They are so powerful that they can afford to tell other advertisers: Don’t forget other media channels as TV, radio and print. This was said by Trevor Johnson, Head of Stragety and Planning EMEA, Facebook, in an inspiring lecture called “In your face” at Stockholm Mediaweek. Trevor did not say this in order to brag about how powerful Facebook.com has become. In Sweden the hype has grown so enormous that I believe Trevor wanted to lower expectations for what Facebook can achieve for advertisers.
After the lecture I interviewed Trevor. I asked him if advertisers need to understand the Facebook culture in order to connect with users? He answered that “they only need to understand people.”
Here are some of Trevor’s best points from the lecture and our meeting:
Facebook.com has today 400 million active users computers and 100 million users using mobile (mobile users are 2,5 times more active than computer users).
Brands are becoming publishers and they are using Facebook as the melting-pot/landing page for the content.
How can we connect to authentic people, rather than IP numbers?

When I mentioned to Trevor that I think Internet is starting to get old, he disagreed. Most people disagree with me but what I mean is that mobile solutions could grow faster if not so many resources where placed in old solutions.
I am also interested in what’s going to happen when and if Facebook combine and connect mobile solutions with payment models. If they did that shops would not only be able to connect with their multimillion tribes but Facebook would also be able to sell their products directly. Next step for social media could then be – shop until you drop…

Stockholm Mediaweek has become an important social platform for Swedes to connect in the off-line word. The word Trevor used most was engage, and that I think is what Stockholm Mediaweek has established – an engaging platform (credit to Per Rosvall).

Apple is reporting that they have sold over 1 million iPad’s. That is great even for Steve Jobs. Reporting it is like pouring blood in to ocean which attracts competitors (market then becomes shark water). Strong rumors are spreading at big buzzsites as Wired.com, Techcrunch.com and Gizmodo.com about an upcoming iPad killer. Competitors act like sharks, they have good senses for business and are soon entering the market. One competitor’s solution looks like this concept illustration from Google/Chromium.org:

Personally I don’t think it is enough to create a better copy of the iPad and call it a killer, but it can be the solution for many consumers who think the iPad is not flexible and not a good solution. The question is now how fast Steve Jobs can swim before the sharks/competitors catch up with their advantage?

Last week at Gulltaggen I finally met Sir Richard Branson (see photo).
There are few people I admire as I admire Branson. When people tell me I am too wild in my thinking I always think of Branson (he is a proof of that nothing in life or business is to wild untill someone has proven it works, or not).
After meeting up with Branson in Oslo I could not stop thinking of what he could do next. Today he has 200 companies and over 50.000 employes in almost every business field.
I would like to ask Branson if he can start Virgin Art? Why? Because it is a field full of untapped business potential. Art is a platform that is full of freedom to create and change the world from, and this could be done by starting Virgin Art.
Here is some of Sir Richard Branson best points at Gulltaggen 2010:

The demands for innovation has never been greater.
Make a difference and change the world.
As long it makes people smile.

Next time I meet Branson I will ask him about the future business of living in space,