[Posted by Steven Noble]

Marketing and communication leaders usually turn to the likes of Zappos, Threadless and P&G — not government — for inspiration. Most of us have become so used to slow, boring and irrelevant government communication that we treat business and consumers as our only sources of innovation.

But it's time to dig deeper, because beneath the bureaucracy there are changes afoot in government communication — changes that should inspire every marketing or communication leader in any sector or nation worldwide.

In particular, I'm talking about government's use of digital media to consult with stakeholders about public policy. When researching my latest report, I learned there has been more than 100 examples of this in Australia alone so far.

[Posted by Steven Noble]

If you can get to Dallas this October 28 and 29, then run — don't walk! — to register for Forrester's Consumer Forum 2008.

By all accounts,this event will be packed full of insights, advice and networking opportunities, but don't take my word for it: read Josh Bernoff's post and then try telling me you don't want to be there too.

If, like me, you have other commitments at the end of the month, rest easy: there are other ways to participate. For a start, you could contribute to the Forrester Discussion Boards. And keep on eye on the Forrester Blog For Interactive Marketing Professionals — it's one of several places where we'll stream video of the keynotes.

[Posted by Steven Noble]

Content moderation — deciding what user-generated content to publish and what to delete — is a serious business. Get it right, and your social application may well flourish. Make mistakes, and you'll alienate the very people you were hoping to engage. An important step along the way is crafting a clear and trustworthy content moderation policy. That's the topic of my first Forrester Research report.

However, there's much more to content moderation than simply creating and implementing your policy. If your social application is large or complex, expect to make significant investments in moderation software, in labour or services, and in managing the whole shebang. These back-end issues — from picking the right vendors to measuring outcomes — will be the subject of future Forrester research.

[Posted by Steven Noble]

On Friday, a bunch of us from the Sydney office shared a cake in honour of Forrester's 25th anniversary. Pictured from left to right we have: me, Tomoko Aihara, Ben Etherington, Sabannga Sanixay, Sarah McAllan and Jason Stokes.

[Posted by Steven Noble]

Most interactive agencies owe their success to their tenacity, not strategy.

The cornerstone of strategy is focus, and that involves knowing how to say "no". For example:

• "We only bid for integrated marketing campaigns, as our main strength is our diverse workforce which allows us to work across marketing disciplines"

• "Our priority is winning simple, repeatable, web development projects because that allows us to be the cheapest local vendor in this market"

• "We've walked away from most government and B2B work, because our business is built on creativity and consumer marketers are willing to pay for it"

Offering anything to anyone can be a strategy  — but only if you turn every service into a product, drive inefficiency out of every process, and say "no" to personal service. That doesn't sound like many interactive agencies to me.