Pierpont Communications, Inc.

Disney has announced a new campaign to solicit videos, photos and stories from those who visit their parks. This is obviously a fun idea as it brings people together with shared experiences – a key concept in social media. Many times, a client may think their service or product is hard to capture in a video or photo and may skip the idea altogether. Yet the History and Discovery Channels have had huge success by sharing experiences surrounding the lumber, fishing and trucking industries. Think to yourself, “how interested were you in these industries before someone made a show about them?” It goes to show you never know what you’ll be captivated by next. While someone is worried about how to promote their services in a social media setting, encourage them to tell the day-to-day or historical stories behind their company. What may seem ordinary and mundane to them, may be exciting to others when you can capture it visually.

General Motors recently side-stepped a potential crisis as an internal document asking employees not to use the brand nickname “Chevy” was slipped to the public. They took immediate action to confront the issue and maintained their credibility and relationships the entire time. It got me thinking about another example I saw this week of information intended for one audience and then being distributed to another.