The Talking Village is a great opportunity for Advertising Agencies, Innovation Companies, Media, Research, and ultimately all brand strategists who are looking for ways to engage consumers in an honest and true conversation, and in authentic storytelling about their products. Founded in Italy by F.Rubino, former Global Marketing Director FMCG, with Partner G. Laurita, web strategist & researcher, both very active bloggers.

1. Conversational Marketing Projects

3. People living and breathing in the Web have developed their own conversation codes. Corporations know that “out there” people are talking about their brands, but tend to stick to the old broadcasting mentality. The Cluetrain Manifesto (1999): Markets are conversations

4. “ Right now, your customers are writing about your products on blogs and recutting your commercials on YouTube. They’re defining you on Wikipedia and ganging up on you in social networking sites like Facebook. These are all elements of a social phenomenon — the groundswell — that has created a permanent, long-lasting shift in the way the world works. Most companies see it as a threat. You can see it as an opportunity .” Social Media: A lasting Revolution

5. Introducing

7. If market are conversations, It’s time to speak out. Our belief

9. Women & moms: they are among the key players in the italian Web… Because they are often decision makers and responsible of family budget Because mommy blogging is a growing social phenomenon and brands are starting to approach it, sometimes in controversial ways Because these women are looking for a proactive/propositive role on issues of public interest Because they are strongly motivated to change the stereotypes in communication Because they can change an old marketing war-like culture into a new concept of collaboration

10. … E Some bloggers who followed us: “ 42 anni, un marito scienziato e due figli, sto cercando di far diventare la scrittura un lavoro retribuito” Anna “ Passare dal mojito alla pappa lattea è dura...” Chiara “ Mi piace: scrivere, leggere, danza orientale, musica, cucina, arte e natura. Non mi piace: fare le faccende di casa, fare la spesa, avere a che fare con la burocrazia ” Chiara “ Una nomade con lo zaino in spalla” Elisabetta “ A permettermi un felice incontro tra passione e professione sono state la prima figlia e Internet” Jolanda … .

11. Some of the things we can do together: Insights gathering, through monitoring of existing conversations online, Participation to workshops Conversations about products in dedicated web areas, through product placement, diaries/reviews and other interactive tools Collective storytelling around your key selected themes/issues Private interactive platforms for idea generation and incubation, matching expert consumers with company brains … .

13. The Talking Village Values Ethics Openness/transparency Dialogue Respect Self awareness Empathy Knowledge Free choice Coherence

14. Our offer

16. Concept/product test, focus groups… What’s new here? Everything! We don’t work on pre-cooked solutions... ...We team up from early stages of a process (be it a new product, a name, a new/improved process, a communication or promotion idea) ... We can transform a basic concept in a true, authentic story telling We ensure top quality of both inputs and outputs: Villagers are high-end innovators, highly self-aware regarding consumption choices Moderators are professionals and Villagers at the same time

17. 1. Listening 2. Conversation 3. Support 4. Co- creativity Gathering insights, needs, feelings, stories, reviews, information gaps Brand stimulating and participating into community life Collaborative problem solving and idea generation Depending on objectives, our social/interactive tools can produce different outputs according to a growing level of mutual engagement : from insights gathering to emotional storytelling, from product placement to co-innovation pipelines

20. Communication initiatives

23. Innovation initiatives

24. Su un argomento specifico Eg, executional evaluation Durata: 2-3 settimane Simile a Focus groups o interviste in depth Oppure su un’area più ampia Eg, new concept exploration Durata: 4-5 settimane Simile a ricerca etnografica Moduli con feedbacks real-time Eg, discussion forum, chat, idea posting, Q&A modules a-sincroni con feedbacks + profondi Eg, video-diario, multtmedia blog oppure Ipotesi di conversazione su TASK e raccolta di feedbacks/insights

25. The Talking Village può ospitare un dialogo continuativo con una community, alimentando una “pipeline di insights”: eg concept & copy development ma anche community interne, per coinvolgere i dipendenti in una comunità aziendale che fornisca stimoli e proposte Oppure community miste, che includono cliente, consumatori, esperti e professionisti Durata: 3, 6, 12 mesi per progetti/argomenti specifici Ipotesi di conversazioni on-going

26. Moduli di feedback in tempo reale Eg, chat, quickfire Q&A, an idea posting space, stimulus debate Moduli asincroni Eg, video diary, multi-media blogs based on specific tasks, stimulus response 1-2 assignments / settimana foundational insight Ideation Moduli che supportano compiti di ideazione Eg, chat, quickfire Q&A, an idea posting space, multi-media blogs Incubation Moduli che combinano real time ed altre interazioni Eg, concept discussion forum, quickfire Q&A, questionnaires Un ciclo di ideazione completo, flessibile ed integrato Client team Customers

27. Utilizza una community numerosa di stakeholders, esperti, consumatori “opinion leaders”, per un periodo esteso. Mantenere l’accesso a questa community potrebbe costituire una fantastica fonte di challenge e stimoli per il tuo team, una vera e propria pipeline di insights. Puoi aprire un dialogo continuativo con loro per 3, 6, 12 mesi o oltre… Non una metodologia di ricerca, ma una nuova cultura per co-generare idee breakthrough, ed instaurare un dialogo continuativo sul miglioramento di prodotti e servizi. Nuovi territori per un brand esistente… EPD’s, NPD’s White Space innovation… Brand stretch, White space, nuovi brands Il livello avanzato: High-end innovation partnering Co-creativity Thomas1