Chris Brogan and Edward Boches visit Emerson Social Media’s Class

On Tuesday December 15th, Edward Boches and Chris Brogan will be present live and through video chat. Although they are both know as “influencers” in the world of social media, there is a difference in their respective blogs.

On Chris Brogan…

A ten-year user of social media, Chris Brogan is identified as a source of information when dealing with any and all social media. His blog can range from discussing product or service reviews (like Google Wave) to guides on how to start a moving business.

Brogan’s goal is to provide businesses and organizations on how to use social media and social networks to build relationships. He is the president of New Marketing Labs, a social media marketing firm which boasts clients like Pepsico and Sony.

A reader of Chris Brogan’s blog would be someone hoping to join in on a conversation about how businesses or products use social media. Brogan does not have a preaching tone and there is always great discussion in his comments about what readers feel about his blog post. With Brogan, there is more of a call to action for brands looking for more social media knowledge. He has a “work with me” tab, and also links to his company.

I would challenge the idea of a sponsored post that Brogan occasionally puts on his blog. I feel as although there are specific guidelines that one should write about. Sponsored posts are moderately new to the social media world and there is controversy since social media is often focused around “conversation” and “genuine-ness”.

On Edward Boches…

As the Chief Creative Officer of mullen, Edward writes about his experiences in the Advertising industry. His name has been closely tied with the term crowdsourcing and is seen as another strong thought leader in the field of social media marketing.

Edward and I know each other from his pet project he has started called The Next Great Generation, which is based off a  crowdsourcing model of Generation-Yers writing on topics ranging from sex to brands.

I was able to interview Edward and this is what he said:

1. What are your thoughts in terms of being a “thought leader”?I don’t try to be one, I’m flattered that I am. I think I am learning more than I am taking, and I am always obligated to share what I know.
2. When you first started writing, was there a specific target for your blog?I thought CMOs and big time clients would see my blog. But that’s not who actually came to my site. Instead, peers, people from the advertising business, young people are coming to my site. 
3. How do you react to challenges on your thoughts?Some of the times, I end up agreeing with them and change my mind. Other times, I argue politely. If you are open minded to contrasting point of views, you can learn and develop your own thinking, and become more focused and clear. 
4. Is there anything you are proud of about your blog?I’m glad it has stimulated conversation. Writing blog posts should be the beginning of a conversation, not the end of one. Instead of being “proud”, I am more pleased with stimulating conversation that matter to this business. 
5. How do you feel about people calling themselves “experts”?You can only be experts in things that have hapened in the past. You are less likely to be successful, because its best to talk about something when there is always more to learn. Declaring yourself an expert is arrogant, there is always something new — whether it be technology, consumer behavior, or travel.

Edward’s blog is a reflection of the things he practices and preaches. He focuses on consumers and their interaction with content and media. This allows for marketers to understand their viewpoint, to interact and connect with the community. There is no call to action as strong as Brogan’s blog because his intentions are different, Edward is willing to share and stimulate conversation. 

For the older-than-13 crowd out there, hopefully, Nintendo64 was a part of your childhood. The intense rotation of your thumb-bone as your struggled to wind-up the Shy Guy in Mario Party, the repeated “Tap A and B Together” as you ran up and down the halls trying to rescue your princess in Super Mario 64, Tapping Z and R twice to do a barrell roll in Star Fox 64, and of course, the A+Z combo to do a jump pound attack in almost any Mario game. These motions from this console all bring back the 90s in its shoulder-padded glory.

Named Nintendo 64 (N64) for its 64-bit CPU, the bulky gray console game with 4 controller plugs, an On/Off switch, and a reset button. The game cartridges require a strong huff of air in the bottom of the cartridge before slamming it down into the receiver. When the on button was pushed upwards, the glowing red light on the console would signify the N64’s breathing, living, life.

Gameplay was so realistic, I must bring in a snapshot of the love:

N64 was definitely the highlight of my childhood. I remember when my brother (4 years younger than me) got an N64 for Christmas, he was crying of joy. Reminding me quite similar to the viral video you can see here (warning, turn down speakers).

What if the N64 had been released during the influx of social media? What tactics would Nintendo have used to create buzz? I will now discuss tw

o recommendations for Nintendo to infiltrate the video gamer’s market:

1. Total Annihilation of Product

Nintendo needs to completely annihilate the N64 on camera. Invite a couple of bloggers/press members and we have ourselves a press event.

Recently, I had blogged about a Sony Bravia TV getting slammed in the face by a PS3 slim. Sony Australia invited a couple of bloggers to this event and got a huge amount of press for it.

Similarly, this 300,000+ viewed youtube clip of IceT completely demolishing his Apple MacBook Pro in his yard also got around the internet.

I think you know where I am getting at.

Blendtec’s brilliant campaign of “Will it Blend?” is the best example of destroying technology. Tom Dickson, CEO of BlendTec, uses hilarious ways of blending random articles (from iPhones, silly putty, skiis, toilet flushers — to so, so much more) with his Blendtec blender and shares it on YouTube.

In this video, Tom blends the entire multimedia Olympus line of cameras (point and shoot and video cameras) to show that BlendTec really can blend anything:

So after 6 million views on their first Youtube video, a 500% increase in sales, and a case for many social media enthusiasts to look after, we can say that destroying/blending technology will create some, if not a lot, of press.

2. Offer a tour!

Because N64 does not offer any sort of online play or any outward interaction except for 3 other friends at home, the only way to promote a gaining of knowledge for this product is to look inside the product itself.

Create an interactive world, where players/people interested can log online and explore the workings of a Nintendo 64. Why is it 64 bit? What makes that different? How does the console look inside? What are the workings of the cartriges?

Toyota creates their own “Toyota Metapolis” in which it is an interactive city-like map that is designed for people who are seeking more information about the company to look inside the map to check out their different department. Almost like an alternate reality, Toyota creates an area where each individual Letter and Number on the map has a little blurb about the departments that they do. It is an excellent tool into providing information-seekers more guidance in their product.

Comments

The movement of social media has already been extremely fast. Students and mentors alike are clambering around the internet in hopes of learning more about the current fad that is social media.

Alot of the time, case studies pulled from different brands all around the world are being written about, imitated, in hopes of gaining 1,000,000+ followers just like @jetblue and @zappos. But what we sometimes forget about, is the idea of personal branding.

I will talk about the failure of personal branding, or maybe just further revealing the personality of a really horrible person: Perez Hilton.

The practice of genuineness goes a long way in the Twitterverse. Showing who you really are: either a helper of the unfortunate, a brand looking to get more help, or an attention whore looking for the police through Twitter.

Perez Hilton recently became a topic of great discussion because of a fight between him and Will.I.Am’s manager on the topic of Fergie. Here is the more detailed version of the whole story.

The conflict, could have been contained at the scene, was not because of Perez Hilton’s quality tweets shown here:

His plea for help through was through twitter. Of course, he got much public humiliation through this. John Mayer - was invovled in a twitter-banter.

Their conversation went a little like so:

The fact that this celebrity-blogger (Certainly considered a D-lister) is calling for the police, or someone to help him, through Twitter, after calling a man a “Faggot”, shows the entire world that there is something just plain selfish/stupid/scary about this man.

His personal brand was continually destroyed, by him and him alone,when he posted photos of Michael Jackson in the ambulance and then further insinuating that the King of Pop was just faking it.

This article states that the #unfollowperez movement made 800,000 followers unfollow him because of his insensitivity towards Michael Jackson.

While there are amazing things that can be created through twitter, (like the #blamedrewscancer movement - where every tweet mentioning #blamedrewscancer livestrong will donate a dollar) there are personal branding faux pas that just show who you really are.