Conversations about social media are numerous and varied, but we recently came across an interesting article that touches on an aspect of social media that most people don't talk about - monetization.

On the 23rd of January, Chinese worldwide celebrate one of the most important occasions of the year - the welcoming of Lunar New Year, more popularly known as the Chinese New Year.



This year's celebration marks the arrival of the Year of the Water Dragon, a mythical animal bringing good luck and prosperity. According to legend, the dragon brings in the Four Blessings of the East: wealth, prosperity, happiness and longevity. The dragon has had 8,000 years of rich and colourful history among the Chinese, and is the most special mythical symbol amongst the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac.

The Asia-Pacific region symbolizes similar qualities to the mythical dragon – it is seen as a powerful, influential symbol of prosperity. During the challenging global economic times Asia is anticipated to lead the way for a new growth throughout the course of the Year of the Dragon.

This year also has the elements of water and yang, representing a flowing river rather than a stagnant lake. This is expected to bring flowing ideas and creativity, potentially booming economies and cultural and political changes. Associated with thunder, lightning and awakening, the Water Dragon personalises inspiration at its best.

Cognito Asia is committed to support our clients to achieve success and prosperity during the Year of the Water Dragon, with creativity and excellence to enhance the potential of this promising Lunar Year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Rounding off the year in style, over 200 industry peers attended Cognito’s exclusive holiday parties. 

Cognito New York held their Holiday Party at the Polar Bar, a fantastic arctic-inspired lounge underneath the Marcel Hotel in New York City. Clients had a great time networking with one another and mingling with journalists as they sipped on one of our signature finance-themed cocktails, like The Vodker Rule.

View full photo gallery here: http://marcoms.cognitomedia.com/cognito-ny-holiday-party-2011

Cognito London kicked off their Christmas Party in the heart of the city, at the impressive venue Pacific Oriental in Bank. Clients and journalists celebrated the start of the festive period with canapés and a special winter treat, the bespoke finance-themed cocktail ‘The Rouge Trader’.

View full photo gallery here: http://marcoms.cognitomedia.com/cognito-uk-christmas-party-2011/

We’d like to thank all of our clients and friends who attended the event, and for all the great work over the last year. We’re looking forward to continued success in 2012!

NPR this morning ran an interview with Sydney Finkelstein, of Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business and author of "Why Smart Executives Fail." He has compiled a list of some of the worst management decisions of 2011 and singles out, among others, the CEOs of RIM, HP, and Netflix for harsh criticism. Some of the cases he points to are simply bad corporate decision-making, such as releasing faulty products or failing to give strategies an adequate amount of time to work. What struck me, however, is how many of these 'blunders' were in fact not much more than poor communication. In the case of RIM's joint CEO's for example, Finkelstein argues that this unconventional structure leads to slow and conflicting communication and may be at the heart of the firm's inability to innovate as fast as its competitors. In the case of Netflix's botched product split, Finkelstein suggests that the idea of dividing the company in two was actually sound but that the communications around the split was handled so poorly that it confused and ultimately alienated Netflix's customer base. 
Based even on this very simple analysis, it would appear then that CEOs looking to avoid costly mistakes could do worse than to ensure they have sound communications strategies in place before doing anything else.

Famous for his bold predictions and provocative views, China-based independent economist Andy Xie kicked off his keynote speech at TradeTech Asia in Singapore by declaring that the Eurozone debt crisis is becoming a political crisis.

“European Central Bank has strong power during the crisis time and it is trying to force political changes in the region.” Just four days before Andy’s speech, Italy’s longest-serving post-war Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, resigned due to the European debt crisis.

“Developed western countries are facing severe competitiveness and expenditure problems. The western lifestyle is not sustainable.” Andy, the former Morgan Stanley star chief APAC economist, explained to a room of buy-side traders, senior representatives from the major exchanges, regulators, brokers and technology experts, “The bottom line is Europeans need to work more and spend less.”

Andy, who had been bearish on China since the 2008 financial crisis, has recently changed his views on both China’s growth outlook and its equity markets. He pointed out that in 2012, China is gearing up for an unusually tough year, as it sees a top leadership reshuffle. How Mr Xi Jinping and his team handle China’s transition from an export-driven economy to domestic-consumption focused is going to reshape the Chinese economy, as well as the world economy in 2012.

Cognito Asia was selected to support the media activities for TradeTech Asia 2011, held at Grand Hyatt Singapore on November 16^th and 17^th, with more than 600 attendees, 112 speakers from 26 countries. Sixty percent of the attendees were buy-side representatives. 

PR practitioners are constantly asked to demonstrate 'results'. Be they media hits, search engine optimization or actual inbound leads, the trend in the online age has moved away from trusting the effects of PR towards pushing PR people harder to come up with the demonstrable outcomes of their efforts. For the most part this has been a positive force in the industry. Gone are the days of Rolodex Man (who I never much cared for) and talk of the 'dark arts' of the relations public.

But are we throwing the baby out with the bathwater? Are we, in our quest for only measurable outcomes, leaving other - crucial - areas of influence on the sidelines? As a PR director I know that I am much more fond of selling a program with definable and measurable results than one with unpredictable payoffs. So going after the traditional media or research analysts would be a good place to start over work with influential industry consultants, respected academics, or conference organizers where the outcomes are opaque and largely unmeasurable.

For the most part this doesn't seem to trouble clients who are very happy to pay a fixed amount for a known-quantity of influence. And quite right too. But it troubles me. In fact, it keeps me awake at night. What is the value of a private conversation between a consultant and a prospective client which we may never see published or hear about? Might it be worth 100 website hits? Or 15 feature articles? Would, I wonder, PR practitioners do a better job if they were told to focus on the entire universe of influencers among a client's constituencies rather than just on those that produced a quantifiable output. Would, in other words, public relations be more effective if we cared less about measuring the outcomes? I am well aware how sacrilegious this statement sounds.   

In an ideal world, of course, we would be able to measure everything; the known and the unknown, and it may be that the ubiquity of social media will enable us to square that circle and measure the previously unmeasurable. We are starting to see this as certain consultants  and event managers become active Twitter posters and reposters, but what about those key influencers who are still effectively operating in the dark? The invisible hand of the market if you will. Might there be a case yet for a little less measurement and a little more trust? 

We are excited to share that we have been named one of the 50 Most Engaged Workplaces™ in 2011 by Achievers!

We were selected by a panel of judges that evaluated North American companies based on key elements of employee engagement, including:

1. Leadership
2. Culture
3. Rewards and recognition
4. Professional and personal growth
5. Vision and values
6. Corporate social responsibility

Other firms listed in the 50 Most Engaged Workplaces include: 3M, Aflac, Alcoa, HubSpot, KPMG, Siemens, Sybase and Zappos.com.

Cognito recently visited the Occupy Wall Street protest that is being staged a couple of blocks north of our New York office. Since it looks like this protest is going to go on for some time, Cognito thought maybe those camping out will have time on their hands. Why not read a book or 14? Loretta Mock, Vice President at Cognito, talks to CNBC about Cognito’s proposed reading list as well as some of the messaging issues within the protest. 

Cognito’s Reading List for Occupy Wall Street Protestors, as featured on CNBC:

• The ABCs of the Economic Crisis: What Working People Need to Know by Fred Magdoff and Michael D. Yates
• The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act by Chris Dodd and Barney Frank (from Jane: A sure way to end the protest because demonstrators reading this will be bored to death.)
• The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences by John Bellamy Foster and Fred Magdoff
• Keynes Hayek: The Clash that Defined Modern Economics by Nicholas Wapshott
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying by Shepherd Mead and Stanley Bing
• Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
• How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Organizing For Dummies by Eileen Roth and Elizabeth Miles
• Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail by Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward
• Protesting Power: War, Resistance, and Law by Francis A. Boyle
• Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin (from Jane: Watch him on Squawk Box instead.)
• Your Dream Career For Dummies by Carol L. McClelland and Richard N. Bolles
• When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein Dealbook.nytimes.com
• Eight Days: The Battle to Save the American Financial System by James B. Stewart , The New Yorker, September 21, 2009

Over the last year we’ve seen many stories broken on Twitter, but also just as many incorrect rumours promulgated on the medium, some of which have ended up on traditional channels, much to the embarrassment of the organisations.  However, there are still news organisations that focus on accuracy, analysis and insight and do not claim to compete on speed.

This was one of the key themes discussed at Cognito’s latest Breakfast Byte the ‘Changing Media Landscape’ in London recently.  Bob Giffords, Banking and Technology Analyst and Consultant moderated a lively debate with a panel consisting of: Lianna Brinded, on-line editor of Euromoney, Virginie O’Shea, Managing Editor of The A-Team Group, Steve Clark, Executive Producer of Reuters Insider and Tom Coombes, CEO of Cognito.

Much of the discussion centred around Twitter, the power of its reach, the potential viral element of its distribution and the opportunity it affords both the media and the financial services sector.

However, this was tempered with the need for accuracy, context and analysis.  All of which often lacks on Twitter. 

Additionally, within this increasingly data driven world of news, consumers need an accurate and analytical picture of events and many people do not find this on social media channels.  Many of the print and online breakfast panel members declared that whilst they were not the fastest, their content was accurate, well researched and in some cases of a high enough quality to gain a competitive advantage.

Over the weekend John Gapper, of the Financial Times, wrote an article entitled 'Instant Messengers' where he questioned that as histories of momentous events are written more rapidly, is this increase in immediacy leading to a loss of perspective?

Gapper cited Andrew Sorkin, the New York Times journalist and author of Too Big to Fail book, who said that capturing accounts immediately is vital because witnesses tend to reshape events over time.  A clear mandate for social media channels.

However, Sorkin also says “none of us has the right perspective, given how quickly events unfolded..”  Though he was referring to the 2008 financial crash, the point is clear. There is still a very real need for the considered, well thought-out articles.  Something that still remains the key discipline of the traditional media.  However, since the majority of media outlets are now distributing their articles on social channels, as well as directly engaging with their audience, it would be remise if Financial Services companies didn’t have some form of Social Media communications. Though as Tom Coombes said in a recent interview with Financial News, it seems the Financial Services industry are not the early adopters.

Tom Coombes, CEO of Cognito talks to Financial News about the uptake of social media in the financial services sector. Read the article here