The Shiny Object Syndrome: Why Marketing Doesn’t Get Social?

The Shiny Object Syndrome. It appeals to all of us. Think about it. Who hasn’t been impressed by the shiny new Macbook Air, the latestgadget or the latest social media meme? In the world of slick marketing, real-time instant gratification and ever changing digital trends, it becomes hard not to be distracted.

From Google + to Xing to Facebook Timelines to Android Icecream Sandwiches to Klout Scores to Jive to IBM Connections to SocialCast to our grandmother tweeting. It’s noisy. It’s shiny. It’s distracting. It’s all over the place.

However, we must ask ourselves and truly think about the why behind the slick object we are drooling over. The Goal. The Vision.

Last night, I was in a client meeting discussing the role of social media and the digital space in the upcoming Canadian political campaigns. During our discussion, I was asked if my client should sign up to create a mobile app which some company has been pitching for over a year?

I paused.

Where does an app fit? Apparently, someone was selling the idea that an app is social media and it can make everything happen in the next campaign for upcoming leadership candidate. I pondered the notion of the app and asked what will that achieve? Is it part of something bigger? Is it extending our story in the digital space? Will it drive awareness? Interactions? Encourage voting? How, when and where will it be promoted?

There was no answer.

They hadn’t thought that through. Instead, they were pitched that everyone uses apps on their iphones and smartphones. But it’s not their fault, as the app was not being pitched to solve a problem, a need or even a want. It’s an issue I often see in the industry.

In any business discussion, we need to step back and look at every tactic in a strategic manner. We must pose questions such as, is it driving our objective? Is it truly part of our strategy? Is it pragmatic? Does it add value in anyway? Or is it just busy work.

This becomes very important in the marketing space with shrinking budgets, where marketers are often distracted by the shiny object syndrome believing that the mishmash of different ‘shiny’ activities/tactics will just work because everyone else is doing it. Unfortunately, more than often, the activities aren’t inter-connected, not well thought out and only negate the brand experience and even worse — confuse our customers.

We create white papers, micro-sites, demos, facebook pages, email lists, twitter accounts, 10 page forms without ever thinking about the end goal and most importantly — the customer need and the experience. Case in point, think about the value of QR codes and how have they been used in the industry to date so far. Or companies dying to do social but not seeing any positive traction.

It is often observed in the world of social media gurus, agencies, and web 2.0 consultants where there is more focus on the tool and/or tactic vs. the business goal.

At the end of the day, are we mapping our activities to reach an end goal? Not only do we have to start thinking from an overall business perspective, but we also need to start thinking strategically from our customers perspectives.

We need to ask the why every time.

By the way, if I do get to launch a shiny slick mobile app for the next Canadian elections , I’ll definitely tell you about it. :-)

Social Media is a Quarterback

The perfect social media is a quarterback, driving a strategy that leads to real business value, not popularity chasing with limited to no value. That position — the internal strategist that aligns various business units — will continue to be around, but only necessary at big corporations. The small companies and startups have no need for those people now, and will begin to see that there’s no need for them in the future.

– Jeremy Pepper, public relations consultant