Tell us the basics: Who are you, what’s your company’s name and how long have you been at this company?

My name is Dean Browell and I’m with Feedback – I’m one of the three partners who founded the company in 2009. We have offices here in Richmond as well as London.

We notice you have a PhD — that probably makes you different from a lot of other social media experts. What field is your degree in, and what led you to Feedback?

My PhD is in education, specifically looking at how different generations interact online. My research background is in ethnography, and we apply those research principles and a philosophy of listening to audiences and industries first before barreling into social media. Our insights and way of thinking end up helping way more than just social strategies.

Who are Feedback’s clients — actual brands or the marketing and public relations organizations that serve those brands?

Both, actually. We founded Feedback to work with brands and agencies of all types to help add intelligence and firepower to their audience engagement. For agencies we help provide helpful research that informs creative, public relations and more. Our research also helps train and augment what they offer in terms of social services. And we also work for a number of large brands directly, often interfacing with the firms they employ.  We’ve worked with everyone from The Martin Agency here in town to Camelbak in California, and we’re members of Worldwide Partners, Inc. – an international network of independently owned ad agencies.

Read the full interview here:
http://workitrichmond.com/people/dean-browell/

Even as recently as this weekend Techcrunch reported that Pinterest has over 10.4 million registered users, 9 million monthly Facebook-connected users, and 2 million daily Facebook users. (It is important to keep in mind that some of these stats are still speculation or determined through number of Likes on Facebook so are not true active user stats, yet.)

Okay, so we know that Pinterest is popular. But the question is, just how groundbreaking will it be? Dean Browell, PhD and EVP at Feedback, tackles that question in the UK’s MyCustomer.com:

Brandweiner writes, “With Pinterest’s more personalised approach for brands – particularly retailers – and growing popularity, how does the network fare against Facebook and could we have finally found a social platform to knock it off its perch?

Dean Browell from Feedback doesn’t think so. “There’s no way Pinterest will kill Facebook – it just isn’t the same network so can’t replace it,” he concludes. “But it can influence it. I think Pinterest will become and stay popular, in the vein of Tumblr with the possibilities of Twitter.”

So there you have it. It doesn’t look like the interest with Pinterest is going to wane anytime soon. My interest, however, is now more focused on how its success is going to influence the leading social networks.

-Anna (@alucas9)

The Drum –

The London presence will be headed up by Feedback president and CEO Jeff Thompson and executive vice president Dean Browell Ph.D., alongside vice president Anna Lucas.

Mrweb–

The team examines and analyzes online chat across relevant sectors, including clients’ own brands and their competitors, then uses Feedback’s proprietary ‘Human Filter’ service to deliver information and insight.

Promotional Marketing –

The company has partnered with London-based integrated creative agency 23red to offer a full suite of communications services to customers. Both agencies are part of global network Worldwide Partners Inc. In its first two years Feedback has already helped UK and other European agencies win new business and worked with a variety of international clients.

Campaign Live/Brand Republic-

Thompson said: “At Feedback, we believe that social media is an accelerant to traditional media, and should not be an afterthought or seen as a frivolous must-have to keep up with technology. “This approach has delivered enormous success for our clients in the States and we look forward to bringing our strengths and creative solutions to our clients here in Europe.”

We look forward to growing in Europe and keeping our friends up to speed on our progress.

Craft brewers are starting to take to mobile apps and the web to get their message out and strengthen the worldwide community of good beer drinkers. This trend was covered in a recent article on Sparksheet, the moral of the story being:

Whether it’s through Facebook pages, check-in apps or hashtags, craft brewers are giving macro-produced beers – and their marketing whiz kids – a run for their money. Most craft brewers live by a simple motto: No crap on tap. And now they’re bringing that philosophy to the digital marketing space.

Craft beer has a soft spot in Feedback’s heart, so much that one of our own, Dean, is regularly called on to speak at the annual Craft Brewers Conference. This got Dean quoted in the Sparksheet article, though, knowing the writer also helped.

Dean Browell, Executive Vice President of Feedback Agency, a social media consultancy based in Richmond, Virginia and London, England, has been a longtime friend to the beer community and counts a growing number of impressive keynotes under his belt at the annual Craft Brewers Conference.

“Craft beer is a source of experimentation and taste that lends itself to discussion, exploration and more,” says Browell, whose PhD thesis focused on generational differences and online technologies. “It’s one of those drinks that sparks conversation and practically requires you to drink with others, daring interaction.”

Thanks to writer Paul Spicer for thinking of us. Shoot us a line at feedbackoffices[at]feedbackagency.com if you’re looking for beer recs, and be sure to reach out to us on all those craft brewer social networks.

“Dean Browell, executive vice president at social media strategy company Feedback, part of Worldwide Partners Inc, agrees that they are few businesses that would not benefit from being social.

However, he points that businesses themselves should not get too hung up on definitions of social media and social business – as their customers give it a second’s thought.

“Consumers just simply operate online and nearly everything they do contains some social element, peer validation or interactive possibility,” he explains. “The only part of social media that is a fad is actually calling it, ‘social media’.”

This isn’t the first time Dean has been featured across the pond. See what Dean inked in June 2011.

Socializing during business is a lot different today than it was years ago. Like, bigtime.

With the democratisation of technology we cannot be surprised that the public repurposes it for the comfort and community they seek, rather than what we try and create for them. The trend (back) toward more inward-facing communications makes it more important than ever to listen carefully to your audiences where they actually congregate. Before you simply sign yourself up for the shiniest objects and channels be sure to look for the more potent communities where all of the real enthusiasts gather – and hope they let you in.

Rendering is not representative of actual lab, which will clearly utilize hyper digital beaker technology

Our Target: The Bonnaroo Music & Art Festival in Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo was named one of the 50 Moments That Changed The History of Rock & Roll by Rolling Stone, while The New York Times said, “Bonnaroo has revolutionized the modern rock festival.”

Our Mission: Gauge the usefulness (and usage) of social media tools, explore and experiment with new ideas and trends of destination marketing, consider the effect of communication concepts from within and outside of the participants, and find out what innovations are coming from the crowds.

Featuring: Onsite, @dbrowell, @ideaman, @alucas9, @ScottTKE517

Homebase: @thomasmcdonald, @hmillar13, @bcarr & Brittney!

Details: The people, not institutions, drive social media trends. So when more than 80,000 online denizens converge for a vacation, we’ll see tens of thousands choosing how they communicate to those inside and out. What that communication does to help them prepare for, travel to, live within and reminisce after their chosen destination will say a lot about the current state of tourism online and where its going. Plus, what best practices can we observe from festival-goers, event organizers, bands, vendors and more?

Feedback will use four distinct personal accounts and personalities to cover one of the largest music and art festivals in the US, testing trends, performing live tests of multiple apps, taking a look at the communities and cultures that are reflected online, studying communications and, of course, having a blast watching how radically diverse acts and fans share experiences in person and online. The “best of” our live work will be featured on our Feedback channels and studied for post-event analysis. (Also be on the lookout for performances via Radio Free Feedback; if you’re going to Bonnaroo and from an ad agency or PR firm, or are a Friend of Feedback, let us know and we can organize a jam session!)

One of Feedback’s founders, Dean Browell, was one of the first people to broadcast social media content from the farm at Bonnaroo, covering the entire weekend via blog, Twitter, Brightkite, and more for the last five years. Now he returns with a company and team to continue that tradition as well as take it the next step: treat it like the incredible laboratory it is for the benefit of all of our clients, from travel and tourism to healthcare.

In Preparation: Ahead of our trip, we will be canvassing our clients and our partners to find out what they would like to know about how certain trends perform, apps, critical mass of usage, technology needs and what events they have that we should keep in mind for new ideas. If you have an idea or a question you’d like to see us pursue, just let us know! Just email Contact@feedbackagency.com or through our individual contact info, below or on Twitter.