INDUSTRY TALK  Following a conversation with a well known media personality I was encouraged by the animated enthusiasm that 'main street' media now has for social networking strategies, but somewhat unimpressed by the reasons they have arrived at this conclusion. They droned on about the usual proliferation of amplifiers on twitter, facebook and YouTube and the impact of negative opinion on brands. This is good I thought, but as the conversation progressed I was struck by the lack of any counter arguments emerging on the limitations of social networking and what seemed to be a wiliness to accept as gospel any 'case studies' that are thrown at them. Read on

ADVERTISING & MARKETING  It has been said that the basic difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions. The analogy can be applied to the effective difference between TV and the web, where TV generates emotional actions while the web leads to deliberation, then to conclusions, what cause either action (e.g. a sale) or inaction depending on the result of reason or logic having time to emerge. This limitation of web marketing is not understood by many digital planners still blinkered by the technology. Its time to stop talking about impressions or the latest version of Flash and to learn to love TV, as the future of the web is increasingly looking like a supporting actor to the starring role of TV. Read on

TECHNOLOGY  Forget Mobile, Social Networking and even the 'Big Idea", your competitive advantage is staring you in the face, infact its hemorrhaging away as you read. Its the data-exhaust produced as a consequence of customer interactions with your brand, and if you are not effectively leveraging this you are wasting your most valuable asset. How can you possible be an agile marketer if you are making strategic decisions based on half truths and gut feels? Help is on the horizon, but different systems, methodologies and processes for obtaining analytics capabilities are needed. Read on

SOCIAL MEDIA  I may be branded a nonbeliever by the digital clergy, but I believe that social media is not connecting us in any meaningful way, well at least not in any way that can be classified as 'relationships'. This is not a Luddite call to burn your computer and engage more in the real world, but more a questions of what implications this has on the formulation and limits of any social strategy. Read on

INDUSTRY TALK  The prisoner's dilemma is a fundamental problem in game theory that demonstrates why two people might not cooperate even if it is in both their best interests to do so. In the dilemma, two suspects are arrested by the police and put into separate cells. The police have insufficient evidence for a conviction so visit each of them to offer the same deal. If one testifies against the other and the other remains silent, the betrayer goes free and the silent accomplice receives the full 10-year sentence. If both remain silent, both prisoners are sentenced to only six months. If each betrays the other, each receives a five-year sentence. Each prisoner must choose to betray the other or to remain silent. Each one is assured that the other would not know about the betrayal before the end of the investigation. How should the prisoners act? Read on

The board of Australia's biggest media buyer Mitchell Communication Group has recommended to shareholders that they accept a bid from Aegis to purchase the company for $363m. Read on

Johns reaction: The end of the last big independent

Election 2010 offers politicians the opportunity to embrace an ever-maturing portfolio of social media platforms to engage with Australian voters, but are the politicians making the most of the available platforms? Research by Edelman suggests it is currently being underutilised. Read on

Johns reaction: And #GreensMPs second

As the Internet progressively moves towards real-time information, the need to know what s popular right now is becoming increasingly important. Here are the best ways to track trends of all types, so you ll always be in the know about what s hot on the Internet. Read on

Johns reaction: Interesting

Online gaming site Roiworld surveyed 600 teens ages 13 to 17 in late April and found that teens spend two hours per day online on average, 80% of which is spent using a social network. These same teens are, however, showing signs of 'Facebook Fatigue'. Nearly one in five (19%) who have an account no longer visit Facebook or are using it less. Read on

Johns reaction: Of the group that are saying goodbye to Facebook, 45% have lost interest, 16% are leaving because their parents are there, 14% say there are 'too many adults/older people' and 13% are concerned about the privacy of their personal information.

How do you take the social web by storm in a day, winning over even the coldest of hearts and gaining international aclaim - with commercials Read on

Johns reaction: How to leverage the viral effect 101