For marketing it’s a great tool because it’s a relatively pain-free way of vetting a product or a campaign ahead of a major launch. If the masses have given it the once-over and supplied criticisms and suggestions, then the final product is likely to be better received.

The collaboration just announced between Sony and Last.fm to launch the first “fantasy music festival” is a good example of crowdsourcing for the purposes of marketing. Brand Republic has more details:

The competition, in the style of fantasy football game, will give music fans across Europe a €1 million budget to put together their fantasy festival line up. Last.fm users will be encouraged to invite friends to compete through Facebook Connect and email. The music service will score musicians based on trends, listening data and online buzz, to determine the rankings, beginning in mid-November.

Such a large cash prize will doubtless encourage many to take part. But looking beyond the competition, the data that users supply about their musical preferences will be an invaluable asset to those involved in music marketing.

Buying an album or downloading an Mp3 is one thing. However the true test – what music marketers are most curious about – is whether an artist has become someone that a consumer has more than a passive interest in. By listing an artist as one whom they’d include in a “fantasy festival”, it tells marketing heads that this artist, if not already established, may be going places. That’s data charts can’t give.

The data from this competition will also help tour organisers understand who should be on tour with whom. Facing declining record sales revenues, labels are putting more emphasis on income from tours. By putting together artists whom a large number of people have indicated they’d like to see share the same stage, the ROI is likely to be higher.

This partnership is also a win for Last.fm’s brand image. Owned by CBS, Last.fm remains well-liked by its users, who are all musicphiles. Facing creeping competition from Swedish start-up Spotify, this partnership with second-largest global recorded music company increases Last.fm’s brand visibility and could increase its market penetration. For Sony, they stand to gain reputation currency with a key user base from Last.fm through the affiliation.

For many, the goal is to gain as many “followers” or “fans” online as possible. That’s the gold standard for determining how popular or established your reputation is.

Thing is, that’s only half-right.

Corporate entities will often default into communications plans online that are one-way and highly regulated. No direct engagement, no responding to customer queries. There’s an assumption that, if someone complains, no one will really hear them. In the early days of the internet, pre-Facebook and Twitter, that was more likely.

However the culture online has changed. People have great capacity to amass large followings with relative ease. And with these mass followings, they, too, are given a global platform.

What gives them the leg-up is their audience is more receptive and in-tune with the dialogue than the followers of the corporate entity. According to a recent Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey, “ninety percent of consumers surveyed noted that they trust recommendations from people they know, while 70 percent trusted consumer opinions posted online”.

It’s increasingly important that corporate entities be aware of who the influencers are in their networks. They’re the people who can turn the tide of public opinion quicker than most PR campaigns, because there’s inherent trust.

For an example of good use of social media and influencer targeting online, check out U.S. telecoms company Comcast, on Twitter as @ComcastCares. TechCrunch has more in an interview with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts:

Comcast has for a while now been using Twitter to scan for complaints and engage with customers. The idea was not his, but rather rose organically when someone in the company realized that a lot of public complaints were being sent over Twitter … Roberts went on to note that “Famous Frank,” also known as Frank Eliason now has 11 people working under him simply to respond to information about Comcast being broadcast on Twitter. Roberts says that it’s an entirely different kind of dialogue coming in then the usual phone complaints, and he seems very pleased about the work the team has done with the customers on Twitter.

Comcast’s strategy isn’t going to make everyone happy. But given the sheer size of the company, the fact that they’ve taken to such an organic process of customer service speaks to the company’s understanding of how the internet can spread messaging, both good and bad.

It also ensures they’re able to stay in the loop about what’s being said, by whom, and whether their influence is large enough to cause bigger problems down the line.

Bath Rugby, Saracens and Newcastle Falcons all made presentations about their community work to a panel of judges which included Derek Wyatt, Paul Farrelly, and Andy Reed (MPs from the All-Party Parliamentary Rugby Group), as well as Louise Poole (Head of Sponsorship at EDF Energy), Tanja Rasmussen (Community Investment Campaign Director at Business in the Community) and Mark McCafferty (Premier Rugby’s Chief Executive). In the end the judges couldn’t decide on a single winner, and named Bath Rugby and Saracens as community ‘Clubs of the Year.’

You can see photos from the judging and evening reception, video of the judges’ thoughts about the event (including my unsteady camera work–though I blame the camera), and the presentations that the clubs made all on Premier Rugby’s community blog Rugby in the Community.

It’s certainly a worthy initiative and professional sports clubs, given their strong role models and infrastructure, are in a great position to provide sporting opportunities for young people. Sue Campbell of the Youth Sport Trust sums it up when she says:

“All anyone can really do is make sure that parents and kids are aware of the importance of exercise and provide them with every opportunity to take the kind of exercise they like. We’ve got to do more at grassroots level in the community as it’s no good pouring time and money into school initiatives if they aren’t followed up; huge numbers of kids give up exercise when they leave school because there either aren’t the facilities available or they don’t know where to find them. There need to be much closer ties between schools and sports clubs.”

The idea is innovative and necessary. The five rings are available only to the ‘big boys’. Inspiring as they are, they are the property of the international associations, the powerful corporates and the sporting elite.

A new, 2012 ‘community’ brand will allow ‘ordinary’ people to ‘feel’ part of the Games by association. It could be a rallying point for consumer interest and participation by being a more intimate, local, accessible symbol of the best of everyday sport and culture. It will also give Governing Bodies, including those who fear the Games may squeeze them financially, a new asset to build social, commercial and marketing value. Let’s hope that LOCOG is succesful. It’ll be a tough battle to find a brand and identity close enough to have a valuable association without messing with the value the main sponsors have bought into.

If they do then they’ll be a step closer to building a new fellowship of the rings.

“Newcastle Falcons provide a perfect example of the positive impact that sport has on local communities across England. They impressed all of us when they cited their work in the community as central to their vision of the club’s long term future, but also with the joined up approach they have taken to working with other community partners, notably the RFU,” said Derek Wyatt MP, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Rugby Group.

Premier Rugby allocated roughly £2m per year to its community projects and 100,000 man hours of service.

The article also points out the positive impact that strong communiy relations can have for an organisation:

It also makes good business sense for a club to be involved in this sort of outreach scheme. “By engaging with your community and understanding the needs in your community, it can really help improve your brand and reputation,” said Michelle Brassell from Business in the Community, an organisation of businesses who aim to improve their impact on society. “It can be more favourable in securing funding or for a planning commission to develop a stadium, for example.”

To read the Guardian article in its entirety, click here.

High-level officials in the central government are known for being hyper-aware of the personal legacy which their administration will leave. For Deng Xiaoping, it was launching economic reforms and opening to the west; for Jiang Zemin, it was single-mindedly driving these economic reforms at almost any cost. The current fourth-generation leaders, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen, the legacy which already appears to be surfacing is one seeking a more sustainable, environmentally-compatible form of economic growth. Urban-rural inequality in China is one of the world’s worst, and the countryside has seen little of the economic benefit which coastal cities have (Some say they are even worse off as basic education and health care provision have withered away after market reforms).

Because local officials are largely responsible for overseeing their own local development, they are incentivised simply to produce high levels of economic growth (which equates to more taxes for their area, more bribes, and quicker personal promotions up the party ranks). Because non-financial metrics have not been incorporated into these incentive structures nor have they been sufficiently institutionalised in the rule of law, environmental and social factors have largely been ignored.

All things considered, the government has closed ranks well in order to cover up these oversights up to now. (When I was living in Beijing in the summer of 2001, they famously shut down all the factories before the Olympic Committee visit and spray painted the grass green to reduce the feeling of pollution in the capital.)

Nonetheless, as the Chinese economy deepens and the demands for supply chain transparency increase around the world, Chinese leaders and businesses will face pressing challenges in incorporating sustainability metrics into the country’s future path of growth.

Skype cherishes its online community and sees the blogosphere as an important part of its communications activities especially when it comes to maintaining its profile on a local country level. Skype bloggers have a critical role in explaining and interacting with Skype’s customers helping to highlight and explain new products and services.

“Everyone knows that the blogosphere is an incredibly influential arena for motivating public opinion. Much of Skype’s success has been driven by the open relationship we have with our online communities who, via our forums and posts, give us direct and valuable feedback on how we’re doing as a company. So we need to make sure we are responding in the right way. And Glasshouse is an instrumental part of this, especially in helping us project the right voice,” said Imogen Bailey, director of global PR.

Glasshouse Partnership has been charged with building the strategy and explaining what Skype is doing on a local market level. Glasshouse Partnership will co-ordinate the team of freelancers who blog from Brazil, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

The appointment is effective immediately. The account will be led by Glasshouse founder director, Tim Kitchin, who said: “We’re delighted Skype have chosen us for this and look forward to working with Skype as it continues to expand and innovate worldwide.”