The Rise Of A New Social Exchange

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been out on the road a lot.

Call me what you want, but unless a trip takes more than 6 hours driving time, then and only then will I consider getting on an airplane and flying to the destination.

Road traffic is quicker right now than the time it takes to get to the airport, park the car, get through security, pre-board the flight, travel by air, land, get to the gate, de-board the plane, pick up the rental car and arrive at the client’s office.

I also like to travel by car because it gets me out in among the public-at-large and observe human behaviors versus just crank numbers or read about how people behave and think.

I observed something over the past few trips that I found startling… people sitting in social settings and interacting constantly on their smart phones.

And we are not just talking about the Millennials or teen-age-just-got-the-driver’s-license folks.

No… they were old and young, male and female, motorcyclists and RVers. Some were tech geeks and some literally were Greeks… and not the ones from the frat houses.

They interacted with their smart phones while standing in line at McDonalds as much as they interacted with the smart phones sitting around the dinner table at the very nice restaurants… and even while pumping gas and using restrooms.

Not joking… a couple of guys even tracked an online dialogue while standing at the urinal.

Two weeks ago, there was a press announcement that Facebook was going to explore the posting of paid-advertising in real time online exchange.

So when a topic comes up in dialogue and the content is aligned with brand contact points, the brand will appear on the right side bar.

Some of my colleagues think that consumers are going to negatively react and find the alignment way too intrusive.

My perspective is that the glass is half full.

If the typical consumer is so tied now to those smart phones and that becomes their forum for social interaction with others… I believe it is a welcome opportunity for marketers to join in the social exchange.

And the opportunity doesn’t just stop there.

There are some brands that are linking their broadcast ads with mobile dialogues, but there’s a whole lot more opportunity. When an ad says call now… in 2011 moving forward they should really say text your friends now and see what cool things they have can tell you about the cool experience of our brand.

Think about ways that we can reach into consumer dialogue and endorsement with actual product experiences like taste sampling in the grocery stores and food courts.

Not sure how many of you have downloaded Scout Mob app, but it finds you and gives you 50% off deals right where you shop.

Think about how brands can reward “word-of-text” endorsement in real time with the ability to personally interact through smart phones.

Are marketers taking note and tapping into the opportunities.

No.

Many marketers voice the fact that they are expanding their marketing dollars into social media… but… when you look and see what they are actually doing, the large majority is creating a Facebook page where they simply put their “electronic brochure” websites into a multiple posting format.

So many of the marketers I meet along with their ad agency partners, continue to craft dialogue into a one way flow of here is who we are…any questions.

From a social anthropology viewpoint, I must admit that I am concerned about just how individuals have replaced true hands on interaction and exchange with rotating thumbs and electronic text.

From a marketing viewpoint, I see some new model opportunities!