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I help organizations learn and market their products and services better. I am not biased to any particular marketing technique, channel, tactic or niche. I focus on the best solution to solve an issue or capture an opportunity, even if that means someone else coming in to do the work.

With over 17 years of experience and an ongoing fascination for all things marketing, I have a breadth of marketing expertise across a deep roster of clients whom I work with directly or via partnerships such as the BDC or independent communications agencies.

For me, the best way of working is hands on, roll up my sleeves and open source  collaboration with people and teams. Of critical importance is that the team learns and grows throughout my work so that they are engaged, vested and could do it themselves the next time round.

I’m also an ambassador for Hyper Island dubbed the “digital Harvard” and helped bring their master class  to Vancouver in 2013 for the first time. I speak at and moderate panels at industry association events and I write for local, national and international trade press. 

Prior to founding Eustress Marketing Coaching, I worked at a large multinational agency in various roles in many cities including Vancouver, Dublin, Budapest, Munich and London. I ran local, national, regional and global accounts and even led local office in Vancouver. 

Blog

The True Story of Not so True Stories & Facebook

richard sandor

I find it ironic that the recent headlines about Facebook saying it was “dead and buried with teens” spread like wildfire in social and mainstream media. The fact is that the report was not comprehensive – it was based on a niche ethnographic study of 16-18 year olds in and around London, UK.

The “dead and buried” sound bite like all good sound bites carried the day. Mark Twain said “ never let the truth get in the way of a good story” and sadly even the sounder publications seem to be picking up stories without a morsel of journalistic rigour.

It is ironic because almost everyday there is a story widely shared on Facebook and then wait… dig a little deeper and oh…it is not so true. Today it was "the smog so bad that the sunrise in China is now displayed via a massive screen" story. I saw this post no fewer than 5 times and then came across an article in Quartz debunking the story. 



Back to Facebook, I am sure that teens are using it less and less and other social platforms more.  Just think back to when you were a teen. How’d you feel with your mom and dad as friends. Check out this little video from South Park (props to Hyper Island where I first saw this).

   

I am far from a teen and my Facebook use has waned too. Why? 

1. False stories – I don’t know what to believe or what to share.
2. Lots of repetition of stories - I have liked sources of the better stories that my friends have shared.  Now I get the same story from say upwothy.com and from my friends.
3. Various friends seem to share the same stories which wastes precious news feed real estate - especially on mobile.
4. Most of the stuff on Facebook really isn't that important or interesting. How many meal pics and cat photos can one see anyway?
5. I am playing with Instagram and Google + which are newer. 

Also for me it is about sheer numbers. As I have liked more brands and friends, at some point there is less value from my Facebook feed – there is too much and relevance of the content becomes questionable. My time is limited – I can only take in so much. And as I posted recently there is a “head up” and “enjoy the moment” movement afoot.. which I am trying to ascribe to. 

If Facebook wanted to add more value and be more relevant, it would flag BS stories or point me in the direction of alternative sources. It would remove duplication and maybe help me establish an optimal number of brands and people to follow given the time I am prepared to spend on the site. 


As far as teens go well Facebook will have to figure that one out on their own… but as any marketer can tell you… you can’t be everything to everyone.
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