As I traveled around Latin America during the last two weeks, and stopped in Colombia, I noticed a refreshing attitude on the streets and it made me think about the way society in Latin America interacts with one another and its relationship with Social Media. If you were here, and walked up and down the streets, you’d notice the desire of the masses to engage, interact and be part of a social/cultural evolution. People on the streets are willing to help one another and come up with ways to give a hand in order to just get a few Pesos in return. Driving down from Monserrate, on a traffic-jammed street in the outsides of Bogota, I noticed men and boys running up and down the bumper-to-bumper lines of buses at the traffic lights. They’d run by the bus drivers’ window, shout a number, listen to what the driver had to say and write it on a scribbled notebook as they collected the few coins the drivers handed to them. The point of this running-up-and-down at traffic lights is to give bus drivers the times/frequency in which the previous buses, covering their same routes, go by this specific area in the city. It helps the bus drivers keep a distance (time-wise) from the bus ahead of them, so there is enough time for more people to gather at the bus stops for them to have a worthy day at work, which is equal to enough passengers in their buses. Seems complicated but it is rather simple and resourceful from people with lack of technology managing to come up with a way to help, interact and make some Pesos in return.

Now, if this is the nature of our people, of our culture; why is it that corporations, brands, businesses and/or services haven’t had a stronger initiative to find ways to connect with the other half of the country/region that do have access to technology and are practically early adopters of this Social Media type-way-of communication? Catalina Ruiz-Navarro is just one influencer in a community of almost 20 million internet users in Colombia, with an overall growth (internet users) of approximately 40% annually - and similar numbers throughout the region. I don’t want to dwell on the Common Sense approach to Social Media Communications but as I mentioned on a previous post, “the idea of Social Media is to be spontaneous, genuine, personal…” and it is a great opportunity  for businesses to figure out a genuine, non-intrusive message to establish a relationship with a genuinely-formed community that would be willing to be part of your community if you have something to contribute.

Aroldo Nery

Strategist/Brand Director @ The Re Agency

I read a postPost reviews at Social Media Optimization that made me think about what is it that a “valuable brand” means nowadays; and I look forward to hearing your opinion on this one.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, valuable means:

1 a: having monetary value b: worth a good price
2 a: having desirable or esteemed characteristics or qualities <valuable friendships> b: of great use or service <valuable advice>

In today’s ever-changing cultural landscape, I have to go with 2b. SM (social media) isn’t about cluttering every possible medium with your colors, your brands, your products; but rather an opportunity to create an environment of support and/or service, selecting specific channels to reach your audience. Therefore, I find it unnecessary to categorize brands by “most valuable” and/or “mavens, selectives, butterflies and wallflowers,” according to their SM activity (find the study here). The concept of a valuable brand is so subjective, making it impossible to determine whether any of those brands within the top-ten are more valuable than the Corner Store Down The Road is to its community. A few days ago, the NYtimes published an article on the results one of the many social networks has had on its users, and to save you the time to read it; it pretty much draws a picture in which all brands can be as valuable to their specific niche.

As an industry, we need to stop making such specific categorization causing marketers to believe that being “mavens” is the only way to succeed in SM; when it is not true. These sorts of categorizations tell us that one can’t be “selective” and expect the same results, when the idea of SM is exactly that: to be selective. To find your niche and create an environment of support that -if done right- will bring your brand the monetary value you’re looking for: ROI. Just because a valuable brand within the top-ten has thousands and thousands of followers and friends, doesn’t mean that it is more valuable than the Corner Shop in a community of twenty thousand people and four thousand followers and friends (20%).

This is a new way of communicating, people, and there is no room for such specific categories and lists in a world in which we (as consumers) have the freedom to jump from niche to niche as we please.

You can be anything you want; maven, selective, butterfly or wallflower, so comparing yourself to such specific brands is no longer an option to measure your success. You are unique, so your value is the one given by your specific community; while we -as an industry- need to start thinking smaller and smaller… on terms of execution.

Aroldo Nery

Social Media Brand Director @ The Re Agency