marginally subversive

on business objectives and returns on investments: QUANTIFY IT!

If business objectives are not quantified - it's nothing but a set of big, hairy audacious goals.

If RoI is not quantified - it's nothing but useless chest-thumping, "I-saved-the-company/world-all-by-myself" denial of what's real.

And oh - you can't set business objectives unless you know where you currently are - if your business sucks now, it doesn't help if you deny that it sucks or 'beautify' it with "yes, we suck but...".  No "but's" about sucking, dude.  

If you suck, you suck.  Period.  Admit it.  Move on.  Set new directions - real, realistic directions.

 

'cause we are living in an "algorithmic" world...

 

What is an ALGORITHM?  From Wikipedia: 

In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm (ⁱ/ˈælɡərɪðəm/) is an effective method expressed as a finite list^[1] of well-defined instructions^[2] for calculating a function.^[3] Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning. In simple words an algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for calculations.

 When will marketing planning and decision-making be replaced by algorithms?

With the explosion of data and the continued emergence of analytics as part of marketing planning, algorithms are not too far off in the future of marketing.

Will people be replaced by algorithms?  I don't believe so.

Algorithms and any decision-making process (which is what algorithms are geared towards) will not be accountable for results - people are the only entities who can be accountable for choices that they make for themselves and for others.

 

McCann WorldGroup's "The Truth about the Youth"

Nothing excites me more than research studies that give me information and real insights about the world that we live in.  (And that's why I work mostly in research and believe that numbers have a story and the "why's" provide greater value than knowing the "what's".)

This is one study that falls in that category.

Conducted by McCann Worldgroup, this study looks into the 'why's' behind the emergence of digital social media across several cultures.  I particularly liked the section on why the Youth are very much into digital social media:

1. The need to commune - to connect, to relate, to be a part of a community, to be a part of something bigger than one is

2. The need to right what seems wrong - by influencing others that they may see the light

3. The need to be authentic - the search for truth, for meaning, for what's real (beyond the reality-TV phenomenon). 

Below is the report I picked up from Isuu.Com - 

Open publication - Free publishing - More 2011

What do you think of their findings?  Are you noticing the same trends in your markets?

And spefically for Gen-X'ers: Do they sound, look, feel familiar?  It seems that what Gen-X used to stand for also defines the new generation - albeit expressed differently.  Or... hmmm.