A misty moisty morning to one and all, the early morning bell bottom blues are the rule here at Radio CBM 98.6 so we’re cuein’ up some rainy day kinda music for you, da man John Coltrane to groove us through.
Welcome it folks, it’s here—Lithium Technologies is launching Lithium Social CRM, a suite offering a “single platform to create a customer network of advocates across the social Web… integrating social customer conversations into existing CRM business processes and systems.”
And this isn’t just your garden variety using social media to reach customers—”it creates a network of customer advocates that is integrated into core business processes,” using “amplified word-of-mouth marketing, improved customer service, and accelerated innovation.” Lithium’s also introducing three new products: Tribal Knowledge Base, CRM Connect, and Social Web Connect.
How can the name “CRM Connect” possibly have not been taken before now?
“Our research is showing that over half of all executives place the value of a customer advocate at over $50,000 per year,” said Lyle Fong, CEO of Lithium Technologies, adding that to really speak the social networking language of today, the entire project has been outsourced to 15-year old Josh Feeney of Hackensack, New Jersey. “He does wicked cool MySpace pages. That’s what it’s all about.”
Fong said he couldn’t provide an address for customer advocates to apply for their $50,000 compensation.
Normally Radio CBM doesn’t watch or care about television apart from sports and documentaries on the history of beer, but upon hearing that Family Guy is the first animated series since The Flintstones in 1961 to get an Emmy nomination for Best Comedy Series, we wonder if any of the wingnuts who vote on such things have ever managed to catch an episode or two of this show called The Simpsons? You may have heard of it?
Alterian has acquired Techrigy, a social media monitoring and analytics software vendor. The Alterians say the acquisition enables “a fundamental shift from mass marketing to marketing based on engagement and conversation with the individual,” due to Techrigy’s social media monitoring and analytics products, letting Alterian monitor brand reputation, influencer identification, competitive analysis, and market research.
“We now have an unprecedented ability to understand and measure the mood of their market,” an Alterianoid said, adding that they can now “fully utilize social media dialogue.” When asked what she just said meant in English, she said she wasn’t really sure, to be honest, but “it’s definitely a top corporate priority. We’ve got Josh Feeney on it after basketball practice.”
MEI Computer Technology Group, which develops trade promotion management products for the Consumer Packaged Goods industry, wants you to know that it’s doing well. Revenue for the first half of 2009 increased 83 percent over the same period last year, company officials said at a champagne-sodden office party, and cash reserves are up 21 percent from June 2008.
“In addition,” the MEIans say, “we’ve signed six new customers in existing and new market segments. Eat my shorts, Mr. Recession!“
MEI has expanded its presence to include both the Pharmaceutical and Food Service industries, reasoning that “in hard times, people still need food and drugs.” Company officials said they’re mulling other timely market opportunities, such as foreclosed houses or cheap whiskey.
In sports, golfer Tom Watson stepped out of a time machine and shot a 5-under 65 on Thursday to hold the lead at the British Open in Turnberry, Scotland until Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez topped it with a 64, one shot off the record for lowest score in any major championship.
Yes, THAT Tom Watson, the 59-year old. Not Tom Watson Jr., we’re talking the one who beat Jack Nicklaus in the 1977 British Open at Turnberry in one of the greatest duels in golf history.
British Open officials scrambled frantically to ensure that for the rest of the tournament Tiger Woods‘s name would appear no lower than the third paragraph of any news article.
Envision Telephony, a vendor of contact center products, has announced a sales partnership with BizPro, an apps developer headquartered in Mexico City. The deal lets BizPro add Envision’s Centricity contact center “workforce optimization” products to its suite of enterprise tech offerings.
Paco Pineda, President of BizPro, said adding Envision Centricity to their product line “provides us a contact center workforce optimization suite for our many customers in Latin and South America, and I’m confident our customers will quickly come to understand the value and opportunities presented by these tools.”
Pineda said the move was a way to address the problem of “not being able to find enough legally documented Americans” in the local work force.
Siperian announced that the company has “reaffirmed its relationship with Informatica” as a result of Informatica’s recent acquisition of long-time Siperian partner AddressDoctor, saying the Siperian MDM Hub and Informatica’s offerings “complement each other.”
Siperian’s customers will continue to receive ongoing upgrades and service related to AddressDoctor technology, they said, promising to work through the “emotional issues.”
Siperianites pleaded for understanding and privacy at this time as “we seek to come to terms with the fact that Informatica has expressed a desire to pursue other relationships and acquire other partners.”
That’s the show for today, we’re off to load up on free calamari.
