Universal Information Services

Posts from February 2012

The latest #newtool darling of the social media world is clearly Pinterest. For that one person who has not yet been overrun by the hype of the "next" thing, Pinterest defines itself in these words: "Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests." People who use Pinterest love Pinterest. But is love enough?

Pinterest has a beautiful interface and I'm finding it a great inspiration for creative and new ideas. But I'm having a difficult time declaring it a #newtool that will have long-term, mass appeal. Yes, new users are signing up at an alarmingly fast pace. This normally bodes well as a quick adoption rate proved out for other social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Even LinkedIn and YouTube have ridden the rocket to social media stardom. But where these established networks really took root was in their ability to serve both consumers and businesses alike.

I know it is is too early to call it for Pinterest, but I don't see much use for it for a wide variety of marketing, branding, and public relations efforts. Go ahead, attack me now with all of the exceptions to my prior statement. Of course I'm generalizing, as I do see it as very much a service to the "Long Tail" of marketing, where extremely niche communities will find an audience. These communities will most likely be centered on visual and physical elements that can be "pinned" in a meaningful way. I"m also optimistic towards the value of Pinterest for personal and social interests. But as far as a new tool for business, I"m afraid it fails to answer the "why" question. Why would a business use Pinterest in a broad B2B or B2C application? The current research shows that consumers gravitate to only a few social networks, not being able to manage many networks and communities at once. Pinterest may just be too much for most social netizens.

My prediction is that Pinterest does not demonstrate enough of a significant difference over other social networking tools, in reaching a mass audience, and it will only be a niche network like Quora, Foodspotting, Instagram, and Foursquare. The aforementioned sites/networks are all really great tools, but just don't address the same core, human nature needs like a Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter do. You guessed it, we're still talking about the #samerules of human nature must be met if any #newtool is to become an integral part of our society. Am I wrong? Tell me where my thoughts left the tracks. I appreciate your comments...really, I do.

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Of course the headline of my post today is supposed to cause people to take exception with that comment. What I mean by "nothing new" is that fundamentally, creativity still carries the day. For all the high tech production tools we have, the social media integration, and the ever growing use of celebrities, creativity always wins. The #samerules of advertising are never more evident than when the professionals debrief on which ads won the hearts and minds of Super Bowl Viewers.

Although I don't have my hands on the exact stats, I would theorize that as many watch the Super Bowl for advertisements as much as the game. As Universal Information Services analyzes the news and engagement from this year's Super Bowl, we may find that more are watching for the commercials as the Super Bowl is a cross demographic event. It's the one time of the year that you might gather men, women, children, grandparents, and pets in the same room to watch a program without the remote control in your hands. Yes, the Super Bowl may be the one television broadcast where we override our conditioned response to channel surf during commercials. Of course, who would want to miss a commercial.

The irony of watching a broadcast for the commercials could be analogous to broadcasts of the 1950's, where viewers enjoyed the live product information as much as the show that the product sponsored. It is interesting how our response to Super Bowl ads may be a vestigial viewing habit from many generations ago. Or, it may just be that we are all members of a species that is still very intrigued by creative advertising. Could it be that simple?

Super Bowl advertising is a great example of #samerules with #newtools...and I really enjoy it. Tell me what you think. Has advertising tapped into something far greater than the simple interest of a person who wants to be entertained for 30 seconds or less? Leave your comments. Thanks.