Here’s an interesting presentation that was pulled together by Paul Adams, a UX (User Experience) researcher from Google. It is 216 slides, but Paul has identified some of the issues in trying to manage different groups of people on one channel or Social Network.
The problems he has identified aren’t going away any time soon, as more and more websites open up to social graph interactions, more of your life, your decisions and opinions will be spread around the interwebs than ever before.
The point Paul makes about users massively underestimating their potential audience is very true & from a comms planning perspective trying to ensure a campaign remains relevant, or even better - becomes more relevant as it moves between users and reach increases is our big challenge.
I also love his ideas about the different values of weak and strong connections and what type of influence they can affect.
Well, maybe not completely, at least not yet. A study just released by Roiworld, an online gaming site, says that one in 5 teens are losing interest in the platform.
Probably not time to write the whole thing off just yet, as the survey only polled 600 teens and Roiworld doesn’t make use of the platform to connect users and spread their games. The result are interesting all the same, and I especially liked the 16% of people who have left because their parents have turned up on the site.
Old school marketers seem to exhibit a desire to find the next aggregation network. They had it when everyone watched TV and got lazy, force feeding ads down peoples throats. As TVC’s seem to be moving back to a position of ‘part of the mix’ instead of ‘king of the castle,’ the search is on to find the place where everyone will be, the place to concentrate investment and wipe out the competition through the tried and tested use of frequency and repetition.
It seems to me that with the rise of new platforms and their ability to reach a couple hundred million people increasing at a geometric rate (TV took 13 years to reach 50 million, facebook took 9 months), we should rationally expect that the lifespan of the channel is not going to be as long. High levels of investment in the platforms return lower ROI as the lifespan of the platform diminishes. It seems like every agency in the comms industry is talking about social media, gurus and experts launch themselves on the success of a little SEO, some aggregation of trends and knowledge that most of the market knows there is an opportunity, but that’s the extent of their knowledge.
I believe the conversation we should be having is how to make media social. Planning and developing content for a world where stories move across media networks, both new and old, seems to be the strategy to try and develop. You have to go where the audience is, but also, as a brand you have to develop a meaningful relationship with people and not their online profile. The brands that provide the most seamless experience across the networks are going to win.
I am the Creative Director at Hill & Knowlton in Sydney.
I've worked in a few different parts of the agency world and ran my own shop in Shanghai for a while, launching super premium products into the world's largest marketplace.
I am fascinated by what's coming next, how new networks offer a company like H&K the opportunity to flex our earned media muscle and deliver great work for the clients we work with and the brands they breathe life into.
I write about campaigns that work and some that don't, from Australia and around the world. Sometimes the world of social media will hold me in its sway and occasionally I'll just post something that inspires me and hopefully you as well.
Please comment, I'll respond to as many as I physically can.
