Grown Up Thinking

Glance at this year’s box office Top 5 and there is hardly a well known name, let alone a true movie star. Gone are the days where you shelled out $20MM dollars for a top star and they led you to box office glory. In fact, take a peek at this year’s Top 30 movies and see how many true stars you can name outside of Tom Hanks and perhaps Hugh Jackman. It’s not surprising that star salaries are dropping fast.

So what’s changed? Well, Twitter’s assent to mainstream for one. A movie can be chock filled with superstars but if Twitter is ablaze Friday with negative tweets about the film, a blockbuster can go up in flames in just days. Will Ferrell and Sasha Baron Cohen have seen this first hand this summer.  Likewise, films like The Hangover and District 9, which delight audiences, can quickly swell at the box office despite no notable stars. What does this mean for Hollywood? Make good films and audiences will come. Find ways to engage core fans and spread their enthusiasm through social media and that effect can be multiplied quickly.

Hollywood of course is not the only industry effected by a world that now demands instant feedback and so easily enables people to bypass mass media to disseminate and consume information. Brands face the same challenges. No longer can a big budget commercial and widespread brand awareness convert at the register. The product or service must deliver and conversing with communities most vocal and passionate must be a large piece if not the focal point of any marketing campaign.

As we’ve seen throughout history, mass adoption of new technology changes the rules. The rules are  now changing fast and no star or brand is immune.

Perhaps the coolest thing I’ve seen all week, yellowBird is utilizing a variant on Google Street View technology to provide a true 360º view in video. (Video!!!) By using six divided lenses, it essentially collects data of every possible viewing direction. I won’t get into all the gloriously geeky details on exactly how it works, but it is definitely pretty flippin’ cool. Nothin’ like soaring high as a bird…from the comfort of my cozy cubical.

Twitter is a very ADD-friendly service, but in your haste to tweet (or re-tweet) it’s important to follow some general rules to ensure you’re making the most of the site’s social functionality:

1. Always contextualize your links – If you’re tweeting a link, make sure to call out why someone should view it. Don’t just tweet a URL. Your tweet should prepare your followers as to what they’re going to view, so if it’s questionable content, how about a little NSFW or CAUTION?

2. NEVER tweet broken links – Always make sure the link you’re including in your tweet goes where you want it to go. There’s nothing worse than a non sequitur or bad link. Remember, when re-tweeting sometimes the character limit cuts off the URL if it’s at the end. Try front-loading your tweets with the link and having the contextualizing CTA copy afterward. Or,  shorten the tweet to accommodate the link.

3. Add value in an RT – Let your followers know why you’re re-tweeting something. Give an “I agree” or “so true!”…even a “LOL” if you’re so inclined. There’s no written rule on how to add your two cents when re-tweeting–I like to use [ ] brackets to indicate my own thoughts on the referenced tweet.

4. Give propers – Once in a while, show a valued tweeter some love by re-tweeting them or tweeting a follow recommendation. Additionally, you should always cite your sources–so if you see an interesting link come through,  make sure you give the originator credit if you tweet it.

5. Have fun – Twitter has numerous business related advantages, but ultimately it’s a way to broadcast your voice out into the world. Your tweets should give your followers a little dose of personality and delight from time to time. Don’t take it so seriously–it’s only Twitter after all!