The State of Social Media

Last weekend we endured the Hypiest of Big Hype release with the launch of the Apple iPad. A few days in and there’s some talk of drastically overoptimistic first day sales estimates, some genuine buyer’s remorse, and of course the inevitable backlash from trendsetters looking for the New Shiny Object.

The official host of the iPad Honeymoon turned Hangover party is Hewlett Packard, which seems to have a lead on gaining the sought after “iPad killer ” moniker for it’s offering in the space, the iSlate.

What’s interesting for social media marketers is the anatomy of HP’s campaign to win back some mindshare from the savviest consumer electronics company in history: pure social media. Leaked photographs through Engadget and Gizmodo, and a blog launch you can find on industry blogs but not from HP’s homepage (at the time of this writing), etc.

This isn’t a huge surprise considering the demographic and technographic HP is targeting but it is somewhat of a milestone. This is the most important product launch HP has had in years and the cornerstone is a video blog? Although we would expect there to be a big budget Old Media campaign to debut later in the year once the iSlate is closer to release, it’s notable that the medium HP chose to highlight its New New Thing is a blog that’s not even two years old.

One way to spin this is that HP is making a clear case for what they think is most effective at this stage of their campaign. The other is that they’re making a clear case for what they think is not effective. HP didn’t integrate social media elements into an old media campaign. They just went all in.

Mac, PC & Linux - Parody Commercial

A parody of the Apple Mac vs. PC commercial with a guest appearance of the cutest Linux you've ever seen!

Sometimes Apple Thinks Too Different - Don't Fall into the Same Trap

The Techno Marketer blog had a great post about changing the rules of the game. In his case he talks about how the remodeled Apple store no longer has a checkout stand - but since they didn't communicate this change customers wrongfully formed in front of the 'Genius Bar' instead. Too different, too fast, and without communication - not good.

Although this is clearly a B2C example I think similar mistakes can be made by B2B companies with all of the hype around Web 2.0. We are still in a transition phase and while RSS is hot and growing it's not a substitute for email (at least not yet). Blog readership is exploding but the global uptake is still lagging. Podcast usage is growing 'tenfold' according to Forrester but they have a ways to go before they can be considered mainstream. The rules of marketing are changing but I’m wary of getting caught up in the hype and abandoning traditional mediums that have served me well. Another reminder that a hybrid approach of old and new approaches is usually the best way to go.

Apple gets the Value of Widgets - Do You?

Apple 'opens up' according to Red Herring with it's new iTunes widget that lets "users list their recent purchases, display their music reviews, or show their favorite artists."

There are a couple interesting things about this announcement. First, the functionality of this widget already existed but Apple still took the opportunity to create their own widget as a branding opportunity. The point is that if your company/brand should be associated with the delivery of a certain type of content then own up to it, create a widget and get your brand out there.

Second, I think the functionality of this widget can be altered to meet the needs of just about any business. Granted few things are as cool as sharing your music favs but the great thing about social networks is there's a network out there for everyone. A network engineer for example may want to use a widget to promote their participation in forum discussions, display their product reviews and show off their personal authority levels. With a little bit of widget magic this can be done and posted on blogs everywhere.

There's a widget out there for every business. What's yours?