Dr. Neil Hair

What would we do without the internet? We live in super connected times that enable us to reach everyone in our networks even if we live overseas. As usual I'll connect tomorrow with family and friends that I cant be with personally in a number of ways. I'll update my twitter and facebook profile status using digsby. I'll put skype calls through to family that dont have internet access. I'll video conference those that do. I'll watch the Queens speech at 3pm GMT (10am EST) using my sling media box which controls my UK cable TV connection. I might even throw out a few SMS's to people I know are traveling. Heck I might even track Santa's return home. Got to love the internet – keeping people connected in the Hair household since 1995.

An amusing case of when to draw the line on giving consumers what they want. You awake one picturesque morning to the dulcet tones of the postman leaving you mail. You rush head long like a slow motion prancing fairy to the door deep with the anticipation of a card or two from loved ones. Your heart flutters as you retrieve a red card addressed very politely to your good self – to find that the inside of the card shows a pensioner standing next to a Christmas tree with the message: "Have a ——- miserable Christmas." Christmas for you it seems – is over.

Now, I would personally find such a cheeky chappy kind of message rather amusing – if it was say from my Brother (who hasnt sent me a card in the last 15 years of his life by the way – we have an agreement which I broke this year). However, its got the Brits up in arms with fury – one such subject Miranda Francis, 40, a professor at the Royal College of Music, says: "I think they are dreadful. I'm not a humour fascist and I've even sent some pretty crude cards to friends for their birthdays – but Christmas is different. These are far too offensive." SO - at what point does the maxim – market driven – end? Mr Proctor – the owner of a number of card shops in and around Great Britain said, "We don't set ourselves up as arbiters of taste. We sell these cards because there is a demand for them. It is the way language and humour are going." Lisa Yates, 22, a sales account manager, seems to have the answer: "It's really down to the individual whether they are suitable or not. Some of my friends would appreciate them, but I'd never send one to my Nan." Read the full Telegraph atricle here.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone.

So, just one day after the shoe throwing incident in Iraq a small innovative company is making it's fame and fortune from the rapid release of an online game that has gone viral in 24 hours. 'Bush's boot camp' pits the president against incoming shoes which the player has control of. The company T-Enterprise has developed a reputation for innovative releases and its exactly the sort of thing that consumers are taking heart with. Key success factors include the timely release of a game focused on current affairs, the promotion of the event on social media sites, and the encouragement of people to share the game with their networks.  The fact that its so current is what drives its success. Im very appreciative of this sort of innovation from the smaller players as it shows the bigger media companies how out of step they are with the times.

Having started the winter quarter I profiled my undergraduate students on their use of technology. Everyone uses facebook, around a third of the class own their own domain name, around 5 use twitter, and approximately the same number regularly blog online. This has changed for the better since my last internet marketing class of 2007 but of course isnt widely representative given the small numbers (but it is an interesting observation never the less). By the end of class all of those numbers will have gone up (especially once they understand the ways in which they can make money from these technologies or use them to otherwise be more effective post college). The EMBA alums on the other hand need some help. And quickly. Three of the 15 present for my talk on personal branding last night were on facebook. Everyone had at least heard of twitter (though no one was using it), and no one owned their own domain name. This speaks to me of a huge technological divide between those that have and understand, and those that dont and dont. Are these socio-technological trends passing by older generations? Are practicing managers just too busy to use these tools to effect? Is it an issue of understanding HOW you might use these to be more effective at what you do? Is this technological lag and nothing to worry about – just like using email in the 1990's? Interestingly the majority of EMBA companies represented in the audience last night had banned access to facebook at work. Some of corporate America doesnt get it – as I said to them – secure the data not the channel and educate people on appropriate use of corporate resources (there were lots of heads nodding in agreement). Social networks are the future of effective work practice. A persons competitive advantage will be hugely impacted upon by the size and expertise of their networks. Your core competence will be if it isnt already – your network. Marketers have known this for years but finally we have a technology that enables us to create more meaningful relationships and many senior managers dont get it. Well they do now. Neil is on a personal rampage to educate corporates and bring them kicking and screaming into the digital world!

For some time now the US government has been talking about replacing the traditional i-94 visas normally distributed to nations of a travel agreement at the point of entry (usually on the flight itself). Homeland security have taken the decision to issue online visas three days in advance of travel via an online only process. Whats interesting about this approach is the digital divide it creates. There are still of course millions of people without access to the internet at home or work. Several issues come to mind as they relate to societal change. At what point do we except that 'the majority' of people have internet access? 99%? What is the tipping point? Will other governments follow suit in the name of efficiency and expediency? Should provisions for non internet users be made? Is society happy to relegate non internet users to the role of social outcasts? What about the damage this could cause to the tourist industry? Will other technologies follow suit? Is it conceivable for instance that if you dont have a cell phone you cant bank with certain establishments? My fear is that these changes will give foreign travelers just another reason not to experience the States and all it has to offer. Perhaps if we were all a little more market focused we might all get where we want to be (I for one would have loved the option to fill these forms out online and so also for my parents when they visit me – it takes away the hassle – but should this be mandatory at the expense of the flush non internet using tourist looking to spend their hard earned savings?). I cant see corporations adopting the attitude that 'you buy from us online or not at all.' Should governments?

Just giving, a web site in the UK based on acquiring charitable donations got more than it bargained for recently. Over the weekend I noticed several of my online paper feeds running articles on the 'Atheist Bus Campaign'. Good publicity for the web site and the campaign. What's interesting about the campaign is the speed with which the organizers achieved and then surpassed their funding goals. By 10.06 am (presumably the same day the campaign launched) they achieved their £5000 goal. The current funds available to organizers is now £125,258 proving once and for all the potential of the internet in charitable work. Now, irrespective of ones personal religious beliefs the business model of attracting attention online, driving participation amongst the wider population and securing funds is worthy of comment. Another interesting aspect of the web site of just giving are the comments you can post in support of the fund raiser. Whats interesting here are the comments on why people support a campaign and the speed with which facebook appears to have driven awareness across a section of the British population. Studying how this took off (virally one assumes via an aggressive word of mouth campaign) could lead us to understand how other charities or awareness campaigns might adopt similar strategies. Unfortunately it does now mean that visitors to our great nation will be bombarded by red busses sporting the same logo where ever they go. Boooooring… You can check the site out here.