The Cat’s Out of the Bag on Geolocation
June 7, 2010 by Charles Wasilewski · Leave a Comment
OK, let me start this blog post by saying I’m not a cat person. Not even a pet person, really, although I had a childhood pet that was half-German Shepherd, half-Samoyed. But I digress.
The latest mini-rage in social networking seems to be geolocation.
So here’s the cat’s pajamas in geolocation: Scientists (social and technical) have come up with a cat-Tweeting system, based on a cat’s movements and actions.
I love the name … Cat@Log: A Human-Pet Interaction Platform.
Basically, this new prototype cat-tracking-and-communicating system involves a camera, Bluetooth wireless technology, and a GPS (global positioning system) attached to the cat. Then it posts images and location information as automatically-programmed Tweets, which are mini-messages posted to the microblog site Twitter.
Enough about the cats (and the puns).
What’ s interesting is the potential uses of automated uploading of data (regardless of whether Twitter is involved). How about for safety — a mini-bracelet around a kid’s wrist could track for his parents where he or she is? Or a delivery person could track productivity. Or a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan on a sensitive mission could automatically transmit data back to a base. Some of these things likely already exist, in some fashion.
But here’s the big news: This whole thing was developed by Sony, in conjunction with the University of Tokyo. Yes, that’s the same company that came up with the Walkman, which went it was introduced in 1979 revolutionized the mobile use of audio, music, books on cassette, and so on.
Here’s the article: Sony Develops Tweeting Cat Collar in MediaPost.
Here’s a video of the cat thing in action:
cat@log: human animal interaction platform from rkmtlab on Vimeo.
In Your Face, Facebook! And Out of Mine
May 19, 2010 by Charles Wasilewski · 3 Comments
OK, it’s been building for a while.
But when two of the most powerful women in the media both dissed Facebook (in the same week), I knew something was up. And down.
What’s up is media scrutiny of Facebook about privacy. What’s down is public perception of Facebook (if negative or questioning media coverage can be a proxy for negative public perception).
First of the powerful (in my media world) was Laura Mazzuca Toops, she of the insurance trade publication American Agent and Broker. Her blog post of May 6 2010 headlined “Are we due for a social media backlash?” charged: “Facebook alone is single-handedly doing a lot of harm to the concept of social media. On top of infuriating users by changing its ‘fan’ settings to ‘like’ and generating lawsuits by changing privacy settings, just this week there was another ‘security flaw’ that allowed users to view other people’s private live chats and friends requests.”
But if that wasn’t enough, here came Betty White on NBC’s culturally iconic “Saturday Night Live” on May 8 2010. The self-professed 88.5-year-old, in her opening monologue, credited Facebook for creating a groundswell of consumer sentiment for her to host the show. Then she said in her amusing way: “I didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time. I would never say the people on it are losers, but that’s only because I’m polite. People say ‘But Betty, Facebook is a great way to connect with old friends.’ Well at my age, if I wanna connect with old friends, I need a Ouija Board …. we didn’t have Facebook when I was growing up. We had phonebook, but you wouldn’t waste an afternoon with it.”
Then another: “In my way, seeing pictures of people’s vacations was considered a punishment.”
Zing.
Pretty funny of Betty White, but is she (and our lesser-known insurance trade editor) on to something?
Yes and no.
Ever since Facebook announced “Open Graph” (which allows it to share your Facebook profile across a wide range of other Web sites), it’s been privacy enemy #1. (It was pretty high on the list before that, too.) Noted columnist Chris O’Brien of SiliconValley.com, the Web portal of the San Jose Mercury-News: The latest changes have “sparked an intense backlash among some leading figures in the technology community over the privacy implications this sharing raises, although it’s unclear how widespread the discontent is.”
danah boyd (yes, no capital letters in her names) of the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society and the author of a Ph.D. dissertation “Taken Out of Context: American Teen Sociality in Networked Publics” was more blunt about Facebook’s latest moves: “People are being duped, tricked, coerced, and confused into doing things where they don’t understand the consequences.”
I happen to think that nature will find an equilibrium. In the meantime, lessons learned: Check your Facebook privacy settings (here’s a video showing how). And remember that the companies fueling social networking are for-profit businesses fueled by venture capital funding.
Meanwhile, Facebook is on the verge of reaching 500 million members, up from 120 million users in December 2008.
Opportunities, Doubts Abound in Social Media for Insurance, Aartrijk Brand Camp Survey Finds
October 23, 2009 by Charles Wasilewski · 4 Comments
Six Key Issues Uncovered in Research of Brand Decision-Makers
SPRINGFIELD, VA (October 23, 2009)—Insurance brand decision-makers are intrigued by increasing opportunities to use social networking, but they face internal pressure about these new rules of customer and prospect engagement, according to a recent survey conducted by leading industry branding firm Aartrijk.
The survey of attendees at Aartrijk Brand Camp 2009, an interactive conference for insurance and financial services brand managers in the age of the social Web, found that caution and doubts about managing social media are holding back many insurance brands from experimenting and implementing social media initiatives. Brand Camp attendees work at agencies, brokers, trade associations, carriers, technology firms, and other industry partners.
“Insurance brands that already have begun to work in social media have a lot of passion for it,” says Maureen Wall Bentley, vice president of brand strategy for Aartrijk. “But those who are in the exploration stage have real uncertainty about the potential impact and application of social media. They are curious but cautious, and many are not sure where to start.”
The survey was completed by most of the conference attendees prior to Aartrijk Brand Camp, held last month in Chicago. It found that the top six issues are:
1. Social networking is viewed more as a risk than an opportunity by many insurance executives outside the areas of marketing and branding. Brand managers face internal struggles in convincing management to implement social media. Concerns about security, productivity, reputation, privacy, disclosure, workflow, technology and legal issues have held up even experimental efforts. “The conversational, interactive nature of social networking conflicts with the traditional one-to-many marketing efforts, which lack an online feedback loop,” Bentley points out.
2. How do professionals and businesses manage the time and people involved in social media efforts?
3. Brand decision-makers are unsure where or how to start with social media—they are looking for a plan, budget and agreement on corporate leadership on the issue. They’re not certain if and when those resources will come.
4. Insurance brands see social networking opportunities in agent or member communications as well as the business-to-consumer realm. The dual opportunities, however, split resources and focus.
5. Brand decision-makers are seeking ways to measure activity and success in social media.
6. Insurance brands are looking for best practices and success stories for building brand awareness and customer service through social media.
Despite these issues, Bentley notes attendees at Aartrijk Brand Camp heard from a cross-section of insurance professionals who are writing new business, servicing existing business, listening to customers, engaging prospects and building their brands—all with a variety of social media tools such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Web sites, too, are evolving rapidly as corporate online “brochure-ware” becomes less interesting to customers and prospects.
The Aartrijk Brand Camp community, which includes “campers” attending the first event and “counselors” from Aartrijk, are continuing a dialogue online, and a Webinar is planned for this winter to address some of the issues raised in the survey as well as present case studies.
“Some people in our industry still question whether social media should play any role at all in insurance and financial services,” says Bentley. “They’re not convinced that consumers want to engage with their agent or carrier in the same way that they follow their personal interests online.
“And, frankly, insurance probably doesn’t have the same pull as entertainment, politics or sports,” continues Bentley. “But smart insurance professionals are touching customers and prospects through online social networks much in the same way they’ve always done offline—by demonstrating their expertise, their relationship to the community, and their understanding of the challenges families and businesses face each day. The social Web is simply a new vehicle for expressing those qualities.”
About Aartrijk: Aartrijk is a boutique branding firm serving clients from insurance and financial services firms and member organizations. Aartrijk’s experienced team offers business-to-business and business-to-consumer brand auditing; brand identity development; Web and social media; advertising, marketing-communications and public relations; publishing and editorial; and customer and marketing channel research. Visit www.Aartrijk.com; find Aartrijk on Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter (@Aartrijk), and follow Brand Camp and social media topics on Twitter: #ABC09. For camp information, visit www.aartrijk.com/brandcamp/agenda-2009.
CONTACT:
Charles Wasilewski
(908) 647-2216; charles@Aartrijk.com
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Why In the World Does Social Media Matter To the Insurance Industry?
October 15, 2009 by Charles Wasilewski · 5 Comments
Charles Wasilewski
At 11 am on Wednesday, September 30, Aartrijk Brand Camp was officially over. I said “goodbye” and “thank you” to a few Campers in the lobby of the Hotel Sax, and headed out for a jog into the pleasant late-September day in downtown Chicago.
We, the Aartrijk team, had just finished a two-day conference, after about nine months of preparation. The 90-plus attendees at Brand Camp, it seemed, sought to understand the sociological, business, and brand impacts of social networking in the insurance world. I felt a buzz of awareness and learning going on throughout the Brand Camp sessions. The very idea of a first-ever conference about social networking in the insurance industry seemed to create a strong awareness that something worthwhile was happening. Mitch Dunford, CEO of Wells Publishing, commented in response to one of the sessions: “History will remember us as the people who made the change” to social networking.
It’s easy to overstate what a industry confab can do (especially the ones we work on ourselves). I’ve been to a bunch and I know that great ideas and good intentions can fade once I get back to the workaday world. As I jogged, I wondered if that would happen this time. I crossed Michigan Avenue and headed for Millenium Park and a glimpse of the awesome Lake Michigan.
Amidst the city sounds of traffic and people, hundreds of people were heading to and fro for lunch and the rest of their work day. But two people caught my notice as I crossed their path: a man using crutches and a woman limping with a cast on her foot. Customers, certainly, of some insurance carrier and broker who provided health insurance or resolved the accident claim.
It hit me: The insurance industry needs to use social media because there are millions of people who need the products and services that the insurance industry provides. They will only find out what the industry can do if insurance people are part of the social network conversations that are going on every minute of every day.
Many people I know in the insurance industry are passionate—they truly believe in, and want to spread the word about, the insurance products (whether property-casualty or life/health/benefits) they sell and service. I admire many for their skills in sales, leadership, analytics, branding, and other areas. They’ve put those skills to work to benefit individuals, families, and businesses.
But the industry needs social networking skills to help it tell the story about what insurance does. In a big, noisy world, social networking is an amazing phenomenon that lets people carry on quiet conversations about important things. That’s why social media matters to the insurance industry.
—Charles Wasilewski
Follow Aartrijk on Twitter: @Aartrijk. Follow Brand Camp conversation on Twitter using hashtag #ABC09.