Social Media | American Idol | Google Buzz

In the near future, will all media be social?

Although all digital/social media is being treated as another channel its not - its a fundamental change in how people communicate.All media will become social, because the tools of publication are social, ubiquitous and cheap.Its not a choice that the publications will make - its being made for them.pike.co.za

Walter Pike, Maven, PiKE | Integrated New Marketing - April 20, 2010

Social Media is just an extension of good old fashioned word of mouth. It's value/risk for brands is that rather than just the mate down the pub or lady at the checkout, this word of mouth assesment can be quickly viewed by thousands of people. Great if it's a positive review...

Francesca Baker, Business Consultant - Client Manager, dunnhumby - April 20, 2010

The power of Social Media can no longer be underestimated and I think it is already main stream. It is very effective in generating viral marketing and the endorsement qualities it possess coupled with low costs can overcome the negative attributes such as lack of control. But it needs to be cautiously integrated with other marcom mix.

WIlliams K. Creans DipM MScM MCIM Chartered Marketer, Marketing Strategist, WILLEX CONSULTING, KAMPALA- UGANDA - April 20, 2010

Social media erases the distance between the public and a heretofore insulated and resilient brand. It eliminates most barriers. An individual on a blog can significantly affect a brand's value among a vast number of people within hours. The challenge for brand managers is adequate monitoring of social media and then effective response.

Tom Parrett, Editorial Director, The Magazine Works - April 20, 2010

All media is already social - because its intended to spark a conversation. The idea of social media is clouded and the definition of social media as a collection of platforms (blogs, Facebook, Twitter etc) is flawed - and that's why companies erroneously see it as an add on. Those are simply where the conversation takes place virtually, while the offline conversation at home, at the water cooler and amongst friends is already happening. Social media IS the idea. That's why the seam between social media and creative execution is non-existent - whether using a street event, a video, a billboard or cause marketing to execute a creative idea - the resulting conversation and outcome is social in itself.

Anthony Zanfini, Creative and Social Media Officer, www.zdsolutions.ca - April 20, 2010

Social media is definitely a potent media of the future. While there has been several discussions on how it is going to replace traditional media the results are yet to be holistically experienced from a brand's point of view. The gravity of the impact will also depend on the industry or market that it is being used in. For instance Asia is considered to be the next big market in the world but a majority of the population still get their brand information from traditional media. Therefore while social media might start penetrating these markets but it will perhaps play more of a complimentary role in the larger scheme of things.

rahul sachdev, marketing manager - IDE, tata elxsi - April 21, 2010

Debate with clients about how to use social media networks now happen on a daily basis. I think what's unclear to them is how value is added using these media. After all, leading channels like Facebook and Twitter are failing to generate income themselves. How then can business use them in a way that generates income – the main driver for more traditional communications vehicles? Raising awareness will not always be enough.

Marc Rocca, Director, Rocca. - April 21, 2010

I think the question will be, when will marketing kill social media. It's slowly happening already, with a mix of spammers and folks who think that the number of eyeballs is all that matters.

Chris Stinson, consumer, the public - April 21, 2010

Social media is the connective tissue between the different elements of an integrated campaign. It's the touchpoint for the pulse of the consumer and a powerful catalyst for engagement.

Bill Replogle, Chief Mechanic, Sparky's Garage - April 21, 2010

Whilst I can agree that social media has great benefit, there is one overarching concern I have that just won't go away. Many authors and creators of Blogs, Twitter pages, Facebook walls, etc. are unqualified to pass judgement. Yet, they have tens of thousands of "followers" hanging on their every word.I think word of mouth is really cool, and this is a good thing. At the end of the day, it is what the market thinks, not the pundits. But for someone to posit an opinion that can't be backed up with any substantive research or experiential base, to me is dangerous. No one seems to challenge an author's credentials.When someone has 50,000 "followers" on Twitter â€” sycophants, really â€” one can fall into the trap of beginning to believe one's own bullshit. And to reciprocate by following your followers? How can anyone claim to know 50,000 people?I think the jury is still out on the issue of credentials; until the verdict is handed in, I'll tread cautiously

Steve Russell - April 24, 2010

I share Walter's and Anthony's comments. All media is discussable, therefore all media is social.In my mind there are 4 fundamental differences in the media world now than before and they are:1. The magnification of stories and content2. The speed of information flow3. Small instances can have big effects4. Information can live on longer in the public domainThe underlying macro trends that have lead us to this situation, in my view are:1. Corporate technology in the hands of citizens2. Physical product, service and sentiment is increasingly virtual3. Distribution competes with destination4. Citizen to Citizen (C2C) effectiveness is now provably stronger than B2C5. Broadcast control is now self-scheduled6. Mass niche now make up mass groupsSo in summary, yes, all media is now social and hopefully soon we will de-silo this 'social' jargon and get back to concentrating on solid strategy and efficient tactics.

Jonathan MacDonald, Co-founder, this fluid world - the business and communications consultancy - April 24, 2010

So much Hype, So much content, So much irrelevance. Watching a twitter stream attached to an online movie review last night made me think social media content was related to the infamous nanotech "Grey Goo" that escapes and consumes the earth! The marketing value of social media at the moment is primarily to those organisations who sell web servers, hard drives and provide bandwidth.
Will all media become social media? To some extent yes because having empowered people to interact they will keep doing it. Is interaction good for brands? As long as the resources need to interact can be justified the answer is yes. My feeling is that most brands will decide full on social interaction is just too hard and will limit the social media components in their marketing.
I think Facebook type platforms will persist as a place to put happy snaps and inane comment. The next big thing for twitter will be micro tweets limited to say 3 characters. They will be much quicker to send.

Ian Spencer, Associate Diector - Online Services, 318 Advertising - April 24, 2010

Social Media is just that - media. Certainly it's shifting the landscape, but no more than the introduction of print, radio or TV did when those channels entered the marketplace - each one of which was predicted to send its predecessor packing. For an organization's marketing strategy to succeed and support the comprehensive development and growth of a brand, social media must be part of a larger integrated strategy. In many (most?) cases, that will involve media that is beyond what we currently call social.

Warren Baxter, Vice President, Managing Director, Karo Group Inc - April 25, 2010

I say no on this issue. Also, let's not be so quick to judge Google Buzz. Twitter didn't take off right away either, it took a lot of time for that brand to get going.

, Marketing Coordinator - April 26, 2010

Social media was there even before the “virtual” evolution of the current century took place. Take the example of a “country hut” style burger shop, where Joes and Johns love to meet to discuss their upcoming truck purchase, or an Indian tea shop where farmers would meet to discuss about upcoming rural trade fair. The only difference that technology has made, is to eliminate the time and place barrier. Therefore, the critical role of the social media has not changed much, the role of adding “credibility” in the message. Probably social media will continue with the current role without being the mainstream media. But the virtual nature of evolving social media has posed a different challenge. The challenge of getting through the “clutter” and getting your message heard at the right time, place, and to the right person. The future challenge probably lies in branding the social media itself.

Khandoker Mahmudur Rahman, Assistant Professor, School of Business, United International University, Bangladesh - April 28, 2010

Saying that Social media has replaced Focus groups is like saying supplements have replaced the need for proper nutrition .Social media may be easy, quick and inexpensive, but can you control the demographics and all the other factors you need to control. Social media may be a nice addition and in cases when your budget doesn’t allow you to spend lot of money, it is a wonderful tool. It also depends on the product category. I can see Nike coming with a new design of shoes and then using social media to test the market. But then Heinz launching a new flavor of ketchup or Irish Spring launching a new soap might be a different scenario and I doubt lot of people will be talking about those boring everyday products( Confession-I don’t use Social media).

Sandeep Khullar, Aspiring Brand Professional - May 5, 2010

Yea all media is social but social media is more interactive and in real time or near real time and this is very healthy conversation that can drag on and on from a diversity worldwide with extreme storage capacity and capability

Apollo Wangalwa Wambwa, Chief Marketing Officer, Advantis Limted - May 10, 2010

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