Not really...but that's what only reading the headlines might make you believe.
What GM is doing is discontinuing it's advertising on Facebook because they maintain the ROI has been insignificant. And, there's a perfectly good reason for that...as my friend Harvey Briggs opined today.
To paraphrase Ferris Bueller:"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't read the bodycopy, you might miss the real story."
Destination Marketing Organizations like to say they are "the trusted source" for travel information. And, for the most part, DMOs are more trustworthy than other sources.
But, do consumers think so? After reviewing the results from an Iconoculture survey, it's hard to tell...as "DMO" was not one of the sources tracked by the researchers.
Even if they had, though, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have rated as high as the two top answers: The Internet (62%) and Family & Friends (56%). The rest of the sources? No more than quarter of respondents called them "trusted sources."
Rather than fighting to become "trusted," I think I'd invest in being as visible in the spheres that are already trusted. And that means online and social.
You?
Word from Wired (via Iconoculture) is that KLM Royal Dutch Airline will be debuting a new service called "Meet and Seat" this year, allowing passengers to select their seatmates based on their social media profiles.
And, for all of us beautiful, trim and exceptionally interesting conversationalists, this sounds like a pretty cool idea. A little creepy...but cool.
Except, I have this nagging image of all the people that never got selected for pick-up games in elementary school or asked out on dates all ending up awkwardly bunched together in the back.
Or the front.
Faithfull readers of this blog know that I'm a big fan of SoMeT (the Social Media Tourism Symposium). And, I've been evangelizing about this event to just about anyone in the Destination Marketing industry that I meet.
An article about the event dropped on the Tuesday before Christmas on MidwestMeetings.com. Because so many of us are so distracted on the ramp up to the Holidays, I wanted to make sure you didn't miss it...as MM Editor Serenity Banks nailed why this is THE Social Media Conference of the year.
And, oh yeah...there's a picture of me in it :)
Our kids can't vote, drink or die for their country til they're 18. But, in Mark Zuckerberg's world, they can participate with adults in a social network at 13.
A friend recently approached Facebook with the concern that his under 13-year old kids had created accounts against mothership policy. The response:
We appreciate your concern for your child's use of our website, but unfortunately we cannot give you access to the account or take any action on the account at your request (read: we really don't give a shit). We are generally forbidden by privacy laws against (sic) giving unauthorized access to someone who is not an account holder. Please note that all users ages 13 and older are considered authorized account holders and are included in the scope of this policy.
The response goes on to encourage the parents to be better parents.
Do such privacy laws really extend to 13 year olds...and, if so, why?
The latest study in the universal effort to prove Social Media ROI is that each Facebook Like is worth $10.
If that's true, given the Zeitgeist Facebook Page, we'll be in business, roughly...err, through Thursday.
But...we'll still post a Music Friday find.
Cause we love you all.
After a week on the road in New Orleans and Tunica, it's taken a little time to ketchup here at the Zeitgeist compound. And, Monday night (as the Packers-Vikings game got completely out of hand), I finally had the chance to reflect on the force of nature that is SoMeT (Social Media in Tourism Symposium).
As I was downloading video from SoMeT for DMOpro, I was reminded why I said that last year's edition was one of the best tourism conferences out there. Whip smart presentations by both practitioners and vendors (with nary a scent of the "selling" that has become so rampant at other conferences). Incredible networking. And, a culture in which many of the speakers said that they learned more than they believe they shared.
That's just too cool.
Be watching DMOpro.com for clips in December. Subscribe to get notified when they're posted in the A/V Room.
And, to Dave and the crew behind this amazing conference, thanks for inviting us...and thanks for another mind-blowing event.
A guy I worked with in my 20s used to have a saying. When someone would do something stupid or thoughtless, he'd sigh, "Some people's kids."
But, it's not. It's the parents.
New research indicates that 78% of parents would allow their underage children to create an online Social Media account. 54% of parents said it would be OK if it were for school related purposes.
Really? And just what teacher would encourage their underage student to sign-up for Facebook?
47% of parents said it would be OK if their kids used the service to communicate with them.
What...as opposed to around the dinner table?
What have we become?
It's a fascinating concept from Stik.com's Nathan Labenz on the gigaom blog.
Basing his premise on an article by Umair Haque, he shares a chilling thought: Brands succeed best in the absence of information. The internet (and consumer review sites in particular) offers a flood of information. Thus, are brands nothing but sinking sand?
As Nathan says, "People are talking about brands on social media sites in ways that brand managers can’t control and often can’t even detect." He then offers up an interesting dilemma. Take a hotel chain that doesn't enjoy the benefit of an overarching image of quality that a Marriott or Hyatt command. There will be hotels in the chain that get 5 star reviews. There will be hotels in the chain that get 2 star reviews.
There goes the brand...even though it is likely that only a handful of outliers are screwing it up for the others. Best Western has wrestled with this conundrum for years...resulting in their recent launch of Best Western Premier. And, regardless of (or maybe because of) the chain's schitzophrenic brand identity...the Premier hotels are simply amazing. And, it is a cool move by a smart brand.
How are reviews causing disruption with your brand identity? Probably more than you'd care to admit.
And, thanks to Dolly Bhasin for the catch!
They got this cool idea to rename themselves. And, then, they announced it to the world. And, then, they realized that they hadn't bothered to secure the Twitter handle.
Oh...it gets worse. The person that does own the Twitter handle uses his platform to talk about dope and his ex-girlfriend.
Lest you think we're talking about a clueless little start-up here, we're not. This is what befell Netflix this week.
Today, it's way more than just securing a URL for a name change...it's grabbing handles on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Foursquare, Scvngr and every other Social Media site that has a glint of opportunity to it.
Recent Comments