Too Social?

Have we as consumers become too social? 

As I look down at my iPhone - connected to GPS and with a camera + voice recorder built-in - and then at all my social apps; Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc...I realize that I have the ability to share my everything with the world. Thankfully, I don’t. But the point is I could and some people do. And what happens when the consumers are too social? Can they be too social? I think so – but what’s the response?

Some companies decide to bury their heads and pretend that social media is a fad that will go away. Some barely accept it into their lives by creating a Facebook page that is never updated and adding ‘like’ buttons to their website, while some jump right in and engage with their audience through live video chat, online events, social promotions, online customer service, etc. But can too much social engagement become detrimental to the brand?

Earlier this month, pro wrestling's Vince McMahon brought his social media event of the year to the screens – emphasis on screen(s) – of millions of wrestling fans! With the pay-per-view event on TV, exclusive content available on YouTube and Facebook and super star interactions on Twitter, it isn’t surprising that Wrestlemania had 110 trending topics in 5 hours, received over 3.9 million views on YouTube, plus an event hashtag that was mentioned more than 600,000 times in less than 24 hours. 

But are all these social add-ons a good thing?

I still remember years ago, when I was sitting with family laughing, screaming and reacting to the matches on TV. I enjoyed every moment of it and became emotionally attached to my favourite wrestlers. And guess what - I wasn’t Tweeting or posting on Facebook while I did it. Sometimes I’d wiki-search for a wrestler’s bio if he was new, but I was experiencing the show with real people and acting like the perfect fan, falling for every stunt and becoming angry when the heel would cheat - and now it’s all changed.

Flash forward to present day. To understand the full story lines of a weekly show, I now need to watch the YouTube channel and listen all week on Twitter to catch up on the latest feud between the Bella Twins and Kelly Kelly. Even when I’m watching on television, there are constant references to something on Twitter that I should have paid more attention to and the experience, as a result, becomes a lot of work. Relaxing with family and friends is hijacked by another 2 hours spent on my mobile screen trying to find out everything I need to know in order to follow the plot. 

So, what happens when a company becomes TOO social? Can a company cross the line of usage when it comes to social media? Or, are fans like me just being a little too resistant to the future of entertainment?

-@mandamwright

Rated R for ...

“13 Million Kids get bullied every year. Today, take a stand with me and @BullyMovie to stop Bullying #BullyMovie”

If you saw this or a similar tweet on Tuesday you weren’t the only one. March 27^th was "Anti-Bullying Twitter Tuesday" where the filmmakers of the new documentary Bully asked Twitter followers and celebrities to speak out for the millions of kids that are bullied and to protest the R rating the movie received from the MPAA.

It wasn’t just the filmmakers that wanted their documentary available to their highschool target market, but the highschool students themselves. Katy Butler, a 17 year old Michigan highschool student, was moved by the trailer. It resonated with the bullying she herself had experienced. She knew that this movie had the potential help. But when she found out that the movie was to be rated R and unavailable to her and her peers she created a campaign on Change.org and helped spread the word about the “Anti-Bullying Twitter Tuesday”. The campaign swelled to nearly 500,000 petitioners by late March.

The campaign reached out to Twitter celebrities as well and quickly received responses from celebrities such as; Ellen DeGeneres, Channing Tatum, Ryan Seacrest and many others. The result, Bully now has a PG-13 rating. Check it out this Friday and let me know what you think - worthy of a PG-13 or R rating?

This campaign makes me wonder...

Is the rating system still needed in a society with unrestricted access to content online? Children and teens are able to view much worse than the Bully Movie on sites like YouTube and Google, is the rating system too barbaric for digital society?

I have never really respected the rating system, I trusted my parents to stop me from watching movies that weren’t appropriate but now that I am older I don’t understand the system at all, giving a movie a PG-13 rating just means that it is going to suck and play down all important information or lack in believability, giving a movie an R rating means limited viewers and thus a short in sales.

In a society where I can download a movie the theatre won’t let me watch because of rating, I have to wonder who is the victim, the filmmakers or the fans? We either get bad quality or limited distribution. What is your opinion of the rating system for movies?

The Social Event of the Year: #WrestleMania XXVIII

Vince McMahon is ‘obsessed’ with making Wrestle Mania the Social Event of the Year! Is this dangerous to the WWE Franchise or the beginning of a new era of wrestling?

Many WWe fans have expressed some worry on the enjoy-ability and quality of this year’s Wrestle Mania because of the focus on making the event completely social. Many worry that Wrestle Mania XXXVIII will be more about what is trending on Twitter than what is currently happening in the ring.

WWe and wrestling are one of the most social sports who are effectively using their social media presence to connect with friends from Twitter to Youtube. Their success should be mostly attributed to the fan loyalty to many of the stars on Twitter, I know I am following; The Rock [@TheRock], Cena[@JohnCena]. CM Punk [@CMPunk] and a few other of my favourites. But are they going too far with this event?

The night starts with the 1^st ever “Wrestle Mania Pre-Show” broadcast live on YouTube, Facebook and WWe.com. Throughout there will be the Hash-tag battle between #Cenation fans and #TeamBringIt to decide who will ultimately win Wrestle Mania, Cena or The Rock!

In the past most social sporting events tapper off during the live show, when there is no interaction between the stars and the fans, and this is what McMahon is hoping to rectify. But what does that mean exactly…will The Rock stay with his old shtick of communicating with the audience and breaking the fourth wall in a match by tweeting now? How would you feel as a fan if during the match or stand-off your favourite star just stopped to tweet? Would it destroy those rose coloured goggles that allowed you to pretend that wrestling was real and unscripted? Or would it add to the enjoyment?

And not to play the entire in match tweeting short, but for online fans Mike Tyson [@MikeTyson] – WWe Hall of Fame Honouree will be live tweeting the event to give a back stage/behind the scenes look at Wrestle Mania, and specifically the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

Are you going to be watching the live PPV of WrestleMania XXXVIII this year? And how does the Social presence affect your WWe experience? For the better or worse?

To Enjoy the Full Social Event here are the Hashtags to keep you in the loop:

                #Wrestlemania

                #Axxess – Wrestle Mania Axxess

                #WWEHOF – Wwe Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

                #WMParty – Wrestle Mania’s Premiere Party: Celebration of Miami Art & Fashion

Xbox Live TV Apps are a bust

Xbox Live TV Apps are a bust

HBO Go App and MLB.tv unavailable for many Xbox Live users

@mandamwright

Today Xbox announced that HBO GO and MLB.tv apps would be available on Xbox Live...but only for subscribers with participating TV providers.

 

Of course, the Twitterverse exploded with unhappy customers...a few complaints; how can you find out if your cable company supports the new app, what if you don’t have cable and just want to pay for the app through your Xbox Live Membership? And the strongest complaint... Comcast – the largest cable TV provider in the U.S. doesn’t support the apps. For a bold move HBOGO and MLB.TV had a devastating backlash from the Twitterverse.

How could they have rectified this?

1.     Don’t make a public statement if the much desired product isn’t available to all of your fans, it just creates bitterness (And if it is only for certain providers list them with all press releases)

2.     Why would I watch a show on my Xbox when I have to PAY for cable to be able to watch it...backwards thinking?

3.     Know your target audience, Xbox users are normally pretty tech savvy and online a lot...maybe the content should be available online and not through cable?

4.     This generation is OK with paying for content and apps if they are easily available don’t lose the sale and promote online piracy by making it harder for them to get the content.

5.     Be Smart!

P.S. Not available in Canada yet, though not their fault, our online content laws are insane.

Back to the Start

'Green is the New Green' according to Chipotle Mexican Grill. This ad was released at the 2011 Superbowl and it still gives me chills. The combination of Willie Nelson’s song “The Scientist” and Chipotle’s message is just awe inspiring. Chipotle works closely with farmers and ranchers to ensure that their operations create as small an impact as possible on the environment. They also strive to make each of their restaurant locations as ‘green’ as possible.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is staying current while also ‘Going Back to the Start’ of farming. They use social media to stay in contact with their consumers, they have a @ChipotleTruck1 that travels around Texas and you can find out exactly where it is headed next by following their Twitter feed. They also have a company Twitter feed @ChipotleTweets where they manage customer questions and concerns in an open forum.

Even their website is current and engaging. When you visit their website they have a store locator and a link to download their mobile app, but when you go deeper they have character and life on that screen. You can learn about the business through an interactive timeline. “We’ve Got History: The Life & Times of Chipotle” takes you from 1993 when the first Chipotle restaurant opened at a former Dolly Madison ice cream location, and brings you through their history of turning Green. In 2002 they started serving only free range chicken, and their fight in 2009 where Steve Ells (The CEO) testified before Congress to try and eliminate the use of antibiotics in ranching.

I hope more companies follow suit with Chipotle Mexican Grill and Steve, he is paving the way for a Greener future, and setting his brand apart from the greasy money grubbing fast food joints that don’t care about the environment and our world.

Follow @TheWhiteRabbit & Join the Madness on Facebook: Alice: Madness Return’s marketing campaign enters the World Wide Wonderland

Alice: Madness Returns is the sequel to the computer game American McGee’s Alice. The original game was only available on the PC where the sequel is available for Microsoft Windows, PS3, Xbox 360, the iPhone and iPod Touch. The game is based in Victorian London where orphan Alice is released from Rutledge Asylum only to tumble down yet another rabbit hole into a Wonderland warped by her grief for her late parents.

The games success can be attributed to its online marketing campaign utilizing Interactive Web Marketing and Social Marketing and only releasing their commercial trailers online. The effectively and cost efficiently marketed the new game with an interactive site [www.ea.com/alice] where you can connect and share the madness using Twitter, Facebook and Reddit, as well posting their videos to the EA channel on YouTube:

Alice: Madness Returns – Launch Trailer

With 725,362 views this video helps direct fans to the Social Networking accounts and the official website.

The Facebook site has over 145,253 ‘likes’ and constantly has contests and is interacting with their fans. They ask opinions on game play and design and have the ability to create add ons through online gaming networks after they have collected relevant information from their fan-base.

Alice: Madness Returns most likely will gain most of it’s revenue from merchandise purchased as a result of creating the game, as some fans of the site are NOT gamers themselves, but just interested in the esthetics of the darker version of Alice in Wonderland.

The most recent promotion from Alice: Madness Returns is their “Meet American McGee” event – ‘The time is coming very soon where our wonderful British and European friends can have the benefit of an in-person signing with American McGee at the Forbidden Planet Megastore in London on October 8th at 1pm. There are more details here: http://forbiddenplanet.com/events/2011/10/08/meet-american-mcgee/’

The event was posted Wednesday September 21st and already in 3 days it has been shared by over 19 profiles, has over 400 ‘likes’ and has been tweeting dozens of times. Speaking of twitter, the @TheWhiteRabbit account has over 9, 500 followers. Through the twitter account followers are challenged with dark and twisted trivia and games related to Wonderland and Alice. Prizes included the game, merchandise and other collectables are incentive to constantly interacting with the company and helping raise awareness and interest in the game.

Many products available on the Alice Store [http://alice2store.com/] were first given to influential bloggers and posted on the Facebook site to help create hype. Alice: Madness Returns was a very successful sequel especially with the original game being released only to PC over a decade ago.

Don’t fall down the rabbit hole; the WorldWideWONDERLAND is a dangerous place!! And you wouldn’t want to go exploring without the right attire. Visit the Alice Store on the WWWonderland for your very own American McGee Alice Costume.