#arkalgud

[bkgjewelryfeed]

Anand Arkalgud: Innovation - It is all about culture!

Culture – “It is not me, its the organization”! Sorry if there is a hint of apathy in my tone here, but I do feel that when leaders have conversations on topics such as this, they have to take responsibility for the prevalent culture, and not punt it! Here are a few topics...

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[bkgjewelryfeed]

Anand Arkalgud: Innovation - It is all about culture!

Culture – “It is not me, its the organization”! Sorry if there is a hint of apathy in my tone here, but I do feel that when leaders have conversations on topics such as this, they have to take responsibility for the prevalent culture, and not punt it! Here are a few topics...

Read more →

[marketingtoculture]

Digital culture drives belief-based consumption

The beauty of culture is that it finds ways to communicate a brand's values, beliefs and manifestos to the public. And social media further facilitates the dissemination of this information, informing and educating audiences along the way. 

It isn't surprising to see more and more audiences buy and relate to brands based on what they stand for.

For example, what do these videos teach you about Disney? I bet you, none of this is news to you.

VIDEO 1: Southpark deconstructing Disney

http://youtu.be/2w5Le0w4pQ8

VIDEO 2: 

[marketingtoculture]

Interest-driven social networking will change the world.

Our usage of social networks has evolved in the past couple years.

Aside from making use of social networks such as Facebook to keep in touch with friends and stay on top of events, users are increasingly becoming involved in “interest-driven networks” – networks who’s members are brought together due to a common interest or passion. Common examples of such networks include social platforms such aschange.org and socialvibe.com and Facebook groups dedicated to certain causes.

Source: Flickr User: Dulk

The shift towards interest-driven networks has led to a gradual change in the makeup of peer groups on social networking sites such a Facebook [2]. That is, peer networks have started exhibiting common characteristics, similar to one’s friend network on Twitter – a platform where social connections are primarily built based on interest.

The gradual allocation of our “social networking time” into activities that are interest driven has brought about two very positive changes:

1. Its increased the number of “do-ers”

Since peer groups are becoming more interest-driven, users who’ve traditionally been action oriented are having a positive effect on their peer networks and as a result, are driving more users towards action. This is good news for communities looking to drive social change who’ve traditionally had problems getting people to donate, especially their time.

2. Its increased the number of “listeners”

Those who aren’t driven to action are getting influenced by peer groups to listen. In my own ethnographic research, I found a 40% increase in awareness of social and political issues primarily through information shared on Facebook.

The net result of this shift is very positive. Facebook has over 400 million active users. A community such as this has the power to change the world. The only barrier standing in the way is that of education and empowerment. This shift toward interest driven networks is helping break that barrier. In my personal opinion, we haven’t even witnessed 10% of the power of social networks, to drive social change.

References:

[1] Digital Youth Project – Living and Learning with new media.

[2] Digital Ethnographic study on 25 users between the ages of 19 and 32 between 2008 and 2010.

[marketingtoculture]

The power of noticing (digital ethnography)

During a breakfast meeting a couple weeks ago, my buddy Sean Howard remarked on how he was drawn into the world of digital ethnography some years ago, when he first realized how much a person could tell about him by simply looking at his Facebook profile. This is probably true for most us who today spend a majority of our lives online. And unfortunately unlike Vegas, or Austin for that matter, whatever happens online doesn’t just stay online.

Yet, as marketers, we continue to look at consumer insight like it’s the holy grail. We continue to shell out surveys after surveys of boring questions simply because we’ve grown accustomed to ask and look for anything quantitative, and we refuse to look at what the internet gods gave us!

Source: The Internet

The power of observation is underestimated.

Ethnographers will swear by the insight one can gain by simply observing people, their activities, interests and social interactions. The same applies to the online world. Whether we like it or not, our activities online are governed predominantly by our need to build a certain identity for ourselves. An identity that eventually ends up determining where we live (online), what we choose to share and how and with whom we choose to interact. Unfortunately traditional forms of research cannot successfully unearth identity markers. That’s purely because we as human beings are not built to be perceptive (or honest) when it comes to our own selves. And when you ask a person why she does activity A versus B, in most cases, her answer will not represent reality.

So this is where digital ethnography fits in. It helps you unearth common cultural threads in an online audience and helps you understand identity, values, social interactions and brand attitudes. And while it does take experience and a certain skill set to be able to observe audiences in a given context, this isn’t something that organizations need to be afraid of trying.

Sean made a really good point during that breakfast conversation – that marketers have learned to accept the flaws in quantitative research but somehow when it comes to the qualitative world, they’re very wary. The tools exist and the knowledge certainly exists. It’s only a matter of time before more organizations learn the value of understanding culture and start engaging audiences with things that really matter to them.

Oh and please Detroit, not another one those “what do you think of this car?” YouTube videos!

[marketingtoculture]

Empowerment is key!

Throughout history, the development of technology has always sparked counter-cultural movements that have looked to subvert popular culture and societal norms.

Many of these movements were inspired by the situationist movement of the 1960s. However, all these movements did have 2 common underlying motives. They all looked to improve personal empowerment and encouraged the building and growth of communities.

One such movement led to the use of print media to create the “Whole Earth Catalog“. This catalog promoted openness, user-generated content (yes!..back in the late 60s) and stood for the democratization of information and collective consciousness. Out of this catalog was born a message board called Whole Earth Lectronic Link (WELL) in 1985. This online message board looked to again subvert culture by attempting to use technological tools (initially built for societal control) to bring about Personal Empowerment and a sense of community. Of course, I don’t need to remind you that the same underlying motives form the foundation of Social Media and the web 2.0 world as we know it.

I therefore strongly feel the success of innovation in the Social Media world will be heavily dependent on whether or not newer ideas take the fulfillment of these very motives/ideals a step further. Yes, I know there are many other factors that will influence success, but I believe that these cultural motives are critical to laying a foundation that can withstand growth.

I think a good example is Foursquare (and of course other similar location based services) because it looks to improve personal empowerment by giving businesses the ability to better cater to their customers’ needs. Are there other examples of innovation in social media that adhere to these two principles? Your input will make this post and my follow-up a lot more interesting.

References: www.virtualcampfire.org

[marketingtoculture]

How internet startups are like your high school band

Why does every person I meet today either work for an internet startup or own one? Everyone seems to want to be in this space one way or another. And ironically, not many are actually making any money off of it. Most don't even have the semblance of a business model in place. What is it then about the internet startup industry that makes it so charming?

These are some questions I began asking myself about a year and a half ago as I began to increasingly immerse myself in Toronto's online community.

And then it hit me.

About a year ago, I was at a local event for tech-entrepreneurs in Toronto. I walked in as one of the young CEOs was finishing a talk about his company, his progress to date and his struggle for funding. As he, Mr. Startup CEO, walked down the stage, he was swarmed by the crowd. People wanted to chat with him about his company's work to date, hear his stories of struggle, laugh at the jokes he made (even if they weren't funny!), and buy him the customary shots of tequila.

He was the rock star that night.

Once upon a time, you had to be a musician, playing for a rock band, struggling, rejecting a 'regular' job, indulging in alcoholism and marijuana abuse to be cool -- you know, to be a rockstar. Today, all you need is an internet-startup!

Think about the rock band that you were once a part of. You knew the likelihood of you actually making a career or a livelihood out of it was bleak, but that never deterred you from rehearsing, gigging and dreaming! Of course, you did it because it was fun, but more importantly, you did it because of the way you'd be perceived in society - by your peers and even the opposite sex (or the same sex depending on your tastes). You did it because of culture.

You did it cause it was cool.

Internet-startups today embody the narrative of the counter-culture. There is a sense of heroism associated with the person who decides to reject a corporate career to work insane hours, typically in a basement, wearing torn blue jeans and sipping red bull. Of course, I'm painting a stereotypical picture here, but you get the point. Interestingly enough, such a narrative seems to exist only in the confines of the internet (and now computer mediated technologies in general) startup world. And a large part of it has to do with the heroic celebration of the 'cyberpunk' (a.k.a the hacker) over the last decade. From the hackers and coders who saved the world from Y2K to Shawn Fanning, who revolutionized music distribution, the last decade has witnessed a strong internet counter-culture develop and take centre stage. It is this very counter-culture that has created Julian Assange - arguably the most celebrated cyberpunk in today's context.

So what's next?

The paradox of the counter-culture applies here as well -- as a culture gains popularity and enters the mainstream, it no longer carries with it the same meanings and identities. So as Internet and computer-mediated technologies continue to enter the mainstream, I keep wondering what will happen to the narrative of the internet-startup rockstar? Will a new counter-culture emerge, or have many begun to emerge already? More importantly, what will this cultural phenomenon do to entrepreneurship in Canada? Canadians have long been accused of being risk averse. Is all this about to change?