In the gold rush to be on every emerging social network, have the most followers or friends, and be seen as a trailblazer in the field, many have focused their efforts on the mass market. That’s understandable, because that’s where the most users are. But as social media has matured, its user base has diversified in numerous ways.
Among them is wealth.
Spend time using Twitter or Facebook and you’ll soon realize that the only “rich people” who use it regularly are celebrities or entertainers, who are trying to communicate with the masses. The area between middle class and celebrity, in terms of personal wealth, has become a robust audience for social networks. They might have a Twitter or Facebook profile, but that won’t be the place they do most of their social networking. Many have decided to join ultra-exclusive social networks exclusively for people like themselves — the rich and famous.
After a few too many months of hiring inactivity during this “Great Recession”, Renaissance is pleased to announce that we’ve added a new Team member! Ben LaMothe has joined our firm on a part-time-to-hopefully permanent basis as an online marketing and social media strategist.
Ben has been a guest blogger for such prestigious online communities as Media140.org, Econsultancy.com and FreshNetworks.com. His areas of expertise include developing and implementing unique strategies in Social Media Marketing; Multimedia Content Creation, Distribution and Aggregation; Blogging; Online Community Development (internal and external); Customer Relationship Management (CRM); and Social Customer Relationship Management (SCRM). Ben has worked in industries ranging from non-profits, to farming, IT, luxury marketing, academia, news media, textiles and destination resorts.
The 2010 Winter Olympics are behind us and I for one am sad to see them go. There were so many compelling moments that defined the Vancouver Games for me, from snowboarder Shaun White’s incredible Double McTwist 1260 in the half-pipe (a trick only he can perform); to Apolo Ohno passing the Chinese team in the anchor lap of the 5000 meter short track relay to become the most decorated American in Winter Olympic history; to the final frantic seconds of regulation and overtime in the US–Canada gold medal hockey game. But nothing brought me to edge of my seat like Lindsey Vonn and Bode Miller’s exhilarating performances in the men’s and women’s downhill.
Recently, Marc Rapp, a friend and former Art Director at Renaissance Creative and now an independent Creative Director up in NYC, posted a compelling list of predictions for 2010 in his Uniquely the Epitome blog. Marc is a progressive thinker who always operates ahead of the curve and is usually spot on with his thoughts on consumer, cultural and technological trends with respect to marketing, media and design. In his post, Marc asks guests for their own predictions. I left him one of mine, but didn’t want to consume all of his real estate. So, here are the rest of my own thoughts. Feel free to chime in with yours.
I recently came across an interesting discussion on Linkedin regarding effective graphic design. The original post was called, “Creating a Graphic Design Piece that Sells,” by a person who was promoting a direct marketing firm. Stating, “Here’s what all great pieces have in common” he followed with: “Use one dominant element per page; minimize typeface variety; utilize white space; use informational graphics where appropriate; and make the logo visible.”
