Over the last six months, we’ve been focusing on influence - blogging about it, talking to client and colleagues, researching the impact of online influence.  What started as a basic premise - the idea that amidst all the new dynamics in the market, influence still matters - has grown into a full-blown methodology that is shaping the way Eastwick does business.

We call it the Architecture of Influence.

We’ve all experienced how much marketing and communications has changed over the last several years with the advent of social media.  That’s old news.  Eastwick’s new framework is based on a data-driven approach that uncovers the real influencers in a market, not based on gut feel or old assumptions but what the data tells us about who really matters.  On top of that, we layer our smarts about the market and how those influencers work in order to drive awareness and influence sales.

We’re talking evolution not revolution, but the change is an important one and makes it possible for us to measure the results of communications in terms that matter most to our clients - market awareness, influencer engagement and customer preference, to name a few.

Architecture of Influence

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My entrée into the Eastwick coven earlier this month was greeted by two of my favorite things: social media and a sense of humor. It started with a joy ride on the Google campus, followed by several stolen kisses around the city of San Francisco and a retro tour of the Computer History Museum.

Despite what you’re thinking, these adventures were actually the themes from a series of self-produced videos created by Eastwick employees for a viral video competition. The prize? Whichever team’s video generated the most views on YouTube won tickets to a Sharks game.

And while the “Kiss Cam” video won - hey it was a smart pre-Valentine’s Day strategy - the qualities I observed in my first week have held true. I’m surrounded by smart, savvy PR professionals who share a good sense of humor and a knack for making things stick in social media.

I’m doing my part to bring new tools and tricks to the table (and currently enjoying my Mayorship of Eastwick on FourSquare). To that end, you can stay connected with the whole Eastwick crew on Twitter by clicking here @amyfjackson/eastwick.

And in case you missed the videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD21_bAJ4Ic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPp-XOcD42o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y-ffhqDEuc

Increasingly, marketing executives are being asked to show how social media strategies drive sales leads. There is ongoing debate as to whether social media has the potential to serve as a lead-gen tool. On the one hand, some experts don’t think social media channels are scalable enough to drive sales: how much bang can you get for your buck, and can you invest the necessary amount of time to make the channels worthwhile? These points need to be taken into consideration when determining how, and to what extent, companies want to leverage social media channels to share information and receive feedback.   On the other hand, as more and more companies track success of their social media strategies, the indication is that business goals – including lead gen – can be supported. According to a recent BtoB article, a Business.com study did find that “purely” social media channels such as microblogs function strongly as lead gen channels, even to the point of helping build databases of prospects. Entrepreneur also covered this debate recently, citing Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell, who points to evidence of national brands using social media to drive sales. For example, Southwest posted Twitter specials resulting in $3 M in sales. The potential shouldn’t be ignored, and best practices are cropping up everywhere to help track success of social media programs. This list of 20 metrics is a great place to start, and this list of metrics focuses specifically on lead gen.    Bottom line: an integrated communications campaign helps increase mindshare, site traffic, and can also have a hand in generating trackable sales leads. And while there still may be many questions about social media lead gen, we may as well have some fun trying to find the answers.

Over the weekend, a molehill has started to become a mountain. Or, in the view of some, a mountain became an even bigger mountain.

SageCircle posted a claim that Forrester Research will restrict its analysts from having personally-branded research blogs, implying that the policy will reduce the risk of analysts building their personal brands before bolting from the firm, taking their audiences with them.

Use of social media has become second nature to many, but one look at the range of comments on the SageCircle post reflects how strongly people still feel about the dichotomy of personal/professional social media usage and the tension around a company’s ownership of a worker’s intellectual property. Cries of Big Brother, paranoia and censorship abound, tempered by other statements that it’s good business practice or simply a matter of whose servers hold the data.

Source: speedy2

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On Wednesday, January 27^th, Apple unveiled its latest creation, a tablet computer dubbed the iPad. The device is similar in functionality to the dominating iPhone, but offers the user a 10-inch screen for viewing content. While the possibilities for the iPad platform are seemingly endless with the App Store integration, the merging of print and web content might be one of the greatest. For a decade, a plethora of publishers have attempted to bridge the abyss between the paid world of print and the all-you-can-eat-for-free Internet content realm. No software company or hardware manufacturer has been able to successfully marry the two, until now. In a blog entry prior to the debut, Derek Powazek nails it:

“Tomorrow […] Apple could unleash a device that’s sexier than reading a magazine. A glossy screen like the iPhone, quality content in the iTunes store for a (hopefully) reasonable price, major publishers on board and independent publishers like me able to join in.”

From an initial look, it seems that this is precisely what Apple has done. Only time will tell if the treasured experience of print can translate to Apple’s latest and greatest.