Is Social Media Anti-Social?

A portion of my day is spent reading blogs, as many of you do. Social media is the key topic of many blogs and rightly so, as it's a key economic driver for many industries, not just web companies. The current axiom is "you're nobody, unless you're on a social network." This is not restricted to people, but companies of all types. No one is immune to this phenomenon.

But the question I raise, from my readings and experience, is the title of this blog. Is social media anti-social? I've spoken to MBA students who supported my research and the answer is "it can be." Friends text and use the social networks to communicate, many post the trivial details of their lives. This appears to be social, but in most cases there is no emotional engagement. I think of it in the same vein as the when email communications began (admit you remember when there was no email). People became frustrated and even mad, because they could not determine the author's tone. Jokes became offensive, until the icon vernacular developed, i.e. smiley faces, lol, etc.

Redefine social networking is "posting" not "sharing".

One blog exchange I read displayed the reader clearly could not understand a company's reason for sending a physical "Thank you" gift, or even a phone call thank you, for a large order they received from a customer. They believed a email was sufficient. Which do you believe is the better approach for relationship building and retaining?

The most prevalent environment, supporting this subject, is in a restaurant. I challenge you to look around and survey how many people are engaged in verbal communications, looking up at each other (as opposed to looking down using their smart phones), or heaven forbid, PDA-physical connection.

Social networking is an incredible communication channel and I love having found and connected with lost friends, from around the world. When I'm in another city, I try to arrange a physical visit and engage a verbal conversation or share an event with them. Heck, sometimes, I call them on the phone, spontaneously. Voice is an amazing sound with inflections, laughter, tears … emotions felt, received, responded with heartfelt reactions.

Keep networking, but don't forget and/or learn how to communicate, using your other God given senses.

Just image a physical hug. How does that make you feel?

There is nothing new in advertising.

How many times have you heard this axiom?

Unfortunately, each day proves to me, it is true. I ranted in a previous blog, about car commercials that give me no reason to buy the car. I saw not one, not two, but three commercials last night using the "donuts in the desert" theme, Mercedes, Toyota and Kia. The Kia commercial had aliens suck the car up in a spaceship and drop it in the desert, where it proceeded to do donuts.

Apparently, I must be missing the fact that most of the country has turned into a desert and the primary use of a car is to do donuts in the desert.  I do have environmental questions regarding this practice.

I admit when I was a youthful driver, I liked doing donuts in the dirt or snow. Maybe the target market for Kia, Mercedes and Toyota are donut driven drivers or DDDs. These car companies could save a lot of advertising dollars and share their commercial production expenses. Am I the only person who drives on roads and use my car for comfort going to and from real locations (as opposed to computer generated roads and surreal locations)?

Please someone show some creativity! Reread my blog, "When to fire your agency." Here's the short answer, when they are no longer creative.

MBA

Driving across Atlanta's top end perimeter (I-285), it seemed every billboard was for an MBA program, online, on-site, on every corner. Is this a sign of the economy, if you can't get a job, get your MBA? How will this affect the job market, when all these MBA factories kick out graduates? What impact will it have on people with undergraduate degrees or regular masters degrees?

Just asking?

Traditional Media

For some reason, recently, I'm coming across articles concerning traditional media. This makes me happy, not because I can't accept change, on the contrary I'm a change agent. It's because we aren't driving flying cars yet. Meaning, who can really predict the future?

Many moons ago, I attended GRUPA, the International print show. It was when CD-ROMs were growing as the new media, generating software to replace printed databases. During one presentation, the speaker said, "Print is not dead." He held up a CD-ROM (presumable software) and said, "with everyone of these [disk] comes one of these," and he slammed down a 400 page printed manual. The manual was how to use the software. Fast forward in years - check Amazon for the number of books for learning software. Print is not dead, yet.

The most beneficial marketing campaign is still a mix of media channels and the best media mix reaches your customer target with an effective ROI. I still received a plethora of catalogs, this past Christmas season. There's nothing like sitting by the fireplace, looking at dreamy pictures of desirable items. It still prompts me to go online and BUY.

I firmly believe you need some forms of traditional advertising to draw people to your website. Enjoy the short article: Never Say Die.

Media

I haven't talked about media. Here's a great article about one of my favorite, and often forgot, media channels - outdoor.

Introducing Advertising’s Next Hot Creative Frontier…Outdoors! By: Mike Zuckerman