Bottom Rung

New Media: Mismanaged and misunderstood

It’s interesting how this industry of ours absorbs new media. Second Life (SL) is a prime example. It started out as a virtual reality chat line that grew too large. That’s when corporate America got a hold of it. Suddenly, everybody was putting it in media plans to seem hip and with it to their clients. As anybody my age knows, any 30-something trying to be cool, isn’t. You hear that, Crayon? Currently, Second Life is over saturated with poorly executed advertising in a world not quite as full as people think. Only a few thousand members actually use the service everyday.

SL is not the first company to try this new medium. There is another virtual chat room just like Second Life that still holds on to its nerdy roots. However, it has unfortunately been passed over by the majority of marketing gurus of today in favour of the greener pastures of SL.

Now that Second Life has fallen by the wayside so to speak, we have a new focus for our advertising dollars, Facebook. The MySpace killer that has been an internet goldmine of late is taking over the PR airwaves of every available ad & marketing blog around the world. Everybody is talking, nobody is understanding. Same old story.

If I had to call it, I’d say the Facebook phenomenon has yet to reach maturity. Marketers still have the opportunity to spend their ad dollars wisely and they can still make a positive impact on the service.

Facebook is all about connecting with people, plain and simple. In my opinion, any advertisement or application that does not improve the connections between people is not working hard enough.

Take this image for example:

Why is classmates.com, a site that connects old classmates from highschool, advertising on what is essentially their competition? My friends and I primarily use Facebook for the very same function classmates.com is advertising.

The TD Canada Trust FB group, The Money Lounge, is an example of a pretty good promotion in my opinion. Some of their promotions include $40 off at retailers like Best Buy and Zellers for students who join the facebook group and tips on how to live with roommates, something many university students have to struggle with on a daily basis.

I tip my hat to you, TD.

So please, take the time to learn about Facebook before you start spending. It will be good practice for the when the next hit website starts attracting the world’s youth. Best of Luck.