So here I am in the heart of Silicon Valley. Why am I here?
After all, I still have to do the same volume of work I would have to do if I were in the office back in NYC, my time is all messed up, I have clients and new business to attend to, and I am not even speaking on any panels here.
So why am I here?
In my last post I let you know the literal reason I am here (the two conferences I will be attending) and now I am going to talk a little about an underlying current in the media industry that has prompted me trudge out here on a Sunday, in order to make it for a Monday morning conference.
Content As Social Currency
Okay, so I did not pull this phrase off the top of my head. I actually got it from an Adweek article (of all places) on brands and social marketing practices. It was pulled from a quote by creative director Mauro Cavalletti over at AKQA.
Cavalletti talks about how we, as marketers cannot always tell the story, as the story is already being told by the users. Any additional content brought in by a marketer is social currency. I found this comment to be very insightful.
Social Currency Does Not Mean That The Conversation Can Be Bought
Marketers, I hate to tell you this but conversations cannot be bought like a media buy (I actually don't really hate to tell you that). On the other hand, conversations can be listened to, internalized and analyzed in order to find ways that value can be brought into the conversation. If you hear a conversation by young men about fantasy football, perhaps you want to sponsor an app that helps these young men track their teams. This of course is a very top level example (I am really tired) but I think you get my point.
BE VALUABLE!
ADD TO THE CONVERSATION!!!
Tags: facebook, Adweek, value, conversation, Mauro Cavaletti, AKQA, social marketing, brand marketing, social media