Comments for Beg to Differ

Comment on Social media infographics: fight data fudge! by DenVan

DenVan — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:52:04 +0000

@leaderswest Ah, but how do I KNOW that’s your 2 cents Jim? Well, whatever it’s worth (after the cross-border exchange rate, taxes, and standard consultant’s “fudge-factor”) thank you for it.

But I have to disagree with you somewhere between 1% and 99%. Yes, every infographic is designed to simplify a concept, and of course, every simplification of data is always an oversimplification. Data itself is ALWAYS an oversimplification of reality; that’s why it works.

But that’s not to say we stop trying to be MORE accurate. In this case, the point (that content marketing is a growing trend) is legitimate, but the data was clearly fudged. Intentionally? Probably not. But at the very least, they could have linked it to the original, if only to show that they’d read it, and to help us more easily judge for ourselves.

Comment on Social media infographics: fight data fudge! by leaderswest

leaderswest — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:36:40 +0000

Thanks Dennis – I think you’re spot on in your analysis of infographics in general, but I take a more nuanced position on its relevance to the greater good.

Nearly every statistic online is wrong. Some people are massaging data (as you point out in this piece), sometimes people are making broad-based assumptions that don’t show correlation, but mostly people just don’t have a representative sample set to draw a broad conclusion from. So, you can sharpshoot nearly every data-based infographic that’s out there if you choose to. It’s a pretty fruitless pursuit, though: infographics are hugely popular (otherwise I wouldn’t bother with them).

I think it’s important that you mention Ann Handley and Joe Pulizzi,too. Because while I agree that they are both extraordinary subject matter experts I think they are self-aware enough to know their data isn’t absolute. Their expertise comes from understanding trends and best practices and being able to communicate these tactics to businesses that want to market themselves better. And that’s my aspiration as well.

So, if you get bogged down by the specific data that goes into the 90% – you may miss the bigger picture which is that content marketing is widespread, that large chunks of budget are being spent on it and the different ways that people are creating content. That should be the takeaway from a piece like that.

I agree with your point on data to a point, but 90% of something nebulous is no different than 110% of something nebulous or 0%. It’s incumbent on the reader to judge the reliability of the data to their situation and respond appropriately.

My two cents. Cheers!

Comment on Technology brands: hey “Cloud” product names: QUIT IT! by DenVan

DenVan — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:02:13 +0000

@Jacques Lamontagne Fair point. Of course the over-use of a tech buzzword like “cloud” isn’t necessarily JUST a vanity play for software company insiders. It can also be meant as bait for the tech media, bloggers, analysts, investors. I can’t count the times I’ve had to fight against other buzzy terms like “Solution”, “Web 2.0″, “Social” or going further back, the plague of “Net / Web / e-(anything) / dot-com / Cyber” products during the last bubble.

But that doesn’t make it the right choice! The technology product brands that last are the ones that stick to clear, human-language terms and metaphors. Do you think we’d be talking about Google today if it was called WebNetSolution.com, or would PhotoShop be a household name as “CyberPixel”? Or what if they’d chosen a hopelessly geeky and rapidly-dated name for “Microsoft”… wait. Scratch that last one….

Comment on Technology brands: hey “Cloud” product names: QUIT IT! by Jacques Lamontagne

Jacques Lamontagne — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:00:08 +0000

Ahhhh, BUT!
Always a BUT! The problem is less with the Brand people than with the media you know… Double the speed, usability and power of a new application and send out the PR: Oh Hum. I wonder why I got zero coverage and my brand is stuck in a mudbath of invisibility????

Well hello, just add the word cloud to any stupid piece of PR verbiage and Voila! Instant global coverage!

In short: Don’t blame the brand managers, blame the lemming in the media!

Comment on A Re:ply to the toronto.ca “re:Brand” by SeanValjean

SeanValjean — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:31:40 +0000

This is great!!! I think junk removal toronto could really benefit from all of this.

Comment on Ottawa brands: Seven reasons “Red Blacks” will never be our CFL team name. by jspiker

jspiker — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:23:29 +0000

@idiotstrings @DenVan @rocknorris
A la Washington Senators:
http://www.logoserver.com/baseball/WashingtonSenators5760.GIF

Comment on Ottawa brands: Seven reasons “Red Blacks” will never be our CFL team name. by jspiker

jspiker — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:17:50 +0000

@rocknorris If you come up with a name that has been used in Arena Football you should be banned from ever coming up with another name for anything ever.

Comment on Machines that go “ping”: a hospital branding adventure by bikramkumar

bikramkumar — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:37:55 +0000

This excellent confused myself. Within the young age of H1N1, I was actually diligently getting my hands washed, and also whenever I couldn’t, I would Purell them (note the verb). But the supplier of the hand-pumps above definitely performed to standardize the appearance and additionally feel of the labels, actually though they are different companies (and put in French for a Canadian audience). The outcome? I saved finding for the Purell whenever I required soap and also vice versa. In this situation, the manufacturer’s branding could have been even more useful.

Comment on Social content: what format for business videos works best for you? by business success

business success — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 06:54:34 +0000

A video format? Can I answer the .avi file? Because, undoubtedly, it support dvd files.

Comment on Social content: what format for business videos works best for you? by virtual office

virtual office — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 06:53:45 +0000

A video format? Can I answer the .avi file? Because, undoubtedly, it support dvd files.