Attentio pairs with Emakina, the largest interactive agency in Belgium, for conferences to educate Belgian marketers about the power of social media. The first conference this past Friday went well–Emakina’s always attractive slides were especially “sexy”, the market “mot” of the moment.

Literally sexy.

Emakina began the explanation of social media with an old PR Joke: If you see a beautiful woman at a bar, and you want to sleep with her, you have two options. One, approach her yourself and say, “Hey, I’m good in bed.” Two, send a friend (preferably female) to give you a good-in-bed review. Chances are, the less direct method is more effective. Women tend to trust reputations rather than declarations. Call us cautious. This analogy seeks to describe the difference between direct marketing and social marketing.

From that point forward, Emakina’s slides made social media out to be the attractive, feminine audience buzzing at a mixer. Potential dates and consumers all comparing notes on their plans for weekend outings and possible purchases. Companies, Emakina suggested, could go in aggressively like the ancient cave men–or, in the very poignant Emakina slide, chauvanistic karate kids–and start a fight with the ladies. Emakina intelligently suggested that this approach is not wise.

Cut to a slide of two women practicing judo. In light of earlier discussion, this was an apt metaphor. Instead of working against the women, slide into the discussion, listen to what they have to say, and use your own expertise and knowledge (and importantly, your new listening skills) to really contribute to the conversation. Be masculine but not machisto. Demonstrate commitment and credibility, not just expertise. Don’t taunt, but rather tango (another slide) with the clientele.

After some doubtful moments of intermittent feminism, I decided the metaphor was okay. After all, it puts the power in its proper place, with the clientele.

After all, as the producer in the relationship, the company always wants to sell, rather like most men, let’s face it, consistently want something else. But they only get what they want when the consumer, or the lady, decides she wants it too.

Now this seems like a cool event, asked by big bunch of people will we be going, snazzy speaker line up, great city… They have great stuff on the web, including a robust dislike of panels :)

Wall Street, famous for its Bull markets (that go up) is experiencing a bit of a Bear market.

A “Bear Market” is what they call a pessimistic market. The expression, ironically, has nothing to do with JP Morgan and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s contraversial bailout for the sinking investment firm, Bear Stearns. Bear Sterns (used to) provide lines of credit to subprime lenders in the US. This explains why Bear Sterns is now seeking (and receiving, to the consternation of some analysts) a two-pronged nudge from two of the Bulls still active on Wall Street.

The idea is to stave off the “ripple effect” of another firm flailing in the turbulent tides of the current economy. Combined with the Bush “trickle down” economic policies, it’s obvious the United States is trying to steady a very shaky financial float. European and Asian financial and political leaders are also sending out aids and advice, responding to the American SOS before the rough waters spread.

But online, people are still trading–stock that is, not economic mishaps. Online trading sans the professional broker is catching on, and sites like Zecco and thinkorswim are earning reputations for low cost and accessibility. Sentiment seems to suggest that if the big guys can play, why can’t we?

As blogs and columns proliferate the financial pages of the Internet offering advice and suggestions about what to buy, when and where, there is no lack of data for use (or misuse) by curious Internet users. A funny thing about a bad economy, losing is so ubiquitous that it becomes less of an issue–its winning that counts. So while the Bears and Bulls on Wall Street may be holding their breath, this as yet tiny online trend suggests that not everyone is submerged in doubt.

Let’s be honest. Spin is essential to a Brand’s reputation. While it may have a poor reputation, spin is not the sadistic misuse of naive consumer content. Consumers are far from naive, if their content has anything to say about it. Spin recognizes that while you can’t be in control of the content, you can impact where the content is going.

Spin is listening to what consumers say online and responding with the targeted information that consumers want. Spin is putting a positive twist on UGC (user generated content). Successful spin keeps the big players on the court and in the game. (Just ask the NBA sultan of spin and former Rookie of the year, Chris Paul). Spin is about more than balls–you have to be a team player. Monitoring and managing spin is important in the uber market created by the worldwide web. Successful Brands and Companies engage with consumers online rather than lose influence in the conversation.

They listen to the user generated content (UGC), evaluate the impact on their brand, and spin the results back to the consumer. If the spin has merit, the consumer content will receive the spin. The consumer will play with it. If the spin doesn’t respond to the UGC, if it’s strictly the company talking to itself—well, a bad spin in the social media can spiral out of control.

Attentio is tracking the United States Democratic primaries in two separate projects.

Project one tracks the overall popularity of the Democratic candidates in social media.

While Hillary Clinton and Obama have about equal coverage in the news, Barack Obama is one of the most popular personas in the blog-o-sphere, outstriping Clinton (and McCain) in several social media sources.

Project two follows issues and then candidates. The project links issues that are important to the American people with the names of the candidates. In this project, Clinton (that is, Hil) consistently rates higher than Obama in relation to the issue.

Hillary ranks higher in correlation to Iraq, to health care, and to the economy. Clinton even outranks Obama in relation to one of his pet policies, education. Clinton outstrips Obama here in both English and that language of increasing importance in the USA, Spanish.

The US and the world are smitten with Obama, it’s true. He’s good-looking, idealistic, and popular enough to win the couer of the people if not the Democratic candidacy. Clinton complains she’s become the damned in the media, while they darling Obama. Clinton claims that her policies are more practical and her politics more tested. But does that matter if Obama can win the heart of the people?

Barack might be fit enough for the media, but is he fit to lead the country? Buzz suggests possibly not, as he’s not well-connected to the issues that the US citizens hold dear. But in the modern culture of cult celebrity, one need not be connected to anything to sell clothes, magazines, or, well, anything really. In such a climate, is it really necessary that Obama push his abilities and policies, or is he safe enough to simply sit back and watch his general popularity grow?

What wins an election, word of mouth (WOM) or experience?

(Oscar) Prestige does not a profit make.

The Oscar wins came out at the end of February, and social media is still abuzz discussing (some of) the results. But how does this extra attention from the mysterious Academy translate into profits?

The Oscars aren’t the only awards in the modern market, and the movies that make it to the Oscar roster top the lists at several international film shows. Many are former independents, like Juno, that first reached audiences at what has become the draft lottery of future studio releases, the Sundance Film Festival. These are the award films, those moving pictures made to move the motivated audience. More and more, these are the films that make it to the ceremonies, the Pulitzers in the ever-expanding world of motion pictures.

What about the crowd-pleasers, the gems of popular genre? The Fool’s Gold of our modern cinematic landscape, movies made to sell dvds following a mediocre theater run. These (relatively) cheap and charming money-makers are the bread and butter of the movie industry. Then there are the action-filled spectacles-films designed to attract an audience to the big screen, as with the colourful and grimly vibrant (punny, aren’t I) Sweeney Todd.

Tracking movies online separates the one-hit-wonders and the fluff from the cult classics. Some movies are designed to sustain long term sales, not only of the film itself but the cultural icons, the books, scripts, the “making of”, photos, posters, T-shirts, newspapers, back-packs, pins, journals, re-packaged “special” dvds…These are the movies that today make an actor or a director a deity in the pop culture parthenon. Movies that make it into this category attract not just long-term attention, but permanent adulation.

And the film this year with top billing in the Buzz is…

Attentio is co-hosting an event with Emakina, the well-know Belgian web 2.0 agency. The subject of the event is (Mais Oui!)

Social Media in Marketing: what is the added value for companies?

The event will be held the 21st of March, Place Flagey in Brussels with a second session scheduled for April 17th in Ghent.

Academies aim to share knowledge with the agency’s clients through a panel of broad competences and hot topics. Attentio, as the Europe’s leader in monitoring and measuring social media, has been invented to demonstrate how the active- and pro-active- ‘listening’ activity can add value to businesses and how it impacts marketing strategy.

During this one half-day event (followed by a lunch) you’ll also learn through concrete business cases the basics of Social Media, the best practices to efficiently monitor and measure real-time buzz and identify threats, opportunities, influencers and detractors along with concrete business applications.

We’d be happy to meet you there. The event is free. All you need to do is pre-register here. (http://www.emakina.com/academy/registration.cfm).

Contact Attentio if you need more info. We’re here to listen;)