Mplanet: The Innovative Side of Marketing

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the AMA Mplanet Blog.

Perhaps a few people may wonder .. why AMA asked me, a volunteer who is active in social media but is not a Fortune 100 CMO,  to kick off the inaugural Mplantet Blog post.  My thoughts are that AMA wanted to reinforce its commitment to the new “marketsphere” where the people behind the enterprise and customers are in this game together. For me, that’s what Mplanet is about .. an opportunity to explore the innovative side of marketing where marketing professionals from diverse disciplines can learn with and from each other.

I agreed also as a way to thank AMA for the benefits I’ve received from my volunteer opportunities. In fact, it was my involvement as the chair of AMA’s first Hot Topic workshop on blogs that taught me initial lessons about social media.

In keeping with a critical concept of social media, transparency, I’d like to tell you my story and share the lessons both AMA and I learned. The experience reinforced that we were entering a new world where we could no longer pretend the brand was the center of the universe. Customers were influencing the brand perception and purchase behavior among thousands of their closest friends.

Marketing Beyond the Website kicked off  December 2004 in Seattle. It was the first national event developed for marketers that focused specially on how to use blogs as a marketing strategy. Needless to say all involved were excited about the venture. However, before we arrived in Seattle we had a jarring surprise and a wake-up call about blogger relations. 

A prominent tech blogger, TDavid, MakeyougoHmm.com, had reviewed our program and what he told the world wasn’t pretty. His post declared that the workshop wasn’t worth the price, the speakers’ incentives were to make money; and if that weren’t enough, he critiqued every speaker’s blog.

As the Mplanet conference confirms, AMA is no stranger to professional development events; however, the staff was not prepared for the impact bloggers could have before the doors opened. Pat Goodrich and Clara Nelson, the terrific AMA staff behind the scenes, said that although AMA had its share of negative reviews, this was a first for them … a before the event critique.  As TDavid told me .. the irony was blogs were being used to attack and defend an event on blogging.

Since I was the chair, I was asked to take the lead in reaching out to TDavid. I commented on his post, told the story on my blog and sent him a direct e-mail. Much to AMA’s credit they didn’t ask to review what I wrote.

Unlike some other situations, this story has a happy ending.  After listening to my explanation and realizing that we were committed to helping marketers understand this new world,  TDavid posted a positive comment about the value of the workshop.

TDavid wasn’t out to harm AMA or the speakers. He did point out several issues that we corrected, resulting in a stronger more relevant program. By honestly reviewing the workshop he sincerely felt he was servicing his community. Since he also was considering attending, he felt as a prospective customer he had every right to voice his opinions and concerns. The lessons we learned four years ago hold true today .. perhaps even more so.

Lessons Learned

One blogger can be the snowflake that can start an avalanche. There is risk and reward in a blogged economy. TDavid

• Bloggers are people who want to connect. They want to know that they are being heard. Bloggers care.
• With the easy use of blogs, micro blogs, podcasts, vlogs and other social media tools marketers can not  control how customers will reposition a carefully crafted message.
• You can not control customers’ conversations. The secret is you never could. However, you can manage those conversations by listening, participating, and caring.

What happened to the AMA workshop? It turned out to be the most successful Hot Topic AMA had presented. We brought the event to six markets within 10 months.

With the launch of the Mplanet blog and the continuation of the Mplanet conference,  AMA is taking an active leadership role in social media marketing. This is a multiple author blog and there are talented people waiting in the wings to add their voices.  Yes, there are CMOs along with authors, marketing practioners and AMA staff who will participate in our conversations.

My personal goal for this fledging blog is that together we can develop a community who will create a safe environment to explore new media marketing issues and challenges. A community where all opinions are welcomed and respected. Learning together we can keep our profession vital, innovative and relevant.

An exciting and powerful benefit from an active online community is relationship building. But it goes further. As Richard Binhammer  fondly known as Richardatdell, said to me, “Love online offline.” Virtual is great but nothing beats a handshake face-to-face. In January 2009, Mplanet provides us with an opportunity to take our conversations offline in Orlando. Until then please join me in creating a vibrant, virtual exchange of ideas.

Toby Bloomberg is the president of Atlanta-based Bloomberg Marketing and also writes for her blog, Diva Marketing. A national speaker and facilitator of social media marketing and traditional marketing topics for organizations like the American Marketing Association, the Olympic Organizing Committee and SCORE, Toby has over 15 years experience. In addition to co-hosting the Mplanet blog, Toby will be speaking at Mplanet's Digital Marketing Lab in January 2009.