For one thing

Ever felt a slightly uneasy with marketing claiming for sustainability? Well, there might be an answer: John Grant explores marketing strategies that not merely pretend to be responsible for economic reasons but that are based on a sincere belief to do good. His recently launched book “The Green Marketing Manifesto” seems to be a true source for inspiration on how companies might find an approach on CSR that actually affects business strategies. John Grant offers extensive case studies on companies such as Marks&Spencer or Toyota showing a corporate behaviour that not only positively supports public image but also drives economic growth.

A nice lesson on authenticity as well as on consistency in your strategies and a slap in the face for companies that still don’t get it by considering CSR a purely image-related marketing tool. Click on the image below to find out more:

Though I always considered user-generated-advertising as a rather desperate attempt to apply the user-generated-content-mechanism to marketing, Apple and TBWA\Chiat\Day will air a tv-spot that started off as a student project in the U.K. It shows that collaboration between users and companies works as long as it is a controlled process. I think that the idea behind the Citizendium project reflects this notion: In an attempt to further improve the sometimes shallow and incorrect content of Wikipedia they are trying to excert some control over amateur collaboration. By introducing expert supervision they establish a controlling instance and quality management.

I think that the same principle applies to the Apple case: User generated advertising is not about solely putting the consumer in charge, but rather about collaborating with him so that both - the company’s and the user’s knowledge background and abilities - complement one another.

?¢‚Ǩ¬¶ is a rather cool image bookmarking service. Just like del.icio.us is for ordinary bookmarks ffffound.com lets you share images that are linked from other places on the internet. As they are still in private beta registering is only by invation for the moment but I’m really looking forward for them opening up for the anxious public.

Right now the service only presents a limited but nevertheless impressive collection of pictures, that are perfect for the occasional metaphorical comic relief in presentations. I hope they can keep up the quality of bookmarked images: So far it’s mainly due to the fact that only a few selected people are allowd to post such as the folks from eBoy or Russell Davies.

A statement about the status quo of education at universities: What if studying meant collaboration? How can networking be applied to communicating knowledge and skills? What would be the education model for the next hundred years? A very timely statement on education and a fascinating visual presentation of the involved problems. Thumbs up!

Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University.

Chuck Porter of Crispin Porter + Bogusky on brands and the CP+B way of advertising.

Just found this on some webpage.

I always thought that any more Apple addiction than at UdK Berlin is hardly possible, but this proves me wrong. The Missouri School of Journalism is almost Windows-free territory, which they underline on their website:

Students are encouraged to acquire wireless laptop technology from Apple, which the School has designated as its preferred provider, but students also will have a choice of a Windows-based alternative. Last year, 99.5 percent of incoming students chose the Apple option.

Watch out Mr. Gates, the intellectuals are up to something.

Charles Leadbeater just finished a user-edited book on collaboration. A comment on our increasingly participatory culture that presents a historical overview about co-innovation and shows countless examples. Leadbeater tries to develop underlying principles that foster user participation.

Have a look at the full draft on his website:

PDF

?¢‚Ǩ¬¶ or read a short abstract from Guardian or Times:

Welcome to We-Think, Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

A speech on co-creation and collaborative innovation: Charles Leadbeater describes the rise of the so-called ProAms, who are highly passionate about a certain product, brand or more generally a certain cultural niche.

Jerry Zaltman argues that most moderated research “adresses at a surface level what consumers think about what managers think consumers are thinking about.”

In How Customers Think, Zaltman references HBS professor Rohit Deshpande, whose study found that “over eighty percent of all market research serves mainly to reinforce existing conclusions, not to test or develop new possibilities.”

(Wipperf?ɬºrth “Brand Hijack”, p. 175 & p.177)

Which is exactly the reason why focus groups digging for game changing consumer insights must fail most of the time.

Advertising and marketing is under fire: Targeting consumers has become increasingly difficult as an easily available over supply of media entertainment provokes avoidance of advertising content. Traditional advertising and thus traditional communication models focus on the transmission of a message to group of consumers ultimately addressing only the brand?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s needs: an unbalance value exchange is occurring. Marketing communication only relying on push strategies meets customer defiance, as they are increasingly reluctant to spend valuable time and attention on dealing with marketing messages. Furthermore fragmented consumer groups are hard to pin down to some kind of common denominator which is badly needed to come up with a key message, to lay out a media plan and to develop consistent strategies.

In the course of my master thesis I will call the described status quo into question, arguing for a different stake at advertising communication. Considering that our society is increasingly linked and networking has become a common phenomenon one can conclude that collective intelligence and collaboration as illustrated by Wikipedia?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s success are also applicable to brand building. Countless blogs and online communities professed with brands denote the consumer?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s enthusiasm for participation. At the same time the consumer has become a powerful player in this whole new ball game. I would like to explore how companies can productively use the consumer?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s definitional power on brands. How can consumers and companies collaborate on brand meanings and how can advertising transform closed branding systems into open source networks? How is co-creation and co-innovation applicable to branding and advertising?

Anyone with interest and/or expertise gladly invited to join me on my quest. Just drop me a comment and I get back to you.