Based on research from 120 or so web strategists from large corporate companies, this research from Altimeter Group has some interesting content, not least the “Maturity level” test, enabling organisations to benchmark their current position.

Our very own Paul Harrison is putting the finishing touches to his presention for tomorrow’s Social Collective Conference where he will be keynoting on social opportunities for brands in 2011. Paul will be discuss the tools and thinking that will shape how brands and customers use social media in the coming year: from location-based services to crowsourcing in the real world. As usual, Paul will give many interactive examples, and illustrate his points with case studies so attendees get out of the session with a roadmap of actions they can start implementing immediately.

If you haven’t already booked your ticket but want to hear what social media will look like for an enteprise in 2011, here is a another chance to come and join us. And because we’re really nice, we’re giving you a 25% discount code. Book your tickets here and type : essential25 when prompted.

If you can’t get away from your desk, you’ll still be able to follow the day’s proceedings on twitter with the hashtag #SoCol.

The ‘Social Media will change the world’ stat-attack-fast-cut-set-to–funky soundtrack is now almost as prevalent as the Hitler-in-bunker mashups that pop-up to coincide with, well, just about anything (Hitler get an iPad here ).

This little vignette is promoting the new book Socialnomics - anyone readying this yet?

Anyone who, like an increasing number of us, uses a smartphone to access the internet ( and Forrester Research believe mobile devices will be primary way of browsing the web by 2012) may wonder what  the prevailing ad model is going to look like.

Google has its adwords system that targets search, but on a small mobile screen the results have been unsatisfactory for all parties.

Apple has now entered the fray via its Apps store, that as UPI reports “could effectively turn developers into an army of ad salesmen”:

Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs said 85 million iPhones and iPods have been sold — meaning customers are carrying potential mobile billboards.

More to follow on this in the coming days, quick intro video below

Nestle is currently fighting a losing battle on its Facebook Fan Page

What they should do next?

For Nestle right now, there are 3 x steps they need to take:

• Get personal. Posting as “Nestle” is a big mistake: people respond to people, and Facebook is after all a social network. Get a senior Nestle team member –with their real profile and photo - engaged NOW in answering questions. This will make a huge difference to the timbre of debate and authenticity of dealing with this.

• Make sure that they’re responding privately and publicly across all platforms – so if the same debate is kicking off on YouTube, make sure a Nestle person who understands YouTube with their profile is there to respond on YouTube, ditto via Twitter, and so on.

• Use it as an opportunity: get a real person at Nestle as above to find out exactly what the issue is, the depth of feeling, and be open and honest. Could Nestle actually take a serious look at the issues raised? Ask these people if they care about this issue, could Nestle create a virtual working group and invite these people together virtually to genuinely address this issue and discuss it, with Nestle responding to ideas and crowd sourcing possible responses / solutions.

Nestle – with Fairtrade for example – has proven it can listen and act responsibly – do that now, do it openly.

In terms of other brands watching and cringing, there are a couple of key take aways from this:

• Have a strategy in place. The fact that Nestle clearly didn’t have a strategy in place re logos / deleting posts etc ( or if they did, it was the wrong one ) is the first mistake. Brands – no matter how big or small – have to be prepared for this “Black Swan” moment, as Habitat and Paperchase have recently discovered..

• This means having an active listening plan in place so that brands can track buzz / negative sentiment and react faster.

• Secondly it’s about having the right guidelines in place: Be polite, be responsive understand that this is ‘not your space, its theirs’ (so a God-like editing of posts / set of 10 Commandments like ‘thou shalt not alter our logo’ are not going to work ).

• Thirdly, brands have to have an escalation policy in place – who gets involved if a death threat is posted to the CEO? Or something like this kicks off? All of these things need to be in place now, not after the horse has bolted. The best way is having a social media working group with heads of sales / HR / CRM / PR / comms etc that meet for an hour a month in order to plan for this type of eventuality.