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Lately, I’ve heard a curious statement expressed a couple different ways by some of my colleagues…in essence, they were surprised how well 2011 turned out in spite of the painful period of uncertainty it was.

Thinking back to the beginning of the year, the business buzz seemed to be mostly positive - relatively speaking, of course!! Then as spring turned into summer, things seemed to slow down a bit with feelings of doubt sprinkled in. Optimism faded and became replaced by a consistent sense of hesitancy.

twINFO™ by For Momentum: September 15-21, 2011 Edition
A convenient compilation of recent cause marketing industry info sourced on Twitter by For Momentum to keep you inspired and "in the know."

According to Harvard Business Review bloggers William Rosen and Laurence Minsky,

“A powerful confluence of challenging economic conditions and emerging digital platforms is driving a substantial shift in the marketing world. While the economic environment is forcing marketing decision makers to focus more on ROI, digital platforms from social media to mobile are enabling more personalized and trackable marketing communications.

To adapt to the changing landscape, what’s needed is a shift from building brands to "activating" them — from simply projecting what a brand is to optimizing what a brand does in order to move people closer to transaction. This is the Activation Imperative."