The Joker
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Recruiting The Facebook Generation - The Absurd Assertions of Tod Maffin
As reported at ...
The Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia waste their time listening to this nonsense.
David Gambrill writes a report:
If Canada's insurance industry aims to recruit members of the FaceBook generation, the industry needs to appeal to the generation's desire to find meaning in their work, a technology analyst for CBC told a convention of the Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia (IBABC).
"That's why Apple is so powerful: they don't sell their products, they sell the spirit of their products" to the FaceBook generation, Tod Maffin told his audience. "In your company, you may indeed be doing things that are helping the community. You may be doing things that are meaningful in personal and very worthwhile ways. The problem is, you need to articulate that, and do it in a way that doesn't say, 'We're doing really nice things for the community...'
"You have to be able to articulate meaning much more than you've ever had to before. Your recruitment efforts must demonstrate in real terms the difference that you are making in your customers' lives and in your employees' lives."
THE FACEBOOK GENERATION
Strictly speaking, Maffin told delegates at the IBABC meeting, members of the FaceBook generation are comprised of anyone who uses the computer-based social utility -- which includes applications allowing picture-posting, e-mailing and instant messaging, to name a few. But typically, the generation refers to people between the ages of 17 and 33.
Maffin cited figures showing the ubiquity of FaceBook: 20% of people in Vancouver have a FaceBook account, as do 19% of Torontonians.
The FaceBook generation is well-connected, Maffin observed, spending almost six hours a day on electronic devices supporting personal communications. "They are absolutely connected to each other," he said. "They are informed all of the time about what their friends are doing. Text messaging is everywhere."
To the extent that the generation can be characterized, its members are highly creative and are keenly aware of their own sense of uniqueness, Maffin noted. Unlike past generations, which were guided by personal ethics such as job security, money, individual egotism or a healthy work-life balance, the FaceBook generation is more likely to gravitate to work that is meaningful to them and their communities, Maffin noted.
"They want to change the world," he said. "They want their time working for their employer to mean more than just helping you pay your mortgage. It has to be relevant not just to the employer, but to them, to their community, to their environment, to the world, and so forth. They want to align their time with their personal values."
And so they are more likely to respond to creative recruitment methods that clearly indicate what the industry does for the communities in which people live, he added. And the creativity must be apparent, without necessarily being articulated.
Pointing to an example of a successful promotional campaign, Maffin noted Google recently launched an online campaign in which it requested people to produce and send the company brief video clips. The only stipulations were that the clips had to show people moving the Google mail icon as creatively as possible from the left side of the screen to the right side of the screen, and it had to be done within a four-second timeframe.
Within a week, Google received 1,169 video submissions from 65 countries around the world. The clips were spliced together to look like a very long chain of people handing the Google mail icon to each other. The final video said nothing about Google, Maffin observed, nor did it include company advertising, other than the mail icon. Google posted the completed product only on YouTube. Within a week, Google received more than 7,000 job applications.
"Was this a recruitment campaign?" Maffin asked rhetorically. "No. Nowhere in [the video] did it say, 'We're cool, come work for us.' But [the video concept itself] said: 'We're cool, come work for us,' if you know what I mean."Google, he noted, had successfully tapped into the creative sensibilities of the FaceBook Generation.
Insurers and brokers wishing to tap into this creativity need to spend some time figuring out how to articulate its values in a way that might appeal to the FaceBook generation. He said this means going beyond the typical, "dreaded," boilerplate "mission statements" that do little more than get posted on the company wall and become forgotten. Typical, ineffective mission statements almost always say the company strives to be "the best at delivering products and services," Maffin quipped.
Much more effective, call-to-action mission statements examples include MacIntosh's "Think Different" television ad campaign a few years ago, said Maffin. The ad splices together video clips of visionaries such as Martin Luthor King, Amelia Ehrhardt, Mahatma Ghandi, Muhammed Ali and includes narrative that salutes creative, "crazy," misunderstood geniuses. This type of campaign appeals directly to the FaceBook generation's sense of uniqueness, he said.
The Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia waste their time listening to this nonsense.
David Gambrill writes a report:
If Canada's insurance industry aims to recruit members of the FaceBook generation, the industry needs to appeal to the generation's desire to find meaning in their work, a technology analyst for CBC told a convention of the Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia (IBABC).
"That's why Apple is so powerful: they don't sell their products, they sell the spirit of their products" to the FaceBook generation, Tod Maffin told his audience. "In your company, you may indeed be doing things that are helping the community. You may be doing things that are meaningful in personal and very worthwhile ways. The problem is, you need to articulate that, and do it in a way that doesn't say, 'We're doing really nice things for the community...'
"You have to be able to articulate meaning much more than you've ever had to before. Your recruitment efforts must demonstrate in real terms the difference that you are making in your customers' lives and in your employees' lives."
THE FACEBOOK GENERATION
Strictly speaking, Maffin told delegates at the IBABC meeting, members of the FaceBook generation are comprised of anyone who uses the computer-based social utility -- which includes applications allowing picture-posting, e-mailing and instant messaging, to name a few. But typically, the generation refers to people between the ages of 17 and 33.
Maffin cited figures showing the ubiquity of FaceBook: 20% of people in Vancouver have a FaceBook account, as do 19% of Torontonians.
The FaceBook generation is well-connected, Maffin observed, spending almost six hours a day on electronic devices supporting personal communications. "They are absolutely connected to each other," he said. "They are informed all of the time about what their friends are doing. Text messaging is everywhere."
To the extent that the generation can be characterized, its members are highly creative and are keenly aware of their own sense of uniqueness, Maffin noted. Unlike past generations, which were guided by personal ethics such as job security, money, individual egotism or a healthy work-life balance, the FaceBook generation is more likely to gravitate to work that is meaningful to them and their communities, Maffin noted.
"They want to change the world," he said. "They want their time working for their employer to mean more than just helping you pay your mortgage. It has to be relevant not just to the employer, but to them, to their community, to their environment, to the world, and so forth. They want to align their time with their personal values."
And so they are more likely to respond to creative recruitment methods that clearly indicate what the industry does for the communities in which people live, he added. And the creativity must be apparent, without necessarily being articulated.
Pointing to an example of a successful promotional campaign, Maffin noted Google recently launched an online campaign in which it requested people to produce and send the company brief video clips. The only stipulations were that the clips had to show people moving the Google mail icon as creatively as possible from the left side of the screen to the right side of the screen, and it had to be done within a four-second timeframe.
Within a week, Google received 1,169 video submissions from 65 countries around the world. The clips were spliced together to look like a very long chain of people handing the Google mail icon to each other. The final video said nothing about Google, Maffin observed, nor did it include company advertising, other than the mail icon. Google posted the completed product only on YouTube. Within a week, Google received more than 7,000 job applications.
"Was this a recruitment campaign?" Maffin asked rhetorically. "No. Nowhere in [the video] did it say, 'We're cool, come work for us.' But [the video concept itself] said: 'We're cool, come work for us,' if you know what I mean."Google, he noted, had successfully tapped into the creative sensibilities of the FaceBook Generation.
Insurers and brokers wishing to tap into this creativity need to spend some time figuring out how to articulate its values in a way that might appeal to the FaceBook generation. He said this means going beyond the typical, "dreaded," boilerplate "mission statements" that do little more than get posted on the company wall and become forgotten. Typical, ineffective mission statements almost always say the company strives to be "the best at delivering products and services," Maffin quipped.
Much more effective, call-to-action mission statements examples include MacIntosh's "Think Different" television ad campaign a few years ago, said Maffin. The ad splices together video clips of visionaries such as Martin Luthor King, Amelia Ehrhardt, Mahatma Ghandi, Muhammed Ali and includes narrative that salutes creative, "crazy," misunderstood geniuses. This type of campaign appeals directly to the FaceBook generation's sense of uniqueness, he said.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Tod Maffin: "I AM the CBC"
There's a Facebook entity called CBC.
It prominently displays the trademark logo of the CBC.
and behind the curtain, we find ...Tod
Most companies are fiercely protective when it comes to how their brand is presented to the public.
Take Apple for example.
And surely a crown corporation thinks twice before attaching their credibility and reputation to one person's work.
What is it that qualifies Tod Maffin for this special privilege compared to anyone else associated with the CBC?
It prominently displays the trademark logo of the CBC.
and behind the curtain, we find ...Tod
Most companies are fiercely protective when it comes to how their brand is presented to the public.
Take Apple for example.
And surely a crown corporation thinks twice before attaching their credibility and reputation to one person's work.
What is it that qualifies Tod Maffin for this special privilege compared to anyone else associated with the CBC?
Tod Maffin Rules The Universe, and the CBC, and any blogs about the CBC
No one is allowed to question anything that Tod Maffin does.
He controls "The Official Blog Of The CBC", and now he also controls Teamakers, the unofficial blog of the CBC.
joe clark has decided to prohibit anyone from questioning anything about Tod Maffin and his work with the CBC.
Maffin now has total control over three blogs, two of which aren't really his.
In fact ...
He controls "The Official Blog Of The CBC", and now he also controls Teamakers, the unofficial blog of the CBC.
joe clark has decided to prohibit anyone from questioning anything about Tod Maffin and his work with the CBC.
Maffin now has total control over three blogs, two of which aren't really his.
In fact ...
The Sting of the Webswarm: When Crisis Communication Meets the Internet - The Phony World of Tod Maffin
Tod Maffin advises businesses to follow his easy-to-remember plan, entitled S.W.A.R.M.
But in reality, Tod does something quite different when faced with criticism ...
C.R.A.P. his pants
C - call your lawyer
R - respond with vague threats
A - alter access to your site by banning i.p. addresses
P - pretend no one notices that you are a hypocrite
Friday, July 18, 2008
Tod Maffin Wants You To See This Picture
... and I'm pleased to assist ....
No, Tod was not just sexually assaulted by a Sasquatch.
He's posing very deliberately here while on an afternoon walk. It doesn't take much for Tod to run out of steam, it seems.
But of course Tod is really attempting a clever computer joke here about the Windows Vista operating system. Perhaps clever is not the right word.
Someone asked me recently about a good laptop case that doesn't invite thieves.
I answered that really they all do.
But you could put a large banner on the case that reads " with Vista!".
That would deter anyone.
My joke is way better than Tod's.
No, Tod was not just sexually assaulted by a Sasquatch.
He's posing very deliberately here while on an afternoon walk. It doesn't take much for Tod to run out of steam, it seems.
But of course Tod is really attempting a clever computer joke here about the Windows Vista operating system. Perhaps clever is not the right word.
Someone asked me recently about a good laptop case that doesn't invite thieves.
I answered that really they all do.
But you could put a large banner on the case that reads " with Vista!".
That would deter anyone.
My joke is way better than Tod's.
Monday, July 14, 2008
The Attention-Seeking Tod Maffin (title defines the word "understatement")
The unprofessional, desperate-for-attention Tod Maffin has been away for a week leaving the phony blog "inside the cbc" just hanging.
No warning from Tod that he was "off the clock".
For all we knew, he was dead.
Alas, he had merely gone and jumped in the lake, without any prompting.
No warning from Tod that he was "off the clock".
For all we knew, he was dead.
Alas, he had merely gone and jumped in the lake, without any prompting.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
In Tod We Trust
pictured ~
Tod Maffin, international authority and futurist anticipating that one day someone would start a blog about him, calling him on his bullshit.
Tod Maffin, international authority and futurist anticipating that one day someone would start a blog about him, calling him on his bullshit.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Tod Maffin's Mythology: The Adventures of Anus
All BULL, no FINCHES
widely recognized as a leading international authority
a thought-leader in business innovation and strategy
One of Canada’s podcasting pioneers
writes a blog that is followed by thousands of people ... around the world
offers audiences a startling glimpse into the future
widely recognized as a leading international authority
a thought-leader in business innovation and strategy
One of Canada’s podcasting pioneers
writes a blog that is followed by thousands of people ... around the world
offers audiences a startling glimpse into the future
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)