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Tag Archive: Advertising

The Rise of Social Television

Written on April 19, 2011 by Josip Petrusa

A couple years ago, every indication pointed to social media being the killer of traditional media. Everyone was caught in the hype. En masse we all seemingly believed that life was going to change as we knew it. It was going to be the end of email. The end of print media. The end of TV. And the start of a new age. The age of online video. The age of free content. The age of social media. But what happened? What change really occurred?

Well, for one, the flames of traditional media are still burning. And buring bright. Yes, print media has taken a hit. And the music and film industries haven’t quite been the same. But social media and other new age media have hardly conquered the traditional medium. Or any medium for that matter other than their own. The new world is undeniably reshaping and redefining everything we knew before us, however much has to be said to the adaptations and manifestations that are occurring within the traditional media realm.

The writing itself is on the wall. If advertising dollars are an indication of anything, they are an indication of audience size. Although internet advertising is posed to grow over the coming years from $25.8 billion in 2010 to $44.5 billion in 2015, TV still leads by a significant margin and will continue to lead by a significant margin growing from $59 billion in 2010 to $68 billion in 2015. If you can understand where the advertising dollars are heading, you can ultimately understand where our eyes are, where we are, spending there fair share of time.

And though online content and social media are claiming their territory on daily life, TV still remains a fundamental aspect in our everyday activities and decisions. It’s power and influence is uncanny and profound. So much so that there is very notable deviations on the strength of impact that TV has on us versus that of our online behaviour. To paint a clearer picture, TV advertising has the most impact on buying decisions at 83% versus online at 47%. Those are numbers you simply can’t shy away from.

Much of this can be attributed to the fact that the TV viewing experience has advanced exponentially. Further, with a massive shift away from remote desktop internet access to mobile access in the form of laptops, smart phones, tablets and even onto television sets themselves, it has increased usage of multiple media channels and experience that occur at once. The fascinating correlation here is that although the internet age might have moved us away from our wood paneled TV-sets and meagre cable access in favour of the web, advances in technology have brought us all back into one room. Watching and accessing multiple screens at once.

The convergence of multiple media access points will have profound effects on who we are. The social media phenomena has made 1 out of every 11 people on this planet a Facebook user in just over half a decade. Twitter has become the impromptu information outlet and real-time opinion hub. And the usage, users and time spent in these mediums only seems to be on the rise. Social media has recharacterized the online world and established a growing social paradigm. One that is far reaching.

Television and social media have been always thought to be on course to collide, creating an impact that would deeply change everything as we know it. It was to be an impact so colossal that destruction of one or the other would be the only suitable and evident outcome. Mistakenly and blindly we believed this. Television and social media are not opposing forces. They are inherently drawn to one another. They harness an attraction that only further amplifies itself and recontextualizes what it is to be television and social media.

The attraction between the two has acted as a catalyst in creating something that is truly enlightening, social television. This emerging collaborative nature encompasses both the participation of real-time televised experiences while participating in real-time social conversations. Conversations that are not only directed at friends and family but ones that are open to a world of opinion, judgement and decision.

One is just as crucial as the other. Social television will continue to thrive simply because it feeds off of our behaviours to be part of something greater while at the same time creating a very active viewing experience. It provides the content and breaks the ice. And will grow to a greater influencer and facilitator capacity. It’s up to us to interpret, decipher and enjoy what it is at hand. Make no mistake, social media is not the TV killer nor will it ever be. They are two forces of nature that will further continue a very beneficial self-perpetuating cycle as they increasingly become drawn and attracted to each other.

The rise of social media and the enhancement of the TV experience has formulated an advanced dynamic. From the encouragement to use Twitter hashtags during live programming to the content focused Facebook status updates, social television will play a greater inclusive, integrated and real-time role. It was never really a matter of when one would overwhelm the other. It was about understanding the intricacies and impacts they have and will continue to have on each others relationships. It is about the harmoniousness existence between the two.

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Are You Delivering Happiness?

Written on April 4, 2011 by Josip Petrusa

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Happiness is contagious. It has significant effects. It has the ability to profoundly impact each and everyone of us. And it often spreads. We begin to enjoy it. We try to mimic it. We do the best we can to deliver it. It comes in the form of having a grand time with your friends. It culminates it the simple little things you give to the one you love. And it manifests in something as small and unique as a smile. A smile that could have the most defining and lasting effects.

But something so innate to the human psyche, something so inherent to our human essence is unquestionably mistaken and often misunderstood. The underlying factor here is that our notions of happiness are based on our own perceptions of what encapsulates happiness as opposed to what happiness means to someone else and what it takes to deliver that happiness. It’s not about delivering what we believe happiness to be. It’s about delivering the happiness that will genuinely make someone else happy.

Happiness empowers us. It inspires us. It motivates us. It creates a greater good. It drives our passions. It fulfills our dreams. And it brings powerful meaning to all aspects of life. It’s no coincidence that our greatest times, our most positively joyous experiences and moments of sincere humanness are those events where we made it our priority to deliver happiness. The smallest of actions have the incredible ability to create the largest of effects.

Go beyond the utility of trying to create a perception of happiness and build on creating a meaningful and substantial experience. It’s an endless pursuit. And it should be an endless pursuit. It would be foolish to think that happiness has a finish line. Not that it’s a matter of not being able to make someone happy but rather you should make it a point to continually make those around you happy.

I don’t mean happy in the false sense of appeasement. Nor do I suggest delivering happiness at the sake of your own. The great thing about happiness is that it has a very liberating sum-sum characteristic. It does not take away from one individual in order to satisfy another. That’s why you should make it something to strive towards rather than something you force yourself to do.

Delivering happiness is about delivering something above what the situation dictates. Delivering happiness is about providing that substance, that meaning, that positive impact that can single-handedly change how that person feels, interacts with and sees the world around them. Delivering happiness is about creating that life changing moment. The moment where your smile, your “good-morning”, your thank you, your honest appreciation of life added value to someone else’s life other than your own.

Go ahead. Change the world for someone around you. Deliver happiness. And watch it spread.

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Cultivate Your Customer

Written on March 25, 2011 by Josip Petrusa

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We have loyalty programs. Then there’s lead nurturing. Along with the many variations of permission marketing. And not to mention, the growing number of social media and app media that is a location based service. Trying to enhance the customer relationship is hardly a new idea. But it seems the more we do and advance ourselves, the more story really stays the same.

The problem with how we as marketers, advertisers, businesses and brands approach the customer is the fact that our goal and only goal is to get the sale. In the majority of cases, that’s it. That’s the truth to our pursuits. The be all and end all to our primary objective. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m a believer in business. However, we are constantly and continually pursuing a system of acquisition and reacquisition rather than focusing on retention and personal customer growth. For some this is fine. But so much opportunity is left on the table.

In a world of growing competition and at a period that’s becoming increasingly known as the age of the customer, we have to rethink our business models. We have to rethink how we approach, value, enhance and provide a mutually beneficial relationship for both the seller and the buyer. The customer will always make purchases. So why simply settle for the sale? Why not go beyond that one single event? Why not settle for continued sales from the returning customer instead?

Cultivating your customer is by no means an easy process. Like any relationship, it takes some work to make something great. It has to go beyond the mass emails, check-ins, barcode scans and loyalty points programs. It has to be real and it has to be human. It has to be authentic and it has to be meaningful. Unfortunately, the effect won’t be the same for everyone. Nor will everyones approach towards their customer base. The implications of legitimately growing this relationship could be extraordinary. While at worst, you could still land the measly sale you settled for in the first place.

Although social media attempts to create and solve the issue of enhanced relationships, it’s thinking and logic takes on a very traditional approach in more instances than it should. It’s essence is often removed as a result. Leaving the customer to be felt as if they were removed themselves. Yes, we’re all interested in great “deals” and promotions that spike our interest. And that will always work to an extent. But we would always enjoy the personal touch versus being part of the known mass audience. Luckily, technology is making this easier with there being no better time than now to differentiate and make this about you, the customer.

Great customer service has evangelised many brands and businesses. But great customer service is only concerned up to the point of the sale and maybe some assistance after. Who says the relationship has to end there? Regardless of which category and perceived lifetime value a product or service receives. We’ve been led to believe nothing exists beyond the purchase. Though, I’m hardly suggesting a courtesy call. Does the this vicious cycle merely end here? Considering you won’t purchase said item again, right.

Great customer service has had the ability to profoundly impact how we choose where we decide to spend our dollar. So much so that is has become a significant factor in many of the purchasing decisions we make. Now, think of the opportunities that exist should you expand that mentality to the point of the next purchase. After all, many of us will most certainly purchase more than one pair of shoes, continue to be a part of a growing services environment and endlessly entertain our interests.

Customer cultivation could most definitely be interpreted as methods that currently exist. That sense and understanding would be flawed. This is not about sending or providing the customer with something in order to prompt another sale. This is about saying thank you. This is about confidently giving the customer something to enjoy with no recourse other than for that something to be enjoyed by the customer. This is about going above and beyond all existing buyer and seller experiences and perceptions. This is about creating a real relationship. So, good ahead. Cultivate the customer, your customer. Deliver the happiness they deserve. And watch everything grow.

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4 Strategies To Consider When Marketing to the Millennials

Written on March 11, 2011 by Josip Petrusa

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Trying to market in today’s environment has become quite an interesting task to say the least. With opportunities constantly opening up and new possibilities appearing everyday, figuring out what to do, what you need and what it would take to implement a successful marketing strategy has become increasingly complex and challenging.

Traditional marketing is still an aspect of the game. New-age methods and mediums are firmly gaining territory, while becoming obligatory and commonplace. Then you have the hybrid between the two. Traditional advertising combined with social media. Amplified social media activity during televised events. And the list goes on.

All this and more only makes the lucrative 18-34 year-old demographic trickier to reach. The digital natives, the Millennials, are everywhere but nowhere. Their environment, though unmistakably similar to those before them, functions in a vastly different manner thanks to the internet, social media, mobile technology and so on. As a result, we shouldn’t be applying the same standards, mindsets or thoughts to today’s youth. Here are 4 strategies to consider when marketing to the Millennials.

1. Content is not always king

“Content is king” is undoubtedly one of the most overused and clichéd phrases in the marketing and advertising industries. Don’t get me wrong, content is absolutely imperative when you’re dealing with visual, auditory and literary aspects. However, content is by no means the deal-marker when Millennials make a purchasing decision.

In fact, the phrase itself undermines many fundamentals Millennials undertake towards the products and brands they’re drawn to purchase. From the strategic values they hold towards brands, to the affordability and quality of the product, content is not always king by any means. The “Old Spice Guy” campaign is considered to be one of the best content campaigns in recent memory. Other than some minor growth, tens of millions of views have led to a few funny moments while leaving many, including the Millennials, unconvinced. Oh, and the purpose of the campaign was to rebrand Old Spice to something more youthful. How many Millennial men do you know that were convinced by this and switch to Old Spice?

2. “Join us on Facebook and Twitter.” Now what?

It’s evident that social media is everywhere. And if you’re a Millennial, this has been evident for the last 5 years. It’s a very natural place for us. So natural in fact that intrusion by marketing and advertising forces has only taken some significant shape recently, through events such as the brandification of your social presence.

Absolutely everyone wants your attention. And many have gone as far as bribing you with some incentive to get you there. But, then what? Nothing! The majority are just happy with the numbers game often resulting in the vast majority of actions starting and ending with the “like” and/or “follow”. When’s the last time you followed up on your own actions? Me – hardly ever. We gave you our attention. Do something creative, innovative and useful with it. Why bother asking us to join you then?

3. We’re savvy but we don’t like all technology, web or social media aspects

Millennials are easily the savviest individuals when it comes to technology, the web and social media. Leading a significant majority of the categories that make up these groupings, it’s incredibly rare to find a Millennial not in this dynamic. The stats speak for themselves. We LOVE our tech, web, socially savvy lifestyle and are not afraid to live it online.

But with all that being said, marketers and advertisers are constantly trying to find the next cool thing and miss the mark with Millennials. And the reason they miss the mark is due to the reason that we embrace our savviness on a level of simplicity, resulting in small minority of Millennials living this savvy lifestyle on an advanced level. QR codes are a very cool and interesting idea but even our love for our smart phones has hardly enticed many Millennials one bit.

4. Cultivating the relationship beyond the purchase

Without question, this is the age of the consumer. With growing competition and an increasing amount of options opening up courtesy of the easily accessible online world, one would think they would be vying for our dollars. Keeping us as their own. The current reality is that this is hardly the case to anything beyond some mediocre loyalty programs. But there never has been a time where you could keep such essential relationships with your customer base.

There is no denying that maintaining these relationships is easier said than actually being able to do it. But isn’t that the aspect of every relationship? To put some work into it to make it great? Well, Millennials, they want to have these relationships with you. Why not grow and cultivate something remarkable that would be beneficial for both sides? After all, we’re young and hardly set in our ways. Wouldn’t you rather have a lifetime relationship with us rather than a few random bump-ins?

These 4 strategies are hardly the only ones. Nor would they ring true in absolutely every circumstance. However, they do provide a mindset and outline to what it would take to give you an advantage when marketing to Millennials.

What are your thoughts? What would you add or change in these strategies?

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The Power and the Significance of Your Name

Written on February 27, 2011 by Josip Petrusa

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The one defining characteristic we all share, the one unique and profound element of each and everyone of us is the name we are given. From the reason to why we were given such a name to the historical lineage and significance of what a name has come to represent, our name, beyond it’s objective purpose, encompasses what and who each of us is. It’s essence is at the very heart of our existence.

It signified what tribe you came from. It represented the language and dialect you spoke. It made others aware of the region you came from. And grew into characterizing the nationality you came from. It effectively describes us in a manner more than we truly understand or choose to realize. It was the mark you put down when coming to the New World, the signature that made your home and the last thing that is ever read in a letter by the one you love. Your name is utterly more powerful and significant than simply the characters that represent it.

It represents every transaction you make. From bank notes to ownership, business relations to pay checks, marriage, authorship and beyond. And in a growing world based in text, online search and social profiles, the purpose of your name has expanded and become more imperative than it ever has before. It simply doesn’t represent who you are. It is who you are.

With the unprecedented growth of social networks, social media and mobile technology, the context of the name has evolved into something that is truly beyond the physical individual. It is the title in your friend’s BlackBerry contacts. It is the quintessential component which makes the social world possible. Our name is the underlying signifier of everything that is the composition of our social profiles and everything that lives in an interconnected world.

The implications here are fascinating. Our names are the titles of our virtual self and they are becoming the key-indicators to our real self. Our social media behaviour attributes our name to the ambassadoring of the smart phones we use, the Facebook “likes”, the brands, causes and marketing we support, the tweet links we share and the statements we make. It glorifies, humanizes and broadens human tendencies into the unnatural ultimately culminating the unnatural to become natural everyday components and necessities of life.

Rather than focusing on the negatives and many supposed downturns the impact of our name has had in instances of the online world, we should embrace and represent who we are. We’re all utterly enthralled and mystified by the negative simplicities that our name attributes to us in a growing world of online search and social profiles. The negatives clearly exist as we participate in the emerging dynamics of our new world but the positives are undeniable beneficial and life-altering.

Our name, both in the physical and virtual worlds, is immortal and will outlast each and every one of us. It’s up to us to decide how you will make the greatest impact through one of the most significant and powerful characteristics we all have. Will you rise above yourself for the happiness of others? Will you influence the world with positive actions? Will you empower yourself to somehow change the world? Even on the smallest of scales. Your name is and will always be the everlasting testament of who you are.

Do Millennial Brand Wants Equal Facebook “Likes”?

Written on February 21, 2011 by Josip Petrusa

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Millennials are incredibly brand-centric. For them, brands have become a lifestyle. They represent more than simple names and products. They represent the essence and expressions and attitudes of this generation. It is a growing paradigm that is further catalyzing and characterizing the very human nature that brands are taking on as they humanize themselves.

Social media, and especially Facebook, is propelling the brand into a dynamic that is truly unprecedented. From their own Facebook pages, along with the vastly emerging page abilities, and on-going attempt at the brandification of your social presence, Facebook has brought the brand to the epicentre of our lives. Something of which has been realized and taken on by many brands from the earliest days of Facebook.

Facebook itself from its earliest days has been a Millennial thing. Even now it’s something that is still dominated by the youth segment of society with 61% of U.S. and 67% of Canadian users falling under the age of 34. Now, once you step back and take a look at the overall picture, you have Millennial demographic, in the midst of taking over the lucrative 18-34 year-olds market segment, combined with the concoction of brands on Facebook and you have yourself something that appears to be awe-inspiring. Or so it seems.

A recent report conducted by L2, know as the “Gen-Y Affluents: Media Survey”, further emphasized the increasing importance the digital and social media worlds will have on your brand and further brand success. And though I won’t dive into the complete vastness of the report itself, I want to look at something quite specific. Particularly, the brand wants Millennials have and how they equate and reciprocate to Facebook “likes”, which have become an element of rising significance.

The graph above and below clearly represent a series of “last prestige brand purchased” and “prestige brands aspired to own” by Millennials. They will represent the brands. Further, we’ll make a series of assumptive points for this context. Based on the numbers above, we’ll say that those 1-34 year-olds represent 60% of the Facebook user-base, something which is particularly low in any context. And lastly, the L2 report represents the U.S. Millennial, something we’ll simply come to represent Millennials themselves.

After you begin to look at the brands provided and start to search for the number of brands “likes” you begin to realize a few things. Firstly, Apple is clearly a favorite in all aspects of each graph and their iTunes page is the only one to break into over 10 million mark of all the brands presented. However, fascinatingly, there is no actual Apple Facebook page. Secondly, other than the iTunes page that makes it into the Top 100 Facebook pages, the rest of the brands don’t appear until a few hundred pages later in the rankings and only appear at page “likes” under 5 million with some of these prestige brands only have a few hundred thousand likes.

Now, any of these numbers would be more than flattering for anyone. Who wouldn’t want a few hundred thousands likes in the brand world? But with the Facebook savvy and brand-centric Millennials, who dominate one segment and will dominate the next, one has to wonder if Facebook “likes” at all represent the wants of customers, consumers and Millennials alike.

Don’t get me wrong here, I’m clearly taking a very assumptive approach, as I stated above. Equally, we’re only dealing with “prestige” brands here, 0f which many Millennials believe they will actually have. But, it’s something that discounts the “every day” brands such as Coca-Cola and Starbucks who continue to exhibit great social success. Though, even then, the correlation between the brand and Facebook is lukewarm at best. And to answer the purpose of this article, it seems that in fact Millennial brand wants do not equate to Facebook likes. At least for the time being.

Much of this can be attributed to a variety of reasons. Most immediately, the fact that a vast majority of brand-relationships begin and end with the action of the “like”. Furthermore, there is no overall benefit to liking anything even if does let your friends know something about you as each “like” gets lost in a growing sea of likes. Equally, Facebook’s minimal platform has often resulted in the same haphazard minimal brand approach. And though pages are being liked they do not represent anything near in scale to the power of Facebook and the Millennials that base their life around it.

By no means is any of this easy to comprehend. Nor simple to implement. But it should provide some clarification into the world of the Millennials and their branded experience. However, if Millennial brands don’t equal Facebook “likes”, maybe the “likes” themselves are a view into Millennial wants. In any case, it’s a brand and social paradigm that will need and get more attention as time goes on. Most of which will ultimately refine itself through the evolution of our social graphs.

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The Majority of the Few and the Minority of the Many

Written on February 18, 2011 by Josip Petrusa

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From the very beginnings of mass media and even prior to that, strength, significance and importance was placed into the notion of reaching everyone. The reason behind this has often resided in the fact only the few had this ability. The same few who often harnessed the power and capability to control and achieve this. Our societal beliefs, structures and economies have been undoubtedly built on these foundations of “mass”, “majority” and “everyone” modes of thought.

Much of this was based on the virtues of the time. There was few print media but it reached everyone in that locality. Radio allowed us to evolve and participate in the same media as everyone else on a grander scale. And everything ultimately culminated with the introduction of TV. The whole country tuned in to some of the highest rated TV series we haven’t seen in decades since the 60s and 70s.

The golden years of advertising were premised and built on this. Let’s be realistic. It’s easy to sell something when you have literally everyone watching, reading or listening to you. And for the last century, this has been the prevailing mode of thought. More = better = success. This is common sense, isn’t it? A world based in economies of scale. We are looking for that one thing to be sold a million times. But what about selling a million things once?

Without a doubt, it’s an odd thought to have. However, to do one is just as difficult to accomplish as the other. Seemingly, it’s nearly impossible to sell “more” of anything today. Just about every field, industry and area of society has seen an increasingly levelling of the playing field in many respects. All of which can be attributed to the many advances we’ve experienced. Everything from the many tech gadgets available to the internet and social media, growing competition, along with the psychological and sociological elements of our needs, wants and personal discovery.

Although we still see many examples of the best-sellers, they are decreasing on a rapid scale. We are in the midst of extensive niche, sub-segment, fringe and speciality growth. We are entering a time where the minority of the many is just as lucrative a space as any one best-seller. We can customize, “build-your-own” and “do-it-yourself” more now than ever. It’s not that these notions hadn’t existed before. Simply, the opportunity and ability to do it wasn’t there. We had no choice but to conform. Conformation was involved in much of anything we could do.

The world is open to a ever-growing number of possibilities. The reason iTunes is so successful is not due to the fact that it simply sells a few items in massive numbers. Rather, it is due to the fact that it sells everything else. Those million different things that it sells only once. Our tastes, options and choices are expanding. At no other time in history has the opportunity to reach everyone been more possible and impossible at the same time. An issue that clearly lies in our ongoing belief to chasing the majority of the few versus chasing the minority of the many.

One would assume that with the unprecedented growth and usage of social media, the ability to reach mass audiences with a mass message would be just as simple as it always was. The reality of the situation could not be further from the truth. Although we as individuals have shared and similar commonalities of life with each other, something that has always existed, social media and the internet drives and compels us to be more different and apart from each other. After all, how many people do you know on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn that have a significant level of similar profile characteristics other than the layout itself. I would venture to say not many.

Traditional marketing and advertising efforts are becoming undeniably futile. TV, print media and radio are not losing their audiences due to lack of great content but due to the dilution of that content through other means and wants. Everything is thinning out thanks to the internet. And social media is hardly here to save the day in this situation, especially not with a one-mass-message approach. If you examine it closely, social media is actually a catalyst to greater fragmentation on all levels. This is a profound new age. Welcome to the majority of the few. This is the time that favours the minority of the many.

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Warning: Schedule Your Tweets At Your Own Risk

Written on February 13, 2011 by Josip Petrusa

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As the vastness of the Twitterverse increases and it’s importance gains increasing traction, our wants for the optimization, and even monetization, further expand into Twitter’s API (application programming interface) 3^rd party world. Whether that be dashboard applications based in easier usage such as Tweetdeck or Hootsutie to a variety of programs that do anything from strategic following, quick unfollows, the delivering hated auto direct-messages and scheduled tweeting, the growing number of these applications and tools is endless.

Any piece of analytical information is and will be used to ones advantage. And depending on what you primarily use Twitter for, much of this can mean everything and nothing to you. But seemingly regardless of which bucket you fall into or what kind of user you classify yourself as there is unquestionably a set of social media characteristics that drive and intrigue everyone. And in the case of this blog post, it is the timeliness to the way you tweet and share social media updates.

Make no mistake, your status updates are some of the most strategically timed and placed actions we all take part in. Whether you’re willing to admit it or not. From our own beliefs of how we perceive the perception of someone else’s perception to how we are perceived, our scheduling – or lack there of – of our social media activities is undeniably meant to benefit us how we personally see fit.

Thus, scheduled and routine activity amongst the various social networks carries its own series of valuable meanings for each and everyone of us. Once you combine this with the ongoing social media osmosis that is occurring into all aspects of life, our ability to be active 24/7 is, well, impossible. Work, family, commitments and sleep all require necessary and significant attention over tweeting and facebooking and linkeding. And rightfully so. But the emergence of these obstacles, for the lack of a better word, are taking many of us to a more optimized scheduling future.

After all, Twitter and social media is not based in turn-media rhetoric. Say like TV or email or daily newspapers. With hundreds of millions of users, there is no universal schedule. This is the reason why many try to garner the attention of those through scheduling while you in fact are not there actively tweeting but the program you command is. Of course, we all have our own reasons for scheduling. However, attempting to schedule your big or small or personal social media campaign can be hazardous.

The recent public launch of a social media tool called Timely brought me to thinking about this. Especially since Timely’s sole purpose is to “help you schedule tweets for maximum impact.” To keep it short and succinct, Timely analyzes that your last 199 tweets and categorizes them into a series of metrics that revolve largely around retweets and the timing of those retweets. Ultimately, providing you with the best possible times for you to tweet in hopes of “maximum impact.”

Now, let’s not get confused here. I’m in no way pointing out Timely is a bad product. Nor am I suggesting it is the best possible solution for your scheduling needs. Rather I aim to tackle the notion that tweet and social media scheduling is detrimental to your overall campaigns for a variety of reasons.

Until this generation passes and a true generation of digital natives arrives, social media is truly an unnatural aspect of life to most of today’s users. However, in that same moment, many of us our rapidly humanizing it and it’s existence through our continual usage. Should you ask any of today’s youth, they would say it’s completely real and contextual to their current real life.

On the backing of that argument, the unnaturalness of social media has seemingly become natural. Equally, it’s natural element is not one based in social scheduling. Our social media activities and actions and sharing and connecting are now natural and everyday occurrences. They represent the emotional, mental, uncertain, random, human aspects of who we are. To attempt to optimize that is to return social media back to a state of unnaturalness. Scheduling has no place in human interaction nor can it exist in an openly following phenomena that we know as social media. Simply due to the fact that usage is not scheduled or structured like the 6 o’clock news or your kids soccer practice or your work schedule.

Scheduling will have it’s place, use and effect. But the very essence of social media can not exist in optimizing your efforts based on the supposed schedules of others. It ultimately takes away from our ability to rise and connect on a new level and returns us back to what very much appears to be based in traditional advertising and marketing metrics. Thus, not even making it a new idea at all. So, schedule if you must. Optimize if you dare. But taking the human essence of social media away from itself is questionable. A warning to not being yourself.

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The Super Bowl Effect

Written on February 7, 2011 by Josip Petrusa

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Football is awesome. In fact, any sports spectacle is something to be enjoyed. There really is nothing as powerful as human competitive nature and watching two sides compete. Especially, when it’s the Super Bowl. The match-up of match-ups. The gladiators in the arena. The winner to be crowned champion of them all. But then something changed. Something became different.

Football and sports and competition are more alive than ever. They are enormous billion dollar industries. And they without a doubt attract the mob. They are the devout supporters resided in the arena where we enjoy the battle and pick one winner over the other. However, it’s all seemingly gone beyond that. The Super Bowl itself is still as much about being the champion as the Super Bowl always was. Though it has undeniably become “super” in all other respects.

In the eyes of many, and growing on a yearly basis, Super Bowl Sunday is the culmination and defining point of a season. The celebrations are becoming rampant. “What are you doing for the Super Bowl?” is a commonly asked phrase by mid-January and just about everybody is celebrating this would-be holiday.

It is amongst the top days for food consumption all year, 2^nd only to the American Thanksgiving. Absenteeism the following Monday accounts for unprecedented levels of call-ins and sick days. All while the football faithful have slowly become surrounded and crowded by just about everyone from those interested to those putting money on the game and even including the unparalleled growth of female viewership over the last few years.

As the Cannes Film Festival is to the film industry, the Super Bowl wholeheartedly reciprocates with that to the marketing and advertising industry. There is no other point in the year where we so willing observe and wait to see the advertising. It has become as traditional as the Super Bowl itself. It’s no wonder why some of the most successful advertising campaigns to ever take shape can account and be thankful for their million-dollar 30 second timeslot that were viewed by tens-of-millions of people in years past. $3 million for 30 seconds for a possible audience of over a 100 million people. You would almost be foolish not to be a part of that, right? Especially after realizing that traditionally, half-time performers don’t get paid for performing. That’s the profoundness in all of this.

And instead of leaving everything to the event, we’ve begun to see a multitude of Super-Bowl-like ads. But they’re not viewed during or at the Super Bowl but released prior in hopes of receiving the same Super Bowl valuation and attention. For anyone paying attention last week, there were more than a series of supposed pre-released Super-Bowl-like ads though they actually weren’t Super Bowl ads per se. Though you were convinced they were. Weren’t you?

Do I dare bring social media into all of this? Of course I dare. Not only will all numbers show the internet was alive and well with Super Bowl buzz regarding everything from the pre-Super Bowl thoughts and comments and impending ads, to the peaks in activity following real time events, and now the blogosphere closing out the process. Who can forget the role social media played in many of the adverts themselves, something that will exponentially grow in the years to come. Maybe you didn’t even realize that. After all, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have become the everyday local.

If a viewing audience of 100 million wasn’t enough, social media most definitely compounded that to additional millions of secondary and tertiary touches. No one is left untouched by the Super Bowl. No one stands to not know what the Super Bowl is. We augment life towards it. It has a black swan-esque element to it. Nothing else comes close to mirroring it. This is the Super Bowl effect. There is no way in avoiding it. You cannot escape its vastness or reach. You will be effected by it whether you like it or not.

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Social Media and Your Career: Who Ultimately Controls It?

Written on February 3, 2011 by Josip Petrusa

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As social media continues to expand, grow and evolve it will freely extend it’s peripheries into all aspects of life. No topic remains untouched by it. Every conversation leads to it. Our daily activities involve and revolve around it. And seemingly, anywhere we go we encounter it. It’s one of the most personal and powerful innovations we’ve ever come across but largely unfounded, unprecedented and absolutely unpredictable.

Yet, it’s allure strongly remains. From it’s roots in primal urges and education to it’s extension of the personal self and the unlimited pursuit of marketers and brands, anyone that has put any effort into social media has come to realize the significant and fascinating impact it has. As it osmotically moves through our societal membranes, it will naturally diffuse its presence everywhere and your career, work life and job are it’s next target.

Increasingly, social media is affecting you and the workplace. But not in the manner you’re probably thinking of. The first inclinations many of you will have is that it somehow has to do with the hiring process and your privacy settings. But you would be mistaken. Your next inclination might be the topic that deals with social media usage in the workplace. But that’s won’t be the topic at hand here either. What we’re going to explore here is the definitive and growingly profound topic of social influence in the workplace. And how your employer will be looking to take advantage of it.

Notions of social influence have caught fire as of late. It’s been the rant and the rave. It’s clout, pun intended, will become a very comprehensive issue of your social future. So much so that the emerging social paradigm will in some shape or form impact everything online whether you decide to participate in it or not. Even reaching into aspects of life where certain job requirements demand a level of Twitter followers. The workplace itself is naturally becoming more social. Something that is being ushered in extensively through grassroots movements by Millennial hyperconnectivity, amongst other sources of social media users.

Now, when you begin combining, mixing and experimenting with these different variations of the above mentioned notions, thoughts and insights you come across a progressively impacting predicament. Any relationship between the social world and the working world has been controversial and questionable, unless you’re actual job is, well, a social media job or inclined to working with varying aspects of social media. But there is an emerging dynamic that is pushing towards using your social presence and social influence at the behest of your employer.

We’ve added co-workers to our networks only to be scrutinized and experience the growing accounts of “we need to talk about your social media activity” – activities that even occur when you’re not at the office. As the lines begin to blur, an emerging trend is beginning to manifest. A manifestation that precludes you from being yourself but one that compels you to invoke actions based supporting and benefiting your employer and what they represent.

This quandary forces a series of significant issues and questions here. Who truly has final say on what you can and cannot put on your various profiles? Do you have to support your social media campaigns through shares, updates and tweets? And if you don’t, what does that imply? Does your social network and social influence and social presence give your employer access to the value you entrusted in your peers and created yourself? It’s an endless stream of serious concerns.

Understandably, particular jobs do require some or many of these aspects. And that’s acceptable. If you’re going to be the social media evangelist or guru or company representative, you have to be willingly to stake yourself in that position. But putting your name out-there unquestionably is more than problematic, it’s downright scary and career threatening. As strong as people are and more often than we choose to admit, we give into these weaknesses of our job willingly participating in something that could have overreaching effects years down the road.

Our jobs and our social media presence are becoming more entwined than we know or think to believe. So, what happens when we say “no” to showing your social media support? It hardly suggests we don’t have belief in our employer or what they do. But if definitely throws a kink into the framework. And if my job does entail that I must use my social influence as a part of my job, where do you draw the line?

Where do you establish the value? Where do you determine who has control of your social media and online life? How far are you willing to go with for career? Can your co-workers ever be your social media friends? We all must truly consider what this means for our jobs, careers and overall life, especially since there is no escaping work or the effects of social media.

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