Louis Halpern's View

I’ve just been introduced to a theory that I agree with about the impact of the information revolution on mankind.  Transforming the nature of what we are.

The revolutions were:

1. “A round Earth” – The realisation that the earth is not flat
2. “Evolution” – Acceptance of Darwin’s theory that we evolved and were not simply put here by G-d in our current form
3. “Unconscious mind” – Psychology & Freud showing us that is much going on in our minds beyond the rational
4. “Information” – Technology facilitating modifying the way we interact with everything around us

There are lots of things that shape what we are.  The information revolution has changed the constraints of what we do.  We shape ourselves in ways that have never been possible. We represent and define our lives on line.  Every body’s at it: Facebook, Linkedin or at a lower level to “Google” has even entered the English language.  The information reality has become normal.

Technology changes have forced us to change how we interact with each other.  Until recently we were just a body made up largely of water that was constrained in it’s physical presence.  We are now information.

The telephone started this revolution. The persuasiveness and power of the Internet means that we can interact in ways that were never possible.  We can build second, third and fourth identities for ourselves and can even have multiple economic profiles.  We can have multiple conversations where ever we are with multiple people.  Perhaps this is why Twitter has taken off as people have accepted this with out realising it.  Paradoxically the world has shrunk and grown concurrently.

Perhaps we are becoming information organisms.  Defined not by our bodies but by how we interact with the information presenting itself to us.  We may have always been information organisms but we have never before had the opportunity to dress in different skins.  Each one needs careful reputation management.

Reality is now what you interact with and how you present yourself.

[Inspiration for this blog can be found at http://is.gd/1s4yn]

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Sometimes it’s excellent to be reminded about what you already know.

Pearlfinders interviewed 100 senior decision makers from 100 leading UK companies:

• 55% said that budgets were down from last year. Cost cutting was the most common reason cited.
• 33% said that their budgets have stayed the same, with most stating their aim was to cement their position in their market
• 12% said that they have increased their budgets

One, unnamed, marketing director reported ‘We take the view that it’s better to spend more in times of crisis, so that we stand out from the crowd’.

Nothing surprising there…

The role of agency PR in winning business provided some incite.  Last year the respondents said PR was very important in agency selection. This year 70% said that this was irrelevant when it came to decision making.

Social media has become very much mainstream in the past 5 years but is the cause of the diminishing power of PR.  The rational was the bombardment with messages from blogs, dm, cold calling and press coverage means that brand differentiation was diminishing.

Agencies are great at giving advice on how to keep brand messages succinct and make all channels consistent but often fail with their own work – to many creative geniuses I suspect.

Talking about social media, like all good clients with a newish trend on their radar, 89% of respondents claimed social media is important for their brand but only 29% are actually doing anything about it.   Perhaps they should start with managing their personal reputation on line and then go onto use the lessons for their brand.