Opinions And Ramblings By Adam Kmiec On All Things Media

We’re in a golden age of technology and innovation right now. Truly, we are. Every day it seems there’s something new, bright, and shiny for us to salavate over. From augmented reality to QR codes and from gesture based navigation to location aware service we are seeing innovation happening everywhere.

The tough thing is sifting through all of these new bright, shiny, objects and figuring out which ones matter. It’s not a simple task. Each client, each brand, and each situation is different. Something like Facebook connect could be the perfect solution for brand X, but overkill for brand Y. I was in a meeting the other day where I was asked where are all the social media thingies for this plan? By social media thingies, which is clearly a scientific term, they meant:

• twitter
• Facebook
• OpenID
• A Blog
• iPhone App

Here’s the problem. That client we’re talking about sells multi-million dollar pieces of hardware to other businesses. They’re a B2B company that makes roughly 10 sales a year. Adding just 1 extra sale is a win.  Those tactics and approaches just don’t work with this business situation.

There are always constraints. Often we face a time and a budget constraint. In this situation, it was no different. Given the budget, we had to make a decision. Invest X dollars in twitter, Facebook, OpenID, a Blog, an iPhone app, and a host of other trinkets or redesign the site for maximum conversion.

All the bright, shiny, objects in the world are irrelevant if you haven’t covered the basic block and tackling and addressed the items capable of having the maximum impact – you lose. It’s that simple. Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can develop your site in Flash, doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can develop an iPhone app, doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can crowd source, doesn’t mean you should.

Folks, I urge you to pause for a brief second and think about what the real objectives are. Then prioritize the potential solutions based on their impact and their feasibility (relative to budget and time). If you don’t you’ll just end up doing a bunch of things that while “cool” and “trendy” don’t solve the core problem.

Brands aren’t people.  They never have been.  They never will be.  Nope.  Brands are color, typography, a photo, an icon, a product, a building, a cube, some letterhead, but not a person. Ironically though, people can be brands.  Michael Jordan is perhaps the best example.  The Jump Man 23 logo and product line is Michael Jordan and without him there would be no brand…because he is the brand.

The brands I get the most out of on twitter are the brands that aren’t coming across as brands.  They’re coming across as people.  You know, real people.  From Scott Monty to Frank Eliason there’s plenty of companies getting this right.  But, for every Tom at Fancast, there’s Pizzahut.  Some companies just don’t get it.  I don’t want to connect with you logo.  I want to connect with a real person.

Now I’m not saying your avatar/photo can’t be a logo.  I’m totally cool with that.  In fact I prefer it, because the people representing a brand can change, but the brand won’t.  But, the bio should indicate who is representing the brand on twitter.  Here’s an example of two brands using logos as avatars:

1. Your direct line to the Pepsiverse. Currently serving: Ana and Rachel.
2. Now You’re Eating

Hmm, do you want to connect with Ana and Rachel or “Now You’re Eating?”  Seriously, think about it.  Brands and brands on twitter will never make it, because people, despite their reliance on digital communication, want a personal and human touch.