U2 delivers a mobile message
On my way to Tuesday night’s U2/Muse concert in Atlanta, I realized I had forgotten a) my cellphone and b) decent camera.
I later joked on Facebook: “America was deprived of an evening of live tweets, photos and FB updates. Epic social media fail. . . or probably a blessing for y’all.”
Actually, forgetting my cellphone was probably a blessing for me as well. While I thoroughly enjoyed watching the concert, I was equally mesmerized by the second ongoing show — fans taking photos and shooting video with their cellphones and digital cameras. In some cases, fans were watching just-recorded video while ignoring the live performance continuing onstage.
Today, I relived the concert watching fan video of the show, with amazingly clear visuals and sound from the cavernous Georgia Dome — some of it shot 100 yards from the stage. The sound was clearer than what I heard last night.
U2’s Bono was apparently watching the cellphone show and late in the concert asked the audience to light the darkened arena with their phones while he sang “UltraViolet (Light My Way).”
What social media lesson can a small business or professional learn from this? It’s an obvious case study in how people are consuming entertainment and information in a digital age. People are producing — and consuming — content on the go.
YouTube reported a 400 percent surge in video uploads after the iPhone3GS was released. Ironically, while the U2 tour is sponsored by BlackBerry, everywhere I turned I saw iPhones in the crowd. There were just as many 50-plus types using their phones as 20-somethings.
Look for opportunities to share content and connect with your potential customers through mobile devices, especially at events. But whatever you do, don’t spam cellphone users. Active mobile users are even less tolerant of one-way marketing than those on a desktop/laptop.
When social media misfires
Today, we’ll focus on just two of the more recent misfires by social media practicioners and the lessons they teach.
The first one is pretty darned obvious. According to Mashable, the Danish government’s tourism agency, VisitDenmark, produced a video hoax in which a woman claimed to be looking for a tourist who was the father of her child, conceived in a drunken one-night stand. Danish media learned the “mother” was actually an actress. The video, which reportedly had more than 800,000 page views on YouTube, has since been pulled. However, at this writing it can still be seen here.
Apparently, someone associated with VisitDenmark took rapper Kanye West’s approach to marketing, thinking bad publicity is better than no publicity at all. And, just as Kanye is taking some serious lumps for his outrageous behavior Sunday night at the MTV Video Music Awards, the Danish agency has stirred up a firestorm of outrage.
What were they thinking? We’ll leave Kanye to music fans. For VisitDenmark, a simple question: You’ve got a beautiful country. How does a stunt like this boost tourism?
Second, Honda is getting pounded on its Facebook page for the new Crosstour vehicle’s design. It was bad enough that users were critical. Then, a well-meaning Honda product planning manager took it upon himself to comment he liked the design and would buy the vehicle in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, he never said where he worked, according to Autoblog. Facebook users figured out where he worked, and carnage ensued. Honda, to its credit, let the barrage continue, but it reportedly deleted the employee’s comment, saying he did not speak for the company.
The lessons for Honda include: 1) Make sure your employees understand the company’s social media policies. 2) If it’s clear that you’ve got a PR problem on your hands, jump in early and engage with your critics and learn from them. Perhaps Fans of the Crosstour page have some valid ideas that Honda can use to make the next vehicle a better product.
If you’re a company using social media, set standards for your employees or marketing firm. And, for crying out loud, don’t let anyone misrepresent your company.
Latest studies: Social, video the growth areas
OK, class, it’s time to review the latest studies, which seem to give us a pretty clear picture of the online world.
1. Internet usage is peaking.
2. Social networking sites are on the rise while social sites with a single focus, like Flickr or Blogger, are not (except YouTube).
3. The blogging audience is peaking.
4. Video watching and sharing continue to grow, especially among young adults.
These are some of the findings from reports this week by Forrester Research, Universal McCann and the Pew Internet and American Life Project. What they tell us is that our media habits have somewhat stabilized. While Internet usage doubled in the past five years, TV viewing habits haven’t really changed, according to Forrester. People still spend more time watching TV than online. Radio, newspapers and magazines have been the victims of Internet growth.
So what does this mean for small businesses and professionals? They’d better be thinking about Nos. 2 and 4 and what strategies they can use for these worlds. Social networks and video-sharing sites are the hot zones.
It also confirms my experience. The best way to draw people to your blog or company Web site is through social media. Otherwise, people won’t come looking for you.
Twitter and Gen Y: Not what you think
Twitter is filled with young people merrily filling the Twitterverse with 140-character words of wisdom, right?
Not according to a new survey from Pace University and the Participatory Media Network. They found that only 22 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds have Twitter accounts while 99 percent have active accounts on social networks such as Facebook, YouTube and MySpace.
It’s clear that the young have adopted text-messaging and SMS as their method for instant communication. However, the PMN numbers indicate a small rise in the percentage of Gen Yers using Twitter.
What’s the message for marketers in this? Obviously, appearances can be deceiving. Second, as PMN’s Michael Della Penna observes:
“Marketers also play a major role and responsibility in how this communication channel evolves. To do that, it is critical we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. That is – don’t spam. Let’s learn from email’s spam crisis – respect the channel, be relevant, timely and funny. Find a voice that works for your brand and provide insight that your followers will benefit from and appreciate.”
Are you a grumpy old manager?
Question in a LinkedIn discussion group today: “Do you think over 50s CEOS, Managers etc are less accepting and/or unaware of social media and social networks as a business tool?”
The question, posed by a marketer writing a “Grumpy Old Managers Guide to Social Media,” draws predictable answers — you can’t teach old dogs new tricks, it’s not age but openness to new ideas, technology is more challenging to those over 50, etc., etc.
While all the answers have merits — and many examples to the contrary — the real answer is that good business people ought to be “less accepting” of any business tool until there’s evidence it works.
Is there such evidence? Here’s just one article that offers some success stories about businesses using Twitter.
Are you a “grumpy old manager?” Then you better start catching up.
