As the rules and landscape of social media continuously change, staying engaged in the digital conversation is crucial. Thankfully many amazing opportunities exist to learn from the experts, including Social Media Week.
Social Media Week is a conference for professionals in media, marketing, and technology, spanning across the globe. This year’s theme is Closer and explores “the intensifying conflict between individualism and community and will tackle three big sub-themes including The YouUniverse, The Social Divide, and AI vs Humanity.” The New York City conference occurred in April and two PicMo team members were fortunate enough to attend. Read on for the PicMo recap from Shadi Garman and Kibret Yebetit.
Why A “Purpose-First” Brand Is Good For Business
The Brand Purpose 2.0: When Doing Good Drives the Bottom Line panel focused on how companies have increasingly integrated models for impact into their marketing. Led by Trace Cohen, CEO of 214, this fantastic panel included Joe Dawson, Director of Global Cultural Marketing & Social Impact at Sonos, Bobby Jones, CMO of Peace First, and Jeremie Moritz, Digital Director at Absolut Elyx. Companies like Sonos and Absolut don’t typically come to mind when thinking about impact but Dawson and Mortiz discussed how being a “purpose-first” brand is actually good for business. As consumers stop supporting companies they don’t feel uphold their personal values, we will see more brands centering their purpose and values in their marketing. This lesson is crucial to keep an engaged base of supporters. For Picture Motion, we’re right in this intersection – helping clients design and implement impact campaigns around their films, to highlight the purpose behind the media.
How To Create “Togetherness”
Another inspiring panel at SMWNYC was called The Evolution of Togetherness: Quantifying Social Media’s Impact on Society, led by Suresh Nair, Global Chief Office at Grey. Nair shared that as the world is increasingly interconnected online, brands should “navigate through decisiveness to reach togetherness,” which in the social media space, can be understood as digitized community-building. Social media platforms are constantly trying to bring people together, and yet many believe that social media is more often part of the problem and creates division. For brands to use social media effectively to support and engage audiences, Nait shared some key tips including: inspire respect, recognize paths to togetherness, instill trust through transparency, deflate tension with humor, and give people genuine value. With case studies from a wide array of brands and research to accompany his presentation, Nair truly demonstrated the importance of meaningful social communications by brands. As films determine their brand voice on social media, a commitment to authenticity and originality is key. Connecting to the right audience is more meaningful than casting a net that’s too wide to make a splash.
As Social Media Week continues to inspire worldwide, don’t miss your opportunity to attend! Learn more at upcoming conferences at https://socialmediaweek.org/