My first instinct in response to Casey’s sentiment (which, in context, was applicable to all banks with a social media presence) was to be somewhat affronted. After all, the agency I started works hard to help brands establish and maintain their social media presence as a full time occupation. I’d like to believe that all that hard work translates into nothing short of a fundamental transformation in the service culture of those companies.

Casey was right though – few corporate brands achieve a seamless experience between their on-the-ball, client-centric social media profiles and the actual day-to-day touch points between “ordinary” staff and “ordinary” clients.

Michael Jordaan, as the Twitter-savvy CEO of FNB, has gained notoriety (and I dare suggest a few customers) for his candid, sincere engagement on the platform. His pride and passion are contagious – it’s not hard to get excited about a brand whose fearless leader embraces innovation so willingly. After all, that’s what I want from the brands I spend money with – they must do the basics exceptionally well, and delight and surprise me with market-leading innovations. Michael recently elaborated on his fascination with Twitter in a Mail & Guardian article:

(Twitter) encourages and facilitates quick, impulsive conversations with your customers and the public and shatters the traditional hierarchies and channels of ­executive communication…

But social media are changing the way businesses connect with the press and I love being part of a network that tunes me in to the multiple and overlapping conversations that make our society so vital, interesting and dynamic.

Clearly, Michael gets social media engagement, as do many modern executives and business leaders. But surely the true value of their enthusiasm should be measured in the impact of that enthusiasm on the service culture of the organisations they represent?

I recently switched to FNB. The overall experience hasn’t been bad, but straight away the unmistakable characteristics of corporate silos, hierarchies, competition and anti-collaboration have been evident. I was contacted by FNB Premier banking, and met with a consultant, but even though I qualify as a private client I was motivated to join Premier banking because that was what suited the consultant. I relented on the basis that Premier banking would be cheaper, but the truth is I’m fundamentally lazy and would rather enjoy the pleasure of a Private banker than, well, do any banking-related admin at all. I did explain this to the consultant…

As soon as I signed up for Internet banking, the Discovery Credit Card I have had for years reflected on my profile – because of the link between Discovery and FNB. Today I had a query about that card – yes, the same one that is reflected on my profile – and got told by my assigned Premier assistant that they couldn’t help me with my enquiry but that I had to contact the Discovery Credit Card call centre to get the query resolved. I replied – and yes I sounded like a whiny snob but I think I had a case – that if I wanted to contact the Discovery call centre I wouldn’t have switched to FNB Premier banking. Swiftly picking up on my tone the assistant agreed to email Discovery for me to resolve the query. Surely that should have been the default option?

I’m under no illusions as to how hard it is to replicate the service ethic of social media profiles across corporations, but the goal is to try your level best. After all social media is so much more than a bunch of websites that link people together – it is a fundamental shift in the way we connect, communicate and collaborate with each other, with our colleagues and with our customers. It is incumbent upon brands that invest in social media profiles to educate key service staff, every day, about the evolving connected consumer and how to engage with them. The risk for those that don’t is that the blatant dissonance between the online and offline experience of the brand is so off-putting, that it does more damage than if you’d never been there in the first place!

Am I saying that brands shouldn’t be on Twitter, Facebook and others if they can’t pull a Zappos and present a ubiquitous client-centric brand across all touch points? Absolutely not, that would make me a hypocrite. I applaud all brands that make an effort, but would encourage a more concerted effort toward acknowledging that no two customers are the same and that all attempts must be made to establish departments and teams, failing a service ethic that encompasses this truth across the business, that can ensure a consistently good (or even consistently average) experience of the brand for influential customers.

Client-centricity is a misnomer. Today, brands need to focus on identifying and influencing influencers, because there is no better salesperson than a satisfied customer. Satisfied influential customers influence the masses in turn, and that advocacy will motivate a change of heart in even the most stoic dissenters. This is the value we try to add to our clients – strategies and training that fundamentally shift the experience of the brand in line with the social promise of the brand, in the eyes and hearts of its customers.

Are brands on social media simply smearing lipstick on the pig? Yes. Does it need to stop there or can the pig be fundamentally transformed into a, um, non-pig-like thing over time? Yes. Who can teach your corporate pig how to be non-pig-like? Your clients. So listen to them.

I have asked my FNB Premier consultant to advise me on Private banking. We’ll see how that goes :)

I won’t speak much about the game. We played better than I thought we would, could not take our chances and lost by a very narrow margin to a better-ranked team. Sometimes you win the close ones. Sometimes you lose them. That’s test match rugby at the highest level.

We cannot change the past and instead must look to the future of SA rugby. To be honest, I’m incredibly excited – the future is BRIGHT! We have outstanding talent and enviable depth at our disposal – the only question is how we choose to manage that talent in future. That then becomes a conversation about who SARU will select to succeed coach P Divvy.

I am a big fan of Allister Coetzee, the man Jake White believed should have succeeded him. But Allister will need the support of international brains, as Jake White found in Eddie Jones, and local talismen too. The likes of Rassie Erasmus come to mind.

The legends of John Smit, Victor Matfield, Fourie Du Preez, Bryan Habana and co. have likely had their best opportunity to win another World Cup and if our intention is to achieve that in Japan in 2015 we need to say thank you to them and look forward. If it were up to me, and fitness were not a question, I would play the following 22 tomorrow:

1. Beast Mtawarira
2. Bismarck du Plessis
3. Jannie du Plessis
4. Josh Strauss
5. Andries Bekker
6. Heinrich Brussouw
7. Schalk Burger (c)
8. Willem Alberts
9. Francois Hougaard
10. Patrick Lambie
11. Lwazi Mvovo
12. Frans Steyn
13. Jacque Fourie
14. JP Pietersen
15. Gio Aplon

16. Chiliboy Ralapele
17. Gurthro Steenkamp
18. Danie Roussouw
19. Francois Louw
20. Ruan Pienaar
21. Juan de Villiers
22. Juan de Jongh

A mix of youthful talent and experienced campaigners, I think this 22 contains most of the names that, all things being equal, should take us to 2015 with a realistic chance of regaining our crown. That does depend heavily on SARU and the coaching staff they choose though, which as always should be entertaining to watch!

Regardless of what happens I remain a fan to the bitter (or sweet) end.

I love film. I actually studied film for a year or so before, ahem, dropping out, but my passion for the medium remains. My favourite past time, when I have the time, is to pop past the Absolutely Fabulous DVD Nouveau store down the road and pick up a classic off their “Must See” shelf. Over the last few months I’ve enjoyed IMDB Top 250 regulars like 12 Angry Men, Goodfellas, Cinema Paradiso and many more.

So you’ll understand that when one of our clients, Turner Broadcasting, presented their “Pop-Up Cinema” concept to us and asked us how we could promote it via their social media channels – you can follow them on Twitter at @TCMAfrica – I was pretty stoked. The Pop-Up Cinema concept is loosely based on Secret Cinema, and is in essence a celebration of classic film in a different location each time, for a select group of individuals that are either invited or who pick up on the event via online channels and the grapevine and RSVP to attend.

The inaugural @TCMAfrica Pop-Up Cinema was held last week at Arts on Main in the middle of Jozi – an awesome venue – and was non-stop fun from start to finish. I arrived to a giggling gaggle of students draped in scarecrow, witch and tin man outfits (no prizes for guessing the movie, and therefore the theme for the night, was The Wizard Of Oz) and once I’d collected my goodie bag, popcorn and sweets, settled down to watch the movie.

Besides the fact that it’s really hard to go wrong with an entertaining classic like Wizard of Oz, the evening was an a chilled one spent with really cool people in a great environment, and I’d highly recommend (because it was a jol, and not just because they’re a client), that you try and attend the next one, even if only for the free popcorn!

A big thank you to @TCMAfrica for the invitation – I can’t wait for the next one!

When he dies messages of condolence and sympathy will flood in. Wreaths will be laid, memorial services will be held and millions, maybe billions of people around the world will mourn one of the greatest men who ever lived. His life – and more specifically the actions that shaped his life – have earned such a send-off.

Last week Friday I was called to Benoni after my gran passed away in the company of the people she loved most. She was 89, and had lived a most remarkable life. This was no more evident than in her funeral on Wednesday – an event that was not clouded by regret, but illuminated by celebration. Her life was such that she had no unfinished business.

She was gracious beyond reason. She faced every challenge that life threw at her – two bouts of cancer, a World War, the loss of her husband after only 7 years of marriage – with admirable strength and resolve, and an unshakeable faith that anchored it all in place.

I see so many parallels in the grace she showed others, and the gratitude she expressed for every moment she had on this earth, to the life of Nelson Mandela. It’s not for their achievements that we hold these special people in such high esteem – it’s for their actions. Actions that fly in the face of what the world tells us is right, or normal. Actions that defy logic. Actions that change the fabric of society.

When Madiba dies… wait, screw that… BEFORE Madiba dies, seek to honour him and those that are like him in this world by not just sending out a compassionate tweet, or updating your Facebook status to “RIP Tata”. Seek to honour him by ACTING abnormally. ACT with grace, compassion and forgiveness:

Write that letter to that person who you need to make peace with.

Smile at strangers.

Give something away – something that is of value to you.

Stop collecting things and start collecting memories.

Love without fear.

I figure if I can do these things, if I can change the way I act and be just a little more like the kind of person Nelson Mandela is, and my gran was, then I am truly honouring them. The minister who officiated my gran’s funeral said, “people only die when we stop talking about them”. The lives of my gran and Nelson Mandela will best be honoured when we try and act like them.

Smacking of the Metro Police department’s slamming of the now infamous @pigspotter profile, this press release is a sad indictment on the understanding of, and perception around, social media platforms in our country’s leadership. It is also a sad indictment on the grammar and spelling of the ANCYL’s spokespeople, but that is for another discussion.

Social media applications like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MXit are being used by the youth of South Africa to share their stories and opinions, not to mention build relationships and connections that transcend racial and political boundaries. It is not the “profit driven media” (the words of the ANCYL president, not me), but rather the voice of the people; young and old, black and white, right- and left-wing alike.

The Youth League attempting to “call for the closer [sic] of twitter” is not just short-sighted, it is downright sad. There exists so much opportunity for the ANCYL to address its faithful, and not-so-faithful, in a space that is intimate and personal, and in doing so perhaps neutralising some of the negativity that many young white, coloured, Indian AND black people feel about their policies and antics.

I have, perhaps stupidly, sent Floyd a text message offering to debunk the myths and misconceptions around Twitter over a cup of coffee. Honestly, I would like to see the ANCYL and the ANC using social media effectively to hear and address the positive and negative sentiments of the people of this country.

Whether he takes me up on that offer, well, we’ll have to see!

The conference will discuss pertinent issues relating to media, public relations and branding in both the public and private sectors. The premise is that media, public relations and branding combined act as a magnet, and a channel of communication, that holds all sections of an organisation together.

The summit promises to focus on new strategies aimed at improving public relations and corporate communications for companies. The idea is that this will improve your company’s reputation in the eyes of management and stakeholders. According to the organisers, those who attend will walk away with the latest ways to integrate media measurement into their company’s business goals.

When: 20 to 21 October, 2010

Where: The Park Hyatt Hotel, Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa

Fee: R7999

To attend, contact Bronwyn: 011 781 9131 or info@asmcomm.co.za by close of business on Tuesday 19^th of October.

I am a golfer. Well, not really. I am a guy who owns golf clubs, who tries relentlessly to play the ridiculously frustrating game with some semblance of skill. Honestly, it seems my golf game gets worse the harder I try. But I try nonetheless.

One of the ways I assuage my pain is to blame the golf clubs. Before you judge me, I know it is my fault and not the clubs – I know very well that a skilled golfer can use average clubs and still play well, whereas a useless golfer can use the best clubs in the world and still be useless – but it makes me feel better.

On a recent trip to the Woodmead Pro Shop I decided I would replace my perfectly good Taylormade driver with a Callaway alternative. The salesman, thinking he needed to let me swing the golf club to secure a sale (when I would have happily walked out the door with it straight away), secured a net and a few stray golf balls and encouraged me to have a wallop. The series of wallops that followed confirmed beyond a doubt that I am able to produce a big ugly fade with remarkable regularity, and as such, that my swing needs serious work.

The salesman gave a bit of advice, advice I have heard before, and encouraged me to try again. Same results.

He then told me, in no uncertain words, that he refused to sell me the club, or any club for that matter, until I fixed my golf swing.

Here was a guy who, I imagine, does not earn a fortune doing what he does, and yet he turned away a sure sale (and I’m sure guaranteed commission) because he knew what was right for me, and insisted I acknowledge the facts.

The Pro Shop lost a sale that day (of a R 4,000 driver, I might add), but because of one salesperson’s honesty and integrity, have secured a customer for life. Sometimes it pays to turn business away.

I’ll be updating live from the CSA Awards in Sandton.

Just arrived and the venue looks great, I’m seated with Vincent Hofmann, Shaun Custers and no doubt one or two other cricket geeks.

Ok so my hopes of being able to live blog the event were dashed by a lack of space on the

table. That and the fact that I would have been the only person in the rather large exhibition hall trying to balance a Mac on top of his salad.

The evening was incredibly slick – credit must go to CSA, their sponsors and of course the event co-ordinators for putting together a top-class show. Big winners on the night were Colin Ingram (on the domestic front) and the Hashim Amla, who took five awards of the six awards he was nominated for. Well done Hash! His scalps included Test Player of the year, CSA Cricketer of the year and more.

It was a great privilege to be a part of an event showcasing the sporting talents I admire and resp

ect so much, but also it was exciting and encouraging to be part of an event that was so willing to embrace the power of social media. The live screening of the event was integrated with a live Twitter feed under the hashtag #CSAawards that allowed fans back home on the couch to be a part of the action. Revolutionary stuff.

I look forward to seeing more brands, sporting events, etc. taking the same level of initiative to include ‘fans’.

His presentation included a reference to a ‘pact’ Get Satisfaction has authored, detailed here on their site, which states that:

“…customers and companies alike need to trust the people with whom we do business. Customers expect honest, straightforward interactions where their voices are heard, before, during, and between purchases. Companies work to inspire customer satisfaction and brand loyalty by constantly improving the products and services they offer.

It is evident that we all have a crucial stake – and responsibility – in transforming the adversarial tone that all too often dominates the customer experience. If we work together and share the responsibility of furthering effective conversation, we can build mutually respectful long-term relationships.

By adopting these five, practical values, we can together realize a meaningful shift in our business relationships…

I’d encourage you to visit the Pact and read about the five values which include being human, authentic, accessible, patient and productive. I like the pact because it doesn’t lambaste companies, emphasizing over and over again how archaic they are (like say the Cluetrain Manifesto as an example). This pact encourages customers to take responsibility for the influence they have – something I think often gets overlooked by social media enthusiasts. The role of the customer is as critical to meaningful relationships as the role of the brand.

What are your thoughts?

I’ve also included Lane’s preso from the conference on Slideshare FYI:

We are appealing to the public for generous contributions to our emergency fund,
for the immediate survival of Cape Town City Ballet. For the sake of the children we are teaching in our outreach programmes we need to keep Cape Town City Ballet alive.

All donations will be graciously accepted, to ensure that this 75 year-old institution is kept alive for generations to follow.

There are also some great prizes to be won if you donate, including tickets to shows, wine and more. If you donate please use the reference MS1 so they know I sent you ;) Cerebra donated R 1,000 – I’m sure you can do the same!