En terminos de diseño de la interfaz, me gusta mucho la simplificacion para el usuario (y la caja de busqueda mas grande) en adicion a los resultados instantaneos.  Esto es definitivamente una ganancia para todos y mantiene a Google en su posicion dominante en busqueda. Sin embargo, va ser interesante observar el proyecto social/juegos de Google Me cuando este lo lanzan.  Aunque busqueda sigue siendo importante, los medios sociales continuan creciendo y podrian, posiblemente, ser mas importante en la ecuacion con el usuario hacia el futuro.

Google sabe esto y está haciendo todo lo que puede (desde mejorando la experiencia de busqueda hasta desarrollando su nueva iniciativa de redes sociales) para mantenerse como lider. Thomas y yo estaremos hablando sobre esto hoy durante el show a las 7:30pm (hora Colombia).

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In terms of user interface design, I really like the whole simplified design (with larger search box) and instant results.  This is most definitely a win for the company in terms of maintaining its dominance of the search market. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to look at what they launch in the social networking/gaming space when they unveil the Google Me project.  Though search will continue to be important, social media continues to pick up steam and could conceivably be a more important part of the user equation.

Thomas and I will discuss this on our weekly show (in Spanish).

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Ironically, his ratings jumped substantially during the brouhaha as well as his online support.  Though NBC to some extent uses social media tools such as blogs and twitter, one wonders if the company could have employed such tools to engage more with audiences and come up with a different outcome?

One example of the online support that Conan garnered during the impasse is that created by designer Mike Mitchell.  Mr. Mitchell created the “I’m with Coco” image along with a campaign in support of the late night television star on a Facebook fan page that already boasts more than 300,000 members and has engendered a number of rallies in support of the late night star.

In contrast, Jay Leno’s Facebook fan page has less than 50,000 members and, incredibly, was hacked on Sunday evening to display an image of Conan. Finally, checking blog activity on Trendpedia shows a spike in activity for the keyword “Tonight Show,” among others during the last several days.

Would it have been possible for NBC to translate this Internet and social media interest into a more profitable business result for the network?  One thing is for certain, achieving such a result would have required more than simply using social media tools.  It would have required an organization willing to listen, react and respond relatively quickly to new and interesting options that pop up from such “digital” conversations.  It would have required a mindset where mistakes, such as this particular programming mishap, could be admitted and where fan criticism or suggestions would be encouraged and not lamented.

The actual form that such a strategy should take is debatable. Nevertheless, one company that seems to be embracing social media tools and, possibly, the ensuing organizational transformation that could result is MTV.  Recently, Carolyn Everson, EVP of strategy and operations for MTV Networks, stated that “digital learnings” are making their way into the linear business.  It’s interesting to note that within the list of Top Social Brands of 2009 recently released by Vitrue, MTV ranks as number 4 on the list while NBC is number 68 – CBS and ABC are at 32 and 33, respectively. This would seem to indicate that the network might have some work to do in terms of more fully embracing audience engagement through social media.

Ironically, Comcast, the company due to acquire NBC Universal shortly, has been cited as an example of a company that embraced the use of social media (e.g.,Twitter) as a catalyst to improving their customer service.  This fact notwithstanding, Comcast is probably at the beginning of any transformational process and is actually ranked #100 on Vitrue’s list of Top Social Brands of 2009.

Indeed, It’s possible that the current industry dynamics and prior decisions made by NBC Universal management have placed them in too difficult of a position regardless of their use of any social media tools.  As mentioned above, companies such asMTV proactively mines social media activity related to their brand and culls valuable insights that inform their business decisions.

Conan certainly enjoyed much support through the Internet even mentioning as much in his farewell address.  Nevertheless, the question still remains.  Could NBC have produced a more positive business result by making better use of the increased social media “conversations” around this story?

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Para mi, fue una experiencia muy enriquecedora el poder ver un grupo de jóvenes en Colombia interesados en escuchar sobre tendencias de la industria en términos de innovación digital.  Durante la presentacion, pude ser nostaligico y hablar sobre la manera en que comenzaron empresarios como Steve Jobs y Bill Gates y las nuevas oportunidades que estan persiguiendo empresarios como Mark Zuckerberg, fundador de facebook.

Fue muy grato escuchar que, despues de la presentacion, hubo interes en escuchar mas. La idea es hacer ver a estos jovenes que los cambios dentro de la industria pone la innovacion digital al alcance de todo el globo.  Lo que se necesita son las ganas y la pasion para aprender y crear.

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Today, I had an interesting experience at two prospect meetings.  I was meeting with organizations who are just starting to employ digital innovation strategies in Colombia (one of them is farther along than the other one).  In general, I am truly amazed at the disconnect between the user population in these countries and the companies who actually leverage digital tools to join the conversation with their customers.

One of the most exciting recent developments within the Internet space has been the rapid uptake of social media tools and, even more interesting, the adoption of these tools on mobile platforms.  Just was with their record-breaking mobile adoption growth rates several years back, Latin Americans are also breaking records for adopting social networking platforms.  For instance, Colombia is number six in the world in terms of the total number of facebook users.

I just read a post by Shane Gibson, who is currently in Colombia talking precisely about social networks. Incredibly, companies in the region who take advantage of the fact that their customers and prospects are having conversations using these digital tools are few and far between.  What are they waiting for? Instead of spending beaucoup sums of money on traditional media spends, they could be “mixing it up” and including solidly planned online iniciatives to promote their brand, products, services, etc. through direct advertising, community building, word of mouth enabling or other strategies.  An added benefit is the fact that, by doing this in virgin territory, any well thought out strategy strongly executed will be seen as digital innovation by the market place.

Anyhow, this will all play out as it always does in the region.  The market will await some solid successes and then a mass of followers will dive in head first trying to imitate their models. When this will actually happen is the big question.

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