Grown Up Thinking

I’m always interested in how language is influenced by changes in culture and technology. Trend Central recently published a good, albeit slightly flawed (etymology of pwn is way wrong, real one found here… thanks Matt) list of new slang for 2009.  As this list indicates, two themes are really making an impact on the words we use: the recession & digital media.

It will be interesting to see how the economic downturn continues to shape the ways we communicate and the language we use.  ”Recession menus” are popping up all over New York City, and some are under very dubious disguises.  

One thing is clear: whether we’re talking about relationships or macroeconomic instability, the proliferation of micromessaging tools and platforms will continue to augment language and change standards of acceptability.  I’m still not sure I want to use “do not want!” in my business emails yet, but given what we’re seeing I can’t imagine it will be long before such obscure terms and expressions gain mainstream use.

We know from our own experiences that the more you give, the more you get. This is true in our personal lives and this is also true in advertising. In traditional advertising, ads that give the audience some type of reward for watching, like entertainment value or some type of personal benefit, tend to do very well and ads that offer nothing to the audience tend to be ignored (check out this hilariously boring Tax Masters commercial). This is equally true for nontraditional and social-network advertising.

Recently, the comedy troupe, Monty Python, uploaded all of their skits online for free with the hopes that people will buy their movies. The videos spread virally and the results were an astounding 2,300 percent increase in sales.

Starbucks is another company that has been a leader in this new trend with their free cup of coffee for everyone who voted on Election Day and more recently, a free cup for everyone who pledges five hours of community service. The Pledge 5 campaign has not only created a huge buzz with over 1.3 million service hours pledged, but it has also branded themselves as a socially responsible company in a very genuine way.

Mr Youth has done its part to help define this rule with the Neutrogena Wave campaign. High school students nationwide were incentivized through a Facebook application to go to the Wave’s website, watch commercials, download a coupon, and tell their friends about the Wave. The school that had the most people actively participate won a free concert. 25 percent of all high schools participated and the Wave has since become the fourth most popular product on Amazon.com for facial skincare products – proving that ‘tis better to give than to receive, but best to do both.

Dirty Durex

Now THIS is how to take traditional media and make it viral. Truly effective in it’s simplicity, playfully salacious without being offensive. What really makes this for me? The squeaks. The creative team must have watched this 5 times in a row last week. Props to Durex for having the cajones & Superfad for the execution. 

See outtakes here.

Everywhere you look, media properties are looking to bring individuals into the coverage of what will certainly be a historic moment in US history. Just as Obama himself has represented the rapid changes from a one-way communication to an open two-way dialogue through his creative use of Facebook, YouTube, blogs and a variety of social technology, the inauguration itself will serve as a showcase for how new technology has changed the way we create and consume media.

From Twittering with Current while watching the live event to CNN’s partnership with Facebook that will allow views to watch and comment together by updating their Facebook statuses, savvy networks have caught on to the new consumers’ desire to experience events together and be heard. January the 20th and CNN’s ireporters coverage go beyond the main event itself and seek to capture and broadcast personal accounts from individuals leading up to and during this historic moment by making it easy to submit their reactions and observations easily via e-mail, phone, video and twitter. Perhaps most impressive will be CNN’s The Moment, where they are asking everyone attending the event to take a picture the moment Obama gets sworn in and e-mail it to themoment@cnn.com. CNN will then take all those pictures and post a 3D image of the entire scene, with all the pictures combines via Microsoft’s Photosynch technology, within hours.

While such a transformational momemt in history certainly accelerates this desire to share and come together, what we are witnessing is a mere preview of what the mindset of Consumer 2.0 will demand from all media and information they consumer. Millenials have grown up with e-mail, IM, texting and social technologies. They will continue to expect instant gratification, dialogue and a digital soapbox to speak from.

While this unprecendented election and now innaugaration has showcased many of these new technologies, you can’t help but wonder how long it could be till the Super Bowl, gameshows, sitcoms and even commercials latch on to the new mindset and find ways to crowdsource content and create deeper communities around their properties. While 2009 looks to be a slow year for the economy, it certainly will not be in the evolution of media and communications.

When two old acquaintances and Facebook friends sacrificed me for a lousy Whopper, I knew Burger King was onto something big… and that my feelings were just a little bit hurt. Burger King had created a successful Facebook application called the Whopper Sacrifice, which rewarded people with a free Whopper for sacrificing 10 friends. A brilliant concept that I wish I’d thought of. It’s so great because it has everything a successful Facebook app needs. It has an incentive, it has a viral component, and it’s useful.

There’s currently an oversaturation of Facebook applications out there. Many companies see that Facebook is the new thing but they haven’t figured out how to use it yet. A lot of companies force applications or features, regardless of whether people want them or not. Part of the success of the Burger King application is that it came out of necessity to let people do some spring-cleaning to their buddy lists. Using caution to not make the application seem mean spirited, it was given a lighthearted spin with the message, “Todd likes you but loves the Whopper. Todd sacrificed you for a free burger at Whopper Sacrifice.” 184,000 sacrifices later, it’s still going strong.

ADDED: 1/22 – In a sad moment for marketers, Facebook removed the Whopper Sacrifice from their website, but not before nearly 234,000 friends were scarfificed. Facebook claimed that the application violated their policy that people cannot be notified when they are unfriended. A modified version of the app is expected to go live shortly.

Though where and how I exactly found this currently evades me, I have become instantly smitten with I Feel NYC. Created by Andy Whitlock (creative strategist at Poke), it’s a thoroughly scrumptious interactive Google map that calls out great activities based on your mood. Feeling salacious? Check out Bar on A for a burlesque show every Sunday night. Ready to take on a gladiator? Take a run across the Brooklyn Bridge. Though the recommendations may seem a bit mundane, remember this is a Beta version. Better yet- the site will soon function without admittedly clunky invites and begs for collaboration from friends.

What truly appeals to me about this effort is not that it points out hotspots in an uberfunctional fashion that actually MATTERS (rather than high reviews or recommendations), but that it reflects how expectations have shifted. It’s not enough to know where to go when you can get a personalized recommendation based on how you feel.

This focus on the touchy-feely stuff goes far beyond Whitlock’s worthy effort, however. He confesses to being inspired by Musicovery, a streaming music site that fashions playlists based on your mood and genres of choice. But there’s an even slicker mood-friendly music option that keeps me inspired- Moody, a delectable gem of an iTunes widget that allows me to tag songs based on how they make me FEEL. 

That’s the glorious thing about songs- they link directly with the most primal human experiences, and elicit a range of reactions. We’re a rabble of music-hungry fiends, so it’s no surprise the Mr Youth team came up with a Facebook application for the Xbox game, Lips, that allows users to update their status with a clever song title based on their mood.

Check it out here.