So I am looking forward to this nice looking tablet! Find out more here.

It is interesting to consider what people will do with easily available video chat when it is NOT possible to hide one’s identity. Well, we are about to find out- http://apps.facebook.com/chatrounds. Read more about it here.

While this is a tremendously useful service in itself there are many other benefits to be gained from running a Listening program. We at  Ogilvy run many of the ‘standard’ monitoring programs for brands but we have also been innovating. Sample some of the ‘non monitoring’ Listening Programs’ that we ran recently.

1. For a software company, we went deep inside forums and Linkedin groups to get insights for the brand, category and were able to recommend a custom and potentially more effective social media plan based on the insights.
2. For a beverages company, we were able to track the online buzz and link it with offline activities. We were as a result able to predict what kinds of offline activities were more likely to generate buzz online as well.
3. For an Infant Nutrition company were able to generate insights that were useful to make decisions regarding their manufacturing strategy and location.
4. For a government agency, we were able to understand why a particular career option is not seen as interesting or rewarding enough by youngsters and their parents in Singapore.
5. For a telecom company we were able to resolve customer issues by participating in conversations online.
6. For another government agency we were able to identify individuals who were depressed and needed help.

I could go on, but the point here is that a Listening Program is a wonderful tool that can be used for many and often multiple objectives.

However that does not take away from the awesome success of the first campaign! (Sample this video from the first one that has almost 30 million views)

Too much of a good thing? Take a look anyway…

• The first pipe was called marketing. One one end of marketing was the brand and on the other end was the customer. The pipe itself passed through TV channels, magazines, newspapers and other forms of traditional media. The flow was guided by advertising agencies, digital agencies, direct marketing agencies and research agencies.
• The second pipe was Public Relations. On one end was the corporate communication team and on the other end was the same customer. This pipe passed through journalists and influencers of all kinds. The flow was guided by PR agencies.
• The third pipe was Customer Service. On one end was the customer service team and on the other end was still the same customer. The flow was guided by internal teams and consultants.

These three pipes rarely crossed each others path. As a result, the guides – advertising agencies, PR agencies, digital agencies and customer service teams never spoke with each other.

These pipes are now breaking down and merging into one. This one pipe is called the Social Media pipe. On one end are the customers and on the other end are the marketing teams, PR teams and the customer service teams.

The guides who never used to speak with each other are now fighting over who will have the rights to guide the new fat pipe. On most occasions they have to work with each other.

The merger of these pipes is beginning to have far reaching effects on the structure of marketing, PR and customer service teams and of course on the roles of the guides! The fun has just begun.

In the new world no one need to rely on The Straits Times and on CNN to be able to reach out to the world. They can do it for free with Facebook, Twitter or their blog. Marketers are also realizing that they can connect ( sometimes more effectively and genuinely) in their own words without relying on an army or copywriters and art directors to create the ‘message’.

The implications are that both the media and the communication agencies are more vulnerable and dispensable than they ever were. Will they adapt. Early signs are better for agencies than for the media!

Organizations are setting up ‘social media’ divisions and departments to understand what is happening and hopefully to sell more widgets. Training organizations and schools are launching courses and programs on social media. Advertising, PR and digital agencies are setting up practices, divisions and even companies specializing in providing social media solutions.

All of this is about to stop very soon. Social Media is dead. Social media is/ will become such an integrated part of everything that we do that the concept of treating ‘social media’ as a separate division / department/ company will make no sense.

What we need are better and faster ways of integrating social media into everything that we do rather than packing it off into separate silos.

The very term ‘social’ media makes sense only for those of us who grew up in an era when media was not social. The new generation growing up now has not really experienced media that is not social.

We do not need to create a social media strategy for our company, division, department, restaurant, or dog. All we need are ways to integrate social media into everything that we do.