How Social Media Is Like Cocaine
January 19, 2010 by Mike Troiano · View Comments
Bill Cosby did a stand-up video back in the day called “Bill Cosby, Himself.” It’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, and probably had a bigger impact on my parenting philosophy than anything outside my own family. You can get it on Amazon. You can also watch the video for free on Google Video.
At around 5:30, Cos is in the middle of a bit about drugs and alcohol, where he makes this observation:
“…But the worst is that cocaine. I came across a guy once, doing a line, and I said, “Hey – Tell me… what is it with the cocaine that makes it so wonderful?”
He said <snobby>, “Well, what’s wonderful about cocaine is that it intensifies your personality.”
And I said, “Yes, but what if you’re an asshole?”
In this sense, social media is like cocaine. It intensifies your brand personality. But not the one in your advertising. The one in reality.
For most brands, the best way to take advantage of social media is to do something worth talking about. Use it to make your product better. Deliver “remarkable” service, in the literal sense of that term. Listen, and engage where you can help. In the long run, that will take you further than 1,000 Facebook fans ever could.
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Michael Troiano is a Principal of Holland-Mark, a leading independent advertising agency in Boston. He spent his early career at top advertising agencies including McCann-Erickson NY and Foote, Cone & Belding, San Francisco, defining business and marketing communications strategy for clients including AT&T, Coca-Cola, and Taco Bell. He joined WPP Group in 1994, reporting to Group chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell, and became the founding CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Interactive in 1995.
Mike co-founded New York-based strategic Internet services firm Brandscape in 1996, acting as the firm's CEO and establishing client relationships with Unilever, HP, and EMC before combining assets of that firm with Primix Solutions in late 1998. He became President of the NASDAQ-listed systems integrator in late 1999, increasing annualized revenues from $5.6 to $30.8 million, doubling gross margins, and adding nearly $200 million in shareholder value before the market crash in late 2000.
He was with mobile content pioneer m-Qube from its inception in 2002, acting as the General Manager of Interactive when the company was bought by VeriSign in May, 2006 for approximately $280 Million.
Mike serves on the boards of several VC-funded technology companies, including that of Cambridge-based Crimson Hexagon. His blog, Scalable Intimacy
, is listed on both the AdAge Power150 and Alltop, and he is ranked in the top 1% of the most influential people on Twitter.
Mike is a graduate of Cornell University and the Harvard Business School.
