Hi there! Welcome back to the Gen C mini series on influence

In Mini Series “1″ we explored Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point” as a way to get a few influencing ‘the many’ with Mavens, Connectors and Sales people.

In Mini Series “2″ I identified that Connectors are only half of the picture when it comes to broadcasting a message – you also need Conductors,which I define in overview.

In Mini Series “3″ I broke down the four types of Conductors briefly to start to understand how they can influence people – naturally including Generation C

In Mini Series “4″ we investigated further the key differences between Connectors and Conductors and their relative regularity and visibility of influence

In Mini Series “5″ we reviewed the 4 types of Conductors (Information, Debate, Social and Club) and what kind of people they are how they influence their networks

In Mini Series “6″ we consider how Conductors and Connectors fit onto a map so we can effectively target particular groups

In Mini Series “7″ we had Christmas (!) and defined the map of human networks as looking like an airport with particular strong hubs of influence that are irregularly placed. Further we noted that the 80/20 rule applies when finding those influencer hubs.

In Mini Series “8″ we confirmed that the good ole airport map is the ‘right’ map for human networks – so it’s about unevenly powerful hubs that we need to find in order influence Generation. Once again the 80/20 rule applies when looking at relative importance of hubs. We also busted 6 degrees of separation as a global myth to help understand how message flow in human networks.

In Mini Series “9″ we looked at the number of links required between social groups to make information travel fast.

This week (video of 3 mins 55 seconds) we are looking at how to use these links to speed the passage of information and what that means for us a marketeers.

How do you think we should engage different social hubs to drive the speed of information movement?

I look forward to your answers

Jake

Here’s video 2 of of Abe Dew talking about Generation C – more thought provoking stuff.

To repeat a key quote from Abe:

“We in advertising love things in boxes…it’s incredibly dangerous with Gen C it’s the fringes that are important…you see wave after wave of new ideas coming forward and it scares people witless… Marketing will move to be more like jazz and less like precise orchestral piece.”

Abe’s 2 videos are real thought twisterd and really makes you think, here are some key points.

Here’s the key points from Video 2 of 2:

1. Community is the content – all technology is an extension of the human mind – community is the need behind technology.
2. People are more complex than ‘boxed stereotypes’ – we need to engage community to ‘get people’ properly again.
3. Academic studies show that the more collective a culture is the less they go online – so social media’s explosion is a function of less happy societies!
4. If Generation C want control we need to surrender it!
5. Apple get this. Apple’s new apps – only 5% survive – they rely on open source creativity to provide new apps and the street to weed them out – in other words they let go of control.

Do you think you’re brave enough to let go of control when marketing to Generation C?

Sorry folks – been overseas and my blog plan melted badly!

So – I’ve been meaning to share this video of Abe Dew on Generation C – there are some great thoughts here.

“We in advertising love things in boxes…it’s incredibly dangerous with Gen C it’s the fringes that are important…you see wave after wave of new ideas coming forward and it scares people witless… Marketing will move to be more like jazz and less like precise orchestral piece.”

Abe’s 2 videos are real thought twisterd and really makes you think, here are some key points.

Here’s the key points from Video 1 of 2:

1. Déjà-vu now vu-jade – representing existing things You Tube really aggregated things that were all there.
2. David Shrigley – Glaswegian cartoonist shows a cartoon with a bit missing. People don’t know what they want all the time – the gaps are where the new futures are:  http://www.davidshrigley.com/thingstobuy/thingstobuy.html
3. Don’t pretend to know all the answers – brands need to move from being a ‘fixed’ idea to a narrative – like a book it’s the ‘unsaid’ that say a lot. The same is true of brands.
4. Marketing will move to be more like jazz and less like precise orchestral piece.

How do you think we should market effectively to  Generation C?

This week I’m looking at the difference between Generation C and Generation Y, with some big implications for marketing and society at large.

The video is 5 mins 53 seconds long and covers the following:

• A recap of a definition of Generation C itself
• Defining Generation Y commenting on two authorities: Peter Sheahan and Howe & Strauss
• Looking at why these two authorities have radically different views on the characteristics of Generation Y
• Explaining how Generation Y relates to Generation C
• The implications for marketing and society in general.

So – what do you think – is Generation Y selfish or selfless?

I look forward to your comments.