Then yesterday this message came from Google:

“We’re getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to read. Our new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.

We believe this stuff matters, so please take a few minutes to read our updated Privacy Policy and Terms of Service at http://www.google.com/policies/

They say that their privacy policy has not changed but that it is now going to be easier to share information across all the Google platforms. It all sounds very positive but one cannot help feeling that the ‘devil may be in the detail’!

Last summer it was reported that 100,000 British users deactivated theirFacebook accounts during May, reducing the total number to 29.8 million. And apparently six million logged off for good in America in the same period.

While doubtless some of these had become bored with social media generally or Facebook in particular, anecdotal evidence (from forums and blogs) highlights that many were concerned over privacy issues.

Whatever the truth, the issue of privacy in social media is not going to go away.

Steve Jobs (Pic: AP)

The recent sad death of Steve Jobs robbed the world of an amazing man, regardless of whether one loves the iPhone, the iPad or the Mac.

The question now is how Apple will survive his loss.

Obviously, the company has been run – and run well – during his absences but it will be interesting to see how it performs in five, ten years time without its visionary leader.

During that time the current ‘news kids on the block’ will have matured and one may be the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.

At the moment Apple products are flavour of the month but the test will come with the next new product launch.

But maybe customers will be kind as many seem to have a personal bond with the Apple brand. As one of the tributes on the RememberingSteve page on the Apple website said: 

“I fell in love with my first MAC in 1987, and have been in love with Apple ever since. Steve, your vision of what these products could do enabled me and millions of others to express our creativity in ways we once thought unimaginable. I can think of no greater gift to humanity than helping us all tap into our limitless potential to make art. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Sandy”

Few technology products have inspired so much love so maybe Steve’s real legacy will be that the Apple dream will live on into the future.

Time will tell!

A recent article on ten of the greatest advertising campaigns in the Mail on Sunday newspaper by advertising ‘guru’ Trevor Beattie included Obama’s ‘Yes We Can’ election campaign.

Beattie cited the campaign as being ‘a perfect fusion of advertising campaign management and political campaign management, all geared to selling Brand Obama’. Certainly, the silk screen poster of Obama has become as instantly recognisable as the famous poster of Che Guevara.

Yet – just as in business – a brand has to deliver on its promise and clearly for many Brand Obama has not done that.

In recent weeks the President has suffered a dramatic drop in popularity, with some polls giving him an approval rating of less than 40%.

Not only have the Republicans mobilised to win back some of the 435 seats in Congress but also those in  the Senate. 

Traditionally, these elections are a snapshot of how the President is doing.  If the predictions are correct  the Democrats will lose their majority in Congress through a significant shift in power in US politics.

So where did it go wrong for Obama?

Perhaps the answer is that the emphasis was on the image of the politician – the brand Obama – rather than the reality of what he – and the Democrats – actually stood for and would deliver.

Just as a logo is not a brand, a glossy image is not a brand. A brand has to stand for something and deliver repeatedly on its promise – where to provide stylish, well-made clothing (Zara) or luxury cars (Mercedes).

Whatever happens in the forthcoming elections, Brand Obama clearly needs a revamp and a re-definition of its core values.

As Trevor Beattie says ‘As a how-to-do it lesson [the campaign] will surely endure, but was the promise just too great?’.  Time will tell.

Obviously there are lots of other platforms – and new social media sites – but the main players continue to dominate the social media space.

That said, as the market stabilizes it is time to use the tools more strategically and concentrate on the message rather than the shiny new medium.

At Cerco we are increasingly being asked to devise a social media strategy for clients. Only this week we advised on the use of a private Twitter group for passing information around a group of multi-national and multi-discipline salespeople.

The client was astonished at the versatility of Twitter and how the real time information would supplement their intranet – all free of charge.

For an excellent article on Twitter best practice see: http://blog.spurinteractive.com/2010/03/07/twitter-best-practices-for-social-media-marketing/

Author Steve Latham makes the valid point that too many tweets are about me, my thoughts and my status.

If you are using Twitter for business, do not tell us that you are standing in a supermarket queue. Your (business audience) does not care.

We have recently witnessed two cases of ‘careless (Twitter) talk costing sales’ – to paraphrase the old WW2 saying.

In both cases the Twitterers forgot they had potential clients following them and made totally inappropriate comments, losing themselves future work and attracting much negative ‘buzz’.

So the old Marketing adage of the message being as important as the medium still holds good!