Still think social media is just a fad?

Here's some information from a report produced by Oracle on retailing. If there's anyone out there who still believes their brand management and reputation are completely controlled and managed by the corporation, forget about it.

By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Boomers - 96% of them have joined a social network
25% of search results for the world's top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands
78% of consumers trust peer recommendations; only 14% trust advertisements
1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
If Facebook were a country it would be the world's 4th populous between the U.S. and Indonesia
The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females and more than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook daily
80% of Twitter usage is outside of Twitter - people update anywhere, anytime - image what that means for bad customer experiences
The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
There are over 200,000,000 Blogs

More to come on this blog about recent service experiences related to our house move and renovation. And, yes, names will be named. And, yes, brands will be lauded and other will be slagged. And, no, there's not a thing that the companies themselves can do about it 'cause that horse has already left the barn.

Recent work

Congratulations, albeit somewhat belated, are in order to two of my clients.  
First, to the magnificent creative team at Fish out of Water Design with whom I have had the privilege of working on numerous projects.  Leading the Fishes are the partners Charlene Codner, Creative Fish and Rebecca Hamilton, Client Service Fish.  The link to their firm is on this blog.  
Second, to the courageous team at Château des Charmes who last year embarked on the sometimes nerve-wracking exercise of brand reinvention.  Paul and Michele Bosc realized a need to expand the appeal of their fine product to a broader audience and further recognized that this would require a complete revamping of their brand, packaging and approach to the market.  And, in the spirit of true innovation, Michele also introduced the first QR code on wine in North America.
It was my privilege to assist in brand development and to work with the Fishes and the Boscs to bring this new approach to shelf.
I'm super proud of the effort and hope that it continues to produce the sales required to make Château des Charmes a great leader in wine innovations and exceptional quality product.


Meridian Credit Union

For the past several months it has been my privilege to work with the Marketing and Communications team at Meridian Credit Union.  I've written about them before on this blog and related my great respect for the organization.  They are a breath of fresh air in the financial services industry and through my opportunity to write SMILE, the regular Member newsletter and some other special editions, I have come to learn how well they're respected and valued by those for whom they work.
Above is an image of a special employee edition of SMILE published to communicate the refreshed Meridian brand.  Below, is a edition of the Member SMILE featuring what I really very much enjoy - the Member interview.
Meridian is one of those rare companies, especially financial institutions, which attract brand evangelists.