We all know very well that activity within social networking can lead to distractions. With one click, we can find ourselves hopelessly lost in a labyrinth of fascinating experiences that have nothing to do with our initial focus. Serendipity is part of the splendor of social media, but it is something that necessitates discipline to learn, entertain and be entertained, while also staying the course. In the end, we exchange time and privacy for exposure and attention. – Brian Solis

No title, just a big bold font

Some of you may have noticed that I have been vacant from the social space for a while now. I vacated the social space on Oct 30th 2011 and have written this to give a little insight into the madness.

From Facebook to Twitter, Google+ to the infamous Klout. I’m over it.

I believe in innovation, ideas and creativity.
I have a passion for building, sharing and meeting real innovators.

Unfortunately I don’t believe that I achieve these traits in the social space and social networks (or mine particularly) carry the same value they once used to.

I have spent the best part of my twenties trying to find a balance that allows me to excel, achieve and enjoy life at the same time. Social media and the rise of opportunity that came with it, gave me all I needed to excel, but I am yet to find that balance of work/life happiness.

Time is everything and there is not enough of it. Status updates, following, subscribing, liking, sharing, replying, commenting, retweeting, scoring systems and badges leading to split personality disorders, manifested egos, over the top arrogance, utter bullshit and fakeness, lack of productivity, vision, direction and innovation, uncertainty, stress, boredom and ultimately… burn out.

I really want to say more, but right now I am not sure how to say it. So i’ll leave you with this from Brian Solis that sums it all up nicely.

The reality is that the cost of social networking is great and without checks and balances, engagement can cost us more capital than we have to spend. The net result is then social and emotional bankruptcy. And, the most difficult part of this unfortunate state is that it is at first difficult to recognize and far more exacting to overcome.

There’s a saying, “everything in moderation,” but it’s impossible to explore these new horizons with anything less than exuberance. This is our time and who we are online and in the real world is ours to define. But without ambition, desire, and focus, social media is a recipe for chaos. Through all of the distractions and fatigue, we must continually renew our focus to bring important goals to life based on our actions and words in each social network.

I ask you to pause for a moment. Think about what it is that inspires you. Think about what it is you are trying to achieve. Now, look at what it is you’re doing today and compare these activities and results to your aspirations. Do this at fixed intervals over time to plot your position and look ahead to where it is you’re hoping to reach. Then ask yourself, “am I on the right path?” Never stop asking that question. The answers are more important than you might think. – Brian Solis

Quotes are taken from this post by Brian Solis – The Human Cost of Social Connectivity

Having spent the best part of the last year as a Digital Marketing Analyst, it’s easy for me to explain all the areas of an analytical role and the importance of understanding your company data.

With Social Media being the only word on every companies’ tongue this millenium, most have looked to Social Media for a remedy in which they will create new and formiddable revenue streams.

For some this has been successful and businesses have tapped into relationships and built engagement with their consumers, however for most, Social Media is still a confusing area and businesses are constantly asking questions as to how they can utilise their Social audience for monetary value.

This is generally when a guru enters the building assisting you with the ultimate formula for success, which is usually something like this:

(Engagement * interactions) / page impressions + retweets √ your mum = an upward rise in fans from Uzbekistan and spam replies to your marketing messages. One word to that… #WINNING

A Marketing Analyst works on the opposite end of the spectrum to those focusing on engagement. Analysis is a research method and is based primarily on creating an understanding of the consumer using aggregated data.

Stereotyped as Star Trek looking, Mathmatical nerds who write algebra on steamy windows; Analysts have long been categorised as zombies who supply business executives with answers as and when they need them. The stereotype couldn’t be further from the truth; on the contrary Analysts do hold all the answers.

Now before you get all buzz word on me; I’m all for Social Media. Social Media is an integral part of the marketing strategy and as an Analyst, Social Media just presents me with an array of platforms that need analysing. Be that as it may, Social Media is not the be all and end all, data is.

Why are Analytics so important?

Well you see those financials you look at wondering if you can afford your all inclusive holiday to Cancun; those financials will only increase if you know who your customer is.

It was an annoying but extremely successful Duncan Bannatyne who quoted; “If I was to give you one piece of advice in business; it’s to know who your customer is.”

It’s not like we can sit down face to face an interrogate every single one of our online customers, asking them:

But you can ask all these kind of questions into your data analytics platform and yes it will spit out the answers you need.

I define myself as a person who asks questions. I may ask way too many at times, pissing people off and causing myself all kinds of bother, but I’m not easily pleased and I don’t like fluff. I need definitive answers and I need those to be backed up with evidence.

Nowdays most digital companies have analytics measuring their products, whether it be a free offering such as Google Analytics or a premium service like Adobe Omniture; companies are interested in measuring.

The problem is that while companies want to measure and know the importance of the data that backs up their campaign strategies; they don’t have specific members of staff who’s jobs are to crunch this data and provide compelling answers to their demanding questions. This forms a common problem as the priority of the business is to raise awareness and push the products, but companies do so with a lack of understanding and insight into who their customer actually is.

I had a meeting recently where I made it clear how important analytics are in digital business. I was even asked, that if I could set up my own team, what would it comprise of. I replied simply; that I would need staff of expertise in development, project management, marketing and strategy, but I would want each of my staff to have a clear understanding of analytics. I would also expect them to use analytics on a regular basis so that the whole team has a clear interpretation of who our consumer is.

I found the below quote in the Havard Business Review under an article titled ‘Competing on Analytics’ and it pretty much sums up this post.

Employees hired for their expertise with numbers or trained to recognize their importance are armed with the best evidence and the best quantitative tools. As a result, they make the best decisions: big and small, every day, over and over and over.”

An Analyst is trained to recognize problems and come up with solutions. An Analyst is responsible for explaining how the customer/consumer uses the product/service, what their experience with it was like and how the business can improve the product/service.

Our analytics tell us stories and if you don’t have an Analyst, it is imperative that you have people who know how to read data, because if you don’t use analytics to answer the fundamental questions surrounding your products; how can you truly know who your customer is?

Now, let me get all John Lennon on you for a minute.

Imagine a world where everything is mobile, where information changes hands freely by the touch of a device, scan of a bar-code or via an invisible signal.

Imagine show reels, cv’s and portfolios are all stored into mobile apps for you to show and send as you please.

Imagine there’s an human app directory where you can search by name, category and keyword to find individuals and their content.

Imagine that’s how jobs are found and offered.

Imagine there’s an app service that can build you an app in no time at all, upload it to the app store and you’re ready to market yourself to your audience.

Soon enough a tool/social network will be created where you can easily create a custom application (not just a profile or a page) around you as an individual, with the ability to upload all your content such as; your cv, social profiles, a portfolio, your experience, photos, videos, music etc and then add the final product to a mobile app directory. Here is where people, companies and the world can find you. It will be purely mobile and it will yet again change the way in which we connect.

This movement has already begun with the elite level individual (actor, sportsman, celebrity) who recognizes their brand potential and the opportunity to build digital products around their identity.

The next stage is for the rest of us, who also understand the opportunity from building our brands and by leveraging the potential of mobile.

Howdy peeps and welcome to another Industry Spotlight with me, your host, Luca. For the next 10 minutes I will allow you a sneak peak into the mind of another individual striving for success and the energy you gain from it will make you explode with energy for the rest of the day (true story).

Who read last week’s Spotlight? No? Ok, quickly go read it and come back, this one won’t go anywhere I promise.

Today it’s all about a young Marketing professional who over the years has seen the industry evolve and has firmly placed his grasp onto what he enjoys doing. I met this guy on Twitter, and his warm personality shines through in abundance which is why I reached out to him and I hope you will find the same outcome from reading this short spotlight interview.

Drum roll please….

Who are you and what do you do?

My name’s Mazher Abidi, and as of this month I’m working as a digital marketer for a creative marketing agency in Manchester called And Partners. I’ll be lending a digital element to the work the agency are doing, helping to come up with ideas and then putting them into play too working with a really talented team of developers, strategists and creatives.

I was born in Manchester and grew up here, but spent my teenage years in the Middle East (in Abu Dhabi). It’s a wonderful but unfortunately sometimes misunderstood part of the world that is now starting to make some massive waves on the world scene, which is great to see. I went to uni in London and worked there for a few years, before moving back to Manchester where I love being and where I call home. A citizen of the world, and love being one!

How did you get into this industry and why did you chose this path?

It sounds a bit weird but this path almost found me. When I was growing up in the 90’s, dotcom and IT was all the rage, but I realised that wasn’t for me. So my first job out of uni (almost 10 years ago now!) was marketing an online e-commerce system for a graphic design company in London. I suppose that started my interest and awareness of marketing/online/digital. Pretty much all my jobs since then have been in a similar vein. I specialised further, went back to uni, did my MSc and here I am. Now I’m on this path, I wouldn’t change it for the world.

What do you consider to be your biggest achievement to date?

Having hundreds of twitter followers and a nice Klout score of course!

I’m hoping that achievement is still to come, but as of now it is without a doubt my MSc, and more specifically my Consumer Behaviour research. It looked at behaviour that wasn’t considered ‘normal’ and I ended up extending a theory that was first published by some pretty smart people way back in 1999, and it got me a distinction. Now that research is being considered for publication in the Journal of Consumer Behaviour. That will be a really proud moment, but those submissions only have a 10% success rate, so it’s by no means certain! Even still, what I got out of it already, I’m really proud of.

Was this how you had planned things to go or are you capitalising on opportunities and simply rolling with it?

I always wanted to do something I loved, something interesting, something creative that would match my personality, but beyond that I couldn’t honestly say I’d planned it. I definitely never grew up thinking “one day I want to be a digital marketing guy”.
I wouldn’t have known what that was. But as things have moved on, I’ve had opportunities, and with more of a plan ahead of me now, I’ve made sure I’ve taken the right opportunities as opposed to just any that have come my way. So whilst there may have been an element of rolling with it at the start, I think now I’m definitely capitalising on the opportunities that my experience is letting me.

We’re in a new era where anyone can create opportunities for themselves. Do you agree?

Absolutely. I would this as an example. I look at how we met Luca – maybe our paths would have crossed at some point in the future, but how much easier that has been using digital technology? Now I’m answering questions for this great blog, that may open up other opportunities too…and that’s just one example. Magnify that a few hundred times for the hundreds of people I’ve also met digitally and it just shows you what opportunity really is, and the digital era makes them a lot easier to open up.

Is who you are in reality, the same persona you represent online?

Definitely. My public online presence I use more professionally than for personal use, but then I’ve met some really fantastic people and made some great friends from it which then mixes that personal/professional boundary. So if I wasn’t the real me online I wouldn’t be able to keep up that fake personality for long.

Essentially, I don’t have the time nor patience to be someone else – someone fake – online. And it’s not right either. So online, offline, it’s all me!

What one thing can you not live without?

Sadly, my computer. I rely on it for so much. Work, personal, keeping in touch with friends around the world. But put me on the spot, on a desert island, if I’m to take one thing with me it’d be me my guitar. Music is the one thing I would struggle to live without. Like most people, I can put a song next to most moments in my life (important ones at least), so my 6-string would probably come with me wherever I went.

If you wasn’t in this field, what would you be doing?

If I wasn’t working in this industry, I’ve be doing everything I could to get into it!

Marketing in general, digital and social marketing in particular, it’s hard to imagine things any other way. I’ve not really known anything other than this, and because I’ve been so happy in it, I’ve never really considered any other career path for myself outside of marketing.

Maybe my school/uni band would have taken off and I’d have been a guitar god?

Name three people who have inspired you in your life.

Richard Branson – the man is an entrepreneurial genius. We all know his exploits in the business world, but his charisma and the way he has shaped Virgin as a huge organisation to reflect that cool charisma is amazing.

Sport: Ryan Giggs. I love sport, and being a United fan the way Giggs has played the game with such skill and elegance has just been beautiful to watch. It might seem strange to list this as an inspiration, but growing up with United’s success, those years have always made me feel great about life. Such as United winning the European Cup in 1999, the night before my Physics A-level. I was buzzing that day, went in and got 90/90 in that module. Just great moments.

If you were a superhero, who would you be and why?

Batman. The dark knight. Who wouldn’t want to drive the batmobile?

The world is coming to an end and you have to take one celebrity into the safe bunker to live with forever. Who do you take?

Slash. My guitar hero. Can you imagine the stories? Those tales of drunken debauchery would last out a lifetime. And if not, we could grab the guitar that I took with me (ref earlier question) and jam together. Plus, I could wear his super cool top hat!

Author’s note: Hmm… he wants to take Slash into a bunker. No more questions.

Do you have any regrets about anything?

You can always wonder if decisions you’d taken differently would’ve made things work out differently. But I have the time and ability to shape things myself. So no point dwelling I don’t think. The past can’t be changed, only learnt from. The future is where it’s at.

What cool projects are you currently working on?

I feel as though I’m starting a bit of a new chapter in my work right now, so I’m at the start of things rather than in the middle of things. But when they work out, you’ll definitely hear about them through the grapevine!

What does the future have in store for you?

I’m really stoked about this new role I’ve started. I was really patient looking for a permanent role. I was lucky that I had freelance work to keep me going, and I didn’t want to just hit and hope and apply to every job out there. I think I’ve found the right role, and I’m hoping to really grow this role, build our presence by doing some really cool work and move onwards and upwards!

Finally, if you could give one piece of advice to young creative minds, what would it be?

Creatively, the only limits are the ones you put on yourself. Within reason with the platforms and technologies that exist now, if you can conceive it, you can probably do it.

So go and do it.

To stay in touch with Maz you can follow him on twitter and be sure to check out is super awesome marketing blog; Comms thoughts.

If you want to suggest somebody who you believe needs a spotlight shone on their head, drop me a line via the contact page or hit me up on Twitter. Thanks

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