Boomerang

We’ve got a new Wolfie among our Pack. Cohn & Wolfe has launched Green Wolfie, a blog devoted to sustainability trends and issues from a global perspective. There you’ll learn how companies and consumers are going Green and doing their part to save our natural resources. It will be authored by our worldwide roster of sustainability experts including Geoff Beattie and Annie Longsworth. 

The blog coincides with the latest findings from our 2008 ImagePower Green Brands Survey produced in partnership with Landor and Penn, Schoen & Berland. The research, presented at the Sustainable Brands 08 conference, indicates that two out of three Americans think the environment is in worse shape than it was five years ago, and that lower income consumers have greater concern for the direction of the environment than wealthier consumers. Despite economic considerations, however, consumers are still willing to pay more for green products. For more information on survey results, contact Annie Longsworth at annie_longsworth@cohnwolfe.com.   

While at the Sustainable Brand 08 conference, Cohn & Wolfe conducted several video interviews with business leaders who spoke about their sustainability best practices and activities. You can view these clips on the Cohn & Wolfe YouTube channel and on the Green Wolfie blog.   

In addition, we’ve included additional content on sustainability such as articles, research and case studies on the C&W Sustainability Practice page of our corporate website.

(IMAGE CREDIT: OCCULT OF PERSONALITY)

One of most critical statements made by a presenter at Fortune’s Brainstorm Green was very simple and obvious: The environment has moved to the top of the agenda for CEOs and CIOs. One of the running themes of the event was the need – make that necessity – for NGOs, corporate America and politicians to work together on solutions before our time runs out.   The urgency of these discussions and the need for decisions were brought home by 16-year-old Avery Hairston, founder of RelightNY, who wryly concluded, “It’s great to see so many of you out there and caring for the environment even though you’re not necessarily going to inherit it.”

(George Shroder and Mike Cordano, Fabrik, Inc.)

Chris Shipley and the crew at DEMO, the premier event for introducing emerging technologies for more than 16 years, run a top-notch and well-oiled operation from their annual desert launch pad. Unlike CES and Macworld, there’s a more “make-or-break” feel to DEMO’s first public unveilings, which are broadcast live on the Web, and blogged about in real time. There’s also added pressure to deliver the golden sales pitch and big “aha” moment in less than six minutes flat to qualify as a DEMO-God. (At least in the Warhol 60’s, you had 15 minutes of fame.) 

Last week, 77 carefully selected entrepreneurs gathered on the main stage to reveal their wares to the world, while their software development teams back at the home office cheered them on. The demos are tightly scripted, including A/V cues for the broadcast crew, and the quality of lighting and sound is impressive. The best demos I saw this year were funny. Take Mandiant, for example, an enterprise security company that “Finds Evil and Solves Crimes.” The founders’ comic delivery had a campy Hawaii Five-O ambiance, but the simplicity of their messages played out quite well on the grand stage.

The DEMO experience stands out from other events in January, typically tech PR’s busiest month. It’s much less frenetic than CES, and the balmy Palm Desert air gave me a chance to dry out from the dismal weeks of San Francisco rain during Macworld. It’s a more intimate gathering that lends itself to networking for partners, making personal connections, and learning more about other great ideas and implementations in the works. Instead of journalists running from one tech giant to the next, like CES, it seemed they had more time for casual conversations, laughs and insights from smaller, innovative companies.

DEMO proved to be a fantastic launch pad for our client Fabrik’s Joggle, a new Web service for consumers frustrated by finding content spread across a variety of devices, online services and social networks. It’s one of the most extensive and interesting services yet to be based on the Adobe AIR platform. To kick off the coverage, BusinessWeek picked Joggle as one of its annual top DEMO picks, and buzz about Joggle spread across the Web quickly — including blog posts from CNET Webware, Popular Science, the San Jose Mercury News and Macworld.  

For companies planning to make a big splash with a cool new product or service, DEMO is definitely at the top of my short list of recommendations.

I don’t have an iPhone, and although I envy the people who do, I don’t have near-term plans to acquire one.  My friends regularly testify about how wonderful it is. “Get it for the touch screen,” they coo.  “The REAL Internet – Google Maps, New York Times, YouTube – all on your phone!” they exclaim.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m no Luddite – I love gadgets and gizmos and spend a substantial portion of my income on them.  I’m also not one of those people with a bizarre vendetta against Steve Jobs over the backdating thing.  In fact, I’ve been a happy Mac driver since 1999.

Here’s the thing:  I want the iPhone to be better.  I want at least one year’s worth of collective genius geek wisdom poured into this thing.  I want even more battery life.  I want it to operate on any carrier network without the hack this kid traded for a very fast car.  Of course, I also want it to do my taxes, vacuum my apartment and cook a pot roast.  Not going happen, I know.

Some things get better with age.  Sam at FL250 reminds us that an “old aviation axiom says: ‘Never fly the ‘A’ model of anything!’”  It is for this reason that I’ve held off in buying an iPhone despite the fact that I’ve purchased other first model year items like the original Sony Walkman – bought with money earned mowing/shoveling/raking about a hundred acres of suburban New York.  I’ve also been an early adopter of Internet services like now-defunct greats Webvan and Kozmo.com.   

Dan Nystedt at IDG tells us that “more than 2,700 companies will be jostling to show off their wares at CES” in Las Vegas this week.  Combine that tech orgy with Macworld, Demo, CTIA, and myriad events throughout the year and there will be plenty of shiny, sexy new things to covet.  I can’t wait to have to make those wonderful choices.

(PHOTO CREDIT: LAS VEGAS NEWS BUREAU)

Move over Facebook, enterprise software is about to steal your headlines. At least that was one prediction that came out of last week’s PRSA dinner at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. The theme of the evening, “What’s Hot and What’s Not in 2008” was a popular topic with PR pros and top technology reporters at the sold-out event. I couldn’t help but think that my colleagues in the room will be among the folks that will help establish these hot trends, companies, and technologies. And, who better to forecast emerging trends in the technology sector than the reporters whose job it is to separate hype from reality.

A panel of luminaries offered their perspectives on everything from Facebook overload to Google’s numerous product initiatives. The panel included the astute Victoria Murphy Barret of Forbes, the very musical Don Clark of the Wall Street Journal (his band “Off the Record” rocked the house), the very funny Jim Goldman of CNBC, the insightful Rob Hof of BusinessWeek, the omnipresent Robert Scoble of Podtech, and the rapid-firing Kara Swisher of All Things Digital.

For the most part, there seemed to be consensus that the looming US recession will have an adverse impact on technology. A few of the panelists commented that with the recession, the ever-popular advertising model that most Web 2.0 companies hang their hat on will no longer be enough to sustain them next year. Also predicted was the return to the limelight of heavyweights such as Microsoft, HP, Oracle and IBM, as consumer tech hype subsides a bit, more than likely a direct result of the recession. And when it was declared that “enterprise software will make a comeback in 2008” – the audience came alive and broke into fervent applause.

Sam Whitmore, everyone’s favorite confidant, was the dapper emcee of the evening while Ann Winblad was the composed and gracious panel moderator. A few more worthwhile panelist predictions for 2008:

Victoria: Consolidations will occur driven mostly by a dip in the stock market as companies ride it out. She also believes widgets will take off and be more ubiquitous.

Don Clark: Second Life will crumble and go away. Clean energy will be a big story next year.

Robert Scoble: He sees “live video” being a huge headliner next year and hopes that unified ID will finally take hold. He also commented that print media will get a huge boost from political advertising in 2008 but will suffer tremendously after the presidential election is over.

Jim Goldman: Yahoo will get acquired or at the very least be seen as an attractive purchase.

Rob Hof: The current technology environment will push more companies into the deadpool.

Kara: Hollywood will finally get digital and become more of a collaborator with technology companies and make entertainment more consumer friendly. She also sees online privacy and presence becoming more of a hot topic in the coming year.

Tom Foremski, an attendee at the dinner but who should have been part of the panel, offers his take on the event at SiliconValleyWatcher as does Brian Solis at Bub.blicio.us. For those of you interested in watching a video of it, our friends over at Podtech.net have captured the lively conversation.

Photo courtesy of Brian Solis - More photos from the event can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/briansolis/sets/72157603331062749/.

For over eight hours, a few hundred communications professionals minimized the use of their Blackberries and cell phones to focus on one topic: the environment. PR Week’s Target Green event, held at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel on May 10, was a great success. The majority of top PR firms, along with many Bay Area and national companies, were in attendance. Just a few years ago this event would have been a much harder sell — but now, people were flying in from England and China to attend. More importantly, the event was a solid indicator that the environmental movement is no longer on the fringes of society. Given the breadth of topics covered – from fuel cells to fisheries; from green products to green brands – it was clear that Green has gone (or at least is in the process of going) mainstream.

Although the event was very positive, there was still room for improvement. For decades, the environmental movement has been driven by grassroots organizations that challenged the mainstream. High-profile organizations like the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, as well as smaller groups like the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, have played a critical part in getting us to where we are today. Unfortunately, their voices were conspicuously absent at Target Green. The panels would have been a lot more interesting had they included, or been moderated by, some of these players. In fact, a panel that focused on the communications challenges of these organizations would have been extremely interesting and informative.

I used to wonder why grassroots environmentalists found it so easy to criticize large companies that did anything environmentally positive; but I think I get it now. It would be so easy for corporate America to completely co-opt the Green movement – ultimately making it nothing more than a marketing gimmick – that the grassroots voice, one not motivated by profit, is needed to keep things in check.

I’m certainly not saying it’s bad that corporate America is interested in being Green; quite the opposite, it’s great! Today an increasing number of companies are striving to create more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products; and that benefits us all. But the opportunity to loosely use the term “Green” in the same way some loosely use the term “Organic” is dangerous. One way we can keep this from happening is to make sure the people who dedicated their lives to this cause don’t become marginalized simply because the movement has grown in popularity. This is one area that will always benefit from people outside the mainstream pushing us to do more.

If there is a second Target Green, I’d love to see this perspective included.

Before I sound too negative, I should say I walked away from Target Green feeling very positive. I hope PR Week holds more of these events. Things have changed significantly over the last few years. So many businesses now look at the environmental movement and see an opportunity. That’s great! Best of all, we’re part of an industry that has the ability to play a major role in making a difference in the future of our planet. That’s powerful stuff. I can only hope we never forget there’s more than profit at stake.

We recently hosted a pretty cool high performance IT simulation event with HP and some influential journalists like Robert Mullins (IDG News Service), Christopher Lawton (The Wall Street Journal), and Nicole Wong (San Jose Mercury News). Participants broke into groups and worked as a team to simulate how IT processes can be more efficiently managed to deliver better ROI in a mock racing event.

I know, you’re probably asking, “What does car racing and IT have in common?” Well, as it turns out, a decent amount…

In a racing car, various performance indicators (e.g., tire wear, air drag, fuel level, throttle response and G-forces exerted on a driver) are monitored in real time with computer hardware and software solutions. Similarly, services like ITSM (IT Service Management) monitor and integrate people, processes, and technology in real time to solve business problems and save money.

A poorly designed IT operations system can slam the brakes on business operations and hide significant cost-saving opportunities. And it’s estimated that 80 percent of downtime results from people and process issues, not technology.

It’s akin to narrative filmmaking: a story’s meaning is ultimately driven more by creative choices, not by technology. For instance, there’s really no perfect, technical way to light a scene – it depends on what your scene is trying to convey. A scene designed to be scary might be lit in a high-contrast fashion to accentuate the dark and light areas of the actors and/or their environment. People making decisions in context, not technology in a vacuum…

ITSM isn’t done in a vacuum either – it takes into account who needs what and when. It frees up time for people to be creative and do their jobs more efficiently. Business and IT professionals must be able to effectively communicate even though they often speak different languages. ITSM is the conduit for bridging that divide; for making sure IT and business operations are in synch.

And it doesn’t require that business pros become experts in server hardware and software management, or that IT pros become experts in marketing. It’s about having a well-designed system that integrates people, processes and technology – one that can propel teams to winning the checkered flag!!

Last week, a few members of the Cohn & Wolfe team attended the 30^th Anniversary celebration of La Casa de las Madres, a local shelter and counseling center for victims of abuse in San Francisco. I should mention that it’s also one of our pro bono clients. The event was hosted by Jessica Aguirre of ABC7 News, and featured a taped appearance by Senator Dianne Feinstein.  In addition, Linda Leary, one of the shelter’s first clients, gave a speech on her experience with abuse as well as her success in overcoming it.  Attendees raised money for the shelter while celebrating the triumphs of La Casa’s many survivors. 

Although I expected the ceremony to be inspiring, I couldn’t have possibly anticipated such an emotional journey.  Linda spoke of the abuses she suffered growing up, and subsequently in her marriage.  She traveled across the country to get help from La Casa de las Madres, where they welcomed her with open arms, and helped her protect her small children. 

After attending the event I felt a personal connection to those associated with this incredible organization. I felt as if the spirit of Boomerang (what goes around, comes around) had been present in the room.  It made me think that with the increased interest in social meda, community is becoming just as more important in our offline world.  I enjoyed the evening and wish them 30 more years of providing protection and opportunity to those in need.

If you’d like to donate to La Casa de Las Madres , see their online donation form.

For longtime tech valleywags, last week’s Business 2.0 “Next Net” mixer was a dose of deja vu. Held down the road from our offices, it was a nostalgic throwback to the flashy rooftop fetes – a la the Industry Standard – in S.F. during the first Web boom. Sipping on vino and cocktails, a few colleagues and I hobnobbed with CEOs, VCs, bloggers and editors, PR pals and other technorati, like next-door neighbors Linden Lab, the creators of Second Life. We made merry to honor editors’ picks for Web 2.0 companies that stand out as best bets to strike it rich in 2007.

The Bay Area definitely represented for companies least likely to end up in TechCrunch’s DeadPool. After surviving one dot-com crash and the multiple rounds of agency layoffs in its wake back in the late ’90s, it’s natural to be a bit skeptical of the current enthusiasm. However, there were new business models and trends that caught our attention. Most of them focused on ways to mash up advertising and entertainment into innovative offerings, and new ways to deliver video content through a variety of channels and devices.

One of our clients, Joost, was among the companies honored at the event – as was Spot Runner, a one-stop online shop for low-cost 30-second TV ads that our parent company WPP invested in last year as part of its new digital initiative. A company that I’d personally put money down on is SimulScribe. Last month, I read David Pogue’s unusually enthusiastic N.Y. Times “State of the Art” column on the company’s pioneering service that lets you “read your voicemail.” Through advanced voice recognition software, you can now quickly scan info via online text, search for it and never have to listen to annoyingly slow or long VM’s ever again. How cool!

Like SimulScribe, another Web 2.0 client of ours, Fabrik (profiled in Business 2.0 last November) gets the majority of its software revenues directly through subscriptions, in addition to license fees via large international brands’ CE devices. With last week’s global stock market slide and Greenspan’s speculation about a potential recession ahead, it’s hard not to wonder which of the Next Net 25 will make it for the long haul – especially the ones betting it all on eyeballs and ad revenues.

But in the meantime, it’s surely a fun and exuberant ride!

When Leonardo DiCaprio (he’s Leo to me and Marty) said that for the first time the Oscars had officially “gone green,” it was hard to believe that he wasn’t referring to the sea of celadon gowns that hit the red carpet last Sunday. 

Really, every other word in Oscar fashion coverage was celadon. That’s because Kate Winslet and Beyoncé wore celadon like it was meant to be worn, as an exquisite porcelain glaze, while poor Melanie Griffith got hammered for wearing it like the color of stale celery a few years back.   

Let’s face it. Green can’t easily be worn by everyone. And next year, skeptics say that green could easily fade to black if Hollywood stops watering the cause. 

I’m going to go with the optimists on this one. Green looked spectacular on Oscar this year. And in fact, organizations like Global Green USA started the greening process several years ago when celebs formed limo carpools and started driving hybrid, fancy, upscale electric cars like the Tesla Roadster. Conspicuous consumption done in a sustainable way… Only in Hollywood!  

So here’s the question for Hollywood’s corporate counterparts: can you wear green and wear it well in all its different shades? And can you find a way to wear it every season in new and innovative ways so that it becomes both a competitive advantage, as well as the right thing to do? 

With the right accessories – some bling, some vintage and perhaps a new twist or two – we think anything is possible.