On the fourth day of the AdForum Worldwide Summit, we were treated to Social Media & Mobility: Brand Servants or Brand Masters?, a set of presentations and debate among people that carved niches into the nebulous frontier of digital communications. This list of thought leaders included Jerry Johnson of Brodeur, Nicco Mele of EchoDitto, Emily Nagle Green of Yankee Group and Joe Trippi of Joe Trippi & Associates. You may recall the latter as a shaping force of the Howard Dean campaign that, with help from social media, began well enough -- and ended like this.
Johnson kicked off by telling us that in the future, our grandchildren will look back on two historical anomalies of our time: retirement and broadcasting. Then he dispelled a series of myths about social media. They follow thus.
Myth: Consumers are in control of your brand.
Reality: Users can now see AND SHARE everything about your brand -- which leaves the brand in a position of far more responsibility -- in terms of how they treat their employees, the environment and their customers, among other things. Consider United Breaks Guitars.
Myth: Brands must be active across all channels.
Reality: You must find the appropriate channels for both brand and customer: RIM launched its first blog just last year. And Apple, which has an inarguable cult following, is historically not super social media-friendly.
Myth: Social networks favor brands and companies that are young.
Reality: It favors those open to new ideas. Like Ford.
Myth: Social media favors small brands and companies.
Reality: It favors the democratic, those that involve employees in their communications. Think Adobe or Zappos.
In the end, he argued, this isn't a question of being slave or master. All social media does is ruthlessly separate the wheat from the chaff.
After this, Mele regaled us with a passionate dissertation on how brands matter less, people are less interested in connecting with institutions, and someday we'll all be printing out blueprints for Nikes and making the shoes we want ourselves.
Trippi followed with an agreeable-enough philosophy: that good brands are always servants. But the crux of his argument could be summed up in this quote: "You trust your friends, you don't trust institutions, you don't trust the top."
As an example of this, he pointed to how Universal Studios film Bruno was utterly ravaged after its first day because people were tweeting about how bad it was -- while watching it.
He also described how Napster, then Apple, are contributing to the impending death of the music industry. Ironically, it seems that the success of both companies demonstrated that people do still trust institutions, provided they're acting in the user's best interest.
Green followed with a strong presentation about how users are slaves to the mobile space.
Mobile is the most plentiful electronic device ever, with about three billion in use today and six billion estimated to be in use in the next few years.
Challenges for marketers that want to hit a broad audience via mobile:
- Too many platforms (think Android versus iPhone, to name just a couple)
- Guards for partners (carriers behave more like glorified gatekeepers of data instead of like partners)
- New medium, new method (we're just starting out, and in the birthing stages of a platform in flux, innovation is terraced in by people trying to get it to work like media they're more familiar with. Over time, the medium grows into its own, and ideas for its potential expand)
As an example of the last point, Green pointed to the story of Ingva, a housewife remembered for thinking TV could be used as more than just a place to see radio broadcasters. She thought it'd make a great medium for sharing cooking ideas with other housewives. She was mostly laughed at.
Green's tips for seizing mastery of mobile:
1. Don't assume brands will do all the work.
2. Create consistent, personal connections.
She also provided great examples of apps doing useful things: the ING Direct ATM Locator outfitted with augmented reality technology, Nearest Subway, which also uses AR to help locate the closest subway and connecting lines; and the Yelp app, which lets you review restos on the go.
The latter is also a good example of how you shouldn't think your brand will be sufficient to give you leverage with an audience. Zagat totally thought it could take Yelp in the realm of hipster reviews, but that delusion faded fast.
After this, a debate was organized. Millard was given her moment in the spotlight as moderator. Compelling questions included, "Will editors and authority figures go away [in the digital space]?"
Trippi suggested better editors would make themselves felt from outside -- quirky authorities that can weigh in on your work and add insights you didn't see. Johnson added, there's always room for a good moderator.
Of particular interest, Green said she believes IT departments will eventually be dismantled and their skills infused into all levels of a company -- the same thing many believe will happen with marketing and communications.
