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Social media has done a lot of good things for brands.  It’s provided an avenue for interaction, established a place for community and assisted in building credibility… but geez has it created a lot of work!

Remember when brands were the destination?  Consumers went to brand properties to communicate and interact.  Brand managers reminisce fondly of those days as now they are the ones doing the trekking.  And while it hardly seems fair that brands are required to scour the Internet for what’s being said about them, this is the new reality.

The good news is there are plenty of tools available to help brand managers monitor what’s being said about their brand.  So with the myriad of solutions out there which one will provide you with the most utility?  Here are a few considerations that will point you in the right direction.

1. Every social media aggregator subscribes to a slightly different methodology.  They use unique algorithms in determining which information is important.  You should start the process here by finding the tool the makes the most sense for your brand.
2. Each social media analytic platform will pull information for different data sets.  They cast their nets and harvest information in varying pools.  Make sure the platform you choose is monitoring the right online spaces for your brand.
3. As being able to process the data efficiently and effectively is key for success, make sure the application you select provides reports and graphical representations that can be customized and easily consumed.  The platform should help you sift through the data to hone in on the information that matters.

Utilizing these considerations to evaluate which tool is aligned with your situation and intended application will ensure a more successful social media monitoring program.

Of course you could always engage the services of professionals. 

With the updating of a three decade-old rule of ‘truth in advertising’ by the FTC, bloggers everywhere were given the highest honor by the Federal Trade Commission this past week; REGULATION.

“Given that social media has become such a significant player in the advertising area, we thought it was necessary to address social media as well,” said Richard Cleland, assistant director for the division of advertising practices at the FTC.

At the core of the updated ruling is that bloggers must disclose all monetary gifts and payments for promoting brands and products via their social media channels.  Failure to do so can result in a fine of up to $ 11,000 USD.

The greatest outcome is that social media now moves one step closer to the credibility enjoyed by traditional media outlets (TV, Print, etc.).   Bloggers and celebrity endorsements appear to be the two most singled-out voices for testimonials.  The most visible change will result in re-crafting those late-night infomercials promising to shed pounds, clear up acne, and grow hair.  You can no longer report on the best results measured without first disclosing the results that consumers can generally expect from the product or service.  Ouch, the truth hurts.

Good for the consumer? Yes.  Difficult rules for the advertiser to follow?  Most definitely.  Capable of making testimonials evermore scripted and difficult to understand?  Absolutely.

Full disclosure:  No products were provided during the writing of this blog-entry.  

Whoever first coined the phrase “making memories” was a genius.  Why, because it’s high-value.  Everything we do as marketers should attempt to create an extended memory in the minds of those we try to reach.  I realize that seldom do the actual experiences live up to the hype.  Sure, we always remember the experience in a grander way than it actually occurred.  Modern marketing methods are much too focused on reliving memory-making moments.

Coca Cola comes to mind with its attempts to insert a bottle of coke into the best memories of life; Christmas, high school graduation, your first time to ride a bike, etc.  I don’t suppose they are suggesting that we should only drink their products on special days?  Today’s audiences are too sophisticated for these methods.

In reality, the high value is the memory itself.  Show me how your product can make new memories.  Think original and authentic.

I enjoy browsing reading books from when I was child.  You remember the one’s with illustrations on every other page?  It brought the story to life.  And it’s still a great idea; combining books and illustration.  Did we ever call them bookustrations?  Or illustrooks?

I saw the term Vook used for the first time this week.   Publishers have been rolling out mobile and browser-based apps that integrate text and video for some time.  But to go so far as to call it a Vook?  It’s seems about as strange as the first time I heard the word Blog.

So what is a Vook?

A Vook is a concept for combining a book, a video and the internet into a continuous experiential event.  You read the ebook, watch videos that enhance the storyline, and connect with others via social media all in one application, on one screen without switching mediums.

Verdict?

This could be just anther gimmick; exploiting the natural progression of integrating technology with traditional human interest, or is it a viable progression which demands such strange new nomenclature?  Will readers or watchers be called vookers?  Is anyone else bothered by the fact Vook rhymes with crook?

If you haven’t seen some of the new technology combining print and video, like augmented reality, you just might not be keeping up.  Combining print and video was certain to happen.  Or did it already happen.  CDRom’s combined text and video via the small screen in the 90’s.  I thought the original value of the world wide web was all about the ability to combine text, graphics, and video into navigable pages?  Sounds like a Vook?  A world wide Vook?

Surely, the real issue here is both mobility and ability.  Mobility in that you can take it with you via a mobile device.  And Ability in that you can combine mediums.  Sound like just another bet placed on a paperless society to me.   With or without Vooks, a paperless society will be a reality once our planet is covered in wireless bandwidth. Load’s of it.  Give me that and I will call it anything you like.