Where is the entertainment? Where is the marketing?

I happened to have some issues with my wireless, and my video was doing that “choppy” thing. You know.. Well what red blooded male could help but notice that the camera angle of this shot is virtually straight up starlet Dianna Agron’s skirt? But interestingly enough, I noticed another interesting thing.

Curious by nature. What can I say for myself? But where does the advertising begin and end? The answer? Maybe it’s a mixture. I propose that one subjected to the level of daily marketing a US citizen is cannot entirely be removed from the other. I would speculate that the viewer would not be as deeply engaged in the entertainment sans strategic product placement.

Entertainment needs brands that exist in the real world to work and visually make our brains think that what we are watching is real. I propose that it is a vital component to the level at which we are able to be engaged. Now we are so desensitized to product placement in entertainment that we wouldn’t feel like a movie were even real without them. Maybe that’s part of the reason I feel the way I do about most independent films…

Although I’m pretty sure that the sex appeal wasn’t lost on you by now; what may have escaped your notice is that in this picture there is a great example. The iPhone is everywhere. Burrowing it’s way into our subconscious. Like the iPod this is a futile battle for any adversary.

And do I need to mention again that the saturation of the entertainment market was probably one of the most effective takeovers in marketing and product placement marketing ever? Sex sells and Apple knows it. Coupling up with the major sources of entertainment was a great trick. One I wish I could duplicate.. of course.

Social marketing perspective – Don’t look like a nube… even if you are

Are you falling into the time vrs. result shortfalls of standard social media marketing? If you think that your results are hardly worth the effort… you might be right.Then again, perhaps you just need to re-think the global landscape. Maybe you’re not really thinking about the leverage social media can give you on a large scale.

What is the value of twitter vrs. facebook? Can you put a price tag on your followers? Hopefully you have some kind of position on these two things. But if you are like most, you surely fall either on the “I love it and I can’t live without it” or the “I don’t see the point” side of things. I know this, because when you begin to understand how social media and one to many communication work… and you’re a marketeer… you become quite excited… even if (like me) previously, you were completely uninvolved and uninterested.

The value to you in social media will directly be related to your ability to add value for your users. Think about what your value proposition is before creating your message. When you go to execute and deliver your message, be sure that the value proposition and call to action make sense in context and are compelling. There is nothing worse than miss-communication and confusion. Avoid confusing your audience at every cost. Be clear with your message and  pick a direction!

Set up repetitive tasks to auto-execute with automatic replies and auto-follows on Twitter. Once you start getting 50-100 a day it will save your life. You can also use most of the software that is out there for this to manage multiple accounts and make posting schedules with pre-created messages. Way cool!

If you aren’t a graphic designer… find one please. Make your space or profile custom and create a strong visual identity. This means changing the background, icon, links, about me content ect. Very important stuff. Don’t be cheap with the details! This is a great chance to raise yourself above maybe 60% of the competition!

Make a plan. Failing to plan is planning to fail! Write it down, set benchmarks and dedicate yourself to success. It’s the only way to make this work. And one more thing. You had either better love your brand and be extremely knowledgeable about it’s entire universe or have access to a great data stream.. The devil is in the details!

Now let the flurry of custom link tracking, targeting message sculpting, tweeting and poking begin! Enjoy your foray into the world of social media marketing.. It’s still supposed to be fun!

The New World of Work – Interactive Day San Diego Keynote