Ann Longley

Anti-consumerism challenges capitalist status quo

In the current economic climate, organised anti-consumerist activity is increasing and we are seeing visible signs of discontent in our communities. Whilst current social movements like Occupy have made it clear they are unhappy with the current state of affairs, a clear vision for an alternative order has not yet been put forward.

So what can businesses do in response? Corporate Social Responsibility is one answer. However, as no consistency is guaranteed in the way it is manifested, its impact is much less than it could be. As we are living in an age of internet enabled tranparency (wherein it is difficult for businesses to hide negative impacts and easy for consumers empowered with online tools to organise protests), perhaps the time for real change has come.

The slides below were prepared and delivered as part of a lecture at Greenwich University’s Business School and attempt to scope out the anti-consumerist agenda and business responses in the age of radical transparency. In my view, business considerations must go beyond PR tactics to be fully embedded into core business purpose and practices. In this season of over-consumption, I’m pleased that this presentation has been featured on the homepage of Slideshare.net today.

Happy Christimas everyone.

Crowdsource change by outsourcing micro-work

Samasource uses crowdsourcing via the internet to connect people in developing countries with opportunities to work on the delivery of data projects.

Leila Chirayath Janah gave an inspiring speach about the work of the organisation recently as part of Linked In’s speakers series.

Linked In encourages every employee to volunteer one day a month (“InDay”) to help good causes. It might be worth considering how your organisation could work with Samasource organisations. I can see opportunities for out-sourcing data analysis related to social media monitoring with my company, however our finance team would need to investigate and make the necessary changes to work with international suppliers.

Such effort could be worthwhile on several different levels - such projects could be completed more cost effectively -  whilst saving time and  creating new employment opportunities for some of the worlds’ poorest people.

Learning to listen: the benefits of buzz

In November I gave a presentation at Monitoring Social Media 09 (#msm09); it was picked as top presentation on Slideshare today. What a wonderful surprise. The presentation (below) and also here sets out the business case for monitoring social media, the implications for organisations, and what we need from buzz monitoring providers.

An additional requirement was identified by Marshall Sponder (aka as the Web Metrics Guru - yes!) at the event. It was  for the standardisation of buzz metrics/measurement. It was a point well made and one that I support. Thanks so much to everyone who viewed and favourited this presentation and I look forward to further conversations on this topic.

Social entertainment

After C21’s Social Media Forum I was invited to give a talk about social media and brands to a major UK broadcaster. Whilst the points made in my previous address are relevant for entertainment brands and broadcasters, it made sense to explore how social media is impacting entertainment itself.

This subject is fascinating and I feel like I’m just scratching the surface with this presentation - so watch this space for more mullings on the topic.

Word of mouth more influential than TV ads

Speaking about brands and social media at C21’s Social Media Conference at BAFTA, I highlighted both the threats and opportunities for brands, suggesting there was more to be gained than lost by trying to leverage social media. My presentation cites some best practice case studies and emerging opportunities in the social entertainment space.

Brands need to understand the dynamics of social media, in order to participate credibly because word-of-mouth has eclipsed traditional broadcast messages as the primary influencer of today’s consumer.