We’ve never been on the bandwagon that has declared brands are dead but we do understand why the claims are being made.  There is now a lot more that goes into buying decisions by consumers and business buyers than just brand awareness.  But to claim that brands don’t matter is naïve.  I guess Yahoo agrees based on its latest search offering.

And yet the Yahoo search filter seems to suggest that, just possibly, the idea of the brand isn’t dead after all. With branded search filtering, Yahoo is acknowledging that many searchers don’t want results from just anywhere, regardless of how algorithmically relevant those results may be. Searchers want results (from trusted Web sites) — which is to say, from trusted online brands.

Source: c__

We’ll be talking a lot more about the need for looking at communications and marketing in an entirely new light–one where search, branding and word of mouth need to coexist for companies to really take advantage of all channels to create awareness and preference for their offerings.  I get a chuckle…and some times totally annoyed…when I see dramatic claims about PR being dead, social media being free and branding irrelevant.  Glad to see that others agree.

Congratulations to client Seagate on its successful launches of the FreeAgent Theater+ and the FreeAgent DockStar this week!

Seagate’s storage solutions have gotten such a positive reception from “Today Show” and other consumer press, in addition to the hardcore gadget and IT outlets, that it got me to thinking about the evolution of consumer tech coverage over the years.

Before the days of the Internet, anything related to technology was more in the realm of enthusiast and how-to publications like Popular Mechanics or – to go all cyberpunk on you for a second – alt-culture mags like Mondo 2000.

It’s true that some of those same authors have evolved and reemerged in new roles as bloggers, like Mark Frauenfelder, who founded Boing Boing after writing for Mondo 2000 and Wired, among others. Even Mondo founder R.U. Sirius has a webzine: 10 Zen Monkeys. Nowadays, however, they are joined in their techno-coverage by blogs like HiTechMommy and Dad-o-matic.

Mommy and daddy bloggers have joined geeks and early adopters in covering consumer technology and influencing gadget purchases, just as Gizmodo and CNET do. The audiences may be slightly different, but each outlet exerts influence nonetheless.

Think about the number of electronic devices you use in any given day. Then think about where you yourself go to get insight into product performance, or who you trust to help you make wise purchases.

Technology has moved beyond the labs and the family garages of future computer legends to encroach on many aspects of our everyday lives. We consumers have turned to technology to solve problems, but we’ve adapted those inventions and technologies to match our lives and applications. It’s only fitting that our technology pundits and influencers have changed as well.

The power of social networks. That’s what we’ll be discussing at Duarte Design in Mountain View this evening at 6:30 PM, the site of tonight’s Social Media Club San Francisco Silicon Valley chapter.

The evening will kick off the evening with a half-hour fireside chat with John Hagel, network effects expert and Director at Deloitte Consulting LLP.

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Kevin Spier

In our weekly, “Break through the Noise” podcast, we like to give you a wide variety of influencers, not only to get your creative juices flowing, but also how to grow communities and, ultimately, new revenue opportunities.

And so I introduce you to a friend and visionary, Kevin Spier, executive at Bunchball. If you don’t know what they do, you need to know PDQ!

[Listen Here]

But first, a little about Kevin and his journey from there to here…

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By Jennifer Lindsay, Director of Digital Services, Social Media Evangelist / New Media Guru

So, as you know from my post last week, I attended a fab Social Media Club event. It was fab in every way except that I was left a little irked. I guess I’ve allowed this to fester into a full-blown annoyance, so in advance I ask your patience while I vent a bit.

So here’s the deal: Everyone seems to use media examples to discuss social media success.

Hello?

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