The Social Media Marketing Blog: Social Media Takeaways #3

This is a busy week - coming off of the great Boston Web Community dinner, courtesy of EMC, where I got to see some of my favorite new media folks (Jeremiah Owyang, Chris Brogan, Laura Fitton, John Wall, Sarah Wurrey, Steve Garfield, Dan Schawbel, Peter Kim, Yianni Garcia, Julia Roy) and meet new ones (Jeff Glasson, Christine Perkett, Amanda Gravel). In addition, I'm gearing up for PodCamp Boston 2, where I'll be speaking.

But that doesn't mean there wasn't still a bit of time for a few Social Media Takeaways:

My Apple Is a Lemon
No, this isn't David Armano's way of trying to score some free bling for his blog (like some other people we know). It turns out this is David's 2nd Macbook Pro that's given him inexplicable trouble, so he decided to write about it.

SMT: Uh-oh. Apple should be concerned. First they fired 800 employees for taking a $100 voucher on their free iPhones, now they've got a prominent blogger who's pissed off. I hope they're listening. But I like what Matt Dickman had to say on twitter: @Armano: I bet Dell responds before Apple does ;-)

Quick, Fire That Customer
It's not a good week to be a customer. Seth Godin and the Ad-Vocate both opine that the customer is not always right and call for certain customers to be fired. I like Seth's rejoinder to the phrase "the customer's always right": when they're wrong, they're not your customer any more.

SMT: Listen up. Get to know your customers well, through whatever space they inhabit. Find out what they're saying about you and join the conversation if you can. But realize when you'll never convert them and know when to let go.

Fa¢ebook
At this point, Facebook is steering clear of Google and instead opting for the cold hard cash from our friends at Micro$oft - a cool $278 million, to be exact. This amount, a 1.6% stake in Facebook, entitles the software behemoth to be the exclusive U.S. and international advertiser with the social network through 2011.

SMT: A $15 billion valuation for Facebook? What-ever. If the ad revenue can continue to stream in - and with Facebook's ability to target different demographics, it's an attractive site for advertisers - then perhaps it's not totaly off-base. But with today's fickle youth, I wonder if Facebook isn't going to be old school before 2008 is out. The only hope is continuing to get the more mature generations involved. And I wouldn't rule out additional funding for Facebook from other sources...

Labels: Apple, customer relations, David Armano, facebook, social media, social media takeaways

About Scott

For hi-res, click here

He as been called "an unstoppable force of nature," "the best corporate social media lead on the planet," and Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford Motor Company, called him "a visionary." But perhaps the best way to describe Scott is "Renaissance Man." Friends and colleagues that know Scott from one facet of his life are very frequently surprised to learn of his interests and talents in other areas.

Scott is a marketing and communications professional focused on the digital industry — specifically on social media. His career has spanned a wide variety of industries such as healthcare, pharma, biotech, travel, automotive, tech, and communications, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

Currently on the staff of corporate communications in Ford Motor Company, Scott heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business.

Prior to joining Ford, Scott served as Consigliere for crayon and spent a number of years with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a boutique BtoB agency specializing in health sciences & high tech.

In addition to his consulting and agency background, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog and also writes The Baker Street Blog, a literary undertaking. Scott has been featured in numerous news and business publications, in over a dozen books, and on a variety of broadcast media from podcasts to NPR to national television. Scott is a recognized thought leader in the social media industry and frequently speaks at industry events.

Scott received his Master's in Medical Science from Boston University's School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU's Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Detroit area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.

Oh, and one last little-known fact: Scott coined the Oxford Dictionary of English-accepted term "tweetup."

You may download a headshot here, courtesy of C.C. Chapman and a PDF version of Scott's bio here.

Books in which Scott's work is featured:
Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements
Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead
MicroMarketing: Get Big Results by Thinking and Acting Small
Spend Shift: How the Post-Crisis Values Revolution Is Changing the Way We Buy, Sell and Live
Power Friending: Demystifying Social Media to Grow Your Business
The New Rules of Marketing & PR
Twitterville
Six Pixels of Separation
Monkeys with Typewriters
Read This First
World Wide Rave
Get Seen

Disclosures/Relationships

Scott is on the Advisory board of SavvyAuntie
Scott is on the Advisory board of Business Smart Tools
Scott is a judge for the SAMMY Awards
Scott is on the Advisory board of The Hive Awards
Named one of iMedia's 25 Top Internet Marketing Leaders & Innovators
This blog's content is also syndicated on Social Media Today
Plaid occasionally does web work for me and designed this site
No animals were harmed in the making of this blog.

Scott Monty Bio

Speaking Events

Scott speaks on social media at events, seminars and conferences around the world. His topic generally focuses on corporate use of social media, becoming an online spokesperson, and specifically on the progress that Ford has made in the recent past. If you're interested in booking Scott to speak at your event, please click here to submit a speaking request. Scott's bio and headshot can be found in the "About Scott" tab above.

Some previous engagements include:

BlogWell - How Big Companies Use Social Media - Minneapolis - August 13

Who is Scott Monty?

Hi, I'm Scott. I'm the head of social media for Ford Motor Company. This is my personal blog, where I share my perspectives on social media - the convergence of marketing, advertising and PR on the Web - for marketers, agencies, the enterprise and the individual. This blog contains my personal views.