Avenue A | Razorfish hosted is eighth annual client summit in New York in May. Their clients are made up of fortune 100 companies. The intent of the summit was to gather the worlds top experts on digital marketing and explore the trends. Avenue A | Razorfish has graciously posted excerpts of summit.

Many organizations have heard about Facebook, Twitter, My Space, etc. but many still don’t understand it’s power. It’s the way to support, encourage and enable personal recommendations from your existing customers to potential customers, and repeat customers.  Let me put it to you this way…. it’s the difference between 17% and 78%.  17% of people trust advertising but 78% trust other consumers recommendations (Nielsen “Trust in Advertising”, October 2007)

Yet, smart marketers and organizations are realizing social media it is revolutionizing the way an organization markets. While many think that social media and social networking is the future, they’re wrong. It’s here today. Do you have a social media strategy? Who is responsible for it? Many large organizations already have V.P.s of Social Media or Network Marketing. It’s that important! Check this out… even Wells Fargo has a VP of Social Network Marketing: Ed Terpening. A BANK gets it. Typically considered a participant in a stodgy industry, Wells Fargo is getting it, doing it, and making things happen in social networks. Which bank do you think will WIN?

Below is an in-your-face slideshow about social media from Marta Kagan. While I feel uncomfortable with unnecessary swearing (thanks to my parents who were both educators and believed that there are better words to express your feelings), I understand they used this technique to get attention. Guess it worked on me and I thought it was well assembled.

What The F**K is Social Media?

Thoughts on how to get started online:

Listening: What are people saying about your company? How do they use your products and services? Are they engaged? Immerse your self in a multitude of places. Learn how to find out how to listen online from an expert (by the way, seaching Google for your brand is not listening)

Immerse yourself in the dialogue: Just chat and respond. Never, and I mean never, push out scripted messages. You need to live your brand… and a brand would never actually go and tell people how awesome they are. They’d be more interested in the people around them. The image SOCIAL>media helps to demonstrate the importance of being simply social. Companies often find this part difficult but it can make or break you.

Give Up Control: You can not control what is being said online. Give it up. Release your baby into the world to grow and flourish on its own. It’s ok. If you’re being transparent and genuine,  answer plainly and in a timely fashion and don’t get your back up when you’re  criticized… then your brand has the potential to flourish. As it says in the slide show ”

- Jenifer Schaefer

Friends who have business undergrads, a decent amount of work experience and have taken an MBA say the value of an MBA comes mostly from the connections and relationships formed during the program. So, if you already network strategically, can learn from reading books, are attentively learning through experience and have a business undergrad degree - an MBA is not going to bring to much value.

Do you need to take an MBA? Josh Kaufman, The Personal MBA doesn’t think so. His philosophy is that you can learn everything you need to know to succeed simply by reading books. They have a list of 77 Best Business Books In Print. (Available for bulk purchase from Amazon - great feature and great business idea, Josh!)

I haven’t read most of the books he recommends, so I can’t make a personal comment on the chosen book list, but Josh mentions he has pulled in a variety of business experts to help develop the list and he reviews and updates the list to ensure it’s still relevant. (Disclaimer: some of the experts’ books are on the recommended book list.)

Some of my favourite and most useful business books I have read are (links to amazon.com):

- Good to Great, Jim Collins

- The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell

- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey

- Managing the Professional Services Firm, David Maister

- Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends, Tim Sanders

- Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, Kevin Roberts

Which business books are your favorites?
Do you agree that people can do their MBA on their own?

- Jenifer Schaefer

- goals and measurable objectives;
- clear strategies to achieve those objectives;
- a focused target market that is well understood;
- rational and emotional reasons to believe and engage in your brand;
- a strong understanding of the organization, competitors and environment; and,
- a tactical plan that links back to the objectives.

I think these fundamental still hold true. So, what has changed?

What has changed is the frequency that an organization needs to examine and perhaps tweak its plans. A business plan or marketing plan should be in arms reach, not collecting dust on the shelf. How often do you reference your plans? How often do you ask, is this still relevant and true?

In particular, the SWOT analysis and PEST analysis should be reviewed and updated every 6 months. Don’t assume that everything is the same. Our environment changes rapidly and an organization needs to be slightly ahead of the curve. How often do you survey the environmental landscape? How much has changed since you last took a close look?

Plans are not static. They evolve and improve. Yes, the process of planning is still crucial because it makes you stop, listen, evaluate and make strategic decisions with a specific purpose in mind.

Not many people love to plan. Or, they get stuck in the process of planning and never move forward. For the entrepreneur or small organization, my suggestion, is once a quarter dedicate 1 day (8 hours) to reviewing your plans, surveying the broader market and making modifications.

Of course, you should be listening and having an ongoing dialogue with your customers almost daily. (Hopefully you’re using social media and web 2.0 tools.) As you encounter interesting ideas and opportunities. Jot them down. If they’re mid-to-long term then add them to your plans quarterly. If it’s a short term opportunity, pull out your plan briefly, ask yourself if it is inline with the objectives and strategies - if yes. Do it.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you think business planning has changed and how your organization has adapted.

- Jenifer Schaefer

The task of writing one’s first post is exciting and a bit daunting. There are so many areas to explore and ideas to share.  Here’s the first thought to ponder.

Should online promotions for internet based products and services have geographic/ political boundaries?

Background: I am an avid user of Plurk and one of the people I follow is nethead. He plurked that there were “FREE MP3s from Amazon.com.” I was delighted to read about the promotion and eager to take a look at their song selection. There were a few there that interested me, but when I moved onto the ‘download’ step I was blocked. It was only for people located in the United States - or those who faked their ID (not my style).  Yes. (dot)CA was blocked and I was disappointed. After hurting Amazon’s brand for me because of the negative experience, I started to think if if the promotion should have been approached differently. Amazon is a completely online retailer and it’s MP3’s are even delivered online. Shouldn’t that lend its promotions to being open globally, and not limited to geographic/ political boundaries?

Business Application: When developing your promotional objectives, strategies and tactics start to think beyond your usual geographic markets and think ‘net’. Ask  yourself the following five questions?

1. What are our goals and measurable objectives with this promotion?
2. Why do our customers buy and use our product?
3. Does it matter where our customers are geographically located? Isn’t it enough that we’re reaching our target market?
4. How can we overcome real, or mentally created, barriers to delivering this promotion without geographic boundaries and focus on reaching our target market?
5. If we commit to thinking and acting in a global perspective, are we going to be able to handle the success?

Online promotions are only one aspect of marketing and branding. Thinking from a more strategic level it’s important for organizations to understand that Brands are global. Brand experiences occur around the world, a great thank-you to the internet and social networking sites. Brands do not stop at the boarder crossing. If you haven’t already… it’s time to break down those geographic silos and be a global brand. Think. Act. Be Global.

I’d love to hear your feedback and ideas.