Friday, June 27, 2008

Ipub thank you for the question. The authenticity factor I refer to in the post about the lunch with Chris Anderson has to do with the dynamic of interaction within social networks because of the fact the they are largely left uncontrolled or managed.

Many of the people attending the conference in Toronto were there hoping to find out what they needed to do to market or manipulate social networking sites. Chris's answer was that they should not attempt to do this as the networks are self-regulating and designed to resist this type of manipulation and thereby demonstrate authenticity. Quite simply if you try to manipulate a social network they will find you out and expose you. This is the process of the Conversational Capital engine of Continuity in action.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Jean Julien thank you for the question. This is what is taking place since the last post. The book was sent to the printers this week and is due to ship to the stores at the beginning of August.

We just this week signed the contract for the Dutch language version of the Conversational Capital book that will be in the stores throughout the Benelux by November of this year.

The new Conversational Capital website development is in full swing and scheduled for launch mid-August. It will include an interactive video blog component as well as a number of other new features to ensure a richer web experience.

And the first conference appearance where Conversational Capital will be presented by Bertand Cesvet is set for October 1 2008 in Montreal. Bertrand will deliver a keynote presentation to a Buzz marketing conference organized by Infopresse.

Monday, May 19, 2008

On Thursday May 15th I had the opportunity to sit at the lunch table with Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of WIRED magazine at a Infopresse conference on Interactive Marketing In Toronto. Chris was the keynote speaker. His presentation was on his upcoming book “FREE.” During lunch we had a lively discussion about some of the Conversational Capital engines and he had a very interesting take on whether or not Apple is an example of Tribalism, while at the same time cursing his IPhone.

Jesse Hirsh of Openflows Networks was also at the table and said that he felt Apple was more religion than tribalism. Unfortunately there was too little time to get into the finer details of the difference between those two points.

Nathalie Rivard of Indigo Communication interviewed Chris for canoe.ca and in her article she writes;

“I had a chance to ask him what he thought should be the next business model for social networks? He said that he does not see social networks as a place but a feature that should be integrated in all good sites. “It’s a feature, not a destination” says Anderson.” Read the full article here.

Paul Gillan, author of The New Influencers also spoke about the power of blogs, citing examples from theconsumerist, blogoscoped and mommycast to name a few. His point is about the changing landscape of influence.

The broadly represented audience was both challenged and at times perplexed with the entire conference program. Clearly everyone wants to understand interactive marketing but few can say they do. It is still a moving target and still in its infancy.

Some statistics presented by Bryan Segal of ComScore were interesting.
65% of the Canadian on-line web population is on Facebook.
46% on-line Canadians watch YouTube for 3 hours per month.
60% of on-line Canadians blog as opposed to 40% of Americans.

Everyone is trying to figure out how to harness the power of the word-of-mouth functionality of on-line. The question is what happens to the authenticity factor if it eventually can be managed?

Sjoerd Koopman

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Ian Mckee of Vocanic is interviewed about by word-of-mouth in a clip from Channel News Asia in Singapore. Although the focus of the clip is more focused on buzz, which is less sustainable than Conversational Capital, it does highlight a few important bits of information:

1. Nielsen's findings about the importance of a personal recommendation when making a purchasing decision.

2. How it's possible to develop new products and businesses through word-of mouth with Red Bull being cited as a company that not only created a new product but an entire new product category- energy drinks.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Monique Thank you for your comments. You wrote:

“I like the idea that cc is more like a mantra. It’s a way of living companies should follow to really improve of find something new. But I think that this is also the weak point of it, if it’s not consequently done, what does this way of thinking adds? The process, the multidisciplinary teams, the philosophy, it should be a integrated way of thinking and doing.
 I’m curious if this also would work for basic (anonymous) products as nails or studs??”

You picked up on one the key elements of Conversational Capital. Like any good business idea, true success is based on commitment. In the book it is clearly stated that we are not talking about a casual exercise or easy fix. The success of companies like Cirque de Soleil, adidas and Apple has always been based on commitment.

Regarding your question about whether or not Conversational Capital is relevant for a generic product like nails the answer is yes, if you want it to be. Using the eight Conversational Capital engines leads to an examination of a product’s unique qualities. Is it different/better than its competitors? Is it made from a type of steel that is better, stronger or more environmentally sound? Is the head of the nail designed to not bend when hit by an inexperienced hand on a hammer? Will trusted authorities (people who build things) endorse it?

Here is an example of what I found on a recent Google search
Dove, Allan B. - The metallurgist at Stelco in Hamilton, Ontario came up with a design for a nail with considerably more holding power than standard nails. Featuring a helical spiral from head to tip, the Ardox nail was patented by Stelco in 1954. Dove worked for the company from 1925-1974. Stelco is the Canadian division of a large US Steel company. Ardox nails are still being sold today under their own brand name. So, in essence, Conversational Capital is very much applicable to commodified products.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Thanks for the comments Stephanie. You brought up a number of points, which I will address individually.

At first you wrote:
“What I found the most insightful is the fact that even with Conversational Capital we have to answer the question: What's in it for me? That is, something will become a conversational piece for someone only if it is salient for that person to mention it. It makes enormous sense when you realize it but yet difficult to pinpoint.”

I would suggest that here you are highlighting our fundamental need to identify our selves with people and things. This goes beyond mere status seeking. In a recent book by Martin Jones, titled Feast: Why Humans Share Food he clearly describes our ingrained requirement to identify our selves in relation to others from an anthropological perspective. Dating from pre-history, at first when competing for food and later when sharing food through the formation of communities. It seems our need to connect runs very deep and because today we have less concern about someone stealing our food, we choose to identify ourselves through other factors.

You wrote further:
“When it (the executive summary) talks about carrying a Conversational Capital Audit, I had tons of thoughts going through my mind and did not see the answers in the paper: would it be possible that the audit results will lead you to the conclusion that for a certain situation there is no Conversational Capital potential?”

You have managed to focus on the key process organizations will be confronted with when going down the Conversational Capital path. What happens, when through their analysis, they discover that there is little or no existing saliency for their consumer? One could easily assume some industries and products are more salient than others. Even in a product group such as home cleaning products you can see that you can create a saliency for the consumer, Method Cleaning products is a perfect example.
Conversational Capital requires people and organizations to reach far beyond their own ability to simply make something because they can. It requires them to envision how a consumer will connect with the product and the company.

And you wrote further still:
“Are there cases where you do not want to promote CC?...... I was thinking that perhaps there are cases where CC might not be suited for a given product/service/situation?”

I guess if an organization’s goal is to provide a limited product or service only to a select few clients and never grow beyond that it could be possible that they would not try to stimulate Conversational Capital. If we look at super exclusive businesses: an haute couture dress from Chanel or custom made shoes from Lobb’s in London or a hotel with only ten rooms with 100% occupancy. In some cases Conversational Capital could over stimulate demand which cannot be met and therefore theoretically cause a negative impact through dilution if more product were to become available. But the current value attached to the product is key in keeping it exclusive and most likely expensive while at the same time being desired. Perhaps the better question here is how sustainable would such a business strategy be over the long term?

And finally you wrote:
“If there was a bell curve for CC, what would be the factor to determine how to and when you can maximize the ROI of your CC?”

This is question many businesses will want to have the immediate answer to. They will hope the process can be interpreted in a formulaic manner. In the book there are clear steps that can be implemented to ultimately improve ROI. If it were formulaic it would devalue the process. The book sites a clear example how a Cirque de Soleil show develops continuously even after opening night. Audience response shapes a show so that it is in a constant process of improvement and optimization. This process is what keeps the ROI also in a constant state of improvement.

Monday, May 5, 2008

On a recent Dutch Business Blog Conversational Capital is referred to by Frans-Peter Dechering as insightful, real and applicable. For Dutch readers here is an excerpt from the Blooming Bizz blog entry.

Het gedachtegoed Conversational Capital is van de Canadese firma Sid Lee, een concepten creatie collectief. Het maakt WoM inzichtelijk, tastbaar en daardoor uitvoerbaar. Centraal staat de stelling dat aanbevelingen de basis vormen voor groei. Consumententevredenheid moet veranderen in een betekenisvolle invloed op dezelfde consument. Hoe betekenisvoller des te aannemelijker het is dat ze onderdeel worden van een veel groter persoonlijk verhaal. En helaas hebben de merketeers en producenten uit het oog verloren wat nu de echte essentie is van producten en uiteindelijk de beleving ervan, aldus Conversational Capital. more

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The Blog Becomes a Book Reality
Conversational Capital: How to Create Stuff People Love to Talk About

The Financial Times Press has signed on to publish the book and Amazon.com has already made the book available for pre-order on their site. Follow this link to reserve a copy of Conversational Capital. The book hits shelves in Mid-August.

The final stages of production are taking place now and a new website is in development and is scheduled for launch in the coming months (more on that soon.) Part of what we are planning to achieve is to utilize the message of Conversational Capital to market and promote the book and website. So if you are keen to know what that means please contact us. You can send your comments and email notes to skoopman@sidlee.com. My name is Sjoerd Koopman and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible after I have received the email.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Today Whole Foods Market announced that the chain is banning plastic grocery bags in favor of 100% post-consumer recycled paper bags. Citing a strong desire to avoid detriment to the environment, management justified this seemingly disruptive move, making consumers all the more conscious of the mission behind the buying experience...throughout the buying experience. The shift takes effect by Earth Day 2008.

The question: Is it long overdue? Is it genuine?

Thursday, January 10, 2008

"Mark Malkoff's New York City apartment had to be fumigated. All of his friends have tiny studio apartments. Hotels in New York are insanely expensive. Left with few living options, Mark thought it would be fun and make an interesting video to move into an IKEA store where he'd live and sleep for a week. Never in a million years did he think IKEA would go for it, but miraculously they have a agreed."

And so it was that the comedian/filmmaker moved into the Parasmus, NJ IKEA outlet, documenting the entire experience. A true realization of the Conversational Capital behind IKEA, making its stores transcend fantasy into a true living space.