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Digital Center of Excellence

>> Listen to the audio version to find out additional commentary and notes about the topics discussed in this post!

Download the MP3 file (8.0Mb, 16:37) – Get the show on iTunes!

This is part of a series of posts that explores the “Adaptive Digital Strategy Framework” , an operative guide that I created to plan, execute and manage online strategy programs more effectively and efficiently. Each of post of this series comes with an audio podcast in which you will find the audio version of the post with additional audio commentary about the discussed topics. The name of the podcast is “FIR On Strategy with Andrea Vascellari”.

I briefly mentioned the Center of Excellence when we talked about digital governance models, but in this post we’ll dive deep into it understanding what exactly is a Digital Center of Excellence, why it’s important, what are its main responsibilities and how we can establish one in our organizations.

What’s a Center of Excellence?

In general, Center of Excellence (COE), also known as a competency center or a capability center, refers to a team or an entity that provides leadership in a determined focus area.

For us this focus area is digital, so we can describe the COE as a centralized hub for digital excellence between executive layers and business units.

The COE empowers the existing management and execution roles within each division to introduce digital elements as they apply to each circumstance while still centralizing the resources and intelligence necessary to guide stakeholders. This COE team is often run and managed by a Social/Digital Strategist. The executive management team responsible for the direction of the brand though, remains at the center. Continue reading “Digital Center of Excellence”

How to Identify Digital Governance Models

>> Listen to the audio version to find out additional commentary and notes about the topics discussed in this post! Download the MP3 file (10.4Mb, 21:36) – Get the show on iTunes!

We have already explored the main governance models that describe how organizations are internally structured to embrace new media and emerging communication technologies. If you are not familiar with digital governance models, before moving on, I encourage you to read/listen to my previous post/cast. You will learn more about existing digital governance models and about the “Temporary Decentralization Model”, a model that I created and that it’s extremely helpful to analyze and solve specific strategic problems that can’t be solved by a single unit, by the top management or by the center of excellence alone.

Ok, ready? Let’s get cracking.

We get digital governance models, what’s next?

After I introduce an internal team to the different digital governance models, even if it’s the first time they hear about such models, the characteristics of each model are clear to them. The problems start to emerge when it’s time to analyze, vote or decide on which model they think they are or want to be in. In general it’s very difficult for them to come to an agreement. This usually translates into a waste of time and productivity.

This is a problem that I still see constantly faced by internal teams in large but also in mid-sized organizations, so I decided to dedicate an additional post to this topic. Today I’m going to share with you a specific methodology that I use and that will help you define more efficiently and accurately your digital governance model. Continue reading “How to Identify Digital Governance Models”

Digital Governance: The Temporary Decentralization Model

>> Listen to the audio version to find out additional commentary and notes about the topics discussed in this post!

Download the MP3 file (9.2Mb, 18:42) – Get the show on iTunes!

The governance models adopted to decentralize strategic digital responsibilities play an essential role in how an organization performs. Especially for large organizations, decentralization is what guarantees to the management the flexibility required to conduct projects successfully in today’s ever changing environment.

In this post we will explore existing digital governance models and I will introduce you to a new model that helps you analyze and solve specific strategic issues that can’t be solved by a single unit, by the top management or by the center of excellence alone. This is what I called the “Temporary Decentralization Model”. Continue reading “Digital Governance: The Temporary Decentralization Model”

Strategic Online Marketing & Advertising

UPDATE:

Big thank you to @vascellari for a great presentation on current, new and emerging technology. A+++. Visit itive.net.

— Ad Club of Toledo (@adclubtoledo) November 16, 2011

The Advertising Club of Toledo recently invited me as the guest speaker for their monthly luncheon program held at the Toledo Club in – you guessed it – Toledo, Ohio.

My presentation focused on strategic online advertising and marketing, but in order to make sure I addressed the interests and questions of people who would be attending the luncheon, I created a survey that people could fill out and submit beforehand so I could tailor a few points to their input. Continue reading “Strategic Online Marketing & Advertising”

Advertising Club of Toledo – Luncheon Program

On November 16th, I’ll be speaking at the Advertising Club of Toledo‘s monthly luncheon program in Toledo, Ohio (U.S.A.). The general theme of my talk will be about strategic online advertising and marketing.

As I finish to prepare my presentation, I would like to know what AdClub members are most interested in learning about, their professional background, and their level of experience in the “digital space”, so that I can tailor a few points of my presentation to their interests and experiences.

For example, would AdClub members like to know more about how to use social media within their advertising/marketing strategies? About the importance of creating relevant content as part of a digital strategy? Or perhaps about any campaigns with a positive ROI where new tactics made the difference?

Those are just a couple of examples to get the juices flowing, but please go ahead and fill out the following form and I will incorporate your interests into my final presentation.

You can also feel free to email me at andrea@itive.net or @/DM me on Twitter – @vascellari

And just a friendly remember that registration for the luncheon must be made by Monday, November 14th.

Thanks for your input and I look forward to meeting and speaking with you on November 16th!
I’d like to thank Joe & Nick from UlrichPinciotti Design Group for sponsoring my presentation.

Andrea

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The Final Stretch

Almost there! My team and I have been busy putting our blood, sweat and tears into the restructuring and upcoming launch of our new “digital brain” at itive.net. We’re almost ready to go, but have a few more details to wrap up. In the meantime, I encourage you to head over to the site and take a sneak peek at our new look. While you’re there:

you can check out our latest video
and sign up for our newsletter

so you’ll be in the loop when the site is back up and running 100% :). Of course, I always appreciate your feedback so if you’d like, go ahead and let me know what you think of the new style!

Andrea

Top 20 Social Media Influencers and Beyond…

Kristi Hines (@kikolani) published a nice list of “The 20 most influential people in social media” and Simon Kemp (@eskimon) did a good job in this thread reminding us all that since more than 80% of the world’s social media users live outside of the US it would be a good idea to add some other influential names beyond America’s shores to the list.

Brava Kristi and bravo Simon. So far so good.

Krishna De is an outstanding communicator and a long time digital-friend. She suggested that I could be considered as an influencer in Finland. First of all, I’d like to thank Krishna for mentioning me as an influencer. I tend to work with my “head down”, putting all the passion and commitment I have into everything I do in this industry. Ultimately, my greatest reward is to see a satisfied smile on the face of whoever I’m working with because what we did together meant something to them and made a difference. So, when someone points me out for any reason related to what I do, I feel honored.

Secondly, though, after reading the following comment I felt that I should probably clarify my position a bit and give out a little bit more information about what I do since I have been – and still am – very involved in the Finnish social media and technology space…

If you can’t see/load the picture above:

Jaana Nyström – +Krishna De New York in Finland now? 🙂 +Andrea Vascellari has nothing to do with Finland, I think? Must be an error this…

Not wanting to promote myself but I’m the “Google+ envoy in Finland”, according to the local Google Industry Manager… At least I’m diligent! 😀

For those of you who have been connected with me for a while now, you are probably aware that my company and I work on international projects, but for the sake of this thread on G+, here’s my reply which just focuses on some of the ways I’ve been “influential” in Finland.

Hi Everyone,

Hi Jaana,

Jaana I’ve been living and working in Finland since 2005 and I’ve been researching and studying the Finnish information society cluster since 2002.

In Finland, I’m currently running several projects for national and local governments, regional development, B2B, B2C, pharma and education. If you have a look at the people/connections we commonly share here on Google+ you’ll notice that I’m well-networked with the Finnish social media sphere 😉

I’m often a contributor to various international podcasts sharing my point of view from the Finnish perspective (but not only, since I have Italian-Canadian roots) specifically in the fields of PR, marketing and communications. In addition to that, since public speaking is part of what I do, I’ve been invited to speak at some of the largest conferences in Finland i.e. Mindtrek, ITK, etc. If you quickly browse through my Linkedin profile you’ll notice that I’ve been invited as an official blogger to many industry conferences, such as the LeWeb, Web 2.0 Expo, etc. and I’ve also represented Finland at two editions of the Bloggers World Forum respectively in Bucharest and Vienna. So these are most likely some of the reasons why you’ll find a fairly large group of people worldwide referring to me when they think of Finland – it’s the same for me when I think of Ireland and 2 names immediately come to mind Krishna De (@krishnade) and Bernie Goldbach (@topgold).

On the other hand, leading an international digital strategy agency requires me to travel quite often, but my home is currently in Finland. My team and I work across 4 continents and we recently opened a new office in New York (NYC) so the information you see on my Twitter profile refers to that. I hope this explains and clarifies everything.

Andrea @vascellari

– Good to meet you, Jaana. Andrea

4 Steps to Reach your Target Audience

What are some of the first steps a business owner should take when creating his or her digital strategy? I shared 4 tips to better reach your target audience during an interview with Andrea Genovese of Wind Business Factor. The video is in Italian, but the original transcript has been translated into English below by my team at itive.net. Enjoy!
Andrea

The Experience of a Business Owner

When a business owner is going to use the web for the first time he or she should keep a few important things in mind. First and foremost, a business owner should no longer think of the web or “digital world” as something disconnected from the real one.

Today, the web is constantly evolving. And a consumer and a business owner can do business exactly as they would if they were downtown “IRL” (in real life).

First, the most important thing to understand is where you are as a business and where you would like to go. Therefore, at this initial starting point there is a need to create a digital strategy that will allow you to reach your goals.

Second, you should analyze the tactics that will be utilized to achieve your objectives and reach the finish line. After that, you could reach out for support from somebody who has experience in this arena. It could be a web agency like us at itive.net, it could be an external consultant, an online communicator who in a certain sense could help you move through these “first steps” of the digital world.

Before you start to do any of this, though, be silent and use these, one of the most important organs we have, your ears. You have to listen carefully in order to learn about what is happening in your niche market. You have to be attentive listeners and figure out the dynamics that are in your market, as well as to identify the needs of your consumers. Once you understand the current situation within your market, you should contribute to the conversation and become an active member who interacts with the digital communication dynamics that are already taking place in your field.

In summary, the 4 tips for creating digital strategy are:

Listen to what is happening within your niche market
Analyze the market dynamics
Evaluate the needs of your consumers
Contribute to the conversation and to the digital dynamics

If you’re interested in creating your digital strategy with us, feel free to contact us or go ahead and click here to fill out a “get started” form and we’ll help you get there!

Do You Need an Infographic?

Do you need an infographic? You might want to talk to these guys.
These are some nice graphical summaries that Daniel, Carla and Bauke created during my talk last week at the Switch Conference in Porto (Portugal). Their contact info is below, enjoy!
Andrea

Daniel, Carla, Bauke and me in Porto

Digital Evolution at Switch 2011

This weekend I’ll be speaking at the 2011 edition of the Switch Conference in Porto (Portugal).

“Switch is a two-day event that gathers people with different background experiences to discuss technology, science, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation in a network-friendly environment.”

My presentation will focus on ‘Digital Evolution’. I will talk about why the need to constantly evolve in the digital space has become something that isn’t just important but necessary for anyone who wants to succeed. I’ll explain why we have to re-think of websites as ‘digital brains’ instead of a simple ‘online presence’ and I’ll give 5 practical tips on how to prevent and eventually overcome 5 of the most frequent causes of digital extinction that brands, organizations and at times also individuals are facing today.