Socially Adept

FINALLY...A YouTube Star Worth Paying Attention To

The rise of YouTube has opened the eyes of many to the amount of talent that goes undiscovered.  Unfortunately, most of the people who have risen to fame really don't offer much talent.  People like Chris Crocker, iJustine, Magibon...they don't really do anything.  Sure, on occasion, some of this content is valuable or insightful, but for the most part, they have less to offer than the bottom two of American Idol.

Maybe I am just looking for more from the people on YouTube.  I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who love the random videos and disjointed content from some silly teenager, but I would hope for more.  Thankfully, I've finally found it!

Bo Burnham.

A gangly 6'5" 17 year old from Massachusetts who's "not gay."  He currently has 11 videos up on YouTube and everyone of them is lol funny.  His lyrical repertoire is limitless and it's hard to imagine this kid is still in High School.  If you understand satire and can laugh at yourself (as well as stereotypes) and ignore political correctness, then this kid is worth checking out.

Apparently, he just signed a deal with Comedy Central.  I've signed up for his email updates and will surely be watching when this kid makes it big.  Enjoy!

Blist - My new favorite app

How the hell is this free?  I'm in love!

http://blog.blist.com/

I've be looking for something like this for too long.  Kudos to Kevin and the team at Blist.  You've got something big here.

Who owns Social Media? Marketing or Communications?

Recently, we've seen some lackluster attempts to harness the power of social media from some pretty big brands.  Initial thought has been that companies are hesitant to invest in and commit to this type of initiative... even though it's been proven to work time and time again.  Building relationships with your customers is a no brainer at this point.  Consumers have learned to cut through the clutter and find the truth.  If you're putting genetically enhanced rice in your product, you'll lose customers.  However, if you address the issue with your core consumers and brand advocates, they may curb the potential for a mass exodus.

So, why the mediocre attempts to connect with consumers?

It seems that more and more brands are willing to make the investment and commitment, but can't seem to figure out the best way to connect.  After several conversations with people more intelligent than I am, the common consensus is that there are still internal battle's raging over who will own these activities, Marketing or Communications.

As social media touches both departments, understanding who will take on these activities is a greater challenge than anyone expected.  Marketing recognizes the power of reaching customers, but communicators (PR) see the space as a new way to deliver the corporate message.  So, who's right?  Who should control this space?  The answer:

Both!  Smart companies are creating special teams to navigate it's entrance into the space made up of Marketing, Public Relations, Technology, etc.  The creation of these "groups" are a big indicator to where Social Media is headed.  It won't be long before big brands spin off existing staff into a newly defined departments to handle these activities exclusively.  Maybe the gap between Marketing and Communications has decreased so much that it is irrelevant to look at them as separate anymore.

Either way, it is imperative that someone take the lead internally when considering a foray into social media.  As a successful campaign or community requires much more than content, I would advocate for letting Marketing lead the initiative, but to be successful, buyoff from PR is necessary.  Over the next 12 months, we'll begin to see more and more changes externally and internally in terms of social media.  It's time for brands to truly make the commitment... not just throw up a community and hope that someone comes.  What a sad party that would be.

Utterz Launches - Be Herd!

Utterz is the first way you can instantly blog your experiences, thoughts and ideas, anywhere, using all the capabilities of your mobile phone.  Located in Maynard, MA (gotta have blog love for the locals), Utterz officially launched this morning and announced a $4 million investment.  Although it's a bit "cow" focused, the concept seems pretty cool.  I'll be giving it a whirl today to see how it works out and if there is any room for it in my social networking arsenal.

Here's a link to the announcement in the The Boston Globe today.  Check out my "Utterz" (OK...that just doesn't sound good, but it's better than teats) username = SociallyAdept.  My first "Utter" is a pretty cool video with a Boston sports tie in.

For more coverage, check out Mashable.

Obsessed with "This Next/This World Activity Map"

I stumbled across This Next Blog a long time ago and loved the content.  Unfortunately, I never captured the feed and it was one of the many blogs and websites that fell through the cracks and off my incredibly large radar screen.  Until this week...

Not sure where I saw it, but I heard the rumblings about This Next/This World, a mashup of google maps showing people all over the world finding great purchases online.  It was launched last week and the reviews have been incredible - "MarketingVox, who dubbed us a ‘Marketer’s Wet Dream and Yahoo! Tech who said we are ” … easy to use and a pleasure to get lost in.” Awww, thanks. Wired also thinks we are pretty nifty saying ” (from This Next Blog)

For the past three days, I have been watching the map and it is absolutely amazing what people are viewing.  I would guarantee within 5 minutes you see something and say, "I want that... but I never knew it existed!"  If you're in need of a Hello Kitty Pet Carrier, Transparent Toaster (only concept, sorry), or a Zebra rug you can find it here!

I need to do some more research on this, but this was just too good not to share!

 

ABC's i-Caught A Must See

As I type this, I am watching ABC's premier episode of i-Caught, a television show dedicated to telling the back story of some of our favorite viral videos.  So far, they have featured this incredible video called Battle at Kruger, the famous Thriller wedding dance and the other side of the viral phenomenon - the embarrassing disaster videos that have drastically ruined the lives of everyday people like this.

I love this show.  Instead of just trying to hijack the content currently viewed as popular online, they are taking the time to look into the back story of each video.  I enjoyed listening the the couple who danced to Thriller talk about how the video has affected their lives.  On the flip side, seeing the pain the wrong video can cause is essential and compelling.

This shows recognizes the power of Social Media and Consumer Generated Content (or whatever we are calling it this week) and effectively expands on the stories that people clearly care about based on the YouTube views.  They specifically detail how these videos came to live online and what caused the overwhelming success (metacafe, etc.).  Essentially, this show has the ability to introduce social media to an entirely new audience.  If it takes off, we may see the number of blogs and vlogs climb from what ABC stated during the show is currently 93 million.

The big question is, will ABC take the extra footage and make it available online for those who may have missed tonight's episode?  If I visit YouTube tomorrow and visit the "Battle of Kruger" video, will I see a branded clip from tonight's episode?  I hope so!  What better way to promote the show then post a response video to each of the existing videos they just exposed to a whole new audience?  I am sure each person featured would approve a response video from ABC.

At the time of this post (10:42PM ET) there are currently 7,861,609 views for the Battle of Kruger.  Let's see what that number is tomorrow and the next day.

On a side note, ABC is also using i-Caught to discuss how Myspace and social media are helping people solve crime.  People are actually putting photos of suspects online in an effort to catch murderers and thief's.  They asked the question, "Is this helping or hurting the case?"  Good question... thoughts?

Recommending Blogs to Clients

A client asked me today to provide some blogs that I think would be valuable in helping understand the Web 2.0 space.  As they are new to Social Media, I spent some time thinking about who I should recommend.  They were well aware of some of the bigger names, but there were some people I thought would add value to any client looking to further understand the space.

So, below are the recommendations I made.

JaffeJuice

Church Of The Customer

Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog

Read/Write Web

Beyond Madison Avenue

HeeHaw Marketing (Because of Paul's recent post)

Of course, there are many more out there that I read, but I thought this was a good group to start with.  So, to the 6 above, you're welcome for the additional traffic and keep up the good work.  It's one thing to be recognized by peers and read by those in the know, but being recommended to clients as a place to learn and experience should make you proud.