The biggest news in tech this week is that Yahoo! finally appointed a replacement for their known-to-swear-a-lot and former top-dog, Carol Bartz. They’ve appointed little-known Scott Thompson from PayPal.

But the much more fun/entertaining/frightening tech news is Rupert Murdoch joined Twitter. Really joined. No spoof account (that was his wife’s). No digital sidekick thumbing his tweets. No pseudonyms, social media gurus or ghost writers, just 100% unfettered, real-time access to our Rupes.

Love him or loath him (okay, I can probably guess which), this had to make the news wires. He started up on New Year’s eve and quickly courted controversy with (now deleted) quips like, “Maybe Brits have too many holidays for broke country!”

John Prescott must’ve found a dose of irony in a belated Christmas cracker and tweeted, “Welcome to Twitter…@rupertmurdoch. I’ve left you a Happy New Year message on my voicemail!”

It’s oh so easy to mock from the sidelines. Social media invented the term snark – and then used it in abundance. But this has got the hallmarks of a Charlie Sheenesque car crash all over it.

He’s obviously got every right to join the Twitterati but what’s his motivation here? I’ll show them all I’m not an evil bugger? I’ll prove to the world I’ve still got all my marbles? He’s not exactly in need of headlines, or a wider network.

Some are indicating he’s promoting his own products by saying “Great oped inWSJ today,” and “Very proud of fox team who made this great film,” and “Got to watch Foxnews at 5 EST.” Sure they’re all in his portfolio but his marketing teams would have to be pretty desperate to script that!

No, I think his top execs will all be frantically dreaming up ‘seriously pressing business emergencies’ that need his urgent and full attention. And his PR and comms teams will be praying Twitter falls over every 20 minutes like it used to in the early days.

In their shoes, I’d be tempted to sneak one of those Hollywood-style, CIA speced wi-fi blockers into his briefcase… or break his thumbs.

Given his opening salvo, it’s more than difficult to see this going well. I think it’ll end in either:
a) a fizzle, as Mr M gets bored of trying to be fab in 140 characters and lets the account doze off, or
b) in the furore of a NoTW closure but without the job losses.

Seth wrote recently about ceding one’s responsibility via other people’s agendas. He said ‘Setting an agenda is often as important as checking the boxes,’ and I completely agree.

Setting an agenda for a meeting gives you the initial power. Obviously, it allows you to frame the context of the discussions. You might not win every position but you certainly get to discuss them if you’ve put them on the agenda.

Also, if a structured agenda’s gone out beforehand and no one had any amendments prior to sitting down, then you’d be in your rights to say, ‘Sorry, I don’t believe that’s on the agenda. We can schedule it in for next time, though,’ if something new comes up. This can be a great tactic to avoid a tricky area or just simply to keep the stupid stuff off the table.

Definitely avoid the ‘any other business’ pitfall, too. It’s the catchall that lets any number of elephants into the room.

I was asked to call out some examples of those using digital innovation well. It’s very easy to say Dell are making money via Twitter and the new Old Spice videos are viral winners but here’s half a dozen less-heralded examples that might tickle your marketing fancy:

Company: Disney

Category: Social Media promotions

What: Toy Story 3 created the world’s first promoted trend on Twitter along with a Facebook app that allowed visitors to pre-order tickets and then share info with friends to arrange group viewings.

Result: increased the likelihood of impulse purchases and the social aspect made group planning that much easier. Was the highest grossing movie of 2010.

Company: Orabrush (a tongue cleaner that solves bad breath)

Category: Online video (direct selling)

What: Marketing started with a video shot at a pool hall for about $500 getting over 13 million views. There’s now a weekly installment for Orabrush’s YouTube channel, Curebadbreath.

Result: sold $1 million worth of brushes (at $5 a time) through YouTube. Four pharmacy chains, including Boots will be carrying the product.

Almost 40,000 people have subscribed to get e-mail updates every time Orabrush posts a new video, making it the seventh most-subscribed channel on YouTube.

Company: Daily Candy

Category: Location-based mobile marketing

What: DailyCandy Stylish Alerts uses geofencing technology to notify application users when they approach locations recently written about by the DailyCandy editorial team.

Result: news on events, gatherings and style as you walk around NY. First to market with such innovation.

Company: Gatorade’s Mission Control

Category: Social Media

What: Tweets of encouragement to high-school athletes before big games and responses to Facebook queries.

Mission Control aggregates and weighs real-time opinions. It gives more importance to mentions made by loyal fans, people with a lot of followers, or people whose opinions tend to get picked up.

Result: Pepsi’s cash cow became ubiquitous (and uncool). Mission control was set to reverse the sales’ slide. Gatorade sales rose 7% in the second quarter and 2.4% for the first half of the year.

Company: Kogi Korean BBQ

Category: Mobile marketing on Twitter

What: Korean take out food that moves around LA. The places are announced on Twitter @kogibbq and the chef is now winning awards.

Result: Business grown to five trucks inside two years. A gaggle of great PR including Time magazine. 90,000+ Twitter followers looking for Korean food.

Company: BMW

Category: Mobile marketing via MMS

What: the campaign was timed, targeted to individual consumers, and highly personalised to recent BMW purchases who would need winter tyres fitted.

They sent the MMS on the first snow day of winter with an image of the users model, in their colour with their rims and the recommended tyre for winter use. They also included a link to a mobile site allowing customers to experiment with the tyre simulator before making a purchase.

Result: 30% conversion from message to purchase and $45 million in new business.

The tablet isn’t a new invention but the iPad has created a phenomenally popular category that was a non-starter before Apple invested. A recent study by Google’s Admob services indicates tablet owners generally use them for more than an hour a day, usually at evenings. GQ editor, Dominic West, wrote in July’s magazine, “We’ve been unable to resist the allure of the iPad because we have immediately formed a genuine bond with it. We just like it.” Even the Queen reportedly ordered one via younger family members.

I’m not hugely impressed by the hardware myself, although I do love its portability and the awe-inspiring battery life compared to my heavy MacBook Pro . But what’s simply staggering to see is others (especially non-techies) interacting with it. They’re utterly engrossed as soon as they hold it. That first two-minute fix on an iPad is similar to watching someone holding a newborn family member for the first time: captivating.

It’s a stroke of marketing genius by Apple to include Photo Booth, a small photo editing package that lets users manipulate the camera’s image before taking the picture (usually of themselves). It’s so intuitive my two-year-old son learned how to use it in seconds, having seen his five-year-old sister figure it out for herself! It’s bags of fun for all the family as they look like they’ve entered the crazy mirror thing in the circus.

Today’s Times states that John Lewis’ mobile sales have doubled in the past year and now account for 5 to 7 per cent of online sales (presumably by revenue rather than by volume). Regardless of gimmicks, phones and tablets are set to become the devices consumers use to interact with you online over the next two to five years. The trend is undeniable, less desktop, less laptop, more smartphone and loads more tablet.

Is your site ready for that?

Twitter is front page news this week but a friend emailed me asking my thoughts on something other than super injunctions. He wrote, “If twitter’s all about engaging with people, conversations not campaigns etc, why is @delloutlet doing so well? Both in followers, and in direct revenue according to them. It goes against everything I’ve read you should do. What do you think of it?”

Well, I think it’s because of a number of factors:

• There are no real rules to Twitter (even if there are nuanced subtleties);
• Even if there were rules that dictate against such obvious selling tactics, there would be exceptions too;
• Tweets are a broadcast of whatever you choose – some tweet their blog, others tweet their photos, thoughts, videos or jokes. Why shouldn’t Dell’s mention deals;
• Best practice isn’t common practice (physical exercise and a good diet are surely the best example here);
• People will always want bargains and IT buyers know what lives at the end of this rainbow (check Brand Alley for another strong clearance example);
• Engagement is a plethora of choice – I want the Sunday Times in physical paper but I like most of my other news digitally. If I want to engage Dell’s bargains this way, then that’s what I’ll do.

We live in a hit and run culture, flitting from place to place with ever decreasing attention spans. With 1.5+million followers and peerless sales conversion, Dell is clearly providing something of value of kudos to plenty.

What about you? How are you using Twitter in business?

Linked In added the Signal this week. It’s a new product that, “gives you a whole new way to consume information and news that’s most relevant to you as a professional.” Hmm…

The trouble is, I fervently disagree with those who hook up their Twitter feed to Linked In. It’s failing to understand that different media responds best to different inputs. Facebook expects some silly photos from Saturday night. Myspace expects music choices. Twitter expects inspiration, updates and whimsical thoughts. Linked In expects business. They can cross-pollinate one another, but they’re much better if treated as silos.

Sending one feed through all your social networks is like wearing the same clothes to a rugby match, to a dinner party, to a nightclub and to the office i.e. lacking in thought and effort.

That said, I completely understand that Linked In needs to evolve. Its recent IPO shows a clear hunger (or should that be need?) for growth. But is Signal pandering to the world’s over sharers, or an innovative addition to business networking. My fear is that I’m welcomed by dross like this when I log in:
I’m not sure repeating every BBC news article you’ve read is worthy of showing anyone in Twitter, let alone why on earth you’d bore your business connections with them. What possible added value can it create for either party?

The undeniable truth is The Web now has a pulse. We’ve got to hope that those with the stethoscopes ensure we skim the cream off the milk, not drown us with the Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga drivel that threatens us from all angles of our browsers.

If Linked In can be that authoritative filter, then I’m all ears. I guess that’s what digital arbitration looks like.

If an online company can act as a business lens to the Internet then who would you like it to be? Whose opinion and authority would you like to vet the world of the web?

Like most UK retailers and caterers I’m avidly watching two TV programmes running at the moment: Mary Portas’ Secret Shopper and Michel Roux’s Service.

Secret Shopper
Mary Portas is her usual truculent self and she’s right to bemoan retail service – on the whole it’s dire with a capital D. Despite embarrassing some of the biggest names on the high street, I’m not sure an over-edited show (we saw the same clip five times) will have the desired effect and have management draw their swords, demanding the engagement necessary to perform at such a level.

Service
Last week’s Service showed a huge contradiction from the management team. When teaching recruits the basics of waiting tables they described eye contact and ghost-like speed, but neglected to mention to serve dishes from the customers’ right shoulder and to clear from their left.

As they didn’t teach this practice from the beginning, or in any of the live restaurant sessions, the recruits’ habit was to serve and clear over both shoulders. In most environments this wouldn’t matter one bit, but in last week’s 5 star restaurant at Bovey Castle it saw them pilloried.

The newly introduced procedure confused and frustrated the cohort, adding yet more pressure to an already stressful learning curve.

The rule here is simple: if something is crucially important and fundamental, say it upfront. Make up a song or a mnemonic. Do whatever is needed to drill the message home early, but don’t let your team drive on the right only to be told weeks later they should’ve been on the left all along.

Photo credit: pasotraspasto

Picture the scene: your three-year-old wakes at night screaming as if placed in boiling fat. She is uncontrollable. After 30 minutes without change you call NHS direct and get a midnight appointment for the hospital. There, the doctor can find no accountable reason for the agony, whose only brief respite in noise is because of exhaustion. You’re recommended to take her to another hospital specialising in paediatrics and have her observed over night.

At the second hospital, a charge nurse examines her, followed by another doctor. Again they draw blanks and find nothing and leave us to our panic.

Doctor #2 returns a while later and examines again. The doctor goes deadly silent and closes her eyes for over a minute. You stare at your wife trying to keep your heart from creeping out of your throat. The doctor fans her own face to stop tears falling in an obviously heartfelt display of real emotion and says, “I have a baby myself [she’s really welling up now] and I’ve just said a prayer for yours.”

BOOM. Where’s the priest to administer last rights? The room is spinning and I feel sick.

Thank heaven that doctor #3 appears at the end of this prayer and after a short examination declares the problem to be tonsillitis. Within 30 minutes of some extra drugs my daughter was bouncing on the bed shouting, ‘Look at me, daddy.’

Never underestimate that one tiny sentence can radically change the whole outlook of a meeting. What we say and what others’ hear can be completely different things – isn’t that worthy of discussion with your team before their next negotiation?

Image credit: Nelson Santos

There are so many experts (perceived and real) out there, that some might feel the need to distinguish themselves from the crowd. Suddenly they’re no longer the consultants or practitioners they once were; they’ve invented self-aggrandising titles like guru, ninja and samurai instead.

If someone thinks you’re pretty damn hot at something and they afford you the mystique and compliment of calling you a guru, then great. Kudos to you. But when would you ever feel it’s safe to call yourself one?

Beguile and seduction are all well and good when canvassing outsiders. But this level of narcissism is another ballgame.

Imagine you need a dental check up. As you sit in the dentist’s chair would you be happy if the qualified doctor in the white coat introduced herself as a dentistry ninja? Nope, me neither.

How about a gynecological guru? You’d run a mile, right?

Social media bottom line, folks:
What’s so often misunderstood by so many is that social media isn’t new, despite all the new media bumf. It’s marketing communication – period. It’s what marketing was ten or twenty years ago: talking to your [potential] consumers about you and your offering and how it can solve problems. Social media may be different but it’s not really new.

Watch a football or rugby match from twenty years ago. Sure, the game’s moved on, and yes it’s different as professionalism and money has moved, pushed and blurred previous boundaries, but they’re not NEW sports. They’ve simply evolved. Ditto marketing.

Doubt a social media guru or ninja will tell you that though.

Robert Tyler started the blog ‘I hate Ryanair’ back in February 2007. It really does what it says on the tin by publicising any and all grievances with Ryanair, ‘the World’s most hated airline’ according to Tyler and plenty of his readers.

The comment section of his blog extends the frustration and anger further still as customers are ‘shafted for hidden fees etc.’

Some would say it’s freedom of speech which the Internet breeds like a petree dish left in the sun. Poor service getting called out is perfectly fair, right? After all, there’s nothing stopping fans creating a nemesis site, ‘I love Ryanair.’

The most surprising part of this is that Michael O’Leary hasn’t got thicker skin. He’s dragged Tyler to Nominet (the body that handle domain name disputes) in order to prise the domain name off him. O’Leary’s been successful not because of proven slander or business malice, but because Tyler had made money on the back of Ryanair’s name.

Tyler would’ve been on safe ground if he hadn’t clocked up a paltry £322 from commercial links to travel and currency exchange firms.

It’s ironic that an airline known to move the goal posts saw Tyler do just that when complying with the ruling by giving up the address ihateryanair.co.uk. He’s moved it to ihateryanair.org.

Touché.

Photo credit: BBC