Shared Values + Social Media + Skateboarding = efficiency, results and cool
Skateboarding and Social Media don’t sound to be any relative. At first glance nothing connects them: first being a teenager thing, street culture based, focusing on stakeboard tricks, specific sub-culture area, with dedicated codes and way of life; and second being a “social geek” word (and more certainly a buzzword), used by marketing and tech people, technology and Internet based, focusing on how social networks will eventually change the world, with dedicated codes and ay of life. You get it? finally there are some shared items, and looking closer to it, there’s for sure more items that would surface. Let’s dive and see how to turn social media into useful and custom tool using the skateboarding image.
As you can see skateboarding has also its own couch: the skateboarding bench, where social media guys have a red couch designed by Shel Israel and Robert Scoble. That’s just a hat tip to them and social media, but here are some more shared items that are also shared values:
- Easy to start: riding a 4-wheel board isn’t any challenge for people (ok most of us). It’s the same thing on Social Media for companies (ok, most of them). Commenting, blogging, tagging, bookmarking isn’t that difficult to do. But to generate some smart and relevant social media activity is as difficult as managing tricks with a skateboard. There’s a way to learn, a way to experiment, and a way to get some achievements.
- Engaging and inspiring: Skateboarding is cool (actually now we would say “cuil” in the social media area, since the so noisy launch of the expected new competitor of Google). It generates traction to people skateboarding. They’re highlighted and become famous in the neighborhood since they’re riding in front of everyone, doing nice tricks and being friendly. People come to speak with them and eventually would like to learn skateboarding (though few do). Starting a social media effort is the same way for companies. If they actually start it, they become more famous, generate engagement and eventually more stickiness and awareness. They also become cool since they’re surrounded by happy people (that’s in the better world …)
- Focus on results and efficiency: failing tricks in skateboarding makes people looking down on you since until you achieve a trick, what you do is only noise. Neighborhood would be stressed by the noise since that do not show anything concrete. What is the same with Social media. Do half-way and you get people upset about you. Achieve your objective using social media effort and you’ll become smart and focus.
As people do when skateboarding, companies can choose between different paths: being cool, focus on efficiency and results, or just ride the hype. And for each path there are specific tools, but I assume companies much more prefer to engage with social media effort to get results (if not, you should send your budgets to non profit organization …).
Skateboarding has been used as one image, but maybe you have a better comparison item?
Bonus: look at how skateboarding is inspiring, engaging, and cool. Do you wish to move your product/ service to that path?
Video first seen on EleaOne.
Photo Credit: Carla Finley
