A lesson in storytelling at What’s Next Wales

I am always on the lookout for compelling insights and information about social media, and last week in Wales I was in for a treat. It came in the form of a keynote by Trey Pennington, US social media expert and masterful professional speaker. The event was the What’s Next social media event in Cardiff
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A fresh taste of BlackBerry

It’s five days since I got back from interviewing around 20 of Europe’s best BlackBerry app developers. Exciting is the only word I can think of to describe the ways they are putting BlackBerry to work – everything from mobile policing to e-government to production management. The people I spoke to were finalists in the
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What’s holding London back?

If you ask Colin Stanbridge, CEO of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, immigration and infrastructure are two areas London needs to make changes if it is to remain a dominant capital. During our interview yesterday, Mr Stanbridge argued for another runway at Heathrow, high speed rail connections with Europe, and a relaxation of
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Big opportunities for video marketing innovators

“Video is one of the most powerful methods of engaging your audience whilst widening your brand presence. Yet, the majority of marketers have yet to take advantage of the opportunities it presents“ Client Bob Barker of Alterian, the client for whom we created Engaging Times TV, drew our attention to this quote from New Media Age.
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yBC hospitality tv readying launch

yBC’s hospitality channel is tantalisingly close to launch. Behind the scenes the yBC team has been busy interviewing leaders and innovators in this dynamic competitive sector. We’ve met some great people, and learned a lot about how businesses are making most of all sorts of opportunities that are emerging post global financial crisis. We will
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yBC covers cutting edge of digital marketing

This week I will be in London covering the huge Technology for Marketing & Advertising (TFM&A) show in Earl’s Court. Covering topics like the latest digital, direct, data and CRM solutions this is core business for yBC and I am very excited to see what people are doing as digital media increasingly becomes business-as-usual. Our
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Big ideas that got me thinking

  If you want to have your mind expanded about marketing issues I recommend you check out the shows coming out of Alterian’s recent Engaging Times summit in Chicago. Interviewing the likes of Don Peppers, founder of Peppers and Rogers Group, and advertising’s elder statesman Stan Rapp, Chairman of Enguage, I was blown away by the
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How to feel confident spending $10m

We have had many interesting conversations about the “value” of social media and ROI of engagement lately, some more interesting than others. One most insightful was with Sid Banerjee, Chairman and CEO of text mining software company Clarabridge. He pointed out that beyond the numbers, there’s a wider benefit which is that knowing what customers
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Back to basics marketing still works

Recently we interviewed branding guru Jonathan Salem Baskin and he made the point that really marketing – and in particular advertising – has gone awol. He argues that companies are effectively wasting huge amounts of money communicating the imaginary benefits of their toothpaste, when the consumer a. Can easily find out on the internet that this
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Production values still matter in online video

In this world of ubiquitous digital video cameras and easy-to-use editing software why does business still need expert video producers? After all, if it’s going on the internet it doesn’t need to be cinema quality. Right? Well, sort of. But not really. I’m all for cheap and cheerful video production in the right context. Perhaps
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