ebuzz - Social Network Empowerment: Marketers, Pay Attention!

Social Network Empowerment: Marketers, Pay Attention!

We noticed two apparently unrelated items in the news last week.

The first item is the Samsung-Motorola conflict heating up the pages of the Korea Times. Motorola has apparently filmed a "commercial" of a Samsung mobile phone breaking in half in the hands of a petite model.

The second item came from Business Week, and discussed Burger King's new marketing plan, which ../includes a blog where users have been known to openly make fun of "the King."

What ties these two items together is the venue where each was played out: in the social networking sites of YouTube and MySpace. What ties them together, also, are the two responses to outside attack/criticism. Samsung, watching Motorola slowly consuming its market shares, reacted with stiff horror. Burger King made it into a joke.

Social networking sites are gaining in popularity and it's an open invitation to e-marketers wishing to gain a foothold with the under-30 crowd. How to do it &$151; and do it gracefully, more á la Burger King than á la Samsung — is a question that needs to be answered quickly and effectively.

And if that isn't enough, October's Wired carries a story about Second Life, yet another virtual world where the crossover between the virtual economy and the real one is becoming more and more fluid. The Economist chimes in with the information that companies such as Coca-Cola, Toyota, and the BBC are buying real estate in Second Life to carry out what many would consider a bizarre form of e-marketing ... but it's one that cannot be ignored.

Perhaps we'll be seeing more and more unusual venues for marketing on the Net. We forget sometimes that it's a medium that is still, in many ways, in its infancy; and it's the savvy marketer who will stay on top of trends such as these.

And that's our take on the news today!

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