So, before a marketer can engage with an influencer, they first need to identify who those influencers are. To satisfy that demand, the race is on to create the algorithms and one stop-shops that will determine the influencers from the big mouths; the positive sentiment-ers from the detractors, the activist from the trend-setters.

In the May 2012 issue of Wired, Seth Stevenson article Popularity Counts puts Klout into context. In a quick and dirty effort to make sense of who the brand influencers are, Klout scores everyone with a single number, on a scale of 1 to 100 based on a mysterious, proprietary algorithm.

Photo: Garry McLeod

Klout has been criticized for not only its mysterious scoring algorithm but for what Forbes.com calls a Sneaky Klout Trick Designed to Suck You In. In his article, author Anthony Wing Kosner sets the expectation quickly in his warning “Prepare to be manipulated”.

Manipulation notwithstanding, Klout recently stepped up it’s game. The company is ready to infiltrate consumer marketing. Large corporations are discussing how to use Klout scores to determine the kind of service, perks or shopping discounts to offer based on a person’s score.

Joe Fernandez launched Klout in 2007. In the Wired article, Stevenson describes Fernandez vision as a “form of empowerment for the little guy”. Maybe it is. However, influencer research is not valuable if the marketer can’t understand the influence or measure the Vector of Influence.

The Vector of Influence is the nature of the influence that any particular influencer wields in a particular social space and the signals that influence. On Twitter, influence can be measured by who you’re following, followers, tweets, re-tweets, @mentions and replies. On TripAdvisor the vector is different. On Facebook, different again… and so on. Each social space has it’s own signals or collectively it’s own vector. And social space, by social space the vector changes significantly because it’s unique to the community.

So, do identify your influencers, but don’t put them all in the +K basket. I won’t attempt to wrap it up any better than Wing Rosner from Forbes.com:

Klout is a really interesting concept that fails in some important ways. Being able to apply a single number to a person is useful in some situations, and being able to identify the topics that a person has some clout with their peers about is even more useful. But the Klout score is still a blunt instrument, and as such, dangerous in the wrong hands. Your mileage may vary, so while Klout is scoring you (which they are whether you participate or not) be sure to keep a tally on what that score is worth to you, and drive accordingly. -Anthony Wing Rosner

Brainstorming as we know it – is the harvesting of ideas (good and bad) through a non-threatening, non-critical dump of ideas by a group. Right?

In the early 50′s, Alex Osborn of BBDO popularized Brainstorming in his surprise best selling book Your Creative Power. His ideas have permeated popular culture and even given rise to institutions like the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State College and detailed pedagogical doctrines frequently employed by business consultants.

Well Brainstorm this, according to Ben Jones, a professor at the Kellogg School of Management brainstorming practices in organizations correlate to larger team sizes. In fact, over the last 50 years the size of the average team has increased by about 20% each decade.

Recently The New Yorker published an article by Johan Lehrer that not only questions the effectiveness of brainstorming but basically goes as far as to prove the practice detrimental to collecting creative ideas:  Brainstorming Doesn’t Really Work : The New Yorker

The underlying assumption of brainstorming is that if people are scared of saying the wrong thing, they’ll end up saying nothing at all. The appeal of this idea is obvious: it’s always nice to be saturated in positive feedback. Typically, participants leave a brainstorming session proud of their contribution. The whiteboard has been filled with free associations. Brainstorming seems like an ideal technique, a feel-good way to boost productivity. But there is a problem with brainstorming. It doesn’t work.

Read more: http://nyr.kr/xy4k99

“‘Do not criticize’ is often cited as the important instruction in brainstorming, this appears to be a counterproductive strategy. Studies suggest that groups who debate and even criticize each other’s ideas are most creative by far… On average criticizing groups create about 20% more ideas.”

So if Brainstorming, as we know it, is not a reliable model for group creativity, what is?  Here are three concepts, supported by research and examined in the article:

• Conflicting perspectives work to harness creativity

• Team composition with an intermediate level of social network connections produce a higher level of success

• The power of space can enhance a team’s effectiveness

If you’re working on building teams – and frankly what leader isn’t - GROUPTHINK by Jonah Lehrer is a good read.

How about you? Can you share any brainstorming good, bad or ugly stories? Go ahead and comment.

Post your questions to @marinamann

We have a superb panel line up and what promises to be a heated discussion on social commerce including a few case studies, insights and strong opinions.

Social Commerce, The New Normal Influence Economy 
Most customer interactions with your brand and the customer buying decisions that goes along with that – won’t happen on your brand’s website. In 2010, U.S. e-commerce sales totalled $165.4 billion, up 14.8%. Opportunities are burgeoning as the cost of eCommerce operations drops and customers procure more goods & services online. In this session see case studies of how innovation in social media can drive the overall commerce model and enable brands to connect with customers and their friends to create value in earned media.

The panelists included:

Rochelle Grayson, CEO of BookRiff Media Inc., and Program Advisor, Industry Chair for the University of British Columbia’s Social Media Program @RochelleGrayson

Rochelle Grayson is CEO of BookRiff.com. BookRiff let’s consumers creates and publish their own books by mixing and matching content from published books, BookRiff creators and the Internet. Anyone can create a book compiled of riffs from start to finish in 48 hours and make it available for sale as an ebook or in print through bookriff.com. Along the way every content creator get’s paid for their used piece of mirco-content. Rochelle is a serial entrepreneur. She’s also Industry Chair for the University of British Columbia’s Social Media Program and instructor of Social Media monetization at UBC. Welcome to you.

Harley Finkelstein, Chief Platform Officer at Shopify; Harley explains his role in Fast Company

Harley Finkelstein, is chief platform officer at Shopify.com. Shopify is an Ottawa based eCommerce DIY platform used world wide. Sopify lets anyone set up an eCommerce store in 15 minutes. In the last 5 years, the startup has grown to power 16,000 stores in 70 countries and generates over 100 million in annual sales and growing. Harley is also a busy entrepreneur, MBA and lawyer.

Matthew Bertulli, CEO and Founder at Demac Media and Co-founder, Socialgift.com

Matt Bertulli was one of the first angel investors in Socialgift.com – Socialgift is a group buying startup that makes is easy for your friends to decide on a group gift and chip in and buy you something they agreed you’d love from a participating retailer or allows friends to contribute whatever amount they’d like to your gift. Matt is also co-founder and CEO of Demac Media, an e-commerce professional services solution agency in Toronto.

SocialGift from Mango Studios on Vimeo.

Daniel Patricio, Founder and Product Manager at Pinpoint Social @danielpatricio

Daniel Patricio is founder and product manager of Poinpointsocial.com, Pinpoint Social, is a self service platform that makes marketing on Facebook simpler and more effective. Pinpoint Social enables you to create dynamic Facebook fan pages and allows you to create customized campaigns, promotions or contests without the need to write a line of code. Pinpoint Social also provides detailed customer analytics.

See you there!

-Marina Mann  LinkedIn or Twitter @marinamann

A few key principals from the video worth noting include the notion that Social Media has moved from a crisis tool to an amazing media to where brands can have real conversations with customers. Marketers have reached a common understanding that audiences have moved from broadcast media to web and social spaces where two-way convos are happening. LeBrun also notes that “it’s understood now that brands are participants in the conversations taking place about their brands” and that the customer is exercising more power in shaping and influencing those brand than they do. Well, I’m not sure it’s well-understood just yet. Regardless, the new questions enterprise should be asking in the context of Social Media:

• How do I operationalize social media within the enterprise?
• What roles do I need?
• What departements do I need? What departments are affected?
• What tools do I need?
• What level of engagement do I need? Should I be listening?
• Should I be participating? When level of response and participation should I have?
• Who within the enterprise should be participating and how?
• Should every person in the organization be participating in the conversation?
• What level of thought leadership can I provide and how can I engage customers by leading the conversations and adapting?
• What business function within the enterprise should be listening and responding with customers in social spaces?
• Should Product Management, Tech Support, PR, Marketing, Research & Development teams be listening and responding?
• How much should I invest in Social Media?

Radian6 is a listening tool used to measure Social Media activity and sentiment made by customers for brands. The company is somewhat of a Canadian success story nascent in New Brunswick. In March of 2011 the company was acquired by Salesforce.com for $326 million, netting The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation $9.25 million after selling its stake.

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Marina Mann, Strategy for Digital, Social Media and Mobile

Google search – a blank page with a search box; Groupon – get your friends together to take advantage of a good deal (and take a big bite out of the retailers profits); Craigslist – forget the limitations of newspapers and post classifieds online; Nabster – share you music with your friends online instead of passing around tapes. Netflix… The list goes on and on and on.

Disruptive and innovative businesses don’t reinvent the wheel, they just make things a bit easier and remove a few layers between the business and the customer.

The live Music business, like a few other entertainment businesses (Broadcast TV, Movies), don’t like to innovate because the major players own the ‘complicated business process’ otherwise known as the ‘supply chain’. For the live music business that includes the concert events, the venues, the tour promoters, the ticketing and sometimes even the acts – you get the idea. According to the NYTimes, the touring market (live music) is the fastest growing sector of the music business.

Enter Songkick.com a site that’s been around since 2007, backed and staffed by some big hitting talent and built with well executed social dynamics combined with concert listings.  The founders took existing technologies and connected a key customer insight (finding reliable concert listings and info about bands in one place) and a key business insight (40% of most concert tickets go unsold). For the fan, it’s pretty straightforward: search for a band you want to see and Songkick will send you a note when that act is touring in your area. No more scouring for listings on blogs, MySpace sites and Ticketmaster. Search a location and find concert listings, photos, music, merch and talk to fans about past shows. And buy your tickets online – currently the website operates on a affiliate marketing model with no paid adverts trafficked.

Funny, there’s no reason MySpace could not have been Songkick. A lost and extremely obvious opportunity.

Songkick is not alone but at the top of it’s game. For similar models that, I believe, are not as well executed, see:  Pollstar, the concert industry trade publication, JamBase for live music and concert listings (right away, the user interface puts it at a disadvantage) and Bandsintown which is similar to Songkick, but loaded with adverts.

Leave a comment. I heart feedback.

Nevertheless, it’s increasingly clear to Marketers that lifestyle and behaviour changes born of economic abundance and endless borrowing have translated into values of thrift, and conscious choices by consumers. This new dynamic is described by SAI Marketing as the “New Normal”.

The “new normal” leads to a more cautious approach by consumers to personal fiance management. We see that by a reduction in the appetite for credit and the ongoing rise in savings in both Canada and the US. This trend has impacted not only the way consumers “buy” but also must explicitly imapct way Marketers “sell”.

Changes in consumption patters are undeniable. Marketers continue to resort to extreme discounting and product bundling, but consumers are reluctant to spend money outside of their tightly defined needs. This phenomenon will only worsen as gas prices continue to climb in Q1 2011 and consumers’ disposable income continue to dwindle.

“I don’t trust the Marketers, but I’ll trust my friends.” Enter Social Commerce.

Among the many definitions of Social Commerce documented by Paul Marsden of Social Commerce Today here’s a few I liked for their simplicity and matter-of-fact-ness…

Definition 15: Paul Dunay (Avaya) (October 2009)

• Social commerce: Working with or using your social graph, which is defined as your followers or your friends, and allowing them to help you make buying decisions.

Definition 17: IBM (October 2009)

• Social Commerce: Connect and foster active participation with customers to help improve your customer experience… including ratings and reviews, blogs, micro-blogging as well as forums and communities
• 17a Social Commerce: The concept of word of mouth in the context of e-commerce

Definition 20: John Jackson (DecisionStep) (February 2010)

• Social Commerce: The ability of two or more people to collaborate online, to share opinions and influence each other’s buying decisions

Here is Jeremiah Owyang’s Keynote Social Business Forecast: 2011 The Year of Integration

140 Corporate Social Strategists were asked how they currently handle social media within their corporation which lead to insights on how social media will be coordinated by corporations large and small into the future of this new frontier. Key points include:

- Different ways companies organize for Social Media
- Social Media spend breakdown among all SM activities and advertising
- Measurement + ROI
- How you should invest in 2011

• Should financial institutions bother with Social Media?
• Is Social Media a revolution?
• Do communities dominate brands? And who is generation-C?
• What is a Social Media strategy?
• Will the combination of technology and strategy change the basis of competition?
• What are the next practices for Social Media in financial services?