Aggregating Social Media

One of the companies that are best utilizing one-to-one marketing channels on all fronts, including utilizing ways to better market to women, is Best Buy. I came across this article today that I think provides a great overview as to the many ways social media can be utilized. It comes from Online Marketing Blog and the post I am going to share is written by Lee Odden.

Social media builds and amplifies what people find interesting, regardless of where it came from.

In 1995 I was returning to Toronto from New York on a routine, almost commuter flight. Just as the plane landed upon our arrival at Pearson Int’l airport, the tires blew and caught fire. The plane skidded across the runway and abruptly stopped amid ambulances, fire trucks, police cars etc. You could see the flames outside the window, which appeared to be close to the engines. Suddenly, the chutes came out and the flurry of fleeing passengers began. People were trying to grab their bags from the upper baggage compartments, stewardesses were screaming for everyone to take off their shoes and get onto the shoot. As you took your turn and entered the door you saw that the drop looked like you were jumping from the CN Tower. With no time to think, you slid down at warp speed to be greeted by someone on the ground shouting for you to run…we ran towards a grassed section well away from the plane that still had flames coming from the tires that had blown and waited for a bus to taking us to a holding terminal. In those days most people did not have a cell phone or laptop—let alone the ability to provide a real-time account of what had happened. Lines formed with people on payphones trying to call their loved ones while sitting there for several hours. Not being in contact with anyone except for those that shared this experience kept this frightening event extremely insular.

Social Media: for the good of Mankind.

Maybe it’s the snow coming down like rain or the aspartame rotting out my brain, but I’ve really been having a hard time focusing lately (Simpson’s nod for those who might be wondering). For the past couple of days, I’ve found myself flitting from one post subject to the next—everything from the suicidal Pepsi Max campaign to how men and women respond to social media. But I’ve been unable to settle on a topic. However, there’s an issue (of sorts) that I haven’t been able to shake. I don’t know why. Perhaps there’s something in it that speaks to my own fears for someone I love very deeply (long story for another day). So permit me to state my case and then I’ll gladly swerve back to discussing the fun side of social media and the new Marketing Democracy.

How Are You Going to Form a Connection to Your Consumers in 2009?

I have finally returned to the world of technology after learning how to be effective when your computer and your bberry are no longer at your fingers tips—disconnecting you from all aspects of your life. While I was incommunicado, I had to take a deep breath and think. How am I going to connect with everyone?

For the love of print in the age of social media.

The other day, I had a discussion with Nicole (my partner in crime) regarding her “Twitter as a news source” post. As our chat wore on, we eventually made our way to a comment she made about her exec friend’s desire to get PR within the printed pages of Canada’s most reputable national paper, The Globe and Mail.

Yes, Twitter is a News Source!

I was reading today, as per my regular caffeine-fueled morning ritual, and I happened to come across a rather interesting article in The Globe and Mail (to which this article owes its name).