[ paul isakson ]

Required Reading: Conversation Agent

Conversation Agent - Connecting ideas and people – how talk can change our lives, by Valeria Maltoni

If you haven't been reading the excellent writing and thinking of Valeria Maltoni, now is a good time to start. Valeria is a client-side marketer who "gets it" and her blog, Conversation Agent, is full of sage advice for anyone in the field of marketing interested in smart ways to think about and approach the social media space.

Her posts are well thought out, expertly researched, and highly thought-provoking. The best part of it all - she truly does all of this to help others connect and inspire more interesting conversations - both in the digital realm and in person. Go there now, or just subscribe to her RSS here so you can keep track of her writing regularly.

Required Reading: Adliterate

Adliterate: radical thinking for the brand advice business, by Richard Huntington

If you have been reading my blatherings here for long, you've probably seen a link or two go out to Adliterate. In addition to being another one of the planners on my short list of blogs to emulate, Richard is by far one of my favorites to read.

He's not afraid to push boundaries and buttons. He's willing to challenge the status quo and call people out when they deserve it. Because of all this, many of his posts create a great conversation in the comments.

If you're a planner, Adliterate is absolutely required reading. If you're not, it's still very worth a spot in your RSS. You won't regret it.

What's Next In Advertising - Uwe Gutschow's Take

| View | Upload your own

If you have followed this blog for a while, you know that I'm a fan of mash-ups and remixes. Never in a million years though, did I expect something I created to become part of a remix/mash-up of sorts. I'm honored, flattered and impressed all at once.

What am I talking about? Well, Uwe Gutschow and Don Longfellow have picked up the "What's Next In Marketing & Advertising" presentation I shared a couple months back and taken it further with their "What's Next In Advertising - Moving from Advertising to Marketing."

As you can guess from the title, their main point is that advertising needs to go from where it is and has been (interruption and now, annoyance) to adding value. They say we need to "create marketing solutions, not ads" and "stop pitching people with messages," and "start providing useful content." I wholeheartedly agree.

Please give it a look and let them know what you think over on Uwe's post.

To download the slide show or view it full screen, jump over here.

A Few Worthwhile Reads

Some interesting things I came across yesterday and would like to post more on, but probably won't be able to for a day or two if at all, so for now, here are the links...

First, Dave Trott Live Chat via Scamp - Dave shares some great advice and thinking on how to get a job in this business and what he thinks makes for great advertising today. I also really liked Scamp's approach to this for two reason. First, Scamp wrote a post arguing that much of what Dave wrote 30 years ago on getting a job in advertising was irrelevant today and followed it up by allowing Dave to have a conversation with Scamp's readers to defend/explain himself on the Scamp blog. Second, I think using the comments section of a blog post to host an audience driven interview was a fantastic idea. Thanks to Alan (a.k.a. Tangerine Toad) for pointing it out via Twitter.

Second, Scholz & Friends has posted an interesting presentation titled Brands and Communication in the Era of Media Democracy that is well worth a look. For those browsing here, following is the slide show. For those reading this where it won't come through, here's a link.

Lastly, BMW has revealed some inspiring thinking on the future of car design that caught the attention of quite a few. I love that they ignored conventions and took a fresh look at things. A bit from the WInding Road post:

Chris Bangle, head of BMW Group Design, describes the philosophy behind this wildly innovative GINA Light Visionary Model as “Being flexible. Thinking flexible, acting flexible – context over dogma.”

A Must Read: What's Next In Media

Neil Perkin has posted an excellent presentation on where media is today and where he sees it heading. Take a few minutes to click through the slides, ponder it a bit, and then pass it along to others you know who are trying to sort it all out.

And by all means, share your thoughts with him in the comments to his post...

Required Reading: Brand New

Brand New - Thoughts on brands and communications (and some occasional random stuff), by Gareth Kay

When I first started writing here, I made a very short list of planners I hope to emulate in this space. Gareth  is one of them. He shares insightful, concise thoughts on building brands, creating meaningful advertising, and doing smarter planning along with the occasional book or band review. Odds are, you probably already read it. If not, I highly recommend it.

Brand Tags

I'm sure you have seen this as it's been well covered this weekend and through today, but if not, be sure to go play around with Brand Tags.

It's a simple, interesting, and great idea from Noah Brier that lets you see what people say/think about a few popular brands. If you want to know more about it, Noah has written a couple of posts about it that provide a bit of the background.

Required Reading: The Kaiser Edition

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but somewhere along the way, I lost track of what Marcus was writing when he switched over from his old blog to writing The Kaiser Edition.

Thankfully, someone pointed me in the direction of his Content Will Kill Your Agency series either in an email or comment from the Future of Marketing + Advertising post a while back and reminded me of his great blog/site.

In trying to catch up on it all, I feel like he and I are much on the same track of thought in many areas. Even down to the look of our sites/blogs. Although his is much better. If I were to create my own design rather than stay within TypePad's design tools, there's not much I would do different than how he has his set up. Anyway...

Rather than tell you about all the great stuff he's posting, just pop over there and start reading for yourself. Maybe the best/easiest way to start is to go with the "Top Stories" column on the right.

Note to Marcus, a.k.a. The Kaiser: Sorry I lost track for a bit. Definitely back on now and have corrected the oversight of not having a link to you over there in the blogrolls. Thanks for sharing all the great thinking and for always calling bullshit when it's needed.

A Social Media Conspiracy Theory via The Kaiser Edition

The Kaiser Edition has posted some very insightful and interesting thoughts on the whole "social media" epidemic that is sweeping through the marketing world. On top of it being those things, it's also pretty entertaining.

It lines up with something I've been thinking about lately too. There are a lot of people out there who claim to be social media strategists and experts simply because they're doing some of these things themselves.

Just because you're doing something doesn't mean you're qualified to advise people on it. I know a lot of people who technically can drive a car but I'd never want them to try to teach someone else how to do it.

Anyway, give the presentation a browse. It's thought-provoking at a minimum.

You can also find it on SlideShare if you prefer to view it there.

Joseph Jaffe Speaking in Minneapolis 04/14/08

Just a heads-up for those reading this in the Twin Cities...

Joseph Jaffe will be speaking at the fourth Conversations About The Future Of Advertising (CATFOA) event sponsored by MCAD, MIMA and MSP Communications.

You can find all the details on the CATFOA blog along with recaps of the first three presentations and an announcement for the fifth, but the quick and dirty details for this one are that it happening this coming Monday night (14 April 2008) at Fine Line Music Cafe starting at 6 PM.

It is free for all to attend and the first 250 people to come through the door will get a complimentary copy of Join The Conversation.