This week I attended NEXT Conference 2011 in Berlin. It was a fantastic opportunity to rub shoulders with some great marketers from Germany and abroad. The theme of the event was Data Love. I have to admit that although there were interesting discussions on the topic of data, what I found most valuable was to hear what companies were doing in realm of social media and branding. In these sessions, we were able hear some great case studies about companies like Ben & Jerry’s, Microsoft, SoundCloud, Deutsche Bank and Etsy. In later blog posts, I would like to drill down in more detail into what I learned from each of these sessions because each is a great example of how companies offer exceptional brand  experiences.

My biggest take aways/reminders from the event were these:

• Remember that not every member of your social media audience is created equal in terms of their affinity for social media. Much like you have to segment an audience to tailor your message to them, you also have to segment them in terms of the means through which the message is communicated. For example, you may notice a particular group that is very active on Twitter, while another focuses on Facebook or may be easier to reach by delivering digital media, such as a viral video on YouTube. Segment for how you deliver the message too.
• Using social gaming for internal collaboration works. I really cannot wait to share more about what Microsoft did in this regard. Stay tuned!
• The importance of community, whether it be in a B2B or B2C environment cannot be ignored. It takes time – a lot of time for a company to support and moderate but it can really pay off. SoundCloud and Etsy gave some great insight on this.
• Beware of the use of social games like Foursquare as a means to drive traffic to a booth at an event. I saw this done at the event in a way that failed miserably because the company did not anticipate people would circumvent the rules they set up for the game. As in all things we do, we simply need to think things through completely from beginning to end, doing the best we can to anticipate hiccups and pitfalls.  Otherwise, you risk doing damage to your brand by people who are disgruntled over problems you created. No one is perfect, you won’t catch everything but I was glad to be a participant in the game (not the organizer) who can learn from mistakes made.

In any case, the overall experience was great. I hope I get to attend NEXT year!

A campaign recently came to my attention that I found to be very creative. It was a PR campaign in the United Kingdom that was headed up by Hous PR and Frank PR called Extreme Vicar. This was a contest for 16 local vicars to win a chance to conduct a special service at one of two amusement parks, Alton Towers or Thorpe Park on Easter Sunday. The vicars were required to perform acts of clergical piety like holding a bible while on ride. It did provide some very nice photo opps and garnered some great press attention from a number of  the national and regional dailies in the UK.

Although the reality show format is not original, I find the vicar concept to be brilliant. What a great way to generate some interest in the brands from a campaign perspective. What I like most about it is that they could directly link the campaign to specific business results since they were likely trying to drive visitors to these parks on Easter Sunday. It would be interesting to know what the final numbers were. What a great way to not only promote these brands. I’ve personally been to Alton Towers and somehow this makes me want to return!

My wife and I are finally catching up with life after a year of extreme parenting (twins). Every day is a pure delight but it has been crazily intense. I am now trying to catch up on interesting happenings I missed during the last year plus and have noticed that Groupon has come to Germany. I know, I know – we’re behind. In any case, we signed up today and have already found some great deals near where we live. It’s great when novel ideas like this make the leap across the pond. Now I just need to get some friends so I can get some free vouchers.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Groupon, let me give you a quick overview. Groupon is a U.S.-based company offering “an easy way to get huge discounts while discovering fun activities in your city. Each day (they) feature a cool new experience at an unbeatable price in dozens of cities across the country.” It is a great concept and the revenue potential is huge, since they generally keep 50 percent of the coupon’s value. This year alone, they are projected to pull in $400 million in revenue according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal.

Groupon got their real foothold in Germany after purchasing Citydeal from the (in)famous Samwer brothers (they are worth their own blog post). Now it will be interesting to see if this concept takes off in the here. With deals in close to 100 German cities, I am confident it will. I am also fairly sure our household will become a power user.

Visit Groupon.com or Groupon.de and see if you like it.

I recently had breakfast with an amateur-turned-professional blogger here in Germany. He is now part of the Mercedes editorial team, tasked with following Mercedes-Benz’ SLS AMG from launch to road and beyond. First of all, it is a great blog and I think you need to check it out – SLS AMG Reporter. As I spoke with him, he said something that was a great reminder about one of the keys to successful blogging – authenticity. We who blog pick topics that truly interest us. We write because we are passionate and that is in part what we write compelling and even credible. My goal is to keep it real. Blog about things that truly interest me and I hope it will interest you.

My conversation also made me think about social media adoption here in Germany. Of course social media is hot here like it is everywhere else. Many companies are looking for people to manage their social media strategies. Digital PR agencies are popping up and traditional PR agencies are creating social media practices to compliment the usual PR practices. However, I still feel adoption lagging far behind what one sees in English-speaking countries.  Corporate social media strategies lack the sophistication that many companies have developed in North America and the UK to address customer service, increase brand loyalty and promote thought leadership. However, there is a growing number of companies tapping into the power of social media in Germany. For example, in recent months I have seen the o2 Crew campaigns on Facebook. This was sponsored by mega-telco o2, starting with a campaign for the MTV music awards in Berlin. o2 invited people to follow them on Facebook and to recruit “crews” composed of as many friends and acquaintances as they could find to join. The biggest crews won tickets to the concert. It appears to have been a success for o2 because they are carrying on with additional campaigns. The car manufacturers are catching on to this too, as evidenced by the example I gave previously. I also know that Forrester has praised BMW for its social media savvy. Even with all of these examples, I am still left with a hollow social media vibe in Germany. I am waiting for the day where I will see invitations in German enticing me to follow a company on Facebook or Twitter. I am still waiting for the day when I do not almost immediately become the Foursquare mayor of various places I visit – except for HH Hbf – I cannot seem to oust the mayor there !  I guess until social media becomes more ubiquitous in Germany,  I can enjoy Foursquare political domination.

One of the benefits of living and working in Germany are the extra holidays one gets in comparison with the U.S.  I absolutely love it! This on top of six weeks of vacation instead of two or three is an absolute dream. It almost makes me never want to return to the States during my working life.

There was a time when I used to think all that Germans do is go on vacation. I asked myself, how can they possibly be productive? How can a company function? How can this be one of the strongest economies in the world? Now I see the light and I firmly believe that this is one of the keys to their success.

For example, I have observed how hard my German colleagues work. Yes, there are times when they play hard but when they are at work – they work and in general, they give what they owe to their employer in terms of time and results. Perhaps this is due in part to the fact that they know they can work hard because they have a vacation coming up. I think further to this is the that Germans know what it means to enjoy and savor life. This may come as a surprise and some may strongly disagree but I will stand by it – Germans are all about Genuß (enjoyment)! Whether it be a good book, a fine wine or coffee, a work of art, a play, music or food, Germans approach enjoyment in a way that other cultures do not. I find the difference to come from their logical, intellectual and even philosophical approach to life. It is an enjoyment that starts in the mind and goes down and ruminates in heart. This turns a wonderful dinner, a walk with dog/child (topic for another blog post), or a cup of coffee in the morning into a “vacational” experience. So really – Germans are on vacation literally and figuratively the majority of the time. We just need to learn to enjoy life in the quiet and stoically dignified way that my German friends do. Geniessen Sie es!

Sometimes I feel like I am in a technological bubble in Europe when it comes to social media, since latest and greatest is most often coming from the U.S. Why am I only now becoming acquainted with Foursquare?!  I have observed my brother using it as his Foursquare updates appear on Facebook and only had mild interest as he became mayor of various restaurants and other business venues. Now that I am using it myself, I recognize I have been missing out on the fun of the game and my chance to contribute to the growing Foursquare community in Germany. I am now trying to check in wherever I can, not only because I want to become mayor of as many places as possible but more importantly because I can contribute to the Foursquare experience of others by providing information about the places I visit.

I found an interesting observation in an article by Ari Adler about the difference between Twitter and Facebook on Ragan.com. In the article, article referred to communications consultant, Ike Piggot, who believes “Twitter is about the here and now, whereas Foursquare is more about the here when you need it.” Foursquare obviously has much potential to deliver content to its users that is contextually relevant. There are amazing possibilities here!

Europe – This week I was walking through the train station when someone handed me a free copy of the Süddeutsche Zeitung. On the front page there was a very colorful picture of President Barack Obama and a fascinating story about the latest cultural craze in Germany – the Obama musicial. I studied to be a profefssional singer,  so  this story mixed well with my penchant for politics. I read with interest how “Hope – the Obama Musical Story”puts the 2008 presidential election to music. I was surprised to find that this musical did not come from a zealous Democrat based in the States but rather Europeans who have been inspired by President Obama’s promise of change at home and abroad.

This musical comes to the stage at a time when President Obama’s performance  is under close scrutiny. He is also facing a blow to his presidency and the Democratic party with a recent special election to replace the late Senator Edward Kennedy and the success of Republican Senator-elect Brown. I do not think we can quite call this a dark time for the Democratic party but storm clouds certainly do appear to be gathering as mid-term elections draw nearer. I am sure many Democrats are longing for the days leading up to the election in 2008 that brought Obama to power with the claim “Yes we can!” Maybe putting this claim to music will put new life into this claim – who knows. In any case, President Obama and his team can take comfort in the fact that his popularity is so solid in Germany, he has inspired people to burst into song and dance.

My wife and I flew home to the United States for the holidays with Air France and SkyTeam founder, Delta Airlines. My experience with Delta has almost always been outstanding. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for their colleagues at Air France. In the past, Air France has lost my luggage and I found their staff to be less than helpful or pleasant, which is typical of many continental European companies. This time was no different but I really felt that Air France stooped to a new low.

As the time approached for our return to Europe, my wife and I decided it would be good for her and our seven month old twins to spend more time in the U.S. with family. Naturally, we thought we would be able to change her ticket without any difficulty. Our greatest challenge was to find someone who would be willing to travel home with my wife and accompany one of our children. Once we identified who this person was, we started the process of changing my wife’s ticket. Our first call to Air France was with someone who was not a native English speaker and who we thought had difficulty understanding us. We were told that we could not change our ticket. Thinking that there was some kind of misunderstanding caused by a language barrier, we decided to go directly to the airport and speak with a Delta agent (we have no direct Air France presence at our airport). The agent looked at my wife’s ticket and told her she should be able to change her ticket with no problem but that he could not change the ticket since it was issued by Air France. The agent advised that we call Air France when their U.S. call center opens, so that we have someone who is a native English speaker and who may be friendlier and more helpful. I decided I did not want to wait and called that evening. To Air France’s credit, I finally got through to someone who spoke excellent English. I explained to the service representative what the situation was and he said it would be no problem to change the ticket. He then put the ticket on hold for 24 hours in order to give us sufficient time to coordinate with my wife’s friend and her brother who would be booking their tickets that evening.

The next day, everything seemed to be in place. Air France had indicated we could change the ticket, we had two other adults booked to fly with my wife back to Germany and we were planning for a smooth departure for me the following day. When we called to confirm the ticket change and pay the expected fee, Air France informed us that my wife’s ticket could not be changed. We were dumbfounded, since we had spoken with Delta and Air France, who after reviewing the restrictions informed us we could change the ticket. This began a struggle with Air France, that lasted for hours as we repeatedly pointed out to them, that it was their own agent who told us we could change the ticket and had even put it on hold for us. For hours they refused to take responsibility for this. They did not seem to care that not only were they inconveniencing my family of two adults and two children who had spent thousands of dollars on tickets but also two other individuals who had bought their tickets based on the green light from their own agent. Eventually, a call center manager spoke with my wife. This woman was decidedly more helpful than the others had been and decided to listen to the conversation we had with the agent. She told us she would call us back (it was approximately four hours before our flight was to leave) as we scrambled to get everything packed in case my wife had to fly. Two hours later, we called (yes – WE called) and got through to the call center manager again and she changed the ticket.

While in the States, I was at a shopping mall and while waiting for my wife, was reading a sign from by the shopping mall’s management that read:

1. Rule number one, the customer is always right

2. When in doubt, refer to rule number one

I really think Air France could benefit from abiding by rules like these. Does a company ever really lose when it offers exceptional customer service? No! Companies must understand that word inevitably gets around – especially with tools, such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook. As I indicated earlier, I really feel that many European companies lag behind in customer service and Air France is definitely no exception. I hope someday they will learn their lesson and make improvements. To their credit, they came through in the end and made the change but the hours of wasted time I could have been spending with my family are to me inexcusable. What I really want is a refund!

I returned yesterday from an extended vacation to the United States. After a brief layover in Paris, I flew over a white a gray patchwork of fields covered in snow to Hamburg. I was told when I moved here that most people did not even put snow tires on their cars (not that it does not get colder here – I can attest to the fact that it does indeed get VERY cold) it simply does not snow like this in this part of the world. My taxi driver last night told me they have not had weather like this since 1979. Reading news reports on the topic, it appears that cities near the Baltic Sea by snow and waves. Here is a picture of what I woke up to this morning on my way to the train.

Hamburg is a wonderful city buzzing with life – even on a cold, frosty morning. Living in Europe gives you perspective on how the past interacts with the future. I work across the street from the beautiful structure. The company I work for is a high-tech, enterprise software provider. Although I live thousands of kilometers away from Silicon Valley, I am finding that Hamburg, Germany is also a center for technological know-how and innovation. I am looking forward to blogging more about current trends on a variety of topics that relate to U.S. and Europe.