I’ve been thinking a lot recently about digital strategy and I keep coming back to one very simple universal truth: the key to success in digital communications, whether you’re an individual or a business, can be distilled down to two words: BE NICE.  If you don’t have it within your DNA to be nice then don’t even think about trying to do anything digital, because you will fail.  If you’re generous with your time, are courteous, listen, don’t interrupt, help people do what they want to do and make people smile – in short, if you’re nice – then people will want to hang out with you and introduce you to their mates. Simple.

It’s not not called antisocial media for nothing.

Look who’s back…  A permanent resurrection, perhaps?

As any fule kno, the future of corporate ‘communications’ is determined not by technology, but ideology.  Sure, technology helps open up the lines of communication (and very (cost) effectively too), but just plugging social media into your organisation won’t help - unless your business also makes wholesale changes to the way it manages all its relationships.  This requires internal change and a repurposing of many departments and processes - plugging the organisation into social media, if you like.  By social media, I don’t mean Facebook, blogs etc - I mean the fundamental technologies and techniques that enable socialisation.  Openness, sharing and listening, basically - alien processes to many organisations, I fancy.  Cleverness from Jeff Jarvis:

Three years ago, blogs were still a curiosity to a business audience—new enough to warrant a cover story, strange enough to require explaining. Now blogs and social media are not only better understood and accepted, but they are coming to be seen as a necessity in media and, more and more, in business.

Next, I think, BusinessWeek’s readers will see that social media are changing their fundamental relationship with customers to be less about serving and more about collaborating. No, I don’t mean that every product will be the product of a committee. But customers who want to talk will, and smart companies will not just listen but will engage them in decisions. This will have an impact not just on PR and image but on product design, marketing, sales, customer service—the whole company.

Three years from now, I predict BusinessWeek’s cover won’t be about blogs or tools but about companies as communities.

Wise words.  Taken from a great BusinessWeek update (hat tip to Steve Clayton).

Anyone fancy driving a van to St Emilion (that’s in France, not Essex) over the coming May bank holiday weekend?  Some very good friends are doing a charity bike ride from London to Bordeaux and I was going to help out by doing some driving of the support vehicle.  Due to unforeseen circumstances I have had to pull out - much to my shame and the distress of the cyclists.  So, let’s see if the interweb can help (in a Here Comes Everybody kind of a way) - anyone available for a few days over (and after) the bank holiday weekend and fancy a leisurely drive through France (and back)?  All expenses paid etc etc.  Let me know.  I can guarantee it’ll be a whole load of fun.

This afternoon I was having a discussion with the very brilliant Leo, our European planning director (he comes from the ad industry so wears cool glasses, wears *enormous* headphones and thinks a lot) when he suddenly came up with a nugget of total genius.  I was rabbiting on about the massive importance of search as relates to (digital) advocacy, when he said

then traditional PR is surely about offline search optimisation.

Which is quite a big thought.

…but i’d rather call it a film. Stunning *film* from Schweppes.

Hat tip to Mr Clayton. Music by the way by The Cinematic Orchestra - the real star.

…is this.  Brilliant.

Hat tip to Simon Waldman (welcome back, sir).

Wow.  Check this out.  Scares the living poop out of me.

Courtesy of Holy Moly.

A while back I wrote about the Radiohead and NIN music distribution developments.  I still maintain that it’s only already established big bands that can do this and still make megabucks, but anyway…  Came across this just now.  User generated video production, courtesy of Radiohead.  You can make a video for Radiohead.  And you can win some cash.  Don’t know about you but this doesn’t sit terribly comfortably with me.  Can’t quite put my finger on it.  Are marketers beginning to try the patience of the ‘produsers’?  What’s the difference between harnessing creativity and exploitation?  I have been pondering on such matters for a while and my discombobulated thoughts may well manifest themselves in a post in the next day or so.  In the meantime, I refer you to this quote from Bash.org:

Q: Please describe web 2.0 to me in 2 sentences or less. 

A: You make all the content.  They keep all the revenue.

…we’ve just started working with these guys: Workology.  It’s a free professional social network for all you portoflio careerists (non-traditional workers?  freelancers?) out there.  Brings you together with relevant work opportunities at the same time as connecting you with like-minded people - or other flexible workers that can help you run your business (like accountants and so on) - allowing you to manage your own workstyle.  Focused on variety of industries, including marketing and PR.  The site quasi-launched in an invite-only beta late last week.  They’re in pre-launch mode and are after feedback, so please give it a go and let them know what you think.  If you want an invite, let me know (or simply register on the site).