Gatorade's Social Command Center: http://bit.ly/avJmkD (by @baekdal ).Gatorade has released a video of their social command center. It is quite impressive, and ultra-geeky. It looks more like something from Norad, than anything you would expect from a soft-drink company.
It depends. If you employ a group of people who's job it is to actively engage with your audience, giving them a command center is definitely worth the cost. The cost of a 24" screen, and a Mac Mini to run it, is minuscule compared to the efficiency boost you get from not having people constantly switching between applications.
We all know about the amazing efficiency boost people get from a dual screen setup, one example is when Forbes.com noticed a 50% reduction in editorial production times when they editors where giving a dual screen setup.
So imagine the efficiency boost you get from just being able to see everything at a glance. And asking an API developer to create a simple system for pulling in data from varies networks is a very easy and low-cost operation.
I noticed the same when I covered the 24 hours of Le Mans, via social channels (last weekend). I would simply not have been able to stay "fresh" without my command center - it would have taken far too long to switch between windows, and I would have missed out on important events.
Of course, having a command center also has its problems. One is that you need to be able to take a step back, and see things in a bigger perspective.
Actively engaging is great, but it is also very important to catch the larger trends, so you can be proactive instead of reactive. No point in being really good at solving customer issues, if you could have avoided them in the first place.
Another problem with a command center is also that it ties you to a building. Engaging is so much more than that. You need to be out there, among the people you interact with - and you need to be able to bring your tools with you.
Of course, if you do not employ people to work with social full time, your focus should be to create tools that can summarize what's happening, and alert you based on specific triggers.
BTW: See also what Mashable's article about Gatorade's command center.
Later today, Apple is having yet another one of their mystery press events, where they are expected to talk about iTunes. One very strong rumor is that they will extend iTunes into the online renting business, allowing US customers to rent TV shows at 99 cents.
Earlier today, Facebook launched its location based service called Facebook Places. We all knew it was coming, and that it would not be highly innovative, but there were still a few surprises.
There where two interesting stories this week about emerging digital markets. First, we heard from Amazon that the sale of ebooks has now surpassed the sale of hardcover books.
It is not unusual for many websites to lose 20-50% of their traffic during the hot summer months. It happens every year, because people rather want to be outside with their friends, having fun barbecuing, than sit inside in front of a computer.
You might have heard the stories about Digg losing 50% of its traffic in just one month, based on data from Compete.com. They are all asking the same question. Is Digg dead? (no it isn't)
I was watching several of video from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce - or simply the RSA. Besides having a YouTube channel filled with interesting content, they have created some of the best story telling videos I have ever seen.
Traditional marketing is pretty simple. You ask your graphic designer to create a beautiful presentation of your product. Next, you give a magazine a handful of money to buy exposure to a certain amount of people. That’s it. You create an ad, pay money, and get exposure.
Isn't it odd that so many companies fight change instead of embracing it? Shouldn't we welcome it with open arms? See it as huge opportunity to get ahead of our competition?
Companies are constantly trying to come up with something new and exciting, but most of the time they to tend to focus on the wrong thing. Instead of creating a story, they make a book. Instead of creating interesting articles, they created a printed magazine. Instead of making remarkable products, they design a new website.
Privacy is a big topic online, and there are many different opinions about it. But all the privacy problems can be summed up into one simply rule that cannot be broken.
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