Bracketology

By: Jessica Learish

Now that your brackets have been busted by the wild upsets in every region, it’s time to take a step back and examine the context of the March Madness tradition.

First, ask yourself: who won the National Championship the last time you filled out a bracket with a pencil and paper?

One of the oldest forms of social media out there is the online NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket. What could be more social than gathering to speculate on whose alma mater will take the big prize home from the big dance? Sports fans have been making their picks and interacting with each other over the information superhighway since the days of dialup, but the venue is slightly more complex today.

Bragging rights go a little further than the office water cooler when the entire nation is one click away from your personal rank and point total at any and every round of the tournament. This was the beginning of the inflated tourney pools like ESPN’s Pick’em Challenge.

Through the years, the online bracket pools have added prizes from huge sponsors and advertisements targeting college sports fans. Some sites with bracket games even offer multi-million dollar purses for perfect brackets.

Then came the social media boom. Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and the like became forums for additional bragging and heckling of the opposition. In the last couple of years, the NCAA and other sports giants have launched mobile-optimized applications for taking your brackets with you on the go.

In the same way that Facebook allows people to stay connected to friends all over the world, social media platforms have made it possible for sports fans around the country to stay on the road to the Final Four with their favorite college basketball teams.

Technology has reclaimed the closeness of collegiate athletics for fans, alumni, and prospective students across the country and around the world.

Now, I probably have you wondering how many of your sweet 16 are still going strong. So go ahead and check and pay a visit to the cool uncle of social media on whichever platform suits your fancy.

The Value of "Mobile"-izing Social Media

By: Jessica Learish

What happens when you suddenly realize you don’t have your cell phone (or worse, Smartphone)? A mild feeling of panic and emptiness washes over an otherwise tranquil moment, and you wonder what updates you’re missing from your mobile life.

Facebook, Twitter, and the Social Media universe are all mobile now, and, according to Packaged Facts, this mobility has initiated “a new era of speed and convenience.”

The facts are these…

Packaged Facts released a report in the February 2011 called Social Media and Technology in the U.S. Foodservice Industry: Trends and Opportunities for an Emerging Market. The report analyzes the behaviors of mobile consumers in the United States. The report cites the pervasiveness of Facebook interactions and mobile applications of restaurants like Chipotle and Starbucks. If a brand is able to incentivize consumers-on the go, it can earn the opportunity to “weave its way into consumers’ lives.”

Before I read this report, I had the Chipotle and Starbucks applications downloaded on my iPhone. My life is woven with brands and social media. I have been indoctrinated into the Smartphone culture in the seven short months since I bought my first Smartphone.

A Pew Internet survey conducted in 2010 suggested that levels of Social Media usage online has a negative correlation with age, but that 50% OR MORE of internet users from ages 18-55 engage in the Social Media universe.

Easy as pie

Now, all of this mobility and sociability has made it incredibly easy to stay connected, be aware of things, and keep up with the RSS feed.

My phone lets me know when my favorite brands tweet something new or when someone tweets about them. There is always something new going on.

It is the responsibility of consumers and of brands to stay current. Brands and consumers cannot sleep through the Social-Mobile-ity explosion. The percentage of market share that is looking for a socially relevant, mobile-optimized brand to integrate into their lives is absolutely invaluable.

… or easy as tacos

I’m going to order some Chipotle on my iPhone!!

#Cometogetherrightnow

By: Jessica Learish

Social Media Marketing expert Scott Monty recently blogged, “When the
technology allows us to reclaim some of the round-the-fire element of
our humanity, it’s encouraging that we’re not simply living separate yet
connected lives.”

Twitter brought aspiring actors and actresses backstage at the Oscars. Facebook
played a vital role in the protests in Cairo -- helping families
communicate and safely locate loved ones. Social networks have already
changed the world and again picked up the speed of the global economy.

The lanes of communications

Getglue and Stumbleupon are two of many growing communities which allow people
around the world to share things they like, discover new ones, and
connect with others with similar interests.

These interactions are important and for the conversation to continue to be
meaningful, it can’t become one sided. Companies and consumers must work
together to maintain the balance of communication. If consumers feel
like they are shouting at a brick wall, the lanes of communication will
be closed and the whole system will lose its value.

Global town hall

Social promotions allow consumers to actively endorse companies that they
like. This is the next step in the process. Companies can imbue their
fans with personal charge of promoting things that they support. Just
like sports fans posting Facebook statuses about their home teams, fans
of companies are now able to take initiative and champion companies on
their profiles.

Like in small towns with mom and pop grocery stores, consumers are directly
connected with the success of products and companies they use and
support. With companies and consumers communicating in real time and
working together to create a better marketplace, products and services
can improve and social networks can be used as a global town hall,
improving the products and services we all use.

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As Monty said, through social marketing, we have regained a global
closeness that has not existed in decades. So, grab a seat by the
electronic campfire.