Word of Thumb: The Revolution

Forget WOM. Talking sucks. Nobody wants to talk to each other anymore. If we did, Man wouldn’t have invented all these technologies so we wouldn’t have to talk.

In the beginning, there was grunting. Then came wall scribbling. Pointing at stuff probably came round at this time, too. Grunting gave way to some consistent sounds that were soon associated with the pointing and the scribbling and BOOM…a caveman marketing plan emerged.  ”unga bungha boonga”…which to the uneducated, meant “hey I got some sharp rocks over here, who wants to give me a mammoth carcass for em?” 

From there, it was just a short leap to retail. (ok, maybe at the same time, probably one caveman grunted to another about how sharp those rocks were, and this other caveman heard about it and scribbled it in the Caveman NewsCave and PR was born…but that’s a different blog post).

It is important to note that thumbs didn’t have much to do at this point. Maybe they helped holding a rock here & there, but they were overlooked and really weren’t held in high regard.

Anyway…Signs, radio, and TV came later. All that was cool, but word of mouth (WOM), that was the ticket. WOM was where it was at!  Remember the phone? Phones were big in the WOM era. (Thumbs? Still not really involved in the dialing thing either, and they were becoming increasingly frustrated).

Typewriters were in there somewhere too, and fingers took over where WOM once reigned, typing up some misspelled memos from one person to another (= less talking, less WOM). Walking the memos around to the intended was big around this time. Again, less WOM. Mailing them meant even less walking, and less WOM.

Thumbs got some action during this period, but they weren’t really happy only being responsible for the space bar, and the infrequent shift duty. It was around this time that thumbs started to hatch an idea–a revolution!

Some genius then came up with this thing that spanked the mail system (faxing), which meant EVEN LESS WOM, and thumbs were overlooked again.

Then, the internet came and streamlined typing. Emails became big (which replaced faxing, and put a serious dent in mailing stuff) which had replaced WOM, etc., etc.

THAT WAS IT! Thumbs had finally been pushed over the edge. They had HAD ENOUGH! The revolution that they had dreamed of years earlier was finally at hand (so to speak)!

One bold, little thumb from the back of the room stood up and said, “I may be small, this may sound crazy & I’m just spit-balling here, but, stay with me…what if we took over? What if thumbs became responsible for everything? All the communication? All the Not Talking? WOM will become WOT (Word Of Thumb). What if the fingers became obsolete? Damn the fingers anyway. Damn the walking. Forget the mail system, the typewriters, the faxing…DAMN ALL the SOB systems! We, as thumbs, can DO IT ALL! Thumbs unite, just let them try to text without us! If you’re with me, just show me your thumbs!” (thanks Borat).

That one little thumb called a vote, and it was right then and there that the revolution had begun. The PDA and the smart phone were born, the thumbs got their come uppance, thus changing the world and killing WOM forever.

The thumb is dead, long live the thumb.

~ Steve Glum

Guest Post from Deeptaman

The following post is from Deeptaman Mukherjee, a new friend from India, who I asked to be a guest blogger here.  Deeptaman is passionate about marketing (and he has a cool X-Men superhero-type name).  ;)

I encourage you read about him and his blog, details below.

It’s important to engage in social networking and overlay different points of view, from different marketers, from different groups and parts of the world.  Enjoy.  Thanks Deeptaman.

~ Steve Glum

Direction of Social Networking

Social Networking has emerged as one of the most key components of any Marketing Plan. It has redefined the way businesses are run on the web and completely changed the future of Internet Marketing. It has had a positive impact on all aspects of our life such as politics, mobile technology, communications, PR, marketing etc.

The best of all aspects in Social Networking is its ability to create relationships in a fraction of time. How does it create relationships? It has this ability to engage, converse and consume information about everything you want to evangelize on the web. I always believe “Markets are about Conversations” and if the conversation seems to be of value to you, you have just developed a long lasting online relation.

The basics of social networking are always the same, but its business appeal to you defines its use to you. The plethora of social media enthusiasts has actually revolutionized the approach in establishing relationships by eradicating cultural boundaries and diversities. The key to this is in understanding the generic logic that your businesses’ locus of control lays in not your personal brand, but in the populace who thinks and perceives you to be a brand and thinks of you as a value creator to their needs, wants and desires.

The latest buzz that has caught social networking is the abundance of mobile technology applications. A survey by Nielsen Media found out the various intricacies that are involved and the usage frequencies of mobile users enabling social networking conversations through their phone in different parts of the world. This rate is only going to increase. Between, I just missed Global Recession. Social Networking is one of the most cost effective tools to promote your brand online and this has been realized by all companies who think advertising brings in a lot of their revenues.

Social Networking has great power too. And, it can only be judged with the parameters that even politicians have entered into it. Barack Obama’s successful social networking campaign is history now; and Indian politicians are adopting it too. Though, the ROI on Social Networking is a widely debatable topic which has millions of views on the web, no one can underestimate the profits that social media brings into the business. It may or may not be quantified and calculated is an altogether different issue.

There is only one way that Social Networking is actually heading, and it can only turn BIG in the years to come. Brands should evangelize themselves not only in the physical arena, but also in the online space to attract, advertise, engage, inform, converse, communicate and build up a relationship with its consumers.

Social Networking is yet to reach its saturation level. And, I seriously doubt if there exists a saturation level seeing its effectiveness in almost everything.

Hail Social Networking!!

 >>>Deeptaman Mukherjee is a Passionate Blogger, Web Enthusiast, Social Media Gospeler, Mechanical Engineer and an MBA in Marketing. He blogs at ’Marketing Environment’ (http://marketingenvironment.blogspot.com/); he likes what he writes and writes what he likes. He will start his professional career in Vedanta Resources as a Mgmt. Trainee in Sales, Distribution & SCM from June 09.