Social Networks and the Elusive Marketer
Here’s a Hollywood Reporter piece about the challenges of social networks (a lot of rehash but a good general overview). The new bit is the mention of GoingOn (we did a quick post in July), which is a social networking "aggregator," in the same way that Meebo tries to give you one log-in for multiple IM memberships. And here’s a piece in today’s MediaPost (reg. req’d) that shows large marketers have been scared away from MySpace by the bad PR:
Of six panelists [on a panel at the "Revolutin in Television" conference in N.Y.] representing major advertisers and ad agencies, not a single one advertised with MySpace or other social networking sites. Reasons for avoiding MySpace include concern about its potential for criminal use, especially given recent well-publicized reports about sexual predators searching for victims on the site, as well as fears that user-generated content—including pictures and text with sexual overtones—will be offensive.
"I wouldn’t be caught dead in that kind of environment," said David Cohen, executive vice president for Universal McCann Interactive, with a client roster including Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Wendy’s International, and Sony Electronics. "You only have to look around for five or 10 minutes to find something offensive."
Dawn Hudson, president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America, echoed this sentiment, saying she was "interested" in sites like MySpace that feature user-generated content, but "we’re being cautious because there’s a blurring between advertising and content, and the content does rub off on your brand."
I find the quotes in the article incredible. These same people will advertise on Google or Yahoo in a blink. Have they typed in a search on Google or Yahoo image search lately?
Images of Asian teens on Google should include at least some images of some clothed kids. Maybe?
Advertisers can knock MySpace if they please but there is tawdry material in almost every corner of the net.