The lessons of Mr. Splashy Pants

There's a great little 4 min video lesson that's brought to us by TED - that's Technology, Entertainment Design, and is a forum for innovative thinkers. I referenced Sir Ken Robinson in another post, and this is where I first saw Sir Ken as well.

TED posts online video of the talks they host - think tremendously focused or broad, insightful and sad or funny and quirky...TED does try to offer a full spectrum of thought, and in the spirit of open-sourcing does offer their content to all - no cost, no hassle. I guarantee a quick stroll through TED's archives will be 15 minutes worth wasting.

The one I saw today raised some interesting thoughts in my own head though, about the need to control the message, and why that's not necessary if you're genuine. The examples given by Alexis Ohanian of Reddit deals with Greenpeace and Whaling, but it nicely demonstrates a change in the way we should all be thinking about what the internet does, and what we should be doing as well. The link is here and below too - but before you go there - think about this in a business sense.... If my company's value proposition is geniune, if it in all sincerety builds value for the end user, then it's ok to lose control and let the crowd (the market) run with what they think of it. I think a huge issue we have in the world of commerce these days, and a key reason why the internet is feared and struggled with by big business is that there's too much spin going on, and too little clear value spelled out, experienced, ultimately delivered. Word of mouth can't and shouldn't be "gamed".

You see social media is amongst the purest form of democracy out there, and if the crowd thinks your product is bad, it's very difficult to control that message. (Ask United Airlines what they think of social media after they mangled that guitar). Don't misrepresent your value proposition, and don't exaggerate it either.

So, if you own a company and are attempting to control the social media message, think about how the message is related to the actual value created a little bit first. Ask yourself if you lost control today, would market perception be as good as you're trying to spin it to be.

Now go and enjoy 4 and half minutes with Alexis - he's funny, fast and insightful. And then think about the power each of our voices have, and how to apply that when we're not saving the whales