livingbrands

Douglas Rushkoff on why most brands have got social media all wrong

Social media is about real people talking to each other about things of mutual importance to them. And let's be honest - they rarely want to talk about your brand (in a brand-y sense)...tho might want to talk about whether your product works. And are even less likely to want to talk TO your brand (in a brand-y sense)...tho they may well want to talk to someone who works for your business.

So says Douglas Rushkoff, as he likens social media to the peer-to-peer market places of the middle ages that forced the powerful to invent 'businesses' and 'brands' to stop the disipation of power and wealth.

But rather than try and do the same centralising trick in the social media space (because people are now too smart and too empowered), he argues that social media will only really work for businesses when they (truly and not just in social media platitudes) let go and let people take over...

 

Thanks to Charles for the heads up.

And yes you can embed: just need to make sure you've brought all the code across (although the resizing is a pain - bigger number = smaller screen!!)

Oxfam go for the vintage look

Back at the dawn of time, when I was a student, hitting the second hand shops was a common occurrence, with the double benefit that you could gaurantee a pretty unique look on a budget.

More recently tho, students have seemed somewhat desirous of the champagne lifestyle, with 'distressed look' designer labels more appealing then ex-labourers' donkey jacket.

But in our recessionary times, with the Tories in power and students under financial pressure (ah, smells like 1984 all over again), maybe trips to the emporiums of previously owned delights will become more common.

So it's nice to see Oxfam getting ahead of the game, giving what could be seen as a distress purchase a bit of a cool and sexy vintage spin...

 

Which is a good lesson for all of us really.

Rather than always think the grass is greener in someone else's market, or continuously strive after the next 'big new thing' (which always costs and rarely works), instead look at what is already central to (and successful for) your business and find a new angle.

A dose of realism for agency case histories

We do like to think our contributions to the world (and the thinking behind them) are oh so clever and significant. But as this makes very clear, they are usually not all that. Time to stop taking it all so seriously maybe!