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  • Pay To View

    Posted on March 18th, 2009 by Geno and currently 5 commenting.


    photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/slimjim/

    I love Flickr, sometimes I just wander aimlessly through buckets of photos amazed at the different views people take on the same subject. The other day I was researching fire hydrants to use in a presentation and I stumbled upon a group that caught my eye “pay to view.”

    The photos in “pay to view” are a collection of telescopes in public spaces that you put coins in for an up close view. I was a sucker for those things. I loved to climb up on the metal stand and peer out with wonderment. All that for a quarter… my Dad rarely turned that down.

    Today, social media and its tools allows us (marketers, and brands) to be by-standers and watch. Creating a new “pay to view” climate. The problem is this is now the price of admission for engagement with customers. I found this staggering fact on pcmag.com: One in every 11 minutes online globally is accounted for by social network and blogging sites. That works out to a bit more than a combined 85,500 years spent on blogs and social networking sites in Dec. 2008 alone.

    With most of that time spent on sites that define the user (facebook, myspace, twitter, linkedin) what does a brand do to make sure they’re just not paying for the view?

    I think it goes back to the basics. What is the value, and is there a sense of wonderment?

    If you do your homework and insight you can build a community of value for your customers. But let’s not forget wonderment, the curiosity that made us want to climb up on that telescope and peer in for an up close view. That same wonderment lives in social media, as people login day after day, having conversations, building relationships, learning and sharing knowledge. All this wonderment can’t help but rub off on the brand too.

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5 Responses to “Pay To View”

  1. Jessica @ThriveYourTribe March 18th, 2009 at 12:18 pm

    A sense of wonderment indeed! What a great way to look at that extra spark that entices and intrigues and just plain makes the view better. Of course, there’s a lot of talk of what makes an idea go viral, but I think so often those discussions miss the point–that sure it’s great when people talk about your brand, but it’s also great to be giving people the feeling that they want to talk about your brand. To be able to inspire just a tiny bit of wonderment instead of just trying to shout louder or charge more for the view.

    And thank you for the flickr group link–what a fun group to browse!

  2. Geno March 19th, 2009 at 6:36 am

    Thanks for the comment Jessica, stumbling on those photos brought back some great memories of a simple joy. I thought the instructions on the telescopes were timely nuggets.

  3. Simon Crowe March 19th, 2009 at 9:44 am

    What do you mean by “sites that define the user?” I think a common mistake made when discussing social networking sites is that all users are doing the same thing or expecting to get the same experience out of them, when that isn’t true at all.

  4. Geno March 20th, 2009 at 6:23 am

    Hey Simon, sorry I haven’t replied to your comment sooner. I’m a facebook, twitter, linkedin user… and for me they’re in a way superficial. I author, I’m an audience, and I contribute content. But, I’m also a member of passion communities where it is far more intimate in conversation, and I get things out of that community differently. Your point: “I think a common mistake made when discussing social networking sites is that all users are doing the same thing or expecting to get the same experience out of them, when that isn’t true at all.” Is absolutely right-on.

    My use of sites like the ones I called “defining the user” is what I think. That’s just my point of view. I love those tools, but I have passions that have communities that I engage in differently.

    That’s why you can’t just “view,” brands have to get in there, get intimate.

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