Social Media. How we forgot about Fun.

März 13th, 2010 • Allgemein, Social

Everybody who works in digital marketing, especially in social, talks about fast little concepts. My team likes to call this ‘speedboat strategies’. And it’s based on the concept of unconventional or adaptive marketing – launch many cheap, engaging ideas and kill the ones which don’t work. Play with the ones which are fast enough and make them better. That’s basically the broad marketing approach for a time which does not believe in big ass TV commercials anymore.

Social Influence Marketing plays an important role here. Not understood as execution of tools but as the brand’s reaction to a user who acts and reacts 24/7. And in fact it’s not strategy creation in the first place that challenges us. It is its execution. Social effects cannot be properly planned. They can be initiated, they can be encouraged…but they cannot be put in conventional marketing plans and KPI’s. It’s dynamic, that’s the good and the bad thing about it.

But let’s be honest. There is one thing called strategy. And then there is another thing called Fun. I love to talk to clients how they might be able to open up one day, what they might be able to gain, etc. But just starting a social process and watching people have fun with it, is just glorious. This week I started two of these processes. And both were cool.

• Facebook Fanpage 1: Keine Sonderbriefmarke für Dr. Helmut Kohl (“A special stamp for Helmut Kohl”) – Yes, that’s a weird one. A colleague of mine got a Friend Request you get by one of these guys from first grade on Facebook. He accepted and got an invitation 5 minutes later to a public pledge to the German Parliament to print a special stamp for our former chancellor Helmut Kohl. This bizarre movement even made it to Facebook and Youtube in order to recruit 50,000 people signing up for this pledge (to make the parliament start the process). Personally I don’t like Helmut Kohl. But what’s even more important is, that there are unresolved claims of corruption and a very arrogant old chancellor who still believes he has unified Germany on his own. That’s why I started the Fanpage “No stamp for Helmut Kohl” with 340 Fans in 2 days and it is still growing. Not big but funny.

• Facebook Fanpage 2: Postfits. Two colleagues of mine had a good idea yesterday. They took Post-It notes, drew something on it and attached them to their heads. The result – they looked like Pirates, Piggies or whatever. Simple and stupid fun. So we created Postfits (Post-It + Outfit = Postfit) and asked for user pics. Just for the kicks of it. By now we have had a lot of fun, a lot of cool pics by many people and 200 Fans in 24 hours (and all of them had a good laugh). Check out Postfits here and join the party.

What I want to say is, I would enjoy a little more light heartedness in the social circus. My own tradition as an ad guy forces me to try out things. I like to study social effects and like to be part of senseless ideas that are fun for everyone. That does not necessarily have to be intelligent, political correct or well planned. It’s just an experiment.

Especially in Germany there is a strong opposition of committed Social Gurus (most of them never have worked in marketing in their life) towards any kind of marketing-related fun event in the social sphere. This typical German problem (yes, most of the prejudices are true) turns all claims about the necessity to fail into pure lip service. Social Gurus do not want to fail. They want to be right.

All I want to ask for is this one thing: Can we get back to playing? Can we please try out what is possible? In marketing or beyond? Would you please stop using the hashtag #fail over and over againg? Because one day this wonderful world with so many opportunities for people and brands might get ruined by people who forgot how to make a joke or how to possibly fail. It doesn’t matter whether we may be able to sell Postfits to 3M. It’s fun. At least far more fun than to read the next boring article about brands which failed.

Please start playing again.

Tags: Creativity, Experiments, Facebook, Fun, Funny, Ideas, Social Influence Marketing

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