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have YouTube channels for that very purpose. For CEOs, YouTube provides them with an opportunity to state their case to employees and stakeholders alike. In 2009, Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu posted a video on YouTube explaining the reasoning behind the company’s desire to be released of its financial obligations to fund the shortfall in their employees’ pension plans.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
This is the infamous question that the social networking site Twitter invites people to answer. With a short 140-character status update, also known as a tweet, you can inform your ‘followers’ who tend to be friends, family, co-workers or acquaintances, of new and exciting events in your life. All it takes is a computer or mobile phone that can connect to the Internet. Average people and celebrities alike have become hooked on twittering/tweeting. For celebrities, Twitter has become a convenient means to continue to remind their fans of their relevance. Basketball star Shaquille O’Neal for example is known to tweet his opinions – particularly about opposing players – during games.
COMBINING STRATEGIES
The strategy for a successful ad campaign may require the mastery of all of these different forms of social network marketing. The 2008 United States presidential election exemplified the effective use of social network marketing.
This election was filled with ‘firsts’. It was the first time a woman and a black man hit the campaign trail. It was the first time that presidential campaign ad spending totalled $700 million, versus $500 million spent just four years earlier. It was also the first time several new forms of media, such as social networking sites, viral campaigns and mobile marketing, were exploited to rally support for the candidates. The individual who used these innovative tools most effectively, Barack Obama, was inaugurated. Obama outspent rival John McCain by a margin of 10 to 1 on new media practices.
Thebigquestionishowdidhedoit?Toproducetheadsandexecute the strategy, funds had to be solicited. The traditional approach is to