2009 september Artopod

Arkiv för september, 2009

Skrivet fredag 25 september 2009 under ämnet Brands, UX, social media, social web
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Starbucks turn criticism into user experience

Starbucks launched their platform My Starbucks Idea last year after criticism from customers about everything from coffee quality to interior decoration. It was a brilliant move to turn criticism into product and service development from their customers. Talk about Brand management.

This week we have seen the launch of two iPhone apps from Starbucks as a direct effect of customer feedback from their social network initiatives. There were already a couple of inofficial Starbucks apps, but these are way more powerful.

The MyStarbucks app lets customers locate stores and bookmark favorite locations. They can search by additional information, such as hours and amenities. It also includes the menu and nutritional information for Starbucks’s drinks, food and coffee beans, and a “drink builder” that displays nutritional information based on the selections.

Starbucks Card Mobile app lets customers check their balance, register their card, enjoy rewards, reload their card and even pay for drinks in selected stores. If the trial period is successful it will probably spread to the rest of the world. The mobile payment system is really interesting and could be huge for Starbucks.

This is what many other companies, organizations, communities, cities and municipalities should be doing. Get your customers or citizens involved, create and innovate together. It’s the best brand building you can do.

Skrivet onsdag 16 september 2009 under ämnet Sajttips
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Facebook Pages vs Facebook Groups

Here’s a great explanation from Mashable about the difference between Facebook Pages and Facebook Groups. We get a lot of questions about this…

Skrivet tisdag 15 september 2009 under ämnet Artopod, Sociala Webben, Sociala medier, social media, social web
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Next step for the social web?

We’re out conversing with customers about social media a lot these days. One thing that strikes me is that so few use any kind of tools to make collaboration easier. Many people / companies have trouble sharing documents, sending big files and staying in touch with salespeople on the road. There are thousands of more or less social tools to solve all these problems and make collaboration much more enjoyable. Wouldn’t it be a better idea to use social tools to be more productive, more effective and communicate better before we start using them for marketing?

Now I’m touching on the subject of Social Business Design. How can you as a small, medium or big company implement tools to become more efficient in your internal and external work? There is no shortage of tools and technology, so the big obstacles are knowing about the tools and being aware of what you could do better. Guiding companies through this jungle is an important mission for agencies that will require a firm grasp on technology, business, social tools, communication and creativity.

Don’t get me wrong – marketing using social media tools and platforms is still very important, but it will come much easier to those who use the social web as a natural part of their organizations.

You can start today by using simple tools like DropBox or Box.net for sharing files, Yammer for communication, Google Docs for collaboration, Twitter for business intelligence or Ning for most of the above.

Have a look, try some tools and get back to us if you want to learn more about effective use of “social media” in your organization.

Skrivet onsdag 9 september 2009 under ämnet Sociala Webben, Sociala medier, social media, social web
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The power of co-creation

The power of production is much bigger than that of consumption. One hour of production creates a whole lot more output than one hour of passive consuming. That’s why the concept of co-creation is so powerful, and why sites like Wikipedia, YouTube, and Flickr have grown into what they are today. Even if you just transform a couple of your passive consumers into co-creators, the impact will be big.

Skrivet onsdag 2 september 2009 under ämnet Artopod, Sociala Webben, Sociala medier, social media, social web
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Social media workshops

We have done a bunch of social media workshops recently on the theme “What is social media and why should you care?”. Our goal is to give our customers a first look at social media and help them see the bigger picture. Setting up a Twitter account is easy, but we’re helping them understand why, for whom and what to do with it? It’s the first step in evolving to a more social business culture.

I have written a guest post for Film Arc about the subject and I will be at their Master Class workshop in Luleå to rant about the possibilities of the social web.