Since moving back to Toronto in late 2001 I’ve moved around quite a bit. Part of it was born of a desire to rediscover my hometown after being away for over a decade, and determine where I wanted to finally ’settle’. I’ve recently done so again and am out in a neighbourhood I’ve wanted to live in for way too long to remember.

As I’ve been out and about exploring the new ‘hood, I’ve been consciously aware that although we are all Torontonians, and Canadians, the folks out here roll differently. If I want to get the most out of this community, I have to find out what makes it tick and what the ‘when in Rome’ rules are. Reflecting back, I’ve only gotten enjoyment and fulfillment out of any new community (work, home, play, study) when I take the time to listen and explore vs. bulldoze my way through, oblivious.

The same principles apply online and with social networks. Each network, although they may look outwardly similar, or have the same type of backbone software, is unique based on the individuals who populate it, and, drilling down, those who are its "power users" are, in a fashion, the ‘community elders’ and have more say in what the norms are. Of course, as with everything in life, as new people move in (join), the standards can begin to shift, but this usually (unless it’s a revolt, but that’s a different tale altogether) happens organically from within the network vs. by external pressures.

It’s important to keep the thoughts of your ‘real life’ community in mind while exploring and engaging in the social space online. Just because something worked a certain way on MySpace, doesn’t mean it’ll be the same on Flickr or Twitter. Just because you’d say something a certain way in an opt-in email or on a brand forum, doesn’t mean it works in a Facebook group.

Each community, and each community subset, is just as unique as the folks who populate your neighbourhood, or mine.

[photo credit: gracias! via Flickr]

The rules haven’t changed THAT much.

Molson has pulled it’s Facebook advertising campaign after public pressure and denunciations accused the beer company of promoting drinking amongst young adults. There’s always been a fine line alcohol companies have had to navigate in their marketing campaigns, especially considering the target market for mass vs. premium beer brands has always been 19-24 year olds (or 21-25 in the USA) who the beer brands try to make loyal customers for life by targeting them when they can first start drinking legally. That’s the nature of the biz, and one rainy day during patio season can heavily impact sales. When I worked on the LBOC and LUSA (Labatt Breweries of Canada and Labatt USA respectively) interactive brands back in 2002 this was something we had to be acutely aware of, and submitted our campaigns to rigorous scrutiny and approval by the AGCO. Frankly I’m more surprised this got past the AGCO than I am that Molson tried to push the envelope.

According to Molson this campaign is a result of the social media space being relatively new.

‚ÄúThe whole realm of social media ‚Äì there’s lots to learn,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúIt’s really a new area. We’re probably groundbreaking and leading in a lot of things we’ve been doing.‚Äù

Social media tools, the Read/Write Web, and CGC may be relatively new, but the regulations surrounding alcohol marketing and advertising are not, and strategies that involve getting young adults to drink to excess to promote a product are not “groundbreaking”.

Social media does not mean throwing common sense out the window, no matter how much you’d like to get a beer version of Girls Gone Wild going to encourage sales (and believe me, sex sells and there’s nothing wrong with that… when done responsibly). Social media is not “one size fits all”, nor should it be. If you’re tying your brand to a campaign, there still may need to be rules in place (especially if you are a regulated industry), and Molson, and their agency, should have had the sense to have moderators in place before allowing a video picture to be posted or entered into the contest at the very least, and should have nixed the idea of having the contest revolve around students “partying on campus” at the brainstorming level. There are other ways to promote a product and engage in the social media space.

The campaign, pure and simple, involved getting young adults, with whom binge drinking is already a huge concern, to drink beer and post videos about it for a chance to win a trip to Cancun; what other message were they supposed to take away from “partying around campus”? Tupperware? Tea? And anyone who has been to Cancun knows it’s the haven for drinking to excess, so the underlining message is quite clear. If Molson and their agency didn’t think through the ramifications of this, I’m truly surprised. “One upmanship” amongst young adults is well known, and it’s one of the reasons why drinking games like quarters and keg party’s are still around; to think that giving them a chance to do so to win a trip wasn’t going to happen, or indirectly encourage it in order to create the most provocative video pic, was irresponsible. They were right to pull it and they are right to be called out in two subsequent Globe and Mail articles (the power of the print medium is still alive and well).

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Owning up to a mistake is a key part of the transparency and authenticity of social media… that may be the “groundbreaking” part Molson is missing here. There are a ton of ways I can see to have gotten the same message across, had fun, and engaged the demographic they were trying to reach. Hopefully they’ll have learned from it and my guess is the regulatory agency’s won’t be too far behind.

It would have been a different thing had they targeted it generally vs. specifically to colleges in my opinion.

Update - and viewing the creative where “Molson Cold Shot 6.0″ cans are front and centre leaves the premise that the campaign was “misunderstood” sorely lacking.

Update 2 - From one of the comments on the article:

If anyone should be worried about anything, it should be about pictures being on Facebook. Has anyone said anything about the fact that unflattering pictures may end up being within the public domain without someone’s consent? Has anyone mentioned that such pictures bein used by Molson as part of a commercial undertaking without the express consent of those being captured? [i.e. anyone in the photo who didn't enter the contest]

ps - before anyone accuses me of being anti-partying… I’ll see you at the Firkin during a Leafs game ;)

h/t - Traffick

[photo credit: AffiliateBob via Flickr]

I love this. It really speaks to the ability of the internet to create a global community; building on each others thoughts, experiences and perspectives. I know the readers of my blog come from all over the world and I always appreciate the larger, global view; I think it is essential to moving forward. Which is why I am so pleased to see that Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the current President of India recently posted a question for the world wide web community to respond to -

What should we do to free our planet from terrorism?

If you’d like to join the conversation head over to Yahoo! Answers and tell the world (and the President) what you think we should do… I’d venture we need to put our collective heads together on this one.

[h/t - mythbuster33 on digg]

[photo credit: NikAt on Flickr]

Tags: President of India; Yahoo! Answers

In their Millenium Campaign to eradicate poverty, the UN is actively & innovatively engaging in the social media space. In order to reach as broad an audience as possible, and push the limits of how you can ‘be counted’, they are organizing events, and have kiosks throughout Second Life, as well as engaging ‘Lonelygirl15′ star Jessica Lee Rose to make an anti-poverty video that’s posted on YouTube.

This is a bold move by a nonprofit to utilize the strengths of the internet and social networking sites to raise awareness for the cause, as well as provide an additional platform for disparate people to get involved and build a movement. The foray into Second Life is quite interesting for its social implications, but a great alternative way for those who wish to, to ’stand up’ and contribute. It will be interesting to see how the move to engage a personality who caused quite a bit of controversy around authenticity is received, but with over 11k views since it was posted on October 5th, it’s off to a good start.

I’d like to see more active engagement with niche social networking sites, community building, and blogger awareness campaigns, but regardless, for an activism campaign it is off to a great and imaginative start.

[photo credit: pbo31 on Flickr]

Tags: United Nations; Second Life; Millenium Campaign; Lonelygirl15; YouTube

iBegin is a Toronto-based social reviewed search engine which enables the community to provide feedback on establishments, events, and residences, etc. in and around the city. Ahmed Farooq dropped me a line to let me know about a great charity drive iBegin has started which directly helps the Assaulted Women’s Helpline in Toronto. For each review or picture submitted to iBegin, 50 cents will be donated to charity with the goal being at least $10,000.

It’s an amazing venture and one I am proud to support - I plan on adding my first review today and will be snapping some shots of the Kensington Market area establishments later this week.

I asked Ahmed a few questions via email about how iBegin got started and the goal of the charity drive:

1. When did iBegin get off the ground? Who are the founders?

iBegin went live on March 4, 2006. You can read a bit more about how we think here. I run the site alone (I own a successful web development company).

2. What differentiates you from a RedToronto or Toronto.com?

This post sums it up well. It is quality results extended with useful information (pictures, reviews, tags, etc).

3. How are you spreading the word?

Bloggers, our own sites, and friends. Bloggers are the key ingredient here. We have opted to skip around traditional marketing methods for all of iBegin, and this donation drive is no different. It is so simple - add reviews or pictures, get money donated to charity, that I expect it to do well. It is a win-win situation for everyone. [note: you can download a banner for your blog at the iBegin site]

4. What motivated iBegin to undertake the charity campaign with the Assaulted Women’s Helpline?

Really it is more of a ‘why not?’ From my own point of view, I think a lot of people are teetering on the edge - they really want to be independent, they really want to make a difference, but they just need a little bit of a boost. And who appreciates life and needs a boost more than the women who call the helpline? Rhetorical question of course :)

5. Are you planning to expand to other cities outside of the GTA?

We will be expanding ’soon’. Our next city will be Ottawa, but there is no confirmed time-line on that.

The campaign runs from August 28th - October 15th with a daily goal of $200-300. So far they’re at $48 and counting so get those reviews going Torontonians - I know you have an opinion of your local watering hole or favourite restaurant! Share them with the world for a good cause!

[photo credit: moonpointer 1 on Flickr]

Tags: iBegin