I am about to do something unashamedly in order to tap into the heartstrings of the seasonal masses.

This year, instead of sending out cards, or even buying charity cards, we are directly calling people to act upon the following:  Please add to and Pass The Parcel.

Having teamed up with the British Red Cross, we are asking that clients, friends, people interested in social media, simply click on the link below:

Pass It On - for the British Red Cross

By adding something to the basket and passing it on to your compadres to do the same, perhaps we can help some people whom are less fortunate than ourselves and whom are really suffering due to the credit crunch.  We may all be a bit skint, but lest we forget that in other parts of the world it gets even worse as a result.

Please, this year, buy something small and Pass It On….

Thanks!

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There have been varying stories this week as to how the marketing world will fare in 2009. And rightly so. We are all sitting tentatively on contracts and retainers whose marketing managers are being slow to sign off definitively. And if you’re not, you’re lucky!

So, what does 2009 hold? GP Bullhound has predicted digital growth in 2009, citing the growth of the ‘digital on the move’ handsets as a large contributing factor to the rise.  And it’s hard to argue that things like Facebook on mobile and mobile Twitter hasn’t added significantly to the influence of digital media.

Indeed whilst spends within ‘traditional’ media are set to drop by 3.7%, digital spends are forecast to increase by 19.1%.  So, with the proliferation of social media as a major area of increase for 2009, let’s hope those decisions are made in favour of our sort…

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… But not social media.

In the same week that I was hailing the welcome back in to the global social sphere of the American nation, the state of California ruled OUT the legality of same sex marriages.

Laud away we may do on a grander scale, but now I must retreat back into meek sublimence as I admit that the right wing power seems to prevail above all else.

From a state that hails Ellen and Portia de Rossi, Li Lo and Sam Ronson and many others as their global ambassadors of liberty, they seek to subject, somehow, the international esteem that voting in a truly global leader has assigned.

So, let’s use social media in the same way that it has been used to win elections, mobilise nations and create awareness worldwide and get on it. Here’s hoping the launch of Worldeka will make a positive difference

So, America, are you really a liberal nation or are those ‘assassination’ rumours going to become a reality in the same way that liberation was not.

Our globe is your theatre. Please, let this play have a happy ending. Or woe betide the future of us all….

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I forgot how interesting and (potentially) fun it is going to offline networking events. We are well used to canvassing and flaunting our wares via social network sites such as LinkedIn and Jigsaw, but lest we forget, so entrenched are we in the depths of social media, that actual networking is really useful and really fun.

Having attended Castaway last night, it was humbling to meet some greats from the likes of Mook, SomeOne, Bebo and Unleashing Ideas, as well as Zopa and Build a Brand.  A shame i didn’t get to catch up with Zuzanna from Silicon Stilettos, but we shall no doubt catch up next time there’s a meet up.

So, as ‘easy’ as it may be to network from our chairs, I am heartily encouraging people to engage with offline networking as well as online.  As a contact of mine is wont to say:  Just Network!

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There can be little doubt as to the headlines that have been dominating the headlines this week. The biggest change in the socio-political dynamics of our planet in the past century, and the most satisfying blog post i have ever read:

We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion. All of this happened because of you. Thanks

- Barack Obama

Commentators have been much-quoted as saying along the way that where the Clinton and McCain campaigns fell down was that they did not engage with the grass roots voters.   Not only was McCain’s budget supported by a government-banking alliance bailout, but there was much criticism of the well-publicised ‘Palin clothes budget’.

However, Barack Obama did the ‘right’ thing from the out and canvassed the grass roots support, through voluntary donations (300m donors contributing $650m), leveraging social media and connecting with the online movement in such a way as to encourage the vote from those whom previously thought that their vote didn’t count.

These interesting stats courtesy of ReadWriteWeb show the correlation between engagement marketing within the Presidential campaign, and of course the final results:

And the results will change the world…

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Unless you’ve been buried in a hole all week, you’ll no doubt be aware of the coverage that Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross have had over their ‘offensive’ radio broadcast/answerphone message.

Now, personal opinions aside (i.e. it wasn’t actually THAT offensive.  Perhaps not particularly respectful but certainly not ‘lewd’ and ‘disgusting’, as has been cited by the more conservative news organisations.  Read here the full transcript if you’re interested), what i love about it is the way that every player has either created of diminished his or her own asset value.

Of course, this began with Sach’s granddaughter Georgina Baillie whose decision to sign up to Max Clifford I’m sure in no way had anything to do with the subsequent media furor over the incident.  Curious details that are whimsically cast aside here are that a) she is a ‘Satanic Slut’ - something that i’m sure causes Sach somewhat more discomfort than the shocking revelation that she had sex with a celebrity, b) she didn’t seem that bothered to begin with and even mentioned on the Satanic Sluts’ MySpace Page (now removed) that she had got a mention on the radio,  and c) she’s a flipping porn star! However, give her her dues, she’s increased her asset value and will no doubt cash in remorselesly for the next 15 minutes.

Secondly, we have the gorgeous Russell Brand.  Cunningly having bowed out early in order to create an air of nonchalance and intrigue, he has managed to escape the media attention to some extent and seen a 133% increase in his DVD sales.  Some compensation for a £200k job one would think.

We also have the BBC Radio 2 chairwoman Lesley Douglas, the producers looking for a mention and the others whom have either committed acts of martyrdom or shameless self-publicity in a bid for some media recognition.

However the winner, and loser, has to be Jonathan Ross. Having been suspended without pay after the first fall guy (co-presenter) and second fall woman (executive producer) were no longer there to be culpable, mark Thompson could do little else but to make an example of Jonathan.

I’m sure he’ll be fine, and, being an on-the-edge presenter and TV legend, will no doubt pick up a tidy commission with Channels 4 or 5, but it seems that even the top dogs aren’t immune from the credit crunch.  Because if there’s one thing we can derive from this, it’s that this acts as a convenient distraction from the Credit Crunch headlines (why else would Gordon Brown get involved) and indeed, if Ross does go, will save the beeb around £6 million a year.

Coincidence?  The Hicks from Charlotte St, she say ‘Noooo’.

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It has often been commented upon that social media is not a flash-in-the-pan, and this week’s insightful article published by UTalkMarketing cites, confidently:

Social networking is only a small part of the Web 2.0 phenomenon, but it is certainly not a passing phase. Instead it seems set to grow and grow; therefore it is essential that businesses become comfortable integrating it into their normal practice.

Whilst the US Army Intelligence unit has been widely mocked this week (not least by the Mashable team) for it’s accusation that micro-blogging tools such as Twitter will provide another medium through which terrorist cells can be formed, the stats are lining up to show that social media is becoming one of the most profitable marketing resources.

Combining engagement, interaction and importantly meaningful targeting, and BuzzLogic have been at it again to show that

blogs are becoming trusted guides, steering users who are seeking very specific information to places of interest online

And Social Times would urge that the early adopters have been Technology (no surprise), media and Ents, Sports, Travel and Automotive.

And, looking at our client roster i would totally agree!  So, no passing fad and everything to grow in to.  Exciting times for social media…

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Ok, so I know I shouldn’t mock the freedom of speech that social media networking, blogging, interaction, engagement and all such brings, indeed we make our livings here at Pass It On Media from this very medium.

I understand the porn (oldest profession in the world moves online); i understand the connectivity that interacting with likeminded people brings where before people may have felt very alone; but my all time favourite areas in which social media has sprawled, nay spawned, are the following:

- Obituary sites:  Amazing!  Who thought of that?  I mean.. how morbid!  i don’t even want to ask.  Just…amazing!

- Rant Sites: Truly the best invention to have come of the web.  Keith Chegwin is my particular bugbear.  Goodness knows why, but it’s stayed with me since childhood.  Perhaps then i should go to a …

- Psychology Forum: … so I can whip myself into more of a paranoid frenzy.  Now I am of course not so ignorant as to see the intrinsic benefit of these types of sites, but perhaps it’s the British in me that thinks that too much communication turns to ‘dwelling’ and results in a ‘lack of ability to move on’.

- Religious sites: For when prayer just isn’t getting through…

And finally, the best sites on the internet today are…

- ‘Contradiction in terms’ sites. When people use the medium that they are trying to object to/ complain about/ deride through which to communicate with people and spread their message. The winner of course being the “i Hate the Internet’ blog.

Bravo internet.  I love you even more.

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Whilst we may have all been Tweeting for nigh on a year now, i feel that we are about to witness an explosion of the Twitter trend. And for no other reason than that I have found my new favourite instantly gratifying exposure measurement tools:

- The Twist

- Tweetvolume

- Twinfluence

Very useful!

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What is social media?  How is it measured?  And what benefits do i get out of it?…

Are pretty much the only things anyone cares about whilst we are a) free-falling into a recession (i am particularly amused by the FT’s ‘Recession Forecast’. Perhaps it’ll be run alongside the weather in months to come), and b) resultantly having to become accountable for our expenditure.

So, i can answer, in brief, the following:

- Social media is, broadly speaking, engagement marketing.

- It is measured through exposure (think AVE) and tracked engagement

- You get…well. LOADS of benefits out of it.  But foremost you get to engage with your customer base.

Now, above i have outlined the what’s and where’s of social media in a very crude fashion and, in looking deeper into social media measurement  we will see bloggers and experts such as Jeremiah discussing all manner of really interesting theories, such as social media velocity.

But in layman’s terms, what does it get you?  Is there a tangible ROI?  Why not advertise instead? Well, if you follow the Adweek Blogs’ feed of ‘adfreak’ you’d probably be turned off social media in general.  But then i guess their agenda is slightly different, and i can imagine that they are being rather negatively affected by the downturn in traditional ad spend.  It didn’t however stop the ex-Google renegades from developing and launching their (quite frankly, rubbish) social media defying SEO algorithm platform, Cuil.

However it IS beneficial, and it works a lot better for brands.  Engagement marketing returns us to the core values of what marketing is and what it is intended to be:  gaining buy in from customers through recommendation and trust. And if we can engage with brand advocates (or detractors) and present them with a product/brand/idea that is so good they want to talk about it, then that is the most valuable marketing tool there is.

And it works above the line and below the line - handy!

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