I think we need to be more attuned than ever to the audiences we want to reach.
A key point made on the blog article is that these communities are constantly evolving, then perhaps dissipating or changing to a new focus. As I read for this module - and crucially, perform my role at work - I am, more than ever, constantly questioning if the tasks we undertook last year are relevant to what we will do this year.Evolution of ideas and willingness to change long practised working and try new ideas are what are increasingly the success factors in campaigns we run. We're just about to launch on MySpace with some teen gang material. I'll let you know how it goes.
Can gang members read? Or ru ritin txt?
ReplyDeleteOpen to all:) No gang membership needed here!
ReplyDeleteWe seem to be in information overload mode. All types of media want our attention, but it gets to be just so much hype...which may lead us to tune out the important stuff.
ReplyDeleteYes, overload is happening already. I fear that many people are turned off by all that's out there. How many under 30s read newspapers now or watch news bulletins? They're on their i-phones and getting updates that way, or surfing or wiki-ing.
ReplyDeleteA whole generation is not engaging with 'traditional' media and isn't even watching TV anymore. I think we've gone from mass media messages (which were still open to interpretation by the receiver) to very fractured platforms which are demographically and culturally split. 24-hour news has meant an awful lot of time to fill and who's listening?
The Swine Flu outbreak in Scotland is a case in point. For almost two days we saw a news crew camped outside a (previously) anonymous house in a Scottish street hoping for a glimpse of two (previously) anonymous people who were possibly responsible for the infection of the whole of the UK. What news value was there in that action, other than filling - no wonder viewers tune out.
Talking to gang members on MySpace? What would you say? No don't do it. Come to my party? This makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteSnowbird, I can't believe you don't think it's sensible to try to communicate with a target group on a medium that's accessible and used by them.
ReplyDeleteOnly one thing - I don't think it's MySpace we're using, it's Bebo, that's my mistake.
We'll be putting up some of the imagery relating to a violence campaign we're running and using some video, too. But like all things, it is taking far too long to arrange. That's the thing about social media - it's supposed to be quick but there are still the checks and balances before you can publish in many instances.
Charli, the MySpace idea is really interesting. Is it based on research? Have you tested the idea with young people? Is it aimed at gang members or their peers?
ReplyDeleteMySpace/Bebo/whatever. Gangs don't care about your 'targets'. Why dont you go talk to them your own self?
ReplyDeleteHi Global Villager - we've done a lot of research around how these tools are used and we know that gang members are using Bebo, so we want to start trying to get messages and imagery onto the platforms where they congregate.We're looking at both the gang members themselves and their cohorts.
ReplyDeleteSnowbird, you're persistent and it's good to talk! The problem with me going to talk to gang members is that I don't know who they are, they hardly advertise the fact, do they...
ReplyDeleteAlso, does a 30s female have much in common with a 12-16-year-old male in a face-to-face situation. How's that conversation going to go? This campaign looks at consequences - often the languge that is most easily understood by the 'target' group.