MonkeyWatcher's Lifestream

Being a Millenial myself, this blog post by Shel Holtz really struck me. Here are some excerpts:

College is for two things: Getting an education and being stupid. The only difference between college when I went and college today is that there was no Facebook, or anything remotely like it, during my days at university.

Today, we’re living through one of the most remarkable transitions in history. We’re moving from an era during which people were secretive and kept things close to the vest to an era where everyone is networked and everyone shares everything. And those who grew up in the soon-to-be bygone era are making hiring decisions about people who grew up in the era that is hurtling toward us like an out-of-control freight train.

It has become conventional wisdom for people of my generation to wag their fingers at millenials, warning them of the dangers that await if they’re too open with their extracurricular activities. (...)

That’s true today, with people who kept their late-night fraternity-house drinking binges on the QT. It won’t be so long, though, before the hiring managers have shared just as much of their social lives online as the recruits they’re looking to hire. The fact that people got drunk and engagred in questionable behavior in school just won’t matter.(...)

Recruiters and HR people can even eek out a competitive edge by overlooking a four-year-old picture on a Facebook page and focusing on their qualifications today. After all, that’s what today’s candidates will be doing in five years when they’re the ones making the hiring decisions.

 

Source: http://blog.holtz.com/index.php/weblog/recruiters_shouldnt_care_about_that_facebook_picture_of_your_beer_pong_game

Kaitlyn Wilkins (at Ogilvy PR 360 Digital Influence Blog) gives us a great summary of Youtube's The Myth of the Viral session at the WPP's Stream 2009 conference. I see a lot of advertising agencies failing to make their videos go viral and these fives myths might explain why.

“Viral success happens, but it doesn’t just ‘happen’”.

Myth 1: I don’t have to promote it
The most successful videos are rooted in smart creative and promotion.  Videos need a robust syndication and promotion plan that incorporates elements such as video ads, brand integration on .coms, influencer outreach, and social networking plays.(...)

Myth 2: I can just put a video on YouTube and users will find it
Naming, tagging, and engaging content people spend time with all help you index on YouTube.  To stand out you have to understand search terms that people use, and search optimize against those words.(...)

Myth 3: Consumers don’t like branded content
Branding is ok if it’s tasteful and appropriate to the content – stripping the brand out, or having all UGC content is not necessary.  Examples:  Samsung Omnia i900 Unboxing, riffing on the unboxing video trend (3MM views), or my favorite Smirnoff Raw Tea Partay (5MM views).(...)

Myth 4: It’s not just about one video
Come up with ideas that people can replicate easily, so that viewers feel empowered to create additional content in response to the original piece.   If you’re smart, you can build an ecosystem around your content. (...)

Myth 5: Being in control is a good thing
Take advantage of your accidental spokespeople who are creating content without the brands “permissions.” For example, McDonald’s has leveraged a UGC McNuggets rap in advertising, and UK’s  Cillit took advantage of a popular UGC techno remix of one of their commercials.   Another common YouTube fear is the inane comments that are often left on videos, the discussion group felt that brands need to have tolerance for the YouTube community and the good/bad comments – and be confident that silly or unnecessarily disparaging remarks are often shouted down. (...)

Source: Ogilvy PR 360 Digital Influence Blog.

This article could apply to all kinds of events, but I'll focus on concerts because that's the field that I know the best. We've booked a lot of DIY (Do It Yourself) concerts in the last five years, and we did use every possible way to promote it. From oldschool flyers/stickers/posters to social media, we tried everything we could. MySpace was our first step into social networking sites, until we tried Facebook.

So, this post is about Facebook and why I think it's good for events promotion.

Read the rest of this post »

L'incendie d'avant-hier dans le quartier de Camden (à Londres) m'a fait prendre conscience d'un fait important: la manière dont je m'informe est en pleine mutation. Il y a encore quelques années, je ne suivais l'actualité qu'au travers de la presse papier, du journal télévisé et de quelques rares flux RSS. Aujourd'hui, tout a changé: les multiples sites d'information et les blogs, Twitter ou encore Facebook, constituent de nouvelles sources pour suivre l'actualité. Je vais donc essayer de vous présenter comment l'information me parvient. Pour celà, prenons un cas concret: le récent incendie de Camden.

Read the rest of this post »