It's the most wonderful time of the year, and, no, I don't mean the one from the Andy Williams song. It's time to update the social media slides in our presentation decks as we, with hope in our eyes and longing in our profit margins, look forward to the promise of new business ushered in by the coming new year.

Yes Virginia, this will all be on the test, so study like your job depends on it. Because it just might.

(Via Erik Qualman.)

October 8-12 brought the third incarnation of Digital Atlanta, a weeklong event targeting topics in social & digital media marketing.  Attracted by the awesomely affordable registration fee (free, in my case, as I signed up early; $25 for later birds) and impressive lineup of sessions, I joined a healthy number of my greater-Atlanta-based digital media associates in talking all things digital over all types of platforms.

Early in a panel-led discussion on "How Content is Evolving Digital Media," a question was posed to the audience regarding how many in the room did not hold a cable television subscription. Hands rapidly shot up -- a testament to the sea change in traditional media consumption that has left some cable executives a little hot under the collar.

What does this say about consumer behavior? According to a recent Nielsen study, 53% of people between the ages of 18 and 49 choose to view their video content online as opposed to traditional TV. The implication here is that digital media, particularly in regard to television, is transitioning into a highly personalized, choice-driven market.

Thanks to the advent of DVRs; multi-purpose gaming devices; and, of course, the Internet, consumers are more discerning than ever when it comes to when, how, and where they get their content fix. For the majority...

If we had it our way the entire world would be wirelessly connected. Unfortunately, this is not yet the case. From a profit and customer satisfaction standpoint, there are many places that should be wirelessly connected.

With the increasing popularity of smart phones and mobile applications, consumers today are using smart phone as a personal shopping consultant and more. But what happens if the consumer is unable to connect to this "personal shopping consultant" while in store? Will they decide not purchase? Is this a missed opportunity for the retailer?

Interestingly enough,  a consumer survey by Deloitte found that "37 percent of shoppers who tried to use a mobile application in-store were unable to because they didn't have connectivity." There are many reasons why this is a missed opportunity. It leaves the consumer unable to search for online ratings, connect with online sales promotions, and social share any content or feedback. It also leaves the consumer unable to engage with the retailer's own mobile application while in-store. The survey also showed that "while mobile shopping increased from 43 percent to 50 percent in the past year, internet connectivity did not."

Surely it does not matter how robust your mobile application is if your customer can't access it while in store. Personally, if I'm able to research the web, leverage mobile apps, and social network while shopping; I'm likely to stay longer and buy...

What do John Galliano, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, David Sokol, Tony Hayward, Gilbert Gottried, Rebekah Brooks, and Charlie Sheen have in common?

They all damaged the integrity of their brands, intentionally or not, with actions that could have been prevented – or at least planned for.

Jonathan Copulsky of Deloitte presented his panel called Brand Resilience: Managing Risk and Recovery in a High Speed World at Social Media Masters in Atlanta on Friday to help spread the awareness of brand resilience. “If you’re not thinking about this, you’re fooling yourself. Not having a brand defense is as silly as not having a smoke detector in your home.”

Copulsky cited the free and exponentially frequent passing of information on all media forms as one of the major reasons for having a plan in advance. There’s nothing the media loves more than a juicy bite of brand mishap – it reveals the all too hidden underbelly of the beast that is supposed to have an impenetrable shell.

“Some of the worst cases of...