Mediaboss Marketing

By Tim Hyde, Founder and Director of Social Media Marketing Agency, TWH Media

On October 28, 2021, Mark Zuckerberg wrote a founders letter to outline the brands decision to change its name to Meta, suggesting this phase as being the beginning of the next chapter for the internet. He went on to say:

The metaverse is the next frontier in connecting people, just like social networking was when we got started,

Facebook has made this move to pursue opportunities in the virtual world of the metaverse.

Adidas also joined the growing ranks of those entering the metaverse, releasing a one-of-a-kind token that functions similarly to an NFT, while Nike and Roblox collaborated on virtual realm, Nikeland, marking their first step into this new space.

And these are not the only big brands to see potential in this rapidly emerging technology, and how it could permanently change the way we network, shop and do business.

To most of us, Facebook is seen as a social media company, an almost iconic social media brand, but things are changing and while no-one is entirely sure exactly what the metaverse will look like, the rise of a new iteration of the Internet, Web 3.0, has meant social media is changing, and many of the original pioneers of social media are already moving into this exciting new space, and applying those hard-won lessons to these new technologies.

Having spent my entire career immersed in the world of social media, using these platforms to maximise the success and growth of businesses, it is fascinating to see how colleagues, associates and industry leaders from across the world have begun investing in both the metaverse and Web 3.0 ventures, and are already seeing seven figure returns.

Social Media is changing

Most of us consider social media as ubiquitous, but there was a time when many businesses did not view it as something worth investing in. As technology caught up and revealed huge opportunities in eCommerce, the value of a social media presence quickly became apparent, and these companies found themselves 10 steps behind their competitors I predict this will be the case with the metaverse and Web 3.0.

Those that took the plunge into social media when it was still an emerging technology were able to build up hugely influential followings as well as create powerful brands . We are seeing the same thing happen as entrepreneurs are using the infrastructure of Web 3.0 to create and invest in emerging metaverse platforms.

Who is doing what?

We have already seen the explosion in cryptocurrency platforms, with Jack Dorseys financial services company, Square, investing $50 million into Bitcoin, and Tesla following suit with an investment of over $1.3 billion. Similarly, non-fungible tokens [NFTs] are rich in opportunities for businesses and investors beyond simply trading digital artworks and collectibles.

While Facebooks name change may have bought mainstream attention to the possibilities of the metaverse, the road is already being paved by many big names who first cut their teeth on social media.

Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia, identified the Internet as a land-grab opportunity and opened one of the first eCommerce platforms in the late 90s. He essentially grew with social media, becoming a hugely prolific and influential name within the industry, and has been investing in the Metaverse for the past two years, creating and developing Vee Friends, an NFT brand company, as well as other Web 3.0 initiatives.

Other early-adopters of social media, such as Social Chain co-founder, and youngest-ever investor on Dragons Den, Steven Bartlett, has also begun investing in a number of Web 3.0 companies, while social media pioneer Cathal Berragan moved from Social Chain New York to a Web 3.0 business in London.

While these are just a handful of names, all are using their significant social media followings and the skills they learnt on those platforms to make the transition into this new space.

Early social media adopters have the andvantage

With Web 3.0 and the metaverse poised as the successor to the current iteration of the Internet, it is those trailblazers who were able to adapt their mindset and take a leap into social media who have the greatest advantage in making the next move into the metaverse.

They already have great experience in cultivating a following and building a community and are able to bring that community on board with them into new ventures, such as those who started off running meme accounts on platforms like Twitter and transitioned to buying and creating NFTs.

The ability to communicate your message clearly on emerging platforms is something that early adopters of social media have already had much experience in, and crucially, are able to hit the relevant tone of voice as well as iterating their content style to keep and engage their audience. People that were willing to take a risk by investing their time into new platforms such as TikTok or Snapchat, staking their claim in these new spaces, and it is these people who are now reaping the benefits of being at the frontier of the metaverse.

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Facebook became Meta Are we all about to jump in to the Metaverse? - Global Banking And Finance Review

How free is the internet? These days, it comes down to where you live. Many countries crack down on our online freedoms by restricting access to certain websites and services or prosecuting those who share anti-governmental rhetoric.

According to the 2021 Freedom House Freedom on the Net index, 75% of all internet users live in countries where individuals have been arrested or imprisoned for posting content on political, social, or religious issues. At least 55 countries have investigated, arrested, or convicted people for their social media posts.

The report assessed 70 countries around the world and assigned them a score between 0 and 100; the higher the number, the more free a country's internet is. China scored only a 10, while Iran and Myanmar each failed to reach 20. Cuba, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Ethiopia, and United Arab Emirates rounded out the bottom 10 countries.

It's also worth noting that both sides of the current Russo-Ukrainian War scored poorly on the index. Russia scored 30 pointsplacing the country in 11th place on the listjust as social media sites have been blocked in response to US sanctions. But Ukraine was awarded just 62 points, marking it a partially free country only.

The Freedom House assessed 88% of internet users around the world and found that 39% were not freemostly in Asia and the Middle Eastwhile 28% were only partially freeCentral and South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Ukraine. Just 21% were determined to be free; these live mainly in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia.

Of the countries that scored highest the last year, Iceland was at the top with 96 points. Estonia was close behind with 94 points, and then Canada, Costa Rica, and Taiwan followed with scores in the 80s. The United States scored 75 points, likely because it has prosecuted people for what they wrote on Twitter.

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China, Russia Among the Most Internet-Restrictive Countries in the World - PCMag India

HAMDEN New Haven-area employees of CrossPoint Federal Credit Union raised hundreds of dollars for Where the Love Is animal rescue in Hamden, as part of the Betty White Birthday Challenge, which sought to raise money for local animal shelters for what would have been Whites 100th birthday in January, according to a release. White, known for her love of animals, died on Dec. 31, 2021, at age 99.

The $527 raised for the Hamden shelter is being matched by CrossPoint, for a total donation of $1,054, the release said.

The donation will sponsor the adoption fee for one fortunate Where the Love Is dog as the organization will pay it forward to continue to honor Betty White and her love of animals.

We are big fans of Betty Whites work, both with animal advocacy and in Hollywood, CrossPoint Area Manager Armand Muniz said in the release. CrossPoint understands the important roles pets play in families and in the community. We love supporting Where the Love Is in its mission to help pets in need of love and care.

Muniz said in the release that employees Michelle Hoffman and Sandy Bohannon, CrossPoint branch managers in Branford and New Haven, respectively, and Cheryl Rich, vice president of administration in Hamden, joined to encourage others in the company to participate in the challenge. CrossPoint became involved with Where the Love Is through its relationship with FullPowerRadio, the company behind about a dozen Connecticut radio stations, the release said, and FullPowerRadio sponsors pet adoption events throughout the year for the Hamden shelter.

Volunteer Organization Where the Love Is has been rescuing abandoned animals from high-kill pounds since 2013, the release said, and 100 percent of donations goes toward medical care, food, training and shelter.

Partners like CrossPoint help us keep the love going, Where the Love Is Marketing and Fundraising Director Tanya Weinberg said in the release. As a completely volunteer organization, we depend on generous donors like CrossPoint to fund the continuum of love that is needed from the day our dogs are rescued to the day they go home with their new adoptive family.

NORTH HAVEN Isabel Pocock has joined Pearce Real Estates New Haven office as a member of the Edgehill Team, according to a release.

Pocock, a lifelong state resident who has lived in both Guilford and North Haven, graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a degree in business administration, focused on marketing, the release said.

Isabel has so much potential as a real estate agent. She is just starting in the business and that allows her to learn the right way from the start, Barbara L. Pearce, chairwoman and CEO of Pearce Real Estate, said in the release. We look forward to her having a successful career with Pearce in the years to come.

Pocock can be contacted at ipocock@hpearce.com or 203-776-1899, ext. 719.

BRANFORD Coldwell Banker Realty agent Lauren Freedman, based in Branford, was ranked fourth among Coldwell agents in North America in 2021 for total units sold, according to a release.

This is an enormous achievement, and Im proud to congratulate Lauren for being among the Top 5 selling Coldwell Banker agents across the continent. Lauren has risen to the top of the Connecticut real estate market because of the tireless dedication and unparalleled expertise she offers to every one of her clients, Joe Valvano, president of Coldwell Banker Realty in Connecticut and Westchester, N.Y., said in the release.

Freedman has been the top real estate agent in the Coldwell Banker Realty office in Branford since 2015, the company said, and leads the market in Branford, North Haven and East Haven.

Contact Freedman at lauren.freedman@cbmoves.com, 203-889-8336 (mobile) or 203-481-4571, ext. 348 (office). For more information, visit http://www.laurenfreedmanrealestate.com.

NEW HAVEN Am Law 200 opened an office in the citys Granite Square complex at 700 State St., Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin said in a release.

Charles T. Gura, a shareholder in the firms Health Care Department, will be the offices managing attorney, it said.

Marshall Dennehey has been servicing clients in Connecticut for the past eight years, primarily from the firms Westchester County, N.Y., office, according to the release.

As we looked to grow strategically, Connecticut was an obvious choice and New Haven an ideal location in which to open a fully staffed, brand new office, G. Mark Thompson, Marshall Denneheys president and CEO, said in the release. The Citys central location enables us to serve both existing and future clients in each of the states Judicial Districts and area courts, and we have been thrilled by the welcome we have received.

Four attorneys staff the New Haven office, including Gura, Daniel Corde, Caroline E. Skelton and R. David Lane Jr., the release said, with practice areas including general casualty litigation, medical and professional liability, premises liability, construction, privacy and data security, asbestos and mold litigation, and transportation matters.

For more information, visit http://www.marshalldennehey.com.

MILFORD The Housatonic River Job Networks March meetings will include discussions on how to stay encouraged during a job search and how to make sure networking efforts are productive, the group said in a release.

March 24: Guest speaker will be Kimberly Saltus, managing director of Fifty-First Street, and the topic will be Discover Your Calm Creating the Life You Want Today. Her talk, among other points, will look at how to remain calm amid job loss or extended employment searches, and offer individuals going through job search a new way of thinking, organizers said.

March 31: Guest speaker will be Rob Thomas, president of Rob Thomas USA, and the topic will be Is Your Networking Really Working? Thomas will talk about his approach to networking and best practices, as well as how to build better networking relationships.

Both meetings will take place at 7 p.m. at the Margaret Egan Community Center, 35 Matthew St. Health safety protocols will be in place, including distanced seating and wearing of masks while in the center. For information, email alexy56@hotmail.com.

SCORE will offer a free webinar, Advertising on and Measuring the Impact of Facebook and Instagram, presented by Miranda Creative Brand Manager Meghan Crawford from 10-11:30 a.m. March 30, the group said in a release.

Sponsored by Charter Oak Federal Credit Union, the presentation will cover the value of advertising on social media, current trends and how to use them to your advantage, and how to measure for success, according to the release, as well as a review of social media basics.

To register for the free Zoom webinar, visit https://bit.ly/35YWoup. Details on joining the webinar will be provided following registration. For information, contact Anne Driscoll at anne.driscoll@scorevolunteer.org.

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Business News in Brief, week of March 20, 2022 - New Haven Register

metamorworks/iStock via Getty Images

[In a business environment with accelerating rates of change, the power to compete and win is shifting radically from corporations to ecosystems, from leveraging internal assets to accessing external networks, from a traditional operating focus on efficiency to dynamic open innovation. Welcome to the Collaboration Economy and the new source of competitive advantage for firms that want to thrive in our new business climate.

With many cross-industry projections saying that we will see more change and innovation in the next three to five years than we have seen in the past thirty years, firms need to be less insulated and become more synergistic. No one company and management team in isolation can practically keep up with the hyper-changing complexity of our modern business world.

Firms need to leverage their knowledge and experiences with others fighting the same fight or addressing similar challenges. Deeper connections need to be formed between firms that can lead to an ecosystem of resources built on mutual interests. These ecosystems tend to function as open platforms adding substantial new capabilities to all. It is now up to how firms can creatively connect with one another that determines how successful they can be. This puts a whole different spin and a new reality on what "networking" really means and how it is being strategically applied to meet today's challenges.

Greg Satell - a transformation & change expert, top innovation blogger, and bestselling author of Mapping Innovation and Cascades: How to Create a Movement that Drives Transformational Change - has done extensive work in exploring and writing about this new business dynamic of platforms, networks, and ecosystems.

"In an age of disruption, the only viable strategy is to adapt.The objective is no longer to claw your way to the top of the heap, but to nudge your way to the center of the network..Successful enterprises can no longer prosper merely by deploying assets efficiently, but must effectively manage and deepen connections In a networked world, the best way to become a dominant player is to become an indispensable partner."

To dig deeper into the mechanics and strategy of building your company into a platform and developing an ecosystem, we reached out to Institute Founding Member, Mark Spina, President and COO of FLX Networks - a financial services technology platform and membership community. FLX is actively building a "network of networks" through their new community platform which is designed to revolutionize the working relationship and experience that occurs between asset managers, financial advisors, and wealth management firms. We asked questions to better understand how platforms can help us access technology, talent, current insights, and strategic partners and how this can dramatically change the ways we can successfully compete in our rapidly changing industry environment.]

Hortz: What were the strategic decisions behind building your firm as a platform?

Spina: The financial services industry faces a generational transition away from its traditional engagement model, which has been interruption-based and heavily dependent on this high-cost implementation model, grudgingly accepted by the asset managers along with their target audience of wealth management firms and advisors. A cross-current of macro events, including the pandemic, technological innovation, and regulatory evolution have created the necessary momentum for a more invitation-style of engagement and experience to be introduced through a community platform.

Importantly, the competitive pressures are transitioning the industry from sourcing a myriad number of specialized business solutions and vendor firms to looking for strategic partners that can consolidate and integrate the many resources now available. Simply put, specialization has delivered many incredible innovative solutions, but it has also delivered increasing costs (due to more tools and services), complex tech stacks, and an overwhelming number of vendor relationships. Both asset managers and wealth managers seek scalable relationships that creatively serve their business needs, while reducing the number of partnerships and time required to maintain them.

Hortz: How does a platform structure allow you to address the challenges you see facing financial services firms?

Spina: FLX Networks' purpose-built technology platform is designed to create a more economical and sustainable distribution experience with less friction and inefficiency between asset managers, wealth management firms and financial advisors. Through our proprietary technology, we have built a community platform that provides access to a business services marketplace, an aggregated open-architecture asset manager content marketplace, an asset manager exchange, and a social network facilitating the sharing of relevant professional practices and experiences.

Each vertical of our permissions-based platform allows access to a combination of tools, personnel, technology, strategic relationships, and products to help drive a more cost-effective, on-demand, and sustainable business model. Our approach simultaneously delivers the scale of the largest corporations in the marketplace today.

Hortz: Now in your second year of development, what are you learning about the dynamics of building a platform?

Spina: The key learning is a meta learning of sorts - sitting at the center of a network creates a terrific vantage for building a platform. The challenges and trends are easier to see. I know you are a fan of Greg Satell, the transformation & change expert. He states it so well: "We can no longer rely on controlling and leveraging assets, but now must take into account new sources of power, which reside not at the top of hierarchies, but at the center of networks".

While we clearly see the power of establishing a network centered between asset managers, wealth management firms, and advisors, each network participant comes with its own considerations and priorities. The need for educating participants about the potential of this new network has been both a key learning and driver of our succession.

Hortz: How do you then build the platform into a functioning community and what are the benefits?

Spina: At its launch, FLX offered asset managers access to a marketplace that provided modular and on-demand distribution solutions. As a member of FLX, asset managers received a community page that served as a central location for the asset manager to place marketing content, product training, and pertinent firm information. Asset managers could then search through the various marketplaces within the platform and leverage teams of experienced sales personnel, as well as sales leadership, sales infrastructure, technology tools, marketing, website development, etc. The interest in this unique approach was immediate, and the firm executed on its first capital raise.

COVID-19 transformed the world and economy as we knew it. This crucible moment led to a second key element of building the platform into a functioning community. FLX enlisted the clients of asset managers (i.e., wealth management firms and financial advisors) to also become members of FLX. FLX identified both a bottom-up and top-down strategy designed to create gravitational pull to a newly established community. It was at this time that FLX aggressively pursued the development of a community where asset managers, financial advisors, and wealth management firms would feel compelled to visit and leverage tools, services, and resources to easily access information, reduce noise, and increase productivity.

Hortz: What is your plan and criteria for growing your FLX Solutions Exchange on your platform?

Spina: The FLX Solutions Exchange has also proven to be an area with significant learnings to date and forward-looking opportunities. In many ways, it's a microcosm of starting and building a business in an unconventional way. We have plans to grow our FLX branded Solutions, strategic partnerships, and selectively expand the range of partners on the platform in the near to intermediate term.

Importantly and differently as we move the company into year three, we see Distribution or "Shared Client Engagement Teams" as one of the Solutions available. Based on our modular approach the Shared Client Engagement Teams are routinely paired with a set of Solutions that best fit the Asset Manager's needs. For firms that were historically focused on institutional, alternative or international markets and are now entering the US advisor and intermediary marketplace, we routinely consult them to first ensure product readiness and promote brand awareness, leveraging the fractional services of our Solutions capabilities, then layer in the personnel.

From a strategic partnership perspective, we are selectively engaging across multiple domains. When you see and believe in the power of the network, those domains include AI, data, benefits, along with access to industry associations and wealth management firms. While other firms have built well-developed networks to aid the financial advisor in their engagements with the consumer, we are focused on the B2B "space in between" asset managers, wealth management firms, and advisors in the US. The US market alone is a $50 trillion product market and it takes about $50 billion annually to make that market function from sales, marketing and data perspectives. We also have international plans on the near horizon, eyeing markets with relatively large advisor markets including Canada, UK, and Australia.

Hortz: Any other thoughts you can share with financial professionals on how B2B digital platforms like yours can help them evolve their traditional way of doing business?

Spina: Yes. Think about almost every other buying and selling experience, both B2B and B2C. They have changed meaningfully over the past five to ten years, mostly to an on-demand setting aided by subject matter experts at key decision-making or inflection points. We see these trends and are catalyzing the same experience for the wholesale distribution market.

So, definitely, we see and talk with executives from such a wide variety of firms, cutting-edge boutiques to dominant players, each intent on growing their business. The conversations are taking place with asset managers, wealth management firms, large RIAs, and advisor teams. In an oversimplified form, we see leaders beholden to the legacy style of things and then those willing to embrace or at minimum, experiment with a new approach.

For example, most readers can very readily recall their experiences with wholesaling, from different lenses and angles. While we've been saying this for a few years, even prior to Covid, it's now clear that there will be meaningful change going forward. We are going to help by "innorupting" (innovate/disrupt) the status quo. One way is through creating a Virtual Wholesale Market.

This premier virtual wholesale market, as we envision, is where advisors through the general community or through a white-labeled wealth management community, tailored for their respective firm, can access all the meaningful asset manager content, insights, thought leadership, and investment product information. Separately, asset management sales teams can search for advisors and identify their engagement preferences and needs. The detailed profiles provided by every member of the FLX community allow them to share interests, career experience, product needs, service needs, and desired form of engagement (i.e.- phone, in-person, email, etc.). The benefit is to simplify, personalize, and customize the engagement experience.

Hortz: Any recommendations on how financial firms can reinvigorate themselves in platforms and being part of a network?

Spina: Yes, while there are many options, a couple of concepts repeatedly reveal themselves to us as competitive drivers.

We have been talking about creating "Synthetic Scale" as a way to reinvigorate or better compete. Scale has been a driving objective for many in the asset and wealth space. As a select group of firms have achieved that goal and accumulated massive scale, it's made it more challenging for others to compete. By joining a community and leveraging the shared Solutions and buying power of the community, firms or even business units can forge a path to growth.

We have also encouraged firms to experiment. While well worn, the expression that "doing things the same way and expecting different results" is still very much an operating belief of many firms. Whether it's a large experiment or small one, we see significant value in trying new approaches. This can run across an entire business, a subset, a product type, a channel, a geography, or some combination thereof. The opportunity to experiment abounds.

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The Power Of Platforms And Networks - Seeking Alpha

Heart-rending videos of artillery strikes are being served up alongside funny snippets such as bomb-shelter cooking tips and invasion misinformation as the war in Ukraine plays out on TikTok.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, millions of people have tuned into the hugely popular social networking service for news and views of what is happening on the battleground.

That was not lost on US officials who hosted a video call to brief popular TikTok "influencers" on details about the war, according to posts at the social network.

"Lots of people have been turning to digital creators to learn about the invasion of Ukraine," read a tweet Friday by Gen-Z for Change, a nonprofit focused on using social media to promote civil discourse.

"Yesterday, we joined the @WhiteHouse and @WHNSC for a briefing on the United States' strategic goals in Ukraine so we're better able to debunk misinformation," it added, referring to the White House National Security Council.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, music-themed video clips at Marta Vasyuta's account gave way to images of soldiers and the ravages of war.

Stuck in London, the 20-year-old Ukrainian exchange student uses TikTok to share glimpses of the tragedy inflicted on people still in her home country.

"My mission is to spread information; to not stop talking about that, because it really matters," said the economics student from Lviv whose videos have logged millions of views.

Valeria Shashenok stayed in the city of Cherniguiv northeast of Kyiv and switched to English to broaden the reach of her sometimes surreal wartime TikTok posts.

In one, she shows how to cook borscht in a bomb shelter. In another, she walks through rubble to a Rihanna music remix.

The 20-year-old photographer is among those who have not given up on the playful nature of videos considered a trademark of TikTok, which boasts more than a billion users.

"I try to keep the humor, because it is my nature," said 23-year-old TikTok creator Rimma, who asked for her second name to be withheld.

"I'm living through this trauma; my life is ruined, and there is nothing left for me but irony."

Her TikToks include a clip of her in a basement in Odessa, quipping that Ukrainians' idea of going for a walk is now a jaunt to the nearest shelter.

She said the line between what is funny and what is hurtful is no longer clear, given the suffering and fear afflicting so many.

But the appetite for wartime content at TikTok appears strong, with Vasyuta and Shashenok seeing subscriber ranks multiply at their accounts.

- Youthful sass -

While breaking news events such as conflicts have been featured on social media for years, TikTok tends to feature spontaneity and a bit of sass that has proven particularly popular with younger audiences.

In the United States -- where members of "Gen Z," born in the late 1990s, shun traditional television -- online platforms like TikTok are prime sources of news.

"I hope that the kids who watch this war unfold on TikTok become opposed to war (and) realize the horrors and dangers of it," said US high school history teacher Chris Dier, who is also a TikTok creator.

"What I don't want is for it to desensitize them and normalize war."

Young TikTok users are also "bombarded" with propaganda that they likely need help navigating, said Dier.

TikTok told AFP that it has ramped up resources to detect and counter "emerging threats" and "harmful disinformation" on the platform.

On March 6, the subsidiary of China-based ByteDance suspended the uploading of videos in Russia in reaction to a new law making it a crime to "discredit" the Russian military.

The flow of pro-Russian messages has noticeably declined at TikTok, with the most popular account being state-backed news agency RIA Novosti, which is known for false or discredited claims, such as the alleged existence of secret bioweapons labs in Ukraine.

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Social media: First war of the TikTok era sees tragedy, humor and deceit - RTL Today