Thursday, February 25, 2010

Too Much? Too Little?

Social media sites are taking over the internet. It seems as though everyday brings a new site, user or trend.

Sites that have already matured like Facebook and Twitter have millions of users. According to Facebook’s Press Room, there are more than 400 million active users. Average users are spending about 55 minutes on the site daily.

With so much interaction, it’s no wonder why many companies are incorporating social media into their businesses. Using viral campaigns, online news releases and conferences, blogs and other social media sites, companies are reaching customers on an entirely different level.

But is this activity all work and no play? Some companies think not. According to Robert Hall Technology, a leading provider of information technology, 54 percent of CIO’s are completely prohibiting the usage of social media sites in the work place and 19 percent are allowing employees to log on for work purposes only.

Even the heads of the NFL are limiting players, coaches and league officials’ updates to social media sites to 90 minutes before game time and after postgame interviews.

In the days of technology and information over load, how much is too much? And, how little is too little? Where is the balance between obsession and benefiting from the exposure social media gives us?

-Jill Morgenthaler

Wal-mart takes a page out of Target's book

Wal-mart and Target have been rivals for years. Who has the lowest prices? The cleanest facilities? The friendliest staff? Target has had the upper hand when it comes to it's catchy and unique commercials that capture the audience's attention and have them humming along to More to Luv by the Minnutes. But the tides have turned.

I recently read an article on AOL Finance about Wal-mart's new advertising campaign and how they applied social media to give their advertising more of a punch. And it worked.

Wal-mart's latest spot shows a child's birthday party gone bad. Dad, in a clown costume, impales his foot on a toy unicorn and screams in pain and the children flee the scene. Conversely, Target's ad was forgettable, featuring a drab guy talking about the "Found $20 in the Laundry Collection." Definitely not up to Target's standard

But what really set Wal-mart's ad apart from Target's was that Wal-mart's ad went viral––a term those of us in Social Media are very familiar with. People tweeted about the ad, blogged about it and earned over 2 million views on YouTube. By utilizing social media, Wal-mart was able to get it's message out to more people and faster than before.The question is... How is Target going to bounce back?

Ashton Seckinger