by Crystal DeGoede*

Most of us can agree that the way people and businesses communicate has changed significantly over the past year. How is your company or organization establishing web credibility? In the December 2009 issue of Fast Company Magazine @ fastcompany the cover story is on Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) becoming a “new” media mogul.

Katalyst Media, Ashton’s production company, has produced a web-series just for Facebook called Katalyst HQ, which shows the daily life of employees at Katalyst. Their goal: to entertain the target audience of the brands they promote, in an effort to go where the audience is already and message there (i.e., Facebook and Twitter).  Since Ashton has more than 3 million Facebook fans and Twitter followers, brands such as Nestle, Pepsi and Kellogg’s, are jumping onboard, in hopes of obtaining a similar following.

Does that mean the days of traditional advertising with a banner ad on your industry’s leading pub over? Netscape founder Marc Andreessen seems to think so, “Banner ads aren’t going to cut it,” he says. “And media companies have not been creative or aggressive about making products designed for engagement marketing. Now that’s changing, giving brand advertisers a new way and reason to buy.”

Kutcher wants his company to be the new go-to source for brands looking to engage in “influencer marketing,” which is when you focus on specific individuals and their influence over potential buyers rather than the whole target market and direct your marketing initiatives around these influencers. Garrett Schmidt, who leads the experience design and client-strategy practice for digital marketing firm Razorfish, agrees. “People are discovering that experience matters more than traditional advertising now,” he notes.

When you aren’t a celebrity like Ashton Kutcher or don’t have over 3 million fans/followers on Facebook and Twitter, how do you leverage social media and acquire brand fans in order to gain “web cred”?  As a PR, communications or marketing professional, do you have a 2010 plan for creating engagement marketing campaigns for your brand?

Please share your thoughts with the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

*Bio: After graduating from East Carolina University with a Marketing degree in 2005, Crystal DeGoede moved to New Jersey. In her four years as a member of the BurrellesLuce marketing team and through her interaction with peers and clients she has learned what is important or what it takes to develop a career when you are just starting out. She is passionate about continuing to learn about the industry in which we serve and about her career path. By engaging readers on Fresh Ideas Crystal hopes to further develop her social media skills and inspire other “millennials” who are just out of college and/or working in the field of marketing and public relations. Twitter: @cldegoede LinkedIn: Crystal DeGoede Facebook: BurrellesLuce

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 11:19 am and is filed under Advertising/Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.