DIGITAL VS. NEW MEDIA

New Media is not a specific type of service. In my opinion, it only describes the advancements of existing or newly developed services based on current models. It is a function of some form.

Digital Services and New Media have been juxtaposed with Interactive services in the perspectives of many. The real differences here being, one could be considered device-dependent, while the other is not device-dependent. Both, at one time, where a form of New Media.

Utility + Message = Experience ≠ Branding

Someone proposed the question; Is Consumer Generated Advertising the next big thing? And by someone, I mean someone on a participant network. I was a little confused by this question for a few reasons.

The fact that someone has asked this question in a quasi-public forum while having it answered by industry professionals and lurkers alike, is testimony enough. This survey is community-driven and in-effect, user-generated. It has been contributed to and advanced upon by many without provocation or payment. I think the term; Consumer Generated Advertising,(CGA) is over-defined or not implicit enough. Every brand should expect that all users will participate in brand development. And as technology for synchronized communication with ubiquitous access to information on home/mobile devices grows closer, we'll see more participation. A brand that enables and contributes to its prospects voice(s) will see greater return on their marketing. Public Relations, as a term, has taken center-stage from the industry's perspective as a way to market itself. But it has no more value than any other channel in the branding arena.

Utility + Message = Experience ≠ Branding.

Let's also consider something else; This approach to marketing is not always the best approach for every brand. CGA isn't a push, it's an unexpected result. People creating their own How-To's with products and services are doing it because they can. Not because they we're asked to endorse something. This type of CGA, in itself, is nothing new. Everyday day we help others out. Especially with recommendations and demonstrations of our intimate understanding about a topic of some sort. If a brand provides a product, service or idea that merits discussion, it will happen with or without Public Relations.

Remove those mental barriers.
Mitigate crisis with a conversation.

TRENT REZNOR CASE STUDY

I've posted a few of NIN's campaigns over the years. I'm not going to debate the fact that; the majority of their music has been entirely digital. However, they have set the standard with online campaigns. They succeed long before Radio Head jumped on bored.

REPUTATION PROTECTORS

I've noticed the term social media taking a nose dive into the waste basket of marketers and brand strategists. A sharply folded paper airplane created from last year's media budget. It's one of those planes that only goes across the room once. The plane slubs downward each toss there after. Someone givies it one last throw only to watch it go down.

Through dialogue with friends and respected colleagues, we're beginning to see people sifting the pebbles of an otherwise dried up river. No shiny objects to be found. Perhaps there is another side of the river bed to traverse. A hill hidden in the shadow of this mountain.

A thought on this, one I've mentioned in a few other posts;
Unless all data can be resolved to single, unified definition both visually and semantically–there are no finite experts in this realm. And to be honest, social-networks ( ironic how we've added the prefix to a word that means the exact same thing offline ) have existed since the dawn of man, and woman, and creature-thingy.

I still believe the best messages are ones that teach and inform with selling as an extension–if one needs to sell at all. Conversation has always been the life-blood for any strong network. Even more so when the idea, product or service exceeds the expectations of those who implemented the campaign. At that point, all a brand can do is monitor the feedback and continue to innovate. Continue the conversation.

A lot of jargon circulates through the media landscape of today's marketing and communication professionals. I tend to believe, in most uses, it's used to illiterate a point for those who do not understand it. While in others, it's used like a machine gun, hoping to sniper-hit anyone who is willing to listen. It's quickly becoming industry jargon. Hacking the system, any system, is a demonstration of ingenuity. And when I say "hacking," I mean to use it in the context it was originally used. Not in the jargon or colloquialism it has become.

The Semantic web is posed to resolve and de-throne the hucksters within this area of expertise. And Google has a few things brewing that could be really great for all of us, or really bad.

On the other hand, as mobile content and desktop-client software ( or Saas ) continually provide opt-in features where users provide validated and quantifiable data about themselves, we may see extremely concise targeting with messaging and communication. Eventually leading to the end of any/all forms of disruptive or intrusive advertising. Interactive will survive. But I believe the definition of the word needs refinement as well. The technology that supports these mediums is not as ubiquitous as some would have everyone believe. This is not to say that everyone doesn't have access to the hardware that drives it but, rather understanding the software that controls it. We need to brand the interface experience. And yes–that is a juxtaposition of the word.

In the end, who's to say? Social marketing works because the message has moved from mouth-to-mouth, beyond the communications effort. It's either become a cultural element for some or a sad joke for others. And if this data isn't protected properly, or a for some reason it is breached under the umbrella of a major brand, the medium will die all-together.



Security might be the new commodity after transparency.



*Insert Announcer Voice*
Reputation Protectors; We'll encrypt your entire life. And sell you back your password, if you forget!


The You; We; Me and I in social media. It will eventually lead to what it's always led to–Us.

CONCEPT ABOUT A CONCEPT

A bit old, but I never got around to posting it when it I designed this. It's been through a few iterations since I posted the last one, a few years ago.