Madison Who’s Who Blog

Effective global marketing isn’t necessarily always elegant and polished. A recent campaign launched by Axe hinges on the phrase “Bom Chic Wah Wah.” And it is a smart campaign because it addresses a demographics that is considered the most powerful consumer group extant; the global youth culture.

“This highly influential group…is sharing ideas and information across borders and driving demand for consumer electronics, entertainment, autos, food, and fashion. Think of it as a virtual melting pot. As the population of the young and Web-savvy grows into the hundreds of millions, the pot is going to boil. “This kind of globalization is happening…it’s growing fast, and it’s going to take a lot of companies by surprise…”

The above from Business Week’s very comprehensive piece positing the enormous ramifications from “The Children of the Web”, as they are therein referred to, postulating that “..addressing this vast market of globally dispersed young people will force companies to become new kinds of multinationals’”

This is spawning some unique network strategies, as demonstrated by the evolution of clubbing into a mashup with social networking.

“…Malini Agarwal, a 30-year-old radio deejay in Mumbai… daughter of an Indian diplomat, Agarwal settled down in the city and two years ago launched Friday Club, which organizes social gatherings and now has branches in four Indian cities plus Hong Kong, London, New York, and Toronto. The club’s multinational members make plans, keep in touch, and share photos via social networking sites. “It’s a global family,” Agarwal says.
(Source)

A very long piece but well worth the read.

Effective global networking has made entrepreneurial endeavors a global phenomenon, not just an American one. Entrepreneurship is no longer looked at askance but,in fact, a recent study found “that 64% of 18- to 24-year-olds in Britain were actively considering entrepreneurship as a career choice–the highest percentage ever measured.”

“Economic growth in Europe is faster than in the U.S. Reform-minded governments are chopping away the red tape that stifles small business. The Internet is knocking down barriers faster than a thousand ponderous directives from Brussels. And mobile young people, nursed on wireless phones and the Web, are fanning out across the continent in search of new business opportunities.
[..]
There is a stronger focus on entrepreneurship in many European universities. Whether this is spurring young people on or just meeting market demand is not clear. But it will help improve their success rates and will certainly reinforce the trend toward more young people pursing entrepreneurial career paths.”

As they did last year, BusinessWeek.com has undertaken to identify Europe’s most promising young entrepreneurs 25 and under.

The candidates in this year’s contest are surprisingly different from the 15 who made the cut last year…. For one thing, fewer are from Britain and, for the first time, three are from former Iron Curtain countries. There were no nominees this year from France or Germany, but instead we have candidates from Spain and Italy. And the businesses are much more tilted to software and the Internet—especially Web 2.0 services—although some are still in more traditional fields such as apparel, design, and beverages.”
(Source)

To review the nominees and to vote for the entrepreneur that impresses you the most, follow the link above.

If your global network markets to the top 10% of the wealthy, you are no doubt familiar with The Luxury Institute.

“The Luxury Institute is the uniquely independent and objective research institution that focuses solely on the top 10 percent of America’s wealthy. The Institute provides a portfolio of proprietary publications and research that guide and educate high net-worth individuals and the companies that cater to them on leading edge trends, wealthy consumer rankings and ratings of luxury brands, and best practices. Publications include the monthly Wealth Report, the Luxury Brand Status Index surveys, the Luxury Best Practices surveys and the Luxury Consumer Experience Index surveys”

Now available is the Luxury Institute Board, “designed to gather, synthesize, and share the collective business knowledge and wisdom of luxury professionals worldwide…”, providing valuable research that can greatly contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of the luxury executive’s global network via collaborative opportunities and shared data.

An example of one such research paper is excerpted below:

• The majority of wealthy consumers (63%) said a celebrity endorsement has no effect on their buying behavior.
• Twenty-four percent of wealthy consumers said celebrity endorsements of luxury products and services could positively influence their buying behavior, but
  product/service awareness was the main way a celebrity endorsement would influence the buying behavior.
• Wealthy consumers between the ages of 21 and 39 years old are more likely to be influenced by a celebrity endorsement.
  The endorsement would increase the luxury product/service awareness and not actual purchase. Jessica Simpson and
  Jennifer Lopez were only named by this age group as celebrities that could influence their buying behavior.
• For a celebrity to have influence they must be seen using the luxury product or service in their everyday life and the wealthy consumer must believe it is real. Which is why luxury products that are bought with emotion (and not logic) like fashion designers,jewelry, watches, and automobiles were more likely to be positively influence by
  celebrity endorsements.

(source (PDF))

I just picked up a great recipe for the famous Mighty Mo Hamburger from Bill Marriott’s blog. Imagine that!

As more and more corporate heads bite the blog bullet, more and more consumers will be rubbing cyber shoulders with the most unlikely candidates. One of the latest brands entering the blogosphere is Marriott.

E-Consultancy has an interesting post referring to a study that compares the preponderance of blogs in Fortune 500 companies to those listed in the Inc 500, demonstrating the latter’s ‘adoption rate of social media is more than twice that of the Fortune 500′.

“…we were blessed by the publication of a study of the Inc. 500, which showed their adoption rate of social media is more than twice that of the Fortune 500. Professor Nora Barnes Director at the UMD Center for Marketing Research conducted the study with her co-author Eric Mattson. Inc 500 companies are those on Inc magazine’s annual list of the 500 fastest growing privately owned companies.
With this in mind, and the fact that there is still a great deal of resistance to using any form of social media, I think we can assume that we are now seeing a split in organizational behavior.”

The writer suggests that companies strictly adhering to a command and control model are less receptive to the collaborative nature of “social media tools” than their more decentralized counterparts. By that analysis, Bill Marriott is a maverick, and if he keeps his promise to tell us a few good stories, he’ll have an audience.

There is no denying that blogs and social media have become an increasingly valuable tools for effective global marketing. To explore who amongst the Fortune 500 have or are adding this communication tool, bookmark this ongoing study and explore how the social media can make your global network more effective.