Social Networks are like the Manhattan Bar Scene

Social Networks are like the Manhattan Bar Scene - well at least that is how it looks from the outside looking in on this fickle internet world. Myspace is not cool anymore - as Social Media Expert so 'expertly' put it " Todays cultural icon is tomorrows passing fad". Sad, but true.

Facebook is receiving a lot of love in the social media headlines and Twitter is the latest and greatest. There are so many more up and coming bars...ahem...digital social platforms... that the moment I write about them here, they may already be irrelevant.

So how does a brand figure out what works for them now? How do they remain relevant? How do they know they are lining up outside the coolest bar in town ready and willing to pay their entrance fee? The short answer is they don't. The longer response takes us down the path of marketer responsibility. I have said this a few times before, but why do so many brands place their IP into their agencies hands? Why do marketers in these organizations not wish to take their brands public perception into their own hands? There are a plethora of reasons as to why this happens, but going forward, in a recession no less, i think we will see brand managers, marketers and co making sure they, along with their agencies, know the right bar to visit on a Saturday night as well as the right publisher to spend their money with. Who that will be in 6 months time remains to be seen....

Facebook and Twitter are currently the bars, sorry publishers, of choice for many brands... what's yours?

Obama and In Game Advertising

Even though there is no winner as yet in the race to become the next president Obama has clearly taken the lead when you view the campaign through a digital media lens. Moreover, he is the first political candidate to used social media to promote himself and his party and now he has moved into the rehlm of gaming as a way to reach the American male youth audience.Here is a sample of the whole article featured on Yahoo news last week...worth a read. Being someone who is continually tasked by my clients to develop the best methodology to measure social and emerging media ROI, engagement and of course sales or in this case votes, I would LOVE to see the metrics off the back of the Obama Presidential campaign...if anyone can share any information to date on this I would be very, very interested. thanks