TO’B HR Blog – Transition

Some of you already know this – others – well we haven’t talked for a while. In any event, I have just joined MotiveQuest LLC as the Chief Marketing Officer – responsible for sales and marketing.

I had a great run at RealLife HR and leave with a real sense of accomplishment. RealLife HR is a company totally focused on the most important thing. Taking care of their clients – and always exceeding expectations. They do this in an industry where “we suck less” was actually a viable competitive position. RealLife HR has raised the bar. Thanks and kudos to everyone there.

MotiveQuest is a company I helped start four years ago with one big idea. If companies could listen to what people are saying about them on the web – they would have great insight about their customers, motivation, competitors and products. (See Cluetrain Manifesto.)

I shared this idea with a brilliant friend of mine – David Rabjohns – then an SVP at Leo Burnett – and he turned it into MotiveQuest.

David launched MotiveQuest with this idea (listen, learn, advise, act) four years ago and has created the leading Word of Mouth Strategy consulting firm in the industry (According to Peter Kim at Forrester). MQ has already done great work for leading brands including DuPont, Citibank, Mini, Toyota, Nike, PlayStation, Motorola, HP, Dell and many, many others.

It is quite a break from my recent experience in the HR Services/Outsourcing field, but I am really excited about this opportunity. First, I have been a newsgroup geek for many years. Second, MQ is the leading strategy firm in the business and I have been on the advisory board since its’ founding. Finally, this is a permanent, significant shift in marketing. And MQ is on the leading edge.

Online conversations enabled by the internet have caused a massive power shift from the corporation back to the consumer. And it is only going to get louder. Let me give you a recent example.

I recently plunked down $1,000 on a new digital camera (Nikon D40x with lenses). To make my decision I didn’t go to the Nikon or Canon or Sony websites. I went to the digicam forums and newsgroups and asked detailed questions about what I needed and how I would use the camera. Within 24 hours I had answers by experts and peers from all over the world. With their input, I made my decision. Sony, Canon and Nikon had little to say about it.

I’m not the only one doing this – people are talking online about cars, gadgets, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, financial services, cell phones, game consoles, movies, etc.

Finally, I am launching a new blog called Human Voice that will be running in stealth mode for the next few weeks – feel free to check it out.

Regards,

TO’B