Among the keys to branding success in the digital space is the ability to keep up with what's new. This is not easy. The changes in digital technology, the way people use this technology, evolve on an almost daily basis. One of the questions I asked each of the people I interviewed for BrandDigital was how they keep up with what's going on in the digital world. The answers were varied, but two simple and almost obvious themes emerged from a majority of the conversations. The first was to talk to kids, your own or someone else's, about where they hang out online, what's hot or cool, and what's worth seeking out and becoming acquainted with. Those under the age of 30 have an intrinsic aptitude for digital tools and they're a great source of insight. The second theme that emerged from my conversations about how to stay on top of what's new is to get involved, literally. Surf the Internet, explore, experiment with new sites and become engaged in the same digital experiences consumers frequent, especially the consumers most likely to be attracted to your brand. There's no substitute for the real thing. Check back on a frequent basis for an updated list of how digital branding professionals stay current.
Becky Saeger: Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Charles Schwab
“You know, the digital space is constantly changing and growing. One of the reasons I belong to Marketing 50 is because of the provocative speakers in different areas. In addition, we meet regularly with our agency partners and have discussions about what is on the horizon regarding the digital space. We really want our agencies to bring us ideas, talk to us, help keep us fresh. I try to experience the media as much as possible, and my media and consumer insights teams do the same. In fact over the past year we've created an internal team that takes responsibility for facilitating discussions about consumer trends and the impact technology has on consumers' lives, and creating ways for us to get immersion in media experiences-- so I feel overall we're getting better at keeping up with the changes in digital space, but there is always more to learn and experience.”
Betsy Olum: Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sephora
“I am constantly online, and searching and listening. I have a group of people across various areas that are my trusted advisors and are out in the space all the time. We need to be in the know, so on a daily basis, I am finding out new things about what's happening out there.”
Kathy O'Brien: Marketing Director at Dove
“We have developed a very strong inter-agency team as well as a strong brand team. I've found that bringing new and younger people onto the team is very helpful because their perspective is so different.”
Jason Dowdell: CEO of Labitat Inc., Founder of MarketingShift.com
“To be honest with you, the way I keep on top of what's going on is I don't. I would advise people to keep an eye on the companies and their space and their client's space. Track the ones that are getting more and more popular and more attention. Pay attention to where they are being mentioned. Keep a list of the people that are associated with those companies, and figure out why or why not they are becoming popular.”
(http://www.marketingshift.com/)
Jeffrey Merrihue: CEO Accenture Marketing Sciences Worldwide
“I wake up at six in the morning and look at all the new videos on YouTube and read things online. I spend a lot of time online browsing and hunting stuff down. I have 500 of the world's greatest clients and that doesn't hurt for figuring out challenges and being up on what's currently going on in the marketplace.”
(http://www.jeffreymerrihue.com/about.html)
Marc Giusti: Creative Director of Good Technology
“I rely greatly on my planners and my user-experience group of people who are probably the most forward-thinking and advanced people within the agency. They help people understand what people are doing. Their role is to define the lives of a digital day of somebody. We have something called a ‘Human Lab’ which is a research approach to gauge how people adopt new technologies.”
Brian Gies: Vice President of Marketing at Burger King
“It's not easy. It requires one to be immersed 24/7 in the digital world. The teams I have surrounding me have the expertise and knowledge base. Our external teams are our partners and function as an extension of our internal teams working closely to keep their fingers on the pulse of what's changing.”
Courteney Monroe: Executive Vice President of Consumer Marketing at HBO
“I try to read everything I can. Our agency (Deep Focus) has done a great job of helping to keep us moving to the next level. I read every trade publication and play online as much as I can, but rely heavily on our agency partners to keep us one step ahead. I also learn a ton from hiring young people who live and breathe this stuff every day.”
Doug Pippin: Executive Creative Director of Ameriprise Business at Saatchi and Saatchi
“I sit in front of the computer and am an avid learner. That's the biggest thing. I think what's helped me is the fact that I have two sons, who are 23 and 20, who are a great lifeline to new media. We talk all the time about stuff that's going on and they've turned me on to innumerable things out there.”
Heather Frahm: Expert at Catalyst Search Marketing
“I spend a lot of time reading blogs and other relevant newsletters online. It's tough to keep up with all of it, but I'm probably reading an hour a day on what's going on. Attending conferences and being a part of the larger organizations also enables people to learn from each other.”
(http://www.catalystsearchmarketing.com/blog/)
Julie Roehm: Marketing Consultant
“I do a bunch of things. I have a good personal network that participates in a wide variety of things. I try to correspond with my network to keep up and learn from them. The human network should not be undervalued in the digital age. I also have my own RSS feeds. I scour magazines, newspapers, as well as keep online subscriptions to marketing trade publications.”
Michael Jacobs: Executive Creative Director of MRM
“Whether its checking out sites like gizmodo, de.li.cious, digg, stumbleupon, thefwa, reading blogs, checking in with the IPG Emerging Media Lab, attending industry conferences or talking to developers, its absolutely essential to stay ahead of the curve in the digital space.”
Michael Mendenhall: Chief Marketing Officer of HP
“I am sitting amongst the most brilliant minds in technology and am also a voracious reader. I consume online news and participate online and surf quite a bit on my down time. I am constantly looking at how people are engaging, as well as engaging myself. I consume books, magazines, and newspapers and think we are in a digital information age and staying on top of that is part of my role.”
Peter Friedman: CEO of Live World
“Sales and marketing is a social experience in and of itself. I take the time to create and maintain relationships with people in different realms who share ideas and input with each other.”
Russ Klein: Chief Marketing Officer of Burger King
“We have a lot of people who keep up on technology and I get regular briefings and updates. I couldn't possibly keep up without the people I have around me.”
Shelley Zalis: Founder of OTX
“It's hard. I speak at a lot of big business schools and learn a lot from the new people. I try to stay current and immerse myself in the environment today without being defensive and close-minded. We have a lot of new tools at our fingertips and have to use them in the right way.”
Suzy Deering: Director of Advertising and Sponsorships at Verizon
“I learn a lot from my agencies whose role it is to be forward thinking. It is my personal responsibility to make sure I'm staying in touch with what's going on. It's not so much about reading, but doing. I want to go in and experience things, such as joining websites to understand what's intriguing to people. If you spend time online, you discover things naturally. You have to jump in to truly learn.”
Tom Friedman: Author of The World is Flat
“I have a list of publications that I read to keep up with what's going on, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. I also read Slate.com, Salon.com, and Andrew Sullivan's blog.”
Adam Selig: CEO of Visible Technologies
“With over 1 million new articles of content posted to online sites and communities every 24 hours and an average of 16,500 tweets occurring every hour on Twitter, keeping up with social media can be challenging for brands and organizations. To stay on top of our industry and emerging trends, I log on to our social media management platform, TruCast, each day to monitor and engage with what's being said about our brand, industry, competitors, and customers in blogs, online media, forums, Twitter and other online communities.”
Ali Bullock: Global Online Marketing Manager of Cathay Pacific Airways
“I read over a hundred of RSS feeds a day, friend's blogs, and I am consuming so much information all the time. The sweet spot is finding what people actually pay attention to.”
(http://alibullock.blogspot.com/)
Barbara Basney: Director of Global Advertising at Xerox
“Like everyone, I am inundated with daily emails from sites, vendors and media properties with each featuring their respective ‘pitch.’ While I do my best to review them all, I also rely heavily on our agency and their recommendation regarding new media opportunities to test and try. I set aside “test money” to be used for the specific purpose of trying new ideas and opportunities in the emerging media space. These tests have only one objective, which is to gain learnings and insights, and are free from ROI and performance metrics.”
Chas Edwards: VP for Sales and Market Development for Federated Media
“I maintain a blog myself and it is a discipline I force upon myself to make sure I stay on top of these trends. I try and make an observation every single day, which forces me to read a lot and search the Internet. Sites like digg.com and boingboing.net, which aggregate a lot of information, are helpful, as well as talking with people with various insights.”
(http://chasnote.com/)
David Bell: Operating Advisor at Pegasus Capital Advisors
“I try to bombard myself with people and companies that are living in the nose cone of change. I tell marketers to create evangelists inside their company for each new area. For example, companies need a blogging evangelist who knows everything there is to know about the current state of blogging because no one can know everything about everything.”
Jim Nichols: Senior Partner at Catalyst
“It's a nightmare. Everyday I get 36 newsletters and I just read headlines. Having a really focused headline and message becomes absolutely critical. I focus on data at my company and collaborate with other people on projects to pool our knowledge. I think it's impossible for one person to truly keep track of all of the information out there.”
(http://oldestliving.blogspot.com/)
John Harrobin: VP of Marketing for Verizon Wireless
“I use stuff. Facebook, music services, content services, as well as post videos to YouTube on my account. I also have quarterly innovation updates and bring in a team of folks and pick a topic, such as Web 2.0 and have people present and share ideas.”
Larry Kimmel: CEO of G2 Direct
“You have to read continuously. Everyday there are countless publications that I'm working through like the [New York] Times, Adage, Adweek, iMarketing news, and Wired.com. It's getting intimately involved in how the search campaign is doing. I talk to my competitors and survey clients about their future plans. I think it's important to stay close to the performance of work you're doing for clients.”