make it clear that some companies are still not getting the power of social media. Get something wrong online and boy you better be prepared for the backlash.

In Motrin’s case, the company has removed the ad from their website, although there are other versions that have made it to print so the damage could be long-running. In the BackUp example, the jury is still out on whether lessons have been learned.

Yet it’s also obvious in both cases that there have been some major lapses of co-ordinated and cohesive thinking. But who’s to blame for this – the agency that came up with these ideas, or the client that offered final approval?

Going by some of the comments doing the rounds on Twitter and the blogosphere, much of the thinking seems to be aimed at the marketing or advertising agency responsible for the Motrin campaign. After all, they’re the ones that came up with the idea in the first place, right?

So where does the final responsibility stand? Is it with the agency or the client? Someone must have approved the advert to go out, and that wouldn’t have been a decision that lay with the agency in question. It would have been one of the main decision-makers at Motrin.

And therein lies the quandary. Does the final decision really lie with the client? If I’m a pharmaceutical business owner that employs a marketing, PR or advertising agency to run a campaign for me, it’s because I trust them to do a job that I know nothing about. I’ll stick to making pills because that’s what I know. You’re my agency, you’re my specialist – you guide me.

But is that really true? I’m not so sure. Speaking from personal experience, when I’m putting together a PR campaign for a client, I’m there right up until the final decision. At that stage, I’ve offered all my recommendations, all my strategies and subsequent follow-ups. Now it’s up to my client to decide how he or she wants to move forward.

After all, this is their company that’s going to be out in the firing line if things go wrong, so they need to be 100% sure they’re happy with what they’re doing, and have the confidence to see it through. If they have any qualms at all, they don’t go ahead with the suggestions and we either start again or go our separate ways.

It’s a tough one to call. Company decision or agency recommendation.

What do you think? Should Motrin or businesses in the same situation be the ones that take responsibility? Or is it an agency problem?

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Dear Santa – A Letter of Hope

I know it’s a bit early to be writing this list. And I know I’m a bit old – okay, a WHOLE LOT old – to be writing to you. But I figure it can’t hurt, right? After all, millions of children can’t be wrong. So, my wish-list for this year is as follows:

An end to world poverty. Yes, this comes up every year by people far more influential than me, but why is nothing happening? For some, it could be relatively easy to make a difference. According to Forbes, the organization that details the world’s richest influencers, there were 946 billionaires in 2007. The average wealth of each of these billionaires was $3.6 billion. Imagine if each one gave $1 million toward ending poverty – that would be $946 million. It costs an average $10,000 to drill a well, yet this can provide a village of 1,000 people with clean water for 20 years. That’s almost 100,000 wells that could be built with the donations of the super-rich alone. Would they really miss it?
A more sharing and caring world. One thing I love about social media is the way everyone seems to genuinely look out for each other. You need help – ask on Twitter and within seconds you could have 100 answers. This kind of social caring needs to come into the real world. I have high hopes with Obama instigating this type of world approach – please live up to them.
An end to bigotry of all creeds – homophobia, racism, sexism and more. We’re all part of the same world, people – our problems and successes are all interconnected one way or another. So why decry someone for the colour of their skin or their sexual preferences?
Stopping the abuse. Whether it’s physical or emotional, there is no place in any civilized society for abuse of any kind. Domestic violence; bullying; mental torture – it all adds up to the same thing. We’re called human beings – let’s start showing it.
Religious tolerance for all. I’ll admit to not being a religious man, but I won’t decry anyone for being religious. Perhaps one of the reasons I’m not religious is that I see it as being the cause of so many wars and conflicts throughout the ages. Surely this can change? We may not agree with another person’s religious views, but they should still be respected, no?

That’s about it. It’d be great if any came true. Better still, if they all came true I’d be a very happy man. But I’m realistic. I know change isn’t going to happen overnight. But the belief that we can and will change is worth hanging onto.

After all, we can only instigate change through belief, and that is something I have tons of.

I’m pretty sure you do too, yes?

(PS – If you can find your way to putting an iPod Touch into my stocking, Santa, that’d be awesome!)