Marketing Pilgrim

It looks like we have hit a point where the balance of power in publishing is truly shifting OR there is a huge over reaction to social media’s influence. Why do I say this? Because today the Wall Street Journal is rolling out the WSJ Social which is a made for Facebook version of the paper that at one point in time at least was most concerned about reaching business power brokers rather than the masses.

Take a look at the screenshot that was published over at Forbes

Key lime pie? Sunscreen labeling? Well, at least there is some business overtone to that on. Here’s how the Journal describes this move to creating a whole new presentation for the Facebook crowd.

Without getting all prognosticate-y about what this offering means to the general happiness of the human race, we will tell you that Google Wallet has arrived as rumored. Google’s official announcement comes on the heels of several days of rumors that served to do nothing other than keep some people writing. Now that it’s here you can learn about it for real and see just what it does and doesn’t do in the first iteration.

From the Google blog

We’ve been testing it extensively, and today we’re releasing the first version of the app to Sprint. That means we’re beginning to roll out Google Wallet to all Sprint Nexus S 4G phones through an over-the-air update—just look for the “Wallet” app. Here’s a demo of Google Wallet in action:

Now the video

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“I messed up. I owe everyone an explanation.”

Two months ago, Netflix Co-Founder and CEO Reed Hastings, announced a major change to the pricing structure for Netflix members which included increased fees for anyone wanting to get DVDs in the mail and stream movies.The result was a lot of bad press as loyal fans cried foul loud enough to be heard. Memberships were canceled, stock prices dropped and Blockbuster could be heard laughing all the way to bankruptcy court.

Yesterday, Hastings tried to patch things up with a lengthy note of apology and an explanation of things to come.

The next time you’re in a busy public place, stand still and watch the people who walk by. A large majority of them will either have their eyes down on a cell phone or they’ll appear to be talking to themselves (earbuds!).

It’s gotten so we can’t leave the house without our mobile phone charged and ready. And I know several teenagers who carry theirs from room to room so they never miss a text. Yes, a text, not a call. For the 18-29 set, texting is the ultimate form of communication.

New numbers from the Pew Internet and American Life Project show that 95% of young adults use the texting feature on their phones. On average, they send and receive 87.7 texts a day and the median user hits 40 a day. The median for all cell phone users is 10 a day.

It looks like the C-suite of marketers is getting the message that just because it sounds nice to tie certain business results to social media it doesn’t mean it’s easy. C-level marketers often tell their minions to do something that they themselves have no real idea how to do. It’s when reality hits that opinions and measurements change.

Look at this chart from the latest CMO Survey conducted in August by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

It appears as if attributing actual sales results to social media is becoming less popular amongst the C-suite set. It certainly doesn’t mean that it is less desirable and that there shouldn’t be continued efforts to do this kind of tracking. It does show, however, just how difficult it is to attribute any one definitive cause of a sale to social media efforts.

The best marketing conferences combine education, inspiration and entertainment with plenty of face time and networking. At the recent Inbound Marketing Summit 2011, the consensus of the nearly 800 attendees scored it highly on all counts.

Drawn from conversations with fellow attendees, plus a few days to mull over the flood of ideas, this list of the Top 10 takeaways reflects the mix of strategic concepts and actionable ideas featured at the summit.

1. Jump off the competitive treadmill – If your company disappeared today, would your customers truly be lost, or could they just switch? Harvard Business School’s Youngme Moon explored how being meaningfully different cultivates irreplaceability and brand loyalty. To get there, we need to go beyond analyzing competitors and markets, blaze new paths and take risks. This is a scary proposition – but it’s a vital factor in some of the biggest successes in business.