Ed's Letter - Feb08

Hang ten or get wiped out

Researching the topic of social media in Singapore these past few weeks has been such an eye-opener, considering how the search for a Singaporean Mark Zuckerberg is futile for the moment. And I say for the moment because the immediacy of the online medium allows for transience of online properties and the nomadic nature of online audiences means what's hot today has a big chance of being obsolete by the end of the week.

And really, the common thread that everyone in marketing shares is there is too much hype about using the medium as a viable marketing tool that there is fear that marketers will drown in the talk, get turned off, and never be able to taste the successes that some daring companies have got.

So while brands are getting all caught up and confused about what to do next, the audience is also getting all riled up about the next big thing and the next big thing online and they're moving so fast no one knows where they'll be next.

Intel's marketing director Rupal Shah was a pleasure to meet with last month, and she's directing her brand into the exciting realm of online social media. The main takeaway I got from our interview (details to be found in the cover feature on page 36) was the need for marketers to dare to experiment. So whether it's online social networking sites today, or mobile marketing tomorrow or who knows what else the next day, an appetite for risk is probably your best hedge against the competition.

In my conversations with Shah, O&M Worldwide's chairman and CEO Shelly Lazarus (read her profile article on page 30) and many other marketers in the past year, I that while everyone speaks of sites like Facebook and MySpace with authority, and all attest to "going in and checking I out", very few of them actually actively participate in the communities.

I can't decide whether or not that is an issue of concern.

On one hand, it is widely believed you cannot preach what you don't practice, on the other, the wealth of marketing tools out there means it is nearly impossible to practice them all and get first-hand experience - which is why most of us rely on tried-and-tested methods to go about our business.

Regardless, 2008 is most definitely the year to watch as many more companies see social media as a wave that they either ride and attempt to ‘hang ten', or get swept away in its wake. But let's not wait and see, shall we?

Debbie Cai

Editor