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Archive for brand

IBM.com Smarter Planet | Best Practices & Moments of Brilliance

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Monday, April 25th, 2011

IBM.com's Smarter Planet Home PageKenna posted four new case studies last week – all around IBM.com’s Smarter Planet zone and the new “cult of personality” we see on this site. If you haven’t spent some quality time on this piece of IBM.com real estate, it’s time to dust your dancing shoes off and go for a spin.

Each of the case studies focuses on a different design or content best practice—but for my money, the “cult of personality” discussion is a compelling moment of brilliance. It looks like the IBM Smarter Planet team has actually cracked the code on how to marry social media behaviors with the company’s core business propositions. Here’s a thirty second summary of Kenna’s POV.

Read More→

Comments (0)
Categories : Branding, Strategy, Website Launches
Tags : best practice, brand, Design, ibm.com

The Gap’s failed logo launch strikes social media gold

By Kenna Dian · Comments (0)
Monday, October 18th, 2010

Why The Gap’s latest social media strategy worked

Did you hear that the blue jean giant The Gap announced a new logo? Yeah, it didn’t create a blip on my radar either. I work in the tech biz, and I don’t shop at The Gap.

But what did get my attention is how it’s re-branding effort bombed (and was subsequently pulled) solely based on the public outcry on social media outlets.

There are many blog posts and news outlets weighing in on The Gap’s misguided design decision, and the stunning influence social media can have on corporate decisions. Some blogs even present the intriguing (if not a bit far-fetched) hypothesis that The Gap’s social media strategy was actually an ingeniously crafted publicity stunt formulated to increase holiday sales and bolster waning stock performance.

So was the The Gap’s decision to announce its new logo using Facebook and Twitter a public gaffe or social coup? President of Gap Brand North America, Marka Hansen believes they “did not go about this the right way.” Sorry Ms. Hansen, I disagree. To my mind, it is proof positive that when a company employs social media properly—intentionally or accidentally—it strikes gold. Read More→

Comments (0)
Categories : Branding, Communities, POV (point of view), Social Media & Social Networks, Strategy
Tags : brand, facebook, Social Media, social network, Strategy, The Gap, Twitter

How to Avoid a Social Media Meltdown

By Kenna Dian · Comments (2)
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Social Media Planning4 questions every Web team should answer

The other day, I was thinking about the latest social media snafu HP.com’s Networking zone recently ran into. Its experience is an important lesson about how dangerous displaying the musings, and sometimes wrath, of the masses can be. This led me to ponder: what questions do Website teams need to ask themselves before deciding to pipe social media content onto their Website pages? Off the top of my head, four major questions come to mind:

What is the objective? Why are you planning to use social media in the first place? This isn’t to say that your Web team shouldn’t consider social media; only that you need to ask yourself some tough questions before you start. Read More→

Comments (2)
Categories : Branding, Marketing, Social Media & Social Networks, Strategy
Tags : blogs, brand, Communities, facebook, hp.com, online forums, Social Media, social network, Strategy, Twitter

The borg, the butterfly, and the problem

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Too many dotcom Web teams are borgs and butterflies. They need to be problem solvers.

I faithfully read Seth Goden’s blog every morning. One reason is that it’s blissfully short [memo to self]. The other reason is the golden marketing nuggets he brings to the table.

This morning is such a moment – and one that speaks to why so many LOB execs and stakeholders constantly push back on dotcom Web teams pitching new designs or the latest industry trends.

They don’t think they have a problem.

Face it. From most stakeholders’ perspective, dotcom teams come in two flavors: the “borg” [you will be assimilated] and the “butterfly” [this is the latest trend and we need to capitalize on it].  Neither are focused on a problem from the stakeholder’s point of view.

But what if a dotcom team saw its stakeholders as customers?  Like any good salesperson, the team would help stakeholders identify a problem and explore its cost or impact on the LOB.

In other words, dotcom teams should sell the problem.

Until stakeholders agree that they have a problem, the solution doesn’t count. That’s why so many projects end up in chaos.  In pushback, deliberate inertia, and stakeholders who spend their time deliberately coloring outside of the lines.

Comments (0)
Categories : POV (point of view), Social Media & Social Networks, Strategy, Web 2.0, Website Launches
Tags : brand, Marketing, Strategy, website development

The social media marketing director: high speed, low drag

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

I just finished a great blog by Paul Dunay about why you should fire your director of social media. Paul, and his muse, RIM’s VP of Digital Marketing, Brian Wallace, posit that social media directors should have a two year shelf life while they evangelize and manage a company’s social media evolution – and then this position should be eliminated to avoid fostering the kinds of silo behaviors and infighting that run counter to driving social media into a company’s DNA.

I think this is a brilliant assessment, and one that speaks directly to the organizational problems that already plague companies with a broad Web presence. This problem was perfectly summed up by an IBM manager when I asked her how IBM’s teams work with each other. “Don’t think of us as a nuclear Web family” she quipped, “think of us as a largely dysfunctional family of foster children.”

Is your social media marketing strategy destined to go the same way?

Comments (0)
Categories : Branding, Marketing, POV (point of view), Social Media & Social Networks
Tags : brand, Marketing, RIM, Social Media, social network, Strategy

Why IBM Software, SAS, EMC, Intel, Brocade & Deloitte made the cut

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Monday, February 1st, 2010

This week we started our Q1 evaluations of 23 Websites, plus additional sites selected by our clients for comparison.

We’ve mixed up the siteIQ eBusiness Index for 2010. In some cases the decision was based on eliminating Websites that haven’t improved over the past year and don’t provide any good or best practices worth tracking. In other cases, sites have fallen off our list because they don’t exist anymore. That would be EDS.com which was integrated into HP.com — and Sun.com which went off the airwaves last week.

In both cases, these sites are a loss to anyone who cares about good and great practices. Don’t bother to follow them to their new homes. Their presence inside of their new parent’s sites is nothing to write home about.

Here’s some more about the new sites added to our roster – and why we’re singing “auld lang syne” to others. (If you are a siteIQ client you can read more about what we expect from these and other leading sites in 2010 in our new executive brief in the siteIntelligence Research Center). Read More→

Comments (0)
Categories : Branding, Communities, Design, eSelling, POV (point of view), Strategy, Web 2.0
Tags : accenture.com, adobe.com, best practice, brand, brocade.com, Communities, customization, deloitte.com, Design, developer, ebusiness index, ecommerce, eds.com, emc.com, good practice, hp.com, ibm global services, ibm software group, intel.com, Marketing, Navigation, sas.com, Search, Strategy, sun.com, Web 2.0, website design, website rankings

No way to run a railroad

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (3)
Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Your Website can provide competitors a clear view into what your company really values and how your Website is funded. Here’s why.

We’ve been working on client reports this week, and I had a chance to look at some interesting graphs that map out how leading Websites have performed against our benchmarks over time. Among other things, these graphs show us where Web teams are focusing their efforts and are changing (or trying to change) the rules of the game. They are also a very useful early warning system that allows us to pinpoint important industry trends and where companies are focusing their Website investments.

But this time one graph stopped me in my tracks. Rather than displaying the undulating trends we normally see, this company’s graph looks like an EKG readout.  Scores peak as new capabilities are added, decline when they are pulled, and then flat line for 6 months or more.  The overall impression is a site that can’t seem to find its strategic way — or its operating mojo for that matter.

dell trends 1

Read More→

Comments (3)
Categories : Branding, eSelling, POV (point of view), Strategy, Website Rankings
Tags : best practice, brand, budget, corporate marketing, dell.com, ebusiness index, eSelling, good practice, ibm.com, investment, Strategy, training, website rankings, website trend

Twitter for Business: Lessons Learned

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (9)
Monday, October 12th, 2009

If you are tweeting for business, a split personality and a less is more strategy works best.

We’ve received several pings from readers who wanted to hear more based on Kenna’s post about tweeting for business. After three months in the Twitter box, I’m ready to weigh in on my observations — and share four pieces of advice from the peanut gallery.

This isn’t for sissies. Unless you’re a social butterfly by nature, business tweeting gets in the way of your day job. Unfortunately, if you don’t have consistent presence, your company tends to fall off the digital radar. This begs a conundrum worthy of a paraphrase from Hamlet: “Whether ’tis better to have an inconsistent Twitter presence or bag the whole concept?”  For me, the answer lies in the difference between volume and value.

Less is more. Companies that yak ad nauseum creates problems when you are on the receiving side of the Twitter fence. Based on my list of tweeting companies, less would certainly be more. Companies that bombard me with a constant stream of disconnected tweets makes it difficult for me to figure out what really matters to the company – which leads me to my third tweeting gripe.

Tell me something I want to know. The business Twitter landscape is becoming a vast wasteland where companies push “Google-esque” links instead of sharing knowledge or information in a teeny package. I’d rather know, for example, that a company received an award or launched a new product, than being inundated with links to general purpose articles and stories I don’t have time to explore. For business, tweeting should be all about creating the company’s brand one drip at a time, not proving that you can make it through a Harvard Business Review without going into a coma. Simply put, when business is the issue, your personal epiphany doesn’t create my need to know. This, in turn, leads me to my last peanut gallery entry.

Split personalities work best. The most effective Tweeters are those who have a business and personal persona – and keep them separate. This allows me to keep up with the business side of their world, and eliminates getting alerts when their 3 year old is successfully poddy trained. Sure, I appreciate that this is a milestone in their life. For me, too much information.

OK, I could change my opinions after another six months wading through the Twitter landscape — but I wouldn’t hold my breath.  That said, I’ll check in later as behaviors play out. After all, the Web is nothing if not a moving target.

Comments (9)
Categories : Branding, POV (point of view), Social Media & Social Networks, Strategy, Web 2.0
Tags : brand, Social Media, social network, Strategy, Twitter, Twitter for business, Web 2.0
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Marty Gruhn on Twitter

  • New case study on the way: The IBM SWG Website team is executing its cult of personality strategy to perfection. http://t.co/YuBBODwr about 13 hours ago from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • Smart moves. IBM uses "Connect" tab 2 drive visitors 2 high value social media venues & LinkedIn groups to start conversations with IBMers 05:20:29 PM January 13, 2012 from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
@siteIQMarty

Follow Kenna Dian on Twitter

  • Online communities your thing? The Online Communities Index report is hot off the presses for Library subscribers! http://t.co/EAAgG7bi about 13 hours ago from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • RT @SageNAmerica: Great quote from Larry Ritter RT @LCoates1: "If you don't like change, you'll really dislike being irrelevant." @ACTby ... about 13 hours ago from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
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