Listening to Marcel Lebrun introduce #social2011, starting with a reference to the very ideas I built my Social Media Analytics book on' the Medium Is the Message ..... McLuhan ... The very thing I spoke about at McGraw Hill last week - and that left a grin on my face. He very well could have quoted me, for all I know.
Perhaps, in stringing together ideas the community came up with, Lebrun is acting as a consummate marketer. The rest of the references to Susan Boyle and BlendTec viral videos it just reinforces the originality and trust networks, but also, that these successes are rare in context to all those who try.
Marcel referred to the Salesforce acquisition (closing at the end of May) and Cloud2 (social, mobile, etc) where customers moved into Cloud2. again, quoting McLuhan, the Cloud is the Medium ( and then we have to figure out the message).
Marcel LeBrun announces the new Insights Platform ( I have been playing with it for several weeks and known about Radian6 Insights for the last 2 months), as something that completely changes the game of Social Media- building a DataCube using Semantic Technologies. Instead of trying to acquire more companies Radian6 decided to integrate many of those platforms via a architecture to layer those insights from the providers onto what Radian6 already has collected as part of your data feed.
Using OpenAmplify (a Radian6 Insights partner) he delves into SXSW (which he did not attend this year) and using both OpenAmplify and then OpenCalis, etc, etc, mixing and matching providers,etc, etc, etc.
Marcel pointed out how Insights will provide better Insights while cutting down time to produce information. From day 1 there are 75 Insights from 4 partners - and several more being added including PeekYou ( whose Advisory Board I am on ).
A few of the Insights partners who are now functional are sitting on the stage along with Marcel Lebrun.
Now, a lot of others will report this new platform today, including the Adapter Modules that will allow any company to overlay their own internal data with Radian6. Here's my thoughts on the platform after having played with it, perhaps in more depth than anyone else outside Radian6 has.
I think Radian6 Insights platform will change the game and put pressure on many other platforms acquired and those yet to be acquired, and put them all on notice that they need to raise the bar, as Radian6 has by this platform. insights will also raise the cost of doing analysis by offering more insights onto of what anyone is used to getting from this data - yes it changed the game and puts the rest of the pack on notice. It's all about the DATA, as the Medium IS the MESSAGE, just as McLuhan said 47 years ago.
But, and this is a big BUT..... the Insights provided are only as good as the DATA provided and the data being overlaid has a way to go before it will realize it's full potential.
The other nice thing about Radian6 Insights is the OPEN nature of this platform. Many will play with it now, though I have for a while now, seeing it's full potential - and when I see where every one else is with Online Listening I know, FULL WELL, just how GAME CHANGING both Radian6 Insights plus Radian6 + Salesforce will be.
The field will change so much in the next 6 months......... And when my Social Media Analytics book comes out this summer, the social landscape will even more different than it is now .... The transformation will be detailed in the book, along with why it happened and where we go now.