At the recent Masters of Integrated Marketing Conference, new media guru Steve Rubel (he talks about Microsoft's new platforms here) was educating the audience with the latest in viral marketing, video sites, blogs and the like. He noted that marketers should familiarize themselves with sites such as My Space, YouTube, and visit them every day to gain insights about consumers. I repeated this for the audience and asked Steve if we could call him when our bosses’ caught us surfing these sites. Well Steve, I am calling in that chit. One aspect of my ANA role is to understand new media and I am now hooked on YouTube and Google Video so Steve, please tell my boss Bob Liodice - and my colleagues at the ANA - that when I am trawling these sites it is for work! Last night on the train I read in Television Week that the most requested You Tube video last week was of an 11 year old girl on NBC’s America’s Got Talent and what TV Week noted was her “show – stopping, jaw dropping rendition of “And I am Telling You I Am Not Going.”” You have to applaud NBC for posting the segment (along with several You Tube users) – NBC is fishing where the fish are and following the viewer however they are consuming what American Express now calls “rolling stock video” (formerly known as television). So I had to watch it today – and sing along in my office with the door closed tightly shut. And I do have company here Bob –from very large ANA members. Here are a couple:
- There was a certain high ranking marketing executive from a major packaged goods company who later forwarded to those of us in attendance at an ANA committee meeting the YouTube “Mentos and Coke” video he had told us about that day.
- And I heard through the grapevine of a marketing manager from another very large and very traditional packaged goods marketer who posts videos to Google Video.
- And at an interesting ANA Members-only meeting hosted by MSN entitled “Triangulating the Sweet Spot of pop culture, technology and brand”, a high ranking executive in the music industry noted that they are signing up those musical groups that have the most My Space friends.
So the good news is that even traditional marketers are keeping up to date with these developments and in fact, participating in them. If we are on these sites, so are our target consumers. So give all of those marketers mentioned above along with NBC a pat on the back because as we stumble along and try to keep up to date and experiment with the latest media developments we are bound to make some mistakes – but even then we will still deserve an A+ for our efforts to be close to our consumers!
Great article. I was just in a meeting two days ago talking about YouTube and it's impact on marketers. I'm glad to see the industry keeping up. I just worry about education not keeping pace after hearing a story of an MBA program dean seeming flabbergasted at the thought of doing podcasts.
Posted by: Russell Page | July 13, 2006 at 06:08 PM
Hi Barbara- Absolutely we are doing work! Between funny videos of pets talking I did a search for my client Staples and their marketing & advertising proxy the Easy Button. I think Steve and Bob will agree- customer evangelists are teaching us marketers something new everyday--here's a h.s. student who posted a 10 minute video on YouTube about how the Staples Easy Button "changed his life". Hope you are well- Meredith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeNFEY2JRWA&search=%22easy%20button%22
Posted by: Meredith Topalanchik | July 13, 2006 at 12:52 PM