It’s a simple fact that who you surround yourself with matters. With that in mind, I wanted to start my first post of 2014 with a shout (and recommendation) to all the people whose thinking enriches my own. Although I have friends colleagues on communities such as Facebook and LinkedIN, it’s Twitter where I spend most of my social media time and energy. It’s also the channel through which I’ve gotten to know a lot of people personally and professionally. So, yeah, I’m a heavy Twitter user.
Currently, I follow over 1,600 people. Lately, I’ve becoming more concerned with the signal-to-noise ratio and have started trimming followers, if only to feel less overwhelmed by the Twitter stream. Also, we all evolve. I know, for instance, that there were many people I followed when I had a heavier and deeper focus on music or politics. Now, following some of those people makes less sense, given that my focus has shifted. It’s in no way to suggest that those I unfollowed were “bad” or in some way not insightful. Rather, what they’re offering is less critical for me to consume now versus times past.
About three weeks ago, Strawberry Frog’s Scott Goodson posted his list of Must Follow Marketing Minds on Twitter. So, this is my hat tip to him for that inspiration. Because I’m focused on the intersection of marketing, business and contemporary culture, my Twitter feed beaks down roughly into those three groups. I think if you intend to help brands get smarter about leveraging contemporary culture and making themselves relevant to it, you’ll need a variety of perspectives. Your focus can’t just be about marketing and branding. That’s only a small part of the picture. These lists should get you started.
Finally, none of these are be-all, end-all lists. Obviously, I follow people beyond them. However, the folks that I’m highlighting 1) have a regular presence on Twitter, 2) are sharing great content, and 3) I pay attention to their streams more often than not.
Here’s my list of people I feel who are either covering the evolving world of marketing and media or, better yet, pushing it forward.
Brandchannel – @brandchannelhub
Grant McCracken – @grant27
Rick Liebling – @rickliebling
Gitamba Saila-Ngita – @monumentsinking
Tim Stock – @timstock
Peter Spear – @pspear
JWTIntelligence – @JWTIntelligence
Sian Morson – @xianamoy
Raju Narisetti – @raju
Terry Young – @terryyoungny
Warc – @WarcEditors
Emotive Brand – @EmotiveBrand
Amber Horsburgh – @amberhorsburgh
Indy Neogy – @indy_neogy
Tru Pettigrew – @truaccess
Havas Worldwide – @havasww
Matthew Quint – @mattquint
David Rogers – @david_rogers
Detavio Samuels – @detavio
Kenji Summers – @kenjisummers
James Andrews – @keyinfluencer
The Agency Post – @agencypost
The Futures Agency – @futuresagency
Khaya Dlanga – @khayadlanga
Abey Mokgwantsane – @abeyphonogenic
Lynne Johnson – @lynneluvah
David Berkowitz – @dberkowitz
David Armano – @armano
Steve Rubel – @steverubel
Anil Dash – @anildash
Brian Clark – @brianclark
Chris Brogan – @chrisbrogan
Adweek – @adweek
AdAge – @adage
Multicultural Brand Consultancy – @brandoneculture
John Gerzema – @johngerzema
Interbrand – @interbrand
Strategy Magazine – @strategyonline
Lina Srivastava – @lksriv
Think With Google – @thinkwithgoogle
Noah Brier – @heyitsnoah
Percolate – @percolate
Social@Ogilvy – @socialogilvy
Geoffrey Colon – @djgeoffe
Rohit Bhargava – @rohitbhargava
Next up: Business, Strategy, Innovation and Leadership!
