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Restaurants finding Twitter a cheap, effective marketing tool

by Erik on June 29, 2009

in Interesting, New Tech, Social Media

I was having a discussion the other day with one of my employees about the benefit of twitter and how it can be utilized in a business setting as a value-adding marketing tool. He was not so convinced. He could only see twitter as a way to tell people what you were doing at any given moment. “I’m sitting on my couch” or “I’m going to the bathroom!” were his tweet examples to show the inanity. He was all about what you could do with Facebook – in his eyes – a much richer experience.

I think the twitter and micro-blogging phenomenon is a lot more telling about social media in general than most would give credit for, and if you can find a way to use this tool to your advantage, you’re instantly ahead of the pack. At least for now.

What can you do with 140 characters or less, the length of each tweet? A lot, restaurants are discovering - everything from posting daily specials to luring followers with offers of free appetizers to offering a glimpse of kitchen life. It’s all good for business.

“It’s instant and free marketing,’’ said Chris Barr, a manager at L’Espalier, which joined Twitter this month.

Restaurants are starting to sign on by the dozens, inspired, perhaps, by the success of Kogi, a Korean barbecue taco truck in Los Angeles that gained national notoriety by tweeting its whereabouts. In February, Newsweek called it “America’s first viral restaurant.’’

[via The Boston Globe]

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IBM and the Web 2.0 World

by Erik on June 24, 2009

in Censorship, IBM, Privacy, Web 2.0

Serendipitously, I just uncovered a post relating to IBM and social media use guidelines, which I wrote about yesterday with regard to the Associated Press’ new policy. IBM’s document is a “public submission to the Department of Homeland Security as part of their Privacy Workshops they hosted in Washington D.C. earlier this week.”

Wired.com Tracking Every Facet of Life, from Sleep to Mood to Pain #1
Creative Commons License photo credit: Tech Writer Boy

Particularly interesting to my discussion is IBM’s take on what it means to engage your staff in social networking, and how to set the proper expectations with your people:

Both governments and business must adopt such capabilities responsibly and thoughtfully, with proper consideration ofthe risks, governance, and legal issues introduced by Web 2.0. Organizations must implement policies that clarify the boundaries ofappropriate use for participants and take steps to protect proprietary or classified materials.

They must set expectations concerning data ownership, visibility, longevity and privacy. The deliberate and thoughtful establishment and implementation of such policies is an essential step toward making Web 2.0 tools suitable for business and government.

First thoughts: I really think it is great that an organization strives to be forward thinking and embraces new technology as readily as I believe IBM does. It is one of the few firms that relishes in the fact that they have the foresight to stay ahead of emerging trends and to ultimately take action when needed to utilize those trends for business purposes. With that foresight, I also realize that it is important (and essential) for a firm to minimize risk, but it is equally essential for a firm to allow their teams to express themselves and explore their creativity–which allows people to “become a global publisher for free – in minutes” when using Web 2.0 tools.

Social Networking Guidelines

On the same point, I also think a hard line document like the one set out by the AP is a bit of a stretch for acceptable use-policies and the managing directors within the Associated Press should consulted the guidelines set forth in the IBM document posted above. “In the mid 1990s, IBM similarly issued a set of Internet Use Guidelines for employees, while encouraging all employees personally to explore and become expert in the use the Internet.” Use Guidelines like the ones IBM enacted enables innovation and knowledge to grow, while the AP guidelines can be seen as nothing other than a set of rules set out to stifle the creative expression of their workforce.

One of my biggest learns from Adam’s snippet was the shear volume and intensity of the IBM social media platform. Not only does the organization provide guidelines for use of these tools, but the company also actively promotes the technology. IBM says they “did so in order to encourage collaboration and provide greater outside exposure to IBM’s greatest asset – its employees.” That sentence in and of itself speaks to the culture that Big Blue maintains.

Globalization and Sustaining Growth

I also wanted to bring attention to one other snippet that caught my eye on Adam’s site: IBM recognized the opportunity to tap into individuals’ use of social media as a way to flatten a geographically and organizationally dispersed employee population and to encourage more learning, collaboration and development – both inside the company and with external parties. Further, our research indicated that the personal interactions individuals have with IBM employees – online or face-to-face – have a more powerful influence on shaping the individual’s perception of IBM’s brand than any other form of communications, marketing or advertising.

Again, I think the focus on the employee, is partly why IBM hires and retains the top talent from around the world, and maintains industry leader status within the many areas it serves.

Check out what Adam had to say here.

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Tech Payoff for Companies Remains Elusive, Study Finds

by Erik on June 22, 2009

in Markets, ROI, Social Media, Technology

A recent post to the New York Times Bits blog has a very news-worthy byline. “A new economic index paints a disheartening picture for technophiles — at least the ones inside corporate America” it reads. The article continues to paint a bleak picture for firms that are investing hundred’s of millions of dollars into technology and enterprise systems with the hope that there will be huge returns on their investments.

The Shift Index, developed by the Silicon Valley research unit of the consulting firm Deloitte, tracks a wide range of measures of economic performance, going back to 1965. But two numbers really jump out. The return on assets for United States companies has dropped by 75 percent over that span, while labor productivity has more than doubled.

Return on Investment

I don’t necessarily agree with the assertions of this article. It is true that technology investment is one of the many investments firms can make that are extremely difficult to calculate returns for, but it is not impossible.

There are many reasons for these difficulties since these systems can increase revenue and decrease expenses in intangible ways… Some changes also take place over such large periods of time that they are difficult to track, and with poor data sets on previous systems it can make comparison difficult – or nearly impossible – between the two.

BUT–I would also add–that the main return that is (1) primarily realized, (2) not always calculated, and (3) present in the Shift Index is…  the human element. Technology allows labor productivity to increase, allowing people to work smarter, faster, and more efficiently. It can be difficult to calculate a concrete figure on this efficiency bump, but it is clearly present.

Information is Key

The efficiency increase mainly involves the use of information and business intelligence, and this magnification effect allows employees of firms with large technological investments to make better decisions during their daily functions.

The good news, according to John Hagel, co-chairman of Deloitte’s Center for the Edge, is that companies typically have a solid technology foundation. But technology investment, he said, has been overly focused on an industrial-era model. “It’s been all about standardization and automation of business processes,” he said. “Until and unless companies learn how to harness knowledge flows, the impact of the technology will mainly be continuing competitive pressure.”

A part of the answer, Mr. Hagel added, is the smart use of social networks and other online collaboration tools. “There is a completely different set of values that information technology can drive, connecting and communicating with the outside world, both partners and customers, which can translate into competitive advantage,” he said.

Competitive advantage in today’s marketplace will come from information. Social networks, information sharing, analysis, and hyper segmentation will mean the difference between Fortune 500 and top-performing Fortune 100 firms.

Speaking of online collaboration tools, check out the Jam sessions at IBM – a leading competitor of Deloitte.

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Be Nice.

by Erik on June 17, 2009

in Business Logic, Philosophy, Uncertainty

Your attitude is one of the most powerful tools in your professional arsenal. How you choose to interact with people will ultimately govern how well you can do your job. And there are two things you control there: the circle of people with whom you interact, and how you talk (write, etc) to them.

I don’t care how good you are at programming, finding bugs, whatever. If you’re rude, or if you speak poorly to people who don’t understand your… quirks…. you will wind up being shunted to the side. No one wants to work with someone who makes them feel beat down all the time, or someone who they simply can’t understand, or someone whose reaction to every issue is to start wailing about the end of the world.

[via Abakas]

I think we should all work on this. I deal with irate “customers” daily, and they objectify their problem onto me, and my role at my firm. But–what has been getting me through a most troubling day–is the old adage: “kill them with kindness.” And with that, I forget that they are personally attacking me, and are just unable to deal with their own frustration and emotion. It’s a simple change of thought on my part, and oh so helpful….for what it’s worth.

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Companies use only two thirds of ERP system functionality

17 June 2009 Business Logic

Most organisations use only 64 percent of their enterprise systems core functions, according to a recent Accenture survey.
“About half said they don’t need all the capabilities while a fifth explained that they didn’t make use of all the functionality due to lack of time to learn how to apply them,” said Accenture. [via InfoWorld]
Wow, that is really […]

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Smartphone Rises Fast From Gadget to Necessity

10 June 2009 Economy

In today’s recession-racked economy, penny-pinching is a national pastime. But people are still opening their wallets for smartphones.
Sales of BlackBerrys, iPhones and other smartphone models are rising smartly and are projected to increase 25 percent this year, according to Gartner, a research business. Widely anticipated new models like the Palm Pre, which went on sale nationwide […]

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