I’ve been kicking around a couple of different approaches for posting here. One is to do a recap of what I think are the week’s most interesting developments in online marketing. I’ll pull a lot of this info from Creativing, the social bookmarking site I’ve set up where anyone’s free to post relevant marketing information (read: not spam). Thus I’m titling these posts ‘Creativing’.

This would be in contrast to longer deep dives on a more focused subject. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

So what happened this week? Nothing. So goodbye and have a great Memorial Day weekend.

jk

Actually, a couple things happened that are perhaps more continuation of previous trends than anything else.

Social Media Gets Shelled

Social media came under attack. Again. And not unjustifiably so. Fast growth demands questions, as everyone should have learned from the late 90s.

Regarding the Knowledge Networks study, true, most people don’t ‘go’ to social media sites for product information. I don’t go to TV for product information, either. Nor magazines, radio or billboards. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no opportunity for brands there, or that it’s not a valid environment for them to be in.

The fact that they state those sites are used for staying in touch with family and friends is an open door to even more opportunity for brands to get into the conversation. As long as they’re authentic about it.

Survey’s in which people answer direct questions about why they behave the way they do are, in my opinion, sketchy at best, and misleading at worst. Product decisions are laced with emotional overtones that are seldom captured in surveys. The minute we ask someone to rationalize an emotional process, it’s over.

Moving on to Facebook

Facebook announced the Publisher is being extended to Pages. What’s the big, you ask?

Facebook is all about sharing, yeah? Getting into that conversation thing. And this is simply extending the capacity for people to share things right off the Pages of the company’s they’ve Fanned.

Thus if someone’s on a company’s Page, and they see something they want to share (probably one of the most likely places to find such content, it should be noted), then they can post back to the company’s newsfeed, and to their own newsfeed (and friend network), right from that page. This could also be driven from an app.

Ever since the move last year away from widgets and towards the Newsfeed, Facebook has been pushing the thread of conversation. This is bringing brands into the picture more prominently than ever.

Of course, brands will still need to give people a reason to share it with their friends.

And more Facebook news.

Crushing data for MySpace this week. While the user base is still coming around, the engagement is dropping precipitously. Users are spending less and less time on the site. And when your site is all about social engagement, that’s pretty much the sign of the apocalypse.

To date, there hasn’t been a community or social networking-based site that’s been able to turn an ebb tide around. MySpace does have a lot more tools in their belt than the Geocities and Friendsters of past. But still, and I’m just saying.

Death of the Upfront, or just Jimmy Kimmel’s TV Career

While probably not the same cringe factor as Colbert’s National Press Dinner speech, I’m guessing there were some anxious ABC, no make that every broadcast and cable network in the country, execs on the edge of their seats. And further differentiation, there’s a big diff between slamming someone you slam on a regular basis on your show, and slamming someone you work for. I haven’t heard anything about this since, either. Does he still have a gig?

Best Buy Goes With the Crowd

There’s a lot of chatter in the business world about listening to the customer. So when Best Buy put a site up asking for constructive ideas for how to make BB a better experience, I was a bit skeptical. But putting up a site like this takes time and resources, and in this economy, doing so says something.

Sure, you could say ‘Why bring up what the brand is currently lacking?’ But there’s an authenticity to tactics like this that companies are highly in need of. No, there doesn’t seem to be that many people visiting. But sometimes brands need to do things that are worth more than the sum of the traffic or participation they drive.

If I had had a problem with BB in the past (which I have), this shows me that someone in the company with some pull is making strides to improve the brand experience.

Hope you have a good Memorial Day weekend.