#openjournalism

El redactor jefe del Guardian acaba de publicar en su timeline de Twitter los 10 principios que describirían el OpenJournalism:

1. It encourages participation. It invites and/or allows a response #openjournalism

2. It is not an inert, “us” to “them” form of publishing #openjournalism

3. It encourages others to initiate debate.We can follow, as well as lead.We involve others pre-publication #openjournalism

4. It helps form communities of joint interest around subjects, issues or individuals #openjournalism

5.It's open to the web. It links to, and collaborates with, other material (including services) on the web #openjournalism

6. It aggregates and/or curates the work of others #openjournalism

7. It recognizes that journalists are not the only voices of authority, expertise and interest #openjournalism

8. It aspires to achieve, and reflect, diversity as well as promoting shared values #openjournalism

9. It recognizes that publishing can be the beginning of the journalistic process rather than the end #openjournalism ..

10. It is transparent and open to challenge – including correction, clarification and addition #openjournalism

Everyone is talking about the Guardian spot that showed up on TV a couple of weeks ago. They’re already calling it the biggest spot of the year.  Here’s a video of the spot done by BBH/London in case you haven’t seen it yet.

What’s amazing about this ad is that there are many lessons that come from it. For one, its saying that marketers have a new whole new way to think about marketing.  It’s not so much that you put out content for people to be attracted to the Internet anymore—it’s about making your audience apart of that content now.  In the Guardian spot, the concept of #opennews was illustrated where the news as far as the Guardian was concerned, was not only about spitting out facts anymore about what has happened, it’s about how people’s opinions turn stories into better stories.  Who cares what’s going on, what do people have to say about what’s going on now?  If marketers somehow used this concept, (maybe call it #openmarketing?), then they could turn the content they are using to boost a brand image into content that the audience is apart of and creates.  It makes so much more sense if you think about it—humans like to be apart of these communities where we feel as if we belong.  Once we’re in those communities, we start to care about what’s going on, and more—what people think about them.  It instantly turns the consumer into a brand loyalist and advocate.  And those advocates are the key to getting more consumers on board.

For example, Google is trying to promote their new social network, Google +.  Google + is no doubt a lot better functioning than Facbeook.  It’s a lot more advanced, and people can interact a lot better with their friends and family.  It’s also perfect for sharing and learning.  The way that Google + presents things to our friends on our news feeds is so much more efficient and aesthetically-pleasing than Facebok.  So why haven’t people flocked to it yet?   In order to be successful, Google + needs to learn from the Guardian spot and use this concept of #openmarketing where the consumer is the one behind the driver’s seat of your marketing.  Let it be the consumer’s job to market your product for you.  Seems easy—but it’s not.  What I would suggest Google does to promote itself is to have the already Google advocates tell their stories about why Google + is so much better than Facebook.  The ones who already have their whole friends network on Google’s social platform.  Have users submit their entries via YouTube video, and feature the most interesting ones with the most +1s.  This way the consumer is the one driving the story, they are the ones to choose which links are worthy enough to be shared on every other platform and thus create more avid Google + users.

The other important aspect about this spot was that it showcased how easily accessible every brand should be from every platform available.  The Guardian can be accessed online, via mobile, and via a tablet or e-Reader.  They make it so it’s easy to give your opinions about different stories, and then they write about it.  If marketers learned from this and thus made it easy for their consumers to access their marketing from every platform easily, then their campaigns could be so much more successful. We are always on the go now, and in order for brands to keep up with the conversation they need to give people easy access to those conversing.  For example, let’s take the brands who have a cause behind them (which creates a community of those who feel the same way about the cause through buying and representing that brand), like Toms for instance who gives a pair of shoes to a child who needs them for every pair you buy.  If users were apart of the journey of the pair of shoes that gives to a child in need, they might feel more inclined to share and buy more shoes.  What if we could follow every pair of shoes that we bough from Toms and were led through it’s journey (like a tracking system from the US to Africa)?  Better yet, what if the audience could help determine where those shoes go?  The more comments and sharing they do, the better off the chance that the shoes will end up to where the consumers see the most fit.  That’s making your consumer apart of your marketing.