SPOS #311 - Jaffe And Joel #22 (Across The Sound 22.20)

Welcome to episode #311 of Six Pixels Of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast. This is also episode #22.20 of Across The Sound. Joseph Jaffe is widely regarded as one of the top Marketing Bloggers (Jaffe Juice) and Podcasters (both Jaffe Juice in audio and Jaffe Juice TV in video). He is the author of three excellent books (Life After The 30-Second Spot, Join The Conversation and Flip The Funnel) and his latest business venture is, Evol8tion. A long-time friend (and one of the main inspirations behind the Six Pixels of Separation Blog and Podcast), we’ve decided to hold semi-monthly conversations, debates and back-and-forths that will dive a little deeper into the Digital Marketing and Social Media landscape. This is our 22nd conversation (or, as I like to affectionately call it, Across The Sound 22.20). This week, we talk about Facebook and what’s next for the massive online social network? Can it continue to grow? Is there true value for brands within its ecosystem and how much bigger will Facebook become before it is an Internet unto itself? Enjoy the conversation…

Here it is: Six Pixels Of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast – Episode #311 – Host: Mitch Joel.

Running time: 59:02.
Please send in questions, comments, suggestions – [email protected].
Hello from Beautiful Montreal.
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Six Pixels of Separation the book is now available.
CTRL ALT DEL is coming in Spring 2013.
Here’s the Jaffe vs. Joel debate on collision of Madison Avenue and Mountain View.
Jaffe Juice.
Jaffe Juice TV.
Life After The 30-Second Spot.
Join The Conversation.
Flip The Funnel.
Follow Jaffe on Twitter.
Evol8tion.
This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels Of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast – Episode #311 – Host: Mitch Joel.

Great podcast. Thanks very much. A set of comments and a story.
Yes, Facebook is a new thing. But it thinks like an old thing. It thinks bigger is better. It’s the old industrial mindset. The bigger it gets, the harder it will be to change course. I’ve felt for some time that FB has about five years of relevance left before it is replaced by multiple platforms that someone figures out how to tie together without creating confusion. This is already happening.
Why? Because people change, and it isn’t that they want more, they want better or different. Facebook is changing their expectations, their behaviors, and their attitudes towards themselves. We already see it in the proliferation of so many different social media platforms.
Here’s where I see the shift.
It used to be that we individuals had to fit into the institutional structures, and Facebook is an institutional structure, to find relevance and identity. The institution was king, and we were simply serfs. Now, that scenario is flipped, and the individual is king, and becoming more so, and Facebook is just an optional tool for our use. For these platforms it is a race to relevance in a fickle marketplace.
It isn’t that these platforms are changing, people are changing by using these tools to express themselves in way that they did not have in previous eras. They / we will gravitate toward those platforms / tools we need right now. I find Facebook is the lowest common denominator social media platform, that provides a basic level of interaction, but not much more. I know they are trying to add features, but the mold / brand is set. FB is a slave to their own brand, not we to them.
The trick for all of these platforms is how to provide a unique service without creating a complicated process. So, user interface is as important as anything. I think Google would be much farther along if its user interface was easier, more inviting to use.
Story: I’m the board chair of a small national charity that has a huge reach, and even larger potential. We provide tools and processes for kids to do social change projects. We are presently going to corporations to talk with them about partnerships. We met with one global corporation last week, and another two scheduled in July. We are seeking big dollars to scale our service, and doing it without becoming big at the same time. So Facebook is a lesson for us.
My point, our conversation with them are about how the corporation benefits from their association with us, beyond the common commitment to kids. The one we met with last week, will not market to under 10 years, which is fine for us. We usually don’t work with kids under 10. But the question lingers, what is their marketing benefit from investing possibly seven figures in our organization? It is a question that is unanswered, at this point. So, Mitch, you are correct in your assessment that corporate support of charities through a FB page is limited by who the individual thinks they are “liking.”
What a fascinating time we live in. Thanks for both your contributions to it.

One comment

Ed Brenegar says:

June 28, 2012 at 9:42 am

Great podcast. Thanks very much. A set of comments and a story.
Yes, Facebook is a new thing. But it thinks like an old thing. It thinks bigger is better. It’s the old industrial mindset. The bigger it gets, the harder it will be to change course. I’ve felt for some time that FB has about five years of relevance left before it is replaced by multiple platforms that someone figures out how to tie together without creating confusion. This is already happening.
Why? Because people change, and it isn’t that they want more, they want better or different. Facebook is changing their expectations, their behaviors, and their attitudes towards themselves. We already see it in the proliferation of so many different social media platforms.
Here’s where I see the shift.
It used to be that we individuals had to fit into the institutional structures, and Facebook is an institutional structure, to find relevance and identity. The institution was king, and we were simply serfs. Now, that scenario is flipped, and the individual is king, and becoming more so, and Facebook is just an optional tool for our use. For these platforms it is a race to relevance in a fickle marketplace.
It isn’t that these platforms are changing, people are changing by using these tools to express themselves in way that they did not have in previous eras. They / we will gravitate toward those platforms / tools we need right now. I find Facebook is the lowest common denominator social media platform, that provides a basic level of interaction, but not much more. I know they are trying to add features, but the mold / brand is set. FB is a slave to their own brand, not we to them.
The trick for all of these platforms is how to provide a unique service without creating a complicated process. So, user interface is as important as anything. I think Google would be much farther along if its user interface was easier, more inviting to use.
Story: I’m the board chair of a small national charity that has a huge reach, and even larger potential. We provide tools and processes for kids to do social change projects. We are presently going to corporations to talk with them about partnerships. We met with one global corporation last week, and another two scheduled in July. We are seeking big dollars to scale our service, and doing it without becoming big at the same time. So Facebook is a lesson for us.
My point, our conversation with them are about how the corporation benefits from their association with us, beyond the common commitment to kids. The one we met with last week, will not market to under 10 years, which is fine for us. We usually don’t work with kids under 10. But the question lingers, what is their marketing benefit from investing possibly seven figures in our organization? It is a question that is unanswered, at this point. So, Mitch, you are correct in your assessment that corporate support of charities through a FB page is limited by who the individual thinks they are “liking.”
What a fascinating time we live in. Thanks for both your contributions to it.

Comments are closed.