Huh?
Greetings from the IMA Executive Summit, also known as "Watch Pete age 10 years in 10 Minutes".
The Best and Brightest in the market have gathered in our Nation's Capital to ponder the state of things and how we are working to develop solutions for the ever-changing landscape. I came here fully ready to teach and learn, but I didn't count on as much learning as I obviously have to do.
First of all, there's the demographics. I'm officially one of the Old Guys. There's so much youth here I'm surprised they let me come at all. And the youth is talking about technology at a level that I can barely grasp as it shoots over my head like an RPG.
Then there's the familiarity. I used to know practically everyone who came to the Summit. This week? Guess again. I can see the tables with people I know but they are fewer and further between than I can remember (see the above).
Digital delivery of gift cards (wait--gift cards are still around? I thought we killed them). Pinterest, and all varieties of social media (a train that apparently left the station without me). High percentages of employees not using email? And by the way--now texting is apparently passe. I didn't even get to that--whaddya mean it's no longer perceived as helpful?
But I'll show them--I'll put on my Luddite hat and challenge them to tell me "why" some of this is so confounded important. I'm not interested in the "how"--I can figure that out on YouTube (which, I learned today, is the second-most used search engine--for what? videos of cats?). No--what I need to learn is "why"--as in "why do I need this?" or "why hasn't it been monetized yet?" Or "why are we so concerned about Millenials when Baby Boomers and Gen X are the decision makers?"
I'll be here for another day and a half. I'll figure something out and go from there...
Pete
The Best and Brightest in the market have gathered in our Nation's Capital to ponder the state of things and how we are working to develop solutions for the ever-changing landscape. I came here fully ready to teach and learn, but I didn't count on as much learning as I obviously have to do.
First of all, there's the demographics. I'm officially one of the Old Guys. There's so much youth here I'm surprised they let me come at all. And the youth is talking about technology at a level that I can barely grasp as it shoots over my head like an RPG.
Then there's the familiarity. I used to know practically everyone who came to the Summit. This week? Guess again. I can see the tables with people I know but they are fewer and further between than I can remember (see the above).
Digital delivery of gift cards (wait--gift cards are still around? I thought we killed them). Pinterest, and all varieties of social media (a train that apparently left the station without me). High percentages of employees not using email? And by the way--now texting is apparently passe. I didn't even get to that--whaddya mean it's no longer perceived as helpful?
But I'll show them--I'll put on my Luddite hat and challenge them to tell me "why" some of this is so confounded important. I'm not interested in the "how"--I can figure that out on YouTube (which, I learned today, is the second-most used search engine--for what? videos of cats?). No--what I need to learn is "why"--as in "why do I need this?" or "why hasn't it been monetized yet?" Or "why are we so concerned about Millenials when Baby Boomers and Gen X are the decision makers?"
I'll be here for another day and a half. I'll figure something out and go from there...
Pete
posted by Pete Mitchell at 4:33 PM
2 Comments:
A lot of misleading information in that post about social media - youtube is the most used search engine for sure (has been for almost 2 years) - because it is a google property but not because customers are using it to find product info (however, if you do a youtube video it will show up higher on google search - remember who owns youtube?)
Pinterest is popular - but for B2B - not so much. Non one has proven a connection to sales for B2B on Pinterest.
Texting not popular - it still is but not as a B2B channel - never was. But people are using DMs in twitter, messages in G+ to communicate taking some of the pressure off text.
Sure FB has 950 million users - but McDonalds sells billions of hamburgers but I'm not setting up an office in one to sell incentive programs.
I think it sounds like someone downloaded a bunch of SM stats and threw them at the audience.
Much, much more context required to determine if SM is a help or hindrance.
And don't let age be a guide - social media and it's application is driven by 45+ marketing execs not the kid on the SM twitter team. See this post and how the internet reacted: http://nextgenjournal.com/2012/07/why-every-social-media-manager-should-be-under-25/
The firestorm was fast and furious.
Sounds like you one got 1/2 the story and need some real experts instead of people who know how to use google.
I think Paul may not be able to see Pete's tongue in his cheek through the blogosphere. (and we WOULD have thrown a bunch of SM stats at the audience if the technology would have worked...hotel's slow internet stopped the video every few seconds).
As usual, Pete touched on a couple of points, didn't include context and then threw a bunch of provocative statements against the wall to see what happens.
I've had fun arguing this with Pete but he's already lost. Apparently his management doesn't need him to be convinced: Samsonite has a comprehensive, transactional website, they have an active presence on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Pete has had a blog of his own for a few years - Pete and his company ARE using social media extensively.
Time to pick a different argument, Pete!
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