Social Media Numbers Don't Add Up
A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin
Mannequin American views and guidelines on marketing/PR trends, news from the world of puppets and ventriloquism, bits of humor and other interesting but useless information. I post every Tuesday and Friday.
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YouTube Replaces Traditional Web Site
I'm a little behind on this one. A few other marketing-related blogs wrote about this a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't inspired enough to check it out. However one of my loyal readers, comedy stand-up David Robinson, http://www.ontheroadwithdave.com/ sent me the link and encouraged me to watch it ... which I did. I was blown away.
Now that YouTube has reached maturity, you can find several creative examples of its manipulation emerging. In Charlotte, North Carolina, ad agency BooneOakley replaced its Web site with an interactive YouTube video. (I didn't even know this was possible.)
Rather than the typical agency Web, this site tosses convention aside. In a cartoon they even "kill" an employee on the site. It's really entertaining, interesting and does a good job of selling the agency's creativity. See for yourself. The opening story is pretty funny ... and often true.
Post Your Photos on the Internet at Your Own Risk
If you were looking for another reason not to post family photos online, how about this ... a Missouri family's photo ended up in Prague and is being used to sell groceries.
That might not be the most disturbing thing that could happen, but it's still pretty freaky. The family recently learned that a Christmas photo of theirs was posted in the window of a Czech shop. A friend happened to see it and sent a few photos by cell phone to Danielle Smith of O'Fallon, Mo. "This story doesn't frighten me," Smith said, "but the potential frightens me."
Potential indeed. The next time you post pics of your kids, be aware that they could end up in the hands of someone who uses them for something far more reprehensible than selling groceries. Just a thought.
YouTube Says This is Real. I Wish it Wasn't.
Apparently wiping with a fancy stick is a bold step forward in our personal sanitary habits. The video on the Web site uses an overweight guy to acknowledge that he needs help sanitizing his crevasse, at which point the voiceover says the product helps people retain their dignity. I cringed. And I kept looking for The Onion's logo in the corner ... but it's not there. The female announcer says it's as easy to use as a shower brush. I cringed again. Then I watched the video again. Click here to go to the Web site. The video will automatically run.
Sometimes Social Media Numbers Don't Add Up
While the mainstream press and most digital marketing firms are convinced that social media are changing our consciousness and habits, two recent studies suggest otherwise:
- Only 5% of blogs are updated more than once every 120 days, and less than a million are updated every day.
- Out of 133 million blogs included in the 2008 survey by Technorati, most are abandoned after the first post or two
- While blogging has subsided to levels last seen somewhere in 2005 or so, about half of Twitter's micro-bloggers post, or tweet, less than once every 74 days. Most of the platform's traffic is generated by 10% of its users, according to a Harvard study
Those are still staggeringly large numbers. But the underlying suggestion is that people aren't using social media as much as we're led to believe. To use an old-fashioned cliché to describe this modern issue ... "time will tell" if those "actively" involved in social media are a small cadre of individuals who are merely talking to one another, or are they evangelists spreading the word to millions of others?
And Yet, Another Puppet-related Ad
This ad for Mr. Min, "The new fragrance for wood," freaks me out a little. First there's the teenage Pinocchio guy in the ad ... I thought he was supposed to become a real boy before puberty? Then there's the suggestion that teenage wooden boy wants to smell good. Why? The answer may lead us to the "wood" reference with the "Mr. Min" sign strategically placed (or am I reading too much into that??). I'm not even going to talk about the furry thing that he's lying on.
Then there's his nose. Apparently puppet boy has continued to lie about something. That leads me right back to the "wood" reference. (or am I reading too much into that?)
