I really like this visual presentation and somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at the state of the web. A refreshing change to the oodles of documents us agency-folk pull together on where it’s at. Created by Matthew Inman and found following @Aki Spicer.

As tee’d up earlier this year, the results are in from Heather’s annual survey. As always, a top job and huge thanks to Heather for undertaking this. Some great information here for budding planners and old hands alike. Fill your boots and look out for the survey link next year.

I continue to admire the chaps at Dare and me old mucker, Professor Emmel. Despite the flowery shirt. Here’s their digital essay. A lovely piece piece of storytelling and thought leadership. Cut out and keep stuff. Here’s a big version to avoid eye strain.

Here’s something I cobbled together for a pitch. Can’t tell you who for obviously. Be interested to know your thoughts.

The world is changing. Digital is important today and, in the near future, the “always connected” person will become ubiquitous. Digital will become the de-facto go-to resource for everything.

Don’t be confused that this means just the home PC: witness the rapid growth in mobile internet usage, fuelled by the accessible interface of the Apple iPhone, interactive services via digital TV and average internet usage overtaking traditional media such as TV and newspapers.

While digital offers more opportunities to target and measure more effectively than ever before, the way users consume digital has also changed the way brands need to behave in the digital space. Where traditional media (web 1.0) is shouting, web 2.0 is about conversations. Consumers expect to be involved, engaged and invited to collaborate. They have on-demand expectations; they expect real-time dialogue and want personalised experiences.

These changes apply equally to recruitment as it does to traditional brand advertising. Digital will never be about one piece of technology or ad format. It will never be about a destination site alone. Or just banners driving to it. Great digital strategy is and will continue to be delivered by utilising the world of digital marketing opportunities. Detaching it. And then having your brand advocates distributing the message, rippling it through their social network. We need to evolve beyond a placing opportunities on Monster and our corporate job board.

We think recruitment advertising will evolve in the following ways:

Leverage web 2.0

Web 2.0 technologies and sites enable brands to reach and influence new users without heavy investment in technology and IT. It also taps into the conversations and places where users are now searching for new roles. Digital has changed the mix where the recruitment ad is not the sole place people go to.

People now find jobs for each other. Building and leveraging networks on Linked In and using the professional services to seek out referrals, post jobs and build “expert status” through the Answers section is both low risk and differentiates you from the crowd and can highlight your comments and input to the network community.

Similar routes to market may be becoming a regular and insightful commentator on contextually appropriate blogs or social networking sites or a trusted source on Yahoo! Answers, which is becoming an increasingly powerful influencer. Both Linked In and Yahoo! Answers provide destinations for like-minded individuals to share interview strategies, job advice, salary negotiation strategies and “inside” information about working for certain employers.

Ensuring your company’s Wikipedia entry is current and reflects your employer brand is already expected, no longer an option.

Re-invent the job description

Traditional job descriptions are just brochureware. They don’t tell the story. They’re not transparent or authentic. Digital can make the job description live in full colour rather than black and white; give job seekers access to employees doing similar jobs through blogs (corporate or personal), podcasts that add personality and richness, live Q&A sessions in either discussion board or using new technologies such as Skype or Oovoo. This engenders trust, authenticity and provides more insight into the company than a one-liner on the recruitment ad.

Talk to them on their terms, in their place

Because of the fragmented nature of the web, your digital presence needs to reflect this fragmentation and not produce a “one size fits all” approach. A centralised place for job seekers to submit resumes and match to your needs is still relevant but not the only tactic you need to use. For example, Ernst & Young attracted high quality college graduates through Facebook. They sponsored a group, posted information on working at the company, had regular live Q&A sessions and promoted on-campus recruiting events. This not only distinguished them from other companies in their field but pre-qualified high-calibre applicants through an open, honest dialogue and targeting key campus’ to build relationships.

Activate your brand advocates

Your best source of new recruits is the ones you already have. Your employees can be the most persuasive (and also most destructive) advocates for your brand.

Identifying and empowering a small team of top performers who are already engaged in social media will raise awareness of the opportunities and as they are likely to be of positive persuasion to your brand, they will need little encouragement to spread the word about who they work for on their social media profiles and talk about their work.

This does come with a need for the company to shift from a natural protective stance over its brand and find a comfortable place between policing and releasing the brand.

Re-invent the print product

As recruiters shift budgets online, they will use print primarily to raise awareness of the company and direct people online to their corporate sites, instead of putting job listings in the newspaper. Newspapers should develop new branding products, such as allowing recruitment-focused ads to appear in the front section of the paper. They will also use editorial print content to draw passive job seekers to the recruitment section, just as they do in their real estate and automotive sections.

Do and learn

While digital can be measured to the nth degree, there is no pre-set formula as there may be in direct mail, for example. Technology is moving apace and consumer behaviour fragments and re-invents itself with alarming speed meaning that you need to constantly innovate, stay on top of trends and opportunities. It means you need to do and learn rather than the commonly accepted wisdom of today of learn and do. Build on what is working and change what is not.

Sources: Forrester.

Image source.

Tip of the hat to Greg Verdino.

Interact Congress 2008 is a conference about Connecting European eMarketing to be held in Berlin across 2-3 June. And being in Germany, it’s hosted by the German IAB and supported by all the national IABs (UK link here) and the European IAB.

And I’m truly honoured to have been invited to collaborate on the Interact Congress blog for 2008. I look forward to sharing my thoughts and ideas with some of Europe’s top bloggers on the blog when I get back from hols in 2 weeks. Please drop me a line either through the comments section below or direct to nr_gill@hotmail.com and let me know any thoughts or subjects you’d like me to raise.

I wonder if my new employers would like to send me out there to hob nob and spread the love?

And download an IAB report on UGC here.

In response to a recent new biz request from the good folk at Five by Five, I came up with this. The brief: “I want an agency that can help me with thought leadership for the next 3-5 years”. A chance to say our piece and inject my own thoughts and build on some recent activity from some splendid world wide webbers. I blatantly stole the headline from the recent AdAge Power 150 bloggers article too (see a few posts back). I’m enjoying the freedom to come up with this type of stuff. More to come soon. What do you think?

Crystal Ball 2.0

We could talk to you for hours about how we’ve evolved from web 1.0 to web 2.0 and what cool and funky new things you should be involved in. We could even start to blind you with the black art that is the semantic web, or web 3.0 as some unimaginative web folk have termed it.

Or we could just say this…

If you think in three years that you’ll start with the intent of having 60% of your budget on TV, 20% on Press, 18% on PR and sponsorships and a generous 2% on digital (up from current 1% of total spend), then we’ll happily work with that 2% and magic up some digital greatness.

But…

… your starting point tomorrow should really be the same as today.

Strategy and ideas.

Why?

The best idea always wins.

That will never change. Whatever new-fangled digital technology comes our way in the next three to five years, if we set out to “do a You Tube channel” or “have a group on Facebook” then we’re missing the point entirely. Chasing after the next big thing (or Big Shiny Object Syndrome) pushes you toward tactical execution rather than strategy.

Digital will never be about one piece of technology or ad format. It will never be about a destination site alone. Or just banners driving to it. Great brand strategy is and will continue to be delivered by utilising the world of digital marketing opportunities. Detaching it. And then having your brand advocates distributing the message, rippling it through their social network.

Great strategy and execution is, and always will be, under-pinned by great insight.

As the digital world evolves, so must the process for garnering these insights. No longer just pontificating and navel gazing, digital planners need to listen. And observe. Using a variety of emerging methods beyond the focus group: Facebook, Twitter, Pownce, Utterz etc. You’ve probably heard of Facebook. If you have no clue about the rest, better come talk to us now.

As we evolve, so will our digital marketing opportunities, especially co-creation. We need to let go of the legal and corporate reins and allow our consumers into our world. Collaboration leads to innovative experiences. And brand engagement.

Just talking (advertising) and having a destination site is not enough today. Certainly not tomorrow. Experiences, participation, being personal and attentive, continuous learning and evolving is.

Evolve with us.

Inspiration:

Katie Chatfield – Get Shouty : http://katiechatfield.wordpress.com
Matt Dickman – Techno//Marketer : http://technomarketer.typepad.com
Paul Isakson : http://paulisakson.typepad.com

Image

This is what a creative director’s brain looks like. Patrick (esteemed CD of Five by Five) drew this in a meeting we had last Friday to simplify a certain something. I’ll buy a pint (or frappy latte mochachino if you must) either in person or via the magic of paypal for the person who comes closest to explaining what this is. Exclusions apply: basically anyone who was in the same meeting.

Just spent an hour or so watching Aki Spicer (the Chuck Norris of account planning according to one fan boy on the live chat) of Fallon presenting to both the internal audience at Fallon and the global audience (of 60 at the peak) who were interested in social media. A smart presentation with good, clear examples. Aki was honest up front to say it was a kind of social media 101 as essentially the “socials” are to inform, inspire and educate internally at Fallon but even still some good thoughts and inspiration. I really enjoyed it. Especially the fact that it was done using social media - check out all the options to participate (detach and distribute in the flesh, people). It’s so damn easy now to use these things that it’s almost criminal to not do it. A big round of applause.

Fallon do these every month so I look forward to checking in again. However, I will probably choose a different channel to view the session as the live chat on Yahoo! Live was a bit pointless and distracting, especially as each comment makes the irritating “boing” and distracts from the speaker. The broadband pipe at work also held up pretty well for the streaming and any pauses didn’t actually lose any words which is usually the case. Although the time delay when Aki got a bit excitable and waved his arms made me lol.

What will I take away (apart from the content which is down below, obv): I would like to do something like this with our planning function. And that delivering these things using social media has to be the norm, not the exception. Makes a mockery that location is important when I can tune into the US at 5pm GMT and participate live. Walk the walk and all that. Great job, Aki. I’m enthused and inspired.

Here’s a great presentation from the Techno//Marketer himself, Matt Dickman. Definitely worth 40 minutes fo your time. A really well structured presentation with neat examples and good brain food to start the day.

And here’s 8 future trends from Leo Burnett in London. Nice to hear a British voice too.

And here’s another! This time from Paul Isakson (found via David Armano)

If these three things can’t help me pull together a “what’s next” point of view then nothing will.