At the Cannes Lions 2010, when Best Buy’s Twitter-based TwelpForce took out the Titanium & Integrated Grand Prix, Old Spice The man your man could smell like took out the Film Grand Prix, and Ikea Facebook Tag Showroom won the Gold Cyber Lion, it cemented social media’s place in the marketing mix, and for once, the creatives agreed.

Social media … what’s the big idea?

A big idea creates behavioural change and hence, causes discomfort & fear. It always faces stiff resistance at first.

But once it takes root, it grows organically and quickly gets embedded into our every day – making us go, how did we ever live without this?

The acid test of a big idea lies in its ability to travel and adapt across media, markets, countries and cultures.

Social media ticks all the above.

In a world of catchphrases, sticky content and viral videos, the use of social media itself has become a meme (pronounced meem). Meme is a cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behaviour) that is passed from one person to another by non-genetic means (as by imitation).

Memes are the cultural counterpart of genes. Sample this: Facebook has 500 million+ users – that’s one in 14 humans! Heck, there’s even a Hollywood movie on it – if that’s not a big idea, what is?

So it’s hardly surprising that clever corporate folk turned up in droves to attend Social Media Junction 2 (#SMJ2), a meeting of the best social media and digital marketing minds in NZ. It included:

Day 1: Public Sector Social Media Workshop with Simon Wakeman, Medway Council, UK.

Day 2: A star-studded Securing ROI in SM Marketing conference featuring six top international speakers and Kiwi marketing stalwarts.

Day 3: Social Media Content Strategy MasterClass with Lee Odden, TopRank Online Marketing, USA.

Organised by Bullet PR, the event proved a rich ground for learning in real-time, as each day threw up solid ken on SM marketing covering topics like social content strategy, policy & protocol, ROI metrics, monitoring & measurement, engagement & response, online community management, business blogging …

Along with real-world examples and popular case studies, the speakers brought a fresh mix of stories on the successful use of SM overseas (and locally), and shared their unique perspective on SM best practice and hands-on usage.

Top take-out from #SMJ2: Content used to be king. Today it is king, queen, prince, princess and the kingdom. At a time when anyone with a PC, camera or smartphone is a scriptwriter, storyteller, filmmaker, the need of the hour is quality content & specialist content creators.

Q – In the midst of inundating content, how do you ensure your message stands out?

A – Skill integration, knowledge-sharing, in-house training, cross-functional resourcing & optimised social content.

But it’s easier said than done. To create engaging content, optimise, promote, distribute & measure it via multiple touchpoints, you need all the pieces in the jigsaw to fit seamlessly.

The marketing communications team (brand, product, sales, customer reps); the web & digital team (developers, designers, SEO, analysts) & the ad/PR agency (servicing, creative, strategy, media) all need to work together. And then, there’s the community = co-creators!

Quite clearly, holistic is the new black.

Key Learnings #SMJ2:

Don’t just do social – be social. Participate. Share. Express. Comment. Be useful. Add value.

A collaborative mindset, readiness to experiment, openness to negative feedback, and a plan to invest resources are prerequisites to corporate SM engagement.

Getting the balance between transparency and privacy – right mix of listening & responding; tone of brand & personal voice – needs practice and patience.

SM is neither free nor easy. It’s time-consuming. And yes, it is real work!

Content – It’s not about the quantity. It’s about quantity … with quality.

Strategise before going social. Give it a good think. It’s not a campaign. It’s a commitment.

Success Mantra: Don’t just work hard. Work holistic!

View the detailed #SMJ2 post + pics at www.MrSocial1.blogspot.com. Compliments of the season and best wishes for the new year. trivediamar@hotmail.com | facebook.com/trivediamar | @Mr_Madness | LinkedIN.com/in/trivediamar.

The Panellists

International Speaker Panel: Cliff Rosenberg (Linkedin Australia & NZ), Simon Wakeman (Medway Council), Louise Denver (Deloitte Australia), Michael Fox (Shoes of Prey), Lee Odden (Top Rank), Darren Whitelaw (Government of Victoria); chair Vincent Heeringa (Tangible Media).

Kiwi Speaker Panel: Jarrod Bear (Tui), Alex Erasmus (Bullet PR), Simone McCallum (ASB), Stuart McMullin (Hell), Richard Irvine (Telecom); chair Michael Carney (Netmarketing Services).