Book Review: Activists and Innovation

Written by Kate Brodock on November 22, 2008 – 7:01 pm -

Book Title
Market Rebels: How Activists Make or Break Radical Innovation

[Hardcover Publish Date is 18 January 2009]

Author
Hayagreeva Rao

Subject
This book explores how innovations and new technologies are changing the way people mobilize  around a cause.  Rao offers several examples of how activists have gone against the mainstream and used various technologies and tools to their advantage.

He offers many examples of how this has occurred, but one of the most insightful conclusions he comes to is that some of the most successful examples are a combination of what Bob Sutton, who has worked closely with Rao, calls the “one-two punch of a “Hot Cause” and “Cool Solutions.”  He goes on to say:

A hot cause like deaths from tobacco or medical errors can be used as springboards to raise awareness, spark motivation, and ignite red-hot outrage.  And naming these as enemies is an important step in mobilizing a network or market. But creating the heat isn’t enough; the next step needs to be cool solutions.   This doesn’t just mean identifying technically feasible solutions, it also means finding ways to bind people together, to empower them to take steps that help solve the problem, and to create enduring commitment to implementing solutions.

Activists, or “market rebels,” are those who defy conventional communication channels and leverage existing digital technologies by introducing radical and innovative ways to use them.  Under this model, many of the examples highlighted on DigiActive indicate that the range of uses for these tools will broaden beyond what which they were originally “intended” for.

It sounds like a book that should be top on the reading list of anyone with a cause they feel strongly about who wants to utilize the technologies out there.


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Campaign: Mobile Phones Against War in Congo

Written by Hernan on November 11, 2008 – 2:06 pm -

Description: Last week a coalition of students and activists have asked mobile phone users to “Cell Out” in solidarity with the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where millions have died as a result of conflict over coltan, a rare mineral used in cell phones and other electronics.

Digital Tools Being Used: mobile phones

What Are They Doing: Friends of the Congo with the help of university students at dozens of colleges and universities in the United States and around the world had made this action as part of the “Break the Silence Week”, an effort to raise awareness among cell phone users and others about the ongoing civil war in the DRC and the role of minerals such as coltan in stoking the conflict.

In “Break the Silence Week”, you will find a lists of events in different parts of the world which you can join or support.


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Posted in Campaigns, Mid-East & N. Africa, Organizations | No Comments »

Tool: Twitter being used by the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce

Written by Kate Brodock on August 16, 2008 – 9:35 pm -

Recently, companies and organizations have been hopping onto Twitter to use as a tool to communicate to customers, followers, interested parties etc.  Some use the tool as a newsreel, some use it for promotions or customer service.  But what would the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce get out of the situation?

Ask Guy Tessler, who works in Atlanta for the organization’s Southeast Region.  Interviewed by Toby of Diva Marketing, Guy mentioned the importance of being able to put a human face to his organization, and feels that Twitter, by virtue of its brief, direct and personal forum for conversation, provides an effective way of doing so.

With an organizational mission as follows,

“to boost the Israeli and Southeastern economies by helping their companies develop business relationships with each other and explore new market opportunities”

Guy hopes to use Twitter as a networking tool that he hopes can him reach specifically the local markets.  Please read here for the full interview.


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