Neville Hobson, ABC www.nevillehobson.com Manchester, July 1, 2008 Signs of Encouragement on the Horizon

Consumers, citizens, and employees (the same thing) have changed They don’t trust company-speak They fast-forward their PVRs through the interruptions They pull content that interests them They create their own content, original and mashups They pay attention to (and are influenced by) word of mouth

Consumers, citizens, and employees (the same thing) have changed

They don’t trust company-speak

They fast-forward their PVRs through the interruptions

They pull content that interests them

They create their own content, original and mashups

They pay attention to (and are influenced by) word of mouth

The emergence of a new digital information commons The reality of a global economy The appearance and empowerment of myriad new stakeholders

The emergence of a new digital information commons

The reality of a global economy

The appearance and empowerment of myriad new stakeholders

The product or service being pitched by email is obviously not one that the recipient would have much interest in A fact that would be very easily apparent if the pitcher had taken even a cursory glance at the recipient’s blog

The product or service being pitched by email is obviously not one that the recipient would have much interest in

A fact that would be very easily apparent if the pitcher had taken even a cursory glance at the recipient’s blog

The email includes an unsolicited Word document attachment And not everyone uses Word

The email includes an unsolicited Word document attachment

And not everyone uses Word

The pitcher writes a pseudo-friendly greeting but it only looks like a bad database mail merge My favourite: “Hi, Neville ,” (notice the space between my name and the final comma) A close second is the simple “Hi ,” with that same space (yes, I’ve had lots of emails like that)

The pitcher writes a pseudo-friendly greeting but it only looks like a bad database mail merge

My favourite: “Hi, Neville ,” (notice the space between my name and the final comma)

A close second is the simple “Hi ,” with that same space (yes, I’ve had lots of emails like that)

The email contains nothing but the text of a press release That sin is compounded when the email subject line says ‘press release’ or ‘latest announcement from XYZ Company’ The nail’s in the coffin when the email also includes the press release as a Word attachment with lots of font and other document formatting

The email contains nothing but the text of a press release

That sin is compounded when the email subject line says ‘press release’ or ‘latest announcement from XYZ Company’

The nail’s in the coffin when the email also includes the press release as a Word attachment with lots of font and other document formatting

Consumer promotes brand 4 1 Talk at the consumer 2 Consumer interacts with message 3 Consumer interacts with brand Consumer 2 3 4 1 Conversational One-way Messaging Experiential Two-way Communication

Channels have fragmented Sources of trust have shifted Social media have arrived The consumer is “in control” Content creation and distribution have been democratized You must reach the new influencers Transparency is essential Engage in the conversation or fail to communicate

Channels have fragmented

Sources of trust have shifted

Social media have arrived

The consumer is “in control”

Content creation and distribution have been democratized

You must reach the new influencers

Transparency is essential

Engage in the conversation or fail to communicate

Leadership in defining and instilling company values Leadership in building and managing multi-stakeholder relationships Leadership in enabling the enterprise with “new media” skills and tools Leadership in building and managing trust, in all its dimensions The Chief Communications Officer must now assume a leadership role:

Leadership in defining and instilling company values

Leadership in building and managing multi-stakeholder relationships

Leadership in enabling the enterprise with “new media” skills and tools

Leadership in building and managing trust, in all its dimensions

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