Grown Up Thinking

Nearly three months after the U.S. military gave the “affirmative” for online social media use, an intriguing thing began happening: the soldiers went viral. Up until now, the military had very strict policies on sites such as YouTube or Facebook. No longer. The latest trend of music video-inspired mayhem is being created (quite creatively, by the way) by America’s few and proud. And they’re hamming it up in renditions of Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus for all the world to view, share and “Like”.

I have a wild theory. Call me crazy, but I find this new wave of humanized soldiers (“They’re just like us!”) to be a brilliant, if unintended, underground marketing scheme to recruit soldiers. These men are rocking boot camp and risking their lives–sure–but they’re also gaining worldwide exposure and having a blast, too. Signing up now seems a lot more “Animal House” than “Apocalypse Now”. And that’s a good thing for luring new soldiers to enlist in an uncertain time of turmoil in the middle east. Time will tell if recruitment numbers go up, but I think this is a fascinating trend worth following. In a time of war, it certainly won’t make the numbers go down. Not when there’s a new Gaga parody to be performed in the barracks, right? See for yourself:

Earth Day is here and thousands of companies will be taking the opportunity to announce how they are “going green.” With such encouraging messages about positive action, why are consumers seemingly indifferent and even annoyed by these reports?

An overwhelming cynicism has developed regarding claims of corporate environmental responsibility and sustainability– partly for good reason. Greenwashing is certainly an issue whereas some companies attest that their operations or products are “green” with pretty questionable justifications behind those claims.

However, should that negate the efforts of so many companies who are legitimately trying to course-correct and reduce their carbon emissions?

Many marketers are terrified to announce their sustainable actions because of the potential backlash they’ll face if their company is not considered environmentally friendly as a whole. Is it not still a good thing for a corporation to take steps towards a more sustainable future, even if they are just baby steps? What causes us to have such high expectations of companies when we don’t have them of ourselves?

On this Earth Day, let’s try not to look at corporations as deceitful polluters, but rather give them the benefit of the doubt and show some appreciation for the steps they are taking to make a brighter and greener future for us all.

There’s been a lot of buzz about Facebook’s growth as they try to stay on top of social media development. No one site “owns” the entire social media landscape; however, Facebook is making significant headway in making their site a one-stop-shop for all of your online interactions. Here are six reasons why I believe that Facebook will reign supreme over other social utilities:

1. Connecting: The average Facebook user has 130 friends, and with over 400 million active users that’s over 52 billion social connections. This dominance affords a huge opportunity for Facebook to integrate new social platforms.

2. Email: Facebook is rumored to be developing a full-fledged email system that could eliminate the need for a separate email accounts.

3. Social Plug-Ins: Due to the popularity of the “Like” function, Facebook is now competing with sites like Yelp by providing integration on to other sites around the web.

4. Facebook Chat: Facebook recently added a feature to their instant messaging system that allows users to make Friend Lists within Facebook Chat which will no doubt increase its use over other services.

5. Geolocation: Applications like Foursquare have made a name for themselves in this increasingly popular space, but now Facebook is jumping on the band wagon.

6. Facebook Connect: Facebook Connect eliminates most barriers to entry for engagement on other sites. Now that this process is being made even easier, it will continue its rapid growth in integration.

Check out some more information and insights from today’s F8 keynote presentation here.

1. Uniqlo’s UT video creator: Clever execution that creates a  cute video integrating your Twitter feed to promote character tees, and a memorable tidbit from a brand that  delivers at least one feel-good surprise every year. (Note: quickly gaining popularity, too, it seems)

2. Hail The Villain: I may not dig metal, but I LOVE how this Canadian band is promoting it’s new album. Users get thrown into a graphic novel style world that challenges them to solve a grisly mystery by finding clues, contacting the band, previewing the album and using a webcam to integrate personal pics. For a quick taste, view this video.

3.Rohit Bhargava’s article on what marketers can learn from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution: Thoughtful and inspiring. Read it here.

4. Granimate: A musical wallpaper creator for the iPad?! Yes please. Preview it (very briefly) here. (via Creative Review blog)

5. Wordle: Ridiculously easy word cloud generator (and the second great design tool I found today. Check out 0 to 255 for color variations in a snap).

And the one thing we’re not quite sure about: Voyurl. Effective connection opportunity or just plain creepstastic? What are your thoughts?

Oh. And check out my Wordle for this post.

An hour-long high school dramedy series that’s a musical? Let’s face it: Glee initially had everything going against it. Time will ultimately tell, but skeptics be damned. This year’s Golden Globe winner for Best Comedy Series turned out to be a runaway hit that has yet to lose steam as it heads into the second part of its freshman season. Above all, the show’s writing is top notch by melding a perfect blend of edgy dark humor and a lot of heart. The talent of the young cast is undeniable. And Jane Lynch turns anything into comic gold. But producers were faced with some tough challenges right from the start. How to get people to actually tune in? Enter social media and a relatively risky gamble on an aggressive interactive marketing campaign.

First of all, Fox chose to debut the pilot episode months before its actual season debut in order to capitalize on its 20+ million captive audience from American Idol. They then utilized the down time to really gain traction online by engaging with their most passionate fans (or ‘Gleeks’). Currently, @gleeks has a nearly 50,000 person following on Twitter and almost 2 million fans on Facebook. Mix that with its very own YouTube channel with exclusive content, PR-worthy appearances (Oprah!) and even nationwide mall performances. Yep, everyone’s all abuzz over the little show that could.

Blurring the line between fan and fiction even further, Glee has since launched a national casting campaign for new characters to appear on the series. Fox also recently released an interactive “hypertrailer” allowing viewers to click and “fan” the show’s cast members on Facebook, who also participate live on-air in weekly re-run episodes (or “Tweetpeats”) much like the cast commentary on today’s DVD and Blu-ray discs.

So what’s so significant about Glee’s marketing strategy, anyway? At its core, it is truly a niche show. But a very enthusiastic niche crowd at that. And Glee is giving that very core audience exactly what they want: access and interaction. At a time when studios are shuttering unauthorized playback of content and guarding creative copyrights like a fortress, this show is practically shooting it across America through a t-shirt cannon. Whether it be the show’s music content (consistently charting week after week on iTunes) or capturing that “underdog” spirit in everyone, Glee has succeeded in truly crossing all media types, including a forthcoming iPhone/iPad app. That makes it one of the very first scripted shows to actually achieve results in reaching out to a young, digital audience with significant viral success. That’s definitely a social media coup to be gleeful about. I, for one, am proud to be a Gleek. Who’s with me?

Glee resumes its season on Tuesday,  April 13 on Fox.

If you missed last week’s media coverage of the iPad; well then, probably time to switch from that dial-up connection. Somehow we at Mr Youth managed to go this far without commenting on this new potentially game changing device. Rather than another review on the device or the hottest apps, I figured I’d talk a bit about how the iPad, its competitors and the eco-system of a multi-device world will change the way we live.

Disclosure: I have not yet gotten my iPad as I’m holding out for the 3G model. I can; however, already envision the changes it will bring in my life.

Death of Paper (sorry Michael Scott)

As someone who hates paper and does not have a paper filling system, I’ve welcomed doing things digitally for some time. I use Evernote to save any web content I find, Yelp to keep track of places I want to check out, e-mail to send notes to myself  as reminders and TripIt to save my travel info.

Now with the iPad, I envision accessing my list of delivery menus on Yelp, taking and reviewing notes on Evernote, and showing my boarding pass at the gate on TripIt. While I already read the NY Times and other publications on my iPhone and books on my Kindle, the iPad will soon replace magazines and any other print media I still consume.

A Fully Synched Life

Prior to getting a Kindle, I never highlighted or took notes in books I read, but with the first book I read on it, I found myself highlighting. Why? Because I knew I’d be able to access the data easily whenever I needed it and would always have those notes on me on my iPhone.

My iPhone also enabled me to access Yelp, Evernote, TripIt and other sites on my phone so I always have everything I need wherever I am. As a result, I use each more frequently. With each device came different uses, bookmarking restaurants online became more valuable to me once I knew I could always access on my phone and I started using TripIt once I realized the iPhone app would update me automatically when the flights I e-mailed to it on my desktop were delayed.

Now with a third device, these sites and data in general becomes more valuable as you have more ways to access. Not having to boot up your computer or the freedom of having a larger screen with you more of the time will continue to create new business models and entrench existing ones that can leverage your data across these devices.

Multi-Multi-Media

I have found being able to rent movies on iTunes and watch on my Apple TV, iPhone or laptop a nice feature. I rarely find myself renting them when I am not going to watch them at home however. Usually when I am out or travelling, the iPhone screen is too small or battery too low to watch and often don’t have my laptop with me. The iPad is an ideal device to watch movies on so now, being able to watch a movie at home, finish it on the iPad and maybe even catch the last few minutes on the iPhone becomes a lot more enticing.

Books similarly can be shared across the iPad and iPhone making it easier to always have the entertainment you want at your fingertips. Then there is YouTube and the rumored iPad Hulu app to consume web and TV content on the go. Sling gives you access to your home cable and DVR on the go and the cable companies can’t (well they can) be far behind. And, imagine carrying around hundreds of board and video games that you can pop out and play with friends or yourself at any time.

So, what does this mean?
Does it mean life even further tethered to a screen? I don’t think so. I think it perhaps means less time tethered to a desk or couch. Does it mean increased distractions? There might be some of that but I think it could still mean increased productivity (or at least personal productivity) as we are better able to consume and create content using the right device for the right place. Does it mean the world will never be the same? Well, I won’t go there yet but these are just a few ways a device I have not yet used will likely change my life. Imagine what it will do for little league managers’ scorecards, waiters’ notepad, small business owners’ credit card terminals, doctors charts, and thousands of other daily life experiences. The iLife is here and it almost lives up to the hype.

QR codes have been all the buzz these past few weeks and many companies are taking advantage of this new trend. QR stands for Quick Response- because they can be scanned quickly by a mobile phone via its camera. QR codes can be used to pull information from one location and stored directly into your mobile phone- anything from links, videos, photos and more.

One company that sticks out (literally and figuratively) is Stickybits. Stickybits produces two-dimensional barcodes users can attach to any real world object. For example, take a sticker and put it on your business card, scan it with either the iPhone or Android app and upload a full PDF version of your resume to the sticker. When others scan the barcode on your business card, your resume will be at their fingertips.

This is just one example of how QR codes are changing the way we think about barcodes. Facebook is also jumping on the QR bandwagon and will be used with an upcoming version of the Facebook mobile app. Facebook is still keeping the details under wraps until April, but some predict that QR codes will be most useful for Facebook’s integration of location-based social networking. In addition, QR codes will be useful for businesses who want to engage with consumers on a deeper level.

Stayed tuned, and don’t be surprised if you start seeing QR codes everywhere. Happy scanning!

We all know that product placement is nothing new. It’s a multi-billion dollar market that spans across television, movies, music, sports and more. Whether it’s the Coca Cola cups on the American Idol judging table or the food on top of Joey and Chandler’s fridge in Friends, product placement is everywhere all the time. Sometimes it’s subtle and plays in to the storyline of a movie or TV show; other times it’s more obvious. In Lady Gaga’s case, it’s on the screen and in your face, and she doesn’t care if you like it or not.

She’s known for her eccentric outfits and imaginative performances. In fact, being over-the-top is what made Lady Gaga so famous. Now the artist is starting to be noticed for the blatant product placement in her music videos. And with over 50% of brands using branded content for awareness-based marketing, she is a marketer’s dream come true. In fact, Lady Gaga is the only recording artist to reach 1 billion video views across all online video platforms – perhaps making her blatant product placements the most valuable in entertainment history! According to Neilsen AIG, product integration is more likely to drive brand recall than other forms of advertising, so if all goes according to plan, I’ll never make a sandwich without thinking of Lady Gaga, and I’ll never see Lady Gaga without wanting a sandwich.

Maybe when I finish eating I’ll take a picture with my Poloroid camera, upload it on to my Beats laptop, listen to some tunes on my Hearbeats headphones and call my friend on my Virgin Mobile phone. Why? Because Lady Gaga made me do it.

In the fuzzy afterglow of the Chat Roulette frenzy of the past few weeks, I find myself thinking “what’s next”? Lucky for me, I don’t have to spin my wheels on that brain buster quite yet as two similar sites have already distracted me with their unique interpretations of the random chat craze:

RandomDorm connects college students on the prowl for some dorm-to-dorm interaction (only those with a .edu address need apply).
MyChanceRomance Billed as the “fun way to find love”, MyChanceRomance is a dating site with a Hot-Or-Not mentality that’s bound to give you an inferiority complex.

Not ready to move on from the original just yet? Don’t fret. It’s  still alive and well, even spawning it’s own Chat Roulette Missed Connections site (which I can assure you is comic genius in its own right).

Happy Birthday, Twitter! As we reflect on four years of compacting our thoughts into 140 characters, social media pulse point Mashable.com is asking readers how Twitter has changed their lives, by using the hashtag #thankstwitter4. Sifting through the 140 #thankstwitter4 tweets that Mashable chose to highlight got us well-connected folks at Mr Youth thinking about what we’d like to thank Twitter for. Here’s just a smattering of our grateful gospel:

@courtneyc: #thankstwitter4 helping our generation fuel the biggest text-based fundraiser in history via the @RedCross

@laural:  For the information I learn from everyday #thankstwitter4

@kennyh:  #thankstwitter4 forcing me off my butt on #lazysunday by showing me what all my friends are doing

@jennaa:  #thankstwitter4 the most hilarious trending topics – i.e. #myfuturehusband & #dearfuturewife

@ericab:  For celebrating pithier wordsmithery #thankstwitter4

@ericab: (and for @ShitMyDadSays) #thankstwitter4

@alexisd: #thankstwitter4 giving me a place to voice all of those random thoughts that come to me on my commute to and from work

@manisham:  #thankstwitter4 helping me get hundreds of clicks a day on manishainmanhattan.com!

@laural:  For all the new friends and business contacts I have made #thankstwitter4

@giancarlop: #thankstwitter4 making human interactions, thoughts, and feelings searchable. (sorry to get all heavy on you)