Teyana Taylor - Google MeA couple of weeks ago I received my Cornerstone Mix CD in the mail (Yes, I am one of the lucky few on their VIP list) After opening up the package I popped in disc #2 in the CD changer and proceeded to listen to some of the hot new songs debuting. The song that I liked the most on this disc was Teyana Taylor’s Google Me Baby. Check out the embedded video here. As I listened to the song I started laughing and thinking about the new world in which we live in where if you want to learn something about anything or anyone you can simply go to your computer and utilize the Google website. In the song, Teyana is telling a suitor that she is hot stuff and that if you want to learn about her “hotness” just Google her! So to be Googled in this context is the equivalent of having status enough that the omnipotent search engine would springboard information about you to the top of the search results.
Information is everywhere and it is accessed at light speed these days. I think it is safe to assume that our typical workdays include ceaseless banter online with our friends, the passing on of links to the craziest videos, the exchange of political editorials and subsequent online discussion, the circulation of pictures and the use of Google to find information on anything. I think that I speak for a lot of people when I say that this is a typical day. This is the way we use our time and consume our media. It is rare that nowadays we gather around the watercooler, so to speak, to talk about that hot show on ABC last night. Our range of conversation is so diverse and pretty much revolves around stuff we receive or see on the internet.
The creation of Youtube and Google are two of the most remarkable developments of my lifetime here on this earth. Google has replaced the encyclopedia, the library, phone book, 411, TV Guide, etc. It is an incredibly powerful informational resource and continues to gain in stature and utility. Not only is Google a powerhouse for information search but it is becoming the key distributor of advertising, SEO and SEM.
Youtube along with the smartphone are two other life changing entities. Recently, I went to the Kanye West Glow In the Dark tour, and was able to videotape and photograph large portions of the show on my Nokia N95 8GB phone (see the pics in this blog). I along with thousands of other people there were able to capture these moments and subsequently share them with the rest of the world via Youtube or on blogs like this one. How do you stop and control this type of informational flow? Trust me, you can’t! Information is unstoppable now and the internet is our most powerful tool for outreach and connection to young people. The success of the Obama campaign is as strong of a testimony to the power of the internet as anything in recent marketing history. The Obama campaign recognized how savvy millennials used the internet and effectively used their knowledge of millennial ways of connecting to raise money and to communicate key messages in real time. As brand managers, marketers, and advertisers we should use the Obama campaign as THE case study for successful marketing (notice I did not say successful online marketing)
Here are some things to consider for marketing outreach in this new age:
1)Make sure to leverage the power of video via video host embedding and via email, you do not have to make a media buy to get your message out using video
2)Consumers want to like you and can be your best advocates. Let them be your ambassadors. Engage them: when developing new products or launching a new ad campaign get information from them directly upfront and keep that relationship going even allowing them to tweak your campaigns
3) Stay close to your consumer as they are more finicky than ever these days. Trends, and attitudes can change at the drop of a dime and if you are out of touch, your product, brand or service can become obsolete very quickly
4) Talk to people about what they are reading on the internet, watching on tv and music they are listening to, don’t assume you know. This is the day and age of hyper-fragmentation when it comes to media consumption and varied interests so you have to work harder to find insight and keep your finger on the pulse constantly.
5) Make sure your SEO and SEM game is tight. Given that search is such a key way of people getting information it is imperative that you tweak your Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing to get the results you want
