(If you can’t see the video, click here.)

Because what you really, really want, in the end, is this:

(If you can’t see the video, click here.)

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My Blue And Yellow Heart

First and foremost, yes, I’m back full-time on Swedish soil. I’ve been back for about half a year already. And no, I don’t miss New York, not like that. Stockholm is awesome and I feel at home here. I miss my colleagues and our New York clients of course, but I’m in constant contact with all of them all of the time anyway. All in all, it feels great to be back!

A Place To Lay My Hat

First thing was to get a new apartment. We like the one we found; it has a balcony, a fire place and high ceilings. It’s not a highrise on Manhattan, there’s no doorman and definitely no laundry service, but the gym is just around the corner (not that I frequent it too often) and I can walk to the Whispr Group office in the mornings.

Building An Awesome Global Agency

My whole focus this spring has basically been to get Whispr Group Stockholm set up. We are soon five consultants and we have some awesome new clients. My title is COO and I work with strategies and processes for both our offices, but I sure do get my hands dirty as well. In a small agency, you do the job at hand—there’s no room for divas, that’s for sure. Our philosophy is that social media intelligence comes first, and that’s why we’re building a data-driven social media agency that knows online PR, web and content creation, e-commerce strategies, sharing logic, community management and advanced global monitoring and analytics.

Wifey Doing Her Thing

My wife Lisah keeps doing her thing as well, both as a reporter and as a news anchor. I’m super proud of her. Besides being the hottest news anchor around, she won Scoop of the Year for her reporting on cheating car park companies and she will be getting more airtime for TV4 Stockholm this summer. Also, her blog will probably be bigger than mine soon, hmmm… *trying hard not to care*

White Pussy In Paris

I haven’t been traveling all that much, not compared with last year at least, but I’ve been to Paris. And I have two more trips planned in the coming months since we have a new cool client there (I will tell you more about them at some point, but we’re only in the initial phase right now). When I took this picture, I wrote “White Pussy in Paris” and thought that I was the most hilarious guy around, but no retweets whatsoever. Well, well.

Coming Out As An Heterosexual

I did however start pinning. I do try a lot of new social media platforms, but this one really made an impact. Quite a few professional contacts, both clients and fellow industry colleagues, reacted on my boards on Pinterest (especially two of them named “Beautiful Women” and “Chicks With Guns“). People ask me if having these boards conflicts with my professional interests? I didn’t know it was a secret, so maybe coming out as an heterosexual male was long overdue anyway?

The Hamptons and Manhattan Via Brooklyn

But I did get to go to New York this spring still, since we decided to have Whispr Group’s first real kickoff in the Hamptons. We did workshops on the beach, stayed at the Swedish inn The Maidstone, did some wine tasting, some bicycling and some sailing. We’ve been working really hard, so it was nice to get away. I was also eager to visit our new office in Dumbo, Brooklyn.

Dodging The Honey Trap

I found this old Time Magazine issue when I moved to a new apartment. Remember this one, guys? I feel that it’ll be symbolic for the rest of the spring. Shifting the focus to my personal well-being is the idea; I need to free up some time for the gym, get better sleep, eat vitamins and drink more water. To be able to take things to the next level, I need to take better care of myself. I’m soon 33, and working day and night sort of takes its toll. Work life balance, here I come.

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top: Joakim Leijon, Daniel Chow, Caroline Watson, Carl Anchér
front: Daniel Ryan, Sofia Sunnerlöf, Raj Singh, Angela Berger, Linda Harleman, Cronja Hultin, Caroline Hirsch, Jessica Giantonio, Jerry Silfwer

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If you can’t see the video, click here.

I love it. Messaging that forces you think. Imagery that slaps you in the face. And reasoning that actually means something.

I don’t think any other communications education can match Berghs right now. They don’t have an academic curriculum, but a lot of the students already have an exam from other academic institutions before enlisting at Berghs. And the fact that the marketing universe has changed so rapidly in the last couple of years, placing Digital First, has only made the school more relevant it seems.

I also know there’s exciting things going on over at Hyper Island, so maybe that’s the way to go for anyone interested in a strong marketing education in Sweden; first an academic degree and then a shorter and focused training at one of these elite schools?

In any case, check out and sign up for their Grad Show 2012 in Stockholm.

Sidenote: Any of you remember this video, where student Erik Högfelt from Berghs | Live video pitched Doktor Spinn? He’s not at Berghs anymore, since he today is a superstar creative at NYC agency Droga5. Go Erik!

If you liked this post, you should also check out my Facebook Page!

If you liked this post, you should also check out my Facebook Page!

If you liked this post, you should also check out my Facebook Page!

Each year, Mid Sweden University arranges Communicare, a dedicated PR conference arranged by both the faculty and the PR students in my hometown of Sundsvall. For more on the 2012 edition of the conference, please visit http://www.communicaresundsvall.se and sign up to participate on May 24-25, 2012.

This version in English of the campaign video was created exclusively by the Communicare PR students for Doktor Spinn, enjoy.

P.S. A small note to this year’s Mid-Sweden PR students. Time to show what you’re made off, ok? Let’s see how many shares and tweets you can create for this post. Go!

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It’s a world where the best marketing you can get is when selling great products and services where your customers are involved; they provide valuable feedback during the whole cycle and their online behavior awards them perks and increasingly targeted marketing. Customers are also becoming judge and jury via a constant flow of reviews.

But instead of being just buyers, can’t they also be sellers?

I know the guys behind the Swedish startup Tipser, a company still in the early stages of their development. What they have done is to create a backend system which can latch on to basically any brand’s existing e-commerce platform. So, a blogger like yours truly could then choose a product and create an embed widget.

Like this:

Fler tips från Jerry Silfwer

So, this is a pair of Triwa sunglasses. I chose them because I like them, but mainly because they too are a small Swedish brand and because I know – and like! – the guys behind the brand. So, there it is. The widget is in Swedish still, but can buy the item here on my blog (you won’t get pulled away elsewhere). If you like me, then chances are that you will like what I like and maybe that can convert into sales enough to make this into new way of selling products?

You can try to click “KÖP DIREKT” (Buy Now) to see how it works without committing to anything.

Now, here’s some stuff to understand about these kinds of service:

1. Highlighting a pair of sunglasses on a social media marketing blog maybe isn’t the best match, but as the selection of products expands, maybe I can sell discounted and relevant ebooks, conference tickets and other stuff that would relate better to what I’m writing about?

2. If you would buy the sunglasses here on my blog, then I would get a share of the revenue. I’m curios to see if this can be a source of income for influential bloggers in the near future. If you would buy these sunglasses in particular, I would get approximately $15. For the really big blogs, for instance in fashion and gadgets, this could prove lucrative.

3. If you have a blog and you would use this widget for yourself and you snatch the embed code from my blog, then I would actually get a small percentage of your revenue, too. This could potentially be marketing technique that urges bloggers to be early adopters, basically just to get as high in the hierarchy as possible.

4. Especially in fashion and interior design style blogs, webshops are becoming increasingly popular. Maybe this can be a shortcut to creating your own personalized shop with your favorite items? Not everything has to go in the editorial feed.

Will Social Multi-Level Marketing Be A Thing?

We have seen some interesting multi-level marketing (MLM) approaches within the universe of affiliates. For the “affiliate elite”, the idea of embeddable widgets might be old news, but affiliate programs has yet to reach a larger audience.

These types of web services could also serve as alternatives to hosting ads. And by having the widget structure, I think it becomes pretty clear what is editorial and what is not. I’m actually not so concerned about the editorial ethics of bloggers as many seem to be. Here’s why:

I don’t think blog readers have any problems with commercial affiliations just as long as there’s a transparency involved. In this case, I’ve stated that I know and like the guys at both Tipser and Triwa. I don’t get paid to mention them—unless if someone buys the sunglasses that is.

Long-term success is closely tied to the ability to earn and respect people’s trust, so the system should be self-cleaning, at least theoretically.

Making Money As A Blogger

Will this endeavor work for the guys over at Tipser? And will this work for companies like Triwa who has a product or a service that has potential for e-commerce?

What do you think? Here’s my personal SWOT:

Strengths
- Bloggers might do all the required marketing themselves of the actual service
- Our spending online increases all the time and it doesn’t seem to plateau for years to come

Weaknesses
- For it to work, the whole process must be very intuitive and easy to grasp and sales seldom is
- There has to be signs of instant gratification for the resellers—or their patience will run out

Opportunities
- Bloggers are in general open to ways to get something back for their efforts and their talents
- Businesses are looking for new ways to leverage the social media landscape for bottom line activities

Threats
- The selections have to “long-tailed”, but setting up deals with retailers takes time and effort
- International laws and regulations as well as shipping are mighty obstacles

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Ramping up right now with some incredible 25M views on YouTube is A Dramatic Surprise On A Quiet Square:

If you can’t see the video, click here.

I love how they start off with just a few incidents and then… just escalates. But, the trick is of course to bring it all home with a punch. And speaking of how to do exactly that, I think you should see this clip by the same agency:

If you can’t see the video, click here.

Boom. Incredibly strong, even if a social media natural and YouTube make-up tutorial wonder child like Michelle Phan could beat 750,000 views without breaking a sweat using her webcam, we still love and admire the impact these creative stunts has on us.

Many also saw the agency’s famous Carlsberg viral some time ago, but personally I really prefer this simple yet funny video on parenting:

If you can’t see the video, click here.

Big idea marketing truly is a delight and we watch and we share. But even if I marvel at the creativity and the communicative power that lies within these commercial messages, I just can’t seem to escape the question of who we admire in all of these videos? Does this make me think of TNT as a creative and cool company? Or do I marvel at the creative process going on over at Duval Guillaume Modem?

For me, it’s the latter of course. But maybe that’s because I’m a marketeer? In any case, who am I to argue with 25M views? For now, let’s just enjoy the entertainment!

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Whispr Group is a thought-leading, Intelligence-centric Social Media agency producing strategic marketing services for top-tier fashion, beauty, and lifestyle clients from our offices in New York and Stockholm. Our client list includes brands such as H&M, Estée Lauder, Lanvin, Versace, Oriflame, Disney, and Groupon.

We are currently looking for an experienced, trend savvy fashion specialist. The ideal candidate has extensive fashion trend and product knowledge, and an ability to present and discuss these fluently both through visuals and words.

You have a great eye for trend, 5-10 years commercial experience in the fashion industry, and strive for the highest standards in research and analysis. You are able to source relevant visuals quickly and efficiently. Communicating trends in grammatically correct English comes as second nature to you.

This position is designed to give you the opportunity to contribute dynamically to a rapidly evolving agency. The selected Fashion Intelligence Specialist will work closely with our team in the genesis of social media reporting on trends, market evaluations, and client communications. Reporting will be an extensive part of this role, and a key deliverable to client.

This position is set for Stockholm, SE, though a transition to New York City may be requested in the future. Immediate availability and a strong compensation package will be awarded to the chosen candidate.

The position will entail:

• Forecasting cutting-edge fashion trends
• Cyclical creation of tailored trend reports for a global, large-scale fashion retailer
• Comprehensive research, fashion influencer identification, and mapping
• Solid ability to create reports and analysis from research data and result sets
• Contributing proactively to the holistic social media marketing efforts of Whispr Group

Your core competencies and requirements:

• A four-year university degree in fashion, art, communications, or a related field
• 5+ years of extensive experience in fashion (as an editor, buyer, etc.)
• Experience forecasting fashion trends (e.g. WGSN or EDITD)
• A powerful eye for image selections
• Impeccable communication and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated ability to successfully manage tasks in constrained time limits
• Proven client relations experience from relevant work

Additionally, foreign language proficiency and heavy addiction to the following are a big plus: blogs in general, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Digg, Flickr, etc.

The ideal candidate will be organized, ambitious, and have an undying passion for fashion. This person will also be adept at drawing intelligible, comprehensive conclusions about vast stores of information found in the fashion industry as a whole. Great talent grows fast at Whispr Group. Oh, and you’ll be working with a badass group of people.

Please send your resume/CV and a description of why you want to work for Whispr Group to Linda and she will set you up.

linda@whisprgroup.com
+1.212.924.3979

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Dunbar’s number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person.^[1] Proponents assert that numbers larger than this generally require more restrictive rules, laws, and enforced norms to maintain a stable, cohesive group. No precise value has been proposed for Dunbar’s number. It has been proposed to lie between 100 and 230, with a commonly used value of 150.^[2] Dunbar’s number states the number of people one knows and keeps social contact with, and it does not include the number of people known personally with a ceased social relationship, nor people just generally known with a lack of persistent social relationship, a number which might be much higher and likely depends on long-term memory size.

As we entered the industrial society, family- and tribe sizes decreased. Paired with the acceleration of mass media, celebrities started to play an even more significant role in our lives. The theory holds up for average persons, but how does it works for the celebrities and/or influencers themselves? The strange mass media phenomenon is that certain individuals tends to be a part of many people’s tribes, but without reciprocity. The relationship simply doesn’t have to be mutual, a pretty cynical new world order indeed.

However, in a social media world where you can walk into an old classmate in the streets, an individual who you haven’t physically met or spoken to in decades, but you can still know that that person actually went on a spectacular vacation last week. Because you’ve seen the pictures on Facebook.

Moreover, I would say I do know 150 people that I’ve spent time with over the years. But I also know 150 colleagues that I’ve had. I would say I know 150 people from the PR industry. And 150 people who are social media naturals. How does this work? I love this simple model by Viil Lid, PhD candidate in Communication & Information Sciences at University of Hawaii:

When I’m asked what makes the “social media revolution” so special, I always say that never before in human history have we seen human groups forming at such speeds, almost totally independent of demographic factors. It’s the multiplication of Dunbar’s Number at the interest group level.

Now, Victor Hugo famously said that there’s no army in the world who can measure up to an idea which time has arrived. As social connections are reciprocal in a multitude of low-friction interest groups, ideas are simply traveling faster from individual to individual. However, this effect is so massive, that many are fooled into describing rapids spreads as “viral”. However, viral spreads implies social scaling, but the only actual scaling that takes place is the forming of intricate layers of interest group relationships, like a central nervous system in which signals can travel.

What makes the effects of digital spread show likeness to viral infections are the fact that there are boundary spanners, individual nodes who has existing relationships in several different types of interest networks.

For each of these networks, Vil Liid once again shows us a powerful info graphic that I’ve been using on several of the seminars I’ve given:

So one question is, how many “Dunbar Number Interest Tribes” can a single individual sustain? If we dig deeper into this question, we soon must determine the strength of the bindings between individuals. Interestingly enough, we see Dunbar’s Number once again functioning as a divider of the two largest groups in terms of social penetration.

For social media marketing, this explains:

• Social doesn’t scale, but tapping into several different and pre-existing interest group systems does
• Spread is dependent not primarily on volume exposure, but on niched social incentives
• What you expect from an individual depends on their layer of engagement, not their demographics

But a word to the wise: Keep an holistic approach to scaling in social media. If you’re creating an campaign, it’s important to cater to the inner circles for sure, but don’t forget the outer circles. Because your brand needs to be relevant to them as well.

I use Seth Godin’s model to explain why:

The funnel can be seen as a simply way of describing Lid’s models above, but what I like about this model is that it makes it clear that there’s a journey from the periphery to the center. You start any relationship, whether to an individual or a brand, by being a stranger. Not every stranger becomes a friend and the deeper the relationship, the bigger the gravitational effort is required.

So your social media strategy really needs to not only cater to the fans, but also converting strangers into the funnel. But not any strangers, because if you attract the wrong interest groups, then you will be on a path to turning your brand into something that won’t be good for business.

This also explains why true passion and authenticity serves as shortcuts to success, why sharing is caring and good for business. But the über-smart digital strategists are also making their way in this new climate; not by scaling social or going for viral, but by understanding the dynamics of social psychology in leveraging data-driven marketing strategies.

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