Everybody can express themselves, create, edit and post stuff, and participate in any possible debate. This transforms the content distribution business drastically. I've been watching and reading some of these discussions that have been going on today and yesterday at the meeting of minds: The User is the Content. I liked the TV 2.0 post of Lois Le Meur.  

I had a lot of catching up to do over the last two weeks - and what else better to do than that on a quiet sunny buzz eventful London evening like tonight... anyway - 3 reads to take away:

• "FMCG giants Procter & Gamble and Unilever are moving digital to the core of their media planning by getting digital agencies in at ground level on planning strategies. Speaking at the Venice Festival of Media, Alan Rutherford, VP of global media at Unilever, and Bernhard Glock, VP of global media & communication at P&G - who between them control a media budget of over $12bn - both stressed the importance of digital agencies being involved from the outset of planning." will be an interesting debate with Mr Glock when he comes over to the IAB Congress in Brussels in June.
• Online advertising is growing fast - interesting read in the FT
• Obviously a lot of talk around Google & doubleclick. I like this one.

Some have asked my opinion on the Doubleclick deal. Let me stick to the official statement. We are seriously concerned about competition and the control in ad delivery they get. Next question please.

Interesting read in the Economist:

Pundits have long debated whether video games make children more violent. But even the most ardent critic would admit that video games wreak less havoc than guns themselves. In an effort to reduce violence, Mexico City’s police began offering computers and video-game consoles in exchange for guns in late March. A massive machine-gun brings in a top-flight Microsoft Xbox or a computer; smaller guns can be traded for cash or a simpler Xbox. The secretary for public security, Joel Ortega, said that in the first six days of the programme 452 guns had been turned in for over 1m pesos ($90,000) worth of computers and video-game consoles.

The scheme follows a visit by Bill Gates, Microsoft’s founder, in March. Microsoft is donating software and gaming systems to the programme. At present the exchange is operating in only a few areas of the city, but Mr Ortega says it will be expanded in coming months. Critics, however, contend that the programme rewards delinquent, gun-possessing kids.

I got some mails asking if I was still alive and kicking. Well I am - contrary to what the silence in this place was reflecting. I spent a good week in Barcelona dragging my kids to every single Modernista building in Eixample (call it child torture if you want), had more tapas than our stomach could bare, got annoyed again by so much stubborn and seemingly unfriendly people in Catalonia (but then again my diversity head tells me otherwise!), and got incredibly delayed traveling back because some fire workers of Brussels Airport judged that 25.000 travelers in hostage in a strike is the best way to get a couple of extra meal tickets, and on top of that could tell you fantastic stories around the service levels of Brussels Airlines (but we cannot comment on facts and figures impacting a legal procedure in progress :-)). oh and it rained as well for a full week. But we had fun.

Last week I spent close to full week in London with the Management Teams of all MDAS Countries in a development session. Always strikes me what a bunch of talent we have all over the place and the energy it gives working with these guys. Keeps me young.

Last but not least we are full speed preparing our next fiscal year starting July 1st. While all our sales team are still focused on making our numbers we try to look at the future and how to outgrow the industry and continue to take market share. Interesting debates that take a lot of energy.

And in between there was good press coverage of interviews I did with De Morgen and the Financial Times.

Busy times - but I'll be back soon.

I am looking forward to spend a full week in Barcelona - no talking digital, no work, just do the stuff I want to do with the family. I am blessed with kids who love museums -hm to be fair there was little other choice for them so they grew into really - so Barcelona is definetely the right place for both them and us... With an artistic flair a bit unusual for a 9 year old, my son will probably sit in front of a Miro and pencil that in his little booklet of self-declared "artistic treasures" - his 6 year old sister next to him doing exactly the same. Their biggest moment of fun is when people get curious and want to see how good it is and start glimpsing over their shoulders (which fysically is not that difficult by the way).  Anyway - I am even more looking forward to the trip after reading The Shadow of the Wind. Probably the best I have read since a long time - and actually recommended by somebody working for Microsoft who had the courage to leave the company to pursuit her dream of opening a book shop in Brussels. Well, Gaelle here is your free piece of publicity: if you haven't been there you need to go and visit the Halles des Tanneurs - a beautifully restaured factory with restaurant facilities and a fantastic bookshop.

Barcelona - art - bookshops - The Shadows of the Wind and ... no work. Life can be very simple. As for the Nightshift. I'll try to take care of it - no commitments :-)

In 3 months time we'll be all over the Cannes Ad Festival, with Microsoft employees hosting close to 800 of our customers. It's one of our biggest connection points with agencies and customers and year after year we have seen better engagement and visbility for digital. 5 years ago digital was a side effect. Last year it was a theme in most of the keynotes and seminars. Efforts pay off but it takes time and still does.

Thought I owe you a little scoop in unveiling the theme of our Microsoft campaign at Cannes: "if you can think it you can do it". It's been developed by Cunning, our creative agency, and it’s "inspirational / aspirational messaging illustrating the potential of digital media and creativity." We are the only media that can really fulfil this statement. You will see this logo on all our collateral in Cannes outside and inside the Palais. I am looking forward already to the hard work - amongst other things.  

I HAVE to repeat & share the remarks of our friend Jan that THIS is probably the best adhack I have ever seen. I preach a lot about creativity within the borders of the adformats... well, euh this is a must see...

This week i am doing a series of press interviews on research we did with regards to social networks as an opportunity for marketeers to engage in a new way with audiences, and to capitalise on what we call 'social recommendation' . The result of the research is bundled in "The Word of the Web Guidelines for Advertisers". The opportunity is certainly there:  23% of social networkers paste comments on ads and 25% forward ads to a friend. Moreover 64% of consumers will visit other websites to find out more about what they have read on a friends’ site. This demonstrates an inherent trust and desire for consumers to determine what is on their friends’ site in social networking communities. Couple this with the fact that 60% of social networkers are prepared to put sponsored/branded content on their personal space; and advertisers have the opportunity to influence social networking communities through interesting and engaging content that is either recommended to their friends or included on their personal space.

The research also shows 43% of consumers have visited the personal space of a brand, and 16% have already had a dialogue, or sent a message to a brand. This insight proves consumers want to engage deeper with brands and actually interact directly with them in the online world.

It's clear that social networking has changed the rules of the game and consumers now have the power to make or break a brand. To really harness the power of social recommendation advertisers have to be prepared to open up their brand to influential social networkers and build trusted connections to let them drive the brand to their communities. For brands to engage effectively with consumers in this new advertising environment they need to adhere to some key principles - we bundled these in ‘Word of the Web’ Advertising Guidelines. None of them are really rocket-science if you get it - but every day we are amazed by the basic questions we get from Marketeers so thought they were worth bundling (Funnily enough - and total coincidence! - just today one of our key Belgian people refers to the same in his today's post. and gives some similar rules.

1. Understand consumer’s motivations for using social networks. Advertisers need to understand the mindsets and behaviours that are occurring within these networks and think about both the author and the viewer’s motivations. For example nearly 60% of Europeans use social networking as a tool to facilitate existing relationships and keep in touch with friends and family; approximately half use it to express opinions and views on topics of interest; whilst 47% use social networks to deepen relationships with like-minded people.
2. Express yourself as a brand. People are using social networks to express their individuality and brands should too. To fit in this environment, a willingness to have a voice, expression or character is key. The network can be used to express a side of a brand people don’t normally see and encourage them to interact with it – but it needs to remain authentic.
3. Create and maintain good conversations. Individuals are powerful in this environment – they are the content creators, conversation creators and community creators. Brands that are willing to have a dialogue, rather than a monologue fit more naturally into this environment, and could truly benefit from its viral power. 
4. Empower participants. You are entering a world of empowered participants who control their own content, are expressing their individuality and would welcome having this power over branded properties on their Space. 
5. Identify online brand advocates. Advertisers need to identify relevant networking sites i.e. a site which includes people who already use/buy a company’s product and align to this audience and existing customer segmentation models. The simplest way would be to analyse the network and see which users generate the most traffic/comments to their pages and analyse the content to see what their areas of interest are. By researching blogging habits or comments on a product in this environment, advertisers can reach out to influentials and begin a dialogue
6. Behave like a social networker. A fundamental principle is that the best advertisers on Spaces will behave like the best Spaces owners by: Being creative - Being honest and courteous (ask permission) - Being individual - Being conscious of the audience - Updating regularly

As part of the study, the research also identified the different trends in social networking across eight European markets (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and UK) helping to reinforce the importance of this landscape to advertisers. Interestingly, the adoption of social networking was high in all regions surveyed. A third of European social networkers visit networks at least once every day and 41% a few times a week. In general, it’s a popular evening activity, with 44% of European social networkers logging on between 8pm and 11pm. On average 25% of European social networkers spend at least 15-29 minutes interacting on social networks; whilst approximately a third spend between 30-59 minutes. The most important reasons for consumers using social networks were to keep in touch with friends (60%); approximately half use it to express opinions and views on topics; and 60% to look at other people’s spaces. The different types of behaviour, enables advertisers to understand the different values and motivations of users in different social networks to allow them to target their campaigns more effectively.

The research demonstrates how consumers are forging relationships in the new online world. The key challenge for advertisers is how to approach this savvy online community. Jaap Favier, Senior Research director at Forrester Research points out: “Senior marketers are dying to get in touch with the valuable, but hard-to-reach 25-35 year olds. They see social media as a channel that is cost effective, and, more importantly, a channel that adds credibility to their brands with that target group.”

Executive paper will be posted & available soon.