CrapHammer

A Call from an Obama Supporter

A very sweet young southern woman just called me.  Or so I am assuming from her voice and accent.

Her voice was shaking as she thanked me for my past support and read through a prepared script regarding the fight for the final 200 delegates and for taking on McCain.

As she spoke, I recalled my younger brother walking door to door in a black neighborhood in Florida.  I replayed in my head the hundreds of posts I have read from young and old alike who spoke of their stepping up to participate in this campaign.  And tears came to my eyes.  Tears of pride.  Pride in a nation that was standing up for something deeper than fear or blind patriotism.  A country in which people were beginning to believe again in something nobler and larger.

I listened to the young woman stumble through her script for a few more moments until I finally had to interrupt her.  "How can I help?" I asked.

I could almost hear the relief in her voice as she told me they could use a donation of $50.

To which I replied I would gladly donate $100.

Money is devoid of meaning.  And while I desired to show my support for this amazing man, Mr. Obama, I realized this was an opportunity for a different act.  A chance to voice my pride in my younger brother and the many others who have stepped forward to reclaim hope and belief in our country.

* I recognize that not everyone who reads my blog shares my political views.  This was a personal moment as an expatriate to share pride in my younger brother and my country.  I ask for your understanding if not your support.

MTV as an educator.

I just stumbled across MTV Asia's "Being Young" presentation on slideshare. It is an informed and insightful presentation on the social and media shifts afoot with asian youth.

TV is no longer relevant.  Spending time online, listening to music and communicating are.  I wish I could just repeat that over and over as a mantra.

Every week I have a client wanting to launch a micro-site to "engage" people with some new aspect of their brand or offering.  To what purpose?

MTV shows that youth spend more time online but on "Fewer sites".  If a person only visits 7-11 sites in a day, what are the odds that some new micro-site is going to push its way into the mix?  And what kind of investment is required to bump something like Facebook off their radar?

 

"we have to learn how to earn prime time now that we can't buy it."
      - James Chadwick, Head of Strategy at Mindshare Asia

 

The full MTV Asia "Being Young" presentation is embedded for your viewing below.

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This is it, everyone.  The real deal.  If we want to be "360", we have to think "360" which means we have to develop cohesive views of our audiences that incorporate media, social behaviors, digital channels, devices and what matters to them.

Our view and use of media has to change.  David Armano (or was it Dennis?) just posted a call for engagement  and used real world examples on how Southwest Airlines and Zappos are effectively using twitter to earn time with customers.   

 

"Social Networks are all about facilitating human connections, and instead of talking about how we can do this—I hear marketers asking "how do we monetize" and "how do we advertise" on them."
     - David Armano

 

David gets it.  MTV gets it.  Even Mindshare, one of the largest media buyers on the planet, is getting it.

So why are brands still trying to advertise on social networks?