The Opus Olympics kicked off last Friday in light of, well, the real Olympics. Taking place under the roof of our very own agency we all know what an honor it will be to take home a gold medal on our home turf.

We have 5 brave teams willing to do all it takes to steal the Gold and stand tall at the end of the 2 weeks of competition. Having started Friday the 12th, we will continue through the 26th battling the elements to come out on top. Stay tuned for the scores from the events to come. So far the events have been Trash Can Basketball! and Water Jug Relay.

Current standings after 2 Events:

Here is the footage:

In light of the disaster in Haiti we have seen what may very well be the future, at least for now, of people lending a “helping hand” so to speak. Social Media has definitely risen to the point of ruling the way we live our lives today and it is no wonder that Social Media was many people’s first reaction to the question: “How can I help with the Haiti disaster?” People have created Facebook and Twitter pages to raise money for relief and, of course, this leaves us wondering how much of these Social Media relief groups are legit? This is cause for some alarm and, unfortunately, in spite of a true tragedy some people will take advantage in nefarious ways. On a good note, organizations such as the Red Cross have been able to raise over $4 million for the relief funds. They have used text message fund raising techniques which are very effective these days.

Then there are the celebrity messages. One that is rather funny and legit is Stiller Strong, Actor Ben Stiller’s website to raise money for the Haiti relief. Utilizing Facebook, Twitter and Share This, Stiller has started the Haitian School Initiative. This initiative seeks to help provide temporary schools for Haitians after the earthquake on January 12, 2010.

In the end, we see positive results from the use of Social Media in response to disaster. It has been called out as lazy, using the term Slacktivism to describe it. It seems more like an addition to the standard. Traditional methods of raising relief funds and helping are still in place, so it would seem Social Media is the icing on the cake, allowing people to reach out for help in ways they never could in the past.

Reference Articles, check them out:
Helping Haiti – Social media doing its part
Haiti quake relief: How technology helps

Fast Company’s info graphic of the day led me to this GOOD place with the noble tag line of transparency. If good design promotes clear seeing, then our calling fulfills more than aesthetics.

Are you a person that makes websites, in any shape or form? If so, take the A List Apart (ALA) survey. Since 2007, ALA has conducted a survey of web professionals with the objective of determining position classes, defining job roles, salaries, etc. The 2009 survey was just announced.

The results are made public and, I think overtime, could provide vital human capital information for the industry at-large. (I can call it an industry right?).

If you think about it, ours is somewhat a new field. Our roles are perhaps formally defined by only 15 years of practice. Often our titles are self defined, determined by old-school design protocols and/or terminology that evolved out the “new economy” of the late 1990s. (Ouch – remember that?).

As a person who makes websites, my own titles have included: Webmaster (my least favorite), Web Coordinator, Web Communications Director, Information Architect, Information Strategist, Strategist, User Experience Architect, User Interface Developer and Interactive Project Manager.

I wonder what’s to come. Maybe if enough of us take this each year, I will eventually have an easier time knowing what to say the next time I have to determine my job title. So, help a girl out – take the survey and pass the word along.

Theme 1: Trust your friends

Customer reviews are the most powerful influencers in brand awareness, loyalty, and purchase decisions. Even bad reviews positively affect the conversion-to-buy numbers. (Katherine Durham, HP)

Listen to what people are saying about your product, let that influence product manufacturing (not just marketing). Intuit requires all employees to “follow a customer home” once a week and they use that input to influence product development and marketing.
(Sheila Tolle, Intuit)

The social network is like a town square, and is a revolutionary democratization of content creation (Johan Jervoe, Intel)

Friends trust friends opinion of product, more than companies’ version of product worth, more than media version of product/brand worth. Most trusted: friends/word of mouth. (Sheila Tolle, Intuit)

If content is king, context is queen — friends give product/brand content context. (Jeremiah Owyang, Forrester)

Syndicate all comments, good/bad, from/to disparate/competing sources (Katherine Durham, HP)

Theme 2: Work Together

Everyone needs to be at the table together, no more silo-ing of marketing, product development and business operations. (Chris Dill, Blazers) (Lisa Welchman, Welchman/Pierpoint)

Fish where the fish are: corporate sites need to fragment into the social community ecosystem. ( Jeremiah Owyang, Forrester)

Get the younger folks/social media users into the C-suite. There is a leadership deficit in web knowledge. (Lisa Welchman, Welchman/Pierpoint)

All areas (Ads, sales, direct marketing, web) need to ask “then what happens?” Do not measure your success within your silo’s benchmark. Ask, what happens next? (even if it crosses into another silo or challenges accepted success metrics) (Diane Shultz – Xerox)
So, strategic marketing comes down to very human roots, no matter what platform or technology powers it. The methods by which we embark in these human endeavors may change, but the needs are basic and abiding. I love that about our work. At it’s best, it responds to our human-ness.

The objective of the RepRap project is to give away the designs for a machine that anyone can use to make many of the goods that we all have to currently buy and anyone can use their RepRap machine to make more RepRap machines for other people.

Keri Collins, Narrator

RepRap from Adrian Bowyer on Vimeo.

Will the trends of self-reliance and re-generation spur the viral growth of the RepRap movement? Could the spread of home manufacturing with fossil-fuel based materials prove environmentally detrimental as people will fabricate more stuff than they need? Will this take humanity into new levels of conservation innovation? Desktop manufacturing is a game-changer – for the good or bad remains to be seen.

- Keith Gerr

PS – 3D printing for new tissues and organs? chekit

Related posts:

1. Game-Changers
2. Herd Werd
3. Gesture-Commerce

Politics, economics, culture, technology, health, environment, religion, sexuality – We are living in a tsunami of change. Top-down power is giving way to bottom-up power. Individuals over institutions. Dialogue over monologue. Transparency over privacy. Sharing over hording. Regeneration over landfill. Love over hate.

Some believe it’s an enlightened period that leads to collective, empathetic goodness. Some predict it’s just another nail in mankinds coffin.

Others, like me, aren’t so sure. But that’s no excuse to not to try and make sense of it all – especially in a professional marketing capacity. Because, afterall, marketing is about knowing the consumer. Being able to stay in-step and one-step ahead so that needs are met and value is delivered.

In an effort to develop empathy for the average consumer, a collaborator of mine (Mo Morales) and I took a deep dive into the human experience. Not a quantified study, but a wide-eyed, open-minded quest. Our conclusions brought us to the Sovereign Consumer. This person is:

Extremely Cynical – does not trust the media and increasingly less trustful of brands

Technology Enabled – wired, fired up and aware of his ability to influence friends and the world around him through networked devices and applications

Needs Community – seeks influencers from whom to learn and peers with whom to share – all in the name of staying perpetually relevant

Owns Self-Determination – determines factors (e.g. value, loyalty) on his own terms

Promotes New Social Contract - growing expectation for institutions to embrace ethical and responsible practices in the pursuit of profit

Commercially Engaged – continues to define himself by brands he selects and rejects

Privacy Disabled – fears loss of personal control of incoming messaging and outgoing information

Needs Anti-Community – defines himself by who he is not

Suffers Status Anxiety – constantly aware of his place in society, ability to ascend, as well as how far he can fall

Ethically Ambivalent – selective application of personal values

It’s just the take of a couple dudes – we don’t claim the above to be science nor the archetype to be complete. Though we do claim to be honest with our thoughts. What’s your take?

- Keith Gerr

Related posts:

1. Helping clients cross the 2.0 divide
2. Grow Your Own
3. Fundamentals of Social Media Marketing

Opus has been stewarding our clients through the social media space. The preso below highlights our learnings on how to strategically approach social media – value proposition, consumer usage data, properties, platforms, data on how other marketers are budgeting for social media, planning model and other experienced tips.

Social media is simultaneously advertising, customer service and research.
Keith Gerr, Director of Strategy

Social Media Overview
View more Microsoft Word documents from opuscreative.

Word-of-mouth meets word-of-network. As much energy as you put into social media, is as much energy as you’ll get out.

 - Keith Gerr

Related posts:

1. The Under-Utilized Side Of Social Media
2. Trans-Media Trends
3. Real is the deal